The Good Oil on Southern Walnuts

 As I step off the plane and take in that first deep breath of chilled, clear, Southern air, I rejoice to be back in Dunedin.  Just down the road, beyond the airport, an enterprising pair have set up a roadside stall selling walnuts. Walnuts, like people from the South, are hardy and thrive in a cooler climate.

Walnuts are close to my heart because they connect me to the South and are a reminder of when my Mum lived in Central Otago with a massive walnut tree on her property.   

Looking rather strange and wrinkly, walnuts are the second most popular nut in the world.  Nuts in general are good for us, but walnuts excel in the health stakes.  They are great for your brain (they look a bit like a human brain).  They help ensure a good night's sleep and keep your heart healthy.  

Back home in Auckland with my roadside walnuts and a bag of sweet pears from my sister's orchard, my first thought is to make one of my favourite salads.   

Pear and Walnut Salad

First, roast shelled walnuts  (as many as you like but at least 1/2 a cup) in the oven with a little oil and 1/2 to 1 tsp of ground cumin.  This should take as little as 8 minutes in a moderate oven.

Keep a watchful eye on the walnuts as they easily burn.  Roasting improves their flavour and adds crunchiness to the salad.  

While the nuts are roasting, slice up the pears.  It depends on the pear whether or not you decide to keep the skin on.  Not peeling is the healthiest option.  

This is just one large pear I sliced and if you have a pear that is perhaps a little hard and not soft and juicy like this one, then a good trick is to also roast the pear slices.  Cooking them softens and makes them sweeter.

To avoid the pear browning with exposure to air, I slice them into a bowl and squeeze half a lemon over the fruit.  If roasting your pears, also add a little oil.

The third important ingredient is cheese.  I use blue cheese but I had half a block of feta that needed using and I discovered the sharpness of the feta goes particularly well with the sweet pear and the earthy walnuts.

The pears, walnut and cheese are laid out on a bed of green salad.  I am lucky enough to still have lettuce and some rocket growing but this salad would also work with a base of young spinach.   

Final touch is a drizzle of my favourite oil which is usually avocado oil infused with lime, but any good oil would do.  Walnut oil would be the ideal.   

Since discovering the power of walnuts, I decided to buy a small bottle of walnut oil. The only walnut oil I could readily find came from France.  In Canterbury where walnuts grow very well a company called A Cracker of a Nut has set up a factory making walnut products including walnut oil from nuts they purchase close to home and from all over New Zealand. I will let Professor Geoffrey Savage from Lincoln University convince you on the Health Benefits of Walnuts. 

The colour of butter - Walnut oil from A Cracker of a Nut

I am keen to track down a local source of The Golden Oil so named because of its wonderful colour. It's an expensive oil so I would only ever use it for salads, as a dipping oil or to brush over food as a finishing oil.

In our house we have also begun to use the oil for its other external uses.  Walnut oil helps relieve psoriasis, gets rid of wrinkles, massaged into the scalp will relieve flaky scalp and can get rid of fungal infections like athlete's foot.

The walnut tree in Clyde; Mum on the bike shows the scale.

At my mother's property in Clyde, Central Otago,  there was a massive walnut tree. It was a constant job collecting and drying walnuts when they turned brown in March or April and dropped from the tree.  For those of you lucky enough to have walnuts growing in your garden there is some good advice on Harvesting Walnuts.

So when the Stonehouse company approached her in the early 80's to purchase half of the tree's production while they were still green to produce pickled walnuts, she jumped at the opportunity.  I am sure that tree is still being harvested by Stonehouse pickled walnuts today.

I haven't tried the Stonehouse walnuts that can be found in most deli food stores around New Zealand because I have been gifted pickled walnuts from two adventurous preserving friends at different times. I still had a large Agee jar of pickled walnuts in our Dunedin pantry when we made the shift north.

The process of preserving walnuts is long and complicated,  so I just couldn't leave Ken's jar of walnuts behind. The pickled walnuts migrated north with us.  I opened the jar the other day to try what the English (who first began pickling walnuts) state as a winning combination - Stilton  cheese and pickled walnuts.   

And they are right.  You need the sharp cheese to counter the pickle - together they are a delicious mouthful.  You don't necessarily need to use Stilton - any strong flavoured blue cheese would do.

Having run out of capers, I suggested to Peter to replace capers for pickled walnuts for his oven baked lamb chops with garlic, thyme and rosemary.   The pickled walnuts worked really well with the flavour of meat so that forgotten jar of pickled walnuts is now having its time out in the sun in our kitchen

It's not just in savory that walnuts enhance.   I used some of my freshly cracked walnuts for an Oat Pancake breakfast.  First I roasted the nuts in a small skillet on the stove top, and while still hot added a tablespoon of honey.  The honey sizzled and coated the walnuts in a devine sweetness.

