Scotch eggs

Scotch eggs are something that I tend to forget about when I am pondering what to feed the farmer for dinner. But they are so good and pretty easy to make too. This is not glamour food, this is comfort food- the kind that reminds you of Grandma and school holidays.  Great for lunch boxes, picnics, boating trips, hangovers and surprise lunch guests, Scotch eggs are underrated in my book. You can serve them cold with some sauce to dip them in or have them hot with mashed potato on a cold winter night- either way you should put these on the menu.

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 eggs
• 500g sausage meat (or 250g beef mince/250g sausage meat- I prefer the mix of the two)
• 1 Tblsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tsp of dried mixed herbs or 1 handful of freshly chopped parsley & 1 tsp fresh thyme
• salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Breadcrumbs

METHOD:
Hard boil your eggs and peel the shell off them (see my blog of how to perfectly boil an egg). While your eggs are boiling prepare the meat.
In a large bowl, mix together sausage meat, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and herbs (if you are using just beef mince because you forgot to buy sausage meat, then you will have to add an egg and 1/2cup of breadcrumbs to bind it all together).
Divide meat mixture into six equal portions & wrap the meat around each hard-boiled egg.  Coat each meat-wrapped egg with breadcrumbs.
Now there are two ways you can cook scotch eggs;

1. Deep fry them. Fill a saucepan about 1/3 with oil and heat till it bubbles. Deep fry Scotch eggs for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp.
2. Place eggs in a large non stick muffin pan, bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 15-20mins.

TIPS:

• wet your hands before you wrap the meat around the egg and then it won't stick to you as badly.
• these are great to serve cold. You cut them into quarters and serve with a dipping sauce, the best is Glass Eye creek wild meat sauce-yum!

Enjoy xx
A

Quick Chicken, Pesto and Ricotta Ravioli with Basil Butter

 

Sent from the gods of convenience, wonton wrappers are great and really affordable- about $3.50 for 100 of them!

I love to cook but I also love it when cooking isn't hard. I should be able to drink too much red wine when I am preparing a meal for friends. That is why I love this recipe. This is a great one to pull out if you are having people for a dinner party because it is really, really easy. Wonton wrappers are awesome for heaps of things- cheating at making Italian food is one of them. You can vary the fillings but this classic combo is my favourite.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 c smoked chicken
• 1/2 c basil pesto
• 1/4 c ricotta
• zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper
• 50 wonton wrappers (the steaming kind)
• Parmesan to grate
• 6 Tblsp butter
• 1/2 c fresh basil leaves (about 15-20)

METHOD:

In a food processor, pulse the chicken until it is chunky mush, then add pesto, ricotta and lemon zest. Pulse together until you have a nice chunky mixture. Add lemon juice and season to taste.

On a floured surface, lay 25 wonton wrappers out and put about one heaped teaspoon of chicken mixture in the centre of each wrapper. Brush the edges of the wrappers with water using a pastry brush. Take one of your remaining 25 wrappers and place over the filling and stick together to make a parcel, ensure you remove any trapped air by working your way around the filling to seal the two wrappers together (taking out the air means they don't explode and split when you cook them). Repeat for all 25. Use a cookie cutter to cut out a perfect circle. Set aside on a floured surface and cover with a damp cloth so they don't dry out.

Fill a large saucepan with water (about 2-3 Litres), add salt and bring to the boil. Once the water is boiling, add the ravioli and give the water a stir (stir carefully, this will stop them sticking together or to the pot). Cook for 2-3 minutes. They will float to the top once they are cooked. Remove from the pan and drain using a slotted spoon or egg drainer.

To make the basil butter, melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat until it goes golden, then add the fresh basil leaves and toss them in the butter. Remove from heat.

Divide the ravioli between bowls (5-7 pieces each) and spoon the basil butter over the top. Grate the parmesan over the top and season with fresh ground black pepper.

Bloody hell that's good!!
xxA

TIPS:

• These are great to freeze, I always have a stock for an easy tea when the farmer is away. All you do to freeze them is lay them (uncooked) on a baking tray and put the tray into the freezer. Once they are frozen take them off the tray and put them into snaplock bags. When cooking from frozen just add a couple of minutes to the cooking time.
• Spinach, pinenuts and ricotta is nice vegetarian version of these

If you fold the wraps this way you only use one wrapper per parcel. You put the filling in the centre and fold into a triangle. Then fold the corners together. These are then called Capalletti, which means 'little hats' in Italian.

Introducing Dougal Dog (and Mack)

Dougal Dog likes catching leaves.

Dougal and mack have entered our lives and begun to chew on everything! Mack is a Huntaway work dog that the farmer assures me will be out with the work dogs in a motel kennel soon. Dougal is a Little Border Terrier with a big personality. He does a funny little scuttle that makes him look rather like a Guinea pig at the moment. I am soaking him up because unfortunately they don't stay puppies for long. Having two puppies is very full on, particularly when you want to complete simple tasks like put on socks without the other being stolen and chewed on.

Dougal is a cheeky little guy and I am sure he is going to be lots of fun to have in the family. I am not so attached to Mack. Mainly as a self preservation thing because I know he is going to be the Farmer's work dog and not a pet. I certainly don't want to confuse him about what his role on the farm is by treating him like a pet, and the farmer doesn't want a dog that is more interested in cuddles than deer! And lets not lie- he is a bit stinky and a bit boisterous for me anyway!

