Syltede asiers (Danish pickled cucumber-marrows)

We first saw pickled asiers in the jar aisle of the supermarket ages ago - and weren't sure what they were. The picture on the label looked a bit like a cassava, the contents looked like thick-sliced peeled pears... Eventually we bought some, and S fell in love with them. Turns out they are crisp, chunky, sweet-pickled slices of giant cucumber. They are traditionally eaten on smørrebrod with leverpostej - but we like them with hard cheese like Pråst or mature cheddar.

A few weeks ago, we found some fresh ones for sale in Irma, and decided we should try pickling some ourselves. We used approximately this recipe. I'm still not sure if asiers are just a marrow version of the American kind of thick-skinned cucumbers, or a different kind of cucumber intended to be grown to marrow size - either way, they are a little different from your average pickled cucumber.

2 kg asiers (cucumber marrows)
50-75 g salt
150 g small red onions, peeled and sliced (or shallots)
2 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp black peppercorns
fennel seeds
chilli flakes

1.5 l vinegar (ideally white wine or apple cider vinegar) (5%)
750 g sugar
 
Peel the asiers, cut them in half lengthways, scrape out the seeds and cut into 1 cm thick slices. Sprinkle with the salt, cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and set aside in a cool place for 2–3 hours. Rinse the salted asier slices in cold water and wipe them lightly with kitchen paper. Place in sterilised jars, layering with the sliced onions, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, and fennel seeds and chilli flakes too if you like. Heat the sugar and vinegar almost to the boil in a pan, whisking until the sugar has dissolved. Pour over the asier slices in the jars until they are all covered, and immediately seal. Leave for at least a week before eating. Keep in the fridge.


There were some variations in different recipes I checked - for example, the asiers could be salted after just cutting in half and deseeding instead of after slicing; and they could be left for a day instead of just a few hours in the salt... Another option would be using 'atamon' - I had to look this up, but apparently it is a preservative with a strange label (with a caricature of a chinese face on it) that is often used in Danish pickles. So if I make them again, perhaps I'll try something a little different: with atamon+chilli (perhaps most interesting?), with atamon+star anise, and another one.

Also, these come out nice, but not really crunchy enough - should they be salted more or less? Or should I add something tannic?

One pot red lentil, coconut and greens dal

Making dal with coconut milk instead of water had been in the back of my mind for a while. Also adding stuff other than spices and aromatics. Someone recommended this recipe, thought I'd give it a try (with modifications).

This is a pretty good summer dal. Since it uses red lentils the cooking time is short (relative to other dal like chana), so less time spent over the stove. Coconut and greens also seem like summery additions.

2 tbsp coconut oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 in piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped (used ~1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes)
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 cup (approx 250 g) red lentils
1 ~400 ml tin coconut milk made up to ~800 ml with water
~ 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup spinach or other tender greens (I used a mixture of the green parts of napa cabbage and butter lettuce)
1 small bunch of coriander, chopped

In a medium saucepan, heat the coconut oil, then add onion, garlic, ginger and chilli and fry gently til lightly browned. Add the mustard seeds and heat til they pop. Add the turmeric and garam masala and fry for a minute or so before adding the lentils. Add the coconut milk-water mixture to the pan, then cover and cook gently for 15-20 min, stirring occasionally. Add the salt and taste for seasoning. Finally, add the greens and coriander and cook for a few minutes more, until they are wilted but still bright green.


I really enjoyed the rich coconuttiness of this dal (makes it a bit richer than most dal, but totally delicious). Also the greens. This is a different cooking method to my usual dal - adding everything to one pot rather than frying the onions and spices separately and adding them last. Think it is fine, and obviously saves washing up etc, although perhaps uniquely possible for small, quick-cooking dal like the red lentils.

Shredded cabbage salad

The last couple of cabbages we had ended up in curry or soup. We were chopping some for soup the other day, predictably snacking on it as we chopped, and found ourselves talking about how delicious and sweet and crispy-crunchy and fresh it is just raw. And how I actually like it most like that. We've had warmer weather recently, and with two cabbages in the fridge a salad seemed like a great idea - a change from soup and dal. I pulled out all these other things to add in - celeriac, apple, parsley, seeds, spices... But then realised simple made more sense: just shredded cabbage, golden raisins, walnuts and lemony dressing.

1/2 a good-sized white cabbage
handful of golden raisins
handful of walnut pieces
juice of 1/2 a small lemon
1 tsp honey
2 tsp white miso
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
~2 tbsp olive oil
salt (just a little, the miso is salty) and pepper

Shred the cabbage and put in a serving bowl. Add the raisins and walnuts. Whisk the remaining ingredients together in a small bowl, then pour over the cabbage just before serving and toss.