The oat pancake recipe you can find on my posting "The Secret to Light and Fluffy Oat Pancakes" October 2013.  I complemented the pancakes with Augustines of Central preserved Vulcan apricots, bacon, yoghurt and the honeyed walnuts.

A perfect start to a lazy Sunday.

It does take time to crack your own walnuts but walnuts keep for longer in their shells.  Once shelled I always keep the jar in the fridge to prolong their lives.  A rancid nut is not good for you and tastes terrible.

My Mum would spend winter nights in front of the fire and television cracking walnuts with this well worn nut cracker.  She wrapped the handles in soft material and covered with parcel tape to make the cracking easier on her hands.  It's 

now one of my most treasured kitchen gadgets. Every time I use it I think of her 'good life' years in Clyde when she tirelessly harvested and cracked walnuts to gift to family and friends. She was not only giving us something delicious but a gift of natural medicine. 

Granny Browne's Pumpkin Scones

During this pumpkin time of year I like to make Granny Browne's Pumpkin Scones.  Those lucky enough to be offered one of these scones will wonder at the unusual colour and light texture, and never guess that they contain a vegetable.

This recipe comes out of  "The Cooks Garden" - a kiwi book for cooks who garden and gardeners who cook.  It was written by three southern gardening and cooking sisters Helen Leach, Mary Browne and Nancy Tichborne "The Cook's Garden" was a popular cookbook in the 1980's, when I was a young mum ... and along with the Moosewood cookbook, it was one of the most used books in the kitchen. All the women in my family had a copy, not only for the recipes but for the gardening and harvesting information.

Three talented sisters: left Helen, centre Nancy, and right Mary.
Their subsequent books "The Cook's Herb Garden Revisited" and
"The Cook's Salad Garden Revisited"  are available from Craig Potton Publishing

I have tried many recipes from the book, and all are good family food.  The layout of one vegetable or fruit per chapter gives a variety of  ideas for vegetables in season or in plenty.  They generously share family recipes, like the pumpkin scones from Granny Browne.  It's out of print now but keep an eye out for it in second hand book shops or perhaps you'll find it on the shelves at your local library.

Granny Browne's Pumpkin Scones

2 Tbsp Butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup of cold pumpkin puree
3 cups flour (I use 2 cup of white flour and 1 cup wholemeal)
3 tsp cream of tartar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 - 1/2 cup milk

Start by preparing the pumpkin puree.  Cut up enough pumpkin that will make a cup of puree, cover with water and boil until soft.  Drain and cool and mash with a fork or potato masher.  (I usually make double and freeze the other half for a future batch of scones.

Soften the butter and cream the butter and sugar until pale and the sugar has dissolved either by hand or mixer.  Then add egg and beat again.

Add the pureed pumpkin and beat again.

Sift the dry ingredients and fold into the creamed mix.  Add enough milk to make a soft dough...
it will be softer than usual scone doughs.  Avoid over working your mix to ensure your scones will be light.

Tip out onto floured surface, sprinkle flour on top to avoid sticking to rolling pin and hands.  Gently shape and roll out to about 3-4 cm.

Cut into whatever size scones you want.  You could make the dough into a circle and cut them into wedges. I cut mine into 16 pieces and cooked them on baking paper sprinkled with flour at 180-200C  for 10-15 minutes (it all depends on your oven - 180 for fan bake).  If you can smell them they are probably ready.

I haven't ever been that successful growing pumpkins in my garden in Dunedin.  I guess I haven't given  them the space or ideal growing conditions they crave. There's no shortage of space up here in Auckland at our Sanctuary Community Garden.  I've watched with delight as small pumpkin seedlings planted out in October grew quickly in the warm and rich organic, volcanic, Mt Albert soils.

3 Year old Beau indicates how big the pumpkin foliage has grown
in three months after planting out as seedlings the size of my palm.

 At the gardens we have harvested our pumpkins. How satisfying it is to use a pumpkin that you have watched grow from a seed.

Fellow gardener Liz treats her pumpkins very well.  They sleep on carpet.

The carpet avoids weed competition, keeps the soil moist underneath and the pumpkins dry.

Even better, we managed to produce the winner in the Auckland Community Gardens pumpkin growing competition. I loosely use "we" - the win was really down to the effort and diligence of one of our gardeners, Trevor.

