Candied orange peel in dark chocolate - Christmas gifts vol. 9

makes about 4-5 sets 

4 large oranges

¼ tsp ground ginger

2 cups of sugar

2 cups of water

about 300-400g dark chocolate

Wash the oranges and using small knife divide the peel into four quarters then remove the peel gently. Place on the chopping board and flatten each one with your hand. Remove the white part using sharp knife in the same way as filleting and skinning a fish. Discard the white part - it is quite bitter and cut the orange peel into the stripes about 1 cm wide.

Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the orange peel. Simmer for about 15 minutes, then drain and leave it to dry little bit.

Add 2 cups of water, 2 cups of sugar and ginger to the pan and bring to the boil, then add the orange peel and lower the heat then simmer until most of the fluid is almost gone and peel is nearly translucent. It took me about 75 minutes. 

Remove the pan from the heat and leave it to cool down a bit then remove the orange peel from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool down completely. I left it overnight.

Next gently melt the chocolate in bain marie - in a bowl placed in a pan over simmering water. With a help of two forks dip each strip of orange peel in the chocolate and place onto a baking paper to set. It took only 5 minutes in my cold kitchen. Next divide bags or tins. 

Apple & Old Peculier ale winter chutney - Christmas gifts vol. 8

Yes, it is this time of the year already. If you are keen on making your own Xmas gifts for foodies please fell free to see all my posts from my culinary gifts section, as there are some more chutneys (unfortunately seasonal) and different types of shortbread etc.

This year I made my first chutney using one of my favourite ales from local brewery. You can use different ale, preferably strong, dark and with fruity notes like the Old Peculier.

This is an ideal gift for cheese lovers, I can't wait to try it when it will be matured but even hot and straight from a pan it wasn't too vinegary in flavour.

Please have a piece of gauze and string ready - this is needed if you want to infuse the chutney with spices and remove them before putting in the jars - eating whole peppercorns could be rather unpleasant, so please prevent it if you can. 

makes 5 jars, each about 200ml 

1½ kg apples

3 medium white onions

100g  currants

50g sultanas
1 pint of Old Peculier Ale

1½ cup of dark, soft sugar

1 cup of cider vinegar

1 tsp of whole coriander seeds

½ tsp of whole black peppercorns

½ tsp of ground cinnamon 

half star anise

¼ tsp chilli flakes

Place sultanas and currants in a bowl and cover with ale. Leave it to soak for at least 1 hour.

Place coriander seeds, peppercorns in a mortar and crush them slightly. They don't want to be very fine. Place onto a piece of gauze and add chilli flakes, star anise and tie with a piece of string. Set aside.

Peel the core the apples and then dice into about 0.5 cm pieces. Place in a large pan, preferably heavy bottom one. 

Peel the onions and dice into small pieces. Add to the pan with the apples. 

To the pan add the sugar, ground cinnamon, vinegar, remaining ale and soaked currants and sultanas. Add the bag with spices and bring to the boil. Then lower the heat and simmer for about 2½ - 3 hours, stirring occasionally. 

Most of the liquid should evaporate and apples should be very soft. If you wish to have less chunkier chutney use potato masher and roughly mash the chutney after removing the spices in the bag. Or you can leave it as chunky - texture really depends on the variety of apples you are using. 

Place hot chutney in the sterilised jars, seal and turn up side down and leave them to cool down. You can pasteurise it of you wish to keep it for longer than 6 months. To do so place clean kitchen cloth in a pan together with the jars - up side down and cover half way with water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 30 minutes. Leave it to cool down, remove from a pan, dry and store in dark, cool place.

Sweet and spicy nuts & almonds - Christmas gifts vol. 7

Just a quick list to remind you what we already have in Christmas presents section:
 
Spiced orange liqueur (arancello)
Rosemary & mint salt

Szechuan pepper, lemon, chilli & fennel salt

Lemon & thyme salt

Cranberry & apple chutney

Cranberry & orange jam with vanilla and cardamom

 
This is one of my favourite snacks. There are many spices combinations when it comes to nuts and almonds, however after several times I found my own and I also use it to flavour the popcorn. The secret I suppose is the salted butter. I thought this year I will place this in nice jar and give it to someone as a Christmas gift, but you can made it for yourself as a really tasty snack. 

