Lentils feature fairly regularly in our meals, and last week I picked up a bag of French green lentils at the supermarket. I haven’t used green lentils before, but they seemed to be the common variety on the shelves.
I didn’t think any more of them until I got them out to cook dinner this evening. They are just so pretty with their mottled blue-green skins. They almost look like tiny blue stones.
French green lentils
Christmas is just around the corner. The decorations are up, and the Christmas events are in full swing. But, until yesterday, there was something missing – our traditional Christmas gingerbread snowflakes.
We started making gingerbread three years ago (I think), when we received the gorgeous snowflake cookie cutters pictured below, and it has become our little Christmas tradition.
Gingerbread dough, cutter, and rolling pin
Gingerbread snowflake shaped cutter
Snowflake shaped gingerbread biscuits
Cooked gingerbread biscuits on a cooling rack
Last week, I picked up some cute little blue and white ramekins. I’ve wanted dessert-size ramekins for a while, and have been fantasising about all the wonderful desserts I’ll be able to make now I have some. I knew the first thing I had to make was a French custard-based dessert, but there are so many to choose from: crème brûlée, petits pots de crème, crème caramel.
After much indecision, I settled on crème caramel. But that meant caramelising sugar; something I have never done before, and have always been a bit scared of.
Caramel in ramekins for crème caramel
My first attempt did not go well. The recipe called for 2/3 cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of water, shaken in a saucepan until it caramelised. Instead of caramel, I ended up with a solid white lump stuck to bottom of my saucepan (which, thankfully, dissolved in hot water).
I turned to YouTube for help, and for my second attempt decided to try caramelising just the sugar without any water. With just sugar in the saucepan, I watched with amazement as it started to melt around the edges, and eventually became a pool of golden brown liquid. I had just made caramel for the first time!
Since growing mustard seed sprouts and discovering the world of sprouting, I have tried sprouting lentils, chickpeas, and mung beans.
The lentils and chickpeas are really easy to grow and take just a day and a half. I was surprised to find they don’t taste anything like cooked lentils or chickpeas. They taste more like fresh peas and are satisfyingly crunchy. I’ve been adding them to salads and stir-fries.
Sprouted lentils and chickpeas
Sprouted lentil before and after
Sprouted chickpea before and after
The mung beans took about a week, and required a little more effort. Mung bean sprouts are the crunchy white bean shoots you can buy in bags at the supermarket. Mine did not get as big as the supermarket ones, but they were crunchy and tasty.
Sprouting mung beans
I bought dried whole lentils and chickpeas from the supermarket, and found dried mung beans at the local Asian grocery store.
The instructions I used for sprouting are available at the links below:
Our second Avanti Pasta Wiz broke for the same reason as the first. The manufacturers have used soft metal gears that can not take the stresses involved in rolling pasta. It seems we are not alone in encountering this problem.
We have not been able to make a single batch of pasta successfully with this machine before the gears distort, jam, and the mechanism can no longer turn.
Damaged gears in an Avanti Pasta Wiz.
Broken gear (second from left) in our Avanti Pasta Wiz.
This second machine was a replacement provided by the retailer.
The life time warranty is unhelpful if the core problem is not fixed in the replacement. We will be recycling the machines and looking for an alternative.
Last week, I grew some mustard seed sprouts. For some reason, Graham and I had been discussing growing alfalfa and cress on the kitchen windowsill as children – my childhood alfalfa grew as “hair” out of the top of an egg shell with a face drawn on it.
Tiny mustard seed sprouts
So, when I found a little packet of mustard seeds in my spice box, I wondered if they would grow. I put a wet paper towel on a plate, sprinkled a few of the mustards seeds on top, and put it by the window.
Mustard seeds staring to sprout
Sprouting mustard seeds
Over the next few days, I watched them grow tiny roots, then open up to reveal little leaves, and turn into tiny plants leaning towards the sun. We eventually ate them when they started to look like they might not be doing so well. They had the slightest spicy flavour.
Mustard seed sprouts
A little bit of research has since revealed a whole world of sprouting, and I have learnt that sprouts are usually grown in jars with a regime of soaking, rinsing, and draining. Even more surprisingly, I have discovered that sprouts are not limited to alfalfa and cress, but you can sprout big things like lentils and chickpeas.
I’m still deciding what I will try next.
Burritos are a Friday night special at our place, and over time we have replaced the kits you buy at the supermarket with our own tortillas and spice mix.
My spice mix has evolved over time. It’s not an exact science, so feel free to use this as starting point and experiment to find the perfect combination for you.
Put all of the ingredients in an air tight jar and shake well to mix.
I add about 2 teaspoons of the spice mix to the beans and vegetables as they cook.
Decadent chocolate truffles are surprisingly simple to make. They are great with coffee, or packaged in a pretty box as a gift.
Homemade chocolate truffles
You will need:
Break up the chocolate, put it in a small saucepan with the cream, and stir over low heat until the chocolate melts. Turn off the heat and stir in the liqueur. Pour the chocolate mixture into a bowl, cover, and put it in the fridge overnight to set.
Take the chocolate mixture out of the fridge, shape teaspoons of the mixture into balls, and roll in the cocoa powder until completely covered (don’t try to do this on a hot day or your truffles will melt).
Your truffles are done. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge between layers of baking paper.
I recently discovered that fresh cream freezes well.
Cream is not something we use often. I had a lot leftover after making some chocolate truffles, so decided to try to freeze it.
I froze 1/4 cup portions in a silicone muffin pan. Once frozen, I turned the portions out of the muffin pan, wrapped them individually in plastic, and kept them in freezer.
Frozen cream in a silicone muffin pan
The cream did separate as it defrosted, but came back together nicely after a good shake, and accompanied some delicious chocolate cake.
Happy Easter. I hope you are enjoying the Easter long weekend.
Homemade hot cross buns.