Amanda Daniel : Ethical Chef

Summer season at the Adelaide Showground Farmers Market

2012-01-18T12:22:00.000-08:00

Summer entertaining

What is your New Years resolution? If you have resolved to be fit and healthy in 2012 Year of The Farmer then we can help you. A membership to the Market guarantees you 10% off every purchase for the year, providing you with the ability to buy ethical food from your rural community. Memberships are now due for renewal.

If you are lucky, you are still on holidays and if not, you can make it feel like you are by sipping SA wine and grazing on platters of local tomato, prosciutto and goats curd.

Summer seasonal fruit and veg are in full swing at the Market, making it so easy to entertain friends. Have casual BBQs, a picnic lunch on the veranda, hampers on the beach at sunset - any excuse will do!

Super fresh, local salad vegetables need little preparation and are great for a healthy waistline and a fit family. The food at this Market is sold by the people who grow it, ensuring it comes from nearby and contains maximum nutritional value. Berries and fruit are an instant dessert with a splash of SA dairy or get experimental and throw them into salads with savoury seasoning and splashes of SA extra virgin oil. Seasonal local raw product has not been in storage for long periods so it tastes great. Spend more time on the entertaining side of summer and less time in the kitchen.

The Farmer and Chef Kitchen demonstrations will give you a few tips on how to make the most out of the local produce. Get your ethical coffee and settle in to your seat at the Demo Kitchen at the Market at 11am for the free Farmer and Chef cooking show.

Looking forward to sharing a dynamic diet of South Australian food with you this year.

Wishing you a sustainable New Year.

Christmas Traditional Food as referenced by the Adelaide Showground Farmers Market

2011-12-02T11:22:00.001-08:00

A Sense of Occasion

What we eat says a lot about us. Our summer seasonal celebrating brings out our most profound foodie commentary. December is the season where we draw on our sense of tradition, whether it be chicken in the Weber or glazed regional ham and basted roast duck, linking us to our European roots.

Traditional food has an important place in our modern eating. It is a delicious history lesson. Historically significant food tells of traditions and values from another time. Special occasion food embodies a sense of occasion and celebrates the ingenuity of the human spirit as it binds us to the land.

Time-honoured recipes have evolved from the ingredients available, local food. Sharing and celebrating with food has built communities and described cultures. Recipes lovingly handed down from one generation to the next cradle families and tell of their time in history.

All the ingredients are at our Market for you to evoke your sense of occasion, your family recipes and create your own new traditions. Whether it be a platter of scallops and a loaf of sour dough followed by a bowl of cherries, or traditional cooked feasts with mince pies, the essence of Christmas is at the Market.

I am remembering my Grandma’s Christmas cooking this year and investing in my own family's traditions - celebrating the food that is grown near me.

Merry Christmas and a sustainable new year

Visit South Australia's largest farmers market, Adelaide Showground Farmers Market.

http://asfm.org.au/

Spring at Adelaide Showground Farmers Market as seen in the monthly Digest newsletter

2011-11-05T23:54:00.000-07:00

Stone fruit has started. Speak to Bill about what is in and what is on the way

Seasonality with CEO Amanda Daniel

True South Australian spring is here.

Buying local pristine produce with a minimum of cooking is the secret to a glamorous carefree diet. In spring creamy cheeses are creamier as the grasses are richer and more nourishing. Fresh peas and broad beans are sweet and sought after in their short season. Apricots and white peaches, cherries and strawberries are on their way as the sun shines and the weather warms up. Local wild scallops and sustainably farmed mussels will be in great demand as everyone gears up for summer entertaining. Award-winning prosciutto made from black pigs makes putting simple platters together too easy.

We eat according to the seasons as our lives keep in touch with our environment. Eating seasonal, local food fosters traditions and rituals, building communities. This Market tells the story of the season and connects us to the land as the soil and climate provide for us. Our local farmers bring produce from regional South Australia, providing a geographic profile of nutrition and local culture.

Our passion for local, seasonal food, and supporting primary industry was the topic of conversation at the Festival of Ideas this year. As the global population brims over 7 billion, the importance of sustainable farming, land use and food policy is being realised. Growth in this century is being defined by sustainability. Adelaide Showground Farmers Market is increasingly relevant, granting a lifestyle choice for shoppers, farmers and small producers.

Farm Gate magazine is being launched here on Sunday 20th November by co-author, Dianne Mattsson, who is The Advertiser’s food writer. This beautiful, affordable publication is a guide to seasonal South Australian farmers’ produce. This glossy magazine will be released annually, to keep it relevant and is available at the Information tent at the Market. That is one Christmas present idea - add one ASFM membership and you’re done!

See you there ... at the Adelaide Showground Farmers Market

Farmers Market CEO

2011-10-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

Amanda Daniel, the new ASFM CEO

: Amanda Daniel - new CEO of the Adelaide Showground Farmers Market

The Adelaide Showground Farmers Market Committee is pleased to announce that Amanda Daniel has been appointed as the new CEO of the Adelaide Showground Farmers Market. ASFM Chairperson Anne Duncan said,

"Amanda has had a long association with the ASFM. Starting as a stallholder in the first few weeks, Amanda has been committed to both the Market and its values since inception and played a number of roles during its life. Amanda comes to us with a wealth of hospitality, management and consulting experience and a clear vision for our future."

Amanda spoke about her appointment:

As an enthusiastic advocate of real, local, seasonal, fresh food of providence I have been following the development of farmers markets for 30 years. I see this appointment as the pinnacle of my ethical foodie career.

Founded five years ago by visionary Zannie Flanagan, and loyally supported by sponsors, the Adelaide Showground Farmers Market is the State farmers market. Zannie invited individual farmers to direct sell and communicate with their city neighbours, defining our States food cultural identity. Zannie built an Adelaide and State food institution, introducing city people to our farmers, cheese makers, bakers, meat and egg farmers. These are the artisan food producers of the State.

I find it inspiring when I hear shoppers asking farmers about how and where they grow their vegies, and love hearing people get cooking tips - finding out how to cook a variety of new produce. Whether it is how to prepare an artichoke or steam a stuffed whole curly endive, every farmer has a recipe. Every stallholder has a passion for his or her product. It is an honour to represent the Market’s grass roots food producers.

With the words “nutrition” and “economy” headlining the news, and the ideals of sustainability and carbon neutral driving our daily lives, it is no surprise that the ASFM is booming. Demand for food direct from the grower has increased over the last five years making the Market a vibrant social shopping affair, where individuals and families come to meet for ethical coffee and shop for nutritional economy. Community driven retail is sustaining rural small food producers across the State. The Market is looking to support more true food producers to supply the growing demand for seasonal fresh food.

Everyone is invited to our 5th birthday party on Sunday the 2nd of October. Simon Bryant is teaching the kids how to make the real chicken nuggets with homemade sauce in the Kids Club. The Market will be celebrating everything spring has to offer with frosted cake: lush greens, seasonally creamy cheese, farmers happy with sunshine and families . See you there.

Amanda Daniel
CEO, Adelaide Showground Farmers Market

Purple Carrot

2011-08-24T04:43:00.000-07:00

Colour me.

Purple carrots the next local“Super Food”

Thenewest, humblest super food, the purple carrot, centuries in the making.

Relatedto the wild ancient purple carrots praised by the Egyptians for their medicinalbenefits. Afghanistan Royalty used them to die their robes, purple being thecolour of Royalty. Purple carrots are filled with the potent antioxidant Anthocyanins, giving them such a royal colour.

It issaid that the best way to benefit from this super root vegetable is to juiceit, nice with a knuckle of fresh ginger by the way. They look quite elegant when justpeeled, revealing tinges of their yellowish custard centre. The colour doesbleed out into what ever they are cooked with, and surprisingly gives you apurple Shiraz smile.

Theyhave a nutty earthy flavour, like beetroot; denser and meatier in texturethan your average carrot. Add these princes of the earth to your roast vegselection, grate into vivid salads. Toss in the lunch box or make Psychedelic crudités and serve with some ofMarco’s “The Mushroom Man” truffle salt and some potato garlic dip. They aresure to add a sense of dark drama to your next dinner ensemble. Adelaidians can get their purple fix at theat the

Adelaide Showground Farmers Market.

Purple Salad w blood orangeginger and mint

A stunning salad for a touch ofzest and zing to accompany you next roast or try it with a bowl of buckwheat infused with cardamom, finished with a dollop of yoghurt.

Wash andscrub carrots with a clean veggie only scourer.

Gratecarrots and as much fresh ginger root as you like. Toss lightly in a bowl witha dash of lemon juice, a pinch of sea salt, grind of pepper, splash of extravirgin oil, blood orange zest and some juice, a few mint leaves and pile on aplatter. Arrange some thin whole slices of blood orange, pith and all casuallyon top and finish with toasted fennel seeds, mint leaves and a drizzle of extravirgin olive oil. Let the salad sit for a minute and it will bleed redbrilliance.

Purple carrots roasted w olives, cumin seed, lemon and parsley dressing.

Purple and green should be seen. A dark sidedish or room temperature antipasto, super with scoop of fresh curd.

Leave aninch or two of carrot stalks on top and Scrub your carrots, massage with oliveoil, cumin seeds, a handful of large black local olives, sea salt and freshground pepper, place in a baking dish, bake in the oven till just cooked.Finish with a dressing of extra virgin olive oil, lemon zest, a squeeze ofjuice and handfulls of chopped Italian parsley

Marinated purple carrot

A gorgeous Mediterranean salad ofsubstance, perfect as a part of a selection. Makes a glamorous bed for searedSA anchovy fillets and lemon, paired with a grate of fresh horseradish rootmixed with cream friache.

Pushscrubbed purple carrots through a food processor set to slice.

Marinatethe sliced carrot with splash of apple cider vinegar, a few tinny AustralianSustainable capers, tangelo slices, pinch of fresh ground cinnamon, walnuts,fresh thyme sea salt, fresh ground white pepper, and a splash of extra virginolive oil. Let stand for 10 mins or more it stays quite crunchy.

Farmers Market Shopping

2011-07-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

Shopping at a Farmers Market is not like shopping at a supermarket; you don't know exactly what is going to be there, produce wise. Recipes always need to be adapted to take advantage of what is in season, is new and tastes the best at the market. Don't get disappointed that the product you built your dish on is not in, or the small producer has not shown up this week. Get excited about a new find or a different fresh product you can use instead to make your dish sing. Make a new dish out of an old favourite recipe. Grow your repertoire.

Small producers are hands on every day, fresh produce never sleeps. Farmers have to go to christenings, weddings and occasionally need a Sunday off. Next time you see your favourite Farmer, tell them how much you missed them; they will be quite chuffed; ask them where they were last Sunday? I am suer he / she will have a good story to tell.

It is the beauty of buying food from real people.

