Farewell to 2012

I thought I should sneak in a last post for 2012.  I can't believe the month of December has slipped by without so much as a cursory glance in the direction of this blog.  It's been a bit of a whirlwind: lots of end of year bits and pieces, a trip to Adelaide, friends to stay, school break ups, gardening and general Christmas busyness.

Flowers on the potatoes

Some South African friends came to visit the weekend before Christmas.   We chased kangaroos, watched the shearing, played lots of cricket and went yabbying.

Ate lots of this,

drank far too much of this:

We had our first Christmas at home this year.  After lunch my mother-in-law declared that she would never cook Christmas lunch again and after more than 40 years of preparing the feast, I think she deserves a break.  The tree is down, decorations packed away, linen napkins and placemats washed and ironed, holly and ivy removed from the mantlepiece and pine needles swept away.  Quite a relief really.

It has been non stop in the kitchen, but alas very few photographs to show for it.  I made my first batch of strawberry jam from home grown strawberries, which was gratifying...

Here is a good chicken dish for the holidays.  It looks like it might be tricky, but is really so easy.  Just marinate in the morning and bung on the BBQ when you get home from the beach.  The kids will appreciate a change from a sausage in bread, which is their standard dinner at this time of year.

First you need to butterfly a chicken.  DON'T PANIC.  It is very simple, but you do need a pair of poultry shears (cheap).  Place the chook breast side down on a chopping board with the parson's nose facing you.  

With the shears cut along one side of the back bone from tail to neck.  Pull open the bird and cut along the other side of the back bone and remove it (use it for stock). 

 Turn the chicken over and open out then press firmly down to break the breast bone.  Hard part done.

Season with salt and pepper and then marinate in a large zip lock bag in the fridge for up to 24 hours.  I would put it in a dish and turn over a couple of times.  Here are a couple of marinades you could try:

1/2 cup lemon juice

3 cloves garlic, crushed

handful each of parsley, thyme and oregano, all chopped

1/2 cup olive oil

Mix together and add to bag.

Here is one based on a Nigella Lawson recipe:

1 carton buttermilk

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tblsp dijon mustard

1 tblsp maple syrup

1 tblsp olive oil

salt and pepper

Mix in a bowl and add to bag.  The buttermilk makes the chicken very tender.

I then cook this on the BBQ skin side down, with the lid down for about 15 minutes (don't let the barbeque get too hot, you don't want it to burn), and flip it over and give it another 20 minutes.

Don't know about you, but my sweet peas have been a bitter disappointment this year.  They were so amazing last year.

I just couldn't get the seeds to germinate.  I have just pulled up the most enormous onions..

and the garlic looks good too..

I hope you had a lovely Christmas.  Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2013 and hopefully there will be less chaos and more time for new recipes and news from the garden.  See you next year!

And welcome 2013

Well we are a month into the year, I hope it is treating you well so far.  It has been a busy month of holidays, with plenty of beach time ...

with short periods at home in a mad frenzy of trying to resuscitate my dying garden.  The front lawn looks like this:

It is beyond depressing.  It is just so dry, until last Thursday we hadn't had a drop of rain since October, which is rare in this part of the world....driest Spring/Summer since 1932.  No matter how much water (in our case slightly salty bore water) I put on, there is no substitute for the nitrogen-rich rain that falls from the sky.  The 13 mm we had on Thursday has freshened up the garden a bit, but will probably not help the summer crops.  Even the real dry weather garden stalwarts, like the roses, buddlieas and euphorbias are looking miserable.  The plumbago seems happy even though it gets no water..

And think of those poor Queenslanders, who have been flooded out for the second time in two years.

Even the agapanthus looks scorched

We have not had a good start to the year.  It is largely utilities that are letting us down:  no power last Friday, a massive burst water pipe in the garden (no water for days on end) and our rainwater has run out.  It is unheard of for this to happen before the end of January.  And our hot water service in the bathroom has packed it in.

There's plenty of action in the veggie garden

so there's been apricot jam, zucchini slice and pesto galore.  I also made some zucchini soup which I am proud to announce was made exclusively with vegetables from the garden:  yellow zucchini, onion, garlic and a potato to thicken it  up.  Even the chicken stock was homemade:

I was given a large bucket of blood plums so I made plum sauce..

and a very nice plum cake:

PLUM CAKE

200g butter

2 cups castor sugar

1 tblsp honey

6-8 blood plums (mine were very small so I used a lot more), halved and stones removed

3 eggs

slosh of vanilla essence

200g SR flour

1/4 teasp Dutch cinnamon

3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 180c.

