Tag Archives: Condiments

Curried roasted parsnips

Ever had that situation when you find a vegetable in the fridge and don’t feel like preparing it as you normally do but want something more exciting.   Last night was one of those nights we had parsnips in the fridge and wanted to try something different.   The dish tasted good and will probably feature as an accompaniment with our next roast dinner.

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What do I need to make it?

  • 5 parsnips peeled and cut into chunks
  • 2 cloves of garlic minced
  • 2 sticks of rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp curry powder
  • 1/2 tsp dry mango powder (adds a bit of tang to this dish)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt to taste

How much will I make?

Serves 4

How do I make it?

Simple – place cut parsnips, minced garlic  and rosemary (pull leaves of the stalk) in a large bowl.  Sprinkle the curry powder and dry mango powder with a bit of salt.   Drizzle olive oil, mix and transfer into an oven proof dish.   Bake in a pre heated oven at 200 degrees for 25-30 minutes till the parsnips are cooked through.

Tricolore salad

As previously stated in one of our earlier blogs tricolore is one of our all time favourite salads and tonight we had one for dinner.  We have normally stuck to the traditional recipe of beef tomatoes, avocados and fresh mozzarella cheese garnished with fresh basil and dressed with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.  This evening we added grated lemon zest  for a change  and it works really well 🙂

Tricolore salad

Fresh hot sauce

Both Anna and I love our food spicy and hot and have experimented quite a bit with different chili sauces and fresh chilies.  One of my favourite hot sauces has to be the home made sauce which was served in a Carribean restaurant called Cari-B in Dallas, Texas (sadly it has closed down now).  The owner had has brother-in-law make the sauce from habanero peppers and boy did it pack a punch.  I can still vividly remember the conversation I had with the waiter when I asked for the hot sauce to go with my jerk chicken and black bean rice.  I was with my good friend Dushyant when this big Jamaican lad came over with the sauce and said in his thickest Jamaican accent “yo man, I know you Indian and all but if I were you I would use this sauce judiciously”.   Wise words as a small drop on the tip of my tongue was enough to get it tingling and dancing.  Today I decided to have a go at making my first home made hot sauce using scotch bonnet peppers – it’s not exactly the Cari-B sauce but quite tasty and definitely hot.

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What do I need to make it?

  • 6-8 scotch bonnet peppers de-seeded
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp cranberry and apple balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tsp unrefined sugar
  • Salt to taste

How much will I make?

Around 150 – 200 ml

How do I make it?

Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend to a fine paste.  Adjust the seasoning and enjoy. The hot sauce should stay for a few weeks if refrigerated as the vinegar will serve as a preservative.

Garden fresh – first vegetable

Following our bounty of rocket leaves a few days ago, I picked some red radishes from our garden which Shiv served up as a salad that also included the leaves and some plum tomatoes and dressed with lime juice.  We had the salad with some pan fried sea bream marinaded in an Arabian fish spice mix (black pepper, coriander, turmeric, cloves, garlic, cinnamon, cardamom, fennel and black cardamom).

 

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Salad therapy – Artichoke heaven

On a recent trip to Dubai I’ve rekindled my fondness for artichoke when I ordered a salad starter.  The dish was so simple and packed some serious flavour that I wanted to share that experience with Anna.  The salad literally takes less than five minutes to prepare but hopefully leaves a  lasting memory on your palates.

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What do I need to make it?

  • 2 tins (¬500 gms drained)  artichoke hearts (normally in brine so drain and cut the artichokes into halves)
  • 1 small tomato de-seeded and chopped into tiny pieces
  • Handful of flat leaf parsley chopped
  • 1/2 lemon juice
  • 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt & pepper to taste

How much will I make?

Enough to feed 4 as a side

How do I make it?

Place drained, halved artichoke hearts in a salad bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and mix gently (artichoke is quite delicate and will fall apart).  Enjoy.