The First Chillies of Summer 2013

In Sydney, the warmer weather means our chilli plants grow as perennials and each year they seem to produce more and more fruit.  I grow several different varieties from mild Rococo, long thin hot Indian chillies, fiery hot Thai chillies to the blindingly hot Scotch Bonnets.  Some of these have been producing for over 4 years and show no sign of slowing down.
Last year, we had enough fresh chillies to keep us going from late spring and into early autumn with the excess frozen for use in winter.  We even had enough to make a few batches of our chilli pickle.  The pattern seems to be continuing as we already have harvested more than enough chillies to last us well into the New Year.  I have so far picked the largest and will leave the smaller chillies to grow.  Interestingly, our Thai chillies are not quite ready to pick yet.

Time for some more Chlli Pickle!

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Horseradish Sauce

After several weeks of unseasonably hot weather, Sydney has been drenched by rain over the last two days.  Martha follows the seasons even when they relapse so after several weeks of salads, Martha is preparing a beef roast for dinner.  Even though we are just a few weeks away from summer, I thought now would be a good time to use some of the horseradish I harvested and prepared last autumn. 

Horseradish is a wonderful root, very pungent and strong but if prepared properly will keep for ages.  Preparing in this way also makes producing wonderful horseradish sauce when you need it so easy.

This makes a small amount as a small quantity goes a long way and it doesn't keep.

2 tablespoons of prepared horseradish

2 tablespoons of soured cream

1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard 

Chopped chives.

Mix and serve with rare roast beef.

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Poached Eggs with Tarragon

Weekend breakfasts are wonderful, time to spend time with the family and try some new combinations.  Many of our weekend breakfasts feature the eggs laid by our three hens Daisy, Boris and Geraldine.  

This is a very simple dish with a tarragon twist.  All you need is free range eggs, tarragon, sour dough bread and salt & pepper to season.

Bring a large pan of water to a slow boil.  With a large spoon, swirl the water round to create a vortex in the water and carefully crack an egg into the centre so that the vortex wraps the egg white around the yolk.  As soon the white sets (about 2 minutes), scoop the egg out of the water with a slotted spoon and place into iced water.  This stops the egg from cooking any further.  Continue part cooking each egg until all the eggs are part cooked.  If you are only doing two eggs, you can probably get away with just putting the first egg on a cold plate whilst you start the second egg.   

Slice the sour dough and put in toaster, return all the eggs to the boiling water for 1 - 2 minutes until they are to your liking.  1 minute for very soft poached, 2 minutes for firmer yolks.  Whilst the eggs are finishing and the sour dough is toasting, chop the tarragon and then once the eggs are done, start assembling breakfast, toast, eggs and then a thin sprinkling of shopped tarragon.  Salt and pepper to taste.

The tarragon really brings out the flavour of the eggs, seems very simple but it really works.  One last note, the tarragon must be French tarragon, not the inferior Russian/Mexican tarragon that has a much stronger aniseed taste.

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Fennel, Orange, Daikon, Proscuttio and Goat's Cheese Salad

I love the combination of fennel and orange, I love the crunch and aniseed of fennel combined with the sweetness and acidity of orange.  They make a great salad all by themselves but fennel and orange make more than just a salad, pair it with other ingredients it makes a great lunch or light dinner.

Fennel, Orange and Scallops are stunning and, as we found out today, Fennel, Orange, Daikon, Proscuttio and Goat's Cheese also makes a stunning lunch.

• 1 Fennel Bulb
• 3 Oranges
• 1/4 of a Daikon
• 6 large slices of Proscuittio
• Goat's Cheese

There isn't too much to this recipe, slice the fennel very finely either with a good knife or a mandolin.  Peel two oranges and cut the segments from the pith.  Cut the daikon into cubes, add all of the above ingredients with the juice of the remaining orange.

Serve with a chilled white wine.

