Pickled Ginger

Ingredients:
500 ml water
500 ml mild vinegar (I used coconut and white wine vinegar)
500 g Sugar
1 kg ginger
60 g salt
1/2 ts baking soda

First, bring water, vinegar and salt to the boil. Sugar and salt must be dissolved completely. Let cool.



Peel ginger and slice very thinly. I use a cucumber slicer for this task. Work in the baking soda and let stand for a few minutes.
The baking soda takes away the sharpest edge of taste and helps cure the pickle.

Put ginger and water-vinegar-salt solution in a clean jar, close lit tightly and refrigerate for two weeks before use.

Pickled ginger goes well with curries or salads.
Some Thai recipes call for the pickle liquid.

Greengage-Jam

Greengages /Renekloden)are sold on farmers markets in July and August. You can also find wild growing trees wherever you find apple- or plum trees.
The flavour comes out best in jams or sauces, so I will make a sauce, a clear jelly and a jam.

Greengage jam, jelly and sauce
2 kg greengages
1 kg sugar
juice of one lemon or lime

Wash greengages, cut in half and take out stones.
Put in non-reactive pot, cover with sugar and let sit overnight.
Next morning, the sugar will have dissolved completely and greengages are covered with their own juice.
Bring to a boil, add lemon juice and cook gently for about 5 minutes. Skim off foam. Stir little and gently so the fruit will stay intact. For a clear jelly, ladle some juice into another pot, bring to a boil and fill in sterilized jars.
For a grenngage-sauce, ladle fruit with juice into sterilized jars.
For a jam, puree with a mixer until texture is smooth. Bring to a boil and fill in sterilized jars.

Canning and Jam-ing Strawberries

Coming home from a stroll through a pick-your-strawberries -yourself-field I had to come up with an idea for the best use of these sensitive fruits since deterioration starts shortly after picking. Strawberry-compote came to mind as I prefer an uneven texture with chunks to bite on over a sauce.
Strawberry-Compote
2 kg perfectly ripe strawberries
1 kg Sugar
2 limes or lemons

wash strawberries briefly under running cold water, remove stems and cut larger fruit in halves or quarters.
Put berries in a non reactive pot, cover with sugar, close pot with a well-fitting lit and let sit overnight.
The next morning the sugar will be completely dissolved and the strawberries swim in plenty of juice. Thus, they will keep a better texture after cooking.
Bring to a boil and add freshly squeezed lime- or lemon juice. 4 minutes is a sufficient boiling-time.
Transfer hot compote in heated jars, close lids tightly and turn over on lids for 10 minutes.

Tastes extremely delicious with plain yogurt or breakfast-muesli.

Preparation for canning:
This method has been successful since no jam, compote or otherwise home-canned product has ever turned bad - and I always use it when canning. The cleaned jars are heated and sterilized in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes.
Cleaned lids are laid in boiling water before use.
After the boiling hot canning good has been scooped into the prepared jars, the lit is used directly out of the boiling water and closed tightly, the the jar is turned over for a few minutes.
This procedure results in a strong vacuum.

Niter Kebbeh - Ethiopian spiced ghee

Instead of oil or butter, for many dishes I use Niter Kebbeh, which is an Ethiopian clarified spiced butter. It is easy to make, cooking time is about 45 to 60 minutes. Niter Kebbeh is stored in the refrigerator and I use it for up to three months.

Ingredients:
500 g butter
3 tablespoons coarsely shredded onion
2 tablespoons coarsely shredded garlic
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon tumaric
3-4 cloves
1/2 teaspoon fenugrec seeds
3-4 cardammon pods

Melt butter at low heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add all other ingredients and simmer for 30-to 40 minutes.

Strain throufh a narrow sieve or cheesecloth and discard the spices and solids.

Vegetable Stock

This Vegetable Stock is very easy to make, it has all the advantages you can think of: a great taste, only the ingredients you choose to have, no preservatives and very little cost.
I use it as a base for risotti, soups and curries: The heap of vegetables as shown in the picture cost under 2€ at the local Farmer's market.


The recipe:
2 kg leaks, carrots, asparagus, spring onions, etc., washed and cut in chunks 5-6 liters water
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon peppercorns
3 slices ginger
1 laurel leave
3 chilies

Bring everything in a large pot to the boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 1 hour.

Strain.

Refrigerate the amount you will use within the next 3-4 days.

Freeze or can the rest. For me, canning is a good option, as my refrigerator as well as the freezer compartment are always packed. My canning containers hold small amounts
which will be used for one meal.

Homemade Kitchen Staples: Elderflower-Syrup - Holunderblütensirup

One of my favorite kitchen-staples is homemade Elderflower-Syrup.
The Elderberry-tree grows almost everywhere, you can find it in public parks, as well as in woods. May is the time to gather the blossoms.
The recipe for the syrup is quite simple: make sure there are no little bugs in the blossoms, i.e. shake them gently, then trim the stems and put the flowers in a non-reactive pot.










