Happy Christmas

Its such a busy time of year for Nick and I.  We kick off our celebrations with Nick’s birthday on the 1^st of December when we put up the Christmas tree, toast Nick and look forward to our big party season. After Nick’s birthday we have our wedding anniversary which this year was mine to organise. 
It wasn't very hard to make this husband very happy...boat...water...fishing.....

We spent three perfect days, blue sky and warm weather on a boat cruising around the Hawkesbury.  Nick had a new fishing rod and all the stuff that goes it so he was well occupied.  Along with lots of swimming, books and deciding where we would go each night it was the perfect getaway.

Simple food is the key to boats and this one had a barbeque so we ate big Aussie breakfasts prepared by Nick and dinners of Steak and Mushrooms and Asparagus one night and Chicken and Capsicums the other.  Lots of good wine and the bonus of a tin of foie gras we had bought back from France this year.  Very special indeed.

After a weekend like that we fell into Christmas which this year meant a big family get together in Sydney with all our family there.  Geraldine and Brian where such generous hosts and gave us a veritable feast of Prawns and Ham served with an assortment of beautifully thought out salads and more.  Best of all it was a great time to catch up with everyone and luckily without the stress that so many family’s talk of at this time of year.  We have a clan that laughs, supports and encourages.  I could sell tickets to this family celebration.

We will return to Sydney this week for Christmas with friends and I’d guess more great food.  I must confess to feeling a little miffed I can’t cook dinner myself but perhaps next year we will be celebrating in our own home again.  Instead I’ve been allocated a desert and tonight will cook the following rather decadent chocolate cake.

Chocolate Oblivion – serves 10-12

675g bitter chocolate, broken into pieces

350g unsalted butter, cut into cubes

9 eggs

Preheat the oven to 220c, prepare a cake tin (30x5cm) and line with baking paper.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of hot water until smooth.  The bottom of the bowl should not be in contact with the water.  Remove the bowl from the pan to cool a little.

Beat the eggs in a bowl over simmering water until they start to thicken.  Remove from the heat and continue beating until soft peaks are formed.

Fold half the eggs into the melted chocolate, combine, then fold in the remaining egg mixture.

Pour into the prepared cake tin, cover with buttered foil and place in a bain-maire of very hot water.  It is essential, if the cake is to cook evenly, that the water comes up to the rim of the tin.  Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, remove the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes until just set.

Allow the cake to cool – it will continue to set as it does so – then turn out on to a plate.

This recipe comes from The River Café Cook Book by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers

We hope to be spending time in Orange over New Year, a little reflecting time on what has been a big year of driving trips to Adelaide, Brisbane and Byron Bay and flights for me to New Zealand for a few days and then our big trip that took in New York, London, Madrid, Paris and Hong Kong and so much in between.  Lots of work for us both and some great new friendships. Its been a very happy year for us both. 

Happy Christmas to you all. 

We look forward to lots more visitors in 2011 and look forward to seeing you all very soon.

Happy eating

Love Mary

XX

Christmas turkey....

Couldn't resist showing you this chap ....

Looks who's come to visit....

He has to be 30 cm in length and right outside the back door having a sun bake,

Tana was obviously very keen to make friends but I kept him well inside.

We also have ducks, rabbits, possum, a terripin in the dam that Nick decided after moving twice off the road would be safer with us... and of course a huge variety of native birds.

Christmas turkey

All I can advise is this….if you are going to cook turkey do what the Americans do – Brine it first!

There are not many things we like to follow from our friends in the USA but let’s face it they are renowned for the quality of their roast turkey.

This is what you need to do and I tell you its worth every step.

Wash and dry or buy a new bucket big enough to hold the bird.

Prepare the brine by bring all ingredients to the boil till sugar and salt is dissolved.  Allow the brine to cool and if necessary add some ice to bring the temperature down.

Wash the turkey well, rub the inside liberally with sea salt.

Submerge the turkey into the cold brine.  Keep the turkey cold.  If the turkey is frozen it can be brined until thawed.

You might consider keeping the brine and turkey in a large plastic bag inside an esky with ice around it if you run out of fridge space with all that Christmas beer.

Leave the Turkey to Brine for 6-8 hours.

Turkey Brine

24 cups water

3 ½ cups salt (reduce by a cup if your leaving the turkey longer than 6-8 hours)

4 cups sugar

2 Tablespoons cracked black pepper

7-8 cloves garlic

5 bay leaves, crumbled

Pancakes for breakfast

I had to share this recipe which I think is the best one I’ve found for an easy and quick pancake.

You can have them plain or as in this photo I threw in a handful of frozen boysenberries.

We like the sweet and savoury taste so mostly serve them with fruit either in or alongside and some grilled bacon and maple sauce. 

