Home Made Pickling Vinegar (Ezi Sauce clone)

NAME: _Home Made Pickling Vinegar (Ezi Sauce clone)

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INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:

15 grams whole cloves ---------------\

15 grams whole black peppercorns---- (See Note 1)

7 grams chilli flakes mild

30 grams ginger fresh, washed, scraped, and chopped (See Note4)

400- 500 ml double-strength white vinegar 8% acidity

1 tsp un iodised cooking salt 

1 litre double-strength white vinegar 8% acidity (See Note 3)

 

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METHOD:

Use a glass jar with tight-fitting lid that's 1.2 - 1.5 litres in size. Put in the vinegar, salt, and sugar/molasses if using, stir or shake until dissolved. Add in the other ingredients, put the lid on tightly and shake. Leave it to stand for at least 12hrs, 24hrs preferred, then strain through some fairly fine weave like calico or handkerchief cotton into a clean glass bottle. It'll keep for ages, months, if left unopened. (Note 5)

 

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SERVING:

It's not actually a serving idea per se, instead it's used in pickles and chutneys etc. I've also added a small splash to a salad vinegar/oil vinaigrette for interest. 
 

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NOTES:

Note 1: Purists will say "whole" black peppercorns and cloves, I say put them in a piece of parchment paper then into a teatowel and crack them with whatever you have. Don't pound them to dust, just break them open a bit. 
Note 2: Experiment - I've improved over the original recipe by adding 1 tsp of crumbled cinnamon bark as well. Also 1 tsp raw sugar or molasses (molasses preferred) adds "body" to the end product.   

Note 3: DON'T be tempted to use the normal white vinegar, pickling needs more acidity that only double-srength can provide. Usually only a half litre is used for the amount of ingredients but I've found that the flavour is overpowering at that strength so I opted to add half a litre more vinegar. Start with the 500ml, taste test after 12hrs, and if, like me, you found it unpleasantly strong, add 250ml - 500ml more double strength.

Note 4: I don't peel the ginger, rather wash and scrape lightly with a spoon, also thin slices with a mandoline are as good as chopping.

Note 5: The vinegar goes dark - it's meant to. Also - keeping it in a dark brown bottle will retain the colour, clear glass lets light in and that fades the colour after time. 

Also, you can find my recipe for Green Tomato Chutney here where I've already used the vinegar to make several batches.

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ENJOY!

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Footer

Really Quick Potato Breadlings

NAME: _Really Quick Potato Breadlings

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INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:

250g mashed potato only - no butter etc, just mashed spuds

250g AP flour

2tsp instant yeast

milk (see recipe)

24 x mini muffin baking tray, two if you have them.   

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METHOD:

Mix the potato and flour in a stand mixer for about 5min using the dough hooks. Add the yeast, mix a bit more. 

(I know, I know, you mix the yeast with some warm water yada yada yada. Do you use your yeast? Did it work last time? Was that last time less than six months ago? It'll probably still work. Or you can use the clever technique in the Notes.)

The first batch was in the oven
about 4 minutes too long. And
yep we ate a few just to test them. 

Add milk a bit at a time, you want a consistency softer than bread dough but a fair bit firmer than pancake batter. 

Keep kneading the dough in the mixer for about another 5 - 10 minutes. You want it to start pulling the skirt away from the bowl as it kneads, then it's just about right. 

Whack a tea towel over the mixing bowl and let it sit and rise for an hour or two, in which time it should just about almost sorta double. Oil the muffin tin while you decide if it's about doubled in size or not. Maybe preheat the oven to 220C - 230C about now, too.

Decide "what the heck!" and go for it anyway. Now this stuff will be sticky so - use two teaspoons and try to fill each muffinette spot about 1/2 full with batter then put the tray in the oven for about 10min. They go quickly so stick around and check.

If you only have one 24pc tray then you'll notice you have a lot of batter left, probably enough for another 24pc tray. . . Hmmm . . . When the tray comes out of the oven turn it over. The muffinettes will fall all over the floor, probably should have told you to invert it over a clean solid surface with a tea towel on it. Sorry.

Let the tray cool, oil again, and the remaining batter should fill the tray again. Return to the oven and do it all again.     

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SERVING:

Serve warm or cold ad sides or as the carb in a meal. They take only a few minutes for the inside to firm up.

(I made some pulled pork and shredded ham fried with fine chopped onion, some caraway seed, and eventually about a tablespoon of flour stirred in and then splash a bit of water over and adjust until the meat has a slight moist saucy glaze to it. And some sauerkraut in a very similar way. Then we chopped muffinettes in half and used them like baby potatoes as the main carb in the meal.)   

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NOTES:

So you didn't keep your instant yeast in the fridge and nothing rose. Add 2 tsp of baking powder and mix that in, then proceed as if the yeast had risen. Or add 3 tsp and some more milk, and fry them in butter in teaspoon-sized portions to make pikelets...    

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ENJOY!

Mushroom Season

NAME: _Mushroom Season

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INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:

500g fresh local mushrooms (about 700g if you remove stems, see Notes)
50g salted butter

1 tsp yeast flakes

1/2 tsp Vegemite

2 tsp AP flour

1/2cup - 1 cup water

salt and ground black pepper to season

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METHOD:

Slice the mushrooms (with or without stems) and fry medium hot in butter until they start to smell mushroomy then reduce the heat. (Sorry, I don't know a better way to describe this. Cooking fast initially starts browning the mushroom and gives some nice flavour, and you can smell it.)

