Struan Farm

Weekend Baking

I took a bit of a break from the dairy free experiments this weekend at Struan Farm to test out two more conventional recipes. I usually bake cookies or some sort of treat for arriving farmstay guests, so decided to kill two birds with one stone. 

Peanut butter cookies, from David Lebovitz' "Ready for Dessert." I'm a huge fan of his ice cream book, and have been testing out recipes from his blog, most recently "Pain d'amande," or "Crispy Almond Biscuits" as Ella and Livvy have christened them.

These are a traditional American thing, the type of cookie I grew up on, even down to the cross-hatches made on top with a fork. Very easy to make and "moreish." John and I had to restrain ourselves by hiding them in the pantry. Interestingly, Lebovitz advises not to use a gourmet or natural peanut butter, which cause the cookie to be too crumbly. Just use basic, smooth, off-the-shelf stuff.

I look forward to working my way through this book!

Next I tested out "Lazy Lady's Loaf," which I'd read about in a recent issue of "Nourish" (the Australian one, not the NZ magazine with the same name). This is a very simple crusty ciabatta loaf, made with unbleached white flour, salt and yeast. It proofs in the fridge overnight before being brought back to room temperature, shaped into a loaf on a baking tray, and baked.  We couldn't stop eating it warm out of the oven, so much for that healthy chicken salad I'd made for lunch! I managed to find the recipe here.

The Hidden Life of Our Fig Tree?

I'd almost given up hope that we'd get any ripe figs this year beyond the random few already picked, but I was wrong. Fortunately for us I misjudged the impact of the weather, and I definitely overestimated the birds, including the mob of turkeys mulling around the Pet Paddock here at Struan Farm. They were more interested in gorging on acorns under the oak trees, much easier pickings than hopping up precariously on a young fig tree laden with fruit. Other birds must have enough other food around the property and haven't gone searching. For some reason this particular fig tree's leaves seem to camouflage its fruit. I'd like to think it's thanking us for nurturing it along from a wee cutting from the heirloom tree across the river, but who knows? (Yes, okay, I've been reading "The Hidden Life of Trees.")

I walked out to the Old Orchard section of the Pet Paddock and came back with this:

Definitely enough to do something with. Hopefully about the same amount to come if we continue to have some warm days. For storage I've used a tip picked up from NZ Gardener magazine, recycled egg cartons.

Now to move quickly to use this unexpected gift. Thinking perhaps Rowan Bishop's "Spiced Figs in Brandy"....normally I'd use them in a salad with rocket/arugula, grilled haloumi, pickled beetroot and toasted nuts of some sort (or fresh pears instead of the beetroot). Roasted figs with honey and blue cheese are also quite good. Don't want to get too complicated mulling over options here or they'll go soft on me! So "Spiced Figs in Brandy" it is, with a few spare for salad.

Baking for the Boys

We've had a team of contractors staying at the Cottage during the week for a number of weeks now. They're working to reinforce an unstable cliff face in Paemako, just up the main road. Struan Farm ended up being the most convenient accommodation to the work project, plus we let them store their gear on weekends when they're back home.

We had a chat beforehand about them trying to be as tidy as possible, and they bring their own towels as agreed. I venture down each day to collect rubbish and execute a bit of a clean up in the kitchen. 

On Monday each week I leave a plate of home baking as a treat. Originally it was my not-so-subtle way of rewarding tidiness, but we've moved beyond that. They work hard outside in terrible conditions, and are away from home and family most of the week. It's the least I can do.

So far they've had chocolate chip cookies, Chewy Fudgy Brownies, That 70's Slice, Ripe's ANZAC Caramel Slice (from the green book), Nadia Lim's Caramel Coffee Walnut slice, and The Tin Goose Cafe's Wholemeal Ginger Crunch. I'm trying to bake something different each week they're here. I've been asked for three recipes so far.

This week I've made Pecan Squares from The Barefoot Contessa.

 

Next week it will be ANZAC biscuits, of course!

Cultural Concept du Jour: "Hygge"

Sometimes I'm a bit tardy on these trends, living as I do in rural New Zealand at Struan Farm. I'd been noticing references to "Hygge" for awhile, seeing books, etc. I was curious somewhat and finally took the bait on a rainy day in an effort to learn more.

 

I'm more than halfway through "Hygge: a celebration of simple pleasures, living the danish way" by charlotte abrahams (please note: lower case is author's own, not mine). Hygge, pronounced "hoo-ga," "hue-gah" or "hoo-guh" depending on which source is correct, is a Danish cultural concept of cosy contentment, about enjoying life's simple pleasures with family and friends. It permeates life and has been attributed to the need to adapt to long, dark winters. Since Danes are one of the happiest peoples on the planet (outside of Disneyland, of course), it's worth exploring further. Design concepts include warm light, cosy zones, modestly beautiful comfortable furniture, and comforting accessories (think throws and pillows). And candles, lots of candles. The author explores the concept in the context of food, family, the home, community, and "the soul." You get the idea. There is a good chapter on Danish Modern designers that I found particularly interesting, since hygge (along with craftmanship) is believed to have informed their design aesthetic of clean, functional lines.

