Kitchen Garden Blog #4 - Yummy Yummy Yummy I've got love in my tummy.

 Kitchen Garden Blog #4 - Yummy Yummy Yummy I've got love in my tummy. 


You would be forgiven for wondering if Kitchen Garden was in fact just Garden if you've managed to read this far into these blog posts. But fear not, we Kitchen too. 

Since our gardens are just getting established we've had limited things at our disposal to cook, but we are a resourceful bunch. Last year's sustainability crew under the watchful eye of Adrian Wood nurtured some garden beds at the school and produced some lovely produce which we've put to good use so far. The seasons have also been kind to us in the form of black berries and apples. So we haven't wanted for things to do in the kitchen. 

We started the year by harvesting some spinach and silverbeet and incorporating these into pasta dough which we rolled out to make raviolo (large ravioli) and some fettuccine. We filled the raviolo with ricotta, feta, parmesan and more spinach. These got bathed in a browned butter, sage and almond sauce before we grated more parmesan over the top. 

                                                

                                                

                                                




The following week we spent some time picking blackberries around the school and turning them into small blackberry friands....which we devoured before we took photos 😬

                                                 


 Adrian's patch yield some beautiful potatoes.... so we put these to good use too. Peeling, boiling and mashing yielded a great base for some gnocchi which we hand shaped and served with some of John's home made passata and fresh basil. The potato skins weren't wasted either. We fried them up as chips and dipped them in mayo, mustard and tomato sauce for a snack. This has quickly become a KG favourite and provided a great opportunity to talk about food wastage and cooking traditions that utilise the off cuts and 'undesirable' parts of food (the famous Italian Cucina Povera for example). 


The start of Autumn delivered us a bountiful supply of apples in the caged orchard. Many of these get eaten while we are working in the garden, but we also managed to elevate them into some delish dishes. First we made a caramelised tarte tatin which didn't last on the plate for too long. The following week John brought in some rhubarb from his gardens and we made apple and rhubarb crumble - which again was devoured before our photographers could get busy. Both of these were served with lashings (thanks Enid Blyton) of whipped cream. We have developed a great cream whipping method, whereby we pass around the bowl and whisk and everyone goes their hardest for 45 seconds before passing it on. While doing this we often wonder and chat about who might have been the first person to figure out that if you aerate the skimmed cream from the liquid that cows feed their young, it becomes a really amazing accompaniment to all sorts of dishes. Hmmmm. 

                                                  



These are truly just the beginnings of our kitchen adventures and we look forward to many, many more. 

Cheers and happy cooking....

John and the KG Crew




















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