Monday's Menu

Well Spring certainly started with a bang in southern Tasmania. Blue skies, warm temperatures. The weekend was perfect.
We pottered in the garden, weeding my flower beds, Rob installed a new overflow pipe (the outflow from our tank currently ended in the middle of my rose bed which is not ideal), he has redirected it to the veggie garden where we hope to put a water butt (a barrel). My anemones have started to flower, blue, pink and white and the occasional rogue red one!

Yesterday we headed into town and had yum cha at Me Wah with Rob's daughter for Father's day.  We love it, trying steamed dumplings (pork, prawn, vegetarian and trevalla) the obligatory roast duck and pork ribs. It was certainly buzzing yesterday, with families of all different combinations shared lunch.

I must admit we came back home to the hut and had a nap to sleep off all that food!

Menu wise this week -
Monday: Stir fry rice.
Tuesday: We headed out with my work colleagues to Ethos. To eat a series of tapas style dishes. My favourites were the fried chickpeas and a chorizo sausage cooked in red wine with potatoes. It's a lovely space, and the food was ok. But now that I've been I probably won't be in a rush to revisit.
Wednesday: We stopped by Bottega Rotolo for some lunch (beautiful minestrone for me) and had an asparagus, speck and parmesan frittata for dinner.
Thursday: Scallops with bacon on rice.
Friday: Penne pasta with pecorino, peas and speck. This was delicious!
Saturday: Beef shin stew with mash potato.
Sunday: After our big yum cha feast we had some leftover beef shin stew with pasta.

One Year and Monday's Menu {Flatbread Pizza}

So first up, today is a special day at the hut.
A year ago today we invited our closest friends and family down to the hut for Rob's birthday party.
It was meant to be a house-warming too, but the build of the hut hadn't quite gone as fast as we'd thought.
But that didn't matter, we ate all our favourite foods, drank sparkling wine and enjoyed the sun.
In between main course and dessert, we had organised a little surprise.
Just a little ceremony.
I can still hear the gasp.
Happy 1st Anniversary Rob, it was a perfect day and our first year has been a memorable one.
(If you'd like to read the full story of our surprise wedding last year click here).

Back to our menu.
Monday: Beef and red wine stew.
Tuesday: Gres de Champenois with fresh figs and salad.
Wednesday: A tomato based pasta sauce with eggplant, zucchini, olives and fetta.
Thursday: Pork sausages and mash with home-made tomato sauce
Friday: Pesto and potato pizza (see the recipe below).
Saturday: Margaret Fulton's tarragon roast chicken with roast vegetables.
Sunday: Yum cha and Me Wah. Steamed dumplings and roast duck and many other delicious morsels.


Rob used this bread dough below for the pizza base.

Annabel Langbein's Crusty Flat Bread

This is a wonderfully supple focaccia dough that makes enough for two large loaves. You can freeze half the dough to cook later. We used leftover mashed potato, but if you don't have any in the fridge, boil potatoes until tender, mash them and allow them to cool before adding to the recipe. The wetter the dough is, the lighter the finished result will be, so don't be tempted to keep adding flour.

Prep time: 20 minutes + 3 hours rising, or 12 hours in the fridge.
Cooking time: 25 minutes.
Makes two large loaves.
Crusty flat bread dough
1 ½ cups warm (not hot) water
1 ½ tsp dry yeast granules
1 packed cup cooked and mashed potato
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 ½ cups high-grade or baker's flour, plus extra for kneading
2 tsp salt

Topping
1-2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp fresh rosemary leaves
½ tsp sea salt

