Feijoa paste

What's brown and sticky? Also, what's a good thing to do with a large quantity of feijoas?

In the US and other countries they're called pineapple guavas, and I hear they grow well in SoCal. Our last place actually had a feijoa hedge, and it would flower most beautifully and then the really hot weather would come and the tiny little fruit would drop along with my feijoa hopes for another season. I keep an eye out for them at farmers' markets ... so far nothing.

But then back in NZ last month, I had the great happiness of enjoying a classic NZ problem: more feijoas than I knew what to do with. And given that I was heading back to the feijoa-less desert of Nevada, how could I bring the taste through an agricultural inspection?

It occurred to me that guava paste being a thing, maybe pineapple guava paste could be too. I googled a few recipes and then did something like this:
(All measures are approximate and seen through the rose-tinted filter of memory.)

A bowlful of feijoas, washed but not peeled (about 6 cups?)
2 apples (I used windfall apples, use something sour if you don't have windfalls)
Juice of 1 - 2 lemons (I used some lemon syrup from the candied peel I was making)
Some water
Sugar, about 500 g
1/4 - 1/2 cup crystallised ginger
coffee sugar or other sugar if desired to finish

Chop the fruit into chunks and put it into a saucepan with water to prevent it sticking. There is no need to peel it first, and I did include the apple seeds and cores. Add the lemon juice and a few chunks of ginger. Use as little water as you can, because you'll just have to boil it off later. Bring to a boil and simmer until the fruit is soft enough to mash to a mush. 

Press the fruit through a sieve, extracting as much pulp as possible. (Yeah, I know. There's no substitute for this. It's easiest if cooked soft and mashed well first.) 

Put the pulp in a wide non-stick pan. If it's very thin, reduce it a bit before adding sugar. Stir in the sugar until dissolved. Now simmer the mixture for an hour or more, until stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula leaves a broad track that fills slowly with little or no free liquid. You can also test by dropping a little onto a plate. When ready, it will stay in a little heap rather than flattening out to a puddle, and it will not leak any juice. Stir regularly to prevent sticking. 

Finely chop or slice the ginger. I removed about a third of the cooked paste to a smaller pan and added the ginger, to try and make a layer of more gingery paste in the middle. Next time I'd just stir it in when cooking was complete.

Estimate the volume - you'll want the block of paste to be at least 1 cm thick. Line a pan with non-stick paper. Turn the mixture into the pan and smooth the surface. When cold, cut into pieces as required and sprinkle the surface with sugar. (I used coffee crystals but I don't think that worked very well.) If the paste is extremely sticky, dry it in a hot water cupboard or a desert before wrapping up airtight to store. 

If stored cool and dry, should keep for up to a year. If you have doubts about the dryness of the paste or the storage conditions, it will freeze fine. 

Really good with cheese. I'm also looking forward to trying it instead of guava paste in recipes, for instance in meat glazes and baking. 

battle of the potted salmon

At last, I found my favourite potted salmon/salmon rillettes. Salmon was on a really good special so I bought a big piece, and the SDM requested potted salmon. I probably last made this 10 years ago, but I guess it stuck in the memory :) So I made a batch, here's what I did and what I tried. One of them was a winner by miles (reveal below) ...

Cut the salmon in chunks and cook it slowly in a pan in plenty of butter. (If no cats will be offered pieces of it, optionally add some white wine. It turned out that our cats are so spoiled they don't think salmon is made of catfood.) I used about 800g salmon and 50g or so butter for this step. 

Meanwhile, prepare flavourings and clarify (ideally) or melt (lazy) about 250 g salted butter (yes, two hundred and fifty). 

I tried:

1. Fennel pollen, ground wild black pepper, tequila reposado

2. Desert sage, juniper, sage gin

3. Chiltepin, dried orange peel, absinthe

4. Lime peel, triple sec, chipotle powder, samphire powder

Divide the salmon into small bowls and mix in each set of flavourings, breaking up the fish into flakes and moistening with butter to make a rough paste. Check the seasoning - I found they all needed added salt. Pack very firmly into small clean jars or pots, leaving at least 1.5 cm at the top for the butter :-D Pour in melted butter just to the surface, pack down again with a spoon. Let them cool a little, then top up the butter and optionally garnish so you can see what flavour it was. Chill thoroughly, optionally freeze.   

