nineteenth - how to make rhubarb cordial

Hello sweet peas,

I hope you've had a gorgeous day.

I was going to write about something different tonight, but then we made rhubarb cordial from that crate-ful we picked yesterday and now I can't think of anything else.

So just in case you find yourself with a clump or a bunch of rhubarb and your family are as sick of rhubarb cakes as mine are, I thought you might like to make some cordial yourself. 

As with most of the recipes I post here, this one is more of a guide than an exact science. 

Here's how we made it;

Gather

• a bunch of rhubarb  - we used 1.5kg
• a couple of lemons
• some sugar
• a couple of sterilised bottles

Make

• roughly chop your rhubarb into small pieces and pour into a saucepan
• add the zest of one lemon
• pour about a litre of water into the rhubarb 
• cook the rhubarb on low heat until it gets soft and mushy. stir it often to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the saucepan and add more water if it feels like it is
• set aside to cool for a bit
• strain rhubarb mush through a muslin cloth over a big bowl until most of the liquid has dripped through. we left it overnight
• pour the beautiful pink rhubarb juice back into a saucepan and cook over a low heat.
• compost the mush
• add the juice of two lemons 
• slowly add sugar to your taste. i think we used half a cup in the end or maybe a little bit more
• once the sugar has dissolved, turn off the heat and allow to cool a bit
• strain the liquid and pour into bottles
• make some cute labels and then you're done

Next time we make it I might cook the liquid for longer and reduce it into more of a syrup, but today we were making it up as we went along and were eager to get to the taste test bit of the process.

Late this afternoon, after the heat had finally broken, we sat outside in the garden and sampled our cordial. The girls drank theirs with icy cold water and we added vodka, a wedge of lime and some ice.  It was gorgeous. Exactly the tangy but sweet taste of summer that I'd hoped for.

Cheers!

And thanks you guys for the book recommendations. I'm excited to have so many to choose from.


Big smooches,

Kate
xoxox

fifteenth - how to make pickled cucumbers

We're officially in the middle of a cucumber glut!

A crate a day. All you can eat; straight off the vine, in salads, and sandwiches, and dips and like apples. We're filling the baskets of anyone passing through. And it's still early in the season!

We planted cucumbers last year for the first time and I fell in love. I had one plant and I think I squealed in delight every single time I picked a fruit from its vine. They were so crunchy and delicious and so user friendly.

This year I planted trays and trays of seeds. And when their green leaves poked out of the soil I quickly repotted them to give their roots space until they took up half of the green house. They were a hardy plant and seemed to thrive under cover.

When it came time to plant them in the ground my farmer boy read me a section from Steve Solomon's Growing Vegetables South Of Australia;

Unless you intend to put up enough cucumber pickles to supply all the rellies, neighbours and friends, two vines will almost certainly become one vine too many.

And then I promptly ignored him and planted about 50 plants. Yep, I know.

So right now, we're getting through them, only just, but come next week, or into February - who knows.

Originally I found our pickle recipe on my instagram friend Jules @procrasticraft's page . We've made them so many times over the past few weeks that they've become a kitchen staple. They're super simple to make and ridiculously delicious to eat.

I asked Jules and she kindly gave me permission to share her recipe, so here it is. Just keep in mind that the measurements aren't exact and each time I make them the number of jars I fill changes.

PICKLED CUCUMBERS

Gather

• five medium sized jars - sterilised
• enough cucumbers to stuff the jars full
• fresh bay leaves
• 1tsp each per jar cumin, coriander, mustard seeds
• 4 cups cider vinegar
• 2 cup water
• 3Tbs each sugar and iodised salt

Make

To each jar add 2 fresh bay leaves, and 1tsp each of cumin, coriander and mustard seeds and then your cucumbers.

In a saucepan put the cider vinegar, water, sugar and salt.

Heat until the sugar and the salt have dissolved but do not bring to the boil.

