Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Make ahead pudding : Apple Pie

With friends and family visiting I needed something easy to make ahead for dessert.
This apple pie went down a treat, the crust is more 'crackery', not sweet, letting the apple and spices shine.



Apple Pie Recipe
Serves 8

Crust
250g Plain Flour - plus a little extra for dusting
1t Salt
90g Butter, Cubed and Cold
90-100ml of Cold Water
 Egg, for brushing

Filling
4-8 Apples, peeled and diced (depends on size of your pie dish, mine is shallow so I use 5)
50g Brown Sugar
50g White Sugar
1 t Cinnamon
Pinch Salt
Pinch Nutmeg (Fresh Grated is best)
3 T Plain Flour

For the crust combine flour, salt and butter by pulsing in a food processor till it resembles crumbs.  Set processor to slow speed and slowly pour in water till dough comes together in loose ball.  Tip onto floured surface and push into a ball, gently kneading together 4 - 5 times.  Wrap in film and refridgerate for at least 1 hour.

When chilled and rested, turn oven to 200C and roll out dough on floured board to fit your pie dish (mine is 25cm across, 4cm deep).  Gently transfer dough to dish and trim to fit.  Put pie dish in the fridge while you make filling.

For filling combine all ingredients, stir to coat apples and allow to rest for 10 minutes (while you roll our remaining pastry for decoration on the top of the pie).  Fill pie case with apple filling and press down gently.  Lay over decorative pastry left overs and brush pastry with beaten egg.

Bake at 200C for minutes at reduce to 180C and bake for a further 40 minutes.  Allow to cool for atleast 20 minutes before serving.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Getting Ready for Spring : Egg Fo Young

The shortest day has passed so it means it time to get stuck into the garden.  Last year my corn and a few other crops didn't do so well, so this year I'm going to be more prepared.

11am and still have ice in the garden - still getting used to this!

I'm going to try planting green manure.  You basically sow some nitrogen fixing plants (I'm using lupin) and 6 weeks later you dig the small plants into the soil and let them break down before planting your crops, boosting nitrogen for hungry plants - like corn.  I'm hoping this will lead to nice big ears of corn this summer - I got only 3 or 4 good ones last year.  The rest only got about 15cm long with a few sad looking kernels, only good for chicken feed.

Not sure what this is but can't wait till it blooms.  Love bulbs!
My broad beans - a couple of gaps after the chickens stomped through and snapped them


My boys helped a little today, smashing up ice from this mornings frost and while I was weeding we found some potatoes.  We also had a few visitors, fantails and wax-eyes.  They both love the mandarin tree, either eating the fallen fruit or chasing down the bugs that they attract.




After a couple of hours of hard slog and finally getting my poppy seeds in the groud we had a super quick and tasty Egg Fu Young for lunch.



Egg Fo Young Recipe
Makes one large

6 Eggs
2 Big handfuls of sprouts (we used alfafa and raddish)
Salt to taste
Slug of oil

Sauce
1 Cup Water
½ t Chicken Stock
2 t Soy Sauce
2 t Sugar
2 t Rice Vinegar
1 T Corn Flour
2 T Water

Heat slug of oil over medium heat.  Beat eggs lightly and mix in the sprouts with a pinch of salt.  Pour into pan and stir gently every 3 or 4 mintues.  When it's nearly done you can turn big chunks over with you spatula.  Cook as firm or as runny as you prefer and transfer to plates.

In a small saucepan combine first 5 sauce ingredients.  Mix cornflour and second measure of water to a paste and combine with other ingredients in the pan.  Bring to boil over med-high heat, stirring continuously till thickened slightly and glossy.  Drizzle over egg.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Times they are a changing

That last few months have flown by and big changes have been happening.

Firstly the change of season has lead to a slowdown in the garden.  I planted broad beans, broccoli and kale with a friend a few weeks ago - the first thing I'd planted in months.  They were doing really well, I had actually remembered to apply snail bait and feed them with a seaweed tonic.  Then a couple of my chickens jumped the fence and snipped all the baby leaves off the brassics and stomped over my newly emerged broad beans.  The worst thing was the rhubarb I planted from seed nearly 18 months ago was just getting established, they now look as if a grown man and sat on them - they are so destructive!  I was so cross I nearly drop kicked the chickens back over the fence (I used a few choice words instead and had a wee cry).  The chickens now have a slightly higher fence and thankfully the little wee kale and broccoli look like they have survived.  I'm not sure about the rhubarb yet, it is looking very sorry for itself.

Another change is my youngest starting at daycare and my eldest starting school. At first my youngest loved daycare. He attended the first 5 weeks with his older brother but now that he has left for school the excitement has fizzled out, now he just wants to go to school - if only he could remember the months and months of begging to start daycare!

My eldest has loved the first 3 weeks of school, he comes home telling me what he's learnt or randomly starts applying fractions to his afternoon tea.  I was a little worried in the weeks building up, he is such a sensitive little soul, but after a school visit with him I could see just how ready he was to learn and focus in school and all of a sudden he's come out of his shell and he is a confident, social butterfly.

My wee man off to school this morning

With Mr 3 starting daycare I had grand plans to fill the 18 kid-free hours out of my 91 hour mummy week.  One goal was more exercise which is off to a good start considering I've been sick for 6 of the 9 weeks I've had time without my boys.  None of my other grand plans have been completed yet - I seem to being catching up on all the odd jobs that never got onto the priority list with 2 boys at home, sorting, mending, digging around in the back of cupboards - so very exciting.  My big plans will eventually happen, I'll finish plastering my bathroom just as the weather is warm enough for painting, I'll have an undisturbed day to paint my dinner table and chairs and my rock garden with get the overhaul it desperately needs - Rome wasn't built in a day.

We are nearly nappy free with toilet training starting after the Christmas holidays, which has left about $15 to spare each week, so I have taken to looking for clearance items at the supermarket.  I don't spend my entire old nappy budget on these things, just a few dollars here and there.  This week I scored a beautiful wheel of brie for $2.40 - I just enjoyed a toasted sandwich of brie and feijoa jam - so good!  Last week I found some blue cheese so I made my blue cheese sauce to have over steak.  Some weeks there is gourmet yogurt, bacon, humus or dips - they liven up the menu that week, I love hunting out a bargain.

Feijoa and brie toastie - what a treat! 
Rounding up sheep after school run last week - you don't do this on the middle of Auckland