And the winner was ...

Great balls of orange! 

The orange/absinthe/chiltepin had no competition, it's just divine. So, to go into a bit more detail ...

Chiltepin: are wild peppers, considered to be the original from which all others are descended. They're tiny adorable ferocious balls of chiletasticness. I got these guys down Tucson way, as you do. Substitute: bird's eye chiles?

Orange: I was at a farmer's market in San Diego a few weeks ago and they had the most terrific little blood oranges, unwaxed, organic, and about 2 inches across. We had really enjoyed these commercial ones and I decided to have a go at reproducing them. Sliced about 2 mm thick on a mandoline, the end slices kept separate to grind or chop into straight up orange peel for cooking. Dried them first in the fridge and then in the sun (bless the desert climate). Yep, they're really good. Substitute: dried unsweetened orange peel 

Absinthe: I grabbed a mini of this brand a while ago to try it. Now I want to try this salmon again with St George absinthe to get a really regional flavour mix (or should that be flavor mix?) Substitute? IDK, let me know.

Tips:

• Take your time with the mixing to get a good paste that holds together. Aim for a pate-like texture. 
• Don't stint the butter - it's what preserves the fish. Use the best quality you can bear to buy - you'll really taste it. And what's the point in lashing out on salmon then economising on butter?
• If you plan to eat it all within a day or so, you should still mix in some butter to moisten, but you'll only need a cosmetic layer on top if any. Still refrigerate, and cover once it's cold. 
• If you didn't clarify the butter, make sure you don't get any of the white milk liquid/solids in the salmon - it will make it spoil faster. 
• If you've removed all the air and sealed each pot well with butter, it will keep for several weeks in the fridge. Make sure any garnishes are already dried (herbs, spices, etc.) so they won't spoil. 

To try next time:

• Different kinds of absinthe 
• Skinos Mastiha liqueur

After-dinner protein hit

Aka double chocolate mug cake. A few minutes, real food ingredients, gluten free, grain free, dairy free, low fodmap, over 15g of protein, can be low carb ... And so good.

2 mugs:

1/4 cup plantain flour or almond flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
Tiny bit of stevia powder, like 1/8 tsp

4T pure peanut or almond butter
2T maple syrup (or equivalent of erythritol + water)
1/3 cup water
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Optional:
1/4 cup chocolate chips, low carb if desired.
1 oz Chambord or orange liqueur

Warm the peanut butter, syrup and water, and whisk til smooth. Thoroughly mix in the eggs one by one, and the vanilla.

Mix the dry ingredients together, stir in the liquid until completely mixed. If using chocolate chips, stir them in.

Divide mixture between two oiled/sprayed coffee cups and microwave them together for about 1 1/2 minutes total. If using the liqueur, make a hole in the top of each cake with a teaspoon and pour in 1/2 oz. Eat immediately.

Cholla bud, chile, and chickpea salad

Tastes like desert. Cholla buds taste similar to artichokes - but really, if you don't have them, probably just makes some other salad instead.

1 cup cholla buds, cooked (could be fresh I guess - I used dry), split lengthwise
1 can drained and rinsed chickpeas/garbanzo beans (or equivalent freshly cooked, would probably be even better)
6 Hatch chiles, roasted, seeded, chopped
1/4 cup agua chiltepin (or cider vinegar and hot sauce)
splash of sesame oil
splash of peanut or olive oil
2 T salted lemon liquid
1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Mix all in a bowl. Let stand for 20 minutes to blend flavours. Check seasoning before serving.

Would probably be even better with spring onions/green onions.

Desert/date brownie with prickly pear buttercream

I was in southern Arizona last weekend and it reminded me how much I love the Sonoran desert. It's enchanting in almost every particular, not least the taste. I may have slightly gone shopping, though not to excess, of course. Back home, I wanted to use some of those ingredients. Also, wanted brownies. And what is life without pink buttercream?

