Double Ginger Scones with Currants #ISW 2025

 Dear Friends, If you think you have seen this recipe before, you just might have. I have posted it before, quite recently, and I am now submitting it for the very important International Scone Week event, #ISW 2025.

 Eaten when warm and aromatic, straight out of the oven especially on a cool morning, they are a little crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and the sprinkle of raw sugar as a topping gives them a slightly discernable crunch.

In My Kitchen, June 2025, looking back on Marvellous May

Dear friends, How can it be June already? It's been a big month of enjoying the magnificent weather here right now in North Queensland and keeping busy with harvesting and preserving all of the fresh and surplus produce coming our way, not to mention eating it. 

Delicious Ginger Crunch Slice

This Ginger Crunch slice has a melt in your mouth shortbread base, and a delicious ginger caramel icing. If you haven't already tried this slice, prepare to fall in love. I really doubt that you will be able to stop at 1 piece, we couldn't.

Our Annual fresh Ginger and Turmeric Harvest is on now, with Ginger and Turmeric Recipes included

We  have just harvested our tropical and edible crop of aromatic Ginger and Turmeric. It's an annual event, generally occurring between the heat of Summer and the early chill of Winter, when the rhizomes or roots are mature. Ginger and turmeric grow almost like a weed here in Mackay in the tropics. Since then we've been chopping, slicing, cooking, freezing and dehydrating the ginger. Now I have enough dehydrated Spice Ginger and tropical Stem Ginger in Syrup, and frozen ginger and turmeric to last me for the next 12 months.

Tropical Ginger, Coconut and Lemon Slice

Allow me to present a nostalgic and vintage style slice for you on a Sunday. At this time of year in our Southern Hemisphere Winter, which I am loving, ginger is my favourite spice, and I use it whenever I can in savoury and sweet cooking. Ginger has an irresistable combination  of hot, clean and cool flavours. Although to be honest, Middle Eastern Baharat comes a close second to Ginger for me, and I use it in my iced Ginger Cake or my Ginger Syrup Cake (same recipe). I try to always substitute Baharat for the mixed spice. 

In My Kitchen, June and July, 2023

This is a quick roundup of what has been happening in both my French and Australian kitchens and all things related, since I last posted an In My Kitchen, which is a while. Regular readers of my food blog will know that I travelled over to France for two months so I won't repeat the details of what I have already written here about my trip. Most of the cooking I did in France was to feed my son's beautiful family, including my 7 year old grandson, and 4 year old twins, a boy and a girl. The three children have just had birthdays over the last month. I was so fortunate to be there for the twins 4th birthday. This post is my June submission to the #IMK series hosted by the wonderful Sherry from Sherry's Pickings. Each month food bloggers from around the world gather to share what is new in their kitchen.  

Anybody who cooks for children is no doubt aware of their food preferences, but when this includes one who won't eat eggs, or anything obviously containing eggs, one who doesn't like cheese, yes I know it's France, the cheese haven of the world, although he adores fruit and would live on it if possible. One who hates fresh tomato but is fine with pasta and pasta sauce, and then there are the various vegetables and aversions to a few vegetables. However they love pumpkin. Having said all of that though, in general they love food and are good eaters, in particular Evie who eats really well and puts the boys to shame, most of the time. It was a delight for me to be able to cook for them. My son loves his food, and generally does all the cooking for the meals, so they are in good hands as well. I tried to give him a break from cooking whenever I could whilst I was over there. Does any of this sound familiar to those of you with children, or grandchildren? I actually don't remember our children being fussy eaters, but perhaps I've forgotten. However over time children's preferences will change, and the importance of  healthy home cooked food, and just the occasional take away, shines through eventually.

I made a "French" Bread and Butter pudding for dessert one night, using two day old Brioche, Nutella, and used an online recipe for the custard. I was really pleased with how it tasted, however the children thought I could have added more Nutella. I really thought it was sweet enough. Nutella is still so popular in France. In the supermarkets I saw whole shelving bays devoted to Nutella, in bottles and packaging of various shapes and sizes. 

A few batches of my Aussie Damper Scones were always delicious straight out of the oven, just because the children and my daughter in law loved them. They are easy and quick to make, and the ingredients are always on hand, although at times I used some buckwheat flour if we had run out of plain flour. They were also easy to make with little Evie, who loved cooking with me.

This is still a very edible batch given I had help from a four year old, and used a variety of flours as well.

