We celebrated New Years with a fancy dinner party for two. I knew that I wanted to serve an Amuse-Bouche that had something to do with cucumber and thought that cute cucumber cups (like the ones made by Monika at Vegetarian Surprises)  would do the job. But what would I fill them with? I made a simple chilled cucumber and dill soup that I thought I could serve in the cups. Maybe I could add some honeydew melon somewhere? But then we went to the bottle shop and I saw the miniature bottles of Hendrick’s Gin. I was more excited than any person has a right to be in public. A light bulb went off in my head. Why didn’t I see it before?!

Hendrick’s Martinis in Cucumber Cups

1 Lebanese cucumber

50ml Hendrick’s Gin

Honeydew melon to garnish

—

Cut the cucumber into 4cm rounds. Peel skin and scoop out flesh leaving a 1cm layer at the bottom. These keep in the refrigerator for a few hours if you want to make them ahead of time. If you’re using the 50ml Hendrick’s botttles, chill them in the fridge or freezer beforehand.  Otherwise, shake or stir the Hendrick’s Gin with ice and pour into the cucumber cups. Add any aromatics, such as cocktail bitters or a dash of rosewater. To garnish, use a melon baller (I used a tiny measuring spoon) to scoop out little globes of honeydew melon and style on a toothpick, like you would with a martini olive. Enjoy!

They ended up being delicious! I served the chilled cucumber soup alongside the martinis. It made for a refreshing start to the meal.

Chilled Cucumber Soup

1 Lebanese cucumber

8 springs of dill

1 cup vegetable stock

—

Place everything in a food processor and blend till smooth. Strain through a muslin and serve chilled. Also makes a great base for savoury cocktails!

Can you believe I made it to the ripe old age of twenty three without knowing how to make popcorn!?

When I was little we had a machine that did all the work. But this last year I’ve discovered that making popcorn the old fashioned way is easy. It’s also lots of fun if you have a saucepan with a glass lid. I could stand there and watch corn pop all day.

Popcorn

1 tablespoon light vegetable oil

1/3 cup popping corn

Flavour of your choice

Put the oil in a heavy saucepan over a medium heat. Add three or four kernels of corn while the oil heats up. When all of your test kernels have popped it’s time to throw in the rest of of the corn and put on the lid. Once the corn starts popping, give the saucepan a gentle shake. You know it’s done when you can only here one or two pops per second. Take the saucepan off the heat and let it rest for half a minute or so. Pour out into a bowl and add your favourite flavour. Enjoy!

Flavours

• My personal favourite, sea salt flakes and tuffle oil
• Try finely grated parmesan and powdered paprika
• Drizzle your popcorn with sweet stuff: honey, maple syrup, salted caramel
• You know those chai latte sachets? That’s right. Makes an awesome popcorn flavour
• Sprinkle with vinegar and salt
• Use a microplane to zest a lime and add chilli flakes
• Shave 85% coco chocolate and nutmeg over the top
• Mix up some wasabi and sesame oil
• Dust with vanilla sugar
• Sprinkle with cinnamon and soft brown sugar and the tiniest bit of butter
• Use crushed dried sage and cracked black pepper
• Mix in pumkin seeds and pine nuts

I love boiled eggs. I like mine soft, when they’re only just beginning to set. I must enjoy them so much because of the nostalgia that a boiled egg and soldiers invokes.

It can be difficult to boil an egg: a minute too soon and it’s still clear and runny, a minute too long and it will be hard. An easy and foolproof way to boil an egg perfectly is to put it in the oven at 63 degrees Celsius for an hour or more. For this method to work, you only have to ensure is that the temperature is between 60 and 65 degrees Celsius and that it is in the oven for longer than an hour. Apparently, you can leave it in the oven for several hours without anything going awry, but I’m too impatient and an hour is about as long as I’m willing to wait!

If you don’t have the time, boil a litre of water in the kettle and then transfer to a saucepan on the stove. Carefully place a 50 gram egg, straight from the fridge, into the water. Keep the water hot, but not boiling for four and a half minutes. Five minutes if you like your yolks set just a little bit. Remove and refresh under cold water. Congratulations! You’ve boiled an egg successfully!

Serve in cute vintage egg cups with soldier toast, salt and pepper.

For extra credit:

Brush your toast with truffle oil

Or Lescure

Add a bit of aged balsamic vinegar

Use fresh and chewy artisanal bread like rye or spelt

Add a pinch of fresh chopped chives, sage and/or thyme

Breakfast is one of my favourite meals of the day. It’s when I get to sit by myself enjoying the (hopefully) quiet morning & think through my day before things get busy. A healthy & filling breakfast is very important. This is one of my favourite recipes. It fills you up, it’s not too sweet & it’s delicious! It also freezes particularly well. Bananas are a good source of potassium, vitamin B6 & vitamin C (though this last one is probably lost during cooking). Walnuts are a wonderful vegetarian source of omega-3 fatty acids & have been known to lower cholesterol. Bonus!

—

Banana & Walnut Loaf

• 3 Bananas (the very ripe ones are best)
• 2 Free Range Eggs
• 3/4 cup of Soft Brown Sugar
• 2 cups Plain Flour (go for the organic kind!)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (I buy ones grown in Australia as opposed to those shipped from California)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• pinch of salt

In a large bowl combine the peeled bananas, oil & the two eggs & mash to your hearts content. Sift in the flour, bicarbonate soda, cinnamon & salt. Add the walnuts & sugar & mix till combined. Pour the mixture into a greased 21cm x 11cm baking tin a bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees celcius for one hour. Remove from the oven an cool out of the pan. Or alternatively, eat it straight away because it tastes best when fresh ftom the oven! Serve warm with butter or cinnamon butter.

—

Cinnamon Butter

• 2 table spoons Soft Butter or table spread (Nuttlex anyone?!)
• 1 tablespoon Soft Brown Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix together till smooth & creamy. Enjoy!

[ Bella Blithely powered by Wordpress | Skinned Bare by Matthew Trevino. ]