Harvest Monday

Conference season means I've been away spreading my academic wares and absorbing the fantastic works of others. First up was the Australian Historical Association conference in Adelaide where I also caught a nasty flu, which meant the citrus drinks aided by my recent harvests were a little ineffective. Then on to Canberra for the IABA conference (international auto/biographical association) where my voice had returned but the cough had remained. Papers went well and I thoroughly enjoyed all the sessions I attended. I was particularly pleased seeing a few Melbourne colleagues giving papers (not the least of which was my lovely other half.) Being at a conference in Adelaide meant staying with the parentals, which was as lovely as always. AND I got to see the puppy dogs, who were, as always, as cute as ever.

One would also think that being away would limit the harvest - but here are a few things I harvested before I left (and since I've returned.)

Some thumbelina and purple carrots, enjoyed by me, my lovely bf and also by the bugs of the garden (tiny but super delicious, the carrots that is, not the bugs.)

 (see the big chunk taken out of the orange one!!! I can assure you that was all descendents of Sid the Snail and not me.)

Greens are a good staple on the balcony. Things such as broccoli, kale and swiss chard made a delicious stirfry along with pork mince and rice cakes.

Brocolli leaves (only) also went into a nutritious and delicious soup, that while a distinct hue of baby vomit green, have proven to be almost addictive. I've had two bowls today already. Probably the yellow curry, lentils, parsnips, carrots and potatoes I put in with it. They say that the leaves have a tonne of Vitamin A in them which is awesome, and usually I'd just chuck them out. Hooray for food scraps!

 

The garden is a little light on produce now (except for a few snow peas, some piddly little lettuce and a few bits of broccoli.) But ... in exciting news ... I spent an hour or so today cleaning up the left over pots in preparation for the spring crop which is just around the corner! Future harvests here we come. For more amazing harvests visit Daphne's Dandelions.

Lemon meet Lime

The lemon tree was one of the premier plants on the balcony - first posted about way back when. The lime tree followed after I decided to up the fruit tree content of the balcony in lieu of vegetable space (it was a slight soil saving measure that seems to have more than paid off.) After years of struggling where harvests were a meagre 1 or 2 fruits, the lemon tree has finally come into its own. Check it out in all its glory now (above and below):

I've picked a few lemons thus far, for garnishes, drinks and dessert purposes. The dessert was a slightly overcooked lemon delicious. I'm not sure if it was my oven, or the recipe (I'd vote the latter), but on my recent trip to Adelaide I gathered my Mum's amazing, handwritten recipe and will woo the man with a second attempt. But this first one at least tasted great served with blueberries!

And if you want to check out something culinary that is a little more decadent that this dessert head on over to my other blog, A teetotal 2012. It also shows my recent sewing projects including that quilt!
 
 I try and drink freshly squeezed citrus juice as much as I can in the winter. It involves freshly squeezing one or two of oranges, lemons and anything else I please that morning. It tastes delicious and helps give a good dose of vitamin C. In my 'time'-poor last few months I've barely managed this seemingly small task, but on the odd occasion I have it has been wonderful. I use it to ward away colds and other nasties in the winter. Even better with home grown lemons and limes thrown in the mix (this one had the juice of one orange also).

The lime tree itself is growing well, and I've harvested a couple for similar purposes. One even almost made its way in my superman's amazing attempt at spiced slow roasted chicken last Sunday (I'm still savouring the last few bits in sandwiches.)

Citrus trees are great plants for a balcony garden. The fruit is multipurpose and the smell of the blossom, which is there many months of the year, it phenomenal. They are heavy feeders but I just put some slow release on 4 times a year and they're happy as Larry if Larry was eating Mum's lemon delicious. No need to buy those fancy dwarfed citrus plants, they're just a waste of money. ANY citrus can be dwarfed and rootstock has little to do with it. With the right pot, soil and pruning regime any citrus can be kept at the size you want it. After 5 and a bit years in my hands (and a couple of years at its former home) the lemon is finally playing ball and the lime only took 2 and a half years to produce!!! Now that's what I'd call a winning combination.

