Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

Remember the sweet potato noodles I bought recently?

I wasn’t sure what to do with them at the time of purchase, but a quick search on Google turned up this wonderful YouTube tutorial for making Japchae – a traditional Korean noodle dish. The video is clear and precise…

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I used the purple noodles, and paired them with Spanish onion, eye fillet, mixed dried mushrooms, garden vegetables (carrots, leeks, rainbow chard) and toasted sesame seeds. All the ingredients were pan-fried individually first, then combined with the boiled noodles…

The sauce is a mixture of soy, sugar, garlic and toasted sesame seeds…

I made notes as I was watching the video – if you’d like a copy of my scribbles (to save you making your own), they’re here…

We all loved this, particularly Big Boy who is very fond of Korean cuisine. It’s easy to make and can be served at room temperature, which makes it a great do-ahead dinner party dish!

Once you’ve mastered the skill of tempering chocolate, you’ll never be caught short for a present again!

The easiest way to create something wonderful with tempered chocolate is to pour it into an interesting mould, such as one of the many on offer at Candyland Crafts.  I’ve been buying from this US based company for years, and their inexpensive plastic moulds (US$2 each) last surprisingly well – although it’s worth noting that shipping (I usually buy 20 at a time) adds approximately a dollar to the price of each item.

Another easy way to create treats with chocolate is through the process of enrobing or hand-dipping. I needed a birthday present for my friend Maude last week, so I dipped pieces of crystallised ginger in a dark chocolate blend – it was quick to do and a highly personalised gift (as I know Maude loves them, but her family don’t, which means she’ll actually get to eat them).

In order to dip things in chocolate, you’ll  need a tool of some sort. You can buy spiral dippers very cheaply at kitchenware stores, or you can bend over the middle tines of an old fork with a sturdy pair of pliers. You could probably just use a regular fork, but I find the customised one allows the chocolate to drip back into the bowl a little better…

Step 1: Temper a batch of chocolate following the instructions here. Prepare your items to be dipped – in this case, dust the excess sugar off the ginger pieces…

Step 2: With the chocolate on the heat mat, drop in the ginger pieces one at a time, and dunk them in the melted chocolate, before scooping them out. Give the dipping tool a little jiggle to drain off any excess chocolate…

Step 3: Pop each dipped piece onto a parchment-lined tray, leaving a bit of room between them so that they don’t stick together. When you’ve filled the tray, pop it into the fridge briefly to set up. Store at room temperature until needed (or eaten).

Treat your tempered chocolate carefully, as it scuffs easily. Here’s Maude’s gift, packaged ready to go…

If you’ve been reading our blog for a while, you’ll  know that we dip all sorts of things in chocolate – from glacé fruit (we particularly like strips of candied peel for this)…

…to alcohol-soaked figs (stuff a jar with Persian figs and then top it up with Drambuie and ignore it for a few months – drain them well before dipping)…

…to nuts of all varieties (our favourite almond rocher recipe is here)…

I’d love to know if you find something creative to dip in chocolate!

PS. My friend Rose tested out my chocolate tempering tutorial and made a batch almond rochers. Please pop over to her blog – Greening the Rose – and let her know how brilliant she is! x

Last weekend, we moved the chook dome.

That necessitated emptying the recipient bed of all its edibles, and resulted in a mountain of continental parsley, a dozen perennial leeks and one baby beetroot.

I turned half of the parsley and a few of the leeks into garden tabbouleh, adding a little pomegranate molasses on Lina’s suggestion. The remainder of the parsley was turned into chimichurri.

We’d never tried this sauce before, but I was intrigued by the combination of flavours. It was easy to make and we had fresh oregano in the garden to add to the mix…

• 2 cups fresh parsley (mostly leaves)
• 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
• 125ml (½ cup) olive oil
• 1 tablespoon (4 teaspoons) red wine vinegar
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 3 cloves garlic

Blitz everything together in the food processor (you might need to scrape the side of the bowl down a couple of times), and it’s done.

My friend Marcela (who is Argentinian) tells me that chimichurri is meant to be brushed on grilled meats, but it’s surprisingly delicious on toasted ciabatta (even though eating it like that proves I’m a Gringo, apparently).

It’s a new sauce for us, but one that we can make incredibly easily from what grows in our garden, so I’d love any advice on other ways that we can use it!