Harvest chutneys - Eggplants and Feijoas

When I had four young children and was working from home, I found myself spending at least 3-4 months a year making chutneys, pickles and relishes. This became something of an institution in our house, as I realised I could transform anything, from tasty cheddar on biscuits to a sausage (our three boys like vegetarian meals but also enjoy meat) by adding a great chutney, pickle or relish without costing much at all. School lunches were coveted by other kids and I didn't have to spend my life baking to have something to offer visitors - crackers and cheese with a home -made chutney was appreciated so much more. Best of all, even the humblest meal in our house was never boring, despite the financial constraints; there was always a jar of something to add interest, texture and flavour. I enjoyed the creative challenge of pushing boundaries, adding new flavours or testing new products, and I still do.

Eggplants are so versatile, and I make lots of different dishes with them; risotto, fritters, lasagne, moussaka, pies, pasta and dips, to mention just a few. I also make a very authentic Indian pickle that is not as sweet as the brinjal below, just as delicious though completely different.

About ten years ago, after lots of trials, I developed a brinjal (eggplant) chutney, and this became my most universally popular chutney ever. Everyone loves it ; I even have a friend who numbers every jar because her husband and son are so proud they sneak jars to give to their friends behind her back! Certainly it's top of the request list from my friends and family, and although time is running out I bought a big bag of eggplants for $4.00 at our local Farmer's market last Sunday, to make another double batch.

                                             Brinjal                     

     

This eggplant chutney literally took years to perfect, but is universally popular. Sweet but piquant, it complements curries, cheeses, pastries and just about anything.

Makes about 2 ½ litres.

Use processed garlic and ginger to save time.

2 large eggplant, about 500g each

4 tsp salt

¼ cup tamarind concentrate*

1 cup oil

¼ cup mustard seed (I use yellow)

100g crushed garlic

100g minced ginger

2 Tbsp fenugreek seed

2 Tbsp coriander seed

2 Tbsp cumin seed

1 Tbsp chilli powder

3 x 410g tins peeled tomatoes in juice, chopped

1 cup malt vinegar

1 kg sugar

Slice the unpeeled eggplant into small (¼ inch –5mm) dice. Place in a colander, sprinkled evenly or tossed with the salt. Set aside over a sink or bowl to drain for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the remaining ingredients.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy based pot or jam pan, over a medium high heat. Add the mustard seeds and heat until they start to pop. Remove from the heat and stir in the fenugreek, coriander and cumin seeds followed by the garlic, ginger and chilli powder. Return to a lowered heat and cook, stirring, for about 4 minutes. Stir in the salted and drained eggplant without rinsing or patting dry – just shake the colander before adding the eggplant, then sauté for 3-4 minutes.

Stir in the chopped tomatoes with juice, ¼ cup of tamarind pulp, vinegar and the sugar.

Simmer the mixture, uncovered, for about 1½ hours, stirring occasionally. Oil should rise to the surface after about an hour, and further cooking produces a medium-thick chutney, reduced to almost half the original volume.

Bottle in hot, sterilized jars with hot, sterilized screw on lids. 

*Take 125g from a block of tamarind pulp, available from any Asian food store. Break it up and soak in one cup of hot water for 15 minutes, breaking it up further as it soaks. Push it through a sieve and discard leftover fibre and seeds. Measure out the amount required and freeze the excess for future use.

An acceptable substitute to making your own concentrate is tamarind paste, available from Asian outlets (especially the Pantai norasingh brand).  

And this week, the feijoas started falling

And I do mean by the trailor load! However, another favourite chutney is . .

Smoke & Lime Feijoa Chutney

Both recipes will be in my new cookbook, 'Rowan Bishop- with Relish ' due for release early October.
After the feijoas come figs and persimmons, and in between are limes and lemons to preserve. . .

This kitchen is smoking!

Working towards this new book is consuming my life! I either forget to take photos of whatever I've concocted, or I have no time to deal to this blog as I'm too busy writing up and moving on. . .
No time to  moan though, so I'll just post photos of some of the things I've been experimenting with over the last 3 months, then if any one wants a recipe or to know more, leave a message. . .

