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In My Kitchen March 2013

5/3/2013

 
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In my kitchen this month are raspberries so precious and perfect in every sense that, like a shrewd little squirrel gathering acorns, I wanted to preserve as many as I possibly could for the coming winter.

There's a calendar hanging on the wall beside my desk in the office and I noticed today that it's still displaying the February page. Meanwhile, I've only just this week torn away the February sheet to reveal March on the calendar in my kitchen at home.  Perhaps it's because, much like everyone else, I'm so busy these days that the weeks, months (and years!) are literally flying by. It feels as though there's very little down time and I often find myself rushing about like a lunatic, to my dismay sometimes even on Saturdays. Hence, Sundays are hugely celebrated and appreciated at our place. That's when it's quiet time for reading, cooking, gardening, cycling and simply enjoying each other's company doing the things we love. Sunday is the day that I can get into my kitchen and just potter; or sit quietly at the kitchen table reading the newspapers, watching the wrens in the courtyard as I snack on fruit bought fresh from the farmer's market the day before.
The summer just past was deliciously hot, actually the hottest Australian summer on record according to the ABC's Weather Man, who reported this week that 'a new record was also set for the number of consecutive days the average maximum daily temperature for Australia exceeded 39°C – seven days between 2 and 8 January 2013, almost doubling the previous record of four consecutive days in 1973'!  In fact,  the average temperature across Australia on January 7 was 40.3 degrees C! 

Curiously, I really enjoyed this summer because we had had so much wind and rain the two previous years, after bitterly cold winters I felt somewhat deprived of warmth. Perhaps in an endeavour to savour all that the season of summer brings, I've been preserving more produce this year than ever before. My larder is full of Aunty Lizzy's hot sauce, mango relish, and peach and passionfruit as well as strawberry jam. I bought and froze large quantities of blueberries (and will share my friend Diana's beautiful recipe for blueberry and apple crumble in coming weeks).  And when I spotted these precious and perfect raspberries last weekend, I bought four punnets to stash away for winter as well.

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Recipe for Aunty Lizzy's 'hot sauce' (an Ode to the tomato and its all-embracing freshness)

12/1/2013

 
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It's tomato season and the time is ripe for Aunty Lizzy's hot sauce
It’s impossible to ignore the bountiful supplies of rich red tomatoes that flood our produce markets throughout summer. With their vibrant colour, appetising aroma and tasty tang, tomatoes are the trademark ingredient for refreshing salads and light summertime meals.

And when it comes to summer tomatoes, there’s much to celebrate!  Without them, summer salads and salsas would be bland in colour and flavour, pasta would be positively plain, and basil would be a total bore. I think Pablo Neruda best summed it up in his Ode to Tomatoes, brilliantly praising the fruit for bringing inexhaustible sun to our salad bowls, and for granting us a festival of ardent colour and all-embracing freshness.

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Recipe for deliciously easy mango relish - edible gifts

11/12/2012

28 Comments

 
Recipe for deliciously easy mango relish - edible gifts
Edible gifts: mango relish is summer in a jar
My kitchen has been filled with the aroma of various fruit preserves lately due to something of a cooking frenzy! If you've been reading my recent posts, you'll know that I made some jam from bargain-priced Summer strawberries bought at the farmer's market. After a weekend in Young for the Cherry Festival, I've been busy preserving cherries for Winter pies and clafoutis. And when I saw mangoes selling at two for $2.50 at one of the independent grocers in the city, I knew what I had to do. And a girl has to do what a girl has to do, right?!

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Recipe for strawberry jam with a splash of Grand Marnier

18/11/2012

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Recipe for strawberry jam with a splash of Grand Marnier
Edible Gifts: Strawberry Jam with a Splash of Grand Marnier
'Please take some, the cows are sick of eating 'em,' the stall holder said to me with a laugh, as he offered a kilogram of strawberries for just $5.00. 'Are you sure? I'm happy to pay full price,' I insisted, knowing that the good man had travelled some distance to sell his produce. He waved me away and handed over my prize, saying 'I'm sure, because you'll taste 'em, know how good they are and come back for more next week!'. With such a bargain and his genuine smile, how could I resist?!

