As an Easter treat we have two giveaways: River Cottage: Love your Leftovers by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall plus The River Cottage Fruit Handbook by Mark Diacono (both books from Bloomsbury).
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Writer, broadcaster and campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall offers 100 nifty ideas for turning boring bits into interesting dishes. In the chapter 'leftover roots' the author says roots inspired his most engaging recipes including roast root hummus and beetroot and caraway seed cake. In 'fruit' there are eating suggestions for the seasonal, local, organic, wild harvest and recipes include lamb and apricot/quince tagine, medlar jelly and we share Diacono's recipe for baked figs with honey. To win this combo, email your name, address and favourite fruity leftover dish to bodenparsons@bigpond.com.
The second giveaway is The Bee Friendly Garden (Murdoch Books) by Doug Purdie. He relates that in New York in 2010 bright red honey in hives around Brooklyn led to a maraschino cherry company that was being visited by the bees. In the home garden you plant a human and bee vegie patch with rocket, fennel, tomatoes, beans, berries, citrus and passionfruit. Among beeline herbs are Thai and sweet basil, thyme, borage, rosemary, and sage. To win, tell me what you would plant around a bee hotel, like those starting to appear in Canberra (same email address).
TRAVELLER'S TOMATO
Iif you are heading off to the South Coast for Easter, homegrown tomatoes are likely to be in the picnic basket. The perfect companion is the seldom seen Reisetomate grown by kitchen gardeners in Evatt and Red Hill and originating in Peru. Known as 'the traveller' in Germany, each fruit fuses together like a bunch of grapes so pieces can be broken off without a knife off to eat as you travel.
MEGA BASIL
At the start of summer I bought a small pot with three sweet basil seedlings from Paul de Jong at Southside Farmers Market. Two of the plants went into good potting mix in individual self-watering pots while the third was put in a pot on top of pigeon poo and potting mix in a trough. The first two are adequate while the third sent its roots through holes in the pot and into the mixture below. It has provided daily fresh basil for me, for neighbours and friends and is still thriving. Paul says it must be the phosphate in the pigeon poo.
To preserve part of the crop for winter I am following an idea from ABC's Gardening Australia last week which keen cook Bronwyn Halbisch of Pearce (Kitchen Garden May 11, 2016) confirms works well and the basil remains dark green: cut tops of each basil stem, wash leaves and dry gently, chop finely, place in ice cube trays and fill with olive oil, freeze.
FRUIT CUP CHAMPION
After writing about Roger Thomson and his prize winning vegetables (Kitchen Garden March 27, 2017) we then learnt he had won the Horticultural Society of Canberra cup for his fruit and was waiting for it to be engraved. On a follow-up visit to the Thompson's Yarralumla kitchen, I met Roger who was working in tandem with his mother to make a delicious spiced fig chutney (recipe follows) and both of them were drying halved figs in a dehydrator to eat as a snack.
THOMSON SPICED FIG CHUTNEY
Makes 12 jars.
All fruit and vegetables should be chopped small.
1.5kg figs
700g tromboncino and zucchini (unpeeled)
400g onion
400g sultanas
1 litre white vinegar
500g brown sugar
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp allspice
1.5 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp black mustard seeds
Cook all together in a pot. Bring to the boil and then simmer until thick enough. Takes about two hours' cooking altogether.
DIACONO'S BAKED FIGS WITH HONEY AND CARDAMOM
Serves 4.
16 large fresh figs (or plums, with stones removed, can be substituted)
2 tsp ground cinnamon or 2 cinnamon sticks
3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
3 tbsp runny honey
3 tbsp Marsala, port or water
3 lemon thyme sprigs
Preheat oven to 190 Celcius. Cut the figs vertically into quarters, leaving them attached at the base. Squeeze each fig at the base to open them out a little.
Stand the figs in a fairly small baking dish lined with greaseproof paper to prevent them sticking; they should be quite closely packed.
Dust over the ground cinnamon or add the sticks (whole or broken up) and sprinkle on the cardamom.
Drizzle over the honey and alcohol or water, making sure some goes into the cuts. Scrunch up the thyme sprigs and throw them over the figs. Roast in the middle of the oven for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of the figs.
Susan Parsons is a Canberra writer.
