Celebrating Fair Food Week at the Jiggety-Jig Farmers Market in #Ballarat

I trotted off jiggety-jig to market, this morning. 

No, I didn't buy the fat pig of the nursery rhyme. 

Being vegetarian, I steered clear of the meat that was available

and focussed on bread and veges. 

 The Jiggety-Jig farmers market was on this morning. 

 Local producers. 

 It costs a little more to purchase the food available at good farmers' markets 

but it is worthwhile to spend a just a little extra 

to purchase local food of good quality 

which has not travelled far from the farm; 

where you can be absolutely guaranteed that free range eggs 

are actually free range.

It is also wise to remember that
if we don't support our local producers and makers
then, one day in the not too far away,
we will lose them.
If we lose them and make ourselves slaves
to imports and cheap foreign government subsidised food,
with these people will go the skills that
ensure that we can feed ourselves.
So purchasing from the locals
is like making a down-payment on
a sort of food insurance policy.

Below is an album of my purchases. 

Some good eating is contained therein 

Monbiot and apples: pressing, pasteurising and putting away.

 

George Monbiot wants us to know how to press, pasteurise, 

and put away pressed apples and their juice. 

Here's what to do.

Pictures of the doing here.

Tweeting our Tucker

Thanks to Jeroxie I now know something else that Twitter is for.  Over at Slashfood they are reporting on The World’s First Twitter Cookbook.
Apparently some of the tweeted recipes put up by the tweeps need a bit of decoding.  Pop over to the Twitter site of Maureen Evans to get the gist of a Twitter coded recipe or three.
Here’s an example.  It is for Whisky Applies.

Whisky Apples: Boil2c h2o&sug; +4c slicdapple/cinnstick. Simmr4m; rmv apple to 4 8oz jars. Boil syrup 5m; +½c whisky. Fill jars; boil5m.

What it says is:

• Boil 2 cups of water and sugar
• Add 4 cups of slice apple together with a cinnamon stick
• Simmer for 4 minutes
• Remove apple and place in four 8oz jars
• Boil syrup for 5 minutes
• Add half a cup of whisky.
• Fill jars. 
• Boil for 5 minutes.

Simple really.  Tisn’t it amazing what can be put in 140 characters/spaces or less.  Clever Maureen.  Cleve Tweeps.  See what you can do, Tucker Lovers

 Related reading:

 

Eat Tweet: 1,020 Recipe Gems from the Twitter Community's @cookbook

Interview with Maureen Evans here.

Paradise, Cinnamon, Crunch and Apple Crumble

I'm here, back, arrived. Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated - in spite of my illness, Herself's illness, and general busy-ness and Spring fever which can be seen over at The Trad Pad. Just popped in to tell you about something I did differently for dessert recently. Instead of the usual topping on the Apple Crumble, this packet of Made and Owned in Australia (and isn't that Paradise), Paradise Cinnamon Crunch got crumbled up, sprinkled over the apples, and dotted with butter. Miss Eagle thought it was absolutely scrumptious and highly commends it. Herself said is was "all right" but preferred the traditional topping.

Apple Puddings

Come, dear Reader, and let's grapple with an apple. My father told my mother that he married her because of her mother's Apple Pie. There is nothing quite like an Apple Pie to win the heart of a traditional male. It never fails. But one needs some variation and Miss Eagle is always on the look-out for dishes that meet the same criteria as the Apple Pie. These two recipes, the Boiled or Baked Apple Pudding (I steamed mine) and the Bread and Butter Apple Meringue Pudding, meet the criteria:

• traditional qualities
• plain
• substantial and filling
• full of flavour

BOILED OR BAKED APPLE PUDDING

From The Schauer Australian Cookery Book

Well grease a pudding basin with butter substitute. Coat well with brown sugar. Line basin with suet or short dripping crust. Fill basin 3 parts full with peeled, cored and thickly sliced apples. Mince 2 pieces of candied peel. Spread over apples with a grating of nutmeg. Cover with 1/2 cup of sultanas or currants and large tablespoon of butter substitute in small pieces. Cover closely with pastry lid pinching wet edges together well. Cook for 2 hours in slow oven or steam 3 hours.

When turned out has a nice brown crust and is delicious eating.

