ginger tea

 
Ingredients
8 to 10 slices of unpeeled, fresh ginger
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
maple syrup or raw honey and fresh lemon to taste

Directions
Add ginger slices and grated ginger to 4 to 5 cups water and bring to a boil in a saucepan for approximately 20 minutes.
Add honey or maple syrup, fresh lemon (and or cayenne pepper, chamomile leaves, apple cider vinegar) to taste, whilst stamping a la Ginger Rogers. 
Strain and serve immediately...alternatively you can leave it to steep over night, which will give you more of a ginger kick.

Recipe: Natural Home Cleaning

All-Purpose Cleaner
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup baking soda (or 2 teaspoons Borax)
1/2 gallon (2 liters) water
Mix all ingredients into water in bucket. Store and keep in spray bottles.

Tough Scrub
1 cup baking soda
1/4 cup salt
10 drops citrus essential oil
5 drops tea tree essential oil
Combine all the ingredients and store in an airtight tub.

Dusting Spray
1 cup distilled water
3 drops essential oils
Combine in a spray bottle and use with a cotton cloth.

Degreaser
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup baking soda
5 to 10 drops citrus essential oils
Combine to make a paste and use a damp cloth to wipe off.

Glass Cleaner
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 gallon warm water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Mix in bucket, store solution in spray bottles.

All found via Kinfolk. The glass cleaner is a gem!
(image by me)

Recipe: stuffed salt and vinegar potato skins

This is sooooooooooo tasty (and simple!) check out the recipe over at Kinfolk.com.

Recipe: Cardamom Coffee

Cardamon Coffee
By Diana Yen, author of A Simple Feast: A Year of Stories & Recipes to Savor & Share  for Kinfolk.


Adding spices and a pinch of salt to my morning coffee pot is a habit I developed after drinking a delicious spiced Turkish coffee that accompanied a flaky baklava dessert. This recipe makes a delicious cup of joe to enjoy in the early hours, but it also serves as a lovely sip after dinner. I chose to use cardamom for its aroma and slight smokiness, but you can play around with any spice that inspires you. Ground cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and star anise would also be wonderful.

Tools
Stovetop espresso coffee maker or French press

Ingredients
Ground coffee beans
1 cardamom pod (cracked) per cup of coffee
Salt
Milk
Sugar

Method
In an espresso coffee maker or French press, brew your coffee as usual, adding a cracked cardamom pod and pinch of salt per cup to the ground coffee before brewing. Add milk and sugar to your liking. The end result should be smooth with a floral spiced aroma.

Nice little detail!

Recipe: Cardamom Coffee

Adding spices and a pinch of salt to my morning coffee pot is a habit I developed after drinking a delicious spiced Turkish coffee that accompanied a flaky baklava dessert. This recipe makes a delicious cup of joe to enjoy in the early hours, but it also serves as a lovely sip after dinner. I chose to use cardamom for its aroma and slight smokiness, but you can play around with any spice that inspires you. Ground cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and star anise would also be wonderful.

Tools
Stovetop espresso coffee maker or French press
Ingredients
Ground coffee beans
1 cardamom pod (cracked) per cup of coffee
Salt
Milk
Sugar
Method
In an espresso coffee maker or French press, brew your coffee as usual, adding a cracked cardamom pod and pinch of salt per cup to the ground coffee before brewing. Add milk and sugar to your liking. The end result should be smooth with a floral spiced aroma.

Recipe from A Simple Feast: A Year of Stories & Recipes to Savor & Share by Diana Yen & the Jewels of New York via Kinfolk

Pancakes.

My breakfast of choice this week. Try them! They are so easy (and satisfying) to make.

Ingrediants:
x1 banana
x1 large egg
hand full of blueberries
coconut oil (for greasing the pan)

Mash the banana with a fork in a bowl—it's fine if there are chunks—and then mix in one egg and blueberries (chopped).
Pour  small pancake-size amounts into a greased frying pan over medium-low heat. Keep lifting the edges with a spatula to see if they're browning, and once they are, flip them over to brown the other side. Simple.

The blueberries can be replaced/joined with what ever takes your fancy. I've also tried cinnamon, chopped strawberries and cacao nibs.

YUM!

(Image from CupOfJo)

Recipie: Tortilla Espanola

Tortilla Espanola by Aja Pecknold

Find a person you like (or animal, or both or many)

and a couple of handfuls of potatoes, any kind 

One yellow onion 

7 eggs, with brightest yolks possible 

Salt, pepper, parsley, paprika 

Slice potatoes and onions thin and round.

