Super sticky cinamon buns………

So, after enjoying some sunshine for a bit, it decided to crap out and be rainy…… It was looking like it was going to be like it for a few days, so thats always an excuse to spend some time in the kitchen but what to cook. Steph made a point of saying she really missed those super sticky cinamon buns we used to get from a store back in england, so that was inspiration enough, hint taken….. She did say this at about 9 in the evening, and to be honest, I wasn’t going to be staying up till midnight to wait for the dough to be ready just for a nostalgic craving. Instead, I started the dough off and left it in the fridge overnight so I could get straight on the case in the morning. Now the dough, much like a bread dough, has to be kneaded until springy and smooth, but for these cinamon buns, an obscene amount of butter, sugar, milk and an egg or two is used instead of just water. Of course yeast is also added to get some fluffiness into the equation, but the real goodness comes from everything else.

It doesnt stop there though. The following morning, the dough was taken out and left to rise, before being knocked back, rolled out, smoothered in more butter and sugar (and of course cinamon), rolled up, sliced up and placed in more butter and sugar (not forgetting more cinamon), left to rise and then baked until golden. I think I even brushed the top of the rolls with some butter too………

All this sounds pretty bad, and to be honest it was hard to finish just one of them without feeling like we’d overdone it, but really, whats the point in making something like this and trying to make it healthy, that stuff can be saved for when its nice out and I can actually pick the salad without getting drenched.

Go on, treat yourself once in a while.

10 little thumpers, to skin, gut and butcher…

Sorry it’s been a while, but being on the road, makes blogging a bit tricky. Unfortunately the food has been less sourced from the ground directly, as we have left the farm, but has still been as local as possible even if it is from the supermarket. Evening meals whilst its still warm out, have mostly been fresh salads and smoked fish, there is always a good supply of that in NZ. We have spent a little time picking cherries on our way through Central Otago, and apart from eating cherries directly off the tree and once just destoned and mixed with a little honey, Steph and I did get invited into the owners of the cherry orchards house for dinner. Now although I would have thought there were fed up with cherries, they were willing to try something new. There isn’t a picture for this, as the camera wasn’t available but I cooked a lovely french classic of cherry clafoutis and served it with some whipped cream. Cherries galore in a sweet franch batter, went down a treat.

Now something I do have pictures of, and was most certainly sourced from the ground, is the following…..

Whats better than eating food thats in season, you guessed it, eating FREE food in season. We were invited to do a bit of pest control on the cherry farm, which involved a gun and lots of creeping around the hills quietly to catch the unexpecting bunnies unawares… It wasnt the most productive of shooting days but we did come back with 10 little thumpers, to skin, gut and butcher for the following nights feast.

I was told the owners weren’t overly keen on the strong taste of these little pests, so I was determined to make a meal where they would happily ask for seconds. The rabbit legs would need some stewing, so I cooked up a base of smoked bacon, onions, garlic, white wine, chicken stock, grainy mustard, bay leaves from the tree in the garden and thyme from the herb patch. About 2 hours later, just before serving, I popped in the rabbit loins (about 10 minutes needed) then right at the end some fresh peas from the garden. The whole lot was served with some roasted tatties and carrots, and fresh salad from the garden, all placed in the middle of the table for people to help themselves. Seconds and thirds where even had, so I think the rabbit population may be in for a little decline shortly….