You dill you!

I am on a mission to use up some of my dill before it all goes to seed.

 I will let it go to seed - now I have more space in the veggie patch I can allow things to self propagate  - saves time in saving seeds and replanting them yourself right?

But dill is such a wonderful herb that it would seem a waste to not take advantage of the mini glut.

My dill grows in a corner of my central bed. It's a bed that holds lots of herbs and in which 'Pothead' my Scare Cockatoo stands or rather slopes. She may look pretty pathetic for a Scare Cockatoo but she works!

So the other day I made a pretty nice smoked salmon and dill pasta but today I made Liz's Bread and Butter Dill Cucumbers.













I pretty much followed her recipe, except that I used pickling spices instead of just mustard seeds and I made the recipe at double quantity because I had enough cucumbers. The cucumbers were bought ones unfortunately, but soon I will have my own!

Here is the result -  one of the 4 jars made.

The best part? It makes the kitchen smell heavenly.  You know one of those smells that makes your mouth water?

The worst part? Well I only needed 4 teaspoons of chopped dill so it didn't put a dint in the dill at all!

Thanks Liz.  I might not be able to wait very long before sampling them...

A late cauli glut

Right now I am in the middle of a cauliflower glut. The caulis I am harvesting now are my second planting of caulis - planted around Easter I think? This was the little stash from recent pickings I had in my fridge this evening. Clearly something needed to be done with them.

What to do with so many cauliflower?  Tonight I made Cauliflower Fritters and they were very good.

The recipe was stuck in my recipe folder and had obviously come from a newspaper or one of those newspaper magazines. I can't credit it better than that I am afraid, it was cut out in some dim and distant past.

The recipe calls for three eggs and parsley as well - all of which came from my chickens and my patch.

The fritters were shallow fried and were brilliant with a little Brinjal pickle.

Thankfully there is an excuse to have this again tomorrow night as there is plenty of batter left over and of course plenty of cauli still to be used up.

Aphid invasion!

Never in my life have I had an aphid invasion like this one!

Aphids have been thick on my savoy cabbages, coating the leaves with their greyness and hiding away in the folds of the forming cabbages.

The other day I decided to make a garlic spray and hit them hard.
I didn't note the quantities of the garlic spray I made up but it went something like this.

Garlic Spray

2 cups water
3 large garlic cloves finely cut up
a tiny little dash of olive oil

Pop water and garlic into a saucepan and boil up. You can kind of smell when the water has taken on the garlic odour. Cool a little before straining into a pump spay bottle. Add the olive oil and shake. When the mix is cool spray offending aphids.

Red Drumhead and Mini Wombok

Yesterday I checked to see the results and yay, hundreds, thousands of dead aphids! (I didn't take a photo unfortunately, so you'll just have to believe me.)

Now, one more problem to solve... how to get them off the cabbage. I decided on a hefty spray with the hose - just as well we have had plenty of rain lately otherwise I would hesitate using precious water in this way. This seems to have worked.

Bizarrely, it is only the Savoy cabbages that have been affected. I have Red Drumhead, Mini Cabbage and Mini Wombok in addition to the Savoys in and they are all clean. So what is it about Savoys?

As for my other brassicas, they are all doing well except for those within beak reach of the marauding chooky girls. I have lost three immature cauliflower plants to their ability to peck thru wire mesh!

How do you deal with your aphid issues? How are your cabbages?

aphid-free Savoy cabbage ( minus bloom)

Zucchini Tuesday - This is the end...

That's it, I have had it with the powdery mildew on the zucchini. Greenskin 3, the last of the three zucchinis I planted in succession this year, is too mould and spotty and it is time for it  to go to the great compost bin in the yard.

With zucchini season over for the year, and the end of Zucchini Tuesday what can I say in summary?

1. Zucchinis are tougher than they look -  Greenskin 1 toughed out a  4 hour move and then being transplanted as a mature plant into a brand new bed with poor soil. Greenskin 2 and 3 coped with the hottest summer on record with limited water. That they survived is remarkable. That they produced any fruit at all is pretty amazing. I didn't get many fruit, it is true but surviving all that abuse proves that it is a bit wonder vegetable as far as I am concerned.

