Funny thing is I'm up and down on basil,
sometimes preferring the fresh, sometimes
dried (which is more like tea than real
basil), sometimes the Thai, sometimes the
lemony variety, sometimes the Italian that
has as much in common with other Mediterranean
herbs as it has with Asian basils. Usually I
use half what a recipe might call for; with
thyme and marjoram it's often twice.
Depends on the phase of the moon? (G)
It may not be fully rational, but it's not
so irrational as that.
I don't go out of my way for Hain products, figuring
they're just as agribusiness as anyone else.
This isn't Hain, it's Spectrum.
Sorry to tell you, Spectrum is Hain.
OK, I looked at the container (a couple of weeks ago) and saw it, in
small letters, near the bottom.
You might like to think that Spectrum is a small
responsibly-run enterprise, and it may once have
been that, but now it's just another cog in a
monstrous agribusiness wheel.
And get them before the birds so as well. We've got a small fig tree
in > our yard, needs to grow a lot more before it puts out much
fruit. Steve > bought it last year--it had one small fig on it but the fig never
If you have only one tree, and it yields,
netting might be a good idea.
Probably so, don't want the birds to enjoy all of the figs.
I am scantily sympathetic to cute winged
creatures, rodents and lagomorphs with
twitchy whiskers, or four-hooved vermin,
They're competitors with humans for natural
resources and generally not better than any
other good source of protein.
Or you could be like our friends Chris and Rob,
who have a grapefrult tree. It's not much taller
than I am and probably weighs less when not
pregnant, but in season, like now, it's totally
engulfed in 2 lb fruit that are sweet and delicious
and won't get vandalized by the creatures.
Sounds good. We got some grapefruit once in AZ that were like that.
And these folks are so blase about their
good fortune. Once in a while Lilli will
get a bag of the precious fruit (which she
uses to make Greyhound cocktails, not a
wholly worthy product, but at least it keeps
her from getting scurvy). I knew a family on
Maui who had an avocado tree that had the most
delicious fruit I've ever tasted that was so
prolific that in order to get between the
main house and the cottage you had to skate
on squishy guacamole, in season of course,
but it was pretty much always season. They
were also incredibly jaded in the avocado
department, seldom bothering to harvest.
developed. In time, we might have enough to make preserves or fig
cake > (an Okracoke Island specialty).
Title: Sweet Fig Pickles
That's another possiblility.
More appropriate for this season would be
sweet pig pickles!
That's something different.
Crisp pork belly with caramel vinegar
categories: Vietnamese, Australian, main
servings: 8
h - Pork Belly
1.5 kg pork belly
2 Tb sea salt
olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
h - Caramel vinegar
1/2 c brown sugar
1/3 c red wine vinegar
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 c chicken stock
1 orange, juice of
4 wide strips orange peel
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Score the skin of the pork belly in a criss-cross
pattern with a sharp knife (a stanley knife works
well). Rub the sea salt into the pork skin and
set aside for 30 min [might count as pickling].
Preheat the oven to 220C/450F. Wipe the salt off
the pork skin with kitchen paper and dry well.
Drizzle a large roasting tin with olive oil. Put
the pork belly in the tin skin-side down, drizzle
with a little more oil and season. Roast 30 min.
Reduce temperature to 190C/375F and roast for
another 1 1/2 hr. Carefully turn the pork over
and roast for another 20 min, or until the skin
is crisp.
Remove the pork from the oven, cover loosely with
foil and set aside to rest for at least 15 min.
Slice the pork and drizzle with the caramel
vinegar (below). Serve with steamed rice, a
steamed Asian green vegetable and some freshly
chopped red chilli.
Caramel vinegar - Put the sugar, vinegar, star
anise and cinnamon in a small saucepan and cook,
stirring, over medium heat until the sugar has
dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer for
5 min, or until syrupy. Stir in the chicken
stock and simmer for another 5 min, or until
slightly reduced. Add the orange juice and peel,
reduce the heat to low and simmer gently until
thick and syrupy. Season to taste.
Bill Granger, goodfood.com.au
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