Dry beetroot coconut curry

I was thinking about India. Probably the best meal I had in ~3 months there was a thali at a place overlooking a temple bathing tank, in Varkala (Kerala). All the places along the beach were very touristy and the food not very veg and not very interesting, so we had ended up walking inland in search of something more exciting. The place was small and simple; we sat on a palm-roofed terrace watching a family of feral cats play around our feet. Eventually they brought this amazing thali, with very coconutty, South Indian, interesting curries. The one I remember so clearly was a dry curry of shredded beetroot and shredded coconut - beautiful, full of earthy sweetness and texture, and so unlike anything I'd eaten before.

I thought I'd try and recreate it with our latest haul of CSA beetroot. The fridge was starting to look bare after a few weeks of soup and using up, and those beets were almost the last thing to get through. Actually, I think what reminded me of that place / that thali was making my favourite dry cabbage curry the other day - it is similar in spicing and texture and use of coconut to what I remember of the beetroot one. So I thought I'd try something a bit like it - definitely using shredded coconut, curry leaves and mustard seed... I ended up using this recipe, as it sounded much like my memory.

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped into large chunks
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
~1/2 tbsp water
1-2 tbsp coconut oil
3 curry leaves
1 tsp chana dal (aka yellow split peas; increase to 1 tbsp if you don't have urad dal)
1 tbsp urad dal (subbed mung beans but this wasn't awesome - make sure to use shelled dal)
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
1-2 tsp red chilli flakes
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 small onion, finely sliced
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 medium-large beetroot, grated
~1/3 cup dried shredded coconut (unsweetened; fresh probably better if you can get it)
salt

Put the ginger, garlic and water in a blender and pulse until it becomes a paste - add just enough water to make it work / become paste.

Heat the oil in a good-sized frying pan. Add the curry leaves, chana dal, urad dal (if using), mustard seeds, cumin seeds and chilli flakes and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the onion and the garlic-ginger paste. Once the onion is translucent, add in the turmeric and the grated beetroot. Stir-fry until beets are almost dry then add in the coconut and mix. Taste and add salt to taste. Turn off the heat.


We ate with brown rice, sprinkled with chopped fresh coriander, with a splash of vinegar and some coconut cream on the side. yummmm. S thought it could have been more coconutty - I guess you could add more shredded coconut or some coconut cream - but I was pretty happy with it.

Note, I am actually growing to love turmeric - I'd always thought of it as mainly a colouring agent, but while the colour is definitely fantastic the smell and flavour are wonderful too.

Christmas: Lion's Mane 'crab' cakes

A gave me a bag full of Lion's Mane for my birthday. A very thoughtful (and tasty) present. I managed to take it home with me from the party (after rescuing from a drunken food-marauder), and then decided it was appropriately fancy to become part of our Christmas meal.

When I cooked it previously I wasn't too enamoured of the texture of it just sauteed. Also, this bagful was quite wet. So roasting seemed to be a smart place to start. Then I remembered seeing that Mycoterra Farm (who grew them) often use them to make 'crab' cakes. So I looked up a recipe and thought this one (and this one) sounded like exactly the right kind of thing.

(makes six little cakes)

To roast:
200-400g (approx 1/2 lb) Lion's Mane
~2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
salt+pepper

Rest of the cake ingredients:
2 tbsp vegan mayonnaise (used vegan cream cheese as we had some leftover from the birthday cake S made me)
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 egg*
~ 1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp paprika
~ 2 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper

coconut oil for frying

For the sauce:
3 tbsp vegan cream cheese (or vegan mayonnaise - reduce the lemon juice a bit if using)
1 tsp olive oil
1-2 tsp wholegrain mustard
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp white pepper
~1 tbsp cider vinegar
pea-sized blob of wasabi
few drops hot sauce
~1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 350F. Tear the Lion's Mane into little pieces and put in a roasting dish. Add the whole garlic cloves, olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for 30-40 min, until the garlic is cooked, much of the liquid has evaporated, and the mushroom is brown. Remove from the oven.

While the mushroom is in the oven you can make the sauce - mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl with a fork. Taste for salt, pepper and acid and check consistency.

Mix the Lion's Mane (and roasted garlic - be sure to chop and/or mash up so it can spread through the mixture) together with the remaining cake ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Shape into little round burger shapes.  Heat coconut oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the cakes until browned on both sides. Eat while hot.


These were quite successful. S really liked them (especially the sauce), and while the total prep might be a bit much for an average day, the roasting method seemed to be a good way of cooking the Lion's Mane - better than sauteeing.

*think linseed-water mixture would be a fine vegan substitute

Apple and fresh cranberry chutney

I remembered fresh cranberries are in season, bought a bag, and commenced experiments. Raw they are very sharp - they need some kind of sweetness or dilution. I baked: cranberry and apple crumble, cranberry and pumpkin muffins. Wanted to go somewhere savoury with the rest of the bag. Considered some ideas from the Cranberry Slam at Egleston Farmers' Market. The most interesting was somewhat complicated, with several steps including fermentation. I decided to borrow some of the flavours but just make a chutney - that way my savoury cranberry stuff would keep for a while, into times when fresh cranberries are nowhere to be found. I based it on this recipe, tweaking the spices and flavour additions.

