Chocolate Macadamia Brownies - One pan, easy recipe

I am very lucky to have a great cook and food writer for a neighbour, Belinda Jeffery - and this 'one pan' brownie recipe is an adaptation of one of hers - delicious and easy - with the wonderful crunch and taste of macadamia nuts.  (I was recently curious about a dish I read about for pan-fried salmon that required a sorrel sauce made from a 'beurre blanc with a shallot reduction' - might as well have been talking hindustani.  Ring up Belinda, and within one minute gives me the exact recipe - she's my kind of gal).

Macadamias in flower

Around these parts the hills are dotted with plantations of 'lollipop' trees that give it a very distinctive look to the surrounding countryside and, at this time of year, are in full of very fragrant flowers - which will bear fruit - well nuts - macadamias - in about 8 weeks.

Macadamia nuts are about the only native Australian plant that have become a commercial export crop. They are indigenous to this part of the world, occurring naturally in Australian sub-tropical rain-forests.

The edible nut is encased in two outer shells, the inner one  defeats ordinary nut crackers - a brick works!  However, it easier to buy a special 'macca cracker' or buy them directly from the grower at our Farmers' Market.

Chocolate Macadamia Brownies

250 g butter

250 g good quality dark chocolate (I use 70% cocoa)

1 1/2 cups castor sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/4 cup wholemeal self raising flour (you can use white flour)

100 g roasted macadamias, roughly chopped

Pinch of salt

1.  Pre-heat oven to 180oC

2.  Place macadamia nuts on oven tray and roast for approx. 5 mins., until just golden

3.  Grease 25 cm square, shallow cake-tin and line with non-stick baking paper.

4.  Break up chocolate and heat in large saucepan (you will mix all ingredients in this so you need a large one) with butter until melted. Give it a good stir - it should be smooth and shiny. Take off heat. Cool until just warm.

5.  Add sugar and combine with hand whisk.  

6.  Whisk in beaten eggs.

7.  Add flour and salt and stir until combined (don't over-beat)

8.  Stir in toasted macadamia nuts

9.  Pour into pan and bake on 180oC for 40-45 minutes.  Test to see if cooked by inserting skewer - if it comes out clean, it's cooked.

10.  Don't attempt to slice up until completely cool - you can even put into the fridge for a while.

Using a ruler helps to cut up into even squares!  If you put them in an airtight tin they will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks - if you are lucky!

TOP TIP: For a delicious desert - simply place a brownie in each bowl, add some stewed or fresh berries and lastly, a dollop of ice-cream/yoghurt or cream.

NOTE:  If you are looking for a plant to use as part of an edible screen or hedge you can't go past the macadamia Macadamia integrifolia.  It grows from 2-5 m, evergreen with fragrant flowers in spring and a good crop of edible nuts.

Mullumbimby Music Festival

I live in an amazingly vibrant community that attracts creative people of great diversity and incredible talent - especially musical talent.

Off on the Mullum 'Magic Bus' to Edwina and Blake's wedding - courtesy of Vibrant Imaging

Lucky for us there is always a huge variety of events to go to from classical music (the recent Goldner String Quartet concert was outstanding - and I thought I didn't like Shostokovich!) to popular music of all kinds - the annual Byron Bay Blues and Roots Festival being a huge international drawcard (Bob Dylan, John Foggerty, Bo Didley, Mavis Staples, B B King, Elvis Costello........).

(The only person that seems to be missing from this years' lineup is the amazing Rebecca Ireland - worth a 'YouTube')

Mullumbimby, where I live, is blessed to have it's very own music festival staged in November - a more intimate event than the Bluesfest.  Just five years old it showcases a lot of the local talent that live here as well as attracting some overseas artists.  Staged all over town, instead of on a festival site, it's great to be able to cycle from one gig to another and enjoy the colourful, bustling street scene of buskers, food vendors, daredevils, local tree fairies and cowboys.

Talking of cowboys - a lot of people hitch-hike around here (not sure if it is the dismal public transport system or rejection of the modern world?) and, I always look forward to picking up Shanti.  You can see him a mile away standing on some distant street corner by his huge sombrero (having a Mexican day) or his cape (being Elvis), but mostly in one of his snappy cowboy outfits.  He is a devotee of an Indian guru and when I picked him up last week he gave me this thought for the day. "We should live in the world, but not let the world live in us.  Like a ship. it floats on the water, but you sink if you let the water into the ship" - still thinking about that one!

