Annie's excellent lunch for the olive pickers
Meatloaf and golden syrup biscuits to feed a crowd. Thanks Mum x
What should we cook this weekend? Well, ahead of Mother's Day, I’m suggesting a menu that always makes me think of my own incredible one. Annie Herron is a force of nature, indefatigable, an accomplished artist and beloved art teacher, and did I mention that we wrote a book about cooking and art together?
She and Dad are currently visiting her family in Denmark, and the day after they get back, they’re gathering every willing and able body to come and stay and pick olives for their Kimbri Olive Oil.
Mum and Dad have an olive grove between Lithgow and Oberon NSW, and the last weekend of May is generally when they pick them. When the oil is ready, you can often find it at the wonderful Tarana market or online.And of course I’m biased but it’s very very very very good and has loads of gold awards to prove it.
Before she went away, Mum filled the freezer with meatloaves. Nice one, Mum.
So the night before picking day, they’ll be defrosted in the fridge and on the day will be warmed up and set forth on a big tray with salad. Right next door on the trestle in the machinery shed will be sliced, crusty bread or a few slabs of focaccia if I’ve got anything to do with it and a bowl of boiled eggs. And over there, a basket of mustards, chutney and pickles. Can you think of a better way to feed a big group of hungry people? I can’t. Neither can Mum. Which is why it’s her signature move.
To finish, there is generally a basket full of enamel mugs, a couple of thermoses of tea, and a container of golden syrup biscuits and or a fruit tart or similar.
So good. Always a crowd pleaser.
Here's Annie Herron's 'lunch for the pickers' menu. I hope you try it the next time you want to feed people a tasty lunch that goes a long way and really and truly isn't hard to make – especially if you pace it out and do the meatloaves in advance like my dear Mum.
A bit of admin before we get to the recipes: I’m heading to Italy and Slovenia to host a food tour this Saturday (whoohooo). While I’m going to try to post a few newsies while away, I’m not sure how much time I’ll have, so as of today, I am pausing all paid subscriptions until I get back into it.
Thank you so much, happy cooking and see you soon.
Sophie
Mum's pistachio and pork meatloaf (or terrine if you want to sound fancy)
Adding deliciousness and heft to any picnic basket, this sits quietly in the fridge or freezer, ready to be warmed up (or served room temp), sliced thickly and made into a big sandwich with salad and chutney.
1 handful sage leaves
1 handful flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp sea salt
6 black peppercorns
300g pork mince
300g beef mince
1/2 cup pistachios
1/4 cup white wine
1 brown onion, finely diced
2 tbsp olive oil
10 rashers streaky bacon
Combine the sage, parsley, garlic, sea salt and peppercorns on a chopping board and chop together until fine. In a large bowl combine the beef and pork mince, the pistachios, wine and herby garlic mixture. Mix together well then cover and place in the fridge for about an hour for the flavours to combine.
Meanwhile, put the onion in a frying pan with the olive oil. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the onion is completely soft and translucent. Spread out on a tray to cool completely.
Preheat the oven to 160C and line a loaf tin with the bacon. Place three strips lengthways along the bottom of the tin and then the rest cross-ways, letting the ends hang over the sides.
Mix the onion into the meat mixture,, then press this into the prepared loaf tin. Fold the bacon over the top to make a sort of lid and wrap tightly in foil. Line a roasting tray with a tea towel and then place the terrine in the middle (the tea towel stops it from moving around while moving in and out of the oven). Place the roasting tray on the middle rack of your oven and carefully pour hot water into the tray so it reaches about halfway up the terrine tin's sides.
Cook for 1 1/2 hours, then remove from the oven and let cool for about 15 minutes in the water bath. Weigh down the top with a few cans of tomatoes or such, and put in the fridge overnight or for at least six hours. Serve with chutney, crusty bread, and pickles.
Golden syrup biscuits
The smell of these biscuits baking catapults me back to my Gran's old kitchen (Mum's mum) in the Blue Mountains. She used to make them all the time and now we all do too.
200g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (220g) caster sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 cups (300g) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line two baking trays with baking paper.
Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or a wooden spoon and strong arm), cream the butter, sugar, golden syrup, and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together, then add them to the butter mixture. Tip the mixture out onto a work surface and bring it together until just combined.
Split the dough into six balls. Roll and squeeze each ball into a sausage shape, about a thumb's width and around 16cm long. Place on the baking trays and bake for 15 minutes or until golden and slightly risen. They will flatten and spread quite a bit - don't worry! Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes before cutting into biscuits about 4cm wide. Makes about 30.
Jam Crostata
Crostata is possibly my favourite thing to bake. I love it for dessert, for breakfast, to make as a present, with jam or poached fruit, I just love it and hope you will try and feel the same too!
1 cup (320 g) jam of your choice (apricot or blackberry are my favourites. Oh, and quince is amazing too)
1/4 cup (55 g) caster (superfine) sugar
Pastry
1 2/3 cups (250 g) plain (all-purpose) flour
100 g icing sugar
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
½ cup (125 g) cold butter, cubed
1 egg
1 egg yolk
Ricotta filling
1 cup (230 g) fresh ricotta
1/4 cup (30 g) icing sugar
1 vanilla bean
3 eggs
To make the pastry, combine the flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Tip onto a work surface and add the butter, rubbing it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse sand (with a few small pebbles). Add the egg and yolk and, using a light hand, bring the mixture together until you have a smooth dough (it’s okay if there are some streaks of butter). Form into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
For the filling, whisk together all the ingredients until well combined. Place the jam in a small saucepan and gently heat.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
To roll out the crostata, first cut away about one-third of the pastry and roll out the remaining two-thirds until you have a large rectangle shape (or round if you’r using a round cake or tart tin) about 4 mm thick. Gently transfer the pastry into a lamington tin or round sandwich tin or a fluted tart tin, whatever you prefer. Trim the edges of your pastry so they are fairly even all the way round.
Spoon the ricotta mixture onto the base of the pastry and top with dollops of jam.
Roll out the remaining pastry and cut into about ten strips. Arrange five of these across the top of the tart and then spin it around and criss- cross the remaining five strips in a lattice pattern on the other side, weaving the strips over and under each other.
Trim any excess, sprinkle with the caster sugar and bake for 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
Serve warm or chilled (if the latter, you’ll find it slices much more cleanly).
These photos were taken at a previous olive picking weekend. And the recipes originally featured in my book A Basket by the Door.