Nothing particularly exciting happening in my kitchen lately. Its holidays here so there has been late breakfasts, lazy mostly finger food lunches & regular easy dinners or eating out.
Crabapples
In our garden however, we've had a little bit of interesting going on. I planted a blossom tree maybe 6 years ago & on multiple occasions we've said, since it looks a bit drab & misshapen etc. that we'd pull it out.
Last year it produced an apple/plum like fruit. One. This year, there are multiple bunches of them! I put the call out to fellow instagrammers & it was suggested that they could be crabapples! I suddenly remembered that is what they were. That is the tree I chose all those years ago! Its funny how that detail had completely slipped my mind. I guess I've been preoccupied with babies the last 6 years.
Anyway, now I know that they are probably edible crabapples, but possibly a bit tart to eat fresh, I thought it might be interesting to do some sort of cooking with them!
Did some searching online & found a recipe for Crab Apple Jam [Recipe found here].
I don't eat any sort of jam whatsoever, never have, but it strikes me as something that would be fun to make & nice to gift. So perhaps I will give this a go in the coming weeks.
5 quarts crabapples
2 cups water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup apple juice
1/2 cup water
1 1/3 cups honey
1. Cook crabapples in 2 cups water until they begin to pop (about 20 minutes).
2. Press the cooked crabapples through a sieve or food mill.
3. In a large saucepan or kettle, combine pulp, lemon juice, apple juice and water.
4. Add honey.
5. Bring to a rolling boil; boil 1 minute, stirring frequently.
6. When the jam starts to "sheet" from the edge of the spoon it has begun to jell.
7. Remove from heat.
8. Pour into sterilized jars, seal, and process 10 minutes in boiling water bath.
If you have any crabapple recipes you'd like to share with me, I'd love to have them.
Thank you! xo
Le Cordon Bleu Recipe 4: Filo Parcels
Well my personal edcuation to become a Cordon Bleu chef [cough cough] is somewhat stalled. Well before Christmas, I did however try out a recipe in my Le Cordon Bleu books for filo parcels.
Obviously I used filo pastry sheets.
They were fillled with:
- shredded ham
- baby spinich
- ricotta
- grated vintage cheddar
- slivered almonds
- salt & pepper
- egg to baste filo
Wrap. Baste. Hot oven then serve. Simple.
Rating:
They were pretty nice. Maybe 6.5 out of 10.
One or two + salad for lunch or dinner makes a nice light meal. Possibly pushing the calories. I might need to calculate that out next time.
Home cooking today
Tonight at home we used our outdoor kitchen, Jeffs pride & joy newish BBQ and made homemade hamburgers. We all love it. Its like takeawy but healthier. Lean mince & diced onion + seasoning for the burgers. Charlotte & I had wholemeal seedy rolls, the rest had white. We all had cheese & salad on our burgers too. I also like mine with Beerenberg hot chilli sauce. Yum!
We sat out in the lovely weather we are having, eating burgers, sipping cool soda water & laughing at Buddy's antics, as we usually do during meal times.
After dinner, all 7 of us hopped up onto the trampoline for some family time. The kids ran around the edge & Jeff & I sat in the middle. We tried to catch them as they all went crazy & squealed with excitement, annoying the neighbours I'm sure.
Anyway, a fun way to end the evening together. Of course then the overtired little ones start spilling tears beacause they don't want the family fun to end. Yep, definitely time for bed.
And that was Saturday night at our house.
Kate xo
