Blackberry time

This year we are very lucky to have found a good source of wild blackberries on the farm. In past years we've had to go walkabout to find them, often not too far afield, but further away than our own property. So yesterday afternoon we went out armed with containers and picked a whole lot, not stopping until the sun went down and the light failed us. We enjoyed a fabulous sunset.

There are still more left to pick but as it was raining (well drizzling) today we didn't get to go back for them.

Meanwhile, the close to 4kgs of blackberries we picked yesterday are now frozen awaiting to be added to pies etc.

Sometime very soon I shall be boiling up fruit to make jam. We have an abundance of peaches, plums and now blackberries! Now where did I put all my spare jam jars?!...

Spiced crab apples

I

It's crab apple season here and as I've already made several jars of jelly and with some fruit leftover, decided to look for a recipe to use them up (although the pigs would eat them, in fact we have been feeding them some).

Anyway, I found this one:

2 1/2 lbs of small crab apples with stems attached
1 1/2 Tbps whole cloves
2 sticks of cinnamon
1 1/2 Tbps whole allspice
3 cups vinegar *I used white but cider would probably be better*
6 cups sugar
3 cups water

Wash crab apples and remove blossom ends. Run a needle (I used a wooden skewer) through so that the skins stay intact (didn't work for me, but I think I needed to reduce the heat). Tie the spices in a piece of muslin. Combine vinegar, sugar and water in a large preserving pan. Bring to boil and boil for 5 mins. Add half the crab apples and simmer (slowly with lid on) for about 10 mins until the fruit is cooked. Remove fruit to a large bowl. Repeat with remainder of crab apples. Then tip hot syrup over the apples (now in the bowl). Cover and leave for about 12-18 hours (I left overnight in the fridge).
Pack crab apples into hot preserving jars, reheat syrup and pour over crab apples in jars, leaving 1/2 inch gap at top. Seal. Then process in hot water bath (first time I have ever done this believe it or not!).

Note: Apart from the fruit splitting, which I realise was caused by too vigorous boiling instead of a gentle simmer!, I was pleased with my first bottling efforts. From what I've read, the crab apples go nicely as an accompaniment to meat. Seems fairly common in the USA. I look forward to finding out if they're tasty.

And the mushrooms keep coming!

G took a basket of the fresh field mushrooms (which we picked yesterday) up to one of our neighbours today and returned with yet another basket full!! These were gathered from our 10 acre block next door. I made some lovely soup, the recipe came from one of our local newspapers. G really liked it and he is not usually a great fan of my mushroom soups!

500g sliced field mushrooms
500mls beef stock (I used homemade veg)
1 onion, chopped
2 bay leaves

Bring to boil in a stock pot and then simmer for 20 mins. Cool then puree in food processor.

In clean pot melt 50g butter, add 50g plain flour to make roux sauce, cook for min, gradually add 500mls milk and stir continuously until thickened. Add mushroom puree, stir, bring to boil, season to taste.
Serve with chopped parsley garnish, croutons, garlic bread add desired.

I have tried a few mushroom soup recipes but must say this is the best one to date, it was very creamy and would be excellent on a cold winters day. Will be making some batches for the freezer while we have plenty of wild mushrooms available.

Fungi fest!

G and D went out for a bike ride this afternoon and came across these field mushrooms. Because of the recent rains and hot weather (today was very warm) there has been an explosion of fungi in the country! The majority of these 'shrooms are slightly lighter in colour than the last lot (see previous posts) and not as strong tasting. We had some tonight with Weiner schnitzel (from our own cow), Maori purple potatoes (Urenika) and a green salad.
Anyone have any good mushroom recipes?

Update at the end of June

Well it's the 28th of June already, time flies!

The strawberry beds in the garden are coming along, the wet weather has put a halt to further digging. We need to get some mulch down next.

