Celebrating Autumn…
Finally the cold weather has blown on through and with it comes all the culinary delights of the Autumn season.
We are busy picking mushrooms from the forest at our beloved Essington park and filling our cane baskets with pine cones… The pine cones are used as natural fire lighters when we come in from the cold and need to get the home fires burning as quickly as we can.
There are 3 different types of mushrooms we pick this time of year, the slippery Jack, saffron milk cap, and of course my favourite, the common field mushroom.
Cooking with mushrooms…
I love to take a combination of all three mushrooms, chopped roughly and thrown into a delicious creamy and earthy risotto.
We have a big sage bush at our kitchen door so I pick the leaves and sauté them in butter to top the risotto. It adds a lovely nuttiness and crunch to the end of the dish.
It’s also good to keep it simple and sauté the mushrooms in butter, adding a little bit of garlic and a handful of freshly picked parsley and serving it on hot buttered toast for brekkie.
My mum always put a slash of thick cream in hers right at the end which added a lusciousness and luxurious texture to the dish.
Keep an eye out in our stores for lovely dishes as we get creative with mushrooms. We have mushroom and Kale soup, braised beef with mushroom and red wine and of course mushrooms on toast… Just like my mum used to make.
Autumn Apples…
Apples are also another great seasonal offering… We cut them into salads with oven roasted walnuts and a bitey cheese such as pecorino or Gorgonzola picante.
My apple pies and crumbles are also a treat. They are available to buy at Simmone Logue stores or David Jones nationally.
Pumpkin…
Pumpkin is one of my favourite veggies and at this time of year it is abundant and sweet. I love to cook it on a high heat in the oven for extra caramelisation. Pumpkin makes for a delightful autumnal pie and is one of our most popular desserts, so much so that I am going to bake lots of them over the month of June and offer a special 20% off discount to all of my newsletter readers. Just mention the newsletter for your special price and enjoy…
Adding pumpkin to an Autumn salad also brings it to new level. The salad below is my famous rocket, roasted pumpkin, beetroot and feta salad. It is available on my online store with lots of other goodies, delivered straight to your door…
At the end of our fossicking day, with fires cracking and our bellies full, we sleep with dogs and cats… All rugged up in our hand knitted woollen blankets.. Ahhh!! Comfort!
Doesn’t get much better than that.
