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DIY Chilli Salt Edible Gifting

Over the summer our local supermarket was selling off a bunch of live chilli plants, and even though I really don’t like chilli – except in hot chocolate – I love the splashes of red against the deep green leaves and I love the brightness it introduces to my kitchen. The plant itself is one of those that gives more the more you take from it, so we’ve had a healthy harvest of chillies over the last few months, and I’ve been giving them away to anyone who’d have them. I did decide to keep a few though, because I wanted to give one of my chilli-loving friends a little gift of chilli salt.

We use Himalayan pink salt which I tend to bulk buy as it lasts forever, and we use salt for some non-food purposes that make good gifting ideas too, and I can crush it as we need it. I also wasn’t sure how dry the chilli gets itself just by lying on the windowsill, so I popped them in the dehydrator for a few hours till the chillies were properly dry. (They crackle when you snap them.)

I also put the chillies into the Thermomix® (food processor) first so they can be chopped up before I add the salt because I didn’t want the crystals to be broken down too fine.

Just one note here – when you’re blending this up in your food processor, make sure to cover any airholes (in a safe manner). If the air fills up with chilli salt, it’s not a whole lot of fun on your nose or throat or eyes!

I’ve decorated empty herb and spice and other jar lids with washi tape to make it prettier and as these will go into a festive food hamper, I’ve done them in Christmassy colours.

 

DIY Chilli Salt
 
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Author:
Serves: 350g
Ingredients
  • 300g Coarse Himalayan Salt
  • 20- 25 small chillies, dried
Instructions
  1. In a food processor chop the dried chillies till they are as fine as you'd like them
  2. (Thermomix®: PUT THE MC IN PLACE, 10 seconds/speed 5)
  3. Add the coarse pink salt and mix again. Don't make it too fine.
  4. (Thermomix®: MC still in, 10 seconds/speed 5)
  5. Use a funnel or similar to pour into dry containers and keep sealed.

 

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Home-Made Lavender Sugar Recipe

lavender sugar

Lavender Sugar is one of those things I’ve always looked at and loved the idea of, but never really known what to do with. I’ve always liked crystallised lavender – it’s both pretty and tasty – but aside from medicinal or household use, I’ve never really known how to actually use lavender in food. Partly due to its strong flavour and partly due to its very floral flavour, it’s something you have to use with care, but should definitely use!lavender sugar Making lavender sugar couldn’t really be simpler – the two ingredients are in the name, after all. If you don’t have a food processor you can just mix the two and stir, but I like making the sugar just a little finer, so it’s not so crunchy. Be careful though – I don’t like making it icing sugar either! Just a finely granulated sugar is perfect.

Leave the lavender for a week or so, allowing the flavours to infuse thoroughly into the sugar.  You can make Lavender Sugar ahead as a hostess gift, Christmas gifts, wedding favours and other gifting opportunities, and even include a recipe card or two with the jar. It’s a cheap and beautiful gift to make!lavender sugar

Make the Lavender Sugar two weeks before you’re going to gift it, and make sure to leave instructions to use withing 9 -12 months, so aside from drying out, I can’t image the lavender would go bad!

Recipe for Lavender Sugar

Lavender Sugar Recipe
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Dessert, Sweet, Condiment
Cuisine: Foraged
Serves: 1kg
Ingredients
  • 2 tsp lavender flowers
  • 1kg white sugar
Instructions
  1. Use a fork or your hands to remove the flowers from the stalk
  2. Add them to the food processor
  3. Add the sugar and blend together - depending on your food processor, adjust your speed to make sure you don't end up with icing sugar.
  4. In the Thermomix®, hit the Turbo button 2 - 3 times quickly.
  5. Decant the sugar into jars, and seal tightly.

