Today's photo:
Showing posts with label cardamom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cardamom. Show all posts
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
The Breakfast Spices
Well, are you ready for a big one? Yep, I used different spices on my breakfast this morning. Wow.
I love cinnamon. It used to be that I would have cinnamon and nutmeg on my breakfast on school mornings, and cardamom and cinnamon on non-school mornings. Then I changed (!) and just stuck to cinnamon and nutmeg. Yesterday, I made a slice which required cinnamon... all of my cinnamon... and this morning I forgot that. I opened the pantry to find cardamom and nutmeg. Agh! Deep breaths... and I can deal with this now. So breakfast had those two spices. And no cinnamon.
A little bit weird. But today was weird anyway, and not just because of the spices. At least, I hope it wasn't because of the spices - I didn't get to the shops today so I am still without cinnamon.
Today's photo:
These were kinda left at my house yesterday... Pretty cute, huh?! Pretty gone now, too...
Today's photo:
Monday, 24 September 2012
White Chocolate, Date and Cardamom Cookies
I have been waiting for a couple of weeks to post this. 2 Sundays ago I felt like baking. I had 2 spare eggs and some butter, so looked for some cookie recipes. I very nearly did my usual batch, but I decided to give Jamie's recipe another whirl. With a slight twist.
I kept the basic cookie dough the same:
125g butter
100g (1/2 cup) unrefined golden caster sugar
1 large egg, preferably free-range or organic
100g plain flour
25g porridge oats
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (well, that's what Jamie says - I can't bring myself to put that much salt in anything, so just sprinkled a bit in the mix)
Take your butter out of the fridge 15 minutes before you start so it has time to soften a bit first (or, use Dairy Soft and the microwave...). Put the butter in a mixing bowl with the sugar and mix with a wooden spoon until you get a thick, creamy consistency. Crack your egg into another bowl and beat it with a fork, then add it to the butter and sugar and mix well. Sieve your flour into the bowl to remove any lumps, add the oats, baking powder and salt, and mix until lovely and smooth. (Or you can just put everything into a food processor and whiz until smooth).
Then I had to get creative with the flavours. He suggests citrus cookies - requiring an orange and a lemon (I had orange but no lemon); or double chocolate cookies (I had white chocolate but no dark). In the little blurb at the top of the recipe, he says you can flavour with dried fruit and nuts as well, just keep the quantities the same as for the chocolate cookies (50g of each). I contemplated white chocolate and orange biscuits. Thinking of my pantry contents, I remembered I had dates from making raw brownies (about to happen again tonight). And I'd just made a cardamom curry so that spice was on my mind. Cardamom is associated in my brain with Morocco; Morocco equals dates. Cardamom is also associated for me with white chocolate thanks to a truffle recipe. I decided to combine all these elements.
I had thought far enough ahead that I had included a 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom with the flour and baking powder in the basic mix. I really like cardamom, and I know that jar of spice is nearing the end of its potency. If you're not such a huge cardamom fan, consider a smaller quantity...
Chop 50g of white chocolate (I have a new chocolate-block-chopping-for-biscuits technique, almost like shaving it - and then I put the rest back in the pantry). Chop 50g dates (I chopped them into about 12 pieces each, so they were about 1/2cm square). Add the chocolate and dates to the mix, spoon onto a piece of clingfilm and roll into a sausage shape with a roughly 7cm diameter. Pop the dough into the freezer for 30 minutes. Or 40. Or 50... That last step I remember being awkward from last time (the sausage bit, not the resting in the freezer). It was still a bit awkward.
Preheat oven to 190C/375F/gas 5. Get your chilled dough out of the freezer and cut it into 1cm thick slices (not my best skill - next time I'm just going to do the tablespoons of dough, flattened, thing). Place these on 2 non-stick baking trays, leaving a good bit of space between the slices because they really spread during cooking. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. Let them cool down slightly before placing on a wire rack to cool completely and crisp up.
This combination is (for me, anyway) a winner. Besides, I prefer my cookies soft on the inside and these deliver. Best baked when other eaters are around.
Saturday's photo:
Post-run, we had Mexican. The light-fitting was comprised of Corona bottles.
Sunday's photo:
There is a grevillea by the road, with a new flower in the process of unfurling.
125g butter
100g (1/2 cup) unrefined golden caster sugar
1 large egg, preferably free-range or organic
100g plain flour
25g porridge oats
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (well, that's what Jamie says - I can't bring myself to put that much salt in anything, so just sprinkled a bit in the mix)
Take your butter out of the fridge 15 minutes before you start so it has time to soften a bit first (or, use Dairy Soft and the microwave...). Put the butter in a mixing bowl with the sugar and mix with a wooden spoon until you get a thick, creamy consistency. Crack your egg into another bowl and beat it with a fork, then add it to the butter and sugar and mix well. Sieve your flour into the bowl to remove any lumps, add the oats, baking powder and salt, and mix until lovely and smooth. (Or you can just put everything into a food processor and whiz until smooth).
Then I had to get creative with the flavours. He suggests citrus cookies - requiring an orange and a lemon (I had orange but no lemon); or double chocolate cookies (I had white chocolate but no dark). In the little blurb at the top of the recipe, he says you can flavour with dried fruit and nuts as well, just keep the quantities the same as for the chocolate cookies (50g of each). I contemplated white chocolate and orange biscuits. Thinking of my pantry contents, I remembered I had dates from making raw brownies (about to happen again tonight). And I'd just made a cardamom curry so that spice was on my mind. Cardamom is associated in my brain with Morocco; Morocco equals dates. Cardamom is also associated for me with white chocolate thanks to a truffle recipe. I decided to combine all these elements.