Greenskin 2

2. Zucchinis survive so well because they create their own shade - Well, that's my theory anyway...all those big shady leaves. They can wilt in the heat and bounce back when the sun retreats. I reckon it would be several degrees cooler under a zucchini, and therefore less evaporation.

3. Zucchini flowers are beautiful - Big, blousy, bright yellow with massive stamens and stigmas and then they shrink back to cute bulgy butter-coloured blobs. I really must go about stuffing flowers next season.  I have never attempted it, it always seemed too much bother, but I want to take it on, at least once.

Zucchini flowers are beautiful

4. I like eating zucchini - I really do. It just takes some thinking to make zucchini meals interesting.
I have really enjoyed reading about your zucchini recipes this season.

Here are some of my favourite ones that you have shared -  in no particular order...

Little zucchini babies

Powdery mildew on Greenskin 3

Stuffed flowers
Bek's Stuffed Zucchini Flowers

Salads
Bek's Raw Zucchini Salad

Hot Vegetable dishes
Jen's Moorish Vegetables
Jen's Italian Agrodolce Zucchini

Comfort food
Bek's Zucchi Pizza
Jen's Zucchini Burger
Liz's Zucchini Cake
Liz's Zucchini Pie
Liz's Zucchini and Haloumi Fritters

This season, despite the fact that I have had very few zucchinis, I have added to my own list of recipes which can be found here.

And my zucchini plans for next year?  I will have a go at growing three different colours of zucchini - yellow, dark green and light green -  for colourful salads and a multi-coloured crack at the class 'Three zucchinis under 18cms' at the Gundagai and Adelong Agricultural Shows.

Northerners - I hope your future zucchini / courgette season goes well and hope that these recipes from the south  help you deal with your glut.

Given the amount of cabbages I have planted, I might have to do a Cabbage Tuesday, I might need some inspiration in finding enough recipes for the potential glut.

Until next season -  love your zucchini.

Zucchini Tuesday - Fritters

A whole week has passed and no posts - where has the time gone?  It must have been Easter - I will blame it anyway... I have been busy with Easter and family and friend visitors to Highfield and with building a chook house,  busy with alpaca pooh and citrus trees, with planting out brassicas and, and, and, so posts have gotten away from me.

In a few days I will post of my beautiful new chook house, the Lads that have built it and my new feathery girls but for now and much more important is badly photographed zucchini matters.

As those who follow this blog know, Tuesday is the day for zucchinis -  that veg that deserve special treatment given their glutability. Tonight we had Zucchini and Haloumi Fritters.

As by now you can see, the recipe comes from the Sydney Morning Herald - the paper of our capital city. As you can probably see  the recipe from the photograph, I wont repeat it here, in any case I am too exhausted to type it...too much chook house building.

Suffice to show, here are some photos of the delicious deployment of the zucchini surplus.

 Here be the mix...

here be the resultant fritters draining.

And it I had another photo to show you it would be the exhausted souls eating said fritters... they were yum with lamb sausages, home grown corn ( not my own, a gift from a visitor) and  my prize winning tomato and chilli jam.

(In the back of my head there is a memory of Liz from Suburban Tomato making a similar recipe to which I will link when I feel in possession of my body...)

I could go on about the state of my two zucchini plants, but we are all too tired here to elaborate.

May your zucchinis be still producing and may the culinary results of the glut be satisfying.

Until next week -  Love your Zucchini.

Zucchini Tuesday - Fritatta

I don't know about you, but one of my comfort foods is fritatta. It's a relationship that started when I first went to Spain where fritatta is a staple. Here is tonight's Zucchini and Chorizo Fritatta, inspired by  the flavours of this Spanish staple.

