Just popped out for a sec......

So, after just over a month of no Gourmet Goddess updates I decided that I really needed to check back in and let you know that all is well and that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Life has been insanely hectic over the past few weeks, with work and everything else. This has meant not a huge amount of blog worthy cooking and even when there was, no time to sit down and write up anything that might have been of interest. Food at our place has been back to basics, with a few notable exceptions, which I did snap pictures of with Instagram on my mobile phone - so here are the highlights to bring you up to speed.

I acquired an almost new bread machine from a friend who discovered she can't eat bread anymore (boo!) but who passed her bread maker on to me (yay!) I have now gotten into the habit of baking bread every Saturday morning. Have experimented with a few different recipes for a basic loaf and think I will venture into the realm of grainy breads and fruit loaves soon. A few weekends ago we had some bread left over by Sunday morning, so I decided to make us a batch of French Toast with my day old, homemade bread. This loaf was made with organic unbleached flour. I teamed the golden bread up with some fresh blueberries, raspberries and strawberries - and maple syrup of course. It was a delicious treat and the best French Toast I had ever made. The home baked bread was a real winner.

French Toast and Mixed Berries

Made with GG's Home Baked Bread

A road trip down to Canberra one weekend yielded an esky full of fresh produce that we picked up in our travels - including a beautiful big pumpkin, organic garlic, berry vinegar, locally made sausages, chicken terrine, organic beef mince and a small pheasant. Although I have eaten pheasant a few times before, I had never cooked it and thought it was time I had a go. I decided to go with a very old technique for cooking game, which was to soak it in milk overnight before roasting it. To the milk I added fresh thyme and bay leaves from my garden, along with crushed peppercorns and juniper berries. The pheasant soaked in the milk for a good 12 hours, then I drained the milk off, patted the pheasant dry and roasted it with seasonal vegetables. I made a gravy with the pan juices and served it as a traditional roast.

The pheasant was not a large one - just under a kilogram - and it came already plucked but with the head still intact. I removed the head to roast it, although if I was being really old school it would have been left on during the roasting process. The enzymes in the milk help to tenderise the flesh, and the herbs and juniper I added gave it a lovely herbal aroma and flavour. The meat was not overly gamey and came out quite soft and juicy, with the exception of the legs where the meat was darker and not as tender. This is almost always the case with game, or any meat for that matter - the parts of the animal that do most of the work tend to be tougher than the less active parts. The flavour though, was fantastic. I am a fan of game meat - rabbits, pigeon, duck - and I was very happy with my first attempt at cooking pheasant.

Roasted Pheasant with Bay, Thyme and Juniper

Served with Autumn Vegetables

Fast forward to this week, where my work colleagues and I hosted Australia's Biggest Morning Tea, which raises money for The Cancer Council - a very worthy cause. My contribution was a couple of dozen rather kitsch looking pink cupcakes. The cake and icing was spiked with lemon, which gave a little freshness to them and balanced out the sweetness. I went a bit mental with the decorations - lots of sparkly stuff and coloured baubles and flowers. Thought a bit of whimsy in the workplace can't be a bad thing! They were a big hit, and along with the contributions from my workmates who baked their favourite recipes to share, raised over $500 for The Cancer Council. Not bad for some tea and cake!

Pink-a-Rama!

My fundraising cupcakes - 

for Australia's Biggest Morning Tea

 

So, what is in store in the coming weeks? Well, tomorrow our bookclub meets and we have decided that instead of our usual Sunday afternoon gathering with coffee and cakes we would do a Saturday version and everyone would bring along a dish so we could have dinner and some wine instead. It's my turn to host so I will have a full house Saturday evening. The weather is quite chilly, so my contribution will be a leg of sustainably produced local lamb from Feather & Bone - my favourite meat supplier here in Sydney. They are fussy about how their meat is raised and produced, and boy does it show in the quality of the produce. I'm thinking I might season the meat with garlic, lemon thyme from the garden and native pepperberries that I brought back from out last trip to Tasmania. If it isn't raining we will cook the lamb over coals outside. Delicious.

Speaking of Tasmania, we are only weeks away from heading back there for a ten day holiday and recon mission. We have completely fallen in love with the place and plan to one day make it our home, where we will grow as much of our own food as possible in that very special and pristine part of the world. As well as having a break there, we are planning to further explore the area where we think we would like to settle eventually. We also thought it would be good to visit in winter so we know what we are in for. I've been watching the weather forecasts and it's going to be freezing. Good thing we both like the cold!

