18 September 2011

Things seem to have been busy down on the farm and some how I have not had time to add to my blog and of course I am back at work so time is of the essence.
Last weekend was the weekend of the grand daughter and she helped with everything.  We planted some new tomatoes in the glass house with a cucumber and a zucchini.  She' that has to be obeyed' was responsible for planting the pansies and adding small amounts of fertilizer under the plant as it went in.  As everything is done in a hurry by the grand daughter the job was done super fast.
Peas are climbing up their stakes and flowering already and we have at  over supply of silver beet and eggs.  I have cooked the silverbeet and chopped it finely before squeezing all the moisture out and adding it to white sauce made with equal quantities of cream and milk and a good grating of nutmeg.  This mixture freezes well in small pots and is available at a moments notice or even better if I remember to take it out before going to work.

 I do the same with mashed carrot and parsnip and I find it easy to put the mixture into small plastic zip lock bags which I can squeeze the air out of and flatten so that they sit neatly in the freezer andit unthaws in a trice. And I have just used up the last of the runner beans which I froze using this method during the glut of the heady hot days of last summer.
I had coffee with the daughter at the garden centre and talk, as always turned to our vegetable.  She is of the same opinion that if you have a small garden you should only grown the things you like to eat not the things that look pretty.  For example the husband wont eat lettuce.  Says that he is not a rabbit and he hates the stuff.  But he love radishes and spring onions, fresh peas and beans.  Beetroot is always a great mainstay and he loves it in sandwiches and with the weekly hamburger ritual.
So going back to the discussion with the daughter we are both going to have a big push and experiment with the tomatoes this year.  I never seem to grow enough and remember the days up north when I used to freeze great bags of whole tomatoes for use in usual winter casseroles, their skins just slip off as they thaw and you just chuck them into sauces etc.  they do loose a little flavour but are terribly convenient and not washing of sauce jars.  And by that time you are sick of making sauces, relish and chutney.  there is also the thought that the end of season is coming and you have to use the green tomatoes as well. 

I adore friend green tomatoes.  They are so simple. Cut the tomatoes into thick slices and sprinkle them lightly with salt and pepper and a little sugar.  Quickly dip them in beaten egg and polenta for a really crunchy coating.  Delicious with mayo or as a really interesting accompaniment with steak or fish.  You can do the same with firm ripe tomatoes but you don't get the same textural experience which is quite unique to this dish.

On Saturday night I delivered some eggs to the next door neighbour and with a couple of brandies we had a delicious chicken and cranberry pate. Yesterday I managed to get some organic chicken livers and set about replicati it.  (Organic chicken livers have a much softer taste an as so many of the impurities of what we eat are filtered through the liver and I have a bit of a horror of what non organic chooks are fed).

So at 10pm in some unexplained burst of energy I set about to replicate it and successfully succeeded.

Chicken and cranberry pate
Gently saute one diced  red onion in 125grams of butter until it is translucent.  Add 125 gms of chicken livers and cook very slowly until they are just pink. Turn the heat up a little and add 1/4 port, a pinch of chili flakes, 1 tablespoon dried cranberries, a good grating of nutmeg and a teaspoon of chicken stock powder.  Cook for a minute and set aside to cool slightly.  I add a large tablespoon of cream fresh at this point but it is not necessary but adds a silkiness and another dimension.  Throw in the blender and blitz until smooth.  Pour into potetls and eat with loads of unsalted butter and die a blissful death!!!

I have used this method using diced chicken thighs gently cooked in the butter mixture and that is even more delicious spread on hot Vogels bread with a tomato just picked from the garden.

I think I need to talk more about pate and what you can and cant do to add to them.  How to add texture or add smoothness.

2 September 2011

I have had two weeks looking at my life and what I want.  I know that I am good at some things and not at others but I know most of all that I miss my painting. The creative part of me is missing and I need to begin again and I will.  I can now breath properly again and feel I can go on again with my life and face the crippling realities that age brings with it. My scalp has stopped itching and my mind has cleared; all with the help of a little rest and some conscious breath. And the pain has gone.

I have had the motto that if I cant make it we don’t have it and since we have been at the farm and with the time constraints that I face I manage well. Today has been cracker day using an old recipe of my mothers and a new recipe of Annabelle Langbines. Used with cheese and dips they are make the combination of crispy, soft and delicious and very cheap to make. I had the crackers with the relish that I made a couple of days with a little cheese for lunch.  Oh bliss.

I have also decided that I do not have to grow or make things that I don’t like and those jars of piccalilli, which I hate, and the jars of cucumber pickle which I will never give away, have gone to the hens.  Pickled eggs perhaps!

I made lavosh for a party that I catered for last year and they were a real hit, try them. They come out just like the ones the buy in the smart shops, which look fragile and mysterious. The secret is a heavy rolling pin and a smooth rolling motion. But watch the oven carefully.

Today is also the day to plant the sweet peas.  There are memories of last years harvest when big bunches graced the tables and their perfume filled the evening air.  I love the white ones but I don’t like the purple ones. I love the frilly ones and so do the bees. Sweet peas bring a lightness to the garden in summer as the plants struggles at the height of abundance and in many cases serious overload. 

Oat crackers

50 grams quick cook oats

175gms wholemeal flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ ground pepper white or black

¼ cayenne powder

1 teaspoon salt

100gms cold butter diced

2 tablespoons castor sugar

4 tablespoons milk

Put all ingredients except the milk in the food processor until well mixed. Pulse until the mixture forms a crumbly texture.  Add the milk gradually until it forms a ball.  You might need a little more milk.  Knead gently and leave wrapped in greaseproof paper for 15 minutes.

Roll our thinly and cut into shapes, whatever takes your fancy but not too big.

Bake on baking paper at 180c for 10-12 minutes or until they just begin to colour. Leave to rest on the tray for 2 minutes and then transfer to a rack.

Lavosh

1 cup plain flour

⅓ cup wholemeal flour

2 tbsp each black and white sesame seeds or 4 tbsp just one kind

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp salt

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp sesame oil

½ cup water

To finish: 

extra virgin olive oil 

flaky sea salt 

Preheat oven to 165˚C and line an oven tray with baking paper. In a mixing bowl stir together the flours, sesame seeds, oregano and salt. Mix the oils and water together and add to the dry ingredients, stirring to form a soft, pliable dough. 

Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll each out on a lightly floured board as thinly as possible. Each piece of dough should yield a rectangle about 34 x 16cm. Cut each rectangle into strips measuring about 4 x 17cm and roll again. They need to be virtually see-through.

Carefully transfer strips to a baking tray, brush lightly with oil and sprinkle with flaky salt. Bake until crisp and pale golden – about 15-18 minutes. Allow to cool fully then store in an airtight container.