Well Christmas Day sure was a surprise in Melbourne this year. Instead of the expected scorcher, we ended up with what one could almost call a White Christmas! Hail stones the size of ping pongs rained down at us over in Coburg, and as you can see, my veggie patch copped a fair [...]]]>

Well Christmas Day sure was a surprise in Melbourne this year. Instead of the expected scorcher, we ended up with what one could almost call a White Christmas! Hail stones the size of ping pongs rained down at us over in Coburg, and as you can see, my veggie patch copped a fair beating.

Thankfully, I didn’t lose too much. The tomatoes lost a few branches, with a bit of fruit being knocked off/bruised. Everything else, apart from a few torn leaves, is pretty good!

Anyway – a bit of a update about what the patch is doing this Summer.

At the moment I’ve got six tomato plants in; mortgage lifter, principe borgehese (mini roma), lemon drop, red fig dwarf, black russian and tigerella. They are doing amazingly well – lots of flowers and green fruit at the moment, just waiting for those warm summery days to ripen.  I also have a couple of heirloom eggplants, mini sweet mix capsicums, heirloom beetroots, heirloom carrots, all season carrots, french breakfast radishes, miniature snow peas, heirloom pumpkin, cucumbers and black beauty zucchini – all grown from seed.

The radishes just grow so darn quick, and they can go from beautiful, crips tender little things to……

….monsterous inedible behemoths.

On the potato front, I’ve just harvested my first lot of nicola potatoes. They were just so wonderful boiled and dressed simply with olive oil, salt, pepper and parsley. I also roasted them with a topping of fresh breadcrumbs, parmesan and pine nuts on Christmas day which turned out spectacularly.  I’ve also got some purple congos and kipflers still growing, and some NZ Oca, which are like little tuberous yams.

Out the front of the house I’m actually growing Golden Bantam sweet corn along the fence line, which seems to be doing quite well. The ears have just started to form, and I very much look forward to throwing those on the BBQ.  I’m still undecided about what I’m going to do with the front yard.  I want it to be edible, but at the moment it is just lawn and some odd shrubs (…and my corn).

Also, I am awash with lettuces and leaves; crisp mint, amish deer tongue, cos, flame, gold rush and some Italian bitters from the Diggers Italian Lollo Seed Mix. Sorrel and Bloomsdale spinach round out the mix as well.

Photo taken by @essjayeff

Oh. And two strawberry plants, which are sporadically producing the most sweet fruit. I tend to get a singular strawberry every few days; which is nice as I eat it still warm from the plant. However, I’m not going to get a bowl of strawberries and cream in a hurry. I think I need more plants.

Photo taken by @essjayeff

So, while I seem to have a lot in the garden at the moment, the only thing I’m really harvesting are the lettuces, nicola potatoes and snow peas.  I’ve also already harvested some borlotti (thanks to @essjayeff and @injerarufus for helping me pod them!) and flageolet beans, but for everything else, well, it’s all still growing.  But I just so love watching it do exactly that.

Dan and I have been foraying into recipes from the America’s of late, and this recipe in Jamie’s America cookbook caught my eye. While the original recipe calls for white fish fillets, I decided to go with what was at hand, which was salmon. As a side note, Jamie also advises this preparation goes [...]]]>

Dan and I have been foraying into recipes from the America’s of late, and this recipe in Jamie’s America cookbook caught my eye. While the original recipe calls for white fish fillets, I decided to go with what was at hand, which was salmon. As a side note, Jamie also advises this preparation goes well chicken, pork, steak and lamb.

Where my version differs is in the accompaniment; a roasted/BBQ’d corn salsa that is fresh, tart, sweet and fragrant, and the perfect foil for the smoky, succulent fish.

Ingredients:
2 salmon steaks, skin on and pin boned

For the rub:
5 sprigs of fresh thyme – leaves only
2 sprigs of fresh oregano – leaves only
1 clove of garlic
1 heaped teaspoon smoked paprika
0.5 teaspoon cayenne pepper
0.5 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon finely ground cracked black pepper
0.5 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Quarter of a lemon, juiced

For the salsa:
2 corn cobs, oiled & seasoned
1 avocado, seeded and diced
1 tomato, diced
3 spring onions, sliced
Half a bunch coriander
Glug of olive oil
1 lime, juiced
A few shakes of tabasco (or sliced chilli if you like)
Freshly cracked black pepper
Salt

Method:
To make the rub, put the garlic and fresh herbs into a mortar and pestle and moosh (yes, technical term) to a nice paste. Mix in the spices, salt, pepper and olive oil, and then squeeze in the lemon juice.

