By Christine Salins
Thirteen years of country life with husband Tim on a farm outside of Orange has taught Sophie Hansen much about the importance of cooking for a loved one or someone you care about.
“Cooking for another – be it a full meal or a jar of biscuits – is the most thoughtful act of all,” she says. “It shows someone that you care enough to set aside Sunday morning to make a chicken pie for them. That you care about their wellbeing. And that however tired, sad or sick they might feel, someone is watching out for them.”
Throughout the time that she’s lived on the farm, Hansen has been on the giving and receiving end of many a care package. She has seen first-hand how this generosity can make a difference in the best and worst of times.
She recalls the birth of their first child when they came home from hospital to find a basket by the door, containing wine, cake and a meal to be reheated.
Thus came the inspiration for her lovely book, A Basket By The Door (Murdoch Books, $39.99) which charms with its feel-good approach to hospitality and catering for loved ones.
Some of the recipes are simple, others take a little more time, but all of them revel in the seasons and the joy that comes from cooking for your nearest and dearest. The recipes are woven into menus and scenarios covering some of life’s big moments, some of which (like the birth of a baby or a friend’s illness) call for a basket by the door.
It’s a very personal, heartfelt book – Hansen actually took the photos herself, over the course of a year, at the family table and on the farm. They’re gloriously presented and make you want to roll up your sleeves and get baking, simmering and stirring.
And if you do indeed pop a basket by someone’s door, it would be a lovely gesture to pop a copy of Hansen’s book in the basket too.
APPLE, FENNEL AND PORK SAUSAGE ROLLS
Serves 4 to 6
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 granny smith apples, cut into small pieces
1 red onion, diced
500g pork mince
1 Tbsp thyme leaves
3 sheets butter puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, lightly whisked
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp sea salt
Quick tomato chutney (see below), to serve
Melt the butter in a heavy-based frying pan over medium-high heat. Add three-quarters of the fennel seeds and the apple pieces and cook for a few minutes or until softened. Reduce the heat to low, add the onion and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
In a large bowl, mix the pork and thyme with the cooled apple mixture, and season with salt and pepper. Take a third of this mixture and place it on one of the thawed pastry sheets, making a sausage shape along the bottom third of the sheet. Roll as tightly as you can to create one long sausage. Repeat with the remaining pastry and pork mixture.
If you’re freezing the sausage rolls at this point, wrap them in plastic wrap and pop them in the freezer. Otherwise, onwards! Using a pastry brush (or your fingers if you don’t have one), brush the egg over each sausage roll. Sprinkle the sesame seeds, sea salt and remaining fennel seeds over the top.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the sausage rolls are golden brown. Cut into pieces and serve warm or at room temperature with the tomato chutney.
QUICK TOMATO CHUTNEY
Chop 1 kg tomatoes and 4 red onions. Seed and chop 2 bird’s eye chillies (or to taste). Combine the tomato, onion and chilli in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 1¼ cups firmly packed soft brown sugar, 1 Tbsp sea salt and 2/3 cup (170 ml) apple cider vinegar. Bring to the boil and cook, stirring often (so you don’t burn the base of the pan), for 40 minutes or until the chutney is thick and glossy. Divide among sterilised jars and seal. Makes about 4 cups.
Recipe and images from A Basket by the Door by Sophie Hansen, Murdoch Books, RRP $39.99 Photography: Sophie Hansen.
