Ilse's Kitchen - culinary adventures of a girl who loves to eat

Tapenade 1 jar (240g) seedless green olives, drained 1 large clove garlic, minced 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp capers, drained 1 handful toasted almonds, halved 5 tbsp olive oil

Do you ever food-google? I do it a lot, and sometimes I come across really nifty ideas. Like this one: a five-minute crowd pleaser... strawberry dipped in chocolate set in ice cube trays! Brilliant! I have a heart shaped one and used that.. look how pretty they turned out :)

Having just returned from 3 1/2 weeks in Mexico, my first post of 2014 was inspired by things Latin. In Mexico City I spent some time at the house of a friend whose mother was known for her empanadas. No better time and place to learn the tricks of the trade - and as with most things I hadn't tried before, after a bit of practice it turned out to be easier than I had expected.

Blood oranges are gorgeous, and when years back my local eco store started selling the Italian Sanguinello, I was absolutely thrilled. Ever since, they've been a regular fixture in my kitchen. I'm a simple soul and like them because they're beautiful - and because blood orange juice is an awesome colour. This time I felt like something a little different and made candy out of them. Not the healthiest choice, I know... #sorrynotsorry Ingredients (makes about 26 slices): 1 cup (250 ml) water 2 cups (400 g) granulated white sugar 2 blood oranges (or 1 blood orange, and one regular orange, for some diversity in flavour) 200g dark chocolate Optional: a few tablespoons sugar to coat the finished slices Instructions: 1. Scrub the oranges under luke-warm water, then cut them in half horizontally. Cut into thin round slices, then cut these in half to make orange half moons. 2. Bring the sugar/water to a boil in a wide-bottomed pan, stirring until the sugar is dissol...

Meringue-making can be a pain in the ass, and the first time I tried to make these was a disastrous failure. I added the cacao in with the other ingredients and tried whisking, but the egg whites wouldn't take up any air and I ended up with a very drab, very pointless, very dark brown mixture. But I wasn't about to give up, so poured the gunk down the drain and tried again. The second time round I tried adding the cacao afterwards - a little bit at a time. That version actually looked like meringues, but they didn't taste right. Too much cacao. So I tried again. Below is the recipe that worked. Ingredients (makes about 20): 2 large egg whites 110g sugar pinch of maizena (corn starch) pinch of salt 1/2 teaspoon vinegar 12g cacao Pre-heat the oven to 100° Celsius. Instructions: 1. Before you start, make sure your utensils are clean and grease-free. Wipe down the metal of your whisk and bowl with vinegar and dry with a paper towel. 2. Begin this recipe ju...