Welcome to series 3 of the Culinary Alphabet A-Z…Where the middle letter is K…

Nothing is as it seems here…this new series is the brainchild of Chel Owens who writes at A wife, My Verse, and Every Little Thing…my followers are so good to me they think up all sorts of permutations of the Alphabet for me to blog about…not sure if they want me to call it quits or what they will come up with next…Chel like Pete was, however, will be called on to make her contribution every two weeks…they don’t get off scot-free…so I hope you have started brainstorming Chel…haha x

So what’s in store? In this series the A, B, C, etc will be the middle letter, for example, Cajun, Cabbage, Ackee and Yucca… how easy that will be who knows I am sure some of the letters of the alphabet could cause the grey matter to rebel or implode…haha…I also don’t want to use plurals to form a word as I may need that word for another letter and its sort of cheating I think…unless of course I really get stuck…which I am sure will happen…

Today it is words where the middle letter is J...A little easier than J which was quite hard…The Baker baked some Cakes words like this are pretty generic but I will see how I go before I succumb to using them I make life hard for myself sometimes…or how about Pukka Pies.

Let’s go and see what I have found…

Ackee…Weird ( and) sometimes dangerous fruit.

The Ackee fruit is the national fruit of Jamaica…If improperly eaten, though, ackee can cause what has been dubbed the Jamaican Vomiting Sickness — which, other than the self-explanatory symptoms, can lead to coma or death.

Unripe ackee fruit contains a poison called hypoglycin, which means you must be careful to wait until the fruit’s protective pods turn red and open naturally. Jamaicans will often say that the fruit will “yawn” or “smile”—open naturally, on its own—before it’s ready to be picked from the tree.

Once open, the only edible portion is the yellow arilli, which surround always-toxic black seeds. With all that risk comes a delicious payoff — Jamaica’s national dish is ackee with codfish.

In preparation for use in the national dish, ackee and saltfish, the fruit is usually boiled gently for up to half an hour. The prepared fruit is removed from the water and usually sautéed with onions, tomatoes, sweet peppers, allspice, and Scotch bonnet peppers, and then mixed with salt fish. It’s easy to tell when ackee is cooked because the flesh will turn from a cream colour to bright yellow. Remove it from the heat source as soon as it turns yellow to avoid overcooking it. When it’s fully cooked, ackee becomes delicate; it crushes and falls apart easily.

When served with salt fish, it’s often accompanied by breadfruit, hard dough bread, Johnny cakes, fried plantain, or boiled green bananas. It’s also often eaten with rice and peas, or white rice.

Ackee can also be used in soups and desserts such as cakes and custards.

Bakmi …

Bakmi is a Chinese word that literally means “meat noodle.” It refers to a kind of egg noodle introduced into south-east Asia by the Chinese. Today it is most commonly used as part of the name of any of a number of Indonesian dishes made with those noodles. In addition to the noodles, Indonesian bakmi recipes usually include meat, often chicken, and a variety of vegetables. There are many regional and local variations of the dishes.

Bakso…

Bakso is an Indonesian meatball and is an extremely popular Indonesian food. It’s everywhere; you’re just as likely to find it being sold by street vendors (called kaki lima) and posh eateries.

Chickpeas…

One of my favourites legumes they have a lovely creamy texture which is why they are ideal for making hummus…They are brilliant as a snack…just roasted…or just used to bulk out soups, stews and salads…

High in protein, they are one of the earliest cultivated legumes…They are also high in fibre and contain several key vitamins and minerals. Sometimes called garbanzo beans they are used extensively in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines.

Note: it is not recommended to eat raw chickpeas or any other pulses due to the content of toxins and anti-nutrients. These components are reduced with sprouting and cooking.

Chickweed…

Both edible and delicious…

Chickweed is excellent raw — use it like sprouts; eat it in sandwiches, wraps, etc. And of course it’s a great base for a salad.

It’s also great cooked and makes a good substitute for spinach.

Cockles…

Sitting on the beach with a plate of cockles and some brown bread is my idea of heaven…

Cookies…

Ahhhhh the power of language…in the US it’s cookies in the UK it’s Biscuits however biscuits in the US means scones to me …don’t me started on Graham Crackers as they are sort of a  digestive biscuit to me they are sweet and crackers we eat with cheese or pull them at Christmas…confused yet?…x

Cookout…

A meal which is cooked and served out in the open..like a BBQ then?

Corkage…

Corkage is a service charge that is levied by venues for opening and serving bottles of wine, sparkling wine, champagne and even spirits that are bought externally by customers with the intention of consuming them on site. … Some venues charge per head but most will charge per bottle opened on site.

Crackling…

One of life’s pleasures…Perfect Pork Crackling is a wonderful thing and happily popular here as well…

Gerkins…

Gerkins or baby pickles are small cucumbers pickled in brine…delicious sliced in a burger or with cheese or fish and chips …or just because…Gherkins can be made sweeter by adding some sugar to the vinegar or brine. Although, Dill pickles (flavoured with dill stems) are typically sour. …

Junket…

A dish of sweetened and flavoured curds of milk that is often served with fruit.  Think “Little Miss Muffett” eating her curds and whey..some older cookery books still refer to “curds and whey”

Kashkaval…

Kashkaval is Bulgaria’s popular yellow, semi-hard cheese made from sheep’s milk that can be spicy or bland. It’s great for grating, cooking and melting, and is similar to Italian pecorino or Greek kasseri, but can variously taste like provolone and even pungent blue cheese (without any hint of mould).

