Acorns

A wonderful thing to forage for in autumn are acorns. There are so many kinds of oak trees and therefore so many kinds of acorns. All acorns are edible but they are also full of tannins and need to be well prepared before eating.

Last year I fiddled around soaking & cooking acorns from the park, only to find that they were too hard to work with and way too much trouble.

This season I've learnt that the evergreen oak acorns are sweeter and much easier to process. They also taste amazing- so sweet and like a mix of caramel and toffee flavours!

Amazingly there are loads of these trees in parks all around town.

Quercus Ilex. There are a few varieties of evergreen oaks, but these ones are great and easily accessible.

They fall to the ground when they're ready. 

They look just like any other acorn.

I had a go at cracking them just picked, but they were very hard and when I tasted the nut they had that familiar tannin taste- astringent and not good to eat.

However, once baked in the oven for 20-25 minutes the tannins disappeared, the nuts cracked easily but were still soft inside and great to work with.

This was a good colour to end up with.

At this stage they are still easy to chop up. I then processed them in small batches in an old coffee grinder, until pretty finely ground.

This topping for a feijoa crumble worked really well.

I added 1/2 cup of chestnut meal, 1/2 cup of ground acorn meal, a cup of white spelt flour, 1/3 cup of brown sugar & enough butter rubbed in to make it all moist but crumbly.

 The extra made these biscuits- crisp and delicious.

 Here is the acorn meal with some toasted ground Linden seeds. The Linden seeds really do taste like chocolate.

 This small batch of biscuits were made as a basic shortbread- 1/3 cup of acorn meal, a 1/3 cup of ground almonds, 3/4 cup of white flour (spelt), 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 100 grams of butter. Add a tsp of vanilla essence if you like.
Cream the butter and sugar, stir in the flours. Chill  for an hour or so & then roll out, cut and bake in a moderate oven for around 20 minutes.

 This same mixture made the most brilliant pie crust for pumpkin pie- recipe here.

There's so much more to explore about acorns and oaks. They are delicious and so worth the effort to prepare.I am not sure yet about their keeping qualities, but using them in their season right now has been an excellent idea.

One other thing I have made with them- is a jelly.

After reading Kiva Rose's post just here about using acorns, I simmered a handful of toasted acorns in water to make a hot drink. I loved the flavour and decided that the liquid would make a wonderful jelly. Sweetened with honey and set with good gelatine- truly delicious.

Katie X

Aquafaba Mayonnaise

Ok, so this sounds like the weirdest thing ever and honestly- what the heck is an aquafaba?
Well it's what you make with the liquid left over from cooking chickpeas or the liquid that's in the tin with chickpeas when you open a can, and it's brilliant!
A light, great tasting and versatile mayonnaise that keeps really well & only takes a few minutes too make.
I simply strain off the liquor from a tin of chickpeas, or use half a cup of the cooking liquid if you made them yourself. Cold would be best, rather than warm.
Then in to a blender (or use a hand mixer) add:
~ A tbsp of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, or infused apple cider vinegar
~ salt, pepper, a good spoonful of wholegrain mustard
~ Any fresh herbs that you like
~ 1 tbsp honey

Blend for a few minutes until frothy, then slowly drizzle in about a 1/2- 1 cup of olive oil
Keep processing & adding the oil until you hear it thicken up.

That's it!
Pour in to a jar. Pop on the lid and you now have a delicious light mayonnaise.

Katie X

Pumpkin Pie With Acorn Crust

Goodness, I haven't made a pumpkin pie for years. I used to make them often when we lived in Hawera some 30 odd years ago. And since it's Easter and here we are in "Lock Down"- just the two of us together in this surreal time of the Covid19 pandemic & we have pumpkins that we grew down at the Eversley Community Garden sitting on our front porch, I decided that pumpkin pie would be a lovely thing to make. I never have quite understood why we Down Under just tagged along with the Northern Hemisphere all this time and never bothered to create meaningful Easter rituals and practises of our own. Because, quite frankly, it's autumn and harvest time here not spring!

Having some time on my hands and needing to take walks in the sunshine has given me a wonderful opportunity to wander in my neighbourhood and see what I could forage and make use of. I happened to have just been reading Kiva Rose's post & her use of evergreen acorns when I came across this Holm Oak- Quercus Ilex tree in the Duke street reserve. Last year I had a go with English Oak acorns but all that soaking and faffing around to leach out the tannins was a bit much.  

