A Tale of Six Quinces

Years ago when I was young and lived in western NSW, I had a wonderful orchard – no fruit fly and a great variety of old fashioned fruit trees. One of my favourites was the fabulous quince tree that offered up a huge crop of yellow fruit each year. Having grown up in the city, I'd never encountered quinces before.

It's taken me over 30 years to finally grow another quince tree in my suburban backyard and imagine my excitement when the first year's crop started to develop. Six beautiful little fruit, covered in the softest downy skin.

Over spring and summer I watched the six quinces grow from their small beginnings until I had large yellow fruit on my small tree. I hadn't lost one during the year, but when a couple of the quinces showed signs of bird attack, I decided they must be ripe. So I picked them, excited to have such a great first crop from the tree.

Okay - that's the good part. When I started to cut them up so I could poach a couple, to my horror, the insides were brown with the odd litle maggot wriggling around. Obviously fruit fly - despite all my efforts to lure and bait the pesky critters.

I did manage to save some fruit, a couple weren't very affected, so I poached a tiny quantity, determined to have at least a small bowl of quince, all pink and delicious. The trick is to poach them slowly, letting that wonderful colour develop. When I turned them off late at night, they weren't pink yet, so in the morning I popped them back on to the stove, I thought to poach for a bit longer while I started work.

An hour later, shut away in my office, my nose started to twitch - smoke.

Yes, the worst had happened, I'd forgotten about the quinces and they'd burned to a crisp. I remember saying to myself as I walked away from the kitchen after seeing the beautiful pink pieces nestled among the black, that there's always next year's crop. No point crying over burned quinces, but what a disappointment.

Frances' winter luncheon

Left: The wonderful creme brulee with just a hint of lavender. Right: Frances is a cheeky pose.

(Frances was the first to host one of our Shoalhaven Foodie feasts, back in August 2009)

There's nothing quite as lovely as a dinner party amidst the cold of winter.

The Guests

The Shoalhaven Foodies

The Menu
Beetroot and orange soup,

Herb scallion drop biscuits

Rabbit Stiffido, mashed parsnip

Lavender creme brulee.

With hazelnut macroons

When sourcing my produce, I didn't need to go far , I had grown a bumper crop of lovely heirloom variety beetroot , the oranges were just ripening on the trees. My mother an inspired gardener, had some spectacular parsnips which she had grown. The rabbit supplier was a Berry local who breeds rabbits and chickens for the table – beautifully fresh.

Left: The intensely coloured beetroot and orange soup. Right: And here's the menu.

I have four lovely chickens who roam free-range in my garden and, if not detoured, my house! They supplied the eggs for the brulee, the milk came from South Coast dairy, across the field from my house.

So to the organising of the feast.

The day before I marinated the rabbit, which was gutted and still whole , with red wine vinegar and crushed bay leaves

Then I made the creme brulee where the milk is infused with lavender flowers giving the brulee just a hint of lavender flavour.

Handy Hint: if you don't have a torch for browning the toffee, make a toffee mix in a saucepan and pour a light layer over the individual brulees,it's not as fine but works quite well.

Left: Chere looking fabulous in her Chinese silk jacket. Right: Kim enjoying a drop.

Now for the recipes!

Beetroot and orange soup
2 tab olive oil
1 onion
1 celery stick
1 garlic clove
3 large beetroots
100ml orange juice
750ml chicken stock
salt, pepper, yoghurt

Saute onions, garlic, and celery in oil, add diced beetroots and cook 5 mins then add juice, stock and bring to the boil, lower heat and simmer 20mins. Puree the mix, add salt and lots of fresh black pepper, then a spoonful of yoghurt to serve.


Rabbit Stifado,
1 large rabbit ( cleaned)
2 tabs tomato puree
2 bay leaves
4 garlic cloves chopped
4 tab red wine vinegar (balsamic works well)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 small cinnamon stick
4 whole allspice
1 sprig rosemary
2/3 cup red wine
1 1/4 cups hot water
8 small while onions
salt
lots of fresh black peper,

Rinse rabbit and cut into sections, place into a bowl with bay leaves and vinegar, leave over night, then pat dry.

Heat half the oil in large ovenproof dish add rabbit and brown, add the tomato paste, red wine,sugar,garlic and spices, then the hot water, place into oven, cook at 170c for around an hour. Saute onions till coloured then add to rabbit, cook for further 15-20 mins, season and serve.

Lavender creme brulee
8 egg yolks
3/4 cup white sugar
4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tab dried lavender flowers

Butter individual bowls.

In a heavy-based saucepan place cream and lavender, bring to simmer, remove and let infuse for 5 mins. Whisk egg yolks, add sugar whisk until light and creamy, slowly add strained cream, blend well and pour into moulds put into a tray filled with water that at least comes half way up the moulds, bake for around 1 hour at 170c.

Make a toffee by dissolving sugar and water, then bring to the boil, remove from heat when it has started to colour, pour a small amount over cooled creme brulees, smooth out with heated spoon.

