Pickle chillis in under 5mins

Th oother day I stumbled across a recipe for pickled chillis that took all of 5 minutes to complete. I can't find the link to the recipe so if it was your recipe I've stolen, I'm really sorry - if you message me, I'll add a link.
It's also much cheaper than I thought it'd be. I generally have white wine vinegar in the cupboard and to make a small jar used around half of 59p 250ml bottle. Add to this the 45p for a bag of mixed chillis, plus 13p for two loose jalepenos and you fall way below the old el Paso price.







You will need:
White wine vinegar (cider vinegar is also apparently very good, according to my dad - don't hold me to that)
Some chillis
A jar
A pinch of sugar
A pinch of salt

1) Begin by sterilizing your jar, you can do this in warm soapy water, or the oven. It's worth looking up different techniques for this as I'm no expert.
2) Chop your chillis however you choose and place them in the jar. Then cover in vinegar to see how much you need, pour the vinegar into a saucepan.
3) Add the sugar and salt to the vinegar, then bring gently to the boil. When the vinegar has been boiling for a minute or two, pour it over the chillis. Leave for a few mins before placing the lid on the jar. Be careful adding hot vinegar to the jar if you haven't got a funnel kicking around. To be honest, I can't really remember why I have a funnel kicking around.

I've only had mine in the fridge for a day or so, but I hear they get better as they age andwill keep for a few weeks.

The astute of you will have noticed a huge burger in that picture at the top. I had 500g of pork mince that needed to be used up so I added 2 handfuls of bread crumbs, a tsp of paprika and 2tsp of mustard and kneaded it all together. I then made 4 patties and put in a medium oven for about 30minutes. They are the best burgers I've ever made, the breadcrumbs keep the juice in and they're just the right level of spice. You could of course fry or bbq them, but if you want them out of the way the oven is your friend.

To make the coleslaw I simply slice and onion, peeled a carrot and added 4tsp of yogurt.

Then I stacked everything onto some delicious buns and added some chillis. Perfect summer food.

Woodland Orzotto (25p)

Served in stuffed peppers 

Orzotto is essentially risotto but with pearl barley instead of rice. It’s filling; nutritious and contains a lot of fibre, so you don’t want to eat too much. I call this Woodland Orzotto because the mushrooms add to the natural nuttiness of the pearl barley – making everything taste oh-so-slightly earthy and smell like woodland in the spring.

You Will Need (to serve 5):

200g pearl barley

100g spinach

About 10 mushrooms (I used button because that’s what I had)

1 onion

1 green pepper

A tiny spot of mozzarella or feta (optional)

2 pints of stock (I used chicken)

Finely dice the onion and sweat down in a little oil over a low heat for a few minutes until translucent.

Meanwhile finely slice the mushrooms, discarding the storks. You don’t have to waste these, you could use them in stock, soup or just on toast, but they taste a bit too woody for me. Adding the mushrooms at this stage means that the stock is enhanced with a subtle mushroom flavour.

Once the mushrooms have softened, add the green pepper. I like to roughly dice it, but you can  chop it however you like. Cook this down for a minute or two then add your pearl barley. Add just enough stock to cover it, turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Don’t worry at this point if it looks a little sad – it’s meant to look a little rubbish at this point, because the pearl barley will puff up into little pearls of deliciousness.

Once boiling turn down to a simmer and stir occasionally to keep everything from sticking, but not too much as stirring incorporates air and lowers the temperature. Once the stock has nearly been absorbed add a little bit more, and repeat until all the stock has been absorbed. The pearl barley should be slightly chewy but not hard, and about 3 or 4 times its original size. If it needs a little more time, add hot water.

When the pearl barley is done, add your spinach and let it wilt in the heat. You can also add tiny chunks of mozzarella and stir in to make it creamier, or feta for a salty kick.

Apple and Peanut Salad (26p)

Today I made salad dressing for the first time and it was delicious. I may never go back to shop bought dressings, in fact I may buy a book on salad dressings and learn all there is to know on this magical art form. This salad dressing (a delicious citrus number) came about because of an apple. I wanted something light for tea, like salad but more tart… like an apple salad. Once I had my base ingredient I knew I had to include lemon juice (the citric acid prevents enzymic browning), then I needed to balance my flavours – peanuts for saltiness and crunch.

The 26p includes the ingredients for the dressing, but if you’re making your own you can vary the ingredients. I’m not going to give you a full recipe for the salad dressing because it’s new to me, but if you’re looking for a good one, Jamie Oliver's jam jar dressings are quite good.. I used lemon juice, white wine vinegar and corn oil (I would use olive but it was all I had). I began by mixing equal parts of vinegar and lemon juice and adding a pinch of sugar to cut through it. Once I had my balance (more lemon juice, bit more sugar) I added the oil and whisked like crazy. Salad dressings work because the oil creates an emulsion – I used to know how this worked, but I can’t remember anymore. I was worried it was going to be too oily,but the emulsion actually worked a treat, and a little more vinegar and lemon and we were good to go!

You Will Need:

25g salted peanuts

2 apples

¼ lettuce

½ cucumber

1)      Chop your apple into cubes, there’s no need to peel it. You can use a sweet or tart apple, as long as they are crisp. Cover with a spritz of lemon juice and leave to one side

2)      Chop your lettuce and slice your cucumber, dd this to the bowl with your apple.

3)      When ready to serve add the salad dressing add top with peanuts.