When I turned up to do my cooking demo, my parsnip man Francesco was not there, a christening I believe. So I adapted my recipe below; substituting parsnips and apples with the last of the seasons purple carrots from Rodger of AAy fame & Ross's rare Comice pears from Ashbourne Valley. Then I got excited by a European lettuce so I threw that in too. Recipe ? What recipe ? A recipe is to chefs, like pirates, more like "guide lines"

I write what I call suggestive recipes for my articles, ideas of flavour combinations and methods that work. The idea is to get people thinking more intuitively about how food flavours actually work, instead of following a blue print recipe blindly.

I have worked one of my suggestive ideas into a recipe; still clinging to handfuls and splashes as measurements. The most important part is to taste. It is the only way to become a natural cook.

Parsnips substituted with purple carrots — endive was substituted with escarole
because they were best in the market
mmmm and I added some lemon because I felt like it.

Warm roast parsnip & apple salad wendive heart & hazelnut oil:

Peel parsnips, cut in half, and toss in olive oil,salt and pepper. Quarter apples and do the same. Roast till edges arecaramelised and just cooked in the centre. In a large salad bowl, add picked, washedcurly endive hearts, roast Parsnips and apples, add a splash of tarragonvinegar and a splash of walnut oil. Taste check seasoning. Fantastic aside alamb roast. Makes a fab entrée.

WARM ROAST PARSNIP, APPLE AND ENDIVE HEART SALAD wHAZELNUT OIL .

INGREDIENTS

700 g Vagarisparsnips

3 AshbourneValley Apples or Pears

1 Large-heartedPatlin or Food Forest Endive

1 tspcinnamon

Macrobiotic seas salt

Fresh white pepper — grinder

Tarragon vinegar

Harding’s Hazelnut oil

METHOD

Turn oven to 200* +

Scrub parsnips with a scourer.

Slice into rounds an inch thick if large or leavewhole is small and thin.

Cut apples or pears into ¼

Toss Parsnips and Fruit in olive oil, sea salt, pepperand cinnamon.

Bake in a hot oven till tender.

Wash endive and drain.

Pick out tender heart leaves.

When vegetable and fruit are cooked showing hints of caramelisation,toss them in a large bowel.

Add the endive hearts

Splash on the nut oil and vinegar to taste.

Toss all ingredients together.

Arrange on platter.

The Adelaide Magazine Farmers Market Tour

2011-07-14T18:01:00.000-07:00

The Adelaide Magazine The Adelaide Showground Farmers Market

Winter Tour

24th of July.

There are only 10 spots available.

Starts: 8.45 sharp

Tickets available at MOSHTIX

WHAT IS IN THE TOUR?

How to be prepared - 3 things you must have before you have coffee?

Where to start shopping, how to prioritise?

I will give you all my tips on how to make the most out of what is in season.

What to do with all that lovely winter veg?

How much to buy, meal planning and how to use leftovers?

Get the down low on winter veg? It has a nutritional content that aids your immune system.

Why buying local, just picked, is great for you and your family?

... and so much more.

Meet the stars of the show, the stall holders, there is a real food story behind every piece of produce.

Why pears are released in sequence from cold storage?

Which stall holder came out from Italy and started a mixed garden?

Who is an internationally acclaimed baker?

An introduction to the new heros of the food industry The Artisan Producers.

Taste the difference and fill your Farmers Market Show Bag.

Become a member for the day with 10% off every purchase.

Finish with a coffee and a new found confidence in the food you buy.

For me it is a Lifestyle choice, one I love to share.

See you early Sunday.

Parsnip as referenced by The Adelaide Magazine

2011-06-24T02:22:00.000-07:00

I was at the Adelaide Show Ground Farmers Market on Sunday and purchased some extra creamy parsnips from Franseco Vagaris. I roasted Parsnip steaks as they were affectionately named with olive oil, seasoning and a sprinkle of cinnamon. So good I thought I would publish my other parsnip ideas. Parsnips: that once super cheap vegetable that now appears in stores at near $10 a kg!

PARSNIP

Old school winter root vegetable, high in fibre, folic acid and potassium. Once a staple of the classic Aussie roast and the ubiquitous soup mix pack, is a strikingly versatile vegetable offering a touch of sweetness, smooth texture and a mild nuttiness to any creation.

Buy them when they look plump creamy white, not dry and spindly. Tops should appear vibrant to signify freshness, bunches are usually found in local farmers markets.

Warm roast parsnip & apple salad w endive heart & hazelnut oil:

Peel parsnips, cut in half, and toss in olive oil, salt and pepper. Quarter apples and do the same. Roast till edges are caramelised and cooked in the centre. In a large salad bowl, add picked, washed curly endive hearts, roast Parsnips and apples, add a splash of tarragon vinegar and a splash of walnut oil. Taste check seasoning. Fantastic aside a lamb roast or pork. Makes a fab entrée finished with a dollop of fresh goats curd.

Parsnip & pear soup w thyme:

Take a large heavy bottom pot, add a splash of oil or a knob of organic butter. Sweat down some sliced leek, a couple of large pears, 2 handfuls of washed and peeled roughly chopped parsnips, some fresh thyme and seasoning. Do not let it colour.

When most of the initial liquid has evaporated add light chicken or vegetable stock to just cover the vegetables. Bring to simmer, cook till all tender, puree in a blender.

Check seasoning. Heat to serve; marvellous with creme fraiche or a dash of Paris Creek cream. A drop of white truffle oil transports this humble soup.

Parsnip, witlof & walnut gratin:

Go a little French; sear halved and seasoned witlof in a hot pan, blanch or roast washed, peeled and sliced Parsnip, check seasoning and arrange vegetables in an oven to table baking dish, scatter some fresh thyme, a few walnuts and a splash of light chicken stock or cream. Lay your favourite savoury European style melting cheese, like Gruyere on top and bake till tinging gold.

Parsnip mash with nutmeg:

Easiest way to get some parsnips in your winter menu is to make mash. Wash and peel your parsnips, cut them small and cook in as little salted water as possible; cook till soft and drain off water. Add hot milk or cream and mash with a potato masher. Check seasoning; only use fine white pepper in mash potatoes. To finish fold in a big knob of organic butter and grate some fresh nutmeg on top.

Cauliflower the edible flower. As referenced by The Adelaide Magazine

2011-06-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

Local - Seasonal - Ethical

Cauliflower

“There is life beyond cauliflower cheese”

Heralding in winter homely Adelaide cauliflowers are at their peak. A member of the curative Brassica family of vegetables it has extreme nutritional value, just in time to boost the immune system.

Get experimental this season and try the milder flavoured purple variety of cauliflower, Jacaranda, or the pale green coral flowered Broccoflower, otherwise known in Europe as Romanesco.

There is life beyond cauliflower cheese. Cauliflowers defined elegant yet mildly earthy flavour makes for interesting substantial salads, truffle friendly purées, textured roasts, chunky curries and spicy pickles. A diverse vegetable perfect for creamy French classic dishes as well as Indian and Mediterranean. My favourite dish for cold nights is whole steamed Cauliflower with Salsa Verde (Caper and parsley sauce) poured liberally over the top.

A fantastic value vegetable, buy it with good leaf coverage, the leaves protect the delicate flowers.

CAULIFLOWER RADICCHIO SALAD WITH LEMON, WALNUT OIL & RAW HONEY

Try the purple jacaranda in this recipe; add a touch of lemon juice to the blanching water.

Steam or blanch some cauliflower florets in boiling salty water. Toss with thin slices of lemon, ripped radicchio, fresh walnuts slow toasted in olive oil, sprigs of fresh thyme, a grind of fresh black pepper, pinch of salt and a drizzle of Honey Lady raw honey. An autumnal combination that works well with poached local Inmann Valley Chicken or Bushman’s rabbit.

BRAZED CAULIFLOWER LEEK FENNEL & FRENCH TARRAGON

Romaneso is wonderful in this pale green accompaniment.

In a heavy bottom large pan slowly sweat some thick slices of leek, cauliflower florets and slices of fennel bulb in a knob of organic Paris Creek butter with white pepper and salt with a lid on. If more moisture is required add a splash of chicken stock. Simmer till near tender, add a grand pinch of Fresh French tarragon, a dash of local cream and reduce gently till sauce is a perfect consistency and vegetables are just cooked. This slightly aniseed creamy savoury cauliflower dish makes for a saucy partner with Roast free Range Pork and apples.

SICILIAN CAULIFLOWER w CAPERS CHILLI ORANGE & ZEST

Super southern Italian style, carefully throw some just blanched and drained 1.5 cm thick slices of cauliflower into a large pan of hot local extra virgin oil. Add some chunks of seedless chilli, a big pinch of local Australian Sustainable Capers, a strip of orange zest or two, a smashed garlic clove, salt and fresh pepper, sauté gently till flavours combine. Check seasoning. Finish with rough chopped Italian Parsley. Serve as is, or with lashings of Shaved Grana Padano Parmesan and strips of prosciutto for an awesome autumn antipasto. Brilliant tossed though hand made pasta.

ROAST CAULIFLOWER & PEAR W ROSEMARY & ROCKET

Cut cauliflower into thick slices and pears into wedges, toss in olive oil, rosemary sprigs, salt and pepper. Place on a baking tray, roast at 180* till tender and just coloured. When cooked toss the lot with some handfuls of washed rocket leaves to wilt them. Check seasoning then pile on to a platter as a vego course or use as a savoury, sweet peppery accompaniment to roast tender pink lamb loin chops from Feast.

True Food Business Plans

2011-05-28T16:45:00.000-07:00

True Food Business Plans Work

Many food businesses do not have a plan. It is so easy to see when and how a food business can go so wrong. It is so easy to fix.

You wonder how a simple lunch order can turn into a disaster. When you roll into a cafe to order your healthy lunch from the menu boasting organics.

The staff don't know what's in the food, they ask the Manager, who asks the Chef who makes an educated guess, and gets it wrong ... by the way. You don't order the soup because they say it has cream in it. My friend orders the soup and it has no cream in it.... I can tell. They bring you the wrong dish. The frittata that they forget to mention contains cheese, is sided by a green and browning rotten salad. Too much stress over lunch.

I understand that this establishment is a perfect example of one that requires a business plan. A plan that respects its food purpose and clientele; more procedures and less staff would make this cafe boom. "True food" quality is the base line for real value marketing plans.

My consultancy advice mends a business. I set up formulas for venues that ensure they have substance to sell ... "substance sells itself" See a packaged list of my services Food and Hospitality Consultant:

Well run businesses with visceral mission statements are magnets to like minded clientele, mutual networks and media. Real food stories are sought by everybody, people innately want to justify their choices.

Points of difference are made by us, knowing who we are, why we are here and what we want to achieve.

P.S. This applies to life too ... the fine print ... always read the fine print.

Eggplant ... Aubergine as referenced by The Adelaide magazine

2011-05-14T23:28:00.000-07:00

At the market: Black beauties
last of the season still available next to the blooming brassica flowers of the next winter season

I saw the last of the summer seasons eggplant @ The Adelaide Show Ground Farmers Market today and thought you may all like to enjoy the flavours of eggplant while they last.

