Tuesday, 1 July 2014

In My Kitchen- July 2014

Well, its the first of July, and time again to join in with Celia from Fig Jam & Lime Cordial and share what's going on in my kitchen. My first thought to whats in my kitchen, is always a big mess…but Im not going to share a photo of that. Rather, here below are the nice things going on!

In my Kitchen this month are these delicious and incredibly perfect looking avocados grown by local farmers, Katrina & Tim Myers from Barham Avocados. I visited their farm last week and Katrina very kindly gave these to me to take home. If you live in Victoria, NSW or Queensland you can order online and have these delivered to you within 24 hours of being picked off the tree. We ate our first one a few days ago and my husband declared it was the best avocado he has ever eaten- big call, I know, but I agree with him-they are so fresh and taste amazing! These are the Bacon variety. They have a very thin skin and have a light flavour yet quite creamy. The bacons have all been picked and delivered but the next batch of avocados will be ready to pick and pack soon. They also grow hass, fuerte and reed varieties. Check out their website and if you get a chance, order some- they seriously are fantastic! We have been enjoying fresh avo on grain toast (sprinkled with crispy fried pancetta instead of salt) and  home made guacamole (I love this recipe from my friend Catherine at Famhouse Home).


In My Kitchen is this Tessa Kiros Cookbook- Limoncello and Linen Water. Tessa is one of my favourite cooks and I love her books for her storytelling, beautiful styling and recipes that are just pure home cooking. This book is filled with lots of italian based recipes. This is my third Tessa book and they really are more like  coffee table books- mine aren't but rather food stained from being used quite a bit…..but that's a good thing I think! 


In my kitchen was a lonesome celeriac, so I made some soup. Celeriac, Pancetta and Thyme soup to be precise. Perfect for a cold winter's day and was whipped up in half an hour. To make, pan fry 100g sliced pancetta until crispy. Remove and put aside for later. Add a dob of butter to the same saucepan and sautee slowly one diced onion, a bay leaf and a few stalks of thyme (stem and leaves) for about ten minutes. Add one chopped up celeriac (skin removed)and cook for another few mins. Then pour in 850ml chicken stock and simmer for ten minutes or until celeriac has cooked through. Once cooked, remove bay leaf and thyme. Puree veggie mix and add some cream, salt and pepper to taste. Pour into bowl or mug, add some cream and a drizzle of olive oil. Then  a sprinkle with some pancetta crumbs and fresh thyme. This made enough for a serving of two so double for a family! I dont tend to season so much with salt as the pancetta is salty enough. Really is yum and easy!


In my kitchen are lemons from our tree which are now ready to pick and eat (hooray!!!). So, the kids and I have been baking quite a bit and cooking lots of lemon dishes. We made some lemon curd and friands a few weeks ago and this week we made this lemon syrup cake which is a family favourite.


In my Kitchen are some jars of poached quinces, sweet pickled peppers and bread and butter cucumbers and some fig jam. I cleaned out our freezer and found figs which I had put away last summer. There was a lot bottles and jars but Ive given some away to family and friends.


In my kitchen….is freshly made juice. This one is my current favourite- juice of 3 apples, 150ml cranberry juice, 125g frozen blueberries and 1 tablespoon of LSA. I juice the apples first then add remaining ingredients and blend. Its fresh and tasty and it apparently promotes flat tummies! Tastes good and flat tummy…win win I say!


In my kitchen are these vintage Villeroy & Boch egg poachers which I bought on Ebay several years ago. I love the colours and used them not just for eggs but also for chocolate mousse , puddings, etc. I must remember to use them more often!


Whats going on in your kitchen this month? 

Please pop over to Celia's blog where you can have a look at more kitchens around the world!

21 comments:

  1. How lucky you are to have your own lemons. I'm sure they taste much better than the imported ones we get here. The only good recipe book is a food stained one! Just by flicking the pages of my cookery books I can tell which are my favourites, because the pages stick together.

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    1. Hi Anne, yes…our lemons are so good!!! We moved here last October and the lemon tree was looking quite poorly. We watered heavily over summer and fed it lots of dynamic lifter. So happy that our TLC has paid off….nothing beats eating fresh produce! Im glad you are also a fellow page stainer too! xx

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  2. I eat avocado most days but I've never cooked with celeriac. The juice looks gorgeous, I'll have to add cranberry juice to my shopping list. I'll hold you to the 'flat stomach' promise...

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    1. Ha Danielle….I hope the juice flattens my tummy too! Cranberry juice is quite underrated! Very refreshing and nice addition to any berry juice! xx ps…you must try celeriac…its good!

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  3. Kylie, look at your lemons! They're absolutely perfect! Ours are wonderful and juicy, but still a bit mottled, whereas yours are textbook! The avocados sound wonderful, and I adore celeriac! We tried to grow it recently, but can't seem to get it right. Your juice sounds delish!

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    1. Thanks Celia x I wouldnt say perfect…I possibly picked the nicest ones to photgraph too! But I will say they look pretty good to me and taste amazing. Love the freshness of picking straight off tree. Makes a difference as you would know. And its such a versatile fruit- sweet or savoury! Love it! Thks for dropping by x

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  4. I've never cooked with celeriac before either but your soup looks fab. You should bottle that juice and make your millions if you can promise a flat tummy.

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    1. Yes, perhaps I should be bottling tummy flattening juice and making millions! The recipe came from a juicing book I have and it actually says that it does promote flat tummies so….fingers and toes crossed! xxx It is yummy though!

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  5. Wow, those egg poachers are beautiful! It is nice to see so many posts with lemons this month! I am getting inspired to make a few more things with mine.
    Thanks for sharing!
    Liz x

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    1. Thanks Liz- yes, lemons everywhere! I thought the same. Its been good to read what everyone is doing with their stash too…..hope you enjoy yours x Thanks for dropping by x

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  6. Your pictures take me to a lovely place Kylie. Thanks for sharing and your mason jars look so beautiful xo
    Yvette

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    1. Thanks Yvette- very nice of you to say that xx How handy are these Mason jars? and who would have thought after years of being used for preserving and bottling that they have become so popular in the kitchen for everything from vases, portable snack boxes to gorgeous glasses!xx

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  7. Love seeing Villeroy and Boch items as my dinner service is from them. I too have poached quinces in my kitchen. Thanks for sharing :)

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  8. Love your egg poachers!

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  9. Those egg poachers and their boxes are divine! And I love a syrup cake so that's a great use for the abundance of citrus. How funny that avocados would be called 'Bacon' - wonder what the vegetarians think? Thanks for the tasty tour!

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  10. The lemon syrup cake sure caught my attention and those preserves made me swoon just a bit.

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  11. Kylie, your avocado/pancetta/"grainy" toast sounds divine! (So do your celeriac soup and "flat tummy" juice!) Love those lil' Fiesta Ware egg poachers... yes, please do use them more often... treasures!

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  12. How pretty are those egg poachers? I love Tess Kiros. I have a few of her books. Looks like I'll be adding another one to my collection soon.:)

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  13. G'day! Love your cookbook and your soup looks warm and was welcoming me!
    Thanks for this month's kitchen view too!
    Cheers! Joanne

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  14. Hello Kylie - a wonderful IMK post! Those avos sound amazing - my son is mad about them at the moment and I can't keep enough in the house! I love those egg poachers and am going to have to trawl eBay in a minute! Thanks for this wonderful look in your kitchen!

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  15. Kylie I just love those vintage egg poacher and what a wonderful find on eBay. Avocado, fresh juices, lemons and and a new cookbook... good times in your kitchen. Thanks for sharing. :)

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