Keep the mushrooms stirrring for about five minutes then add the flour and stir it into the mushrooms, add water, reduce heat further, add yeast flakes and vegemite, taste and season if needed. 

 

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SERVING:

As a side dish to many meals, or on toast, just get those mushrooms into your belly! Yumm!
 

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NOTES:

Some people find the stems of field mushrooms a bit woody, and yes, if they've lived part of their life in a plastic tray in a chiller room or left to grow too long then they may well be. I often cut half the stems back before slicing, and sometimes, with the store bought white and Swiss mushrooms, the whole stem has to come off. (But don't throw them away! Give them a quick wash/brushoff and freeze them in a ziplock bag to use in a future stock! Don't waste such a flavour resource.)

 

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ENJOY!

No Hope For Food Knowledge

Just Scary News

Seems we're STILL not getting food education right. The only point I disagree with this article on is that I reckon the adults in those kids' lives aren't really a full bottle on food origins either. 

Seeing how mothers go to war with teachers for telling kids that fish come from the sea when she knew for a fact that fish came from the supermarket.

Score one more point for food ignorance.

Game over.

Recipe/News Roundup 01

Another Block Roundup

Yeehar. This is going to be exciting. Did you notice my enthusiasm? No? Good. This is meant to be my recipe blog and I've been so busy that I've dug up new recipes and ideas to try but haven't had time to truly get into the Cooking Zone and experiment.

However, you'll still get a giggle and some inspiration from the bunch of food links I've collected and curated over the last year or so.

Today the "Enjoy!" comes first.

https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/4-minute-microwave-passionfruit-lemon-curd-recipe/u72dce8s 

https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/mini-caramilk-rice-puddings-recipe/ptr8uq0o 

https://commonsensehome.com/canning-oranges/ 

A few recipes to start off with, and now a story that I've heard with a dozen variations but always the same message - we're becoming "food dumb."

Can't Possibly Be True

In a study published in the December issue of the Journal of Environmental Psychology, researchers from Furman University asked children ages 4 to 7 to identify whether certain foods come from plants or animals, and which things were OK to eat. The results were shocking, as Oddee.com reported: About a third of the kids thought eggs came from plants. Forty percent thought hot dogs and bacon were vegetables. Almost half thought french fries were animal-based. More than a third thought chicken nuggets were plant-based, even though the word "chicken" is right there in the name. Another third said fish were not OK to eat. Seventy-six percent said cows were not OK to eat. We have some work to do, folks. [Oddee.com, 11/10/2021]

https://www.uexpress.com/oddities/news-of-the-weird/2021/11/12#:~:text=Can%27t%20Possibly%20Be,OK%20to%20eat. 

A few more recipes:

One-pan teriyaki beef and rice recipe 

5-ingredient Spanish chicken 

Best "Cheeseburger" Pie - Comfortable Food 

https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/potato-recipes-aloo-recipes/ 

And now a big block more of them:

https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/wellbeing/2022/01/05/four-plant-based-foods

http://coorowseeds.com.au/seed/lupins-for-human-consumption/dehulled-lupins/ 

How to Cook Lupin Bean Stew | Miss Kabaki

30 Delicious Recipes for Your Bread Machine  

Jamu (Indonesian Turmeric Ginger Drink) 

How to Make Ginger Switchel 

https://www.simplejoy.com/chicken-noodle-casserole 

Philly Cheese Steak Casserole Recipe 

Crockpot Little Smokies - Simple Joy

Cowboy Caviar Dip - Simple Joy  

I'm not sure how many links is too much. I think this already is, but I'll welcome discussion.

As you probably know by now, I'm not a chef and the closest I got to commercial cooking was helping a then-local food co-op with preserving excess foods. My real passion is writing up good recipes (and please note the fact that I've included the above links based only on me wanting to check them and develop "my style" recipes based on them) and the rest of my passion is writing about unjust and fraudulent food practices and politics, unjust politics, the state of the planet and the mountains of waste we've wastefully created, technology both good (I praise and extol that kind) and bad (where I just tell you why I think it's bad and then hope everyone boycotts it) and how to use technology to recover from the waste and weather problems we're having.

If you want to see what I mean, dive into the Footnote just below. 

Footnote:

In addition to writing these articles I'm also experimenting with ways of recycling waste that can be done at the cottage industry or community hub levels, not so much because it'll magically convert 100% of local waste into recycled useful articles, but because people who are doing these sorts of activities are likely to talk about them to people in their community, and so raise even more awareness of the issues and dangers.

So please - if you can at all spare some time, take a look at my News Stand where you'll see live updated links to everything I publish; And take some time and share the links to the News Stand and this article with your friends and readers. 

Take a subscription to my weekly newsletter where you'll receive the same information; 

Or maybe contact me via the webform; Or email me;

You can also donate either directly or at my Ko-Fi page for the price of a coffee, or even make a regular monthly donation there.

All donations are put towards keeping these websites online, and for developing devices, machines, and techniques to easily and safely recycle materials on a tiny scale.

An Overlooked Anniversary

I've just noticed that give or take a few months, TEdAMENU Tuckertime is over fifteen years old! 

That is all.