Trevor Crosby proudly holding the winning pumpkin

 The pumpkin is an Italian heritage variety called Marina di Chioggia (sea pumpkin) and originates from the seaside village of Chioggia near Venice on the Adriatic coast of Italy.  How appropriate we grow them here in Auckland, the City of Sails.   

It's not the most attractive pumpkin I've seen with its lumpy wart-like skin but Trevor assures me that this variety will be delicious eating.  The opportunity for me to preview this sea pumpkin came when Trevor found one that wouldn't store for long - it began to soften at the top.  Usually these pumpkins if stored under the right cool and dry conditions can keep for six months.

Well, it's not the best pumpkin for roasting (a little too dry) but it's good for soup and as you can read on the blog Boldos Thoughts on Food  it's excellent for pumpkin gnocchi. Likewise a dryer puree and its dense gold colour works well in the pumpkin scones.

If pumpkin is used in a sweet recipe it usually is laced with spices.  I had an idea - it's time to experiment with Granny's recipe.  The warming spices used in an American pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread could have been added to the scone mix but I wanted a greater hit of spice in each bite so I decided on spiced pinwheel scones.   For the spices I searched for a combination of spices used in pumpkin pie.

Use spices that are as fresh as possible... and it pays to grind as many as you can from the seed, to get the greatest punch.  I grated the nutmeg, whole cardamon and coriander.  Another deviation...I added a pinch of white pepper for a little heat and to remind me of my favourite Dutch biscuits Speculaas.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix

1 Tbsp cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp allspice (my allspice was a little old so I replaced this with fresh mixed spice)

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4-1/2 tsp freshly ground cardamon (I started with whole cardamons in pods and ground the hard seeds with a mortar and pestle)

And a large pinch of ground white pepper.

Spiced Pumpkin Pinwheel Scones

Use the scone mix as above and try to achieve a firmer dough by reducing the amount of milk to enable you to more easily roll the scone mix.   My first attempt was too soft and it was really difficult to role and produce the pinwheels.  Their great taste encouraged me to try again with a slightly firmer mix.   The plain scones you should keep a softer mix as a wetter mix helps to keep them moist and light.

To 1/2 cup of brown sugar, some chopped walnuts (optional),  a pinch of salt and 1 Tbsp of the spice mix.

"Walnuts work particularly well with other 'brown' flavours such as cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup, honey and pears".   The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit

Melt 50 gms of butter and brush generously over dough that has been rolled out to about 2 cm thick and follow up with the spice mix.  You can brush butter to the edge but leave at least a cm around the edge free of the spice mix.

Pat down gently to stick the spice to the dough and then gently roll the long side.

When you get to the end of the rolling, roll over and gently press down to seal the base.

I did separate out enough dough to make 3 plain scones for
3 year old Beau who wouldn't like the spice hit.

Cut into 3 cm slices and place on a cold tray covered with baking paper. 

Cook 180 for 10-15 minutes.

I had just started writing my blog when I met Helen Leach of "The Cook's Garden".  Helen is an anthropologist focusing on the social history of food preparation and recipes.  I asked her about recipe copyright issues I might encounter writing a blog.  She said the wonderful thing about recipes is that no one truly owns them because they have been handed down from generation to generation and are constantly evolving.

Helen believes it's important to have someone in the family to look after family recipes and it's important to note who made modifications to recipes.

"Find a relative who will take the best care of it. The moment the recipes leave the family, much of their value is lost. Unless you can provide the context, they remain a mystery from then on." Helen Leach

It's thanks to Helen and her sisters that I discovered Granny's Browne's Pumpkin Scones and I in turn have offered you another option with my experimental Spiced Pumpkin Pinwheel Scones.

One of the most exciting things about recipes is that they are constantly evolving. 

Bechamel sauce makes the marrow

The marrow is a perfect measure of time passing.  That courgette plant you eagerly watch over in December for any sign of its fruit, produces a glut of courgettes (or zucchini) in January.  But, once your attention is elsewhere, unwatched, the courgette turns into a monster marrow. 

 

In February at the Sanctuary Community Garden fellow plot holders shared their excess produce. One large lone marrow was all that was left. It seemed wasteful not to try and find a way of making something delicious out of this large and seemingly unwanted vegetable.  Marrow can be challenging with its tough outer skin and it’s subtle flavoured watery flesh.  

In England there is an appreciation of the marrow so I turned to Nigel Slater’s “Eat” for a recipe. The advantage of the marrow’s flesh is that it can be used to sponge up stronger flavours like mushroom. Connect this combination with cheese and Bechamel sauce and Nigel’s Marrow Gratin becomes a delicious and comforting autumnal dish.

