Month: August 2019

Home Made worcester sauce

Home made Worcester sauce
Home made Worcester sauce

As you know, I recently had a pantry emergency. I ran out of everything! If you’re anything like me, Worcester sauce features heavily in the cooking scheme of things, and I go through the stuff like nobody’s business. I began wondering if you could make it yourself, so I did some research into this – I simply could not believe what went into Worcester sauce! Sardines, for starters – the list of ingredients was extremely long, and I definitely didn’t have most of the ingredients on hand, so what was I to do? The answer of course, was experiment!

I am not saying it’s identical, and it tasted like there was something missing in the first batch, which I suspect is the tamarind extract, but it’s pretty darn close. And it works, as I have gone through two bottles already, and the results with meat are great. So here goes:

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 small peeled clove fresh garlic or one teaspoon of crushed garlic
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar; 1/4 cup malt vinegar; OR 1/2 cup white vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon molasses
  • 1 tablespoon tamarind paste- I didn’t have, so I left this out on the first batch. It tastes fine without, but more authentic with the paste
  • 1/2 an onion, finely chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground clove or two whole cloves

INSTRUCTIONS

Cook all the ingredients together until the onion is soft. If you like, you can blend everything together before straining with a stick blender or immersion blender, just to extract the maximum flavour. Strain and pour into a bottle (I love using old soy sauce bottles that I washed and kept for this, it works really well). Refrigerate, and shake before using.

NOTES: This should last up to two months in the fridge, but if you’re like me, it will only last two weeks!

Homemade Orange Vinegar for general cleaning

orange vinegar
Orange Vinegar

The general move these days seems to be to move away from the more chemically-laden commercial chemicals, and towards the more “natural” ways of cleaning. Reasons for this are two-fold – the price of the commercial cleaners play a factor, as many of these products are quite pricey, and the second, and for many, the most important factor, is the lack of all the chemicals and preservatives that most products contain today.

Many people are becoming more aware of what they are putting in and on their bodies, and the products they are using in their homes. In case you hadn’t noticed by now, I am one of those people. Yes, I am motivated by the cost factor, but the primary motivator is the awareness of there being better, just as effective ways to get the job done, without worrying that you are unwittingly poisoning yourself or your family.

I admit, I am a clean freak, and spring cleaning in my house is a major operation…while there are some things I would not budge on (yet!), like giving up the dish washing liquid and my laundry detergent, there are other things I have been willing to try, such as the vinegar cleaner. And surprise – it is pretty darn effective, especially with the addition of the orange peel! I am quite happy to use this to clean and polish my home with…I have been wondering where I could buy vinegar by the barrel! LOL!

This is really easy to make, and I have seen varied uses on the internet for the citrus vinegar. I personally use it diluted to clean my kitchen counters, bathroom, etc. I also tried using it as a substitute for fabric softener – it seemed to work pretty well. The vinegar smell faded, and then I could smell the oranges.

What you need:

A glass jar (I used an old beetroot salad jar)

Orange peels (from around two oranges)

White vinegar

Method:

Place your orange peels in the jar, pour vinegar over, and leave to infuse for around 4 weeks. When the orange smell is the primary smell, strain with a sieve and bottle. Dilute at a ratio of 1:1 when ready to use.

Tips:

*When filling your jar with orange peels, the orange peels should more or less fill the jar when packed loosely. The longer you leave the vinegar to infuse, the stronger your orange smell will be.

*You can use other citrus peels instead, but orange peels work best for busting grease and grime.

*You can add herbs as well – I have added cloves before, and I have a batch infusing that I added a cinnamon stick to.