 So  I took Kiva at her word and roasted a handful of acorns for 20 minutes or so until dark brown.

 They have a lovely thin shell so are easily peeled.

Next I chopped the acorns up a bit more & then ground them in a coffee grinder (I have an extra grinder that I use for such things). Acorns are way too hard for a regular food processor to cope with. As fine as possible is good. To make the pastry for the pumpkin pie:

Cream 100 grams of softened unsalted butter with 1/2 cup of soft brown sugar. I used a lovely Trade Aid Muscovado sugar, but coconut sugar would be fine too. 

Add in the ground acorns- 1/3 cup

And a 1/3 cup of ground almonds

Then add 3/4-1 cup of flour- I use German white spelt flour.

1/2 tsp of ginger & 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.

Lastly a pinch of salt.

Mix altogether in to a nice firm dough.

 Pop in to the fridge to chill for for an hour or so.

 Press in to a greased pie dish- or in this instance two dishes as that was all that seemed suitable in the cupboard.

Now for the pumpkin custard bit:

Cook chopped pumpkin until tender & blend well using a stick blender.

A potato masher would do just fine but I like the silky texture of the pumpkin this way.

You should end up with a really good cupful

 Mix in a tsp ground ginger, a tsp cinnamon & a a good grating of nutmeg to the pumpkin.
Along with 1/2 cup of soft brown sugar.
Mix altogether & leave it to sit while you assemble the other things.

 Once cooled pour off any extra liquid that has settled out of the pumpkin & then beat in 2 eggs & 3/4 cup of cream.

 Pour in to the prepared base & bake for around 40 minutes at 150 C
Or until the custard has set.

Serve with cream.

I will refine this recipe when I make it again but this version was just delicious & the base was gorgeous. Acorns have the loveliest flavour- a unique combination of caramel & toffee. 

The texture was light & highly digestible.

The extra dough I made in to biscuits & cooked them alongside the pie.

They are light & crunchy & fabulous!

Katie X

Pineapple Chia Bircher Museli

This recipe for breakfast Bircher Museli over at Petite Kitchen caught my eye recently, so I made some last night and this morning  it was delicious!

I quite often buy a gold pineapple & slow bake the pieces in the oven when I'm cooking other things.

I saved a cup full of pineapple chunks to make this muesli.

 1 cup of fresh pineapple blended with 1/2 yogurt, milk kefir or coconut milk

I like to use a stick blender- so easy.

Stir in a cupful of rolled oats,

2 tbsp chia seeds- either colour

1 tbsp of honey

1 tsp vanilla essence- homemade is good.

A pinch of salt

I also added a handful of chopped dried apricots 

& a diced navel orange.

And...one more thing- 1/2 cup of fresh, shredded coconut that I get at our local Asian grocery- it's in the freezer.

I'm sure there are loads of other variations to try.

Stir well & pop in the fridge overnight.

Cover the bowl with beeswrap.

I like to fill pretty jars with museli & desserts- easy to store.

We served our Bircher Museli with fresh passionfruit & red clover petals.

Cut up the rest of the pineapple & spread it over a roasting dish.
Slow bake at around 120-130 degrees C for half an hour or so, then give the pineapple a stir & drizzle with a little honey & a sprinkle of cinnamon. Bake another half an hour until the flavours have concentrated & the fruit is just starting to turn golden & caramelise.
These keep for ages in the fridge.

The final thing I do with my pineapple is to cut up the core & any hard pieces & place them in to a large Agee jar-
Add a a large tbsp of honey
And half a lemon cut in to piece.
Fill the jar with boiling water- pouring it over the back of a spoon as you go so as not to crack the jar.
Put the lid on & stand for 24-48 hours.
Strain & pour in to 2 small Grolsch bottles, or other good flip top bottles.
Flip down & stand for another 48 hours at which point you will now have a delicious, naturally fermented effervescent drink. If it's not quite fizzy enough just close up the bottle again & leave for another day or so.
This is the basic idea here- although I know longer use the skins unless I know that the pineapple is organic- not overly like in New Zealand.

Katie 

Mountain Pawpaws- what ever do I do with them?

