Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

See those gorgeous little bottles in the photo above?

Fifteen years ago, when I worked part time at Reverse Garbage, I brought home 300 of them, complete with lids. They were brand new, French made, and like all items at RG, an industrial surplus that someone was considerate enough to donate rather than discard.

I have no idea what they were originally intended for, but they cost me just 10c each and I’ve used them ever since. Each bottle holds 125ml (½ cup) and they’re the perfect size for our homemade Irish cream. These are the bottles I used to smuggle into swimming practice to share with Cate.

The ones in the photo above however are filled with our newest brew – a dark chocolate and orange cream. It came about because I’d run out of whisky, so I went rummaging through the pantry and found a bottle of Cointreau instead. I’d originally planned to just mention this variation in my IMK round up, but it’s been so well received that I figured it deserved a post of its own. My friend Margot refers to it as “jaffa in a glass”, whereas Bethany and Ali both describe it as “liquid Terry’s chocolate orange”.

• 350ml Cointreau
• 125g good quality dark chocolate (I used Cacao Barry Tanzanie Origin Dark 75%)
• 1 x 395g can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 x 375g can evaporated milk
• 300ml pure cream (35% fat, no thickeners added)

1. In a small pyrex or ceramic bowl, heat the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second bursts on high until melted, stirring between each round. Stir until smooth. Alternatively, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water.

2. Pour a small quantity of the Cointreau into a large bowl, then gradually whisk in the melted chocolate, then the evaporated milk, condensed milk, cream and finally the remainder of the Cointreau.

4. Pour the orange and chocolate cream into sterilised bottles (preferably through a sieve to catch any lumps of chocolate), seal tightly and store in the fridge. Best served over ice.

Oh, and as you can see, I’ve found a new use for our little Russian tea glasses!

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I’ve been making myself very, very sick.

You see, this year I decided that for Christmas, I’d revisit our old recipe for homemade Irish cream. It’s an absolute doddle to make, tastes much better than the bought stuff, and should keep in the fridge for a month or so (although it never lasts that long here). When the boys were young, I used to sneak tiny bottles of it into the school pool and my darling friend Cate and I would surreptitiously sip at them while our sons were doing their laps.

Sadly, over the past decade, I’ve lost my ability to consume cream and other rich dairy products, but I’m taking one for the team – after all, you can’t make a gift without quality checking it first. I make this with whatever whisky I’ve been given – in years past that was my annual bottle of Chivas Regal from PeteV, but this year it’s a bottle of Johnny Walker Red from my neighbour June.

Don’t be put off by the tins of condensed and evaporated milk (neither of which I use for any other purpose) – the finished booze is smooth, silky and ridiculously moreish, even for the dairy challenged. The specified quantities made all you can see in the photo below – note that the JW bottle was full last night, but Big Boy found it after I went to bed…

• 700ml bottle of whisky
• 250g good quality milk chocolate (I used Callebaut 823 callets)
• 2 x 395g cans of sweetened condensed milk
• 2 x 375g cans evaporated milk
• 600ml pure cream (35% fat, no thickeners added)
• ½ teaspoon instant coffee granules
• 1 tablespoon boiling water

1. In a small pyrex or ceramic bowl, heat the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second bursts on high until melted, stirring between each round. Stir until smooth. Alternatively, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water. Make sure to use the best quality chocolate you can find, as the taste comes through in the finished drink.

2. Pour a small quantity of the whisky into a large bowl, then gradually whisk in some of the melted chocolate, then a little each of the evaporated milk, condensed milk and cream. Continue adding the whisky, milks and cream, whisking constantly, until all the ingredients except the coffee and water have been added.

3. Stir the coffee granules in the boiling water until dissolved, then whisk into the Irish cream.

4. Pour the Irish cream into sterilised bottles, seal tightly and store in the fridge. The original recipe suggests maturing the mix for a month in the fridge before drinking, but it’s never lasted that long here, and we think it tastes pretty good straight away!

