Veggie patch update - summer

I have been a little slack with updates.  Since my last two posts, the inside of my Weber Q has gotten very dirty, and my garden has grown, been harvested, and planted again!

While I was away doing other stuff and forgetting to keep you in the loop, this happened:




The other gardens in the Pop-up Patch grew too.  Our boxes of dirt have evolved to a small urban jungle.  Each patch is different, some with flowers amongst the vegetables, some filled with salad greens, others with herbs:


  

With a bit more space on our new balcony - and no 28th-floor "breeze" to contend with - I've been able to grow a few things at home to supplement our summer BBQ-and-salad diet.  Lots of mint, for mojitos, and salad greens, and a few veggies (beans, eggplant):

 

Eventually (with a little staking and tying back) the tomatoes formed a canopy, and provided shade for basil and lettuce underneath.  I went home each weekend with a belly full of tacos (the taco truck parked at the garden every Sunday over summer) and bag full of vine ripened cherry tomatoes.  All was well.






The garden is staffed, and I have a little white flag in my patch which is code for "I surrender, please help me to water this" - so it is well cared for during the week.  Just as well, as it was a hot summer!

By early March, the weather was starting to turn.  After the last few warm weeks, I gave up and cleared the garden for autumn.  The tomatoes had started to look tired, and had finally slowed down in terms of fruit production.  I made approximately 40 tonnes of basil pesto (actually, about two litres, then I stopped - but I had enough basil to keep going!) and we had cherry tomato pasta sauce almost every night for a week to finish the last of it.


Next post: what I've planted for autumn!

Favourite things: Weber Q and Cedar planks

I'm in love. With this:

My new BBQ (the perfect size for two people!)

Cedar planks (with teriyaki salmon, above, or snapper)

Corn 

Less popular:

It's presently too hot to be outside.  I'll be cooking inside with the air conditioning on tonight.

Planking

No, I don't mean the internet meme that John Key ruined in 2011.

Credit: news.com.au

I mean this:

I am officially obsessed with this method for cooking fish on the BBQ.  (Oh, yeah, we have a BBQ again.  I'm obsessed with that, too*.)

Fish falls apart too easily, making it difficult to grill.  Also, I understand that it can be overcooked or dry out if not watched closely.  This solves both problems by insulating the fish from direct heat, and as an added bonus adds an unbeatable smoky flavour.

Find cedar planks (our local BBQ store has them).  Other types of wood are suitable, such as cherry or maple, but the wood must be untreated.

Soak the planks in water for at least an hour, preferably overnight (I soak a couple at a time, then keep a spare in the freezer in a ziplock bag! Just soak in boiling water for 10 minutes to defrost).  Pop a jar or something heavy on top, so they don't float.

Preheat the BBQ, then toast one side of the plank for 5 minutes on high heat.  Flip it over, drizzle with oil, and add fish.

At this stage, you may also choose to season the fish.  I love salmon with soy and oyster sauce (teriyaki works well, too) - but for snapper, I added butter with paprika, garlic, basil, and lime.




Close the lid, and walk away for 15-20 minutes.  Remember to close the door to the living room so that the house does not fill up with smoke.  There will be smoke.

The interwebs recommend that you keep a spray bottle of water on hand in case of fire.  I haven't needed to use mine to date, but like to have it as insurance.

* Due to over-zealous body corporate rules in our previous home, the pizza oven sat and gathered dust for 2 years.  No propane or propane accessories allowed.  Hank Hill would have cried.

The new place has no such restriction. so we purchased a Weber Q at the earliest opportunity, and have eaten the majority of our meals from it since!

My Veggie Patch!

I am disproportionately excited about this, but... I have a vegetable garden!  After two years of scraping by on a few herbs picked from the balcony, I can start to grow normal-sized things again.  Well, one or two normal-sized things.  It's 1.2 metres square.


 
The Little Veggie Patch Co. have created a Pop-Up Patch in the middle of Melbourne, and I love them for it.



Just past Flinders Street Station, tucked in the back of the carpark in Federation Square...

Are a bunch of recycled apple crates.  But they are much more than just boxes of dirt, they are a focal point for a bunch of like-minded individuals who want a quiet spot in the middle of the noise to hang out, have a picnic, and get their hands dirty. 
There are city views out one side, and the river and Botanical gardens out the other.  At the far end I can see the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground).