Valentines Day (Or Iraqi Communist Martyr's Day)

I don't really do Valentines Day. It's for the usual reasons, that I consider it to be over-comercialised, I don't need just one day to tell my significant other that he's wonderful, and I get and give flowers and pressies for other reasons.

But it is not just like any other day in my household.My wittiful boyfriend is cooking me a delicious Iraqi dinner - in remembrance the other significance of the 14th of Feb - Iraqi Communist Martyrs Day. In a few hours (or less) I'll get to dig into some Pomegranate and Beetroot soup. It's not exactly traditional, but with my low carb, low meat, healthy diet it was as close as he could get. And it's red, well deep purple, but quite the colour to get into the spirit of the dat. I'll stop short of singing the internationale, but here's some red and pink flower pics from the balcony garden to help you celebrate the 14th in whichever way you choose.

Burning, Balcony Gardens and Bargains

As you all know by now I love to cook. Last night I had some of my rellies over for a feast of truffle mustard, mushroom and sweetcorn soup followed by beetroot risotto with pancetta and goats cheese and finished of with a dessert of sticky date pudding with homemade ice cream. The sticky date pudding was divine (and made by my good friend Mr M), as were all the other courses (tasty that is, made by my hand not his) except for the vanilla icecream which split so was an unmitigated disaster.

Today the cooking extravaganza continued and I hit up the stalls at the Vic markets. For under $20 I bought and made (using a few ingredients such as pasta, peas, cous cous and spices that I had already in the pantry, leftovers from last night's dessert and herbs and greens from the balcony garden):

Beef Goulasch with Israeli cous cous
A huge pot of vegetarian Bolognaise Sauce
2 Veggie lasagnes (one for a friend who just had a baby and one for me and my dinner guest)
1 Meat lasagne
1 large pot of Yellow curry, sweet potato and split pea soup (snacked on that this afternoon, it was divine)
Cookies and Cream icecream.

I also have more market shopping left over for a cauliflower and beetroot soup for later in the week. Blood orange macarons are the final bit on tomorrow's agenda.

One slight problem though, try not to get too close to the stove - things might (and did) get burned!

Cooking with Garden: Lentil, pear and proscuitto salad

I posted a while back about a few cooking adventures with my balcony garden produce. There was a yummy wild mushroom pasta and a fig sandwich. Alas Autumn is behind us now so the season for such mushrooms is passing/has passed and the sandwich craving has been eagerly filled by Earl Canteen (their bacon sandwich with quince aoli has, for me, surpassed the pork belly one - who knew!)

One dish I whipped up a lot in Autumn was a lentil, proscuitto and pear salad. I served it cold but it could easily be served with the lentils and cabbage still warm. So here is another, short, cooking with garden post.

First I boiled up some black lentils, in veggie chicken stock with a dash of pepper. I cooked them until aldente, adding some finely chopped cabbage in the last few minutes (and on one occasion some silverbeet too.) Leave this to cool in the fridge if you want a cold salad. Then it is just a matter of putting it all together. I used assorted greens from my garden, pretty much a staple. Added in the lentil/cabbage mix. On top of this I put slices of pear (I've used many varieties but corella add a great flavour, beurre bosch are good for texture) and some small strips of shaved proscuitto. No need for a dressing! Et voila one realtively healthy, high in fibre, tasty autumn salad.

Cooking with Garden: The World's Yummiest Sandwich

Ok so that is a pretty big claim, the world's yummiest sandwich, actually it is a monstrously exaggerated claim, but to me it is true for this point in time. The fig, proscuitto and balcony garden greens sandwich has been keeping me sustained of a lunchtime for several days a week now. Alas it is the end of the fig season and without a fig tree on the balcony I can't even call them home grown, but the greens are. Now I hope I don't need to tell people how to make a sandwich. But incase you need a helping hand here is a photo essay to give you the aid you require.

Figs

Chop

Layer 1 on dark rye

Layer 2 (buy extra proscuitto and eat some along the way, sandwich making is tiring work)

Lettuce, wash it first!

Layer 3

mmmmmmm, sandwich.

Note that other versions have included other tasty ingredients such as brie, avocado and cucumber ,but the simplest version seems to be the best.