Noel's philosophy is a lot simpler 'love thy alpaca'.  It's not every day you see an alpaca wandering down the street but Noel and Pedro didn't cause too much of a stir in Mullumbimby.  Stopping to give Pedro a pat, Noel told me that he and his wife were traveling up the coast from Tasmania and Pedro came with them in their mobile home (I hope they keep the windows open - he was a bit whiffy up close).

Another reason I live in Mullum is because it is only ten minutes to the sea and I am one of those people that just have to swim.  We have had some lovely winter weather and last week found me having a dip at Brunswick Heads when a dolphin popped up about 3m away from me - a couple of strokes and I could have touched it - pretty magical.  You just have to believe me on this one, but I am the small blob in the middle and dolphin is to the left of me.

The picture on the right is the same spot - no dolphins, but not bad for the middle of winter.  Brunswick Heads was the first settlement around here, used by the timber cutters over a hundred years ago to take the magnificent red cedar trees from the rainforests, out to waiting ships and off to make furniture in mother England.  There's a place up the road in forest country called Uki - which actually stands for UK 1 - a tract of magnificent trees put aside for export - all gone now.

Just down the road is beautiful Byron Bay - the most easterly point in Australia - which has a hundred year old lighthouse on it's headland jutting out into the vast blue Pacific Ocean (where you often see dolphins and migrating whales).  A popular fairly strenuous walk is up to the lighthouse and I couldn't think why I was drawn to do this almost straightaway when we got back from Greece.

When I got up there I kind of worked it out? 

So, if you are ever up this way, make sure you turn off the Highway and take the road less travelled into Mullumbimby - oh, and if you see a Mexican in a very large sombrero - give him a lift, it's just Shanti going for a coffee.

Spotted on the beach this morning - the cheapest holiday accommodation in the Byron Shire?






With this amazing view!

Powdery Mildew: Control with milk!

I have had a marvelous crop of peas this year ('honey-snap' and 'snow').  Up until now they have been very healthy, but a couple of weeks ago I began to notice the telltale signs of POWDERY MILDEW beginning to appear on some of the older leaves. 

Discovering a disease in the garden is often a trigger for a gardener to use a chemical, such as a fungicide to get rid of the powdery mildew. But chemicals often cause other problems. They can affect beneficial micro organisms in the soil, and can kill pollinators, like bees - no bees, no fruit!

Our recent period of dry weather, with warm days provide an ideal breeding ground for these fungal diseases.  Contrary to what most people think, they actually thrive in dry weather, and not wet. Temperatures between 11-28° C. and excess humidity (without rain) can provide suitable conditions for powdery mildew spores to become active, especially on plants have been affected by drought, or are under-fertilised.
 Powdery mildew spores are carried by air and, once active, will continue to spread in dry conditions. This fungal problem affects a wide range of fruit, vegetable and ornamental plants. 

In most plants, it shows as a dusting of grey-white powder on foliage, and distortion or puckering of new leaves. The infection often begins on the underside of leaves.

Powdery mildew damage on my pea plants.

Now, I hope you were all paying attention in the last article on SOIL NUTRITION because what you are going to read next will make more sense.  Powdery mildew is common where plants are deficient in potassium and some trace elements - when the plants have exhausted their supply of fertiliser, or when they cannot absorb nutrients because soil is too dry.

In addition, those dedicated students will also know that SEAWEED extract is rich in both potassium and a range of trace elements (including sulphur), and spraying foliage with seaweed tea can be effective against powdery mildew, not because it kills the fungi, but because it quickly provides the nutrients plants require to resist these fungi.
  (It's time to make some COMPOST TEA laced with seaweed!)

To avoid this problem in future, ensure that fruits and vegetables have adequate complete organic fertiliser to last them through harvesting, including regular applications of COMPOST TEA tea AS A FOLIAR SPRAY, also ensure that they receive adequate water for steady growth but avoid overhead watering. 

SO HOW CAN WE TREAT IT ONCE IT HAS APPEARED?  As an organic gardener, I believe pests and diseases should be kept in their place, so all the remedies used in my garden are safe. They're safe for pets, for wildlife and for kids.

A recent trip to the dairy had given my  solution - MILK.  Use organic milk because it contains all the antibiotic qualities necessary to make it work. (I have also read that milk changes the pH on the leaves so the fungal spores can't thrive)

Somebody told me about this a while ago - and it really works! The magic ingredient is one part of the organic milk to 10 parts water - regular milk from the supermarket just doesn't work. Give it a good stir and it's ready for use. The objective of spraying is to cover every part of the plant, both sides of the leaves and coat the stems. Fungicides work best as a preventative, not as a cure.

