Christmas Panforte & memories of Siena

It was so hot the day we arrived in Siena - one of those blistering Italian August days when only tourists and shopkeepers remain inland and all the Italians flee to Sardinia or some equally exotic coastal location.
To escape the heat, we left the sunny piazza with its pigeons and tourists and apricot tablecloths and headed down a cool, dark cobbled lane, sheltered by tall, thick walls of history. Down the lane and around a corner we discovered a little shop selling Panforte - Siena's traditional cake, heavy with nuts and spices, honey and chocolate. We ate panforte with espresso that day as we wrote postcards home.
Panforte has since become a Christmas staple in our household, but I have been known to make it all year round as it is a wonderful way to end a meal. It is also a great way to showcase our local produce - I use hazelnuts grown up the road in Orange and local honey, prunes and figs. My recipe is - as all the best recipes are - a concoction of a number of recipes. A little from an old Italian baking book, a pinch from  Maggie Beer, and a nod to Mathew Evans.
It is important to get the "stickiness factor" correct when attempting panforte. The mixture will be very heavy and appear to need more liquid - but persevere and get it into your mould or pan as quickly as possible. The "showy" ingredients  - the  fruit, nuts and spices - can be played with according to taste. You may prefer almonds to hazelnuts, more ginger, less white pepper. I never use glace cherries because I despise them - but they have been known to appear in Panforte.

120 g  grated dark couverture chocolate (70% cocoa)

100 g dark cocoa

1 cup honey (I use local Cabonne Country Iron Bark Honey)

250 g caster sugar

350 g hazelnuts ( I use Fourjay Farms hazelnut kernels from Orange)

200 g prunes (I use delicious Budgi Werri Breakfast Prunes made from dried D'Arges plums and grown on the South West Slopes of NSW)

100 g glace ginger (Not so local, but Australian, I use Buderim Ginger)

250g glace figs (I use dried figs from a local organic grower)

200 g mixed peel

250 g plain flour

1 teaspoon-ish each cinnamon, ground cloves, ground nutmeg, allspice and white pepper 

You can purchase the local ingredients mentioned above online at our local Regional Deli, a Canowindra-based business run by our good friends, Chris & Nerida Cuddy.

Preheat oven to 180 C (or 350 F). I usually make between 6 to 8 small panforte out of this mixture, using individual non-stick spring form pans about 11cm in diameter. But you could make one large panforte if you prefer - just be sure to leave it in the oven a little longer. Panforte is traditionally round, but I have seen rectangular versions.

Dissolve the honey and sugar together in a pan over a medium heat. Simmer for about 3 minutes. If you have a thermometer, you are aiming at 112 C for the syrup, or "soft ball" stage.

In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients and then stir in the syrup. Work quickly and use a bit of grunt.

When all is combined, press into your baking tin/s. Dampen your fingers with a little water to press the mixture in if it is too sticky. Cap with little rounds of baking paper to ensure the panforte doesn't burn and place in the oven. If making multiple smaller panforte, only cook for about 10 to15 minutes. One large panforte should cook for about 20 - 25 minutes at the most.

Allow it to cool before turning out. Panforte will keep for weeks. They make great Christmas gifts wrapped  brown paper and string. Below is a quick YouTube video showing the traditional method of wrapping panforte. Not a word is spoken but the crackling of the paper is utterly mesmerising!

Pomegranate

Meet Daniel Lambert... 

 Affectionately known to locals as  "The Pom", Daniel arrived in Canowindra about two years ago with a backpack and a guitar. A talented  muso - he had parted ways, who knows why, with a band that was destined for great things and found himself in Canowindra with no idea what he wanted to do with his life. He got a job cooking in a local guesthouse, started to make friends, and bought himself a cat called  Sophie (otherwise known as "Dan Lambert's Cat" - which has a wonderful book title ring to it, don't you think?) Like many creative souls, Daniel loves food, so he enrolled in TAFE and learnt the restaurant trade, gaining experience and paying his way by cooking in a local pub between classes.
Last night - Friday 7th October 2011 - Daniel opened his very own restaurant - Pomegranate - in the dining room of The Royal Hotel. We all hoped it would be good - for Daniel's sake we wanted it to be a success - but what we experienced last night was beyond good - it was bloody fantastic.