Cooking with Garden: Wild Mushroom Pasta

This post needs to start with a disclaimer. I would love to say that these mushrooms were homegrown, but they weren't even home foraged. I'd have no idea of the difference between a safe mushroom and an inedible one, so it'd be expiration via death cap all the way. These mushrooms I sourced at the Vic markets, slippery jacks and pine mushrooms. They are only on sale for a few weeks of the year and they are totally divine. Not cheap, but as I didn't need too many they came in under my student budget. I added them to a linguine for a very decadent pasta. Also in this pasta ... rocket and almost rocket (random green that tastes the same) from the balcony garden, chilli from the balcony garden, and store bought other mushrooms, onion, garlic and lemon. I wish the lemon came from the garden but there are only four lemons on the tree, and they are as green as the greens in this dish.

First step wash the greens, rip them a little and leave them aside. Apparently I should also have cleaned the bench of red pasta sauce which I was making at the same time. Ooops.

Second step, admire the mushrooms. Seriously who could not want to just stare at these things - they are amazing. After breaking gaze prepare them so they are of relatively equal size. I chopped each different variety a different way so they would be even easier to recognise in the final dish. I added in some button mushrooms and some larger white mushrooms to give it a variety of flavour, and some enoki, (only add the enoki after cooking off the large mushrooms first, otherwise they become too msushy.) Once they are cut put them in a fry pan and cook for a few minutes. Only when the moisture begins to evaporate do you add any oil and season (in this case I added oil and butter, mushrooms are great in butter and a balance of both means the butter doesn't burn.)

I cooked this off for a bit then took it out, butter, oil, mushrooms and all. Don't drain anything, otherwise the taste goes down the sink. Step three is then to cook off the garlic and the chilli.

Then add the mushies back to the pan along with previously cooked linguine. Only at the very last second do you add the greens, alongside a squeeze of lemon.

et voila - Linguine with Wild (and slightly less wild) Mushrooms with rocket, chilli, lemon and buttery, garlicky oil. Yum, and despite the oil and butter, still within my calorie count!

On herbs and the Central Markets

Ah holidays. Today sees me lazing inside, slow cooking up a spaghetti bolognaise sauce for my parents whilte trying to get some RA work done. The sauce takes from 4 to 6 hours but is so rich and tomatoey it is worth the wait. Mum and I popped to the central markets in Adelaide (rival the Vic markets for sure, and in a moment of weakness I even declared them better than the vic markets!!!) this morning and bought some yummy tomatoes (the mortgage lifters Mum grows are way too good for this sauce.) We also bought some premium mince. I also wandered by the mushroom shop looking wistfully at the black french winter truffles on sale (reasonably priced too I might add, though Mum disagreed.) Usually I put mushrooms in my spag bol, but mon pere isn't too fond of the old fungus so I left it out.

However, what does go into the mix is a tonne of herbs from mum's garden. I pulled two fistfulls of basil leaves off the bush and you can barely tell. It is just so huge. I also picked some rosemary from this amazing bush, and some thyme from the one behind it (hidden in this photo.)

While lemongrass isn't the thing for bolognaise, I just had to show you a picture of it - simply huge.

Mum also grows a huge sage bush. Back at our old home she couldn't get it to grow, and nor can I on the balcony garden, but here it grows life a triffid!

Same with the chives, there are loads of them!

Also, whenever you wander around this garden a shadow seems to follow. I managed to capture the shadow the other day.

After a quick pat I sent him on his way. Seriously, any time I enter the garden he follows! He just loves it, and it is almost like it is his garden, not Mum's, though he is yet to be spotted actually helping with the gardening. Other favourite hobbies of his include sleeping on the couch cuddled up close (and snoring) and barking at the ants that congregate on his bones (chewy treat bones, not the ones in his body) in an attempt to get rid of them!!!

