Food inspires me. I think about it all.the.time. perpetually jotting down ideas and notes for future recipes, testing flavours and combinations and techniques, making things up - mad scientist style - as I go along. Luckily RJ is a willing participant and occasional ring-leader, tasting my creations, discussing over breakfast what we will have or for lunch or dinner, detouring in foreign countries for specific dishes. All this leads us back [well for this post at least] to a dinner we had at … [Read more...]
Guacamole & Pico de Gallo – Afternoon Tea, Mexico-style
Having only just settled into our breathtaking room after roughly 8 hours of travelling we were surprised buy a knock at the door ... "Hola, buenos tardes - guacamole, salsa fresca, corn chips and cerveza for you. Welcome to Capella Pedregal." We stripped off our travelling clothes, grabbed the first swimsuits we could find, slipped into our balcony-plunge-infinity-pool and cracked open the beers. Bliss. Back home I eat avocado every day, however RJ has insisted for years he doesn't … [Read more...]
Sweet Chestnut Puree & How to Cook Chestnuts
You may have noticed that I've been receiving some slightly unusual produce recently. It seems that many early autumn fruits are somehow often overlooked in favour of more common ones like pears and apples and it comes as a bit of a surprise that such a wide variety of items are in-season this time of year. Don't get me wrong, I do love my pears and apples, but a bit of variation is good for the soul - and the belly! Speaking of variation I recently received a box of chestnuts and the game … [Read more...]
Lemon Curd – rules and bending the rules
Lemon Curd is one of those recipes that everyone has a spin - and an opinion - on. You should use whole eggs, you must only use egg yolks. You must adhere to x ratios of sugar to juice to make it very sweet, you must keep it tart. Use more butter, use less butter - mix it in before, mix it in at the end. Cook in a saucepan, cook over a double boiler. Strain the juice, strain the cooked curd. And on and on it goes. The versatility once made is as varied as the list of recipe options. Fill … [Read more...]
Nut-tella-type Choc-Hazelnut Spread
I have had this recipe sitting in a notebook, and these pics sitting on my computer, for a while. I've been meaning to make it again and get some better photos, but I have been reasonably chocolate-ed out lately and so it has gone to the wayside. However, today has been claimed as 'World Nutella Day' so even though I will re-make the spread and take new photos eventually, I felt it was my duty to post this today in both celebration and revolt. What's one more chocolate recipe before we get back … [Read more...]
Pumpkin Pie Spread
Um, yum, just yum. For as much as I love Cake! I am at least as equally obsessed with Pie! Not the crust bit mind you, in my opinion it really just gets in the way of the business end of pie - the filling. Sweet, savory, creamy, fruity, whatever, I could sit with a pie tin and eat the whole middle bit - one small spoonful at a time. Now I've just shared with you my crusade on pumpkin, so what else to do but get straight to the point on this one. Apple, pumpkin, spices and voila, a spread … [Read more...]
Banana Split Spread
This conversation occurred the other day on the way to work: RJ: oh, so yesterday I ...akldj kdfa kadkjfjf ja sjlkh.... JJ: hold on, hold on, sorry, can you tell me that again, I wasn't listening at all, I was thinking about bananas. RJ: of course you were. Lately, this spread is what I've been thinking about. This, I could eat with a spoon [humm...did eat with a spoon...may be eating with a spoon right now] but it is hypothetically meant to be spread on things. Many years ago I came to … [Read more...]
