Showing posts with label Bakes and Learns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bakes and Learns. Show all posts

Friday, 19 October 2012

Friday Makes, Bakes & Learns #2

Today I'm sharing a super easy and tasty Chilli Jelly recipe which was in Easy Living Magazine a while back.  It is delicious with cheese and biscuits and would make a great gift!  It's also quite cheap to make - the chillies are from my plant on the kitchen windowsill.


Makes 750ml (I got three normal size jars and one small one)

Prep 15 mins Cooking 10 mins

4 long red chillies (I used 6 small ones)
1 red pepper seeds removed, roughly chopped
1tsp grated fresh ginger
300ml Cider Vinegar
800g sugar with pectin
Juice of 1 lemon

Whizz the chillies, red pepper and ginger in a food processor with 100ml of the vinegar.  Pulse until coarsely but evenly chopped.


Transfer the mixture to a large stainless steel saucepan.  


Add the sugar, lemon juice and the remaining vinegar.  Bring to the boil over a high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

When it first reaches boiling point some reddish scum will rise to the surface.  Scoop this out with a shallow spoon being careful not to remove too much chilli. Boil for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally making sure it doesn't boil over.  The saucepan should be only half full when all the ingredients are added as you need to allow space for the jelly to boil (it will come quite far up the sides of the pan and will bubble a lot).



Leave to cool for a few minutes and then stir well and pour into sterilised jars, seal and label.



Friday, 12 October 2012

Friday Makes, Bakes & Learns #1

As I work part-time I get every Friday off (I know I'm really lucky!)  I tend to end up lazing about or blogging/catching up with blogs, tweeting and generally  trying to get out of doing housework/going supermarket shopping etc.  So I've decided to make or bake something every Friday and share it with you.

One of my favourite books is How to Drink by Victoria Moore - its super informative and a great read!  (You can see my copy is well  thumbed!)


My current favourite cocktail is the Negroni - one third red vermouth, one third Campari and one third gin with a slice of orange served on the rocks - pour each ingredient into the glass separately over the ice and stir.  One legend says it was invented in the early twentieth century and named after Count Camillo Negroni who used to drink it at the Casoni Bar on Via Tornabuoni in Florence.

We were out for dinner last night and stopped for a quick drink at Bond No.9 beforehand.  Guess what I was drinking..


Negroni is also very easy to make at home.  I like to serve it just before dinner (its potent!) with Kalamata olives and sweet & spicy nuts.

The nut recipe is from Good Food magazine (I normally half the quantities)

1tbs sunflower oil
1 tsp ground cinamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice
400g mixed nuts
2 tbsp honey

Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/G1
Mix the oil with the spices then stir in the nuts and drizzle over half the honey
Spread on a baking sheet and cook for 10mins
Remove from the oven and drizzle over the remaining honey then return to the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes.  Allow to cool

It is also suggested that these would make a good gift packed into jars or cellophane bags tied with ribbon.  The nuts will keep for up to 2 months.