 Trudi's Swiss Dune (Flan) A favourite in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, this is a delightful thin crust fruit flan, although it can be made savoury with spinach too. In Spring, make it with cooked Rhubarb, in Summer it shows off Apricots or plums to perfection. Ingredients for Shortcrust Pastry for 2 Dune, approx 27 x 36cm each 1 kg flour 125 grams butter or 125ml almond oil or a mixture of each pinch of salt (omit for sweet Dune) Small amount of water or rice milk (not milk or soy milk)
Method for Pastry - Rub butter or oil into flour with fingertips until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add small amount of water, just enough so that the dough binds together.
- Knead for a small amount of time, until dough smooth, then roll into a ball, cover with gladwrap and refrigerate for 1/2 hour or so.
Topping Ingredients 8 eggs 8 tb either milk, soymilk,or you can even use water. Approx 1 cup cream or yoghurt or soy yoghurt Small quantity vanilla essence (for sweet Dune only) Spices as desired (eg cinnamon with apple, pepper and herbs with spinach etc) 4 tsp almond meal or hazelnut meal (optional) Sweet Dune – cooked rhubarb, raw apricot, plum, peach, apple, pear, berries. Savoury Dune – use Spinach, bacon, herbs, cheese. Method for Dune - Roll pastry out on a floured board or clean table top and coat rolling pin in light dusting of flour.
- Roll pastry as thin as possible (the thinner the better)
- Lay pastry into baking tray, making sure that pastry comes up the sides of the tray approx 3cm (to allow for topping to rise)
- Spread almond meal or hazelnut meal over the pastry thinly (if you are using it)
- Place fruit over this layer, for instance half apricots, plums etc placed up so that they catch the custard mix. Place fruit very close together, try to avoid too many gaps between the fruit.
- Pour custard mix over fruit, and carefully place tray into pre-heated oven.
- Bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes or until custard is set and lightly browned.
- Sweet Dune is best eaten slightly cooled, savoury Dune is best hot.
Notes 1. If using cooked chopped rhubarb or chopped spinach, place after cooking into a strainer to drain as much liquid as possible. Then mix with egg and milk topping and pour whole mixture over pastry. 2. Can use home-made bread mix as a pastry, but make sure that the pastry is very thin, otherwise the bread will overwhelm the taste. |
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Macadamia and Lemon-Scented Myrtle Biscotti
(adapted from Mark Olive's Outback Cafe Book) As served at Edible Eden Design's Bush Foods and Herbs Class - a delicious use of 2 classic Wild Foods PLANTING TIPS: Macadamias prefer shelter in Melbourne - buy a named variety for bigger nut yields. Lemon-Scented Myrtle leaves have an amazing fragrance and taste.The plant prefers shelter in Melbourne. Ingredients 1 3/4 cups plain flour 2/3 cup castor sugar (I used raw castor sugar for a stronger flavour and trace nutrients) 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 pinch salt 60g unsalted, chilled butter, cubed 2 eggs (Free range please!) 1 1/4 cups macadamia nuts, shelled (if you have your own tree this could take an hour or so) 2 tsp orange zest (organic oranges best as sprays are concentrated in the skins of fruits) 2 tsp dried ground Lemon-Scented Myrtle leaf (I dry mature leaves in a wicker basket, then shred to a powder in an electric coffee grinder.)
Method - Dry roast Macadamia nuts in a heavy based frypan over a low heat. Shake frequently to prevent burning.
- Allow to cool, then chop roughly (ie quick bursts) in a food processor and put to one side.
- In the food processor, blend flour, castor sugar, baking powder and salt for a few seconds.
- Add cubed butter and process until mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
- Add eggs and mix again.
- Turn mixture out onto a floured benchtop and knead in nuts, orange zest and lemon myrtle.
- Shape mixture into 2 logs approx 20cm long, 50mm diameter.
- Place on baking tray lined with baking paper and bake 180C approx 20 minutes till golden brown.
- Allow logs to cool on a baking tray.