Place warm water in a large mixing bowl (a breadmaker or electric mixer with a dough blade is ideal, if you have one). Sprinkle yeast over the water and allow to stand for 2 minutes. Mix in the mashed potato and the cup olive oil. Stir in the flour and salt and mix until the dough just starts to come away from the sides of the bowl.
Turn the dough on to a lightly floured board and, using lightly oiled hands, knead about 30 times (or for 3-4 minutes on the dough cycle of a breadmaker). Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with muslin or a teatowel and leave to rise in a warm place for 3-4 hours, or until it has doubled in bulk. You can also leave it in the fridge, covered, to rise slowly overnight.
When you're ready to cook your bread, place a baking stone on the centre shelf of the oven and preheat oven to 220degC. Turn the risen dough on to a lightly floured board, divide in half and shape each half into a ball. Roughly flatten one ball on to a tray lined with baking paper, pressing the dough out to an oval shape about 25 x 20cm. Use your fingertips to press dimples into the top of the loaf, then drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary and sea salt. Slide the baking paper with the dough on it off the tray and on to the preheated baking stone. Bake for about 25 minutes until golden.
When cooked, the bread will sound hollow when you tap it. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking stone for a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool. Repeat with the other ball of dough. If you want to save the second ball of dough to use later, place it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean cloth and place in the fridge for up to 48 hours. It also freezes well. Thaw before pressing out and baking.
This recipe is from Annabel Langbein Free Range Cook.

So once it had been kneaded, Rob rolled it out very thinly. He made a pesto and smeared that across the pizza (you could use a bought pesto, but we still have basil so are enjoying it while we still can).
He carefully sliced raw potato very thinly and spread them across the pizza, then sprinkled rosemary sprigs on top. He cooked it until the base was golden and crisp (how we like our pizzas).

Next morning he added some currants to the remaining dough and made cute little currant buns which were light on the inside but nice and crispy on the outside.

A hut day

Sorry for such a rushed post yesterday. We actually got up to a lot the last couple of days, I just didn't have time to relax and write.
On Friday I went on a mystery tour to the venue for our office Christmas lunch. We hopped on a water taxi and headed out on an extended cruise, eventually pulling into Bellerive. It was actually a novelty to see all the houses from the water, some of us enjoyed picking out houses we'd love to live in, or the ones that were eyesores. We even saw a dolphin. Anyway once on land we were led around the bay to the Rosny Bowls Club! After exchanging presents (random pick from a table) I got some gingerbread and two cookie cutters to add to my collection- a fish and an octopus (we work in marine science). After lunch, some lovely ladies came over to show us how to bowl, and we spent a fairly relaxing hour bowling and drinking beer in the heat. It did feel like I'd stepped onto the set of the movie Crackerjack, a very Australian feeling. Especially with the occasional roar from the crowd at the test match across the bay. Our fun ended with the beginning of the thunderstorm. It stopped long enough for us to wander back to the jetty, then it bucketed down as we headed back across the river. A pleasant way to finish up the work year for me, being my last day.
Over the weekend Rob and I started to unwind, I visited the market (art, craft & design) at the Masonic lodge on both days, managing to cross off a few last gifts, and pick up a few more little red decorations for our tree (birds and crochet hearts). Rob and I spent the afternoon weeding in the garden listening to the cricket.
Sunday we picked up Rob's daughter and headed to Me Wah for yum cha. I admit we're quite greedy, trying no less than 6 types of steamed dumplings, as well as two beef dishes, a fried radish dish AND eggplant stuffed with seafood. All washed down with the endless pu'er tea (a red tea, described as the burgundy of tea!) We hadn't been in ages and I think we'll have to head there whenever there's a market on. We did a quick tour of the market and picked up a few more gifts.
On Monday I visited my sister and niece, Maisy has grown so much, and is so interactive now, smiles and laughs. After lying on the carpet and playing and then munching on some white choc and raspberry muffins I'd brought along I headed home via the cat centre op shop, picking up those bargains I showed you yesterday. I'm still excited about the Donvier ice-cream maker!
The last two days have been spent doing a little baking and playing around with the fence, interspersed with tea and biscuits, or lunch. It's so nice just to 'be' at the hut together. I think Nigella & Claudia enjoy it too!
Well that was a bit longer than I thought, dinner is nearly ready, roast lamb and vegetables, with vanilla ice-cream and freshly picked alpine strawberries for dessert.