Now you are all up to date, I'm hoping that we will be resuming normal transmission, with more regular Gourmet Goddess installments - so watch this space. The coming weeks look like they are going to be less of a frenzy than most of May has been - thank the Goddess! The weather has really cooled down, it gets dark a lot earlier and that seasonal change just cries out for cosy, comfort food with seasonal ingredients I think. Maybe I will check out out local farmer's market this weekend and see what inspires?

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Autumn Fruit Pudding

I love Autumn. The weather is cooling down (especially the nights), the days are crisp and clear and the season brings a whole new batch of fresh produce. The Summer fruit and vegetables are starting to disappear and the Autumn harvest begins. Today's recipe is inspired by that change of season, using a range of delicious Autumn fruits to create a comforting, warming and flavour filled pudding - just perfect for the cooler weather.

This pudding is comprised of aromatic roasted fruits, given a extra punch with vanilla and a touch of lime - and a light vanilla cake top that is just delicious served warm with something creamy like ice cream or custard. I made mine in one pan, but you could easily make individual serves if that takes your fancy. The recipe is very adaptable. Use whatever fruits you can find wherever you are. In my case, I had some wonderful organic nectarines, black plums, a punnet of strawberries and a big bunch of rhubarb. This combination not only made for a beautiful flavour, but a fantastic ruby coloured result.

Gorgeous Autumn Fruit

- about to go into the oven

 

 

I thought the dessert had an old fashioned vibe about it, so I served the Autumn Fruit Pudding on some gorgeous vintage English china that I picked up last Christmas holidays at a secondhand store in Nowra, NSW. (If you are ever in that part of the world, look up "The Everything Store" - full of all kinds of treasures!) The china really caught my eye with it's beautiful peacock coloured pattern. The set comprised of a large serving bowl and six smaller dessert bowls and was made by Keeling & Company in Staffordshire, England. They produced a range of striking brightly coloured china called Losol Ware from 1886 to 1936. I did a bit of online research and found that my china is the "Rushton" design pattern and circa 1912. 

 

Although this china is over 100 years old, it gets plenty of outings. I have taken to using the bigger bowl as a salad dish. I absolutely hate the idea of having beautiful things locked up in a cupboard and not used. That whole notion is just so stupid and precious. These items were made to be used, so that's just what I do! I do draw the line though, at putting them in the dishwasher - I wash and dry these by hand due to the fine gold edging around the rim of the bowls. I don't think they would fare well being machine washed under extreme heat. Every time I eat off these beautiful dishes, I ponder who may have owned them before, and what kinds of food was served on them. I wonder who brought them here from England, and how they have survived 100 years without a chip or crack. Amazing. Makes me enjoy this Autumn Fruit Pudding even more.

 



Autumn Fruit Pudding

You will need:
For the filling: 1 bunch rhubarb, 1 punnet strawberries, 4 nectarines, 4-6 plums, 1 vanilla bean, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, juice of 1 lime, 1 vanilla pod

For the pudding top: 125g butter, 1/2 cup caster sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 1/2 cups self raising flour, 1/3 cup milk, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons icing sugar (to dust on the top)

Method: Remove and discard the leaves from the rhubarb and chop the rhubarb stalks into pieces about 3cm long. Cut the stalks from the strawberries and remove the stones from the plums and nectarines. Leave the strawberries whole but chop the plums and nectarines into large chunks. Split the vanilla pod down the middle, scrape out the seeds with a knife.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Combine the fruit, lime juice and brown sugar and vanilla beans (including the pod) and bake on a tray or shallow baking dish for 25 minutes, stirring through once, about halfway through cooking. Set the fruit aside to cool.

To make the pudding top, Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat together until all combined. Now add half of the flour and half of the milk until well mixed. Add the remaining milk and flour and combine thoroughly.

Preheat the oven to 160C. In a heatproof dish, spoon the fruit mixture. Remove the vanilla pod.  Now pour the pudding mixture over the top and bake for around 45 minutes until lightly golden. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before dusting with icing sugar.

Serve warm with cream, yogurt, custard or ice cream.

 

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Pork and Fennel Sausage Rolls

I love a homemade sausage roll. The flaky pastry, the moist, seasoned filling - pure comfort food that makes me think of childhood birthday parties and Mum making trays of them on the holidays. Look, I don't even mind a dodgy servo sausage roll either if truth be told! Whole different ball game of course, but who can resist meat in pastry? Sausage rolls are not a new invention and folks have loved their sausage rolls for hundreds of years.

The original ye olde sausage roll first appeared as a picnic food in the 1800's, was served hot and cold and at first did not contain any pastry. The filling was frequently comprised of cold roast veal and ham, or cold fowl and tongue minced and seasoned with dried herbs. The mixture was shaped and then breadcrumbed and fried - a little like that other well known picnic staple, the Scotch egg. Eventually, people started encasing the mixture in shortcrust pastry and eventually the puff pastry versions that we know today.