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Preserved Olives

19/5/2012

 

Preserved Olives

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Preserved olives a la Lizzy
Near the murmuring
In the grain fields, of the waves
Of wind in the oat-stalks
The olive tree
With its silver-covered mass
Severe in its lines
In its twisted
Heart in the earth:
The graceful
Olives
Polished
By the hands
Which made
The dove
And the oceanic
Snail:
Green,
Inumerable,
Immaculate
Nipples
Of nature...

Ode to Olive Oil / Oda al aceite

- Pablo Neruda 1904-1973
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Pepe Saya's Butter Balls with Whispers of Vanilla in Honey

8/5/2012

 

Pepe Saya's Butter Balls 
with Whispers of Vanilla in Honey

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For those (few) of you who don't already know him, I would like to introduce Pierre Issa, a.k.a. Pepe Saya. Pierre is the 36 year old father of two, married to his teenage sweetheart Mrs. Pepe; and, of course, maker of the amazing Pepe Saya cultured butter and lover of all things made from butter. 

Pepe hates the use of preservatives in food and says he does not appreciate technology when it comes to food, but understands we need to feed millions. If only we could do it some other way, he says. Pepe's love for food stems from his parents, who both love food! He says he is surrounded by loving people at work and home, and believes that life is a journey that should be enjoyed and shared with others. In this delicious Good Things guest post, Pepe shares a sublime recipe created from an idea born on Twitter. 'It's a recipe with awesome provenance involving three producers, Lizzy', Pepe wrote me, excitedly. Pepe's recipe combines award winning butter rolled into balls, dipped in award winning vanilla, then preserved in award winning honey. Awesome! Over to you, Pepe...

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Pierra Issa aka Pepe Saya, maker of Pepe Saya Butter
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Pepe Saya award winning cultured butter
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Pepe Saya's sublime Butter Balls with Whispers of Vanilla in Honey

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Smoky Roast Capsicum Harissa

3/5/2012

 

Smoky Roast Capsicum Harissa

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If you forget me
I want you to know
one thing. 

You know how this is: 
if I look 
at the crystal moon, at the red branch 
of the slow autumn at my window, 
if I touch 
near the fire 
the impalpable ash 
or the wrinkled body of the log, 
everything carries me to you, 
as if everything that exists, 
aromas, light, metals, 
were little boats 
that sail 
toward those isles of yours that wait for me. 

If You Forget Me
- Pablo Neruda


Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), whose writing I love, clearly appreciated food, for, apart from the poem above which is one of his most famous works, his many verses included An Ode to the Artichoke, An Ode to Maize, An Ode to Salt, An Ode to a Lemon, Ode to the Tomatoes, An Ode to Wine, and (would you believe) An Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market! Such passion for good things!

Had he not succumbed to leukemia, I feel certain the Nobel-prize winning Neruda (whose real name, incidentally, was Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto) would have eventually penned An Ode to the Chilli and An Ode to Bell Peppers as well. 

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Apricot Conserve with Vanilla and Almonds

31/12/2011

 

Apricot Conserve with Vanilla and Almonds

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Plump, ripe, flavoursome apricots. Perfect for conserve making.

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Peach and Passionfruit Jam

10/12/2011

 

Peach and Passionfruit Jam

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Hungarian Peperonata

2/11/2011

12 Comments

 

Hungarian Peperonata

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My Hungarian peperonata

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    Welcome...

    Üdvözölöm
    Photo of Liz Posmyk, Food Writer, Cook and Traveller

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    NB: I use Australian standard measuring cups and spoons in my recipes. 

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    Winner ABC's 2015 Australia Cooks competition, ACT (mains category)
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    Meet the Chefs - recipes featured on Australian Asparagus Council website

Good Things is written and published by Liz Posmyk © 2011-2020.   All rights reserved.
Excerpts may be used provided that full and clear credit is given. Thank you.


Photos used under Creative Commons from alantankenghoe, riptheskull, David Jackmanson, Amani Hasan, SuntanMidori, oropeza, Annie Mole, Vegan Feast Catering, avlxyz, jeffreyw, mockstar, jenly, Syeefa Jay, pizzodisevo (therapy - terapia - Therapie), ginnerobot, cliff1066™, Jim, the Photographer
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