Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Favourite recipes, Miscellaneous

Chili sauce made with red and orange chilis from the freezer

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(Home grown, on my south-east facing balcony, the summers 2018 and 2019).

Chilis really do freeze well. Strength and flavour remain unchanged but, as can be seen in the photo, they turn a bit soggy when thawed, so they cannot be used for anything that requires the crunch of fresh chilies.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO WASH YOUR HANDS EXTREMELY THOROUGHLY AFTER HANDLING THE FRESH CHILIS AND BEFORE TOUCHING YOUR EYES – OR ANY OTHER ORIFICE FOR THAT MATTER – BE IT YOUR OWN OR THAT OF SOMEONE NEAR AND DEAR TO YOU. ‘Nuff said,

About 300 g assorted red and orange chilis (after removal of stems and – most – seeds

2 large red onions

8 cloves garlic

1 red pepper

1 large knob of fresh ginger

4 tblsp rice vinegar

Run in food processor till it has the texture you want.

Heat a generous amount of olive oil and add the mixture. Then add

1 tblsp sugar

2 tsp salt

2 tblsp tomato paste

2 tso shrimp paste.

Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20-30 minutes.

Favourite recipes, Miscellaneous, Starters

Gazpacho

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There are many recipes on-line. This time, I did this (note that whatever I do, I never add bread, nor water):

  • 2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped
  • 2 red peppers, deseeded and chopped
  • 1 kg ripe plum tomatoes, cored and chopped
  • 5 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
  • 2 onions, trimmed and finely chopped
  • Large glug of the best olive oil you can find
  • Small glug of the best sherry or red wine vinegar you can find
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper.

Bonus tip if you are the lucky owner of both a food processor and a blender: Save yourself a lot of fine-chopping for the blender and run the vegetables in chunks in the food processor first, and then blend with the rest of the ingredients. Time-wise, that is worth the extra washing up.

Pour some of the gazpacho into an ice-cube tray and freeze. That way, you have ice cubes to add when serving that will not dilute the soup.

Favourite recipes, Miscellaneous

White chocolate, cardamom and cashew nut squares

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Loosely based on this recipe (altered to fit the size of plate and the ingredients I had available and some that needed to be used up): https://originalbeans.com/recipe/edel-weiss-cardamom-macadamia-squares/.

3 large or 4 small eggs

325 g butter or oil (I used half butter, half olive oil and a splash of sesame oil)

300 g sugar (I used brown sugar)

1 tsp cardamom seeds, finely ground

2 tsp ground ginger

Finely grated zest of 2 unwaxed oranges

30 g plain flour

50 g unsweetened cocoa powder and 25 g cacao nibs

200 g white chocolate

115 g cashew nuts, coarsely ground

Beat the eggs till fluffy, then add butter/oil and sugar and keep beating. Then mix in the spices and the orange zest, and then the flour, cocoa powder and cacao nibs (if using). Finally fold in the cashew nuts.

Bake at 200 C for 30 minutes.

Favourite recipes, Miscellaneous

Glühwein 24 december 2019

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2 bottles redwine

4 organic oranges in slices

2 organic lemons in slices

2 satchels bourbon vanilla sugar

2 cinnamon (not cassia) sticks

8 cloves

2 star anise

Optional: I added a glug of leftover amaretto.

Heat till almost boiling point and let infuse, overnight if possible.

Reheat till almost boiling point, and serve.

Miscellaneous

How to make basmati rice in an OBH rice cooker

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Rinse and soak 500 g rice as you would normally, till the water runs clear.

Put a little bit of oil in the bottom of the cooker.

Add the drained rice, salt and 800 ml water. Et voilà – the cooker does the rest.

Favourite recipes, Miscellaneous

Four kinds of homemade marshmallow – for the children in the family or the child in you

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Note that you will need a candy thermometer.

And please handle these recipes with extreme care. You do not have to watch the boiling syrup constantly, but don’t leave the kitchen, and don’t let children do this by themselves.

Also be careful when whipping the syrup after boiling and beware of splattering that might still be very hot.

