Lavender + Honey Shortbread

Spring is a very short season here in Jacksonville and already, the last of the spring days are almost over. The trees that lost their leaves only a month or two ago are back to being green and the wild flowers popping up on peoples front lawns have began to wilt. The lavender, that I haven't gotten around to planting out yet and that is in most places a summer blooming plant, is already at full flower and it won't be long before it goes back to sleep until the start of next year. Although I am looking forward to the afternoon storms and the constant excuse to be at the beach, I am a little hesitant about facing the wall of humidity that is about to hit us, as well as the impossibility of growing in the garden anything pretty or somewhat seasonal. I would love the spring weather that we have now to last the entirety of the summer. I want to preserve it.

A very wise man once told me that honey, in it's purest most raw form, is natures very own medicinal remedy for preservation. That in the past, insects and animals have been found swimming in it and although thousands of years old, look as though they had fallen into the honey just yesterday. This same man, would once a month take a trip out to the bush to meet his friend the 'honey man', who would provide him with a 3kg bucket of raw honey, straight from the hive, and most probably made from iron bark flowers or some other type of eucalyptus blossom. Every month, this bucket of honey would be emptied and every month, this man would go back to the bush to his friend and get another bucket. This went on for years. Most of the honey was used in tea. This man drank a lot of tea.

Although old, this man didn't ever look it. Nor did he ever behave like it. The honey quite literally preserved him. With every cup of tea, this man bolstered life. Each cup reminded him that he was only as old as he allowed himself to be. The day he became old was the day that he let down his family. So, no pity was ever shed on his age. No day was ever too hard. No task was too much effort.  No happy moment was ever left behind, and no bad memory was ever left without lesson. This man believed in preservation. Of life. Of treasured memories. Of family. Of love.

Yes the days get away from us, seasons change and yes, we can sometimes feel the years take their toll. But hearing people around me, particularly those who are in their late 20's or early 30's joke or complain about 'getting old', well, it irks me. I'm not sure if it's just habitual to complain. Or if indeed they really do believe it. However, I do know that I much prefer to be in the company of those who grasp and preserve the idea of youth, who, despite being 80 years old, still believe that they have the energy and juvenescence needed to make the most of their life.  Those who believe in preservation. Those who have honey in their tea.

So, this weeks recipe brings with it an attempt to preserve. To preserve life as in the old/young mans lesson, and to preserve the last of the lavenders flowers from the spring here in Jacksonville.

May every day be filled with the youth of spring.

Lavender + Honey Shortbread

prep time: 20 minutes
cook time: 40 minutes
total time: 1 hour 
yields: 12-16 pieces 

1 cup butter room temperature
1/3 cup raw honey
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon dry or fresh lavender petals
2-1/2 cups  all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 150°C / 300°F / gas mark 2.

Combine butter, honey and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat on medium speed until combined and creamy. Add in the lavender petals and continue beating until the lavender is well distributed among the mixture. Add in flour, one cup at a time, beating on low speed in between each cup.

Turn dough out into a 23cm / 9 inch ungreased tart or pie pan. Press out dough so that it is even and flat in the pan. Score the surface of the dough to make 12 - 16 pie shaped triangles, so that the shortbread can be easily cut for serving and sharing. Use a fork to prick the dough around the edges and along the scores.

Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until the edges of the shortbread begin to brown and the majority of the shortbread remains pale.

Once baked, let the shortbread sit for 10 minutes before dividing into wedges.

Clams

The best part about living in a foreign country? Finding and trying new local, fresh food. I have decided that one of my favourite finds so far has been fresh clams. I have very fond memories of first trying them in Charleston at the Kinfolk Dinner last year. I also adored them paired with pappardelle at Vinegar Hill House in Brooklyn, NY. In Australia it's all about oysters, mussels, sometimes cockles and pipis. Very rarely will you find a clam dish on the menu.  I'm not sure about the West Coast of the USA, but on the East Coast, clams are all the rage. The further north you go, the more 'soupy' they become - Maine Clam Chowder for example. Down here in the south, they are mostly found in big ol' Low Country boils, or just simply steamed or raw and served on the half shell with a nice vinaigrette.

