The inevitable part of growing your own tomatoes is that you’ll find yourself with unripe green fruit at the end of summer. If like me you’re not a chutney lover than why not try Fermented Green Tomatoes! Fermented Green Tomatoes are unripe tomatoes that have been preserved in a mildly salty brine. With a pleasantly…
preserving
Asian Spiced Pickled Carrot
I have a confession to make, I am a pickle-obsessed person! I adore that tangy sweet-and-sour flavour that enhances a dish. Not only that, it’s a great way of preserving the garden harvest. If you follow my blog you’ll know that I have been pickling all sorts from the veg patch. The carrots have been a…
Aromatic Sweet Pickled Beetroot
I cannot remember a day there wasn’t a bunch of beetroot picked from the vegetable patch this summer. I know I should feel happy and grateful for them, versatile as they are in salads, hummus and grated into a chocolate cake. Not forgetting the deep green leaves, with their magenta veins, they make possibly the…
Classic Swedish Pickled Gherkins (Västeråsgurkor)
Pickles were always part of our meals at home, breakfast and lunch especially. There are several ways of pickling cucumber, however this is one of the most popular in Sweden, as it has a nice balance of sweetness, vinegar and salt. Delicious on open sandwiches, with meat, pate and fish. They also work well as…
How to make Rosehip Jam
Autumn brings a whole host of delicious fruit for us to cook and preserve. Among them are blackberries, crab apples, sloes and rosehips. Well, what are rosehips? They’re the fruit of the rose plant, orangey-red in colour, ready and ripe to pick in early September in the UK. The most common rose hips are from…
Catalan-Style Sardines
I first devoured a dish similar to this some years ago in the Costa Brava; I’ve endeavoured to emulate it since. Tried and tested, I think I’ve now mastered the recipe. Fresh sardines, coated in flour and shallow fried until they’re just cooked through to preserve them. Then marinated in a tasty, piquant tomato sauce. …
Blackcurrant Shrub Drink
Ever heard of shrub drinks? A shrub is a tangy and thirst quenching beverage that’s really refreshing and astonishingly simple to make. Making a shrub is basically a way of preserving. It’s an infused syrup, made with fresh ingredients, fortified with apple cider vinegar and then aged, which develops its complexity and flavour. When freshly…
Home Hot Smoked Salmon
Hot smoking fish sounds intimidating but it’s something anyone can do. I have used my Big Green Egg to smoke mine but all you need is a kettle barbecue or a stove top smoker. The process takes a few hours but the only tricky part is the ability to control the heat if you’re using…
Kale, Broad Bean and Avocado Salad
You can never go wrong with a salad in the spring and summer. Massaged kale is a surprising good ingredient, add a delicious dressing with a few other tasty vegetables and you have a balanced and nutritious meal. This would also work really well with peas or chickpeas which could be instead of the broad…
Scandinavian Quick Pickled Red Onions
Generally you’ll always find a jar of these sweet piquant vegetables in my fridge. Pickled red onions transform raw onion from pungent and crunchy to delicate and mellow. Occasionally I add chilli flakes for extra spice or herbs for extra flavour. They couldn’t be quicker to make either, just measure out the ingredients and mix,…