Cool slightly, fill each jar, seal and store.

Leave a day or two and then EAT!

I have no idea how long they'll last but given that they are full of vinegar, sugar and salt, I'd say quite some time. Also we refrigerate the jars after we open them.

Modifications

We're not big on cumin so we ditched it.
We have masses of garlic so we peel and slice a couple of cloves per jar.
We tried pepper corns but they didn't seem to do anything for the flavour.
We haven't tried dill yet because we don't have any but are going to grow some to add.
We cut down on the sugar for taste.

You know what else? I think there's no reason why this recipe wouldn't work as a pickler for all manner of things...beetroot, onions, carrots...

The only thing that I can't work out is if it's possible to reuse the liquid in another batch, it seems like such a waste to chuck it in the compost. Do you know?

So are you in a pickle?
Do you have a go-to recipe?
What are your fave things to pickle?
Do you think you'll try these?

Thanks Jules!

Happy pickling you guys

Love Kate

xoxo

How to make your own pickled beetroot

This beetroot pickle is so yummy and such a fave in our house that we try to have a jar in the fridge at all times.

We planted this bunch of beetroot way back in February. The ground is so cold at the moment that it acts a type of fridge, stopping it from growing but keeping it fresh for us to pick as we need.

Gather

1 biggish jar, sterilised 

7 fresh medium beetroots

1 and 1/2 (375ml) vinegar (we use apple cider vinegar)

1 and 1/4 tablespoons dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

Cook

1. Wash the beetroot and place them in a saucepan. Add enough cold water to cover the beetroot. Bring to the boil and cook until the beetroot are tender.

2. Drain beetroot reserving 1 and 1/4 cups (300ml) of the cooking liquid.

3. Once the beetroot are cool, cut off the tops and bottoms and peel.

4. Slice the beetroot and set aside.

5. Mix together the reserved cooking liquid and the vinegar in a saucepan and bring to the boil.

6. Add the mustard, salt and sugar to the saucepan. Stir occasionally and bring to the boil again. Remove from the heat.

7. Place beetroot slices in your jar and pour hot vinegar mixture over the top.

8. Screw on lid and refrigerate for a few days before use.

Eat!

Will last for a while after opened if refrigerated.


Tell me peeps, are you a fan of the beet?
What's your fave way to partake?

Happy new week!
Happy canned beets!

xx

How to make fruit leather ❤ SO YUM!!

Finally, after many months of supplying us with their delicious fruit, our apple trees are dropping their last few leaves and getting ready to go to sleep for the long, cold winter ahead. They've worked hard for us this year and we've eaten, shared and sold hundreds of kilos of fruit. Hundreds of kilos of crisp, tart, juicy, sweet delicious apples.

And now as winter sets in and makes herself comfortable, we're making plans to use up the last 20 or so crates we have left and to switch off the cool-room. Heritage varieties of apples are delicious in their season, but are not meant to last a long time.

So along with the stewing and juicing and eating fresh, we've been making apple leather. Constantly. And the girls have been eating it as quickly as we've been making it. It's totally delicious.

So I thought I'd share the simple recipe here just in case you wanted to make some too.

First wash, peel, core and slice your apples and place them in a saucepan on a low heat on the stove.

From what I've read, the rule is to add half a cup of water to the saucepan for every four cups of chopped fruit, but I just add a big glug here and there to make sure the mixture isn't too dry and isn't sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Stir in the juice of half a lemon and some cinnamon if you feel like it. Have a taste and see if you need to add some more.

Simmer and stir. Simmer and stir, until the fruit is soft and mashable.

Using a food processor or a blender, mash the cooked fruit until it is completely smooth and lump free. Like baby food.

Lay a sheet of baking paper over your oven trays.

Spread apple mixture evenly over one oven tray at a time until the mixture is about half a centimeter deep.