One part MILK to 10 parts WATER

It stinks like a dairy once the sun hits it, but doesn't last for very long. I use this milk spray weekly on my mildew susceptible plants like cucumber, zucchini, peas, beans, tomatoes - and make sure you start as soon as the weather warms up - don't wait, like I did, for it to appear.

"All we are saying is give PEAS a chance!"

NOTE:  See previous posts SOIL NUTRITION and COMPOST TEA

Soil Nutrition: When, How and What to Feed the Soil?

This is a big topic and something that a lot of gardeners either think that they don't have to know or are just plain scared of!.  Let me just say that a basic grasp of this fundemental knowledge will help you to solve many of the problems that you will be faced with as a gardener - believe me, I know - I learned the hard way!  Bear with me because I have a BIT OF EXPLAINING TO DO.

Now,  now Flossie - I didn't say 'bare' with me!

It all started for me this week with an email from Peter - a member of our Garden Club who has undertaken an Organic Horticulture course at College.

"Hi Di, Enjoying the Organic Horticulture course. We're growing a large patch of veges of every kind and the growth rate is remarkable. No chemicals, of course, but I have been surprised at how many additives and amendments are going on -- compost, blood and bone, Organic Extra, sulphate of potash -- on soil that already tests really well. Crucially, it has large amounts of organic matter, thanks to regular plantings of green manure. And the compost, of course."  Peter

NOTE:  It was explained to me by Peter that they had spent the past few weeks planting out a large area with annual vegetable crops in the traditional farming practice of segregated rows.

This was my reply. Dear Peter,

Feeding crops. This is an interesting point you make and something I have been meaning to write up on the blog as people find it perplexing.

People always seem surprised when I talk about the necessity for feeding the soil - particularly if the pH is OK and they have improved it with OM. However, when you think about it it makes sense - especially when your are talking about veggies and fruit crops.

What you are doing at College is intensive farming with annual crops (that's what most vegetables are) even though you are doing it organically. You want them to do everything they have to do within a very short space of time - this is unlike the natural environment where plants are mostly permanent/perennial and there is naturally a great deal of seasonal variation in growth, flowering and fruiting - you have good seasons and bad seasons. What you are working with are probably also hybrids with expectation of larger than normal yields than would naturally occur in normal conditions.

In addition to this, you are probably growing a mixture of crops - leafy, root, fruiting that require larger inputs of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Food for thought. I hope this is helpful. Kindly, Di

WHAT:You can get a grasp on this if you think of plants being like people - we need food, water and air to survive - without them we won't flourish - plants are the same.  We have OUR macronutrients (proteins, fats and carbohydrates) and we need larger amounts of them than our micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) - BUT THEY ARE ALL ESSENTIAL - in this respect plants are also the same - they have their MACRONUTRIENTS and MICRONUTRIENTS - they need them all to survive, but some in larger quantities than others.

OXYGEN, CARBON AND HYDROGEN make up 96% of these - which plants get from the air, sunlight and water.  

However, just as essential for healthy plant growth is the presence of a range of chemical elements that plants get from the soil - NITROGEN(N), PHOSPHORUS(P) and POTASSIUM(K).  Unlike us, plants can't go grazing for the nutrients they need, they have to be within their root zone.  In nature these elements occur naturally- provided by the soil and decomposing plant and animal material and, in the natural environment if these elements are scarce for some reason, plants evolve to survive without them.  For example - Australian soils are very low in phosphorus and many native plants will not thrive in phosphorus rich soils and you cannot feed them phosphorus rich fertilizers.

Nowhere in nature does anything exist like your vegetable garden.  This is an area of intensive crop production, and you are probably using the same piece of ground over and over again - SO THE SOIL AND PLANTS WILL NEED REGULAR FEEDING if they are to flourish.

The photo below is was taken of an experiment we did, when I was studying horticulture in the 1980's,  to look at the effect of these MACRONUTRIENTS on the growth of tomato seedlings.  I have never seen anything since that explains more simply the necessity of N, P, K on plant growth.  (All the plants were getting the same amounts of light, air and warmth)

Pot 1. C - Complete - this plant had all the N, P, K it needed. Note the healthy, normal growth.

Pot 2.  Had no nutrients at all - notice the stunted, poor growth.

Pot 3.  -N - no nitrogen.  The function of nitrogen is to promote strong, healthy leaf growth. Plants that are grown mostly for their foliage, such as leafy green vegetables, will require a fertiliser higher in nitrogen. If a plant's leaves begin to yellow there’s the possibility of nitrogen deficiency.

