Where have all the figs gone?

Jerusalem Artichokes in Flower

Our Jerusalem Artichokes have just come into flower and have added some nice colour to our garden leading into Autumn. It still surprises me how similar they look to daisies when in full bloom and how very different they are to their better known cousins. 

Soon as winter approaches the flowers will wither and the long stalks, which are between 6 to 8 feet tall, will die back to the ground and then the bulbs will be ready to pick. It is growing time now and hopefully the bulbs are getting nice and fat. We usually leave the bulbs in the ground over winter and go and pick them as we need or feel like it. 

I started our crop about 7 years ago from a one small bulb taken from a family friend and we have eaten kilos of them ever since. Just be wary if growing at home, they can be invasive!  

I just love the nutty flavour of the artichoke and while we just love roasting them with our other vegies, i have let the crop grow larger than previous years as i wanted to experiment a little more (maybe a soup). Stay tuned for some recipes over winter. 

Homemade Hot Cross Buns

So these buns take a bit of effort, which can be hard to justify when hot cross buns can be purchased pretty much anywhere for about 60 cents a pop. (And who doesn't love those half-dozen hot cross buns that you buy at the supermarket that stay soft for weeks).

But these buns are worth the effort just for the smell of having them baking throughout the house. Unfortunately they don't stay soft for weeks, so eat them immediately (or freeze them and enjoy them for longer).

160g (1 cup) raisins

115g (3/4 cup) currants

50g mixed fruit peel

Grated zest of 1orange

100ml fresh orange juice

1 tablespoon (15g) dried yeast

60ml (1/4 cup) warm water

185mL (3/4 cup) warm milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

125g melted unsalted butter

90g (1/2cup) brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

625g (5 cups) plain flour, sifted

1 teaspoon allspice

3 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

60g (1/2 cup) plain flour (extra)

Glaze:

115g (1/2cup) caster sugar

Soak the raisins (roughly chopped), currants & orange zest in the orange juice overnight.

Combine the yeast, warm water and a pinch of sugar in a bowl. Whisk and set aside for 15 minutes to go frothy (to make sure yeast is active). 

Combine the melted butter, vanilla extract, brown sugar, warm milk, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl (e.g. mixmaster). Combine the sifted flour with the allspice. Stir the yeast mixture and 3 cups of the flour into the milk mixture. Beat to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time then mix in the remaining flour, salt and mixed fruit (including fruit peel).

Beat for 10 minutes using a dough hook, or knead by hand for 5-8 minutes (the mixture will become tacky). Set aside in a well oiled bowl for 1 hour.

Divide the mixture into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a small ball and place on a well oiled tray. Set aside in a warm spot for another 30 minutes to rise.

To make the cross: mix together the extra 1/2cup of plain flour with 1/2cup of water to make a thick paste. Pipe onto the buns.

Place in a preheated oven (170 degrees) for 35-40 minutes.

To make the glaze, combine the sugar with ½ cup of water in a saucepan and boil until dissolved. 

Brush the buns with the glaze for the last 5 minutes of baking time.

Figs with vanilla ricotta and honey

Our figs are starting to dwindle. We have preserved a heap, eaten a heap and exchanged them for pizzas at our local pizza shop. Our daughter walks to the tree, points to it and says "Um"!

We made this vanilla baked ricotta with the fresh vanilla pods our friend smuggled into Australia from Bali (thanks Gin). It is officially our new favourite way to eat ricotta, and would be great with lots of different fruits (like rhubarb or a compote of Autumn pears, apples and quince). But the figs make it seem more exotic.

750g fresh ricotta
2 cups icing sugar
2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk extra
1 vanilla bean (split)
9 figs
caster sugar
honey

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees and grease and line a medium loaf tin.

Place the ricotta in a bowl with the icing sugar, eggs and scraped out vanilla bean. Beat until combined then pour into the prepared loaf tin.

Place in a roasting dish and fill the dish with enough water to reach halfway up the loaf tin. Bake for 30-40 minutes (until just set).

Remove the tin from the roasting dish and leave to cool completely. When cool, turn the baked ricotta out onto a board, then slice into 1.5cm thick slices.

Cut the figs in half and sprinkle each one with a few pinches of caster sugar. Place under a hot grill and cook until the sugar starts to caramelize.

Serve a slice of baked ricotta topped with the figs and drizzled with honey.

Rosewater and Plum Jam

We are taking advantage of the end of season surplus of fruits and squirreling away for the long cold Melbourne winter. Our plum tree rewarded us with 5 plums this year (they were delicious). So we bought a few kilos at the markets last week and made a batch of this delicious jam (another Greg Malouf recipe).

As a dear friend noted, this tastes just like Turkish Delight Jam. Yum.

2.5kg plums

50mL Rosewater

Sugar

Place the plums in a large heavy based saucepan with a small amount of water and boil for about 10 minutes (until they are soft and mushy).

Strain them overnight through some sort of cloth (like a kitchen chux).

Pour the strained juice into a pan with 500g of sugar for every 600mL of juice. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved then bring to the boil.

Boil for 20-25 minutes, until the jam reaches setting point  (a spoonful placed onto a cool dish in the fridge will develop a skin).

Remove from the heat and skim the froth from the surface.

Stir in the rosewater then carefully ladle into sterilised jars. Return the jars to a pot of boiling water and boil for ten minutes to seal. 

Rainy weekend: Preserved peaches

Frank's dad brought us a fridge full of late season peaches, which were starting to look a little wrinkly. We preserved them in this light sugar syrup, which tastes just like tinned peaches. Only problem is they are so much better than the tinned peaches we are used to.

This method is super quick, and the peaches will last for months if preserved correctly. And if we don't eat them first.
 

Fresh peaches (we used up about 20 largish peaches)

Sugar

Peel and quarter peaches. Place in a saucepan, cover with water and add ½ cup sugar. Poach briefly (5 minutes) then strain the fruit out. Add an extra cup of water and a further ½ cup of sugar to make a sugar syrup (or make up quantities to taste). Boil the sugar syrup (further 5 minutes).

Place the peaches into sterilised jars. Fill the jars with the sugar syrup, making sure there are no air bubbles. 

Screw the lids onto jars, immerse in a big pot of boiling water and boil for 15 minutes to seal.

Rainy weekend: Preserved Figs

So the seasons have decided to dramatically change all of a sudden, and we spent the weekend indoors thanks to rain and a febrile toddler.

So we spent our time preserving like madmen... acquiring quite a few superficial burns upon the way.

This fig recipe is delicious! It comes from an Italian fig farmer and is a great way to use up all the small leftover fruit on our fig tree.

It uses white wine vinegar and spices (oh, and kilos of sugar too). The vinegar gives the figs an amazing sour taste, which counters the kilos of sugar. We are devouring them with ice cream every night.

 

Preserved Figs

4kg figs

5 cups sugar

2 L water

1 tablespoon of cloves

1 cinnamon stick

3 cups white wine vinegar (or you could use balsamic vinegar but it might go a darker colour)

Combine 3cups of sugar and water in a large pot and bring to the boil. Add the figs (whole, cleaned and pricked once or twice with a fork). Simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the rest of the sugar, the vinegar and spices and cook until the figs become clear.

Remove from the heat and stand for 12-24 hours in the syrup in a cool place.

Place into sterilised jars and fill with syrup. Return the jars to a large pot of boiling water and cook for about 15 minutes to seal.

Last days of summer...

It seems our daughter has inherited the Italian gene for watering concrete. She also has her father's penchant for posing for photos with vegetables...