Took this as a starting point. But then it went thataways ... straight southwest. 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh or frozen dates (not dried)
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup salted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 5 T pecan meal
• 1/4 cup mesquite flour
• 1/4 cup black onyx cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup regular cocoa powder
• 2 t baking powder
• 1 t cinnamon

Method

Line an 8 inch square pan.

Pour the water over the dates and leave until tepid. Blend or process to a smooth puree. Keep a cup of the mixture and save the remainder for another recipe. Add the butter and let soften if required until the mixture can be whisked smooth. Add the vanilla and eggs, whisk again.

In another bowl, put all the dry ingredients and gently whisk until blended.

Heat the oven to 375 F. Add the date mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk until thoroughly blended. Turn into the prepared pan, smooth the surface. Bake about 20 minutes or until centre surface is dry and not jiggly.

Optionally, when cool, spread with prickly pear buttercream and sprinkle with prickly pear margarita/lemonade dry mix to decorate.

Prickly Pear Buttercream

• 1/4 cup prickly pear juice (or syrup or puree)
• 1 t triple sec or orange juice (optional)
• 2 T butter, softened.
• Icing/confectioners sugar - approximately 3 cups

Whisk butter and fruit liquid together until smooth, warming if needed. Whisk in sugar until desired consistency reached.

For the record, I used: 

• dates, a mixture from China Date Ranch CA & Sphinx Date Ranch AZ 
• pecan meal from Green Valley Pecans AZ
• mesquite flour from San Xavier Co-op Farm AZ
• wildcrafted prickly pear juice (actually collected the fruit from Utah but of course AZ is full of it in due season) 
• Jill's prickly pear margarita mix (can't find a link, you're on your own, sorry. Bought it in Tucson.)

Two milk cocktails

Idk, random things to try. Use really good delicious milk for these. I prefer the gin one, although the milk-and-rum has a pleasant gentle simplicity to it too.

1 oz Waterpocket distillery cacao rum
4 oz milk

Like chocolate milk for grownups.

1 oz rose and juniper syrup (or rose syrup would probably work fine)
2 oz whole milk
4 oz gin
6 dashes cardamom bitters (or allspice bitters, esp if you use plain rose syrup.)

Stir and serve over ice.

Knickerless minx

Will warm you up from the inside and, um, goes down real easy. No pictures of this one, probably just as well.

1oz Waterpocket cocoa & rum
6 dashes grapefruit or orange bitters
1 marshmallow, regular size (or 2 - 3 small)
Mayan cocoa powder
Barrel smoked sugar
1/2 oz 1/2 & 1/2 or heavy cream
Few ice cubes

Mix bitters with rum. Dip the marshmallow to dampen, then dip again into Mayan cocoa powder to coat. Sprinkle with smoked sugar, spike on a pick and set aside.

Optionally, rim a ceramic beaker with rum and smoked sugar or Mayan cocoa powder. (If you rim the beaker, you could toast the marshmallow instead of sugaring it. Meh, ain't nobody got time for that. Do this only if you already have a campfire lit anyway.)

Add the cream to the rum with the ice cubes. Stir, strain into the beaker. Garnish with the prepared marshmallow.

Serves one. Make more than one; your companions will thank you.

Orange and almond cake

A beautifully moist, dense, and comparatively healthy cake.

1 whole fresh orange
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 T brown sugar
4 eggs
300g ground almonds
1 tsp cardamom
2 tsp baking powder

In a small pan, bring the whole unpeeled orange to the boil with water to cover. Simmer 2 hours.

Remove the orange, discarding the water. Chop roughly, saving any juice, and let cool.

Prepare a 9 inch cake pan. Heat oven to 350 F. Add the sweetening and eggs to the orange in a medium bowl.with an immersion blender, blend til no large pieces of orange remain. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir. Put in cake pan, bake approximately an hour or til done.

Golden beet salad

I made this, and it's really good. But there is no recipe, bc I just flung it together. So I am trying to at least write down all the ingredients. I think this is it. But it might not be.