Place your trays in the oven at the lowest heat setting possible and leave the oven door slightly ajar. You might need to place a spoon in the oven door to keep it from closing but beware, the spoon will get very hot.

(This oven method is wonderful for us because our wood cooker is on 24/7, but a food dehydrator will work just as well.)

Keep the fruit leather trays in the oven for as long as it takes to completely dry out. We've found it best to leave the trays in the oven overnight as the process takes about eight to ten hours.

The apple leather is ready when it is no longer sticky or wet, but dry and leather-like.

Once your apple leather is ready and dry you can peel it off the baking paper and roll it up.

Keep the baking paper sheet and use it again on your next batch.

Cut the fruit leather into little bits.

Or chop it into cereal or salads.

We like to store the rolled up apple leathers in a glass, sealed container. To be honest, I have no idea how long it will keep as our girls eat it almost as quickly as we can make it.

What I do know is how great it feels to feed our family something we have made from the freshest, organic fruit, with no sugar and only two ingredients. No nasties, no numbers.

And there have been reports that even the kids who only eat junk food in their school lunches love it too, so it must be a winner. Yay!

OK, off you go, if you get some in the oven now, it'll be ready for their school lunches tomorrow.

I'm off to peel this lot.


See ya later - apple dehydrater!!

Let me know how you go, OK.

xxxx

How to make your own semi dried tomatoes.

It's Sunday night and we've just spent our entire weekend harvesting and preserving fruit and vegetables. It looks, smells and tastes a whole lot like autumn around here. It's deeeeeliscious!

One thing we seem to be making a lot of, one thing our family eat almost as quickly as we pick and make, are semi-dried tomatoes. On salads, in sandwiches, on toast, straight out of the jar...YUM!

When I posted a photo on instagram a few days ago, I got so many requests for a recipe that I thought I'd better get on with it and type one up.

So here they are, our semi-dried tomatoes, delicious and easy-peasy.

First you'll need to pick or gather or swap for or buy some tomatoes, a big bowl or colander full.

We're mostly using cherry pears because that's what's ripe, but this week we'll have some Romas and San Marzanos so we'll be using them next. Most tomato varieties would work well, but I think the more organic, the fresher, the more local to where you live, the better.

Slice all your tomatoes in half width wise.

Gather a few cloves of garlic, some rosemary and any other herbs you think would go well, salt and pepper and some good quality olive oil.

Put half the tomatoes in a bowl with some of each of the ingredients I listed above. Make sure you use enough olive oil to really coat the tomatoes, crush a few good sized cloves of garlic, chop some rosemary and salt and pepper to taste.

Get your hands in the bowl and mix it all up together.

Spread the tomatoes face up on a baking tray.

Set your oven to about 100-120. Pop the tomato trays in the oven and leave the door ever so slightly ajar. Before we had an oven that stayed open, we used to leave a spoon in the door, but be careful if you do this because the spoon will get super HOT! So please try and remember to use a tea towel to take it out when you need to.

Leave the tomatoes in the oven like this for several hours, or overnight. Check on them regularly.

Take the trays of tomatoes out of the oven and allow to cool when they have shrivelled up and taste like you want them to taste.

Phew, you've worked hard to get to this step, congratulations! You totally deserve a snack. Cut yourself a piece of bread, slather on some pesto and sprinkle on some semi dried tomatoes. So good!

Then three quarter fill your jars with your semi dried tomatoes and fill the rest up with some good quality olive oil.

But be warned - these semi dried tomatoes are highly addictive.

Bon appetit!


Tomorrow I think I might make a start on some tomato sauce.
And some more pickled beetroot.
How about you, what's your favourite way to enjoy or preserve the humble tommy?

Hope you have a happy and juicy week peeps.

xx

Mandarinalade (a recipe).

Well here we are in the deeeeeeeeeep, daaaaaaaaaark, depths of winter. The rain is thundering down on the roof, the creek is up and threatening to swallow the driveway and the paddocks are turning into rivers and dams.

