(This article originally appeared in the School Newsletter on 24th June.)
We’ve had an all-star cast of helpers these last few weeks – some of my original Kitchen Garden kids from 2011 have been in to assist the classes in the Cottage! It’s been great to see how beautifully they instruct the younger children and how far their cooking skills have come along after all these years. Taye, Mimi and Chandy (and their friend Elvenie) have taken care of quite a few groups over many lessons and we really appreciate it! And of course the food has been even more delicious than usual…
They have been helping some of the groups prepare the freshly picked cos lettuces, tossing them into a classic Caesar salad with anchovy and garlic-drenched crunchy baked croutons, and perfectly poached eggs plopped on top of it all.
Pumpkins are plentiful at this time of year – and really cheap at the shops: I saw some for 80c a kilo! So the big girls and the children have been carefully preparing chunks to add to sautéing leeks, thyme, ground cumin and coriander and then blending up into the Best pumpkin soup ever!
Mish and the garden crew have been harvesting carrots – and what crazy carrots they are! In class we’ve been laughing at the three-legged creatures, ugly as all get-out, and some looking like they desperately need to go to the loo! But of course they’re as delicious as can be, in Roasted winter veggies with rosemary and honey drizzle and crispy fennel bits, cauliflower florets and potato chunks.
We’ve also been experimenting with a different sort of bread too: Indian Garlic naan dough made with yoghurt and egg, baked briefly in the oven and then brushed with the garlic. Different from the usual magic dough we use, and fabulous served with Kerry’s tasty daal that some of the Broad Bean groups have made, with red lentils, mustard seeds and cumin, coconut milk, onion and capsicum. Creamily good indeed!
Next week we have the Year 1 kidlets coming to visit. Brace! Brace! Brace! Only joking – it will be lovely to see their little grobbley faces again – I’ve missed them since they moved up away from the kindy playground!
And then the week after that, holidays. A chance to recalibrate, fire up the oven and chill out a bit. Hopefully! And also Carolyn, Mish and I are running a school Kitchen Garden holiday program 13th to 15th July in the Cottage – check back for more details!
Keep safe! Mx
The Bondi Cook 