3 golden beets, raw, shredded
Bunch cilantro, chopped

1 T fresh mint, chopped

Bunch green onions, chopped

2 bulbs roasted garlic
1 tsp ground long pepper
About 1/4 cup cider vinegar
Walnuts, toasted, chopped - 1/2 or 3/4 cup?
Walnut oil
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt lemon juice from Moroccan style salt lemons

Balm Yet in Gilead

Another gin cocktail. Quick to mix, tastes like magic or possibly like there was a rain of gin onto flowering orange trees in a distillery.

Use good gin, you'll taste it more than you think.

Good dietary source of consolation.

Serves 0.5 - 1 person:

3 T gin, frozen if possible
2 T Curacao or triple sec. Less sweet is better.
1 tsp orange blossom water.

Stir. Sip. Smile.

Mesquite and Prickly Pear Cheesecakes

Taste all the desert. Recipe is adapted from https://www.mybakingaddiction.com/gluten-free-mini-cheesecakes/ but the flavours - flavors, I should say - are all my idea. If you like a sweeter filling, you could add more honey.

Crust
1 cup pecan meal
1/4 cup mesquite flour
3 T melted butter

Filling
16 oz cream cheese
1 T honey
1 t orange blossom water
1 t vanilla essence
2 eggs
1/4 cup mesquite flour

Topping
1/2 T (1/2 envelope) plain gelatin
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup orange or clementine juice
1/3 cup prickly pear juice

Set the oven to 350 F/ 180 C. Set out 12 silicon muffin cups on a baking tray (or use a 12-hole muffin pan.)
Mix the crust ingredients. Divide evenly among the cups and press down with back of spoon, a glass, or fingers. Bake for 10 minutes.

While crust bakes, soften cream cheese until it can be beaten smooth with a whisk. Add the honey, orange blossom water, vanilla, and eggs and beat smooth again. Whisk in the mesquite flour.

Cool the cooked crusts slightly. Divide the filling evenly among the cups and smack the pan to level the filling. Cook for 10 minutes or until no longer jiggly.

Soak the gelatin in the water for a minute. Heat until hot, stir until smooth. Add the juices and let cool. Divide among the cheesecakes - about 1 T each. Optionally decorate with candied orange peel or dried orange. Chill.

Stop the bleeding

A gin cocktail for my friend. 

3 T prickly pear juice, frozen if possible
1 T lime juice
2 T triple sec
1/2 cup really good gin of your choice

Add ingredients to a mason jar and shake until the juice is no longer icy. Serves 2. 

Oh all right, get fancy and use a shaker and ice cubes if you like. A twist of orange peel would work well as a garnish. 

Dream of spices egg yolk ice cream

A very long time ago, I made a trip to Montreal. A carefully planned and much anticipated stop was Chocolatier Marlain - his truffles are unequalled for subtle and artful flavours, and I have had much use and enjoyment from his recipe book. One truffle was Spice of the Islands, or thereabouts, with cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and more.

Then last week we bought a lot of eggs - they were a dollar a dozen, free range and pasture raised. What do you do with all those eggs? Ice cream, of course. With spices from everywhere, and an affectionate and respectful nod to M. Marlain.

Dream of Spices ice cream

Warning: so many egg yolks. So much cream. Low fat it ain't.

Ingredients

1 cup milk
1/2 cup flavorful honey
2 T lavender buds
2 cups heavy cream
6 egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground Szechuan pepper
3 T rose water
(Optional, but oh do if you can, 1/4 cup thin strips of freeze dried feijoa)

Method

Put the lavender, honey and milk together and heat. Let stand for a good 10 minutes to develop the flavour. 30 minutes would be better. (If it splits, pass through a sieve and merrily continue.) Add the cream. Lightly beat the egg yolks and add. Cook, stirring very frequently, to about 160 - 165 F. Add the flavourings. Cool quickly. Float the feijoa on top once it's somewhat cooled - it will settle a little. Chill. Lightly stir to redistribute the feijoa. Freeze. (Or drink it hot as an insanely delicious egg nog.)

This is very rich and so it will not freeze solid. 

