Elderberry reduction for venison, duck, pork, lamb

Ingredients
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fine diced shallots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup crushed fresh elderberries
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup gin
1 cup rich brown sauce (use bisto or Continental gravy)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon cold butter


Directions
Lightly season the venison chops on both sides with salt and black pepper. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add the berries, sugar and rosemary and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the balsamic vinegar and red wine and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, about 1 minute. Add the gin, being careful of flames, and stir to deglaze the pan. (Alternately, remove the pan from the heat and ignite with a match.) When the flames die out, add the demi-glace and sage, and stir well.

Elderberry Syrup pamphlet

Nola's meatloaf

Treat this like Kiwi terrine! A few slices of this lovely moist, caramalised meatloaf recipe goes perfectly with a garden salad, new potatoes or fresh vege on the side beautifully. This looks like French bistro but tastes unmistakenly Kiwi.

Ingredients:
500g Dave's sausages or others (about 6 saussies normal size)
500g mince
1/4 c chopped tomatoes out of a can
3 carrots, grated
1/3 c red or white cabbage (can be substiuted by a 1/3 cup of grated zuccini)
a tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce
1 onion
salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Set oven at 200 degress celsius
2. Take sausage meat out of casing and mix in with meat.
3.Grate onion, carrots and thinly slice or grate the cabbage in a bowl. Add chopped tomatoes.
4. Combine the veges,meats, sweet chilli sauce and combine well until it form a nice clump.
5.Mould into a loaf like rectangle and wrap in aluminium foil.
6. Cook for an hour at 180 degrees fan bake.


Serve with fresh salad and spicy elderflower salad dressing.

Moosewood's carrot mushroom loaf for an oaf or the gluten intolerant

Feel like you've been an oaf today? Misplaced your keys? Maybe, misplaced your wallet? Forgot your brain at home before going to work?

30 minutes to assemble
45 minutes to bake

5-6 Servings

2 cups minced onion
1tbsp butter
400g mushroom
1tsp basil
1tsp thyme
1tsp dill
3-4 medium cloves of garlic
6 cups grated carrots
2 cups bred crumbs
1 cup grated cheddar
2 eggs beaten
black pepper
Optional toppings: extra dill, cheese, breadcrumbs, sprinkling of sesame seeds

Lightly oil a 9 by 13 inch baking pan, standard size fruit cake tin. Preheat the oven to 350 F or 180 C

In a large pan saute onions in butter over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, salt, herbs and garlic and continue to saute for about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl combine carrots, breadcrumbs, cheese, eggs and pepper. Add the sauteed mixture and mix well. Spread into the prepared pan and sprinkle with your choice of toppings. Cover the pan with foil

Bake for 30 minutes covered then uncover and bake 15 minutes more. Serve hot or warm.

For more great Mollie Katzen recipes go to and

Drink with a Valli Margherita

Large glass full of ice
1 part cointreau
4 parts Barkers Lime Cordial - diluted
5 parts grappa or Hokonui moonshine (better made with local ingredients like home distilled or hokonui)
1/4 of a lime

60s lemonade scones

3 cups self raising lour
2 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup cream
3/4 cup lemonade
(grated rind of orange)

Method
Sift flour into a bowl
(Stir in sugar and orange rind)
Add cream or lemonade
Mix with knife
Soft dough
Turn out on a lightly floured surface flatten to about 2cm thickness
Cut to shape
Bake in 220 degrees for about 15 minutes

Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

One 8- or 9-inch (20-23cm) double layer cake



For the cake layers:

4 large eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup (60ml) vegetable oil
¾ c (180ml) melted brown butter (or more oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
2 cups (400g) sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
generous pinch each of nutmeg and cloves, grind in mortar and pestle if you don't have ground spices
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups (13 ounces/375g)4-5 medium size carrots, loosely packed grated carrots
1/2 cup (60g) raisins, preferably golden raisins (sultanas)


For the frosting:

1 pound (450g) cream cheese, at room temperature
4 oz (110g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2-3 cups (240-360g) powdered sugar, sifted
a few drops of vanilla extract
a tsp molasses

To decorate
Muesli, or chopped apricots, figs and pumpkin seeds, or peaks and troughs with a piping bag

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter and flour two 8- or 9-inch (20-23cm) cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.Use round or scquare 20cm tin as desired. If you have one only, bake one layer after the other using just the one pan!!

2. To make the cake layers, sift together the flour, sugar, spices, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. With a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (rather than a whisker), beat the eggs until they are pale and frothy (they need not increase dramatically in volume). With the mixer running, drizzle in the oil and melted butter, then the vanilla.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the eggs and mix carefully until just combined. The paddle will accomplish this easily but if you only have a hand held mixer you may want to just do it by hand.

4. Fold in the carrots and raisins, then divide the batter between the two pans. Bake 30-35 minutes, until the surface springs back when gently touched. Cool the cakes completely before frosting.

5. To make the frosting, sift icing sugar in a bowl. Beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Slowly add the butter and cream cheese mixture into the powdered sugar (do this on low speed to avoid a dust cloud). Add vanilla and mix until light, silky and marginally stiff if you are thinking of piping the cake for decoration.

Serving and Storage: This cake is best served at room temperature but will keep for a few days stored in the refrigerator.

David Lebowitz and Britta Lieven

Honey/ thyme poached apricots with cream

The thyme gives the apricots a lovely genteel, aromatic flavour and is a perfect precursor to a cup of strong coffee after dinner.







Ingredients

1 vanilla bean
3-4 tbsp honey
3-4 tbsp brown sugar
twigs of thyme
1 1/2 water
10 apricots


Method

Cut straight down vanilla bean, open up, scrape out the pod and put paste into a medium sized saucepan.
Add honey, brown sugar, thyme and water to vanilla bean paste and simmer until the sugar has dissolved.
Cut into halves, de-stone apricots and add. Cook for 8-10 minutes until soft but not mushy.
If you cook them too long they will disintegrates and become like compote which should not worry you and is just as delish.
Remember to take out thyme twigs!
Serve with cream, or creame fraiche and, or vanilla icecream
Enjoy!

Recipe idea courtesy of North and South Mag
I pulled the photo off dinnerdujour blog as I forgot to take a picture. Check this blog out, to view click on http://dinnerdujour.org/