Tag: citrus

• 

  The Easiest Guacamole

  I like anything with avocado in it so it is no surprise that I love my home made ‘guac’. If only because I use as much stuff from my kitchen garden as possible. I love anything that works well with ‘make your own combination’ meals like taco or nacho night.

  Every avocado lover probably has their own guacamole recipe (the first being invented by the Aztecs) and here is mine. In any other dish I tend to keep the spice factor low so that people can add their own heat factor during eating. Not this time family :).

  No spice and onion = no guac.

  You will need:

  • Ingredients (serves about 3 – 4 people):
    • chives to taste
    • 1 red shallot or half a brown onion
    • 1 jalapeno chili or 1 cayenne chili
    • a few drops of Tabasco pepper sauce (or your home made version)
    • a handful of coriander leaves and stems
    • 1 avocado
    • 3 cherry tomatoes or equivalent amount of your favourite type
    • the juice of half a lemon or lime (to bring the avocado alive)
    • cracked black peppercorns (to taste)
    • table salt (an optional extra to taste but I don’t use any)
  • Equipment
    • a chopping board
    • a sharp knife
    • a wet mixer
    • a serving bowl

  Make the paste

  

  Steps:

  1. Chuck into the wet mixer:
     • the chives (amount optional)
     • 1 red shallot (skin removed)
     • 1 jalapeno chili or 1 cayenne (de-seeded if you prefer)
     • a handful of coriander leaves and stems
     • a few drops of Tabasco pepper sauce
     • 1 avocado (skin and seed removed)
     • 3 cherry tomatoes
     • the juice of half a lemon
     • cracked black pepper to taste
  2. Pulse the ingredients in the wet mixer until you get your desired texture and consistency.
  3. Pulse it a bit more because your toddler got upset he didn’t have a turn :).

  

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  July 16, 2016

• 

  The Easiest Coriander And Garlic Sauce

  Coriander based sauces provide a real flavour boost to your dishes. I love drizzling them in everthing from salads to steaks and potato side dishes,  If you give the  ingredients below a whizz in a blender (rather than a fine chopping) you will get an amazing dipping sauce for spring rolls and the like.

  

  I used this recipe originally from http://www.tarladalal.com (this site is amazing FYI)  and I am going to experiment a bit with the amount of garlic and sugar.

  You will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • 1 Tbsp brown sugar
    • 2 cloves garlic
    • 1 Tbsp coriander leaves (cilantro)
    • 1 Tbsp fresh green chilis
    • 0.5 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
    • 2 tsp white vinegar
    • 2 Tbsp water

  • Equipment
    • a chopping board
    • a long sharp knife
    • a medium sized bowl
    • a serving bowl
    • optional: a wet blender with a very small bowl

  Making the sauce

  

  Steps:

  1. Rough chop the 1 Tbsp of coriander leaves.
  2. Peel and finely chop the 2 garlic cloves. I use the knife to gently smash the garlic clove first to make it easier to peel.
  3. Finely chop the 1 Tbsp worth of green chilis.
  4. Pop those ingredients to a bowl.
  5. Squeeze about 0.5 Tbsp of lemon juice and add this to the bowl along with:
     • 1 Tbsp brown sugar
     • 2 tsp white vinegar
     • 2 Tbsp water

  Now you can either mix the sauce with a fork for a  a crunchier sauce or blend it in the wet mixer for a few pulses.

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Here are some more sauces, condiments and dips along with other cooking staples: 

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  May 8, 2016

• 

  Welchy’s Wanton Prawn Stack And Salsa

  In the spirit of Good Friday and sticking to my parents tradition (and somewhat of my own), I took the opportunity to make something new and exciting. Growing up my brother and I used to dowse fish in tomato sauce or insist the fillets were bread-crumbed just so we could eat it. Dial ahead 12 years and I am finally in a position where I a) enjoy fish and b) can repay my parents by cooking for them … albeit with a little more culinary bravery this time.

  The  prawns are cooked in a lime sugar syrup, then layered between crunchy golden Wonton sheets and topped with a cucumber, tomato and avocado salsa. The prawns and salsa are fresh, light and sweet and just what you need to offset the richness of the wonton wrappers on each layer. For those that are a little more adventurous, have a go at popping a few chili slices on top as well for that extra punch of flavour.