I'm hoping that before the time comes for us to leave this southern state that we currently call home, I will find the opportunity to go clamming. It sounds so adventurous doesn't it? Out on a boat, through the marsh canals, digging up the mud to find buckets of fresh, free clams. I'm ready Florida. Take me out. But for now, it is off to the local fish market I go (twice - the first time I was left with stinky, dead clams - a little present I found in my fridge after suffocating them in a plastic bag overnight. Lesson learnt).

Once I made the emergency bike ride trip to the fish market and made it home with my round two of fresh clams, I decided to steam them à la moules marinière with a bit of a twist.

Here is the recipe:

Steamed Clams

prep time: 5 minutes
cook time: 15 minutes
total time: 20 minutes
yields: 2 as an appetizer, 1 as a main course 

1 tbs olive oil
1/2 small fennel bulb finely chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped or grated
5 fresh sage leaves shredded
1 tsp fresh thyme chopped
1 dried chili chopped
good pinch of salt and cracked pepper
1/2 cup good white wine
200 ml/7 oz thickened cream
600g/1.3lbs of fresh, live little neck clams (about 20 pieces)
crusty bread, to serve

Rinse clams under cold running water and remove any blemishes.

Heat oil in a large heavy based saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, fennel, chili, sage, thyme, salt and pepper and allow to sweat for around 10 minutes. Turn up the heat to high. Once the pan is really sizzling, add the wine, cream and clams. Give the clams a quick stir to coat them in the sauce, then cover and allow to steam for 4 - 5 minutes. Be careful not to over cook - this will result in chewy clams. Once steamed, remove the lid to check that all of the clams have opened. Remove the already opened ones and place in a bowl. You may need to allow the remaining closed ones to cook for a further minute or two. If they remain unopened, throw them away.

Test the sauce and adjust with salt, pepper and wine if needed. Once you are happy with the taste, pour over the clams. Garnish with fennel fronds and serve with fresh crusty bread and the remainder of the white wine.

Lemon + Eggs

It turns out that I have a bit of an obsession with lemons. I often catch myself salivating over the idea of their tangy, juicy, sourness - many times day. They are also part of what I like to admit is my only consistent daily routine - a glass of lemon juice with warm water first thing in the morning. You may have also noticed that lemons (the Meyer variety), featured only two food journal entries ago. Well, here they are again. Making yet another appearance. This time however, they are accompanied by their good friend, the egg.

The eggs we buy are from a small organic store here in Riverside. I go there especially for the eggs and honey. Both local, both from happy farms. The eggs come in a carton of 2o (I know!) are free range (always) and are often so big that they bear two yolks instead of one. Double bunger!! -- as my dad would say.

The recipes this week kind of happened by accident. I was making breakfast one morning, I felt like mushrooms on toast. This turned into mushrooms, kale, lemon, thyme and egg - without the toast.

Mushroom Kale Lemon Thyme Egg

prep time: 5 minutes
cook time: 10 minutes
total time: 15 minutes
yields: 1 serving

2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely sliced
1 cup chopped mushrooms
leaves from 2 small thyme sprigs
1 cup chopped kale
zest and juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper
1 egg
manchego cheese (you can also use parmesan if you prefer)

Heat olive oil in a medium pan, over medium heat. Add garlic, mushrooms and thyme. Allow to cook for 5 minutes, or until mushrooms soften. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, kale and salt and pepper to taste . Toss everything together, lower the heat and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Meanwhile, fry or poach the egg to your liking.

Place mushroom mixture on plate, top with the egg and grate over some manchego cheese and some extra fresh ground pepper.

The second lemon and egg recipe happened because I had some egg yolks left over from baking a cake for a friends birthday. What goes well with egg yolks? Lemons. Enter, lemon curd. It goes well with fresh bread, can be made into tarts, used in cakes or eaten straight from the jar...

Lemon Curd

prep time: 5 minutes
cook time: 15 minutes
total time: 20 minutes

4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup of sugar
juice of 1 lemon (about 1/3 cup)
zest of 1 lemon (see first step for an easy zesting tip)
6 tbsp butter, chopped at room temperature 

Peel the zest from the lemon using a peeler, being careful to avoid the white pith. Combine the sugar and zest in a food processor and blitz until the zest is finely chopped and mixed in with the sugar. Alternatively, grate the zest or use a lemon zester.