Miss Eagle's Notes

• There is nothing quite like suet or dripping as the fat component in a shortcrust pastry. Suet is particularly good in boiled puddings such as the Christmas Pudd in a cloth. However, I am no longer prepared to kill animals for this purpose and use butter or a substitute.
• The pastry I used was 6oz Plain Flour; 1 tablespoon of butter; 1 dessertspoon of lemon juice; salt; water.
• When stretching the pastry in and across the steamer, I put some of the apples in the base of the steamer to hold the pastry in place. I then stretched the pastry into place across the steamer. The apples, sultanas and candied peel (read mixed peel), were then added. I used all the apples I had and the steamer was probably more than three parts full. I then put the pastry lid on and tucked the pastry above the apples on the sides of the steamer in and around in a pinched edge.
• As the apples cook, they sink and this is responsible for the wrinkly look of the pudding.

BREAD AND BUTTER APPLE MERINGUE PUDDING

The basic format for this is the Bread and Butter Custard which itself is based on the traditional Baked Custard. Back in Miss Eagle's early life when imperial measure was all the go, Baked Custard was made with 1 pint of milk, 2 eggs, 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar, and a capful of vanilla. These are the proportions I still use. Bread and Butter Custard is made by adding 2 slices of buttered bread cut into quarters. Queen Pudding is a further variation on the Baked Custard in that the eggs are separated and the whites whipped into a meringue with caster sugar. The Baked Custard when cooled is spread with jam and then topped with meringue and baked in a slow oven to lightly brown.

So to this variation. The dish in which I baked the Pudding is quite large. I used lots of apples - about 8 to 10 Granny Smith's although they were not large. Layer the apples with buttered bread cut into quarters sprinkling brown sugar and sultanas between as you go. I used 5 eggs, separated. Beat the yolks and milk together with vanilla. Fill to the brim. Sprinkle with grated nutmeg. Place Pudding dish in a baking dish of water and bake in a slow oven. When Pudding is baked and cool, spread with jam and cover with meringue made from the whites of the 5 eggs and caster sugar. Bake in a very slow oven until cooked and coloured. Absolutely scrumptious!

Miss Eagle's dear friend Jim came to Melbourne last weekend leaving his better half, Sylvia, back in Tennant Creek in the far away Northern Territory because he was purchasing a truck for his earthmoving business. The beautiful Angela, his daughter, flew down - on an exit week-end because it was Labour Day in Queensland - from St Peter's in Brisbane to meet her father.

So, on the night they spent at The Trad Pad, a roast dinner was on the menu - followed by this wonderful Steamed Apple Pudding straight out of Miss Eagle's favourite, The Schauer Australian Cookery Book.

The Steamed Apple Pudding (a slice is pictured above) is a variation of Miss Schauer's A1 Pudding. So, firstly, the recipe for A1 Pudding then Miss Schauer's variation and, finally, Miss Eagle's notes:

A1 Pudding

Cream 4 oz. butter and 4 oz. sugar together till quite white, add a yellow rind of a grated orange, 2 well-beaten eggs, beat well after adding, then add 1/4 cup milk alternately with 6oz of twice-sifted self-raising flour. Put into a greased pudding bowl, three-parts full. Cover with a buttered paper. Steam 2 hours. Allow to stand 2 or 3 minutes before turning out. Turn out carefully and serve with an orange sauce.

Clear Lemon, Orange or Pineapple Sauce

Put the juice of 1 lemon or orange, or 1 cup pineapple juice with a dessertspoon of lemon juice, into a saucepan with 1/2 pint of water and a heaped tablespoon of sugar. Bring to the boil, then add 1 level dessertspoon of cornflour mixed with 1 tablespoon of water, stir till it boils, then boil three minutes. Add a few drops of pink colouring. Strain and serve with steamed or boiled puddings. Use juice of 1/2 a lemon if making Orange sauce with the orange juice. A teaspoon of lemon or orange grated rind may be boiled with sauce.

Delicious Steamed Apple or Any Other Fruit Pudding

Grease a pudding basin or small individual moulds, then spread A1 mixture round the bottom and side, reserving a little to cover over top; fill centre with apples minced, sprinkle with sugar, adding 2 cloves, then spread mixture over top; cover with a buttered paper, steam for 2 hours; if served in small individual moulds, would only need 1.2 hour. Any other stewed fruit may be used instead of apples. Serve with a custard sauce.