Layer, with salt and pepps in a trusty cast iron of hot oil, 1/4 inch 

Cook over low, until pots are softish. 

Beat eggs with salt and pepper, pour into cast iron

Wait until eggs are set, 

Finish in oven at around 300, until top is firm to touch. 

Remove from over, flip onto plate. 

Cool, serve at room temperature, topped with parsley and paprika

In generous slices with friends & lovers for breakfast, lunch, dinner or midnight/morning/afternoon snacks.

Aja is the creator of Unified Field Collective, a conceptual outlet for art, ideas and other select projects. She loves the display of light in Northern Iceland near the winter solstice, when the sunrises and sunsets dissolve into one low, abbreviated hum of what might be, as the days begin to grow longer. Also the brightness of the yolk of a really good egg. She lives.

 (image from JennCuisine)

Recipe: Hot Toddy

Hot Toddy from Felicity Cloake 

For each toddy
60ml water
3 cloves
Cinnamon stick
1cm piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
1 strip of lemon peel
60ml whisky
2tsp honey
1-2 tsp lemon juice
Grating of nutmeg
1. Put the water in a small pan along with the spices and peel over a low heat. Bring to a gentle simmer. Meanwhile rinse a heatproof glass with hot water and dry.

2. Pour the whisky into your warmed glass, then pour over hot water and spices. Stir in the honey and lemon juice and taste for sweetness. Top with a little nutmeg, and breathe in deeply.

For a little history, notes on toddy perfection and justifications of this old classics medicinal qualities click here!

(Image from wallflowergirl and its a rum one not whisky, I just liked the picture. Click here for that recipe)

Recipe: Strawberry Ice-cream

Strawberry Ice Cream
From Hannah at Immer Wachsen

2 cans coconut milk
6 ounces frozen strawberries OR 1 ½ cups fresh strawberries
1/3 cup raw honey

Using only the fat* from the canned coconut milk, blend all ingredients. Now there are several ways to freeze the ice cream base, and there are several ways to process the ice cream.

Freezing and processing options:
-Freeze ice cream base in ice cube trays. Once frozen process in a food processor until creamy.
-Freeze ice cream base in ice cube trays. One frozen press through a Champion Juicer.
-Pour ice cream base into a bowl and stir occasionally as it freezes. Eat as soon as it reaches a thick consistently.
-Pour ice cream base into a large shallow dish (like a casserole dish). Once frozen scrape the solid mass with a fork until soft enough to serve.
-Freeze ice cream base in popsicle molds.
-Use an ice cream maker.

*Canned coconut milk will separate into fat and water. Do not shake the can and you will be able to remove the fat from the can while leaving the water at the bottom. You will need 2 cups of coconut milk fat for this recipe.

For Original recipe, more detail and FAQs visit www.immerwachsen.com (the site is full of beautiful photos and many interesting takes on classic recipes) 

Lemon and Lime Soda

I'm addicted to this stuff....

Recipe

FISHY ONE POT WONDER
Serves 4-6
1 bunch spring onions
4 tbsp rapeseed oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 x 400g tin cherry tomatoes
Pinch of sugar
Pinch of saffron (optional)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 heritage tomatoes (approx 450g)
Small clutch of basil
4 small red gurnards (or other firm-fleshed fish), filleted and
skin removed
10 prawns, peeled
1 x 400g tin butter beans, drained
1 x 400g tin kidney beans, drained
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Chop the spring onions into rounds. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large lidded saucepan. Add the garlic and the green part of the onions and cook until softened but not coloured.

 Add the tinned tomatoes, some sea salt, a pinch of sugar, the saffron (if using), paprika and balsamic vinegar. Simmer for 5 minutes, then pour into a separate bowl and wipe the pan clean.

In the meantime, cut the heritage tomatoes into bite-sized pieces. Add the white part of the spring onions and the basil, torn into small bits. Season and set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in the pan until hot. Season the gurnard fillets and the prawns and sear for about 1 minute on each side until coloured and then return the tomato sauce to the pan along with all the beans. Bring to a simmer for about 2 minutes with the lid on. Stir in the heritage tomatoes and check the seasoning. Serve with a little extra basil on top and the lemon wedges.

Recipe from Rachel Khoo
Illustration by Heather Gatley
Cover from The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer found here

How to make homemade yoghurt.

