Pickled Gherkins for burgers and sandwiches

A burger is great but adding these pickles really takes it to new heights! Here in New Zealand we aren't huge consumers of pickles but maybe we should be because they are so good! These are sweet and tangy, and their crunch adds a delicious texture to your burger or sandwich which is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

 INGREDIENTS

• 1.2kg of gherkins (or mini cucumbers) 

• 3 Tblsp Kosher Salt

• 1 L White Vinegar

• 110g White Sugar

• 1 Tblsp Coriander Seeds

• 1 Tblsp Mustard Seeds

• 3 Tblsp Black Peppercorns
• 2 Bay Leaves

METHOD:

To start, wash and top and tail your gherkins. Then put them through the thinest slicer option on your food processor (you can slice them by hand but the processor is WAY faster!).

Next layer your sliced gherkins and salt into a non-reactive bowl (glass or ceramic are safe) so the salt and gherkins are combined. Put this aside and allow it to stand for 60 minutes.

While the pickles stand place 110g sugar, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, peppercorns, bay leaves and vinegar in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to the boil, lower the heat to simmer and allow to continue for 30 minutes. After this time, strain the mixture through a sieve and put aside.

Back to the gherkins. Drain the water that has drwn from the gherkins and pour in a litre of fresh cold water. Mix the gherkins around in the water to rinse. 

You will need 4 500ml sized sterilised preserving jars, if they are not still hot from sterlising (I use mine straight from the dishwasher) then warm them so that the hot vinegar doesn't break them. Fill the four jars to just below the brim with the sliced gherkins. Pour in enough of the vinegar mix to cover the gherkins. Seal the jars and allow them to cool on a wire rack. 

Pickles are good for at least 12 months but do need to be refridgerated once opened.

Enjoy x

Homemade vegetable stock powder

Homemade stock powder is full of nutritous vegetables- and that's it. No added salt, MSG and goodness knows what else that comes in your store-bought stocks.  A great way to use up excess veges from the garden, you can change up the veges depending on the season and what you have on-hand but there are a few 'foundation' veges that need to be in there. Carrots add sweetness, celery adds savoury notes and the onions or leeks add the depth. Once you have those three in, then you can bulk it out with pretty much any other vege and herbs. In summer, zuchinni, tomatoes and capsicums all work well.
Thanks so much to my lovely friend Gemma for sharing this recipe (and a joy of dehydrating things) with me!

INGREDIENTS

• 400g carrots, unpeeled

• 400g leeks or onions
• 300g celery, use the leaves too
• 8 cloves of garlic
• 2 cups mixed fresh herbs (such as thyme, basil, corriander, sage, oregano or marjoram)
• 2 Tblsp nutritional yeast
• 3 Tblsp rock salt (vary this to your own taste)

METHOD:

Wash and finely shred or grate the vegetables. The smaller everything is, the faster it will dry. Place all the vegetables and herbs onto dehydrator or oven trays. Dry everything at 60-70degree celcius. If drying in the oven, open the oven door occasionally to let the steam out. 

Once everything has dried completely, place it in a blender along with the nutritional yeast and rock salt. Blitz until it is a fine powder.

Store the stock in an airtight jar. Dried thoroughly it lasts for more than a year, and 1 Tblsp of stock powder mixed with 1 cup of boiling water makes 1 cup of vege stock for using in your recipes.

Enjoy xx

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Bechamel Sauce

This is a classic sauce that can be used as a base for heaps of recipes. Low and slow is the way with this one and it is best served with heaps of cheese and pepper!

INGREDIENTS

• 50g butter
• 1/4 cup plain flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk

METHOD:

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, cook until bubbling while stirring with a wooden spoon. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat. Continue to stir over 4-5 minutes and thicken the sauce. Season with salt and pepper and add cheese if you wish to make a cheese sauce.

