Chili Plum Chutney

The Plums in my garden are long gone (came in January), but i still have chili's.

A few weeks ago i tried making a spicy plum chutney. It came out great but could use more of a kick so i thought i might try adding chilis.

300 grams plums - roughly chopped, pits removed
3/4 large red onion finely chopped
1 small - med serrano chili (i used a chili about the size of my pinky finger)
1 cup vinegar (i used plain white vinegar)
1 cup brown sugar

1. Combine ingredients and bring to a boil
2. Turn down to a simmer and cook for approx 1 hour until thick
3. Store in sterilized, clean jars and enjoy!!

Vegetarian Okonomiyaki

When i went to Japan last year i got a chance to try foods and meals i normally wouldn't get to. One of my favorite new meals is Okonomiyaki which is a Japanese savory pancake made with cabbage. Smothered in mayonnaise and special sauce. It was amazing. I ate Osaka style okonomiyaki which had noodles in it as well (technically this is modanyaki). I haven't found anywhere here that has them, so i thought i would try to make them.

The Okonomiyaki i had in Japan -



Ironically, one of my favorite cookbooks had a recipe for it which i have modified to create my own version.

Ingredients
Small handful soba noodles
1/2 head of green cabbage
1 cup carrots cut into small matchbook size
1/2 cup sliced shitake mushrooms (i used dried ones that i rehydrated)
2 button mushrooms thinly sliced
1 potato cooked in small cubes
1/4 red onion finely chopped
2 eggs
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp seasame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin

1. Saute cabbage in seasame oil until wilted
2. Add carrots, mushrooms, onion, ginger, soy sauce and mirin - cook until carrots are soft
3. Add potato and take off heat - let cool
4. Once cooled, mix with egg
5. Oil pan and add noodles, pour the egg-y vegatables over the noodles
6. Cook evenly on both sides
7. Add okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise.

et voila!

Sprouts!

I'm now growing my own sprouts - mung bean sprouts and alfalfa sprouts. It's so easy!

I originally tried growing them in an empty coffee jar but found that the water wasn't draining well. I then saw this in a shop



It's great. The water filters down between the tiers. It took about 10-12 days for the sprouts to be fully grown (despite the packages saying only 5 days).

But i've now got tasty sprouts for sandwiches and salads.

My sprouts -