Orange & Green!

Much like my family of origin - The Orange and The Green - but somewhat more harmonious, tonight's meal was a simple vegetable dish Zucchini & Sweet Potato (Kumara) Fritters served with a crisp green salad.  Oh,Yum!!

2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup grated sweet potato
2 tbsp chopped chives
2 tabsp sesame seeds
1 large egg
1/2 cup plain flour
Salt & pepper

1. Grate the vegetables and drain, saving the juices
2. Combine the zucchini, sweet potato, sesame seeds and chives in a mixing bowl
3. Gently whisk the egg and fold in the flour, seasoned with salt and pepper.  Add the vegetable juices if needed to give batter a good consistency
4. Add batter to vegetables and fold through gently
5. Drop large spoonfuls of mix into a lightly greased, non stick pan.  Flatten the fritter slightly
6. Cook until golden brown and batter is bubbling on top
7. Gently flip and cook until golden
8. Serve immediately (to enjoy the crunchy coat) with a fresh green salad and your favourite condiment.  That's fruit chutney for me!

Simply Scones

I have long been a fan of the humble scone.  I have been making them since I was a child and can honestly only remember one occasion they didn't work (moon rocks!)

The melted butter method preferred by my mother was knocked out of me in home economics at school and for the past three or so decades I've dutifully rubbed the butter into the flour.  A few months ago, I had a jar of cream that needed to be used so in lieu of butter I poured the remaining cream onto the flour and began to mix, adding water only to create the dough.  The result was heavenly, light scones.  I tried this method again a couple of weeks later - same result!  I am a convert to the cream method!  So quick and easy.

AJ's Creamy Scones

3 cups Self Raising Flour (sifted)
Pinch salt
1/2 jar cream approx (100mls)
Water

With a knife, gently fold the reaminto the flour.  Add water slowly until dough begins to form.  Gently form dough into cohesive ball with hands.  Lightly knead to collect all flour from bowl.  Turn dough out onto benchtop or board.  Press gently with fingers to flatten.  Dough should be approx 30mm thick.  Cut into squares with a sharp knife or cut individual scones with a scone cutter.

Place on tray lined with baking paper.  Brush tops lightly with milk or water. Pop into a hot oven (200 C) and bake for approx 12 - 15mins or until tops are golden.


Scone Swirls

Make dough as above.  Divide mixture into two pieces.
Roll first piece into a rectangular shape approx 150mm x 300mm.
Spread with filling.
Roll the dough into a scroll along the longest edge.
Cut into 30mm "slices" and place swirl side up on a tray lined with baking paper.
Bake in hot oven (200C) for 12 - 15 mins

Suggested fillings:

Lemon or passionfruit butter
Jam
Sweet chilli sauce (these scrolls good with soup!)
Mustard and grated cheese
Sweet corn and bacon
Brown sugar, cinnamon and a little melted butter (this mix is to die for!)

♫ 10 Clear Bottles ... sitting on the shelf .. ♫

I'm going through a most experimental phase right now.  My latest trial is bottling some of the foods and ingredients I would usually freeze.  First on the list was pasta sauce, then soup.  I have since bottled some vegetable stock and stewed fruit.  Already, there is space in the freezer for more making the most of marked down goodies at the supermarket and greengrocers.

The principle is the same as jam making so there's no reason to think these trials won't be successful.  Hot food into hot, sterilised jars.  Lids screwed tight immediately then wait for the "pop".  I am a bit loopy when it comes to jars.  I simply cannot part with them, and as a result have boxes of the things!  Many too large for jam - just for me - but ideal for goodies such as soups and cooking sauces.

I shall be watching my trial jars with interest in the coming weeks and months.  Looking for any change in colour or movement in the lid.  The jars are stowed out of direct light, so colour changes will be "internal" and perhaps indicative of fermentation or rotting. 

My mind is now racing with thoughts of bottling custard, bechamel sauce and similar.  One little jar next time I'm cooking a milk based sauce won't hurt, and will be an interesting experiment too!

Orange! Orange! Orange!

I'm besotted with orange vegetables at the moment, and this gave me cause to wonder why we don't have orange zucchinis.  Or maybe we do and I've simply not seen them.  The bright, bright yeloow of the golden zucchini is lovely, but I can't help thinking how satisfying it would be to munch into vivid orange zucchini in these colder months.

There's an abundance of pumpkin and kumara being prepared in my kitchen, roasted, steamed, mashed, grated.  Flans, dips, patties, au gratin, warm salads, baby kumara baked whole in its jacket and served with toppings.  Not a drop of pumpkin soup to be seen nor consumed - Blerrrrrggghhh!

Another perennial favourite is the humble carrot.  I alsways keep a container of finely shredded carrot in the fridge ready to add to meal - hot or cold.  Shredded carrot is fabulous for adding nutritious volume to meals to help them stretch further (unexpected guests or simply economising).  It's also great for making leftovers go that bit further too.

