Tag: ingredients

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  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

• 

  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

• 

  Rick Stein’s Garam Masala

  I use Rick Stein’s garam masala in so many dishes it isn’t funny. This uniquely south asian spice blend is earthy in taste and aroma. The blend is so verstile though and enhances the dishes of many cuisines.

  Sure, you could buy a garam masala from the shops. MasterFoods makes a really good one that I grew up with but making your own means that the spices haven’t lost their aroma and you get to personalise the blend.

  Rick Stein says “Even more important than the mix is having them freshly roasted and then ground” and of course, he’s right. It is a bit of extra effort but a pleasurable experience. The resulting spice mix  lasts for months in an airtight container.

  Steps:

  You will need:

  Roast the whole spices

  Pop all the spices (except the nutmeg) in a hot pan and keep them moving the whole time. Safe to say that if the smoke alarm goes off, you have dry roasted them too long or too high :).

  Experiment a bit, with the goal being more the release of the spices’ aromas in my opinion, rather than a change in their appearance.

  Mill the spices

  Once cooled, transfer everything to your blender or mortar. Grate the nutmeg (or like me use shop bought ground nutmeg, oops) separately and to the mill. Run the mill in quick bursts until you get the consistency you like. Then store in an airtight container.

  For more Rick Stein recipes click here.

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  March 9, 2016