Zucchini and Chorizo Frittata
(* from the patch)

*2 zucchini grated
semi-dried tomatoes chopped
olive oil
1/2 red onion sliced very thinly
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1  chorizo chopped
4 eggs
250 gms ricotta
chipotle
parmesan cheese

In one bowl, mix zucchini, ricotta, semi-dried tomatoes. In a frying pan, lightly fry the garlic, onion and chorizo. In another bowl, whip eggs and pour into zucchini mix. When onion, garlic and chorizo mix is cooked on, lower the heat and pour in the egg, ricotta, onion and garlic mix. Sprinkle with chipotle and parmesan cheese. Cook on stove top until cooked at least half way through, then place frying pan under the grill to cook  from the top until cooked through. Cut fritatta and serve and eat. Yum!

I am afraid to say that all my photos of cooked food look horrible, but believe me, this was delicious.

My two zucchini plants are still producing and I an enjoying the produce and picking quite young. I am looking forward to a few more zucchini feeds this autumn before the frost nips the plants.

How are your zucchinis? What have you made recently with your zukes?

Until next week - Love your zucchini.

Thursday Garden Gobbles - White Peach Jam

The peach glut continues to be overwhelming. Each day I collect a large basket full of peaches, each day  I ponder what else to make, each day the crimson rozellas are allowed to eat their fill.  Despite already having a big stash of jam - apricot and strawberry - I decided that one of the most efficient ways of dealing with the glut is thru more jam making. Here is my recipe.

White Peach Jam
2.6 kilos of peach flesh ( stoned and peeled)
juice of 1 lemon
rind of one lemon taken off with a veggie peeler
800 gms sugar

Place all ingredients in a large pan and cook making sure it doesn't catch on the bottom. When the jam has thickened and set poor into sterilised jars and cap while still hot. This quantity yielded  5 jars.

Groaning under the volume of jam, some jars are heading their way to friends in Sydney.

I am contributing this to VG's Thursday Garden Gobbles. See what others have been making with their produce.

Zucchini Tuesday - Tart

The days are getting cooler so enough of zucchinis in salads, its time to cook. Earlier this week I decided on a light zucchini tart.

This recipe is adapted from one I found years ago in a Gourmet Traveller.  I don't know which issue as I cut the recipe out.

Zucchini and feta tart with roasted cherry tomatoes (*from the patch)
puff pastry

*3 zucchini, thinly sliced
200gm feta crumbled
black olives, cut into pieces
*thyme
finely grated rind of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic, crushed
parmesan cheese finely grated
cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Line a lose bottomed fluted tart tin with puff pastry (I used 3 sheets of frozen pastry overlapping) and blind bake in the oven at 200c.

Combine zucchini, feta, thyme, garlic and lemon rind in a bowl, season with black pepper. Spoon into pastry case, lightly sprinkle top with parmesan and bake until the mix becomes golden.

Roast tomatoes in the oven marinated in red wine vinegar and olive oil.  Remove tart from the tin carefully. Place tomatoes on the top of the tart. Eat.

I think you could do endless varieties of this recipe, indeed this is already an adaptation of the original which used dill  instead of thyme and I added parmesan and olives.

I still have two zucchinis in my patch, one is producing and the other is a little too junior still.  I am hoping to have zucchini for a little while longer. Southerners - has your zucchini made way for the winter brassicas yet?  Northerners - what  varieties of zucchini / courgette are you planning to plant for your summer crop

Until next week - Love your zucchini.

Zucchini Tuesday - Zucchini trifolati

Now I am sure that you will agree with me that 4 zucchini is not a glut, but compared to the productivity to date from my zucchini, 4 feels like inundation.

The slightly cooler weather (still in the low 30s) has been kinder on all my plants and the zucchini is finally comfortable enough to set a number of fruit.

Armed with 4 small home-grown zukes, I decided to make this side dish. The recipe comes from a Gourmet Traveller but which issue I have no idea, I cut the recipe out. I provide the amounts here I used which are  pretty much the same as in the original  recipe. It takes no time at all to make. The most time consuming part is slicing the zuke very thinly which I definitely recommend you doing - it's worth it. Indeed 'trifolati' in Italian (apparently) means to slice thinly as you would a truffle.

