(2024) Week 2: Raspberry Lemonade

When tidying up the freezer, I discovered I had a TON of raspberries from my garden, so I figured it was time to actually do something about them. All measurements are VERY approximate as I didn't actually measure anything, but just went with what looked/felt right...

The Recipe('ish)
1.5kg raspberries
Enough water to just cover them
~300g sugar
~1dl lime juice

Add raspberries and water to a large pot and bring to a slow boil. Once the water is almost boiling (medium-sized bubbles, not violent bubbles - or when the water is 90C if you have a meat themometer), mash the berries up against the side of the pot.
Cover a colander with a dishcloth that you don't mind staining purple and pour the raspberries through the dishcloth into another pot. Leave to drain for awhile until it's stopped dripping, even when you move the mess around a bit (I had to do this in batches, as my colander could only fit about half at a time.). Discard the contents of the dishcloth.

Bring the lemonade to a boil again, adding sugar and the lime juice. Once it's almost boiling, taste and add more sugar or lime juice as desired. Transfer to bottles and put in the fridge to cool.

I found that this ended up being quite concentrated, so mix it up with water / sparkling water before drinking it, but it all depends on how much water you added when mashing the raspberries in the first step.

The Verdict
Yummy! Lots of work, but worth it! This would taste really awesome mixed in a drink as well.

(2024) Week 1: Crockpot BBQ Tenderloin

The Recipe
(Serves 2)
500g tenderloin
1 cup BBQ sauce
1 tbsp mustard
Salt
Paprika, oregano and cumin to taste

Combine BBQ sauce, mustard and spices in a crockpot. Add tenderloin and scoop the sauce over the meat to coat it.

Cook on HIGH for ~1.5hrs or LOW for ~3 hours until the meat reaches 65*C.

Remove from the slow cooker and let it rest for 10 minutes. Slice and return to the sauce. Serve with potatoes.

The Verdict
The original recipe said to cook it on high for 2hrs - that was FAR too long, as the meat had reached 72C and was rather dry. I think 1-1.5hrs will fit better (I've adjusted the cooking times on low accordingly). For that reason, I wasn't too impressed by it. DH loved it though, and is eager for me to make it again :-P

Week 39: Smothered Chicken

The Recipe

2 chicken breasts, cut into halves
8 pieces of bacon
200-250g mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 small onion, sliced thinly (optional)
1dl shredded cheddar
1dl shredded mozzerella

For the marinade:
1/2 dl honey
1/2 dl dijon mustard
1tsp oil
1/2tsp lemon juice
Salt, pepper, paprika

Prepare ahead of time: Mix the ingredients for the marinade together in a small bowl. Use an electric whisk and whisk for ~30 seconds to get the mustard and honey fully mixed. Pour 2/3 of the marinade over the chicken, cover and leave to marinade in the fridge for 2-3 hours. Reserve the rest of the marinade and keep chilled.

Preheat oven to 200C.

In a pan cook bacon until desired crispness. Remove from pan, but leave juices behind. Add mushroom and onion (if used) and cook until soft. Remove from pan. Add chicken and sear for 3 minutes on each side. Transfer to ovenproof dish and cover with 2 slices of bacon each. Pour mushroom/onions on top and cover with cheese. Drizzle with a bit of the marinade.

Bake for 7-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the chicken is done.

Serve with baked potatoes and a salad and the reserved marinade on the side.

The Verdict
REALLY good! I'd ended up leaving the chicken to cook for a bit too long, so it was kinda dry, but the taste could not be beat! Very yummy and definitely something I'm going to make again!

Week 30: Carrot Fries

The Recipe
4 carrots
1tbsp olive oil
1 tsp each of paprika, garlic powder and corn flour (or other spices)
Salt to taste

Peel the carrots and cut them into fries.
In a bowl, mix together oil, paprika, garlic powder and corn flour. Add carrotsand stir to coat.