Makes 2 jars

200g your favourite nuts or/and almonds (I used 100g of walnut halves and 100g whole almonds)
about 30g salted butter, melted
1 tbsp sunflower oil  
¼ tsp cayenne
¼ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp smoked paprika  
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 level tsp mixed spice  
2 tbsp runny honey
2 tsp sesame seeds   

Heat the oven to 150C and line a large baking tray with some baking paper.

In a bowl mix the butter, oil, 1 tbsp of honey and all spices and then add the nuts and almonds. Mix well so they all covered nicely with the spiced butter.  Next place them on the baking tray, evenly, making sure there are in one layer and possibly do not touch each other. 

Place into the oven and roast for about 10 minutes. Next drizzle with the remaining honey and roast for about 5 minutes, sprinkle with sesame seeds and roast for further 5 minutes. Make sure you check the nuts and almonds because the honey is likely to burn and get bitter. Therefore you have to amend the time of roasting accordingly. 

Remove from the oven and leave it to cool down completely.

Place in the clean jars and seal tightly. These should keep up to one month.

Spiced orange liqueur (arancello) - Christmas gifts vol.6

I am bad, bad blogger. This time last year I had five posts about culinary gifts and his year I am not very well organised. Let me just remind you, or introduce to those who are perhaps new followers, my last years culinary Christmas gifts:

Rosemary & mint salt

Szechuan pepper, lemon, chilli & fennel salt

Lemon & thyme salt

Cranberry & apple chutney

Cranberry & orange jam with vanilla and cardamom

Also please, please fell free to see all my posts from my culinary gifts section, as there are some more chutneys (unfortunately seasonal) and different types of shortbread that I made last year for my hampers. Also this time of the year you can make this caramelised onion, that can cost quite a lot in some delis. In my opinion handmade edible presents are great fun for foodies - either when it comes to making them or be given one.

This is a recipe from some ancient "Good Food" but I have changed it slightly. It's similar to limoncello but it is made with orange and spices. Very nice thing for cold, winter days. Bottled will make lovely Christmas gift. 

Makes about 0.75l

peel of 5 small oranges (really thin, witout this bitter white pith)
small piece of cinnamon stick
vanilla pod (optionally)
3 cardamom pods (I used green)

5 cloves

500ml good quality pure vodka (I recommend Polish rye vodkas)

250g caster sugar 

250ml water 

Place orange peel, cinnamon, vanila pod , cardamom and cloves together with the vodka, seal and leave for about 7 days, shaking each day.

Next add the sugar dissolved in the water, mix, seal the jar again and leave for about 5 days, again shake everyday.

After 5 days strain the liquer into a bottle and you can save cinnamon stick or other items for decoration.

Spiced plum chutney

I trusted Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his recipe published in The Guardian , but I forgot to buy the apples. I hope you can trust me and mine slightly changed recipe for spiced plum chutney. It tasted good when still hot, but I like quite sour, vinegar taste. It will fully develop it's flavour after 2-3 months maturing.

Due to the lack of apples that contain a lot of pectin, I used liquid pectin (Certo) and changed some quantities.   I am not sure which variety of plums I used, as there was not information on the market and I forgot to ask. I am going to make some more of this chutney later on this summer, with August ad September varieties, such as damsons or similar. 

Makes 6 jars, about 200ml each 

1.1 kg plums, quartered and stoned
300g onions, peeled and diced
180g stoned prunes, roughly chopped
fresh root ginger thumb size, peeled and finely chopped
400g soft dark brown sugar
400ml vinegar (I used some malt and some red wine vinegar)
2 tsp dried chilli flakes
salt
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp black peppercorns, roughly crushed
about 70g of liquid pectin

Place all the above except the pectin in heave based pan. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, especially be careful with last 30 minutes, when chutney gets sticky and tends to burn. Then remove from the heat and stir in the pectin.

Place hot chutney in the sterilised jars, seal and turn up side down and leave them to cool down. You can pasteurise it of you wish to keep it for longer than 6-9 months. Our chutney will disappear before end of this year. Allow to mature for about 2-3 months.  

Gooseberry chutney

I always show you recipes for dishes that I cooked myself and tasted so I can without shadow of a doubt recommend to you. Today it will be different, I am taking a bit of risk. I have made this chutney based on ingredients of Waitrose gooseberry chutney and various recipes I have found on-line, but I have improvised little bit.