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What I Won't (or Can't) Grow at Home

There are some things that I won't or can't grow at home, either because it is too hard, not cost effective or it just won't grow here in Australia.  For some ingredients, that is a shame but for others it is just common sense.  

Vanilla

I'd love to be able to grow Vanilla but it takes 9 years for the vines to get to the point of maturity and even then, as the only insect that can pollinate vanilla doesn't live here in Australia, you have to pollinate the flowers manually.  It is a lot of work with a high probability of failure so I'll reluctantly buy my vanilla pods from the shop.  They are very expensive but there is no alternative really.

Pepper

Very much for the same reasons as for vanilla, it is just too hard.

Salt

I did think about trying to make my own sea salt from the beautiful sea water around Sydney but sanity prevailed.  For now, I'll just buy Maldon sea salt.

Saffron

I love this spice particularly for spanish cooking. It is very, very expensive and although it would be great to be able to produce this myself, the amount of work involved makes it completely impractical.  Firstly, the type of Crocus from which saffron is derived doesn't grow very well where we live in Sydney and then the saffron must be harvested by hand from the stigmas of the crocus flowers.  If I could, I would and then probably wouldn't need a day job as saffron is the most expensive spice in the world by weight.

Most Seed or Bark Spices

By seed or bark spices I mean the spices that come from seeds (e.g. cumin, cloves, cardamom, mustard) or from bark (cinnamon and mace).  There are some exceptions.  I do grow some herbs that bolt to seeds and when they do I capture as many seeds as I can.  I keep some for next years seed stock and the others I use in the kitchen as fresh spice.  These are coriander  dill, fennel and sometimes fenugreek.  The others, I just buy in small quantities from the many asian grocers near to where we live.

Root spice

Although I usually have a good ginger and galangal harvest, there isn't enough to last us through the year anyway, it wouldn't keep that long anyway.  So, I buy this as needed.  Having said that, as my turmeric crop is normally great and as it freezes really well, we don't need to buy any over the year and we have a constant supply of beautiful, yellow

Root Vegetables

This one is simple, it is just not cost effective to grow root vegetables.  Potatoes, carrots, parsnips etc are generally good value so I'll leave this to the farmers.  If I end up with enough garden space and more importantly time in the future, I'll rethink this but for now that is what I'll do.

Herbs

Nah, I am good here, all grown at home!

I have probably missed a few, I'll update this post as I think of them.

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Mother's Day Picnic

Mother's Day was last weekend here in Australia and this year I wanted to do something a little different.  As Autumn comes to an end and we move into our (relatively short) winter, I try to make the most of the last beautiful sunny days before it gets too chilly to sit out.  We are eating a lot of seafood at the moment so I planned a seafood only picnic that we could pack up and take into the National Park at Bobbin Head which is just a 15 minute drive from our house.

I wanted to keep things as simple but as nice as possible so I looked for simple ingredients that I could pre-prepare to keep any cooking to a minimum.  We packed a table and chairs along with plates, cutlery and of course, and ice bucket.  Here is the picnic I came up with.

Appetiser

Oysters with Shallot Vinegar

Yum!

Starter

Smoked Salmon and chive "cigars" with fish eggs and sesame seeds

These are so easy, take a slice of smoked salmon, slice in half and then roll up in the shape of cigar around a couple of chive stalks.  Place a couple of these on each plate, add a spoon of black fish eggs as garnish (be as cheffy as you like) and then sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Main Course

Seared Scallops on Fennel and Orange salad with grated lightly pickled beetroot

The salad is simply half a fennel sliced finally sliced on a mandolin and two oranges carefully segmented with a sharp knife to remove the fibrous insides.  For the beetroot, grate half a beetroot and pour over a tablespoon of cider vinegar.  Leave both for an hour or so whilst you drive to your picnic.

When you need to plate, sear the scallops on a spray of oil.  They will only take 2 minutes each side and when they are ready, plate them on a bed of the salad with the beetroot to one side.  Serve with a crisp white wine.