Eggplant / Aubergine

Eggplant is prolific in March: An ancient fruit, originally wild and bitter from India before the 5 the Century. Typically associated with Italian cooking where it arrived in the 14th Century. A member of the nightshade family, this dark spongy orb delivers loads of fibre, potassium, and manganese and along with important phytnutrients earning it reputation as a brain food.

Found in many shapes and sizes from long thin to fat and round giant pears. In a variety of shades from green to white speckled to orange, most well known for their glossy deep black purple skin.

Choose firm fruit when shopping, with clear skin. Store in the Fridge. Flesh discolours quickly once cut so only cut with a stainless steal knife when just about to cook. Place in salt or acidulated water if not cooking straight away. It has been a tradition to salt eggplant before cooking to draw out bitterness, but the new varieties do not require it. I was told once “salting eggplant was for whips.”

Eggplants mild nutty taste and creamy texture is a vehicle for other flavours. A great substantial Vegan main corse. Fantastic for curry, elegant Asian, garlicky Mediterranean and minty fragrant Arabic inspired dishes.

Highly adaptable to all cooking methods it can be roasted, steamed fried, sautéed, marinated.

Try it with all that’s in season this Indian summer. Bottle the season’s excess in the form of spicy piquant relishes or sweet sour with tomatoes and wine vinegar.

Simple Eggplant dip.

An entertainer or elegant accompaniment:

Toss 2 Large whole large eggplants, a splash of olive oil into a backing tray, bake to soft. Cut lengthwise, scoop out flesh, chop it roughly with salt and pepper, a clove of fresh chopped garlic, add a big blob of creamy organic yoghurt and chopped coriander. Great as dip with summer fennel, crisped flat bread, or serve with pink lamb as a mousy counterpart

Eggplant w goats curd cream, basil, mint & cumin

Vego main course with dressed grains:

Cut Lebanese finger eggplants in half, toss in bowl with olive oil, basil sprigs, salt and pepper, bake in a moderate oven till tender - or grill on a cast iron grill plate. Mix fresh goats curd with 1/3 cream till combined. Pile spoons of creamy curd onto a platter of eggplant, scatter with loads of fresh mint and basil leaves and thin slices of lemon. Finish with a light grind of fresh toasted cumin.

Eggplant bake w rustic crumbs & capper berries.

This dish is a crowd pleaser:

Cut eggplant into rounds 1 ½ cm thick, paint with olive oil and cook them in a heavy bottom pan with as little oil as possible, (they will absorb as much as you give them) Layer eggplant slices in a baking dish with thick slices of tomato, sauté onions and garlic, salt pepper and a scatter of fresh oregano. Finish with rough sourdough bread crumbs tossed in seasoned oil and herbs. Cook in moderate oven till crumbs are golden brown. Finish with a handful of capper berries and fresh herbs.

Indian summer salad to go or stay.

Salad or picnic:

Take your roast wedges or baked slices of eggplant, and simply toss them with plenty of rough chopped tomatoes, slices of radish, pipped local black olive, lemon zest, Italian parsley, ripped basil and mint leaves, lemon juice, dash of red wine vinegar, salt , pepper and extra virgin olive oil. Taste then finish with a dramatic flourish of black nigella seeds.

Serve in barmy weather with any BBQ or roll in fresh ancient grain flat bread and take it anywhere.

Mushrooms on Toast w Brown Sage butter

2011-05-06T05:12:00.000-07:00

Mushrooms Herbed and Seasoned - Oven Ready

Recipe - appearing soon @ my cooking demonstration at the Adelaide Show Ground Farmers Market 11am Sunday 8th of May .

Roast Mushroom on Toasted Organic Sour Dough with Brown Sage Butter.

Designed to be easy to cook for your mother this Sunday. A super simple meal, great for brunch or Sunday dinner, goes super well with a glass of Pinot and an open fire.

INGREDIENTS

MUSHROOMS

1 very large Swiss Brown Mushroom per person or 2 medium size

1 cup of local Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 bunch of Thyme

Macrobiotic Sea Salt

Fresh ground white pepper

TOAST

1 loaf of organic sourdough

Salt and pepper

Thyme

SAGE BUTTER

1 block of organic Paris Creek unsalted Butter

1 buch of Sage

Salt & pepper

METHOD

MUSHROOMS

Turn oven onto 250 *

Wipe Mushrooms

Cut Stalks in a cross hatch to help them cook faster

Lay mushrooms on a flat baking tray

Strip thyme leaves into olive oil & bruise together

Drizzle herb oil on to mushroom stalk

Season w Salt & Pepper

Bake till tender & starting to bleed juice

TOAST

While mush rooms are cooking :

Slice bread into 1 and a 1/2 cm thick slices.

Rub with thyme and oil or butter

Lay in a pan and cook till toasty OR grill

SAGE BUTTER

In heavy base pot add a 250 g of unsalted butter

Add 1 small bunch of sage

Add a Pinch of salt and a grind of pepper

Cook till golden in colour and leaves are crispy

TO SERVE

Lay toast on plate balance mushroom on top and drizzle mushroom juices

Pour sage butter over the top and scatter crispy sage leaves.

Grind of pepper ... pour a glass of red.

Amanda Daniel

Fresh food writer

The Adelaide Magazine

www.2bethicalfood.com

amanda@2bethicalfood.com

http://2bethicalfood.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/2bethicalfood

Flavour Profiles of the Future - Social Responsibility and Food

2011-05-02T06:22:00.000-07:00

My Nanna Jeans Recipes

Old School
Classic Sunbeam in action

The art or some would argue the skill or craft of cooking, practiced once upon a time, everyday.
Now it seems to be only on television in Cafes and Restaurants. Take-away boxes are ripped open on the lounge and packets un-zip-locked before microwaves. There is un-refrigerated potato salad on shelves with a six month life span. Rice is being sold already cooked...
Is cooking becoming a privilege of the wealthy, economically or intellectually privileged?
Is it the perceived time it takes to cook that discourages, the lack of acquired skill or is it just not learnt via social absorption through family life.
The food we eat defines our social status, who and what we identify with. We decide what we like. We decide what our children are exposed to. Decisions made unconsciously due to the beliefs we have about what the right food for us is. The right food being in many cases what we are exposed to, what tastes good to us. Who is showing us what to eat, the television?
People can learn to like any flavour if they want to; culturally rich diets of history are aromatically detailed with strong flavours from pungent hung game, fermented salty fish to vegimite. Commercial food flooding the common market place is full of synthesised flavours dependent on high fructose corn syrup, corn, soy derivatives and chemical additives. Preserving shelf life over flavour. Sweet one dimensional profiles are the norm. This is the new palate of the growing majority, future generations.
When fresh real food is plated for the commercially toned palate it is likely to be un-liked. Mostly due to its fresh edges, acids, textures & natural sugars. All the things a real foody looks for.
So my question is, who is going to appreciate fresh real food and know what it is supposed to taste like in the next decade. I am supposing it will be the intellectually and economically endowed. Actually you will have to be both rich & smart to eat well ?? A real food education is the only viable option. Who is going to provide it, the television, the government, the parents?
Where is the social responsibility when it comes to food, how is it put into practise?
Questions to ask, answers to be found.
With each bite we decide?

Offal Lover Lunch - Health Nut - Ethical Food : Coach

2011-04-22T22:37:00.000-07:00

My chef lunch for 1 . Lamb kidney with ginger fennel and beetroot salad.

Blogs for me are about sharing the perspective of an individual
One persons perspective can shed light on many a shadowed fact. Its all about how you look a things, what information you have taken in and assimilated into knowledge. I like to take in as many perspectives as possible and somehow manage to stay opinionated, empathetically opinionated that is. If you can relate to one persons experience you can be both challenged and enlightened... Enough of the soap box.

My lunch today inspired me to share my love of cooking and eating offal. Love it or hate it, it is for a fact the most nutritious part of the animal. The part that usually gets disguised into other products or finds its way into pet food. Mention Offal to any Chef worth his salt, in my humble opinion and they will literally drool into gory details of the last offal dish they created. The mere suggestion of slow cooked connective tissue excites Chefs into a frenzy of carcass breakdowns, wine reductions, long stories about acquiring local pigs noses and how to brioche crumb pigs ears.

Recently diagnosed with a protein malabsorption issue I have taken to my passion of cooking offal with a vengeance. My lunch of organic lambs kidneys where sweet savoury tender, seared in a pan with fennel bulb and slices of fresh ginger. Ginger root tang cut the richness, fennel added a textured liquorish accent. An alkalising grated beetroot, celery, pear salad with organic apple cider vinegar dressing took the relish role in this one plate act.

I left the plate with blood like beetroot stains and filled my deficient blood with a very large percentage of bioavailable iron and protein. Apple cider vinegar gave my insides the acid boost to aid the breakdown of the protein. My meal is and was my medicine.

Offal : the organs of the animal, usually do all the filtering of what the animal consumes, so buy organic offal. Non-organic offal will carry all the chemicals and toxins the animal ingests into you.

Maybe offal is not you're thing, maybe you could entertain slipping it in surreptitiously to your stews and braises. The nutrition is of the highest value and the cost is nominal. Feel better about the fact that you are doing your part in eating the whole animal. It is Easter so I can say, somewhat sassily that the animal died for us, it is an honour and some would say an obligation to consume every part of our fellow animals.
When I say "maybe" and "some would say" I am being polite.

Not looking to win any prizes with this blog, I am hoping to inspire a few more offal cooks.

Pomegranate as referenced by The Adelaide Magazine

2011-04-21T22:21:00.000-07:00

Crushed next to my vintage Sunbeam

Dramatic cross-section

Adelaide autumn table is not complete without pomegranates, Soula from “ Stone Fruits” at the Adelaide Show Grounds farmers Market says this years crop is looking extra juicy.

An ancient fruit heralded for its healing properties, bursting with Potassium, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Folic acid and vitamin C, B & E. There is an argument that Eve may have picked a pomegranate not an apple?

Pomegranates are still life, picture perfect, fabulous table decoration before eating & easier to use than they look, making any dish exotic. Pour juice & seeds over your breakfast yoghurt & soaked oats, sweet & sour salads, give tang to grains, jazz up humble vanilla bean ice cream with fresh gated nutmeg, raw honey & toasted nuts, add to fruit salads & make fab cocktails.

Eastern flavours & ruby colours offer fresh edginess to gilled fish, Lamb & chicken, simply fabulous in marinades, adds acid to curries, balances sweet fruits like figs & dates. Use the juice & seeds for a bursting garnish.

Always buy them when they are dark & ripe, with only a slight give to the feel of your hand. To make juice: cut in quarters, gently scrape out seeds, pulse them in food processor with a plastic blade, just enough to release the juice, strain through a fine sieve or muslin. Use juice straight away.

Autumn chicken, pomegranate, persimmon & radish salad.

Seasonal exotics make for an aromatic, cleansing salad with a touch of crunch, perfect for a one-dish meal.