I liked this chutney even when hot, even with this strong vinegar taste, which I am sure will disappear and develop into something else within a time. However I cannot be sure of the final outcome because it was the first time I have made gooseberry chutney. I did not want to wait until next year, so today here it is! Perhaps you will trust my senses and decide to make this or similar chutney this season. I hope it will be worth waiting, I cannot wait to have it with chunk o cheese.

Makes 2½ jars, 190ml each

400g gooseberry, topped and tailed

1 large onion, peeled and diced

handful of sultanas

150g soft brown sugar

180ml malt vinegar

tsp salt

½ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

tsp mustard seeds

Place all of the above in heavy based pan and bring to boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for about 1.5 hrs. Occasionally stir, gently so you do not break up gooseberries too much. Keep an eye on it on last 15 minutes, stirring more often, so it prevents the chutney to catch and burn.

Place hot chutney in sterilised jars, seal and turn up side down. Leave it to cool down and store in cool, dark place. Allow to mature for about 2 months.

Tasting about September time. Keep you fingers crossed!

EDIT: It tastes great! I definitely will prepare more next year. 

Rosemary & mint salt - Christmas gifts vol. 5

I have gone crazy. I have made another flavoured salt. I simply could not resist especially when I smelled fresh rosemary the other day. Also because I knew there is some leftover fresh mint in my fridge, which I bought for a dinner (this pasta). Therefore next day I prepared another flavoured salt which in my opinion will go very well with lamb. I had the opportunity to taste it last weekend and it is perfect with roast potatoes. It smells lovely and look at this colour!


about 8 tbsp rock sea salt (or flaky)
about 2 tbsp fresh rosemary, leaves picked
about 2 tbsp fresh mint, leaves picked

Place all of the ingredients in the food processor and grind until herbs are finely grinded but salt still remains bit coarse. You can make a fine salt if you like.

It happens that I had oven reheated to 175C because I just finished to bake a cake, so I turned the oven off and placed salt sprinkled over a baking tray lined with paper inside. Shake it every 10 minutes , two or three times so the salt dries out evenly. Leave it to cool down in the oven. Then place in clean, sterilised jar.

It might be my last flavoured salt, but perhaps something will inspire me again... Who knows?

Cranberry & orange jam with vanilla and cardamom - Christmas gifts vol. 4

I have just finished my lazy Sunday breakfast and still in my mouth I have this lovely taste of the best jam I have ever made. It is not too sweet, but kind sour-bitter with this lovely hint of cardamom. I think the orange marmalade lovers would like this jam because it has this nice bitterness coming from the orange peel.

When fresh cranberries still in season I will have to make more of this lovely jam because those jars I prepared yesterday will have to be a part of my Christmas hampers for my colleagues. Cranberries again? I simply cannot resist them in the winter season and they are so Christmassy, aren't they? Besides I am so proud of this jam that I have to share it my some other people!





Makes 5 x 190ml jars

500g fresh cranberries
1 large orange
500g sugar
beans of one vanilla pod (or tsp of natural vanilla extract)
3 cardamoms
juice of half lemon
125ml pectin (optional - if you do not use it the jam will be more runny, I preferred it more jelly like; alternatively you can use jam sugar with added pectin)


Pell the orange with veg peeler, thinly and then cut into thin strips.

Remove the cardamom seeds from their skins and smash into a powder using pestle and mortar,

Place cranberries, sugar, orange peel and whole orange juice, lemon juice, cardamom and vanilla in a big pan. Bring to the boiling point, turn the heat down and simmer until most of the cranberries burst. (I love the sound they make!).

Remove form the oven and stir in the pectin (if using) and place hot jam in warm, sterilised jars. Seal, turn up side down and let them to cool down completely.

To be quite honest I don't know how long it will last in a dark cool place, but I think at least 3 months. However I do not think it will last that long - it is so delicious that it disappears quickly ...

Szechuan pepper, lemon, chilli & fennel salt - Christmas gifts vol. 3

My first Christmas gifts post turned out to be quite popular, so I decided to make another flavoured salt. I did not realise how easy is it and it is only your own imagination that limits you, and obviously the herbs and spices in your cupboard.

