Local is Lovely harvest Pracshop

Last week we held our second Local is Lovely Pracshop and it was just as wonderful, inspiring and fun as I'd hoped it would be. And as with our first Pracshop last November, it also reminded me how good it is to collaborate and share your ideas, experience and skills with others. 

The team we had brought together to teach this workshop; Luisa Brimble (photography), Stephanie Stamatis (styling), my Mum Annie Herron and The Flower Era florist Amelia Toohey, were a dream to learn from and work with and I really hope we can all align our diaries again to put together some more workshops for later in the year. For now though, here are a few pictures, words and recipes from last week. Thank you so much everyone who came to learn, teach and cook with us, especially Luisa Brimble who really made the whole thing take flight and whose generosity, beautiful spirit and talent continually blow me away.

We started our two day Pracshop with a talk by my mum, artist Annie Herron (above), who gave us all an overview on the art of seeing, the rule of thirds and some basics on perspective. As she said, with digital photography it's just so easy to snap away without really stopping and thinking about what we're actually photographing, how we have composed the shot and whether every element in it is working or not.

She told the story of famed artist Brett Whitely who, in his Sydney studio would tack his huge canvases up against a wall and set a chair way back against the opposite wall. He'd sit there for hours, staring at his work from a distance then dart forward, paint or edit something then return and realy look at the canvas all over again. Mum wasn't saying that we should all do this with our food photography, but just suggested we slow down a little and look harder before pressing that button. 

Morning tea was a warm almond and fig cake and the first of many many cups of tea over the two days. The recipe came from my book but I've added it here below too.

Fig and almond cake

The original recipe for this cake (in my book!) calls for roasted rhubarb but you can, and I do, make it with pretty much any fruit. It's also really good as a plain almond cake to serve alongside poached fruit. The only real key to this cake is to use freshly toasted ground almonds not almond meal from the shops, the nutty, rich flavour and coarse texture are deal breakers (in a good way).

150g unsalted butter

150g caster sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup buttermilk 

180g freshly ground almonds

1 tsp baking powder

6 figs, quartered

topping

Finely grated zest of one orange

30g butter

3 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 cup slithered almonds

Icing sugar, to dust 

Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line a 24cm cake tin. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one by one. Fold in the buttermilk, almond meal and baking powder and spread into the prepared cake tin. Push the figs into and over the cake and bake for 1/2 hour.

For the topping, finely melt the butter and stir in the grated zest and almonds. Spread this over the half-baked cake, lower the heat to 160C and bake for a further 20 minutes. Cool the cake in the tin and then top with the almonds and dusting of icing sugar before serving.

Another key player in last week's workshop and its success was farmer Dougal Munro. Dougal has a farm just out of Orange NSW and will be appearing here on Local is Lovely with a little e-interview next week (whoop). He was also supposed to come along as a student to last week's workshops but farm jobs got in the way, as they do. That didn't stop him from driving down to Rydal on our first morning to deliver a ute-load of incredible produce; the last of his Autumn raspberries, Jerusalem Artichokes, spuds, garlic (enough for everyone to take a bag home each to plant or eat) and best of all I thought, a selection of rare, heirloom apples from his orchard (which happens to hold 30 different varieties of apple tree - cool hey). Here are some of them above and below.

And speaking of helpers in the food department, once again I had the clever Pip in the kitchen with me, together we ran food out to the studio all day to be either eaten and/or photographed and I am very very grateful for all that she did over the two days. Thanks lady!

After Mum's session and one from Luisa with the basics of manual photography, we trooped outside to get shooting. And first in the frame was the lovely Ella who came along to help Stephanie with the styling scenes but who most of the time, ended up modelling for us. Without complaint, Ella held baskets of apples, drizzled honey over porridge and rolled pastry like a pro while we clicked away like the papparazi. Meanwhile, Luisa hovered and gave everyone tips on angles, apertures, ISO settings and shooting in general.

After the orchard we returned to the woolshed to make apple pies and once again Ella was put to work in front of the camera. 

We used my basic sweet shortcrust pastry recipe (below) then just peeled and sliced our freshly picked apples, before tossing them (oh so artfully) with lemon juice, cinnamon and a little golden caster sugar. The apples were piled into their tart shells, topped with some lattice pastry then baked until golden and bubbly.