Another batch performing the disappearing act

Evie and I cooking scones together

Corn Flake biscuits were a winner, and Corn Flakes were on rotation over there as a  breakfast cereal, so were generally available in the pantry. The twins took their job of crushing up the cornflakes very seriously. 

French Afternoon tea in the summer garden in Lodeve, where Myrtille's mother Catherine lives was a treat.

Catherine's special French Chocolate cake. She also makes this cake for the children's birthdays.

A view over Lodeve from Catherine's kitchen.

Matthew cooked Canard, or braised Duck breast a couple of nights during my stay. The duck can be purchased with instructions on the packet, and this is Duck breast not Duck legs unlike Duck confit. It wasn't very difficult to cook and was absolutely superb to eat. The presentation on this plate isn't great, but when there are 5 hungry mouths to feed, it's just a relief to have it cooked. Honestly, I've never eaten more delicious duck. We went out for dinner on my last evening in Montpellier and I ordered Duck confit, but it wasn't as enjoyable as the duck my son cooked.

Searing the duck breast

Canard, perfectly pink in the middle

Baked vegetables to accompany the duck

I cooked this simple and delicious chicken traybake with corn fed chicken, which has yellow coloured skin because of the corn they were fed on, and local French vegetables including Kale, leeks, carrots and zucchini, which came in the organic Vegetable and Fruit box that they collect each week. Corn fed chicken is more expensive, but much better quality.

Locally grown organic kale

We call them Madeleines, the French called these  Magdalenas. These little cakes could be purchased in large cellophane packets, and individually wrapped. They were  delicious and looked just like Madeleines.

We enjoyed these French hors d'oeuvres when we were invited out to afternoon aperitifs. They were all bought frozen from a supermarket which only sells frozen food and were delicious.

My son took Hugo, our 7 year old grandson to the French Tennis Open at Roland Garros in Paris while I was over there, and brought us back some beautiful merchandise, a lovely handbag and Roland Garros canvas shopping bag pour moi, and a set of Roland Garros espresso coffee mugs for Mr. HRK. They have pride of place in our kitchen, and the handbag and canvas shopping bag were well used while I was in France.

The June Tropical Ginger Harvest

When we arrived home, it was time to harvest our patch of fresh ginger growing in the back garden. We waited a week to take a breath and settle in, and then the second week was officially "ginger week". We dehydrated a bucket of ginger, and I put aside 1200 grams to make Stem Ginger in Syrup, which I love to have on hand, bottled  in the refrigerator for adding to ginger cakes and desserts. If you have fresh ginger growing, you can read how I make my tropical stem ginger at this link. Yours is probably ready to harvest now as well. It's always ready in Winter to be harvested if it was planted early enough in Spring/Summer.

Tropical Stem Ginger in syrup

I also now have enough powdered ginger to last me for another year. 

Washed

Skins removed

Four trays in the dehydrator ready to be dried for powdered ginger.

I made this Golden Pear, Raspberry, Almond and Maple syrup cake for dessert after I returned home, and used fresh raspberries this time. The first one that I made with frozen raspberries looked completely different with the rich redness of the raspberries colouring the cake in layers. Take a peek at the original post I did on this and you will see what I mean. I'll write up the recipe again though as soon as I can. This is a delicious cake.

I cooked Ratatouille, a French vegetable stew,  in Montpellier, and again when I settled in at home as well. The tomatoes and fresh vegetables in Montpellier were just exceptional and made this dish very tasty.

When we arrived home, I was thrilled to notice that our Italian honey bees were feeding on the Blue Butterfly bush in our front garden. It's a beautiful bush and bees love blue and purple flowers. Mr. HRK inspected the beehive, and despite our absence, it seems to be thriving which is a relief. If we can survive the Spring bee swarming season, we should be harvesting honey later in the year. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for dropping by to read my post. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you.

Warm wishes,

Pauline

In My Kitchen, October 2022

 

When I start writing In My Kitchen each month, I have to really think about what I've been cooking, baking, and where I've been that's noteworthy. The weeks fly by. I've looked back at my photos for the past month, and they tell most of the story. However, we've been travelling quite a bit during this last month and haven't been home very much, so here's a rundown of life in my kitchen in between and during our travels. I've also purchased a few nice things along the way that I found quite serendipitously. 

