Palitaw

These lovely little balls of goo are sweet rice cakes that are traditionally eaten in the Phillipines as a snack or dessert. They're extremely simple to make so are great for kids. 


Ingredients:


1 cup of sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous flour)
1 1/2 cups of caster sugar
3/4 cup cold water
Sesame seeds
Flaked coconut


Directions:


Put the rice flour and sugar in a large mixing bowl and add enough water to form into a stiff dough. Take small amounts of the dough and roll into small balls. Press with thumb to flatten out. 


Add the balls to a large pan of boiling water and remove when they begin to float. Allow to cool. 


Toast some sesame seeds in a pan and put into a bowl. Also put flaked cocunut in a seperate bowl. 


Roll each rice ball in the coconut and then in the sesame seeds. 


Enjoy!

Spotted...

...at the Farm Market at the weekend. Made us laugh anyway! 

Gardening tots

I think you all know by now that Edible likes to do what it can to promote sustainable living and all that is associated with it. So while I was in Waitrose the other day I picked up a leaflet that caught me eye and followed the link on it.

Basically, the Royal Horticultural Society has teamed up with Waitrose on a campaign to promote gardening in schools. In a world of convenience food and over pasckaged, over processed foods, I think it's extremely important that children are taught how to grow their own food.

Brighton and Hove have approximately 5 schools taking part in the scheme and we really hope to see more getting involved too. We throroughly recommend getting registered and reading more about the scheme. Visit the RHS website here

Pork and cider hotpot

Here at Edible, we try and research as much as possible. So in the name of research, I found myself in possession of a load of root vegetables and some pork. Once they'd been photographed I wondered what I could do with them (you'll have to wait until the summer issue is out to see why). That's when I spotted the cider in the fridge. 


This recipe is so simple and you can do whatever you like with it. Maybe you want to cut some apple and pop it in. 


I basically browned some halved onions, 2 leeks, 2 larges carrots and a small butternut squash with 400g diced pork. I then stuck it all in the slow cooker with some stock and half a bottle of cider. I then added some thyme and garlic and cooked for 5 hours. You can do this in a casserole dish too on a low oven heat, reduce the cooking time to 2 hours though. 


My suggestion for serving? With buttery celeriac mash. Perfect for rainy days like today. 

Indian food. Proper, like.

SUBJI  (sub-jee) n.

1. The Punjabi term for curry

2. Applicable to vegetarian and meat dishes.

3. Makes your life better, no need for bland takeaways

4. A perfect cooking experience with Subji San.

We all like Indian Food don’t we? Curry, whatever you want to call it, has become a part of the British culinary blueprint. It’s become our second nature and accessible to most. Did you know that most of the Indian restaurants up and down the country mainly focus on Punjabi food? It’s become the most accessible of the various cuisines from the Indian sub-continent and a part of our national identity.

That's where Subji comes in - their ethos is simple; to show you the value in cooking Indian food the way it’s meant to be cooked.  They enable you to gain the skills to cook authentic Indian food in your own home without all the fuss. Simple. You don’t need to go to a restaurant, and you certainly don’t need to get that takeaway.

The dishes available to learn from Subji are traditional and home-based. Most of them you’ll recognise, but a lot you won’t – but their approach remains simple. To strip away the unnecessary restaurant veneer and show you how Indian food is meant to be cooked. You’ll still find a Korma in the Subji archive but cooked the way it’s meant to be. Trust us, once you’ve begun making it yourself you’ll never look at an Indian takeaway in the same way.

What do I get?

All your classes include comprehensive tuition, your ingredients (if you don’t decide to provide your own*), and a copy of the recipe. Learn all about the specific ingredients, how combinations work and the skills to understand each stage of the cooking process. They appreciate in this day in age we're all more food aware and more experimental; so you may have most of the spices already / or prefer to buy certain fresh produce inline with your own budget and beliefs.

*That's why Subji offer 2 different prices; one where you provide the ingredients; the other where you leave it to us. 

Subji have kindly shared this Black Eyed Pea Subji recipe with the Edible blog readers as an example of the kind of food you'll learn to cook and master. 

Ingredients (for 4 People)

Vegetable Oil

1 medium red onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed.

2-3 inch piece of ginger peeled and grated.

3 green chillies, finely chopped (include the seeds)

1 tin of chopped tomatoes, or fresh chopped equivalent

1 teaspoon of crushed cumin seeds

2 tins of black-eyed peas, drained (or 1 cup dried equivalent, soaked overnight in boiling water drained and then simmered in fresh water for approx 45 minutes). Just use the tins eh?!

2 cups water

1 teaspoon Turmeric

1.5 teaspoons of ground Coriander

1.5 teaspoons of ground Cumin

2 tablespoons of Garam Masala

1 tablespoon of Salt.

2/3 teaspoon of Pepper

1 small handful of fresh chopped Coriander

Juice of 1 lemon. 

Method

In 2 tablespoons of oil, gently fry the onion, garlic, ginger and chillies together with the cumin seeds for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes, then add the Turmeric, ground Coriander, ground Cumin, Garam Masala and Salt. Cook out the spices for a good 5-7 minutes.

Add the black eyed peas and the 2 cups of water; and gently simmer for about 20 minutes until the sauce has reduced by a 3rd and is thickened. Finally add the fresh coriander leaves and the lemon juice and serve.


You can learn more about Subji over at their website

Down to a tea

A few years ago I did a very long and quite gruelling nutrition course. While on the course I became rather obsessed about the food I was eating, what I was drinking, my caffeine intake, blah blah blah. I was partial to a good 4 or 5 cups of very strong, black filter coffee and it became quite apparent that this wasn't in my best interests. So I gave it up. Cue two very uncomfortable weeks as my body went through 'the healing crisis'. 


Anyhoo, I also gave up alcohol and sugar at the same time. This made the pub pretty much unbearable unless they did a good line in herbal teas. We all know there are a whole load of rather nasty herbal teas out there (Twinings, I'm looking at you) and I have become quite an expert on the subject. In fact, should you need to know where in Brighton does a good herbal, you'll do worse than ask me. 


I'm back on the alcohol now so pubs aren't a problem though I do have a problem with cafes and coffee shops being unable to serve good tea. 


Enter Teapigs. I'm not sure how they're doing in but they seem to be managing to get around. I'm certainly not complaining though. Teapigs make the best herbal teas this side of... well, anywhere. Full, whole leaf teas that are strong, ethical and damn nice. 


I'm particularly partial to their liquorice and peppermint tea - it's sweet yet minty and perfect for mornings or just after lunch to satisfy a sweet craving. Liquorice is very good for stress too, especially is the form it comes in these amazing dome bags. The plain peppermint is a winner too - peppermint is perfect for settling the stomach so if you've eaten too much or feel a bit bloated from that doorstep sarnie you couldn't resist, get on it. 


I've taken to buying in bulk off their website - it works out a lot cheaper as the tea isn't cheap. But let's all refer back to that old saying 'you get what you pay for'. 


You can buy Teapigs in a few places around town, including Temptation and Cream Tea opposite the dome booking office. You can also get it straight from the Teapig website, as well as a load of information on tea.