So now you can add "hygge" to your list of cultural concepts that don't translate particularly well but are important to the quality of life and society in another country. Like the idea of "wabi-sabi" with the Japanese (finding beauty in imperfection), but obviously something quite different.

Big News: Published!

Very excited (two blog posts in one day--can't you tell?) to report that my Lemon Verbena Shortbread recipe has been published in NZ Gardener magazine's latest special issue "Growing and Using Herbs & Superfoods." See the first section on p.42 "Fragrant Desserts." I had to look carefully, since there's another shortbread recipe in there that isn't mine.

I've just received my issue, and there is lots of useful info on growing and using herbs (and superfoods). Check it out!

Strawberry Fields Forever?

I wish! Strawberry season is coming to a close this week at Piopio Berry Orchard, and I'm quite sad.

Normally by the end of the season each year I've had my fill, and am ready for a change to blueberries and even raspberries. But this year I don't feel like I've had enough strawberries just yet. Or blueberries either for that matter. Maybe it's because we really haven't had much of a summer.

I'll get over it, but I'll miss them until next year.

All Bottled Up

I'm learning, okay? Decided to try to bottle/can some of the plum harvest from the orchard here at Struan Farm. This is the first year we've had enough to do so, hooray!

Step one: I bought some one litre jars with lids. Step two: read about how to do this in the Edmonds Cookery Book. Step three: picked fruit and selected enough ripe fruit without blemishes for several jars. Step four: washed jars and put into 100C oven for 30 minutes or so. Step three: put lids in a pot, boiled for 5 minutes then simmered until ready to use. Step five: put one cup of sugar and two cups of water to make sugar syrup for each jar, plus extra. Brought to a boil and then simmered for five minutes. Step six: put washed plums into the simmering syrup, left until skins started to split. Step seven: put hot fruit into jars, topped up with hot syrup and sealed.

Now here's what happened when I tried this for the first time:

Seems I hadn't read the instructions properly about the amount of fruit, oops. And so it floated to the top, above the syrup. One jar sealed, the other didn't. While I can keep these in the fridge for awhile, these won't store for long the way they look, with the fruit exposed.

I decided to try again, we've got heaps of plums!  I also went to read a bit more and found a good blog post by Wendyl on how to bottle plums. While Edmonds goes on about the weight of fruit per jar, etc. Wendyl just says to fill the jars and top them with syrup.

Here's take two:

A much better result, and I used all of our unblemished fruit. TA DA! And all you people out there who have been bottling for years, please don't laugh, okay?

Rescuing Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle

Oh dear, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle got herself in a spot of bother in Struan Farm's Pet Paddock. She was off on her afternoon stroll and wandered into a magpie trap that John had set. We're still catching magpies, they just keep coming.

However, we don't want to catch hedgehogs, especially Beatrice Potter's friend and regular guest Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle. They do seem to like the ground beef/mince we use for bait. Perhaps Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle thought it was afternoon tea.

Fortunately I saw her signalling for help, and went to the rescue. She was most appreciative. No harrumphs this time!

Let Sleeping Hedgehogs Lie

I was out weeding in the gardens a few days ago, and came across Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle snoozing in the mulch near a flowering shrub. As you will know, she's a friend of Beatrice Potter, and is in NZ on holiday here at Struan Farm.

My mantra is "let sleeping hedgehogs lie," however I wanted to make sure she was alive and kicking. So I gave her a wee poke to make sure. Oops, this disturbed her, and I had to withdraw and apologise!

She said "harumph" and waddled out to the lawn and then slowly off into the gardens....

Quick Seasonal Fruit Crumble

We're eating lighter at the moment here at Struan Farm. It's summer, it's (meant to be) hot, we're eating later after working outside until late, and we're trying to move ourselves beyond all the holiday excesses. But that doesn't mean we don't have dessert after dinner, especially on the weekend.

I decided to use our bounty of ripe plums to make a plum crumble, tossing in some fresh cherries and blueberries to add sweetness, variety, and colour. Crumbles are super easy to make, can be adjusted for the number of people you need to feed, and work well with pretty much any type of fruit you might have on hand, canned/tinned or fresh. (Okay, I'm not sure bananas or citrus work, but all types of stone fruit, berries, apples, pears.) Obviously we're at the peak of summer right now so I've used fresh fruit.

