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The Blog Of Dan

31 12 2014

The end of the year 2014

Dan Briant | General | 0

As the year 2014 draws to a close, it’s time to start thinking what I want to do in the year 2015, and look back at 2014.

In 2014 I started doing Home-brewing and Growing chills for use in cooking and chutney making. I wish to continue this in 2015 and grow even more chills. I have so far grown, Masquerade, Red Thai, Habanero, Bhut Jolokia, Trinidad Butch T Scorpion and Basket Of Fire.
I intend to grow more Masquerade and Basket Of Fire plants, but I want to try growing others and will have a look around at what seeds I can get.

With my Home-brewing, the fruits of my labour will be ready in early to middle of 2015, I can’t wait to drink some of the wines that I put away. Then to start planning more when the fruit’s come into season again. I also wish to start brewing my own beer from scratch. I plan on brewing around 40 pints in the early part of 2015.

I want to do more photography in 2015 with my friend Olivia who also does photography. As I have not been doing much photography recently. Which is a shame as I really do enjoy it and have missed it. I already have a few photo-shoot ideas and it’s also nice to go out to locations to photograph them.

Overall 2014 has been a great year for me, I have excelled at what I set out to do, and have made new friends and seen many new places either on my own or with friends. It’s nice to have such fantastic friends who helped make 2014 a good year.

Let’s roll on 2015 and make that a fantastic year!

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27 12 2014

Making Chutneys

Dan Briant | Cooking | 0

Over the Summer, I ended up growing a fair amount of chilli plants, varying in different heat levels from low to high. I grew Masquerade, Thai Red, Basket Of Fire, Habanero, Bhut Jolokia and Trinidad Scorpion.

I decided to start to cook with them, and thought why not make some Chutneys. As my friend Matt has just started a Red Onion Chutney. I like spicy food and Chutneys always make a good accompaniment to cheese and meat.

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26 12 2014

Red Onion Chilli Chutney

Dan Briant | Cooking | 0

Ingredients

  • 4 large red onions, finely chopped
  • 2-4 chillies de-seeded and finely chopped
  • 2 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 70 g caster sugar
  • 120 ml red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp tomato purée
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tsp cooking salt

Directions

Total Time 2 1/2 Hours
Prep Time 30 Minuets 
Cooking Time 2 Hours
Makes 4-5 X 227Gram Jars
  1. Cut and Dice the Onions, Finely mince the garlic and ginger.
  2. Over a medium heat, heat the oil and gently cook the Garlic and Chilli for a minuet, then add the onions and cinnamon. Taking care to not burn them as you gently cook them.
  3. Add the sugar, tomato purée and vinegar. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
  4. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally. The mixture should be thick and when a spoon is pulled through, it should leave a clear path.
  5. Pour the warm mixture into warm sterilised jars, ensuring there are no air bubbles in the mixture and seal them immediately.

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26 12 2014

Mango Chutney

Dan Briant | Cooking | 0

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 2 inches fresh ginger, finely minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1 red chili, sliced and de-seeded (Or a small Orange Habanero for a bit of a kick)
  • 2 teaspoons whole nigella seeds
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 5 mangoes, peeled and diced
  • 200 g white granulated sugar
  • 230 ml white vinegar

Directions

Total Time 2 1/2 Hours
Prep Time 30 Minuets
Cooking Time 2 1/2 Hours
Makes 5 X 227Gram Jars
  1. Peel the Mangos and then cut the fruit off the large seed. Keep it chunky as you cut it. Finely mince the garlic and ginger.
  2. Over a medium heat, heat the oil and gently cook the Garlic, Ginger and Chilli for a minuet, then add the spices and cook for another minuet. Taking care to not burn them as you gently cook them.
  3. Add the cut mangos and sugar into the pan, gently stir and cook for a minuet.
  4. Add the sugar and vinegar. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
  5. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally. The mixture should be thick and when a spoon is pulled through, it should leave a clear path. The mixture will be chunky due to the large chunks of mango. This would have reduced down a bit, however if you want smaller chunks just gently mash it with a masher.
  6. Pour the warm mixture into warm sterilised jars, ensuring there are no air bubbles in the mixture and seal them immediately.

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26 12 2014

Tomato Chilli Chutney

Dan Briant | Cooking | 0

Ingredients

  • 2kg ripe tomatoes
  • 1 large onion
  • 6 red chillies, de-seeded and chopped
  • 300g caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 300ml malt vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tsp cooking salt

Directions

Total Time 2 1/2 Hours
Prep Time 30 Minuets 
Cooking Time 2 Hours
Makes 4-5 X 227Gram Jars
  1. Boil some water in a large pan and have another pan ready filled with cold water. Cut a little X in the bottom of each tomato, and then blanch the tomatoes in the hot water for around 1 minuet until the skin starts to gently peel. Then put them in the cold water. Do them in batches.
  2. Once the tomatoes have had their skins peeled, quarter them and then dice the onion.
  3. Heat the oil in large heavy based pan, add onion, tomato and chilli. Make sure it does not overcook. Gently cook for a few minuets.
  4. Add the sugar and vinegar. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
  5. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1½ - 2 hours, stirring occasionally. The mixture should be thick and when a spoon is pulled through, it should leave a clear path.
  6. Pour the warm mixture into warm sterilised jars, ensuring there are no air bubbles in the mixture and seal them immediately.

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26 12 2014

Lime Chutney

Dan Briant | Cooking | 0

Ingredients

  • 10 ripe limes
  • 2 tablespoons cooking salt
  • 6 ounces sultanas (if you can't get sultanas then just use raisins)
  • 3 tablespoons Groundnut oil
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
  • 1-2 Red Chilli's De-seeded
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 4 finely chopped garlic cloves
  • 2 inch piece finely chopped ginger-root
  • 240 ml malt vinegar
  • 500 grams soft brown sugar

Directions

Total Time 50 Hours
Prep Time 48 Hours
Cooking Time 2 Hours
Makes 5 X 227Gram Jars
  1. Cut the 10 limes into eight wedges each. Place in large glass bowl, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cooking salt and stir well to ensure all the limes are coated. Then cover with plastic wrap or lid and leave for 48 hours in the fridge, stirring occasionally.
  2. Drain the limes, rinse them well and mix with the sultanas. Process in batches in food processor until coarsely chopped.
  3. Heat the oil in large heavy based pan, add cumin, coriander, mustard seeds, chilli, black pepper, garlic and ginger. Make sure it does not overcook.
  4. Add the chopped lime mixture, vinegar and soft brown sugar. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
  5. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1½ - 2 hours, stirring occasionally. The mixture should be thick and when a spoon is pulled through, it should leave a clear path.
  6. Pour the warm mixture into warm sterilised jars, ensuring there are no air bubbles in the mixture and seal them immediately.

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