Peter Rabbit's Food

I'm not going to bore you with the entire menu list but I did think there were a couple tips worth mentioning if you are wanting to theme along these lines.

The fresh crunchy vegetable platters were popular starters. I managed to get a couple of mini cabbages from the girls at the growers market that I go to and this was an ideal size to put the Tzatziki dip in. Alana cut the top third off and then cut and also used a tablespoon to make a cavity big enough. We had a corn relish dip in the capsicum half.

Here she is, the gorgeous Alana, with her mini carrot cakes frosted with a cream cheese and maple syrup frosting. They were divine! But the decorations were so fabulous. She made carrots, mini peas in pods and rabbits from marzipan. They were sooo cute.

We also got the idea for these little cheesecakes from Patches Of Heaven but I worked out a recipe and will include it below because this was soooo easy and I will definitely be doing this again for other crowd catering functions. The little tubes are about 75ml and I got them and the mini spoons from a caterers supplier. This "recipe" could be adapted and changed in so many ways and I love that there is no waiting for things to set and each layer can be made and spooned in. I found using a parfait spoon was the perfect spoon for this job. This recipe uses a number of very Australian ingredients (as in the packaging style and sizing) so if you live overseas you will have to do a bit of research to find your equivalents.

Layered Mini Cheesecakes

makes 30 x 75ml tubes

1 packet of gingernut biscuits (cookies) crushed

place as the base layer in the tube

Whip together 1 packet of Philadelphia cream cheese 

and 1 tin of condensed milk

with the juice of one lemon

place a layer in the tube atop the biscuit

Roughly blend 500g of mixed frozen berries 

with a couple of tablespoons of icing sugar

and a tablespoon of grenadine

so that you have a lumpy sauceish fruity layer

don't process it too finely as it is about texture as well as flavours.

Whip 300ml of cream

Top off the layers and add a berry on top for decoration.

The idea is that the guests can dig spoon through the layers with their mini spoons and get creaminess and tart berry flavours with gooey cheesecake richness and the crunch of biscuit.

My friend Kat has also used a gingernut base with cheesecake flavoured with orange zest, elderflower concentrate and rosewater and a blueberry compote on top. She is a divine master baker but you see what I mean about adapting the recipe. You could even do a tiramisu themed layer or a tropical style with coconut and pineapple....

Lots and lots of good things to eat, most of themed around produce from Mr McGregor's garden; cucumber  sandwiches, asparagus rolls, mini quiches and chicken, celery, walnut rounds and all washed down with icy elderflower punch.

Huge thanks to the girls helping me and to all the people who surprised us with platters too!

Apple and Raspberry with Salty Cashew & Macadamia Caramel Crumble - Trad and Thermomix Versions

This was a bit of a hit last night both with the recipients and some on facebook asked for a recipe.

It is not a real recipe as such but more of a twist on a traditional apple crumble.

I am still picking Granny Smiths from the tree in the back yard and I think they are the best cooked texture for a crumble. I used raspberries from the freezer but I could just as easily used blueberries. If you are still using rhubarb from the garden, great, that will go well too.

pre-heat oven to 180C

For the crumble

5 Tabs butter

2 Tabs plain flour

5 Tabs brown sugar

1 Tabs oats optional

1 cup of salted cashew and macadamias (or use walnuts, almonds etc they all work great)

Rub the butter into the flour with fingertips till it is combined. It will be a bit more buttery that a traditional crumble mix. Add the sugar and oats chopped nuts. You should have a coarse crumby mix.

OR

Process in your food processor being careful not to over-combine.

Thermomix method - place 100g butter chopped and 50g flour and 100g brown sugar 20g oats (optional) and 150g nuts

Process on speed 4 for 4secs. Check mix and process another 2 secs if needed for coarse crumbly topping. Set aside.

For the base

6 large Granny Smith apples peeled and cored and cut into chunks

juice of one lemon

1 cup of raspberries (or blueberries or rhubarb cut into chunks)

Place the apples in a saucepan with about 80ml of water and lemon juice and cook gently till slightly softened but not collapsing or mushy. (Cook the rhubarb too if you are using it and you may want to add some sugar to taste but don't get too carried away - you want to be able to taste the rhubarb)

Thermomix method - Place apple in the thermomix with 80g of water and lemon juice

7-10min, Reverse, speed 1

In a buttered casserole/baking/pie dish

place the apple and berries

top with the crumble

Bake for about 20mins or till bubbling and slightly golden brown on top.

The butter and brown sugar cook and combine to create a caramel like flavour so you really cannot substitute and still get the same flavour. The fruit will have softened further, if you really like to bite into pieces do not pre-soften your fruit, simply place the chunks with a drizzle of juice and water straight into the baking dish. 

This should serve about 6 people or 4 if your helpings are large.

I serve with the Thermomix egg custard in the everyday cookbook but I use less flour so it's not so thick.

Ice-cream and cream are also winners.

As with any of these things and Murphy's Law, if you notice a mistake let me know so I can edit it. 

