Life is a bit hectic at the moment, so I hope you’ll excuse these meandering posts. Sometimes it’s tricky to find time for detailed writing, but I always have bits and pieces to share.
The photo below was actually taken a couple of weeks ago – it’s a long distance shot of the first glossy ibis we’ve ever seen. This beautiful bird has stunning dark plumage and is quite different from the icky scavenging white ibises that haunt our city parks…
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I’ve mentioned this before, but these are my favourite anchovies in the whole world. I buy them in large tins from Chefs’ Warehouse and decant them into glass jars…
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About once a year, I render lard from free range pork fat. I know it sounds like we go through a lot of it in our cooking, but we really don’t use that much – it’s so concentrated that a little bit goes a long way.
This time, I put the fat into the food processor to blitz it up first (far easier than chopping finely by hand), then cooked it very gently for several hours in a heavy pot with half a cup of water added.
Once the water had evaporated, but before the fat started to brown, I poured off as much as I could – this gave me a very white lard suitable for both sweet and savoury dishes. I let the rest cook down until the fat was completely crispy – the second round of lard is browner and will be used for Cuban bread and refried beans. All the lard went into the freezer and I was left with the crackling…
I’ve used these crunchy leftovers in cornbread before, but the boys didn’t like it, so this time I tried adapting a recipe I found for Masnica (Croatian crackling bread). I ground the crackling with salt, pepper and a little lard in my mini food processor, then spread some of the paste over 600g of my sweet dough…
It was a bit rich for us, but my parents loved this – I sent half a loaf home with them, and froze the rest to turn into stuffing at a later date…
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I’ve discovered this salted preserved duck at my favourite barbecue store in Flemington. It needs to be steamed prior to eating, and is basically the duck equivalent of speck or lap cheong…
I dug out our rice cooker (which we almost never use) and laid the washed duck, spring onions and sliced ginger over the raw Basmati rice and water, then turned it on. The end result was chewy, salty meat and deliciously flavoured rice. The wolves went completely mad over it…
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I’ve rediscovered an old word game called Bookworm – it’s now available on the iPad for a couple of dollars, and it’s very addictive. Do you play it?
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I had lunch with my lovely friends Diana and Annette, and Di gave me her surplus garlic cloves from their recent planting. The ones that have started to shoot will go into the garden as companion plants, and the remainder have been packed into the freezer…
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Lastly, our wonderful old family friend, whom I’ve always known as Aunty Marty, invited me to her daughter Tanya’s farewell morning tea. Marty is now 86, but she can still throw a party! I took along some chocolate cane toads and a batch of chestnut flour brownies…
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How has your week been? I hope it’s been an enjoyable one! x
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Crazy, Busy Week – need baked goods – comfort foods – YUM :) Happy Weekend!
Thanks Renee! Hope your week is shaping up well! :)
Traveling, tired and totally bizarre- this week has been full of tornado warnings and flooding rains. In fact we came home Monday evening to the tornado siren going off down the street and phone warnings to go straight down to the basement. Since then it has rained every day and my back yard is a swamp and a quagmire.
But I did make some delicious sourdough rye bread that slices up beautifully and is perfect for sandwiches.
Your week looks quite lovely- especially that plate of chocolate at the end!
Hope you’re ok Heidi, tornadoes sound scary! I’m glad you were able to bake perfect bread though! xxx
Celia, you have indeed been busy… my mother would have loved that crackling bread! Your brownies look superb! My local health food store still can’t source chestnut flour… I will have to track some down. Have a great weekend, love. My Peter’s birthday today xo
Liz, they usually sell it at Italian delis. I’ll have to see if I can find some for you. Happy birthday to your Peter! xx
Your weeks sound so full of flavour, well done you (as usual). My week was also very busy. I flew up to Coffs Harbour to help my sister in her shop. She has an Asian grocery store with a side line of fresh flowers. I help her assemble the wrapped posies for Mother’s (and Valentine’s) Day each year. They are long days but so rewarding as everyone is happy with their posies. They are so colourful and fragrant. When it was my turn for kitchen duty I cooked a 1/2 leg of lamb; the side dish was a cheesy potato and cauliflower bake served with a big green side salad and a dish of baked, herbed mushrooms and a big jug of gravy. As usual I left the freezer packed with delicious servings for one for my husband (osso bucco, lentil curry, lamb this, beef that) but found the remains of a dead pizza and most of the cheese gone on toasted cheese sandwiches. LOL No matter I am home now and tonight we will feast on grilled tuna slices, baked tomatoes and a green salad.