Campfire blue cornbread (gluten free, no egg)

Blue corn is magical. And it is one of my favorite southwestern foods. Here is a blue corn bread that bobs a respectful knee to scones, Navajo/Diné kneel down bread, and tamales. It is a little different from any of those: kneeldown bread calls for fresh corn, and tamales call for nixtamalised cornmeal (masa harina, masarina, etc etc) and those are both wonderful dishes ... but they get made in bulk, and call for things I didn't have to hand (juniper ash and lard, respectively) besides I wanted something different, and also to find a way of really appreciating the roasted blue cornmeal I bought on a warm August Saturday at Tségháhoodzání/Window Rock. Phew, take a breath.

Tastes - phenomenal. So much better than it looks. And look ma! no wheat.

Campfire blue cornbread

Serves 2 - 4 depending on what else is on the menu. You can multiply the recipe.

4 dried corn husks (or cedar cooking paper or, I suppose if you really must, oiled tin foil sheets about 8 by 6 inches). String or twine for tying - soak this too.

3/4 cup cornmeal (blue, if you're lucky enough to have it. Not masa harina)
3 T dried chopped chives
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp dried herbs: parsley, savory, chervil
generous pinch of chipotle powder
3 T butter, not too warm, cut in little pieces

Preparation

1. Put the corn husks to soak.
   I took these camping, so I soaked the corn husks in a big ziploc bag with a little water and all the air removed. Cedar papers also need soaking, though not for long. Obviously tin foil does not.



Ready to mix. Open air cooking is more fun.

2. Put the dry ingredients all together in a bowl. Add the butter and rub it in until the cornmeal feels almost clumpy and there are no bits of butter. You know, the usual way. You can stop here and transport the dry mix. Don't let it get too hot, but it does not need refrigeration. 

When ready to cook

1. You will need hot coals. (Or - boring! - an oven at 400 F)
2. Drain the corn husks. Strip a narrow (no more than 1/2 inch wide) piece from each to make a tie. Set aside. 
3. Dump the dry mix into a pan or bowl or even onto a board. Add enough water to make a damp dough that is not quite floppy. Mix until there is no dry cornmeal. Divide in 4 (or more if you multiplied the recipe, of course.) 
4. Put a portion of dough onto the middle of a corn husk. Gently shape into a very rough cylinder. Do not spread it to the edges. Fold the sides of the husk over to make a sort of cone. The bottom of the cone should be empty if you put the mixture in the middle. Now fold up the bottom of the cone, and use a corn husk strip to tie gently round the fattest part. The top is open, that's fine. 
5. When they're made, set them on the coals. If the husk chars too much, turn them over or move them a bit further away. Cook until the mixture springs back lightly from your enquiring fingertip. Or, I guess, about 12 minutes on the oven rack. 
6. Peel off the corn husk and eat. Preferably with chile. The sun should be setting over the desert for best effect. 

Credit where it's due: Navajo Recipes Kneel down bread

Pine resin oil and balm

First catch your rabbit by sprinkling salt on its tail, gathering it from a tree or from the interwebs.

Oil will dissolve the sticky and resinous gum, making a strongly pine-scented maceration which can then be blended with other ingredients as usual to make various creams and potions.

Macerated pine pitch (pine resin, pine gum) oil

To make my pine maceration, I chose grapeseed oil as a reasonably neutral, nut-free oil that I could buy at the supermarket without spending a fortune. It's light and easily absorbed, and therefore in common use in cosmetics or on the skin. Also full of anti-oxidants. I put about twice as much oil as pitch - I guess I could have weighed it, but I didn't think exact proportions would make much difference in this instance.

Pine balm

Pine balm is great for treating small insults to the skin, such as splinters, cuts, rashes, chafing, pimples, or minor burns. It also has some mild insect repellent properties and is useful for dry skin, as a light duty barrier cream, and for preventing chafing. If it will be used on broken skin, mucous membranes, or in or near the mouth, ensure you use a food-safe species of pine (piñon, not ponderosa, for example.)

For a stronger scented balm, use all pine pitch oil. For a milder one, cut it with unmacerated oil. I added vitamin E oil to make it extra long-lived. Beeswax helps it hold its shape as a balm rather than an oil or cream. So would cocoa butter or shea butter, but I prefer to use unrefined oils and I don't like the smell of those unrefined. Coconut oil melts as you put it on your skin, which makes the balm harder to handle.