My recipe is based on one of my favourite combinations - pork and fennel, and inspired by the delicious sausage rolls they make at the fabulous Bourke Street Bakery in Sydney. Yes, it is a bit of a tarted up sausage roll, but the flavours are just delicious and they aren't difficult to make. I strongly suggest you make an extra batch , as they freeze brilliantly and are a great thing to have up your sleeve for a quick lunch or if guests drop by. Who doesn't love a homemade sausage roll?

My other suggestion is not to use pork mince that is super, super lean or has not even a touch of visible fat in it. Like any sausage, it needs a little fat for moisture and flavour. Using "diet" pork mince will result in a dry sausage roll - you have been warned. So what are you waiting for? Head to the kitchen and whip up a few trays of these beauties!

Pork and Fennel Sausage Rolls

 

You will need: 1kg free range pork mince. 1 bulb fennel diced finely, 1 large white onion diced finely, 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs, 2 cloves finely chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley, 2 teaspoons sweet paprika, 2 teaspoons yellow mustard seed, generous pinch of allspice, 1 teaspoon fennel seed chopped, pinch of cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 lightly beaten free range egg, salt, ground, black pepper, 1 tablespoon poppy seeds. 3-4 sheets pre- rolled puff pastry.

Method: Preheat the oven to 220C.

In a pan, heat the olive oil and cook the fennel, fennel seed, garlic and onion down until soft. Season with a little salt and pepper as it cooks.

Combine the pork mince, breadcrumbs, parsley, paprika, mustard seed, allspice, cayenne pepper, and plenty of salt and pepper in a large bowl with the cooked onion and fennel mixture. Combine extremely well - clean hands are best for this.

Cut each of the sheets of pastry into two rectangular pieces. Brush one edge with some of the beaten egg. Lay the meat mixture in the middle of the pastry, ensuring it is densely packed (you don't want big air holes in the sausage roll as it cooks)

Roll up the sausage roll and press the pastry together well where the pastry joins - ideally, it should overlap a little to avoid splitting as it cooks. I use a fork for this. Place seam side down onto a lined baking tray or silicone baking sheet. Gently cut each roll into two, to make large sausage rolls, or into four to make party size roll.

Repeat with the rest of the pastry and pork mixture. Prick each sausage roll with a fork, brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle lightly with the poppy seeds.

Bake until the pastry is puffed and golden brown - about 25 minutes.

NB: These sausage rolls freeze really well. Just ensure they are cold when you put them in the freezer and wrap well.

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Green Goddess Pie

Heading out to drink my morning coffee amongst the greenery this morning, I was really struck by how noticeable the turn of the season was in the garden. The basil and parsley has started to seed, my crop of french sorrel is ready to cut back, as well as my big pot of chives and a wild crop of mint. Flowers and leaves that have flourished during the Summer have started to die off, while others who like the cooler weather are beginning to emerge. The air feels cooler and the native birds are eating up all the seeds and insects that are abundant, even in my little inner city patch of green. Nature is gearing up for winter everywhere you look.

As any regular reader of Gourmet Goddess knows,  I have an almost evangelical fervour about eating seasonally and as locally as possible. In the modern world where mass marketing and huge scale food production has completely exploded, to eat seasonally isn't as straightforward as you might think. It means getting educated about what grows when - as well as the conditions under which it grows, how far it travels and what happens to it when it reaches the place where it is sold. The more interested in this I have become, the more I find there is to learn. It really is an endless education process and one that has completely transformed the way I shop, grow things and cook. One of the most rewarding aspects of this for me, has been how it has really strengthened my connection to nature, and to the seasons - and provided so much inspiration for what I eat and cook.

As I was sitting sipping my coffee this morning, I was looking at all the greens that were ready to harvest in my garden and for some reason remembered a conversation I had with an Italian grocer in Marrickville who was selling big bunches of nettles. I asked him what they were used for, and he told me that they grew abundantly at that time of the year, and that his Greek and Italian customers would make a sort of spiral shaped pie with them, using cheese and any other greens and wild herbs they could find. That conversation and my own harvest is the inspiration for today's recipe.

 A Green Bounty

From left: Sorrel, Basil, Chives, Kale, Spinach, Parsley

 

 As well as my own greens and herbs, I also had a small bunch of kale, as well as some spinach that arrived in our organic vege box this week, grown locally and super fresh. I gathered it all together to form the basis of this delicious, tasty pie. To the greens I added a little goat cheese from the Hunter Valley, some ricotta and a touch of cheddar, garlic, a small amount of breadcrumbs and a free range egg to bind it all together. I was really inspired by the idea of a traditional spiral shaped pie, so thought I would have a go at creating one - making a series of sausage shaped, filled filo pieces that I then formed into a large spiral.

