Season's Harvests

The previously featured sage indeed grew nicely and big enough to have the first few leaves trimmed off and cooked with one of its best mates, pork. This dish is very simple - just pork belly seasoned well with sea salt and pepper, and placed on a bed of sage leaves (and a couple on top) for a very delicate flavoring while being roasted in a 180C preheated oven for around 1 hour (depending on the size of the pork, in this case around 750grams).

The leaves then fried itself off on the natural fat - and even tasted as great as it looked as a garnish.

parsley - from the pot, into the bowl!

Meanwhile, the parsley as also been brought to the table in time to garnish this beef dish, stewed in a mushroom sauce with cracked red chili, potatoes and carrots, served with basmati rice. The smell of fresh parsley as it was being chopped is simply great - imagine it further on top of a nice hearty meal!

oregano, and the bread that it has flavored

The oregano has also not escaped the wrath of the kitchen! And with the warm weather gracing Melbourne, its fate has been decided into a leavened bread, which rises faster in warm temperatures. Unlike the corn bread last winter which had to be left overnight for the dough to at least increase in size, this experimental Chili Black Olive Bread was just left for a couple hours. To make this bread you would need :

2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon active yeast
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cracked dried red chili
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup roughly chopped black olives
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
1 cup warm water

Mix flour, yeast, brown sugar and salt in a bowl. Add olive oil and enough warm water to form a dough. Mix in olives, then knead on a well-floured surface until dough is smooth. Roll into a ball and place in an oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm, leave to rise for around 1.5 hours. After it has doubled in size, punch down and divide into two rolls. Place on baking tray, and leave to rise again for around 30 minutes, then bake for 30-40 minutes or until bottom sounds hollow when tapped.

Nice crisp crust, delicate flavors of olive complimented by oregano and a hint of chili. Best with soups, or just even by itself!