The marshmallows can be decorated any which way you like, or each person can dip theirs in melted chocolate, or drop them in their coffee or hot chocolate ……

The first ones – plain vanilla – work well in hot chocolate, and the ones with dark chocolate and cinnamon meld nicely on top of a cup of coffee.

Vanilla marshmallows

20 gelatine leaves

2 dl water

400 g sugar

1 vanilla pod

200 g icing sugar

Spread half the icing sugar over the bottom of a shallow dish. This recipe will fill a dish measuring approx. 17 x 29 x 4,5 cm. A surplus is fine as it will coat the sides when you start to cut the marshmallows.

Soak the gelatine leaves in plenty of water

Bring water, sugar and content of the vanilla pod to the boil and let boil gently for at least 20 minutes till it reaches a temperature of 120 C.

Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and add the gelatine to the syrup. Stir till the gelatine has completely dissolved.

Transfer to a deep bowl and whip till the mixture becomes extremely thick and you can almost hear the mixer start to groan.

Pour into the dish – work quickly before it becomes too springy and unmanageable.

Spread the other 100 g icing sugar on top and let cool completely for an hour or two at room temperature. When ready to serve, cut with a knife or scissors.

Next time I’ll add some chili one way or another – how could I forget?

Marshmallows with chocolate and cinnamon

8 gelatine leaves

1 dl water

200 g sugar

50 g icing sugar

50 g cocoa powder

50 g dark chocolate

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Soak the gelatine leaves in plenty of water.

Mix icing sugar and cocoa together and spread half of it over the bottom of a shallow dish. This recipe will fill a dish measuring approx. 14 x 293 x 4 cm. A surplus is fine as it will coat the sides when you start to cut the marshmallows.

Finely chop the chocolate.

Boil the water and sugar gently till it reaches a temperature of 120 C.

Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and add the gelatine to the syrup. Stir till the gelatine has completely dissolved.

Transfer to a deep bowl and start whipping. When it starts to thicken, but while the substance is still warm enough, add chocolate and cinnamon and continue whipping till the mixture becomes extremely thick and you can almost hear the mixer start to groan.

Pour into the dish – work quickly before it becomes too springy and unmanageable.

Spread the rest of the icing sugar/cocoa powder mixture on top (a surplus is fine as it will coat the sides when you start to cut the marshmallows) and let cool completely for an hour or two at room temperature.

Marshmallows with white chocolate and dried blueberry powder (or any other kind of dried fruit or berry powder)

Follow the recipe above but use white chocolate instead of dark chocolate, and dried blueberry powder instead of cocola powder, and also add 2 tsp blueberry powder to the mixture instead of the cinnamon.

Marshmallows with licorice, turmeric and chili

As above, but add a fresh red chili, halved lengthwise and deseeded, to the syrup while boiling. Remove the chili before whipping and adding licorice powder and turmeric.

Favourite recipes, Miscellaneous

Peanut sauce

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Peanut sauce

2-3 dl home-made or store-bought peanut butter, creamy or crunchy, to taste

1 medium red onion, finely chopped

2 slices ginger or 4 slices galangal, peeled and very finely chopped, or grated

Some fresh chili, to taste (or add a dollop of your favourite chili sauce at the end)

3 cloves garlic, very finely chopped

1 tsp shrimp paste

2 tsp palm sugar

2 tblsp fish sauce

2 tblsp soy sauce (superior light)

3 tblsp hoisin sauce

Juice of one lime

½ tin coconut milk

A dollop of your favourite chili paste (see a recipe here: http://www.hellemoller.eu/?p=319), or sambal oelek (see a recipe for a homemade sambal oelek-type sauce here: http://www.hellemoller.eu/?p=645).

 

Fry the onion, garlic and ginger in olive or peanut oil over medium heat (should not brown) for a minute or two.

Add all the other ingredients and stir, bringing to the boil.

If you want the sauce thinner, add more coconut milk or water.

Keeps in the fridge in an airtight container for a week or two, and can also be frozen, but without the coconut milk. This should be added at the time of serving, while reheating.