Lunch! Caramelised radicchio and dolcelatte on toast

Serves 4 in 30 mins-ish.

Sometimes good ideas come when you have very little in the fridge and you are forced to get creative.

One winter’s day, when I was working from home, I had the perfect ingredients:

1. The impracticality of leaving my house: it was cold outside, and I was not about to leave the warm cocoon of my flat for groceries
2. The contents of my kitchen: slightly hard bread, radicchio, onions and dolcelatte
3. A smell-driven memory: My mother caramelising onions as she was preparing dinner. Such a lovely smell  (to which I have an absolutely Pavlovian response) with such a lovely purpose - taking the sting out of onions.

To make this gooey warmer of a lunch:

To do it yourself, you need:

• 4 slices of bread - something substantial like sourdough or Poilane (which is what I used)
• 1 head radicchio washed and cut into narrow strips
• 1 small red onion
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Pinch of thyme
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• Salt & pepper to season
• Squeeze agave nectar
• One chunk dolcelatte

Heat the oil over a medium-low heat and slowly cook the onions until soft and light brown. Then add the radicchio and thyme and continue to cook until the radicchio becomes brown as well.

Then add the balsamic vinegar and a squeeze of agave nectar to counteract the acid. Cook down slightly. Season with salt and pepper.

Toast the bread and cut the dolcelatte into thin slices. Divide the radicchio amongst the bread and top with a couple slices of dolcelatte. Watch them melt!

The sweetness of the onions and dolcelatte, along with the creaminess of the cheese and underlying bitterness of the radicchio are to die for!

Hawai’i in four bites

I went home to see my parents for the holidays. They live on Oahu, Hawai’i.

Hawai’i has some amazing food due to the diversity of nationalities (Hawaiian, American, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese and more). This creates an interesting mix of tastes and inspiration.

Here are some photos of what I ate while there, mixed in with some shots of the island:

Ahi sliders from the Farmers' Market– cubes of raw ahi (Yellowfin tuna) on tempura fried kale with oyster sauce and chilli mayonnaise.

The town I call home and beach from a hike.

Garlic shrimp – on the North Shore there is a shrimp farm that has spawned a number of trucks that serve shrimp with rice, typically garlic and chilli flavours.

This is the shrimp truck – beside a 7-11 parking lot and one of the best!

Lemon li hing Ono Pop – this is a lemon popsicle with pieces of lemon peel coated with li hing. Li hing is of Chinese origin and has a sweet, sour and almost salty flavour.

The distinctive, moody volcanic mountains.

Sweet and sour pineapple – more li hing! Li hing is a red powder made from pickled, dried and ground plum skin and is very popular Hawai’i.

A Hawaiian sunset – the only place I have seen a true 360-degree sunset.

Ideas for horseradish

Horseradish is one of those things that I knew I liked from the jars and restaurants, but I had no idea what it looked like until I bought one a month or so ago at the Spice Shop off Portobello Road. It looks like this:

It is worth noting that this is A LOT of horseradish. As I said, I bought it a month ago. I have made a lot of things with it (some that worked and some that did not) and it is still going strong.

Here are some of the things I did that were more successful:

Cold roast beef and veggie salad

Roast root veggies like onions, beetroot and carrots and toss with rocket and a salad dressing with grainy mustard and grated horseradish. Serve with roast beef.

Celeriac and apple soup

Make a celeriac and apple soup, and garnish with grated horseradish, black truffle oil and black pepper.

Sausages with apricot ketchup

Soften onions and add fresh apricots, apricot jam, grated horseradish and water. Bring to a boil for a few minutes and then reduce it to a simmer until thick. Add more grated horseradish before serving.

I am trying to come up with additional ideas of how to use it, as I love the short, sharp heat of horseradish, that fades, rather than burns like chilli. Suggestions welcome!