Pot 4.  -P - no phosphorus (phosphates).  This is responsible for the reproductive parts of the plant – the flowers, fruit and seeds and is also important in root development.
NOTE:  As a kid, on my father's alottment  I used to watch him put in a trench of wood ash next to where he was going to plant a root crop.  He didn't know that this would be ideal food for them - he had just watched someone else do it and seen the results.  Observation - one of the keys to successful gardening.

Pot 5.  -K - no potassium (potash) Essential for the formation of sugars, starches, carbohydrates, protein synthesis and cell division.  Enhances flavour, flowering and setting of fruit.

Other important elements are calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and sulfur (S).  MICRONUTRIENTS are needed in small amounts like boron (B) which is needed by citrus to prevent fruit drop and to prevent hollow stems in broccoli.  Peas and beans won't thrive without molybdenum (Mo). 

HOW:  These Macro and Micro nutrients are present in the soil as part of the original decomposing rock and organic matter.  Replenishing the soil with plenty of organic matter is the most effective way to ensure that your plants are getting everything they need to eat!  Use whatever you have got to boost their supply; composted kitchen scraps, grass clippings, worm castings, animal manures, wood ash, urine, straw, seaweed ..................  
FACT:  ORGANIC MATTER is Natures' 'slow release' fertilizer.

How do these nutrients become available to the plants?  They are mostly converted by bacteria to a soluble form that is taken up by the roots of plants.  BUT THESE MICROFLORA IN THE SOIL ARE ONLY ACTIVE WHEN THE pH is right - that is NEUTRAL 6.5-7.  So it is important to check your pH (see top of main page (UNDERSTANDING SOILS).  All the food your plants need may be present in your soil. but unavailable because the pH is either too acid or too alkaline.

If you look at the diagram above (another of my College notes that I wish I hadn't chucked out!) you will see that the widest parts of the shaded areas indicate maximum availability of each element. The YELLOW BAND INDICATES WHEN ALL OF THE ELEMENTS ARE AVAILABLE - 6.5-7 with the MACRO NUTRIENTS, in particular, decreasing as the soil becomes more acid.  

WHEN:  Sub-tropical soils (and sandy soils) quickly become depleted of nutrients after heavy rain so our soils need feeding on a more regular basis.  The general ‘rule’ is to apply nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium at the beginning of the growing season to encourage vigorous growth, and again at end of the growing season so they go into their dormant period in a well fed condition.

Heavy rain also makes the soil MORE ACID because the alkaline elements in the soil are more soluble in water - they quickly get washed away.  That's why it's important to check the pH and correct any imbalance.  Mulch, mulch and more mulch!

One of the very best ways to 'quickly' feed a plant is to use a home made COMPOST TEA (see previous post) as a foliar spray - that is directly onto the leaves.  The plant is able to respond much more quickly to being fed by this method rather than via its roots and the soil. I give my fruit and vegies a feed this way about every ten days.
NOTE:  I make my COMPOST TEA from seaweed(kelp), comfrey leaves, and cow manure - this provides all the nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and trace elements that my plants may need.

Six years ago I inherited this terrible clay 'pudding' - you can't call it soil.  I nearly wept.  The developers had scooped off metres of beautiful rich top soil to level it.  Everything struggled to live here, including me!

6 years later!

With the help of these and the other millions of micro and macro flora in the soil - they just need lots of organic matter to do the work for you.

See Previous Posts:  IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE EARTHWORM, UNDERSTANDING SOILS, COMPOST TEA, COMPOSTING, HOT COMPOSTING, IT'S RAINING, IT'S POURING NITRATES. 

"A cup of soil contains about 100 billion microorganisms. This is ten times the number of stars in our galaxy. Just a spoonful of soil contains about a billion microorganisms" ABC Radio National Science Show 5/3/2012  In our lifetime we will never know everything there is to know about the complex inter-reltionships of nutrients in either the soil or our own bodies. 

Milk: The udder story!

A couple of recent articles in the press got me thinking about MILK - a basic food commodity that we not only drink fresh, but make all sorts of everyday products like cheese, butter, yoghurt and cream - something we have been doing for thousands of years.  But, MILK apparently isn't MILK these days.

The first was a new survey which showed worrying levels of basic knowledge about agriculture, with students believing yogurt grew on trees and cotton socks come from animals.

The survey, commissioned by the Primary Industries Education Foundation (PIEF) and undertaken by the Australian Council of Educational Research with the support of Woolworths, reveals that 75 per cent of students in year six thought cotton socks were an animal product, while 27 per cent said they thought yogurt was a plant product.

The second was an article about how FRESH MILK is adulterated and is not exactly what you think - well, what I thought.