The restaurant looks great, thanks to the styling magic of Kate Barclay from the Bendy Street Emporium, local artists V-Ananda Ma and David Isbester, local foodie Katie Kelly and a tribe of friends who were ironing linen tablecloths and sewing cushions up until the doors opened last night. But it was Daniel's food that stole the show. Here is the menu;

Entree

Twice cooked pork belly with blood orange & fennel salad

Grilled quail with green papaya salad & roasted rice

Confit of lamb with parsnip puree & labne

Main

Swordfish with chermoula & boulangere potatoes

Crispy fried duck breast with chilli & apple relish and sweet & sour cabbage

Porterhouse steak with pomegranate & red wine jus, baby veg and paris mash

 Dessert

Date and tamarind pudding & butterscotch sauce with black sesame ice cream

Chocolate torte with pine nuts & pomegranate

Rosewater panna cotta with raspberry syrup & pistachio praline

If this is Daniel's starting point, with no start-up capital and limited experience, I can only imagine how far he will go. But for now, he is here with us in Canowindra - and we are going to make the most of it! Call 0458 322 495 to make a booking. Pomegranate is open on Friday and Saturday nights.

Warm spiced Sangiovese with hazelnut biscotti and candied citrus

Dolce Nero barrels in the cellar door. Photo by Di Smith

It's freezing outside - snow is falling in nearby Orange - but its warm and cosy inside the cellar door. We will be open this June Queen's Birthday Long Weekend (Saturday 11th, Sunday 12th and Monday 13th from 10am - 4pm) for wine tasting and sales. To warm you from the inside out, we will be serving delicious warm spiced Sangiovese with homemade hazelnut biscotti and candied citrus. If you're rugged up, you're welcome to take a stroll around the winter vineyard or even try your hand at a game of boules on the lawn - or just sit inside and enjoy the view with a glass of wine. Call 02-63442670 or email me at juliabluff@bigpond.com for more information or group bookings.

One Hundred Miles of F.O.O.D.

Pinch me. I must be dreaming. Here, in the heart of regional NSW, the land of kelpies and white Toyota utes, I find myself in a scene similar to one I once stumbled upon (literally) down a midnight alley in Rome – family, friends, eating, drinking, dancing, laughing, under strings of festoon lights.

I’m in Canowindra for the annual 100 Mile Dinner – a highlight of the very popular Orange F.O.O.D Week festival held every April. Long communal tables are set for 340 guests, running the length of Canowindra’s historic crooked main street. Diners are bussed in 56 kilometres from Orange for this event, and tickets sell out on day one. Brightly coloured lanterns zigzag over head against a starry autumn night sky. The scene is quite delightful.

This year, F.O.O.D (Food of the Orange District) is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Over the past two decades it has become one of Australia’s most successful and authentic regional food events, never losing sight of its core philosophy to promote and support regional produce and producers, and in so doing, support the local economy and regional tourism. Considering the International Slow Food movement was founded only three years earlier in 1989, Orange’s F.O.O.D group could justifiably be described as a pioneer of the modern regional food movement in Australia.

The degustation100 Mile dinner represents the very best Central NSW produce prepared by the best Central NSW chefs and cooks. It takes its name from an experiment in local eating which turned into a best selling book called “The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating” by Canadians Alisa Smith and JB Mackinnon, published in 2005.

One hundred miles is roughly 160 kilometres – but the “160km Dinner” just doesn’t have the same ring. The 100 Mile Diet’s motto is “Local Eating for Global Change” – it’s all about food miles, carbon footprints, how far food travels from paddock to plate and supporting local farmers.

Edwena Mitchell is a member of the F.O.O.D Executive Committee and the co-ordinator of the 100 Mile Dinner in Canowindra. She is also a cook and caterer of formidable reputation. A typical no-nonsense country woman, Edwena runs her own successful catering business, is on every committee under the sun, works the family farm and shuttles children from one sporting event to the next. I asked Edwena if the 100 Mile concept – eating seasonally and regionally and supporting local economies – could ultimately save the world?

“Not all at once!” she laughs. “But it is the trickle down effect – you have to start somewhere!”

At face value the 100 Mile dinner is an excellent tourism and promotional event for regional food and wine. But beneath the fun and frivolity lies a serious and worthy cause. Edwina says it’s all about sustainability and conservation .

“Many farmers and producers would laugh at being called conservationists, but in reality we all are,” she says. “Around our area, after eight years of drought, conserving moisture and pasture and still managing to produce was the only way to scrape an income. And then there are “food miles” to consider. Why are we importing apples and other vegetables from China when we produce our own?”

