Curried Green Tomatoes and Cranberry Relish

Curried Green Tomatoes and Cranberry Relish
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Curried Green Tomatoes and Cranberry Relish is a small batch recipe using green tomatoes. Yes, these are the very same green tomatoes from Bella’s neighbour… they seriously have lots of tomatoes!

I graciously received a large bowl of tomatoes last week and I chose to make a relish, although I’m not quite sure if I should call it a relish or a chutney? They seem to be the same… anyway, surprisingly, after a discussion with mum about my relish she tells me that it was a favourite recipe of grandpa’s and he made something almost identical whenever his veggie garden was flowing over with tomatoes. It just goes to show that flavour traits can run strong within families.

Bella made a Pickled Green Tomato with her stash and I also wanted something that could be served with nibbles since the Christmas season is fast coming up. It’s also the reason why I added cranberries to the recipe, just makes it a little more festive. Maybe I should call this a Christmas Relish, it certainly deserves a place on the dinner table.

Serve with any roast meat, on a sandwich using leftovers, or on your breakfast eggs… delicious!

Curried Green Tomatoes and Cranberry Relish

Enjoy!  Blondie

Smokey Paprika Hasselback Potatoes in a hurry

Smokey Paprika Hasselback Potatoes in a hurry

Smokey Paprika Hasselback Potatoes in a hurry… One of my favourite things to do when I have spare time is to wander around charity stores. It’s always amazing what you can find in there, and it was during one of these spontaneous trips that I came across a gorgeous terracotta, pot bellied canister with a lid. On inspection I saw that it still had a note in it telling me that it was a Diable Potato Cooker. Well, enough said, it was going to come home with me.

Smokey Paprika Hasselback Potatoes in a hurry - Diable Potato Baker

If you do ever come across one of these I highly recommend adding it to your kitchen as it’s no fat, no liquid cooking and can be used in the oven, on the hob (with a diffuser) or in the microwave… and being cooked in terracotta imparts a subtle and unique flavour to the veggies. I cook most of my vegetables in it now and the fact I can have awesome whole potatoes ready within minutes is just such a bonus!

Smokey Paprika Hasselback Potatoes in a hurry - Diable Potato Baker

Anyway, enough about my cute potato cooker, this is about making hasselback potatoes quickly. Using the diable means your cooking time is considerably shorter but if you don’t have one you can wrap each potato in paper towel and place them in the microwave. Start with the same times as with the diable and just check with a skewer to see if the potatoes are ready – It’s very easy to overcook the potatoes so cook them in 1-2 minute increments after the initial cook time of 4 minutes

Happy cooking!  Blondie

Salted Caramel Sauce

Salted Caramel Sauce
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Salted Caramel Sauce… You can’t beat a gorgeous caramel sauce to add a little indulgence to a dessert dish, throw in some Murray River Salt flakes (my preferred choice) and it’s transformed from normal to sublime!

This is another fabulous gift idea for Christmas, just make it a day or two prior to the day you will be handing it out.

Blondie 🙂

 

Chai Spiced Cherry Compote in Port Syrup

Chai Spiced Cherry Compote in Port Syrup
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Chai Spiced Cherry Compote in Port Syrup… Tis’ the season to be cherry!

Thanks to Bella’s parents, who went cherry picking near Orange over the weekend, we have mounds of these glorious red baubles. This means you will be seeing quite a few cherry recipes this year.

Using my Chai Whole Spice Mix (see below) I have made a delicious Chai Spiced Cherry Compote in Port Syrup that can be used in numerous ways. Have it drizzled over ice-cream, you can puree it and make it as a filling to use in your biscuits (use it instead of the prune jam in the Finnish Tarts – Joulutorttu) or put a couple of cherries with some syrup in the bottom of your champagne glass… it’s limitless!

Chai Spiced Cherry Compote in Port Syrup

Cheers… Blondie

Sweetened Yoghurt Dessert with Lemon Curd and Oat Crumble

Sweetened Yoghurt Dessert with Lemon Curd and Oat Crumble

I love the little yoghurt cups you get at the markets with the cookie crumble and fruit puree that you mix in for a delicious dessert – I like to pretend that I’m eating healthy…

Here I have chosen to do my very own version, Sweetened Yoghurt Dessert with Lemon Curd and Oat Crumble and without being  too overtly proud of myself I have to say that this is more awesome than any else I have tried! You could use a natural greek yoghurt but I personally like to have this as a sweet treat so I choose the sweetened yoghurt, the lemon curd gives a lovely tang and then add the crumbs from the Barley and Oat Bars (that you have made previously) adds a nice textural element. In minutes you have yourself a gorgeous dessert or a little indulgence for breakfast.

Buy the yoghurt and lemon curd for convenience – I will be putting my recipe for both the lemon curd and a passionfruit curd shortly –  it’s fast and oh so tasty!

Sweetened Yoghurt Dessert with Lemon Curd and Oat Crumble

Creamy, sweet and tangy crunchiness…. Blondie  🙂

Crunchy Barley and Oat Bars

Finding Feasts - Crunchy Barley and Oat Bars

So how did I come around to making these delicious Crunchy Barley and Oat Bars?

Well, my husband loves his porridge in the morning and I usually buy the quick cook rolled oats sachets (these cook in 90 seconds in the microwave because the oats have been finely cut as opposed to the full oat which takes a lot longer) anyway to make a boring story short, I got the wrong brand and he wasn’t too impressed!

Left with 9 sachets of Rolled Barley and Oats I figured that healthy snack bars will be the best way to use them up. Just to pump up the healthy side of them a bit more, I used Coconut oil instead of butter – AMAZING! They are like Anzac biscuits but even better!

With baked recipes you can replace the butter or margarine with coconut oil – Measurements are 1:1 so if your recipe asks for 2 tbs of butter you use 2 tbs of coconut oil. If the butter in the recipe needs to be solid then place the coconut oil in the fridge till firm, if it needs to be melted then gently heat till liquid… so easy.

These are a fantastic and healthy lunchbox snack for the kids!

Crunchy Barley and Oat Bars

Crunchy, sneaky goodness… Blondie  🙂