First, one of my blokey foodie friends provided the inspiration for these fantastic home smoked mussels. I am so into our wonderful farmed green lip mussels - readily available, sustainable, delicious, nutritious (not only low in fat but contain as much iron as red meats) and a great source of protein that is cheap! I bought quite a few kilos last week at our local supermarket when they were $1.99 kg; for mussel soup, mussel pie and these little beauties

All you need is  home smoker (a must for any home, I say. . .)

The mussels were marinated overnight in sweet chilli sauce and kecap manis, and they were fabulous - as were the smoked tomatoes, too. You can't over-smoke tomatoes, as more is less with them, but I think I've got the timing right now. I was so pleased I took about 15 of the mussels to a friend's place mid afternoon and she seriously ate almost all of them - well, they all disappeared and I only got two, so there's no other explanation.

Next up is artichoke heart salad, made for lovely friend Faith's 60th birthday this last weekend - I sauteed garlic and a few mashed anchovies in virgin olive oil, then added lemon juice and zest, plus seasonings of course for the dressing. The salad had marinated, well drained artichoke hearts (no, I didn't cook them myself, my garden has been a wasteland this year!), cannelini beans, flat leaf parsley, chives, black olives, diced celery and sliced bocconcini  - you could use ricotta or even creamy feta for a different take on this. I eavesdropped on a few comments at the party, and it seems that everyone thought it was pretty impressive -and delicious - so a wee pat on the back there, as well as a sigh of relief.

I've also been working on a roasted cauliflower salad with chickpeas & dukkah (home made of course!) and am happy to say it's been a success too

Roasted cauliflower salad with chickpeas & dukkah

- unlike my anchovy dip. I'm going to have to put that aside for a while, let ideas percolate and maybe come back to it.

Fried curry leaves for Indian-inspired soup garnishes

and a cauliflower soup with corn, basil and blue cheese - it's weird how these flavours work so harmoniously in this soup, I love it when that happens!

Cauliflower soup with corn, basil and blue cheese

And I'm going to bore you all if I add any more to this post, so I'll have to leave the pitas and rice paper roll banquet til next post. Meanwhile I'm heading to the kitchen to create the best squid ink spaghetti I've made yet (hopefully) and a Thai vegetarian noodle salad.

The thing about salads. .farro and quinoa

It's been such an amazing, never ending summer this year that salads are even more of a feature in our family  meals than usual; so versatile, and only limited by your imagination - a far cry from when a salad meant shredded lettuce with sliced tomato and hard boiled egg on top, served with a condensed milk dressing. It's not that I'm being sniffy, it's just that variety really does matter, and our whole concept of salads has changed in the last couple of decades. Now a salad can mean a main meal or a side, it can be a noodle based dish, contain meats or not, be served hot, at room temperature or even chilled.

 I love exploring different grains in salads, as well as pulses, using them in all kinds of innovative ways - incorporating vegetables, nuts, herbs, fresh and dried fruits, and cheeses too. Dressings are so important, and of course there are some wonderful new products to build dressings on, such as Tart Apple syrup from Tauranga, pomegranate molasses, lovely vinegars and stunning oils.

I have written about farro in one of my earlier blogs, when we were living in Tuscany for a few months; it's a deliciously nutty, chewy, ancient wheat grain that Italians have eaten for centuries, but one we don't know particularly well in New Zealand. It is quite similar in taste and texture to barley, actually, just a bit nuttier and chewier; both can be used in risottos, to thicken stews and of course in salads.

In any case, supermarkets in Tuscany had quite a number of different varieties of farro, most of which had wildly different cooking times; I finally realised, however, that farro perlato was the one most people bought, and that's the one most readily available here; the cooking time is a comfortable 20 minutes approximately.

My photos never look as good as the subjects do in real life!

Farro is well worth trying, with more protein and B vitamins than most grains, an interesting texture and the nutty flavour complements almost anything. I've tried it mostly as a salad, with various combinations of these components; fresh mozzarella, capers, sun dried tomatoes or roasted red peppers, olives, capers, parsley, mint, lemon or lime juice, roasted fresh corn kernels, caramelised onions, toasted almonds. Basically, it's like working with pulses - my mantra is, lighten these base ingredients with lots of flavourful, textured other ingredients, they shouldn't weigh the dish down.