In a big bowl mix some thin sliced radish, wedges of vanilla persimmon, chopped coriander stem, thin slices of lime, a pinch of macrobiotic salt, grind of pepper, and a good splash of extra virgin olive oil. Add the shredded the meat of your chilled poached chicken, mix, check seasoning. Pour over pomegranate juice & top with seeds, a handful of fresh coriander and a scattering of Miss Merbein’s pistachios.

Elegant pomegranate & melon salad.

This fragrant salad is divine for an afternoon gathering with fresh mint tea; the sweet, savoury and piquant marry beautifully. Very classy on a large white platter.

Place some late season fragrant Melon cut into dramatic shards onto a platter, scatter some mint, pomegranate juice, salt & fresh ground pepper, a splash of rose water and a dash of extra virgin oil. Optional: a handful of fresh walnuts make the dish a tad more substantial.

Tunisian Inspiration.

A super simple dessert that ticks all the flavour & heath buttons.

A fantastic way to use that excess cous cous from the dinner. Take your steamed cous cous & add some currants, sliced dates, cinnamon, blanched almonds, lemon zest and a touch of honey & rose water. Warm in a steamer and pour on fresh pomegranate juice & pretty seeds. Try it with almond milk or if you are a big kid it’s superb with vanilla ice cream.

Local Haloumi w Pomegranate.

Perfect for a starter when friends arrive at the BBQ or an alternative cheese course.

The salty creamy jelly cheese is cut with the acid of the juice.

Caramelise a slab of Adelaide made La Casa Del Formaggio Haloumi in a heavy pan with a dash of olive oil, or on the BBQ. Plater up & splash on some fresh juice, decorate with a few seeds, a drop or tow of Harding’s pistachio oil & a grind of black pepper. For an extra pomegranate dimension drizzle a few drops of pomegranate molasses.

Serve hot and gooey with warm ancient grain flat bread.

Food Coach

2011-02-01T00:25:00.000-08:00

I prescribe farmers market watermelon for the heat wave.
Add mint for alkalising freshness.
And it is
Beautiful

For as long as I can remember being a health fanatic Chef, I have been asked,
"What should I eat?"

Recently I decided that just by telling people how to add a few things to their diet and suggesting healthy alternatives to substitute ingredients was not enough. To really answer the question "What should I eat" I have become... A Food Coach.
http://www.2bethicalfood.com/2B_Ethical_Food/Food___Coach.html

From a heathy chef perspective I help people change and or improve the way they eat, for the same price as a personal fitness trainer. It is a logical step.

Habits take 66 days to form, lifestyles are made up habits.

Food is our medicine, everything we eat should be good for us. Ask what is your food doing for you?
Healthy food, I think, should be contemporarily equivalent, that is it should look great and taste fantastic, as well as be readily available.

Our metabolism is stimulated visually, our sense of place is satisfied by seasonal food our emotional sense of belonging and worth are cultivated by the food philosophy we subscribe to.

Who do you want to be? Choose the food that enables you.

Hey, if a French cheese devouring, pork converting, red wine aficionados body can become a temple, so can yours.

Rhubarb .. as referenced in The Adelaide Magazine

2010-11-08T22:03:00.000-08:00

honey confit Rhubarb w fennel seed & organic spelt lavosh
2bethicalfood.com

OCTOBER

Rhubarb

Spring cool, has old-fashioned pretty pink rhubarb at its best. Add bud bursting colour & tang to menus while we wait for new fruit to appear.

High in potassium, calcium, and vitamin C it is s best before it warms up and stalks turn green. Make the most of the locally grown Cherry Cultivar.

Not naturally sweet Rhubarb is nearly always cooked with sugar or honey. Acid texture provides a contrast for creamy accompaniments like fresh curd, mascarpone, and ice cream. Traditionally served with custard, always in crumble & pie it also makes for a breakfast option as compote with Birtcher muesli.

When buying look for the reddest firmest stems without blemishes. Do not eat the leaves they are poisonous, full of oxalic acid.

Rhubarb Compote w toasted brioche and cream:

Wash rhubarb, cut into 2 inch batons, lay on a lined oven tray, add a couple of cinnamon sticks & a cardamom pod, pour sugar evenly over the lot & bake in a slow to moderate oven till rhubarb is soft to touch. Pile on top of toasted brioche. Splash on cream! Store compote in a jar in the fridge.

Rhubarb fool:

The simplest dessert in the world, fold compote & syrup through just whipped organic cream. Lay compote in a lovely big glass and layer with the rhubarb cream. Serve with an elegant biscuit.

Rhubarb & honey confit w fetta and toasted fennel seeds:

Fragrant honey and salty feta give rhubarb a new dimension.

Wash & cut rhubarb as above and pour honey over the top instead of sugar, bake slowly tills soft. Lay on top of a creamy Persian room temperature feta, drizzle syrup, sprinkle with toasted fennel seeds. Try this dish as a cheese cross dessert option.

Rhubarb on toasted rye w goat’s curd, pepper & poppy seed:

Toast organic rye sour dough, spoon on fresh cow or goats curd, top with honey rhubarb confit & little syrup, Sprinkle with dramatic black poppy seeds for crunch & a grind of pepper for zeal.

Another sweet savoury combination, think Sunday brunch.

Rhubarb & ginger cordial:

Wash & cut a bunch of rhubarb slice 2 large knobs of ginger, place in a pot with a lot of sugar, 1 & half kilograms. Place on a low heat & cook till sugar dissolved & red in colour. Add 2 cups of orange or grapefruit juice, bring to the boil to sterilise.

Strain the syrup through muslin cloth & store in the glass bottles in the fridge. Fabulous with soda & lime.

GLOBAL TRENDS

2010-10-26T02:56:00.000-07:00

GLOBAL TRENDS

With charity stores appearing on the fashion High streets, Americas most renown & expensive Chef “Thomas Keller” turning to making sandwiches the Global Financial Crisis has everyone, who is thinking, looking for truth & substance in their every day food. Popularity of Farmers markets, cooking & life style shows has raised awareness of ethics, health & accountability. Affluent populations are looking for the true value in their lives.

One way to interpret our life style is to look at what we eat.

What we eat ties us to a community we feel we belong to. This sense of community is what has been so carefully branded to denote life style choices. Communities are farmers markets, are small corner stores, that are coming back in a big way in Melbourne, revamped with vintage decor, reused resourcefulness.

There is a massive turn against monopoly controlled food suppliers; they try & compete by supplying more organic local options, becoming more accountable. Their shear economy of size does not make this easy for them. People are starting to ask questions, information is more readily available.

People are looking for a sense of community. They want to know where their food is coming from? Ethics are the trend, beyond organics, it’s about politics.

In my humble opinion……

Broad Beans SEPTEMBER as referenced in Adelaide Magazine ..

2010-10-05T02:58:00.000-07:00

not a broad bean! ... BUT so cool for the garden.
keep bugs away - turn the soil - add back to the dirt
Chicken up for spring

SEPTEMBER

BROAD BEANS

Spring is defined by the appearance of broad beans. Their short season makes it an anticipated one. A meaty nutritional dense bean it is brilliant on its own or as feature ingredient. Think of pairing broad beans with spring seasons extra creamy local cheeses, poached eggs, salads w mint, slow cooked with artichokes & as a fulfilling accompaniment to pink lamb, poached chicken & grilled fish.

Always buy as least twice as much as you think you need because you loose more than half the weight when you discard the outer husk. I love them with the outer shell on the bean, but many prefer a more gourmet finish attained by “double peeling”.

Twice peeled they are greener & creamier.

Double peeled Broad bean, pear & fennel salad w mint:

Double Peeling: Take the beans out of the outer husk, great job for the kids, then plunge the beans into boiling salted water for seconds, quickly drain the bean & get them into iced water. Pierce the skin of the bean & pinch it out of its skin.

Toss these though some very fine shaved fennel bulb, shaved pear, seas salt, pepper lemon juice, extra virgin oil & handfuls of fresh picked mint leaves. A Perfect salad entrée.

Braised whole broad beans w leek & thyme:

Truly satisfying a warm brothy dish with substance, sweat some sliced leeks, shallots, fresh thyme, salt & ground white pepper in organic butter, when translucent add a cup of light chicken or veggie stock, bring to boil & add the podded beans with their second skin intact. Turn to a simmer; cook till bean is just cooked in side. Check seasoning and finish with cream or shaved Parmesan. Fantastic Folded through your favourite pasta.

Broad bean & spring creamy cheese on toast:

A brunch dish in minutes, toast some organic sourdough bread in butter in a pan till golden. Toss handfuls of double peeled broad beans in sea salt, fresh pepper, extra virgin oil, lemon juice, chopped parsley and pour over scoops of fresh goats or cows curd piled high on the toast. You can always add some sizzling crispy

Bacon to this combo.

Broad beans & asparagus w poached egg:

Greens and eggs make for classic quick nourishing meals, weeknight wonders that double as first courses. Double peel your broad beans, wash & snap your asparagus. Through the asparagus in to a heavy base pan with a organic butter, seas salt & pepper, cook gently till near tender, add fresh thyme, parsley & broad beans, check seasoning, pour into bowls & top with a perfectly poached local egg. A grind of pepper & some toasty soldiers on the side.

fennel - as seen in The Adelaide Magazine

2010-09-10T03:47:00.000-07:00

Fennel bulb w fig & olive tepanade
@ Khai Liew's opening of The Collectors

Florence Fennel bulb

My absolute favourite Mediterranean vegetable, great raw or cooked, adding a touch of savoury clean lively anise to the winter table. Crisp pale fatter bulb of the plant is the best eating, as a snack raw with dip & salads. Aromatic long stems & feathery leaves have many uses as well. Use the tops in tea for a delightfully elegant tisane. Through wet fennel stems under fish when baking. Fennel seeds have curative qualities, said to help calm digestion and they do wonderful things when lightly toasted sprinkled on raw honey. Bruise fresh fennel seeds and sprinkle on salads & fish.

Go Go Southern Italian:

The Sicilian: Clean the corse outer layers away, shave the bulb across the grain, layer with thin sliced oranges, local black olives, handfuls of rocket, sea salt, fresh pepper, splashes of new season olive oil & drops of red wine vinegar. Add grated raw beetroot, shaved radish for a colourful, healthful variation.

Roast Mediterranean:

Roast fennel Bulb: cut cleaned fennel bulb into wedges toss in olive oil, rosemary, salt & pepper, roast till tender. Toss with a handful of soaked currants, toasted pine nuts, lemon zest and fresh green herbs, delicious with seared haloumi, or an aside to sardines, roasts, or on top of brown rice pilaf for vego deluxe.

Winter comforter:

Winter bake: poach 1 cm thick fennel slices with in season leeks in a vegetable or light chicken stock with thyme, salt & pepper. Add some sauté shallots, tender braised white beans fold in a knob of organic butter, check seasoning – put in an oven to table baking dish, top with parmesan & bake to tinging gold – A perfect Vegetarian main course in individual dishes or put on the table family style to feed the masses. Easy as pie.

