Living in Lovely Dunedin: GRADUATES EVERYWHERE

2014-12-18 - Dunedin Parade

 

The picture is not my own see http://www.otago.ac.nz (next year I will have my camera ready!)

I am totally bowled over by this small university city!  On Saturday morning we drove through the central business district (for starters, where else is that possible!), and got caught up in a traffic jam. The main street was closed and as the litany of complaints rose from troops in the back seat( ‘I will never see my mommy again’ was just one) we heard the pipers coming up the road.  A group of pipers fully kitted out in splendid kilts and all led what must have been all the graduates of Dunedin University of this year, plus the staff. Billowing robes and sashes, flags, beaming students and proud parents running hither and thither with their cameras filed past.  It felt as if the entire town, including us, was out celebrating with the successful students. What a blast! Where else but in Dunedin!

FOUR DIFFERENT EGGS FOR BREAKFAST

2014-12-17 - Four Eggs 2 2014-12-17 - Four Eggs

 

Fried eggs for breakfast. The unique thing was not the bit of chili and butter in the pan but that the eggs were from top to bottom: bought brown hens egg , pure white egg, laid by my Ancona hen, egg laid by my guinea fowl hen and a pretty speckled egg laid by my quail hen.  In the pan the pale yellow is the bought egg and the middle egg beside it is the guinea fowl egg. The latter took a bit longer to cook than the others. Very tasty treat. Yolk color is more often than not an indication of quality of the feed consumed and the general well being of the bird.

Living in Lovely Dunedin: Mount Cargill

2014-12-12 - Valley 1 2014-12-12 - Valley 2 2014-12-12 - Valley 3 2014-12-12 - Valley 4 2014-12-12 - Valley 5 2014-12-12 - Valley 6

We drove up to the lookout on Mount Cargill (676 meters above sea level) and were rewarded with a great view of Dunedin with its backdrop of blue water and sky. Everywhere we go we find very old stone drywall constructions and this is just one beauty on the way up the mountain.   We intend exploring the walking track up past the organ pipes formed by cooled lava soon.

Porchetta – Roast Pork Leg

Riomaggiore gebakte vark2014-12-04 - Pork Roast 1 2014-12-04 - Pork Roast 2

We were given a lovely bit of pork – free range of course! It was quite a big leg and I had to trim it quite a lot to make it fit the pot. I do have roasting trays big enough for large pieces of meat but my present oven is not wide enough for them.

PORCHETTA  (leg only. In Italy one sees the whole pig roasted to perfection)

The pork will roast for a few hours so arrange the rosemary and sage twigs, a handful of bay leaves, one lemon, two whole garlic (skin on), for the pork to rest on, in the bottom of the pot. Drizzle generously with olive oil

Score the skin of the joint deeply, right down to the meat

Ingredients for paste :

1 handful of fresh rosemary

1 handful if fresh sage

3 peeled cloves of garlic

4 or 5 fresh bay leaves

3 tablespoons olive oil or more

salt and pepper

Pre heat the oven to maximum heat. It must be really hot so heat it for at least 20 minutes

Meanwhile, put all the paste ingredients in a mortar and pound vigorously. Add olive oil to make a rough paste. Cover the skin with the mixture forcing it between the scored pieces of skin. Rub salt on the skin to help the crackling process. Put the meat in the pot or pan, on top of the sage, rosemary, bay and garlic. and put it in the center of the hot oven. Roast the meat at the high heat for about 25 minutes or until you have golden brown crackling, then turn the heat down to 170 degrees and cook for 3 hours or until the meat is soft enough to break away wit a fork.

The flavor and aroma is wonderful and the leftovers are even better. With friends and family present when the pork came out of the oven, on the excitement, I forgot to photograph the finished product so you will have to take my word for it that it was perfectly crackled all over!