A Lot of Gardening and a Little Bit of Citrus

October 12, 2016October 12, 2016 / sbaskitchen / 2 Comments

With the weather on the improve, the garden has been the place to be of late. While the garden on the terrace has been totally revamped,

Gary has been working around the pool, removing the existing planting and totally renovating the surrounds. He has removed a trailer load of nandina, rectified the irrigation system, barrowed in pebbles, sunk plinths and has urns ready for the planting. He has also erected our old canter-lever umbrella, and employed some local tradespeople to extend the paving – it looks amazing – but you’ll have to wait to see how it looks…

I have spent a little time in the corner patch, where we now have a raspberry bed, all planted, and with trellis erected.

But one must be patient, it will be a year or two before we see any real results from this little patch. I’ve also been leveling the ground and stockpiling soil in readiness for the creation of all the new beds.

In the kitchen, well, inspiration has come from our garden, to a degree. Our little patio mandarin had 12 fruit, so we could either eat them as is, or make some marmalade which would reward us for a longer period of time. We opted for Mandarine Marmalade which also has a little Cointreau added just at the end.

Then there are lemons, so this morning when I was making a batch of gluten free Friands, I ducked out and pulled one off the tree to liven the mix for the raspberries and almond ones.

Another recipe that has been brewing for a couple of weeks, is Blood Orange Vinegar, a recipe that I found in the wonderful book “A year on the Farm” by Sally Wise. This vinegar is not only beautiful to look at, it really livens up a salad. We have a blood orange tree ready to be planted, so hopefully in a few year’s time, we will be making it with our own oranges.

Blood Orange Vinegar

Finally, given that it is now asparagus season, and I had picked up some beautiful thick spears from our local farmer’s market, I made an Asparagus, Cheese and Shallot Tart to have for our dinner.

Asparagus, Cheese and Shallot Tart

It was so good to come in from the garden and quickly put a salad together to serve alongside – for Gary, I topped his off with some of our home smoked salmon.

There is lots to do in the garden still, the shed is to be erected on the new concrete slab, more leveling of the ground, and the building of the new beds, meantime the seeds have been planted and are showing their colour as incentive for me to get to work.

So until next time…

Bon appétit!

Links:

Mandarine Marmalade

Friands

Blood Orange Vinegar

Asparagus, Cheese and Shallot Tart

The Terrace

Reunions

October 4, 2016October 5, 2016 / sbaskitchen / Leave a comment

You may have seen that we recently attended our little grandson’s second birthday, which was a wonderful day. The party was hosted by Cooper’s parents, Chris and Cin, at Cin’s parents’, Mike and Chris, home. While we were there, Mike showed, and told us about some smallgoods he had been making at classes in Melbourne, and was very generous, giving us a pack, with four salamis in it, as we left.

I couldn’t wait to taste them – they were delicious, so started to think of ways I could use them in my cooking. I have made three dishes, one was just a Braised Cabbage with Shallot and Salami, then a Antipasto Tart to share with my sisters and cousin, and finally, for me was a great combination – a dish of Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli with Scallops with Salami and Pea Puree.

Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli with Scallops with Salami and Pea Puree

Braised Cabbage with Shallot and Salami

Antipasto Tart

It is always so rewarding to share your own produce with family and friends. It is also so exciting to receive wonderful homemade produce to play with in the kitchen as well, isn’t it?

Unfortunately my sisters, cousin and I had to travel to our hometown of Navarre to attend the funeral of an elderly friend and neighbour. However, it did give us the opportunity to visit our lovely mum who hasn’t been so well of late. We also had some “girl” time together, sharing meals around the family table, as well as a lot of reminiscing and catching up. Jan had cooked lamb with lots of veg, including silverbeet from the garden, for our dinner, Sonnie had brought along a garlic pide which they used to mop up the sauce from the Green Beans Braised in Tomato that I had added to the table, and for dessert I had made a Cherry Clafoutis. The next morning, again, Jan had things all organized with some beautiful local produce, so we had bacon and poached eggs.

It is a little sad that funerals also become reunions of sorts. A gathering of people with a common link – a special person who brings them all together for one last time as they bid their cherished family member or friend good bye. While a sad occasion, it is also time to renew old aquaintances, try to work out who that person is that looks so familiar, but you just can’t put a name to the face. Time to reminisce and catch up on old times and new.