I think I know this shop. We buy flowers there (to take to the nearby cemetery?) and I love browsing the goodies, never leaving empty handed.
Sandy, that sounds like a seriously fun week! Nice that you could enjoy such a great meal with your sister, and your husband doesn’t know what he missed (seriously, pizza instead of osso bucco? :)).
I love your business, you never let the standard of food drop one iota! My grand daughter introduced me to Bookworm ages ago. I’m a words freak so it suits me hands down. I can finally say I’ve mastered the sourdough spelt challenge, this week we’ve had pizza and olive focaccia, bliss after 18 months without that crunchy but chewy mouthfeel.
Sandra, how cool that the spelt is working well for you! I think I’d miss bread terribly if I couldn’t eat it!
Crackling in bread? Be still my heart. If only I could eat bread I would be knocking at your door! Looks beautiful too, you are an amazing cook!
Ardys, thank you! It was fun to make, and I didn’t have to waste the crackling! :)
Your week looks productive and fun Celia. That duck looks so good. Love the brownie and the cane toads…what a perfect platter x
Thanks Jane! It really was a nice week, hope yours was too.. xx
Hectic indeed!! So many lovely things coming out of your kitchen, I love that Ibis.
Fran, so do I, and I so rarely like ibises! The horrid white ones remind me of the the Skeksis from The Dark Crystal… :)
Have to do some homework on those anchovies! Look marvellous – how do you keep them and how long do you think they will keep? [Yes, I know, they have probably well-and-truly disappeared ere the ‘use-by-date :) !]
Eha, I reckon I open one tin a year, and I never have to throw any out! :)
Loving the lard Celia, I have pots of duck fat in the fridge but must get onto some pork lard next. Those anchovies look good, but my special treat are truffled anchovies that Tania put me on to at Lario- delicious!
Hope you have a relaxing weekend sweetie- stay warm xox
Thanks hon, you too. Still warm up here – what’s the weather doing in Canberra?
I have to get onto companion planting. I bet you always get asked to bring a plate if you take those delicious offerings when you are a guest!
Danielle, I love when I can take a plate – I’m rubbish at buying hostess gifts otherwise! :)
Lovely bread. Have to try it when I get cracklings again! I usually make dumplings from them.
Your brownies look delicious. You’ve had a busy week.
Manuela, I had no idea you could turn them into dumplings! Do you mean the doughy sort that goes on top of soup, or the Asian variety?
busy here too Celia. Super duper busy. Hope next week is a bit quieter for you. x
Brydie, thanks! You too, love x
Love the lard rendering Celia – you are such an inspiration. You also have admirable restraint. Those crackling bits looked too delicious. I suspect I may have attacked them with a spoon.
Amanda, you’re always so nice, thank you! Too rich for eating as is – almost too rich for eating in bread, but as Big Boy said, the bread will be perfect for stuffing a chook! :)
Is the fat from any particular part of the pig or just whatever you can get? I do like the idea of rendering my own now my usual supplier has stopped producing it. As to Bookworm, I had to delete it from the iPad :)
Tania, too addictive? :) I get free range pork fat, I think it’s usually from the belly. Proper old fashioned lard is usually made from leaf fat, which comes from around the kidneys, but it’s almost impossible to buy here.
That is indeed a beautiful ibis and lots of lovely goodies in your kitchen. Just taking a few moments to catch up on your recent posts as I have very much missed reading your blog (hectic also lately for me!) and I’m so glad I did as your soothing shortbread will be perfect to make and take up to Scotland for my very ill MIL. Thank you, Celia!
Danielle, thank you for always reading – I hope your hectic has been of the good variety! I hope your Scottish MIL approves! :)
I love these posts! What a wonderful week you had :)
Thanks Tandy! Hope you’re having a wonderful time too – are you back from your travels yet? :)
I did have a quick moment of lard envy, Celia. You’ve had a busy but wonderful week.
Thanks darling, it was a good week. Sometimes it’s nice to document them, so that we can look back and see that how much fun it was.
Your kitchen must permanently smell wonderful Celia. What a super busy week you have had. I would battle not eating those anchovies while decanting them.
Have a wonderful and relaxing weekend.
