Feeding the artists - part 1

As some may know; my mother Annie Herron, is an artist (the bird sculpture a few pics below is one of her works). She also teaches residential art classes at our family home near Rydal, just over the Blue Mountains of NSW. These classes have been running for just over 10 years and in this time, hundreds of people have learnt what Mum believes so firmly; that anyone can draw or paint. It's just about having the confidence, inspiration and time to try.

Last month I joined in to help out. My job was to cook for her and the students and I loved it. Over the month, we ran three classes of five days each, catering for both beginners and advanced level artists. For my part; the food was pretty simple but seasonal, not too heavy and hopefully full of good flavour. We all sat together every meal and dinners particularly were fun, often followed by a game of kelly pool or charades.

Most of the recipes I used came from my own book (which, wouldn't you know - is still available right here via my little shop). Not because I was shamelessly self-promoting (honestly!) but really because it's just full of the kind of food I like to feed people, and I seem to keep coming back to it. We ate lots of soups (like this pumpkin and apple one, and this chicken harira), plus cakes, slow-roasts and salads and I'd sometimes take big trays of warm scones or pikelets over to the studio for morning tea. Recipes for these treats and a few desserts and cakes I cooked during the month will follow in a separate post. But for now, I thought I'd put up some of the lunches we had together. 

I wish I'd taken more photos of the food to share here, but as I also find up at the farm kitchen, when cooking, serving and plating up for big groups, it's hard to find the time to pull out a camera. Plus, I still feel a bit awkward about snapping away at dishes when there's a group waiting to be served them!

Celeric remoulade

This recipe was given to me (verbally) by veggie grower Fabrice Rolando, whose vegetables were the star of pretty much every dish I served at during my time at Rydal. And because I could hardly read my notes from the visit with Fabrice (they ended up worse for wear after being dropped in the mud...hmmm), I turned to Stephanie Alexander's Cooks Companion for her celeriac remoulade recipe and found it filled in the gaps perfectly. So the below recipe is an amalgamation of sorts. In any case, Fabrice recommended I serve this spooned over roasted baby vegetables which I did, and it was the perfect partner for a main of roast venison and quince jus that we had for dinner on day one. The leftover remoulade was put up with a salad or two and a slab of hot foccaccia for lunch the next day.

Crunchy, creamy and tangy, good remoulade really is a beautiful thing to bring to the table. It's perfect on its own with good crusty bread, alongside cured meats and a simple salad for lunch or as Fabrice advised and I discovered; over sweet roast veggies as the ultimate side dish. Makes about three cups of remoulade.

the mayonnaise
3 egg yolks
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
300mls mild olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

2 celeriac
1 handful parsley, finely chopped

First, make the mayonnaise. Place a tea towel on your work bench then set a bowl on top of that. Combine the yolks, mustard and lemon juice in the bowl and whisk to combine. Slowly add the olive oil, whisking all the time, pouring it in a thin, constant stream. You should see the mixture emulsify and grow into a thick, pale golden sauce. Keep whisking until you’ve used up all of the olive oil. Season to taste then keep in the fridge until needed.

For the celeriac; fill a bowl with water and add a few lemon quarters. Peel and trim the celeriac then cut into thick halves. Place these in the acidulated water until ready to chop. When you are; do so as finely as possible. You can use a mandolin here but I usually end up taking off the top of a finger with mine, so prefer to use a sharp knife to slice the celeriac into matchsticks.

Mix the sliced celeriac with about half a cup of mayonnaise (or to taste), stir through the parsley then season to taste.

Rosemary focaccia

600g strong flour
1tsp sea salt
1 tbsp instant dry yeast
5 tbsp olive oil
300mls warm water
2 tbsp olive oil
1 handful rosemary 

Mix the flour, salt and yeast together in a bowl. Whisk the oilve oil and water together in a jug. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the wet ingredients. Stir to combine then either knead in an electric mixer with a dough hook or by hand for about 10 minutes, or until the recipe is smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to prove for one hour or until doubled in size. Line a tray with baking paper and gently turn the dough out onto the tray. Press the dough flat until you have a large rectangle about 2cm thick. Cover with clean tea towel and aside to rest for twenty minutes. Sprinkle with the rosemary, press your fingers into the dough to make indents then add a little extra sea salt and a final drizzle of olive oil before baking in a preheated oven for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Serve warm in little cubes or slices.

