Stinging Nettle Quiche

 

One of my duties on the Ke warra farm was to weed the garden.  As I approached the garden I noticed it was full of this rather healthy green plant.  As a youth I knew this plant well.  It was one I often ran through wearing short pants and sandals.  It has a nasty sting thus approperately called stinging nettle.

Nettles must be cooked to reduce the sting so picking requires gloves.  Pull the leaves and discard the stems.  Steam one minute than move the wilted leaves in ice cold water to lock in color and flavor.  So why eat nettles?  Well they are high in vitamins A and C, iron, potassium, manganese and calcium.  Nettle can contain up to 25% more protein, dry weight.  Only eat fresh leaves, as they get older they develop gritty particles called cystoliths which can irritate the urinary tract.

The Arthritis Foundation states nettles can reduce inflammation and aches and pains of osteoarthritis.  It can be taken in a tea, capsule, tablets, tincture, extract or whole leaf.  It even states that you can put the leaves directly on the skin.  A painful prescription but maybe the remedy is better then the ailment.

With all the benefits of nettles why not try it in a meal.  To start I chose a Quiche recipe.

Recipe:

Make your favorate pie crust and fit into a pie tin.

1/2 pound stinging nettles (Steamed for one minute than removed and placed in ice cold water.  Make sure stims are removed, cut leaves into 1/2 inch pieces, and squeeze water out.)

1 tbs butter

1 onion diced

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 cups grated light chedder cheese

1. Heat oven to 375 F (175 C)

2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Using tongs submerge the stinging nettles into the water. Cook for one minute, until leaves are uniformally wilted. Remove from the pot with tongs and plunge into cold water.  Drain, and then pick off the leaves, discard the stems. Squeeze excess water. Chop finely.

3. Heat the butter in a skillet or sauté pan. Add the onion and red pepper flakes and cook just until fragrant, about a minute or two.  Stir until evenly coated in the butter.

4. Wink together the egg, milk cream, salt and pepper.

5. Sprinkle most of the cheese over the base of the pie shell then scatter the nettles and onions on top.  Slowly pour the custard into the shell ensuring that it’s evenly distributed.  Sprinkle the top with remaining cheese.

6. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until set in the center.  Cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.  You can served chilled or heated.

Great Barrier Road

Road archway and monument at the start of the Great Ocean Road.

Solders returning from World War 1 to Australia were returning to a country in an economic depression.  Jobs were scarce and with the large return of service men jobs were few.  The Australian government came up with a great idea to employ many returning solders.  They planned to hire 300 returning solders to build a 243 Kilometer road (151 miles) to connect the communities along the southern coast of Australia.  There plan was to complete work in 14 months.

Unfortunately the government had little money to pay builders but they did offer a tent and three meals a day for the workers. The government sent out invitation letters and had to cut off enrollment a 3,000 men.  I guess working for 10 shillings a day is not so bad when you have shelter over your head and food in your belly.

You would think that with 10 times as many individuals this project would have been build it a fraction of the time.  Unfortunately with the unstable soils and extremely hard bedrock this project took over 17 years to complete.  But what a beautiful road following the contour along the inlets and beaches of the coast. A real dream ride for a motorcyclist but not so much for those who get queasy on this type of road.

The road was started on 19 September 1919.  Most of the work was completed by pick, shovel, dynamite, wheelbarrow and small mechanical tools. This road was started at the beautiful little town of Torquay to the east and Allensford on the west.

We started our tour at the natural feature known as the 12 Apostles several limestone cliff faces that have been detached from the mainland by waive action.

Twelve Apostles

On 2 March 1878 the clipper Loch Ard left England bound for Melbourne, Australia.  The ship was carrying 36 crew and 18 passengers along with 2275 tons of cargo.  On the night of 31 May the passengers and crew held a party to celebrate their last night at sea.   A thick fog surrounded the ship and shore lights could not be seen.  One man was left to deck to watch and listen.  At 4 am the deck hand heard the sound of breakers and called out but it was too late.  The ship ran the reef breaking the masts and preventing the lunch of the life boats.  There were only two individuals who survived Eva Carmichael who survived clinging to the spar and Tom Pearce who clung to the hull of an overturned lifeboat.  Tom pulled Eva to safety in the bay shown below.  In the morning he climbed the cliffs and hiked to the nearest town.

Australia is know for their koala’s (there are not bears and most Australians are very sensitive about this fact). They are also known for their parrots.  The tour bus stopped by a small trailer park near Cape Otway.  The forest here is being overgrazed by Koala’s and in 2015 over 400 Koalas were removed from the area to keep them from starving.  We saw 6 koalas in a few meters from the park.

The trailer park owner provided us seed and we were able to feed the parrots.

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Dangdenong Show 2016

The bull named Samual that we helped train to lead.

Dangdenong currently is a thriving suburb of Melbourne but back in the 1820’s it was a small agricultural community with plenty to share.  In the 1871 Dangdenong held it’s first agricultural show which has lasted for 145 consecutive years.  The first year there was a total of 301 entries including two casks of  beer, 42 horses, 40 cattle, 6 sheep 27 pigs, and 1 egg.

This year the events were heavy with horse shows including breed standards, halter class, jumping, harness, pleasure, performance, barrel racing etc.

They also had shows with cattle, sheep, goats, pigeons, rabbits, and poultry.  There were displays in arts and crafts and as always a carnival.  It was a regular county fair but presented in spring not fall.

Collectible lamp display and carnival

One of our duties while working on the farm in Mornington was to break two heifers and two bulls to be halter broke and to lead.  We had two weeks to get the stock use to wearing a halter, walking next to the presenter, and standing squaire.

At the fair the cattle were a little nervous since this was their first show.  See top photo.

While watching the dairy competition we noticed displayers trimming their cattle.  They were leaving a strip of hair along their spine and leaving hair on the belly.  When asked why the hair on the spine was to show a straight back and their belly was to show a fuller tummy.

This is the last

Bruno’s Sculpture Garden Marysville

This last week we were able to visit a very special Sculpture Garden in Marysville Australia.  Bruno is a hardy soul.  In 7 Feb. 2009 he lost his garden to a wildfire that destroyed his home and garden.  When officials asked residence to evacuate he stuffed as many pictures as he could into the kiln before vacating.  Fortunately the kiln was not destroyed in the fire but the door was cracked open when his house fell.  His paintings were saved but many were smoke damaged.

Bruno has rebuilt many of his sculptures, replanted and added new pieces to his garden.  Being clay and fired minor work was completed to rejuvenate displays. Vegetation was planted to hide the fire scars which give the garden an sense of wonderment and aids a fairy atmosphere.  I have included many of his pieces some fun and others We found to have subtle emotional affects.