Sweet shortcrust pastry

Makes enough pastry for 2 medium-sized tarts

150g cold butter, cubed

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 egg, cold

Place the flour and icing sugar in a bowl and pop in the freezer for half an hour. Tip your cold flour and sugar into the bowl of a food processor and blitz for a moment. Add the butter and blitz until you have a coarse sand-like texture. Add the egg and blitz for a moment more. Tip the mixture out onto a work surface and bring together with the palm of your hand, working it until you have a lovely, smooth disc of dough. Divide into two, shape into discs and cover both with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes then, on a lightly dusted work surface, roll your pastry until about 5mm thick and drape into a loose-bottomed tart tin. Return to the fridge for another half an hour. Before baking or blind baking. You could freeze one disc of dough at this point, or even better roll it out and line a tart tin then freeze it like that, then when you fancy baking a tart quite quickly you can pull it out of the freezer and blind bake or fill and bake almost immediately.

Our first day wound up late in the afternoon after lots more scenes to shoot and one-on-one sessions between each student and Luisa. We then shared a casual dinner of our Mandagery Creek Venison ragu and polenta then sat by the fire outside chatting for ages. 

Day two started early with a pretty special breakfast picnic which I'll post about separately this week then morphed into a moving feast of flowers (beautifully arranged and facilitated by Miss Amelia Toohey of The Flower Era, more baking (which too will have its own post in a couple of days) and styling sessions with Steph. For me though, the highlight was a picnic lunch in the garden which of course, we all photographed the hell out of before eating!

 

Fresh Gingerbread

This was morning tea on day two. Hot with fresh ginger and a pinch of cayenne pepper, I often make this loaf cake at home and it's always popular. Plus, it lasts really well for a few days when wrapped tightly, so it's a handy one to keep in the cake tin. Recipe only slightly adapted from one given in the wonderful book Breakfast, Lunch Tea by Rose Carrarini. 

80g unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup plain flour

2/3 cup wholemeal flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground mixed spice

A good pinch of cayenne pepper

A good pinch of salt
2 tbsp ground ginger

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup

3 tbsp freshly grated ginger

2 tbsp molasses
3/4 tsp bicarb soda

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat your oven to 180C and grease and line a loaf tin. Sift together the dry ingredients in a large bowl then place the butter, sugar syrup and ginger in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale and creamy.

In a third bowl, beat the molsasses together with 1/2 tsp of the bicarb soda and then pour this into the creamed butter mixture. Finally, combine remaining bicarb soda with 3/4 cup boiling water. Pour this into the creamed butter mixture too. Fold dry and wet ingredients together then finally fold through the eggs. Spoon mixture into your prepared loaf tin, smooth the top then bake for 35 minutes or until the loaf feels springy to touch and has begun to pull away from the sides of the tin.

Our picnic lunch on day two comprised of some of my favourite foods shared in the sun, on a crisp Autumn day with great company. It was a very simple but pretty tasty affair of; Mandagery Creek Venison salami from yours truly, hunks of mellow blue cheese by Orange's Second Mouse Cheese Company and a warm salad of roasted kipflers and purple congo spuds (grown by our mate Dougal, see above) with an aioli of elephant garlic (recipe here)  and Mum and Dad's olive oil.

We also had red capsicums, slowly roasted to the below recipe, bread and greens.

Piedmontese capsicums

These capsicum boats appear on antipasto plates all over Italy and are best when served at room temperature which makes them perfect for picnics. I pack them on a bed of salad leaves and by the time we’ve arrived wherever we’re picnic-ing, the capsicum’s juices have made a lovely dressing. Win win. Any leftovers make a great pasta sauce when chopped finely and tossed about in a hot frying pan for five minutes.

4 red capsicum, halved and seeded

4 tomatoes

8 anchovy fillets, drained and finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tbsp capers, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Mixed salad leaves, handful of basil leaves, to serve

Preheat oven to 160C. Lightly oil a large baking dish, place capsicum halves, cut-side up and well-spaced, in prepared dish. score a cross at the base of each tomato and slip into a saucepan of boiling water for 30 seconds. Dip in iced water and peel skin. Cut tomatoes in half lengthways and place one half, cut-side down, inside each capsicum boat.

Combine anchovy, garlic and capers and scatter over tomato. Drizzle with oil and balsamic and bake for 1 1/2 hours, until capsicum and tomato are soft and tender. Place mixed salad leaves on a large serving platter and top with capsicum. Scatter over basil leaves to serve. 

For dessert we piled figs onto a board and added honeycomb, sweet dukkah and nougat. I've only just started making nougat at home, and have to say, I love the whole process and end result but of course there's lots of beautiful nougat to buy out there in the shops. This is my kind of dessert, easy to assemble, share and best of all, no washing up! 

If you did want to try and make your own, I used this recipe from SBS's fantastic food website and found the video really helpful too. 

Lastly, with our lunch we drank glasses of quince cordial, which really was just a big jar of the poaching liquid from some quinces we'd had on our porridge this morning. I'd just reduced the leftover syrup by bringing it to a boil in a small saucepan and then simmering for about 10 minutes. The end result is gorgeous as a cordial, poured over ice cream, served hot with a simple vanilla pound cake or even mixed into a glass of sparkling wine.

