Marinated Fruit-in-alcohol Drinks

Cassis

5oog black currants

500g sugar

10 fresh black currant leaves

750ml bottle brandy

Crush currants and leaves.

Add sugar and brandy.

Pour into wide mouthed jar and shake to dissolve sugar.

Shake now and then for a month or more.

Strain and bottle.

I sip it neat, in  a shot glass but its easy to drink more!

(From my elderly neighbour, Janny)

Raspberry Ratafia

3 cups raspberries

1/3 cup sugar

750ml vodka

6 lemon verbena leaves, crushed

Into a large, wide-mouthed jar put the raspberries and sugar and stir gently to crush a little.

Add the verbena leaves and the vodka.

Leave in a warm room for 4 weeks or more, shaking now and then

Strain and bottle.

I sip it neat in a shot glass.

(from a beautiful book called Plum Gorgeous)

Limoncello

1 litre vodka

peel of 12 large lemons

equal parts sugar and water

Into a large wide-mouthed jar put the peels and pour over the vodka.

Shake now and then for 3 months.

Strain.

In a pan, heat a cup of water and stir in the sugar to dissolve. Let cool completely.

Add the syrup gradually to the limoncello, tasting as you go, just until its how you think it should be!

Leave again for a week or more. May need straining again.

Most recipes have much more volume of syrup but I prefer it like this.

(From my friend Deb at Nirvana Farm)

Buckwheat Pancakes with hot, buttered walnuts

In Adelaide I used to love going to The Pancake Kitchen, which was open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It is still there and not much has changed, which is wonderful because some of their concoctions are superb. This was always one of my favourites, and is called “It” because it is the ultimate!

(Serves 4)

1 cup buckwheat flour
¼  cup 85% flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp raw /demerara sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup plain yoghurt
½ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
Sunflower oil
Walnuts
Butter
Bananas, sliced (optional)

1. Mix flours and baking powder in a medium bowl and add sugar. Make a well in the centre and pour in combined eggs, yoghurt, milk and vanilla; whisk until smooth.
2. Into a warm pan put the butter and a dash of oil. When frothy add the walnuts and toss around until hot and toasted.
3. Heat a frying pan over medium heat; oil lightly. Pour ½ cup of the mixture into pan; cook a few minutes on the first side, placing the banana slices on the top side before turning and finishing cooking.
4. Repeat with the remaining mixture to make 4 pancakes in total.
5. Top with the walnuts
and serve with organic maple syrup and plain yoghurt.

Walnut and parsley pesto

from Hugh Impossibly-long-name, River Cottage, Sept 2012

Perfect with pasta or as a dip
Serves 4.

100g walnuts
1 fat garlic clove garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
A handful of grated mature cheddar or Parmesan or a combination
A large handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves
About 1/2 cup good olive oil or sunflower oil
Juice of ½ lemon or more
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Blend walnuts, garlic, cheese and parsley together, then begin trickling in the oil, while the processor runs. Stop when you have a nice purée. Taste and season as necessary with lemon juice, salt and pepper.

When serving with pasta you may need to add some hot water from cooking the pasta, to help combine the pesto with the pasta.

Store in the fridge.

Roasted Potatoes with Indian and Australian Spices

Serves  8
3 Tbl oil
1½ kgs small red potatoes, halved (about 8 cups)
1¾ tsp black mustard seeds
A good pinch ground Tas. pepperberry
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
1½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon Garam Masala
½ cup chopped fresh coriander
½ cup chopped fresh mint
A pinch of ground lemon myrtle leaf
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
8 lime wedges

1.    Preheat oven to 180°.
2.    Combine some of the oil and the potatoes, tossing to coat. Set aside.
3.    Heat remaining oil and mustard seeds in a large skillet over medium-high heat; cook 1½ minutes or until seeds begin to pop. Reduce heat to medium-low.
4.    Add ginger, pepperberry and garlic. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in salt, turmeric and Garam Masala; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add spice mixture to potatoes, tossing to coat. Arrange potato mixture in a single layer in a baking dish.
5.    Bake at 180° for 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender and browned, stirring every 10 minutes or so. Stir in coriander, mint, and juice. Serve with lime wedges.

APRICOT and CHOC CHIP CAKE

APRICOT and CHOC CHIP CAKE

180°C This is the cake we ate at the Economic Garden

1 cup (200gr) chopped, dried apricots

1 cup apricot nectar

125gr butter

2/3 cup raw sugar

2 eggs, separated

1 1/2 cups coconut

1 1/2 cups S.R. flour (I used rice flour and baking powder )

1/2 cup choc. bits, broken in halves

Soak apricots in nectar 1 hour.

Beat butter and sugar (needs small bowl).Add egg yolks and coconut. Beat well.

Stir in apricots and nectar and choc. bits. Fold in flour.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold in.

Pour into lined 20cm tin. Bake at least 1 ¼ hours. Test with a skewer.

Stand 5 mins. or longer before turning out.

When cold, sprinkle icing sugar over.

Harvest Stew with Fresh Herb Dumplings

1 cup pear nectar
1 cup. vegetable stock
1 Tbl Dijon mustard
3 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 piece of butternut pumpkin, peeled & cut into chunks
3 small turnips, peeled and quartered
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 zucchini, sliced, or other green veg in season
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tart apple, cored, peeled & grated
6 garlic cloves, chopped
DUMPLINGS
1 cup. plain  flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup thin yoghurt
2 Tbl butter, melted
1 Tbl chopped spring onions, plus rest of the thyme

DIRECTIONS
Whisk together pear nectar, stock, mustard, 2 tsp thyme, ½ tsp salt and pepper in a large saucepan. Add the squash, turnips, carrots, zucchini, onion, apple and garlic. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered until the veggies are just tender (about 15 minutes).

Meanwhile, combine the flour, baking powder and remaining ½ tsp salt in a large bowl. Combine the buttermilk and butter in another bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until the mixture forms a soft dough. Stir in the herbs.

Drop the dough by tablespoons onto the simmering stew. Simmer the stew, uncovered, for 10 minutes, then cover and cook until the dumplings are firm (about 10 minutes more).

Braised Red Cabbage with Apples

Serves 10-12

1 kg red cabbage

450 g cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped small

450 g onions, chopped small

1 clove garlic, chopped very small

¼ whole nutmeg, freshly grated

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons vinegar (I  used local apple cider vinegar)

knob of butter

salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 150°C

First discard the tough outer leaves of the cabbage, cut it into quarters and remove the hard stalk. Then shred the rest of the cabbage finely.

Next, in a fairly large casserole, arrange a layer of shredded cabbage seasoned with salt and pepper, then a layer of chopped onions and apples with a sprinkling of garlic, spices and sugar. Continue with these alternate layers until everything is in. Now pour in the wine vinegar, lastly add dots of butter on the top.

Put a tight lid on the casserole and let it cook very slowly in the oven for 2-2½ hours, stirring everything around once or twice during the cooking.

Red cabbage, once cooked, will keep warm without coming to any harm, and it will also re-heat very successfully. And it does freeze well so, all in all, it's a real winner of a recipe.