(made 2 small jars - sensible to scale up if you have a full bag of cranberries!)

450 g apples (~ 2 large ones), peeled and chopped into chunks
135 g onions (~2 small ones), peeled and chopped or sliced
1 small clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
~2 cm piece root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
zest of 1 little orange
1/4 tsp caraway seed
1/4 tsp cumin seed
1/4 tsp coriander seed
1/4 tsp mustard seed
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
75 ml cider vinegar
150 g sugar
150 g fresh cranberries
 
 Put all ingredients except the cranberries in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for ~50 min, until everything is reduced, thickened and broken down. Add the cranberries and cook for ~10 min more - try not to let them all burst. Spoon into sterilised jars, seal while hot and then let cool before labelling. Tastes best if allowed to mature for ~1 month before opening.


This looks very pretty and festive, with seeds, strands of orange zest and ruby cranberries pressed up against the glass. Haven't tasted the mature version yet but am hoping it is not too sweet.

Edit: well, it is a bit sweet (although very pink-red and pretty). The explosions of whole cranberries are really delicious, same with the spice seeds, but the background is mainly like applesauce and just a bit too sweet. Cooking apples instead of eating apples would probably be a good idea, if possible. But anyway, this did go very well with nut loaf for Christmas.

Quick quinoa salad

I felt like eating quinoa. While it was cooking, I thought I may as well mix it up with some stuff to make it more interesting. This was very quick and easy - herbs from the balcony (how much longer will they last as it gets colder?), and a few other things from the pantry / fridge / freezer, all requiring minimal prep. We both really liked it - not bad for an afterthought.

1 cup quinoa, cooked in 2 cups of water
1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame, defrosted
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1-2 tbsp chopped chives
2 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1-2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp honey
salt+pepper
1/4 cup dried sour cherries (or cranberries)

Put the quinoa in a small pan with the water, cover and bring to the boil. Simmer over a low heat til the quinoa is tender and the water all absorbed or evaporated (~10 min). Meanwhile, defrost the edamame (pour boiling water over), toast the pumpkin seeds and chop the herbs. Mix the dressing in a small bowl: beat together olive oil, lime juice, red wine vinegar, mustard, honey and seasoning. When ready, transfer the cooked quinoa to a serving bowl and add the dressing. Mix thoroughly. Add the edamame, pumpkin seeds, sour cherries and herbs, mix and serve.


I liked this so much I made a second round to take to the LUrC potluck last night - I thought it would be cool to make something savoury that featured some of the LUrC fruit (sour cherries). I forgot about edamame actually, so this version was just herbs, pumpkin seeds, sour cherries and dressing - I only remembered just now so obviously didn't miss the beans too much! Was psyched that my parsley was still alive on the balcony despite a few -3 or -4C nights. And the chives! So, although the quinoa and other ingredients are from distant lands; the sour cherries were from Cambridge, the herbs right outside my kitchen, and the honey from a friend of S's in Brookline.

Piccalilli

I saw cauliflowers coming into season, and for some reason thought of piccalilli. I'm not even sure if I like piccalilli! But I was thinking about making some more savoury preserves for Winter - I have a lot of jam, and the aubergine chutney I made a few weeks ago reminded me how good savoury preserves can be (and how much faster I tend to eat them). And in my head piccalilli has to involve cauliflower and be really yellow and crunchy... and that's about all I knew (aside from a sketch in the James Herriot country vet books I loved as a kid where he had to eat piccalilli to be polite to a farmer's wife although he loathed it... anyway, I digress).

The version in my preserving book looked OK, but this Jamie Oliver version really grabbed my attention - the ingredient list sounded intriguing and delicious - mango, broccoli and apple as well as the cauliflower. So I followed it (more or less) - gave me the chance to preserve some Somerville-harvested apples I had hanging around the kitchen as well as broccoli, chillies and carrots from the CSA and green tomatoes and green beans from my roof garden. Surprisingly, mango is something I often have in store, owing to my frozen mango habit.

(made 3 large jars and 2 medium ones)

½ large cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 head broccoli, cut into small florets
2 bulbs fennel, cut into small chunks (subbed ~4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into small (~1cm dice), and some chopped green tomato)
4 red chillies, seeds still in, finely sliced (subbed dried)
2 green chillies, seeds still in, finely sliced
200 g fine green beans, chopped into short lengths (used roof beans - Kentucky Wonder and French Filet of varying ages - for these plus runners)
150 g runner beans, cut into short lengths (see above)
300 g shallots, cut into eighths (subbed 1 large and 2 small white onions for this and the red onion)
1 red onion, roughly chopped (see above)
2 handfuls fine sea salt
2 tbsp mustard oil (subbed canola oil)
2 heaped tbsp mustard seeds (used 1 tbsp yellow mustard seed and 1 tbsp brown mustard seed)
2 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp fennel seed, ground (I added this to make up for the absence of fennel)
2 tbsp turmeric
1 nutmeg, grated
2 tbsp English mustard powder (subbed ground yellow mustard seeds)
4 tbsp flour
500 ml white wine vinegar (subbed cider vinegar)
100 ml water
2 apples, grated
2 mangoes, peeled, stoned and roughly chopped (used equivalent quantity chopped frozen mango)
6 tbsp sugar
3 cloves garlic, crushed (/finely chopped)
2 tbsp dried oregano
4 bay leaves

Put all the vegetables in a bowl, add the salt and enough water to cover. Leave in a cool place for about 1 hour. Meanwhile, prep the remaining ingredients and start cooking them.