The Much Lauded Magill Estate Dinner : The highs and the lows and the cold pasta

If you are one of my long suffering friends or work around the History department at Melbourne Uni you might have heard me rabbit on and on about Magill Estate, how my parents were taking me there when I went back to Adelaide, in a celebration of getting through my two year review (a-hem.) Despite the debacle that was my non-existant meeting, the dinner still went ahead. Magill Estate is not a place to take the family every week. It is pricey (even by Melbourne standards it is pricey and this is an Adelaide restuarant) and the food tips towards the experiemental. From what I can tell Melbourne went through a phase of Molecular Gastronomy, filled with foams and gels and soils until everyone had a bit of a backlash. Then came the terroir movement and pressing of the issue of provenance, knowing where your food came from and making damn sure it was a local as possible. Adelaide, as is sometimes claimed, is a little behind Melbourne. Stepsys's menu is not without its nods to local produce but it does have the foams and gels scattered here and there, albeit in a well thought out and metered manner. There were some dizzying highs with this meal, and some valley-style lows that are still getting discussed around our dinner table and told to any of my parents' friends that will listen.

The view was, well, what can you expect from a foothills winery location - spectacular! The service too was impeccable. Our main waitress Kirsty was attentive and sparkly. I hope she goes well in her masters. As this is a wine focussed restaurant, Penfolds wines to be exact, the sommelier (and sommeliers in training) were of course knowledgable and attentive. Although Mum was miffed when the waiter poured more wine into Dad's glass at the end of the night than hers (noticeably so) and he was, in fact, the designated driver. Even though Dad swapped glasses when Mum wasn't looking, none of us were too impressed at this slight look back at old world partiarchy. But maybe that is what goes with a swanky Adelaide restaurant, who knows?!? I indulged in a sparkling white from Tasmania, Yummy! And the folks drank both Riesling and a bottle of red (I wish I could remember more details). Apart from the gender imbalance in wine pouring this aspect of the meal was well above par.

We started with an amuse bouche - indescribably delicious. Tomatoey (so of course I was over the moon) smokey, and foamily light. But it was the entrees that blew us all away. You can find the menu here, but suffice to say the Venison was the highlight of the evening. I could have eaten several plates of it happily - and this is coming from a girl who says death to all capsicum (peppers for the American readers.) Dad had the duck with red curry icecream and it was, again, amazing. Mum had the bresaola and marron with black garlic which she loved. So entrees are something Magill Estate excels at. Perfect portions, and sublime, complex, flavour combinations. It set me in a great mood and I was in mad anticipation for the mains.

The anticipation, I am afraid, may have ruined it, or maybe it was the meal itself. In any case the mains were not such a dizzying high and in my case were a very low point of the evening. I opted for the vegetarian dish which was listed as such: Jerusalem Artichoke, low temperature egg yolk, truffle, peas and French Mushrooms. It ended up being ravioli, which I guess was fine, but why not list this fact in the menu? The description could lend itself to anything and here was me thinking it might be some form of galette. If you go to the trouble to list all the ingredients, why not list the fact this is a pasta? I know this is a 'trust the chef' restaurant wherein any cut or meal should be worthy, but sometimes diners don't want secrecy. Mum had the same trouble, she ordered the pork, which was simply listed as pork, not the cut, and ended up with pork belly. She was quite miffed but luckily enjoyed it yet still rued the fact she hadn't asked. However, the misrepresentation in my dish went beyond the cut of meat - quite hard to get a cut of jerusalem artichoke wrong! But the ravioli was cold around the edges, had no seasoning and thus no taste, and what's more there was no truffle! I repeat NO TRUFFLE. I was too embarassed to ask, mostly because of that stupid channel 7 television show during the week which had shown two Melbourne boys make the unforgivable mistake of using truffle oil (a chemical concoction) instead of real white truffles. And boys, for that matter white truffles are incredibly hard to source in Melbourne at this time, Black ones easier, but you have to know where to go. My culinary background means I know the difference between truffle oil and truffles, and I also knew that no truffle oil was used in this dish either. The main was simply sans truffle. Mum tried to convince me the shards from a mushroom might be flecks of truffle but I had to shoot her down. I get more truffle in my truffle cheese from the markets. If I was a vegetarian I would be unamused that my $42 main was so unenlightened. Now I should have sent it back, but I was just too scared, or too polite, or too nervous, or too something to complain in that way. I will learn one day to be stronger in restuarants but this time I just ate it and grumbled to the parents. And wrote this blog. I should have given the news to the chef on the night, to fix or to explain, but I didn't. I won't ever be swayed by truffles again, and will, in future learn to speak up. Incidentally the waiters picked up on Mum's issues with the pig, but not mine with my sup par main. Dad's main of beef and quinoa was delicious but none compared to the wonderfully created entrees. Sadly it is the lows one remembers almost as much as the highs.