Butter and line a 25cm cake tin with baking paper.

Put half the butter and sugar into a saucepan with the honey and heat until the butter is melted.  Pour this into the cake tin and swirl to cover the base.  Arrange the plums cut side up over the mixture.

Beat the remaining butter and sugar until light.  Add eggs, one at a time and add vanilla.

Add flour, cinnamon and milk and fold gently until just combined.

Spoon the mixture over the plums and bake for approx 45 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Put on a rack and cool in the tin.

Run a knife around the edge of the cake and place a serving plate on the top and invert the cake.  Leave for a minute or two then gently remove the tin.  Serve with cream.

More from the garden

I can't tell you how stunning the roses have been this year.  They obviously don't mind the dry spring which is making our lush green pastures go "off" (brown) in a flash.

It is a busy time in our region at the moment.  Lots of people are making hay..

Canola is being windrowed, farmers are gazing at the sky for some rain to get the summer crops going and we are shearing..

Love this before and after shot

I have been in the garden trying to keep it all tidy, which mostly has involved watering and pulling out all the forget-me-nots, which are lovely at the start of spring when nothing else is out, but really earn their name when they are finished:

Last time I said I'd give you the recipe for the sticky buns that I made for the garden group that came a couple of weeks ago.  My fond memories of Sticky Buns goes back to my teenage summers at Robe, where a local cafe served "Dog Team Tavern Sticky Buns", which were considered by all as the most decadent indulgence and I spent much of my hard earned waitressing money consuming them.   Many years later I was given the recipe by a mutual Sticky Bun fan from back in the day and discovered they contained of all things mashed potatoes and involved yeast and dough and really they just looked too hard.  I found this simpler (though not quite the same) recipe ages ago in a book by Ina Garten and have never had the chance to make them until the other day.  They are impossibly delicious and ridiculously easy.  There is a lot of sugar and butter involved so if you are trimming down for the beach, look the other way...

STICKY BUNS -  Makes 12

165g room temp butter

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

2 sheets of frozen puff pastry, thawed

Filling:

2 tblsp melted butter, melted

1/2 cup or so of brown sugar

1 tblsp cinnamon

1 cup raisins or sultanas

Preheat oven to 200c.  Line a baking sheet with baking paper and put your muffin tray on top.

Cream the 165g butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar in and electric mixer.  Place a dessertspoon of the mix in each muffin cup and sprinkle with the nuts.

Put a sheet of pastry on floured board and brush with the melted butter.  Sprinkle with half the filling amount of brown sugar, 1/2 the cinnamon and half the raisins or sultanas.

Roll it up, trim off the ends and cut into 6 even pieces and place in the muffin cups.  Repeat with the other pastry sheet.

Bake 30 minutes until golden.  Allow to cool for five minutes then invert onto the baking sheet below.  Spoon out any filling that is left behind and put on the top of the buns.  Then hide them.

Whoops..

Just so you know.  I started this post about, oh, two weeks ago and haven't had a spare second to finish it.  This how far I got:

We have been busy with lots of sheep work lately.

I cooked an interesting salad for some Chinese visitors we had yesterday.  It had been so warm earlier in the week I thought a salad would be a good idea.  Of course it was a cool day and soup would have been better, but the salad worked well.

CHICKEN AND MANGO RICE SALAD  Serves about 6

6 chicken thigh fillets, cut in half

2 teaspoons grated ginger

1 tblsp rice vinegar

Juice of one lime (or lemon)

2 teasp castor sugar

1.5 cups jasmine rice

Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon, extra

About 1/4 cup olive oil

Mint, basil and coriander, a good handful of each, plus more for garnish, chopped

1/2 cup shredded coconut, toasted in a dry frying pan

1 long red chilli, seeds removed if you prefer, sliced

2 mangoes flesh chopped

1/2 cup cashew nuts, toasted

6 spring onions, chopped

Lime wedges for garnish

Preheat the oven to 180c.  Season the chicken thighs, place on a baking tray and cook for about 15 minutes until the juices run clear.  You could also just fry them in a pan on the cook top if you prefer.  While they are cooking mix the ginger, rice vinegar, lime juice and sugar.  Make sure you taste it to get the balance right, the measurements are only a guide.  When the chicken is cooked and cooled slightly, slice it into smaller pieces and place in a bowl, adding the pan juices.  Pour over marinade, mix together and leave for an hour or so (doesn't matter if it is for less time).