I had thought far enough ahead that I had included a 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom with the flour and baking powder in the basic mix. I really like cardamom, and I know that jar of spice is nearing the end of its potency. If you're not such a huge cardamom fan, consider a smaller quantity...
Chop 50g of white chocolate (I have a new chocolate-block-chopping-for-biscuits technique, almost like shaving it - and then I put the rest back in the pantry). Chop 50g dates (I chopped them into about 12 pieces each, so they were about 1/2cm square). Add the chocolate and dates to the mix, spoon onto a piece of clingfilm and roll into a sausage shape with a roughly 7cm diameter. Pop the dough into the freezer for 30 minutes. Or 40. Or 50... That last step I remember being awkward from last time (the sausage bit, not the resting in the freezer). It was still a bit awkward.
Preheat oven to 190C/375F/gas 5. Get your chilled dough out of the freezer and cut it into 1cm thick slices (not my best skill - next time I'm just going to do the tablespoons of dough, flattened, thing). Place these on 2 non-stick baking trays, leaving a good bit of space between the slices because they really spread during cooking. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. Let them cool down slightly before placing on a wire rack to cool completely and crisp up.
This combination is (for me, anyway) a winner. Besides, I prefer my cookies soft on the inside and these deliver. Best baked when other eaters are around.
Saturday's photo:
Sunday's photo:
Saturday, 8 September 2012
Cardamom-Scented Chicken Curry
Step 1. Find a friend with a beautiful, mouth-watering food blog. In my case, eat, little bird. See her post on Cardamom-Scented Chicken Curry, drool a little, and determine to cook it on the weekend. On the Saturday morning, prepare to go to the shops to buy those couple of ingredients you think you'll need, then do a little skip when you discover you're fully stocked. Do some practice instead.
Step 2. On the Sunday, do some gardening, bake some fruit bread, and eat some fruit bread at about 2pm. Go for a 13 km run, starting at about 5:30. Start feeling hungry at about the 8 km mark. Once returned, have a shower.
Step 3. Gather ingredients. 1 large tomato (or, you know, 2 tomatoes if they're smallish and you really like tomato), 5-6 cardamom pods (squished a bit in the mortar and pestle), 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin, 400g chicken breast, 1 onion (chopped), 2 cm ginger (peeled and grated), 4 cloves grated garlic (although, unable to find the garlic, substitute shallots and chop finely), 1 tablespoon cornflour. Forget how long it takes to prepare all these ingredients. By 7:30, everything is only just prepared and you're quite hungry. You apologise to your brother who walks in about now, thinking dinner will be at the almost-cooked stage instead of the about-to-start-cooking stage.
Step 4. Heat about 4 tablespoons oil in a non-stick pan (or, just estimate). Add the chopped onion, shallots and ginger, and fry until everything is softened. Finely dice the tomatoes, and wonder how this was all meant to be done while things were heating. Employ your brother to stir the contents of the pan while you chop. He sees the 'few good lugs of oil' and thinks it must be a Jamie Oliver recipe. Add the tomatoes and spices, and wish you had chillies growing already. Add some chilli flakes instead. Have brother keep stirring.
Step 5. Add a splash of water and cook on high heat until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the chicken and saute until it's cooked. Add 400 mL water and simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes. Well, that's the intention. Put on an episode of NCIS to watch while waiting, and stir the curry occasionally.
Step 6. When it's all curry-like, about 20 minutes into the cooking time, you will be so hungry (and tempted - it smells delicious) that enough is enough, and you serve. Add a bit of chopped parsley from the garden (in the absence of coriander) to the top. Even though it's meant to serve 4, both of you are so hungry you serve the whole curry. And it's still not enough. Some dried apricots and chocolate help fill you up while watching the new episode of NCIS that is finally shown. Contemplate possible additions to the curry for next time - surprisingly, cabbage springs to mind. Or the lentil dahl used in the inspiring blog post.
Step 7. Cleaning up, you find the cornflour that was meant to be added to thicken things up... oops... Next time, if needed. Start thinking about the next couple of weeks, and when you might give this another go. Put chicken on the shopping list, and go to bed.
Today's photo:
The seedlings have sprouted. I noticed 2 lettuce seedlings yesterday, but this morning there was a very small sprinkling of green in the spinach area. So exciting!!! I feel I have my gardening mojo back.
Step 2. On the Sunday, do some gardening, bake some fruit bread, and eat some fruit bread at about 2pm. Go for a 13 km run, starting at about 5:30. Start feeling hungry at about the 8 km mark. Once returned, have a shower.
Step 4. Heat about 4 tablespoons oil in a non-stick pan (or, just estimate). Add the chopped onion, shallots and ginger, and fry until everything is softened. Finely dice the tomatoes, and wonder how this was all meant to be done while things were heating. Employ your brother to stir the contents of the pan while you chop. He sees the 'few good lugs of oil' and thinks it must be a Jamie Oliver recipe. Add the tomatoes and spices, and wish you had chillies growing already. Add some chilli flakes instead. Have brother keep stirring.
Step 5. Add a splash of water and cook on high heat until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the chicken and saute until it's cooked. Add 400 mL water and simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes. Well, that's the intention. Put on an episode of NCIS to watch while waiting, and stir the curry occasionally.
Today's photo:
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