Defying The Odds

For some reason, as we were moving up here to Stirling from the Adelaide Plains we forgot to ask about the rainfall. In the ensuing 6 years we have discovered the bleeding obvious - it RAINS & RAINS & RAINS!

In fact Stirling is the wettest place in South Australia, receiving an average of 1200mm. (47 inches) of rain per year - more than twice the average of Adelaide. The mean Summer temperatures are about 5C. (9F.) lower than in Adelaide, attested by the plummeting thermoter in my car as I climb the Freeway home from the city in the late arvo.

It also explains why Stirling is often recommended as a good place to lob for new arrived Pommie migrants, again attested by a recent conversation overhead at the Stirling Chicken Shop between the owners Zack, Luke & Jim & a couple of newly transplanted Pommie locals. 'For the 50th time we don't have cod & chips on the menu, & just because it's called butterfish doesn't mean it's deep fried in butter!!!' Our Winters too are decidedly chilly, with average maximum temp. across June/July/August & often beyond, of a nippy 11C. (52F.)

So I reckon these pics of our Kaffir lime tree & red hot chillies are a minor miracle, seeing as we have just had another rubbish Summer, following on from last year, where I wore a cardie right through January! The kaffir was brought up from our old house at Unley & has amazed us with it's vigorous growth up here in Chillsville. It's now over 7' tall & continues to provide the entire neighbourhood & most of my clients with their regular supply of leaves for Thai cooking.

The recipe below is one of my favourite ways to use up the chillies & lime leaves & although it's very fiddly, is well worth the effort. It's a Saturday arvo job & after a good simmer in the sauce, the meat from the short ribs just falls from the bones.

Thanks to you all for your excellent messages of sympathy & support re the dodgy knee. I'm feeling a lot better today & managed to drive to Foodland & shuffle around with the trolley. Back to work tomorrow for a very big day, more of that to come. Suffice to say, that metaphorical train I've been on is just about to pull into the Station big time!

Red curry of beef with green peppercorns, wild ginger and holy basil (from the gorgeous
Martin Boetz of Longrain)
Serves 6
Prep time: 45 mins. Cook time: 3 hrs 30 mins (plus cooling)

Ingredients
150gm. coconut oil
1kg. meaty beef short ribs, (Martin uses boneless but I prefer them with the bones) cut into 4cm. pieces (my butcher Chris is always happy to do this for me, bless him!)
500ml. (2 cups) chicken stock, brought to the simmer
300ml. coconut cream, brought to the simmer
50ml. fish sauce, or to taste
1 tablespoon palm sugar, or to taste
1 tablespoon wild ginger (which is labelled as krachai in and is available in jars from the Asian grocer)
3-4 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
1 long red chilli, deseeded & thinly sliced
1 stalk fresh green peppercorns (generally hard to find so I substitute a dessertspoon of the preserved ones from the jar, sorry Martin)
1 cup each (firmly packed) holy basil leaves (Stirling Fruit Shop is now stocking them - yay!)

Red curry paste
1 red onion, roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
4 coriander roots, scraped and cleaned
(4cm piece) fresh galangal, thinly sliced (easy to find these days, hooray!)
50gm. smoked trout, coarsely flaked (MOTH scoffs off the remainder in a flash on a cracker bikkie with a slurp of horseradish cream!)
10 long dried red chillies, seeds removed, soaked in warm water for 15 mins, drained
1 lemongrass stalk, white part only, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon dried shrimp paste, roasted in a piece of aluminium foil in the oven for a few minutes until 'fragrant' (I keep ours stored in an old Moccona coffee jar which MOTH has stuck a label on that reads OO PONG Shrimp Paste!)
1 tablespoon white or black peppercorns, coarsely ground in the little mortar & pestle (no need to bring the Big Daddy job out for this!)

Cucumber relish
200ml rice wine vinegar
150gm caster sugar
2 coriander roots, scraped and cleaned
1 pickled garlic head (again picked up in a jar from the Asian grocer)
1 Lebanese cucumber, diced
5cm piece of fresh ginger, cut into julienne
1 red shallot, thinly sliced
1/2 long red chilli, deseeded & julienned
1/2 cup loosely packed coriander leaves

Method
1. For red curry paste, pound onion, garlic, coriander roots and galangal in a large mortar and pestle to a coarse paste, then transfer to a food processor. Pound remaining ingredients (except peppercorns) with 1 tbsp sea salt to a coarse paste, then add to processor or blender and process to a smooth paste, stir through pepper. Makes 250ml. (stores in the fridge for 5-6 days & freezes really well in a little glass jar clearly labelled)

2. For cucumber relish, combine vinegar, sugar, coriander root and garlic in a small saucepan, bring to the boil, remove from heat, strain and cool to room temperature. Combine cucumber, ginger, shallot, chilli and coriander leaves in a bowl, add vinegar mixture and set aside. Makes about 300ml.