- With a sharp serrated knife, cut logs into 1 cm slices and place on a baking paper lined tray.
- Bake for 10-20 minutes, until uniformly crisp.
Notes The Myrtle leaf grinds better if the coffee grinder is full - ie its hard to grind only a couple of leaves Try not to overwork the dough when kneading, so that the butter does not overheat. Don't let ends taper in size - this helps to keep the biscotti evenly sized for even baking time. Traditionally biscotti are sliced on the diagonal, break tradition if you want! Watch the second baking time carefully as the biscotti can burn quickly. The original recipe calls for 1 tsp Aniseed Myrtle - I used 2 tsp Lemon-scented Myrtle as it seemed to make a more fragrant tasting biscotti.
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Andre's Jerusalem Artichoke Soup
This is an easy and tasty winter soup to make with one of the all time easy to grow vegetables. PLANTING TIPS: if you are planting some in the garden, put a root barrier around it as it is invasive. Also remove flower heads before they seed to avoid its spread into gardens and wilderness. Ingredients 1 head cauliflower Onions - 1/2 as much as the size of the cauliflower head Jerusalem artichokes - same amount as for onions olive oil/butter 2 cups chicken/vegetable stock salt and pepper to season sour cream/yoghurt/cream/shaved parmesan - to garnish
Method - Peel and slice onions
- Scrub jerusalem artichokes with a green nylon scourer, remove bad bits and chop roughly
- Heat some oil/butter in a large heavy bottomed pot (maybe 2 tablespoons?)
- Cook sliced onion and jerusalem artichokes until caramelised - i.e. until brown
- Add washed, roughly chopped cauliflower, and place lid on pot. Cook on a low heat until soft
- Add 2 cups stock
- Take off the heat and blend with a Bamix or similar.
- Finish off by adding more stock, salt and pepper as desired
- Serve hot with your choice of garnish
- Eat and enjoy!
Notes It seems strange, but DON'T add extra liquid when cooking the cauliflower - add it after as per step 6. The water on the cauliflower from washing it is adequate. Another thing to know is that jerusalem artichokes can produce wind...the effect seems to be ameliorated by some dairy products in the meal...hence a cream garnish! Cardamom powder added to the soup can also help the problem. |
Helene's Tomato Sauce My mother is Helene, this is her Irish grandmother's recipe. My mother supplies our 3 family households with their year's supply of this sauce every Summer...
Ingredients 10 lb (4.5 kg) tomatoes 3-4 large onions 2lb (0.9kg) sugar handful salt 1.5 pints (0.9 litres) vinegar sprinkle pepper 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 1 large tb peppercorns, 1 large tb cloves & wholespice (tied up in a calico bag)
Method - Boil tomatoes and onion until soft
- Put through a strainer/mouli grinder (to remove seeds & skin)
- Add remaining ingredients, slow boil until thick (~2 1/2 hours), stirring frequently
Notes 1lb (0.5) tomatoes makes approximately 1 x 300ml bottle of sauce |
Nanna's Green Tomato Pickles This is what you do with your green tomatoes and beans left at the end of Summer. It's my grandmother's recipe...and makes approximately 9 small jars
Ingredients 4kg green tomatoes
1 kg onions 1/2 kg green beans 2 kg sugar 1100 ml vinegar a sprinkle of pepper a level teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 dessert-spoon whole cloves and whole black peppercorns tied in a muslin bag 3 dessert-spoons cornflour 1 dessert-spoon turmeric 1 dessert-spoon mustard powder mixed with a little vinegar Method - Cut up tomatoes, onions and beans.
- Sprinkle with a little salt and leave overnight.
- In the morning, drain off fluid.
- Add sugar, vinegar,cayenne pepper, cloves and black peppercorn, boil for 1 hour.
- Add last 3 ingredients gradually and boil for 5 minutes or so, stirring well.
- Pour into small clean dry jars (preferably with screw top lids).
- Allow to cool & then seal with screw top lids or jam cellophane.
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