Finally we said our good-byes and began the long drive home. My sister, Sonya and I had a mission, we needed manure for our garden. The weather was very wet, the rivers, creeks and gutters were all running quite high, but very early on in the trip we managed to load 5 large bags of sheep manure and 4 of horse manure into the back of Sonnie’s wagon (unfortunately there was not enough room for any more). You can imagine that aroma was not exactly roses in the car for the rest of the journey – sorry, Sandra… At Sonnies, we transferred my share of the manure to my car, together with the asparagus, rhubarb and the rest of my belongings, and I continued the journey back to Maffra. Six hours after we left Navarre, I arrived home to an open fire and a glass of wine, thank you to my wonderful husband.

(Unfortunately there is an issue with my site with regard to iPad viewing, we are currently working on this and hope to have it resolved very soon.)

Until next time

Bon appétit!

Links:

Braised Cabbage with Shallot and Salami

Antipasto Tart

Cherry Clafoutis

Green Beans Braised in Tomato

Blind Baking

Save

Gippsland Jersey – buying milk directly from our farmers – well almost…

September 26, 2016October 4, 2016 / sbaskitchen / 5 Comments

Not long after we moved to our new home in Maffra I happened upon a shop called Heathy Fermenting and I just had to go in and have a look. I noticed cheese and yoghurt making supplies, preserving supplies and a lot more, and started chatting to the owner, Gordon. He mentioned that he would be holding cheese making classes soon, so I put my name down for him to let me know the date, time and location. Not long after, an email landed in my inbox, to which I promptly responded and booked in for the class. The class was wonderful, friendly and informative. We all went home ready to make our first batch of cheese, and looking forward to the next class. However, it was at the class that I was told that there was a push for local farmers to be able to sell their own milk and something would be happening soon. I wasn’t sure how or when this was to happen, but given the treatment of our farmers by the fat corporates, I have been watching out.

I am now so, so excited to tell you that when I was reading the local newspaper earlier this week, I noticed this little piece about “Gippsland Jersey”

Gippsland Times, 20 September 2016, page 21

A quick search of the internet and I discovered that Healthy Fermenting stocked their milk. I told Gary about the story and he went and bought our first 2 litre bottle. But it just wasn’t the milk that he came home with… It was also the interaction, he told me how interesting it was in the shop, chatting to Gordon and learning how this little milk brand is going to help our struggling dairy farmers, also while they were chatting, another chap walked in just to thank Gordon for introducing him to Gippsland Jersey – he had been trying to get his children and grandchildren to stop drinking softdrink and to drink more milk – this milk has done the trick. They love the taste and he is one happy dad and grandfather.

You know we forget, dairy cows don’t take the weekend off, they have to be milked 7 days a week, so the farmers don’t get a day off either, it’s not an easy life, it is hard work, and long days. Meanwhile the fat corporates sit in their ivory towers earning obscene amounts of money for themselves and their shareholders (just check out their recent after tax profits), but they pay our hardworking farmers a pittance in return, in fact, as you may or may not know they recently reduced how much they pay them! – OK now I’ll step down from my soapbox, sorry…

So I wanted to do something with this new beautiful product… What to make – Crème Caramel seamed like an obvious choice, but I had never made it before. I hit the books and found two recipes. Of course they were both different. The one I wanted to make simply said, “pour the resulting custard into a caramel-coated mould”, it didn’t give quantities or instruction on how to make the caramel. So I decided to make the custard recipe from one book and the caramel from the other. Again, having not made a Crème Caramel before, when I poured the caramel into the moulds, it set rock hard! I panicked – I thought I would have a horrible mess and what about our teeth! So took a deep breath, calmed down and decided to follow the recipe.

Golden Crème Caramel

They were a triumph, beautiful creamy custard and golden caramel! I can’t wait to use Gippsland Jersey to make my yoghurt.

So, if you can, please by local, help our farmers, and reward yourself in more ways than you think.

Until next time…

Bon appétit!

Links:

Gippsland Jersey

Heathy Fermenting

Golden Crème Caramel

Inspiration from the garden

September 22, 2016October 4, 2016 / sbaskitchen / 1 Comment

A walk in the garden was all that was needed to tell me what I should be writing about today! I went out to do some weeding and discovered the quince tree bursting into bloom. What a truly beautiful flower this tree has, and of course, to top it all off, next year we should have a lovely crop of quinces to deal with in the kitchen.