So if you liked my thyme and lemon salt I hope you will like this one, which perhaps is more interesting for people who like more intense flavours and aroma of spices rather than herbs. Also it makes nice set together with a previous salt. This one should go nicely with pork, fish and vegetable dishes. It has a bit of a kick.

I hope you will enjoy making your own salts. Certainly his is not my last one, but I am not sure if I will manage to show another one before Christmas, so use your imagination and create your own and have fun at the same time.


about 10 tbsp of rock sea salt (or flaky)
rind of one lemon (try to peel it quite thin, the white bit could e bitter)
1 whole dried chilli
2 tbsp Szechuan (or Sichuan) pepper
2 tbsp fennel seeds

Preheat the oven to about 100 C.

Cut the lemon peel into small squares and place onto a baking tray. Place in the oven, set the temperature to about 100 C and bake for about 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the lemon rind closed in the oven until completely cold.

Roughly chop the lemon rind and all the spices in mini chopper or using pestle and mortar. Next add salt and grind - again roughly or finely. I decided to make fine salt so all the flavours mix together and the salt is ready to use.

Place in dry, clean ,airtight jars.

Cranberry & apple chutney - Christmas gifts vol. 2

Today another Christmas gift idea as the time is running like mad and there is less than three weeks left now! I have seen similar recipe in "Good Food" magazine, December 2010 issue, but I have made something similar in the past which I did not place in the jars but used immediately with some roast meat. Inspired by magazine I decided to place this chutney in a jars and leave it to matire for few weeks before Christmas.

Click here for lemon & thyme salt - another exciting Christmas gift idea.





Makes about 4 x 200ml jars

3 large, cooking apples
1 firm pear
1 large, white onion
350g fresh cranberries
piece of fresh ginger, walnut size
about 150g sugar
about 100ml cider of white wine vinegar
few whole black peppercorns

Peel and core the apples and pear, then dice it into small pieces. Peel the onion, cut in half and into slices. Peel and finely chop the ginger.

Place all ingredients except cranberries in a heavy-based pan, then gently heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring regularly until the apples and onions are tender and there is no watery juice remains.

Then add the cranberries and stir gently. Keep on the heat for another 10 minutes until cranberries are softened but not all of them are burst.

Spoon the hot chutney into sterilised jars, seal and store in a cool dark place. It will keep up to 6 months. It taste the best after 2-3 weeks of maturing.

Lemon & thyme salt - Christmas gifts vol. 1

Few weeks ago I was bit concerned with the fact that I probably will not be able to show you some exciting Christmas recipes this year. First of all I do not have much spare time to cook complicated and time consuming dishes and in addition I probably would not be able to buy some of the ingredients required to cook some Polish festive recipes. Also, when I am away from home and dishes that my Mum cooks the best, I am not bothered about cooking any special dishes for Christmas, especially there will only be two of us, so there is no point going crazy with the amount of food.

However I didn't want to disappoint you, My Dear Readers so I managed to prepare two things so far, that can be lovely Christmas presents for food lovers. In my opinion most people appreciate handmade gifts. What better could you wish for foodie?

Bad weather certainly helped me - since Tuesday I finish work earlier and fitness centre cancelled classes and closes much earlier, so I spend more time and home.

Do you wonder where I have found an inspiration for this? Few weeks ago I have found a salt grinder by Jamie Oliver on a sale. It was thyme and lemon salt and I went absolutely crazy about it. I add it almost to everything - meat, fish soups, vegetables. I am not sure if I can manage to get some more so I decided to make my own. This is how it turned out:





Nice, isn't it? And so tasty! So place this lovely salt in a fancy jar and you have pretty Christmas gif. Perhaps you will manage to buy nice grinder and make a lovely set? I think somebody will appreciate your work and hand made gift. This is all you need:



about 10 tbsp of rock sea salt (or flaky)
about 30g fresh thyme (or lemon thyme)
1 bay leaf
rind of one lemon (try to peel it quite thin, the white bit could e bitter)

Preheat the oven to about 100 C.

Cut the lemon peel into small squares and place onto a baking tray lined with baking paper together with bay leaf and thyme. Place in the oven and bake until the thyme is completely dry, turning once or twice.

Remove thyme and bay leaf from the tray, return the lemon to the oven and turn the oven off. Leave it closed in the oven until completely cold.