Marrow Gratin served simply with baked tomatoes and fresh basil.

Bechamel Sauce

Bechamel Sauce is a French way of making what our mother and grandmother would have called White Sauce.   

True, white sauce is creamy, but the French version has delicious flavours infused into the milk. 

It takes time to make a sauce from scratch but the result is worth the effort. The great thing about this sauce is that it can be frozen for use at another time.  It’s a good idea to make a larger quantity so you have an instant home made sauce available for another day. 

 

First step is to infuse the milk with the flavours of bay, cloves, onion and peppercorns.  In a pot heat 1 litre of milk (I prefer full cream milk) to nearly boiling point with half an onion pierced with 3 whole cloves, half a dozen black peppercorns and a bay leaf.   You can also add parsley stalks.  I used a red onion because it was the only onion I had but any onion is fine.  Set aside for at least half an hour. 

I first remember learning how to make white sauce at school and hearing for the first time the term roux.  Roux means cooking equal quantities of fat (usually butter) and flour to thicken sauces, soups and stews.  Roux is the basis of three of the mother sauces of traditional French cooking; bechamel sauce, veloute sauce (velvet sauce) and espagnole (spanish sauce). Veloute sauce uses white chicken or fish stock (bones not roasted) instead of milk, and Espagnole sauce is a brown beef sauce made with beef bones and adding crushed tomatoes or tomato paste at the end.

To make the roux, melt 75g of butter in a pot, then stir in 75g of flour.  This makes a buttery paste that you cook until it bubbles.  It’s a fine balance - if you don’t cook the flour and butter a little then you’ll get a floury taste to your sauce but if you overcook then the flour will not thicken the sauce effectively. 

Take your pot off the heat and gradually whisk in the reserved and strained flavoured milk.  What everyone fears is a lumpy white sauce but never fear a whisk will get rid of lumps.   I find if you add the milk in stages – in the beginning it quickly turns into a thick paste but as you continue to add milk then whisk, add more milk then whisk etc, it eventually smoothes out. 

 Hint for a non-lumpy sauce:  avoid too great a contrast in heat
when combining the roux with the milk or stock.
Either add warm milk to the hot roux or have the milk hot and the roux warm. 

 Now gently heat and continue to stir with a wooden spoon until your sauce is a velvety smooth texture.  Your sauce is ready if you can wipe your finger across the spoon and a track remains.  

Add cheese and chopped parsley and you have a cheese sauce.

It’s best to thaw any frozen portion of Bechamel sauce slowly in the refrigerator.

Nigels Marrow Gratin

marrow, mushrooms, basil, mozzarella, bechamel sauce, parmesan.

Set the oven at 200C.

Remove and discard seeds and fibres from 750g peeled marrow (about half a large marrow), then slice into thin rounds.  Melt butter with a little oil in a frying pan and as it starts to bubble, put in a single layer of of marrow slices and let them colour a little underneath. Turn over and cook the other side.  They should be translucent and tender.  Remove and drain on kitchen paper.

Continue with the rest of the marrow slices.  
While the marrow is cooking, thickly slice 300g of mushrooms.   When all the marrow is done add the mushrooms to the pan, with a little more butter.  

Season with salt and pepper then as they are approaching 'doneness', stir in 125g basil leaves.   Once wilted, remove the pan from the heat.

Cover the base of a large, shallow baking dish with some of the marrow and mushroom mixture. If you have it, tear a ball of mozzarella into pieces and dot them over the mushroom mixture.  This dish is lovely with mozzarella, but I only had a little, so I also added some tasty cheese as well.

Cover with 500 ml of Bechamel Sauce.

Add another layer of marrow and mushroom mixture, seasoning as you go.

Finally generously cover with grated parmesan cheese.  

Bake for about 40 minutes till the sauce is bubbling the top gently browned.

If you are not a fan of marrow then you could substitute the marrow for another vegetable like squash  or kumara (sweet potato).

Time has all too quickly passed in our house in the heart of Ponsonby, Auckland.  I can't believe it has been 13 months.  Our friend Chris has returned to claim back his home.  I shall miss being so close to the Ponsonby shops and cafes, and the backyard fruits from feijoa, avocado, guava and persimmon trees.   Sadly I too have had to bid farewell to Chris's wonderful French copper pots that I have so enjoyed cooking with and regularly featured in the blog.

I haven’t blogged for a while as we have packed up our belongings and moved suburbs.  
In the time it takes to be connected up to a broadband service a courgette could certainly turn into a marrow.   

