Peeled, the red eggplants work in just about any eggplant recipe. They are a bit more bitter and I tend to pick them green, just as the colour turns for most recipes. Unpeeled and fully ripe, they work brilliantly in an Indian style eggplant pickle.
Still on figs, and this is just the white figs, the first to come into season. The brown figs are still to come. This white fig tree was pruned last winter, not too heavily, and this year has been such a good crop I’m thinking that pruning might become much more regular.
This fig and rosemary schiacciata (or focaccia? I’m not sure of the difference) was recipe-writing worthy. It starts with a sourdough and a rosemary infused honey oil, for which you need almost no time for making but at least 10 hours or so for proving. So this is a magnificent weekend brunch that fits with a lazy Sunday morning, but you need to remember to start it the night before.
The riff of sweet, caramelised figs, salty white cheese, peppery leaves, and nut crunch is a classic one. And like most classics, for very good reason. This salad was so good it’s been repeated regularly this year since the figs started coming on. It’s a starring role salad – a dinner party first course, or a totally indulgent lunch, or a plate to take to a party. If you are…
My local fisho tells me that his mackerel is line caught, and that’s always a good thing as far as sustainability goes: no bycatch and no complete decimation of breeding populations. Good Fish Bad Fish lists mackerel as sustainable too. It’s high in Omega 3 and low in mercury, and it has a nice firm texture with few bones. It’s an oily fish that goes well with acid tomato based…
Turmeric likes my subtropical climate, which is very lucky because fresh turmeric is one of my all-time favourite spices and hugely healthy. I have a patch of it that takes absolutely no attention. All I do with it is dig up a rhizome when I want it for curries or stir fries or to add a touch of spiciness to just about anything.
Salmorejo is a cold soup but that idea doesn’t do it justice. It’s very fast and easy, and it will keep for a day or two in the fridge so you can make ahead of time (which also makes it great for a first course for summer dinner parties or barbeques). You can also blend left overs with semi-dried tomatoes to make a dip or spread.
There’s quite a lot of edible plants native to my part of the world but not so many of them that are abundant and really delicious. But macadamias (Macadamia tetraphylla) and Davidson plums ( Davidsonia jerseyana) are endemic to right here, real bush foods.
It’s a great year for mozzies. This week they seem to have all metamorphosed from wrigglers at once, and for the first time we have had to start putting the mosquito net over our bed down of a night. Up until now, the control measures for mozzies have consisted of what we don’t do.
The grapes are hanging thick and heavy in our pergola. Such a useful plant. In winter the bare vines let the north western afternoon sun stream onto the verandah, warming the floor and creating a nice spot for proving bread or sitting with a book. In spring the fresh, delicate leaves make dolmades, wonderful lunch or picnic or party food. In summer the vines are thick with leaves blocking the…