Here are the recipes from all four of my AgFair 2024 demonstrations, plus a few pictures from the wonderful Jane Smith aka The Shady Baker. Who, if you haven’t discovered her yet, is a talented cook, photographer, writer and many other things, living on a station not too far from town (an hour, which is classified as ‘not too far’ in these here big parts).
Quince jam and ricotta crostata
Prep time: 25 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Serves 8–10
What can I bring? Dessert, a tart, a showstopper
This is delicious on the day, but it is also excellent for breakfast the day after. I’ve been making and tweaking this recipe for some years and the deep satisfaction of pulling it out of the oven, gloriously golden with the vanilla-spiked ricotta and pulses of plum jam popping up through the latticed pastry never dims. I hope you try this one, that you love it like I do and that it goes on many picnics or party outings with you.
1 cup (320 g) jam of your choice
1/4 cup (55 g) caster (superfine) sugar
Pastry
12/3 cups (250 g) plain (all-purpose) flour
100 g (31/2 oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
½ cup (125 g) cold butter, cubed
1 egg
1 egg yolk
Ricotta filling
1 cup (230 g) fresh ricotta
1/4 cup (30 g) icing (confectioners’) sugar
1 vanilla bean
3 eggs
To make the pastry, combine the flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Tip onto a work surface and add the butter, rubbing it into the flour with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse sand (with a few small pebbles). Add the egg and yolk and, using a light hand, bring the mixture together until you have a smooth dough (it’s okay if some streaks of butter are still in there). Form into a disc shape, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
For the filling, whisk together all the ingredients until well combined.
Place the jam in a small saucepan and gently heat.
Preheat the oven to 200C
To roll out the crostata, first cut away about one-third of the pastry and roll out the remaining two-thirds until you have a large disc about 4 mm (3/16 inch) thick. Gently transfer the pastry into a 22 cm (81/2 inch) fluted, loose-bottomed tart tin (or a springform cake tin will be fine too, in which case you will want to trim the edges of your pastry first so they are relatively even).
Trim any excess, leaving a 1 cm (1/2 inch) border and fold this down into the edge of the tin to ‘reinforce’ the crostata’s sides. Spoon the ricotta mixture onto the base of the pastry and top with dollops of the jam. Roll out the remaining pastry and cut into about ten strips. Arrange five of these across the top of the tart and then spin it around and crisscross the remaining five strips in a lattice pattern on the other side, weaving the strips in and out of each other.
Trim any excess, sprinkle with the caster sugar, and bake for 35 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown.
Serve warm or chilled (if the latter, you’ll find it slices much more cleanly).
Homemade Ricotta
4 cups whole milk
2 cups pure cream
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp white wine vinegar (I also use rice vinegar sometimes too, lemon juice is also good)
Combine the milk, cream and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer, if you have a candy thermometer it should reach around 90C. Set a sieve over a bowl and line with a few layers of clean chux (or muslin).
Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the vinegar or lemon juice.
Leave for a few minutes for the mixture to curdle. Then gently whisk to accelerate this process. Pour the curdled milk mixture into the sieve and leave to slowly drain. This will take about 25 minutes. After which time you should have about 2 cups of ricotta. Keep it in the fridge.
Don’t discard the leftover ‘ricotta whey’ that drains away from the curd. I use it when making bread or focaccia (substituting half the liquid called for for whey and mixing with water), you can also use it in smoothies or similar.
Sweetened ricotta
To one cup of fresh ricotta, add a handful of shaved dark chocolate, two tablespoons roughly chopped pistachios or almonds, a heated tablespoon of finely chopped citrus peel, a teaspoon of honey, half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a squeeze of orange juice. Stir and adjust flavour to taste. Does it need more sweetness, acid, chocolate?
Clare’s beef tagine
Prep time: 25 mins, plus marinating
Cook time: 31/2 hours
Serves 6–8
What can I bring? The main meal
This tagine with coconut quinoa is a great recipe to make in advance, ready to warm up. It freezes beautifully, too, so perhaps make a double batch? Thank you to Clare Lee of Windy Station for sharing this recipe.
Spice rub
1 Tbsp ras el hanout
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp sweet paprika
600g braising beef, diced (I like to use chuck)
1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil
1 onion, chopped
A bunch of coriander
1 x 400 g can chopped tomatoes
600ml vegetable stock
500g sweet potato, diced into large chunks
100g dried figs
Greek-style yoghurt, to serve
Throw all the spice rub ingredients in a bowl with the diced beef and massage it well. Cover for a few hours or leave in the fridge overnight.
