Have excess citrus? Barry's Shrub is the answer.

Our bar manager and cocktail extraordinaire, Barry, isn't in the Brick Bay lockdown bubble; but when Annett messaged and asked for ideas on what to do with all the citrus at Brick Bay, he replied with a great recipe for a shrub. What's a shrub you ask? It's a fruit syrup that's a tasty addition to cocktails or simply with sparkling water for a healthy, refreshing non-alcoholic drink.

You can make this at home or come and try ours when we're out of lockdown.

The recipe:

A shrub is made by macerating fruit and covering it with sugar, which will turn into syrup. So start by preparing the fruit by washing and cutting off any bad bits. Try not to use bruised or rotting fruit... nice and fresh(ish). Off flavours will carry through, so if you wouldn’t eat it, don’t put it in.

For Makrut lime, lime or lemon only use the flesh. For Orange, blood orange and grapefruit you can leave some zest for those exciting oils to add to the complexity of flavour. Cut the fruit into small pieces.

Once prepped, weigh the fruit and add equal parts sugar, so for example, if you have 200 grams of fruit, then you would add 200 grams of caster sugar. Ideally not brown sugar as we want more of a neutral flavour from the sugar.

Give the sugar and fruit a good stir to mix everything together then cover and leave in the fridge overnight. At this stage, the sugar will not look like syrup. Stir it at least 1-2 times every day for 2-5 days. As the sugar draws out those tasty juices it will start to dissolve and become more of a syrup. The important thing is to taste it every time you stir it, ask yourself "is this a tasty treat or should I leave it for another day?". When you are happy with the syrup, strain through a sieve (or even better, a muslin cloth).

Now here’s the important part - ad equal parts good quality vinegar to your syrup. Different vinegars will bring out completely different flavours. One thing must compliment the other and the right combo can be amazing! A good rule of thumb is light coloured vinegars with light coloured fruit and dark with dark. For citrus, Barry recommends a good quality apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar.

So as a rule it's a 1-1 ratio of syrup and vinegar but you can build it up slowly to taste and stop at your desired flavour.

Seal it in a sterilised container and it will keep in the fridge for 6-8 weeks. Or you can freeze it and scrape some out with a spoon into a glass when you want to use it.

Last but not least! Give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done.

The Ingredients:
Fruit flesh
Equal parts sugar
Equal parts quality vinegar

KELLY'S STICKY PERSIMMON & GINGER CAKE

STICKY PERSIMMON & GINGER CAKE

2-3 persimmons

220g of golden syrup 

170g of sour cream 

110g of brown sugar 

2 eggs 

4 teaspoons of grated fresh ginger 

1 teaspoon of grated lemon zest 

280g of unsalted butter 

260g of flour 

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.

Peel and slice the persimmons.  Lay them into a  paper-lined 20cm baking dish.

Whisk together the golden syrup, sour cream, brown sugar, eggs, grated ginger, and lemon zest.

Melt the butter and add it to the wet mixture.

Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground ginger together then fold into the warm batter. Whisk gently to break down any flour lumps.

Pour the cake batter gently over the top of the persimmons and bake for 35 minutes or until your skewer comes out clean.

Tip cake upside down onto your breadboard to reveal the persimmons and serve with your favourite toppings of butterscotch sauce or custard or vanilla ice cream.

Yummy, autumn sweet goodness!

CAM'S STICKY GINGER & SOY KUMARA

STICKY GINGER & SOY KUMARA

This is a condiment I created to add to our hoisin beef cheek dish. With some creamy Japanese mayo and some pickles, everything married in really well together. The Kumara dish, however, can be used to go with any Asian influenced protein or something like pak choy which would be lovely.

prep time: 35 mins

equipment: small roasted tray and a large non-stick pan

ingredients:

800g orange kumara 

150g brown sugar

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 medium to large onion

10g crushed garlic

20g crushed ginger

8g crushed chilli(optional quantity)

75ml rice vinegar

75ml light Japanese soy sauce

30ml lime juice

15g sesame seeds

method:

Preheat oven to 230 degrees. 