Prosciutto, bocconcini and crouton salad

This is one of the easiest but most popular salads I know of. I tend to serve it next to a simple risotto for lunch and it went particularly well with this sorrel one. Aromatic with garlic, crunchy, golden and draped with pink prosciutto; how could it not be? The trick, as with all torn bread salads, is to add the croutons to the dressing mixture straight from the oven, so they really absorb all the flavours well. Serves 4-6.

Like all salads, this one is hardly a recipe, more a compilation job. So basically what you do is just tear a few big handfuls of stale bread (sourdough is best) into good-sized chunks. Place these on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and bake in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes, or until nice and golden. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine a cup of torn bocconcini with two crushed garlic cloves, 200g prosciutto slices and 5 tbsp olive oil and toss well. Just before serving; arrange a few handfuls of baby spinach on a large platter. Toss the hot croutons with the prosciutto mixture then arrange this over the baby spinach. Season with cracked black pepper then a finishing drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
 

Mushroom oreccihette

I served this simple, tasty pasta with a bit of parmesan on the side and loads of peppery rocket tossed with crunchy almonds and dressed in a mustardy vinaigrette. It's a great vegetarian lunch and the sauce can be made up well in advance. The recipe is adapted from one by Michele Curtis and Allan Campion in their wonderful book In the kitchen. Serves 4-6

1 onion, diced
3 cups mixed mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
A pinch of dried chilli flakes, to taste
2 tbsp tomato paste
500g dried orecchietti
1 cup finely chopped parsley

Heat a large, heavy-based pan over medium heat and in it, cook the onion with a little olive oil for five minutes, or until translucent. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook for a further couple of minutes. Pour in the wine and let bubble for a minute before adding the stock, tomatoes, tomato paste, chilli and seasoning (to taste). Stir well, bring to the boil then reduce heat and cook on low for about 25 minutes, stirring every now and then. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions, drain then toss through the hot sauce. Sprinkle with parsley, season to taste then serve.

Smoked salmon with mustard cream, pickled veggies and salad

Here is possibly my favourite kind of lunch; a big platter of goodies to pick and mix from then graze away at slowly. You can use good quality smoked salmon here as I have, or make gravlax which makes the whole thing even more special. The honey mustard sauce and pickled vegetable recipe* both came from Gourmet Traveller and I turn to them often. And though they didn't make the below picture, I also served this spread with mugs of beetroot soup and boiled eggs.

*I added a few thinly sliced target beetroot (see below, aren't they pretty!) to this recipe and was very glad of it. The colour and flavour gave a great lift.

Baked ricotta with Dad's spinach

My father Henry, is, among other things, very good at growing veggies (particularly spinach). And his (and Mum's!) garden was a great source of produce during my time in the kitchen last month with a glut of spinach making it's way quite often into this baked ricotta dish.

Very very easy and always a hit; I really recommend giving it a try! You can make it without the spinach if you like, or substitute this for a handful of halved cherry tomatoes, or any other cooked or raw vegetable you fancy. Serves 4-6.

1 big bunch of spinach
1kg fresh ricotta
5 eggs
1 cup parmesan, grated
1 tsp thyme leaves
Seasoning to taste

Preheat oven to 180 and grease and line a baking tray with paper (I used a 20cm square tin). Strip the spinach from their stalks, roughly chop then blanch in boiling water for two minutes. Drain and set aside for a moment. Combine the ricotta, eggs, parmesan, thyme and seasoning (to taste) in a large bowl and whisk to combine (I find that if you work it too much the end result will be a bit too dense). Squeeze excess water from the spinach then finely chop and fold through the ricotta mixture. Spoon into the prepared tin, smooth over the top then bake for about 25 minutes or until the ricotta is springy to touch (you want it to be just set). Serve warm or at room temperature.