3. Melt coconut oil in a large saucepan over low-medium heat, add curry paste and 1 teaspoon sea salt, stir until fragrant and roasted (10-15 mins). Add beef, cook until sealed (2-3 mins). Add stock and coconut cream, cook until fragrant (2-3 mins). Season to taste with a slurp of fish sauce and palm sugar, cook over low heat until meat is tender (2½-3 hrs), adding more stock if necessary. Add ginger, lime leaves, chilli and peppercorns and season to taste – it should be hot, salty and sweet. Add basil, simmer for 5 mins, then serve scattered with kaffir lime and chilli, with steamed rice and cucumber relish to the side.

Image & recipe: Gourmet Traveller

Another Week Away

A busy weekend here at The Hedge has seen me dashing out to walk puppy Lulu amid all the other stuff on the agenda. I thought I'd give her some variety, so took her over to the other side of Stirling to show her my favourite set of entrance gates to one of the big estates.

No house to show her (or you) as it's set so far back from sticky beaks like me, but puppy was very impressed!

Sometimes I must walk around our place in a daze, 'cos when I went out to see how MOTH's garden terrace rock steps project was proceeding today, this was staring me in the face. It sure adds some glorious colour to our garden.

I'm off to Melbourne tomorrow to work. There's an Asia Pacific work conference on for the week. Don't really want to go, but there are a couple of side benefits.

Work's been generous enough to book me a suite at the new Metropol Hotel, really far too very swish & swanky for moi, but I'll take it while it's being offered thanks!

Lovely en-suite, unlike the wreck we currently have which dear Hedgies, is now sans a loo, thanks to a nasty incident involving a careless Plumber recently. Russell the Plumber was still swanning himself in the south of France with the profits he made from 2 days of light work here in the Bathroom-From-Heaven a year ago, so couldn't attend. His recommendation was not up to Russell's standards, & in the process of fixing a delicate issue with the said loo, dislodged it from it's base, sending it rocketing skywards. What goes up, must come down & according to MOTH, who was watching from the doorway, it came down alright, smashing into numerous pieces on the floor. MOTH then made the following big statement to the wide-eyed Plumber, which subsequently earnt him 2 nights in the sin bin aka the Living Room sofa. 'Don't worry mate, Millie will clean it all up when she gets home from work.' He reckons he's never seen a tradie scarper off to his truck so quickly!

I have a dinner date with my favourite Melbourne sister-in-law on Wednesday night. We are going to enjoy a night out at Neil Perry's Spice Temple.

I hope to be enjoying this.............

............followed by this. And of course it will be lovely to catch up with the Melbourne sons & hear all the latest goss. So off to pack a bag - see you soon.

Images: Moi, Crown Metropol & Spice Temple

Buona Pasqua

I've been feeling decidedly Italian this week. On the drive home from Melbourne, MOTH & I were reminiscing about the best food we've eaten together over the years. One stand out was a wedding anniversary celebration at the wonderful Gennaro's (R.I.P.) at Parkside. Gennaro presented us with Roast Capretto (Baby Goat) lovingly prepared by his Mamma the sous chef. It was one of those moments in life that you want time to stand still & never move on. I've managed to find a recipe that looks mighty good from chef Scott Conant - Moist Roasted Baby Goat (Capretto) with Peas, Fingerling Potatoes and Shallots here.

As Greek Orthodox Easter co-incides with the Christian calendar this year, goat has been plentiful in the market this week. So it's on the menu here at The Hedge this Easter weekend. I have the time & the enthusiasm - what a luxury.

So Buona Pasqua to you all dear Hedgies. It's the Easter break, so go enjoy.

Image: Not On The High Street

It's My Turn

Chocolate Truffle Tart

MOTH took great pleasure last night in reminding me that it's my turn to do Valentine's Day dinner this year - oh joy. I asked him if he had any special culinary requests & was surprised when he said 'Chocolate Mills.....dark, rich, bitter chocolate.' As neither of us are great chocolate eaters, it seems that a year of the Biggest Loser diet regime has left him feeling deprived. Here's what I'm mulling over for the big splurge on Monday evening.