My brother used to make stacks of pancakes and I am really fond of them, these are thick and can be made in quite manageable size so no need to panic about flipping, just turn….

buttermilk pancakes

250g flour

3 teaspoons of baking powder

A pinch of salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

3 cups buttermilk

75g melted butter

Extra butter fort the pan

Mix all ingredients except the melted butter together and beat well.  I throw it all in the kitchen aid for a couple of minutes.  Then when well mixed add the melted butter.

Heat a pan, add a little butter and ladle 1/3 cup into the pan and cook for about 2 minutes until bubbles appear on the surface.  Turn the pancake over and cook another minute.  Transfer to a plate with a clean tea towel, cover and continue till mix is all used.

Serve with whatever you like….

They really are good and so easy.

Love Mary

Raining its pouring, Tana is snoring...

Thanks for all the calls re the flooding, its raining (allot) here but we are high in Orange and not affected at all. 

…except of course the grass is still growing and hasn’t been cut for more than a month.  The front paddock will need a slasher through it as soon as it dries.  You can’t even see Tana when he’s out there it's so deep.  The dam is over flowing but all good. 

I have however added this picture of the driveway of one of Nick’s staff just 20 minutes west of Orange, amazing.

The positive side of all this rain is the growth of the vegetables, we had a meal of baby zucchinis and zucchini flowers last night.  Both of which I fried in a tempura batter and served over a salad of our lettuce leaves and our basil leaves and some asparagus and tomato. 

Great meal and even better that it was mostly from our own garden.  I popped a dollop of goats cheese on the top.

Stay dry

Love Mary

Christmas Cherries

What would ham be without a few Pickled and Spiced Cherries – on this side of the world anyway!

For the past few years I have been pickling a box of cherries and now living so close to the cherry capital of Australia I have no excuse not to pickle again this year.

The recipe I have used is from one of my favourite books and I would recommend this to anyone…..Danks Street Depot by Jared Ingersoll.  Jared is a kiwi that lucky for us here decided to jump the ditch.

I use the cherries with ham and with turkey and also serve them with pate or terrine.  TRhey are also wonderful with roast duck.

Pickled and spiced cherries

Fills 2.5 litre jar

1kg cherries with stems on

750 ml red wine vinegar

500g soft brown sugar

6 cloves

6 juniper berries

4 allspice

1 star anise

The peel and juice of 1 lemon, cut into strips

1 stick of cinnamon

2 green cardamom pods

Pick through the cherries for any less than perfect ones, then rinse.  Put all the other ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to the boil.  Boil for about 5 minutes, then add your cherries and cook for 5 minutes before removing the pan from the heat.  Allow to sit overnight before transferring everything into sterilized jars.  These keep for months.

Enjoy

Love Mary

Nick’s Vietnamese style Birthday Barbeque

It was Nick’s birthday this week so we had a group of friends from Orange and Sue and Peter drove over from Sydney to celebrate the occasion. 

As expected a few laughs and a lot of cheer.  Good thing the cricket and a wet day gave the boys an excuse to snooze on the lounge the next day.  Meanwhile the girls did a spot of Orange shopping, for you that haven’t been here there are some really nice boutiques, you just need to know where they are.

So we ate an entree of Barbecued Pork Balls with mint, cucumber, lettuce cups and Hoi Sin dipping sauce and Fish Cakes with fish dipping sauce, both recipes are from Nhut Huynh’s book titled Little Vietnam.  For the main we served Cambodian Grilled Chicken (not Vietnamese but close enough)with Asian salad and Hot & Sour Sauce.  For desert fresh mango served with sticky rice and coconut cream.

As I have already given you the Grilled Chicked and Asian salad recipes here is the pork balls…..

Barbecued Pork Balls -Serves 8 people as an entree

1kg lean pork mince

4 red shallots, finely sliced

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

2 tablespoons white sugar

½ teaspoon ground white pepper

18 bamboo skewers (soaked in water for 30 minutes)

Iceberg lettuce cups

Handful of fresh mint, sliced cucumber and Hoi Sin Dipping Sauce

Mix together pork, shallots, fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and pepper. Using light oiled hands role the mixture into 3 cm balls, place the balls on a plate and steam in a bamboo steamer over simmering water for 5 minutes or until firm.  Set aside to cool.  Thread onto skewers and set aside till you are ready to barbeque.  These can be prepared the day before and kept in the fridge.  Barbeque or char grill, brushing with oil frequently for 2-3 minutes.

Serve balls on a large plate with lettuce cups, load the lettuce cups with balls, mint and sauce, wrap and enjoy.

Hoi Sin dipping sauce

1/3 cup Hoi Sin Sauce

2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce

1 teaspoon garlic infused oil    

Mix well and serve.

Enjoy

Love Mary