Meanwhile, if you use a traditional earthenware tagine, submerge it in some water for a couple of hours so it doesn’t crack when heated. A heavy-based Dutch oven or ovenproof saucepan will also work well.
Once you are ready to cook, heat a couple of tablespoons of the oil in the tagine over high heat and brown the meat on all sides. Remove the meat, add more oil if needed and cook the onion and coriander stalks, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until the onion is translucent.
Return the beef to the pan and add the tomatoes and 400 ml (14 fl oz) of the stock, then stir to combine. Bring to boiling point, reduce the heat and simmer for 11/2 hours.
Add the sweet potato, prunes and the remaining stock. Cover again and cook, this time over the lowest heat on your stovetop, for another 11/2 hours. Add a little water to the pot halfway through if you think the tagine is getting a little dry.
After three hours or so of slow cooking, the beef and sweet potatoes should be lovely and tender. If you think there is too much liquid, leave the lid off for the last 20 minutes of cooking so some of it evaporates. Serve with the coriander leaves and a bowl of thick Greek-style yoghurt.
Travel advice: Either transport this hot and keep it hot in an insulated carrier bag, or chill it right down in the fridge, transport it in an insulated cooler and reheat it on arrival.
Pearl barley, pickled onion, walnut and roasted cauliflower salad
Prep time: 40 mins
Cook time: 30 mins, plus 3–4 hours pickling
Serves 6–8
What can I bring? A salad, a salad-y main meal, lunch with leftovers for days
This is definitely a ‘meal’ salad; there’s so much going on that you could easily bring it as a stand-alone lunch. If doing so, all I’d throw into the mix would be some bread or crispbread and maybe some hard cheese to crumble over the top or serve alongside.
Also, when making the pickled onions, please consider doubling the recipe as you might find they end up on nearly everything pretty soon; great to pep up a big hearty curry, a toasted cheese sandwich, taco night, a simple rice bowl – anything.
1½ cups (300 g) pearled barley
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup candied walnuts (see Note)
Pickled onions
3 red onions, thinly sliced
1½ Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
2 cups (500 ml) apple-cider vinegar
Vegetables
1 small head broccoli, cut into small florets
½ head cauliflower, cut into small florets
1/4 cup olive oil
Dressing
¼ cup (60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Pinch of cayenne pepper, or more if you’d like more heat
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp red-wine vinegar
1 tsp sea salt
Lots of freshly ground black pepper
For the pickled onion, pile the onion into one large jar or divide it between two smaller ones. Combine the salt, sugar, vinegar and 1 cup (250 ml) water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes, stirring as you go, or until the sugar and salt have dissolved.
Pour the hot mixture over your onions, pushing them down with the end of a wooden spoon so that everything is submerged. Seal and store in the fridge. These will be good to use after a few hours, but best after a few days.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) for the veggies. Combine the broccoli and cauliflower in a roasting tin. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast for about 20 minutes, or until cooked through and beginning to caramelise.
To cook the barley, combine it with the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Toast, stirring often, for 10 minutes, then pour in about 6 cups (1.5 litres) boiling water and cook over medium heat until tender, about 20 minutes (check after 15; the cooking time will depend on the freshness of your barley). Drain and set aside.
For the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together. Check and adjust the seasoning to taste.
Tip the pearl barley (ideally it will still be hot or warm—this will help the grains soak up the dressing even more) into a large serving container or bowl. Top with the roast veggies and add the dressing. Toss with your hands so that everything is well mixed. Top with the candied walnuts, crushing them up into smaller pieces with your hands as you go. Then scatter with plenty of the pickled onions, and you’re ready to go! Yum.
Travel advice: This is one of those salads that you can (should) dress early, as it just keeps getting better with time. Plus, it should sit happily and safely at room temperature for some time. I think it’s better at room temperature than straight from the fridge. To keep the nuts crunchy and fresh, maybe scatter them on at the last minute.
Jam crumble slice
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Makes approx. 20 small squares
175 g (6 oz) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
½ cup (110 g) brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste
A pinch of salt
1 cup (100 g) rolled oats
20 g 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
180 g (61/2 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
1 cup (320 g) strawberry jam, or jam of your choice
Start by browning the butter. Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and melt, stirring as you go. Keep cooking until it begins to brown – this should take 5–6 minutes – then pour into a bowl or jug and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 160°C (315°F) and grease and line a 20 cm (8 inch) square slice tin.
