“Use the chopsticks!” my mother used to always tell me when I was little and would take a jar of these out of the fridge. I never listened of course, as I knew I’d eat my size in these delicious pickles so there was never any need to take them out of the jar with a clean pair of chopsticks. For some reason I was never a child that hated vegetables and the regular ingestion of a jar of these would prove testament to this.
Since moving out of home I realised that I hadn’t eaten these for years and years and with a glut of cucumbers I pestered my mum for the recipe. And this is where the dance began. My mum is quite protective of her recipes and she is also one of those “a bit of this and that” cooks so when I asked her by email she responded
Hi Lorraine,
All you have to do is to peel and slice the cucumber and add salt ,vinegar and sugar. Usually I just do it by trial and error i.e. I’ll taste it then add in more of what is required to my satisfaction.
I think you need more sugar than the other two. Lastly, add in chilli, pepper and sesame oil.
Bye,
Mum
If you do have some cucumbers I do urge you to make one batch of these. They are so good indeed. And don’t be put off by the amount of sugar in it – most of it ends up in the pickling liquid which you don’t drink. After a bit of back and forth she gave me the quantities and I was pleased to note that it tasted pretty much just like I remembered it. Perhaps she is coming round. Dare I ask her for more recipes? Tell me Dear Reader, is your mum or grandmother similarly protective or quantity-vague when it comes to sharing recipes?
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May 16, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
I had one of those moments, you know the ones that occur every now and then when you try on your jeans – you know the ones that if you can’t fit into them, you know you have to cut down on the cakes – and they were a little too snug for comfort. I knew exactly why they were too snug, and I knew exactly what I needed to do. It was to make this dip and to snack on it instead of snacking on other less healthy options. I find that when I am peckish, especially around the witching hour of 4pm, I need something crunchy and this dip is great as it gives a nice plain cracker some pretty colour as well as a fabulous taste. It’s also pretty easy with a total of 3 (or 4) ingredients although I will say that most of the work is in the actual preparation of the beetroot.
This is a seriously great dip and I think this was helped along by two things that I bought in the Easter Show’s Best of Show Deli bag: the fabulous Pane Croccante by Brasserie Bread that I served it with from and the ambrosially creamy Country Valley Lush natural yogurt. I didn’t use any fresh herbs as I only had basil and I wasn’t sure if that would work but rest assured it is good without them. Something that I do find is that with beetroot you do get an “earthy” or “dirt” flavour but I didn’t detect any with this dip. And did I mention the jeans now fit again?
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May 3, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
I cannot tell you how gloriously moist this cake is. For those who find normal cakes a bit dry, this is the cake for you. And because it is so moist, it keeps beautifully so you needn’t be baking on the day that guests drop by, instead doing much more productive work like watching reruns of Desperate Housewives or Seinfeld.
I know I eschewed Jessica Seinfeld’s suggestion of chopped pecans as I had some to put on the top after it had cooked (I was a little worried about them over-baking for the 60 min cooking time) but once it came out of the oven, the pink marshmallows had burst through the topping so I thought the only thing I could do is celebrate the pinkness of the cake with marshmallow flowers. I had most of the 500g bag of marshmallows left so I needed to do something with them.
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April 13, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
I’m a chip fanatic from way back. The idea of a perfect lunch for me as a kid was a chip sandwich, made with crinkle cut chicken chips. Forget fancy Kettle or Red Rock chips, we didn’t have those growing up. Nor do I remember Thins, which I’ve never really gone for (they’re just too… thin?). Crinkle Cut Chicken chips were my weapons of choice. And because my mother rationed me on chips, pouring a small amount out of a large bag I’d eat them crinkle by crinkle slowly until every last piece was gone. And you can bet that as a kid I ran my finger along the bottom of the bowl to catch any stray flavour flakes.
I still love crinkle cut chips but more recently I like the thickness or Kettle or Red Rock deli chips. They’re said to be just like home made so when I was munching a packet of salt and vinegar chips (not my favourite flavour but I was hungry) I wondered why hadn’t someone made Salt and Pepper flavoured chips? There’s Salt and Pepper Squid and Salt and Pepper Tofu and they’re both delicious. How about some Salt and Pepper potato chips?
I took out my V slicer and sliced them on the second setting – I don’t like my chips too thin as they aren’t as earth shatteringly crunchy, and drizzled a couple of tablespoons of oil on top and then baked them. After baking them, I sprinkled the salt and pepper mixture on top and tasted them. They were wonderful indeed and very Kettle Chip/Red Rock like too. And somehow I felt more virtuous that these were baked rather than deep fried. And yes I did put these in a sandwich-white bread with butter which is the only way really to eat these in a sandwich.
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April 5, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
My husband was sick with the flu this week and as anyone knows, men are a downright drama when it comes to being sick. They, or at least my husband is, the worst patient in the world. They turn from agreeable, pleasant, dependable creatures to babies who can’t do anything except for what they want to do. No matter how many times I told him to put the laptop away he wouldn’t. No matter how many times I told him that he had to eat something, he wouldn’t. I even bought him a gift to cheer him up (a set of boats as he is a keen sailor) and he pushed it away sulkily and asked if I could return it to the store. I felt like I had suddenly adopted a 5 year old in the midst of a 5 day long tantrum.
The rejected gift
So in the midst of this, I tried to cook him some soup to aid him in his recovery, which in turn would help preserve our marriage and allow me to keep a modicum of sanity. I had some spinach leftover from the Daring Bakers Spinach lasgane escapade, some chorizo in the freezer and some cannellini beans in the cupboard so I was pretty much there and done. I threw in some other vegetables that I thought would go well with it and and some garlic which would help with his flu and voila, I finally had a soup that would be fit for my Little King.
Did he like it? Perhaps it was the guilt from rejecting the gift, perhaps he was getting better but he loved it and ate is greedily. His appetite returned for this sustaining and healthy soup and before I knew it, he had eaten more than he had within the last few days combined. The soup somehow had a creamy texture from the white beans and the spinach and the addition of the chorizo gave it a spicy punctuation (but of course you could make this totally low fat and vegetarian by omitting the chorizo). And in return he was much less cranky and that certainly saved my sanity and subsequently, our marriage.
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April 1, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
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