Apple Sauce, Appelmoes

I love learning new, richer ways of doing familiar things- especially when that knowledge comes through friendships. These funny little organic cooking apples turned up at Cornucopia recently aned with a name like "Tydeman's Late Orange" (raised in East Maling in 1930) it would have been remiss of me not to try them. But even better my dear Dutch friend Margaret gave me a little pot of Appelmoes a month or so ago- made by cooking whole apples, sweetening just a little, working through a mouli (yay I found a little one last week in the hospice shop) and then adding a touch of vanilla. I'm never going back to the old ways now. I just know that this applesauce is good for the microbome, not to mention delicious.  

Equally delicious are these wee wild apples we found in June near the railway line in Dannevirke. 

Later I added some Mexican hawthorn fruit we found in Frimley park. 

The Mexican haws are very high in pectin so great for setting jams and jellies. They have hard little stones in them which don't go through the mouli quite so easily.

We're eating our appelmoes as we go but it can be popped in to a preserving jar for later too.

Nicola Galloway of Homegrown Kitchen writes so nicely about this process here- search Homemade Apple Sauce 15th May 2023

Katie X

Cherry Guava Ice Cream

It's a strange time of the year to be eating ice cream I know, but it seems that all the best ice cream fruits are in abundance in late autumn. Here in Hawke's Bay we have such a fabulous lineup: figs feijoas, cherry guavas, medlars, sweet persimmons, cape gooseberries, white sapote, kiwifruit, mandarins and so much more. One of the easiest fruit trees to grow in a home garden is the cherry guava (Psidium cattleyanum). An evergreen and elegant small tree that never fails to bear fruit, year after year.

I have written about making guava jelly and paste just here.

Every year I make at least one or two jars of ruby red guava jelly. Guava has the best flavour of all the jellies, I reckon.

My Nan used to make guava jelly, but you know I never saw her do anything else with the leftover pulp. A few years ago I decided to press the cooked berries through a sieve and of course you then ditch all those hard seeds. There is so much goodness in guavas- just what we need heading in to the winter months, 

This year as I was making paste with the pulp I remembered the guava ice cream recipe that my lovely dutch friend Margaret shared with me. She even gave me a little to try. The flavour is truly exquisite and the texture sublimely creamy, however, I can't quite justify the extreme sweetness of all the sugar and condensed milk that was in the recipe. So I made up my own version which I think will be happily flexible. I really don't think you can go wrong with it by adding a bit more of this and not so much of that. Next time I might try honey instead of condensed milk for instance.

This recipe is great for using up the half a jarful of jelly or paste that you often end up with when you're making preserves. Since there is only two of us I was happy to make a small batch so here's the general idea:

After I have strained the cooked fruit and used the liquid to make the jelly, I push the rest through a sieve. I then return the pulp to the saucepan and add perhaps a cupful of sugar. This mixture is then simmered to reduce (stirring often) for 10 minutes or so. If you want to make paste/cheese there's a whole lot more cooking to do so before you get to that stage take out 1 cupful of pulp, set it aside and leave it to cool completely.

Beat 125 mls of cream, add a 1/4-1/3 cup of condensed milk and then fold in the cooled pulp and a tablespoonful of jelly. Lastly add a splash of rosewater. Taste to see if it's how you want it. That's it. Freeze. This batch stayed soft and very creamy once frozen.

Katie X

Kawakawa Berries- what can I do with them?

 Kawakawa berries are a unique little fruit that taste a little like rockmelon with a hit of spicy seeds.

You don't really think about Kawkawa berries being Christmasy, but they are. Along with the flowering of the Pohutukawa trees, the sweet abundance of the Linden's, Kawakawa berries also serenade the years' end. I have one little local spot that is easy to access every few days. As long as the fruit is plump you can harvest them while they are still green and they will ripen over the next few days. If you click on the photo below you'll see the progression of the fruit ripening over 48 hours.

