Nashi Pear and Celery Salad

My generous neighbor has a large established garden with some prolific fruit trees. I got some of his nashi pears as a gift. I love eating them like one would eat an apple, but for the rest of the family I had to combine the pears with some freshly harvested celery to make a crunchy salad. I had to make it again the next day, always a sign that the recipe was a good one!

1 large nashi pear

1/4 head of celery

5 cm of leek

1 1/2 table spoon fruit scrap vinegar

4 table spoons olive oil

salt and pepper

You can add chopped nuts and a bit of strong cheese if you have any on hand

Chop everything up and mix with a dressing made of the vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Serve with fresh bread, and on a hot day, a glass of chilled Prosecco.

Peperoni Soffritti con le Uove (Sweet Peppers)

This is peperoni preserve time and I have been asked what to do with “Peperoni Sott’Olio” other than serve it as anti pasto – here is but one recipe. It could also be used in any recipe that calls for capsicum, or you can make a fresh panini with your preserved capsicum, fresh tomato and strong cheese or salami and a fresh bread roll just out of the oven.

Fry your preserved peperoni in some of the oil used to preserve it in for a few minutes until soft. Ad some chopped peeled and deseeded fresh tomato. When the tomato and peperoni are both soft pour on two slightly beaten eggs (eight eggs if you use quail eggs), add salt and pepper, and cook very briefly until just set. Sprinkle with a bit of grated Parmigiano Cheese. Serve immediately with that bread that just came out of the oven – Breakfast fit for a King (and Queen).

The only problem is that the peperoni in the photo is not from my garden and I am still trying to grow it successfully in Dunedin – maybe next year!

Raw Milk Ricotta Cheese

My raw milk ricotta has turned out very well. I don’t even want to talk about the vile supermarket stuff, but the raw milk effort is vastly different in taste and texture to the batch I made with supermarket milk. The high cream content, and the absence of added water makes a very rich, creamy, soft cheese. Here is a link to my ricotta cheese recipe, good enough but if you can, do it with raw milk.

I made bruschetta for lunch

Toast bread, rub with a clove of garlic drizzle olive oil over . Sopon ricotta cheese thickly on to the bread, add a few dabs of carrot top pesto, salt, pepper and another drizzle of olive oil. Eat it immediately befor the bread cools. Delicious. Link for carrot top pesto

PEPERONI SOTT’OLIO

One part water and one part vinegar (good quality) add salt and pepper to taste plus a few bay leaves. Bring to the boil. Cut peperoni in 3 mm strips and throw into the water/ vinegar. When the water boil again, drain the peperoni. While still hot put into the jars and cover with good olive oil – ad two fresh bay leaves and a few garlic to the jar and seal immediately. Keeps in the pantry for ever. Beautiful!

Dunedin Botanical Gardens: The Herb Garden

We live close enough to include the Gardens in our regular walks. In the beginning we spent time in the herb garden to see what grows well in this climate and what does not so we could plan our own garden. Today went to see the garden in full flower, and spent a very happy time sniffing and nibbling at a leaf or two and marveling at how beautiful a herb garden can be. The light was very subdued, a typically cloudy but warm summers day, with some mist on the tops of the hills, not ideal for taking pictures