Heat a saucepan big enough to hold all the vegetables. Add the mustard oil to the pan, then fry the mustard seeds, cumin, turmeric and nutmeg for a moment. Lower the heat, add the mustard powder, flour and a splash of vinegar. Stir well to make a thick paste. Gradually add the remaining vinegar and the water, stirring all the time to make a smooth paste. Add the apples, mangoes, sugar, garlic, oregano and bay leaves. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Drain the salted vegetables and add them to the pan, stirring well to coat with the spicy paste. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables have just softened and started to release some juice. Spoon into sterilised jars and close the lids tightly. Give it at least a month to mature in a cool dark cupboard before eating.


Ha, I took a photo because having that hour of soaking veg in brine meant I was probably the most organised I've ever been before I started cooking...  I haven't tried the piccalilli yet (got to wait a month!) but it looks suitably, violently yellow - I especially enjoy how yellow the cauliflower becomes...

Brinjal chutney

At the end of my day at Drumlin, I became custodian of a large quantity of aubergines otherwise destined for the compost heap. I had no particular plan for them at first. A suggested preserving them in oil; I'd also seen them pickled in vinegar; but I wasn't really fancying either of those options. But then I started daydreaming about aubergine preserving, and what developed in my mind was more of a chutney: deep and dark and richly spiced. I used the spice combination from my favourite aubergine curry, and I based the chutney method on this recipe.

(made ~3 small-medium jars)

1 kg / 2 lb 4oz aubergines, chopped into ~1 in cubes
~2 tbsp salt
~4 tbsp veg oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely diced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
~2 medium chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
50 g / 2 oz ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp nigella seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp tamarind paste mixed with 3 tbsp hot water
150g / 6 oz light brown sugar
300 ml / 1/2 pint cider vinegar

Layer chopped aubergines with salt in a colander, put a weight on top and leave to drain for approx 2 hours or overnight. Rinse and pat dry.

Heat oven to 400F. Toss the aubergine pieces with approx 2 tbsp oil and spread out on baking trays. Bake for ~30 min, until tender. Meanwhile, dry fry the whole spices. When fragrant, let cool a little and then transfer half of the mixture to a spice grinder and grind lightly - leave the rest as whole seeds.

Heat 1-2 tbsp of oil in preserving pan and add onion, garlic, chilli and ginger. Cover and cook until softened (~10 min). Add the ground spices (including turmeric), whole spices, tamarind, sugar, vinegar and aubergines. Bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then cook for about 40 min, until thick and the aubergines are tender.

Spoon into sterilised jars and seal. Let mature for at least a month before opening.


Oh wow, this is delicious. Exactly what I wanted. The few tbsp I couldn't fit in my three jars and became a test part-jar are already in my belly with no days' maturing time and the chutney is already delicious.

Potato and green bean salad

Boiled potatoes and green beans are a great combination. This way you can cook both in the same pot without having to mix them and risk getting one or the other under/over cooked. I like them tossed with a mustardy, vinegary, capery salad dressing. Salty olives or sundried tomatoes also work well.

~15 small new potatoes, washed and bad bits cut off
bag of French beans, topped and tailed and cut into ~ 2 in pieces
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp nasturtium seeds (or capers), chopped
1 tbsp chives, chopped
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
2-3 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1/2 a lemon
salt+pepper

Put the potatoes in a few inches of boiling, slightly salted water in the bottom of a large, lidded pot you can fit a steamer basket into. Cover and bring to the boil. Prep the beans and put them in the steamer basket, then put it into the pan above the potatoes (make sure the water is not boiling up into the basket). The beans will take 10-15 min (until tender); the potatoes will take 15-20 min depending how big and how new they are. Meanwhile, put the remaining ingredients into a serving bowl and whisk together to make the dressing. When the beans and potatoes are ready stop cooking in cold water, drain and then transfer to the dressing while still warmish. Toss together, taste for seasoning and serve.

Beetroot, lentils and wheatberries

This is a meal in a bowl, with all sorts of depths and exciting tastes and textures and colours. You might call it a salad? It comes together really quickly if you have the beetroot, lentils and wheatberries (or you could sub chickpeas and brown rice) already cooked and in the fridge. I had baked the beetroot while I had the oven on to roast some other veg a couple of days ago, so when I wanted to eat this I just had to cook the lentils and wheatberries and prep the other stuff. If I'd done the lentils and wheatberries previously it would have been even faster; as it was the remaining food prep pretty much fitted into the time they were cooking, so still quite speedy.

