By MANDY SINCLAIR

Storage:

Store eggs in an egg carton, pointed end down, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. The freshness of eggs deteriorate rapidly if stored at room temperature.

What to do with glut

• To Freeze – yolks and whites

Separate eggs. Place each egg yolk into an ice cube tray. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 1 month.
Place whites in a clip-lock bag. Seal and label with the date and number of egg whites. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Thaw and bring to room temperature before using.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

Filed under harvest | No Comments |  Print This Post

By MANDY SINCLAIR

Passionfruit pavlova roulade

4 egg whites
1 cup caster sugar
2 tsp cornflour, sifted
1 tsp white vinegar
250g mascarpone
¼ cup thick cream
1 tbsp icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting
2 passionfruit

1. Preheat oven to 180C or 160C fan. Grease a 30cm x 25cm swiss roll pan. Line base and sides with baking paper, ensuring paper overhangs 5cm above rim of long sides of pan.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until firm peaks form. Gradually add caster sugar, beating constantly until thick and glossy. Fold through cornflour and vinegar, until just combined. Spread meringue evenly into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 10-12 mins, until just firm. Line a clean tea towel with a piece of baking paper. Sift over extra icing sugar. Invert meringue onto paper, peel away baking paper from meringue and set aside to cool completely.
4. Place mascarpone, cream and icing sugar in a bowl and stir until smooth. Add passionfruit and mix to combine. Spread over meringue, leaving a 1 cm border around edge. Using baking paper as a guide, and starting from long side, roll meringue to form a log, using baking paper as a guide. Wrap baking paper and tea towel around roulade and refrigerate for 1 hr. Cut into slices to serve.

Serves 8

tip …….
To prevent roulade cracking ensure meringue is completely cold before filling and rolling

try this …….
Baked Custard Tart
Line a 24cm loose-based flan pan with shortcrust pastry. Blind bake at 200C or 180C fan for 20 mins, until pastry is dry and golden. Reduce oven temperature to 180C or 160C fan. Whisk together 2 eggs, 2 egg yolks, 2 cups cream, 1 cup milk, ¼ cup caster sugar and 1 tsp vanilla paste. Pour into pastry case and bake for 50-60 mins, until just set. Sprinkle over ground nutmeg. Refrigerate until cold.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

Filed under cook | No Comments |  Print This Post

By MEREDITH KIRTON

Since Adam was a boy, we have been growing figs, not for their large body covering leaves but for their delicate sweet fruit which is treasured.  This most loved plant is especially delicate, so handling really bruises the fruit easily, making it an ideal backyard addition where the journey from backyard to dinner plate can be minimised.
Of all the varieties, probably the yummiest is Ficus ‘Black Ischia’, but as this has very soft skin you usually won’t be able to buy it at the greengrocer.

Figs like a Mediterranean climate, which means wet winters and dry hot summers, but they are adaptable and seem to grow on the coast too, although they do succumb to splitting their fruit sometimes if the rains fall too heavily, and also to fruit fly and scale on both their leaves, stems and fruit.  The biggest pest however is birds, who also love eating figs. For this reason, figs are often espaliered, or grown flat, so that a net can easily be thrown over them, or grown inside cages or, like in the picture shown here, under an arch so similarly a cover can protect the ripening fruits.  The other trick to getting bigger harvests is to plant your tree on a rock or slab of concrete.  This stops the roots from developing a major tap root, which in turn makes the tree less large and more spreading, which results in more fruit.

Figs set fruit on both young wood and old, so can produce many kilos once established.  In Australia the first crop is in early summer, followed by a secondary, heavier crop inlate summer.  If your fruit drops when it’s young and fails to develop, chances are the wasp needed to pollinate your crop hasn’t visited.  A capri fig is the host and will need to be nearby in order to visit your tree.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

Filed under grow | No Comments |  Print This Post

By MANDY SINCLAIR

Storage:

When fully ripe, figs are highly perishable therefore are best eaten the same day as picking. If slightly under-ripe, line a plate with fig leaves. Lay figs on leaves in a single layer and refrigerate for 2-3 days.

What to do with glut

• Preserve

Fig chutney

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
½ cup brown sugar
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
¼ cup red wine vinegar
finely grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tsp grated ginger
7 figs

1. Heat oil in a large pan on low. Cook onion for 10 mins, until very soft and slightly caramelised. Add remaining ingredients, except figs. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, for 30 mins, until liquid is syrupy.
2. Add figs. Simmer for 15 mins, stirring occasionally, until figs have softened. Transfer to hot sterilised jars. Seal. Cool. Refrigerate for up to 3 months.