The veg garden will be gradually overhauled over the next few weeks as things get moved about. My herb garden is being downsized, I will utilise pots and containers closer to the kitchen for the most commonly used herbs like thyme, coriander and marjoram. The big galangal plant will need to be moved further to the narrower south end. Once I get some cuttings of lemon geranium to take off, the big lemon geranium is going, it's just a bit too big and sprawling where it is, but will make a great low hedge elsewhere. A lot of the bunching onions will probably go too. I might dig up the chilli plants and put them in pots and see if they survive.

We had contractors in recently to re-do our drive. The grader took out a groove along one endge for better drainage down the steep winding part, then the tip truck dumped a thinish layer of stone chip on top of the soft limestone (which is just a base material). Looks a whole lot better and will be less messy in the rain than the lime as the drainage is better.

G prepared another 3 young chickens (cockarels) for the freezer yesterday. Today is the last day of the duck season (mallards) but it is pouring with rain today so I don't know that the resident hunter will be heading out and about. Oh well, we have 3 ducks in the freezer, so better than none!

Crab apple time again

G picked a whole bunch of lovely ripe crab apples, so it's jelly making time again. I tried making a small batch of jelly with the addition of a sprig of rosemary this time, 13 jars. Should be nice on roast lamb. The bulk though will be just straight crab apple jelly. Probably will have enough to make 4 times this amount judging from the amount of apples in the box.
After boiling up the fruit in water until it's pulpy, you strain it in a muslin bag (an old clean pillowcase works well) over a large bowl. DO NOT SQUEEZE or the jelly goes cloudy. Leave for several hours until it stops dripping. Measure the resulting liquid using a jug/cup and put it into a clean preserving pan with the same amount of white sugar. Bring gradually to the boil stirring until sugar is dissolved then boil rapidly until set (mine took 1/2 hour but it can be less, check regularly during the boiling process). Pour into sterilised jars and seal. I kept a lot of old baby food jars which are a good size for this jelly as I keep it in the fridge once opened - bigger jars which take me longer to get through tend to crystalise. Also smaller jars are quite nice to give away as little gifts to your friends.

Another duck and 2 chickens

G returned last night with x1 wild duck (Paradise shelduck) from a neighbouring acreage and also x2 of our hens. One of the hens had been repeatedly flying the coop and scratching up areas we didn't want scratched up so it had to go. We have tried clipping chickens flight feathers in the past but the Indian Game birds (this one was a cross between IG and Araucana) are pretty flighty and adept at manoeuvring even once this has been done. In any case we have an excess of birds and a strong desire for more roast chicken!

Delicious duck pate

Once again we were the lucky recipients of some delicious pate from our French neighbours down the road. A few weeks ago we'd given them one of the ducks that G shot.

I don't have the exact recipe, but I know this contained hazelnuts, green peppercorns, orange zest and a dash of Grand Marnier. Absolute heaven - we munched our way through quite a substantial chunk of it on crackers the other night.

I've only ever made pate from chicken livers, so I'd be keen to find out how it's done, this pate is more like a terrine that requires cutting rather than able to be spread. To receive a treat like this as a gift once in a while really is fantastic.

Dinners and garden/orchard stuff

I cooked up one of the ducks, just did it in the slow cooker, with some stuffing (cranberry and apple) and a little dripping, it turned out really well.
Feeling generous, we gave the other duck away to a neighbour.
On an exploration of the freezer I discovered 2 ducks from last year, so these will need eating up soon.
We also butchered (that's the royal 'we', I actually mean G..) another chicken, an old Indian Game hen. I prepared this bird the same way as the young cockarel, by slow cooking first then roasting for a short time. Again this was successful, the meat was firm but not tough and very tasty.
The next day we were given some field mushrooms, so I made chicken and mushroom pasta for dinner with the leftover meat. Then I made some stock from the carcass.