Shake the leaves off the thyme springs. Crush bay leaf into a salt and mix with thyme.

Remove the lemon peel from the oven and mix with the rest of ingredients.

You can obviously grind your salt in a grinder or food processor and you will end up with fine flavoured salt.

Dark chocolate chips & cranberries shortbread

I have made those shortbreads because I was short of chocolate chips and shop is too far away to go for one missing ingredient. I had all of the ingredients for a dough measured in a bowl when I realised that I have not enough chocolate chips in my cupboard. Although I have found some dried cranberries and decided to add them along the chips. The outcome was fantastic and these will replace my lavender shortbread for a long time, Autumn and Winter for sure.

375g plain flour, sieved
250g unsalted butter, diced
125g caster sugar
handful dark chocolate chips
handful dried cranberries

In a bowl mix the flour with sugar and add diced butter. Work with your fingers (or use food processor) to bring the dough together. At the end add chocolate chips and cranberries.

Form the dough into a rolling pin shape (or huge sausage), wrap in cling film and place in a fridge.

Heat the oven to 140C and line a baking tray with some baking paper. Cut the dough into about 7mm thick cookies and place them on the tray, not too tightly. (I bake them in two batches). Bake for about 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and gently transfer onto a cooling rack. These are quite soft when warm so you have to be careful as you can easily break them. Cool down on a wire rack and store up to one week in airtight container.

Yorkshire Lavender - does it sound weird?

When you think “lavender” the next thing you would possibly think is “Tuscany” or “Provence”. Would you think “Yorkshire”? I doubt it.

I was rather surprised when I found a leaflet of “Yorkshire Lavender” spot and I knew I was going to visit it as soon as possible. I am little bit obsessed with a lavender - I have got lots of lavender bags all over the cottage, lavender oil in burner and obviously some candles. One of our rooms is painted lavender, I use lavender and camomile bedroom spray to relax before sleeping, I love lavender soaps and shower gels. Not mentioning lavender plants in the pots on our patio. There was no other option than visiting this place at our earliest convenience.

Yorkshire Lavender is situated in beautiful surroundings, outside Terrington, which is 3 miles west of Castle Howard, 14 miles north east of York and 8 miles west of Malton in North Yorkshire. It is not far away from charming Rievaulx Abbey - a former Cistercian abbey which is definitely worth visiting too.





Yorkshire Lavender is a family project and it has only started from few rows of lavender but now you can enjoy many different varieties of lavender, amazing array of different colours in the summer. If you fancy having some at home, you can buy plants in a specialist plant nursery, where you can also find all the usual culinary herbs of different varieties. Very tasty Moroccan mint and golden marjoram plants which I bough are now growing nicely on my patio and I am using them with many different dishes. Huge bushes of different herbs in the garden amazed me with their smell when I was passing by.







Also there is a award-winning tea room, restaurant and gift shop where you can buy lavender related items – oils, soaps, candles, lavender bags, scented sticks, lavender honey, biscuits, dried culinary lavender and many others. Obviously I bought some culinary lavender and I made my own shortbread inspired by latest Olive magazine recipe. It is scrumptious!

Another attraction is a sculpture park named “The Spirit of Yorkshire” where you can find eleven metal fielding cricketers taking a cricket match and you should also be able to see some deer that were only few steps away from the gardens.




It is definitely must see if you are a lavender lover. And do not forget when visiting the Yorkshire Lavender that you are very welcome to weed as it says a sign on the shop door into the garden.

Not bored with lavender yet? Try this recipe for the lavender shortbread. It is truly delicious.





Lavender shortbread


200g unsalted butter
300g plain flour
100g caster sugar and extra for dusting
1 cheaped tsp of dried lavender buds for culinary use
1 tbsp ice cold water

Mix the butter and the sieved flour in a bowl. Using peste and mortar or food processor, blend the lavender and sugar. When they are quite fine sieve and add to the bowl and mix. Discard any lavender left in the sieve. If the dough does not wanto to come together add tbsp of very cold water. Turn out the dough onto some baking paper, wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 140 C (fan). Roll out the dough and cut into rectangular biscuits or slice rolled dough into round ones. Sprinkle with little sugar and bake for about 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 20 biscuits that keep for a week. I keep them in a biscuit tin, but they never last more than 3 days anyway because they are so delicious.