I really love yoghurt. It is my breakfast of choice most mornings and I was really happy to find out how to make it, it's so easy! I hope you find this recipe from Kinfolk as useful as i did...

Words by Kinfolk Team Photographs by Ali Harper Prop Styling by Ginny Branch Food Styling by Katelyn Hardwick

Follow these instructions to make your own creamy yogurt at home. 
There is plenty of discussion about dairy products these days and whether they are good or bad for you, your bones, your belly and the environment. But when it comes to yogurt, the news is generally more positive. Like many fermented foods, yogurt offers great health benefits. It sounds a bit off-putting to eat foods with live cultures, bacteria or microbial strains, but scientists seem to keep discovering that eating this fermented milk product is good for us. Of course, making your own yogurt and home takes a bit of time, but it’s so easy and cheap—plus, you will know that it isn’t loaded with processed sugar and food colorings. Use fresh fruit, nuts, granola, honey or other fun stuff to make it feel like a dessert, pour it on top of a fruit crumble for breakfast or use in place of sour cream on taco salads and other savory dishes. You may find that you only want to eat yogurt you’ve made yourself.
Ingredients
1 quart milk (full fat milk makes thicker yogurt)
1 tablespoon existing plain yogurt or powdered yogurt starter

Tools
Glass jars and lids
Thermometer
Large pot
Kitchen towels
Smaller pot (or double boiler) for heating milk
Large bowl filled with ice water for ice bath
Method
Heat up the milk until it just begins to simmer (185°F). The mixture should start to froth but not boil. If you aren’t using a double boiler, be sure to stir it to prevent scalding.
Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice and cold water.
Once the milk has reached 110–120°F, remove it from heat and place pot in the ice bath, but keep stirring to help cool. Milk needs to be slightly warm but not too hot.
Now, whisk in one tablespoon of store-bought yogurt for each quart of milk used. You can also add a teaspoon of white sugar to help the bacteria grow.
Pour the milk into the jars and screw on the lids.
To incubate, put the jars inside a large pot of warm tap water. Keep the temperature to as close to 100-110°F as possible.
Cover pot with lid and keep away from light. Let sit for about seven to nine hours.
Refrigerate for several hours before serving.
Note: If you like your yogurt to be thicker, dispose of the whey (the liquid on top).
Makes 1 quart

Recipe: Elederflower Champagne

Ingredients:
~30 elderflower heads (in full bloom - but don't strip a tree of all the flowers)
2kg natural sugar
4 litres of hot water
2 litres of cold water
Juice and zest of 4 lemons
1-2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
A pinch of dried yeast

Method:
1. Put the hot water and sugar into a large container (a preserving pan or spotlessly clean bucket is good) and stir until the sugar dissolves, then top up with cold water to 6 litres.
2. Add the lemon juice and zest, the vinegar and the flower heads and stir gently.
3. Cover with a clean muslin and leave to ferment in a cool, airy place for a couple of days. Take a look at the brew at this point, and if it’s not becoming a little foamy and obviously beginning to ferment, add a pinch of yeast.
4. Leave the mixture to ferment, again covered with muslin, for a further four to five days. Strain the liquid through a sieve lined with muslin and decant into sterilised glass bottles.
5. Seal and leave to ferment in the bottles for a further eight days before serving, chilled.

From Emma Bradshaw as read out by Cerys Matthews on BBC6 Music on Sunday. 

Recipe: Tumeric Tea

Well this tastes amazing. Try it!

Tumeric Tea

• 8 ounces (1 cup) almond or coconut milk
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2-inch wide round slice of ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon honey or other sweetener
• Optional additions: a small pat of butter, cinnamon, cardamom

Instructions:
Gently warm the almond or coconut milk on the stove.
In a mug, combine the remaining ingredients.
Drizzle a teaspoon of the warmed milk into the mug and mix until the liquid is smooth with no lumps. Add the rest of the milk and mix well. You can leave the pieces of ginger in the tea, or strain it out before drinking.

Found via marksdailyapple

Recipe: Finnish salad with orange blossom dressing

I'm a bit in love with this salad...the combination tastes like summer...i might start eating it daily to bring out the sun!

 It needs to be served up quickly, otherwise the watermelon will give over its liquid to the bottom of the salad bowl and dilute the sunny dressing that goes with the salad.