Score the thickest part of the salmon lengthways a few times to ensure the heat penetrates and cooks the thickest part of  the fish at the same time. Then rub the paste into the flesh and set aside for half an hour.

While the fish is doing its thing, fire up the BBQ and cook the two corn cobs until nicely caramelised. When done, cut the kernels off the cob and mix into the salsa ingredients. Lime and season to taste; don’t be shy with either.

Cook the salmon on the BBQ over medium heat, skin side down, for approx 3-4 minutes. Carefully turn the fish and cook for a few more minutes until done.

Serve with the salsa on top, and either a crisp Mexican beer and lime, or, a limey gin and tonic.

Have to say that I’ve been really enjoying our BBQ.  I love cooking everything on it, from steaks to hamburgers to salmon.  Nothing beats the charry smokey flavours from the grill and best of all, it doesn’t stink out the house!  I’ve been trying various recipes, and some of the best I’ve used [...]]]>

Have to say that I’ve been really enjoying our BBQ.  I love cooking everything on it, from steaks to hamburgers to salmon.  Nothing beats the charry smokey flavours from the grill and best of all, it doesn’t stink out the house!  I’ve been trying various recipes, and some of the best I’ve used have come from the BBQ Pit Boys, a US website dedicated to the art of BBQ.  As much as BBQ is a huge Aussie tradition, I reckon the Americans take it to another level, with their rubs, marinades, moppin’ sauces and hickory wood chips.  What I love about the BBQ Pit Boys is that each recipe is explained in a youtube video by a dude resembling a member of ZZ Top, with a slow American drawl and old time grillin’ music in the background.

Here I tried their basic BBQ spare ribs recipe, with beautiful spare ribs that we bought from Grasser Pork during the Melbourne Showground Farmer’s Market.  You will need:

Ingredients:
Pork Spare Ribs (we used a couple of short American racks)
Your favorite Dry Rub
Basting (Moppin’) Sauce
Wood chunks or chips for added flavor (optional)

You can use store-bought rubs and sauces, but I had a go at making my own.

Dry Rub

• Sugar, half a cup
• Paprika, 2 tablespoons
• Coarse salt, quarter of a cup
• Coarse pepper, half a tablespoon
• Garlic powder, 1 teaspoon
• Chilli powder, half a tablespoon
• Cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon

Mix well in a bowl.

BBQ Sauce

• Ketchup, 2 cups
• Apple vinegar cider, half a cup
• Sugar, 2 tablespoons
• Garlic powder, half a tablespoon
• Celery seed, 1 teaspoon
• Ground cumin, 1 teaspoon
• Chilli powder, 1 teaspoon
• Cayenne pepper, half a tablespoon
• Coarse salt, 1 tbs
• Water, quarter of a cup

Mix well and simmer for 5 minutes until the consistency that you prefer.

Method

Preheat your grill to 225-250f (120C).  I used a gas BBQ, but being purists, the BBQ pit boys use coals.

Coat the ribs with the dry rub.  Make sure to apply to all parts.  For max flavour, allow to marinade for one hour.
Allow ribs to come to room temperature just before placing on the BBQ.

Cut ribs into smaller portions to save space on the grill.  The idea then is to stack the ribs one on top of another, and then alternate each stack at the bottom to ensure all ribs get some char from the grill.

You can place a mopping sauce pan on the grill to keep it warm if you intend to baste your ribs.

BBQ with a closed grill lid for about 3-4 hours, depending on the size of the ribs.  If you’re using coals, you can add some hickory wood chips into the coals for some extra smoky flavour.

Mop with the BBQ sauce several times and slowly baste the ribs on all sides.  You need a low heat for this, as most sauces contain sugar and will burn at higher heat.

Remove the racks when the ribs pull apart easily and with some meat still attached to the bone.  Use a meat cleaver to cut the ribs up before serving.

Serve with your favorite barbecue sauce and sides.  Here we had corn and mash potato, but a ‘slaw would probably be a more traditional side.