On the farm front, it's great to have the rain, topping up the water tank nicely but it has prevented a lot of jobs from getting done outside. The veg garden is now seriously neglected.
We called in at Koanga gardens the other day and picked up some Maori seed potatoes 'Urenika' and 'Kowiniwini'. I've grown these a long time ago and looking forward to growing them again, in addition to some 'standard' white potatoes, not sure which varieties as yet. Also picked up a copy of their fruit and nut tree catalogue to see about adding to our orchard. Haven't made any decisions yet, although I would like to get one or 2 pears in and maybe a couple of fig trees.

Duck on the menu again

The intrepid hunter returned home this evening after a walkabout with 2 ducks for the dinner table, the first successful shoot of this year's duck season. Yay!

The M word and steak

Yes we're still eating the wild mushrooms would you believe! I'm quite amazed how well they're keeping actually, we're up to 6 days now, but we do have them in paper bags in the big veg drawer of our lovely Mitsubishi fridge so it's probably at the right temp. for them.

There aren't many more to eat now. Planning to have the last of them on home made pizza tomorrow.

Anyway, this was good old rump steak on the BBQ, with mushrooms (recipe below), some boiled potatoes out of the garden and a side salad. Yum.

For the mushrooms, heat a good lug of olive oil and a knob of butter in a frypan. Briefly fry a crushed or chopped clove of garlic, add the sliced mushrooms, some thyme leaves, salt and pepper and a little water. Cook quickly on a high heat. Add a little more butter near when the mushrooms are nearly cooked. Pile on top of meat and eat immediately.

The mushroom fest continues...

Yes we are still enjoying those mushrooms!

This is one of our favourite pasta meals, see here for the recipe. Topped off with a sprinkle of fresh parsley, lovely.

Wild mushroom soup

This recipe is adapted from one out of a cook book in my collection called The Soup Bible by Debra Mayhew (Select Editions), a collection of over 200 soup recipes from around the world.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
300g fresh wild mushrooms, sliced
1L homemade stock (I used a mix of chicken and vegetable)
About 150mls fresh cream
Sprigs of thyme
Salt and pepper

Saute the onion in the oil and butter for about 5 mins until soft but not browned. Add garlic, fry for a minute more. Add the mushrooms and thyme, stir for a few mins until they begin to soften. Add stock and bring to boil, season, then reduce heat and half cover pan. Simmer for about 30mins. Blend the soup. Check consistency of soup, thin if necessary with more stock or water. Add cream and reheat gently.

Because I used mature wild mushrooms the soup came out an amazing dark brown colour. The taste was very good indeed. I don't think I'll have any problem using up the large quantity of mushrooms that G collected!

Wild mushrooms again and creamy mushrooms on toast

We were once again fortunate to be given access to pick lovely fresh field mushrooms. G came home with a big bucket yesterday.

So last night I made one of his favourite mushroom recipes, Creamy mushrooms on toast. Very easy to do.

In a saucepan add about 2Tbsp olive oil and a thick slice of butter, when melted add a crushed clove of garlic and stir for about a minute. Add 450g mushrooms, cleaned and chopped into chunks, put the lid on and leave on low heat for about 15 mins until cooked. Add a grating of nutmeg and some salt. Stir, add 300mls cream turn up heat and let bubble until thick. Serve immediately on thickly cut buttered toast. This is a tasty recipe with shop bought mushrooms (I normally use Portabello or brown mushrooms as button mushrooms are quite tasteless) but using the wild mushrooms the flavour was very good indeed.

N.B. It goes without saying really but if you want to try wild mushrooms make sure you know what you are picking, go with someone experienced in picking them until you are confident in identifying the edible varieties.

Jamie Oliver's Essex fried rabbit

Well OK not Essex, but Maungaturoto!

