Fruit picking and preserving

My dad has an orchid on his 5 acre lot. Most years we get a few bags of fruit when we happen to be back, but normally the fruit falls to the ground and rots as there is just too much for mum and dad to eat. I mentioned to my friend that Dad had a orchid one day and she suggested getting together and picking the fruit so it didn't go to waste. So that's exactly what we did on the weekend - we picked the first lot of fruit - plums, white peaches and apples. We will have another round probably in another month or so, to pick figs, more white peaches and more apples.

It was a lovely day (perhaps a little hot), but great to get together with the family and our friends from Sydney to pick some fruit.

This is the orchid - Dad has completely enclosed it, so birds and other animals can't get to the trees. The orchid contains several types of plum trees, white and yellow peaches, several varieties of apples, as well as some fig and quince trees (I can't wait for these to ripen).

Everyone got stuck into picking the fruit - the little ones got the low hanging fruit - Jassy was tall enough to get some of the higher fruit and fruit in more awkward positions:

The plums are a decent size - and very sweet. We had to get a ladder to get to the higher ones on the tree.

Eliza loves fruit, so she spent most of the day, sampling the produce.

Jassy loved hanging out with all her cousins and generally looking gorgeous!

And Dave was on hand with some muscles to help carry all the bags and boxes down to the house.

We ate so much for lunch, that we all decided to do a lap around the block for exercise (plus Hellie is competing with her hubbie and some friends for the most steps per day - so we thought we would keep her company!)

For lunch we had chicken and rolls, and followed this up with a deconstructed crumble which was cooked with some of the produce we picked.  It was delicious!  I used a recipe from the "Love to Cook" cookbook, and just changed it a bit. The recipe was the Plums and Blackberry Crumble with spiced cream. I obviously changed the fruits to plums, white peaches, a couple of figs, and for the crumble I substituted the walnuts for macadamias.

Everyone just helped themselves to fruit and then added the cooked crumble mix on top, with a dollop of the spiced cream (which was made from equal quantities of greek yoghurt, thickened cream and mascarpone with a Tablespoon of caster sugar, and a dash of vanilla extract and ground cardamom). We also got to enjoy some scones which Michelle had made for us as well!

So - what did we do with all this fruit once we got home?

Well, some of it we just ate:

I made a lot of it into preserves of some description:

From left to right: Fast cooked cherry tomato sauce (recipe found here), Chinese Five Spice Plum Sauce (recipe below), Peach Chutney (recipe also below), Spiced Preserved Plums (also below).

You'll notice I have cherry tomatoes there as well - that was the other thing I did - my boss's wife gave me some cherry tomatoes from her garden so I gave her some plums!

This week it is American food week in the Turner household, so I found a recipe for Apple Brown Betty in a cookbook which was loaned to me by Eliza's best friends mum Rebecca. Apple Brown Betty is essentially a layered crumble, except the crumble is made with breadcrumbs instead of flour. I must admit I cheated on this one, and used the left over crumble from the weekend!

Recipes

Chinese Five Spice Plum  Sauce

Place

1kg halved mixed plums

1 finely chopped red onion

1 Tbs finely grated ginger

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup apple cider vinegar

½ cup water

1 Tbs lemon juice

1 Tsp salt

1 tsp chinese five spice powder

½ tsp chilli flakes

In a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to Medium-Low and cook stirring for 30 minutes or until the plums collapse. Use a stick blender to blend until smooth. Pour into sterilised bottles. Seal and date.

Spiced Preserved Plums

(ingredients for one large bottle)

Combine

            2 Cups dry red wine

            1 Cup caster sugar

            2 cinnamon sticks

            2 star anise

In a saucepan over low heat. Cook stirring for 5 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low.

Add 6 Plums (I found I could only fit 4.5 plums as they were huge, and I halved them to maximise the use of space in each bottle). Cook for 2 minutes until just heated through. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a sterilised jar. Pour over the syrup. Seal while hot, and date. Needs 2 weeks to infuse.

Note: I had a little liquid left over - which I drank of course - it was divine, and would make a lovely Sangria base.

Peach Chutney (from Taste.com.au)

Makes 2 cups

1kg yellow peaches, peeled

1 small red onion finely chopped

2 garlic cloves crushed

5cm piece of fresh ginger peeled and grated

½ cup malt vinegar

½ cup white sugar

2 Tbs sweet chilli sauce

Cut peaches in half. Remove stones and roughly chop flesh

Combine peaches, onion, garlic, ginger, vinegar, sugar and sweet chilli in a 3-litre capacity, microwave-safe jug or bowl. Microwave in Panasonic Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH (100%) power for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, or until chutney is thick.

Spoon hot chutney into hot sterilised jars. Cover with a tea towel and allow to cool. Seal and label. Refrigerate after opening. Serve on Christmas day with ham or turkey. Alternatively, use on sandwiches.

