Plate
Paddock to Plate is a term used on TV programs and in city restaurants, it's almost laughable considering the preservatives added or gas filled rooms used to overcome time and reduce damage in transport and logistic chains getting food to market. On this farm I pick my food when I need it from the garden, orchard or forest and carry it to the kitchen for preparation. 'Source to Main Course' is generally a 12 to 16 minute walk around the farm.
Example:
I'm no chef, until the age of 13 I lived on a big farm a long way out of town and my mum cooked meat a 6 veg every night from that farm. We never had take-away and mum never kept any processed foods. The type of meat may have changed between what we caught or killed at the time but as for variety, that was it. Even when we moved to the city it was the same until I left home right after school and that's when I finally started my food journey and the discovery of flavours - Italian, Thai, French - how long had all this variety been going on I wondered. Having a high flying corporate job travelling and living in a major city I really made up for lost time with flavours.
Now I'm back in the country and it's meat and vegetables again - nooooooooooo Well I mean no it's not, having learned flavours and a few techniques the trick now is to build a set of recipes that substitute out the things I can't produce with the things that I can and have a seasonal approach to cooking so produce is not wasted.
Here is a typical morning visiting the vegetable garden, 2 types of tomatoes, rosellas, rosemary, oregano, leeks, fennel, basil, sage, beans and garlic chives. The lemons, tomarillo and passionfruit are from the orchard.
Just using some of this I made;
1 tub of tamarillo ice cream
3 preserved jars of tamarillo & rosella jam
4 preserved jars of tomato and passionfruit jam
4 tubs of a vegetable pasta sauce base for freezing
4 desert moulds of chilli chocolate in case someone drops in
6 packets of mixed beans, blanched and ready for freezing
So country cooking is not about making pretty dishes with expensive ingredients like the TV Chefs do it's about rewarding yourself with dishes that remind you of the hard work you have done during the day. Preserving and pickling are techniques that are essential to learn in preservation as is making jams and sauces to use the fruit and vegetables when in season.
Visitors to the farm get the experience of hunting and collection foods, understanding their growth and development and learning some new ideas on how to use ingredients. Here is an example of making your own Chinese 5 spice.
Outdoor Pizza Oven - Pizza, I love it. I love the whole experience of making it, cooking with friends and washing it down with wine and laughter. I love the feel of making my own pizza dough a kneading it until smooth then leaving it to rise and seeing the results. I even love lighting the wood fired oven and sitting and watching the flames. (Yes I built the oven). Coming from the city and living 50 meters from the world's best pizza shop I became addicted to the culinary delight. Like good coffee I could not live without pizza.
Ingredients - 220g soft unsalted butter, 180g caster sugar, 3 eggs, 200g self-raising flour, 90g plain flour, Rind of 1 lime, finely grated, 1/4 cup lime juice, 1/3 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped
Frosting - 200g cream cheese, 110g caster sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1-2 tbsps lime juice, 1/3 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chop.
Pre - heat the oven to 170c. beat butter and sugar in the mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time (make sure they are room temperature) beating well after each addition. Stir in the sifted flours, rind, juice and stir until combined. Fold in the pistachios and spoon the mixture into a greased and base lines 13by23cm loaf pan. Bake for 60-65 minutes and test when ready with a skewer.
For the frosting, process cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract in a food processor until smooth. Add lime juice and process through. Spread frosting on the cake and sprinkle with chopped pistachio and grated lime skin to taste.
Ingredients; 1 cup of berry and rhubarb jam, 140g ground almonds, 140 grams of melted butter, 140 grams of caster sugar, 140 grams of self raising flour, 2 eggs, tea spoon of vanilla extract then flaked almonds on top and icing sugar to serve.
Throw flour, sugar, almonds, melted butter, eggs and vanilla into a mixing bowl and blend well. Then divide the mixture into two equal lots. Use the first half to create a layer in a 20cm cake tin. Put the berry jam in blobs over this layer and twirl. The batter is quite sticky so when your putting the second layer on you can just use two spoons to drop it all over. Sprinkle cut almonds over the top and put it in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for around 50 minutes.
Icing; 1/2 block cream cheese, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 3 cups icing sugar, 1 to 2 tsp warm water. Optional - grated lemon rind
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. I tend to think the next step is about speed rather than accuracy. I just throw all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix until its all wet looking, lumps are fine but you don't want to over mix it and take all the air out of it. When mixed toss it in a bread tray (those long thin thingys) a put it in the oven for about 45 minutes or until a skewer no longer sticks in the middle.
The icing is the same - how easy, just mix until smooth and use a knife to put it on then grate some lemon skin over the top.
Ingredients;
200g (1 1/3 cups) plain flour, 150g (1 cup) self-raising flour, 285g (1 1/3 cups) caster sugar, 150g butter, melted, cooled, 3 Eggs, 100ml milk, 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind, 1 tablespoon of finely cut fresh dill.
For me I just mix the dry ingredients together in one bowl, then the wet ingredients together in another bowl the combine the two together in the mixer, slow speed and just long enough to combine smoothly – about two minutes.Then into a cake tin and quickly into a pre - heated oven at 180 degrees for about 45 minutes.
I'm no chef, until the age of 13 I lived on a big farm a long way out of town and my mum cooked meat a 6 veg every night from that farm. We never had take-away and mum never kept any processed foods. The type of meat may have changed between what we caught or killed at the time but as for variety, that was it. Even when we moved to the city it was the same until I left home right after school and that's when I finally started my food journey and the discovery of flavours - Italian, Thai, French - how long had all this variety been going on I wondered. Having a high flying corporate job travelling and living in a major city I really made up for lost time with flavours.
