Happy New Year Dear Readers!
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that the New Year brings you lots of fabulous Fun, Family and Foodie Adventures!
With the start of a new year and the start of a new month, it's time for another In My Kitchen post. January is an extra fun post as I get to show many of the lovely Christmas pressies my wonderful family and friends gave me over the Festive Season- I'm a very blessed little Chef indeed :)
If you'd like to join in the foodie fun, check out Here for the delightful Celia's monthly roundup of In My Kitchen Posts
In My Kitchen...
is this GINORMOUS Monster Crab Claw! My present to me this Christmas. Yes, that is a full sized dinner plate that it's sitting on :) BigJ had to crack it for me as it was just waaay too hard to get into. The lovely, warm, garlic-buttery goodness was well worth waiting for though. Delicious!
In My Kitchen...
this absolutely delicious Curry Paste from Celia She made me promise not to mess with it AT ALL and follow the directions absolutely. Just for the record, I did...nearly :) The recipe wanted the chicken boiled in the sauce until cooked, the only thing I changed was that I browned off my chicken cutlets first. Flabby, pale chicken skin is not appealing at all, but crispy, tasty, browned skin is much nicer. My family LOVED it! I definitely need to find this sauce here in Canberra, I can see it becoming a firm favourite indeed
In My Kitchen...
a present from Ali , some Barberries. I've not used these before, so look forward to trying them very soon
In My Kitchen...
from Liz, is this beautiful local honey. So sweet and pure, Honey Delight for sure :)
In My Kitchen...
is a very amazing, very addictive Pedro Ximenez Caramelized Balsamic Sauce. Sooooo gooood! Gorgeous with cheese, strawberries or figs, even on ice cream
In My Kitchen...
is yummy Saffron White Balsamic. It made an appearance on our Christmas greens, adding a lovely tangy sweetness that really made them special
In My Kitchen...
for a touch of sleek sophistication on the table, is this very pretty Black Sea Salt. BigJ bought me so many gourmet treats for my Christmas Stocking didn't he :)
In My Kitchen...
because you can't have salt without pepper, is this cove/cinnamon/nutmeg tasting hot pepper. Very nice for a change from the usual
In My Kitchen...
some beautiful bottles from BigJ and littlej. Perfect for the hot weather and helping to make sure I drink my 2 litres of liquid a day
In My Kitchen...
would have been a fantastic gift from BigJ- if it was the right one for my machine! Sadly it doesn't fit my large Kenwood, and being a sale item we can't get a refund from the store :( Not to worry though, this mincer will soon be making an appearance on ebay with all profit gong towards the right model for my machine instead
In My Kitchen...
are kilos and kilos of plums from my friend Pony's tree. Supposedly an ornamental variety, it fruits prolifically each year with small, sweet, little morsels that shall be transformed into sauce and jam by littlej and I
In My Kitchen...
are the first of my tomato harvest. These particular ones start off dark purple and turn red as they ripen. Nothing beats the taste and sweetness of homegrown tomatoes
In My Kitchen...
a present from MiddleC, is the cookbook from my favourite TV show, Duck Dynasty! I may not have access to all the ingredients like bullfrogs, but there are enough down-home favourites to keep me busy indeed
So my Dear Readers, have you made any New Year Resolutions, and have you broken them yet? :)
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Hehe imagine if you had bullfrogs in your kitchen Rebecca! :P Ahh I shall always remember your awesome Halloween outfits!
ReplyDeleteYou got the coolest stuff for Chrissy, you lucky gal. Envious of your tomatoes, I've got 3 on 4 bushes. Pathetic. Look forward to catching up with you this New year ��
ReplyDeleteWhat a haul. That crab claw is tremendous! The balsamic sauce looks great and the curry stuff looks interesting too.
ReplyDeleteYou have so many interesting things in your kitchen this month. I can't believe the size of that crab claw. The entire crab would fill a dining table. It's a shame about the mincer and good luck selling it on Ebay. I haven't heard of that cookbook but with things like bull frogs on the menu it sounds very interesting xx
ReplyDeleteHi there lovely! I'm cheering for your first little crop of tomatoes! Ours are still green, though the potted bushes seem happy enough. Hope you like the honey as much as I enjoyed your little herb bouquet, thank you again. And I love that you've used Celia's curry... great suggestion about browning the chicken... I'm with you on that one. What cut did you use? We must catch up soon xo
ReplyDeleteYou'll love the barberries, Bec. I used them in a nut and herb stuffing for a whole fish and they were delicious!
ReplyDeleteWowsers Becca, that is one big crab claw! I can't imagine the size of the rest of him! That Miss Kay sure is one interesting cook! cheers, Kirsty
ReplyDeletewhat a nuisance about the grinder not fitting. lots of lovely produce tho in your kitchen. and wow that lobster claw. eek!
ReplyDeletehappy 2015.
Ha! I didn't know Duck Dynasty had spun out into a broader empire.Good on them. I know lots of people don't like them but they are who they are and, they're a laugh. And look at that lobster claw. I'm going to a lobster dinner on the 22nd so it's making me salivate just seeing it. Thanks for the festive tour. cheers Fiona
ReplyDeleteps: here's a recipe that uses barberries
http://www.tiffinbitesized.com.au/2014/06/07/an-ottolenghi-weekend-lamb-meatballs-w-barberries-yoghurt/
I laughed out loud - I knew you'd have to do add to the curry, but I'm glad it was browning the meat, that's a good idea! Just say the word honeybun and I will ship curry paste to you any time you like. I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Such delicious treats in your kitchen - LOVE the crab claw! And you're getting beautiful tomatoes - yum - ours are all bug infested this year!
ReplyDeleteI was just on Fran's blog and thought I'd pass on to you too that I heard on the QI Christmas special this year that we're supposed to take our trees down on 1st Feb, not 6th Jan! How cool is that? :)
Here's the quote (Stephen Fry can't be wrong, right? :))
You should take down your Christmas decorations on Candlemas Eve, which is 1st February. This is because Christmas is a much larger feast than many people realise, and the length is due to the fact that people had so much stored, preserved food to last the winter. The Christmas season originally began on Martinmas on 11th November.
Happy 2015, you have lots of goodies in your kitchen this month. I'm loving your first crop of tomatoes - I can't wait for my brother-in-laws crop to start ripening. I'm intrigued with those java peppers - love all my hot spices/condiments. See you next month for IMK
ReplyDeleteEverything in your kitchen looks fantastic. I especially love that monster crab claw! The balsamic also sounds great. I am jealous of those fresh tomatoes, the taste of homegrown is indeed the best!
ReplyDeleteRebecca - some wonderful goodies in you kitchen for sure! That is one huge crab claw...yum! Your tomatoes look lovely too...cant wait for summer, as we are in the dead of winter in my neck of the woods!
ReplyDeleteOMG, if you leave that GINORMOUS crab claw in our kitchen, I'm sorry but you won't have the opportunity to photograph it ;P. Esp. Alesah who's an avid crab fan!!!
ReplyDeleteJulie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx
Hi Bec
ReplyDeleteGlad you have lots of lovely exotic things in your kitchen this month. I was wondering how you would crack that crab claw. Thank goodness for your girls. happy January sweet girl x