This recipe needs weighing and not just measuring if you want to get the texture right first time. Conversely, it may need experimentation to find exactly the texture you want for your climate. The below is 1 part wax to 6 parts oil. This made a paste that held its shape well when the temperature was in the 70s to 80s Fahrenheit /20s Celsius. When you first touch the surface with your finger you might think it's too firm, but persist, poke your finger right in, and it should be about right.

Melting beeswax:
I had the oven on low and used a metal bowl. You could use a double-boiler instead, or possibly a crock pot on high with a water bath. Don't melt wax directly over a flame unless you are fully braced for a spontaneous candle effect (a wax fire).

Ingredients

30 g beeswax
15 g vitamin E oil
165 g pine pitch oil

Method

In a heatproof container, carefully melt the beeswax until just liquid. Add the oil little by little, stirring well. It should stay very liquid - if it does not, you may need to reheat it a bit. Keep the temperature as low as you can to conserve the quality of the oil and the pine aromatics.

Pour into containers and let set undisturbed. The setting time will depend on the room temperature and the size of the containers, but it should be firm in less than an hour unless the room is very hot.

Makes 200 ml.

Baked chicken with desert sage

Baked chicken with desert sage

Ingredients

6 free range chicken thighs with bone
2 T extra virgin olive oil or to taste
2 tsp dried desert sage*, finely rubbed or crumbled
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano or 1/2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
chopped garlic to taste
salt and pepper

Method

Set the oven to 200 C/400 F and line or spray a baking dish. Crumble the dried herbs together, and garlic if using, and rub into the chicken. Drizzle, brush, or spray with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake in dish for 25 - 35 minutes or until cooked to 75 C/165 F internally. Serve.

---

*Desert sage Q&A
Q. Is desert sage safe to eat?
A. Yep. Note that we're talking about the salvia species (in particular s. dorrii) not, not, NOT sagebrush. Sagebrush is an artemisia - i.e. it's closely related to wormwood. It has its own uses, mainly household and medicinal, and they are not the same as sage. As with all wild plants, know what you're doing before you collect it.

Q. But would I want to?
A. IDK. I like it. If you like other camphorous herbs and if you like garden sage, then give it a try.

Q. Camphorous herbs?
A. Such as bay, rosemary, Mexican oregano, lavender.

Q. Okay great, where can I get it?
A. Ahhhhh my house? The Great Basin or Mojave deserts? I have never seen this for sale as a culinary herb anywhere, and only rarely as a garden plant (and once, the dried cut plant, along with white sage and cedar, probably for ritual purposes.) I collect it in extreme southern Nevada or nearby parts of California.

Fizzy pink drinks

Because I can never leave well enough alone, and because I happened to buy an especially aromatic mint plant with an unusual floral scent ... and because summer's coming round these parts. We get through a lot of soda water as the weather heats up, but sometimes one just wants to ring the changes a little. Also, who doesn't like pink drinks?

The first two are more kid-friendly though probably too austere for many. I find cold fizzy drinks more refreshing when less sweet, though of course YMMV. Even 2 or 3 tablespoons of syrup is quite a lot for one drink IMO ...

Here, in increasing order of befuddlingness and also complexity, are four pink fizzy drinks.

Padparadscha spritzer is a deep orange pink
and a little alcoholic

Prickly pear fizz

For each serving, stir together 2 - 3 T prickly pear syrup and a little water or soda. Optionally, add a squeeze of lemon juice.
Fill to the top with soda and ice.

Real lemon, lime, and bitters 

For each serving:

• half a lemon
• half a large, or a whole small, lime
• 1/2 - 1 tsp Angostura bitters 
• simple syrup to taste (about 2 T) 
• soda water
• ice to serve

Wash the citrus thoroughly to remove any wax from the skin, then squeeze into a tall glass. Drop the fruit into the glass too for extra flavour. Add the bitters and syrup to taste, and a splash of soda. Stir together, add ice, and fill with soda water. Serve.

