Some recipes for FIG produce

Thanks to some great Figgie members, we have some recipes they have shared with us for using various FIG produce.

First up, from Sara:


1) Potato and leek soup

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large leek, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 500g sebago potatoes, peeled, chopped
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

Method

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add leek and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until onion has softened. Add potato. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. 
2. Add stock. Season with pepper. Cover. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until potato is tender. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly. 
3. Blend, in batches, until smooth. Serve.

2) Creamy cauliflower and potato soup with bacon

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 250g 97% fat-free bacon, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 leeks, halved, washed, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cauliflower, trimmed, cut into small florets
• 500g Sebago or Desiree potatoes, peeled, diced
• 6 cups reduced-salt chicken stock
• 1/4 cup light thickened cream
• Toasted wholegrain bread, to serve

Method

1. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add bacon. Cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes or until crisp. Remove to a plate lined with paper towel. 
2. Add remaining 2 teaspoons oil, garlic and leek to pan. Cook, stirring often, over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add cauliflower, potato and stock. Partially cover. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in half the bacon. 
3. Blend soup, in batches, until smooth. Return to saucepan over low heat. Stir in cream. Heat, without boiling, until hot. Ladle into bowls. Top with remaining bacon. Sprinkle with pepper. Serve with toast

3) Potato Frittata

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 8 eggs
• 50ml milk
• 200g mild cheddar, grated
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 500g potatoes, peeled, cooked, sliced

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Beat eggs and milk in a large bowl. Add cheese and season. 
2. Heat half the oil in an ovenproof frypan over low heat. Cook onion and garlic, stirring, for 5-6 minutes until soft. Remove and add to the egg mixture with the potato. 
3. Wipe pan clean, then return to low heat with remaining oil. Pour in frittata mixture and using a palette knife, gently pull away from sides of the pan, allowing uncooked egg to run to edges. Once cooked around the outside (about 2-3 minutes), transfer pan to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until set. Turn out and cool.

4) Almond Crusted Fish with Potato and Leek

Cooking Time 30 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 2 large (about 350g) desiree potatoes, washed, thinly sliced
• 1 leek, pale section only, washed, thinly sliced
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 80ml (1/3 cup) olive oil
• 2 tbs pre-grated parmesan
• 1 x 100g pkt almond meal
• 2 eggs, lightly whisked
• 4 (about 500g) white fish fillets (such as smooth dory), cut in half lengthways
• 1/3 cup loosely packed chopped fresh continental parsley

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220°C. Arrange potato over a 17 x 24cm (base measurement) baking tray. Top with leek and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with 2 tbs of the olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan. Bake on the top shelf of preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the potato is tender and golden. 
2. Meanwhile, place almond meal and egg in separate bowls. Dip 1 piece of fish in the egg, then the almond meal, pressing firmly to coat. Repeat with remaining pieces of fish. 
3. Heat remaining oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook fish for 2 minutes each side or until cooked through. 
4. Divide almond-crusted fish and potato and leek among serving plates. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately

5) Potato and Leek Quiches

Preparation Time 20 minutes

Cooking Time 25 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 400g  potato, peeled, cut into 2.5cm chunks
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 leek, washed, sliced
• 2 tbs chopped fresh continental parsley
• 4 sheets filo pastry
• Olive oil spray
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup (250ml) skim milk
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• Salt & freshly ground pepper

Method

1. Steam the sweet potato until just tender. Transfer to a bowl. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the leek and cook, stirring until soft. Add to the sweet potato with the parsley and toss to combine. 
2. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease 6 x 1 cup muffin pans. Spray a sheet of filo with the oil. Top with the remaining sheets, spraying with oil between each layer. Cut the sheets into 3 portions crossways, then cut each strip in half. Line each muffin pan with the filo. 
3. Divide the sweet potato mixture among the pastry cases. 
4. Whisk the eggs, milk and nutmeg together. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over the filling. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until just set.

Notes: You can make this without the pastry......I've tried it and it's quite nice...particularly if you're gluten intolerant or don't like pastry very much. Just make sure that the trays or cooking dish is well oiled with either butter or olive oil :)

6) Apple and Oat Muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup buttermilk
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup raisins
2 egg whites
¼ cup honey
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1 apple, grated

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2) Mix buttermilk, oats, and raisins together in a large bowl. Add egg whites and honey; blend thoroughly.

3) In a separate large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add to oat mixture; mix to incorporate. Fold in grated apple.

4) Fill mixture in muffin tins ¾ full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in tins 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely.