But for one night at least, economic and political pressures are swept to one side as people enjoy all that is good and delicious about fresh, seasonal, local food.

Braised duck with kipfler potatoes and beetroot relish from Lindl Taylor and Josie Chapman in Orange is simply mouth-watering.

I want to go back for seconds, but there are other things to try. Bathurst lays on a fantastic slow braised venison osso bucco with baby carrots, Tuscan kale, Dutch cream potatoes and gremolata. Canowindra cooks bring it home with an incredible dessert of organic honey panna cotta with poached organic figs and hazelnut bread. What makes the menu special, is that almost all of the produce has been sourced from within the region. Think of Orange as ground zero and the region radiating out over 160 kilometres. The pork came from Trunkey Creek Pork near Blayney, the duck from Dutton Park Ducks in Young, and the goat from Meadows Prime Chevon in Lyndhurst. Fruit, vegetables, cheeses, nuts, honey, oil, bread and wines are all sourced locally too.

Close to midnight, a conga-line appears out of nowhere and I am swept away.

A middle aged man, who looks like he should know better, grabs me by the waist and laughs “Let’s Conga!” Not usually a team player, I surprise myself and join in the festivities. A group of local musicians are playing on the sidewalk in front of the old bank building. It’s cold, but no-one seems to notice. There is a real atmosphere of carnivale.

Then, as quickly as it began, it’s over. Like a flash mob, one minute people of all shapes and sizes are dancing and laughing in the street, the next they have picked up their belongings, boarded a bus and are gone.

By midnight the hard working committee and local volunteers are stacking tables and sweeping the street. Like Cinderella, Canowindra has turned back into its normal, reliable, unadorned yet lovely self. The ball is over. By 8am the following morning it’s business as usual. A young bloke in a big hat parks his hotted-up ute and races in to the bakery for a pie, the local publican receives kegs from the daily beer truck, and the shop owners of Canowindra open their doors for another day.

If you want a seat at next year's 100 Mile Dinner (April 16th 2012), be ready to purchase tickets in early March 2012 at www.orangefoodweek.com.au

The sweet smells of life

Today, the children and I experienced the pure olfactory exhilaration of a face full of tree ripened nectarine perfume.
Unimpressed by hard, odorless, tasteless supermarket fruit, neither Angus nor Ella were too keen to try another nectarine. Until today, when they picked their own sweet ripe fruit from the very tree they planted just eighteen months ago.

We were not expecting fruit so soon, but our little nectarine tree graced us with twelve perfect nectarines this year. The Satsuma plum also produced some fruit. We can't wait until next year's crop.

Of all the senses, I think smell is the one I would most hate to lose. A big call, I know. I can't say I would be too keen to give up sight or hearing either. But to go through life without the dimension of smell and taste would be bland indeed.
  
The nectarines got me thinking about my favourite smells. Apart from the obvious - baking bread, freshly ground coffee and garlic frying in butter - here are some of my sweetest;

                              wood smoke
                                                       musty fallen autumn leaves
Japanese incense

      sugar cane (from a childhood spent in Queensland)

                                            jonquils

                        Eau de Givenchy (my first French perfume!)

    kerosene (from a little kerosene heater that
    kept me warm through a Japanese winter)

                                                                   crisp misty mornings

the sweet, sticky grape juice left on
clothing after a night of harvesting
                                                               
                              lemon zest freshly zested

                                                 that first whiff of the ocean  
         
        crushed kaffir lime leaves
                                                     Eucalyptus forest floors
 
aged red wine

And yours? Post a comment, share your favourite memory smells.

The home shed and the garden - an update

OK, so it's not a stone farmhouse in Tuscany, but our shed has proven quite a fine place to live over the past year. I do have a few complaints - the damn dust for one. With the road next to the vineyard unsealed, clouds of red dust roll over us whenever a car goes by. But not too many cars do go by. And one misty morning a herd of cattle moo-ed by and we sat outside with our cups of tea watching the quintessentially Australian scene being played out in our own front yard.

We could get the road sealed, it would certainly cut down the dust. And it would be easier on my poor old Honda.

But we don't want to live on a sealed road, it's so much more interesting with it's rocks and dust and pot holes and kangaroo tracks.

There are plans afoot to renovate the shed. At the moment our bedrooms are upstairs and the bathroom/laundry and kitchen/living areas are downstairs. The middle of the shed (see the roller doors in the photograph) is still a working shed full of farm "stuff" and the other side is the Cellar Door, which we open for wine tasting and sales every weekend. We have decided there is no point building another house on the property, we will just take over the shed and make it a home. After all, the electrics and plumbing are all in place, so why start from scratch?