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lavender sugar

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Calamari, Tomato & Basil Pasta Recipe

Calamari Tomato & Basil

I’ve been enjoying the summer weather lately, and been loving the entertainment opportunities that presents too. When I have guests though, I like having pre-prepared, or quick to prepare meals as I don’t like spending ages in the kitchen! That’s just one of the reasons I really enjoy this Calamari, Tomato & Basil Pasta: it’s easy to prepare before hand, leaving just 10 minutes cooking time required.Calamari Tomato & Basil

I prefer to use fresh pasta when pasta is the main part of the meal, so I’ve used fresh pasta in this recipe. Dry pasta works, but needs to be cooked for longer. It can also be served in a salad, or with quinoa or other starch of your choice.

Use a good quality squid for this recipe too – nothing worse than leathery calamari!

Now, if you want to prepare this meal for later cooking, chop the garlic cloves, wash and dry the cherry tomatoes – halve them if they are the larger variety – wash the squid, clean it and cut it into rings, and chop the basil leaves roughly. Store all the items in the fridge till about 20 minutes before you’re going to cook them, leaving it to warm to room temperature a little.

If your calamari loses a lot of liquid in the cooking, you can pour it out about before adding the cherry tomatoes.

Serve immediately – and if you’re having wine, Calamari, Tomato & Basil Pasta pairs really well with a dry white wine, like a Pinot Grigio – a wine I don’t normally like, but it works fantastically with this. Another alternative is Riesling.

Calamari, Tomato & Basil Pasta
 
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There's a lot of flexibility in this recipe, with room for adaptations to make it your favourite. You may not like anchovies, but don't miss them out as they really add to the flavour of this dish.
Author:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • Pasta for four people
  • 2tbsp olive oil
  • 1-2 garlic cloves
  • 4 anchovy fillets
  • 250g cherry tomatoes, washed and dried
  • 450g squid, cleaned and cut into rings
  • bunch cut basil leaves
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Prepare the pasta as per brand instructions. Set aside. (I bring 1000g water to boil in the Thermomix® - Varoma/8 mins/ speed 4 - then add the pasta in the internal steamer for 3 - 4 minutes / Varoma/speed 4)
  2. To a heated pan, add the oil, garlic and anchovy to a frying pan and heat till the anchovy sort of 'melts'.
  3. Add the squid and fry for 1 - 2 minutes, tossing them as you do.
  4. Next, add the cherry tomatoes and fry them for 3 - 4 minutes, till they begin to soften and leak juice - I prefer the cherry tomatoes to still have some bite to them, but it's personal choice, really!
  5. Test the squid to make sure it's nice and tender, then add the basil, salt and pepper.
  6. Serve with the pasta, or as a salad with green leaves.

 

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One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish – Savoury Crackers

Savoury Crackers

This little One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish project was a labour of love! The resulting savoury crackers were fairly stunning though, we think!Savoury Crackers

If you know Dr Seuss, you know this book title, I think? One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.

Bizarrely, despite the yellow colouring of the text on Two Fish (on our version of the book), there’s no ‘yellow fish’ reference in the book, but there is a black fish. This may seem irrelevant, except it’s not, when you’re trying to bake multi-coloured and multi-flavoured themed fish crackers!

I know my US friends have something called Goldfish crackers, but we don’t have anything like that, so I had to look for the smallest cookie cutter I could find. I did, in the end, find this one.

I used my regular crackers recipe, and made up a batch of the dough.

Split the dough into equal sizes of the colours you’re going to use. 

I used black, green, yellow, red and blue – just a few drops of a gel based food colouring* worked well so it doesn’t affect either the flavour or make it too wet.Savoury Crackers

  • For flavouring the black fish, I used black onion seed but I think Aniseed (almost licorice in flavour) would work too.
  • For the green fish, I immediately opted for basil, but I thought chive might work well too. And possibly some cheese, but that would reduce the shelf life of the crackers.
  • Yellow fish suit garlic powder or onion powder – I prefer powders, again for the shelf life extending.
  • The red fish had some smoked paprika, but tomato paste would be good too, or chilli if that’s your thing.
  • For blue I went with the sea theme and just sprinkled some sea salt on but these are already fairly salty, so don’t overdo it.

