Last Saturday, the loveliest group came out to the farm for one of our monthly cooking classes. We spent a few hours making lunch together then sat down to enjoy it and it was, for me at least (and I hope for our participants!), a lovely day. Here are some photos and recipes.
Overnight focaccia with homemade ricotta wrapped in fig leaf
Slow cooked lamb
Slow cooked capsicum and beans with caramelised walnuts and horseradish cream
Fennel and cannellini bean gratin
Green salad with quick pickled radishes and citrus crunch
Quince frangipane tart
Lamb shoulder slow cooked with harissa and spices
3 tbsp each cumin seeds and coriander seeds
3 tbsp smoked paprika
3 tbsp harissa paste
3 onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves
2 cups white wine
2 cups stock
Finely grated rind of 2 lemons
1 lamb shoulder on the bone (2.4kg)
500 ml white wine
To serve: Fresh herbs, dukkah and/or pomegranate seeds.
Season the lamb with salt and pepper and rub with a little oil, leave uncovered in the fridge for an hour or overnight.
Heat a little olive oil in a big, oven-proof pan and brown well on each side. Remove from pan, set aside. Add in the onions and cook for about 10 minutes or until soft, then add the spices, harissa and garlic and cook for a few more minutes.
Add the wine, deglaze and stir to catch any bits. Then return lamb to the pan. Cover with a sheet of paper then foil.
Place in a low oven (100C) for 7 hours or until the meat falls off the bone. Let rest for at least half an hour before shredding. In the meantime, drain off the cooking juices, place in a small saucepan and reduce down.
If making this the day before. I would put it in the oven by late morning, cook all day then pop in the fridge overnight. The next day, scrape off any of the fat that has solidified at the surface, and gently reheat, covered in foil, at 150 for about an hour.
Once it’s nice and hot, let rest, drain of the liquid and reduce down. Pour this back over the lamb right before serving.
Slow-cooked capsicums with beans and horseradish cream
Prep time 15 mins
Cook time 1 hour, 10 mins
Serves 4-6 as a side
There is a lot of flavour going on here for such a simple recipe. It’s such a winner not only to bring as a salad (with bread), but also as a bed for roasted meats, as a bruschetta topping or perhaps tossed through pasta or layered into a crazy good lasagna. In short, please consider making double.
4 red capsicums, halved, seeds and membrane removed, then quartered
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp freshly grated horseradish or 2 tbsp horseradish cream
2 handfuls green beans, trimmed and blanched
Preheat the oven to 160C.
Place the capsicums in a medium-sized oven-proof dish (so they fit fairly snugly). Sprinkle over the salt and pepper and pour in 1/4 cup water. Cover with a lid or foil and place in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove the cover, toss everything around fairly well and return to the oven for 30 minutes or until the capsicums are completely soft and have shrunk down quite a bit.
While still warm, drizzle over the olive oil and balsamic and toss well. At this point, the dish can sit happily at room temperature for a few hours, then, just before serving, grate over the horseradish or dollop the horseradish cream.
For today’s class we also tossed through some blanched green beans for brightness and crunch. And finished it all off with a sprinkle of caramelised walnuts.
Cannellini bean, fennel and garlic gratin
Prep time 15 mins
Serves 6 (as a side)
This recipe is a hit on cold nights with a green salad, at paddock picnics as a bed for barbecued sausages, as a stand-alone meal and to take to friends in need of something nourishing, easy and filling to eat. It’s handy, helpful and most importantly very delicious. For camping, just pack all the elements but make sure the beans are properly cooked till tender then assemble and pop in the barbecue or on the grill. Ideally you’ll have a pizza oven or Webber scenario to help caramelise the top of the dish. It’s not a big deal if not. Will still be delicious.
3 cups cannellini beans, soaked overnight
⅓ cup olive oil
1 tbsp sea salt
2 brown onions, peeled and quartered
1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into eighths (reserve fronds for later)
4 large cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 cups chicken stock (or water)
2 tbsp thyme leaves
1 cup grated cheddar
To cook the cannellini beans, drain after soaking, rinse and place in a large saucepan. Cover with enough water to come about 3 centimetres over the beans. Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a big pinch of salt.
Cover the pan, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to the lowest possible and cook for 1-2 hours, or until the beans are tender but not falling apart. Drain and set the beans aside.
Preheat oven to 200C.
