Chestnuts

Pretty labour intensive, but worth it as once they are sauteed in a bit of butter they are satisfyingly both crunchy and creamy. Once peeled they should be used within a couple of days.They are a truly seasonal product that doesn’t have the shelf life of other nuts, so are best stored in the fridge. To peel, use a small, sharp knife to cut a small cross through the pointy end of the chestnut. Put into boiling water, cover and boil steadily for 8 minutes. They should be peeled while still warm, and to that end, we tend to leave them in the water and pull out a few at a time. Both the glossy dark brown shell and the inner papery layer need to be removed. The second layer can really have an unpleasant taste, so persevere. It’s not a big deal if the chestnut breaks into pieces, as they are probably easier to use this way. The next step is to roast or saute the peeled chestnuts in butter, then they are ready to be combined with other ingredients...
Chestnuts do have an affinity with cabbage and brussels sprouts. I think they also work well with radicchio in a warm salad - perhaps we will get that on the menu soon with some duck. Pumpkin, sage and chestnut is the other obvious pairing this time of year.This week we have lucked onto a small supply of nettles, so have made some nettle pasta to serve with our pumpkin and chestnuts. I think nettles have a very nutty flavour, and with a bit of brown butter all these elements work together well. It’s a very pretty pasta to work with too...


Quinces in the oven

Because of their long cooking time(2.5 hours perhaps) the best option is to bake them. A heavy dish with it’s own lid reduces the amount of liquid that will evaporate. This helps the quinces cook evenly and prevents an overly sweet end result. It’s a good idea to put the quince slices into a bowl of water with a bit of lemon to reduce the oxidation, or browning, of the cut slices. Having said that, I have found any mild oxidation seems to disappear as the quinces cook.
Preheat oven to 180C
Wash 6 large quinces. Peel, and using a sharp knife, halve and quarter them.
Cut out the cores with a small knife, being sure to remove all the white inner lining.
Put in your oven dish, 5 tablespoons of honey, 1/2 c sugar and pour 500 ml water over the top. You can add a vanilla bean, halved lengthwise.
After 1/2 hour turn the oven down to 150C and cook gently for another 2 hours,removing the lid for the last half hour. The quinces should turn a shade somewhere between orange and pink. Taste the syrup for sweetness - to achieve more intensity of flavour remove the quinces from the dish and boil the syrup for a few minutes. We use quinces cooked this way on danishes and tarts, and as a component on dessert plates. Pannacotta and honey roasted quinces anyone?

keep cups keep on giving...

if you haven't heard about these or even own one, now's the time.
out of Melbourne these are the best reusable coffee cup to come our way so far.

sardines anyone?

love these little fishy friends....

quince danish

here's how those quinces ended up....

surpriseseresinquinces

How delightful to take delivery of these two fragrant boxes .
Thanks to marcia and lars at Seresin we will be enjoying yummy quince danishes and Sarah's semolina and quince tart for days to come....

Coffee Supreme's other divison

as well as supplying the best coffee in town these boys built us a bike rack for our ever growing fleet of cycles....

built out of old pallets it is the perfect fit for our mixed bag of bikes - Tilly's old Raleigh, Matt's fixee and Kelda's slick new Scott......