Savoury Crackers

If you’re using the same bowl and don’t want to wash between each colour mixing, do the yellow first, then the blue, followed by the green, then the red and then black.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish - Savoury Crackers
 
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If you use a larger cookie cutter, you'll take a lot less time than an hour. The mixing of the dough itself takes less than 5 minutes. With these tiny fish 3 - 4 minutes of baking is sufficient (I use a stone try, so just try one to be sure it's cooked if you use steel or glass.)
Author:
Recipe type: Snack, Baked, Book Food
Cuisine: Savoury
Serves: lots
Ingredients
  • 520g (4 cups) Plain Flour
  • 10g (2tsp) Salt
  • 4tbs olive oil
  • 250g (1 cup) water
Extras
  • 1-2 teaspoons each of:
  • Drieid Basil
  • Black Onion Seeds
  • Garlic or Onion Powder
  • Sea Salt
  • Smoked Paprika
  • Red, Green, Blue, Yellow and Black food colouring
Instructions
Thermomix® Recipe
  1. Heat the oven to 180C/350F
  2. Add all the ingredients to the Thermomix® bowl
  3. Mix 10 Seconds/ Speed 5 till all mixed
  4. Then mix 1 Minute/Speed 3
  5. Split the dough into 5 equal balls
  6. Add one ball and its extras and colouring back into the Thermomix® bowl and mix 10 Seconds/ Speed 8.
  7. Sprinkle flour on a clean surface and roll out the dough as thin as you can.
  8. Cut into shapes using a cookie cutter. Combine the left over excess, roll out and repeat, until all the dough is used.
  9. Repeat till all the colours are done.
  10. Bake for 5-8 minutes, but these fish are tiny so they don't need long. Keep and eye on them.
  11. Loosen the fish from the baking tray as soon as possible, but leave to cool so they can crisp up. Transfer to an airtight container where they should last for a few days. If they lose their crispness, pop them in the oven for a few minutes again.
Regular Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 180C/350F
  2. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and mix till well combined and pliable.
  3. Split the dough into 5 equal balls
  4. Add one ball and its extras and colouring back into the food processor and mix till it's well combined.
  5. Sprinkle flour on a clean surface and roll out the dough as thin as you can.
  6. Cut into shapes using a cookie cutter. Combine the left over excess, roll out and repeat, until all the dough is used.
  7. Repeat till all the colours are done.
  8. Bake for 5-8 minutes, but these fish are tiny so they don't need long. Keep and eye on them. Loosen the fish from the baking tray as soon as possible, but leave to cool so they can crisp up. Transfer to an airtight container where they should last for a few days. If they lose their crispness, pop them in the oven for a few minutes again.

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One Fish Two Fish

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Chia Mocha Recipe

One of the recipes in this month’s Degustabox was a Chia Mocha, to go with the chia seed samples from The Chia Co. Even though I’m not normally a fan of textured liquids – I don’t even like lumps in my soup – I was keen to try this recipe, because I have a whole pot of chia seeds I don’t really know what to do with! I bought them because I know chia seeds are supposed to be very good for you, then couldn’t figure out what to do with them as I’m not overly keen on either chia jam or chia porridge – too lumpy for me! This recipe was quite surprising though, and is perfect for lovers of coffee with chocolate, or chocolate with coffee – whichever you see a mocha as!

If you don’t give this a good whizz in a food processor, the end result is a lumpy sort of drink – like bubble tea, but really really small bubbles. It’s drinkable if you don’t dislike the texture. Chia Mocha

If you do mix it enough to break down the chia, you’ll end up with a thicker, smoother drink. 

This Chia Mocha is easily adaptable. I changed it to coffee for one, since I am drinking it alone. I just halved the original recipe’s ingredients. I also made it in the Thermomix®, but you can use any food processor. I think it would be simple enough to adjust to your tastes. For example if making it again, I’d probably use regular cows milk instead of coconut milk as I prefer a whiter, lighter coffee. If you’re used to black coffee or nut milks, this will be perfectly fine for you!