  Serves 6

  

  Ingredients:

  Stack

  • 18 Wonton sheets
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and diced
  • 3cm piece ginger, peeled and diced
  • 1/3 cup coriander leaves, chopped
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 600g prawns, peeled and de-veined

  Salsa

  • 2 tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
  • 1 small cucumber, seeded and finely chopped
  • 1 small avocado, finely chopped
  • 2tsp lime juice

  Steps:

  1. Add enough oil to the pan to shallow fry, about 2cm deep should do. Heat over medium heat, and cook the wonton sheets 2 at a time for 30 seconds or until golden and puffed. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel and continue on with the rest of the sheets until all cooked. Set aside.
  2. Add garlic and ginger to the oil. Cook until golden (should be about a minute). Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel and set aside. Add the coriander to the oil, cooking for 30 seconds or until crisp. Transfer to the plate with the garlic and ginger.
  3. Heat a large pan over high heat. Add the lime juice and brown sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves. Cook the prawns in batches and stir for 3 minutes or until the prawns change colour. Transfer to a bowl and continue with the batches until all the prawns are cooked.
  4. In a bowl, combine the chopped tomato, cucumber, avocado and the 2 teaspoons of lime juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir to combine.
  5. To serve, place a wonton sheet on the plate. Place two to three prawns on the sheet, drizzle a spoonful of the tomato mixture and a sprinkle of the garlic and ginger mixture. Continue with another wonton sheet, prawns and tomato and garlic mixture. Finish with a wanton sheet and the tomato mixture, and top with a few slices of chili if you choose. Squeeze a lime over the entire stack for an additional pop of flavour!

  I served this with squid rings marinated in a bush spice rub and a garden salad, but with the salsa in the stack this dish would be just as good on its own! Fresh, zingy, zesty and creamy…what more could you want from a dish?! Now to sit back with a glass of wine and the comfort of my family…Enjoy!

  

  Love Welchy.

  Here are some seafood posts and more from Welchy: 

  Written by

  lilwelchy

  ·

  March 28, 2016

• 

  Lime Common

  I love cooking with limes (and adding slices of them to Gin and Tonics) just as much as I do sharing limes from the tree in my kitchen garden. No one in Perth will turn down a home grown lime, they are that prized.

  There is even a lime tree in my driveway ,that is constantly  being cross pollinated with an adjacent lemon tree, that gives a slightly different flavour.  Thank you bees :).

  Here is what I have learnt about lime trees (in fact most citrus).

  1. You can’t over prune them. I love a good hedge and it keeps the fruit accessible.
  2. Feed them 3 times a year only (this might take some will power) with way more than you think you need of dynamic lifter (blood and bone) and a complete citrus fertiliser. Spread it to the edge of the canopy line, keep it away a bit from the trunk and water in well. I don’t bother mixing it into the soil.
  3. Water them daily during the hot months. Just like on a Passionfruit vine, outwardly nice looking fruit might be dry inside if you don’t. Worse still, you might get lots of flowers that then drop off and this is heart breaking to watch.
  4. Pee on surrounding soil (some wives’ tales are true) for soil acidity.
  5. Keep the soil slightly acidic if the tree is not naturally doing this (dropping leaves and fruit that compost naturally) or the above measures are not doing so. You could use some burnt wood ash if you are still worried but the slowly slowly natural approach is better in my opinion.

  Oh and it doesn’t hurt to inherit an awesome tree :).

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Related Links:

  • see more lime posts here
  • see more citrus posts here
  • See citrus preserving ideas here
  • go to all ingredients

   

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  March 18, 2016

• 

  Limes

  I love cooking with Persian limes (these are a common cultivar in Australia) just as much as I do sharing limes from the tree in my kitchen garden. No one in Perth will turn down the offer of a bag of limes.

  Fresh lime juice, zest and leaves are essential to southeast asian cooking so I will always grow them and their Kaffir lime cousins. I believe my friend Ben has a key lime tree that produces lovely yellow fruit for eating and pickling.

  There is even a lime tree in my driveway that is constantly being cross pollinated with an adjacent lemon tree. It makes for fruit that are magically different again, thank you bees.

  Here is what I have learned about lime trees (in fact most citrus).

  1. You can’t over prune them. I keep them low to keep the fruit accessible.
  2. Feed them 3 times a year only (this might take some will power) with way more than you think you need of dynamic lifter (blood and bone) and a complete citrus fertiliser. Spread it to the edge of the canopy line, keeping it away from the trunk somewhat and water in well. I don’t bother mixing it into the soil.
  3. Water them daily during the hot months.

  Oh and it doesn’t hurt to inherit an awesome tree :).

  Plant:

  

  Flower:

  

  Fruit:

  

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  To see all the ingredients on the blog click here.

  Here are some recipes using limes and more ingredients:

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  March 18, 2016