I have tried them in all kinds of ways now - in dressings, infused in honey, in various desserts & mixed through strawberries, but this year I have decided that I like them best just as they are.

There are some lovely peaches at our Farmer's market just now- this combo was amazing: Hohepa (local) mozzarella, local honey, good salt, fresh peaches & perfectly ripe Kawakawa berries. Brilliantly balanced & the Kawakawa flavours just shone. Baked peaches with a little maple syrup are also delicious with them.

Dressing with Kawakawa berries, orange or lemon juice, lemon zest, thick natural yoghurt yoghurt, olive oil, honey, salt, pepper.

Add a teaspoon of tomato paste to go with a seafood salad.

Thick natural yoghurt, Mango chutney and plenty of ripe Kawakawa berries, especially if you chew well and get the hit of all the spicy seeds. So good with a curry.

Fairy cheesecakes

All mixed in with Mascarpone.

Kawkawa berries are lovely with chocolate too. They can even be dipped in chocolate if you like.

Katie X

Wild Rice, Quinoa and Cherry Salad

When we were planning what we would take down to Wai Ora at the beginning of of December for our wedding anniversary, I got it in my head that a wild rice & cherry salad might be good. I couldn't find a recipe, so I made one up. Not hard when it's a salad.

I cooked equal quantities of wild rice and three coloured quinoa (or just white or red or brown).

Or just use rice if you prefer.

Make sure the rice is well cooked- this lot was just a tad under down.

I stoned cherries and halved them

Added dried cranberries, pomegranate seeds, chopped pistachio nuts, chopped onion weed bulbs or spring onions. I also added a good amount of finely chopped mint, parsley and coriander.

Salt and ground black pepper.

The nuts could also be pinenuts, walnuts or hazelnuts.

The dressing makes all the difference:

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.

2 tbsp 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

The salad went nicely with salmon that we cooked with a pomegranate molasses glaze on the little barbecue. 

Variation

Here we are at the beginning of February and some of the cherries from this season have hung on in the fridge. So I cooked some little Beluga lentils until tender and added them to the wild rice instead of quinoa. 

The other additions are: red shiso, variegated apple mint, wee unsprayed begonia flowers, nasturtium leaves, purple kumara and a dressing made with slow baked Black Doris plums, honey, yoghurt, salt & pepper, 1/2 tsp Garam marsala, olive oil & thick natural yoghurt.

Slow baking fruit is amazing! It concentrates the flavours and makes the fruit even more delicious and digestible. A sprinkling of good sugar and in to the oven at 150C for 1/2 an hour. 

Katie X

Avocado Chocolate Gelato

When we stayed at Tiger House two years ago, in celebration of our 40th wedding anniversary, we had a lovely time reading through the resident cookbooks. 

Blowed if I can remember which one it was now. But I did take a photo of the recipe. Phew!  

This chocolate gelato is so good! What a strange addition- lots of ripe avocado, but it works. beautifully.

100 gms dark chocolate- 70% 

300 gms ripe avocado- probably 2/3 depending on the size

200 mls full cream milk (or milk that suits)

2 tbsps cream (or coconut cream I imagine)

1/3 cup of unrefined sugar- not honey as I tried that and the mixture was not quite firm enough.

35 gms (1/3c) raw cocao powder

2 tsps vanilla essence 

pinch of good salt

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over water in a little saucepan

Add everything else into a blender or food processor. 

Pulse to combine-mixture should be thick & mousse like. 

Add melted chocolate and blend for another minute or so to combine well.

Freeze in to small jars, a container, or little bowls.

Leave to stand out of the freezer for 10 minutes or so before eating/serving.

Actually, this is fine as a mousse and firms up nicely by simply being in the fridge.

This dessert is great on it's own but also teams up well with instant banana ice cream.

You can find the recipe for that here.