Creating the first section - about to be rolled

The end result was a lovely rustic, flaky pie packed with amazing local greens - some from my own garden - and that tasted delicious. I really like the visual appeal of the spiral shape too. Actually, the spiral makes complete sense aside from looking nice - It means you get a taste of pastry with every bite. Genius.

Being a rustic dish, don't feel you need to be too precise on the measurement of your ingredients - and use whatever greens you have in the fridge or the garden, as well as whatever cheese you fancy. This is a dish created from whatever was growing in the vicinity at the time, so use the same principle to make your own version. I'm calling mine Green Goddess Pie.

Green Goddess Pie

 

 

You will need: 1 box (about 350g) filo pastry, 250g ricotta cheese, 100g soft goat cheese, 1 cup grated cheddar cheese, 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs, handful of chopped parsley, handful of chopped mint, basil, chives (whatever you have), bunch of spinach, bunch of sorrel, bunch of kale, 2 cloves finely chopped garlic, generous pinch cayenne pepper, salt and pepper, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 2 teaspoons sesame seeds.

Note: You can be very free and easy with the greens you use in this recipe. I used spinach, sorrel and kale - but you might want to use just spinach or silverbeet, extra herbs, watercress, nettles - whatever is available.

Method: Roughly chop the spinach, kale and sorrel and blanch in salted boiling water for about a minute. Drain well, and when cooled slightly, squeeze the liquid from the greens.

In a large bowl, place the greens, goat cheese, ricotta, cheddar, breadcrumbs,all of the herbs, garlic, egg cayenne. Season generously with plenty of salt and pepper. With clean hands, mix the ingredients together thoroughly. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed. Allow the mixture to cool for 10 minutes or so.

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Remove the filo from the pack and unroll it. Cut it length ways. Take two of the filo pieces and lay it flat, brush with melted butter. Working fairly quickly, lay another two strips of filo on the top of those and brush with the melted butter again. Along the left hand edge of the pastry, lay a line of the filling mixture.

With dry hands, roll up the filling to form a long cigar or sausage shape. Now roll up the pastry to form a coil or snail shape - this will form the basis of your spiral. Gently place the spiral on a baking tray lined with baking paper (I used a pizza tray)

Repeat the process to make more long sausage shaped pieces of pastry and filling, adding each one to the first spiral you made to build up an even bigger one. Brush the pastry at the ends to help you join the pieces together. Continue this until you have used all of your filling.

Brush your spiral with the last of the butter (or you can use a beaten egg if you want to) Sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Bake in the oven for 30 -40 minutes - or until the spiral is golden brown.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Serves 6.

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Calamari Mediterranean Style

Sunday night dinner tonight was something so rustic, simple and super tasty that I'm not even going to worry about writing down the proper recipe! Our cooler Autumn weather has receded a little here in Sydney and it was actually quite hot today, so I felt like something that would suit the weather - and the fact that my stove is out of action at the moment. To me, warm weather says seafood and BBQ, so we headed to the fishmonger this afternoon and picked up some lovely whole local calamari.

I cleaned the calamari, removing and reserving the tentacles (my favourite bit!) and keeping them whole. I then scored the calamari down the side - cutting almost to the edge so that they looked like tiger stripes. This creates rings, however not cutting them right through keeps the calamari in one piece, making them easier to handle on the BBQ. I drizzled them with some good quality extra virgin olive oil, plenty of sea salt and pepper and then cooked them on a super hot (smoking actually) BBQ. They took only a couple of minutes to become golden and charred, just the way I like them.

Grilled Calamari Mediterranean Style

I accompanied the calamari with some gorgeous organic cherry tomatoes, capers, finely chopped cucumber and onion, olives, chilli, red capsicum, fresh basil and continental parsley from the garden, a splash of olive oil, a drizzle of balsamic and a little salt and pepper - all of this was tossed together to make a rustic salsa.

Then, it was just a case of piling the salad onto the plate, laying the calamari on the top, drizzling over a little touch of extra olive oil and presto! Sunday night dinner. All of this was done in the time it would take to microwave a TV dinner. I know which option I'd prefer!!

As I mentioned, my oven is not working at present, so I predict lots of BBQ action this week until it is fixed/replaced. I had vague notions of attempting some Easter themed baking -  however this is going to depend on the fate of the oven. I even bought some groovy, rather kitsch Easter cupcake patty-pans to use in my baking dammit! Still, we may be up and cooking up a storm again in a day or two. In the meantime, have a great week everyone. Hope you get to eat something delicious!

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