Sweet Chili Jam

WOW I'm feeling guilty....its been two weeks since my last confession blog update & people are starting to bug me about, which i think is a good sign. It's nice to think that people actually read my ramblings, apart from Mrs Rhodes who likes to point out my spelling mistakes (thanks mum) So, food wise...its been busy as usual, cooking, eating, having people over, going out. We had friends over for dinner one evening which was lovely. I tried my hand at Thai Fish Curry, which was fairly successful, although next time i would pay attention when buying the ingredients and not buy smoked haddock! Thai food is something i don't cook at home often which is silly given it's possible one of my favourite cuisines to have when out. We started out with a cheese & meat platter which was pretty far removed from the main, but nice nevertheless.

Mid Week Dinner

Mid week we hosted a wee birthday party for Mr Brown before he and the wify head off traveling round Europe, it was a great evening & the houseboy cooked up a storm producing two  shoulders of lamb which were excellent. Cooked slowly all day and marinated in garlic, lemon juice & rosemary they were delicious and there was not a bit left. Served along with potato salad, sausages, cake & lots of red wine it was a fun catch up for everyone. We also spent a fun evening with Mr & Mrs Philip & JJ (due July 20th eeek!) in which we recreated last years 'Pie Off' (Everyone cooks a course & it has to be a pie) (now limited to 2 course & we take turns- three pies in one meal was waaaaaay too much!) This round featured Mr Philips' Lamb Shank pie which was brilliantly done, and the Houseboy answered back with a tasty Pumpkin Pie. My contribution was letting the Houseboy loose with the Kenwood....

Party Canapes

Last weekend saw me attending my first ever baby shower for the lovely Rosie who is expecting twins (!) in May which is very exciting. Apart from my slight panic over helping the hostess - which resulted in me purchasing prizes for the games more suited to a hens party, it was a fantastic afternoon. I'm just glad they weren't needed in the end! I made Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes from the Hummingbird Cafe Cook Book, and they worked really well, very sticky & rich but well worth the effort. There are lots of babies due in the next few months and i'm planning on getting my sewing machine out to make some wee nursery cushions.

Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

After the baby shower i shunned a quiet night in & heading to the 02 Arena to see Kylie in concert. It was a great night & she is brilliant to see live - best moment...? Without a doubt when she sang Locomotion... it was so funny to hear it, it brought back hilarious memories of  me at primary school discos, wearing a tartan dress with a lace collar & shuffling my feet around. The 80's were so cruel but so amazing. There were a LOT of men there (at Kylie, sadly not my school discos) & most were better dressed than us and word perfect on all the songs. Mr Brown was in fear of his virtue, but we protected him. The Browns cropped up again this week when we said a final farewell (well until we see them in France & Portugal) at the Prince Bonaparte in Bayswater. A lovely roomy pub, the menu reads excellently, the Houseboy had a delicious River Trout with Mint Gnocchi, but i won best order (again) with a Pappardelle and Rabbit dish which was served with Roasted Garlic Aioli. Apart from the pasta being a little soft, it was a winner of a dish, very filling and a good start to the week.

This is an incredibly simple recipe, with great results. Again as previous posts have proved, a food processor makes this job much quicker. You don't necessarily need to buy a big expensive one a  Kenwood CH180 Mini food Processor is small but fantastic for chopping herbs, garlic etc. Granted chopping all the peppers in this isn't possibly the fastest process- but the results are good. You can alternatively just chop all the ingredients finely. 

 

Ingredients:

• 8 red peppers
• 10 red chillies
• 8 garlic cloves
• 1 inch lump of fresh ginger
• 450g cherry tomatoes 
• 750g caster sugar
• 250mls red wine vinegar

Mince the peppers, chillies, garlic, ginger & tomatoes. Add to a pan along with the vinegar & sugar. Simmer for 50mins - an hour. Spend the last 10 or so minutes stirring to make sure it doesn't stick. there is no exact science here, sometimes it takes longer. Just keep an eye out as you don't want to burn it or let it get too thick. 

As with the Beetroot Chutney (my first post), make sure the jars are clean & warm. See back on how to do it. 

Flowers In The Park