Carrot and Daikon Pickles

 













I love all types of pickles, some takes months before you can eat them, but this recipe is a favourite and is very quick way of making tasty pickles. This is based on a Japanese pickle recipe that is traditionally eaten in the New Year's celebration called kohaku-namasu.
It does not have many ingredients but is super tasty. You can add a teaspoon of mirin to the vinegar/ sugar mix for a more traditional taste and I used cyder vinegar instead of rice wine vinegar because I prefer it you can experiment with other vinegars also :)

Ingredients

• 300 gms/  Daikon (also called a mooli, winter radish, white radish)
• 70 gms Carrot
• 2 Heaped teaspoons course salt (I used course sea salt)
• 4 tablespoons vinegar (I used cyder vinegar but you could you rice wine vinegar)
• 2 teaspoons sugar or honey

 

Cut the carrot into slices (I cut at an angle) and than into small matchsticks, add to a bowl

 


Repeat cutting the daikon into matchsticks and add to the bowl.





 

Sprinkle with the salt and mix well. Leave for 20 minutes than drain off the liquid. Squeeze gently to get as much liquid off as possible.





Mix the vinegar and sugar together in a separate bowl, until the sugar has dissolved. 
Transfer the cut carrot and daikon matchsticks to a lidded jar. Add the vinegar/ sugar mix to the jar and mix well.
 
Leave for a minimum of 4 hours turning the jar to mix occasionally, or if you prefer over night. Keeps for several days in a refrigerater (although in my house there's never any left for the refrigerater)

Serve in small individual bowls can also be served sprinkled with sesame seeds. 

New lid with a little house

Over time I really don't know what happens to pot lids, some get dropped and broken, others  just disappear leaving good pots so when a lid is needed you have to use a plate or a lid from another pot and just does not do the job. So here's my latest find and it was in the bargain section to, a silicone lid that fits most of my lidless small to medium pots. It has a cute little house in the middle which lets steam rise through it. Its microwave and dishwasher safe (if only I had a dishwasher, maybe someday) its about 8" in diameter. Most importantly it works really well and makes me smile seeing the steam come through the chimney everytime :) Below is a photo of it on my meduim sized saucepan.

Veggi Haggis

Burns night is the 25th January and Sainsburys was selling half price haggis. I have never had haggis before mainly because its animal parts but this was a veggie haggis and bargain priced so I thought something different.

It was very simple to cook - place in foil and bake in the oven. I was not sure of the smell and the look, but tried it. To my surprise it was very tasty, a little like a spicy nut roast, its not been in the supermarket since, so I am now on the lookout for a veggie haggis recipe to make myself :)

Spiced Pears in Red Grape Juice

Spiced Pears in Red Grape Juice 

Eaten hot (which I prefer) or cold, this simple dessert smells of Christmas and the holiday season. It's so tasty on a cold winter day eaten warm it's to tasty to also be good for you. Equally good served cold in the summer.
As red grape juice is used instead of wine unlike most poached pear recipes, children and adults wishing not to drink alcohol can also share in this tasty and healthy dessert. Plus it's one of your five a day :)
Any left over liquid can be used on ice cream :)


Ingredients

• 750mls Red Grape juice
• 4 Ripe firm pears (peeled and insides removed from the bottom of the pear, keep any juices and add to the saucepan)
• 1/2 orange (cut into 4 leave peel on again add any juice to the saucepan)
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 2 -3 Cloves
• A little ginger (it adds a nice kick, I used fresh peeled ginger about the size of a 1/3 of my finger)
• A teaspoon honey

How To
Put all ingredients except the pears into a medium sized saucepan and heat until it boils, stir well and add the pears, reduce heat so the liquid simmers (a low heat but it bubbles slowly). If you have a lid put it on the saucepan.
Simmer making sure you keep putting the juice mix over the pears for 40 minutes to 1 hour until tender (not to soft but not hard).
Remove the pears and put into bowls add the orange piece for decoration. Heat the liquid on boiling for 10 minutes until it reduces and thickens, spoon some of the liquid over each pear, be careful not to add the ginger, cloves or cinnamon. Leave to stand for a few minutes so the boiling liquid does not burn anyone. Can no be served hot. If you prefer it cold, leave to cool than place in a fridge for 3 - 4 hours before serving.

