Pickled Peppers

Decided to pickle some peppers today...

Roast, grill or griddle them till charred. Let them cool, place into a jar with large pinch of salt, garlic clove, some mustard seeds, oregano and vinegar.  I used regular white vinegar with a bit of White Wine Vinegar thrown in, also decided to add some parsley for no apparent reason.

I shall pickle for 2 weeks.

More belated posts coming soon...

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Rajesh

Recipe from Home #1: Ma & Pa's Tomato Chutney

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg small red tomatoes
• Fresh Thyme leaves or Basil (My Dad's preferred addition)
• 4 Fresh Garlic Cloves, crushed with the back of a knife
• 2 Tablespoons Vinegar
• 1 Teaspoon Palm Sugar or Cane Sugar 
• 1 Tablespoon Kalongi or Nigella Seeds
• 2 fresh green chilis, slit.
• Sea Salt

Cut tomatoes into fours.  Heat oil in frying pan, sputter kalongi, add green chillies and garlic.

Add tomatoes and braise slowly with a lid on for 5 minutes.  Ad palm sugar and salt, cover and cook for a further 5 minutes, until stewed.  Remove from flame.

Once that's done mix in the 2 Tablespoons of Vinegar.

Garnish with Thyme or Basil and,

Enjoy!

(Thank to Ma & Pa for the Pictures and recipes, more to come...)

Quick & Easy Recipe: Home Made Pesto.

Pesto is so damn simple and gratifying.  Follow the easy recipe below.

Homemade Pesto in a Pestle & Mortar

• Half a Clove of Garlic
  
• Handful of Pine Nuts
  
• Handful of Parmesan, finely grated.
  
• Big bunch of Basil, 400g should do
  
• Salt & Pepper
  
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  
• Lemon Juice (optional)
  

(Invest in a good Pestle & Mortar, one made of stone or even those fancy ones made of hardened lava, I bought a cheap wood one that has a smell of its own and likes to sprinkle splinters around, it's horrible.)

Lightly toast the pinenuts, but don't brown them or the flavour will overpower, this way you get a slight nutty sweetness out of them.

Mince the Garlic with a little salt and the basil in a pestle and mortar, add olive oil as an when you need it for texture.  Add the nuts and keep working it, add the parmesan and oil.  Add salt & pepper to taste.

Spoon into freshly made spaghetti.  Enjoy.

TIP: To make your meal a little more lush, crumble some ricotta on top of the pesto-incorporated spaghetti before serving.  You'll thank me later.

Quick & Easy Recipe: Muttabal aka Baba Ganoush

Having spent a large part of my life in the Middle East I occasionally  get flashes of flavours that I can't shake off, one of these being Muttabal which is a smoked aubergine dip.  It's really simple to make, cheap and tasty!  It's one of those simple dishes that always surprises you and your guests with it's distinct bold flavour.

Muttabal

Ingredients:

• 3 Cloves of Garlic
• 1/2 Cup of Tahina (A sesame paste available in all Arabic Supermarkets)
• 1 T/S Salt
• 1 Large Aubergine
• Lemon 
• Parsely to Garnish
• Paprika powder to Garnish

Directions:

The best way to smoke the Aubergine is to literally roast it on the hob, this sounds dangerous but works great.  Turn the flame up up high, slap the Aubergine down onto it and roast, turning occasionally till you can feel it has softened inside and the skin is burnt.

Put aubergine aside to cool, and peel off and discard skin.  At this point, chop it up into four or five pieces and put into a large mixing bowl.

Chop garlic cloves till fine and throw them onto the aubergine.  Add the teaspoon of salt, lemon juice and 1/2 cup of the tahina.  Mix thoroughly and set aside to cool.

Spread the Muttabal on a plate and garnish with small sprinklings of Paprika Powder, a bit of Parsley and Olive oil if you like. 

Serve with warm Pitta bread and enjoy the garlicky smokey goodness!