Baked beetroot:
~5 medium beetroot, washed and trimmed
few sprigs thyme
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp water
salt+pepper

Boiled lentils and wheatberries:
1 cup wheatberries
1 cup brown or green lentils
1 bay leaf
stock powder

Seeds, herbs and spices:
1 tbsp coriander seed
1 tsp cumin seed
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
zest of 1/2 a lemon
1-2 tbsp chives, chopped
1-2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 tbsp mint, chopped

Dressing:
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp white miso
1-2 tbsp olive oil
salt+pepper

To prepare the beetroot, heat the oven to 400F. Wash the beetroot thoroughly and trim. Chop into large / even sized chunks (in half or quarters) and put in a lidded ovenproof dish. Add whole, peeled garlic cloves, thyme (fresh or dried), seasoning, olive oil and water. Put the lid on, put in the oven and bake for 30-40 min, until tender to the point of a knife. Remove from the oven, let cool, then cut into chunky dice.

Put the lentils in a small pan with enough water to cover them by 1cm. Add the bay leaf and a sprinkling of stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for ~30 min, until done. Put the wheatberries in a different pan with ~1 1/2 cups water and a sprinkling of stock. Bring to the boil and simmer 25-30 min, until tender.

Heat a frying pan and dry fry the coriander and cumin seed until fragrant. Let cool a little, then transfer to a spice mill and grind. In the same pan, dry toast the sunflower and sesame seeds until lightly golden and starting to pop. Chop the herbs and zest the lemon.

In a serving bowl, beat the dressing ingredients together with a fork. Add the cooked, still warm wheatberries and lentils and mix well together. Add the beetroot (and garlic and juices) and ground spices and toss some more. Check it is not too hot, then, immediately before serving, add the toasted seeds and fresh herbs. Toss once more, taste and add more salt, pepper and balsamic if needed, and eat.


This is really hearty and versatile - an excellent Autumn / Winter salad protocol. Versions of this have been seeing me right for weeks, as lunches and quick dinners. So long as I have some cooked lentils and wheatberries (or other grain) in the fridge, plus some kind of roasted veg - this week it is butternut squash roasted with za'atar - I can grab some herbs from my pots and mix this up in minutes.

Fridge pickled cucumbers (faux-Grillo's Hot)

S is a big fan of our #1 local pickle-purveyor - Grillo's. He even has the t-shirt. I have been hatching a plan to try and recreate them for him. I picked some vine leaves from the garden I help at (which has a beautiful crop of grapes developing over the entrance archway). Beyond that, I knew I'd need cucumbers, dill, jalapeno and/or habanero chillis, garlic, vinegar and salt. We hung out in our friend D's yard last night, sitting around a fire and talking about skunks and mushrooms. He works at a farm nearby, so at this time of year he always has masses of veg going spare at his place. We left with cucumbers (about 5 little ones) and jalapenos. We already had some lovely-looking garlic left from double-CSA week, and I picked up some dill at the Russian store at the end of our road this afternoon. Now all I need is Grillo's top-secret recipe... This is my best guess.

2 fresh vine leaves, washed (or a couple of pinches of tea leaves)
5 small cucumbers, washed, top-and-tailed and cut lengthwise into spears
3 medium-small jalapenos, deseeded and cut in half lengthwise
2 huge cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced chunkily lengthwise
handful of picked dill fronds, washed
1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar (or cider vinegar)*
2 1/2 cups water*
2 tbsp fine sea (or desert, or pickling) salt
mustard seed (optional)

Put the vine leaves in the bottoms of two large, clean jars. Pack the cucumbers in on top, then add in the dill, garlic and jalapenos, distributing them evenly between the two jars. I decided to try adding mustard seed to one jar (deviating from the recipe I'm trying to recreate, but potentially good). Put the vinegar, water and salt in a pan and heat until just boiling. Pour over the cucumbers, filling right up to the top. Put the lids on and let cool to room temperature before storing in the fridge. Try and wait at least 48 hours before eating.

*A second round, tweaked proportions - changed to the above from 2 cups of vinegar and 2 cups of water.

Edit: We managed to wait almost 48 hours! I made them on Sunday afternoon and we tested the first jar on Tuesday lunchtime. They look and taste like the real deal. S says they are a little more vinegary than Grillo's, which may be just because they could do with pickling for longer (will hang onto the second jar til the end of the week at least), or if that doesn't work I might try using a lower proportion of vinegar in the brine if we come by more cukes. Not bad for a first effort though!

Edit II: After a week the first batch still tasted a little vinegary to S, so I tweaked the proportions of vinegar as above (and ended up subbing some cider vinegar). I gave away several jars from this second batch, and they seem to be universally loved. High praise from D, who not only grew the cukes but is also a bit of a pickle expert. Plus, S reckons he cannot tell the difference between these and Grillo's. Think I've cracked it.

