Tasty Summer Pickles

Squash Pickles

In the summer when there is a glut of squash and courgettes, why not make some pickles for the winter?

Ingredients:
2lb squash or courgettes, thinly sliced ( I used patty pan squash - some slices cut in half to get courgette size or you could mix them to get mix of yellow and green pickles)

1/21b onions, quartered and thinly sliced
1/4 cup salt
2 cups  sugar
2 cups vinegar
1 teaspoon celery seed - or coriander works well
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
2 teaspoons mustard seeds

 Method
  Place squash and onions into a large bowl, cover with water, and stir in the salt until it dissolves.
Leave the vegetables to soak in the salted water for at least 2 hours; drain and transfer to a large heatproof bowl or saucepan. 
  Bring sugar, vinegar, celery seed, turmeric, mustard, and mustard seeds to a boil in a saucepan; pour the mixture over the squash and onions. Let the mixture stand for at least 2 more hours.
Return squash, onions, and pickling liquid with spices to a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes. 

Pack the squash and onion into the warmed jars, filling the jars to within 1/4 inch of the top with pickling liquid. 

 Store in a cool, dark area, and wait at least 24 hours before opening.

Wicked Lunch at Kokkinos Pirgos

Kokkinos Pirgos is just outside Tymbaki on the south coast - on the way to Matala

We stopped on the way to the festival and enjoyed the lunch so much we stopped and had the same on the way back. ( Yes the same last year!) Not a lunch if you are on a diet, but once a year can be forgiven!

We have a favourite taverna

Just by the harbour

Lovely views and boats to watch

and the best lunch around....

We had to try the salad with Jack Daniels sauce! 

Yes there is a salad under that cheese!

Then for the main course - just one between us...

Red florentine peppers, stuffed with mizithra cheese, covered in bacon and a spicy tomato sauce

A mixture of four different types of cheeses and a bubbly crusty cheese topping

All gone... now back to the diet!

Choco- Carob Hummus

"What on earth?" you might say, "Sweet Hummus??"
What is there not to love? Protein, chocolate, carob, a perfect snack for when a choccy craving hits!

This particular recipe is vegan, but you can alter it to suit your own preferences

1 can (15oz) Chickpeas, drained & rinsed - save a little of the water they were canned in ( aquafaba)

• 4 tbsp Coconut Milk ( or any other milk you prefer)
• 3 tbsp Carob Powder 2 tbs Cocoa Powder ( or use all cocoa or carob)
• 2 tbsp Honey 1 tbs carob syrup ( or all honey or even maple syrup)
• 1 tbsp aquafaba
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Simply blitz everything together till blended

Serve as a dip or a spread.

keep in the fridge

Try freezing for an icy treat!

Vegan Chick pea burgers - A way to use up those left over chick peas!

How to make delicious and healthy Vegan burgers

I started with some left over chick peas in lemon sauce. I drained the sauce off, which gave hint of lemon ( you can use fresh soaked and cooked chick peas of course!) and added:

Parsley and mint

toasted pine nuts

seasoning and a little sun dried tomato 

Zap them all together

pop in fridge to cool, later make into burger shapes and fry or bake - you can roll them in sesame seeds if you like, they should be soft enough to make the burgers without adding other liquid

Make into burgers with onions, lettuce, or whatever else you like

Quick, Easy and Nutritious 

Cheese and pastry Snowflake -

There is a recipe I have been meaning to try for years, but never quite got round to.

This Christmas I managed to cook it. Delicious at any time of the year.

A baked Camembert "snowflake"

Cut out two rounds of puff pastry with a hole in the middle for the camembert. Spread filling of your liking on bottom layer and cover with top layer. You could use cranberry sauce or Branston pickle Marmite, chutney, pesto or tapenade - experiment! slice through the layers as above - make 16 pieces - leaving them joined at the top. Twist in a pattern to make the snowflake.

Brush with beaten egg and a splash of olive oil on the cheese if you wish 

Bake at 180 degrees until golden brown, about 30 mins

Eat immediately tearing off and dipping the pastry in the yummy melted cheese.

It will vanish - just like a snowflake!!!

Gluten free Carob Cookies

Continuing my experimentation with Carob my latest try was Carob Cookies. These are gluten free. 

I took an everyday recipe for biscuits and substituted the flour for 2/3 carob flour and 1/3 carob powder

I found they needed a little longer to cook and needed careful removal from the baking sheet.

When they had cooled they had a lovely  fudgy chewy cookie texture and good carob flavour. Quite rich so one goes a long way. The coarsely ground carob flour gives them a certain nuttiness.

Why not give it a try?

225g Butter

175g sugar

1 egg

200g carob flour

100g carob powder

Mix together thoroughly, form into balls the size of walnuts and place on the baking sheet, flatten each ball slightly.

Bake gas 4, 180 C for about 10 mins

( You may need to experiment with timings depending on your oven)

All things Carob, part two!

After a visit to "Creta Carob" I decided to experiment with carob Pasta

Low in gluten, not gluten free, as the carob flour is mixed with semolina.

I decided to boil a little plain first to test the taste

It was not a strong carob flavour so ideal for any recipe. Had the flavour been strong it would have lent itself to more sweet recipes rather than savoury.

Tuna and broccoli pasta

onions, cheese, milk, tuna, broccoli, tomato and pasta

delicious 

Ten easy steps to making your own, healthy Baked Beans

Are you trying to eat healthily? Need comfort food? Worried about added sugar and other additives in commercial brands of beans?

Here is a simple recipe to make your own.

I never weigh or measure for this. A mugful of dried beans should serve 4 

Step one: Start the day before. Put dried beans into a bowl and cover with cold water. Leave to soak.

Step Two:

 Drain, cover with fresh water and bring to the boil. Turn heat down and simmer till soft.

(It is possible to by pass the first step and cook from dried in a pressure cooker - that needs a bit of practise with the timings!)

Step Three:

Gather all your ingredients together 

 Chopped onion, carrot, celery leaves if you like, Sundried tomatoes (optional)

Tinned chopped tomatoes ( in the summer you can use fresh) Tomato paste (optional), dried orange peel, bay leaves.

Olive oil

A splash of vinegar ( any type)

Salt, pepper

teaspoon of sugar - optional

Step Four: 

When beans are soft drain - reserve the cooking liquid. (Do not do this for red kidney beans)

Step five: sauce the onions in a little olive oil. If you wish caramelise them by adding a teaspoon of sugar and a splash of vinegar. ( Leave this out if you are trying to cut out all sugar - but it does help bring out the flavour.)

 Step Six:
Add the carrots and mix with the onions, then add the other ingredients. Adjust to your taste - add a spoonful of tomato puree  if you like things very tomatoey, leave it out if you don't.

Step Seven: If you need extra liquid add a little of the reserved water from boiling the beans. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 15 minutes.

Step Eight:

Add the beans, return to the boil and then simmer for 40 minutes alternatively put into a casserole dish, cover and bake in the oven at a bout 180 C. (the longer and gentler the simmer the better the flavour will be!

Step Nine:

Adjust seasoning to your taste

Step Ten:

Serve and enjoy. This will be even better the second day!