And from Gini:

BAKED FENNEL

Cook Fennel first (steam, boil) - don't overcook

Heat oven to 200 deg. = HOT

Put Fennel in ovenproof dish and add garlic, some cherry tomatoes and a handful of olives to taste. and for colour! 1 cup or more white wine, according to quantity of fennel.

Leave for 1/2 hour in oven

They all seem yum to us!

The Season of apples

Golden leaves, crunchy carpets, the pitter patter of raindrops on the roof, mud puddles for stomping, mist in the valley, the smell of the first woodfire drifting across the hillside and crimson apples dangling in abundance from the great old apple tree! I know many folk who proclaim this as their favourite time of year. Can you guess that I'm one of them? I love Autumn and everything it brings. It's fun, it's snuggly, it's yum and it's inspiring. This 'Wild Child' of Autumn really is an exciting little Season.

I love the harvest, the preserving, the resting and the preparation for renewal that this Season brings. And APPLES! How exciting are the crisp, crimson, crunchy little bundles that hang from the great old apple tree, like baubles on the Christmas tree. It's such a versatile fruit that the options for what one can make with this amazing little Autumn gift are just endless; apple sauce, apple pie, apple and cinnamon muffins, Waldorf salad, toffee apples, baked apples with custard, apple slice.... and then there's everything yum they can accompany like; roast pork, morning porridge, red cabbage, hash browns, stir fry's, roast veggies... or how about an apple and raspberry frappe, some apple cider or a nice warm apple and ginger spiced tea to warm those cooling evenings. All the apple recipes you could EVER need can be found all over the internet - but this link has a great range of various apple recipes to inspire and delight. Over 350 of them! If you like to share stories with your family around your Seasonal baking, then The apple cake is a lovely story that follows the journey of an old woman who sets out to find some apples for her apple cake. It's a story about giving and receiving and the value that different things have to different people. The book also has a delicious apple cake recipe which can be easily adapted if you prefer more whole foods ingredients in your apple cake!

Yesterday we baked some apple and cinnamon muffins. They were so delicious that 4 hours later, I had to bake another batch because the first batch had just vanished! I thought I'd share the recipe with you;

::Apple and Cinnamon muffins::
(My recipe inspiration came from here, but as you can tell - the recipe is slightly adapted)

Ingredients;
• 2C freshly ground flour (you could soak this flour in 2C yoghurt or kefir for 12-24 hours and then omit the milk referenced if you are into the whole soaking of grains. We generally are - but this time, the muffins were needed in a hurry!)
• 1T baking powder
• 2T of ground cinnamon (plus a little extra for dusting)
• 1/2C rapadura
• 3 apples peeled, cored and chopped into small cubes
• 1/2C coconut oil softened, not melted
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 3/4C oat milk
• 12 fresh blueberries

Method;
• Combine flour, powder, cinnamon and rapadura
• Add wet ingredients; oil, eggs and milk - mix well
• Add apples and stir through
• Line a 12 hole muffin tin with environmentally friendly unbleached baking paper
• Fill each paper cup with muffin mix
• Dust muffins with cinnamon
• Press a blueberry into the top of each muffin
• Bake in 180ºC oven for about 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean
• Enjoy with your favourite Autumn herbal tea or a frothy hot chocolate!

And do you know about the secret that hides inside every shiny apple? A favourite Autumn activity with children is to 'apple stamp'.

::Apple Stamping::
• Take an apple (Grown up's job) and cut the four 'cheeks' off the apple.
• You'll be left with a little cube that encases the core
• Be sure the children are gathered around as you tell the little story;
"Who would think an apple
Red, gold, green and round
Would have a secret deep inside
When cut it can be found!
(this is a nice time to cut the apple core across the middle to reveal the 'secret')
I thought this secret only shone
In deep and darkest night
But when I cut my apple
It shines with five points bright!
And now you know the secret
Where shining stars are found
In every crunchy apple
Red, gold, green and round."
(Apple Secrets by Betty Jones)
• Have some heavy card paper available as well as some Autumn coloured paints or inks
• Make sure the seeds have been removed from the center of the star and then dab the 'apple stamp' into the paint/ink and then stamp into any starry pattern you like on your paper.

Apple candles are also another great Autumn activity. It's alot of fun to let children decorate their own taper candle with decorating wax, to sit in their apple candle holder. Apple candles add a wonderful energy to a Winter Solstice celebration or are lovely just to even illuminate those lengthening nights and create a snuggly family space.

Blessings on your crunchy, crisp Autumnal Harvest Season.