Lj's Mango & Banana Chutney

So many fresh Mango's off my tree this year! 

Whipped up this Chutney for myself and to share with some friends!

Ingredients:

6 fresh mangoes medium sized - skin and seed removed and cubed

2 Bananas sliced

1 cup of Raisins

1 large white onion diced 

3 cups of vinegar ( I usually use apple cider but ran out and used white today)

2 cups of sugar 

1 teas curry powder

1 teas chilli powder

1 teas cinnamon

1 teas yellow mustard seeds

3/4 cup sweet sherry ( you could use port)

What to do:

I've used an electric pot I have that is like an electric frypan but a pot. I add the vinegar and sugar and stir to dissolve the sugar a bit. Add everything else and bring to the boil, then let it simmer until thickened, took approx 4 hours but I cooked it slow. Bottle in sterilised jars while hot. 

Lj's Homemade Spiced Tomato Ketchup

I love the smell of the house while making home made sauces! Here's a Tomato Ketchup recipe I have been making for years. I generally change it up every time! Here is the version I made over the weekend :-)

Ingredients:

2 Kg of Ripe Truss Tomatoes Diced

4 Small White Onions Finely Chopped

4 Cloves of Fresh Garlic Crushed

2 Granny Smith Apples Diced

1 1/2 Cups of Brown Sugar

1 1/2 Cups of White Vinegar

1/2 Cup of Balsamic Vinegar

1 Teaspoon of Black Peppercorns

6 Cloves

1/2 a Cinnamon Stick

1 Fresh Bay Leaf

1 Tablespoon of Curry Powder

What to do:

In a piece of cheesecloth add the Cinnamon Stick, Bay Leaf, Cloves and Peppercorns and tie to secure. Add all of the other ingredients in a large saucepan or non stick frypan. Stir to combine. Bring it to the boil and then let it simmer until all of the ingredients are very tender. Discard the cheesecloth bag and use a stick mixer or blender to puree the sauce. Sometimes I strain it through a fine sieve to remove the seeds but this time I decided to leave it as it. I find that when you don't strain it and leave it sit in a dark spot for a few months it intensifies the flavour. In saying that it never lasts that long in this house.

Cooks tips: Replace the Vinegar's with 2 cups of Malt Vinegar, today I just used what I had as I had run out of Malt Vinegar. Try it with Apple Cider Vinegar its LUSH!

This morning I served some of this luscious sauce with some Breakfast fritters.

You can find the recipe here:

http://ljsgourmetkitchen.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/ljs-corn-beef-breakfast-fritters.html

Lj's Homemade Pickled Gold Beetroot

I found this gorgeous looking Gold Beetroot at my local fruit shop yesterday morning. I've never seen one and picked it up with a new recipe in mind.

Ingredients:

1 Large Gold Beetroot

1 Birds eye Chilli

1 Clove of fresh Garlic sliced

1 1/2 Cups of Apple Cider Vinegar

1 Cup of filtered water

1 Tablespoon of Brown Sugar

1/2 Teaspoon of Yellow Mustard Seeds

1/2 Teaspoon of Ground Cinnamon

(I would usually use some Cinnamon Stick but ran out)

1/2 Teaspoon of Pink Peppercorns

1/2 Teaspoon of Black Peppercorns

What to do:

Generally when pickling Beetroot I cook them whole in water, let them cook and then cut them up. Today I decided to peel and dice and do it a little bit differently.

 Add all of the ingredients to a Saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook for approx half an hour or until the beetroot is tender. Add to a sterilised glass jar and seal. You can store in a dry cool place but I'd prefer to just rip into it :-)

Marinated Mushrooms with Bite...

Here's my Mums original recipe...

3 Cups of Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2 Cup of Fresh Lemon Juice

10 Peppercorns

2 Fresh Bay Leaves

2 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme

2 Cloves of Garlic thinly sliced

3 Small Red Thai Chilli

1 kg Button Mushrooms

Combine all of the ingredients besides the mushrooms in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil, reduce to a dinner and add the mushrooms. Simmer for 15 minutes. Pour into hot sterilised jar and seal while hot. These will last for 6 months, refrigerate after opening. 

I made some yesterday and used rosemary and oregano instead of thyme and left out the chilli. 

Yum yum yum!

Homemade Lemon Curd

I have come across and made many versions of Lemon Curd over the years. When I first started taking cooking seriously I never had the patience for it.. having to stand there and stir and keep a close on eye on it was not my idea of fun and I would always pinch a Jar whenever Mum made it.  Now I LOVE making it!

Here is how I like to make it.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Fresh Lemon Juice (Approx 4 Medium Lemons)

Rind from one Lemon

1 1/2 Cups of Sugar

4 Free Range Eggs

125g Butter diced

What to do:

In a large saucepan add the eggs and the sugar. Mix together well using a whisk. Add the lemon juice and rind and then the diced butter. Cook on very low heat stirring while the butter melts. Continue to stir and keep a close eye on it so that is remains smooth. Remove from the heat when it thickens.