The Garden.
This spring we established a garden.It was pretty tough going to begin with. The ground around the shed had been severely compacted over years as a drive way and parking area for tractors, trucks and harvesters. We tried to rip the ground buy barely broke the surface, so instead we layered gypsum to break the clay, a few ute loads of compost from a landscape supplier and a truck load of extra river sand and earth to build up levels. The entire area was then covered in a thick layer of mulch. If we keep adding compost, the soil will improve over the next few years. Mulching is absolutely essential for successful gardening in dry Australia. Well, mostly dry. As luck would have it we just experienced our wettest summer in decades, so many of our young drought hardy plants have turned up their toes in the water logged clay ground. I will replant as soon as the weather cools down.

I want the garden to be a shady haven in our long hot summers. I like controlled chaos in a garden - no neat borders, box hedges or boring roses on sticks. I prefer a garden to be full, over-grown, edging on wild. Mostly green with splashes of colour here and there. I like trees to grow in unusual forms with limbs overhanging paths or bent into bonsai-like shapes.

Not for me those perfectly formed straight trunked trees sold in nurseries. The botanical equivalent of "little boxes on the hillside".

I've learnt over the past ten years what grows best out here in central NSW. Favourite plants, often repeated or planted en masse, include rosemary, pennisetum rubrum, Russian sage, silver wormwood, sedum, seaside daisy, artichoke and lavender (French or English, not Spanish -too prissy.) Many of these plants can be divided and propagated at home, saving lots of money on landscaping. Australian natives such as emu bush, wattles and hakea also feature.

For shade, we have planted a fast growing White Cedar (also known as Persian Lilac), a Chinese Pistachio, a Japanese flowering plum, a crab apple, an ash and a black mulberry. And I could never have a garden without herbs. Instant gratification and useful as well, we scatter herbs throughout the garden in a roughly permacultural kind of way. We have thyme, sage, rosemary, flat leaf parsley, lemongrass, lemon verbena, bay, chives, dill, basil, rocket, garlic and mint. I have given up on coriander as it always bolts to seed.

Last night, half the ingredients that made up our dinner came from our garden. Home made pasta using our own eggs, our own garlic, tomatoes, basil and sage. How much better life is with a garden!

A long, slow summer of dam swims, good friends and yabbying

After our uncharacteristically wet spring and summer, the dam in the vineyard is full and has been the centre of summer entertaining. The brown, earthy, cool dam water is heavenly when temperatures hit the high 30s (that's around 100 F for all of you on the other side of the planet). As I write, we are expecting temps of around 40 C (or 104 F) tomorrow. Yikes!

The other thing we love about the dam is that it provides us with yabbies. Yabbies (known by the fabulous scientific name Cherax destructor) are basically freshwater crayfish, found in rivers and dams throughout Australia. They are tough survivors, burrowing deep into the bottom or sides of dams and rivers during periods of drought until they find moist soil. Yabbies can survive for years underground. Yabby meat is quite sweet and has been eaten by aboriginal people for thousands of years. The remains of yabby shells have been found in ancient aboriginal riverside middens dating back 28,000 years.



Yabbying is an Australian tradition - up there with icy cold beer and Christmas at the beach. All you need is a small piece of meat (the stinkier the better), a long piece of string, a degree of patience and low expectations. We took some dear friends from Canada and Sydney on a traditional yabbying expedition on a hot day in December. We had no luck with the old meat-and-string method (possibly not helped by me throwing myself into the cool water to escape the ridiculous heat - enough to make any yabby run for cover), so we set an "opera house" trap overnight. (Note; it is illegal to use opera nets in rivers, but OK in a small private dam). The following morning, our hard work and patience was rewarded with one, solitary, unamused yabby.



Our not-so-bountiful yabby catch - lived to see another day.

My hopes of a yabby feast dashed, we threw some sausages on the BBQ for lunch that day. But here is what I had intended to do with the yabbies;

Fresh yabbies with tomatoes, capers, fennel & chunky garlic croutons
This recipe is inspired by the books and recipes of Australian cook extraordinaire and regional food champion, Maggie Beer, with a nod to Jamie Oliver too. I can recommend  "Maggie's Orchard" (published in 1997 by Viking Press) and the beautifully photographed "Maggie's Table" (2001, Viking Press) for information and recipes on yabbies..and all of her books for any lover of good food!

