Spring doesn’t spring until October in Tasmania, no matter how much I will it to arrive every year. A day here and a day there might warm up and feel like winter’s cloak has lifted, but the beanie is still to hand. The overcoat is still on a hook by the front door. And the oven is on. I do like the oven. And I do like pastry. To me, a pie isn’t a pie unless the pastry is homemade. If you’re using bought pastry with margarine, that’s simply housing the filling, not making the dish. Good pastry makes even a mediocre filling taste great. A great filling is let down by a dud casing.
So I put the oven on often while the weather is cool. I bake pasta, which is a rarity, but it’s worth it, really, to melt a bit of cheese through. I’ll bake, because I cook over wood and once you’ve started the fire, you may as well keep putting food in the oven while the appetite holds out.
Source: Alan Benson
Speaking of wood, the woodpile is dwindling and the splitter needs a sharpen. When the weather warms a bit we’ll be out gathering the fuel for next year’s pies.
Matthew's currently baking these baked eggs with red capsicum and chorizo. 
Baked red capsicum with chorizo and egg Source: Benito Martin
Photography Alan Benson. As seen in Feast magazine, September 2014, Issue 35.
The brand-new series of starts Thursday August 3 at 8pm on SBS. Visit the program page for recipes and to find out more about the show.