:-) Mandy xo
Mandy, a fellow anchovy lover! I’m hooked on them – these ones have heaps of flavour rather than just tasting salty!
When do you get time to sleep Celia! Like Maureen, I have lard envy!
Hahaha…I could ask you the same thing, Sally! :)
Celia I always marvel at how you manage to create such wonderful looking treats from things other people wouldn’t dream of cooking with! You’re so clever!
Claire, and you’re so kind, thank you! :) I just don’t like waste..
I have yet to render lard, though I do save my bacon grease from pastured hogs for various things. I would also like to render beef tallow, but until I get around to it, coconut oil will have to do for now.
I do not play Bookworm, but I love playing word games. Lately it’s been Words with Friends, which is like scrabble and it’s friendly competition. Do play against yourself or others with Bookworm?
Judy, I think Bookworm has a play with others version, but I’m just playing on my own (with Pete’s help). The high score is getting up there now, so it’s starting to get tricky to play! :)
What a week, Celia, you seem to do so much with your time. I don’t know how you do it but I certainly admire you for all your energy. I must admit though that crackling sweet bread sounds a little strange.
Glenda, I thought so too, but the sweet dough really isn’t very sweet – it’s like a brioche, and it takes all sorts of savoury variations really well!
You have had a busy week! I love your tins of anchovies. I’ve just recently gotten over my aversion to anchovies and have been using them quite a lot.
Clare, that’s a milestone, because I think anchovies are just the best thing ever! Glad you’re enjoying them now too! :)
Even when times are busy you still manage to churn out a lot of love in your kitchen. I do love the sound of the duck and I hope when I’m 86 I’m still able to throw a good party – and I’d love you to bring the chocolates! xx
Charlie darling, at 86 you’ll be throwing the party AND baking a giant cake for it, I know you! :D
A good roundup of the week that was. Seems like yours was really busy but rewarding at the same time. Plus, you got free garlic! Yey!
Julie
Gourmet Getaways
Jules, I was pretty excited by the free garlic too! :)
Hi Celia, I was wondering how you froze your garlic? I put my excess into the freezer but when I defrosted the first few cloves they turned all brown and mushy :(
Gail, I freeze the garlic broken up into unwrapped cloves. I find that on defrosting the texture has changed, but the taste is fine – they turn a bit translucent and gelatinous, but I don’t usually get mushy. I wrote more about it here:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/01/08/frozen-garlic/
There’s always something happening at your house Celia:).My week has been spent trying to catch up on uni work. Missed 3 weeks so l am behind with everything and it’s all due in the next 2 weeks.
Ah uni, you know Jody, I DO miss those days, but not the deadlines! :)
Not too fond of them either. Didn’t go back to study until l was 47 and let me tell you it was such a shock having to write essays and sit exams again. Despite all that it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made:)
I like meanderings, a bit of this and a bit of that.
White ibis are known as Macca birds in our house after a friend who detests them. The name has become so entrenched that I forgot that other people don’t call them that. Regular sourdough baking is back this week with 30% rye flour. It’s getting better each bake.
Jo, that’s great to hear about your sourdough! And Macca birds is a very apt name, because they’re always in the Macca’s carpark! :)
I need a new word game on my Ultrabook. I hope they do Bookworm in the Google Store. We have been away so this week I’m grateful for the freezer stash and the local greengrocer.
ED, Bookworm is dangerously addictive! I’m sure you can get it in the Google play store, it’s been around for ages! :)
I LOVE Bookworm :). Thank you for that delicious looking recipe for the chocolate chestnut brownies. They look the business and just like something that I would love. Not too hard to veganise either and they would be the bomb with a nice hot chocolate or good coffee. Thank you for sharing :)
Fran, isn’t Bookworm fabulous! Hope you like the brownies! xx
I am about to start planting out lots of little homegrown chestnut trees as one day I want to be able to harvest my own chestnuts and make my own flour. I won’t care what it costs then ;). I love bookworm, always have :)
I’m feeling your pain, but somehow I was not as busy as you :)
Hahaha…it wasn’t really pain, it was a good busy! Hope your busy-ness eases up for you! :)
It surely sounds like you had a fun and tasty week. That crackling bread looks terrific and of course the brownies would tingle my taste buds. That’s quite a nice load of garlic. I never realized that you could just stick the ones that have sprouting in the garden. Do they multiply a lot?