Fill a medium saucepan with a small amount of water and bring it to a simmer over high heat; reduce the heat to low and keep the water at a bare simmer.

Place all of the ingredients except the butter in a large heatproof bowl and whisk to combine. Place the bowl over the saucepan, making sure that it doesn't touch the water and whisk constantly until the yolks thicken and the mixture forms ribbons when the whisk is lifted from the bowl. Be patient, it will take about 7 to 10 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the saucepan and whisk in the butter one piece at a time. Once all the butter has been incorporated, place a piece of cling wrap/ plastic wrap over the top of the curd to stop it forming a skin and let it sit and cool to room temperature. Once cooled, pour into jars and refrigerate for up to 10 days.

A meal for one

A part of me gets really excited when I know that I will be spending the night in at home, alone. My introverted self takes over and all I want to do is cook myself a nice dinner and take it to the couch, where I will happily settle in for the night with a pot of tea and a good foreign movie. I understand that for some, cooking a proper meal seems silly when there is no one around to share it with. But sometimes having no one around can be my most favourite time in the kitchen. I can let my experimental cook come out while I blast Billie Holiday, put on my apron and pretend that I am Alice Waters or Julia Child, depending on my mood...

This week I wanted to share a recipe with you that I discovered on one of these 'home alone' nights while living in London.

I had just been to a quiet Italian restaurant on Portabello Rd with a friend a couple of nights before. I had ordered the house made gnocchi and had fallen in love with the sauce. It was tomato based and had the most delicious smokey flavour to it, the memory of which I just couldn't get out of my mouth or mind.

So, this particular Friday night when my Irish housemates decided to go out and party, I decided to stay in, attempt to make the same tasting gnocchi and make the most of having the kitchen and living room to myself. It seems crazy now to think that I knocked back the opportunity to hit up London on a Friday night, but the thrill of trying to recreate the dish that I ate a couple of nights before held me back. It was that good. True to form, after picking up the groceries and a foreign film for later, I brought out Billie and began to create.

It turns out that my gnocchi recreation is often my go to when I am in need of a familiar meal for one and am craving a big bowl of pasta. It's the smokiness. It gets me every time. And every time it is worth making. The secret? Smoked Paprika. Yeah.

Today I had it for lunch. I also went and picked some white spring blooms to have with my lunch. Clearly I am in a sharing mood, as I decided to throw in some pictures of the flowers too. Anyway, here is my recipe for home made ricotta gnocchi with smokey paprika sauce. Enjoy.

Home Made Gnocchi with Smokey Paprika Sauce

prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 20 minutes
total time: 30 minutes
yields: 2 servings

For the Sauce
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 (about 500g) vine-ripened tomatoes, diced
1 garlic clove, finely crushed
1 tbs chopped fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
freshly ground black pepper to taste
parmigiano-reggiano cheese for serving

For the Gnocchi
500g  potatoes, peeled and chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup (100g ) fresh  ricotta
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
salt and pepper to taste

Place potatoes in a small saucepan and fill with water until just covered. Bring to boil on high heat, reduce and let cook on medium heat until tender. Mash potatoes and let cool until luke warm. While potatoes are cooking, make sauce. Place olive oil in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Add garlic and cook for about a minute, siring continuously. Add tomatoes, salt, sugar, paprika and pepper. Stir together and cook on medium - low heat for about 15-20 mins until gravy like consistency. Stir in chopped herbs and continue to simmer on a low heat to keep warm.

To make the gnocchi, mix in flour, egg, ricotta and salt and pepper in with the potatoes and knead slightly to form a dough. Cut dough into smaller pieces and roll each piece into a 2cm round sausage/log. Cut the logs into 2 cm pieces and lightly dust with flour to avoid the gnocchi sticking together. Half fill a medium sized saucepan with salted water and bring to a gentle boil. Place gnocchi pieces into the water (you can do this in 2 batches) and cook, stirring occasionally, until gnocchi floats to the surface, about 3-5 minutes. Remove gnocchi with a slotted spoon and transfer to the pan of tomato sauce. Serve immediately with a generous sprinkling of shaved parmigiano-reggiano cheese.