Zucchini trifolati  (* from the garden)
50mls extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves crushed
2 anchovy fillets
*1 tbsp chopped rosemary
* 4  small zucchini  sliced thinly across wise ( the recipe suggests two yellow and two green skinned)
* 2 tbsp oregano leaves

Heat the oil and add garlic, rosemary and anchovy fillets and cook until the anchovy starts to disappear. Add zucchini and oregano and stir until zucchini is just tender. Serve warm or at room temp.  It would be beautiful with a white fish or smoked chicken, I had it with some left over cold roast lamb because that's what I had hanging around.

How is your zucchini crop? Still going?  Contemplating zucchini preserves yet? Relish or chutney?

This week Jen from Digging up the Dirt has made a zucchini burger, I am liking it!

Until next week - love your zucchini

Show off!

Well the 98th Annual Adelong Show has concluded for the year. The Yanco Agricultural High School Equestrian Float and their highly groomed ponies have headed back up the Sturt, the pampered breed sheep and cattle can now rest in their stalls without having their wool separated and their confirmation critiqued and all can contemplate the competition and the judging, and, if they took out a prize, can stroke their felted ribbons and admire their prize winning cards.

As you will know from a previous post, I decided to try my hand and submit some entries in Section J - Jams, Jellies and  Preserves. Here is the display for Section J.

I entered 3 classes:

• Class 9 - Tomato Jam, any added flavouring with my Tomato Chilli Jam, and, drum roll please.... I took out Second Prize!

The winner of the class was  Ms Dianne Newland. It appears that there were only two entries in that class but I am consoled by two facts, 1. that the Rules and Regulations of the Pavillion  clearly state that "The Judge will not award prizes to exhibits which are not considered to possess sufficient merit" and,  2. that Ms Dianne Newland won just about every other class of Section J AND consequently  took out Most Successful Exhibitor  in the Section and was awarded a wonderful blue felt ribbon. I feel honoured to come second to such an awarded competitor and prolific jam maker.

• Class 22 - Plum Sauce. Well the class had more entries that Class 9.  There were 4 entries and I did not take out a prize. Instead the winner was Ms Joanne Crowe and in second place was Ms Leone Mears.

Congratulations Ladies!  Reflecting on my own performance and the look of the winning exhibits, I suspect I should have put my sauce through the blender, cooked my sauce on a bit to get a darker colour and popped it in a bottle with greater pouring ability. My sauce was a chunky one and I think the Stewards were looking for smooth and perhaps dark? Mine is the tall bottle with the yellow lid - pale but interesting as my mother used to say of me.

• Class 27 - Chutney AOV ( that's chutney Any Other Variety other than tomato, tomato chutney being Class 26). 

There were only three entries but I am glad to say that I took out second prize.  This time the winner was Ms Marlene Pearce. Well done Marlene!

My entry was a Peach Chutney made from my farm-grown  peaches, the very peaches I was in competition with the Wallaby for. The recipe was entirely made up from me head and adjusted for my palate. I am pretty chuffed at this one being such an improvised recipe.

In total I won $2.00, $1.00 each for each second place.  It cost me $1.50 to enter three exhibits. I donated the winnings to the Adelong Pastoral and Agricultural Show.

I was pretty pleased and excited at just taking part. I met lots of lovely ladies and saw lots of beautiful produce all of which I am sure tasted much better than anything in the shops and that very often I bet was made from home-grown produce. It feels great to have such simple home-made things valued at shows like these dotted all over the country-side. Well done everyone for making the world a more home-grown and home-made place.

That I took out two seconds makes me feel pretty happy, a small but warm achievement and a mark of being part of the community. 

On collecting my jars, one of the Stewards remembered me and my produce and commented that I had done very well and that I must enter again next year. I will, I promise.

On the journey home my prize-winning cards sat on my knee. Now at home, here they are along with their produce. 