Smooth & Silky:

Fennel Bulb Pure is an elegant accompaniment that gives a gourmet touch to Seared in season oysters, poached ox tongue, baked local snapper. So simple, slice the bulb thin across the grain. Poach in just enough light stock till tender and liquid reduced, check seasoning, add a knob of organic butter and puree in a blender till silky. Heat to serve.

organic VIRGINS

2010-08-28T04:30:00.000-07:00

HONEY LADY
Silvia Hart@Honey Lady

Sweet Friendly Farmers Market person

Hello - I have been busy building the super ME . The one that wears the under wear on the out side the one that can handle any thing because she is basically happy — inside where it counts !

Anyway: "A follower" ... always wanted to say that by the way , asked how to go all organic because he was moving house ? New house — new start.

I don't see going organic being scary my self, but some find it so?
Why?
Is it the too healthy employees that look like they need a good feed?
The bad packaging that defies gourmet taste buds by tying to look 70s ish?
The continuos choice of a cardboard colour?
The bins of things that you are supposed to know what to do with?
Or is it the lay out — hippy scatter brain store lay outs.

Well, health food — whole food stores don't all look like that any more — although some clutch to a socks in sandals decor!
Packaging is becoming main stream. Taste & colour are being focused on.
Organic is becoming more every day, we need it to be main stream, sold in the burbs, petrol stations, Schools and Hospitals.
How else is everyone going to vote with dollars for change?

"Real votes — real people — every day choices "

Like anything in life - You have to through yourself in there, into something new. Start with your usual shopping list, minus the brand names and fill that trolley.

Or get to your farmers market!

Tips to going organic :

My best tip is :

Don't fear healthy looking organic stores — even the ones with stereotype smiley happy people in them & little to thin weedy looking ones.

The easiest way to start to go all organic is — as you go — that means as you run out of items in your fridge & pantry — pastas — butter — herbs... Etc ... buy organic next time .
In no time you will have a fully stocked organic house-hold .
Introduced your self — your wallet — your shopping habits to an all organic experience…
In season fresh produce is usually the best price as it is in glut-ripe and meant o be eaten in your part of the world at that time.

If you can get yourself to a Farmers Market - even better .

Take shopping bags …

Get there early — cause they run out of the good stuff.

Take a list of what you need
Take a hike around the whole market & see whats there — what looks good — it is what is in season and is to be the inspiration for your week of cooking.

Then start your shop

Ask the growers if they are organic — some small growers cannot afford the accreditation .
Ask them how they grow their produce — where it comes from.

Always start with the fresh greens — they usually run out — well where I came from they do.
Then the meats — then the cheese — leave sweet treats till last - I am suggesting you don't need them .
Well, I don't eat them — thats what I am really saying.
But there is organic chocolate fair trade — sugar — and raw honey ... it does wonders.

I could go on … and should blog this ...

So hope this helps ...…
Amanda

P.S great decision by the way ..

www.2bethicalfood.com

amanda@2bethicalfood.com

http://2bethicalfood.blogspot.com/

Radicchio as referenced in Adelaide Magazine

2010-07-05T02:42:00.000-07:00

20 10

The RAW article as referenced in Adelaide Magazine ....

All the things you wanted to do with radicchio but where afraid to ask ??????

Radicchio

Radicchio: a vibrant lettuce, member of the chicory family, is in season. A Mediterranean native it comes into its own after the first frost & is truly a winter vegetable.

Richly coloured red leaves with startling white veins have a slightly bitter nutty flavour profile & crisp texture, adding complexity to any dish. An Italian classy menu addition it contains calcium, potassium, and vitamins A, C & B3 B2. Through history it has been used as a tonic.

There are 2 types of red radicchio the round Radicchio & the Traviso, more torpedo shaped.

The round ball like radicchio is punchy for salads, as the leaves are tightly packed around the heart. I like Traviso, the more torpedo shaped radicchio, which is a tad more bitter for cooking, grilling & searing.

A vegetable it can be cooked steamed & blanched, it does change colour when cooked, a little vinegar or citrus can help to keep some purple vibrancy. I prefer searing, grilling it with seasoning & touch of sweetness in the form of honey or very dark brown sugar. Fabulous on top of gorgonzola pizza with walnuts or tossed through hand-made pasta with toasted pine nuts, fattened currents and caramelised onions topped with your favourite Italian cheese. Or make hearty rare beef sandwiches with shredded radicchio, walnuts & sour dough.

To buy healthy specimens look for lettuces with light loose outer leaves and firm centres. The centres should be brighter in colour than the outer leaves.

Radicchio, fennel, orange & hazelnut salad: Winter bitter green salads, so good for you can be so diverse, radicchio loves nut oils like hazelnut, so toss some red lettuce with rocket, in season orange slices, fennel bulb slices, chopped toasted hazel nuts, macrobiotic salt, grind of pepper, hazel nut oil, splash of orange juice.

Grilled Traviso with honey & gorgonzola: clean & cut Traviso radicchio in half, Season the cut edge with salt, pepper, lemon juice & a drizzle of honey. Caramelised the cut side in a pan in hot olive oil. Sear the other side & place on a serving dish, top with Gorgonzola and finish with a twist of local honey and black pepper. All good on top of creamy risotto.

Radicchio with chicken livers, rosemary & lemon: Sear cleaned & seasoned chicken livers with a sprig of rosemary, finished with a pinch of dark brown sugar. While the livers are resting, clean & toss radicchio leaves with hazel nut oil. Toss the leaves & the livers together with the sweet pan juices & finish with a squeeze of lemon.

Radicchio anchovies chickpeas & Italian parsley: Dress cooked drained chick peas with loads of chopped Italian parsley, radicchio leaves, handfuls of WA anchovies, local olive oil, pepper and a splash of red wine vinegar. A lovely winter side dish.

Whole Pig

2010-06-10T03:03:00.000-07:00

BEFORE

AFTER

Mr 15kg Black Pig:

Bought from a small producer, killed in a local abattoir.

Given a salt sugar & brine bath, dried off, had a drive in a white towel on the lap of a guest in the back seat of the car, massaged with salt cinnamon & sage, a bit of fresh pepper & olive oil.

His insides stuffed with fresh wet sage, joints broken, set kneeling into a wood fired oven. For the next 3 hours water was splashed on his back & poured on to the baking tray. The last half an hour he was glazed with cinnamon, sweet wine – caramelising his even toffee tan. His meat steamed to confit falling off the bone. Water stopped his skin splitting, kept him moist, the leg meat was just pink on the bone.

He rested for an hour before he was cut in to sections head & all.

Ethical Food : What is it ?

2010-05-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

Black Pig
Little black pig grew up out side on a local farm
Killed by a local butcher
Cooked in a local wood fired oven for 4 hours
Eaten with 6 bottles of Grange from 19 59 onward.
lived well — died well
THE ETHICAL PIG

HOW 2 B ETHICAL FOOD?

How do you eat ethically? Why eat ethically for that matter?

How do you make the right choices? How do you know what food to buy, where to buy it, let alone what to do with it?

How do you feed your busy working self, your family, ethical food you can afford & justify in the grand scheme of things? What is important to you; another question may be what do you want to be important to you? Ethics really boil down to how to decide between right & wrong, which choice is the right choice? The current marketplace has made it very difficult to differentiate between good choices and bad ones. To put it simply: the right choice is food that is really good for you. That choice is yours!

We have seen the film : food Inc & if you have not I recommend it and read the books by Michael Pollan that describe how our food has changed. Food has been contaminated by economics, mass production, shifts in cultural values and politics. Many of us, want to make the right choices, we want to be healthy conscious consumers and make the right decisions. Start asking questions?
Where does your food come from? What is in it? How was it produced?
Is it good for me?
Health & environment are connected.

Organic Spelt Lavosh - 3 flavours

2010-05-23T04:41:00.000-07:00

After a drive with best friends to the Barossa to see Ilona Glastonberry's group show of landscapes, in a place that is a landscape painting - rolling past the window - sunset falling on undulating autumn vines - the rural time line.

Tracey had donated some artisan Balleycroft cheese to the show, a washed rind Annulet and a to die for ripping panna cotta of a fresh cheese, the fresh Fust . A cheese that is really misunderstood..... it is fresh , slightly salty, cleanly creamy - Not a Fetta - Not a Curd - it stands alone ....
A talk with Tracey Skepper - so honest , from the heart , the truth behind being a real small cheese maker.

That was Saturday - Sunday at the Adelaide Show Grounds Farmers Market - we Anne Duncan & I released very quietly the two new flavours of our Organic Spelt Lavosh .

Now there is Poppy Seed - Organic Oat Bran - Black Pepper .

Integral texture, substance of whole meal spelt creates that nutty base & grainy bite to carry the fruity heat of pepper & the added body of oat bran that holds a cheese of worth....

A cracker bread made of real food - good for you - looks gorgeous on the plate.

For more info 2bethicalfood.com

Coffee Organic Fair Trade & The Small Business

2010-05-19T22:27:00.000-07:00

Best & Fairest - Coffee Roast:

“How a micro business has a mega impact”

Bernadette Stack & Trevor de Groot own the tinny retro inspired Organic coffee house: Espresso Royale on Magill rd, Adelaide South Australia. Expanding their singular focus to supply Fair Trade locally roast beans to SA and further field online. Offering sustainable growth to the miniscule shop with the cult following of those who take their caffeine seriously, piling into the store for their individual prescriptions of blends & espresso tech advice.

A new brand “The de Groot Roasting Co” will be launched with the opening of a new roasting shed offering an education & a sense of place. Specialising in the roasting of Fair Trade Coffee beans and caffeine education of the populace at large. Coffee tastings for up to approximately 10 students utilising Japanese siphons will guide buz students though the anatomy of the coffee bean. Tasting will entail the dissemination of each beans regional character and an understanding of all the factors that can affect it, building a pallet for coffee a kin to that which is usually only referenced to wine varietals.

Small Business relies on credibility & quality resting on its community, personalty, and points of difference, sustainability & life style. It is a very tricky formula to get right & many failed small businesses testify to that. Espresso Royale is one that shows this formula works, and it only works if you add passion to every step.

I stood at the end of Trevor’s micro counter, nearly atop of the shinny espresso machine, which he hastily polishes, even though it does not need it. Trevor tells me what this new extension of the mini business is going to do, specifically why he has focused on Organic Fair Trade & how he sees the markets perception of it.

Trevor used the word “passion” about ten times when I was talking to him & when you see the cremer on those espresso shots you do get a sense of it, pouring ribbons of caramel foam, pure poetry to a caffeine addict. You have to drink & love coffee to understand what this means. That is the problem; “if you don’t drink & love coffee you should not make it.

Trevor cannot remember which of his two loves came first, Bernadette the woman behind his passion for coffee or the coffee itself. Bernadette introduced him to the complexity of coffee, the stuff behind the espresso machine. They believe you have to be passionate about it to produce a perfect coffee very time. It is that consistency that has their customers appearing in their pyjamas. True story!