Bring 1 part water and 1 part sugar to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes, skim and discard the foam, let cool completely. Pour over the blossoms and make sure, the are completely covered.


Slice one or two organic lemons and spread them on top. Cover with a lit and stir several times a day. Let this concoction brew for 5 to 6 days outside the fridge.

For fast consumption within the next 1 - 2 months, I filtered, bottled and refridgerated this concotion, which, due to the natural yeasts and the added sugar, has turned into a lively sparkling lemonade, that I mainly use to infuse buttermilk witth. This is very refreshing, as it adds taste and CO2 to the otherwise quite plain tasting butttermilk.

The majority of the batch will be used over the course of the coming year, so I filtered, pasteurized it by boiling it for 4 minutes, and filled it in sterilized bottles.

This Syrup is - contrary to its name, not sweet, but rather sweet-sour, and I use it mostly for salad dressings, or as a substitute for lemon juice or vinagar.

Okra Curry

I returned from my shopping tour to the Indian store with fresh okra and research in several food blogs resulted in taking this recipe as an operating base.

OKRA CURRY
15 okra
½ cup water
½ cup coconut milk
1 shallot – minced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 green chilies 1 tbs coconut, made into a paste
1 tbsp Niter Kebbeh
1 tsp black mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin
5 fresh curry leaves
salt


Method:
Wash and slice okra, mince garlic and onion, paste coconut with chilies.

In a pan heat the niter kebbeh, add the mustard seeds, close lit, wait until they pop ( 30 seconds).
Add Curry leaves (they crackle), then add garlic and cumin.

After 2 minutes add rest of ingredients, cover and let simmer for 5 minutes at medium low heat.
Stir gently and let simmer for another 10 – 15 minutes. The less you stir, the more intact the ocra remain.

I served the okra curry with sorghum.

Bitter Gourd Chips, Lemon-Coconut Chutney and Spiced rice

Several years ago I went to SriLanka for an Ayurveda regimen. I enjoyed the food there very much. To me as a German those vegetables and the combination of spices was unknown and exotic, but I absolutely adored the food. Each dish would be prepared from scratch, all ingredients would be fresh and fragrant.

The other day, on a bicycle tour across town, I discovered a brand new Indian Food store which imports fresh vegetables, herbs and spices from several asian countries.

The first time I spend at least an hour in this store, picking up and looking at so many new and interesting products and labels, and somehow this brought back nice memories of the Sri Lankan vacation time. The Internet and especially food enthusiasts with food blogs make it so much easier to lean about even the most exotic vegetables and spices.

In Mohandis's blog I found this easy and very tasty recipe for Bitter Gourd Chips which I took as guidance. My adaptation goes like this:
Slice 2 Bitter Gourds , mix in a bowl with
1/2 tsp of each
salt,
ground dried chili,
minced fresh garlic,
tumaric.
Let stand for 10 min., preheat oven to 180°C. Arrange slices on baking tray covered with aluminum foil and bake for approx. 12. min.

In Cooking with Kurma I found this recipe for Coconut Chutney which in my mind made a great combination with the bitter gourd. I slightly adapted it to the ingredients that I had available:

Lemon-Coconut Chutney - Preparation time: about 10 minutes, makes about 2½ cups
1½ cups dessicated coconut
1½ cups yogurt
½ cup cold water
rind of ½ Lemon
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons green chilies, chopped
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
10 or 12 fresh curry leaves
Whisk together theall ingredients exeptthe last three.Heat the oil in a small pan over moderate heat. When the oil is hot, drop in the mustard seeds, and fry them until they crackle. Drop in the curry leaves - careful – they can crackle violently. Swirl the pan, and quickly empty the whole pan of fried seasonings into the chutney. Mix well and serve.
My simple rice recipe:1 cup Basmati rice2 cups water1 Tbsp Niter Kebbeh (ethiopian spiced butter)1 tsp black mustard seeds10 fresh curry leavesBring rice in water to a boil, turn down heat, cover pot with a lit, and simmer for about 15 minutes.Melt Niter Kebbeh in pan, add mustard seeds, let them pop, then add curry leaves and wait until the crackle, add rice.Voilà.

Fava beans, salsiccia and panegretto

Spring has arrived in Germany and I finally discovered fresh Fava beans in the Italian store around the corner. I bought 1,5 kg which seemed much before all the preparations, yielding about 200 g in the end.

1. unzip bean body and pop out single beans.

2. Toss in boiling water for 3 minutes.

3. stop cooking process by throwing beans in ice cold water.

4. Take single beans between thumb and finger, make a small incision with fingernail to help the soft beans out of their thick skins.

I also got salsiccia picante, a spicy salami, at the Italian store.

I fried a few slices in olive oil and added the favas.

I tossed in freshly cooked pasta, topping it with panagretto.

The easy panagretto recipe:

• 6 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic
• fresh thyme leaves
• 125 g bread crumbs
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Heat olive oil, fry minced garlic for a minute, add thyme leaves, fry for 1 minute, add bread crumbs and fry until golden brown (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat, add lemon juice and salt to taste.