On hearing that I had submitted entries, my mum joked with me that I will have to start a trophy wall, I guess I will have to find some way to show my cards... but perhaps not a wall. 

And The Lad said before the Show that if I won he'd carry my on his shoulders through Adelong. It's just as well I came second! Just as well as the main street of the town is so short.

Should anyone want to make my award-winning items, the recipes can be found here, I am happy to share:

• Tomato Chilli Jam
• Peach Chutney

Thursday Garden Gobbles - Peaches

Veggie Gobbler has started a new theme for Thursdays - Garden Gobbles. As the only glut I have at present is a peach glut this Garden Gobble features two dishes using peaches that I cooked this week. (It is possible that every Garden Gobble will feature peaches at this rate!).

Peach and almond muffins (*from the garden or thereabouts)
1 1/2 cup almond meal
1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup  shredded coconut
pumpkin pie spices
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
75 gms butter
*1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
*2/3 cup of peeled and stoned peaches

For the topping
*Three pieces of peach for each muffin
Slivered almond pieces
Mix of pumpkin pie spice and raw sugar

*I have included the  honey as a garden product. It resulted from hives that were put on the neighbouring property  but just down the track from us. Given that we have lots and lots of trees, it's my bet that in part at least, this honey came from our Red Box tree flowers.

The recipe made 9 muffins, I ate one before I took the photo. They are pretty yummy but quite grown up in flavour. They do have an almondy taste (which I love) and are not very sweet.

Peach chutney (from the garden)
*8 peaches, peeled and stoned
8 tomatoes, peeled
2 capsicums (1 red, 1 green)
*1 long cayenne chilli
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
a nob of ginger grated
10 black pepper corns
10 white pepper corns
3 tsp black mustard seeds

This long cayenne was grown in my former city garden and kept in my frozen chilli stash

Cut fruit and veg up into chunks, add all ingredients into a saucepan and cook until it has thickened into a jammy thick sauce. Put into sterilised jars.

This quantity made 4 jars of chutney. I have tasted it, its a unique sharp and sweet chutney. I reckon it will be perfect with a really tasty cheese and a biscuit. I love the colours!

Pop over to Veggie Gobbler to see what others have contributed to Garden Gobbles.

Zucchini Tuesday - Pancake Tuesday

Today is Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday, the day before the beginning of Lent and traditionally the day to both confess and to eat up all the rich food in your cupboard before fasting, at least that's what Wikipedia says. So naturally today I am using a zucchini to make a pancake and, to eat up the rich foods in my cupboard, I am adding bacon and avocado.

Where is the confession bit you ask? Well I don't think I should turn this blog into a confessional, so I will limit my small confession to the topic. So here it is - this recipe is not my own creative invention, I got the recipe from a website and provide the link below as well as my version. It seemed like just the right meal for the day. (Phew, feel better already after having confessed!)

Zucchini pancakes with avocado and bacon (* from the garden)

1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
*1 zucchini grated
3 bacon rashers
*cherry tomatoes
1 avocado
* basil leaves
1/2 red onion
1 clove garlic
balsamic vinegar

Make a batter with the flour, baking powder egg and buttermilk. Add  grated zucchini. Cook the pancakes and keep pancakes aside in a warm place. Cook bacon and keep aside.With the remaining ingredients, prepare a chunky salad. Assemble with pancake on bottom topped with bacon and salad.

I enjoyed this. It was light and fresh and could lend itself to many other flavour combinations.

Anyone else got a good pancake recipe that includes a zucchini? Did you make a zucchini pancake recipe today? If so tell all (but leave out the confessional). I have made plenty of fritters before with my zucchinis, a particularly nice one with dill and a fetta dipping sauce, but this is my first venture into zucchini pancakes.

What's happening with your zucchini?

Until next Tuesday - love your zucchini.

Zucchini Tuesday - I want cake!

As you know, Greenskin 1 has gone to to the great compost bin in the sky. Greenskin 2 has been doing very, very well and yesterday I picked my first zucchini from it. Yay!