Chere's Mad Hatter's vegetarian lunch

Well, my lunch has been and gone and it turned out to be a very pleasant experience. I eventually decided to make a vegetarian menu – not that I'm a vegetarian, but I truly enjoy that food. I'd come across some lovely fresh zucchini flowers at my local food market (Saturday mornings at Shoalhaven Heads Hotel) and decided that they would be a fabulous to include in the menu.



The Shoalhaven grows wonderful produce, but there are certain things that don't grow here, either because it's not hot enough, or because they aren't in season. So it's strange when you are cooking from all local ingredients. You think you've come up with an idea to include in the menu and then realise that this particular ingredient isn't available right now. For example, I was going to make iced pear and raspberry soup, but soon remembered that pears weren't growing in the Shoalhaven at this particular moment!

The menu I decided on was:

Fruit punch with frozen seedless green grapes and watermelon stars.

Chilled cucumber and yoghurt soup.

Exotic summer salad with zucchini flowers in tempura batter (with avocado sauce)

Home made raspberry and strawbery ice cream pudding, chocolate souffle and caramelised oranges.

Strangely, Christine and I had bought the same dessert wine, Sticky Fig, from Two Figs winery nearby (I kept one for her lunch) and Kim bought a light orange liquor from Mountain View Winery (also nearby!) It was all looking a bit sweet, but fortunately Colleen brought a lovely Verdelho from Cupitt's Winery in Milton, so it all worked out.


Recipe for
Exotic summer salad with zucchini flowers in tempura batter (served with an avocado sauce).

Salad: Fresh rocket and watercress, fresh nasturtium leaves and flowers, (rinsed gently) local creamy fetta, baby beetroot, Kiffler potatoes, pomegranate seeds, fresh herbs.

Steam kiffler potatoes and baby beetroot in their skin until they are just tender. Allow to cool and then peel carefully – you can just rub the beetroot skin off. Make up a vinaigrette of extra virgin olive oil, crushed garlic and your favourite vinegar. Add some finely chopped fresh herbs (such as Italian parsley, basil, very small amount of tarragon) salt and black pepper. Cut the potatoes into bite sized pieces and toss them in half the vinaigrette. Marinate the beetroot in the other half and set aside ( I also added a little freshly squeezed orange juice to the beetroot. Don't refrigerate the potatoes or the beetroot - they should be at room temperature.

Avocado Sauce: (to be honest, I'm not sure if the avocados were local, but I decided to use them anyway!).
2 small, ripe avocados, seeds removed, peeled and chopped, a cup of crème fraiche (I made overnight with a cup of light South Coast milk and a tablespoon of buttermilk, fresh lime juice, cayenne pepper, ½ teaspoon salt.
Puree the ingredients in a blender until velvety smooth. Adjust seasoning to your taste and cover well (keep in the refrigerator until you almost ready to use it).

Tempura battered zucchini flowers.
I served two flowers for each person. To make the batter, mix 50 gm of corn flour, 150 gm plain flour,
2 free range eggs, a little salt and approx. 400 ml. iced water. Sift the corn flour and plain flour together. Beat the eggs with the salt and iced water, add the flour and stir quickly – don't overmix. Heat olive oil in a large pan. Roll the flowers lightly in cornflour, then into the mix. Shake off excess batter and put into the pan. Cook for about 4 minutes, spooning the oil over the flowers to make sure they are evenly browned.

To assemble:
Mix rocket, watercress (you could use mixed salad leaves) and nasturtium leaves together and place around the edges of large plates. Add potato, beetroot and pieces of fetta around the plate on top of the salad leaves. Drizzle with a little vinaigrette and sprinkle with some pomegranate seeds. Garnish with a few nasturtium flowers decoratively around the plate.

Spoon some of the avocado sauce in the centre of the plate and place the two cooked zucchini flowers on top.

I love hats, so when the girls came for lunch, I opened up the hatbox and we had some fun.

Me wearing my favourite twenties hat - better than a chef's hat, I say! And (right) my daughter, Kimella who was my guest at the lunch, chose this little red number.

Colleen with a bit of attitude and Frances the coquette.

Christine (left) can really wear a hat and Kim (right) went for the wig in the hat box - a totally different look.

Recipe for Rose Ice Granita from Kim Dove's Dinner

Rose Ice Granita

Ingredients

400ml/14fl oz water
2 Tbsp coconut cream
4 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp rosewater
a few drops pink food colouring (optional)
organic pink rose petals to decorate

1. Place the water in a small pan and add the cocount cream. Heat the mixture gently stirring without boiling.

2. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Stir in the sweetened condensed milk, rosewater and food colouring.

3. Pour into freezerproof container and freeze for 1-1 1/2 hours until slushy.

4. Remove from the freezer, and break up the ice crystals with a fork. Return to the freezer and freeze until firm.

5. Spoon the ice roughly into a pile on a serving dish and scatter with rose petals to serve.