Spiced Pickled Onion and Beetroot in Vinaigrette

My mum and dad have had a very productive summer in the allotment and my mum has been busy preserving some of their produce. These yummy spiced red onions are made from a Use Real Butter recipe which is amazing. They have a much more interesting taste than the often ridiculously sharp large pickled onions you get in store. I think jars of this would make a wonderful present and it is a great way to use up a glut of red onions. I also made some 'pickled beetroots' which are marinaded in a sweet spicy vinaigrette as I didn't want to just repost someone elses recipe although if just one more person tries these onions because of me it will definitely be worth my time posting this. Both these recipes are great for impatient people like myself as both can be eaten as soon as they are made. These recipes are wonderful with bread and cheese or cold meat. 

 

Kaya- Coconut & Egg Jam

One of best food discoveries we found when we moved to Singapore was Kaya. Although its description of a coconut and egg jam is slightly off putting it probably should be called a curd not a jam. It is delicious spread on hot toast or, my favourite, in pancakes. It is rich and creamy and my prefered type is the green, pandan flavoured one. It is normally served on toast with big pats of butter along with half boiled eggs (you literally scare the eggs with some boiling water and crack the runny eggs into a bowl and season with soya sauce) and strong black coffee.

As we are preparing to move on from Singapore it has set us thinking about all the foods that we will miss, and there are many of them! Singapore has changed our tastebuds forever and as such I have been contemplating making some of the dishes that we normally only eat in hawker centres. That way when we are really missing a dish I should be able to create a tasty variation to ease the cravings. 

I had heard that making kaya was hardwork and time consuming but buoyed on by my recent success of making lemon and orange curd I decided to give it a go. On researching how to make kaya I found recipes using slow cookers and the jam setting on breadmakers and this sounds like the easiest way if you have either of these appliances. This one uses a bowl over a pan and only took around 20 mins to make. Unfortunately, the pictures do not do this dish justice having come out looking like not very appetising baby food!  

Lemon & Orange Curd

One of my Dad's favorite things is lemon curd preferably dolloped into pastry to make a lemon curd tart (known rather unpleasantly as lemon turd carts in our family following an amusing slip of the tongue by a young relative). It is divine spread on toast or a pancake. An old family friend used to make the best lemon curd tarts with homemade lemon curd and although this curd recipe isn't quite as good (I lack her 60+yrs experience) it is still delish and perfect to use in baking. Unfortunately, she passed away just over a year ago and making this is reminds me fondly of her and my dad who is currently thousands of miles away. I will be attempting to make mine into gluten free cupcakes so look out for the recipe.I made mine with lemon and orange but you can use just one citrus fruit if you prefer just remember to increase the amount of sugar to taste if all lemon and the reverse for all orange.