NOTE. - Grate apples for individual moulds.

Miss Eagle's Notes

• Miss Eagle used orange juice and a little milk instead of milk alone
• Purchase a good quality aluminium steamer complete with lid to obviate the need for the butter paper procedure
• Use Granny Smith apples
• As will be noted, Miss Eagle quartered the Granny Smiths and sliced them. Next time, she will slice them even thinner - or put them in the food processor.
• Didn't do well with having the mixture adhere to the sides. So put half the mixture in the bottom of the steam, then just laid the apple slices on top, laid the remaining mixture on top and pressed it down lightly with the back of a spoon.
• You can omit the sprinkle of sugar - the pudding is really sweet enough.
• Miss E forgot the cloves but didn't miss them.
• The Pud was delish.
• Highly recommended.

At work: lunch with a lift

The Boss came out the other day and said "Everyone's been working so hard lately, I want to give them a lift. Thought we'd have a lunch and get some pizzas in. What do you think?" Well, dear Reader, Miss Eagle's face scrunched up.

Pizzas certainly would not give her a lift - and she didn't think it would anyone else either in this predominantly female department. "OK" he said "you look after it." Well you don't give Miss Eagle an inch but she takes a mile and here is what she did. Miss Eagle did the fast food bit - sushi, Subway, and pita wraps. She brought in some desert from home. Also from home came various bits and pieces to make things look very special and here is the result. People loved the whole deal - and it did give everyone a lift! Smiles on faces everywhere!

This is the entry to where lunch at work was served.

Catering was for almost 30 people.

The work of our department is such that staff could not just be taken out for lunch and - even in-house in the suburbs - the nature of the work required that attendance at lunch be staggered.

The Pita Wraps

The Subway subs

The Long View

The Sushi

The Desserts were strawberry tarts: large ones based on the recipe for the smaller tarts below and a farmhouse apple pie.

Farmhouse Apple Pie

The Farmhouse Apple Pie was made from Miss Eagle's favourite biscuit pastry and ten granny smith apples (peeled, quartered, cored, and sliced) and carefully placed, nay packed, into the pastry, then sprinkled with brown sugar and cinnamon (please note: no added liquid) with lattice placed on top. Pastry was then brushed with egg yolk although milk can be used. Then baked in a moderately slow oven. The apples were an inch or two above the top of the deep pie dish. After the slow cooking process, the apples had settled down to being level with the top of the pie dish.

Please Note: The pastry Miss Eagle used was from a quantity already in the fridge. The quantity in this recipe will, almost certainly, be too large but the remainder can be stored in fridge or freezer and it makes wonderful bikkes so you can get out the biscuit cutter and get busy.

Strawberry Tarts from Delicious

(These are small tarts. The recipe is simple so easy to do a large version)

Ingredients: 250 grams of your favourite plain biscuits; 75 gram of unsalted butter; 250 grams of mascarpone; 1 egg, lightly beaten; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 tablespoon icing sugar; 250 grams strawberries, hulled, halved or quartered if large; 1/2 cup redcurrant jelly, melted.

Method: Lightly grease four 10cm loose-bottomed tart pans. Process the biscuits to fine crumbs in a food processor. Add the melted butter and pulse to combine. Press the biscuit mixture into the base and sides of the prepared pans, then chill for 30 minutes to firm. Place the mascarpone in a bowl with the egg, vanilla and icing sugar, and whisk to combine. Fill the tart shells with the cheese mixture, then remove from the tart pans (you may need to wipe the outside of the tart pans with a hot cloth to loosen). Place the strawberries on top of each tart and brush with the melted redcurrant jelly. Serve immediately.

Miss Eagle's Notes

• Miss Eagle prefers not to use the food processor for crushing biscuits and adopts the following method. Place biscuits inside a plastic bag. Take a large wooden rolling pin and bash biscuits into small chunks then roll the small chunks (still in the plastic bag) into fine crumbs. Easier, finer crumbs, and no mess!
• When Miss Eagle filled the tart shells in the morning before going to work, she must have been half asleep. It was not until later that she realised she had simply spread the mascarpone on to the shells and not mixed it with the egg, vanilla and icing sugar. Still tasted great! Proof of how marvellously simple this recipe is when it can be adjusted in your sleep and it still tastes wonderful!
• Miss Eagle has been known to forget the redcurrant jelly as well - and it still tastes wonderful. Miss Eagle hasn't tried it but she suspects that any melted jam would taste wonderful over the strawberries and mascarpone.