And my girls are living on oranges and mandarines.

There are a few big bowls full on our kitchen table.

And mostly they're getting to the bottom of the bowls before we replenish them but sometimes there are a couple of soft, squishy ones left behind.

No one here really likes citrus cakes all that much so usually the dregs just get composted. But yesterday in the midst of my cooking frenzy, it occurred to me that I could make marmalade.

And so I did.

And all the recipes I looked at were super fiddly, so I made up my own.

It's simple pimple. Really.

Indi says it tastes like something you would get in a cafe. That's very high praise indeed.

I hope you like it as much as my gang do.

Mandarinalade.

You will need.
8 mandarines.
water.
juice of one lemon.
sugar.
jars. (mine made 4 and a bit of the 350ml jars above).

Get ready.
Start off by sterilising your jars with warm soapy water or in the dishwasher and then placing them in a warm oven to heat and dry.

Place a couple of small plates in the freezer.

Get set.
Place your mandarines, skin and all, in a small saucepan.
Add the juice of one lemon.
Add just enough water to cover the mandarines.
Place on the stove and bring to the boil and then bring down to a simmer.
Simmer the mandarines until they are soft and tender.

Remove from the heat and blend the water/mandarine/lemony mixture.
If you don't have a blender, you could chop the mandarines up.

Measure the mixture. (Mine was 4 cups).

Put the mixture back on the stove on a low heat.
Add the same amount (or a fraction less) of sugar. (I added 3.5 cups).
Stir until sugar dissolves.

Raise temperature to high and stir occasionally.
Watch for the pips that tend to float and remove.

Start testing for readiness after the mixture has been boiling for about 20 minutes.
Test for readiness by dropping a small spoonful of mixture onto a plate from the freezer and running your finger through it. When it wrinkles, the mandarinalaide is ready.

Turn the heat off.

Take a jar at a time from the oven and ladle in the mixture and then seal.

Allow to cool.

Go.
Spread thickly on scones, or fresh bread, or muffins.
Or of you are meat eater, Ro says he's going to try it on duck tonight.
Whatever you do, enjoy.
I know my guys are, they're onto the second jar already.

What are you up to?
What are your fruit bowls full of?
Are you preserving?
Does marmalade make you think of motel breakfasts?
Are you going to make some mandarinalade?

Bye!

Blackberry & yoghurt cake. A recipe.

It's blackberry season here in southern Australia. And what that traditionally means for us landholders and farmers, is that for the next few weeks we can stop stressing about this prickly weed that takes over everything, and start enjoying her fruits. For a short amount of time we can reap the rewards of this crop that we didn't pay for, or spend time weeding, fertilising or maintaining.

The blackberry fruit is like something for nothing. Like a thank you for putting up with it.

And so for a few weeks of every year, we get about with scratches up and down our arms and purple stained fingers. And during this time, there are always bowls of berries on the kitchen bench. There is always a big heavy pot simmering on the stove. There are saucers for testing jam readiness in the freezer. There are jars and jar lids being sterilised in the dish washer and in the oven. And there are always piles and stacks of jars of fresh, just bottled blackberry jam.

Every year I make jam. Hundreds of 300ml jars. Some for us, some for family and friends and some to be sold at farmers' markets. This year I've made about 30 so far.

But this year I've got a bee in my bonnet about expanding my blackberry horizons. This year I want to make blackberry other things too. Blackberry everythings.

It's just the start of the season, but so far I have made blackberry cordial with this recipe.

And blackberry and yoghurt cake.

This cake has been such a success that I've made it twice already. It's just so moist and delicious.
And most importantly, it's super dooper simple to bake.

Blackberry and yoghurt cake

• A small bowl of blackberries.
• A cup of yoghurt.
• A third of a cup of oil.
• Half a cup of sugar.
• One lemon (juice and zest).
• Two eggs.
• One and 2/3 cups of self raising flour.

