Friday/Saturday news and Oyster po' boy recipe

Good Autumn day to you! This weekend I will be making plain white and buttercup sourdough boulle (small round loaves) and some wholemeal seeded baguettes. There are 25 loaves both days so place your orders to get your choice confirmed. The seeds on the baguettes are sesame, flax (lin) and fennel.

I also have Scottish oat biscuits and apricot almond crisp (crumble)

I am celebrating some new traders this week with Honey from Olivia and some nice bath salts from a dance class colleague. The Thompsons' have done it again with a wonderful bag of goodies from their highly productive garden. One item, fresh sorrel took me back into a food memory of my restaurant, Katrina's. I used to serve hearty rustic fried oyster sandwiches- famous in New Orleans and called po'boys. The sorrel came in the zingy tarter sauce that went on the tender insides of the hot baguette or roll. Then nestle in the panfried cornmeal crusted oysters (or cornmeal fish fillets, clams or frtter) and add some greens, a slice of tomato if you have some and get a big napkin for your hands and chin because this is a saucy drippy endeavor. Here is the recipe for sorrel tarter sauce, which is good without the sorrel if you find that you don't have any. It is a good accompaniment for poached fish also. Bon appetit!
Oyster Poorboys

Oysters (or...)
Get some fresh shucked oysters and shake them up in mixture of medium grain cornmeal (NOT corn flour) (3 parts cornmeal and one part plain flour) which has been seasoned with salt and pepper. I might add that this would be good with whitebait or paua fritters instead of oysters, just make them the same shape as the bread. Place them in a pan with hot butter or oil (or the best is half oil and half butter) Let them talk and sputter for a while, they will get a nice crackley crunch and should be a golden brown color. take them out and drain them. Have the bagguette or rolls hot and split them, leaving the back intact so you have a 'hinge'- otherwise the sandwich gets pretty unwieldy. Spread the sauce on the bread, add the fried oysters, top with some greens and tomato and enjoy.

Sorrel Caper Tarter Sauce

1/2 cup high quality unsweetened mayo
1/2 cup yogurt or sour cream
dash Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1 small shallot minced or green (spring) onions thinly sliced, use the green part
1/2 roasted red pepper (capsicum) diced into tiny squares, you can use unroasted ones in a hurry, though.
juice of one lemon
several turns of the pepper mill
2-3 Tablespoon capers or chopped dill pickle
1/3 cup fine chiffonade (tiny ribbons) of fresh sorrel (if you don't have any sorrel, you can use fresh dill if that's the sort of thing you like.)


These are excellent served on the current baguettes available for trade call at 812 8719 to order!!

Offerings for Wednesday, 28/4/2010

For Wednesday I have two breads for trade- white sourdough (the loftiest of the sourdough breads) and wholemeal baguettes (not sourdough)- seeded or plain.
Seeds are either just sesame or a mix of lin, fennel and sesame. First come first served on the variety preference. Breads range from $4-$7 depending on size and ingredients, organic, etc.

I'm trying out a fruit dessert this week with Pear, feijoa and raspberry crumble they come in tins you can keep, serve 4 moderate portions and are 10.00 in trade or cash. They are made with butter (you will never find a hydrogenated or trans fat in my baked goods) and are not overly sweet, good fro dessert or breakfast.

Last, but not least, American lunchbox favorites, peanut butter cookies. These are generously sized, and have my favorite touch of whole oats and chopped bitter chocolate (Whittaker's Ghana) These are $2.00 each or 6 for $10.00.

Friday I will have more galettes, since those sold out so fast.

The photo of the garden goods is a recent delicious trade from the Thompsons', headed for a rainy day bean soup.

Remember, baking days are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, special orders welcome. This is hearty food weather. Bon appetit!

My sustainablity study

Greetings This is the first post of many promoting the Greenhouse barter bakery project. As part of my bachelors degree through The Evergreen State College (Olympia, WA)I am using an individual learning contract to explore living as locally as possible. I am studying alternative trading systems (New Zealand has a couple established trading networks-at least) and I will be trading my baked goods for whatever I can use for living. I have traded bread for fish, even abalone and for fresh vegetables, honey, labor, plant/cat sitting and eggs. With the initial production goal of 80 loaves per week, I expect the list to grow. What this means to you folks close by in New Zealand (Karekare and Piha) is that they can enjoy fresh locally produced artisan baked goods in exchange for your goods and services or cash.

Here is a little orientation about myself. I am Kate Stone. I have been a curious cook my whole life and professional baker for 30 years. I trained with Peter Reinhart at the Culinary Institute of America. I have also learned by working with a handful skilled bakers over the years. Very valuable experience came from operating my own restaurant for ten years, where the bread was produced each day.

Here in Karekare, I have converted a garage and glasshouse into a production space for artisan breads. The results of my efforts combined with my snazzy new wood fired oven will be available to anyone who wants to trade. While bartering is encouraged, cash sales are also welcome. The baking will be happening four days a week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Friday and Saturdays. Production of fresh sourdough loaves and organic baguettes will available be on a regular basis and sporadic treats will come and go. Orders can be placed on this site as well as in person or by dropping a note in my mail box (138 Farm [LK] rd) or by phone. (please do not leave orders with Desmond and Lillian yet, they still need training) The land line is 812 8719. Special orders for bread and desserts are welcomed. Call if you need something baked. Bookmark and Watch this space for photos and videos of current offerings. Regular Piha delivery on Thursday and Saturday and ordering and handing off of baked goods at the Lone Kauri Community School at 9am and 3pm.