Potato and leek soup with creme fraiche and hazlenuts

Creamy, mild and finished with  crunchy and tasty hazlenuts; this soup is perfect for wintery lunches. It is slightly adapted from one given by Mathew Evans in last month's SBS Feast Magazine. If you don't fancy making the stock yourself, just use a good quality store-bought one. Serves 6.

For the stock

2 onions

1 carrot
1 parsnip
2 bay leaves
1 cup mushroom stems
2 leek tops

Combine all ingredients plus two litres of water in a large saucepan on high. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and cook for a couple of hours at a gentle simmer. Drain, discard the vegetables and set the stock aside.

For the soup

100g butter

3 leeks, washed and finely sliced

6 floury potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
2 bay leaves

To serve; toasted, roughly chopped hazlenuts (from Fourjay Farms if you can source them!), creme fraiche and extra virgin olive oil.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the leeks and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Add the potatoes, bay leaves and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and cook for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Discard the bay then puree in batches, adding a little more hot water if necessary to get the desired consistency. Serve with the hazlenuts, creme fraiche and a drizzle of really good olive oil.

If you are at interested in joining us at one of Mum's classes one day, please check out the website for upcoming dates (the next round is in Spring, then next Autumn). Or email Mum directly. They really are a wonderful, unique experience and I am proud to now be a part of it!

Lovely people - Max and Fiona Schofield of Fresh Fodder

Max and Fiona Schofield are great entertainers. They even have a business dedicated to producing beautiful dips and sauces that make having friends over both easy and delicious. It's called Fresh Fodder and they make everything here in Orange, employing over 20 locals in their pristine commercial kitchen and using local produce as much as possible.

I'm a big fan of their whole range, so when the family asked me to help develop a few recipes cards to sell with their products, I jumped (please see a few of these recipes below).

Max, Fiona and their three gorgeous boys invited me to join them for a quick supper the other day, we had the below ricotta loaf and bowls of pasta topped with their Napolitana sauce. It was fast and local food at its best! For more information on Fresh Fodder, and where to find the range, please jump over to their website.

 Baked antipasto and ricotta  loaf

Serves 6

Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 45 minutes

This is about as perfect a picnic recipe as you can get; a whole meal perfectly contained in its own, edible container! Plus it seems to improve in flavour a few hours after coming out of the oven so will travel and keep well. The key is to find a really sturdy, proper loaf or you’ll risk a soggy bottom. And that's never an attractive prospect.

1 round sourdough cob loaf
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups (300g) ricotta
1/2 cups (40g) grated parmesan
200g Fresh Fodder Kalamata Olive, Lemon Zest, Garlic and Fetta Antipasto mix
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp fresh oregano leaves

Preheat the oven to 180C (fan forced). Slice the top away from the loaf and hollow out, pulling out the soft centre (place this in a freezer bag and keep for breadcrumbs). Whisk together the eggs, ricotta, parmesan and eggs and pour this mixture into the lined loaf. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 45 minutes. Before serving, sprinkle with oregano leaves.

Warm lamb salad with smashed garlic peas and pumpkin and rosemary dip

A simple meal that is absolutely jam-packed with flavour and colour; this one is held aloft by the mellow pumpkin and rosemary flavours and bumped along by the zesty, garlicy peas. Plus, it takes all of 10 minutes to throw together, and when served with a warm loaf of sourdough, makes an impressive lunch or dinner option.

Serves 4

4 cloves garlic
1 tsp sea salt
zest and juice of one lemon
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
600g lamb backstrap
120g (1 cup) peas (fresh or frozen)
200g Fresh Fodder Roasted Pumpkin and Rosemary dip
2 cups baby spinach leaves
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Crush the garlic and sea salt together in a mortar and pestle until you have a smooth paste. Add the lemon juice and olive oil and smash together again to combine. Take half of this mixture and use it to coat the lamb backstrap. Rub it in well, then cover the lamb with plastic and place in the fridge to marinate for at least an hour but up to 6.