Our next Local is Lovely Pracshop will be held on May 25/26 and we do have two 'day student' spots still available, 'day' meaning accommodation is not included in the price (though I can suggest a few options). If interested, please either send me an email (sophie_hansen@me.com) or jump over here to book. Thank you! 

Homemade Christmas - cherry cordial

It's cool and damp here in Orange today. We've had almost 10 days of intermittent showers, and that's great for deer farmers but terrible for cherry growers.

As the orchards of Orange rev into harvest, picking for the Christmas market, the weather is playing games but not its part. That said, the fruit is coming in steadily and despite the rain, in great condition. We've been working our way through box after box at home and have also picked up a few kilograms of second-grade fruit, still beautiful in flavour but slightly compromised by the rain. They are perfect for preserving, and all found their way into my big jam pot, with some lemon juice and vanilla, on their way to becoming one of my favourite things, cherry and vanilla cordial.



Bottled up individually, cherry and vanilla cordial makes a lovely Christmas present and is particularly good with sparkling wine or over loads of crushed ice, mineral water and even a splash of vodka. Yummo.

Cherry and Vanilla cordial

This recipe is closely based on one given by Skye Gyngell in My Favourite Ingredients. Skye is one of my favourite food writers and I look to her books often for inspiration. If you haven't come across her wonderful way with flavour, texture and colour please check her out! Makes about one litre.

1kg ripe cherries, second-grade is fine

300g caster sugar

Zest and juice of one lemon

Two vanilla pods

1 litre water

Wash the cherries and let dry in a colander. Transfer to a large preserving pot or saucepan and add the sugar, lemon juice and zest, the vanilla pods (split and seeds scraped into the mix - don't forget to put the pods in too) and the water. Stir gently and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes then let cool slightly. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve, extracting as much liquid as you can. Then divide among individual bottles, label up and give away!

Just tell the lucky recipients to keep their bottles in the fridge for up to a week (or so).

Ducks, apple mint ice cream and raspberries

We did Orange Farmers market on Saturday, and feeling flush from our first sale of the morning splashed out on some ducks. As you do. So now our chooks are making room for nine Muscovy ducks and four ducklings. The girls will start laying soon and I can’t wait. In fact I couldn’t wait, so brought a dozen from Trish and Ross Bragg. Their Paling Yards Grove produces fresh, punchy olive oil and their ducks lay beautiful, pale blue eggs just like ours will (I hope).

Duck eggs are fantastic for baking and ice cream, giving extra richness and beautiful golden colour. I made the below recipe yesterday and it was beautiful on its own but even better with raspberry syrup (also below).

Apple mint ice cream
This is a great base recipe for all kinds of ice cream and is just as good if you swap the mint with orange zest, vanilla, melted chocolate, fruit puree or any other flavour. If you don’t have an ice cream maker follow the instructions below or just serve it as a beautiful fresh custard. Makes about one litre.

500ml thickened cream
500ml whole milk
1 cup apple mint (or normal mint)
6 tbsp caster sugar
7 duck or 8 chook egg yolks

Place the cream, milk and apple mint in a saucepan and gently bring just to simmering point. Set aside for about an hour so the mint flavour infuses the milk/cream mixture. Meanwhile, whisk the yolks with three tablespoons of caster sugar. Push the milk/cream mixture through a sieve, pushing every last green drop from the mint leaves. In a clean saucepan, gently bring this back to warm. Whisk a little into the yolks and then pour this yolk mixture back into the saucepan. Make sure the heat isn’t medium only and keep stirring all the time as it’s easy to turn beautiful custard into sweet scrambled eggs. After about five minutes, you’ll notice the custard has become lovely and thick. Remove from heat, pour into a jug and pop in the fridge over night.

Churn the custard in an ice cream machine or place straight in the freezer, removing to whisk every couple of hours. 
Alice and Tom picked these raspberries at James and Katrina Sweetapple’s Cargo Road Winery. They have a mass of raspberry bushes around the winery and are always very generous in letting us come and pick our own. Zest and juice from blood oranges cut through the sweetness.

Raspberry and Blood Orange Syrup
Batch one of this syrup was made as Christmas presents for Alice’s pre-school teachers. Batches two and three have been set aside for our pavlova on Christmas Eve and cocktails Christmas Day. It’s dead easy and just delicious.

1 cup raspberries
1 cup caster sugar
zest and juice of 2 blood oranges

Bring everything to the boil, reduce heat and let simmer for five minutes. Pour into a blender and whizz up until smooth. Then press this through a sieve to get rid of the raspberry seeds. Store in glass bottles and close tightly.