A note on sterilising jars:  The method I have found easiest for sterilising jars, is to heat the oven to 120 degrees and then put jars in for 20 minutes. I sterilise the lids in the dishwasher.

Would you believe that I only have 4 plums and 15 apples left! I think we will just eat those.

I am looking forward to another fruit picking day perhaps in about a month's time when the figs, more apples and more peaches have ripened!

Di :-)

The Food Edition

LOL - this one's for you Les!

It's been a while and I have a few weeks to catch up on food wise, but they have been some good food weeks. I thought I would just summarise some of the best parts of the last month and a half in food for the Turner household.

I'll start with the most exciting thing first. This weekend past I went to a Pete Evan's Masterclass (from MKRs fame). We (my friend Michelle and I) received a signed copy of his latest cookbook "Healthy Everyday", which essentially promotes a Paleo diet. We cooked several recipes from his new book, and listened to him talk about his food philosophy.

His talk was very interesting, a couple of the points he made included:

-  for the first time, coming generations will have a shorter life span than previous generations as a result of the foods we eat.
-  we eat overly processed, sugar and grain rich diets, and eat foods we were not designed to eat including genetically modified food
-  that having some good fats (eg. coconut oil) in your diet is essential, especially to reduce the chance of Alzheimers and Dementia as the brain is 60% fat
-  there is a connection between mental health and other medical conditions and diet. Some illnesses such as depression can be reduced through the adoption of a diet such as the Paleo diet
-  removing grains from your diet altogether as well as sugars, dairy and fruits (high in natural sugars)
-  essentially eating a lot of vegetables, some good fats and some meats
-  eating different foods at breakfast, so instead of eating breakfast cereals and toast etc, eat leftovers from the previous night, eggs, soups and so forth.

A lot of what he said made sense, which doesn't mean that the Turner household will completely adopt a Paleo diet (some of which we do now anyway), but we will certainly put in place the bits we think make sense. We will continue to eat fruit and dairy, we will continue to minimise our carb consumption - which tends to reduce the amount of grains we eat anyway, and we will gradually try substituting some foods, eg. cooking with coconut oil, and using olive oil for cold dishes, trying coconut flour with some baking. Our dinners are generally healthy, well-balanced and nutritious, so I think our biggest area of effort will be reducing the convenience foods we tend to  have for recess and after work/school snacks.

Jazz and I went through a list of suggested Paleo snacks last night, and highlighted the ones we are going to use as snack and lunch options. We are trying different ones each week, this week we are having:

- tins of tuna, and tuna slices
- halved avocado with seasoning
- boiled eggs with dukah
- fresh fruit including strawberries, cherries, apples, oranges, bananas, pears and mandarins
- cold sliced chicken and raw vegetables including cute little cucumbers, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, carrots, beans
- dates
- probiotic yoghurts

Here is what we cooked during the Masterclass - Zucchini Pasta with Rich Tomato Sauce, Miso Salmon Soup, Cauliflower Fried Rice. We also had the little chocolate and raspberry desserts and some Kale chips.

 On to the other food for the month ....

Eating Out

Jamie's Italian - Over the last month or so, we have managed to eat out a couple of times.  Dave and I finally got to eat at Jamie's Italian in the first week of the school holidays, and I got to eat there a second time with my ex-work colleagues the following week. In summary, two lovely tasty meals, and not overly expensive.  Certainly worth a visit. Here is a  sampling of what we had ...

First visit, we tried the Meat Plank:

I tried the King Salmon, while Dave tried a Pasta (I can't remember which one):

For dessert we tried the Limoncello Meringue as well as a Chocolate Brownie, here is the meringue:

On my second visit, I tried the Crab and Avocado Bruschetta (it was delicious):

Black Angel Hair Spaghetti with Scallops:

For dessert - the vanilla panna cotta with berry compote:

Cheryl had the yummy looking trifle for dessert:

Soju Girl - We always try and fit a trip to Soju Girl in during each school holidays while the girls are in Goulburn, this holidays were no exception. They always change their menu slightly each time we go, and we go on two-for-one night which also costs half the price. We always try a couple of desserts, which are divine:

Three Mother's Thai - Eliza picked this one when we were in Civic one night, and we discovered that Babars had closed down. Haven't eaten here for a while, decent Thai - not as nice as Chong Co though.

Sizzle and Grill Japanese - Dave bought a Living Social deal for this Japanese restaurant in Dickson. It was OK, but I think perhaps the girls enjoy sushi train Japanese as opposed to other Japanese food. Some of the dishes included chicken skewers made from chicken thigh, and pork belly skewers, which Dave found too fatty. The girls only ate some veggies, some sushi rolls and a little rice, so we had to eat the rest and it was just too much.