Beetroot Glut

Perfect weather at the market yesterday and there is a subtle change in the produce available.

Chard, spinach, radishes are giving way to beetroot, figs and berries.

Coriander, celery leaf and sage are giving way to parsley, basil and mint.

We are enjoying a glut of beetroot at the moment and my hands are commonly pink at some point daily.

We are boiling them and slicing them for sandwiches or enjoying them hot as a side vegetable at dinner.

We are adding cooked chunks to salads or using it raw grated with carrot and dressing it with a pomegranate molasses, olive oil and cider vinegar dressing with walnuts and feta.

I am also naturally fermenting some for lacto-fermented pickles.

Tangy crunchy beetroot slices for anti-pasto platters.

It is on my bench and being turned daily. 

I took inspiration from this recipe here for my pickling solution flavours.

Why Bother?

The last third of winter is more bearable with bottled blueberries for breakfast.

And that's why I bother....

Green tomato pickles always bring memories of Nan close,

And that's why I bother......

We're enjoying lots of Osso Bucco stews on wet dark cold nights,

And that's why I bother.....

There are a lot of people who will ask you why you would bother, but there is no comparison to feeding yourself good food even in the "hungry season" to buying off the shelf. There will be some who cheer you on from the sidelines so stick to your convictions and enjoy the fruits of your summer labour, enjoy this quieter time with some knitting before it all starts again come spring.

You guessed it, somebody asked me just the other day when they saw me knitting socks....

Why bother?

I think that is something to ponder in a society where the majority seems to ask,

"Why Bother?"

Are we lazy or apathetic or have we just forgotten how good things can be?

Magenta Landscaping

What a gorgeous lunar landscape....
No it's my Blueberry Jam with Corriander and Lime from Saving the Season Blog. It is not something I would have thought to do with jam but let me tell you it is truely sublime. Two partners that have lent subtle piquancy to the blueberries. This is a great one for the present giving list.

Tonight I also made the Blueberry and Red Pepper Chutney recipe found on eHow
For the dried fruit I had on hand dried cranberries and some seedless raisins. A very "woody" fragrance to this chutney with the nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper and cloves.

Guess who needs to go picking again! I usually go picking twice in the season anyway because I can't get enough. I'm loving them on my Weetbix in the mornings too.

Tomorrow Craig and I go to Hobart to visit my two daughters. They have put in an order for a big bowl of Tabbouleh that will have to wait till morning. Need to get to bed for my day job!

Bottling in Earnest

I have bottled 8 x #31 jars of blueberries and left another kilo and a half fresh for chutney tomorrow and also for some Blueberry with Lime and Coriander Jam that I found on Saving the Season. Sounds wonderful doesn't it.

I've also bottled a couple of jars of beans using the half vinegar half water method. The colour looks good but not sure how they will taste for casseroles in winter. I plan to rinse well before use, maybe soak??? Would love any comment from anyone who has tried it this way.

I've also done 6 bottles so far of plain tomatoes with some basil.The colours look great and we can't get enough of these through the winter, especially with the homemade pasta that I make in Autumn to "preserve" eggs before the chooks go off the lay.

This year I have tried bottling some zucchini soup and some button squash and corn soup. I have processed once and then again a second time 48hrs later. I will be monitoring these closely for any signs of bubbling but they are looking good.

Blueberry Picking

Just outside of Lilydale, a short distance from Launceston is a pick-you-own blueberry farm. It is a moderate size planted on a gentle slope with some picturesque mountains surrounding. I have been coming for years and always pick the week before school goes back here and that seems to strike the height of the season just right.If I can I like to pick a day that looks like it just might rain, but we haven't had any of those lately.

This is an organic farm and you will find many kinds of ants, frogs, bugs etc all living in balance, and that's a beautiful thing, but some preparation for this makes the picking more enjoyable.

Wear sand shoes or boots to avoid ant bites, especially the Jack Jumpers. Roll on some insect repellent and make sure you apply sunscreen and where a wide brim hat, because it will take about an hour to pick two buckets (about 6kg). I wear a shirt with sleeves too for sun and also to protect from scratches from the branches. They are not thorny but the best berries are in and under as a lot of people harvest the easy outside.

Blueberries at the height of season are easy to harvest because all or most of the berries on each bract are ripe and ready to just fall off into your bucket with some subtle finger rolling. At $5/kg this is very pleasurable easy and cost effective entertainment for a family day out. It's so nice to hear children talking and laughing along the rows.

Another few km along the road heading back into Lilydale is the the Lilydale Falls Reserve which is an ideal spot to stop and have a bbq. I used to take the children here a lot in Winter time too to get them out into the fresh air and whooping it up in all the dried crunchy leaves from Autumn.

Our freezer is full so I have bottles the blueberries. About 4.5kg will do 8 Fowlers jars, #31. We stopped into an antique store in Lilydale and the lady in their who makes Jilly's Jams suggested Blueberry and Red Pepper Chutney. I found this recipe that I thought I might try