Here we are two weeks into Spring and 27 degrees forecast for the next few days… now I remember all about the warm weather! Long days with early evenings at the beach; warm mornings; clothes dry on the line within hours and lovely salads on the table… And we’re almost at the end of term – thanks as always to our heroic volunteers: I’m very much looking forward to planning our Cottage Morning Tea next term to thank you for all your time, patience and delegating skills!
We have been busy these last few weeks: we’ve been bottling our school olives – picked in March and brining sleepily ever since – in a bath of orange peel, fennel seed, rosemary, thyme, chilli and olive oil, and also sharing them at the table with crunchy parmesan biscuits… a few of these made it on to our inaugural Market Table too last week with the jars of olives and some beautiful dried pasta made by the children, with dinky bags of dried herbs, some bouquet garni, a few pots of strawberries and some aloe vera… thanks to all who came up to have a look and especially those who splashed some cash!
A hit with everybody in the Cottage this fortnight has been the broad beans on garlic bruschetta… This is such a simple dish, with lovely flavours of the blanched beans lightly mashed with pecorino, thyme and olive oil and spread on toasted Iggy’s sourdough rubbed with garlic. Springtime in a mouthful! And we’ve also been rolling up our own individual Sang Choi Bao of Cos lettuce with wok-fried cabbage, mustard leaves and mushrooms: drippingly good! And stirring through the last of the broccolini into creamy risotto with crispy kale (thanks Mette!). What’s very exciting too is that we are expanding our salad-ingredient-repertoire, with inclusions of strawberries, baby broad beans, snap peas, crazy long radishes and newly sprung rocket. Yum! Recipes up soon, http://www.bondikitchengarden.com
And lastly, thanks to all who have put their hands up for Sunday’s working bee too, I’ll see you there!
Cheers! Melissa
The Bondi Cook 