You can either peel the Kumara or scrub the skin and leave it on. Cut the Kumara into pieces of about 1.5-2 inch sizes. I like to cut on angles as I find squares quite boring looking. In a large bowl toss the Kumara with 1 tbsp of cooking oil and 50g of brown sugar. Place in oven and cook for between 20-25mins until soft in the centre and a bit coloured on the outside. If the edges are slightly burnt that is fine. I like to take it that far.

While the Kumara is in the oven peel your onion and finely slice it. Place it in your pan with remaining cooking oil, the sesame oil, ginger, garlic and chilli. Gently fry this mixture off till nicely coloured. Add in remaining ingredients including the rest of the sugar. This mixture will need to cook out for about 10 mins at medium heat. Keep an eye on it. You are looking for it to thicken to a sugar syrup-like consistency. Leave to cool. 

You can now toss your slightly cool Kumara through with your sugar mixture. 

At the restaurant, I like to use it at room temperature. The sauce is a bit more sticky like this. You can also re-toss to keep the Kumara nice and glazed before serving.

CAM'S BUTTERNUT, MUKRAT LIME & COCONUT SOUP

This is a soup that I’ve used many times and I’m happy to share with you.

So here it is! It’s a 'souped-up' version of plain old pumpkin soup - the combination of makrut lime leaves, coconut cream and some added chilli really bring this dish alive. 

I have adjusted the ingredients to suit a home kitchen. The only thing you may have trouble coming across is the makrut (kaffir) lime leaves. This is the star of the dish so try your best to find some. You never know your neighbour may have a tree in their backyard. After this lockdown is over it is well worth getting a tree planted.

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 60 mins

Equipment: Large pot, high-speed blender

Ingredients:

1 medium-sized butternut pumpkin

1 onion

1/2 the white part of a leek

2 carrots

2 celery sticks

A handful of coriander stems and root

1/2 Tbsp crushed ginger

1/2 Tbsp crushed garlic

1 tsp chilli paste

1 tsp lemongrass powder

3 Tbsp light soy sauce

3 tsp fish sauce (optional)

1.5 litres water

100g raw sugar 

2 tsp salt

1 tsp white pepper

400ml coconut cream

A handful of makrut lime leaves (stems removed and finely chopped)

coriander leaves and sour cream to garnish

Method:

Rough chop vegetables to a medium-size into your large pot. Add all other ingredients except coconut cream, lime leaves and your garnish. Place on stovetop and bring to a boil under a lid. Remove lid and turn down soup to a fast simmer. Cook out till vegetables are very soft. It is best to check your carrot because it will take the longest to cook.

Add coconut cream and lime leaves. Simmer for a further 10-15 mins.

Blend soup in small batches. I only fill halfway. You want to keep blending till nice and smooth.

Ready to serve with your torn coriander leaves and sour cream.

Enjoy!

2020 OLIVE HARVEST

Mid last week, our Wellsford olive press finally received the go-ahead from MPI that it could operate under a contact-free receival of fruit and process into oil. We’re thrilled that another local business has been given the opportunity to minimise the disruption of the Covid-19 restrictions.

For us at Brick Bay, our bubble scrambled to get the fruit off the trees and after a long day of handpicking, (much like milking a cow) the olives were stripped from the branches and delivered to the olive press. 

Our enormous ponderosa lemons accompanied the olives, to produce our unique lemon-pressed olive oil which is being bottled as you read and will be available online along with our classic Extra Virgin Olive Oil. By including the lemons in the actual press, this ‘agrumato’ oil captures in the essential oils of the two fruits, a bright, clean citrus flavour that cannot be duplicated by the more common infusion method. 

On a sad note, olive trees in Europe continue to be devastated by Xylella fastidiosa, a bacterium spread by insects which has caused a 60% decline in yields in Italy since its first discovery in 2013. The disease is now spreading to Greece and Spain, which along with Italy, account for 95% of European olive oil production. This will invariably impact on the prices of imported olive oil, read more here.