Remove the lamb from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature. Heat a frying pan or grill on high and add a drop of olive oil to the pan. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Cook the lamb for 3-4 minutes on each side then set aside under a tent of foil to rest. Meanwhile, cook the peas for just a couple of minutes then drain. While still warm, add them to your mortar bowl and smash up a little with the remaining lemon and garlic mixture.

To serve, take a large, flat serving platter and smear half of it with the Roasted Pumpkin and Rosemary Dip. On the other half, mix the peas and baby spinach together in a bright green mound. Slice the warm lamb across the grain and lay on the Pumpkin and Rosemary Dip. Dizzle with any collected juices from the resting meat and a little more olive oil if you like. Grind over a little black pepper and serve immediately.

Pearl couscous, Taramosolata and haloumi salad

This salad is really more of an assembly job than a recipe but, when served with a few thick fingers of warm Turkish bread, makes an easy, delicious meal.

Serves 4
Cooking time 10 minutes
Prep time 10 minutes

2 tbsp olive oil
200g (1 cup) pearl couscous
250ml (1 cup) boiling water
180g haloumi, sliced into 1cm thick pieces
1/2 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped

70g (1/2 cup) pistachios, roughly chopped
70g (1/2 cup) Fresh Fodder Taramosolata, or more to taste!

for the dressing
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
zest and juice of two lemons

Extra lemons and mustard cress (optional) to serve

Place a saucepan on medium heat and warm half of the olive oil. Add the couscous and stir for 30 seconds or until coated. Add boiling water. Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook, stirring often, for six minutes, or until tender. Drain and set aside. Make the dressing by whisking lemon juice and olive oil together and seasoning to taste. Toss this through the cooled pearl couscous with the herbs and nuts (reserving some for last-minute sprinkling).

Cook the haloumi just before serving. Heat remaining olive oil in a frying pan on medium-high and fry for two minutes on each side, or until golden. Spoon couscous into a wide serving bowl, top with the haloumi, sprinkle with the extra nuts, mustard cress and dollop with the Taramosolata. Serve with a final drizzle of olive oil and lemon wedges.

And just quickly, I wanted to note that this isn't a sponsored post, I just wanted to share the love for Fresh Fodder because I love working with the family and they make good and local stuff.

Markets, pasta and pudding

Last Saturday's North Sydney Produce Market was a great catch up with our lovely regulars but thanks to a few unwelcome rain-showers, it wasn't what you'd call a record-breaking sales 'event'.

Not to worry. We returned with some beautiful produce and spent much of Sunday cooking and consuming it. First up was this fresh pasta with venison chorizo, crushed peas and hot mustard cress, (recipe below). Then we used up a few rhubarb stalks in the below pudding, which honestly is the easiest thing to make and just about the best to eat.

Fresh pasta with venison chorizo, crushed peas and mustard cress

Thanks to the peas, a squeeze of lemon and the spicy mustard cress, this is a lighter version of the sausage pastas we often make. And it's really good. If you don't have the time or inclination to make your own fresh pasta, of course use dried fettuccine instead. And in place of the mustard cress, you can always sub in a handful of peppery rocket or mustard greens. 

'Pip's fresh pasta dough
5 eggs
500g 'OO' Flour

Place both ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer with a dough hook and knead for about eight minutes, or until the mixture is soft and elastic. You can of course do this by hand too, though it is a fair old arm workout and those eight minutes do seem to go rather slowly.

1 brown onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 x Mandagery Creek Venison chorizo sausages, sliced into 1cm rounds (of course you could use others if you don't have any of ours on hand....)
1 cup fresh or frozen peas, cooked and lightly crushed by the back of a fork
Juice of one lemon
1 cup mustard cress (ours came from Darling Mills)
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Meanwhile, heat a little olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan over medium and cook the onions for a few minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Stirring regularly. Scrape the onion and garlic mixture into a little bowl, return the frying pan to heat and throw in the sausage discs. Cook these for a couple minutes on each side. Reduce the heat a little then add the crushed peas, onion and garlic mix and toss to combine.