Fresh Jersey milk from our local dairy

FOR STARTERS: These days, look on the supermarket shelves – home delivery of milk having long since gone the way of many luxuries, including milk in glass bottles – and the range on offer is utterly bamboozling. There's skim milk, high-calcium milk, A2 milk, vitamin-enriched milk, soy milk, lactose-free milk, organic milk and much, much more.

FOR SECONDS: Nearly all milk sold today is actually a reconstituted product, often containing other dairy by-products.  This was news to me, but apparently has been going on for about two decades.  Milk is taken apart and put back together again so that it tastes exactly the same the whole year round in spite of normal seasonal variations - we, the consumer, apparently expect this! (I don't remember being asked about this in a telephone survey!).

FOR THIRDS: Ever wondered why people are becoming increasingly lactose intolerant? "Reconstituted" milk is perfectly legal, but most of this standardised milk contains a by-product from the dairy production process called permeate, which occurs when the milk proteins and fat are removed. Permeate has been used in Australian milk for about two decades.

Permeate can taint the taste of the milk and increase its lactose (milk sugar) quotient. It's high in lactose and if you are even mildly lactose intolerant, it might put you over the edge - so say the expert nutritionists.


According to Braeden Lord, CEO of Aussie Farmers Direct, "an unsustainable retail price forces processors to take short cuts to produce milk at a sustainable pricing level"

Up to 12 percent of your carton could be permeate. The MORE permeate mixed in, the less farm milk needed, the cheaper each bottle is to produce.

"Not only are the poor farmers getting the injustice of this, but consumers are unaware of the adulteration of the milk" says Lord.

From everything I have read the experts recommend the natural approach. "Ideally, choose milks that are as close to their natural state as possible."

I think it's worthwhile quoting Rene Redzeppi chef of Noma, Copenhagen Denmark - named No. 1 restaurant in the world for the third year in a row who works from a menu sourced from purely local ingredients.
"If the world is going to come to its senses, we are going to have to develop our own awareness and consciousness about terroir*.  The wheat we grow for the bread we bake, the beer that we brew and the animals that we breed"

I find these facts startling and thoroughly depressing - do you?  There was only one thing to do after this and that was to take the grandchildren on one of our regular outings to the local dairy with real COWS and real MILK where we can buy gorgeous, unadulterated, full-cream Jersey milk straight from the cow in our own recycled bottles. 

Where once a trip to the dairy was commonplace, it is now very unusual - I know that it certainly stopped in the UK when they went into the European Union in the 70's and food multinationals and 'government regulating bodies' have put paid to this practice in other parts of the world. 

Anyway, home with our delicious milk to make some yoghurt, cream cheese and a creme caramel - the farmer sells eggs as well - and they don't grow on trees!
*NOTE: Definition of terroir - "the complete natural environment in which a particular food (usually wine) is produced, including factors such as the soil, topography, and climate".

Yoghurt: Making your own is easy!

I love yoghurt and use it a lot in cooking, or simply eat it straight from the fridge with a big bowl of fresh or stewed fruit.  Yoghurt is a staple food in many parts of the world and it's not hard to understand why-it is just so versatile.  My friend Dennis, of Lebanese extraction, makes yoghurt every week with a culture (laban) that he insists his mother brought from Lebanon decades ago.  I'm not sure if it's true, but it makes a good story.

Freshly made yoghurt with full-cream Jersey milk

I'm not a big fresh milk fan, in fact I never drink it straight as it just doesn't agree with me, but with yoghurt  I'm fine.  This is because the bacteria that sets the milk into yoghurt curds (or 'clabbers' it!) converts most of the lactose present in whole milk into lactic acid.  That bacteria - Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Streptococcus thermophilus are also beneficial in maintaining good gut health and are often recommended as a supplement to take after a course of antibiotics (which kills all the bacteria, good and bad).

Yoghurt is easy to make at home.  It just needs to be made with fresh milk and those with 'full cream' will make a thicker yoghurt - more in the Greek style.  It is best made in small quantities as it will 'set' better.  I always make it when we have made a trip to the dairy.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
1 litre full cream fresh milk
1tbs yoghurt 'starter' - any good cultured plain yoghurt
NOTE: Don't be tempted to increase the amount of 'starter' as it will make the yoghurt excessively sour
Container with a lid.  I use a glass Pyrex bowl that has a lid.

HOW TO MAKE IT:
Heat the milk in a saucepan until it is begins to boil and the froth rises.
Lower the heat and let it simmer for about two minutes - you have to watch it like a hawk!
Turn off the heat and allow it to cool to the point where you can barely dip your finger in and hold it there for the count of ten (42oC/110oF).  It's much easier to invest in a thermometer - they are readily available in cookware shops - it has a probe that goes into the liquid and clips on the side of the saucepan.
NOTE:  If the milk is much cooler or hotter than this the yoghurt is likely to fail.

