You may think that is a strange combination however there are lots of National Days and months relating to food…There really are…Today is the last day of the National Eat your Fruit and Vegetables Month as well as the last day for the National Eggplant, Garlic and Horseradish Month…It is also National Mai Tai Day today…and why not?

Therefore I am going to share my favourite recipes using the above vegetables and fruit and after that, I will surely need a Mai Tai…Just saying…

Eggplants...A very popular vegetable here which come in all colours shapes and sizes…from tiny pea eggplants to the big purple ones.

They are used as an ingredient in curries, stir-fries, dips, pickled and eaten raw…

One of my favourite ways to eat them is pickled…I love pickles and pickled with cabbage they are very nice…

To Pickle:

Layer Cabbage, Green Onions, eggplants and salt in the dish add a little water. Mix it all together with your hands. I use lovely yellow eggplants on this occasion but any of the small eggplants can be used except for the pea eggplants.

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.

Garlic…I love garlic and always use far more than any recipe states again garlic is a popular vegetable here which belongs to the onion family and has many proven health benefits. I also think it is the reason why mosi’s don’t bite me…

It is used in curry pastes, curries, stir-fries, dips and sauces, pickled and eaten raw here …Thais eat more raw vegetables than cooked I would say at every meal…This is a good example a small fish called Batu which is like mackerel an oily fish and one Lily loves.

As you can see the plate is made up of far more veggies than fish the dip is made from eggplants which are BBQ’d and then ground with garlic and aromatics like fish sauce, shrimp paste, chillies it varies…

My garlic recipe is a favourite here I always have a jar or three in the fridge and they get dipped in as and when…

Pickled Garlic…

• 8-10 garlic bulbs
• 500 ml white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 90 gm sugar
• 1 tsp salt…I always use salt mined here locally or Himalayan salt.
• 1 tsp per jar of either mustard seed or fennel seeds (optional)

2 x 250-300 ml jars with good lids

Separate the bulbs of garlic into cloves and peel.

In a saucepan bring the vinegar, salt and sugar to the boil, stirring occasionally to make sure the salt and sugar are dissolved. Add the garlic cloves to the pickling liquid. Bring it back to the boil and simmer for five minutes.

Transfer the garlic cloves to sterilised jars. Add the mustard or fennel seeds if using. We actually couldn’t decide Fennel or mustard seeds so I normally do some of both they are equal in taste to us. Carefully fill the jars with the hot pickling liquid. Seal.

The garlic will be ready to use in about a week but improves over time.

Horseradish…a root vegetable known for its taste and odour…I love horseradish as a sauce with beef or as a flavouring it adds that bit of oomph to a dish…I use it with fish, beetroot and in a seafood sauce…It is not a flavour that Thais like too much it is a different heat to chillies a bit like wasabi…

It often grows wild in many places and can be brought ready-made as a sauce, grated or as a root which is how I buy it here…This is one of my favourite recipes…

Smoked Trout, Horseradish and Apple.

Ingredients:

•  8 oz smoked trout with all skin and bones removed.
•  1 cup sour cream
•  ¼ cup prepared horseradish
•  1 clove garlic finely chopped
•  2 tbsp Olive oil
•  1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
•  2 tbsp spring onions finely chopped
•  1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
•  ¼ tsp salt
•  1 dessert apple peeled, cored and finely chopped
•  A pinch cayenne pepper

Let’s Cook!

In a small bowl whisk the cream, horseradish, garlic, oil, and vinegar together until well blended. Add the spring onions, parsley, salt, and cayenne pepper and mix well.

Gently fold in the apple and the trout…Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Serve with crackers or as crostini.

Enjoy!

Let’s celebrate National Mai Tai Day…

A tropical, fruity rum-based cocktail…which goes down well on a lovely balmy sunny day which at the moment has got up and gone and the heavens have opened…it is now lovely and cool but definitely not the weather to sit outside with a sundowner…

The lovely yellow cocktail is made using star fruit and a Carol Special Mai Tai…

Also known as Carambola it is a lovely fragrant fruit ..Take I star fruit and slice it… add to the glass reserving a slice for decoration…If you have a rounder glass then it is better as you need to muddle the star fruit to release the juice…Squeeze the juice of 1 lime and muddle again…Add a pinch of rock salt and some sugar syrup about a tbsp depending on your taste I probably add a little less then add a measure of vodka yes this Mai Tai uses vodka…gently stir add some ice and stir then top up with soda or sprite. Add more ice or vodka(shhh) if required…

Add a straw and a slice of star fruit to the glass…Enjoy!

That’s it for today…Tomorrow it is the 1st day of National Pickle and picnic Month…It is also National Ginger snap Day…In July there are lots of ice cream days and alcohol days scotch included…and one I hadn’t heard of National Penuche Day…WELL…for a fudge lover I didn’t know this …nice surprise says she licking her lips…Penuche is a fudge-like candy made from brown sugar, butter, and milk, using no flavourings except for vanilla. Penuche often has a tannish colour, and is lighter than regular fudge. It is formed by the caramelization of brown sugar; thus, its flavour is said to be reminiscent of caramel.

Photo credit: thehoneybunny on Visualhunt / CC BY-NC-ND

Yummy is what I have to say…Who would have thunk xxx