“Oh no!”, I hear you groan, “She is not at it, again!” Yes, I am afraid, I am.
Horst and Renate (my neighbours) have gone on a small holiday to check out the wild flowers. Luckily, before they went, I sneaked in a “Can I pick some of your cumquats while you are away?” request. Continue reading
I must admit, I am a little bit obsessed with cumquats. It is just that so many people grow them as an ornamental tree and don’t bother to use the fruit. This really upsets me. My philosophy on life is (well, one of them, anyway): the world has limited resources and if you have food at hand, you should eat it rather than going to a supermarket and buying something from half way around the world that costs the earth more than it can afford. Ok, now I will get off my bandwagon and start discussing the delights of cumquats.
If you have cumquats growing on your patio, there is a lot you can do with them. A great idea is to finely slice them crossways, boil them in a sugar syrup and serve them with a dessert, such as Maggie Beer’s buttermilk panna cotta with cumquat syrup. Here is the link to the recipe. It is one of my favourite desserts. Continue reading
Panna cotta is one of life’s great delights. I love all panna cotta but this one is my favourite.
I remember the time I first tasted buttermilk panna cotta with cumquat sauce. I was at a function to publicise the release of Maggie Beer’s Maggie’s Harvest. It was a 5 course dinner with the menu sourced from the book. The price of the dinner included wine. The wine waiters were a little too generous with refilling our glasses so by the time we got to dessert I was, along with my friends, more than a little intoxicated. It was a great night.
I tasted the dessert and suddenly I felt sober. I could not believe how good it was. I remember turning to my friend and saying, ‘taste the dessert’. She gave me a ‘I’m too full to have another bite’ look. I said, ‘ no, I mean it, taste the dessert’. It was divine. Continue reading
Passion Fruit Garden 