As the days shorten, late raspberries are providing a last splash of colour. The light touch of summer has given away to earthy comfort cravings.
A simple meal of sausage, cabbage and red wine vinegar is just a delight, even more so if you make the sausages yourself.
A chilli beef pie is slow-cooked satisfaction with gorgeous fiery kick. The pastry a flaky indulgence that one no longer feels the slightest guilt over as the temperature outside cools.
A warm apple fig and walnut cake drizzled with lemon honey syrup is also not a bad way to while away an afternoon with friends and a cup of tea. Enough said, time for a nap.
Bevan and Monique Smith own Riverstone Kitchen, runner-up Best Regional Restaurant in the 2014 Cuisine Good Food Awards.
Pork and fennel sausages with cabbage and red wine vinegar
Serves 4
Ingredients
12 small or eight medium pure pork and fennel sausages
40ml olive oil
½ a medium white cabbage, core removed and roughly chopped
60ml good quality red wine vinegar
60ml extra virgin olive oil
3 spring onions, finely chopped
1 cup parsley, picked
½ cup chives (optional)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat oven to 200degC.
Heat olive oil in a large heavy-based frying pan over a medium to high heat.
Place sausages into the hot pan and colour well on one side before turning over and placing into hot oven and cooking for a further three minutes or until sausages are just cooked. Remove from oven and keep warm.
Place cabbage, red wine vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, spring onions, parsley and chives into a large bowl, toss well together to combine and season to taste with a little salt and pepper. Divide sausages between four plates and serve with the dressed cabbage.
Serve immediately.
NB: As this dish has only a few elements, it really depends on the quality of the ingredients to make it happen. Using good red wine vinegar such as Forum Cabernet Sauvignon makes such a difference.
The freshness of the cabbage and the quality of the sausages are also vital.
Chilli beef pie
Serves 4
Ingredients
4-6 dried guajillo or pasilla chillies
1 tsp cumin, ground
½tsp black pepper
2 tsp sea salt flakes
4 Tbsp lard, rendered beefsuet or vegetable oil
600g beef cheeks
1 brown onion, peeled and finely diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled andfinely sliced
500ml beef/chicken stock (or water)
3 Tbsp masa harina (corn tortilla flour)
2 tsp soft brown sugar
1 Tbsp white vinegar
300g pie base pastry
300g puff pastry
1 free-range egg, beaten
Pie base pastry
Makes 300g
200g plain flour
60g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
90ml milk
5g salt
Method
Grind chillies, cumin, pepper and salt to a smooth paste with 50ml of water using a mortar and pestle or small food processor, adding a little more water to loosen the mixture as required. Set chilli paste to one side.
Cut the beef into 3cm pieces. Heat half the fat or oil in a large heavy-based frying pan and colour beef well on all sides. Remove beef from the pan and set to one side.
Add remaining fat and sweat the onion and garlic without colouring until just soft. Add stock and whisk in the masa harina and chilli paste until the stock starts to thicken slightly. Use a little extra masa harina if required. Stir in the brown sugar and vinegar and adjust seasoning to taste.
Place the beef into a small roasting tray with raised sides and pour the sauce over the top. Cover with baking paper and tinfoil and bake in the oven for 2-3 hours or until tender. Remove from oven and allow to cool in refrigerator until completely cold. Preheat oven to 220degC.
Unwrap pie base pastry and roll out on a lightly floured benchtop into a 30cm x 30cm square, 3mm to 4mm thick. Place a 20cm oven-proof frying pan on to a baking tray.
Gently drape pie base pastry sheet over frying pan. Remove pie filling from fridge and spoon into the centre of the pie. Brush pastry lip of pie with a little cold water.
Roll out puff pastry on a lightly floured benchtop into a 25cm circle, 3mm to 4mm thick. Drape over pie and gently press down on the edge of the frying pan to seal top and bottom together. Remove excess pastry and brush pie top with beaten egg.
Place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to allow pastry to rest before baking for 20 minutes or until pastry is a deep golden brown.
Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving. Serve with plain boiled potatoes, mash and wilted greens.
Pie base pastry
Place flour and butter into a food processor and blend until butter is rubbed into flour.
Add milk and salt and pulse until a soft dough starts to form. Remove pastry and knead on a lightly floured benchtop to form a smooth dough.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for at least half an hour before use.
Apple, fig and walnut cake
Serves 10
Ingredients
10 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced
juice and zest of 2 lemons
75g walnuts, roasted and crushed
5 free-range eggs
250g soft brown sugar
170g caster sugar
3 tsp vanilla essence
170g unsalted butter, melted
150ml milk
225g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
180g dried figs, thinly sliced, or chopped dates
150g pinenuts
1½ Tbsp icing sugar
1½ tsp cinnamon
Lemon honey syrup
100g liquid honey
200g sugar
200ml water
juice of 2 lemons
Method
Preheat oven to 170degC.
Toss apple, lemon juice and zest together in a bowl and reserve. Grease and line with baking paper a 28cm cake tin with removal base.
Scatter walnuts over the bottom of the tin. In a mixing bowl whisk eggs with three quarters of a cup of the brown sugar, caster sugar and vanilla essence until pale and creamy.
Add butter, milk, flour and baking powder and stir to combine. Pour one third of the cake batter into the tin, scatter with half the figs and pinenuts followed by one third of the apples.
Pour a second third of batter over the apples and scatter with remaining figs and pinenuts. Place half the remaining apples on top, followed by the remaining batter.
Scatter the last of the apples on top of the batter.
Mix the remaining brown sugar with the icing sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until just cooked. Remove from oven and allow to cool for one and a-half hours before serving.
Serve with pure cream and drizzle with lemon honey syrup.
Lemon honey syrup
Place honey, sugar and water in a small saucepan and warm over a medium heat. Stir well, remove from heat and add lemon juice.