Padparadscha spritzer 

For each serving:

• sprig of mint
• splash of triple sec
• teaspoon of orange blossom water 
• splash of cherry moonshine (or kirsch, but you won't get the stunning colour)
• ice 
• can of soda water (optionally flavoured, but preferably unsweetened. Raspberry or lime goes well.)

Crush the mint in your fingers or muddle it in the bottom of a tall glass. Add the liqueurs and orange blossom water, then ice and soda.

Stir and serve.

White sangria

Makes about 2 litres. Serves fewer people than you'd expect (say about 3?) Long ingredient list but really simple method, and a fabulous festive accompaniment to a barbecue. Dangerously light and delicious. When you run out, top up the glasses with ice, tonic, and optionally gin.

• 1/2 cup triple sec
• 2 T orange blossom water
• 1 T rose water
• 1/2 cup cognac or brandy
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 1 lime, sliced
• 1 orange, sliced
• 1/4 cup maraschino or moonshine cherries
• 750 ml fizzy white or rose wine (NB I don't recommend anything fancy for this unless you are enormously confident in the sensitivity of your palate)
• 100 g raspberries
• 500 ml or so soda water
• (optional) 1/2 cup simple syrup
• 6 medium sprigs of mint, or to taste
• ice to serve

Mix the triple sec, orange blossom water, brandy, citrus fruit, and cherries together and refrigerate in a jar or closed container overnight. Optionally freeze for up to a week, keeping the cherries away from the citrus slices or the citrus will discolour. Defrost in fridge before use.

Shortly before serving, tip into a 2 litre jug. Stir in the wine and soda water. Taste and add syrup if needed. Float the raspberries and mint in the jug or in the glasses as you serve. Serve over ice, letting a few slices of fruit and a cherry fall into each glass.

Green devilled eggs

All the southwestern 'oh yes' is in these creamy, spicy little monsters.

If you can't get dried Hatch chile powder then make ordinary devilled eggs by using cayenne instead and lemon instead of lime. They will still be terrific.

Ingredients

6 fresh good eggs, boiled hard, cooled, peeled.
spring onions, 3 small or 2 large
2 - 3 tsp hot Hatch green chile powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp dried or fresh chervil, finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried dill or fresh dill
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt or to taste
1/3 cup mayonnaise or more if desired
juice of 1/2 - 1 lime, or 1/2 - 1 T tarragon vinegar, or some of each
finely chopped chives, dill, or Hatch chile to garnish

Method

Slice each egg through lengthwise and carefully remove the yolk from each half. Finely slice or chop the spring onions. Thoroughly mix the egg yolks, spring onions, herbs, spices, salt, and mayonnaise together in a bowl. A fork is good for crumbling the yolks.

Add the lime juice or vinegar and stir in well. Check seasoning. Use a piping bag or teaspoon to fill the hollows of the egg whites with the mixture. Chill. Garnish. Serve.

Or, for travelling, carefully pack the egg whites. Put the yolk mixture into a small bag. When ready to serve, snip a corner of the bag and squeeze the mixture into the whites, garnish and serve.

Coffee cup gingerbread houses

Teeny tiny gingerbread house that sits on the side of your cup. For a mere $20 each ... Wait, you lost me. For about $2 of ingredients and a used fizzy drink can I made my own.

I started with an existing recipe and made a number of modifications. This is way too much dough for a batch of mini houses unless you have a crowd to help you put them together and decorate. If you just want a dozen or so houses, halve or even third the quantities. Or, as I did, make some ninjabread people too. (Inspired by this comic strip.)

Prickly pear juice

Prickly pear cactus in flower, May

This is easily the most blerghtastic thing I've made for ages. It's so pink there probably ought to be a law against it, but that's neither here nor there. However, it's also mucilaginous, a great word, so onomatopoeic, in that it sounds exactly as disgusting as it is.

But ... it tastes good, really good, even with no sugar added. (Unlike the fruit, which were also mucilaginous but bland and frankly a bit yucky.) Maybe I had the wrong kind of prickly pears. Maybe some things just taste better cooked.