G shot a rabbit yesterday and I've been wanting to try out Jamie Oliver's recipe since I saw it on his show Jamie At Home (Series 1). Couldn't find it on his website so here is how it's done:

Joints of a fresh rabbit (cut off any long bones)
Fresh rosemary
Garlic
Olive oil
White wine
Breadcrumbs
Parmesan cheese
Fresh thyme

In a large lidded pan place the rabbit pieces, a good slug of olive oil, a glass of white wine, a couple of sprigs of rosemary, and a whole garlic bulb sliced in half (I would remove as much of the skins as possible as you can eat the garlic deep fried with the rabbit). Put the lid on and simmer on a very low heat for about 1 1/2 hours or until the flesh just starts to pull away from the bone slightly. If the rabbit is big you may need to cook for longer.

When cooked, remove the rabbit and garlic from the pan. Dust in seasoned flour, then dip in beaten egg to coat, then press into a mix of fresh breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese and thyme leaves. Make sure the rabbit is well coated.

Deep fry the coated rabbit pieces for about a minute or so until nicely golden brown. Also briefly deep fry a sprig for rosemary (about 20 secs). Drain on kitchen paper and serve with a squeeze of lemon juice.

This was the best rabbit dish we've ever eaten. A great recipe, will definitely try it again, hopefully with a smaller (younger) rabbit for more tender meat, although the one we had was fine.

Blackberry jam

We went out blackberrying on the weekend and came home with several container loads (probably about 17-18 L approx) so we had a good harvest!
Last night I made some jam which set very well. The recipe I used was:

1.8kg fruit
1.8kg sugar
4 Tbsp lemon juice
Rind and pith/pips of lemon in muslin bag

The jam took about 20 mins to reach setting point and I got 8 jars (about 300mls each).

I've frozen the bulk of the berries for use later on in crumbles, pies, muffins, cakes and ice blocks. Yum!

Cochin coconut fish curry

I saw this recipe on a DVD called Planet Food - A Taste of South India. I used a Kahawai fillet from the freezer.

Cube fish, put in a dish to marinate in lime or lemon juice, a little sea salt and about 1 Tbpsn turmeric. Leave for 30mins.

Slice x1 large red onion
Crush 5 or 6 cloves garlic
2 green chillies sliced length ways - I used red chillies chopped as was all I had on hand.
A small amount of ginger sliced into tiny sticks

Fry chilli, garlic, ginger and onion in a pan with some oil.
I used about 1/2 tsp curry powder but the recipe called for curry leaves.
Add 1/2 tsp turmeric, coconut cream (just the watery liquid to start). Add fish, some salt, reduce heat, cover and cook for 7 mins.
Add thicker liquid of coconut cream, some tomatoes (I used halved cherry), cook for a couple of mins longer.
Serve with rice. I added saffron threads with mine at the start of cooking, then some butter stirred in at the end.

The verdict: very nice. Perhaps I'll try a different species of fish next time, as the kahawai was fairly 'meaty' rather than melting in the mouth. Also probably much better with fresh fish rather than previously frozen.

Fish pie with kumara and pineapple

I made a kumara and smoked fish pie from the recipe posted here on Goings on at the Mad Bush Farm. I didn't have a tin of pineapple rings in the pantry, but I had crushed pineapple so used some of that instead. I also put some grated cheese on top of the kumara topping, before putting the pineapple on. It was very tasty and the pineapple really gave a lovely flavour. I think I prefer the taste of kumara to potato when combined with smoked fish like this in a pie. This was a real hit in our household. Sorry no photo as we ate it straight away! I will definitely be making it again. Thanks Liz.

Smoked fish

Here is a photo of the smoked fish. It was seasoned with sea salt and a little brown sugar before smoking. Tastes delicious.

G caught another 6 fish yesterday (5 grey mullet and 1 kahawai) when he took the net in and decided to buy our own fish smoker today. We'll be trying it out soon and I'll post the results.

Fish

G had a very successful time with the fishing net yesterday and hauled in 15 mullet! His friend is smoking them today and will divvy the fish up between him and us. Yum, haven't had smoked fish for ages. Does anyone have any good fish recipes to share (for smoked fish or plain)?