Cumin & lemon salted macadamias

It's been rainy and cold here over the past few days. This always inspires me to make things that are yummy and warming. I threw these salted nuts together and they were so popular I had to make another batch the next day!!

These are delicious & will keep well in an air tight jar, or in the freezer. Be warned though..... They are addictive!!

Cumin & lemon salted macadamias

Ingredients

2 cups macadamias

1 tbsp oil (I used olive, but you can use macadamia or whatever you like)

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon fresh grated lemon rind

3/4 teaspoon salt (I used fine ground Celtic sea salt

Method

Preheat oven to 180*c fan bake.

Line an oven tray with baking paper.

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl until the macadamias are evenly coated.

Spread evenly on oven tray, bake for 3-6 mins - depending on the size of your macadamia nuts, if you have whole nuts, 6 mins is fine, if you have halves or pieces they cook faster so give them 3 mins. If you have very small macadamia nuts, perhaps err on the side of caution & check them after 3 mins. 

Let them cool on the tray. 

Enjoy with cheese & wine! (Try not to eat them all at once!!) 

Preserved lemons, rubbish sleepers and my chiropractors superfund.

I don't get to blog as much as I would like to. Most of my posts are done one handed on my iPhone while I rock my baby to sleep. My babies are rubbish sleepers. It seems the best and only place to be sleeping when you're a bebe - is on top of me. Mr 3 is a good sleeper now, but as a baby - rubbish. Mr 9-months is trying hard to break his brothers record of rubbish-sleeping-ness. It's going to be a close call. I know it won't last long and one day I'm going to look back and miss these days when all they wanted was to be tangled in my arms. <3 ..... although it does get tiresome, especially in the wee hours of the morning.  I bought a giant comfy armchair and ottoman when I was pregnant with my first son,  it's turned out to be a stellar investment as I have spent many a night in it (each one contributing handsomely to my chiropractors superfund) - many hours passed with a little boy tangled in my arms. So tonight, with Spider-man gently snoring on the other side of the room & my littlest super-hero snoozing on my chest, I shall pass on another recipe.

Preserved Lemons. 

I love lemons. LOVE them. Such versatile little things. I love a bit of lemon squeezed into cold water on a hot day. I love the juice of half a lemon in a mug with a tablespoon of honey when I'm feeling average. A couple of slices of lemon, a sprig of mint & a slice of ginger makes for a lovely simple tea. I use them in salad dressing, marinades, dips and desserts. I always have a few in my fruit bowl, even when you have to remortgage your house to buy them just before they come into season again!! As a kid I used to eat bush lemons, peeled like an orange & sprinkled in salt. Yum! Truth be told, I still do occasionally. I was so excited to see them appear on my co-op order list about 4 weeks ago! The first thing I did with my kilo of new season lemons, was preserve them. I was watching an episode of Food Safari ages ago & I saw someone preserve some lemons. I remember thinking how simple it looked. Then, when I paid $14 for a tiny  jar of them  in order to make my favorite chicken, preserved lemon & green olive tagine (that recipe comes later!), I almost died! I came home & promptly made my own. This year I have done several small jars - now you can do the same. 

Preserved lemons

Ingredients

Lemons 

Salt 

Water

*quantities depend on how much you want to make as explained below

You will need some sterile jars - depending on how many lemons you have. You can work on about 4-6 lemons for an average sized jar.

Method

Cut the tops & bottoms off your lemons like so...

Then cut a cross in them, about 3/4 of the way down the lemon.

About this far down..

Then pack a heaped teaspoon of good quality salt into the centre....

.....and then into the other side....

Then pack lemons tightly into a jar. To make them fit better you can cut in half and pack with one heaped teaspoon of salt instead of 2.

Once all your lemons are in, add a couple more heaped teaspoons of salt on top for good luck. Then fill with filtered water. 

Seal tightly, and keep in a cool dark place for a month before using.  The water will 'thicken' when they're ready. Once you break the seal keep in the fridge.

Enjoy!