The chia seeds will cause the drink to thicken up a bit, making a comforting, but invigorating and filling drink.

Here’s the original recipe from Degustabox and below is my adapted to a single serving version.

Chia Mocha

 

 

Chia Mocha Recipe
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Drinks
Serves: 1 cup
Ingredients
  • 1 cup/250ml/250g prepared coffee (instant or filtered, as you prefer)
  • 80ml/80g coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon cacao powder or cocoa
  • 1 teaspoon chia seeds
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon honey or other sweetener (I used Natvia)
Instructions
  1. Add the all the ingredients to the Thermomix®
  2. Put the MC in place
  3. Mix 100C/Speed 5/ 4 Minutes
  4. Make sure the MC is still in place, then Speed 7/30 seconds
  5. Pour and enjoy

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Chia Mocha

 

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Chia Raspberry Cacao Nib Peanut Butter Slice

Peanut Butter Slice

This peanut butter slice is adapted from the original Degustabox The Chia Co recipe. I had to make some changes to it as my kids wouldn’t eat cranberries if they were the last food on earth, and human survival depended on them. So I went for the freeze dried raspberries in the cupboard, and filled them out with some cacoa nibs for a raspberry and chocolate flavour to this ‘slice’ which could also quite easily be called a flapjack, except it has no sugar or butter and isn’t baked.Peanut Butter Slice

So, if you want a sugar free, butter free, no-bake flapjack, congratulations. You’ve found it in the form of a peanut butter slice.

I must then immediately caveat that by saying that in the 0 – 4C temperatures we’re having at the moment, these hold really well straight out the fridge. It’s likely that in hot temperatures, you could end up with a delicious peanut butter muesli. Try it and let me know?

Here’s the original recipe from Degustabox:

And here’s the adapted peanut butter slice version.

Chia Raspberry Cacao Nib Peanut Butter Slice
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Snack
Cuisine: Healthy, Free From
Serves: 20 bars
Ingredients
  • 70g whole almonds, roasted
  • 150g oats, toasted
  • 75g raisins
  • 50g desiccated coconut
  • 50g cacao nibs
  • 5g freeze dried raspberries
  • 2½ tbsp chia seeds (about 15g)
  • 105g honey
  • 100g smooth peanut butter
Instructions
  1. Pre heat the oven to 160C (320F)
  2. Place the oats on a baking tray and toast for 15 - 20 minutes. Keep an eye on it so that it doesn't burn. On a separate tray, toast almonds for 10 - 12 mins, allowing to cool slowly.
  3. Add the almonds to the Thermomix®, pulse quickly twice.
  4. Add oats, raisins, coconut, cacao nibs, raspberries, chia seeds, honey and peanut butter.
  5. Mix reverse/speed 4/ 2 minutes
  6. If you're not using a pan with a removable base, line a 20cmx20cm tray or pan with baking paper, tip the mixture in and press down into the corners, flattening the mixture to make it even.
  7. Cover with cling film or plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
  8. Once it's set, remove, slice and cut into bars or bites.
  9. Store in the fridge.

These are easily adaptable and are very tasty. They make fabulous breakfast bars on the go and can hold a plethora of hidden healthy foods that might not otherwise go down well. They are very filling and they freeze well too, so  you can make a huge batch, and keep some in the fridge and some in the freezer, so they’re ready when you need them.

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Honey Dough Balls Recipe

Honey Dough Balls

It’s a Winnie the Pooh time of year again, which means pretty much any time is the time for a little something, so long as that something includes some honey! Knowing this, I made sure to stock up on honey this week, because come Winnie the Pooh Day, we’ll be having honey everything. For human children though, jars of honey don’t seem to be sufficient picnic food, so I’m adding a few delicious honey-based recipes to our honey – repertoire.

These honey dough balls are traditionally an Italian recipe, but I’m sure they won’t mind sharing it with Winnie the Pooh, because really, dough balls smothered in honey? Pooh’d love it. I did consider drizzling condensed milk over – Pooh’s other favourite – but that’s just too much sweet for me.

