Pumpkin and Olive Oil Risotto With Hunter Valley Verjuice

This recipe was supplied by Bob Leonard from The Hunter Valley Verjuice company. You can purchase verjuice from The Fresh Ingredient, in fact you can purchase all the ingredients for this dish from The Fresh Ingredient! This recipe serves 4, adjust ingredients to increase or decrease servings.

Ingredients

• 1.5 litres of chicken stock
• 1 x large onion
• 20ml olive oil
• 75grams of unsalted butter
• 700 grams of peeled pumpkin cut into 2cm pieces
• Freshly ground pepper
• 400 grams of Arborio rice
• 150ml of Hunter Valley Verjuice
• 80 grams of Parmigianino cheese
• 2 teaspoons of chopped flat leaf parsley
• 60ml of Hunter Valley Verjuice for deglazing the pumpkin

Method

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees C
• Heat the stock in a saucepan
• In a wide-based pan or shallow-sided large saucepan, sauté the onion in the olive oil and butter until golden
• Place the pumpkin pieces on a tray, drizzle with additional extra virgin olive oil and season with sea salt and cracked pepper
• Bake for 10 mins until pumpkin edges become a little caramelised
• Deglaze the pumpkin with about 1 – 2 tablespoons of Hunter Valley Verjuice and cook for a further 2 minutes
• When the onion is cooked, add the rice and stir to coat
• Cook for 1 -2 minutes, then increase the temperature
• Make a well in the centre of the pot and add the remaining Hunter valley verjuice and continue to stir until the liquid evaporates
• Reduce heat, adding a full ladle of stock and stirring until all this stock has been taken up by the rice
• Repeat the process – adding the stock ladle by ladle, stirring continuously until ¾ of the stock has been used – it should take 15 – 20 minutes
• Check seasoning and add salt, Add half of the pumpkin and its juices
• Increase the heat, add last of the stock stirring continuously until the rice is cooked
• Remove from the heat and stir in about half of the Parmigianino cheese
• Top the risotto with the remaining pumpkin, drizzle with olive oil, cracked pepper and parsley.

Kids in the Kitchen

We are in the middle of Summer. The days are warm, the evenings long, and for many families our meals get simpler. These easy meals are the perfect opportunity to get kids into the kitchen.

I believe that one of the most important things that we can teach our children is a love of food, a respect for food and from those, we teach them how to prepare food. I was brought up with food growing in the backyard; I saw the life-cycle, the seed, the plant, the fruit or vegetable and then the meal on the table. I helped with this process, planted seeds, weeded and watered the garden, harvested crops and watched and helped with the preparation of the food. I respect food; I respect the effort that goes into producing our food.

We are teaching our children this respect. They travel with me when I collect produce from local growers, they see the trees with the fruit laden, and they see the farmers working to harvest the crop. They see the fresh food on the shelf at The Fresh Ingredient, and they see it on the kitchen bench at home. They love to stand on a stool and help to cut up vegetables, stir a cake batter, shake a salad dressing, or assemble a burrito. Our children understand that food comes from nature; it is not a pre-packaged, plastic product that gets heated, or rehydrated. It was a living thing, which helps us, as humans survive. I often hear little Miss 5 telling her brother (4) that “if you don’t eat good food you won’t grow up to be big and strong”.

Child-rearing books and experts tell us that we should model the behaviour that we want our children to exhibit, use good manners, stand-up straight, read books, be kind. We should also model food behaviours, let them observe us as we eat our fruit and vegetables, as we work to avoid wastage, as we prepare meals. Studies have shown that if children are involved in the preparation of a meal, they are more likely to eat that meal; they have a sense of ownership.

Our children love pasta and they love cheese, so this is a winner in our home. They can be involved in the preparation of this meal by helping to grate the carrot and cheese, measuring out the milk, weighing out the pasta and butter, measuring out the vegetables, and helping to assemble the bake. It can be served with a simple tomato and leaf salad, or a spinach and avocado salad, my personal favourite!