The fruit is tossed with some sugar and put into a baking dish. A purist might grease the dish with a bit of butter, and also add some flour or cornstarch to the fruit to cut the juice. Up to you on both of those things, play around and see what works for you. For the topping I make up my knocked off version of Annabel Langbein's crumble topping from the Free Range Cook. It includes whole grain oats, brown sugar, ground almonds, sliced almonds and flour (pretty much in equal quantities), a bit of mixed spice, and melted butter to bind it all together. If you go overboard and make up too much crumble topping you can freeze the extra in a ziplock bag to use later. As you can see, I haven't made a huge dish here, basically enough for two generous portions.

 

Bake in a preheated 180C oven until the top is browned and the fruit is bubbling. This can be served warm with yogurt, or softly whipped cream or ice cream if you're in a more decadent mode. At the moment we've sworn off decadent. Briefly.

A Quiet Day

Every once in a while you need a quiet day. At least I do. I'm an introvert. I find myself getting frazzled if I'm surrounded by people all the time without a break. Even if that break is to weed, iron, or do something equally tedious but important to the flow of life here at Struan Farm. (Note: if you haven't read Quiet: The Power of Introverts In A World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain, do so soon. If you're not one of us it will help you understand.)  

Today was one of those days. John headed off to meetings in Auckland while the dog, pet lambs and I all hung out and had our respective quiet days. We're allowed. Clifford laid on the front doorstep zonked out, Minnie and Mickey lounged in the shade under their lean-to watching Cookie and Tootsie munching grass, and I cleaned out the fridge, freezers and pantry. You know how you start to lose track of what you've got and what you need after that mad season called The Holidays? Plus how many old, half empty/full jars of jam does one really need? 

It's time to regroup and get grounded again before those tomatoes start to ripen. I might even take that dozing dog for a leisurely walk down to the river if he's up for it. We'll leave the lambs home to guard the house.

Basil Ice Cream, Just Because

You will know that I sometimes try things just because, and this would be one of those things: basil ice cream. We have heaps of basil growing in the glasshouse here at Struan Farm. I got just a wee bit over-enthusiastic about the prospect of growing basil for our local cafe, The Fat Pigeon. And like most things Karen, my idea of "lots of basil" and their idea of "lots of basil" are somewhat different.

So while the arrangement is working, there's a considerable surplus to deploy. And I still have heaps of frozen pesto that friends Kris and Bob made for me during their visit in March, so pesto isn't the preferred option right now.

Recently one of the MasterChef Australia contestants bombed out making basil ice cream, but that got me thinking. I did have a recipe for it in my ice cream bible, David Lebovitz' "The Perfect Scoop."  He also has recipes for thyme ice cream and parsley, in case you're interested in those.

It wasn't bad. Unusual, and definitely not on a par with the lemon verbena, strawberry, lavender honey, or toasted coconut. I served it with fresh strawberries given that strawberries and basil are a good combo, and that worked. My darling husband is used to my experiments, and he's particularly happy to play guinea pig on anything ice cream.

But let's just say that I may be back to making pesto with the surplus!

Loving Lemon Verbena

For one of our Christmas dinners I decided to make lemon verbena ice cream for the first time. We have a huge bush in the backyard here at Struan Farm, right now it's flowering too.

And so I googled to search out recipes, and was very happy once I found a recipe by David Lebovitz, author of "The Perfect Scoop," the book I've been using for my other ice cream experiments.

Fresh, fragrant lemon verbena leaves are infused in warm milk, sugar and cream, with a pinch of salt. Otherwise the recipe is quite similar to the others I've made.

Once the ice cream was done I decided to try another experiment: lemon verbena shortbread to serve with the ice cream. Friend Laura gave me her rosemary shortbread recipe awhile ago, which I've made and really like. So I substituted fresh lemon verbena for the fresh rosemary. And--yum.

Subtle, but delicious!

 

Relishing Relishes

It was a productive day here at Struan Farm, rainy though it was. I was able to cook up the relishes for our annual Boxing Day celebration, both from Donna Hay magazine's Christmas issue: "cranberry ginger pan relish" and "beetroot, balsamic & red currant relish."

The cranberry relish is meant to accompany roast turkey and the beetroot, etc. ham. Think the cranberry would also go well with venison, not that that's on the menu. Both keep for up to two weeks in the fridge, so are perfect to make well ahead of the big event. 26 people and counting.....

Assembly Required

We were gifted a Christmas cake a few weekends ago by visiting friends, so for our weekend dessert I decided to use it to try making "whipped mascarpone custard and almond christmas pudding trifle" from the "magical Christmas issue" of Donna Hay magazine. What was interesting about the recipe was that no baking or real effort was required! Store bought custard was whipped with store bought mascarpone and a bit of orange zest. This was then spooned into glasses and layered with some of the fruit cake that had been soaked in Pedro Ximenez (sweet) sherry, and topped with toasted almonds and more of the orange zest.