“Pooh always liked a little something at eleven o’clock in the morning, and he was very glad to see Rabbit getting out the plates and mugs; and when Rabbit said, ‘Honey or condensed milk with your bread?’ he was so excited that he said, ‘Both,’ and then, so as not to seem greedy, he added, ‘But don’t bother about the bread, please.”

Honey Dough Balls

These little blissful bites are sticky and crunchy and chewy at the same time.  As soon as the honey is poured they’ll still be warm but very sticky. If you leave them to cool the honey will harden a little, making them less messy to eat. Skewer the honey dough balls with fondue sticks, and tuck in. (I think these would be awesome with vanilla ice cream too, but it’s a bit cold to test that right now!) Honey Dough Balls

Isn’t it funny that the bear likes honey.
Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz.
I wonder why he does.

~ Winnie the Pooh

Find more recipes for Winnie the Pooh here, and activities to do with the kids for Winnie the Pooh day here

Honey Dough Balls Recipe
 
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Author:
Recipe type: T5 recipe
Cuisine: Italian, Winnie the Pooh
Serves: 60
Ingredients
  • 200g water (50g more if you're using organic flour)
  • 70g vegetable oil
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 340g all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 170g honey
  • 85g sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 400F/200C
  2. In the Thermomix®, add the water, oil and salt.
  3. Bring to boil 4mins/Varoma/Speed 2/No MC
  4. Open the lid and add the flour to the side (so it doesn't get stuck on the blades)
  5. Mix for 1mins/Speed 1
  6. Add two eggs through the lid
  7. Mix for 2mins/speed 2
  8. Scoop out the dough about ½ a teaspoon at a time, making balls in the palm of your hands.
  9. Lay them out on a tray. They don't rise, so you don't have to worry too much about extra space.
  10. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, depending on your oven. (My oven burns really hot at the top, and much cooler at the bottom, so after 10 minutes I turned it all out into a glass dish and baked the other side)
  11. Set aside to cool in a heat proof dish
  12. In a clean Thermomix® bowl, add the honey, sugar and cinnamon
  13. Boil 5 minutes/Varoma/Speed2
  14. Pour the hot sugar syrup over the dough balls, using a spoon to make sure it's all coated.
  15. They are very sticky, but if you leave them to cool the honey mixture will harden. It's still sticky, but easier to eat.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 4 Calories: 2011cal Fat: 71 Saturated fat: 5g Trans fat: 0 Carbohydrates: 337 Sugar: 240g Sodium: 119mg Fiber: 4g Protein: 21g Cholesterol: 0

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Easy Monster Eggs

Monster Eggs

It’s almost Halloween and while the rest of the world have been having parties and trick or treating, we’ve been so busy I’ve not even thought about it too much. This evening though we did breakfast for dinner, of a sort, with sausages, eggs and potato wedges, and I decided to make them a little Halloween-ish. So here’s a quick recipe for  Monster Eggs to bring some Halloween into your day with little to no effort.Monster Eggs

Fortunately, I happened to have edible ink and edible eyes on hand (That’s normal, right?!) so it was easy to do. If you don’t have those, you could use mayonnaise and olives for the eyes, or even mayonnaise and a sprig of greenery for eye slits.

For this recipe you will need:

  • 4 peeled and boiled eggs (14 minutes in the Thermomix® internal steamer/Varoma) 
  • 50g spinach
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • Salt to taste

Cut the eggs in half, then scoop the yolks out
eggs Combine the yolks, spinach, mayo and paprika in a food processor and blend till it’s a smooth mix (2 mins, speed 4 in the Thermomix®)

If you have edible ink, draw eyelashes on the egg whitemonster-eyes

Scoop spoonfuls back into the egg whites and top with the ‘eye balls’

egg-eyes

Sprinkle salt to taste

These will keep for a few hours in the fridge if you’re making them for later

Follow this link for more Halloween recipes