This is one of those super simple recipes.
With only 5 ingredients, it takes just a bit of chopping and then a simmer on the stove.
It is also incredibly flexible so if the recipe looks vague, it is because it is and it doesn't matter. Adjust the recipe to suit your own taste and what you have on hand.
Ingredients
1.5 tablespoons Thai red curry paste- Alter the quantity to suit yourself. This amount gives just a gentle kick.
2 medium gold sweet potatoes. These 2 weighed 1.3kg - I like the gold ones because of their taste and they are always available and usually cheap. Also easy to grow.
1 onion- brown or white
1/2 cup coconut milk- This will give a subtle coconut flavour but can be substituted with cream or yogurt.
1 cup water- I like my soup so thick that the spoon almost stands up in it. Add as much as you want to make it as thin as you want
Pepper, herbs to garnish- I used cracked black pepper and continental parsley for this batch. This parsley is the only herb growing well in my garden at the moment so I used it.
Method
1. Heat curry paste in large saucepan on medium heat until it becomes aromatic
2. Add onion and fry for a couple of minutes
3. Chop sweet potato and add to pan
4. Add water and cook until sweet potato is tender
5. Turn stove off
6. Add coconut milk
7. Blend using stick mixer or blender
8. Add more water if too thick
9. Ladle into a bowl and garnish as desired
10. Serve with buttered toast.
This recipe re-emerged when I gave an old recipe book to Catherine. The day after I gave it to her she presented me with an envelope of hand written recipes that had been lost within the pages of the book. I had forgotten all about this incredibly simple, gluten-free delight.
Here is the recipe for the peanut base. It can be topped with any sort of chocolate topping that you want. A thin layer of melted chocolate or a frosting would be great. I have included a link below for a simple and old fashioned icing made with cocoa. This is a good one if you want the icing to set so the slice can be cut and packed in layers in a plastic pot for travel.
Ingredients
375g raw peanuts
2 eggs
1 cup sugar (white or raw)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
Method
1. Mince peanuts in food processor
2. Add baking powder and whiz to mix in
3. Beat eggs until thick and creamy
4. Mix in sugar and beat again
5. Combine egg mix and peanuts
6. Line base of brownie or slice tin (27cm x 17.5cm x 3cm) with baking paper
7.Spread mix in tin. Smooth surface
8. Bake at 180celsius for 35 minutes
9. Take care not to overcook as it can easily become dry and hard to cut.
10. Ice while still warm in tin
11. Once cool, tip out of tin and cut
12. Store in an airtight container.
Click here for a Simple chocolate icing recipe.
I like garden art but not the sort that I used to see out of the Vauxhaull window when I was a child. Concrete gnomes and tyre swans are not for me. Neither are grecian ladies with urns or little boys relieving themselves in a pond.
My style is much more ecletic. I also was born with the "diy" gene so I spend hours pouring over others ideas trying to convince myself that I too can make them with my very limited skills. But I have to be optimistic and have had some success in the garden art department. I have always had passion for Japanese lanterns; the stone variety, not the paper ones. When we decided to build a Japanese lantern at our current property I had to have a lantern. Australia is not very much into this so purchasing one proved to be not only very costly but almost impossible. So I made one out of concrete.
Once we had worked out the shape and containers it was a simple job. Inside the light box is a lamp which is wired into the string of garden lights that runs the length of the garden.
The question is, should we dig this up and take it with us or make another one?
I am collecting ideas for garden art that I will be able to make myself. To be included in the list, they have to have most of the following criteria:
- simplicity
- 'gentle' in the landscape
- a bit quirky
- easy to make.
This simple sculpture from Sprawlstainable adds height, colour and also provides illumination at night. The instructions make it look easy.
The spikes are made out of pvc piping which have some bend in them when they are long.
The use of metal piping would provide greater sculpture capability. Copper is an expensive metal to use but has a quality about it that it irresistible.
This copper coil from Suzy Homefaker shows just how much potential there is with copper.
This Raintree Sprinkler is divine. It isn't however for us. Care to conserve water will be required and this tree is not very appropriate. A large proportion of the water would be blown away in the breeze as it is a long distance from the ground.
In keeping with the metal theme, these tubes would create some height in a new garden. They are simple and show off the unique succulents beautifully. What a lovely metal garden edge they would create.
I love 'round.' It avoids the need for sharp and accurate corners. These concrete spheres create simplicity and a feeling of tranquillity. The garden glove has instructions for these and many other spherical garden features.
Terracotta pots are fabulous. Cheap and cheerful, they can become much more than a single potted marigold. The instructions for this dome and a sphere are on iCreative Ideas
If I am to have a birdbath this is what I would like. Made by the very talented Toni Armeni
Need a bit of quirk? These tin can owls are simple to make and are a creative way to use up pet food tins and containers that usually go to waste. Anyone could make these.
This ostrich, created by John Doll is almost 2 metres tall.
I love scrapyard animals. The pieces used create a personality. Here are a couple of birds made out of shovels, reo and other left overs.
All I need to do now is decide which one to make first.
