Spiced Crab Apples

A fabulous and surprising addition to the cheese board or pre dinner drinks, all year round.

Combine in a large saucepan:

350g sugar

350ml red or white vinegar

Cover and boil until the sugar is dissolved; about 5 minutes.

Add:

450g whole crab apples with stems. Firm, tart fruit is best.

Simmer briefly, until just tender, depending on fruit and ripeness. Do not let them get mushy. Remove from the syrup and place into jars.

Add to the syrup in the pan:

1 x 2.5cm piece cinnamon stick

6 allspice berries

4 whole cloves

Boil until thickened a little then pour over the fruit in the jars. Seal. Leave for a month before using.

Serve with cheese by removing each piece by the stem. The pickling syrup may be re-used for more pickling or poured over ice cream.

Pineapple and Ginger Upside Down Cake

Made for gardening, June 2018

Cake 250g butter, softened 1¼ cups rapadura sugar 5 eggs 1 cup milk kefir or thin yoghurt 2½ cups flour 2 tspns baking powder 1 Tbl ground ginger or 4 drops ginger essential oil 1 tsp ground cinnamon or 2 drops cinnamon essential oil ½ tsp ground cloves or 1 drop clove essential oil

Caramelised Pineapple 1 medium pineapple, peeled, quartered, cored and sliced into ½ - 1cm thick slices 85g butter ½ cup rapadura sugar _________________________ Melt butter and sugar, add half the pineapple slices and cook 3 minutes, turning once. Remove and cook the other half. Remove. Reserve syrup. __________________________ Fresh Ginger Syrup Into the last of the reserved syrup grate a good knob of fresh ginger and heat gently.

• Make caramelised pineapple
• Pre heat oven to 170°C
• Grease a deep 23cm round cake pan; line base and sides to above the sides of the tin
• Set butter and sugar to beat until pale
• Make caramelised pineapple
• Drizzle cake tin with 2 Tbl reserved syrup and arrange caramelised pineapple slices, overlapping. Use them all. Doubling up is ok. Keep rest of the syrup for the sauce. Make more if necessary.
• To beaten butter and sugar, add 2 spoons of the plain flour then gradually add the eggs, beating well between additions. Add a little more flour if it looks like curdling.
• Beat in kefir / yoghurt
• Stir in the rest of the flour mixed with the baking powder
• Spread mixture over the pineapple
• Bake 1 hour and check. If necessary, top with foil
• Bake a further 10 minutes or until a knife comes out clean
• Meanwhile make suryp
• Stand cake 5 minutes then turn out onto a beautiful serving plate.
• Serve with fresh ginger syrup
• Enjoy!
  

Zucchini Risotto with Gremolata Fish

500g zucchini, unpeeled, chopped into 3cm cubes Olive oil 2 tspns garam masala 1 brown onion, finely sliced 2 garlic cloves, crushed 2 cups risotto rice 1 litre chicken/fish stock

600g fish fillets   Gremolata 1/3 cup finely chopped parsley Olive oil Grated rind 1 lemon 2 cloves garlic, crushed

 

Fry zucchini pieces in hot oil until cooked but still firm. Stir in garam masala and fry a little longer. (I also added some fennel seeds and cumin seeds)

Heat stock and keep hot.

Heat olive oil in a pan and cook onion gently until soft. Add garlic and rice and stir to coat.

Add 1 cup at a time of the stock to the rice and stir, on gentle heat, until absorbed before adding more. This will take a good 30 minutes or more. Do not rush it…. Have a glass of wine while you relax and enjoy the process.

Meanwhile combine the gremolata ingredients and press onto the fish fillets. Cook the fish in a pan. Flake gently.

Gently mix the zucchini and the fish through the risotto and serve with lemon wedges.

Absolutely delicious!

Fruit Sponge Slice, GF

Crop Swap 6, Feb. 10th 2018
This is an old recipe so is still in ounces but the cups are metric!


Oven 180C


For a baking dish size cake:


Cream.....6ozs butter and 1.5 cups sugar


Add....3 eggs
          vanilla
          3/4 cup milk
Sift....1.5 cups brown rice flour
          1 cup quinoa flour
          1.5 Tbls cornflour
          5 tspns baking powder (= 2 tspns / cup flour, which is standard to make SR flour)


Mix all together until smooth and creamy. Add a dash more milk if necessary.


Grease a baking dish well and spread the batter to cover the base.


Cover with a single layer of fruit. I used greengage plums but it can be anything.


Bake 40 minutes. Leave to rest half an hour or so before turning out. Dust top with icing sugar before cutting.