Beat the milk and activator (your spoonful of yoghurt), a little at a time until it is thoroughly mixed.  Pour into a glass or ceramic container that has a lid.
Wrap the container in a towel/small blanket and leave in a warm, draught free place for eight hours/overnight.
It should be like thick custard.  Don't leave longer or it will go sour.

Thick and creamy home-made yoghurt

NOTE:  My Indian friend Nalini showed me how to make yoghurt by this method about 40 years ago.  Her favoured place to leave it to set was in a cupboard on top of her water heater. I put it in an insulated bag (the kind you take on a picnic to keep things cool) and put a tea cosy over it.
NOTE:  Save a spoonful from each batch to make the next one.  The yoghurt, in the picture above, has been 'going' from one I started about a year ago - making a new batch every week with a spoonful from the last one.  This is very easy to do - and tastes delicious.

For an easy way to make ricotta with fresh milk - go to this link.

Recipe: Chicken Curry - Sri Lankan style

Sri Lankan Chicken Curry

This recipe is a real winner.  I first came across Sri Lankan curries in a cookbook I borrowed from a friend (which ended up on my shelf, with his blessing (thank you Dennis!), for about fifteen years) - Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook - it's a wonderful book that took me on a gastronomic journey all around Asia and many favourites remain in the family  repertoire. 

The only Asian food I had before I came to Australia was 'English style' Chinese (in fact, the first restaurant I ever went to was the Chinese at New Cross Gate in about 1960) - chicken chop suey, fried rice and sweet and sour pork, and my Dad's curry - which was made with the Sunday leftover roast, gravy powder, apples, sultanas and was flavoured with Keens Curry Powder (just the thought of it makes me shudder - I could never eat more than a mouthful).

The secret to making a good curry - and any Asian food, for that matter - is to use the freshest ingredients you can.  It's that flavour bursting in the mouth thing - the 'pow' of chilli, the 'zing' of lemon grass, the 'tang' of lime, the 'smouldering' flavours of cinnamon and cloves - and that's without the exotic, steaming fragrances titillating the taste buds before even one spoonful has gone in.

(The photo shows the rhizome of fresh galangal - see galangal paste recipe)



Certainly, in my lifetime, the world has become a global cafe of gastronomic grazing and most of us are now familiar with the cuisines of Japan, Thailand, Indian, China and Vietnam and, if you have lived in Sydney, you can add Indonesian, Nepalese, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, Burmese, Cambodian, Korean, and more.

Turmeric in flower

We are lucky to live in the sub-tropics and be able to grow our own spice gardens with many of the plants used for Asian cooking doubling as beautiful ornamentals e.g. turmeric, curry leaf tree, galangal, coriander, kaffir lime, citrus, lemon grass. garlic chives, banana, chilli, papaya, pineapple etc.

A bunch of bananas growing before my eyes

So, if you really want to make a fabulous curry it's best to grind the spices as you go.  Sometime ago I invested in s spice grinder (just like a coffee grinder) that I keep just for spices - the difference in flavour is phenomenal.  Some spices I can't grow, like cumin and cinnamon, so I just buy them in small quantities and grind them as I need them.  The pungency of ground spices is quickly lost during storage - I too have had the tumbling plastic containers and jars of spices, stored in the pantry for goodness how long, that were so stale you could not discern by colour or smell what they were!

Drying turmeric in the sun

Ingredients
1.5kg chicken cut into 12 even pieces
NOTE:  For good flavour it is always to buy chicken with the bone in it and then cut it up.  The same goes for buying 'free range' (apart from it being 'against my religion' to buy an animal that has been reared in a cage)
2 tbsp ghee or vegetable oil
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
10 curry leaves (fresh or dried)
2 large onion, finely chopped (I do it in the food processor)
4-5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder (adjust to your taste)
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground fennel seed
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vinegar
1 can chopped tomatoes, or three fresh ones
6 cardamom pods, bruised
1 stick cinnamon
1 stalk lemon grass, bruised
1 cup coconut cream

Directions
1.  Heat ghee/oil and fry fenugreek seeds and curry leaves until they start to 'pop'.
2.  Add onion, garlic and ginger and fry gently until onion are quite soft and transparent.
3.  Add turmeric, chilli, coriander, cumin, fennel, paprika, salt and vinegar and stir well.
4.  Add tomatoes, whole spices and lemon grass.
5.  Add chicken and stir over medium heat until chicken is thoroughly coated with spices.  Cook, covered, on a low heat for 40-50 minutes.
6.  Add coconut cream, taste and add more salt and squeeze of lemon juice if desired.
7.  DO NOT COVER AFTER ADDING COCONUT MILK, OR BOIL, IT WILL CURDLE
8.  Serve with rice and your favourite sambal.

