Condiments

Cut off the green outer skin. Slice and salt, place in a container in the fridge overnight. Discard the watermelon tears and rinse of excess salt, dry them. 

On a low heat brine ingredients, dissolve the sugar, bring to a gentle simmer then turn off and let it all infuse. Cover your melons and allow to cool. Once cool pop them in the fridge and they'll be good for two months.

This recipe was sourced from Cornersmith Salds & Pickles. Its a great book with lots of great pickling info.

Pickled Watermelons

Dinner

Mix it all up, let it rest in the fridge for 30min, roll it out and slice it.

Pasta Dough

Baked Things

I found this recipe on Alexandra's Kitchen. A wonderful site with lots of great recipes. https://alexandracooks.com/2021/06/26/how-to-make-ciabatta-bread/

50 grams (about 1/3 cup) all-purpose flour

2 grams (1/2 teaspoon) instant yeast, SAF is my preference

50 grams (about 1/4 cup) water, lukewarm or room temperature

360 grams (about 1.5 cups) water, lukewarm or room temperature

12 grams (about 2 teaspoons) salt, kosher or sea salt

450 grams (about 3.5 cups) bread flour, see notes above

Mix flour and yeast together and let sit for a few hours.

Mix in the rest of the flour and water until combined. Leave for 30min and come back every 30-40min to stretch out the dough. Once stretched a few times, pop in a bowl with a tea towel on top and pop in the fridge over night to let flavour develop.

In the morning let it come up to room temperature. Pop on the oven at 220C fan forced. And bake for 25-30min. 

TIPS: I pop in a bowl of water in an oven proof dish or ramekin to give it extra crust. Use wet hands to deal with wet dough, stops it sticking 😉

I found this recipe on Alexandra's Kitchen. A wonderful site with lots of great recipes....

Simple Ciabatta Bread

100g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar

60ml (1/2 cup) golden syrup (or honey also works well)

Mix butter and sugar together well. Add the reset of the ingredients and combine. Cover in plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for 30min to let the dough reset. Preheat over to 180C and bake for about 10min.


Baking time is depending on the thickness that you've rolled the cookie dough at. You'll see the edges start to brown which is an indication of readiness.

If the dough is a little dry add another egg yolk.

Mix butter and sugar together well. Add the reset of the ingredients and combine....

Ginger Bread

Soup

500g parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped

1 teaspoon garam masala, plus extra for garnish

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan/gas mark 6).

Place the chopped parsnips and quartered onion in a roasting tin. Drizzle with sunflower oil, season lightly with salt and pepper, and toss to coat evenly.

Roast the vegetables in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden and caramelized.

Transfer the roasted parsnips and onion to a high-powered blender or large pot if using an immersion blender.

Add the garam masala, then pour in the coconut milk and hot vegetable stock. Blend until smooth and creamy.

Taste and season with additional sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, adjusting as needed.

Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and sprinkle with a pinch of extra garam masala and black pepper for garnish, if desired.

Serving Suggestion: Serve hot with crusty bread or a drizzle of coconut cream for extra richness. 

Spiced parsnip bisque

2 carrots, peeled and halved lengthways then chopped

4 tbsp dried margheritine soup pasta, or another small pasta

Heat oil in a large pan, add the leek and carrots and cook over medium heat for at least 5 minutes until the carrots begin to soften.

Port in the tomato sauce and 1 litre of water, then simmer for 10 minutes. (you can boil the water first to speed things up)

Add the pasta and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Stir through the peas and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and season generously to taste with salt and black pepper.

Heat oil in a large pan, add the leek and carrots and cook over medium heat for at...

Pantry Minestrone

Slow Cooker

Chop everything up chunky like. In regards to mushrooms I love a shit tonne of them, the more the merrier for me. If you have time brown of the meat, dust it in flower and  place in a hot pan with some oil to brown the sides off.

Whack everything together in a slow cooker and wait patiently for about 6 hours. 

Chop everything up chunky like. In regards to mushrooms I love a shit tonne of them,...

Beef stew

Sauces

Grate ginger and garlic. Add Soy Sauce, Mirin and honey to taste. Add a splash of Sake or a plain white spirit thats on hand. Whisk in some corn starch and bring to a gentle boil. Take off the heat and allow to cool before marinating anything.

Grate ginger and garlic. Add Soy Sauce, Mirin and honey to taste. Add a splash of...

Teriyaki sauce

Really you can use any apples you like and as much or as little sugar as you like. For me I love Granny Smith apples they have a tart sour kind of taste which complements pork really well. 

Get a little zest off of the lemon. Thinly slice up the apple into a pot. Squeeze in the juice. Whack in the zest and sugar and put on a low heat. No water is needed as the apples should sweat it out as they reduce down. Cook until all is tender. I cooked for about 45min. Then using a stick blender smoosh it all together. This helps integrate any skin on the apples into the sauce. 

Apple Sauce

Cook out the mushrooms in butter until softened. Add the cream mustard and stock and reduce. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Total: 38