Finding Feasts | Cooking Eating Storytelling

Smoked onion jam

This smoked onion jam is a gorgeous recipe which is simple to make and will have the crowds begging for more! There are no mystery steps in making this smoked onion jam and there are literally a thousand other similar recipes out there so don’t be afraid to give one a test drive! I guarantee you will be addicted!

Call me old fashioned but there is something very satisfying about making yourself a sandwich with crusty sourdough bread, some ham or turkey, cheese and slapping on a dollop of home made jam and this smoked onion jam goes with almost anything, burgers, hot dogs, cheese and crackers and the list goes on.

When I was growing up products like jam, chutney, relish and pickles conjured up images of little old ladies cooking up a storm in their kitchen for the weekend school fete. Purchasing these neither interested me nor did I have any desire to eat them! I actually ran a mile from such stalls. Fast forward a few years and Blondie will tell you how much I love to browse through market stalls, quirky country corner shops to see what I can come across!

Blondie and I have grand ambitions of having a stall at the local weekend markets this year and while we would love to just sell our wild picked mushrooms we think we need to diversify a little, plus up until the last few day the rain has been very sparse.

So why a smoked onion jam? Why not? I love onions, I love how they take on this amazing flavour when they are slow cooked and caramalised. As for adding a smoky falavour to them well that was a no-brainer! I think it is fair to say that if Blondie and I could come up with a smoked ice cream that tasted absolutely divine…we probably would!

Adding the smoked liquid gives this jam an earthy taste and when the onions melt in your mouth its like you are sitting on the side bench at a cold and miserable game of footy and someone hands you the most perfect tasting, mouth watering hot dog or burger.

I personally love the jam on crusty bread with some fresh ricotta. I dare you to try it!

The jam will keep in your fridge for about 3-4 weeks…if it lasts that long!

Bella

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Homemade Hommus

Homemade Hommus… Continuing on with my year long challenge, here is Homemade Hommus from Jan-Feb 2014’s Nourish magazine.

Although a basic recipe it really is one that everyone should have under their belts as it’s great as a snack with flat bread or vegetable batons or used in a meal – like the one I will be making from the new Feast magazine… Can’t wait for that one! Hummus B’lahmeh (Israeli hummus with spiced lamb)

Blondie 🙂

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How To Poach Eggs In Cling Film

One of my favourite ways to eat eggs is poached… How good does that look? Spicy chorizo, mushroom and feta with poached eggs

The problem is a lot of people are afraid to try their hand at poaching thinking it’s too difficult a method. This is where the cling film method comes in, but before you say something about the rubbish left from such a cooking method, yes I agree but the benefit of poaching eggs using this method is you can use older eggs.

The traditional method of poaching requires you to have the freshest eggs so that the egg white is a firm ball surrounding the yolk. This is important because you need the white to hold form in the water. Using an older egg will mean the egg white is looser and you will just have egg white ‘ghosts’ floating around in your saucepan. Not very appealing at all!

Poaching in cling film means you can use older eggs – not everybody has chickens on hand and not every carton of eggs you buy are as fresh as you need them for traditional ‘free fall’ cooking, so having this method on hand is very helpful when the craving for poached eggs hits.

How To Poach Eggs In Cling Film instructional…

Happy brunching! Blondie 🙂

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Smoked Sweet Chilli Sauce

So what can you do to improve on the pantry staple, sweet chilli sauce? Smoke it of course!

Smoked Sweet Chilli Sauce is an amazing accompaniment to all the dishes you have your standard with but with a unique smokey flavour… and you know how much Bella and I love things smoked.

Serve it with seafood or baste chicken kebabs or pour it over a big dollop of sour cream.

Hot and smokey… Blondie

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Warm Thai Style Beef Noodle Salad w/ Poached Egg

Warm Thai Style Beef Noodle Salad w/ Poached Egg came about with the influx of meat that hubby was winning at the Sunday meat raffle over the Christmas period.

So how do you make sure none of it goes to waste? Prep it first! I love preparing the meat in appropriate meal sizes and in different marinades and pastes prior to freezing, this way you can pull out a baggy in the morning and leave it to defrost while you are at work. It’s then ready to be cooked up at dinner time. Just keep some basics in your pantry like different types of noodles and some nice pre made dressings if need be, combine with fresh vegetables and leaves and you have a quick, healthy dinner.

Tip: Write the ingredients on the bag so you remember which marinade is which – I like to start with a base such as soy and honey for example and then divide that into 3, adding different ingredients to each batch.

Enjoy the ease! Blondie 🙂

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Moroccan Fish – Chut b’chi zyu

Moroccan Fish – Chut b’chi zyu… As with my below post – Teriyaki Mustard Chicken, this is the second dish, Moroccan Fish – Chut b’chi zyu I’ve made as part of my New Year’s resolution… that being, that any cookbook or magazine that enters my house during 2014 will have a recipe made from it.

This is from Feast magazine No.28 Moroccan Fish – Chut b’chi zyu

It’s a lightly spiced fish dish, which is gorgeous served over simple steamed rice…I did puree half of the ingredients and sliced the rest just to add a bit more oomph but it’s basically as written in the magazine. Oh and I added baby spinach, only because I like baby spinach – and I need to build up my iron stores so anything with vitamin c (carrots, capsicum) I add greenery.

Blondie 🙂

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Teriyaki Mustard Chicken

Teriyaki Mustard Chicken… My New Year’s resolution for 2014 is to make at least one recipe from each cookbook or magazine that enters my house. It is a simple enough resolution you would think but I seriously have so many come through that I think this will make me more productive with them. This includes books borrowed from family and loaned from the library… anything that enters through my door!

My first two recipes are from Feast magazine No.28 and Ross Dobson‘s book, Fired Up. First up is Ross Dobson’s chicken recipe of Teriyaki Mustard Chicken and I have to say that this will now be my go to recipe for preparing chicken, this marinade is truly heaven, no exaggeration! I will be now adding the rest of Ross Dobson’s books to my cookbook library.

Fired Up is a book on ‘no nonsense barbecuing’ but each recipe can certainly be used on either a stove top or in an oven easily enough (I know there are lots of people who don’t like straying from a recipe) Other changes were…

Chicken thighs – I used a whole chicken and butterflied it – It was all I had at the time and it was only butterflied because it was getting late.

Japanese soy sauce – I used half and half kecap manis and a light soy – again all I had at the time.

Ross has two restaurants in Penrith, Western Sydney… think I will need to get out there shortly.

Happy New Year! Blondie

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