Cherry Plum Ice Cream

This was thrown together in full-on experimental mode, in an effort to prove that cherry plums are good for more than just jam-making - so no measurements noted, I'm afraid.

* I stewed some cherry plums in the pressure cooker with a piece of cinnamon stick, and then rubbed them through a colander to puree them and remove the stones.

* I sweetened the plum puree until it tasted sweet enough warm.

* I chilled the plum puree thoroughly.

* In a jug I combined 3/4 pint of cold cherry plum puree, a slug of sloe gin, and 1/2 pint of whipping cream, and stirred to combine.

* On tasting, I decided the mixture was not quite sweet enough, so I then added a slug of runny honey and stirred to combine again.

* The resulting salmon-pink mixture went into the icecream maker to churn in the usual way.

Result - a litre tub of Cherry Plum Ice Cream now firming up in the freezer.


The extra leftover plum puree will end up mixed into cold custard to make a Cherry Plum Fool.

Sort of Persian-inspired Fish and Rice

A random experiment to use up some broad beans, inspired by reading through some Persian recipes.
The result was tasty, and worth recording so we can repeat it another day.
Add more chopped fresh herbs if you have them - parsley, dill, chives, fenugreek leaves...

• 1 Onion, chopped
• a knob or two of Butter
• 1 bunch Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
• a few sprigs of garden Mint Leaves, finely chopped
• 1 cup Basmati Rice
• 1 mini carton of White Wine, plus water to make it up to 1.5 cups total liquid
• Salt, Pepper, Cinnamon and a little Turmeric to season
• 3 frozen fillets of White Fish
• Fresh Broad Beans, shelled.

Turn on the rice cooker to cook mode and melt the butter in its pan.
Saute the onions in the butter until translucent.
Add the rice, wine+water, chopped herbs and seasonings and stir to combine.
Layer the frozen fillets and the broad beans on top of the rice.
Put the lid on the rice cooker, switch it off and on again, and restart the cook cycle.
Once the rice cooker switches to keep warm, let it stand for a few more minutes to finish steaming the fish and beans.
Break up the fish into bitesize pieces and fold gently through the rice.

Mango Kulfi

The weather is threatening to maybe get hotter in the next few days, and the huge tins of mango pulp were on special offer at the supermarket.

Time to make this quick Indian kulfi-style mango icecream, in the hope some survives long enough to eat in the sunshine...

If you don't have an icecream maker, just pour the mixture into ice lolly moulds and freeze as individual portions.

Flour Tortillas in the Flatbread Maker

Today we are having reheated Chilli con Carne from the freezer.

Rather than just throwing some rice on to accompany it, I am going to make some fresh Mexican flour tortillas. This gives a good excuse to play with my Flatbread (Tortilla/Chapathi/Roti) Maker.

Invented as a cross between a Mexican tortilla press and an electric frying pan, this sort of kitchen gadget was initially sold in America, and not really ever made for export to Europe due to a percieved lack of demand for making Mexican food in the home.

However, at some point some bright spark realised that Mexican flour tortillas and Indian chapathis are very nearly the same thing, and so tortilla makers started being made in India for sale locally as Chapathi or Roti Makers. From there they finally made their way across for sale in Europe.

Mine is a Butterfly brand from India, imported and sold through Amazon.

Homemade Fresh Pasta with the Pastamatic

Meet my Pastamatic. A lucky find on Ebay a few years ago, it has a strong motor capable of kneading pasta dough, and an extruder to form the dough into noodles.


Tonight, I am reheating a tub of pasta sauce I made a while ago and froze down. Since I thus don't have much to do to prepare the sauce, I have the time to make the pasta instead.