Some carroty ideas:

• Add a handful of shredded carrot to sweet or savoury pancake batter  (we love carrot & blueberry, carrot & banana and carrot & sweet corn)
• Saute some shredded carrot and add to an omlette or scrambled eggs
• Great for vegie fritters/burgers
• Saute with finely diced onion, shredded buk choy or wombuk, a little curry paste or chilli sauce then wrap in filo and bake until golden.  We like cocktail sized filo fingers.  You could also use spring roll wrappers and deep fry them
• Add to quiche
• Fabulous nutritious filler in wraps and sandwiches
• Add to baked beans or tinned spaghetti
• Add a handful per person of finely shredded carrot to prepared miso soup to give some real body
• Saute and place a generous scoop in the bottom of serving bowls before adding any kind of soup
• Add to pizzas - I spread sauce over pita bread, spread some shredded carrot and lightly sprinkle grated cheese then add my other toppings
• Add to pasta sauce and lasagne layers - yum
• Stir through hot (fried) brown rice or cous cous.
• Add to almost any cake batter
• Add to stewed fruit
• Add to pet food (cooked or raw)

And the list goes on and on.  We use zucchini in the same way.  Both are terrific in chocolate cake and fruit pies or crumbles.


ORANGE MASH

Pumpkin
Kumara
Carrot
Salt & Pepper (white)
A splash of cream or natural yoghurt (optional)
A pinch of your favourite spice (we like ground cumin or nutmeg) OR
A tablespoon or two or freshly chopped chives or coriander

1. Cube the vegetables and stram or simmer until tender. Drain.
2. Mash quickly to retain heat.
3. Add seasonings and dash of cream if liked.
4. Serve.

This is great as a side dish or as a bed for grilled vegetables, fish or meat.
Yummy cold as a dip or spread for sandwiches, wraps, pide and toast.

Green Soup

2 large zucchini chopped

2 cups of green peas

1 large onion diced

1 litre vegetable stick (chicken ok if preferred)

1-2 cups milk

Salt & pepper to taste

Chives

Sour cream for serving

Fresh mint leaves for serving

Place prepared vegetables in pot with stick.  Bring to boil then turn heat down to simmer.

When vegetable are soft, puree with a stick blender in the pot.

Add milk and stir through.

Adjust the seasonings to taste and heat to serving temperature.  Do not boil or milk may curdle.

Remove from heat, add chopped chives and stir through the puree.

Ladle into heated ramekins.

Add a dollop of cream to each serve and garnish with fresh mints leaves.

Delicious served with buttered, light rye toast fingers.

Open your Mind ...

There is something intrinsically honest about growing your own food.  Be it a simple pots of parsley and chives, a tomato in a bucket or a full blown vegetable garden the joy of the harvest is undeniable.

For those with hunter’s eyes, we spot food in all sorts of locations in the world beyond our front gates.  Nature strips, parks and highways are all teeming with possibilities.  Many of the salad leaf mixes on the market contain a high percentage of leaves from common weeds!  Yet people happily pay $13 +  per kilogram (loose) or almost $30 per kilogram prepackaged for these tasty little treats.

A keen eye will spot many varieties of fruit tress growing along our highways and freeways.  Apples, cherries, apricots, plums and citrus to name but a few.  What a wonderful bounty!  Our public parks and cemeteries are often planted with fruiting trees.  Aside from classic stone and pome fruits, we may also harvest pine nuts (yum!), dates, salad greens and innumerable berry fruits and herbs.

In Australia, there are so many native bushfoods literally at our doorsteps. Lemon myrtle, acacia seed, bush tomatoes, kangaroo apples, lilly pilly, yams, berries, seeds and greens.  But I shall talk more about these later.

I am a firm believer in the value of eating food in season.  Not only do we gain the benefit of eating foods at their peak, we also consume the vitamins and minerals our bodies need to get us through the season.

Those of us in cooler zones have an advantage over our tropical cousins in that we can readily simulate the kind of growing climate that more “tropical” plants prefer.  We may not be able to mass produce bananas, coffee or pineapples down south, but we can extend our growing season and delay buying fruits and vegetables grown thousands of kilometres away!

I invite you to open your mind to opportunity and walk with me a while on my continuing journey towards a more authentic and self sufficient life.

AJ

Welcome to Zucchini Martini!

The most simple of dishes can whet the appetite when given a appealing or intriguing name.  It's zucchini season and so many of us are scratching for new and interesting ways to serve up this prolific vegetable meal after meal.  There's only so much pureed zucchini soup one can stomach beofre you want to scream!

I adore Autumn.  Crisp, clear mornings.  Sun filled afternoons.  Dusk falling as nature intends :) 
We pick the last of our summer fruits and begin to harvest the late season crops.  Lovely golden apples, nectarines, pears, apricots quinces.  The flavour in tomatoes intensified by the cooler temperatures.  Brave lettuce and spinach seedlings go about their business with an enviable determination.

Autumn food is the best of all.  We can still enjoy a crunchy salad but a heartwarming "comfort" returns to our meals.  On even the most meagre budget, we can eat like kings.  The meals I present will be made from produce harvested from my own garden, bartered or swapped with friends, collected from the wild or purchased very cheaply. 

Welcome to Zucchini Martini!

Autmn warmer

Zucchini Martini #1

Miso broth

Shredded zucchini

Shredded carrot

Rice or bean vermicelli

Seasonings to taste (chives, garlic slithers, slithers of bruised ginger, chilli paste, lemon zest, roasted kombu, finely diced tofu)

1. Prepare vermicelli according to packet directions.

2. Use 350mls of water and one miso sachet (paste or dried) per serve.

3. A handful each of grated zucchini and carrot per serve. Simmer until vegies reach

    desired “doneness”  Seasonings can be added now or when served.

4. Divide the vermicelli into warmed serving bowls.  Ladle broth over the noodles. Diners can then adjust the seasonings according to their taste.

Shaved zucchini and carrot strips make an interesting variation.