TIPS:

• Cook the roux until it is golden and nutty smelling, you don't want the sauce to taste of raw flour but be carefull not to brown- it changes really quickly and if it is overcooked it will not thicken.
• Warm the milk, it will cook faster and you will avoid the splatter fest that comes from adding cold milk to hot roux.
• Add the milk slowly, add about 1/4 cup first and stir though until the sauce is smooth. Adding it all at once is a fast track to lumps! Then add slowly whilst stirring until it is all added and the sauce is thickening.
• Cook it well! Once all the milk is added and the sauce is thickened, dip a spoon in the sauce and coat the spoon. Run your finger across the spoon, the sauce should not fill in the wiped away stripe. Once it is cooked, then add the seasoning and cheese.

Enjoy xx

Spicy Tomato Relish

Tomato relish is one of my all time favourites on toast with grilled cheese- yum-that's a combination that makes for the best lunch. This relish is a good spicy one and it goes beautifully with a good slice of cheese and cracker too!
INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5kg ripe juicy tomatoes
• 1kg onions, peeled and finely diced
• 2 Tblsp salt
• 1 kg sugar
• 2 cups vinegar
• 1 1/2 Tblsp curry powder
• 1 1/2 Tblsp mustard powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

METHOD:
Cut the cores from the tomatoes, then cut a small cross through the skin at the top of each tomato. Plunge into boiling water for 1 minute and then plunge into ice-cold water to blanch. Peel away the skin.
Dice the tomatoes roughly and place in a non metallic bowl with the onions and salt. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to stand over night or for at least 8 hours.
Thoroughly strain of the salty liquid by placing the tomato mix into a colander and leaving for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Do not be alarmed at how much liquid drains off; salting is done to draw out excess moisture and therefore preserve.
Put the tomato mixture into a large jam pan or stock pot sized saucepan with the sugar, vinegar, curry and mustard powders and cayenne pepper.
Simmer for1 hour, or until it is a nice thick colour (that means deep brown/red). Stir frequently to prevent sticking.
Remove from heat and stand the pan on a heavy board. Carefully bottle into hot sterilised jars, cover with a clean tea towel and seal when cold.

TIPS:

• If you want the relish a bit thicker, you can combine a couple of tablesppons of flour with some water to make a paste and stir in right at the end of cooking, boil for at least three minutes to make sure the flour is cooked in
• Any vinegar is fine but we grew up with malt and that is the taste I most prefer- but what ever is in the cupboard is fine

Thick sweet homemade mint sauce

This is a really rich thick mint sauce, it is quite sweet, so you may want to use white sugar instead or less of it, but this is how Gran used to make it and it is so good with roast or stirred into shanks gravy.
Gran used to have three small milk bottles (think they must have been 250mls/ 1/2 pints) that this fitted into, would make a cute gift if you could find/buy some mini milk bottles (you see them in gift stores with screw on lids sometimes). If you have heaps of mint or more mouths to feed, simply double the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

• 500mls of malt vinegar
• 400g of brown sugar
• 3/4 cup mint leaves chopped finely

METHOD:

Bring the sugar and vinegar to the boil, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar. Simmer gently for 5to 10 minutes, it will reduce slightly (keep an eye on it so you don't end up with vinegar toffee!) then cool till just warm. Add mint, stir well, then bottle into sterilised bottles.

Enjoy xx

A

Tomato Sauce

This is the BEST sauce, it's chunky and thick and full of flavour. At the tail end of the summer when the tomatoes are ripe and in abundance this is an amazing way to use some of them up, especially if your house is anything like ours and you use a lot of sauce! At my fathers house, there is usually a cooked breakfast on offer and this is amazing with his home-killed bacon- yum yum!

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 lb tomatoes
• 1 ½ lb light brown sugar
• 1 lb onions
• 1 Tblsp allspice
• 4 Tblsp salt
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 Tblsp cloves
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp peppercorns
• 5 cups vinegar
• 1 ½ lb apples

METHOD:
Chop tomatoes, apples and onion roughly. Put spices in muslin and boil all the ingredients together for an hour. Put through a sieve when cold and bottle.

TIPS:

• This is a great condiment but it can also be a really good pizza or pasta sauce too.

