The recipes thread

Thank you for that Al, it has been authorised for the coming weekend by management.

I return with this one.....

Pebre is like a salsa - good in sandwiches, with meat, bread, etc. etc. I love the stuff. I like it pretty spicy, but you should make it to taste. Store it somewhere cool-ish, but *NOT* in a sealed container. Covered with a cloth is ok.

Recipes vary not just country to country, but also family to family. The following recipe is also for guidance, not for obedience - I am in capable of measuring. So it gets what it gets. I estimated the quantities here to give you a starting point, but I never follow them consistently. It is supposed to be colourful with lots of different tastes.


Pebre;

1 large onion, sometimes more. I like onion.

3 cloves garlic

Slices of small, raw mushroom (not sure how much, I just keep adding it until it looks like a reasonable amount)

Red chili pepper paste or finely minced fresh chili peppers - depends how spicy you like it. It will need more than you think. Bear in mind if you use chopped peppers it will get hotter with time as they dissolve.

Red wine, or red wine vinegar. Not much. A spoonful or so.

Olive oil - again, not sure how much. Just pour it in until the salsa has a consistency you're happy with.

Lime juice. I dunno how much, I grab a small one off the tree. 1/2 Tesco's lime I guess.

A small bunch of cilantro leaves (chopped)

Salt and pepper

Cut it up, mix it up, make it look like this.... (I don't cut the bits small, I like it chunky. Some people go as far as grinding it.)

Oh, and here's a Serbian non-spicy variant of a similar thing - a roasted red pepper and aubergine relish. This recipe goes all I've-got-all-day-to-fart-about-with-charcoal-grilling, but I just grill on my gas bbq and add some smoked paprika to the recipe, sweet or hot smoked paprika works according to taste. Again goes nice on just some crusty bread or with grilled flesh.

www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/09/ajvar-serbian-roasted-red-pepper-sauce-recipe.html

There are some absolute gems in Serbian and Turkish cuisine - the latter gifting mainly to the former of course.

"I dunno, I grab a small one off the tree. 1/2 UK lime one I guess."

Yes, sorry, I lost a bit.

You need lime juice. I just grab a small one off the tree. Given that the limes here are smaller, I am guessing that the juice of half a lime from Tescos should be about right.

The thing is with this, you can add more of anything at the end if you wish to alter the taste, its not like there's any cooking. So start with half a lime and add more if you need at the end.

Bear in mind, however, after a few hours its more difficult to add ingredients because it all starts blending together. At that point (of mushiness) it is very nice in a small bowl to be eaten with slices of baguette toasted.

Ooo.  I'll make those with the scooped out pumpkin flesh when the children make their Halloween lanterns.

[p.s. we get visitors here, a lot; I don't think we're doing our macho, tough guy images much good!]