The many activities to sequester the season’s produce for future use continue at Maison Bleue: harvesting and pickling, preserving and fermenting and seed saving for next year. Heather’s giant Darwin tomato seeds provided a particularly tasty variety of firm fleshed, large, dark pink tomatoes and seeds are stashed for next season and for gifts for those appreciative of interesting heritage varieties of tomatoes. There has been experimentation with yellow peaches in a honey syrup infused with homegrown lemongrass (doing particularly well in its long and narrow repurposed polystyrene box outside the kitchen window), cloves and cinnamon. Last year Mario’s figs were terrific done in honey with ginger, cloves and star anise and there is one jar left, with an order placed for this year’s supply.
Since then Maison Bleue has acquired a food dehydrator, so drying figs is on the agenda as well. It worked nicely to preserve the abundance of San Marzano tomatoes I grew from seed for the first time. They are now nicely marinating in olive oil for winter salads. Ferments continue and a batch of vanilla and cumquat bitters is maturing and I am learning to work with the effects of changing seasons and temperature on my sourdough starter.
The question on many people’s lips at this time of year remains what to do with those zuccinis that keep coming and morphing into baseball bat size, seemingly overnight? I have always liked bread and butter zuccini pickles so now we have a generous supply.
Zuccini bread and butter pickles
1.5 kg zuccini sliced finely
3 red onions, sliced finely
¼ cup salt
1 tablespoon coriander seeds,
roasted and ground
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon celery seed
3 cups cider vinegar
1 ½ cups light brown sugar
Add salt to zuccini and onion and refrigerate for 3 hours. Rinse and drain and pat dry. Heat remaining ingredients to dissolve sugar. Boil and simmer for 3 minutes. Pour over vegetables and bottle in sterilised jars.