As a tiny business it survives as it buys in its raw product & processes it them selves. Offering complete control of the quality. Customers are getting a very good deal with The de Groot Roasting Co coffee. It is a life style business, asking Trevor what he wanted to be doing in five years time he replied, without a blink “ Roasting coffee every day!” surprisingly he only has 2 to 4 cups a day.

I made a point mentioning that Fair Trade Coffee is now being tag lined in many big, super fast food chains, McDonalds to name but one very big one. Is it seen as a marketing gimmick? Is ethical food just another tag that a lager potentially unscrupulous company can tag on its name to borrow some global community cred. That it seams is for us to judge! It is better; one would have to say, that a large company that gets Fair Trade into the largest percent of the population is making an ethical choice with its multi dollar purchase that makes a very big difference. It must be a good thing but is it devaluing the products credibility??

Trevor’s response was to point out that De Groot Fair Trade Organic Coffee is out to high-light the aspect that Organic Fair Trade Coffee can be & is as good as any other, if not better than some, when treated right. People can make a choice that makes a differenced to a population in another country with out it being a charity. They can make a choice, simply by deciding which brand of great coffee they are going to have, for a cleaner & a more connected human environment. The couple’s business will be relying on their Barista cred not the Fair Trade tag line to sell the idea. A specialist boutique coffee roaster in Adelaide who happens to specialise in only Organic Fair Trade. Now that is putting your tag line where it counts, if ethics have anything to do with it.

Article by:

Amanda Daniel

Amanda@2bethicalfood.com

2bethicalfood.com

0417 844 702

Completed 27^th / April / 2010

Can you live on ethics, can you live without them?”

2010-05-08T05:22:00.000-07:00

Philosophy = food for the brian.
We are what we think we are eating.
We think what we eat.

I will be at the @Adelaide show Grounds Farmers Market tomorrow: putting together a dish made with Grass Fed Beef. Give me a wave when you walk past the kitchen.
I will be talking about Grass Fed as opposed to not grass fed, I hope to get one of the Farmers on the microphone to, if they are not to busy.

For some mental meat I am sharing some of my thought processes with you all.

Food ethics: evolved ways to think about food?

Believing if we change the way we think about food we will affect greater change!

Why ethics — food consciousness is important?

An evolved society learns from it mistakes and its successes, how long will it take for us to learn that we need to consider the food we eat is important to us. Science has had causations that have not always been healthy. Economic ideals can be a socially constructed. Farmers Markets are working economic models of responsible policy. Economic reactions have to be implemented with long-term social vision. Economic rationalism is not reason alone; social justice is tied inherently to the food we eat, therefore the planet.

Napoleon understood that Armies marched on their stomaches. Nations run on their stomaches too.

How do we evolve this collective consciousness that can reason — along with personal responsibility — as our culture changes so rapidly to a global commodity based religion? Will we value heath as a commodity? Have we become a truly global community, in every sense of the word? How are we to evolve to the next stage of civilisation?

Adelaide Show Grounds Farmers Market: LIVE Cooking Show with The Farmers Chef

2010-04-25T04:56:00.000-07:00

Because letting people down is never fun, and the ones you love usually put up with the worst of you, I mean ME, I get back to my blog. Promising to keep it up, besides, I really have an awful lot to say!

Paris is a long way a way, in distance but not in my mind, like yesterday. I can feel the buzz of the Bastille market. It is the buzz of the markets that I love; it energises me; I have no energy when I get home.

I am home now where the dogs are not in baskets any more & the chickens are plucked & the rabbits are underdressed. Starting officially today as the MC for the cooking demonstrations at the Farmers Market I am quite comfortable hosting chefs, informing the public, writing black boards however is not my forte. Please feel free to come up and correct any spelling.

It is fantastic to be home as much as I loved being in Paris. Now I can truly appreciate this life style that is so available to every one. Every One who knows?

My book is coming along and it is about exactly that, How 2 B Ethical or as it should probably be called
“ In my Humble opinion!” which do you think will get the message across better?

I am going to be posting sneak peak sections of my book. Feel free to comment, share or argue. A great argument is always constructive. If it’s a not so great an argument keep it to yourself. Wonderful thing about blogs is you can say anything you like!

I like … A lot!

Wild Scallops where at the market today … me being Miss Ethical had to wonder about this, ethically speaking? Being wild they are not farmed … GOOD! Licences are very limited…… Good. But who keeps track of how many are coming out of the ocean? All the same they where a big hit today; onlookers where enthralled. Paul took to the kitchen and gave a brief, informative lesson on how to clean & prepare.

Paul spends up to 6 hours under water hunting for the scallops, then he turns up at Willunga Market & the Adelaide Showground farmers market to clean, cook & sell them. You can talk to the Scallop Hunter for the next few Sundays.

So Turn off the Television & get to the Adelaide Show Grounds Farmers Market for the LIVE Cooking Show from your local Chefs & Producers with the Farmers Chef, that would be me. Then get in your own kitchen where you are the star.

Can we trust our food source ????

2010-04-25T03:59:00.000-07:00

why we shop at farmers Markets Why we ask questions

Bastille Market

2010-03-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

SUNDAY: Bastille Market day, an enormous market with horse meat, pigs feet, emergency under wear, wine and everything in between. Bustling with local Parisienne shoppers, I did not see many other cameras; I do like to keep my camera discrete to keeping the focus on the food. Getting close to the coldest part of winter; the best time to visit Paris, less tourists, less camera competition. I like to live like a local; all I need is a little dog in a basket. So many amazing shots, I have decided to do a Paris food picture book. Winter is the seasons colour, orange all over the market. Splayed roasted spatchcocks smell tempting, flat breads are smeared with humus, hills of sauerkraut are crowned with poached sausage, it’s a foodie dream. Dinner that night was some chicken that actually tasted like chicken with pan-fried big green olives and sour dough bread tinged with cinnamon and tarragon vinegar, tossed with endive. Accompanied by seasonal Swedes (rutabaga ) and braised white beans .

Cafe Flore Paris cafe culture

2010-03-08T15:17:00.000-08:00

Spent 2 days in the inspirational Rocky Mountains, drove though mountain passes, did not see any wild life, they where “closed for winter”. Dined in a wood beam, stone fire placed, Bison head bearing lodge on roast cauliflower soup and not so surprisingly …. Bison.

Went up the mountain, did not go skating, did not go skiing, but did break my little toe in the lesser known Canadian Olympic sport of walking round the bed in the Hotel room.

So….. Yes, foot up, espresso machine at hand I write of … Ahhh Paris …

My fondest memories of Café de Flore, the way waiters move, even when they are older than me,

the menu that is a staple of French dinning, the clientele of glamour cross arty bohemian cross American tourist, cross me please.

I went to a party to celebrate an Arty friend and author getting an Order of Australia, talking to

Liz Williams, another highly acclaimed Australian Artist, she remembered being in Paris as a student, seeing Simone de Beauvoir and Sartre at Café de Flore …… a little tight pinch of history gave me shivers!

Café de Flore.... Where Simone de Beauvoir had incredible existentialist conversations .... A deco dream of a café, spanked with a traditional brand, the cafés name is everywhere. Old waiters who smiled and looked slightly fed up at the same time. Silver jugs of hot milk and ceramic jugs of espresso.

Ladies in leopard spot caps and Chanel suits; grey dapper Americans, artistic types sketching Bohemian inspirations from Botticelli wearing thick rimmed glasses, at his very own table.

Squeezed in & turned over, tailored tweed & tourist canvas, wine glasses chunked with ice, Champagne ice buckets at the ready, a list of distinguished liquors, champagnes, wines, cold buffet or club sandwich all can be had at the same time … Naturally. All day!

I love the way they move, opening a bottle while holding a tray with the other hand; they instinctively swerve around clumsy polite guests, balancing a table of flat wear in one hand, remembering every order as haphazard as they may be. A cafe crème or a duck confit, is that gentleman coming back for his gloves, oh and that table is for the lady when those 2 are gone. They are ready for their change, table in the corner needs cutlery, where is that Gratin I ordered, the rest of the table has finished eating, a waiters mind… I love it the rush the feeling of running the room of being ahead of what everyone wants before they know it them selves. And then you’re done.

A good waiter is hard to find, in this country it’s a job, not something you do to get through college. It’s a profession. You have to be smart dextrous, personable, able to count, charming, have a fantastic short-term memory, it helps if you have a great smile. A natural diplomat, some times you have to lie … maybe a waiter should run the country … you may get what you ordered?

Duck - red cabbage - NEW YEAR in Paris

2010-02-24T13:36:00.000-08:00

I am determined to finish my Paris food adventure, even though I am now nestled in Winnipeg, Canada, writing my book. It is going to be the, how to be an ethical food eater’s manual. Temperatures of – 18 are more than conducive to organic coffee consuming and writing; besides there is always the Olympics for a diversion.

So back to Paris, where it was New Years Eve and I made a dinner of duck breast from my favoured butcher, some braised red cabbage w cumin seed, pear, red rice and French beans. There was Champagne for starters.

The Organic red cabbage provided such economic nutrition, it was a standout option in the most expensive city in the world. Where if I dwelled on it, as I tried not to, I was paying from $6 AUS up to $26 AUS at the Ritz mind you, for a cup of Coffee.

Red Cabbage full of antioxidants, calciferous, vinegar loving, savoury, begging for the sweetness of the seared pear and the intrinsic depth of toasted cumin. All Just lying there saying, “take me” to rare duck breast. All seasoned, scored and rubbed with orange zest. mmmmm food can be so sexy.

Skinny French beans that I never top and tail, life’s to short; besides I like the texture and the aesthetic. Keeping things in their natural form tell us what they are and where they come from. The soil, the farmer, someone picked them. A subliminal message to be sure, but think about it, what does eating food from a tube say about where it came from. !!!!! It comes from engineers.

Red rice added more fibre and carbs to keep us warm as we strolled down to the Louvre to watch the Eiffel Tower twinkle at the turn of the New Year. At 12 bottles popped, kisses smacked cheeks and little parties sprang up all over the square.

The free metro ride home with swaying French girls, yelling something into a phone, swigging on champers bottles, smeared red lip stick, gorgeous Betty Blue on a good day, examples of Parisienne feminie bubble inspired exuberance.

Laduree lunch in the chocolate box

2010-02-23T16:19:00.000-08:00

We noticed that there was less of a line up at Leduree than normal . The home of the macaroon and inspiration behind the sweet side of the movie Marie Antoinette. A food history lesson, a large part of what ethical food is all about.

So we queued. Asked if we were inline for the shop or lunch? The cold decided it was Lunch !

Eventually escorted inside by our 2 door people who looked like they had been cast for twilight , we found ourselves cosily ensconced in oak carved paneling & velvet.

From a book of menus options we chose a 3 course meal. Entrees a celery & white truffle souffle ( they where in season). Bell had a goats cheese fondant filled croissant with chive & parsley salad. Mains, duck breast with candied carrots and some type of pudding? A giant
voul-au-vent over flowing with morels & cream dusted with shaved truffle.

