It's July again! TRUFFLES!

My favourite month, and not just because my birthday is in here.  Truffle season has officially opened, and I've recently discovered a lot of photos in my archive which I failed to post last year because I was too busy eating!



So, without further delay, I bring you a few long-overdue posts about my favourite funghi... in time for you to source your own and cook!

Coconut & Lime Panna Cotta

Panna Cotta is still one of my favourite desserts when the weather is warm.
...which it is not at the moment, but I've found a few old photos and I'm going to share them with you, and dream (and my Northern Hemisphere family can make this!)



The basic rule is to keep your liquid-to-gelatine ratio in line with your favourite panna cotta recipe (or the instructions on your gelatine packet), then you can mess around with what kind of liquid you use.  Instead of the traditional milk and cream, it is common to substitute yoghurt - or as I've done here, coconut milk - for the cream.  This gives a different flavour, but also drops most of the fat content.
I've learned not to use cocunut cream as the higher fat content means it just sets solid, and is very unappealing (cold coconut cream has a waxy, fatty consistency - nothing like the smooth, soft panna cotta you are after!)

To make it a little fancy, I poured a little lime jelly (lime juice, dissolved gelatin, a touch of sugar, and a half-drop of green colouring) to the tops of the moulds, let set, and then poure the panna cotta mix on top.  Serving with green fruit salad (kiwi, melon, and grapes) and Australian finger limes (like tangy caviar) rounded it out.

A hit, I'll make this again.

Veggie garden: Autumn

We visited the garden again yesterday, and Jason grabbed a couple of update photos for me.

The passionfruit are at the top of the arches.  I've kept a few plants from the summer garden for now (a couple of basil plants, and nasturtiums - plus parsley and thyme), but most of this is only a few weeks old.  I have broad beans and kale (which I've been dreaming about planting since I first signed up for the garden - so much so that I planted two kinds of kale, russian red and cavolo nero), plus carrots (orange and purple), beets, and spinach:







In other news... See the lonely patch next to my one below?

..well it needs a name. If you can think of something more creative than "J-Dub 2" please let me know!

I made the mistake of going for a walk to see what everyone else had planted after mine was done... and I decided I wanted peas, but I didn't have room for them... and now I have room for them, and a few other things too.
Will post some pics once the second garden gets a bit of growth (looks a bit like dirt at the moment, still waiting for the seeds to sprout).  Then maybe we'll have a naming ceremony!

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.