LITTLE HOUSE ON THE DAIRY

SUE’S ROASTED CHICKEN WITH FIGS AND HONEY

This is a slapdash, in-a-rush version of a Maggie Beer recipe, and is no less delicious for it. It serves four, with leftovers for the next day.

6 pieces of chicken Maryland, or two small chickens in pieces 2 red onions a few garlic cloves 1 lemon 5 or so fresh gs, the riper the better 4 Singing Magpie Black Semi

Sun Dried Figs a bunch of fresh thyme and tarragon leaves a handful of green olives honey, to drizzle 60 ml (¼ cup) red wine vinegar 60 ml (¼ cup) verjuice 250–375 ml (1–1½ cups) chicken stock

Season the chicken pieces and pan fry, turning, until browned on both sides. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180°C.

Thinly slice the red onions and garlic. Slice the lemon crossways and cut the fresh gs in quarters. I also thinly sliced the dried gs; if you can’t get fresh gs you could use all dried gs, but I do love how the fresh ones caramelise in this recipe.

Lay some of the herbs in the base of an oiled baking tray (I used a large shallow one) and place the chicken pieces on top. In the gaps around the chicken pieces, scatter the sliced onion and garlic. Then add a handful of green olives. the lemon slices and the fresh and dried gs. The pan gets quite packed, but fear not, it works out beautifully.

Drizzle honey over each chicken piece and then pour the red wine vinegar and verjuice into the pan. Finally, pour in chicken stock and top with a few more sprigs of fresh thyme and tarragon.

Bake, uncovered, for about 1 hour or until it’s beautifully caramelised.

Serve with a couple of fresh gs cut up and fresh tarragon on top to garnish, and some roasted potatoes and a green salad alongside.

ICE CREAM WITH CARAMELISED PECANS AND SUE’S STICKY QUINCE SYRUP

Make the caramelised pecans ahead of time and serve with ice cream and syrup in a coupe.

1 cup white sugar 1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped 1 scoop vanilla ice cream per person Singing Magpie Sticky Quince

Syrup

Put the sugar into a small non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook, tilting the pan back and forth, until the sugar dissolves and turns a deep golden colour. Add the pecans. Turn to coat. Pour out onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Set aside until rm. Break into pieces.

Place a scoop of ice cream in each coupe, drizzle the quince syrup on top and scatter with caramelised pecans. n @sue_singingmagpieproduce

LITTLE HOUSE

Words Harriet Davidson Photography Lean Timms

Opposite page The nearly 200-year-old house that Steven grew up in now boasts a garden of Erica’s favourite owers, which she uses to create arrangements with a great deal of heart, above.

LITTLE HOUSE little house on the dairyON THE DAIRY

Growing old-fashioned owers has helped Erica deal with the challenges of life on a dairy farm.

Follow the bridge across the creek up to the little weatherboard cottage and you’ll see Erica: her blonde curls pinned back off her smiling, warm face. You’ll see bunches of owers in a vase in the hallway, egg sandwiches and a jug of iced peach tea on the kitchen table, the children’s bedrooms off the sun- lled hallway with ‘Leo’, ‘Arthur’ and ‘Rose’ on the doors.

This is the life Erica and her husband Steven have built together over the past 10 years in the green hills of Jamberoo, New South Wales, after moving from Sydney to take over Steven’s family dairy farm when his father unexpectedly died. It certainly hasn’t been easy, but here she is, beaming, from the verandah of their little house on their dairy.

‘I didn’t feel at home in the city. It wasn’t a life that I wanted and I didn’t quite know why,’ Erica says, wondering if that was why she was drawn to Steven when they met in a nightclub in 2007. ‘He seemed different, and then I learned he was from the land.

‘I grew up in the city where water comes from taps, milk from the supermarket and rain is a bit of a nuisance if you have outdoor plans. Dairy farming is a way of life; it isn’t a job you can leave at the of ce or forget for a week as you go off on holiday.’

Erica often thinks of what her late father-in-law said about dairy farm life: ‘You won’t have a lot, but you won’t go without.’

‘I wonder what he would make of it all now,’ she says. ‘Over the past 10 years we have seen drought, ood, res and unworkable milk prices put fear into even the most seemingly tough of hearts. Seeing my own husband work though it every day, in spite of it all, has been nothing short of inspiring.’

Last February, Erica and Steven watched as the creek got lower each day, knowing that this was all the water they had. They wondered if they should pack up and go. And then they received a third of a normal year’s rainfall in two days.

Through the ups and downs of farming life, Erica discovered gardening. Time in the garden helped her manage her anxiety and brightened her world. ‘When my life is so deeply rooted in the practical, creating something purely for beauty just lls me up with joy. It’s like a meditation. After a noisy and busy day, it’s really nice to just do something that’s mindful and purely just because I want to.’

Erica started to grow owers, and then started to give bunches to friends. And then enquiries from people in the community started coming in.

Two years on, Erica has built a new, larger patch to grow her ower business out the front of their home, still within earshot of the children’s bedrooms so she can be there for her three little ones. Erica spends her evenings here, sometimes with a glass of wine in >