Followed by the most extravagant Macaroon i could find! Filled with brulee cream and apple finished with salt flower toffee. Bell had a raspberry log that screamed christmas!
I think it was the riches creamiest whipped hot chocolate that finished her off for the day.

After our unexpected indulgent lunch we wandered the streets. Lacy christmas lights where still up , chill in the air, Palaces to see.

SPELT LAVOSH - ORGANIC - available

2010-02-11T13:32:00.000-08:00

2 B Ethical Food: 2 Eat

Introducing 2 B Ethical Food : 2 Eat - Organic Spelt Leaves.

An unleavened flat bread. Ideally suited to accompanying cheese & dipping.

Developed by Amanda Daniel, chef, restaurateur, food writer & ethical hospitality consultant. Add official health nut of the non-drinking variety, but still fun enough to ask to any party.

Years of high stress, a diet of tasting menus and hospitality-career-obliged wine consumption left her less than well. Organic spelt was a life-saver.

Irritated - there was so little alternative to wheat when it came to finding a cracker for her favourite addiction, cheese. Wanting for a healthy option that would take its rightful place unashamedly on any restaurant cheese platter. She developed these spelt leaves.

Tested its consumer-ability at the Barossa and Adelaide Farmers’ Markets. Currently retailing in various stores in South Australia.

Labels designed to fit a gourmet health niche. Cost is equivalent.

Crisp, sightly grainy like those elegant biscuits in England - land of biscuits.

Nutty & toasty in flavour, adding a healthy glow to any platter.

It is protein rich, guilt-free, actually good for you & your family & your friends. Ethical minimal package. Ingredients are sought from like-minded

best practice small producers. Made in regional Australia to provide jobs out of the city.

To get this long-term commitment to the shelf Amanda joined forces with Anne Duncan, a like-minded foodie. Francophile, ethical lawyer, driven by all things that are lusty & taste amazing. Anne’s academic zeal & legal skill balance Amanda’s creative nature. A perfect partnership that guarantees artisanal , individual food, and the wherewithal to meet all contractual ideals of demand.

This flat bread provides a choice for those who can not digest genetically modified white flour, who want to make their dollar vote count towards a better environment . People who appreciate real flavour & texture. People who know health food does not have to be gluey, cardboard & grey. People who want to lead healthy lifestyles.

Long-term brand development - 9 ‘lifestyle-enhancing’ products developed under the brand.

2 b ethical.com..... Supplies distributor details and Amanda’s food writing.

It’s about health with both style & conscience.

“Conscious consumerism”

Thank you for your care & time.

Amanda Daniel m: AUSTRALIA (61) 0417 844 702 M: CANADA 1- 204 – 297- 6786

Anne Duncan m: (61) 0414 660 529

Official Food, Inc. Movie Site - Hungry For Change? - About the Issues

2010-01-08T15:01:00.000-08:00

The film , putting pictures where many words have been .

Official Food, Inc. Movie Site - Hungry For Change? - About the Issues

Eating food with eyes.

2010-01-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

Cafe life......

Fur & feathers

SUNDAY

Actually can’t remember what I did on Saturday, putting it down to Christmas?

I know why people don’t blog every day, life gets in the way, by the time you experience, live the moment, have the domestic duties, that may be issues, document your progress, “Facebook” it, “tweet” it! You have to do some living, interacting, to have any insight to share; it gets in the way of chronologic progress.

Speaking for my self, being the worst speller as you have probably noticed, if you haven’t you are possibly worse than me. Believing that bad spelling made for most of the populations hospitality staff, I don’t know what the industry is going to do with spell check being the norm?

I justify my terrible spelling by noting the fact that I went to 4 different primary schools in my first four years of school, one of the schools an experimental school. An experiment I suffer from. All excuses aside, it’s the pace & rhythm of the words, painting the picture of the flavour, that I like. Apologies all round if spelling is a Be all & end all with you?

I have learnt to not let what I can’t do, stop me from doing the things I want to do. Besides all my friends seem to be editors!!

I do remember Sunday at Bastille market

Bought Quails and they cut their heads off when I was not looking, saw bunnies in theirs fur coats. It's interesting seeing your meat fully dressed with head, eyes, feathers, fur and tails. Acknowledging dinner as a living thing. French teenagers, I assume don’t squeal and gag when they see a chicken hanging dull eyed with its neck feathers failing backwards, its naked plucked breast exposed. A more humane connection to the food, reviling how dinner runs around on the earth, at its day job, you may say. Does it make us more mortal as well? We could be breathing and eating, planning to see the chick next door when, low and behold, our necks broken and we are on view, to a mortician, not a hungry crowd. But its that touch of our own mortality we are denying in pre cut and wrapped ready to go once life in plastic.

Denial has never been good for us, but as a race we are encouraging it with the preparation of our food. Image driven advertising of brand taking over from actual product accountability. Why is that, because the actual facts about where and how a lot of mass-produced food is grown, cared for and slaughtered are not actually that appetising? Haven’t seen it yet but, films like “Food. Inc.” are letting the world know.

Back to digestible details.

Late lunch at a café ala typical, the girls had Crème Brulee; my daughter makes for a graphic picture hand model. I have insisted she wear red nail polish the whole trip.

Dinner

Quail in coriander seed, lemon zest and sea salt seared with pear, finished with the dark ends of endive, flageolet beans and pigeon stock. Pigeon stock donated by our last meal. Accompanied by the other part of the endive, its pale heart with walnut bread in a salad. The bread falls apart in the dressing of the salad, giving it a nutty almost creamy texture, carrying the flavour of the dressing.

Christmas Day Mushroom Risotto in Paris

2010-01-04T14:50:00.000-08:00

Friday

Christmas Day… Sleep ins are called for as we are all sick now, although Mama seams to be on the better end of it ...…Light vego lunch of colibroc, red rice and white beans... Enough!

Walks down Rivloi to see, children screaming, over hyped on Christmas reds, bizarre sights of cats being walked on shoulders, merry-go-rounds, sparkling twinkling lights on the Hotel Deville, to the Louvre, where the moon-lit pyramid glistens as the strobe of the Eiffel Tower turns.

Home for mushroom risotto… I realised I only had one pan for rice etc and none for stock; also forgot to buy dry porcini & Parmesan !… Improvise !

It all tuned out well, thanks to a base of sauté Portobello Mushrooms – not too much rice, heaps of thyme, the three shallots and the fresh porcini, morels and chanterelles for eye candy. Sauté of garnish mushrooms finished with a miserish dash of red wine for acid value. Lumps of real camembert, with that real flavour helped, in lieu of the parmesan and the butter I also kinda forgot to buy.

Dessert was part purchased, giant chocolate meringues, jammed together with a compote of juicy demi dried prunes, soaked in mandarin juice and zest, crunched with walnuts, splashed with a folly of a peach liqueur loitering in the back of the cupboard, cinnamon & a blob of crème fraiche (bought by the kg) finished with grated chocolate… a monster dessert.

I did not eat any dessert, it is Christmas Day and it made for a festive end. I looked at all the berries in the shops, could not bring my self to buy such not in season fruits.

Most traditional Christmas desserts in Europe revolve around dried fruit, nuts and spice, wheat & sugar. I don’t eat sugar or wheat and the aim of the game is to eat what is in season, it is quite interesting, as everything is here and I am not so sure of some of the sources. It would help if I spoke French, of corse... !

Pot Roast Pigeon

2010-01-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

Look at that lovely dry skin just begging to be browned !!!!

Thursday

Christmas Eve

Mama has contracted a virus ... it has taken hold of Bella. So two down and I’m hanging in there with only slightly swollen glands. We stayed close to home, visiting the Carnvalet Museum just round the corner. Nice veggie garden by the way!

Pigeon will fix it all I am sure? So cutely trussed by my favorite butchers. Pot-roast Pigeon … due to lack of oven. Searing all sides in a smig of duck fat and seasoning of course , placing them on a bed of seared carrots, turnips, shallots, thyme, bay, and a splash of red wine. All beefed up with poached Flageolet beans, so French! Poached/ steamed birds for 1/2 an hour, rested for 1/2 an hour while the sauce reduced.

They taste like liver they are so dense with flavor. That is a good thing by the way .....

Served with romanesco tossed in a little oil and herbs as tasty green.

French Butchers - Amanda does French

2009-12-30T11:59:00.000-08:00

The girls had baguettes for lunch.

Dinner

Entrée: Ash mould goats cheese with endive, mache salad and toasted walnut bread.

Main: Duck breast with orange, rosemary and red rice.

To day we went Christmas shopping all trying to sneak off and stay together at the same time, to get each other presents for what we thought was Christmas eve. Funnily enough when I called my confused friend in Canada to say merry you know what, he said I had the wrong day. My computer is on Australian time, my watch French and my phone confused with the right time, wrong day! … Oh well extra long Christmas for us. Actually working in hospitality; this is the first time I remember having such a long holiday over what usually is the busiest time of year.

Back to the butchers where I cheered up our surly butcher with my bad, reasonably confident French and ordered 2 Duck breast and 2 whole Pigeon. “Prepare?” he said, so I said “oui”…of course. Not knowing exactly what I was in for, except hopefully a little gizzard removal. Standing out of the way of all the shoppers we waited patiently watching the butchers burn feathers off ordered birds with flame touches, mince selected cuts of steak for tartare. A mince machine turned out very neat portions of tartare. We stared into the room with sawdust and feathers on the floor, as the back room butcher readied new birds….

Intending to bone the pigeon, I changed my mind when the they where presented with they're drooping sleepy eyed heads cut off, pinions nipped and tucked under their neck, skin and all stitched together with string. “In trust I love” Now it was looking like a pot roast bird for Christmas lunch.

The butchers prepared cuts of meat for patrons, cleaning of excess fat, taking off excess bone, shaping meat so it would fit in a domestic pan. They do this for each patron, as they watch. It educates the consumer as to the preparation; they really are starting the cooking process for them. The consumer is involved, as the butcher asks how they want to cook their meat. So much better than blobs of protein in cryovac.

We are a connected part of the food chain, empowered by choice. A conversation between butcher and customer over what is for dinner humanises the connection. We ask where our meat comes from?

Then there were the mushrooms, I got to pick out my own morels, chanterelles and porcini for our risotto … Belles request for Christmas Day was Mushroom risotto. … Good for me, as I am a risotto nazi … cooking for Italians will do that to you!

A fromage experience, selecting a pyramid of mouldy goats cheese and a camembert a real one …

We squeezed into a door jar of a shop, with the four attendants and way to many customers. All the walls lined with mouldy skin shrivelled, wrinkled white in many shades cheesey wallpaper

Our Cheese was bruised by our attendant who gave it a firm dig with his thumb to see if it was ripe enough for little old us. Being ok we could have it. What a relief. Again the provedore is educating the consumer, telling us which cheese is best, where it is from and when it should be eaten. I saw one gentleman select a cheese, the attendant shook his head, put it back and gave him another… fabulous!

