Food, Finds & Forays

Hey there....

So, I’m back after two weeks adventuring around the Snowy Mountains and NSW coast. It was a relaxing, refreshing and beautiful break. To be honest though, with all the world is enduring both here in Australia with floods and of course everything in Europe, it kind of feels like our escape was a million years ago and anything I can offer the world here frivolous and unimportant. I agonised over how to begin and indeed what to share. I figure, though, if you’re generous enough with your time to open my letter I can try and hopefully offer you a few moments escape and respite from the upheavals of the world. 

I hope if you’re in rain and flood ravaged areas of Australia you’re doing as well as you can and if news from overseas feels heavy you find time to rest your mind and heart.
S xx

Food 

Last year was our first year without a child in school and therefore tied to school holiday periods for holidays. With dear friends and treasured traveling companions our little late summer holiday tradition began. Touring rural roads stopping at farm gates for supplies our camp cook ups are often driven by seasonal produce. Last year while camped on a north Tasmanian beach with a haul of local goodies I pulled together an idea that became the seed of today’s recipe. You can read about it here. As with many at this time of year gardens are overflowing with a glut of late season summer veg. At a recent farmers market my favourite market gardener threw handfuls of zucchini into my basket all but begging me to take them off his hands. I was tempted to try Stanley Tucci’s much lauded zucchini pasta recipe but instead was drawn to rework my olive oil braised zucchini recipe and gosh am I a happy zucc lover.

Ingredients:

¼ c extra virgin olive oil
3 (500gm) zucchinis halved lengthwise and sliced on the diagonal about 1cm thick.
1 garlic clove peeled and thinly sliced
2 french shallots peeled and thinly sliced
Red chilli thinly sliced to taste. I like to deseed to control the heat and have used one whole long chilli here but you do you.
1 Tb butter
Half a whole lemon

Method:

In a heavy based fry pan large enough to hold all the zucchini gently warm the olive oil over a low heat. Add the shallots and cook gently stirring frequently until translucent and soft, around 5 minutes. Avoid allowing the shallot to colour as we’ll caramelise it later and don’t want to do that now or it will burn. Add garlic and chilli and cook for three minutes to soften, again avoiding colour.

Add zucchini, cooking for 5 minutes stirring often to keep the shallots and garlic moving. Once the edges of the zucchini start to colour and caramelise add the halved lemon, flesh side down to the centre of the pan and increase heat to medium. We’re trying to caramelise the lemon flesh to release the tang and gently flavour the dish without a harsh sharp citrus flavour. Keep the zucchini moving around the lemon for 3-5 mins. Once the lemon flesh has began to brown add the butter and stir constantly to incorporate everything keeping that lemon flesh side down (now I’m sounding like a nag but stay with me). At this point the zucchini will have softened and taken on a darker almost translucent colour, the shallots will have caramelised almost crisping up slightly. Cook for a further few minutes to gently begin to brown the butter and finish the dish nicely. Serve with the lemon on the plate for those who'd like to add a little more lemony zing.

Notes and suggestions:
* Sprinkle lightly toasted pine nuts over the finished dish for some crunch.
* I served this alongside my White Bean Dip. It will sit happily on a bed of humus, yoghurt or labne. Goats cheese is also delicious dotted on top.
* You could stir through pasta for a lovely vegetarian dinner.
* While this is a very versatile dish it’s a particularly lovely accompaniment to Lamb Shoulder.

White Bean Dip

Combine the following in a blender and blend to your preferred consistency. Mine is a little textured here but sometimes I go a little further and make it much smoother. You may need to stop blending a couple times and scrape down.

