Helen at Lake Eppalock

Elephant Garlic Flower in the Garden

Elephant Garlic while not a true garlic, its related to the Leek. Has a large bulb and cloves that do have a garlic flavour,  but much milder in flavour than true garlic. Elephant Garlic grows throughout Australia and will last up to 12 months in storage like normal garlic. Elephant Garlic usually has only 5-6 huge cloves. Harvest when the flower has died back to 6 green leaves.

Surf Coast In Winter

Bells Beach

Bells small wave 7 Deg air temp, water temp 12 Deg C

Winki Pop

Winki Pop lineup

Lorne Surf School

Jumping off at Cathedral Rocks

Frolicking on the beach between Storms

Lunch

Room with a view

Majestic windmill near Meredith with storm scud approaching

Old Fashioned

My new friend, the Old Fashioned.

60 ml of Wild Turkey 101

10 ml Sugar Syrup

2 dashes of Angostura Bitters

Fill glass with ice, pour in ingredients, stir, top with orange rind, enjoy.

The Oak Forest, La Larr Ba Gauwa Park

La Larr Ba Gauwa Park about 20 minutes south of Bendigo, features 34 kilometres of cross country mountain bike trails, complemented by scenic views and unique rock formations. The Dja Dja Wurrung people are the Traditional Owners of this Country. La Larr Ba Gauwa means "stones and mountain" in Dja Dja Wurrung language.

A great place for picnickers and explorers, to wander through the abundant access tracks around the historic Oak Forest, at the heart of the park. A beautiful and serene place, best experienced in late Spring or Summer when the Oak leaves are at their largest, unlike when we visited in winter.

Spooky

No truffles

Homemade Smoked Polish Sausage

Apple wood chips

Smoker

Smoked

Par Boil

Nice garlic wog sausage. Delicious.

It will go well with my home made beef jerky and bourbon.

Homemade Smoked Polish Sausage

cacciatore casings 44+ natural hog casings

2 kg of pork (shoulder)

2 lb / 1 kg of pork belly or pork fat

500ml of ice water

150gm GF Cabana Easy Pack seasoning

5 - 10 garlic cloves

Method

Mince all ingredients coarse then fine.

Stuff into cacciatore casings 44+ 

Hang to dry for 2 hours in cool, well ventilated place.

Smoke at 60°C for 3 hours, then parboil at 75°C for 20 minutes.

Hang dry in well ventilated room until cool.

Refrigerate until ready to eat. Enjoy on snags or oven roasted with onions and mustard or over a fire.

Old Station Homestead

The Willandra Homestead is in the Willandra Homestead precinct of Willandra National Park.

Big Willandra Station once stretched from Hillston to Mossgiel and covered an area eight times that of what is now Willandra National Park. Some buildings from the huge merino stud are in ruins, while others have been restored.

Damn Fishing in a Dam

Tranquility

Reality

Wheat Grading

Wheat grading in the Riverina NSW consists of separating the large seeds from smaller ones, as well as separating out weed seeds, other crop seeds, damaged seeds, straw, and dust.

A seed dressing with nutrients and root growth stimulants is added to the largest wheat seeds used for sowing the next crop.

The wheat grading contraption on an old Bedford truck

Sorting

Auger

Out of storage silo into a chaser bin

Registered and roadworthy in NSW

Still runs

Brett Ryan R.I.P.

See link - http://wfrblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/brett-ryan-rip.html

Pork Capicola

Capicola is a traditional dry cured, cold cut meat of Italian origin. It is a whole muscle meat which is dry cured for sometimes months and is served in extremely thin slices. It is very flavourful and melts in your mouth. Enjoy very thinly sliced on your charcuterie boards with cheese, olives etc and a chilled beer or wine.

Finished product from my last batch of Capicola

Recipe and method below.

Day 1 of new batch of Capicola

Day 7 coated and netted

Hung in charcuterie fridge (61% humidity, 17 deg C)

Ideal is set to 70% and 16 Deg C but meat losing moisture will affect humidity.

Only 4 - 5 Weeks to go

Pork Capicola, can be called Capocollo or Coppa

Ingredients:

• Coppa (Pork Neck) – 2kg
• Salt – 1 cup
• Brown Sugar – 1 cup
• Coriander seed powder 25g
• Nitrite,  – 4g
• Black Pepper – 20g
• Fresh Thyme - 5 sprigs
• Red Chilli flakes - 50g
• Fennel Seeds – 20g
• Garlic Powder – 50g
• Onion Powder - 50g
• 500 ml white wine
• Cotton Netting
• black pepper, paprika and fennel for coating.

Method:

• Combine all spices and salts.
• Rub into meat covering the surface entirely. Make sure you rub into all the gaps and cracks to ensure a complete cure.
• Add Garlic and Thyme, press firmly into meat. Add additional spices, wine and seasonings of preference.
• Place meat into a cryovac bag or container.
• Place into refrigerator for 7 days.
• Turn meat every 24 hours. 
• There will be moisture build up. This is normal. Turning the meat over every 24 hours ensures this moisture coats the meat and helps enable the curing process.
• After 7 days, remove from the bag or container and rinse under tepid water thoroughly, ensuring to remove all excess salts and spices from the surface of the meat.
• Put the Capicola into netting, ready for ageing.
• Dust your meat with a small amount of additional Chilli flakes, black pepper, paprika and fennel seeds.
• Hang in your charcuterie fridge @ 70% humidity and 16 Deg C.

This batch will be ready after approximately 5 weeks, when the meat weighs approximately 2/3 of wet weight. Dry ageing for longer will result in a lighter, saltier, denser end product. Therefore age according to personal preference.