Autumn lunch at the farm

Last Saturday we hosted a full house at the Farm Kitchen. And as always seems to happen – thank goodness – all of our guests came with enthusiasm, a spirit of adventure (which was needed on the rather ‘safari-like’ farm tour Tim took them all on) and an easy-going attitude which meant that the whole group got along beautifully.

We are not a restaurant, but we do offer a farm experience and a simple meal of local produce cooked and served by myself and Tim. And when the mounting pile of dishes allows, one of us sits down to share the meal at our the big table. Luckily, pretty much every guest we’ve ever had here understands and appreciates this.

Here are a few photos and recipes from the day that was. I wanted to snap the main course too but we were so busy plating up and serving out that the camera didn’t stand a chance of coming out.

We started the day with NV (Non-Vintage) Sparkling by Charles Sturt University winery here in Orange. This was served with a few boards of homemade fennel lavosh (recipe below), our venison salami, plum chutney and cheddar.

Then Tim took everyone out, right out the back of the farm to visit the deer, watch the stags roar (we are in the middle of the rut or mating season) and slip and slide their way back up the hills. The group came back hungry, muddy and gladly, in high spirits.

Our meal began with an entree of venison carpaccio with fresh figs (white Adriatic and Genoa black from Beau and Katie Baddock’s Nashdale orchard – available now at the Agrestic Grocer), hazlenuts and verjus served with old school garlic bread. And for mains we had char-grilled venison backstrap with a crunchy coleslaw of red cabbage, fennel, pomegranate, walnuts and tarragon and gratin potatoes. Desert was a white chocolate and amaretti flan (recipe in the book) served with warm peaches, biscotti (recipe below) and shots of iced white port from Mudgee.

Thank you so much to all the lovely lovely people who keep coming to have lunch with us at the farm. Next date on the calendar is a collaborative event with our friends at the Agrestic Grocer, a Moveable Feast held on Saturday, April 5th, the first weekend of F.O.O.D Week and bookings are now open! And thereafter we are on again on Saturday June 14 and the second saturday of each following month. Please email me for more information on any of these events.

Fennel and linseed lavosh

This recipe is a real favourite of mine and has been adapted from one given by Annabel Langbein in her fantastic book The Free Range Cook.

3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 cup wholemeal flour
4 tbsp linseeds
1 tbsp fennel seeds (toasted)
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1tsp sesame oil
1/2 cup water

Preheat the oven to 165C and line a tray with baking paper. Mix the flours, seeds and salt together in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the water and oils. Mix well until you have a nice soft dough. Divide this into five balls. Lightly flour a work surface and roll out each ball as thinly as you can. Cut into uneven squares and bake, in batches for 10 minutes each (or until just beginning to turn golden).

Hazlenut and cranberry biscotti

This is always my go-to biscuit recipe for the Farm Kitchen. The biscuits are fantastic with most desserts and of course, perfect for dunking into sweet wine or coffee.

2 cups plain flour

1 tsp vanilla paste
1/2 cup dried cranberries