Edible art on a winter's afternoon

A 'lemon basket' in the making.

Gorgeous lemon baskets filled with Italian parsley, chervil and celery leaves.  Perfect as they are as a garnish or top with a seafood or beef tartare or maybe even the 70's classic prawn cocktail!

The fine motors skills being tested making 'carrot flower' garnishes.  Finely slit carrot - like you're making paper lanterns but with the two outer slices slit to make the spikey bit.  Then open into a circle and place a toothpick to hold the shape and place into iced water to set.  Make three of these and then join together with a toothpick.  Also cut out a round piece of carrot to place in the middle of the flower. I think you need to see this being made - a bit difficult to explain!

Another test - lilies made from finely sliced turnip rounds, wrapped around a spring onion stem and then tied with a piece of steamed, softened spring onion.  You need time on your hands and plenty of patience for this one - but oh so gorgeous when you get it!

The creations - including beans wrapped with spring onions.

A piece of finely sliced zucchini then chopped finely and wrapped around an olive!

 

The apple creations taking shape.

 The apple flowers would look fantastic on a cheese platter.

A lovely afternoon spent creating something new to us in edible art.  Thank you Marion.






Marion's place - September 2015

Lovely lavosh afternoon.....

We had a lovely afternoon making sesame and fennel lavosh crackers and then served them with cheese and the fig and fennel roll with a glass of sparkly.  What better thing to do on a Wednesday winter afternoon!

The dough freezes well too.

Lavosh Crackers

• 1 cup wholemeal flour
• 1/3 cup plain flour
• 2 tablespoons each of white and black sesame seeds (or cumin, fennel - whatever you like)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 cup water

Place the flour, seeds and salt and combine.

Add the oils and the water and mix until it forms a ball.  Kneed lightly.

Wrap in plastic and place in the fridge for about half an hour.

Heat the oven to 160 degrees celcius.

Roll the mixture onto a flour surface until quite thin.

Place on a tray line with baking paper and cut into small squares with a pizza cutter.

Bake for about 12 minutes - turn the biscuits over in the middle of cooking.

Keep a good eye on them as they cook really quickly being so thin.



June 2015 - Karmen's place

Fig and fennel roll for the cheese platter

Fig and fennel roll

A very simple recipe but tasty and goes so well on a cheese platter at the end of a meal.  It also keeps really well.

• 250 grams soft dried figs
• 11/2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 1 cup of walnuts (freshly cracked)
• 1 dessertspoon of fig syrup or runny honey

Combine all in a food processor and pulse until combined. Test to see if it sticks together, otherwise add some syrup.  Don't over process - it's nice to see the chunks of walnut. 

Roll into a log and pat into a square shape and place in the fridge overnight.

This recipe is based on one that appears on the blog 'Lambs Ears & Honey'.








June 2015 - Karmen's place

All hands on.....for pasta making!

 

Pasta making with Annie at the helm. 

 

Starting with 250 gm pasta (durum) flour with a pinch of salt added, make into a mound on the bench and form a well in the centre. 

Into the 'well' crack either 4 eggs or as Annie prefers - to make a more vibrant coloured pasta using 2 whole eggs and 3 yolks.  Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the mixture.

Using a fork, or hands if you prefer, draw the flour into the egg mix until it becomes an even dough like consistency.  Knead for a few minutes.

If the dough feels too dry add a teaspoon of warm water or alternately if too moist incorporate more flour into the mix.

Set in a plastic bag or closed container in the fridge for at least 1/2 hour.

Cut the dough into 2 or 3 portions and on a floured surface, pat gently into rectangular pieces about 4 or 5 mm thick.

To one of the dough portions we added some finely chopped fresh herbs and chilli prior to rolling. The added moisture of the herbs changed the consistency of the dough so a sprinkle of flour was needed.  In retrospect, Bluey suggested fresh herbs be dried in the oven to maintain a more stable dough mix and still provide the flavour kick.

 

The dough is fed through the pasta maker on the lowest setting (1) and successively fed through smaller settings. We ended on the 4th setting feeling further rolling would create a too fragile dough.

 Hung out to dry...

 Tagliatelle attachment was added to the roller to convert sheets to strips.

 

After slicing.. hung out to dry again for 1/2 hour.

To go with the pasta - chopped garlic and fresh herbs from the garden, tossed with some hot olive oil, a splash of white wine, some chilli and pepper.

The pasta swam in boiling salted water for 3 or 4 minutes until al dente, scooped out and then rinsed under cold water to arrest the cooking process.

The pasta was then tossed in a pan to warm through with the sautéed herbs and wine and then a little extra home made pesto because we made so much pasta!!

Delicious!

Enjoying the fruits of our labour -  and only two hours from start to dine!!

May 2015 - Marion's place with Annie at the helm

Autumn lunch on the verandah with spicy lentil soup

Yes, grinding your own cumin tastes so much better!

This nourishing, spiced vegetable soup was the perfect choice for an autumn lunch. It's a great recipe because you can adapt it to whatever you have available and vary the amounts of spices to suit your own taste.

Vegetable & lentil soup with spiced yoghurt

• 1 small red onion or leek
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup brown lentils
• 500g butternut pumpkin cut into small cubes
• 2 zucchini cut into cubes
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 200g broccoli cut into small florets
• 1 small carrot, diced
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1 tablespoon chopped mint

The spiced yoghurt garnish

• 1 cup plain yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon of fresh mint or coriander
• 1 garlic clove
• a few dashes of Tabasco sauce

Gently saute the onions and garlic in some olive oil.  Add the cumin, garam masala and curry powder and cook until they release their aromas.  You can smell it now....

Add the stock, lentils, pumpkin and bay leaf and simmer for about 15 minutes.  Check to see if the lentils are cooked.

Add 2 cups water and add the tomatoes, carrots, broccoli and simmer until tender.  Place the peas in last and simmer for a few minutes.

For the yoghurt garnish just combine all the ingredients, except the fresh leaves, and stir to gently combine.

When you have the soup in the bowls place a good tablespoon of the spiced yoghurt on top and sprinkle with mint or coriander.

April 2015 - Jayne's place

Apple cake comfort...

The heady aromas of apples cooking in the oven invariably seems to herald the arrival of cooler weather and evoke childhood memories.  Everyone seems to have a favourite apple dessert recipe with guests usually asking for 'seconds'.

Today we made an apple cake but served it as a pudding for dessert with cream and vanilla ice cream - the perfect conclusion to the robust flavours of the lentil soup.



April 2015 - Jayne's place

Jayne & Bluey's garden bounty

A tour of Jayne and Bluey's productive organic garden rewarded us with herbs for the lentil soup while we enjoyed the sweet flavour of freshly picked baby beans.  A really wonderful kitchen garden along with herbs and citrus to create all sorts of fresh tasty meals.



April 2015 - Jayne's place