Hi Ho Hi Ho It's Off to New Zealand We Go

Hi Ho Hi Ho It's Off to New Zealand We Go - well for a working holiday at least.

We are spending the next 2 weeks in NZ visiting friends and family and spending some more time at our property planting trees and making plans.

I hope to have time to blog a few times while we are there but it will depend on how wrapped up we get so I make no promises.

The main thing I am hoping for is weather like this time last year when I was there.

This was me last year - Check out the weather

Making And Using Master Stock

Master Stock is a key ingredient in Chinese cooking and this simple braising liquid adds an immense depth of flavour to meals and best of all it is an extremely frugal way of adding flavour.

Master Stock is basically a rich flavoursome stock used for poaching meat and poultry and is widely used across China.  The spices add a distinctive flavour and the soy sauce adds a deep colour.  The additional  benefit of this stock is that you use it over and over again and every time you use it the flavour will develop and improve.

It is best to use a different stock for different types of meat to avoid contamination but I mainly use mine for chicken so it is not an issue.  After you use the stock all you do is bring it back to the boil skim the surface, strain it through a fine sieve in to a clean freezer safe container.  Cool ad then freeze until you need it again.

Making Master Stock

8 Cups of Water
1 Cup Soy Sauce
1 Cup Shaoxing Wine (Chinese cooking wine)
125 gm Palm Sugar
4 Cloves f Garlic
1/2 Cup Sliced Ginger
1 Carrot roughly chopped
1 Stick of celery roughly chopped
6 Green Shallots/Spring Onions roots trimmed off
4 Star Anise
1 Cinnamon Stick

Place all ingredients in a stock pot and bring to the boil then simmer for 30 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse.  
You can either cool and store until you are ready to use it or use it straight away.

The other day I used mine to poach the last of our home killed roosters and the meat was lovely, tender and moist and not at all tough and stringy.

I did mine in the slow cooker and I added another carrot, an onion and some extra ginger along with the chicken.

It was very tasty and I am sure it has added a whole lot more flavour to the stock.

Have you ever used master stock?  How do you use it?

Slow Living October 2014

Linking up with Linda who is now our gracious host having taken over from Christine in hosting the Slow Living Nine.  I love joining in each month and reflecting on what I have achieved, it is also great to hear what everyone is up to and share in their achievements.

Nourish -Make and bake as much as possible from scratch. Ditch over packaged, over processed convenience foods and opt for 'real' food instead.
This past month has been really busy for us and we have made good use of meals that I stockpiled in the past few months.  We have also been eating lots of egg based meals like omelettes, quiche and fritatas to make use of all the eggs, silverbeet, zucchini, and herbs in the garden.

There have also been a few sweet treats like carrot cake during the month.

Prepare - Stockpile and preserve. Freeze extra meals or excess garden/market produce. Bottle/can, dehydrate or pickle foods to enjoy when they are not in season.
I made one last batch of orange marmalade with a second lot of gifted oranges and I think we will have enough to last us through until next citrus season.

Reduce - Cut down on household waste by re-using, re-purposing and repairing.

This month I turned some jeans I got from the op shop for hubby that were too small into some chicken saddles.

Green - Start (or continue!) using homemade cleaners, body products and basic herbal remedies. The options are endless, the savings huge and the health benefits enormous.
Just the usual happening on this front.  

Grow - plant/harvest. What's growing this month? What's being eaten from the garden?

The garden is producing lots of Silverbeet and herbs, we are inundated with zucchini, we are harvesting asparagus daily and there are spring onions, beetroot, lettuce, tomatoes, capsicum, cucumber and eggplant.  I have dill and coriander going to seed which I collecting for replanting and for use in cooking.

The zucchini are smothering the lettuce plants around them but that is ok because we
will be harvesting the lettuce over the next week

This is what we are picking every day.... so many zucchini

Bush basil, eggplant, dill, tomatoes, lettuce I am letting go to seed, zucchini and other herbs

Beefsteak tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers

Coriander going to seed

The mulberry is fruiting and I am trying to beat the birds to them.

Create - To fill a need or feed the soul. Create for ourselves or for others.

The past month has been way too busy for anything creative but hopefully I will have some time over the next month.

Discover - Feed the mind by reading texts relevant to current interests.

I am still trying to get through a couple of books I started last month and at the end of the week we are going on holiday so hopefully by the time we get back they will be finished.

Enhance - Community

The car show that I am involved is over for another year and was a great success, however I am relieved it is over and I can stop thinking about it for a while.

Enjoy - Life! Embrace moments with friends and family. Marking the seasons, celebrations and new arrivals are all cause for enjoyment.

October was full of get together's with family and friends and my brother and his wife welcomed baby number 3 (another girl, baby Alice Rae) into the world and my other brother and his girlfriend headed off to Korea for the next 2 years.
November sees us heading over to New Zealand to catch up with my family and meet our new neice and we are really looking forward to seeing everyone.

What have you been up to?