This post is linked to Cook and Celebrate: Christmas 2014 organised by Yen from Eat your heart out, Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe and me from Bake for Happy Kids.
Please link your post with us if you are also cooking something special for your Christmas celebration for the whole of December 2014.

Soda Bread Tea Towel arrived

My tea towel with my mom's recipe for soda bread arrived. I still need to hem it, but I am so happy with the results of the print I thought I would post it anyway.
The recipe printed on it is at http://nezumiworldcakeshop.blogspot.co.uk/2007/09/soda-bread.html
The design is scaled for the cotton/ linen fabric mix and is available at spoonflower at http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/3056085 as a fat quarter (1 tea towel) or by the yard (4 tea towels)
Now to hem it and make a soda bread.

Pineapple and Coconut Upside Down Cake

The weather is getting cooler and sometimes after a hard week working its just nice to relax with a warm slice of cake with custard or cream. Brings me back to my childhood, when there were some really back winters, my mom always made tasty warm treats to warm us up :)

Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 400ºF/ gas mark 6
Prepare your baking tin (I used a greaseproof paper circle at the bottom of my silicone baking tin for ease of turn the cake out)

Ingredients:
For the cake

• 6 slices canned pineapple (drain the juice reserving 3 tablespoons of the liquid)
• 100 grams/ 4oz/  ½ cup caster sugar/ (superfine USA)
• 100 grams/ 4oz/  1 stick soft butter
• 100 grams/ 4oz/ ⅔ cup plain flour/ (all-purpose flour USA)
•  3 Heaped tablespoons desiccated coconut
• ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
•  1 teaspoon baking powder 
•  2 Medium eggs 

Place your pineapple rings into your baking tin I overlapped my because I think it looks pretty when baked.
Beat together in a large bowl the butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and continue beating the mixture.
Fold in the flour, coconut and pineapple liquid.
Mix until just combined (not over mixing)
Spoon mixture onto the pineapple slices and cook for approx. 30 minutes in a moderate heat oven or until brown.


Tip: if you put a knife into the centre of the cake it should come out clean (no mixture sticking to it)
Leave to cool slightly before carefully removing. Can be served it warm or cold, on its own or with custard or cream or both :)

Greengauge and Marzipan Cakes

I love greengages and meant to post this last month but time seems to speed by to fast. Greengages are a small sweet green coloured plum, they are only in the supermarket (cheap) for a few weeks each year and are great to eat as they are, but are also excellent to cook with. Most sweet plum recipes work with them. 

Preheat the oven 180 C / 350 F / Gas mark 4 

Prepare a 12-hole bun tray with paper cases

For the Grengage and Marzipan Cakes

• 75g/ 3oz Softened butter
• 75g/ 3oz Caster sugar
• 1 Extra large egg (room temperature)
• 100g/ 4oz Self raising flour (with a pinch of salt added)
• 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
• 6 Greengages (remove stones)
• 100g/ 4oz Marzipan (also known as  almond paste)

To make the Cakes
Place the  butter and sugar into a large bowl then beat with spoon or electric mixer until pale and fluffy.
Add the egg one to the butter/ sugar mixture, beating until smooth.  
Add the flour, cinnamon and salt, fold them into the mixture until combined.

Chop the greengages and marzipan into silimar sized small cubes and add to the mixture,
lightly mixing in.

Divide the mixture into the prepared 12 bun tray filling each papercase so they are just over half full.

Bake the cakes for 12 - 15 minutes until golden-brown. Leave to cool.

No need to add any icing, these are sweet enough. For serving you could lightly dust with icing sugar (also known as confectioners sugar)