I made a batch of these Portuguese Custard Tarts in Cairns, after being inspired by the tarts we ate at the Gallery Cafe in Chillagoe, where we travelled for the weekend just recently. My recipe is based on Jamie Oliver's Portuguese Orange Custard Tarts recipe and these were delicious. 

The next photo showcases a beautiful linen table runner which I bought at the Cairns Art Gallery and is based on the Fruits of the Rainforest Art Collection, painted by William T Cooper. This particular one is called Myrsine. I also bought a smaller runner, and a tea towel from the Sauropus range, which will make lovely Christmas gifts. I was fortunate to see William Cooper's beautiful Rainforest Collection paintings at the Cairns Art Gallery at the beginning of the year, but they had sold out of the manchester range in the gallery shop. Luckily it was back in stock a few weeks ago so I took advantage of it. William Cooper is one of  Australia's most proficient and talented botanical and bird artists, and his works are meticulously based on many birds and plants from Far North Queensland, where he lived before he died in 2015. I believe his wife still lives on the Atherton Tableland, and manages all of the exhibitions and merchandising now.

Mr. HRK is a twitcher, a bird watcher, so I bought him this fabulous Black Cockatoo tea towel, also based on an artwork by William T Cooper. He looks how I feel somedays ha, ha., but with a lot to say.

I also found a waterproof Mexican Oilcloth tablecloth at the Chillagoe Gallery shop, perfect for our outdoor courtyard table setting, which is subjected to a lot of heat in the North Queensland Summer.

I wrote a post recently about our beehive, and how just before we left on our road trip for Sydney, we harvested some of our own honey. We were thrilled with how delicious and clear this batch of honey is. If you missed the story, you can find it at this link.

Removing the honeycomb from the beehive frames.

I hosted my book club meeting and I took the easy option with a tried and true recipe and made my Ginger Syrup Cake which is always delicious. I added thin slices of Tropical Stem Ginger in Syrup which we make each year from our homegrown ginger to the batter, and combined with the Ginger syrup which is added when the cake is straight out of the oven, this cake was delicious and full of sweet and spicy ginger flavours.

Stem Ginger slices in syrup added to half the batter, before adding the remainder of the batter carefully

Ginger cake straight out of the oven

I also made my favourite Lemon Crispy slice, because I just happened to have a packet of Corn Flakes in the pantry, which is the basis of this quick and easy but delicious biscuit slice. I only buy Corn Flakes so that I can make these Lemon Crispies. I've given the recipe to so many of my friends, and they all love it.

Unfortunately the nasturtiums are finished in our garden now.

Anybody reading my blog knows that we can never have too many cookbooks. I bought "Jam Drops and Marble Cake" at the fabulous Christmas Village near chilly Stanthorpe, along with a few other Christmas decorations destined for overseas. I love to support the iconic Australian institution, the CWA. The Christmas shop in the Village specialises in selling their homegrown Christmas trees but it was too early to buy one of those, and it wouldn't have been easy to bring one home in the car on our road trip anyway, except perhaps on the roof, much easier to bring home a new cookery book.

We had a fantastic road trip to Sydney, and we haven't even been back a week yet, so I'll write another post at a later date and share some of our memorable experiences with you, mostly related to food of course. However, the highlight in Sydney for me was attending the Phantom of the Opera stage musical at the Sydney Opera House. An iconic show in an iconic venue, it doesn't get much better than that. On a cold, windy day, with showers clearing, we caught the Light Rail train from Surrey Hills to Circular Quay for the afternoon performance. We were very fortunate to acquire those tickets as they have been sellout performances, and we could also enjoy a glass of champagne overlooking the beautiful panoramic views of Sydney Harbour.

Paul Tabone played one of the leads as Ubaldo Piangi. He was a Music Theatre student at the Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Mackay when one of the hats I wore was the Music Librarian for the Con. He has had quite the illustrious career overseas, and it was such a thrill to see him perform in the Phantom in Sydney. He's put the North Queensland town of Ingham on the map, being from there.

Taking a selfie on our way to the Opera House

Very tall and stately Giraffes at Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney, they have the best view of all of Sydney Harbour.

This is my October submission to the #IMK series hosted by Sherry from Sherry's Pickings. Each month bloggers from around the world gather to share what is new in their kitchens. Today is the deadline so I must post this tonight. Then I will enjoy reading what all of the other bloggers have posted to this series about what they have been doing this month in their kitchens.

Thanks for dropping by,

Warm wishes

Pauline