Chocolate Souffles

Chocolate Panna Cotta Layer Cake

Mexican Chocolate Pots de Creme

Alain Ducasse's Bitter Chocolate Tart

Rich Chocolate Mousse

Triple Chocolate Praline Tart

Bitter Chocolate Jellies with White Chocolate Creme Fraiche

Bumble Ginger Roulade

Chocolate-Coated Panforte Ice-Cream Balls

Chocolate Strawberry Layer Cake

I'm sort of leaning toward something well contained with little/no leftovers for him to pig out on for the rest of the week. So the bitter chocolate jellies or those yummy panforte icecream balls will probably get the Millie nod. It's the weekend, so go enjoy!

Images 1,2,6,9 Gourmet Image 3 Epicurious Images 4,5 Food and Wine Images 7,8,10 Gourmet Traveller Image 11 Sophisticated Gourmet

Aussie Treat

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!

LITTLE LAMINGTONS

Ingredients
125gm. softened butter, chopped
165gm. (3/4 cup) caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
185gm. (1 1/4 cups) plain flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup milk
250gm. (1 3/4 cups) shredded coconut

For the icing
40gm. soft butter
500gm. (3 1/4 cups) icing sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
50gm. Dutch cocoa
20mls. Cognac
140mls. boiling water

Method
Preheat oven to 190C.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Stir in combined sifted flour and baking powder alternating with milk and stir until smooth. Spoon mixture into a greased and lined square 23cm cake tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Stand in tin for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool. Wrap in plastic wrap and store for 1 day.

For the icing
Combine all ingredients with 140mls. boiling water and mix until smooth.
Cut cake into teeny-tiny 3cm. squares and dip each one into the icing using a wooden skewer, then roll in the coconut.
Place lamingtons on a wire rack for 1-2 hours or until dry. Then pop them into small confectionary papers.
Made cute & tiny they are sublime as after-dinner treats. Stored in an airtight container at room temperature they are OK for a couple of days, but honestly, why would you want to! Makes about 40.

Image & recipe: Cuisine

Flip Flip

MOTH bought a huge whole Ocean Trout on the weekend, & with his normal surgical precision style, filleted it out giving me 12 big plump scrumptious cutlets. Wanting to do something a little different with them last night, I gave this recipe from a very old issue of NZ House & Garden a whirl & it was a Winner! 5 Millie & MOTH stars.

SPAGHETTI FRITTATA WITH OCEAN TROUT SALAD

250g. dry spaghetti pasta
Olive Oil
2 French shallots, finely diced (not Spring Onions)
2 cloved garlic, minced
5 large eggs
1 cup freshly grated parmesan
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
Salad:
2 cups baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly torn
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium red capsicum (Bell Pepper) julienned into strips
1 spring onion, finely sliced
2 pieces pf Ocean Trout poached or lightly pan fried, broken into chunky pieces (I'm sure you could substitute Atlantic Salmon for the Trout)
For the dressing:
really good quality olive oil & a splash of balsamic vinegar

• Cook pasta to directions, refresh under running cold water & set aside.
• Heat olive oil in large, heavy non-stick frying pan & quickly cook down French shallots & garlic on medium until just soft.
• Beat eggs lightly in a really large bowl. Add cool spaghetti, shallot & garlic mix & parmesan & mix well. Season to taste.
• Throw some olive oil in the frying pan & pour in the spaghetti mixture. Cook over a medium heat until the base is crispy golden, about 5-6 minutes.
• Grab a white serving platter, loosen the frittata around the edges with a spatula, get your MOTH or similar to flip the frittata onto the platter. Cheer when the whole thing comes out intact!
• Chuck some more olive oil into the frying pan, heat up & carefully slide the frittata back into the pan to cook the other side until it's golden & crispy too. Remove from heat & do the whole sliding the thing back onto the serving platter & cheer again if successful!
• Combine salad ingredients, whisk the olive oil & balsamic together, drizzle over salad & toss well.
• Serve the salad piled on top of the frittata & then cut into wedges to serve.
• Yummo!

Image: NZ H&G

Sensational Semifreddo

Kneeling down, cleaning out the fire in the Sitting Room again this morning, lugging in the wood & resetting & lighting it, I had an overwhelming feeling that I'M OVER WINTER!!! I want to wear only one layer of clothing, chuck out the boots in favour of bare feet & eat light, summery food. And what I really want more than anything is icecream. I don't have a flash icecream maker, instead I just follow on from my Mum, who made delicious icecream each Summer in metal trays. She would lift them out of the freezer after a few hours, their yummy contents sitting happily in their glistening containers, with just a hint of ice starting to form on the sides. I remember standing in the kitchen, excitedly hopping around from one foot to the other, while Mum scooped the icecream into little square wafer icecream cups. These days Mum's creations are best described as Semifreddo, which literally means 'semi-cold.'