Now I'm back in the country and it's meat and vegetables again - nooooooooooo Well I mean no it's not, having learned flavours and a few techniques the trick now is to build a set of recipes that substitute out the things I can't produce with the things that I can and have a seasonal approach to cooking so produce is not wasted.
Just using some of this I made;
1 tub of tamarillo ice cream
3 preserved jars of tamarillo & rosella jam
4 preserved jars of tomato and passionfruit jam
4 tubs of a vegetable pasta sauce base for freezing
4 desert moulds of chilli chocolate in case someone drops in
6 packets of mixed beans, blanched and ready for freezing
So country cooking is not about making pretty dishes with expensive ingredients like the TV Chefs do it's about rewarding yourself with dishes that remind you of the hard work you have done during the day. Preserving and pickling are techniques that are essential to learn in preservation as is making jams and sauces to use the fruit and vegetables when in season. Visitors to the farm get the experience of hunting and collection foods, understanding their growth and development and learning some new ideas on how to use ingredients. Here is an example of making your own Chinese 5 spice.
Pizza - wine - music - conversation - laughter. Just makes the world a better place
Lemonade Scones (My Mum's recipe)
2 cups Self Raising flour
pinch of salt
2/3 thirds of a cup of cream
75 ml or a 3rd of a cup of cold lemonade
Put all ingredients into a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until just mixed, don't over work it.
Roll out of the bowl onto a board and quickly shape your scones, Do Not knead the dough just roughly shape your scones.
Use a brush and lightly milk wash the tops of the scones, put them onto a greased oven tray and put them into the hot oven.
15 minutes will be about right with the oven on 200, just wait until the tops are just starting to brow. Take out and rest until cool and they will firm up a little more as they cool. whipped cream and a sweet jam is a great finish with them.
2 cups Self Raising flour
pinch of salt
2/3 thirds of a cup of cream
75 ml or a 3rd of a cup of cold lemonade
Put all ingredients into a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until just mixed, don't over work it.
Roll out of the bowl onto a board and quickly shape your scones, Do Not knead the dough just roughly shape your scones.
Use a brush and lightly milk wash the tops of the scones, put them onto a greased oven tray and put them into the hot oven.
15 minutes will be about right with the oven on 200, just wait until the tops are just starting to brow. Take out and rest until cool and they will firm up a little more as they cool. whipped cream and a sweet jam is a great finish with them.
Lime and Pistachio Cake
Ingredients - 220g soft unsalted butter, 180g caster sugar, 3 eggs, 200g self-raising flour, 90g plain flour, Rind of 1 lime, finely grated, 1/4 cup lime juice, 1/3 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped
Frosting - 200g cream cheese, 110g caster sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1-2 tbsps lime juice, 1/3 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chop.
Pre - heat the oven to 170c. beat butter and sugar in the mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time (make sure they are room temperature) beating well after each addition. Stir in the sifted flours, rind, juice and stir until combined. Fold in the pistachios and spoon the mixture into a greased and base lines 13by23cm loaf pan. Bake for 60-65 minutes and test when ready with a skewer.
For the frosting, process cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract in a food processor until smooth. Add lime juice and process through. Spread frosting on the cake and sprinkle with chopped pistachio and grated lime skin to taste.
Moist Berry Jam and Almond Cake
Ingredients; 1 cup of berry and rhubarb jam, 140g ground almonds, 140 grams of melted butter, 140 grams of caster sugar, 140 grams of self raising flour, 2 eggs, tea spoon of vanilla extract then flaked almonds on top and icing sugar to serve.
Throw flour, sugar, almonds, melted butter, eggs and vanilla into a mixing bowl and blend well. Then divide the mixture into two equal lots. Use the first half to create a layer in a 20cm cake tin. Put the berry jam in blobs over this layer and twirl. The batter is quite sticky so when your putting the second layer on you can just use two spoons to drop it all over. Sprinkle cut almonds over the top and put it in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for around 50 minutes.
Carrot Cake (using ugly carrots up)
Ingredients; 2 cups plain flour , 1/2 cup castor sugar, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, pinch of salt and another for the chef, 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 eggs, 2 egg whites, a good swig of vanilla extract, 3 cups grated carrots lightly fried in butter
Icing; 1/2 block cream cheese, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 3 cups icing sugar, 1 to 2 tsp warm water. Optional - grated lemon rind
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. I tend to think the next step is about speed rather than accuracy. I just throw all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix until its all wet looking, lumps are fine but you don't want to over mix it and take all the air out of it. When mixed toss it in a bread tray (those long thin thingys) a put it in the oven for about 45 minutes or until a skewer no longer sticks in the middle.
The icing is the same - how easy, just mix until smooth and use a knife to put it on then grate some lemon skin over the top.
Lemon and Dill Cake
I came up with this cake after cooking fish the night before with slices of Lemon and fresh Dill wrapped around the fish and oven baked. I started wondering if I could get the same flavor into a cake – it worked.Ingredients;
For me I just mix the dry ingredients together in one bowl, then the wet ingredients together in another bowl the combine the two together in the mixer, slow speed and just long enough to combine smoothly – about two minutes.Then into a cake tin and quickly into a pre - heated oven at 180 degrees for about 45 minutes.
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