Great in Lemon Curd Tarts, Butterfly Cupcakes in the place of Jam, A dollop on top of the cream on your Pavlova.. endless ideas and so easy to make. Much nice than the crap you buy in jars at the Supermarket and a great way to use up fresh Lemons

Hollandaise Sauce Dukan Style

This in incredibly delicious and one of the best home made Hollandaise recipes I have ever made. I found the recipe here... http://mydukandiary.com/dukan_diet_free_recipes.html

Unfortunately this page is no longer being updated and unable to send in a recipe or email. 

 Ingredients:

 1 Free Range Egg Yolk

1 Teas Organic Dijon Mustard

2 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice

50ml of warmed Skim Milk

What to do:

Combine the Egg, Mustard and Lemon Juice in a non stick saucepan on very low heat, stir well to make a smooth paste. Heat the milk in  the microwave for 30 seconds. Once the sauce starts to thicken, slowly add the milk and  keep stirring until the sauce is the desired thickness. This takes approx 10 minutes and you need to keep an eye on it.. SO worth it though.

Great on Fish, Chicken, Eggs for breakfast.. YUM!

No cook Worcestershire Sauce

After researching what seems like a hundred recipes I found a no cook recipe and modified it to suit what I already had floating around in my pantry. I love the idea of a no cook easy recipe that can be thrown together really quickly!

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup of Apple Cider Vinegar

2 tablespoons of Fish Sauce

2 Tablespoons of Honey

1 Tablespoon of Treacle

Juice of 1 Lime

1 Teaspoon of Cloves

1/2 Teaspoon of Onion Flakes

1 Clove of fresh Garlic

1/4 Teaspoon of Chilli Powder

What to do:

In a pestle and mortar grind the cloves, onion flakes and Chilli. Juice the lime, and add all of the ingredients into the bowl of a small food processor. Blend until smooth and pour into a bottle and keep in the fridge. It only makes a small amount so you could easily double the recipe but mix in a bigger processor or in a jug with a stick mixer. It would last about a month in the fridge, but I can't see it lasting that long! It's delicious. I'm leaving mine a few days before I use it to let the flavours infuse.

Here is a link to the original recipe ...

http://www.foodrenegade.com/homemade-worcesterschire-sauce/

Lj's Spicy Mango & Nashi Chutney

After cutting a Mango that I though was delicious and ripe.. and wasn't, I decided to create this recipe with whatever else I could find in my crisper. To my delight it turned out a treat!

I love creating new Chutney Recipes..

Ingredients:

1 Under ripe Mango

3 Roma Tomatoes

1 Yellow Capsicum

I White Nashi Pear

1 Medium White Onion

 2 Cups of White Vinegar

1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar

1 Teas Ground Cinnamon

1 Teas Mixed Spice

1 Teas Chilli Powder

10 Black Peppercorns

What to do:

Dice the Mango, Tomatoes, Capsium, Nashi and Onion and place
into a heavy based pot. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat and

simmer on low until thick and soft.

Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal.

This would be so good on a cracker with Camembert,

or any kind of Chicken sandwich!

I can't wait to dig into some..

Semi-Dried Roma Tomatoes With Fresh Herbs In Virgin Olive Oil

Semi-Dried Roma Tomatoes With Fresh Herbs In Virgin Olive Oil.....

I'm new to Dehydrators and loaned my Mum's initially to dry some Sugar Flowers for a wedding cake. I bought some cheap Roma Tomatoes and decided to give making sundried tomatoes a go. Great for summer salads and home made vingarettes and salad dressing.

 Also great in a nice jar to give as gifts.

I've sliced the Tomatoes approx 1cm thick, seasoned with some himilyan salt and dried Italian Herbs. A lot of recipes I have seen have said to take out the seeds but that is a mission and I think leaving the seeds in will give a much nicer flavour even though they take a little longer to dry. They took approx 10 hours to dry . I've made some semi dried (approx 3/4 dry) Added them to sterilised jars and layed them with fresh basil, oregano and thyme from my garden and some mashed galic cloves. Topped them up with Cobram Estate Virgin Olive Oil and sealed. The others I have dried completely and popped into an air tight container. I can use these later and rehydrate in a nice vinegar with mustard seeds and herbs to make a lower fat version. Very happy with the way they have turned out!

Homemade Strawberry Jam... YUM

Thought I would take advantage of cheap Strawberries and make some Jam.

I didn't measure but it's about 1kg berries to 6 cups of sugar and 1 1/2 teas citric acid. I use a non stick saucepan. Mash the strawberries with a fork, add the sugar and stir in thoroughly. Bring to the boil until the sugar is almost dissolved, add the Citric acid and boil until setting point (105 degrees) remove the skum from the top and pour into hot sterilized jars