Variations:
Tea leaves instead of vine leaves - it's the tannins that keep things crisp; tea works well and adds an interesting flavour (that can be tweaked eg by using Earl Grey)
Chilli flakes instead of fresh chilli.
Adding fresh nasturtium seeds or dried mustard seeds to the mix.

Sweet, salty pickled cucumber slices

We had sooo many cucumbers: some still from last week's CSA, some from this week's, and even more because we picked up another CSA for a friend who is out of town. In total about 12 medium-large cucumbers. So many! I decided to pickle some of them. I have promised S I will try and make Grillo's-style picked cucumbers, but we had no grape leaves or dill, so that is sidelined. I wasn't feeling very creative, and liked the use of celery seed in this recipe (and had all the ingredients), so I just followed it.

(Made one large and one medium jar)

2 lb cucumbers, sliced 1/4-inch thick (use smaller ones if you have them)
2 sweet onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup large-crystal sea salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp mustard seed (used 1 tbsp brown mustard seed and 1 tbsp yellow)
2 tbsp coriander seed
1/2 tsp celery seed

Put the cucumber, onion and salt in a large bowl and mix. Cover with ice* and let stand at room temperature for two hours, mixing at least once along the way. Put sugar, vinegar and seeds in a large pan and bring to the boil. Rinse the cucumbers and onions and drain well. Add the cucumber mixture to the vinegar mixture and bring almost back to a boil. Remove from heat, let cool a little, then transfer to clean jars with non-metallic lids. Store in the fridge for up to a month: they will be ready to eat after ~24 hours.

*I didn't really have any ice (just 3 cubes), and I wasn't quite sure what it was for anyway, so I just set this up without ice (well, with 3 cubes), and made sure to rinse the veg well when their salting time was up. The pickle did come out quite salty - wonder if this was why?


I wasn't sure about these at first - thought they were a bit too salty, and that perhaps there was a few too many seeds. But despite these considerations, S has been enjoying them from the start, and I think they have matured a little after several days. Still, the next batch will contain less / different seeds and I will wash out the salt even more thoroughly (and/or use less) - think my next batch will contain turmeric, garlic, mustard seed, celery seed, chilli flakes, perhaps anise or fennel seed, or peppercorns...

2 lb cucumbers, sliced 1/4-inch thick (use smaller ones if you have them)
2 sweet onions, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced lengthwise
1/4 cup large-crystal sea salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp mustard seed
1 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp chilli flakes

Easiest beetroot prep: beetroot and brazil nut salad

Beetroot is so beautiful, so tasty, and even comes as two veg in one: greens plus roots. Here is my usual, simplest way to prep the roots - once they are cooked they peel very easily, and can be thrown in any kind of salad or grain dish. Like the one below.

Beetroot prep
 
Separate the beetroot from the greens (save the greens for something else). Scrub the beetroot (but don't peel), then put in a small saucepan and fill with water so covered by about an inch. Cover, bring to the boil, and simmer for 20-30 min, until a pointy knife tip goes in easily (ie they are tender). Drain the beetroot, leave to cool and refrigerate until needed.

Beetroot and brazil nut salad

~6 small beetroot, prepped in advance as above
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
salt+pepper
~10 brazil nuts, chopped
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
2 tsp fresh chives, finely chopped
~8 leaves crunchy Romaine lettuce, roughly chopped

Peel the beetroot: the peel should just slide off as you rub your fingers along them. Dice the naked beetroot into large chunks. Put mustard, maple syrup, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper in a medium serving bowl, then beat together with a fork. Add the diced beetroot and toss, then add the remaining ingredients and toss some more.


Herb combinations can be varied: chives alone, parsley alone, coriander or mint would all be good. the lettuce is optional (although the dressing quantities could be halved if not using). The nuts can also be subbed: walnuts instead, or toasted pumpkin seeds, or nigella seeds.

Roast parsnips and sweet potato with mustard and maple

A simple update of a Delia recipe. With the last of the Spring (ie sweetest) parsnips. The Summer (weekly) CSA has started so I felt the need to empty the fridge out before the green deluge begins...

4 medium parsnips, trimmed and scrubbed
1 large sweet potato, trimmed and scrubbed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sumac
salt+pepper
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp olive oil

Heat oven to 450F. Chop the parsnips and sweet potato (leave peel on) into chunky sticks (~2 cm across / 8 cm long). Put the vegetable pieces in a bowl and toss with 1 tbsp olive oil, sumac, salt and pepper. Transfer the veg to a large baking tray (with edges). Put in the oven and roast for 30-40 min, until the vegetables are tender all the way through and lightly browned. Mix 1 tsp olive oil, maple syrup and olive oil, then distribute over the top of the roasted veg. Eat warm or cold.

Curried cabbage and coconut

Got a big white cabbage that needed eating fast from last week's Alvin farmshare. Turned over a few ideas in my head: perhaps Polish style stuffed leaves (had been talking about these with my labmate who made them with his Polish-descended mother recently)? Or pickled? But then the idea of a dry, yellow curry with coconut came into my head and seemed so delicious I couldn't drop it.