When I was a child my grandparents lived in Frasertown Wairoa, for a bit & as I grew older I loved helping Nan in the kitchen & writing out her recipes- for hours on end. We would make a dessert called Fruit Delight with all kinds of cooked fruits- Mountain Pawpaw was a favourite They are pretty odd raw- we would eat the pulpy stuff from the middle (as kids do) but if you can be bothered

 peeling the ripe yellow outer fruit & cooking them gently, they suddenly become delicious.

Best with a little sugar added & even a squeeze of lemon juice.

It turns out that they are delicious with strawberries too. Just add yoghurt or cream.

Nan's Fruit Delight recipe is just here, if you fancy having a go at that. I'm just waiting to end up with enough ripe fruit to make it. It's been a long, long time since I last tasted it.

Katie X

Summertime Wraps

We love colourful food & we love beetroot. We eat beetroots in all their glorious colours almost all year round as there are some fabulous beetroot growers at our Farmers' Market.
This dip is just amazing & so handy to have in the fridge for adding extra pizzazz to almost any meal. It is also an excellent ingredient to add in to summertime beetroot wraps.

 The wraps themselves we get at New World- they are Farrah's Superbeet Wraps & such a cool colour & not at all stodgy.

 Here's one version that we made last summer.

And here's the pictorial inspiration- just so we remember what to do next time round.

This beetroot dip was made with mostly yellow beets with one red one. 

The first addition to this particular creation is some homemade pickled ginger.

Cucumber is always delicious however you want to use it- sliced, grated, shredded- even sticks.

 The egg salad is also a great thing to have on hand in the fridge in summer- just boiled eggs, shelled, seasoned, mashed with the addition of some whole seed mustard & some good mayonnaise.

 The carrot salad is just grated carrot, corn cooked & cut off the cob, salt & pepper, lemon juice & parsley, coriander or finely chopped mint.

 Nasturtium leaves are a great addition- just a little spicy. And Red Shiso is one of our favourite summer herbs. Heirloom meaty tomatoes can be sliced very thinly- then sprinkled with salt & pepper.

 Radicchio is so cool & perfect to add in to a wrap, as it's slightly bitter & nicely digestive, or use other lettuce or salad greens.

 And then there's avocado or anything else that takes your fancy.
Wrap in natural greaseproof paper to take on picnics & make sure you have some serviettes to mop up the juicy, delicious mess.

Katie X

Best Chickpea Salad Ever

I came across this salad recipe in a Cuisine magazine & just loved the sound & look of it so I thought I'd better have a go- thank goodness I did! It's absolutely delicious.

I'm telling it my version, however.

2 cans chickpeas- drained.

The liquid can be used for making a great mayonnaise if you feel so inclined.

Put the chickpeas in to a frypan with a little olive oil & sprinkle with sumac & sea salt & cook on a medium heat until they are starting to colour & taste delicious.

Transfer the chickpeas in to a bowl to cool & then add

Finely chopped coriander, to your taste- loads or a little.

1/2 c coconut chips lightly toasted (in the same pan)

1/2 cup broken or chopped cashews lightly toasted.

Then, either some chopped spring onion, or finely chopped red onion.

You can pour a little rice vinegar over the onion while you're preparing everything else to help soften the raw onion thing- tip off the vinegar again.

6 or so Medjool (type)dates- de-stoned & chopped. 

Dressing

4 tbsps olive oil

2 tbsp tamarind puree- either ready made or soak the caked tamarind version in water to soften, then push through a sieve.

2tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp lime juice

2 cloves of garlic or onion weed bulbs crushed

1/2 tsp fennel seeds lightly toasted & crushed- mortar & pestle or a spice grinder.

A pinch of chilli flakes

Shake altogether in a jar & pour over the salad mixture.

We sprinkled the salad with fresh flax seeds. New year is just the right time to collect them.

 The dark sausagey pods are best.

Here's the original salad that included crushed poppadoms.

 It was the most delicious dinner we've had in ages!

No substitutes on this one- lime juice & maple syrup are essential to the flavours. 

As is toasting the fennel seeds & then crushing them.

You can find the Kawakawa salad recipe just here.

And the Aquafaba mayonnaise just here.

Well, you will find those recipes soon when I've written them up.

Katie X