To cook the pasta, simply throw it in the pot of boiling water and cook for a few minutes if using freshly made pasta or according to packet instructions if not. Toss the drained, hot pasta with the sausage mixture and drizzle with a little extra olive oil if the whole thing is looking a touch dry. Transfer to a warm serving plate, top with the mustard cress, a good squeeze of lemon and lots of freshly grated parmesan. Serve immediately.

Rhubarb and lemon 'pudding'

This is a really delicious, but old-school pudding. It's not at all posh, but something you might make as a family treat or to cap off an informal supper with good friends. You can swap the rhubarb with fresh berries, orange segments or other seasonal fruit, but try to avoid anything too sweet. Make this at least four hours or up to a day ahead to allow the lemon juice to 'set' the condensed milk and yogurt into a thick and creamy pud. Serves 4-6.

1 x 400g can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups Greek-style yogurt
Juice and zest of four lemons

4 stalks rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2cm pieces
3 tbsp caster sugar
Zest and juice of two lemons

6 Digestive or Gingerbut biscuits

For the pudding, combine all ingredients and stir well. Pour into serving glasses or pots, cover with plastic and refrigerate for at least four hours. For the rhubarb, place all ingredients in a saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring often, until rhubarb is soft but not entirely collapsed.

Just before serving, top the pudding with warm rhubarb and sprinkle over the biscuits.

On common ground

Alice, Tom and I recently spent an afternoon with the Statham family of Rosnay Organic. These guys grow beautiful organic figs, olives and wine grapes and have worked hard to create themselves a gentle, clean lifestyle that leaves about as low a carbon footprint as you could get. The straw bale house (they built themselves) is the kind of place you never want to leave (ever). But we all had little people to feed so reluctantly I extracted Alice from the trampoline and Tom from the cubby house (there may have been a throw down involved in that latter part), and we drove home to have pasta with Rosnay olive paste for dinner (see below). Today I think I'll start researching straw bale houses.


Sam and Simone Statham and their three children live on a 140-hectare Community Title cooperative just out of Canowindra. As Sam explains, this is a strata-style set-up, so each family farms independently but they share things like water distribution, buffer zones and roads. The farm was originally established by Sam's parents Florence and Richard and their wine, fruit and value added produce are all recognised as some of the region’s best. We are particularly keen on the figs in syrup which are fantastic just on their own with a little yogurt or dolloped onto a cheese plate. You can purchase their produce either online or from these distributors.

Yogurt panna cotta with figs in syrup

This soft, cool pudding is perfect with Rosnay’s sweet figs and as an added bonus they take about ten minutes to make and are virtually fool-proof. Great for when you have friends over as everything is done well in advance.

1 tbsp gelatine powder

1/2 cup milk

1 tbsp orange zest, finely grated

1 tsp ginger, finely grated

2 cups pouring cream

1 cup icing sugar

2 cups plain yogurt

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 jar of Rosnay figs in syrup

Mix the milk and gelatine together and set aside for a few minutes. Pour the cream into a saucepan with the zest, ginger and sugar and bring to boiling point. Remove from heat and stir through the milk and gelatine mixture. Let this cool slightly before stirring through the yogurt. Divide the mixture evenly among six lightly greased 1/2 cup capacity moulds (or tea cups). Place these in the fridge for 4-6 hours until set. Run a knife around the edge of each mould and turn each panna cotta out onto a serving plate, spoon a fig on the side of each and drizzle over the syrup before serving.

Olive and ricotta pasta

This isn't really a recipe, just a serving suggestion. Cook your favourite pasta until al dente, drain (reserving a little of the cooking liquid) then toss with a couple of tablespoons of Rosnay olive paste. Add a little of the cooking water if the pasta is feeling a bit dry. Serve onto warm plates and top each pile of pasta with a good helping of ricotta, we used Jannei Goat's milk ricotta and then sprinkled that with a few lemon thyme leaves.