I was the only one to opt for dessert, mostly so I could leave the meal on a high and not simply with the non-taste of my main in my mouth. The salted caramel and chocolate dish was divine, as was the dessert amuse bouche for the table. The coffees and petit fours were also tasty. Oddly enough despite the terrible main I would certainly go back to Magill Estate (if I had the cash!!!) Maybe it was a bad meal choice, maybe it was just a bad night for the chef preparing the vegetarian dish, maybe the menu needs to be a little more clearly defined, who knows? The quality of cooking in the other areas and the general loveliness of the service and the atmosphere seems to have outweighed my dismay at the lack of truffley goodness (and the lack of seasoning or heat in places.) I would recommend going to Magill Estate for a special meal, but if you do, don't hesistate to ask questions and don't hesistate to send a plate back if it isn't up to scratch. You are paying good money, and they are at the top of their game so they should want to make the dining experience perfect. The menu is a little lean on information, which can lead one to consider that some meals were misrepresented in the written word. And next time, truffles??? Please truffles!

A Big Look Back at the Balcony Garden in 2009 (a.k.a. there will be tomatoes)

It is New Years Eve and I am supposed to be putting in a few good hours of study on my thesis, making a cheese platter, setting up the bedroom for my cousin and heading off to a very low key night with a few girlfriends. However, I am procrastinating by blog writing and considering it is probably time to take stock of the year that was. To make it interesting I promised gratuitous tomato pictures for those in need.

January, I mostly spent with my folks in Adelaide, so the balcony garden got a little neglected. It also showed me how my parents coped in Adelaide's very hot and dry conditions, they had to install fake grass.

Late January and well into February was boom time on the balcony, despite the evils of the long heatwave, and Black Saturday which ravaged Victoria. However, in my little place it meant visits by the neighbour's cat (who had a habit of sneaking up when you least expected it)

and tomatoes. Lots and lots of tomatoes. My favourite had to be the mortgage lifter, it was addictive! Unfortunately I think the wilt and sunscald will claim ALL prospects of any mortgage lifters this year.

March was time for blooms. My favourite was the snapdragons which were in the hanging pots. They bloomed ALL YEAR, and in September I moved them out of the hanging pots and into smaller individual pots and they were still blooming! Infact it is 38 degrees today and while they are wilting they are still blooming! Amazing

April brought with it more lovely blooms, particularly refreshing were the gazanias and sunflowers.

It also saw the end of most of the tomatoes which made way for the snowpeas, a bountiful crop in the winter.

May saw me turn 29 and reflect on my life thus far. It also brought with it the final tomato. I planted some white cloud tomatoes late in the season and despite being ravaged by wilt a few made it out alive, and straight into my BLT.

June heralded the beginning og the broccoli season. even though it looks like a contender for a bondage club mascot it survived the poorly trellised snow peas around it and provided me with the tastiest broccoli for months ahead. I am planning to plant far more broccoli this Autumn.

End of June and beginning of July and the winter indoor tomato experiment was off. Alas the wilt ended up attcking here too, helped along by some evil little fungus gnats, but we did get a fair few tomatoes off the initial siberian (the one in the back).

In August we had the inagural balcony garden roast. It meant loads of carrots and other yummies and a rather large and painful overindulgence in wine.

In September we met Sid, the unfortunate snail who, along with his comrades, began tearing the balcony garden to pieces. After a brief conversation it was bye bye Sid.

September also saw blossoms galore on the nectarine tree.

October was when the zucchini went in and thrived.

And from November we got ripe zucchinis, mostly baby ones due to the problems with germination and boy flower hiding, and more inportantly we got the ripening of the tomatoes.

Which in December just kept on coming and coming.

And this is the balcony garden as it stood a few days ago.

Although there are now a few more holes, due to the slow but necessary removal of the dying tomatoes. This hole was where a hanging pot once held cherry tumbler tomatoes.

Still the new year definitely looks full of promise! Hope everyone has a lovely new years and see you all in 2010!