Combine the cooled brown butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, oats, coconut and flour in a bowl. Mix together with your hands until you have a crumbly dough. Press half of this mixture into the base of your lined tin. Spread this with the jam, and crumble over the remaining dry mixture.
Bake for 1 hour or until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before slicing into bars. It will crumble and collapse if you try to slice this while still warm.
The world’s easiest cake
Prep time: 10 mins, plus soaking and cooling
Cook time: 1 hour
Serves 8
What can I bring? A sturdy cake, dessert
I found this in my late grandmother Helen’s recipe box, written in her beautiful cursive. And with that heading, of course, I had to try it. She was right. It is easy – almost entirely made in one saucepan, with just one wooden spoon. But it’s also wonderfully delicious, lasts for ages and, thanks to the soaked fruit and spices, could also pass as a Christmas cake
I’ve made a few adjustments over the years, adding the nuts and soaking the fruit in brandy, which makes it feel a bit more special, but you could leave both those steps out, and it will still be great.
You can also bake this in a loaf tin. On around day two of its existence (when the flavours are deep and round and it’s at peak sturdiness), maybe take it on a picnic and slice it, then spread with a good amount of salty butter and/or a thin slice of bite-y cheddar. It’s excellent with a little mug of mulled wine, red wine, tea, or something tanin-y.
1/2 cup (125 ml) brandy
2 cups (370 g) mixed dried fruit (see Note)
½ cup (125 g) butter, cubed
3/4 cup (165 g) brown sugar
2 Tbsp treacle, or honey
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup (70 g) walnuts, ideally dry-toasted in the oven and roughly chopped
1 cup (150 g) plain all-purpose) flour
1 cup (150 g) self-raising flour
Heat the brandy in a saucepan until just simmering. Remove from the heat and add the dried fruit. Leave to plump up for at least 30 minutes.
Add the soaked dried fruit to the butter, sugar, treacle, spices, bicarbonate of soda, and 1/2 cup (125 ml) water. Place over medium–high heat and bring to the boil, stirring as you go. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
Grease and line a 22–24 cm (81/2–91/2 inch) cake tin with paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
Add the eggs and mix to combine. Fold in the flour and a pinch of salt. Pour into the cake tin and bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before gently removing from the tin.
Note
Gran didn’t specify which fruit to use, but I like a mixture of dried chopped apricots, figs, currants and cranberries. Just sultanas would also be great.
Ginger and pomegranate loaf
Prep time 15 mins
Cook time 45 mins
Serves 8
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground mixed spice
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp ground ginger
A good pinch of salt
100g butter, softened
1/3 cup (75g) brown sugar
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses, regular molasses or honey
3 eggs
1 tsp bicarb soda
1/4 cup buttermilk or yogurt
3 tbsp freshly grated ginger
1/2 cup (about 100g) pomegranate seeds
Preheat your oven to 180C. Grease and line a 20x20cm cake tin (or thereabouts). Sift together the flour, spices, and salt in a large bowl.
Place the butter, sugar and honey in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.
In a third bowl, stir the molasses, 2 tbsp boiling water, buttermilk or yogurt and bicarb soda together and leave for a minute for it to froth up a bit.
Fold the dry ingredients into the butter and egg mixture, now add the molasses mixture. Mix to combine then fold in the fresh ginger and pomegranate seeds. Spoon mixture into your prepared loaf tin, smooth the top then bake for 25 minutes or until it feels springy to touch and has begun to pull away from the sides of the tin.
Reanne’s labne
Prep time: 10 mins, plus overnight
Cook time: NIL
Makes approx. 11/2 cups
What can I bring? A dip or spread. Something for nibbles (when presented with cut up raw veggies and toasted pita).
Labne is the best of kitchen friends—all it asks is for two ingredients and some time. In return, you get the most intensely tangy, sour, thick dip/spread/sauce.
Here, Reanne has kept her recipe pretty simple because there is a lot of other goodness going on in our menu, but you could add some whole toasted spices, fold through freshly chopped herbs, or even roll the labne into balls (roll these in spices and then store in a jar of olive oil).
1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) Greek-style yoghurt
2 tsp salt
Raw veggies, such as radishes, celery, carrot, cucumber, trimmed, peeled and sliced for dipping
Toasted pita bread, to serve
Combine the yoghurt and salt together in a bowl and stir well.