• Dry

Oven baked figs

12 figs, halved
Finely grated rind of 1 orange
1 tbsp Demerara sugar
honey, for bottling

1. Preheat oven to 130C or 110C fan. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Lay figs, cut side up on prepared tray. Scatter over rind and sugar. Bake for 3-4hrs, checking every hr, until figs are semi-dried and sticky. Cool.
3. Transfer to a sterilised jar. Cover completely with honey and seal. Serve with goats cheese on bruschetta, in cakes and tarts or as part of a cheese platter.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

Filed under harvest | No Comments |  Print This Post

By MANDY SINCLAIR

Fig & blue cheese tarts

2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten
100g soft blue cheese, at room temperature
6 small figs, halved
thyme sprigs, to serve

1. Preheat oven to 220°C or 200°C fan. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
2. Cut 6 x 7.5cm rounds from each sheet of pastry. Lay on prepared trays. Score each round, 1cm from edge. Prick centre with a fork. Brush with egg and bake for 10 mins, until puffed and lightly golden.
3. Remove from oven and press centre of each pastry round down. Spoon a little blue cheese into centre of each tart shell. Top with a fig half, cut side up and a little more cheese. Bake for 10 mins.
4. Serve topped with a sprig of thyme.

Makes 12

try this …….
Fig meringue torte
Mix together 1 cup mascarpone, 1 tablespoon icing sugar and 3 roughly chopped figs. Spread between 2 large meringue discs. Refrigerate for 20 minutes before serving.

try this …….
Top your favourite brownie recipe with fig halves before baking. Cut into squares, so that each square has a delicious piece of fig on top.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

Filed under cook | No Comments |  Print This Post

By MEREDITH KIRTON

The Yates Junior Landcare Watermelon Challenge has wrapped up with two massive 20kg watermelons winning both the individual and group categories. Six-year-old Wyatt Kahler from Basin View, NSW, won the individual category with his giant watermelon weighing 20kg with a circumference of 83cm. The group winner was Cooran State School in Queensland, where the students also managed to grow a 20kg watermelon with a 77cm circumference. Wyatt’s grandmother, Trish Kahler, loved seeing her grandson get involved in the challenge.

“We’ve grown a few really big ones and we have more on the way! I think it is really great how kids can get out into the garden and learn about where their food is actually coming from,” she said. The challenge, launched last year by Junior Masterchef winner Isabella Bliss and her sister, Sofia, attracted over 40,000 participants from across the country. Regardless of whether they had grown a winning watermelon or something smaller, the kids were just excited to get their hands dirty and learn how to grow their own food. “I finally got a melon for the competition. Our season was very poor due to a cool to mild summer and very dry for two months. We finally got rain and more sunshine and bingo things started to grow in the far south east,” said Henry, a competitor from Bega, NSW. In addition to showing off their gardening abilities, competitors got creative by dressing up their watermelons and uploading photos of the results as part of the competition. Claire and Simon Jung from Lyneham, ACT, won this category with a photo of their watermelon looking very cosy in their garden bed dressed up with a beanie and scarf.

Just a heads up that Grow Harvest Cook will soon be running a kids gardening and cooking competition with some great give-aways! Make sure you read our newsletter so you don’t miss out!

Filed under community | No Comments |  Print This Post

By MEREDITH KIRTON

Thyme, with all its delightful foliage and flavour variants, makes a beautiful addition not just to your recipes but also as a perennial in your garden.  There are so many types, from ‘Silver Posy’, a white edged leaf form, to golden leafed forms, some that smell like lemons or oranges and others that make pizza come alive.

All are only small growers, getting about 20cm tall at best, and others, like woolly thyme, growing perfectly flat and able to be walked upon like a groundcover.  In fact, with stepping stones between them, thyme lawns are a delightful way of finishing areas around paving or pathways.

Success with your thyme is dependent on three things. 1. Thyme needs good drainage. 2. It has to have plenty of sunshine. 3. An annual top dressing of lime makes the soil pH alkaline enough to be able to thrive.  In other ways, thyme is easily grown, drought tolerant, mostly cold tolerant and able to be harvested year round.

Try to pick your thyme before it flowers in summer, just so you have more delicious leaves.  Early morning harvesting is best, and scissors are ideal as they cut cleanly.  Regularly trimming means that your stems are not too tough, and it will encourage bushy regrowth.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

Filed under grow | 2 Comments |  Print This Post