Gourmet Traveller magazine says about Semifreddo 'While ice-cream uses many of the same ingredients as semifreddo – egg yolks, sugar, cream – the technique for making it is different. For ice-cream, you make a crème anglaise, or custard, by creaming the yolks and sugar, then combining them with hot cream (and milk). This is cooked slowly, gently and with constant stirring until it thickens; the mixture is then cooled and frozen in an ice-cream machine.'

'In contrast, semifreddo doesn't require churning & consists of a sabayon and a roughly equal quantity of whisked cream. Its mousse-like texture means it doesn’t freeze as solidly as ice-cream. Semifreddo is typically presented as a frozen terrine, but it can just as easily be scooped as you would serve ice-cream.'

Here's their basic Semifreddo recipe.
Serves 10
Cooking Time/Prep Time 30 mins, cook 35 mins (plus freezing)
Ingredients
9 egg yolks
250gm caster sugar
Scraped seeds of 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla paste
600mls. thickened cream
250gm crème fraîche
Method
1. Line a 2 litre-capacity mould with plastic wrap or baking paper.
2. Whisk yolks, sugar, vanilla seeds and 1 tbsp water in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until mixture is tripled in volume, thick and pale and holds a ribbon (4-5 minutes).
3. Transfer to an electric mixer and whisk until cooled to room temperature (2-3 minutes).
4. Meanwhile, whisk cream and crème fraîche in a bowl until soft peaks form.
5. Carefully fold into egg mixture.
6. Spoon into container, cover, freeze until firm (6 hours-overnight). Makes about 2 litres.

Once the sabayon is cooled, then the fun part can begin. Add your desired flavourings, these could be chocolate and hazelnut, or you could fold though some puréed fruit, or some spices.

While Mum's recipe was invariably vanilla, here's a few slightly more sophisicated ideas to whip you into a heavenly Semifreddo frenzy!

Turkish Delight Semifreddo with Fresh Strawberries & Raspeberries

Honey & Chocolate Semifreddo

Christmas Pudding Semifreddo

Passionfruit Semifreddo with Mango & Raspberries

Strawberries & Cream Semifreddo

Chocolate, Fig & Hazelnut Semifreddo

Pistachio Nougat Semifreddo

Double Chocolate Brownie Semifreddo

Raspberry Semifreddo

Caramel Semifreddo with Salted Maple Pecans

White Chocolate & Amaretto Semifreddo

Meyer Lemon Semifreddo

Tangerine Semifreddo with Salted Almond Brittle

Images 1 - 7 Gourmet Traveller
Images 8 - 11 Donna Hay

Image 12 - Martha Stewart

Images 13-14 Epicurious

New Beginnings

My best friends move away on Monday. To spend some time in a lovely house in the country, some time in a little pied-à-terre in the City, but most of all to be unencumbered. To be able to travel whenever & wherever they want. To spend precious time with their children & grandchildren interstate & overseas. So Sunday there's one very big last hurrah at their wonderful old house & then off to begin their new life. They'll be much biting of bottom lips, as they made us all promise NO TEARS! For those of us who love them dearly, that will be an impossibility. I'll be making up a batch or 3 of my favourite Kourabiedes to ease the trauma (theirs & mine!) of the move!!

Effie's Kourabiedes (Greek Walnut Shortbreads)

250 gm. unsalted butter - softened to room temperature.
110 gm. (2/3 cup) icing (powdered) sugar, sifted (plus extra for dusting).
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
1 egg yolk.
300 gm. (2 cups) plain (all purpose) flour, sifted with 1/2 teaspoon baking powder.
100 gm. walnuts, finely chopped.
1 tablespoon orange flower water (available from the Indian Grocer's).

1. Using an electric mixer, beat butter until pale and creamy, then add icing sugar, vanilla and egg yolk and beat until well combined. Fold in combined sifted flour and baking powder, then add chopped walnuts and stir to combine.

2. Roll half the mixture into small balls (approx.1 tablespoon) & the other half roll into 5cm. lengths to form into crescents. Place a mixture of the crescents & balls onto baking paper-lined oven trays and bake at 160C. for 12-15 mins. or until just starting to colour.

3.Transfer shortbreads to wire racks and, while still warm, sprinkle with orange flower water and dust with icing sugar, then leave to cool. When completely cool, dust generously with icing sugar. Walnut shortbreads will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Image 1: Flickr 2. Gourmet Traveller