Our tree is certainly not a young tree, and gives a lot of character to the garden. It is nicely placed to form a partial barrier from the main garden to where we are now establishing our vegetable garden and espaliered fruit orchard. It will also provide a little shelter for the new little garden shed, which will go up in the next week or two.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

A lot is written about what can be done with the fruit of this beautiful tree, but very rarely does anyone mention the beautiful flower that comes before the fruit. I think it is stunning, a delicate pink bud that opens to a 3-4 cm bloom which is the most delicate of pink. I just needed to feature it somehow in a blog. So – what to cook…

Fortunately in my store I have jars of preserved quinces ready to be used whenever I choose. I must add that I also have jars of quince paste and quince jelly as well. But this time I decided to use the quinces preserved in syrup, along with some spiced honey that I had also prepared and stored. I thought the use of the spiced honey was most appropriate, given the work that the bees are doing among the quince flowers. The final result was a Spiced Honey and Yoghurt Panna Cotta with Quince and Crunchy Granola – I have to say, that it was delicious.

Spiced Honey & Yoghurt Panna Cotta with Quinces & Granola

For those who have been following what’s in bloom, you might like to check the progress of the “The Grand Old Dame” – I think she is going to be very happy and cannot wait to see her in full bloom – I wonder what colour she will be? I have also added a page showing what we have done with “The Kitchen Wall Rose Bed”

Finally I must apologise for being a little quiet of late, but we have been very busy with guests and our grandson’s 2^nd birthday, for which I did a little cooking and cake decorating.

Until next time…

Bon appétit!

Links:

Spiced Honey and Yoghurt Panna Cotta with Quince and Crunchy Granola

The Grand Old Dame

The Kitchen Wall Rose Bed

Save

A Father’s Day Surprise

September 5, 2016October 4, 2016 / sbaskitchen / Leave a comment

Late last week I received a call from Chris to see if they could come for dinner on Saturday night to surprise his dad for Father’s Day. He had planned to travel 2.5 hours back to Melbourne the same night, so I suggested that they stay the night here – it just meant re-arranging beds for the night, as we also had others visiting the same night. He accepted the offer, but it was to be kept a secret, as he wanted to surprise his dad.

With everything arranged, I just needed to cook more food for dinner on Saturday night, and had planned to prepare a Father’s Day brunch, anyway – so again, just needed to increase the quantities.

Margaret, another of our wonderful friends, arrived for lunch yesterday. So before she arrived, I prepared food for our evening meal and the Sunday brunch, while Fabien set to and made a delicious Caesar Salad for our lunch.

Fabien’s Caesar Salad starring beautiful bacon from Coltish Pork

We finished the meal off with some beautiful cheeses (thank you Margaret), bread, biscuits and little pieces of lemon slice.

Once we cleaned up Fabien feigned that he was going for a nap, but really, he was putting clean linens on the bed for Chris and Cin, as he was going to sleep on an air bed in the sitting room overnight. Gary was non-the-wiser! Margaret and I took a walk around the garden – she loves gardening as much as I do, and it was wonderful discussing our plans with her.

Meanwhile, Chris had messaged me as they left Melbourne, so I had a rough idea of the arrival time – approximately 6:30 pm. I snuck out and unlocked the side gate, but when he messaged that they were 2 minutes away, I snuck out again and let them in. They managed to get in through the house to the kitchen where Gary was sitting chatting to Margaret. He got such a wonderful surprise, he was very happy. Dinner was late, but it was wonderful having everyone here.

Pumpkin soup with pan seared scallops and black sea salt

This morning we were up around 7am, so went to the kitchen and got the brioche in the tins and rising. I had cold smoked the salmon yesterday, and it was in the fridge, together with my home made natural yoghurt, roasted mangoes, and fresh berries. I then set to making hollandaise sauce in the Thermomix and I got to teach Margaret how to cook poached eggs – so she looked after them for me. Finally, from the pantry I took home made crunchy granola, and the table was set. So we wrapped up the Father’s Day Surprise with a lovely, relaxing brunch.