NOTE:  To make this 'a complete meal' I often add some vegetables about 15 minutes before it's finished cooking - this one had potato, carrot and peas.

Galangal in flower

Orange Marmalade: easy recipe for everyone!

Citrus is in abundance at this time of year and I have just been harvesting my first crop of limes and lemons - more exciting than watching the Olympics?!  It also means that I have been the grateful recipient of buckets and bags of oranges, mandarins, grapefruit, tangelos and pomelos.

As we had just finished our final jar of last year's batch it was time to pull out this tried and true easy recipe.

1 kilo of ripe oranges. (You can use a mix of citrus)

A WORD ABOUT ORANGES:  Just picked from the tree is best and I prefer the thin skinned navels.  I have made lots of marmalade from store bought oranges, but you really do have to avoid the overripe ones and those with a 'waxed' skin.  Success with marmalade really depends on the pectin content of the fruit which decreases as the fruit gets older.

1 lime (optional-I just like the combination)

2 lemons, juice and pips (gives a nice tangy flavour and the pips add pectin)

White granulated sugar - about 1kg (see note)

Filtered water - enough to cover the fruit once it is cut up

1.  Slice the fruit thinly.  I use the thin slicing blade on my food processor otherwise it is a pretty time consuming and messy business - this way all the juice is saved (otherwise you end up with juice running off the bench-top!)  Quarter the fruit first, leaving the skin on, and cut off the thick ends of the fruit and any white pithy bits out of the middle (this makes it bitter.)  Add any pips that may be in the fruit.

2.  Put in a non-reactive, heavy based saucepan.

3.  Add the juice and pips of two lemons (you will remove all the pips at the end of cooking) 

4.  Cover sliced fruit with filtered water and leave to stand overnight (or eight hours) with lid on. 

5.  After the sliced fruit has soaked overnight, bring to boil and simmer for one hour - making sure it does not 'catch' on the bottom by giving an occasional stir.

6.  Thoroughly wash the jars and lids you are going to use (this is where a dishwasher is a godsend!) and dry-off in a warm oven for about one hour - make sure it is not too hot or the jars will crack.  This sterilizes the jars so the marmalade will keep and not go mouldy.  At this point PUT A SAUCER IN THE FREEZER - trust me!!

7.  Sugar - to work out how much is required you will need to measure how many cupfuls of this fruit and water mixture you have because YOU WILL NEED EXACTLY THE SAME AMOUNT OF SUGAR.

This batch was eight cupfuls of sliced fruit and water so I needed eight cupfuls of sugar.

NOTE:  With this method you can make any quantity of marmalade.  If you are making this in the winter time you will need to warm the sugar in the oven before you add it to the fruit.  Putting cold sugar in stops the cooking process.

8.  Almost there!  After simmering the fruit for an hour ADD THE SUGAR AND BOIL RAPIDLY until it begins to 'get a bit crinkly around the edges'.  This is where the saucer from the freezer comes in.  Test to see if the marmalade has reached 'setting point' by putting a spoonful of the mix on the saucer.  If a skin forms on top of the marmalade it is ready (push it gently with your finger)  If not, keep simmering rapidly for a few more minutes.  Don't forget to stir it!  This last stage can take anything from a few minutes to about 20.  In the picture above, you can see that the marmalade is already 'crinkly' and sticking to the sides of the pan - this happened after just a few minutes of adding the sugar, because the fruit contained a so much pectin.  DO NOT CONTINUE TO COOK AFTER IT HAS REACHED SETTING POINT.

9. Skim off the pips pips with a slotted spoon.  It is now ready to put into the sterilized jars.  TAKE EXTRA CARE BECAUSE THE HOT SUGARY MIXES LIKE THIS CAN BURN BADLY.  I use a small metal jug to decant it. Cover the jars with a clean tea towel until it has cooled down then put lids on.  If you put the lids on while it is hot, condensation forms and can make it go mouldy.  

NOTE:  The process of writing this - in a way that is clear to others - has made me realize just how much I have learned along the way - firstly from my mother.  I hope you too find it useful and pass it on to someone else.  

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3515306519466601297#editor/target=post;postID=323239880205794218

What is wrong with my papaya?