 A Selection of Soups

The favourite soups for month included:

This pumpkin soup with smoked ham hock and toasted sesame:

A winter vegetable soup:

Lamb Meatball and Lentil Soup:

Pumpkin soup with pesto bread:

Favourite Main Courses

This silverbeet and lentil pies with Chia (LOL ate the top off before I realised I hadn't taken a photograph):

Cauliflower Risotto with Grilled Chicken and a Sage Sauce:

Dave has been rather partial to Salmon fillets lately (something he hasn't really eaten a lot of in the past), this one was simple and tasty - Salmon with Dukah, served with Sweet and Sour Brussel Sprouts (Jasmin loves brussel sprouts), and a salad made with preserved dill carrots, feta and cannelonni beans:

This one was delicious! Salmon wrapped in Prosciutto with a basil pesto, roasted pumpkin, and a apple and fennel salad:

A roasted cauliflower and freekah salad with olives (served as an accompaniment to sweet potato mash with buttermilk crumbed chicken):

A family Favourite (made my my Jasmin), Tuna Casserole:

Beef Noodles with Roasted Vegetables:

Another family favourite - San Choy Boy:

Beef and Chorizo ragout with Crispy Potato Stacks (Dave loved this one):

Favourite Desserts

The Banana Bread with Caramel Sauce and Icecream:

Creamed Rice (haven't had this since I was a teenager), with candied mandarin and syrup:

Maple Pear Pudding:

Cinnamon Caramelised Pineapple with Vanilla Icecream:

Chocolate Puddings:

Made for Fiona's 50th birthday, a blueberry cheesecake with chocolate dipped strawberries:

Mini Lemon Meringues (Remembered how to use my gas torch thingie to toast the meringue):

Well, that's a wrap!
Di :-)

Kitchen Kapers Weeks 19 - 21

Hmmm.... I've let these slide a little. I'd better write something down before I forget!

Week 19 - Highlights

Monday - Beef Pho. First time I have ever made this one. I did involve boiling beef bones in water the previous night for a couple of hours, and some straining and mucking around. For all the effort, there wasn't the depth of flavour that I expected - next time I'll use beef stock from the container!

Tuesday - Easy Chicken and Tomato Curry, served with Naan Bread, spiced lentils and my very first preserved relish - a pumpkin relish.  One of the ladies at school has been kind enough to lend me a preserving kit some I can try some preserving out. The pumpkin relish was delicious!

 Wednesday Night - slow cooker night. Moroccan lamb shanks with cous cous.

Thursday Night - A family favourite - Slow Cooked Bolognaise. I know - two slow cooker meals in a week!

Saturday Night - I can't remember what we had for mains, but Eliza made dessert. This delicious Limincello Trifle with berries and chocolate.

Sunday Night - Mother's Day, and my gorgeous girl Jasmin made me Tuna casserole for dinner - so I didn't have to cook!

Week 20 - Highlights

Monday - Hot Smoked Salmon Chowder. I really liked this one!

Tuesday - As the new menu board sign says - Beef Beans and Soba Noodles with 4-3-2-1 dressing. This is from my recently acquired Anna Gare cookbook.

Wednesday - instead of the normal slow cooked Wednesday night dinner, I opted for lasagne. All I needed to do was throw it in the oven between swimming lessons, and it was ready by 8 o'clock when we all finally sat down to eat.

During the week sometime I cooked these yummy cupcakes which have now become Jasmin's favourite cupcake. They are a Cinnamon Banana Cupcake:

Saturday - we went to the Batlow Cider Festival during the day with our friends Mark and Michelle, I think we were a little dissapointed with the number of cider stands, but Dave and girls thought these were pretty yummy:

 We also headed across to Tumut, an hour away from Batlow, to visit the Licorice and Chocolate Factory. We did a tour and the girls also made giant freckles:

Saturday Night we came home to slow cooked Bloody Mary Lamb.

Week 21 - Highlights

Monday - Chicken Minestrone - variation on the normal minestrone. Both girls loved this one.

Tuesday - Lamb and Fetta Burgers, compliments of Eliza who made the patties with her bare hands LOL!

Wednesday - Pork and Beef Chow Mein. Girls liked this one too!

Thursday - Panko and fennel crumbed pork with apple and potato mash, and kale chips.  The Kale chips were surprisingly good - so I think when I get Kale in my veggie pack this is probably what I'll do with it as a preference.  Eliza did all the preparation and crumbing of the pork and even helped peel the apples and prepare the Kale.

Friday - you guessed it - PIZZA.

Saturday - Persian Spiced Fillet of Beef with Rosemary Potatoes and an Orange, Fennel and Persimmon Salad.  The Beef was from Anna Gare's cookbook, and the salad from Poh's "Same Same but Different" cookbook which has lots of interesting recipes in it - a blend of east and west.

Sunday - LOL, this dessert was meant to be for Saturday night but we ate it for breakfast on Sunday Morning!

So happy I managed to get that all jotted down, will be so helpful when I go to do my end of month food page in my Project Life Album!

Di :-)