Cook the rice with a teaspoon of salt according to the packet instructions.  

While it is cooking whisk the lemon juice, lemon zest and oil in a bowl, and season well.  Taste and adjust if necessary.

Drain rice and refresh in cold water.  Transfer to a bowl and add most of the dressing, chopped herbs, toasted coconut, chilli, mangoes, chicken and most of the nuts and toss to combine.

Turn the salad out onto a pretty platter and finish with a drizzle of remaining dressing, extra herbs, cashews and spring onions.  Scatter lime wedges around the edge.

That is where I got to.  It seems like months ago, the last fortnight has been frantically busy, either travelling to Melbourne for Cup Week festivities or head down in the garden preparing for a bus group who visited this morning.  Visitors to the garden are an excellent motivation to get things tidied up and I was very proud of how lovely it all looked today.  I have been dying to pick some roses, but have resisted the urge so that the bushes look full and lush....a job for this afternoon.

I made a little morning tea...

Next time I will tell you about the goodies I cooked, especially the sticky buns...

More spring

Spring might be pretty, but it is also fickle.  Last week  it rained, blew and hailed and we were back in the woollen jumpers and lighting the fire.  I so love the lilacs in the garden, the scent is heavenly...

We had a lot of fun in the school holidays.  There was the Melbourne Show,

some farm work,

friends to stay,

billy tea and marshmallows.

I love finding new ways to cook our lamb.  Last night I made a marinade that I used on some mini roasts that I rescued from the depths of the freezer.

Olive and almond paste for lamb

This amount made enough for 3 mini roasts, and would be enough for a small leg or 8-10 chops.

3 tblsp pitted olives (black, green or a mixture of the two)

2 heaped tblsp ground almonds

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 dessp of balsamic vinegar to taste

1 teasp rosemary leaves, chopped

salt and pepper.

Roughly chop the olives and put them in a container suitable for a stick blender.  Add the rest of the ingredients and whizz to form a paste.  You could do this in a food processor.  Taste the mix and adjust according to your preference, you may prefer more or less balsamic, and it does depend on how salty the olives are.  The almonds give it a good texture.

Spread the mixture over the lamb and refrigerate for a few hours if you can.  

Take the meat out of the fridge an hour before you want to cook it to get it back to room temperature.

Cook to your liking, either in the oven (start it off at 220c for 15 minutes then turn it down to 180c to finish) or on the BBQ.  It doesn't look much below, but it tasted great.

Spring...

Beautiful canola crops in the Western District

I am often heard to say that autumn is my favourite season, it is the end of the heat of summer, the relentless moving of hoses and sprinklers and the fire season.  But this year's spring has nearly swayed me with her charms.  The garden is bursting with activity and the evenings in particular, when the wind drops, are glorious.

Blossoms seem to appear overnight..this is the quince tree: (the blossom is actually a delicate pale pink, although they look white in this photo).

And so do the weeds:

I am in the garden most days and I cannot believe how they sneak up on me.  This one was looking me in the eye it was so big.  

Not much to report on the cooking front, I made a pan pie (not really a quiche, not really a pie) which worked quite well:

I had some pastry left over from making a quiche, but not enough to make another one so I rolled it out put it in a cast iron frying pan, threw in some cooked bacon, pumpkin and spinach, then cracked three  eggs onto it.  I mixed another egg with a bit of cream and drizzled it over the top with some grated cheese and seasoning.  Into the hot oven of the Aga and 15 minutes later, lunch is ready.

I learnt another great tip from a friend recently.  When she makes cauliflower cheese instead of steaming the cauliflower first, then pouring over the thick cheese sauce and baking in the oven, she puts the sauce straight over the raw cauliflower and cooks it at a slower temperature for about an hour.  A grating of parmesan on the top will brown it nicely.  I do love a short cut that makes something better than the original..

In other news, our great friends Sara and Jerry Grayson have made an incredible IMAX film called "The Earth Wins".  They have had a great response for it in the States and are seeking some support for its distribution.  It features footage they have taken over the last few years whilst aerially filming (mostly in a helicopter) international sporting events such as the soccer World Cup in South Africa, the Athens Olympics and the Doha Asian Games and it is AMAZING.  I have only seen a promo, but to watch this on a full size IMAX screen would be breathtaking.  Also the music is brilliant and  includes The Temper Trap and New Order, as well as Cold Play and The Who.

This film needs to be seen, especially by, as the website says, "an entire generation of young adults who are about to inherit the earth".   Click on this link and be a part of a truly inspiring project.