Oops, sorry, comments were turned off!
Thanks for letting me know Celi, I’ve fixed it now!

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Oh how I love my Römertopf!

Ha! Have I said that before? Pete told me a while back to lay off the “Römertopf evangelism”, but it would be remiss of me not to mention how much easier it makes my life at this busy time of year.

Case in point – last night I was desperate to do some exercise (I’ve been very slack of late!), but I hadn’t made any preparation for dinner other than to defrost six chicken drums. So…I dragged out the clay baker and stuck it in the sink to soak…

A rummage through the fridge and pantry produced the following ingredients:

• 6 free range chicken drumsticks
• two pink potatoes
• one large carrot
• a frozen box of cooked chick peas
• a frozen box of homemade chicken stock
• two medium sized onions
• two quarter slices of homemade preserved lemon
• Herbie’s Chermoula Spice Mix
• basil from the garden to garnish

The Herbie’s mix is our default house blend and it’s a great seasoning to keep on hand. I sprinkled a generous amount over the drumsticks and rubbed it in.

Pulling the wet clay base out of the sink, I threw in peeled and chopped potatoes, carrot and onions, then lay over the drumsticks (scraping in all the seasoning leftover in the bowl). The preserved lemon was sliced and scattered over the top, then the defrosted stock was added. All up, this took about ten minutes.

I put the lid on the pot and placed it into the cold oven. The heat was turned up to 200C with fan and I jumped onto the rowing machine for half an hour. Then I watched a bit of television. Then I had a shower.

By that stage the chicken had been in the oven for an hour, and I suddenly remembered that I’d forgotten the chick peas. I pulled the pot out and added them in, squidging them into the cooking liquid as much as I could. (Remember to never put the hot pot on a cold surface, or it could crack.)

All up the Romy had about an hour and a half in the oven – Pete took the lid off for the last ten minutes or so to let the drumsticks brown up a bit. The new season basil added a nice finishing touch…

Dinner was delicious and ludicrously easy…

Best of all, the dirty Römertopf went straight into our newly repaired dishwasher and came out spanking clean!

I’ve just looked through my archives and realised that I’ve written more than two dozen Römertopf posts. I’ve collated all the links onto the one page, which can also be accessed via the Savoury tab at the top of the homepage.

Fig Jam and Lime Cordial Römertopf Posts

Do you own a Römertopf? If so, I’d love to hear about your experiences with it!

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Our Big Boy can turn out a good dinner – if he has access to mince.

We thought this easy dish, which we used to make regularly in the late eighties, might be a nice alternative for him. It comes from one of our oldest cookbooks, which is now available on Kindle, and the sauce can be prepared in the time it takes the pasta to boil…

We always have the ingredients on hand – a tin of tuna in oil, fresh garlic, grated Parmesan cheese, and lemon and parsley from the garden…

• 500g dried pasta
• 1 – 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• handful chopped parsley (we use continental parsley from the garden)
• 200g tin of tuna in olive oil
• extra olive oil if needed
• juice of 1 lemon
• ½ cup (approximately) of grated Parmesan cheese
• 30g (a large knob) butter, cut into pieces
• salt and black pepper

1. Put the pasta on to cook to al dente in a large pot of salted boiling water.

2. Drain the oil from the tuna and add it to a large frying pan. Add a little more olive oil if needed. Heat gently, then add the garlic and most of the parsley, reserving just a little to garnish. Stirring constantly over a low heat, add the drained and flaked tuna, and cook gently to ensure that none of the ingredients change colour.

3. Once the pasta is ready, drain it well, reserving a little of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the sauce, stirring well to combine. Add the lemon juice and a little of the cooking liquid if necessary, then the cheese, and finally stir through the butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with the extra chopped parsley and serve immediately.

As so often happens in the blogosphere, my friend Francesca serendipitously posted a similar recipe at Almost Italian a couple of days ago. I’ll be sure to point that one out to Big Boy as well!

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