As Jed Clampert used to say in the Hillbillies Oil that is, Black gold, Texas tea. Well.. we had black gold in another form and are extremely lucky to access the 2 year old piles of sheep manure scraped from underneath the wool shed at Cluden station . Maybe its Tarras Tea. We managed two trailer loads before the rain set in and let us start to prepare for our 200 trees that are meant to be arriving shortly.
We fired up the jet master fire for the first time and spent a Saturday evening with a glass of wine and finger food – cosy and safe while the welcomed rain continued outside. Again I’m back to a very favourite recipe that I used to make a lot in my catering days when we could buy real and proper Ricotta cheese and not the sloppy stuff we get in a pottle now . Ricotta is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. It is made by coagulating the proteins that remain after the casein has been used to make cheese. The clotted result is sold in baskets and you can slice it with a knife. I can never understand why we can’t do this in NZ when we make so much cheese. I did persevere with our pottle form although it was much sloppier and slightly more difficult to cook . I did end up with a reasonable result.
Ricotta Cakes with Broadbean Pesto and Slice Cold Smoked Salmon
400 grams ricotta, 125g fresh parmesan – grated, ¼ teaspoon salt, zest of a lemon, 5 tablepoons flour , olive oil.
In a bowl combine all the ingredients except the olive oil. Mix well to combine. Drop spoonfuls of the ricotta mixture into a bowl of extra flour. Shape into balls and flatten slightly, Pan fry in hot olive oil until golden brown on each side. Cool on paper towels. (If you have a non stick pan it would be better.)
Broadbean and Sun-dried Tomato Pesto
½ cup broad beans, blanched and peeled, ½ cup parsley, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tablespoons capers , 6 sundried tomatoes , 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs,
1 cup crustless stale white bread, juice of a lemon, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, ½ cup olive oil.
Place all the ingredients in a food processor except the olive oil. Slowly add the olive oil and process util smooth – (you may need a little more oil) Spoon a teaspoonful of broad bean pesto on the ricotta cakes and top with a slice of cold smoked salmon. Serve on a platter as a finger food – or In our case casual dinner. – I always have a packet of cold smoked salmon slices in the fridge from Harbour Fish – they are so useful and perfect for platters. You can also make the ricotta cakes larger and top with pesto and proscuitto and serve as a light meal or starter.
We also had a cheese platter with thinly sliced bread toasted in the toastie pie machine and cut into 3, a bowl with my pear and ginger chutney and a block of Kapiti cheese port wine cheddar, sliced.
Sometimes grazing platters are all you need – especially sitting around a fire.
Travel Memories
Highland Recommendations
Scotland has produced some of the world’s most revered poets. For centuries, Scotland’s mountains, forests and cities have inspired works of art: paintings, sculpture, sweeping novels and beautiful photographs. However, poetry is capable – in the right pair of hands – of doing something a little bit magical, but, as we travel back into the Highlands we don’t need to be poets to know that Scotland’s landscapes are inspirational.
On a beautiful sunny calm morning our arrival on the ferry from Stornaway was to the little port side village of Ullapool. It looked exquisite with its narrow streets lined with pure white cute terrace houses. I spotted a sign for a Smoke house so before leaving we made an impromptu visit to check out what they smoked and sold. The rough edged characterful owner came to meet us and I think he must have been impressed with our interest so he invited us on a spur of the moment tour of his small but extremely efficient operation. Using the left over stays of whisky barrels he smokes hand fed locally farmed salmon, to be sold all over Scotland and exported. The end product was superb and we certainly had an unforgettable unexpected treat. I did give him a packet of Napkins with NZ Native flowers on them. He did say thank you – but he commented ” Do I look the sort of guy that would use a napkin”.
Oh seeing those Scot photos I could almost smell that salmon made my mouth water looking at it. Yum.
Nice for you n Philip with the help of the weather to eventually relax with fire on and a wine…,nice.
Hi Trace, You would love Scotland and especially their fabulous seafood. I hear you have had stunning weather and managed a picnic for Betty’s birthday .
Take care XXX Jude