First of all - a big THANK YOU to the nearly 15,000 people who have logged on to to this blog since I started just a year ago.  I have absolutely loved sharing this information with you - finding the process of research and writing both stimulating and rewarding.  As I said to my husband the other day - I never know where this blog is going to take me - his reply, "Up the garden path"!!

My sick PAPAYAS

Note the mottled leaves, brown dead leaves and spotted fruit

When I came back from my trip overseas we had been away for over two months and the
garden looked mostly OK.  But, one plant looking very sick was my papaya. I had struggled for a while to keep it disease free but now had definitely lost the battle.

WHAT DID I OBSERVE?
 1. Black spots on the underside of the leaves, with them eventually turning brown and dropping off, and accompanying black spots on the fruit. 
2. Large necrotic spots on fruit and rotting of fruit.

ANTHRACNOSE affected fruit - note the pinkish sunken spots that eventually rot large areas of the fruit.

WHAT IS IT?  TWO different FUNGAL diseases that are common to this part of the world and anywhere that has high rainfall and subsequent high humidity.

1.  BLACK SPOT - Asperisporum caricae - a fungal disease which causes the black spots on the underside of the leaves, and while mostly cosmetic on the fruit this condition does affect the overall vigour of the tree (by reducing the ability of the plant to photosynthesize). Plants are more susceptible in cooler months.

2.  ANTHRACNOSE - Colletotrichium gloeaporides - this is a fungal disease that causes watery spots on the fruit and then rapid rotting and spoiling of all the fruit.  It starts as dark sunken spots or lesions and pinkish spore masses may form on the spots.  This can also affect harvested fruit if the fungus has take a hold.  This disease is spread in water droplets and is worse in warm, humid weather.  It can also be spread by infected seed.

My quest in trying to clearly to define these from 'expert' sources had definitely led me up the garden path - even my local fruit nursery misdiagnosed the problem.  So, I suppose the lesson here is that you have to observe closely and do your own research. 

The most important thing I learned was- PROBLEMS WITH PAPYAS ARE CLOSELY LINKED TO NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES IN THE SOIL - fix the soil, fix your papayas.  Now, read on..................!

BLACK SPOT affected leaves and fruit on papaya

HOW TO PREVENT THESE FUNGAL DISEASES:

CHOOSE THE RIGHT PLANT:  Check before you plant that they are healthy and disease free.

WHERE TO PLANT:  Papayas like a well-mulched soil that is free draining.  Try to plant away from other shrubbery as a free air flow will help to reduce fungal spores from spreading.

SOIL PREPARATION:  Papayas are very susceptible to nutrient deficiency which weakens the plant and renders them more vulnerable to these fungal attacks.  

Black Spot is often a condition affecting plants deficient in POTASSIUM, PHOSPHORUS and MAGNESIUM.

Anthracnose affected plants are often lacking in CALCIUM and NITROGEN.

What this tells me is that the heavy rain we have had in recent times has depleted the soil of nutrients AND that papayas need regular feeding to keep them happy - a bit like us really!

HOW TO FIX IT?

1.  Check the pH (see UNDERSTANDING SOILS at top of page) - the wrong pH can 'lock-up' nutrients.  They don't like acid soils - which is what we get after long periods of rain.

2.  MULCH, MULCH and more MULCH - this will help to stop the nutrients from leaching away, add vital organic matter and essential nutrients.  Lucerne mulch is particularly good for increasing potassium/potash.

3.  GIVE THE SOIL A DOSE OF EPSOM SALTS - this is magnesium sulphate and will help with any magnesium deficiency.

4.  GET INTO GOOD HABITS - feed the soil!!! - remember food is only as good as the soil it is grown in - chicken manure, rock dust and a soil drench of trace elements after heavy rain.  Regular liquid feeding of the soil with COMPOST TEA (see previous post) or seaweed fertilizer will do the trick.

WHAT TO DO WITH MY PLANTS? 

1.  Rip them out and start again somewhere else in the garden - mine had been crowded out by other plants and I needed to put them somewhere with a better flow of air around them and more sunlight.  Destroy all affected plants.

2. You can cut pawpaw's back quite hard, almost to ground level, and they will re-shoot from the main stem.  When there is a flush of new growth DO A PREVENTATIVE SPRAY OF A COPPER BASED COMPOUND.

The same PAPAYA - now healthy - after cutting right back, feeding with an organic fertiliser (compost and rotted manures - which helps to correct pH imbalance and provide the macro-nutrients of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and calcium), mulching and applying some complete trace elements (supplying all the essential micro-nutrients like iron, manganese, boron etc) and monthly liquid feeds with compost tea during spring and summer.