I more-or-less followed this recipe, because it seemed to be quite straightforward and almost exactly what I had in mind - even including curry leaves, which I bought a bag of a month or so ago and had been storing in the freezer until an opportunity to cook them arose.

3 tbsp safflower oil (or other non-flavoured, high temp cooking oil)
1/4 tsp brown mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1 heaping tsp mung dal, urad dal or small yellow lentils
1-2 small green chillies, seeds removed, finely chopped
10-20 fresh curry leaves (used 11)
1 small onion, finely sliced
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 a medium white cabbage (approx 1 lb), cored and shredded
1 piece fresh ginger, 1-inch long, peeled and chopped or cut into matchsticks
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp finely grated fresh coconut or grated dried coconut

Heat the oil in a large, tall saucepan over med-high heat. When it’s hot and shimmery add the mustard seeds. When they have almost all popped (30 sec or so), remove the pan from the heat, then turn down to medium, put pan back on, add cumin, dal, chilli, curry leaves, and saute until everything looks lightly golden (~ 45 sec). Add the onion and cook, stirring, until it’s soft and limp but does not change colour: two to four minutes. Add the turmeric and stir well to mix. Add the cabbage, ginger and salt, and mix thoroughly. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Cook gently, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, slightly translucent, tender, still crunchy but not mushy: about seven minutes. Add the coconut, and mix well. Taste for salt. Let sit for at least 5 min before eating.


This is really delicious, and makes a beautiful pan of yellow shreds studded with brown seeds and dal. The curry leaves lend a very particular aroma and flavour which I like, and the combined dal, cooked cabbage and coconut make a wonderful set of contrasting textures. Yum.

St. Patrick's Day: Mushroom-stout shepherd's pie

Really, this is an effort to use up various odds and ends of things laying around - the fridge, freezer and pantry have all been feeling rather full lately. So, leftover mash and the stout from this, plus some carrots, mushrooms and parsley that needed eating, the last of a jar of tomato puree, stock I couldn't fit in the freezer, a couple of odd ends of packets of pulses... It all came together surprisingly well to make a pie packed with powerful, punchy flavours: a very St. Patrick's Day kind of a thing. About as close as I'm ever going to get to green beer and leprechaun hats, despite living in Boston.

For the topping:
~ 2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp white miso
1 tbsp fake butter
2 tbsp olive oil
~1-2 tbsp fake milk
salt+pepper

For the insides:
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
~10 mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1-2 tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes
3 tbsp mushroom powder (hedgehog+chanterelle)
1 cup crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 cup stout
1 1/2 cups veg stock
1 tsp dark mushroom soy sauce
1 tbsp vinegary red wine
3/4 cup chana dal
3/4 cup brown lentils
salt+pepper


To make the filling, heat the oil in a large, lidded saucepan, then add the onions and fry, covered, until starting to soften (a few minutes). Add the garlic and the carrots, cook a few minutes more, then uncover, add the mushrooms and cook until they turn dark and give up their liquid. Add the spices and dried herbs and saute until fragrant. Add the remaining ingredients, taste for seasoning, then cover and simmer until the pulses are tender (about 40 min).

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 400F. Make the topping: cover the potatoes with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15-20 min, until tender. Drain and mash with a fork until smooth, then add the remaining topping ingredients and continue mashing until a good, smooth consistency. Taste for mustard and seasoning.

When the filling is cooked, pour it into an ovenproof dish and level out. Splodge the mashed potato mixture on top and level it out, patterning it with a fork if you like. Put into the oven for about half an hour, until the potato is starting to brown and the filling is bubbling up. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 min before eating.

Radish relish (and radish pickles)

Came by lots of watermelon radishes. The words 'radish' and 'relish' seemed to fit together so beautifully I had to make it happen. This also turned into an experiment in canning processing - can I can using my basic kitchen equipment?


Radish Relish 
(based on this recipe)

1 lb (2 medium sized) watermelon radishes, peeled and shredded*
1 medium onion, diced
2 inch piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup coconut vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp red Hawaiian salt
1/2 tbsp coriander seed
1/2 tbsp yellow mustard seed
1/4 tsp black peppercorns
1/4 tsp white peppercorns

Combine vinegar, sugar, salt and spices in a large pan and bring to the boil. Add the radishes, onion, ginger and garlic. Bring back to a simmer, stirring until heated through. Remove from the heat.

Spoon relish into sterile jars, leaving ~0.5cm space at the top and poking down with a clean knife to remove bubbles.  Put lids on cleanly and tight. For canning process, you need a large, tall pan with enough space to place a holder in it so that the jars don't touch the bottom of the pan, and still have space for 1-2 inches of water on top of the jars resting on the holder. My tallest pan combined with a metal steamer rose and squat jars allowed me enough space to process two ~400ml jars. Fill the pan (with the steamer in it) with water and bring to the boil. Carefully place the jars in it, bring the water to the right height and bring back to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes (covered if possible). Remove jars carefully and allow to return to room temperature. The button on the lid should pop down if a seal has been made successfully.