Now one zucchini isn't very many is it! So the other day I bought a few zucchini from the green grocers so that I could make something. I decided I wanted cake.

As I had a large number of pilfered apples on the sideboard it had to be a zucchini and apple cake, but was there such a thing? A quick google and I found many zucchini and apple cakes so I got grating.

I amended the recipe quite a bit. It may be bad for my arteries but a cake isn't a cake if it doesn't have butter in it so one of the amendments was to substitute the suggested oil. I also reduced the amount of sugar  and made it the soft brown type instead of the recommended white. I also applied a spice and sugar mix to the top of the cake instead of mixing the spices thru the cake mix. Anyhow here is my version of the cake.

Zucchini and apple cake
2 cups grated zucchinis
2 cups grated apple (after peeling and coring)
1 cup soft brown sugar
150g butter
3 eggs
2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
1/2 cup sultanas

For sprinkling on the top
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie spices (this was given to me as a yummy Christmas gift on instruction to use it when I use cinnamon).
1 tsp raw sugar

Do the usual mixing - you know how to make a cake! This is a big cake so prepare a big tin with the usual lining.

I cooked it until I thought it was cooked based on the springyness, the skewer .... and well, it is a bit gluggy, especially down the bottom - I mustn't have put the skewer in far enough. I am not sure that it is a complete failure....it tastes pretty nice, perhaps I will serve slices hot and call it a pudding?

What would I do next time? Well, I'd reduce the amount of apple and zucchini - I'd only put in 1 cup of each, that would make it less dense and help it to cook thru better.

So if you are sick of zucchinis as a savoury vegetable, then try this with the amends I suggest. If you peel the zucchini then the kids wont know that it has zucchini in it.

Happy zucchini  growing and eating. Until next week, love your zucchini.

The Rabbit Challenge

* Viewer warning: While there are no images of dead animals in this post, if discussion of the preparation of fresh rabbits for eating disturbs you, click elsewhere. Readers from outside Australia should know that rabbits are not native to Australia and are considered a pest. Rural land holders are obliged by law to control their numbers.

Last night one of our neighbours Mr C brought round 6 freshly shot rabbits. Most were shot off our property but one was shot at Highfield after having given permission, nay begged  him to assist with our rabbit control issues. Mr C and the rabbits arrived after I had gone to bed but the Lad was up and received the shooters at the door and with esky a ready.

On asking Mr C to visit with his gun he kindly offered to 'dress' them for me once he discovered that I as former city slicker had never done it before. When I said I was willing to prepare the rabbits myself he also kindly offered to do one for me so I could see how to do it. Being the independent kind, I said, "thanks, but I have read up on 'dressing' rabbits, I'll give it a go". Was I being too confident?

I consulted two texts - Dick and James Strawbridge's Practical Self Sufficiency,

and John Seymour's The New Complete Book of Self Sufficiency. 

I decided that I preferred the version supplied by the Strawbridges - the first one shown - and read up before I went to bed keen to put my new found book knowledge to work in the morn.

It was about 6am when the Lad, in answer to my question, "how many?" said, "6". To be frank the number 6, startled me a little... I was a new comer to all this, 6 furry rabbits to clean seemed a challenge too far, one or two or even 3 seemed more manageable. Was this Mr C playing some sort of joke in response to my cockiness?

I decided that earlier in the morning for this sort of thing was best and  re-consulted the book with bleary eyes, grabbed some essential equipment (knives - a sharp small one and a heavy big one, a bucket, and a cutting board) and  headed outside.

What I learned
I hope that these short notes will assist any of you taking this task or similar tasks on. It was this detail that the books were missing that you might find useful. It may be a little confronting.

