In My Kitchen August 2023

In my kitchen…

Before I start making bread, my sourdough starter “Sabr” needs a feeding after a few weeks of neglect to go back to her old bubbly self. We love sourdough bread and normally I prepare a few of loaves at a time, then slice and freeze some for morning toast.

I hadn’t cooked an apple tart in a long time, and seeing all the homely apple tarts in the bakery section of Irish supermarkets, gave me the nudge to start making them again. I’ve cooked many apple tarts before and they were always a favourite childhood treat of mine. I may have mentioned the fancy cake knife (market find) in a previous “In My Kitchen” post, but I’m not sure…I’ve been doing these posts for a long time now, the first one was May 2014…so over nine years ago!

The first dates mature on our palm trees in July, and because our summers are so hot, these “Ekhlas” dates actually ripen overnight and require daily harvesting if you want to eat them as fresh as the photo above. If you leave them on the palm tree to dry for a few weeks, the date fruits darken in color and taste very different but also quite wonderful. 

A wonderful Ottolenghi dessert combination, baked custard with roasted fruit. I would have liked to have used rhubarb which is not commonly found in supermarkets in Bahrain and if you do find rhubarb it is never very fresh looking. The custard was made with cream and was quite rich, added a little color on top using a blow torch. 

Juicy doughnut peaches are in season right now and a fruit we enjoy snacking on. On occasions I have made this lovely doughnut peach conserve which is also lovely spread generously on a freshly baked sourdough loaf or on morning toast.

I have a few new cookbooks in my kitchen, and my sister cooked several delicious meals from Clodagh’s Weeknight Kitchen cookbook while visiting family. And, because my sister had given me a copy, I tried this delicious sea bass ceviche with salted capers, which you can find in a previous post.

The New Art of Coffee is a recipe book of beverages that create coffee experiences with new ways to be creative with coffee. The coffee book is an interesting read and the cocktail photos look very enticing. While I am neither a mixologist nor a budding beverage stylist, I may try a couple of his simpler coffee concoctions with ingredients and equipment I already have on hand. Maybe not the type of coffee book I had intended to buy but interesting nonetheless.

Eat by Nigel Slater was on my mum’s cookbook shelf, and since she no longer uses it, the little book of fast food is now among my other collection of cookbooks. I haven’t cooked from this cookbook yet, but I like the notion of making fast meals at home using simple recipes.  

We enjoy coffee in our family, and every morning begins with coffee. A new coffee grinder was needed and I eventually decided to buy the Eureka Oro coffee grinder. It was great to discover a local company called Hmmba, selling coffee grinders, coffee machines and more. So happy that this was an item I didn’t need to bring back in my suitcase.  

A few pottery discoveries in my kitchen, including a little jug with a thistle from our quick trip to Edinburgh. I plan to serve a fish pate on the stylish butter dish by Anthropologie and use the cover as the mould…I couldn’t help but notice the handle, which reminded me of a chocolate malteser!

Another market find is this lovely french ceramic fruit strainer/fruit bowl, I am also thinking it could be used for straining a simple home-made ricotta cheese. The lady at the market wasn’t sure if it was used for simple cheese making but I guess one could always have a try.

Until next time “ In my kitchen”, have a wonderful August 🙂

This post is part of a monthly gathering of the “In My Kitchen” community who love sharing their kitchen treasures, please check out the following link. The “In My Kitchen” host is Sherry and her blog is at Sherryspickings, you can also find a list of other joining IMK participants.