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.
These delectable almonds are another of my range of delicious nuts. For some bizarre reason they seem a bit more 'masculine' than my traditional sweet roasted macadamia nuts so I cooked a batch for brother's birthday.
INGREDIENTS
3 cups of raw whole almonds
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
1 teaspoon ground rock or sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 egg white
1 teaspoon water
METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 135 degrees Celsius (275F)
2. Line large baking tray with baking paper
3. Mix sugar, spices and salt in large bowl
4. Whisk egg white and water until thick and foamy
5. Tip almonds into egg white mix and stir to coat
6. Tip into spice and mix to coat
7. Spread evenly onto baking sheet
8. Bake for 30 minutes
9. Stir and separate any that are stuck together
10. Reduce oven temperature to 100 degrees Celsius (205F) and bake about 30 minutes until dry.
11. Stir and leave on tray to cool. They will become crisp once cool.
12. Store in airtight container.
A few interesting facts about almonds
- The trees and their blossoms are truly beautiful.
- Technically, almonds are the seed of a tree.
- They are a member of the Amygdalus family and related to other fruits that contain hard pits, including cherries, plums and peaches.
- They thrive in mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers in full sun.
- Nutritionally they are praised due to the presence of monounsaturated fatty acids, dietary fibre, antioxidants, vitamins like riboflavin, and trace minerals such as magnesium.
