sweet davidson plums

Get

8 Davidson plums 

200ml agave syrup light


Do 

Wash the plums. Put in a small casserole. 

Pour the agave syrup over them. 

Bake in a wood-fired oven until the syrup turns pink/red. This may take hours depending on the temperature of the oven. About 220 degrees is good for about 1 hour or more. The syrup becomes very thick. Discard any plums which become dry and hollow.

Cool

Pour into a glass jar including the juicy plums and store in a refrigerator for a few days. 

Serve whole with semolina and the syrup.

Roast Cabbage with Lentils and Sauerkraut

Joachim Beuckelaer, The Four Elements- Earth, detail, 1569

GET

1 small cabbage, cut into 8 wedges
6 tbsp olive oil
Some salt and ground black pepper
400 g cooked (Puy) lentils or chickpeas
3 bay leaves
500 g sauerkraut
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1½ tsp caraway seeds, toasted
1 litre vegetable stock 

To serve
60 g yoghurt
10 g parsley leaves, finely chopped

DO
Heat the oven to 240C. Put the cabbage and oil in a large ovenproof casserole dish with a half-teaspoon of salt and black pepper, mix to combine, then roast for 25-30 minutes, until slightly charred in places.

Cook the soaked lentils or chickpeas. Drain when cooked.

Put the pulses in the cabbage pot, add all the other ingredients, season with salt and pepper, and mix gently to combine. Cover the pot with a lid, then bake for 45 minutes, until the mix is soft and buttery. Uncover and cook for another 10-15 minutes, until the tops of the cabbage wedges have darkened slightly.

Sprinkle with the parsley, and serve with yoghurt.

Inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes for winter vegetables

Rice Pudding with Davidson's Plum Syrup

GET

1 cup of Arborio rice 

2 cups of water

1 cup of milk (animal or vegetable)

A pinch of real vanilla and salt

Some Agave syrup 

and

Davidson's Plum Syrup 

DO 

Wash the rice. Add the water and the rice in the pot and boil. Turn the heat down and let it simmer for 20 min. Should it become 'pudding' like add the cup of milk, salt and vanilla. Turn the heat down and stir regularly. When it gets sticky cover the rice with a lid, turn the heat off and let it rest for another 20 min. Mix in the agave syrup and refrigerate.

Serve with the davidson's plum syrup, fruit compote or cinnamon.

Bunya Smoothie and Atherton Nut Cake

Bunya Smoothie and Atherton nuts

It is bunya and Atherton nut time again. We now use a cold press juicer and smoothie maker.

The smoothie

GET

2 cup of milk (cow or vegan)

2 bananas

1 avocado

5 cooked bunya 'nuts'

3 tbsp. cacao powder

A pinch of cinnamon/ vanilla (optional)

DO

Peel the fruit. Cut into small pieces that will fit into your machine. Mix the cacao powder with milk and stir. Close the chute off. Add half of the liquid into the machine, then add half of the banana and let the machine run for a while. Add  the rest of fruit pieces and milk and open the chute. Close it again then add the bunya nuts and the optional cinnamon/ vanilla. Let it run for a while, then open the chute and refrigerate for 25 min. Serve cold.

Coffee enthusiasts could of course replace the milk with strong coffee instead.

The Atherton nuts are visible if you click the picture

The cake

The delicious Atherton nut and fruit cake was prepared and baked by the North Bank Institute. There are many cake recipes here that could be utilised for an abundance of endemic nuts.

Atherton nut production

It's athertonia time again.

• Remove the beautiful blue and purple outer skin by lightly hitting it with a hammer.(centre)
• Dry the nuts with their shells in the sun for a day.(left)
• Crack them in a nut cracker.(right)
• Remove the nut. Store in the brown skin. Blanch them when they are ready to be used.
• Or blanch and eat the nuts straight away.