Annie Smithers' farmhouse recipes

I grew up in the 1970s in the bucolic world of a small acreage and luxurious dinner parties thrown by my parents. My mother, an English literature teacher, was a woman of excellent cooking skills and had a fine intellect devoted to words and books (Julia Child, Alice Waters and Simone Beck featured strongly in my childhood). People often remarked that Mum was such a good cook that she should open a little restaurant, and the memories of this time have had a significant impact on how I cook and how I live my life.

Perhaps it was inevitable that I opened a tiny country restaurant (called du Fermier in Trentham in Victoria) which offers a menu du jour put together with my acre of garden that produces up to 90 per cent of my fruit and vegetable needs. I realise that I am absolutely living the dream, or at least my interpretation of it. The food is unashamedly French farmhouse as it's a style of cooking that has vast possibilities, yet a familiarity that is truly comforting.

All recipes serve 8.

Quail with cous cous, rose petals & cucumber salad

This dish has wandered down to the very south of France, seeking a little heat, a little spice from a few Moroccan influences and a lot of romance. It's a beautiful dish to linger over – although you do end up eating with your hands so make sure you serve it with finger bowls and plenty of serviettes.

12 quail (this is based on 1½ quails per person; if you're greedy, go for 2 quails each)

1 tbsp rosewater

3 tsp ground cumin

3 tsp ground cinnamon

60ml lemon juice

salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

3 tsp crabapple jelly

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tbsp finely chopped mint

petals from 2 unsprayed pink or red roses

Cucumber salad

½ red onion, thinly sliced

4 Lebanese (short) cucumbers

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp olive oil

1 bird's eye chilli, chopped

Cous cous

salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

500g cous cous

60g unsalted butter

75g currants

75g toasted pine nuts

1. Ask a butcher to remove the backbones from your quail.

2. Combine the rosewater, cumin, cinnamon, lemon juice, salt and pepper and one tablespoon of the oil in a large bowl. Add the quail and toss to coat, then set aside to marinate for about two hours.

3. The quail can be cooked in a frying pan, in a chargrill pan or on a barbecue grill plate – it's up to you, just make sure the pan or grill plate is hot. Cook the butterflied quail, skin side down, for 2-3 minutes or until golden, then turn and cook for a further 4-6 minutes until cooked through.

4. To make the cucumber salad, place the onion, cucumber, lemon juice, oil and chilli in a bowl and gently toss to combine.

5. To make the cous cous, bring 500 millilitres of water to the boil and add a good pinch of salt. Mix in the cous cous, then work the butter through gently with a fork. Add the currants and pine nuts and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside for 10 minutes, then fluff it up with a fork.

6. Stir together the jelly, vinegar, garlic and remaining oil in a small saucepan over a low heat for 1-2 minutes to form a fragrant glaze. Stir in the mint.

7. Spoon the cous cous onto a large serving platter and arrange the quail on top. Pour over the glaze, scatter with rose petals and serve the cucumber salad on the side.

Navarin of lamb

I always make sure I have a stash of peas in the freezer, just for dishes like this, and also to remind me that while the oncoming winter may seem endless, spring is not really that far away.

100ml grapeseed or olive oil

150g unsalted butter

2kg boned lamb neck or shoulder, cut into 5cm (2in) cubes

200g onions, diced

200g carrots, diced

1 tbsp plain flour

250ml dry white wine

4 tomatoes, diced

1 turnip, peeled and diced

1 rosemary sprig

1 thyme sprig

1 bay leaf

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

750ml veal or chicken stock

salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

250g French shallots, trimmed and peeled

1 tsp granulated sugar

1kg new, small nicola or kipfler potatoes

300g baby carrots, peeled

300g baby turnips, peeled

80g peas

crusty bread, to serve

1. Heat the oil and a large knob of butter in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add the lamb and cook until browned all over – you might need to do this in batches so you don't overcrowd the pan. Transfer the lamb to a plate.

2. Add the onion, carrot and a little more butter to the pan and cook, stirring, over a medium heat for five minutes or until softened. Drain off any excess fat, then add the flour and stir over the heat for one minute. Return the lamb to the pan, then pour in the wine and simmer until slightly reduced. Add the tomato, turnip, herbs and garlic, and enough stock to come three-quarters of the way up the lamb. Season well, then cover with a lid and simmer for one hour.

3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat, add the shallots, sugar and some salt and cook, stirring, until lightly browned. Add a little stock or water and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and cook for 10–15 minutes or until soft.

4. Put the potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for five minutes, then drain.

5. Remove the lamb from the pan, then strain the sauce through a fine sieve. Let the sauce settle so you can carefully skim the fat from the top. Return the sauce, lamb and potatoes to the pan and simmer, covered, for another 15 minutes. Add the baby carrots and turnips and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Add the peas for the last five minutes.

6. Serve with good crusty bread to mop up the sauce.

Raspberry clafoutis

Clafoutis is really a fancy French name for a baked custard but, for such a simple dish, there are an awful lot of really, really bad clafoutis out there. This one is a gem, and many different types of fruit can be used at the bottom of it. I've used raspberries here, but they can be replaced with cherries, peaches or pears, or prunes soaked in Armagnac.

4 eggs

60g castor sugar,

plus extra for dusting

30g plain flour

30g cornflour

320ml milk

320ml thickened cream

1 tablespoon Armagnac

250g raspberries pouring cream, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

2. With a whisk, beat the eggs, sugar, flour and cornflour until thick and foamy. Gradually add the milk, thickened cream and Armagnac and whisk until well blended. This mixture can be made several hours ahead of time and refrigerated until you are ready to cook it.

3. Butter the sides and base of your chosen pan and dust with extra sugar. Place the raspberries evenly across the bottom of the pan, then carefully pour the batter over the raspberries.

4. Bake for 45 minutes or until puffy, golden and cooked in the centre (if you give it a little shake there should be no wobble). Remove and allow to cool slightly, then serve with cream

This is an edited extract from Annie's Farmhouse Kitchen by Annie Smithers with illustrations by Robin Cowcher, published by Hardie Grant Books, RRP $40 and is available in stores nationally.

Food Photographer for Good Food: © Tara Pearce