Another salad that 's been really popular over the summer is my black quinoa tabouleh; it looks so gorgeous with the green parsley and black quinoa but can also be made with either burghul or couscous - now that quinoa is so popular, it's not a bad idea to use an alternative so that the traditional quinoa growers can keep some for themselves rather than exporting it all. I'm wondering if some inventive folk might come up with a way to harvest and process fathen (fat-hen, a close relative of quinoa) - wouldn't that be a great ugly duckling story, transforming a pesky weed into a great food source!

BURGHUL, COUSCOUS OR QUINOA TABOULEH

  Tabouleh (Tabouli) is a salad to return to, especially in summer. It’s worth trying it with couscous or cooked quinoa, however, for a different result than with the more familiar burghul. (One cup raw quinoa produces three cups of cooked, whereas the other two grains produce two cups of soaked grain for one raw). Black quinoa makes a very attractive tabouleh.

Serves 4-6

1 cup burghul or couscous

                        or 2/3 cup black or white quinoa

2 cups finely chopped parsley leaves

1/3 cup finely chopped mint leaves

3 spring onions, chopped finely

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup olive oil

1 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

3 firm tomatoes, seeded and diced

Cover the burghul with cold water and leave for 30 minutes. If using couscous, cover with boiling water and stand for 7 minutes. For quinoa, cook in 2 cups salted water, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes until the ‘curl’ is released and the grain is al dente before refreshing under cold water.

 Drain thoroughly in a sieve, lightly pressing to remove all liquid.

Transfer to a serving bowl and add the parsley, mint and spring onions.

Stir in the lemon juice, oil and seasonings. Discard seeds and juice from the tomatoes, dice the flesh   and stir into the tabouleh.

Green green green . . .

It's fantastic that New Zealand is producing so many avocados these days (I write out of self interest). When we lived in Rarotonga (Cook Islands) they were plentiful, but I mourned to see them splatted on the roads and rotting on the roadsides. Obviously I just couldn't eat enough to save them from this fate, despite more than doing my bit in that regard.
Rarotonga is where I wrote 'The Vegetarian Adventure', with Sue Carruthers, 25 years ago (Sue still lives there; she and her husband own Tamarind House, the must-go restaurant and venue on Raro) and I developed a cornmeal and avocado roulade for that book, which someone reminded me of recently. That was the first time I'd really cooked with it, and now I make a number of recipes where avocado is cooked, sometimes for texture as the flavour on its own rarely competes with others, or for texture and flavour as it 'carries' lemon/lime, chilli etc well.
Most of the recipes I see feature avocados in salads and dips (I love mashing an avocado into my Mexican tomatillo salsa, and of course guacamole. . ) but recently I trialled Fish and Avocado Cakes that were a great success, and this green soup (Zuppe Verde) is soooo good.

Doesn't look as good as it tastes, unfortunately

TOMATILLO SALSA/DIP

  

Combined with chilli, fresh coriander, cumin, garlic and lime or lemon, tomatillos make a Mexican salsa so good it could be addictive. Serve with corn chips as a dip, or as a sauce to include in wraps or to serve with almost anything from tacos to frittatas.

Freeze or bottle the base salsa as detailed below.

Tomatillos are easy to grow, and self-seeding.

Unhusked tomatillos can be stored in a paper bag in a refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

1 kg tomatillos

2 onions, peeled and chopped

water if poaching

1 tsp ground cumin

4-5 large cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

1 ½ tsp salt

3/4 tsp sugar

2-3 red chillies, seeded and finely chopped

1 ½ - 2 Tbsp lime juice or equivalent lemon juice for each cup of base mixture

¼ cup finely chopped coriander for each cup of base mixture

Remove the husks from the tomatillos and wash in warm water to remove the sticky coating.

Prepare the onion and stir into the tomatillos in a microwave -safe bowl. Cover and microwave on high for 5-6 minutes on high with no added water. Microwave another 5 minutes. Drain off half a cup of liquid at this point and discard. 

OR place in a large shallow frypan with 1 cup water and simmer, turning constantly over a low heat until the tomatillos turn ochre in colour and are soft to the touch without actually splitting. Drain most of the water off.