Apples, Raisins, and Rolled Oats

Miss Eagle's favourite breakfast at the moment is an Apple and Raisin Porridge cooked up in Soy Milk with, when cooked, a little sugar and some more Soy Milk. Miss Eagle doesn't get too rapt in breakfast cereals (although winter has always found her well into the Uncle Toby's Rolled Oats) - but this one is worth a comment. It is scrumptious!

The beloved Granny Smith

After stipulating Granny Smiths for the Apple Crumble in the previous post, Miss Eagle thought a post about the Granny Smith would be in order. The Granny Smith is truly Food from Oz par excellence.

However, perhaps the most famous use of a Granny Smith is as the apple used in the logo for Apple Records, the record label, founded in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. by The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. A few years ago, Miss Eagle lived in the Sydney suburb of Macquarie Park just a stone's throw from Eastwood, in the local authority area of Ryde, where Maria Smith died in 9 March 1870. Her apple never became a commercial variety in her lifetime but continued to be cultivated by local orchardists. It was exhibited as 'Smith's seedling' in the 1890 Castle Hill Agricultural and Horticultural Show. In the 1891 show 'Granny Smith's seedlings' took out the prize for cooking apples. By 1892 many growers were exhibiting 'Granny Smith's'. In 1895 Albert H. Benson, Fruit Expert for the NSW Department of Agriculture, named 'Granny Smith's Seedling' as a suitable variety for export. He also initiated the first large scale cultivation of the apple at the Government Experimental Station in Bathurst. Maria Smith - our famous Granny Smith - was buried in St. Anne's Cemetery, Ryde. The lovely old church at what is locally known as Top Ryde is a familiar landmark to northern suburbs residents. Her husband died six years later. Their headstone still stands in the churchyard.

The residents are rather proud of their connection with Granny Smith and each year the Granny Smith Festival is held at Eastwood, this year on Saturday 21 October 2006.

Apple Crumble

Individual Apple Crumbles from Queen of Tarts, Belgrave

Fifty years ago, Miss Eagle was a twelve year old schoolgirl attending St Mary's Convent School in Bowen at the northern end of the Whitsundays in North Queensland. Every two weeks, on a Thursday, Miss Eagle - along with the other girls in her Grade 7 class - would go to Bowen State School for domestic science classes. How did those nuns ever let us go - no prayers, no writing AMDG at the top of our exercise books. If Miss Eagle's memory serves her correctly, the very first thing we cooked was Apple Crumble. Miss Eagle notes that Apple Crumble, along with all sorts of fruit crumbles, are enjoying a revival in smart coffee shops in Melbourne. They are made as slices or individual puddings and have a biscuit pastry base: biscuit pastry in this case meaning a base made of crushed biscuits and melted shortening pressed into a pan with the filling then placed on top. The base is uncooked and, because of the shortening, it sets firmly in the refrigerator.

APPLE CRUMBLE

(the domestic science class recipe)

Ingredients: 6 cooking apples; 2 tabs sugar; 1/4 cup water; 3 cloves; 1/2 lemon; 1 oz. coconut; 3 oz. flour; pinch of salt; 2oz brown sugar; 1 oz butter; butter for top.

Method: Peel, core and slice apples into saucepan. Add water and cloves and bring to the boil. Cook till transparent (not pulpy). Remove cloves, add white sugar and lemon juice. Sift flour and salt into bow. Add brown sugar mix. Rub butter into dry ingredients until mixture is like sand. Add coconut. Place apples in a greased pie dish and sprinkle pastry mixture over. Place small quantities of butter on top. Bake till golden.

Miss Eagle's Notes

• Granny Smith's are the apples to use
• The coconut is dessicated coconut - that fine shredded coconut.
• If you are attempting the coffee shop model of Apple Crumble, because of the biscuit base - which should be about a quarter of an inch thick - you can use less fruit.
• Luscious served with boiled custard or thick or whipped cream.