Place the onions and fennel in a large, oven-proof frying pan. Bash the garlic cloves with the side of your knife and throw them in the pan too. Pour in the rest of the olive oil and season well. Toss together then place in the oven for about 40 minutes or until the onions, fennel and garlic are completely soft and beginning to caramelise.
Smoosh the garlic out of their skins and stir the cooked garlic into the fennel/onion mixture. Add the beans, stock or water and thyme leaves. Gently stir and return to the oven for another 40 minutes or until you are happy with how it’s all looking (should be golden, bubbly and the beans at the top will be starting to crisp up).
Scatter with about 1 cup grated cheddar cheese, return to the oven for a final 10 minutes.
You could keep cooking this for a while longer so the liquid reduces right down or serve a bit more ‘brothy’. I like the latter, and then to dish up with crunchy golden focaccia or crusty bread and a bowl of rocket.
Quince frangipane tart
Serves 6
Prep time: 35 mins, plus 1 hour chilling
Cook time: 45 mins
Possibly my favourite thing to make and share, a good frangipane tart is a thing of beauty and deliciousness. The frangipane refers to a mix of ground almonds, butter, sugar and egg, which is spread on the base of a shortcrust pastry shell, topped with fruit and baked. It looks pretty, tastes beautiful and is all done and dusted (with icing sugar, if you like) well in advance. A note on the frangipane mixture: it does make a difference to the end result if you toast and grind the almonds fresh, but if you don’t have time, an almond meal from the shops will work. I also highly recommend doubling the fragipane mixture and freezing half – it’s such a handy thing to have stashed away ready to dollop on some frozen puff pastry and top with a bit of fruit for a quick dessert or afternoon tea.
3 poached quinces
Sweet shortcrust pastry
200 g (1 1⁄2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
1/3 cup (40 g) icing (confectioners’) sugar
A pinch of salt
150 g (5 1/2 oz) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup (60 ml) iced water
Frangipane filling
1/3 cup (80 g) butter, softened
1/2 cup (110 g) caster (superfine) sugar
3/4 cup (120 g) almonds, lightly toasted and ground
1 Tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
2 Tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
To make the pastry, combine the flour, icing sugar and salt on a work surface. Bring into a mound and make a well in the centre. Fill the well with the cubed butter and a splash of the iced water. Use the heels of your hands to bring the mixture together, working the butter into the flour and adding more water as needed. Keep going until you have a rough dough. Shape into a disc, cut off a quarter of the pastry and shape it into a smaller disc, then wrap both and place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
Lightly dust your work surface with flour, then roll out the larger disc of pastry into a round about 3 mm (1/8 inch) thick. Gently drape it over your rolling pin and unroll it into a loose-based fluted tart tin, 23 cm (9 inch) wide and 3 cm (1 1/4 inches) deep. Press the pastry down into the crease where the base meets the side. Roll the rolling pin over the top of the tin, cutting away the excess pastry to create a nice neat edge. Pop in the fridge for another 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Prick the base of the pastry a few times with a fork. Line with baking paper and fill with pastry weights, uncooked rice or dried beans. Blind bake for 10 minutes, then remove the weights and baking paper and bake for another 10 minutes or until the pastry looks pale and dry.
For the frangipane, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the almond meal, flour, cornflour, egg and vanilla and mix until soft and smooth. Spoon the frangipane into the tart shell and smooth it out to cover the base. Arrange the poached quinces on top.
Roll out the remaining pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Cut it into ten or so long strips. Place five of the strips across the top of the tart and then weave the remaining strips through them to create a lattice pattern.
Pop the tart in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden. Serve with thick (double) cream or ice cream.
Variation
This recipe can be adapted to suit any time of year. Try swapping the quinces with dollops of marmalade or jam. Poached pear is also beautiful, as are fresh raspberries or apricots.
Poached quinces
Makes 4 poached quinces
Prep time 10 mins
Cook time 3-4 hours
My absolute favourite fruit, poached quinces are beautiful in crumbles, folded through cakes or baked into beautiful frangipane-style tarts like this one. This recipe makes a little more than the recipe requires but the leftovers will I’m sure find good use!
1 cup (220g) sugar
3 cups (750ml) water
1 tsp vanilla paste
4 quinces, washed
Place the sugar, water and vanilla in a large saucepan on high heat and cook, whisking every now and then until sugar dissolves.
Meanwhile, peel and core the quinces then cut into wedges. Add quinces to the sugar syrup. Cut a piece of baking paper to fit just inside the pan and press down on the surface of the syrup, cover and poach on a low heat for 3 hours or until the quinces are ruby red and soft.
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