Stir the cumin, the prepared garlic, salt and sugar into the cooked tomatillos.

Place the microwaved or poached and drained tomatillo mixture in a processor and pulse to roughly chop. 

Stir in the seeded and finely chopped red chillies. At this point the base mixture can either be frozen as is, or transferred to a pot and brought to simmer point before being bottled in the normal way.

When required, ensure the base mixture is at room temperature. Stir in the lime juice (or lemon) along with the finely chopped coriander, taste, then adjust the seasonings to taste  - salt, sugar, chilli, lime/lemon juice.

Note: Mashed avocado makes a great addition and thickener to this salsa.

Glamping - what happened to back country food?

Happy New Year from our heart's home - Wanaka. We come every year, for at least a month, not least because I have so many cousins around the area; so many of our friends have turned up here over the years, either to holiday or to live. This gorgeous place attracts skiers in winter, swimmers, fisherpeople, sun seekers in the summer, trampers and outdoor sports buffs all year round. We couriered our bikes down as usual, and bought Eve ( fox terrier) with us as accompanied baggage on the plane - easy!
I used to live in the stables in the Uni holidays and took tourists up Mt Iron on horseback, but the stables are long gone and the flanks of Mt Iron are covered in houses. Streams of tourists walk or run! up every day in the summer for exercise and the view, and suburbs swarm where we once gathered mushrooms. There are, however, still vestiges of the old days. . .

Penrith as it used to be, and still is!

We've walked most of the 'Great Walks' but it's always nice to reconnect - this year we decided to walk the Milford track again after 14 years but do it 'guided' this time(a polite term for glamping; glamour tramping). Not, I hasten to add, because we're old and infirm, only cautious. I was sceptical, and I did miss some things, such as macaroni cheese and a slug of scotch in my cocoa, but who could complain about 5 course meals (if you include nibbles and a salad), wine, comfortable beds and duvets, greeted at the door  - in short, treated like royalty in the most stunning environment - honestly,it's picture postcard stuff, there's always something stunning to see.

Every time you look at the Clinton river you'll see trout

The water's so clear you can see every stone

My favourite hut was Pompolona -  luxury in the middle of nowhere, and to top it all - one of the best creme brulees I've had.  Given where we were, who would believe it?

Nearly at the top of the McKinnon Pass - hot cocoa waiting. . 

Just a few clouds to add to the drama at the top - dragon's breath?

Contemplating how far you've walked

 Swimming after lunch

Our friend Sylvia walked those 55 kilometres on reconstructed feet, and we reckon she should be the pin-up girl for the big walks - if she can do it, almost anyone can. . .
We'd recommend it to anyone - the guides are great, everything is provided - packs, pack inners, raincoats, poles, even insect repellent.
As for the food, forget cabin bread, peanut butter and jam

Lava cakes - molten chocolate inside!

or, to put it more delicately, none of us lost any weight. . .

Kumara with Fish, Coconut & Curry Leaves

Although I prefer vegetarian, I'll happily eat small amounts of meat at times, particularly fish and seafood; the curry below is one where the fish takes a back seat in the dish but interesting textures and flavours shine through. I really wanted to create something using curry leaves, which I've used before, in a tamarind and prune chutney I developed (puliyini); I thought it would be interesting to use them more now that they're available fresh and cheaply from Indian food stockists. Not to be confused with the spice, or the herb of the same name of course. 

Because curry leaves have quite a soft texture they don't have to be discarded from the dish when cooked - apparently they're good for digestion as well as a few other ailments, and the texture isn't at all unpleasant (see note below for more information).

 Kumara with Fish, Coconut & Curry Leaves

The star of this dish is the kumara (sweet potato) and the curry leaves, not the relatively small quantity of fish. It does add to the balance of the dish however, without taking over.

Serves  4, or 6 if served with other curries.

*Curry leaves don’t taste anything like the spice of the same name; in fact they are from a tree belonging to the citrus family and have a mildly citrus, nutty flavour when fried in oil. There is no need to discard them when cooked as they contain medicinal properties and are not at all unpleasant in texture. As you would expect, fresh leaves are much more flavourful than dried.