Line a sieve with a muslin cloth or clean disposable cloth and suspend over a bowl. Pour the yoghurt and salt mixture into the lined sieve, gently tie the cloth edges together, and leave it in the fridge overnight for the yoghurt to drain and thicken.
Congratulations, you have now made labne! Remove from the muslin and transfer to a serving bowl or platter. Smooth out and drizzle with olive oil and/or smoked paprika. Serve with a mix of raw vegetables and perhaps some toasted pita bread.
Travel advice
Transport from the fridge in an airtight container or wide-mouthed jar and keep in a cold insulated ice box or cooler.
Sambousek (lamb and pine nut pastries)
Prep time: 30–40 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Makes approx. 20
2 Tbsp ghee or olive oil
1/2 brown onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) minced (ground) lamb
1 Tbsp Lebanese spice mix (see Note)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground pepper
1/2 cup (80 g) toasted pine nuts
Approx. 4 cups (1 litre) sunflower oil, for frying
Pastry
31/2 cups (525 g) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup (125 ml) olive oil
1 cup (250 ml) lukewarm water
For the pastry, use a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to mix together all of the dry ingredients, then add the oil and water and knead on high speed for about 3 minutes. Keep mixing until the dough is no longer sticky and has a slightly oily texture. You can also do this by hand in a large bowl. Tip the dough out onto a work surface to knead by hand for about 5 minutes. Cover the dough and leave at room temperature for an hour.
For the filling, heat the ghee in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring for a few more minutes. Push the onion and garlic to the side of the pan, increase the heat to high and add the lamb mince, pressing it down so that it becomes one large patty with as much of the meat touching the pan’s surface as possible to get the mince thoroughly brown. Cook for a minute or two, then, once browned, flip over and brown the other side.
Add the spices, salt and pepper and stir into the onion mixture. Reduce the heat back to medium and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring as you go to break up any clumps of meat. Add the pine nuts, drain away any excess liquid and set aside.
Now back to the dough. Cut the dough into four equal pieces and cover three of them again with the tea towel. Working one at a time, roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface into a 2 mm (1/16 inch) thick circle. Cut out into 10 cm rounds (or thereabouts). You should get about five or six from this amount of dough. Roll up any excess pastry into a ball, and rest to reuse later.
Take about 1 teaspoon of the lamb mixture and place on one half of the pastry, but not right at the edge. Fold the other half over so you have a semi-circle, and crimp the edges with your fingers or the tines of a fork to create a seal. Place on a tray. Repeat with the remaining pastry and lamb mix. Be gentle with the pastry – it might feel a bit sticky but it should work with you if you go slowly.
Cover your sambousek tray and keep it in the fridge until ready to fry.
Heat the sunflower oil in a large saucepan over high heat. Test if it’s ready by throwing in a small cube of bread. If it rises to the top and starts bubbling and frying immediately, you’re ready to go. Fry the sambousek in batches until golden on all sides, about 2–3 minutes each.
Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a wire rack to drain. Serve straightaway or chill and reheat in the oven, or have cold.
Travel advice
If you’re not travelling too far, line a bowl or basket with a tea towel and fill with the warm sambousek. Tuck the tea towel edges over the top to cover. Don’t put them hot in a container with a sealed lid, as this might cause a bit of condensation and the pastries will go soggy. If you are transporting them cold, make sure they’ve fully drained and cooled before packing in an airtight container lined with paper towel. Keep in a chilled insulated ice box or cooler. If you can reheat it on arrival, place it in a hot oven for about 15 minutes before serving.
Note
To make a Lebanese spice mix, combine the following ingredients and keep in a jar or airtight container: 1 tablespoon ground allspice, 1 tablespoon ground coriander, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, 1½ teaspoons ground cloves, 1½ teaspoons ground cumin, 1½ teaspoons ground nutmeg.
Carrot relish/pickle
This recipe is adapted from a recipe given in Bee Wilson’s wonderful book The Secret of Cooking. I cannot rave about her book enough, and this simple, flavoursome recipe is a great example of the good things you will be cooking from it if you grab a copy (please do!)
Makes about 3 cups
Prep time 15 mins
Cook time 5 mins
1kg carrots
4 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sea salt
2 lemons
Peel and cut the carrots into thin matchsticks. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and add the spices, sugar and salt. Cook for a minute then add the carrots.
Cook, on high heat, for five minutes or until the carrots have softened and are beginning to catch on the pan.
Transfer to a container or jug, squeeze over the lemon juice and give everything a really good stir. Keep in the fridge for up to a week. It’s good almost straight away but better on the second day.
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