Firestarter Marmalade and Giveaway Winner

Well who'd have thunk it, after potting it up still runny last night, the next morning it had set beautifully.  The marmalade that nearly burnt my house down (see yesterdays post) is dark and bitter just as I like it so it was worth slaving over a hot stove for, but maybe not worth losing my house over!  I found the recipe in a free magazine that came with my veg box, it is the first time I have made marmalade so I'm really pleased it turned out so well.  It seems different from other recipes as you cook the whole oranges before shredding them which I guess may make it easier for cutting.  Anyway here's the recipe, I have named it Firestarter Marmalade, it is from Pam Corbin from River Cottage.

Makes approx 6 x 450 jars

1 kg Seville oranges or a mix of Seville and sweet oranges. (2/3 Sevilles and 1/3 sweet orange) I just used seville as I like it slightly bitter.
100 ml lemon juice
150 - 200 g sharp cooking apples, peeled and roughly grated.
2 kg demerara sugar - for a lighter marmalade use a mix of demerara and granulated sugar, for a darker, richer marmalade replace 100g with muscovado sugar.


Scrub oranges and place in large heavy based pan with 2 litres of water.  Place a plate on top of them to keep them immersed.  Cover, bring to the boil, then simmer for approx 2 hours until the orange skins are tender and you can pierce the skins easily with a fork.  Keep an eye on it so it doesn't boil over!  Set aside to cool.

Place a nylon sieve over a bowl.  Break the softened oranges in half and scoop out the pips and pith and put in the sieve.  Using the back of a spoon rub to extract the juice from the pips and pith.  Add this to the cooking water - you should have approx. 1.8 litres.  Make up with water if less.

Cut the peel and flesh into thin, medium or chunky shreds and return to the measured cooling liquid with the fruity sieved juice.

Add the lemon juice and the apple and bring gently to the boil.  Add the sugar (no need to warm) and stir until completely dissolved.

Bring to a rolling boil and boil rapidly (roughly 15 minutes) until setting point is reached.

Remove from heat, allow to rest for 5 minutes before potting up and sealing in sterile jam jars.

Now for the giveaway winner, I did it the old fashioned way and wrote all your names down on a piece of paper, popped them in a bag and pulled out ............Shimpton and Perfect :)  Congratulations Jean.  I will contact you by email so you can send me your address.

Chickpea xx

Welcome to new followers

Goats Cheese Stuffed Sweet Pepper

Well I have been busy planning for post op fun today.  I bought myself a shorty wetsuit in the sale for £20!! It may fall apart after a season but it will do me. I nearly did myself an injury trying it on in the shop, I think once I get it on at the beach I will have to stay in it all day. It's so tight it's more like a straight jacket, but the bigger they get the longer they are, the crutch would have been down to my knees if I bought a bigger one.  I also booked us into a hotel for a couple of nights when I'm recovering, I thought we could both do with a bit of pampering, I'm soooooo looking forward to this, it is a Victorian hotel right on the cliffs so I can sit and look out to sea all day with cups of coffee being brought to me.  I love being at home mooching around, but it is also a place of work so when I'm there I am always popping some washing in, clearing dishes etc. so don't actually relax.   Only by going away will I truly have a break.

 I also picked up some wool at the market to do a bit of crochet, yes yet another project, but I will get bored if I can't do much for a while.  Back to the present, and I thought I would show you what I made for dinner last night.


I love goats cheese but I remember the first time I ever tasted it many years ago.  It smelt of goats, it stank!  I couldn't understand why anyone would eat it.  I acquired a taste for it, but prefer the mild variety that doesn't overpower everything.

I had some sweet pointed peppers to use up so decided to stuff them, this is what I did :)

Ingredients

Sweet pointed peppers
Goats cheese
Toasted pine nuts
Fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
Black pepper

Wash the pepper, leaving it whole, and brush with olive oil.

Place on an oven tray and cook in the oven until soft.

Carefully remove the skin.

Slit the pepper down its length and remove the seeds

Fill with the goats cheese, pine nuts and chopped basil (leaving aside some pine nuts and whole basil)

Place back into the oven and cook until the goats cheese is melted.

Remove and drizzle with a little virgin olive oil, pine nuts and basil

Enjoy!



Chickpea xx

Spicy Spinach and Chickpeas and a Big Thank You

Thank you so much for all the helpful comments yesterday.  A rug is a good idea to bring it all together Jennifer, I think I will look on the Ikea site.  I like the sound of painted plant pots Dawn, and a great idea about the blind, unfortunately they are made from a thin plastic so I wouldn't be able to paint them.  I will remember that for another time tho.  Pam, I will be scouring the charity shops for fabric for some cushions, hopefully I will find some with a nice retro feel.  Christina, I think I will use  lots of different textiles for the cushions to give it a bit of colour and excitement.  Good idea about the texture Jean, a lot of it will be neutral so as not to frighten buyers off, but I could add interest with different textures.  I'm getting quite excited about it now!  Thanks everyone xx Perhaps you could all pop over and we could have a painting party?

I was thinking of ways to use up the spinach from the veg patch before the slugs eat it all, I'm not good at sharing my food, especially with slugs!  Seeing as its Friday I thought of making my own 'takeaway'  This is roughly based on a recipe from Miss Masala.  All the things I cook are 'roughly based' on a recipe as I never have all the ingredients, or can't eat something in it.

Ingredients

1 medium onion
1 tin of chickpeas
1 colander of freshly picked spinach roughly chopped
1 green chilli
2 garlic cloves (OH isn't eating this so I can get away with it as long as I don't breath on him)
1 inch of ginger
2 medium tomatoes
1/2 tsp tumeric powder
1/2 chilli powder
1/2 cumin
1/2 garam masala
Salt

Peel the garlic and ginger and make a paste, I use a small grinder for little amounts of spices adding a small amount of water.  Alternatively you can buy garlic and ginger paste

Fry the chopped onions with the ginger and garlic paste until the onions are translucent.  Keep and eye on it so it doesn't burn and keep stirring if it starts sticking.  Add a little hot water if it does stick.  This takes about 5 mins

Add the cumin, chilli, chopped chilli and turmeric and simmer for a further 5 minutes

Add the chopped spinach and cook down, mix it with the onion and spice mix.  When it is cooked add 1/2 mug of hot water and blend it into a sauce. I used a hand blender but you could use a food processor.   Add the tomatoes (optional I had some to use up), chickpeas and garam masala and season with salt.  Allow to cook until it is a nice thick sauce and the chickpeas are heated through and softened.  I served mine with rice,  it would be lovely with naan, oh how I miss peshawari naan!  You can alter the amount of spices and garlic to suit you own taste.

I would especially like to thank Isabelle over at Notes from Delft  for nominating me for Liebster.  Crikey was I surprised, i've only been blogging a few weeks!  I will write the post over the weekend so watch this space.

Happy Friday everyone where ever you are

Chickpea xx