OTAGO FARMERS MARKET

It is good to be back !
It has been so frustrating missing out on the fabulous summer produce, i have so many amazing recipes and helpful ideas that we need to catch up on.  This week at the market i am going to tempt you all with a chilli taster, using Kakanui Produce amazing array of chillies. You will be amazed how wonderful and varied they taste - they are not all hot! I will also be teaming up their sweet soil grown tomatoes with some of Brydones garlic and Levito sourdough to create a "proper" bruschetta.  Wairuna Organics have such a varied array of produce i am going to play around with the humble marrow.  I will also be making a cake or two and maybe even a drop of wine from Judge Rock Wines. 
I will see you all soon for some wonderful food and wine.


NEW SEASON GARLIC AND TOMATO BRUSCHETTA
It may seem so simple that it is not worthy of a recipe, but I assure you to do something so simple, correctly is another matter – it all comes down to great ingredients which in return will give you one of the most delicious snacks of your summer

Serves 4


1 loaf good quality day-old sourdough bread
1-2 cloves garlic
2-4 sun-ripened tomatoes, halved
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling


Method
Heat up your barbecue or ridged griddle plate to medium.
Slice your bread into 8 slices (1.5 cm thick)
Place the bread on the grill and toast until golden and the grill makes have appeared. Turnover and continue with the other side. The bread should be firm on the outside yet still a bit moist and soft in the middle.
Transfer bread to a plate/board and cut the garlic clove in half (this will release the oils). Rub generously with the garlic and then rub generously with a tomato half. Be quite firm so you are left with nothing but the skin, discard. Drizzle heavily with extra virgin olive oil and enjoy every mouthful!




CELERY – Use the tough outer leaves for infusing stocks, soups and acting as a trivet when roasting meat and fish.
I always peel the string of the celery stalks with a peeler and you will find the celery more enjoyable to eat. The light coloured leaves are wonderful added to salads or finely chopped and sprinkled over soup or risotto at the last minute to add a last minute hit of flavour.


CELERY GRATIN
A great side dish for roast meats.
Serves 4-6

1 head of celery, with its leaves
100g crème fraiche or sour cream
About 1 litre vegetable stock or water1 small onion, peeled and sliced
1 bouquet garni made with 1 bay leaf, 3-4 parsley stalks, 2 sprigs thyme
6 peppercorns
Salt and ground black pepper
1 small knob butter, for greasing
3 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 small handful fresh white breadcrumbs
30g grated parmesan or gruyère


Method
Heat the oven to 180C.


Cut the leafy ends off the celery and reserve. Remove any tough strings from the outer stalks, and cut the sticks into 10cm lengths.


Put the stock or water, onion, bouquet garni and peppercorns into a pan. Bring to a boil and add some salt and the celery. Lower to a simmer, partially cover and poach until the celery is just tender, about 15 minutes. Remove celery from the poaching liquid and arrange in a lightly buttered gratin dish.


Pour the strained poaching liquid into a clean pan and discard the onion, peppercorns and bouquet garni. Simmer until reduced to about 100ml, remove from the heat and whisk in the crème fraîche, about two tablespoons of chopped celery leaves, if you have them, and the parsley. Adjust the seasoning and pour over the celery.
In a small bowl, stir together the breadcrumbs and cheese, sprinkle over the gratin and bake until golden and bubbling, about 20 minutes.


MARROW WITH DILL AND LEMON
Serves 4


1 good size (about 900g) marrow
50 g butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
1 sprig of fresh dill, chopped
juice of ½ -1 lemon
salt and freshly ground black pepper


Method
Peel the marrow, remove the seeds and chop into cubes.
Melt half the butter and add 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large frypan, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add the marrow and cook quickly until starts to colour and soften (about 8 minutes)
Add the remaining butter, dill and squeeze of lemon juice and seasoning. Toss to combine, and for the flavours to mingle. Adjust seasoning and enjoy.




POTATO, CELERY AND CAPER SALAD


1 kg Baby potatoes, boiled and halved
10 g salted capers, rinsed and drained
1 red onion onions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup chervil, parsley, basil or marjoram
150g coarsely chopped celery heart and leaves


Dressing
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
20 ml red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp white sugar


Method
Combine cooked potatoes, capers, red onion, chervil and celery in a large serving bowl.
For dressing – combine all ingredients in a bowl, season with salt and freshly black pepper and whisk to combine. Pour over potato mixture, toss well to combine and serve immediately.


APRICOT AND RASPBERRY BUCKLE

This cake derives from North America and I love it! It is simple to prepare and full of fresh flavours of summer! It doesn't require an electric mixer it can pretty much be made in one bowl and it can be made throughout the year changing the fruit as you go.

Makes 12 generous squares

175g self-raising flour
200g softened butter
2 Tbsp demerara sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
175g caster sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 apricots, stoned and sliced
200g raspberries, fresh or frozen
Method
Preheat oven to 180C
Grease and line the base of a 23cm square tin.

For the crumble mix: put 2 Tbsp flour and 25g of the butter along with the demerara sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Rub between your fingers until it resembles clumpy, damp breadcrumbs.


Tip the remaining flour, butter, caster sugar, eggs and vanilla into a bowl. Beat well until combined. Lightly fold in half the apricots and then the raspberries (do not over mix as the raspberries will mash up), pour into prepared tin and spread lightly and evenly to fill tin.


Scatter over the remaining fruit, then sprinkle with the crumble mix. Bake for 45-50 minutes until light and golden, cool for 10 minutes and then remove from tin.
Cut into squares – great warm with cream or ice cream and just as fantastic cold for a snack.


Alison would like to thank the following vendors for all their lovely produce.
LEVITO BAKERY – BREAD
KAKANUI PRODUCE – SOIL GROWN TOMATOES AND CHILLIES
JANE FIELD HYDROPONICS – BASIL AND WATERCRESS
BRYDONE ORGANICS – CELERY, GARLIC AND RED ONIONS
WAIRUNA ORGANICS – MARROW
GODDARDS - POTATOES