1 lightly drained can of white beans, (any kind of white beans will be fine)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 Tb lemon juice
Finely grated rind of a lemon
2-3 Tbs water (this will help loosen it and help it move through the blender more efficiently)
1 garlic clove peeled
1 tsp cumin
¼ tsp salt flakes
½ tsp tahini

Finds & Forays

The Murray River stretches 2508 kms from the alps of the Kosciusko National Park in the Great Dividing Range, dividing NSW and Victoria and emptying into the sea in South Australia in the beautiful Coorong, spilling into the Southern Ocean. She carries much of our history and folklore and is thought of as a majestic meandering behemoth of a waterway.  At her headwaters however, she’s a small unassuming stream of cool crystalline mountain water, a mix of snow melt and rainfall. Fringed on either bank by towering gums, granite boulders and a healthy population of wildlife it's an area we’d aspired to visit and explore. We began our two week bush to beach quest camping just downstream from the headwaters of the much fabled Murray in the lee of Mount Koscisuszko. Enjoying the company of a large friendly mob of kangaroos we were bathed in warm sunshine and serenaded by an extraordinary symphony of birdcall. Early evenings, marked by a swim in the flowing waters and visits from very friendly wildlife was a time to settle in and await the magnificent lunar display of a nearly full moon and millions of twinkling stars. Leaving our beautiful temporary mountain home after a few days, we meandered the Snowy Mountains to the town of Jindaybyne to soak up the delicious food scene on the shores of Lake Jindabyne and surrounds. While we enjoyed superb dinners of Italian and Mexican it was a sunbathed lunch in the garden at a local schnapps distillery that was the highlight of the first half of our tour. Steeped in the rich history of the multi national workforce that migrated to the area for the construction of the snowy hydro scheme post world war 2, the region enjoys many experiences like this one driven by the cultures brought here during that period in history.
The road east from Jindabyne took us on the The Snowy River Way, a winding scenic drive through morning sun bathed golden rolling hills. The stunning area known as the Monaro Valley stretches from the Kosciuszko National Park north towards our nation’s capital of Canberra. This magnificent golden valley appears to extend on to a distant horizon I’m keen to return to and explore more. If you’re lucky enough to live in the region or indeed in Canberra or north of there you might like to celebrate the coming long weekend in NSW and Victoria with a little jaunt to Canberra. During this period one of Canberra’s favourite events, The Forage, makes it’s long awaited post covid return. The Forage is a street food festival showcasing the food and wine scene of the greater Canberra area. This year it will feature amongst the Enlighten festival showcasing the area’s arts and culture offerings. If I hadn’t just returned from holidays I’d be running up the Hume Hwy to work my way through all the delicious offerings. If you’ve not made plans yet this could be a great way to fill the weekend. Do report back if you go please….I’d love to make plans for next year’s event.

As for my adventure, I’ll come back to that next week. The second half of our trip needs a paragraph all it’s own.

Finally, I can’t go without mentioning the unfolding tragedy in eastern Europe. There’s nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said. Indeed important things are said by far more informed voices than mine here, in a small corner of suburban Australia. One thing I do know for certain though is this. Throughout history the one thing we all have in common and in ways small and big unites us is food. I’m not for a moment suggesting that in the currently fraught situation food will create peace but I do know that we the regular citizens of the world who may be watching unfolding events and feeling helpless can learn about each other and gain understanding of each other through food. So, as I often do, I’m turning to food and cooking to learn. I’ve ordered the books of London based Ukrainian chef and author Olia Hercules, from the library (they’re sold out everywhere local to me) who together with Russian food creative Alissa Timoshkina has created the hashtag #CookForUkraine on Instagram. The # is acting like a hub for their work supporting efforts to raise money and awareness for Ukraine in this horrendous time and is filling with beautiful images and stories from accounts the world over. If you have an insta account I urge you to take a look, maybe follow some links to check out some of the recipes in your own homes, read the stories attached or if you’re able and it’s how you’d like to show support you’ll find links to donate funds to aid refugee support and relief. I don’t normally discuss politics or such events here but like the last two years I feel like we’re helplessly walking through history and personally find some comfort in this albeit small measure of homage to Ukrainian culture. Maybe you might too.