Mrs Renshaw's Plum sauce recipe

I was lucky enough to get this recipe from my friend George's mum. George always has this awesome plum sauce in his cupboard and so because rich juicy plums are in abundance right now in Geraldine, I got him to ask his mum for the recipe-which I am now sharing with all of you. This stuff is good enough to eat right off the spoon, so go out, pick some plums and get bottling!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 lbs ripe plums (wash cut and destone)
• 1 1/2 lbs brown sugar
• 1 1/4 pints of vinegar
• 1/4 pint water
• 3 small tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 onion chopped finely
• 4 cloves chopped garlic

METHOD:
Put all of the ingredients into a large pot and boil for two hours. Let cool and then blend in the food processor to make smooth (if you choose- it may be smooth enough after boiling) and bottle into sterilised glass bottles.

TIPS:

• 1/4 pint is about 1/2 a cup
• This sauce is a perfect excuse to recycle old spirit and wine bottles with a screw on cap.

Thanks Mrs Renshaw
Enjoy xx
A

Fresh peach chutney

INGREDIENTS

• 1kg yellow peaches, peeled
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled, grated
• 1/2 cup malt vinegar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce

METHOD:
Cut peaches in half. Remove stones and roughly chop flesh.
Combine peaches, onion, garlic, ginger, vinegar, sugar and sweet chilli in a large microwave safe bowl (it will need to be 3L or more). Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH (100%) power for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, or until chutney is thick.
Spoon hot chutney into hot sterilised jars. Cover with a tea towel and allow to cool. Seal and label. Refrigerate after opening. Serve with ham or chicken. It is also really good in sandwiches with cheese.

Beetroot Relish

This is a sweet relish with a hint of spice- perfection when served with cold meat or cheese. Admittedly the chopping is a bit tiresome but the effort is very much worth it in the result.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.35kg (3lb) raw beetroot
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 450g (1lb) shallots finely chopped
• 600ml cider or white wine vinegar
• 1 Tblsp pickling spices in a muslin pickling/spice bag
• 450g (1lb) granulated sugar- use what you have, white is fine

METHOD:

Put the beetroot (with skin on) in a preserving pan or a large heavy based, stainless steel saucepan. Pour over enough water to cover them, add the caster sugar. Bring them to the boil and then simmer for an hour or until the beetroot is soft and cooked. Drain and leave to cool. When cool enough to handle, peel and dice into small neat pieces.
Put the shallots and vinegar in the rinsed out preserving pan or saucepan and cook for 10 minutes ona  low heat. Add the chopped beetroot and the muslin bag of spices. Give the mixture a stir, add the sugar and cook gently until the sugar has all dissolved. Bring to the boiland cook at a rolling boil for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 40 minutes or until the mixture thickens.
Remove the spice bag and ladle (usually with great difficulty!) into warm sterilised jars with vinegar proof lids. Fill them all the way to the top so that there are no air gaps. Seal, label (pretty labels of course) and store in a cool dark place. Allow the flavours to mature for about a month and pop it in the fridge once you open it.

TIPS:

• If you want to save time, you can cook the beets the night before so they are cold when you want to get started
• Add some corriander seeds or a fresh chopped chilli with the shaloots for an extra spice flavour
• remember to try and 'top and tail' the beets without cutting into the flesh too much because otherwise they bleed into the water when you cook them and the colour of your relish wont be as good.

Beetroot Chutney

This is a recipe that is fast to make because there is no hand chopping you use the food processor or mincer and then throw it all in the pot. I love making beetroot chutney, it makes an absolute mess and you can threaten the farmer that no one would notice if you chopped him up and put him in with the chutney if he doesn't do as he is told!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lb beetroot
• 1/2 lb onions
• 1 lb sugar
• 1 Tblsp salt
• 3 1/2 cups vinegar (I use apple cider, but white is good too)
• 1/2 cup of vinegar (yes as well as the 3 1/2cups)
• 1 Tblsp flour
• 1 tsp allspice

METHOD:

Put beetroot and onions through the mincer or put through food processor with the grater/chopper attachment. Put onions and beetroot in a saucepan with all of the remaining ingredients (except for the flour and 1/2 cup of vinegar) and boil for half an hour. Mix the flour and remaining vinegar together and add gradually to the beetroot. Boil for a further 5minutes and the mixture will thicken slightly. Coll a little and then bottle and boil.

TIPS:

• You can replace the allspice with a spice bag in muslin