The great thing about this menu is that it was incredibly easy to prepare and produce.  The oysters take no preparation at all and the shallot vinegar only takes a few minutes.  The salmon can be prepared in advance and only needs assembling to get it served.  The only cooking required in this menu is the scallops and for this I brought our gas powered stove and a single non-stick frying pan.

In many respects, this picnic is easier to prepare than a sandwiches and crisp type of picnic, I know what I would prefer!

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Chilli Pickle

I love chillies, I love the sensation of heat, the amazing impact they can have on food and I also love them as plants.  Seeing the chillies emerge from their flowers, grow and eventually, turn bright red, is a favorite part of the end of summer for me.  They make great house and balcony plants and are pretty easy to look after.  The only downside is that the possums like them as much as we do!

This year we have had an abundant harvest, far more than we can use at one time, so in the old tradition of preserving and pickling for the winter, I decided to pickle the last of our Indian long chillies as Indian Chilli Pickle.  I love this recipe as it is so easy and we get to eat it with curries for several weeks after.

Recipe

• 20 long green Indian Chillies
• 3 heaped teaspoons of coriander seeds
• 1 1/2 heaped teaspoons of fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoons of fenugreek seeds
• 1 teaspoon of mustard seed
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1 teaspoon of mango power (Amchur)
• 1/2 teaspoon of asafoetida
• splash of white vinegar
• spray of oil

Grind all the whole spices to a fine powder then add the ground spices.  Chop the chillies into halves lengthways and then into small 10 mm pieces.  

Heat a wok on hight heat and apply a good spray of oil.  Just as the oil starts to smoke, add the chillies.  Keep moving the chillies on the high heat for 2 - 3 minutes then add the ground spices.  Fry for another minute or so but don't let the spices or the chilli burn, then add the vinegar.  Turn the heat right down and make sure all the spices have been scraped from the bottom of the wok.

Transfer the chilli and spices to a sterilised (this is important!) jar, close the lid and let the pickle cool down.

Leave for two weeks, shaking every now and then.  Enjoy with curry or just rice!

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Home Grown Chillies

Chillies, where we are in Sydney, Australia are perennial as the winters are mild enough to be able to over winter them without them dying. I am still getting chillies from plants I planted from seed 3 years ago and they are probably one of my most productive crop.
I grow several varieties of chilli from the mild yellow chillies that are great stuffed to the fiery Thai birds eye chillies and I have even been successful growing some dangerously hot Scotch Bonnets. NOT for the feint hearted!
At this time of the year we get a glut of chillies and although we like our food hot, we have far too many to use.




We freeze some and the rest I use in chilli pickle and I'll share this recipe with you in my next post.

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Prepared Horseradish

I harvest our horseradish in mid autumn once their leaves have died down.  I normally get about a kilo of horseradish root which easily lasts us for the year and leaves enough to plant for the next year.

Fresh horseradish is incredibly pungent and strong but if you don't prepare it soon after harvesting it looses it's strength and much of its taste.  Preparing it with vinegar and a little salt stops this process and you can then freeze it for use over the year.

You need to be a little careful when preparing horseradish but treat it in the same way as you would chillies and you will be fine.  All you need is:

• Horseradish root
• Some water
• White wine vinegar

Peel your horseradish, chop roughly, then chop in a food processor with a very small amount of water to make a fine paste.  Don't add too much water. Add some white wine vinegar to stabilise the horseradish and you are done.

I then freeze this prepared horseradish in small quantities in freezer bags so I can just snap off however much I need when I want to make horseradish sauce.

So easy.

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Building our Pizza Oven - Part 5

Now I thought that I had published this post back in early November when I had finished the pizza oven.  Turns out that this post has been lying unpublished for the last two months and I have only just noticed.  In my last pizza oven post, I got to the point of insulating the pizza oven dome and all I had left to do was plaster and seal the oven.  Here she is in her fully complete state.  I still need to render the base but i'll do that when I complete the rest of the outside kitchen.

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