Serves 5-6
½ medium watermelon
½ cucumber, sliced into circles

750g broad beans, unshelled and blanched
200g feta cheese 

For the dressing
1 tbsp orange blossom water
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and black pepper 

1 Cut the watermelon in half and chop the flesh into cubes. I never bother extracting the seeds, finding their gentle crunch a welcome contrast to the sweet yielding flesh.
2 Arrange the cubes in a shallow platter or bowl. Scatter over the sliced cucumber and broad beans, sprinkling lightly, and crumble the feta over the salad (barrel-aged feta crumbles well). All of this needs to be done with a sense of urgency, since any ripe melon starts losing its juice with the first cut.
3 Mix the dressing ingredients together in a small jug and spoon gently over the salad. A direct hit of salt and pepper on the melon works well, but also acts as a catalyst for drawing out more water from the melon, so go easy on the seasoning.

From Miranda Gardiner's A midsummer Finnish feast in The Guardian.

Recipe: Fruit and Nut Smoothie

I tried this smoothie from Simply Breakfast at the weekend. It's simple and lush! Bring on spring...

Favorite Fruit + Nut Smoothie

2 cups of frozen fruit (I used a combo of strawberries and raspberries)

1/2 frozen banana

3 ounces plain kefir or plain greek yogurt (you can use more if you like)

2 teaspoons nut butter (I used peanut butter)

a small handful of almonds (optional)

1 cup of water or water/ice combo (can also use almond milk or coconut water)

 you can also add some chia or flax seeds if you want

Put all ingredients in blender and blend. 

 

( image and recipe from Simply Breakfast)

Recipe: Codcakes in tomato sauce

Photograph: Jonathan Lovekin

 

I highly recommend you try this– and it's even tastier the day after. ottolenghi.co.uk

Serve with bulgar, rice, couscous or bread, alongside sautéed spinach or Swiss chard.
SERVES 4
white bread, crusts removed 3 slices
cod (sustainably sourced), halibut, hake or pollock fillet, skinless and boneless 600g
medium onion 1, finely chopped
garlic cloves 4, crushed
flat-leaf parsley 30g, finely chopped
coriander 30g, finely chopped
ground cumin 1 tbsp
salt 1 tsp
large free-range eggs 2, beaten
olive oil 4 tbsp
For the tomato sauce
olive oil 2 tbsp
ground cumin 1 tsp
sweet paprika ½ tsp
ground coriander 1 tsp
medium onion 1, chopped
white wine 125ml
chopped tomatoes 400g tin
red chilli 1, deseeded and finely chopped
garlic clove 1, crushed
caster sugar 2 tsp
mint leaves 2 tbsp, roughly chopped
salt and black pepper

First make the tomato sauce. Heat the olive oil in a very large frying pan for which you have a lid, and add the spices and onion. Cook for 8-10 minutes, until the onion is completely soft. Add the wine and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, chilli, garlic, sugar, ½ tsp of salt and some black pepper. Simmer for about 15 minutes, until quite thick, taste to adjust the seasoning and set aside.
While the sauce is cooking make the fish cakes. Place the bread in a food processor and blitz to form breadcrumbs. Chop up the fish very finely and place in a bowl with the bread and everything else, apart from the olive oil. Mix well and then, using your hands, shape the mixture into compact cakes, about 2cm thick and 8cm wide. The mixture should make 8 cakes. If they are very soft, refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm up. Heat up half the oil in a frying pan and sear the cakes for 3 minutes on each side, so they colour well.

Add the remaining oil as you fry the cakes. Place the seared cakes gently, side by side, in the tomato sauce. Add enough water to partially cover the cakes, about 200ml. Cover the pan with the lid and simmer on a very low heat for 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the cakes to settle, uncovered, for at least 10 minutes before serving warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with mint.

From Jerusalem, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

Recipe

For days like this you need THE BEST HOT CHOCOLATE you'll ever have...

2 cans 13.5-fl-oz. pure coconut milk
2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 12-oz. bag chocolate chips (2 cups)

Place coconut milk and regular milk in sauce pan on medium high heat for 5 minutes or until steaming. Add vanilla and chocolate. Stir until all the chocolate melts. Enjoy!

(Tip: I use whole milk and full fat coconut milk to keep the hot chocolate rich)

(Recipe by Sharon of NYC Taught Me for Cup of Jo. Photos by Rachel for Cup of Jo.)

Recipie: Red Velvet Cake

Lily Vanilli for The Sunday Times I'll be making this for my family this Christmas...