In My Kitchen, February 2014
In my kitchen, at home in Melbourne, summer is asserting itself. The ceiling fans are whirring endlessly and I’m minimizing the amount of heat I generate by creating light meals using loads of fresh herbs, raw vegetables and sweet summer fruit.
My sweet lime juice cordial is in such high demand, I’ve just had to make yet another batch. It’s loved by young and old alike. The kids love it mixed with iced soda, we add a slug of vodka for the adults. It’s perfect on a hot summer day. When I was a kid, my Mum made cordial with lemons and it’s her old recipe I still use, adapted to suit fresh limes.
In my kitchen are new recipe books. Last month I showed off my Christmas cookbook gifts. I’ve had a birthday since, and was lucky to receive three more, Rick Stein’s “India”, Adam Liaw’s “Asian After Work,” and “Vietnamese Home Cooking” by Charles Phan. Expect to see lots of Asian inspired posts in the coming months.
Inspired by all master bakers who contribute to In My Kitchen, I have a spelt sourdough starter collecting wild yeasts on my kitchen bench. Thirty years ago when my family was young, Monday was bread baking day. In the days before I could afford a machine with a dough hook or to buy artisan loaves, I baked seeded sourdough whole wheat loaves to make school lunches and for breakfast toast. Time demands of returning to work put an end to bread baking all those years ago, but after 12 months without eating wheat, I am desperate for some decent bread, bread with a dense texture and a crunchy crust. There’ll be a post if I succeed. I have high expectations of the project, wish me luck!
In my kitchen fridge is a 3.6kg bucket of beautiful natural yoghurt. I was lost to the world for several delicious minutes, savouring memories of travelling and eating in Turkey when I saw this in the market. It’s common sight to see yoghurt in this volume in Turkish food stores, but a first for me at home. We’re dolloping yoghurt on poached fruit, whipping up smoothies and salad dressings, making yoghurt based dips and marinades.
In my kitchen is a new cast iron pot I bought for very modest price in Ikea. I have long felt the need for a large lidded cast iron casserole dish, big enough to braise a meal for 12 friends, big enough to hold a leg of lamb or a whole chicken, but put off by the high price of that well known French brand which I love so much, I had managed without. While my pot doesn’t have the prestigious provenance of being French, Asia can sound exotic too, and it fits my needs and my budget perfectly!
In my kitchen I have three farmyard egg cups from my childhood. Now “vintage” is chic, this Japanese lustre ware from the 1950s is out and proud! The chicken has become a toothpick holder and the rooster is a used as an olive pip collector. I have yet to find a use for the duck, any ideas?
Now you’ve seen what’s happening In My Kitchen, have a look see at Celia in her kitchen at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. Celia hosts this wonderful monthly forum of bloggers from around the worlds. You’ll be surprised by what they reveal about themselves!
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25 comments on “In My Kitchen, February 2014”
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Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Please Pass the Recipe 
This post made me happy…so cozy…so comforting…. and the lime cordial looks and sounds so delish.. it’s so pretty! 🙂
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Thanks Prudy, the IMK forum lets you peek into other bloggers kitchens and it keeps you in tune with the rest of the world! I’m making more lime cordial today, 1.5 litres disappears very quickly!
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Oooooo I could so go some lime-onade at the moment!!! It sure has been a hot summer.
Love your collection of cookbooks 🙂
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I thought making lemonade was as easy as juicing lemons and adding sugar and water. I did this recently. It tasted disgusting. I will give your recipe a go.
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Mary it’s so simple and so good. Link back to the original recipe and find both the lemon and lime formulas, enjoy!
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I love ceiling fans in the summer. The lime juice cordial sounds heavenly. We are in the middle of a bitter winter but I would still fancy some anyhow. Love these series (great idea Celia) and loved the tour of your kitchen.
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Thanks Azita, yes IMK is a lot of fun and a credit to Celia. I’m not sure how we’d cope without the fans and AC. I seriously wish we could share some warmth with you!
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Your old egg cups are incredibly cute! Good luck with the sourdough starter – it’s already looking promising, and you’re doing much better than I ever managed to – I had to buy my starter, as all I seemed to be able to grow was purple mould! Love how green your lime cordial is! x
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Definitely wait and see with the sourdough starter. I’ve been putting off baking bread because of the weather, too hot to turn the oven on, but the starter still seems to be bubbling along. Tonight after dark is the target! Fingers crossed. I’m loving IMK, I’ve been inspired on many levels by other contributors, it’s a great idea Celia, thanks!
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G’day and salivating for lime anything now, true!
Hope you too enjoyed your celebrations and you now have wonderful cookbooks to choose recipes from too!
Thanks for this month’s In My Kitchen view!
Cheers! Joanne
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Hi Joanne, yes limes in order for us all, to help decompress from the endless heat, thanks for visiting my kitchen,,,
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Those limes look so vibrant and fresh in contrast to the dull grey of everything here. What an enormous bucket of yoghurt. Does it have a long use by date?
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Everything about the limes is vibrant especially their flavour. The yoghurt has a date stamp of 4 weeks, but yoghurt will last way beyond that providing you treat it kindly, reality is, the yoghurt will be finished way before the specified sell by date. I ended up buying some smaller containers to put it into, takes much less space in the fridge,
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I bought the Adam Liaw book back with me and I have cooked loads from it already – the white mille feuille is our favourite so far. The Ikea pot is beautiful and a bit of a bargain. Thanks for the peek into your kitchen.
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I love peering into other people’s kitchen too! I have my eye on that mille feuille recipe, but for when the weather cools down, it will go in my bargain cast iron pot!
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While I was reading your post about your hot Australian summer I’ve looked out of my windows, there’s snow almost everywhere… I know how hard can be “struggle” with hot weather, but trust me, I wish I can drink a good glass of lime juice cordial (even with soda) instead of a hot cup of tea!
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Crazy how we are never happy, but right now a few cool, not cold days would be very welcome along with some rain! The lime juice cordial is so fresh and tangy, it’s hard to say no to a tall icy refreshing glassful.
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love the round up and excited to hear how your bread making goes. xxx
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Absolutely love the lime cordial. Such a vibrant color! I watched the TV version of Rick Stein’s India – very good. The other two books are new to me. Must investigate. Also, love the shape of the cast iron pot – sleeker than Le Crueset.
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Oh, that lime cordial is a delight, the zest makes the colour lively! Hoping to find some time soon to road test the books, stay tuned!
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Hi Sandra. Good luck with the starter. I expect to see spelt sourdough posts soon. In this heat, your starter should be raring to go. Your pot looks interesting. I would be interested in your assessment of the quality and knowing how much it cost. Sometimes things can cost much less and be as good as well known brands.
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I’ve used the Ikea cast iron casserole once and was very happy with it. I have several smaller Le Creuset so have have a good base to compare it against. The cost? $64, can you believe it? Tomorrow is the day to bake bread, the starter smells right so we can only hope!
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$64, that is a bargain!!
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Could you please pass over a glass of that lime juice cordial, with a large splash of vodka please. Its the only way to cope with this Melbourne weather. Also, I am keen to hear how the spelt flour starter goes. F
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Shall I make a double after you tough day?
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