Radish Pickles
(based on this recipe)

2 medium sized watermelon radishes, chopped into thickish slices 1-2 in diameter*
1 cup water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp crushed peppercorns
½ tsp brown mustard seed
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced longitudinally
1 small green chilli, halved longitudinally

Bring the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar or honey to a boil in a medium saucepan and simmer until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Remove from heat and add the peppercorns, mustard seed, garlic and chilli. Pack the radishes in two sterile ~500g jars and pour the hot liquid over them, dividing the garlic and chilli between the jars. Put the lids on and let cool to room temperature, checking if the button on top has popped down - if it has they are sealed. They should be ready to eat after 24 hours. Whether or not they have sealed, it is probably wise to keep them in the fridge.

*could use red radishes (no need to peel then) or daikon instead


One sad thing is that the colour all leaches out of the radishes. It remains in the liquid, so there is still prettiness, but you do lose the breathtaking beauty of the freshly sliced watermelon radish. They are a lovely pink, but I don't love them. I prefer the sweeter radish relish (also prettier due to the shreds), but think the white pepper was a mistake - it smells weird. I'm trying really hard to like it as it was hand delivered to me all the way from Borneo though, so I can deal. The other one smells weird too - just a vegetably, radishy smell, but strangely offputting (I notice a similar smell from prepared horseradish, there must be some chemical reaction happening...).


Notes on water bath processing:

As far as I understand, the aim of water bath processing is to create a seal. This is particularly important when you are jarring up something that is high in neither sugar nor vinegar. So I am a little unsure about whether it is really necessary for something like this relish, which is high in both sugar and vinegar. Also, since putting hot stuff in hot sterile jars usually gives me a good seal anyway (button on lid pops down), I do wonder whether the water bath processing is needed for this or not. Plus, if the stuff has gone off it should be obvious? However, botulism is nasty, and I wouldn't want to get it or cause it. So I am still trying to figure out when water bath processing is necessary (and what for).

My pan+steamer system worked fine, but I can only process squat jars (or jars laid on their side) in the water bath as my pan isn't very tall. I could in theory process a whole lot, although only 1-2 at a time. To be really efficient about this I would need a taller pan (perhaps one day I will buy myself a proper preserving pan) and some accoutrements (tongs, rack etc). But for now I am happy to have worked out a system using regular kitchen equipment.

Whole okra with tomato and spices

We ate okra and tofu curry from Yoma last Friday, then bought okra from the Haymarket on Saturday. I think these facts were connected (the curry was good). Last time we bought okra I forgot about it until it was too late, this time I did not let that happen. My usual way with okra is to slice it finely and saute with chopped onion and garlic, mustard seed and other whole spices. This time I wanted it whole and tomato-y, still curry-ish but not the same as the Yoma one. Simple and warming. This is a long list of ingredients but most of them sum up to curry powder.

(total cooking time approx 30 min - make sure to get the rice on first and chop veg in order as you cook)

1 tbsp veg oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 in piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1 clove
1/4 tsp red chilli flakes
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp paprika
1 400g tin tomatoes
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp light soy sauce
slug of (vinegary) red wine
1 bay leaf
3/4 tsp salt
black pepper
~30 medium sized whole okra, washed and stems trimmed but otherwise left uncut
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion, cover and cook for a few minutes. Add ginger and garlic and soften a few minutes more. Meanwhile, make the spice mix: grind the clove, chilli flakes and seeds together and mix with the ground spices. When the onion, garlic and ginger are softened uncover and add the spice mix to the saucepan. Stir and fry a couple of minutes more, until the spices are fragrant. Then add the tomatoes, water, puree, soy sauce, wine, bay leaf, and some salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Lastly, add the whole okra. Cover and simmer for ~15 min, stirring occasionally (careful not to break the okra), until the okra are soft and well cooked. Taste for seasoning and stir in the fresh coriander. We ate this with raw red rice cooked with cumin seeds and a cinnamon stick and tossed with 2 tsp coconut oil when done.


This came out exactly as I hoped, and was ready just as S walked in the door. We also had salad with papaya seed dressing (similar to this one).

Kale-beetroot-brazil nut salad

From this recipe:

2 tsp wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
3-4 tbsp olive oil
salt+pepper
1 bunch kale, washed and finely chopped
2 large beetroot, boiled until tender, peeled and diced
1 spring onion, finely sliced
~10 brazil nuts, chopped

Mix the dressing (mustard, vinegar, oil and seasoning) in the bottom of a large bowl. Add the shredded kale, diced beetroot, spring onion and brazil nuts and toss until the kale is all coated with dressing. Best eaten after sitting for an hour or so - will keep in the fridge for a few days.


The best thing about this recipe is the discovery that beetroot and brazil nuts go really well together.