Spiced, pickled cherries - Jared Ingersoll

A friend of mine generously left me a bag of cherries the other day, and while I would have happily just eaten them, I was pretty keen to try something new with them! Considering we have loads of bananas that need using (banana bread), as well as carrots (cake), I decided to stay away from some form of cake that includes cherries, delicious as it might be! I settled upon a recipe for spiced, pickled cherries that I found in Jared Ingersolls book, Dank St Depot. He suggests using these served with ham, which with christmas coming up, is a really different and tasty accompaniment. They would be even more amazing with duck! Try these if you have a glut of cherries or youre keen for something different! Its such an easy recipe, requires NO time at all (you dont even have to stone the cherries!), and makes a fantastic christmas gift, if youre not going to use them all yourself!

Ingredients

1kg cherries (stones, stems and all!)

750ml red wine vinegar

500g soft brown sugar

6 cloves

6 juniper berries

4 all spice berries

1 star anise

Zest of a lemon, cut into strips, as well as the juice

1 stick of cinnamon

2 green cardamon pods

Method

1) Sort through the cherries and take out any less than perfect ones, give them a quick wash and set aside.

2) Put all the other ingredients into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil for 5mins.

3) Add the cherries and boil for another 5mins, then take it off the heat, and leave it to cool, covered, overnight.

4) Put them into sterilised jars and store them in a cool, dark place, and they will keep for months!

Walnut Biscotti

 

If youre anything like me, youll find that you often have egg whites left over from various cooking endeavours - custard, ice cream... Anyway, I have a bunch of egg whites in the fridge and no idea what to do with them. Enter the Cook Learn Love french bistro cooking class, where for dessert we made an amaaaazing creme brulee, served with biscotti... The biscotti were SO easy to make and have few ingredients. Theyre delicous and great to whip up to serve to unexpected guests over this christmas season. Theyre even better for a quiet moment on the couch with a cuppa! You can use any nuts you like, ones you already have in the house like I did, and I used walnuts. These scrummy nuts also go so well with coffee - handy, since biscotti go so well with coffee as well!

Ingredients

4 egg whites
2/3 cup caster sugar
90g bakers flour (a generous 2/3 cup)
½ cup nuts

Method

1) Preheat a moderate oven (170C).

2) Beat eggwhites with sugar until they become stiff and glossy. Combine remaining ingredients in sifter and sift over egg whites.

3) Tip in nuts. Gently fold to incorporate. TIP - if you're using walnuts, don't add the flour and nuts together! The shape of the walnuts allows flour to get stuck in the little hollows, which you then find when you slice it later!

4) Make free form loaves on a tray lined with baking paper or pour into a well greased and floured loaf tin or baking dish.

5) Bake until lightly brown and firm (about 15-20 mins). Allow to cool overnight before slicing.

6) Take the sliced biscotti and place them on a tray to dry and crisp up in a low oven.