How can you not fall in love with them tho??

Watch this space for the adventures of Dougal Dog. I am thinking that he is going to be quite the character.......

The Tin Kitchen Gluten Free Walnut Bread

Derek making bread at the Tin Kitchen

Regardless of whether you are Celiac or not, a lot of people have decided to go gluten free (blame google is suppose), most don't actually need  to take gluten out of their diet but claim that they feel a lot better for doing so. In a lot of cases it is probably because they are reducing the amount of carbohydrates they eat (most of us eat WAY too many carbs).
Anyway if you are going to go gluten free, then one of the problems you strike is that most gluten free bread resembles a small windowless building- it's heavy, dry and not that tasty. Derek at the Tin Kitchen has developed a range of gluten free bread mixes that are none of these things, they are in fact light, moist and very tasty. I am not gluten free but I still love this bread and I think you will too. You can buy this mix online at www.thetinkitchen.co.nz  or at the Geraldine Orchard and farm shop and I suggest you do!

INGREDIENTS:

• 500gm (I use half of the bag) walnut gluten free bread mix
• 520mls warm water

METHOD:

For each 500gm of bread mix, add 520mls of warm water and mix well together. Half fill a bread tin with the mixture. Leave to rise until it has risen to the top of the tin. Bake at 220 Degree Celsius (standard bake) for 35 minutes on the lowest shelf of the oven.

Pull out of the oven, slice off a piece, lather with butter and enjoy!!

TIPS:

• Visit Derek at the Tin Kitchen in the Geraldine Orchard Shop next time you are in Geraldine.

Chilli and garlic prawn kebabs

Tails on, if you serve on a bit of rice like this the marinade drips onto the rice-yum!

During the summer these are great to fire on the barbie, once winter rolls round just cook them inside in a big cast iron pan. These are fantastic on their own but the best is to cook them up and serve them with steak for a surf 'n' turf. I serve them with a bit of aioli too. You can buy prawns frozen or fresh, if you can get them fresh- then do, if not just make sure you defrost them correctly otherwise they can be a bit tough (read the packet for instructions).

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 Tblsp sweet chilli sauce
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• Salt and cracked black pepper
• 750g raw king prawns, peeled, de-veined, tails intact (or not, read tips)
• Lime wedges, to serve
• Aioli or mayonnaise, to serve

METHOD:
Place the garlic, sweet chilli, oil, lime juice, salt and pepper in a large non-metallic bowl and whisk until well combined. Add the prawns and toss to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Heat a barbecue grill plate to high, or large cast iron pan/skillet. Remove prawns from marinade and thread onto metal or bamboo skewers (see tips).
Grill prawn skewers for 2 minutes each side or until prawns are cooked through and golden (they will change colour to orange). Serve skewers with lime wedges and aioli or mayonnaise.

I threw these together to show them made with prawn meat, no tails. Poor photo- apologies!

 TIPS:

• If using bamboo skewers, soak then in cold water for at least 30 minutes before threading prawns to prevent burning while cooking. If you prefer, do not remove the seeds from the chilli for some extra heat.
• If you like a bit more a of a kick, replace the sweet chilli with a fresh seeded and finely chopped chilli
• If king prawns are a bit over the budget then prawn meat is fine (these are a bit smaller and have already been skinned and de-veined for you) , they don't look as pretty but they still taste great

Kale for flower arranging

Today I purchased some flowers (let's be honest the farmer does not, will not, has never bought me flowers- tell him that he should next time you see him!) and in the bunch was two chrysanthemums, three pink flowers (name unknown), some ferns and two brassicas- kale to be precise. Most non-farming people would just think they are pretty purple flowers with a thick stem, but I thought "geez we feed that stuff to the cows and I just got stung $6 a stem!". Anyway the bunch of flowers is lovely and the recipient will be very happy to receive them, but I thought I would share this nifty idea with you, because you may enjoy having some of these in your next bunch of flowers as much as the cows enjoy munching on them.

Enjoy xx
A

Savoury scrolls

 

These are great for in-betweens, ignore the calories, they are yummy cheesy goodness. I sometimes throw a batch of these in the oven and serve with soup for winter lunch. You can put pretty much anything in them and they are a great thing for little people to help with too.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large sheet flaky puff pastry (homemade is best but not compulsory)
• 1 cup grated tasty cheese
• 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese (optional)
• tomato sauce
• 2 rashers of bacon chopped into 1cm squares
• 8 (approx) sundried tomatoes chopped 

 METHOD: 
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Roll out your pastry to make a large sheet. For an easy pastry recipe try my quick puff pastry recipe.

Leave a border- not like my slap happy sauce spreading here!

Spread tomato sauce over dough, leaving a 3cm border along both long edges. Sprinkle with Cheese, bacon and sun-dried tomatoes. Roll up dough firmly. Cut into slices about 2-3cm thick. Arrange scrolls close together on prepared trays (I advise baking paper to avoid cheese stuck to your trays), ensuring join is turned inwards so scrolls don't unroll while cooking. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until light golden and cooked through.

Easy peasy!  Enjoy xx
A