Another variation for this versatile dessert is to layer the mousse with other deliciousness such as this nod to Tiramsu:

Bottom layer is the above avocado mousse

Second layer is coffee chia pudding made with 1/4 chia seeds

 1 cup of whole milk, 1 dsp chicory coffee essence, 1 tsp vanilla essence, 1 tsp maple syrup or honey.

Mix altogether in a jar, stir every now & then.

Leave to do it's thing for a few hours- until thick.

Third layer- 1 cup coconut cream set with 1 tsp gelatine, a wee pinch of salt & a tsp of vanilla & maple syrup or honey.

Top with caramelised walnut pieces or dust with cocoa powder or whatever takes your fancy at the time! I used our own foraged walnuts. Melt a dsp brown sugar in a pan, add the walnuts stir to combine- cook for 5/10 minutes until crispy. Cool.   

These are great stored in the fridge with the lid on.

Great for barbecues & picnics too. 

Of course there are loads of variations that you could use in the chia pudding part such as strawberries, even the freeze dried powders etc instead of the coffee flavouring. And of course, you could use coconut milk or cream or almond milk etc.

Katie x

Cheesy Green Feta Bake

 This slice (in the original recipe it was called Feta and Spinach Brownie), but I've decided to call it Cheesy, Green, Feta Bake- just for fun.

Really, the mixture is just a variation on a savoury muffin, a frittata or fancy scone and it is so easy. It includes loads of greens & is brilliant hot, cold and for travelling and picnics.

There's lots of lee-way- just use what you prefer & what you have available.

The key ingredient is a load of greens- either spinach, or a mixture of garden or wild greens. 

These all came from our garden- a mixture of spinach, silverbeet, beet leaves, nettles, nasturtium leaves, loads of wild onions (whole plant) tender parsley stems, coriander, thyme, dandelion leaves, chickweed and anything else that takes your fancy.   

Rinse the greens if necessary, shaking off all the water well. Snip them all up with a pair of kitchen scissors & saute they them all in a fry pan with a good glug of olive oil. Cook just enough to cook them down as if blanched. Cool.

In a large bowl add 1 cup of white flour (organic white spelt for me)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp good sea salt & ground black pepper

Mix together

Add 1 cup of milk, 1/4 melted butter & 2 eggs & mix again.

Then gently add in the cooled greens, 1 cup of grated cheese- whatever's your preference: cheddar, mozzarella etc, a packet of feta (crumbled), and 2 tbsp of parmesan.

Other additions would be finely sliced sundried tomatoes, cooked asparagus, broccoli, capers, olives, sweetcorn etc

Spoon into a deep baking tin such as a cake tin lined with baking paper. The one I use is 18 cms square.

Bake in a moderate oven for around 40/45 minutes until it's firm and golden.

This bake is delicious hot, but just as good cold and reheats very well too.

I doubled the recipe and we took this away with us on our last trip to The Stables in Otaki and it was so useful to have with us.

Great for picnics.

Katie X

Frypan Cornbread

This cornbread is such a different take on the dry pale cornbread that I've made from time to time through the years and then flagged it. Filled with veges and herbs and moist and tasty- it's a winner and quick and easy to make. Although it probably benefits for the pause to soak of the main ingredients.

1 cup coarse cornmeal

1/2 cup buckwheat semolina

1/3 cup chia seeds

1 cup water

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp good salt & a grind of black pepper

Mix all the above together and leave to sit for an hour or two (or overnight)

And a little more water if its a bit stodgy. You should be able to move the spoon through it.

Add 1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup of whole kernel sweet corn

1 cup of chopped cooked broccoli

4 or 5 whole onion weeds chopped with scissors

1/2- 1 cup of other herbs & greens: spinach, kale, parsley, coriander, nasturtium leaves etc- cut up

Pour in to a small cast iron fry pan that you've swirled a tbsp or two of oil in to.

Bake at 180 for 20 to 30 minutes. 

You could of course make this in a baking tin.

Katie X