Cheesy Vegetable Pasta Bake

Ingredients

·       350g shell or penne pasta

·       30g Udder Farm butter

·       2 tablespoons cornflour

·       2 cups Udder Farm milk (full cream or light)

·       2 cups grated cheddar cheese

·       1 medium carrot, grated

·       2 cups loosely packed baby spinach leaves

·       1 cup fresh corn kernels

·       ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Method

·      Grease a 2L capacity baking dish.

·      Preheat oven to 180°C.

·      Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water, following packet directions, until just tender.

·      Melt butter in a saucepan, stir in cornflour and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat; slowly pour in milk, whisking all the time to make a smooth white sauce. Return to heat, continue stirring until sauce thickens.

·      Drain pasta, return to pot and stir in white sauce. Add cheese and vegetables, stir well to combine.

·      Spoon mixture into baking dish and sprinkle with parmesan. Bake for 25 minutes until golden and heated through.

Winter Warming

It may be August and we have had a few days that have made us believe that Spring is in the air, but it is still very cold & August winds are blowing. It's still Winter!

Winter, for many people, means sitting in front of the fire, rugging up in hats, coats and scarves and eating comfort food. For me, turning on the oven and cooking warming food is the essence of winter. In summer it is often too hot to turn on the oven, you don’t want to add extra heat to the house. In winter, the oven warms the house and fills it with the scents of your food. The scent of the cooking food welcomes those that enter the home, inviting them to draw up a chair and enjoy a bite to eat.

In Eastern culture food is described as possessing certain qualities such as a warming or cooling nature, possessing certain flavours such as pungent or sweet, or acting on our body in a specific way. The eastern view of nutrition is concerned not so much with ingredients but with latent energetic properties that are released in the human body through digestion.

Below are some interesting Eastern ideas about food.

• Plants which take longer to grow (e.g. root vegetables, ginger) tend to be warmer than fast-growing foods (e.g. lettuce, zucchini).
• Foods with a high water content tend to be more cooling (e.g. melon, cucumber).
• Dried foods tend to be more warming than their fresh counterparts.
• Chemically fertilised foods which are forced to grow quickly tend to be cooler than their naturally grown counterparts.
• Some chemicals added to foods may produce heat reactions as may artificially ripened foods.
• The temperature of food will also be influenced by the cooking or preparation method.

Longer and slower cooking methods will also produce more warming effects than quicker methods i.e. a stew will be more warming if it is cooked slowly than if it is cooked quickly. 

So in keeping with slowly cooked, winter warming food, I have included here a recipe I have adapted from Herbies Spices.

Old Fashioned Lamb Stew – Serves 4

Ingredients

1 Kg lamb, diced
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 stick of celery, chopped
1 tablespoon oil or butter
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 teaspoons Herbies Sweet Paprika
1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1 tablespoon Herbies Bouquet Garni, or 1 Bouquet Garni ball

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 160°C.
2. Peel and chop onion, carrot, parsnip, celery and garlic. 
3. Place paprika, flour, salt and meat in a clean plastic bag, twist top closed, and shake to coat meat with seasoned flour.
4. Heat oil in a heavy-based, oven-safe pot and saute onion and garlic over medium heat until soft but not browned.
5. Increase heat, add meat, and turn pieces so that all sides are sealed. Remove from heat.
6. Add chopped vegetables, 1 cup water and the Bouquet Garni, to the pot, stirring to combine.
7. Heat in oven for 2 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender.
8. Serve over fluffy mashed potatoes.

Zucchini & Fetta Quiche

In keeping with the posts about shopping local and supporting local suppliers, this recipe uses mostly locally sourced products. 

Ingredients – Serves 4-6

1 quantity shortcrust pastry
8 Libreri Farm Free-Range eggs
1/2 cup Udder Farm cream
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
2 small zucchini (or 1 large), cut into ribbons
60g Udder Farm fetta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
2 garlic cloves, crushed

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C

2. Line a loose based tart pan with shortcrust pastry and blind-bake. (If you place tart pan on a baking tray/pizza tray it is easier to remove from oven and there is less chance of spillage onto bottom of oven)

3. Whilst pastry is blind-baking, place eggs, parmesan cheese, crushed garlic and cream in a large pouring bowl/jug and whisk well. You can season egg mixture with salt & pepper at this stage if desired. (Remember that the fetta is salty, so don't over-do it)

4. When pastry shell has been removed from oven and cooled slightly, arrange zucchini and fetta in base of pastry shell.

5. Pour egg/cream mixture into pastry case, sprinkle chives on top and bake for 35 minutes or until just firm when touched in centre.