Very simple and very good! A cheater's dessert it was so easy....

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose

To quote Gertrude Stein, things are what they are right now at Struan Farm. The roses are blooming profusely!

The gardener (ahem, that would be me) needs to get started dead heading or there will be fallen petals all over shortly.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream....

No, not about the US election (okay, maybe that too). But rather ice cream, of course! We've had friends from Auckland come to visit Struan Farm this weekend so we could all go on the Forgotten World Adventures rail trail trip. More on that in the next day or so.

Friend Bruce is a major fan of ice cream. So when I suggested that I make homemade ice cream for dessert, John gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up. In fact, he directed me to make a "trio" of different ice creams. He and Bruce flatted together in Wellington while they were members of the NZ Parliament many years ago. They frequented a local Italian restaurant that served up three gelatos in the colours of the Italian flag. Memories do funny things to people, don't they?

I graciously declined the request for red, white and green ice cream, but did agree to the "trio" concept. So I've spent most of the past week perfecting and making ice creams from this wonderful book, The Perfect Scoop. Toasted Coconut, Honey Lavender (had a stash of Kenmore Farm culinary lavender I was keen to experiment with), and last but not least, Strawberry Sour Cream, made with (what else but) Piopio Berry Orchard strawberries! Note to visitors: no wonder there are weeds in my gardens?

I dusted off the ice cream maker and cracked into it. The first two recipes really require more than 24 hours each, since once made the custard is meant to chill overnight before churning and freezing. Both also require infusing warm milk, cream, and the sweetener (sugar or honey) with either toasted coconut or culinary lavender. Once the egg yolks were mixed in, what took the most practice on my part was the very fine line between cooking the custard enough vs. too much. At one point I turned out sweet scrambled eggs, another a very fluid custard that really didn't look the consistency of ice cream when churned. (After a stint in the freezer it was absolutely delicious when sampled, but by that time I'd made a second batch!) 

The Strawberry Sour Cream ice cream was meant to be served soon after churning, so I decided to churn that while preparing dinner. It ended up being way too soupy, but great flavour, so I would make and freeze this a bit in advance next time. 

 

They were all amazing, if I do say so myself. John has decided I should devote more time to making ice cream, while I don't think that either our waist lines or cholesterol levels would enjoy that. Special occasions only!

 

It All Happens in Piopio....

Last Friday night a fundraiser was held in Piopio to benefit Project Piopio Trust, a community trust that does lots of good works and beautification projects around our village. NZ chef, restauranteur, author, and all-around-nice guy Al Brown came to town with his brother to speak to a group of about 200 guests. Piopio's Fat Pigeon Cafe catered drinks and nibbles. It was a fun, successful evening.

Of course I managed to score one of his cookbooks:

And p.s. guess where he stayed?!

He's promised to come back. Fingers crossed!

"Naked" Weekend Baking & Happy Birthday Ella

Not what you're thinking, okay? It's way too cold for that here in Piopio right now!

This past weekend I made my first "naked" cake at Struan Farm for granddaughter Ella's birthday. "Naked" cakes, where the sides of the cake are left un-iced, have been trendy for awhile now, I'm seriously late to this table (only the top and between the layers are iced or filled with fruit and cream). For Ella's celebration cake I baked the easy carrot cake recipe from Ina Garten's "Barefoot Contessa Foolproof." For the icing I made The Free Range Cook's cream cheese icing, adding Fresh As freeze dried pineapple powder for a bit of fruit flavour.

After baking and icing the cake I realised it looked a wee bit, well naked.

 

If I'd had some edible flowers in season in the gardens those would have worked for the top, but absent those I finely chopped walnuts (which were in the cake), and sprinkled those in a ring around the top edge. Voila--a naked cake that looked good and tasted delicious. Happy Birthday Ella!

Old School Baking

At a certain point it's rained so much that I really don't know what to do with myself. There's only so much sitting (reading, needlework, TV) or housecleaning one can do here at Struan Farm. When I moaned about this to John over the weekend, announcing that I was about to throw myself into baking, he suggested a rather old fashioned option: a sultana cake. Not exactly something in my standard repertoire! So I grabbed The Edmonds Cookery Book, the old school NZ cooking bible, and shortly thereafter found myself popping a sultana cake into the oven for late afternoon tea.

Sultanas (or raisins) are covered with water in a saucepan and simmered for 15 minutes, then drained and combined with chopped butter. This is then mixed with beaten eggs, sugar and sifted flour and baking powder, along with a touch of almond extract. The batter is then put into a greased and lined pan and baked for 1- 1 1/4 hours at 160C. Very simple.

Conventional wisdom says "Happy wife, happy life," but I'll tell you that it's fun to be able to do simple things that make my husband smile, like sultana cake!