The Recycled Cook

The Recycled Cook By Adrian Sleeman Onion Jam Having been given half a dozen extremely large white onions that a friend of mine grew on his allotment I originally set out to make some onion jam with them and in the process that also turned into a classic French onion soup. I will start with the jam and do a separate blog for the soup later. Is it technically recycling when you set out to make one thing and end up making two?  Probably not but they are both great ways to use up rather a lot of onions and they both start of the same way. First of all you need to peel and thinly slice the onions into a large saucepan. If you use a M andoline , as I have done, make sure to use the guard provided or risk slicing your fingers as well as the onions. I usually start off just slicing the vegetable but see the guard long before I get anywhere near my fingers. Sweat off the onions with some cubes of unsalted butter and olive oil, I used a garlic infused oil but that is just ...

The Recycled Cook By Adrian Sleeman Pickling Over the next few blogs we are going to look at the various ways we have available to us of preserving food, that will not only make the most of your fruit and vegetables but will also add that extra ingredient to add to your meals and give them that added zing. Red Cabbage pickle One of the easiest and most satisfying methods for preserving and enhancing fresh fruit and vegetables is the traditional art of pickling which seems to have found a new following amongst today's young chefs. I have been pickling fruit and vegetables for quite some time, it is one of the most satisfying and simple things to do in the kitchen and is far cheaper than shop bought.  If you are lucky enough to grow your own fruit and vegetables all the better but it is just as easy to do with the kind of fresh produce I spoke about in my last blog. Remember the allotments, they are a great source of ingredients for this. Our ancestors picked a...