on air on Bayfm 99.9 on May 2, 2011
It’s the first belly of May, so as usual we talked about some of the delicious foods in season this month. Ms May (aka Alison Drover) brought some cooler weather recipes, she’s been all over Australia to see what’s in season.
It’s also the first belly of a new bayfm 6 month programming season, so I marked the occasion with our first ever mystery sound – so mysterious that nobody rang in – I would have been very surprised if anybody had recognised it in fact.
MMMMMMISS MAY’S MONTHLY ROUNDUP
Seasonal Fruit And Vegetables in Australia in May
Fruits:
apples : bonza – braeburn – cox’s orange pippins – fuji – gala – golden delicious – granny smith – jonagold – jonathan – mutso – pink lady – red delicious – snow – sundowner
bananas, cumquat, custard apple, feijoa,
grapes : purple cornichon – waltham cross,
kiwifruit, lemons, limes,
mandarins, champagne melons,
nuts : chestnut – hazelnut – peanut – walnut,
pears : howell – josephine – packham – red sensation – williams,
persimmon, quince, rhubarb.
Vegetables:
asian greens – bok choy, – choy sum – gai laan – wonga bok,
avocados : fuerte – sharwill,
beetroot, broccoli, brussels sprout, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, daikon, eggplant, fennel, garlic, ginger, horseradish, leeks, lettuce,
mushrooms : wild – field – pine – slippery jacks,
okra, olives,
onions : brown – spring,
parsnip, peas, potato, pumpkin, shallots, silverbeet, spinach, squash, swede, sweet potato, taro, tomato, turnip, witlof, zucchini.
MANDARIN CAKE
makes one 24 cm cake, serves 10 – 12
3 mandarins
250g (1 cup) caster sugar
6 eggs
230g (2 cups) ground almonds
to serve
60g (¼ cup) caster sugar
zest of 2 oranges
This is a great cake and ideal for all those that need gluten and wheat free. It is a cake that not only tastes good but the vibrancy of the orange mandarins that make it look so good. I often decorate it with nasturtium flowers and serve yogurt with it.
Put the mandarins in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 hours, adding water when necessary to keep the mandarins covered at all times.
Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F/Gas 3). Grease a 24 cm (9 inch) springform cake tin well.
Drain the mandarins and cool to room temperature. Once cooled, split them open with your hands and remove any seeds. Puree the mandarins, including the skins, in a food processor. Add the sugar and eggs and mix together until combined. Add the ground almonds to the mandarin purée and stir thoroughly.
Pour the mixture into prepared tin and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until the cake looks set in the middle, springs back when touched and comes away from the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.
While the cake is cooling, put the extra sugar in a saucepan with 60 ml (¼ cup) of water over a low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the orange zest and boil the mixture until it just starts to caramelise. Lift the zest out with a fork and cool it on a plate.
Serve the cake with caramelised citrus zest and a sprinkling of icing sugar.
MUSHROOM BREAD SOUP
This is an easy mushroom soup. May is a time that mushrooms grow well as the temperature is cooling down. Visit your local farmer market and see what is growing and be adventurous. With your mushroom types.
500g mushrooms – try to buy from Farmers Market as you will taste the difference in flavor and be sure to find varieties that provide all the wonderful textures.
4 cups chicken stock
2 slices sourdough bread, crusts removed
Simmer sliced mushrooms in stock with bread for 10 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender. Blend soup and season to taste. Garnish with chives and creme fraiche.
VEGETABLE STOCK
Celery stalks, coarsely chopped
Carrots coarsely chopped
Leeks white parts only, coarsely chopped
Onion coarsely chopped
Garlic cloves bruised
White peppercorns
Bouquet garni – this is a mixture of herbs used to flavour the stock. You can make this easily by using parsley stalks, thyme sprigs, rosemary, bay leaf, clove of garlic and tying them together so they are enclosed in a piece of muslin. The bag of herbs is placed in the stock and removed afterwards.
For vegetable stock, combine ingredients in a saucepan and add bouquet garni. Cover with cold water, bring to the boil over medium heat, then reduce to low and lightly simmer, skimming occasionally until stock is flavoured (30-40 minutes). Remove from heat, strain through a muslin-lined fine sieve (discard solids). Cool to room temperature then refrigerate stock until chilled (2-4 hours). Makes about 2 litres. Stock will keep refrigerated for up to 3 days and frozen for up to several months
PLANTING IN MAY
Miss May says time is running out so get out in the garden and start planting so that you will have the abundance of vegetables through to winter.
Now is the time to plant broccoli, broad beans, beetroot, coriander, cabbages and Asian greens. Visit the Sustain Food website for a local regional planting guide. http://sustainfood.com.au/index.php?page=grow-what-s-in-season-vegetables.
This is also the time to save seeds from your summer crops so that you have them for the next year. Saving seeds helps safeguard the food security of the plant and is also a great way to ensure that the seeds you sow grow.
I have some heritage tomato seeds that my neighbour gave to me in Sydney and she has had them for over 30years. They grow and are so resistant and produce the juiciest tomatoes.
Alison Drover a.k.a. Miss May
THE MANDARIN POEM
Yes the beautiful mandarin, loved in China for many centuries as much for its scent as for its taste. This is a poem about the first mandarin of the season being presented at the imperial palace.
LIU HSUN – AD 462 -521
On the morning of the first frost,
the gardener plucks and presents it;
its perfume extends to all the seats of the guests,
when opened, its fragrant mist spurts upon the people.
THE MYSTERY SOUND
Apologies to anyone who thought their radio was broken – the mystery sound was very odd
If you’d like to listen, go to
http://austringer.net/wp/index.php/2010/06/25/listening-to-snapping-shrimp/
and for sound + good explanation
http://www.ieee-uffc.org/ultrasonics/symposia/2003/hawaii03/plenary_session.html
The loudest sound under the sea, would you believe, is prawns, or shrimp – usually called snapping shrimp. They make a sound that can be over 200 decibels, louder than a jumbo taking off. They use the sound for hunting, to stun their prey. They are very common in sub-tropical waters, and they are spreading with warming seas, so don’t be surprised if your bucket of prawns makes strange noises.
If you know of any other edible animals (or plants!) that make odd noises, or you have a good cooking sound that doesn’t just sound like static and would be good for a guessing game, please send it to the bellysisters. Next time I will try to organise a prize for the first correct guess. Of course the glory is probably enough.
Love and chocolate covered prawns, sister T
MUSIC
Bellydance, Undercover (with ya lover)
James Grehan, Miss Mayhem
the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, a bunch of whales and dolphins, Jean-Pierre Jacquillat conducting, Danse Lente, from Trois Danses by Durufle’
Burt Bacharach, Another spring will rise
Keren Ann, the end of May
Bianca Meier, Walk the earth