500g red kumara

¾ cup loosely packed curry leaves*

¼ cup oil

1 Tbsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp fresh grated ginger

 ½ - ¾ tsp chilli powder

  or 1 x 5cm long red chilli, seeded and chopped finely

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp garum masala

1 ½ cups vegetable, fish or chicken stock (or water)

¼ cup tamarind paste

1 x 400g tin coconut cream

1 ½ tsp salt or to taste, & coarsely ground black pepper

1 red capsicum, seeded and diced

1 firm but ripe banana, peeled and diced 2cm

200 - 300g firm white fish fillet, diced 3cm

fresh coriander for garnish

Peel the kumara, cut into 2cm dice, and set aside. Strip the curry leaves from their stalks and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large frypan over medium-high heat, and stir in the mustard seeds. Cook until the seeds start to ‘pop’, then reduce heat immediately and stir in the curry leaves, cumin seeds, ginger, chilli powder or chilli, turmeric and garum masala.

Stir in the diced kumara then the water, and cook for five minutes, stirring.  Stir in the tamarind paste, coconut cream, salt, pepper and prepared red capsicum and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Stir in the banana and simmer another 15 minutes or until the kumara is tender but not mushy.

Stir in the prepared fish and cook through, three – four minutes.

Serve the curry with plain or brown steamed rice, chutneys, plain yoghurt, and warm chapatis if wished. Garnish with finely chopped coriander. 

Rhubarb and Strawberries

Okay, this is a bit of a cheat because the recipe's already been published in my 'Vegetarian Kitchen" cookbook, but it's just the right time of year for rhubarb and strawberries and it's such a favourite with all my family and friends. 

Not only does it taste so good, I really like that there is no precooking of either the fruit or the pastry required (basically, I'm a bit lazy  - unless there's a really compelling reason for doing something like pre-cooking pastry bases, like it'll be soggy, I don't do it).

Plum Kitchen's blog gave me a timely nudge - she's just made rhubarb and strawberry jam, which I must try! 

                                    
 RHUBARB AND STRAWBERRY PIE

This pie is a star! Strawberries and rhubarb make great partners; that’s really all there is to be said. Guaranteed to win compliments, it’s especially quick to prepare if you use pre-rolled (frozen) pastry in the interests of convenience*.

 No pre-cooking of either fruit or pastry is required.

Serves 6-8. Suitable to freeze.

Most of us don’t want to do anything more with the first strawberry crops than eat them raw, perhaps with a little icing sugar and cream; it’s only when they’re at their cheapest and most plentiful that we cast around for sorbets, fools, coulis and pies.

2 sheets sweet shortcrust pastry

300g hulled strawberries

300g prepared rhubarb stalks

½ cup caster sugar

2 Tbsp cornflour

¼ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp lemon zest

1 Tbsp milk

2 Tbsp sugar

Pre heat oven to 220 C.

Lightly spray or grease a 25cm pie or quiche tin.

Use one of the thawed pastry sheets to line the prepared tin – you will probably need to trim a 5 cm strip of pastry off the second sheet and use to extend this so it covers the bottom and sides of the tin (wet one edge and press together).

Hull the strawberries and slice large berries into quarters, and medium sized into halves. Weigh both the berries and the rhubarb after preparation, as there is often some wastage that should be accounted for.

Using a sharp knife, slice the rhubarb thinly, discarding any stringy pieces as you go.

Place the prepared berries and rhubarb in a bowl and combine with the caster sugar, cornflour, nutmeg and zest.

Transfer the filling evenly into the prepared base, then cut the remaining pastry sheet into 7 strips. Use the strips to design a lattice top over the filling, then brush the strips with the milk, using a pastry brush, and sprinkle with the ordinary granulated sugar.

Place the pie in the pre- heated oven and bake at 220 C for 10 minutes, then turn the heat down to 200 C.

Cover the pie with a sheet of tin foil at this point to stop it browning too fast. Bake for a further 40-45 minutes, uncovering the pie for the last 10 minutes of cooking to ensure the top is an even golden brown.

Serve at room temperature or slightly warm, accompanied by vanilla ice cream or lightly whipped cream.