Cobra Runners and a Pean

As a gardener I can't help but love all the produce that midsummer brings.  As a cook I find myself searching for  new ways to prepare these plentiful vegetables.

This year our Cobra Runner beans from Kings Seeds  have been our garden success story.   Living in Auckland has meant for the first time we can easily grow green bean varieties that demand a warmer climate.  And our Cobra's just keep on producing.

There are many varieties sizes and colour of climbing or pole beans. They are called a variety of names: green beans, summer beans, runner beans or French beans. 

In Dunedin we grew the classic and hardy Scarlet Runner but unless picked very young the beans are often stringy.

Cobra Runner beans grow in abundance and quickly

Picked fresh the "string less" beans can be eaten raw as a sweet and crunchy snack. Our grandson Beau prefers them that way.  My daughter Tansy sees these beans and immediately wants to make her signature Thai Green Chicken Curry.  I like to add them to a stir fry or simply cook them, then dress with a squeeze of lemon juice, a slurp of a good olive oil and plenty of black pepper.

Here's a simple recipe that will dress the beans up a little and avoid mutterings from the dinner table of "Oh no, not beans again!"

Green Beans with Almond Gremolata

I enjoyed the beans with slowly baked basil tomatoes and
some delicious  Bok Choy 

A gremolata is usually a topping of finely chopped garlic, parsley and lemon zest that is sprinkled over the dish just before serving.  It's especially good for adding a fresh aroma to a slow cooked dish.

This is a different take on gremolata by reheating the beans in the citrus and garlic oil and then adding the herbs and parmesan just before serving.

First you need to blanch the beans in a pot of boiling salted water.  Cook no longer than two minutes as you want them to remain slighly crisp, not soggy.  Cool the beans quickly to avoid them losing their lovely fresh green colour.

Otago Farmers Market chef Alison Lambert let me into the secret of how Italian mamas cool cooked beans and greens. It's easier than the usual arrangement of plunging beans in iced cold water.  Simply spread out the blanched beans onto a clean tea towel over a cake rack. As the beans are spread out they cool quickly and retain their colour. (You can also use this method when blanching or wilting kale). This method ensures the vegetables don't get waterlogged.

The cake rack or oven rack under the tea towel just assists in air flow and
keeping the beans nice and dry 

I picked my beans yesterday,  blanching the same day to capture their freshness. This preparation has enabled me to quickly create this dish after work tonight.
 

Parmesan, chopped almonds, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and parsley (I am running a little short on parsley so have also added basil).

Slowly heat the oil (I used about 3 Tbsp) with 1 glove of finely chopped garlic and zest from one lemon.  I suggest slowly heating the soil because I am using extra virgin olive oil and don't want to burn the oil or the garlic.  I do want to infuse the oil with the flavours of the garlic and zest before adding the beans.

Now coat the beans and turn the heat up a little - you just have to cook long enough to heat through the beans.

Add a squeeze of lemon juice to taste - it's always better to add less, taste and then add more if liked. This recipe is also good without the lemon juice. (Your choice).

Quickly add the herbs and parmesan, mix through and put into the serving dish.

To finish off add toasted chopped almonds as much or as little as you like.

I have used pumpkin seeds instead of almonds and walnuts or hazelnuts could also be worthy alternatives.

Instead of lemon juice you could use some finely sliced preserved lemon and some smoked paprika to give the beans a middle eastern flavour.

If you want to add a little heat then a crushed dried or finely sliced fresh chilli will add a zing.  You  could serve this with some fresh coriander instead of the parsley, peanut oil with a few drops of sesame oil but would cut out the parmesan to create this Asian take on the beans.

Really there are numerous combinations of final flavour touches you can come up with.  You just need to blanch some beans and experiment.

I am always on the lookout for something new to try both in the garden and the kitchen. Fellow Sanctuary Community gardeners were growing Peans and offered us a couple of plants.

If you want to read more about our community garden visit
http://SanctuaryGardenDiary.blogspot.co.nz

A Pean is a cross between a bean and a pea.  They have edible pods that are just like any green bean but the small beans inside have a taste reminiscent of a pea.  My Cobra beans now are now slowing down, taking a breather until rain comes to revitalise them.  I doubt if my two Pean plants will will produce an over abundance of pods but I will enjoy their novelty.

The great advantage of belonging to the community garden is receiving the excess produce from other gardeners.  One vegetable that can easily get away on you is the courgette.  Go on holiday and on your return you discover a marrow.  A marrow was on offer the other day.  No one appeared to want it.

So ...you've guessed it.. my next posting will be a recipe using the marrow.