• the first one was the most difficult - unsurprising you may say.
• it is best to make two cuts to access the organs -one thru the fur and skin and then another into the 'bag' that holds the organs. The books above implied that it would happen in one go and thus I was mightily confused when with the first rabbit I couldn't see any entrails when I made my first incision!
• once I had made a gentle and small cut into the 'bag' that holds the organs, this was easily torn with your hands - in fact I think that this is 'safer' (if not a little unnerving at first) than using a knife to open the cavity more lest you cut the organs.
• once you have opened the organ 'bag', I find it easier (contrary to the book's instructions) to hold the rabbit by its front paws over a bucket and let gravity assist with the organs falling away.You do need to use your hands a little to scoop out the innards as they are loosely attached to the cavity by a sort of membrane. It comes away very easily.
• the lungs and heart are in a separate cavity above the innards, you need to be more vigorous to access these and take them out but hands I think is the way to go.
• the skin and fur are very easy to remove - just like the books say!
• the hardest bit of getting the skin and fur off is cutting the paws off, the bone even when cut right at the joint, is quite tough - I guess its the sinews that make them bounce that make it tough.
• it doesn't smell.
• it's not bloody.
• it's not hard  physically to do, I didn't find it emotionally tough either and I am a bit of a softey. In fact I feel a little proud of myself setting myself the challenge and taking it on. I had wanted to take things on like this when we moved here and I feel great that I have achieved this humble little act that our mothers and grandmothers probably did every week!
• I wasn't being too confident.

I took the back legs off the hips and tonight I am making a Spanish inspired dish. In part it comes from this SBS recipe, which is French in style, but I have amended it to replace the bacon with chorizo and have added smoked paprika. I think that the best rabbit dish I ever ate was a dish in Spain and so I had to make a dish with Spanish flavours.

The ingredients are here but I forgot to put in the photo the wine and the stock that I had in the freezer made from lamb bones.

It's in the oven right now and I hope we get to eat it! A fire truck has just raced past to attend a fire just 3kms away. Thankfully it is a calm evening - not a hint of wind. The fire no doubt was ignited by last night's lightening storm. I will post now and add a postscript if we get to eat it. By the way, the rest of the rabbits are in the freezer awaiting cooler weather and a rabbit pie.

Stay safe everyone, Queenslanders stay dry (especially you brother), and can we have a little of your excess water please?

PS:  We ate the dish, we didn't need to vacate, and it was delicious. The meat was still a little dry but not too dry and with the light sauce it was lovely. I had already started to munch on this before I took the photo, I couldn't wait!

The fire is still there but  the fire fighters have gone home - a sign that they are comfortable leaving it. There is no wind and we will keep an active watch on the RFS website.

Cooking other people's gluts - lemons

A pleasant surprise was waiting for me the other day when I returned from a trip into town. On the verandah sat a HUGE bag of lemons provided by the alpaca people up the valley - thank  you so much!  How did they know that I was in mourning for my lemon tree? How did they know that I think the kitchen is a lesser place without a full bowl of lemons? How did they know that I am sort of protesting against  buying lemons after having so many for free for years?

It sounds silly but I decided to count the lemons they had so kindly left, just to thoroughly enjoy the unexpected bounty.  There were 45 beautiful big fat lemons. Three big bowls full of lemons promptly decorated the kitchen making it a much better place.

Yesterday I started to work the glut down. First made was my favourite lemon cake. It's been somewhat munched already.

And then Lemony BBQ sauce that I will use on some chicken tonight. Its the first time I have made it. The recipe comes from a Good Weekend - the magazine that accompanies the Saturday Sydney Morning Herald. I cut it out ages ago so don't have a date for it.  It was the lemons that drew me to it! It's pretty delicious. I didn't have mustard powder so I used the same quantity of black mustard seeds.

Off now to make Lemon and Mint cordial, a recipe courtesy of Liz.

The best thing about this gift of lemons is that it proves that our climate is suitable for lemons (and other citrus). I thought  it might be too frosty in winter for a such a kitchen essential like lemons.

Got a favourite lemon recipe to share? A suggestion on how to use up the 41 lemons still to use? I am not a huge lemon curd eater - it's delicious but uses so much butter and eggs it hardens my arteries just thinking about it!  What have you been making with your lemon glut? Got a favourite lemon recipe?