I haven’t been home at this time of the year for well over 10 years although I used to arrive back after the shortest day when the worst of Winter does come on the scene. Returning to St Clair after lockdown was rather weird to start off but i was happy to be back to the beach and enjoy a fabulous dinner at the New Titi restaurant and Sunday night Pizza’s at the Esplanade with our ‘Local’ friends. Although we have also gone back to our River house in Tarras the brutal Central Otago Inversion layer has been very difficult this year.
Making the most of sunny warm days in late Autumn was thankfully well received and it featured gardening most days. I am in my happy place and the vision for developing our little Dunedin place is slowly happening, even if it is a bog now thanks to the recent rain and cold days. With the help of Max from student job search, a trailer load of Donkey poo (from a friend of Philips that I was sitting beside at the Rugby – $1 a bag, pocket money for his boys who “Must help”) Philip and I have shifted and planted existing shrubs. It is amazing how the backyard is now pretty full. I can’t wait until spring to see if the transplanted bulbs are happy in their new garden.
I’m still loving these Chrysanthemums that we enjoyed in Tarras and then brought them back to Dunedin and they have continued to flower for the past 3 weeks.
I hope many of you have managed to visit your New Zealand families since lockdown. I did have a week in Auckland and it was such a joy to see our 18 month old grandson Asher and Richard, Holly and Hannah. Asher and I got to know each other again and had fun baking, playing in the garden and a zoo visit. It was so lovely to spend coffee and playtime with my guide Charles’s daughter Xanthe and granddaughter Celeste. Dinner out is always a family must and our favourite Italian restaurant ‘Farina’ on Ponsonby Rd never fails to delight with stunning authentic pizza and pasta.
Cooking wise…. has been all about baking meals in the oven. I literally bake all vegetables including wedges of cabbage, whole cauliflower, winter favourites – parsnip, yams, kumara and butternut. I always make too much and use left over vegetables for soups. My ‘goto’ is to serve baked vegetables with my favourites – fillet of fish, panfried chicken breast or Silver Fern Farms Flat Iron steaks or Lamb. Rumps, which I always have in the fridge. Dunedin has a recently new butcher called the “Princess St Butcher’ . They make the most divine sausages – last week I bought chicken flavoured with lemongrass and coriander and they were about to make duck sausages!!! Our son Richard used to call sausages Sogga’s as a little boy and they will forever have that name for us.
Last Sunday was pretty miserable as we watched the new soil on our front garden become a bog. Baked scones filled with stewed apple , spices and brown sugar were pretty decadent for breakfast and I made a huge batch of Yotum Ottolenghi’s absolutely fabulous meatballs for dinner with friends and another batch of baked vegetables topped with panfried Fennel and Brussel sprouts . I did provide this recipe during lockdown .
Ricotta and Oregano Meatballs – Yotum Ottoleghi – From Simple
2 large onions finely diced, 4 cloves garlic – crushed, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1x 400 gram tin chopped tomatoes, 500 ml chicken stock, 500 grams beef mince , 100 grams fresh breadcrumbs , 250 grams ricotta , 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, salt and pepper. 4 tablespoons olive oil
In a frying pan , sauté the onions and garlic, cook until soft and starting to colour. Remove half of the onions. Add the oregano, tomatoes and half the stock . Simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Place the mince, remaining onions, breadcrumbs, ricotta, parmesan cheese, egg, parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a good grinding of black pepper. Mix with your hands until the all ingredients are combined. Using wet hands shape into 12-14 balls .
Cook the meatballs in 2-3 tablespoons of oil in a largish frying pan until browned, turning with two forks until golden. Pour over the tomato sauce along with the remaining chicken stock. The meatballs need to be just covered so add a little water if necessary. Cover and cook on medium heat for 30 – 40 minutes. Cook with the lid off for 10 minutes or until the sauce is thick . Add chopped fresh oregano if you have any .
Today was the day I would have returned to New Zealand from my tour to Turkey. I would have been away for 7 weeks after departing for Scotland in May and this year missed my week in London with friends Susan and Tom, when we always visited a famous garden, the Columbia flower market on Sunday morning and a spot of shopping. I got to explore London by day and enjoy Susan’s amazing food at night enhanced by Tom’s wine.
There are lots of great winter inspirations – I gave a friend this beautiful new Hellebore as a thank you gift and she cleverly placed it in a beautifully polished silver wine barrel to enjoy for a few weeks inside. A bunch of bare branches always look good especially if they have coloured stems or buy a pot of spring flowering bulbs that you can then plant to enjoy next year.
I am back to planning and considering a South Island based tour in the Spring. At this stage I am investigating hotels, sourcing gardens and visits to wineries, historic sites and of course restaurants. Philip and I visited and explored central Victoria a year ago and I also have in the back of my mind a tour starting and finishing from Melbourne. Obviously this is all about the availability of Australian and New Zealand travel and not looking very positive at the moment.
I would be keen to get feed back of any interest in these tours and if you have suggestions that you would like to do in the future…. then please forward them on to me .
As the rains gets heavier and we are enclosed in fog I have enjoyed sitting down and writing again today. I have an embroidery to complete for little Mia and a good book – The Bee Keeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri.
To all my lovely guides, hotels and restaurants in Scotland, Turkey, Italy and France – I hope your businesses are improving and summer will bring more people.
Stay Safe and Stay Well XXXXX Jude