Virtue can come in a can. In a tin. Yes, virtue comes in cans of tomato sauce. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. This tomato sauce – proclaimed my best-ever tomato sauce is proof. ‘Eating’, living proof. I’ve made it with both fresh and canned tomatoes and the former cannot hold a candle. This isn’t a case for fresh – let that be the preserve of stews and Jollof rice. If I had to offer you – my readers one recipe in 2014, it would be this.
Hojicha Eton Mess
Or what I did with my first ever stash of hojicha. Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Hojicha Co. who sent me some hojicha powder. The recipe, images and opinions shared are mine. Thank you for supporting brands that I trust as they support Kitchen Butterfly Thinking roasted and crunchy meringues meeting sweet, soft cream, crisp Asian pear finished with a squeeze of lime. Think heaven! A few weeks ago, I came across Hojicha Co. As a green tea lover, everything from tea leaves to Matcha is welcome in my house, and kitchen and this was no exception. We exchanged messages and I pitched...
Apple, Cucumber, Green Pepper Salad, with Cilantro
This salad is easy to rustle up, requires no special ingredients or equipment and is a delight to eat any time of day or year – fresh, sweet, crunch, herby, tart, sour, spicy all make an appearance in the combination of apples, pickled cucumbers, green peppers – bell or jalapenos and my all-time favourite cilantro. Did I mention great for every occasion from weeknight dinners to festive ones? Cool. So, go ahead – use your favourite apples, your favourite cukes – deseed, don’t deseed, big, small, peel, don’t peel, do you. The only thing I advise is cutting all the...
Spiced Apple Sauce
This is an update on a 2012 post:). Still relevant though! Out with the old, in with the new. Ditch the cinnamon sticks and sweet fragrance of warm spice. Replace it with heat and heart. Crisscross apple sauce….you’ll have no regrets.
West African Calas – Rice Fritters
The history of Calas, rice fritters is linked to enslaved West African women. The word itself sounds like a contraction of Akara – so ‘Kara/ Kala/ Cala. The Dictionary of American Food and Drink (click borrow at the top to view the entry) calls them a New Orleans breakfast sold by black (note enslaved) street vendors but describes the origins as ‘obscure’. It also includes a recipe. ‘Obscure’ meaning uncertain but I’m certain this legacy of Calas is rooted in West African history. First, the name and its likely connection to Akara – a food of the enslaved in Brazil....
23 Ways With Chocolate: White, Milk and Dark
This is a celebration of the spoken about chocolate, most spoken about, beloved, celebrated and I do that to every shade from the loved – milk, dark; to the one people often argue is real or imagined or not – white. I am an equal opportunity chocolate lover, enjoying every shade Here is a collection of ways to enjoy, to celebrate them and while most tend to sweet – because I haven’t had the courage to venture savoury because of a few failures, there’s still a lot to be savoured (no pun intended), and enjoyed 🙂 1. Here’s an An...
Double Chocolate ‘Oven’ Cake
Years ago, I turned some leftover pancake batter into a skillet bake that still wows me with both the randomness with which Imade it and its deliciousness. I called it a double chocolate oven cake and served it with some delightful lemon posset. What does it taste like? Look like? Crunch and cream is how I like to describe it: ‘It bakes into a thick ‘cake’ that has a =firm top and base with wonderful crunchy edges and a soft, sometimes smooth mousse-pudding, other times moist and chewy centre.’ Ingredients Baked in a 10″ skillet 1 egg 1 cup fresh...
A Lemony List – 40 Things to do with Lemons
I don’t use lemon and lime interchangeably, no sir. They have such different profiles and I like to keep each special. For instance, I haven’t yet met a lemon and mango combo that I like. Lime and mango, however? Take me home, baby! Sometimes I think I love both of them equally and then lemons come up way ahead in all the ways I can get them to do what I want – like boil ‘juiced out’ shells and puree…in a way lime and its bitterness won’t allow. And then I fall in love all over again with limes when...
Lemon Curd 3.0
Yes, we’re on take 3 of lemon curd. Take 1 was making it in a bain marie, standing up and whisking endlessly till the curd formed Take 2 was Engeline’s lesson – put all the ingredients together and whisk slowly. Take 3? The ‘reverse creaming’ method is what I like to call it from Fine Cooking. I’ve taken leaves out of their book which calls for beating the butter and sugar then adding the eggs and yolks. Sis here does similar but does a few things differently. First of, cold butter not room temperature. I think it makes for a...