Salad days

Folks in the country share their produce.
This recipe was on our family Christmas table because a flood washed some mud onto someone’s farm.

I grew up in a country town in Northern New South Wales.  It’s always great to get back home over the Christmas and New Year break.

Just like many other country towns, the network of friends and neighbours is pretty extensive, and some of the best food experiences come from friends sharing eggs from their chooks; jams, pickles, chutnies and relishes, or vegetables fresh from the garden.

One of my Dad’s good mates lives on a small farm on the bank of the river just out of town.

When the big rains come and the flood waters surge down the river, Dave and his family are isolated, sometimes for a week or more.

The clean up in the aftermath can be pretty daunting.

If you’ve never directly experienced a flood and the clean up afterwards, spare a thought for Dave.  More than 300 tonnes of debris and rubbish had to be hauled away from just his small stretch of river after the last flood.

There is an upside.

Mountains of rich fertile soil flow downstream with the trees and other rubbish during a flood, and a lot of it is deposited on the fertile plains down-river of Grafton.

Dave Scott cuts into one of his harvest

After the waters receded last time, Dave threw a handful or two of pumpkin and squash seeds into the fresh layer of rich soil deposited by the flood.

The pumpkins were ready to harvest just as the festive season was coming on. and this recipe for my family’s

Christmas table was inspired by the heavy, grey-blue beauties that sprung out of the flood mud.

Proof that from destruction comes renewal.

Roasted pumpkin and cous cous salad

The dressing

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

The salad

400 – 500grams pumpkin

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup instant cous cous

1 tablespoons butter

1 cup boiling water

large bunch parsley

handful of mint leaves

4-5 spring onions

100grams feta or blue cheese (optional)

large knife

large mixing bowl

small bowl

frying pan

saucepan

plastic wrap

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over low heat until very warm but not hot enough to fry with.

Remove from the heat and add crushed garlic.  The heat will help the garlic flavour to mellow and infuse into the oil.  Set aside to cool.  When cooled to room temperature add the red wine vinegar and set aside until the salad is ready to dress.

Use a large knife to peel the pumpkin.

Cut the pumpkin into small chunks measuring about 1cm.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in the frying pan over moderate heat and add the pumpkin.

Mix well to coat in olive oil and stir often over low heat until the pumpkin is golden brown all over and softened through.

While the pumpkin is cooking prepare the instant cous cous.

Place 1 cup of cous cous grains in a heat proof bowl.

Add butter and boiling water and stir well.

Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for a few minutes.

Use a fork to mix the cous cous and break up any clumps.

Roughly chop the parley and mint, add to the cous cous and stir well to combine.

Slice the spring onions finely and add to the salad.

Add the roasted pumpkin and the dressing and use a fork to mix well.

Serve in a large salad bowl with some feta or blue cheese crumbled over the top.