Milksop…

An old fashioned late middle English dish from milk plus bread something my nana and my mother used to make and give us if we were unwell or given to young children…Bread and milk…

Mulukhiya…

Are the leaves of Corchorus olitorius, commonly known in English as denje’c’jute, nalta jute, Tossa jute, jute mallow or Jew’s mallow. It is used as a vegetable…

highly nutritious ancient super-green from the Middle East. It’s also known as Egyptian spinach, jute mallow or Jew’s mallow…sometimes also known as “the king of vegetables”

Parkin…

Parkin is a gingerbread cake traditionally made with oatmeal and black treacle, which originated in northern England.  Parkin is baked to a hard cake but with resting becomes moist and even sometimes sticky.

Pickles…

Pickles I adore pickles of all sorts and pickle anything…watermelon rinds, garlic, jalapenos, pineapple, cucumbers…you name it and I pickle it…an ideal snack..Lily loves to snack on pickled cabbage which we call Pak Dong …Including pickles in your diet as a healthy snack can help you shed pounds, thanks to their low-calorie count. A cup of dill pickles — regular or low sodium — has just 17 calories. Even if you’re following a very restricted diet of 1,200 calories per day, that’s less than 2 per cent of your daily calorie allowance.

Pak Dong…Is Thai pickled cabbage which comes in many forms from just cabbage or cabbage and green onions this version has added small yellow eggplants…one of my favourites if I can get there before Lils…haha

Ingredients:

• 1 white cabbage. cut or torn into pieces.
• 8 large spring onions chopped
• 12-15 sm yellow eggplants halved
• Coarse Salt.

Let’s Pickle:

Layer Cabbage, Onions, eggplants and salt in the dish add a little water. Mix it all together with your hands.

We then leave the dish covered on the kitchen top or in the sun for 1 day.

 

Then drain and lightly rinse and add more salt if required. Cover and leave for 2/3 days or until it reaches your ideal taste. With pickled cabbage, it is purely down to personal taste some like it saltier or sour more than others. Just play with it and you will soon discover your ideal version.

My daughter in law who is Thai doesn’t like it as sour as we do… she doesn’t like the Winegar taste as she puts it… Once it reaches your required taste it is ready to eat.

This recipe is suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

Porkpie…

A pork pie is a traditional English meat pie, served either at room temperature or cold. It consists of a filling of roughly chopped pork and pork fat, surrounded by a layer of jellied pork stock in a hot water crust pastry. It is normally eaten as a snack.

Reibekuchen…

A fried potato pancake…Reibekuchen are German potato fritters, also known as Kartoffelpuffer. They are common in many areas of Germany, the name “Reibekuchen” being characteristic of the Rheinland area. Reibekuchen may be served with apple sauce, pumpernickel bread, treacle, or Maggi-brand seasoning sauce.

Stinkbean…Sa Tor.

Very popular here…

Also popular in Indonesia, Malaysia,  Singapore, Laos, Burma and NE India they are known as Bitter Bean, Petai, Kampa, Mizo, Pakra and Sa Tor here in Thailand which translates as the stinky bean. When you eat this bean it has the same effect on your urine and your farts as asparagus and I have also been told that if you eat Sugar Puffs then it smells like Sugar puffs …Totally off subject but that was what my son told me when I informed him they had the same effect as asparagus…When the beans are young they can be eaten raw, fried or pickled. The beans are either pickled or frozen when being exported.

For more info on the stink bean(Sa Tor) and a delicious recipe  please click here

Sockeye Salmon…

The sockeye, also called red or blueback salmon, is among the smaller of the seven Pacific salmon species, but their succulent, bright-orange meat is prized above all others. They range in size from 24 to 33 inches in length and weigh between 5 and 15 pounds.

Chicken Tikka…

Authentic Chicken Tikka Masala is usually made with yoghurt marinated chicken, skewered and chargrilled …authentic chicken tikka is a wonderful thing and my next project is to buy one of these and replicate chicken tikka and naan bread cooked in this…I reckon if they can cook chicken on the markets in one of these I can do chicken tikka in my garden…and slap the nan bread on the hot sides when the chicken is cooked…

Turkeys…

Christmas dinner for many people…a large bird in the genus Meleagris, native to North America. There are two extant turkey species: the wild turkey of eastern and central North America and the ocellated turkey of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico

My turkey babies are not babies anymore….

He is just such a handsome boy, isn’t he? They love just love wandering about the farm and eating the greens and picking bits here and there….They are a joy to keep and have really lovely natures…..One got attacked by a dog a while ago but let himself be picked up and his leg cleaned so placidly he is lovely….The dog..banished we cannot have an animal which attacks the other animals…The turkey is alive and well after his little skirmish and none the worse for wear thank goodness. Our chook who thinks he is a turkey is still living with the turkeys he doesn’t want to be with the chooks…

He even speaks like a turkey now…

Thank you so much for joining me today…K was quite hard to start with but then it got easier… NEXT time it’s the letter L for Jelly and Jello… a bit of Salsa far easier methinks…x

See you tomorrow where I am in my kitchen the Onion Bahjees were popular in my house I have made them a few times already…see you tomorrow there are also some health Hacks from Sally think frozen nose syndrome from drinking an ice-cold shake …or toothache…Don’t miss it …x