Preheat the air-fryer to 200C. Add carrot fries and cook for 15-20 minutes, shaking after 10 minutes and taste checking after 15 minutes. If you have more fries than will fit into a mostly single layer, split them up into several batches for the best results.

Add salt and serve immediately.

The Verdict
This looked like a lot of carrot, but they shrunk significantly in the airfryer, so I would say this amount is only JUST enough for 2 people. They were really good though, so I could definitely see myself making them again. They're only slightly more timeconsuming to make than just plain carrot sticks and taste great :-D

Week 27: Mongolian Beef

The Recipe
~600g flank steak
2tbsp flour
2tbsp corn starch
2tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1.75dl soy sauce (about 3/4 cup)
1.75dl water
1.75dl brown sugar
2 carrots, grated
Spring onion (garnish)

In a bag, mix flour and corn starch. Cut the flank steak into thin strips and add to the bag. Shake thoroughly to coat.
Add next 6 ingredients (oil through carrots) to the crockpot and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add flank steak and stir until it's coated in the sauce.

Cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours or on LOW for 4-5 hours until cooked through. Garnish with spring onions and serve over rice.

The Verdict
I ended up cooking mine for 4 hours on low which fit perfectly - the meat was soft and tender without being dry. It was quite good as-is, but I felt it lacked... something... unfortunately not entirely sure what. Perhaps some chili, perhaps some additional veggies, but I can't quite figure out which ones would fit the rest of the dish. I'll have to play around with that a bit. There was a LOT of liquid, so I may try to reduce soy, water and sugar to 1.25-1.5dl next time. There needs to be enough to cover the meat completely, but not much more than that. But definitely something I could see myself making again.

Week 25: Watermelon Salad

The Recipe
~1/2 watermelon
100g feta cheese
30g pine nuts
50g rocket salad
1/2 red onion
Some sort of flavoured vinegar according to taste (balsamico, white wine... whatever strikes your fancy)
Flake salt
Fresh basil (optional)

Slice the onion thinly and cut the watermelon into small cubes. Mix together with the rocket salad in a large bowl. Crumble feta cheese on top and mix again.
Roast the pine nuts on a dry pan for a few minutes and mix into the salad together with the vinegar and salt.

Sprinkle a bit of fresh basil on top.

The Verdict
IMHO the best summer salad out there :-D I'd bought a watermelon that unfortunately turned out to taste very watery, so it wasn't that enticing to eat just as-is, but mixed together with rocket salad and feta cheese, it turned into the perfect side dish for a hot summer evening! Definitely something I'll be making again!

Week 24: Sweet & Spicy Sausage Dish

The Recipe
~400g sausages
~500g potatoes
2 bell peppers
1 large onion
1tbsp olive oil
1tbsp honey
1tbsp mustard
salt, pepper, oregano
Fresh herbs (optional)

Cut the potatoes and sausages into pieces ~3x1cm, cut the onion into wedges and the bell pepper into bite sized pieces.

In a bowl, mix together onion, potatoes, olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano. Preheat the airfryer to 180C, add the potatoes and onions and cook for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile use the same bowl to mix together honey and mustard. Add the sausages and give it a good stir until the sausages are completely coated. Add to the air fryer, stir everything up and cook for another 6 minutes.
Dump the bell peppers into the same bowl to scoop up the last of the honey-mustard mix. Add to the air fryer, give a good stir and cook for a final 7 minutes.

Put some fresh herbs on top and serve immediately with ketchup or sweet chili sauce on the side.

The Verdict
Really easy and really good! After dinner I commented to my husband that I could see myself making this again. "I insist that you do!" was his immediate response, which is always nice to hear :-D I bought some good quality sausages with garlic and cheese, which definitely added to the taste. The onion I used was perhaps a tad too small, so I may use a bit more of that next time, and it could be fun to add cherry tomatoes as well - but neither of those changes are really needed - it worked perfectly as-is.