SPAGHETTI ALLA BOLOGNESE

This would have to be the best known of all Italian pasta dishes .
The recipe for this dish varies  and is often not cooked as it should be .
Allow 125 gm of long spaghetti per person .
For 250 gm  of spaghetti bring 4.5 litres of water and 2 tbs of salt to a rigorous boil .
Put your spaghetti in the water unbroken.
Bring the water back to the boil.
Cook steadily for 12 minutes.
The spaghetti will swell to 3 times its original volume .
Stir once to make sure that pieces of pasta are sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Take a little piece out and taste it .
When it is tender but still firm to the touch , it is done .
Drain it in a colander.
Place it in a warmed dish , with a little warm oil .
turn your spaghetti over  and pile on your hot sauce.

RAGU BOLOGNESE

For 4 people the ingredients are 180gm of good quality lean minced raw meat .
90 gm of chicken livers
60 gm of uncooked ham
1 carrot
1 onion 
Small stalk of celery
2 tsp of concentrated tomato paste
Small glass of white wine
2 small glasses of beef stock or water.
Season with salt, pepper  and nutmeg .
15gm of butter.
heat the butter in a small saucepan , add the chopped ham and when the fat starts to run put in th finely chopped onion , carrot and celery .
When they have browned a little add the minced beef , stir it around so it browns evenly .
Add the chopped livers
Tomato paste
Add the white wine
Simmer for 5 minutes
Add the stock  ? water
add the seasonings
Cover your pan and simmer for 40 minutes .
I like to add  a cupful of cream before serving , this makes for a thicker and richer sauce.
 

KANGAROO STEAK WITH FRESH BASIL AND BEANS .

On monday night I made this dish .
All you will need is 200gm of green beans , which have to be trimmed  but not sliced .
Heat a tbs of rice bran oil a large frypan 
Add 3 cloves of chopped garlic
Add 450 gm of sliced kangaroo steak and fry till coloured on both sides.
Add 30 fresh basil leaves  and the trimmed beans .
Add 2 tbs of fish sauce  along with 2 tbs of water  and fry for another 2 minutes.
Serve with steamed black rice.

FISH IN SOY SAUCE

Tonight at Castle Garden I served barramundi in soy sauce .

I heated 2 tbs of rice bran oil in a pan .
Then added 1 large onion sliced ,
1 small red chilli sliced with seeds,
2 garlic cloves finely sliced ,
1. dsp of crushed ginger ,
I cooked these together  till the onion softened .
Then I added 1 tsp of nutmeg along with a tsp of freshly ground black pepper.
Stir to combine.
Add 1 dsp of tamarind paste  and 1 crushed cube of palm sugar ..stirring to mix..
Its was then time to add the steaks of barramundi to the pan along with slices of a small yellow capsicum  and 3 dsp of kepac manis .( dark soy sauce )
Depending on the thickness of your steaks  cook for 6 minutes each side, or until just cooked through.
The barramundi steaks and sauce were served on a bed of black rice and garnished with the green rings of spring onions.

GROW YOUR OWN TOMATOES

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED ......

1. Choose a tomato that you really like the flavour of ...

 Slice  the tomato , and scoop out the seeds

 Place the seeds on kitchen towelling

 and let the seeds and towelling to dry out completely in dry air on a cake rack . Allow  10 days for this process.

Place the dried sheet with the seeds in a brown paper bag .

Store in a dry place until ready plant out in a seedling tray.

 

I will continue with instructions and photos when my seeds dry out.

 

8 / 11 / 2014

The seeds have dried out , and  my sheets are now ready for storage .

I live in Churchill , ( Latrobe Valley part of the greater Gippsland , Victoria . Australia .) and this year `s crop of tomatoes have just been planted out , using the seeds collected from last seasons crop.

 

1. Place the sheets in a paper bag in a dry position  till mid July 2015  when we will  commence the activation process for planting out next Nov ( 2015 )

2. You will need a seedling tray ......

3. Seed raising mix ...( a  fine textured soil  )

4. Line and 3/4  fill the tray with the soil mix

5. Place the seed sheets on the soil and cover with a layer of soil.

6. Keep moist with a light spray of water.

7. Your trays should be kept protected and if you don't have a hot house make sure the trays are placed where they will get sunlight  ..eg , a window sill , patio , verandah .

8.Between 10 and 12 days your seeds will germinate and little green tips will push through the soil surface .

9.Continue to keep the trays moist.

10. Leave the seedlings develop to about 45mm

11. Your seedlings are now ready to be potted up into small pots to allow the immature plants develop root structure .

12. The plants still need protection and sunlight is  vital for their development .

( Tomato plants will not tolerate frosts. )

13. The plants will develop rapidly , support the stems as the grow .

14.Tomato plants can be planted out into garden beds as the temperatures warm up or can be grown successfully in tubs good sized tubs in a sunny position on patios or courtyards.

15.Tomato plants respond well  to blood and bone or chook manure.

 

 

 

CASTLE GARDEN.......FROM LITTLE THINGS BIG THINGS GROW

25TH OCTOBER 2014

CASTLE GARDEN IS IN FULL BLOOM......

BIANCO - MANGIARE .......COLD CHICKEN PATE

This is a manuscript recipe , written in note form  , for Elizabeth David`s friend Lesly O`Malley .
The recipe is brief and to the point , ingredients , directions , temperatures and cooking times are precise .
Most importantly the recipe results in a very good cold chicken pate .
Place in a food processor
375 gm of cooked chicken  ( skinned and deboned )
2 tbs of rosewater
Scant tsp of crushed ginger ( 3 tiny slices of green ginger )
1 tsp of sugar
Pinch of salt.
Preheat your oven to 170deg C

Process to smooth
Stir in 60gm of almond meal
Beat in 2lightly beaten eggs
Fold in 150 ml of thickened cream , check for seasoning .
Place mix in a lined ( baking paper ) loaf tin .
Cover with top with foil.
Place the loaf tin inside a larger tin and fill the larger tin with warm  water .
Cook for 50 minutes on a rack below the centre of your oven .
Remove and cool.
Place the loaf tin in the fridge overnight..
Next day turnout.
Stick  pine nuts upright all over  , like a hedge hog.


 

LEMON AND GARLIC SAUCE FOR PORK FILLET ( TENDERLOIN )

An excellent Lebanese marinade , used for marinating pork to be grilled over charcoal , under a grill or on a barbeque.
For 500 gm of pork fillet you will need...
 15 gm of crushed garlic
Add 4 tbs of lemon juice
Stir in 2 tbs of a fruity olive oil.
Mix the sauce until well combined ..

You may be thinking that 15 gm of garlic is excessive , by the time the sauce has been distributed among the meat , it is by no means too strong.

Cube your pork fillet and marinate in the sauce for 2 hours and grill on skewers for 20 minutes.

This sauce also makes a great marinade for chicken that is to be grilled especially chicken breasts that have a tendency for dryness. The chicken breasts benefit by the combination of flavours as well as the action of the constituents of the marinade ....

This marinade was taken from an extract of an  unpublished paper by Elizabeth David  (1970 `s )