6. Allow to stand for 3-5 minutes before serving.

7. Serve with a green salad.

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

The Beatles sang “I get by with a little help from my friends”. Many small business owners in today’s economic and social climate are finding that this is true. We are talking to one another, helping one another with ideas, referrals, and promotion of one another’s business. We have had to do this. If we do not work together we will disappear.

Anyone who doubts that small business is endangered needs only to look around Newcastle and note the number of businesses that have closed over the last while. There are restaurants, cafes, hardware stores, corner stores, motor mechanics, hairdressers, take-aways, butchers, bakeries, clothing retailers and many more that have closed.

Some of these businesses have closed by choice; the owner has retired or decided to move on to another career option. Others have become unviable, and have had to close because they are no longer bringing in enough income to meet rent, power, wages and other expenses. Each business that closes means fewer employment opportunities for our community. There are fewer part-time jobs for students, fewer chances for apprentices to get on the job training, fewer full-time jobs and fewer households bringing in a living wage. Each business that closes has a flow-on effect. They no longer purchase materials or services, they no longer pay wages or taxes, they no longer have money flowing into our community.

At The Fresh Ingredient, Udder Farm non-homogenised milk is a very popular product. Most customers love it, not only for its wonderful taste, but also for the fact that it reminds them of the “good old days”. The good old days, when there was a real community feel about our townships, when we had a “relationship” with “our” butcher, newsagent, baker and grocer. When we knew more about the providence of our food, when we knew who had grown our tomatoes, where our milk came from, or who was fixing our car.

It will take a little “help from our friends”, but we can re-gain our community feel, by making a choice, to support local businesses, to keep money in our towns, rather than sending it off-shore to line the pockets of big businesses. By supporting small business we help keep the heart and soul of our town alive. A town without a heart is a corporation. Is this what we, as a community, really want?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. - Mary

Pumpkin Cheese

We have had discussions recently with some of our customers about retro food. Pumpkin is a very old-fashioned food, and at this time of year very economical. This recipe is my adaptation of a dish a lovely older man made for me once, and then gifted me with the book he had used as his inspiration. So, with thanks to "The Ultimate Book of Household Hints", here is my take on Pumpkin Cheese.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)
1kg cooked pumpkin (steamed jap pumpkin is best)
2 tbs Udder Farm butter
½ cup cooked long grain rice
salt (approx ½ tsp) & good grind black pepper
1 cup Udder Farm Full Cream milk
2 Free Range eggs
60g Hastings Valley Matured Cheese – grated
2 tsp paprika
30g Hastings Valley Gloucester Cheese – grated – extra.

Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C.
2. Mash pumpkin with rice, butter, salt, pepper and milk.
3. Beat eggs, add to pumpkin with cheese.
4. Place mixture in a baking dish, sprinkle with extra cheese and paprika.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until browned on top.

Mandarin & Chicken Salad

Local seedless mandarins are coming into season, they are great to eat on their own, but even more lovely as part of a meal.

Ingredients (serves 4)

·         500g (approx. 2) chicken breast fillets, trimmed

·         4 medium (Black Hill) seedless mandarins, peeled, segmented

·         3 shallots, trimmed, finely chopped

·         1 red capsicum, thinly sliced

·         1 handful (about 80g) snow pea sprouts, cut in half

·         1 bunch coriander leaves, picked

·         5cm piece ginger, peeled, cut into very thin strips

·         1 lemon, juiced

·         1 tablespoon peanut oil

·         1/2 cup roasted cashew nuts, chopped

Method

1. Poach chicken by placing pieces in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes, stir and turn occasionally. Remove chicken to a bowl. Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes. Slice the chicken.
2. Combine the chicken, mandarin, capsicum, sprouts, coriander, shallots and ginger in a serving bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Gently toss to combine.
3. Combine 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon oil in a jug. Drizzle over salad. Toss to combine. Divide among plates. Sprinkle with cashews. Serve.