It makes me smile because I'm really growing things for the first time in AGES.  I planted seeds.  And I walk down to water them, and really just to see if they are up yet!  I know, I'm easily pleased.



Everything I need is there - water, tools, advice - and I get a bunch of seeds and seedlings each season to choose from and plant.  My spot came with runner beans and passionfruit (win!) plus oregano and thyme, but I've also planted cherry tomatoes, basil, borage, eggplant, and watermelon.  I have corn ordered (they were out they day I set up), and a real tomato plant to pop in this week (Thanks Wendy & Toby!)

   

..but mostly, I have dirt with green things in it!

   

..and a pretty nice walk home.

   

Baked Custard

I don't often make dessert unless we have people over for dinner.  Other than consideration for my waistline, this is normally for reasons of scale - it is just too hard to find recipes for two people, or recipes which don't require a considerable effort.  Usual standbys are icecream, Spanish hot chocolate, or store-bought dessert cups (tiramisu, and "Gu" ganache are favourites in the latter category).

But finally, I have a quick and easy dessert, designed for two but easy to scale for more.  And easy to dress up and modify for a change of flavour.



Baked custard takes about 40 minutes including cooking time - but only 5 minutes to prep, so you can relax and enjoy a glass of wine while it cooks. Here, I've added raspberries to make this a little more interesting to share with friends - but it's equally delicious on its own, with a side of poached or fresh fruit, or with a sauce in the bottom of the cup.  It can be served warm or cold, keeping in the fridge for a couple of days.



I've made this for four here (which is why you see two eggs, and four ramekins), but the beauty is that to make this for two people you need one egg (this being the part of most recipes that is near impossible to scale down!)

For two serves:
Beat one egg.
Add 3/4 cup of milk, 1/4 cup of sugar (or substitute all or part for maple syrup!), and 1 tsp vanilla essence. 
Mix until sugar has dissolved.

Double the quantities for four people (you knew that, right?), but the cooking time will be the same.



Divide the mixture into small ramekins (no need to grease these), or bake in a single dish (allow for a little extra cooking time).



Place the ramekins in a deep oven-proof dish, and add hot water.  The water should reach at least halfway up the sides of the ramekins (preferably the same level as the custard).



Bake in a 180C oven for 35 minutes.  The custard should be set at the sides, but still slightly wobbly in the middle.
Remove from the oven and carefully remove the ramekins (I use gloves).  Rest on a wire rack until you can comfortably touch the edges of the ramekins, then dive in with a spoon.  Or, if you are planning to eat cold, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate immediately.

Hello, July! (It's Truffle Season.)

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you already know I'm excited.  July is the big month for Southern Hemisphere truffles, and I think I was born in July for this exact reason.  What do I want for my birthday?  Truffles, please!  Rubies are out (I was never really convinced about them), and truffle is officially my new birth stone.
Well, they do kind of look like rocks.



We celebrated the start of the season by popping in to visit the Madame, and picked up a little 13g Tasmanian treat.  Good friends were coming for dinner, and we wanted to surprise them.

To kick off the season, we served a small entree of fresh pasta (only homemade will do in this case) with butter, and grated truffle on top while it was still hot:


 

I love the way the tendrils of shaved truffle cling to the microplane - it needs a couple of sharp taps against the edge of the bowl from time to time.
The heat releases the smell from the truffle, and much time was spent savouring the smell before we remembered to eat!






Buttered bread helped us to clean our bowls and to finish off every last crumb of truffle!




We will return for more in coming weeks - and promise to share.

REAL Maple syrup!

 

We flew home to NZ recently to visit family, and my beautiful sister Kerryn picked up some maple syrup on her way through Canada for me.

There is no substitute for real maple syrup.  That is, syrup that comes from a tree.  In Canada. No artificial flavourings here.


Things I could use real maple syrup for:

• pouring over crepes or pancakes
• pouring on porridge in place of brown sugar
• a fine coating on carrots before roasting
• a fine coating on Brussels sprouts before coating (Kerryn insists that I'll never go back to my version)
• glazing ham
• drinking straight from the bottle