Preheat your oven to 190 degrees.

Line a cake tin with baking paper.

Measure and then whisk together the yoghurt, oil, sugar, lemon juice and zest until all combined.

Add the two eggs and whisk until combined.

Add self raising flour and keep mixing until you've made a smooth batter.

Pour a layer of mixture into your lined tin.

Sprinkle the blackberries over the mixture.

Pour the rest of the mixture out to cover the blackberries.

Put your tin in the over to cook for one hour or until the top of the cake is golden.

Pop the kettle on and enjoy a piece. Yum!

Next up for me is blackberry ice cream I think.

And then...who knows.

Do you have a favourite berry recipe?

A blackberry recipe suggestion?

Do you pick them?

Do you like them?

If you are in the other hemisphere, do you miss them?
Do you ever cook recipes you read on blogs?

Happy cake baking and happy, happy new week. xx

Eat. (pie pastry recipe)

One thing we talked a lot about while we were away was food.

We grow and sell organic food for a passion and for a living and are rather obsessed with the stuff. The fresher, the closer to your kitchen it was grown, the fewer nasties used to grow it, the better.

But still we are aware that unless you prioritise food, the more often you end up taking short cuts and finding yourself with some not so great food habits. I think that's what happened to us before we left. We were so tired from looking after the farm and growing great food to send off to other people, that we ended up putting some not so great food on the table for our family.

So while we were away we resolved to come home and to prioritise our family's eating habits. To grow and pick and cook and prepare from the kitchen garden/farm as often as possible. To prepare from scratch as often as possible. To eat local and organic and in season as often as possible. To include the kids in the process from start to finish no matter the messy consequences as often as possible. To experiment. And to start broadening our food horizons with new flavours and tastes and ingredients as often as possible.

And you know what? I think we are succeeding.

We have been making all our own bread and pasta and pastries and doughs. We have picked and used berries and lettuces and herbs and beans and garlic and onions and eggs and plums from the garden. We bought and swapped masses of produce at the farmer's market. We have introduced a few new menu items and experimented with some new to us flavours. And the girls have been involved and made a mess and had fun.

And I think making it pretty has made a big difference too. Using lovely crockery and cutlery. Having flowers on the table. Making a meal an event rather than a rush. Spending time as a family eating and talking (not with your mouth full) and enjoying each other.

To be honest I am dreading school going back. I am not good at rushing. A huge, important aim for me this year is to continue on with this food plan. Maybe we'll have to start menu planning. Maybe I'll have to get more organised. I think I can. I hope I can.

RECIPE: Easy Peasy Pie Pastry.

Gathered from lots of recipes, adapted over time.
Used for any sweet, fruity pie filling.

225g of flour
140g butter, cold, cubed
90g sugar
Zest of one lemon
2 egg yolks

Chuck flour, butter, sugar and zest in your food processor and mix.
Add yolks and a drop of water and mix to make into a dough.
(I love that moment when the mixture binds and becomes a smooth dough).

Roll half of this dough out to line a greased metal pie tin and pop the other half in the fridge.
Pack your cool filling tightly into the pie bottom.
Paint the edge of your pie bottom with an egg wash mixture of one yolk and a splash of milk.
Get the remaining dough from the fridge and roll it out on your floured bench.
Pop it on top of the pie or cut it into strips and weave them like we did.
Use any remaining dough to decorate the pie.
Press the top onto the bottom around the edges.
Egg wash the top.
Cut air holes in the top if it is sealed.

Cook.
Our rhubarb/berry pie was cooked at 150c for about 50 minutes.

Breathe in those yummy pie smells. Admire. Get out some pretty plates. Eat with yogurt or cream. Enjoy.


Are you good eaters? Do you menu plan? Are you adventurous? Do you think about the ingredients? Are you trying to be better like me? Could you eat salad every day like me? Have you made/eaten anything amazing lately? What are you eating today?

See ya! x