First, prepare the yabbies for the worst;
Stun the yabbies by putting them into the freezer for half an hour. Best they are unaware of what is about to happen to them. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and throw yabbies in straight from the freezer. Cook for about 5 minutes, drain and, when cool enough to handle, peel the yabbies and remove the yucky bits.
Now, make the salad:
Throw into a bowl chopped tomato wedges, finely sliced red onion, a tablespoon or so of chopped capers, finely sliced fennel, grated lemon rind, lemon juice (tarragon vinegar is good too), extra virgin olive oil, basil leaves, salt and pepper. Toss well. If possible, let the salad stand for a little while to allow the juices to marinate the flavours together. This salad will be a bit like an Italian panzanella - salty, zingy, fresh, flavoursom.

And finally, the chunky crutons;
Take a loaf of good, solid bread such as Italian ciabatta and tear it into bite sized pieces. Spread over a baking tray, slop generously with olive oil and add one or two cloves of crushed garlic, salt & pepper. Toss well and bake in a moderate oven for about 5 - 10 minutes until crispy and golden.

Now toss the bread, salad and yabbies all together and serve in a generous bowl with a cold beer or a Canowindra chardonnay.

YUM!
Post script; Timmy the cat was found caught in the yabby net the day after yabbying, having climbed inside to get to the bait. He waited patiently all night to be let out and was not amused by our laughter or the fact that we left him in there for a few extra minutes while we rushed off to find the camera.



Just take the damn picture and get me out of here.













Postcards from Canowindra

The beautiful spring weather inspired me to take a wander through town over the weekend and take a few snap-shots of local life for you. Spring is a busy time in the bush - wool is being sent to market and hay is being made while the sun shines. Farmers are worried about too much rain over the next few weeks which has the potential to ruin wheat crops, and locusts remain a threat. But spirits remain high since the drought broke - the local pool has re-opened for the summer season and orders are being placed at the local butcher for Christmas hams. Life is good in the country.

Lady and dog, strolling down the main street.




Wool ready for market.



"Looks like more rain coming."



Finns Old Store in the main street - recently re-opened as a gift shop/cafe.



Original stained glass windows of the Garden of Roses Cafe
 - the place to go for a hamburger "with the lot".



Pasta with Sage & Nut Brown Butter



The past few weeks of warm weather and rainy days followed by sunny days has seen my
sage triple in size. Its purple flowers are lovely but it's the pungent leaves I covet!




For an easy meal, simply allow a generous knob of unsalted butter (I used about 125g here) to froth and just start to brown. Add fresh sage leaves and fry for just a minute until they begin to crisp. Tonight I also tossed in a few capers and roughly chopped flat leaf parsley for good measure. Good salt and ground pepper is a must. Other possible additions are garlic and/or pine nuts. It all comes together in minutes. Don't burn the butter - you want nut brown.




Ta da! So easy - throw it all together with a bit of Parmesan on top and serve with a green salad. Tonight's lettuce is from our own garden - I feel so smug! We matched it with a local wine - a 2010 Angullong Sauvignon Blanc from just up the road in Orange, NSW. Great family dinner outside as the sun set over the vineyard and the chooks scratched around the garden. We love (almost) summer nights!



Sweet success - our Dolce Nero starts to make an impression!

Here I am, slaving away, pouring tastings of our wines at the
Canowindra Twilight Markets. I prepared little espresso cups of
dark chocolate and cardamom mousse to go with the Dolce Nero.

Our Sangiovese dessert wine "Dolce Nero" is gaining a few fans. This morning we received an order from Stuart Knox of Fix St James Wine Bistro fame in Sydney. Stuart was just listed as a "sommelier to watch" by Max Allen in The Weekend Australian. He is a great supporter of Australian boutique wines. He tweeted, and I quote;

"Loved the Dolce Nero. Really unique and very flexible with food matching. I've got a crazy idea to try. Can you send me 12 to pour?"

Yah! We love new orders!

Here is a description of the Dolce Nero from Australian Wine Communicator of the Year (2010) Peter Bourne;

"This lush and plush passito-style dessert red has a rich, concentrated grapey bouquet of marinated prunes and liquorice allsorts. The palate is equally luxuriant though its Sangiovese heritage remains clearly defined...Perfect with Corella pears marinated in red wine and served with Italian-style rice pudding or a slither of classic Gorgonzola dolce."

Sounds delicious doesn't it? You can read more about our Dolce Nero in my Nov '09 post...