2009-12-30T10:56:00.000-08:00

Tuesday

Walking & the streets of Paris looking at hand bags that are investments, as you need to take out a mortgage to buy one... !!!

Dinner saddle of rabbit on a mirepoix (a dice) of turnip, celery, carrot, old-world turnip, pears, thyme & Portobello mushroom … & A salad of whitlof , orange & celery top ......

Meat cooked on the bone is the sweetest; the saddle was no exception, so moist, subtlety rich, tender. Seasoned & seared in the pan then rested, so simple!

If you are true to the seasons, cooking what’s there, using left overs to add complexity to hasty throw together meals, your daily menus may appear a little monotone. With a little skill, austere menu options provide guidelines, you become more inventive with flavors, like putting mushrooms with pears, with thyme & turnips … for example. Having time & a well-equipped kitchen helps, but is not entirely necessary.

All the cooking I have done so far has taken 2 small pots, 1 medium pot & teflon pan. On 2 electric elements. Not touching the convection microwave … no matter how much it waves. All the meals I have cooked have taken little less than, or up to ¾ s of an hour, from scratch. As a matter of interest.

Flea Markets & cous cous restaurants & Dinner by Daughter

2009-12-27T11:24:00.000-08:00

LOVE this chair .......

MONDAY

A short metro ride to the enormous, but mainly closed for winter and Christmas flea market at de Cligancourt. Alleys of chilly antique lit, closed stalls, pink carpeted halls of gorgeous artistically stacked tapestries, statues, frayed glamorous furniture with carved niceties. So pretty to look at, so much history in the wear and tear, I love this stuff, as my own house reflects with its own eclectic piles of beaten family heirlooms, spotted with hard rubbish finds and cooking icons that engage the chef in me.

Ogling some vintage Chanel jewels we heard an English accent, Mama started a conversation with the Angleterre and we where pointed to the best value, most fun food experience so far. A family owned Restaurant specialising in cous cous. Destination descriptions being too difficult, considering the maze of the market, we where taken by the husband of the shop owner . An ex - PE teacher who reached 40 and made a life-valuing decision to move to Paris.

Cous Cous with anything, vegetable, fish, chicken, sausage etc…

We arrived at the same time as a large table of locals who ended up ordering for us …..Vegetable cous cous for three with braised lamb and a medley of winter veg in a spiced, comforting broth served with a platter of light steaming cous cous … all perfect.

Bella, beautiful and 15 years of age, gave me the night off, she cooked: sautéing Portobello mushrooms serving them atop braised white beans in rabbit broth, perfect with a salad of pear, fennel and mache. Cooking is genetic and environmental, having father and mother as chefs, Bella has absorbed more than most people will ever know about food, restaurants and service, being the world toughest, bluntest food critic. At 4 years of age, she sat with me at a commercial cookery school restaurant, announcing that the waiter was, “not very good” …. And ….. “ I think they mean caramelised, but its burnt”. Explaining that they where all just learning, she looked confused at the thought.

Markets .. & Mother Daughter rabbit stew ... !!

2009-12-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

Sunday It’s - 4 with heavy snow, perfect for going to a street market. A fantastic food shoppers market the Bastille Market. Every type of meat, veg, crustacean, all hovered over by experienced shoppers. A horse butcher, walls of giant scallops, tangled legs of crabs, large pans of steaming paella, grandiose steel pans of sauerkraut laden with smoked pork and sausage … foody heaven…. Along with the camaraderie of stall holders posing for photos. Although I think someone was saying something about tourists I was possibly glad I didn’t understand.

Lots of looking ... till frozen through, then we found a washed out flea market and went home.

Mother daughter rabbit stew, for dinner, which translates to my mother telling me what she usually does & I add lib with what’s is in the over stuffed bar fridge. Sweating shallots, carrots, turnips, old European turnips (yellow in colour), celery, thyme, seasoning, adding liquid, adding the rabbit minus the saddle. Simmering for minutes till tender. Adding left over rice to thicken it a tad, finishing with celery tops as I didn’t have parsley, which mum preferred. Oh I poached the rabbit liver & kidneys in the broth at the end & saved on top. While I was Stewing I cooked some white beans for something the next day.

Yes its Christmas, I am a few days behind... but catching up soon. I am writing this after sucking the richness out if the pigeon bones from our Christmas eve dinner ... will get to that very soon..

Merry Christmas to all & may you have a year of sustaining food that keeps you, nourishes your soul & your body.

Saturday LIVERS

2009-12-22T12:20:00.000-08:00

We came in from shopping and found our toes again, they had gone bitingly numb from the frozen ground and had chicken, lentil and vegetable soup with dark crusty bread; prepared from last nights leftovers.

Our shopping, included one whole rabbit, a few handfuls of tight chicken livers, already cleaned! Like I said, “Love the butchers here”. Livers were for dinner, I usually like a touch of sherry vinegar for livers, but I used a touch of honey instead, which did wonders with the fresh thyme. Finishing them with lemon was a masterstroke, the acid lifted the richness. The lemon accent is actually reminiscent of the first and best liver dish I ever had, sauté chicken livers with lemon, rosemary and polenta, in an institutional Italian Restaurant when I was about 15... It changed my life! My waiter way back then, became one of Adelaide’s most famous successful Restaurateurs.

At the organic market that day we filled a broken basket with a mixture of veg. I had told the girls to pick out two veggies each that they liked. Hoping to inspire more variety in the diet and create more of a chef challenge atmosphere for myself. As if cooking on a budget with no oven was not enough of a challenge!

I noticed that everything is available all year here, same as at home really. You really have to know how and when certain things grow and ripen to know what is in season. The price will also give you some indication. Anything disturbingly expensive is more than likely out of season locally or imported, or grown in manipulated circumstances, i.e., in environs with chemicals.

The climate is another of my challenges, winters are harsh here, sparing defined choices. I am wondering where all the lettuce comes from, glass houses? I like to stick with radicchio and the entire endive family, being winter hardy, actually having flavour, tinged with bitterness, it lets you know you are alive, "Bitterness". A sure cure for a sugar palate, providing contrasting edginess.

Friday .... the Louvre

2009-12-21T11:16:00.000-08:00

Napoleon's table.

Friday

Hours where lost in the epic gallery. Marvelling at the adventures of mankind, the lessons we have learnt and the lessons we are repeating.

Taking an interest in the food related exhibits, the story of how food is as a conveyer of culture. How do we look at food now?

A hasty meal of seared beef with white beans, the Savoy cabbage that never ended, carrots, parsley and rice.

Bella made potted organic yoghurt, pears & cinnamon for finishes.

On a Personnel note: I noticed that when you are in a different cultural environment for a while, you start to try to assimilate. If you are here for a short time you tend to stay as you are, but as time displaces you, you start to feel more like you don’t fit.

I’m starting to wear less make up, trying to be more elegant, wishing my hair was less unethically bleached and a lot more stylishly cut. Meals are more sit down & set the table affairs, with courses. We are always changing if we let ourselves.

chicken that tastes like chicken !!!

2009-12-20T11:53:00.000-08:00

Love Love Love the butchers in Paris, they pick up the piece you ask them for, tell you where it comes from trim it, even portion it for you.... as a matter of course.... not because they know you.

Respect for the life of the animal; respect for the consumer. It's the reason we shivered in line at the shop for 20 minutes in the snow. An elegant lady remarked after listening to our excited chatter over ruddy flesh that this is a "very good butcher!"

To tell the truth I have not eaten meat for months, nearly a year, except for kangaroo meat; the most ethical meat I could find, and bloody lovely, rare with beetroot and cherry relish. My concern is where does the meat comes from, how was it cared for and how has it been slaughtered?

Meat predominantly sold on mass is produced via farming ideals connected to chemicals, caging, antibiotics, genetic modification to name but few taste bud discouragers, along with processed slaughter that dehumanises the link between animal, earth and people. Not to take to long on this soap box, to get to the point, the chicken we had, so sweet near the bone, tasted like the chicken I remember, but had not had for years. Nothing like the chicken available at home, the pink pulp structureless flesh, without grain or substance, even the free range variety had no comparative flavour. This idea of chicken flavour is what most of the population thinks is chicken. How many people have had the opportunity to taste real chicken?

My large chicken leg so humbly sealed in my little pan.

Legs were large, meaning the bird had some age and time to develop a flavour profile. Meat had structure, you had to chew it and it still gave to the bite. Darker in colour than the generic variety; I am thinking it walked around a bit and had fresh green feed. Skin was dry not sticky .

This aided the browning in the pan, I added the only herbs at hand, thyme and bay. Making a satisfying feast, paired with the left over braised vegetables and lentils from the day before.

Mother said I need to go to another restaurant to provide more variety for this blog. I argued that it was the fact that I used everything I had, as limited as it was, to prepare substantial meals. It is that limitation of ingredients that I like, a catalyst for invention.

How else would I think of: chicken livers with honey and thyme, deglazed with a squeeze of lemon, plump and pâté pink atop carrot, fennel and shallot?? Really

hand picked eggs

2009-12-19T12:54:00.001-08:00

6 egg omelet with manchego and rye walnut bread

Strolling through the food hall, we found "eggs for today" You can select the eggs you like the look of.
These are the eggs for cooking today; perfect for poaching. Taking heed, thinking of the euros I wold save, I went back to the apartment to make an omelet; omelettes appear on many of the little menus for lunch.

Not your traditional thin omelet, I whisked up all 6 eggs to feed the 3 of us. Poured them from a height into hot oil, scraped the cooked egg to the centre and rolled in the scrapings of manchego my mum bought. I did say it was not French cheese, she replied with "but I like it". I try, I really do, but people take guiding and talking to and sometimes dragging into seasonality and regionality. Sometimes when you are sounded by family you just have to give in to keep the peace. So Manchego and big soft parsley, gave pointed palate notes to my omelet, dark rye walnut bread went along for the ride. I got rid of the manchego!

Dinner : I loved going to the French butcher, so fabulous, feathery heads on birds, gentlemen cleaning, cutting meat for you as you would like it. No cryovaced packs of pasty pinkness on a meat nappy. Cuts are labeled as to where they come from. I chose three large chicken legs dark in complexion, dry of skin...... and I will let you know about them tomorrow ...

Kitchen at the Palace

2009-12-19T00:16:00.000-08:00

After the Palace

2009-12-18T13:03:00.000-08:00

Versailles, and we walked miles around the estate, I had many a café creme, so cold, almost snowing ! My caffeine intake is increasing. Most of the milk here seems to be long life, which is, as my best friend said: "is quite addictive"scalded sweet when boiled. It is easy to find organic milk and yogurt; not in your coffee though.

Eyes where tired from looking at all things beautiful, I was glad we had purchased the little green French lentils when we shopped yesterday. There was enough produce left in the fridge to put a meal together.

Dinner: Braised de puy lentils with winter vegetables, finished with tangerine gremolata with a salad of saute white beans and radicchio. An all vegetarian affair seamed appropriate, after looking at such opulence.

In the one large pot I sweat the carrots, celeriac (cut with the one bad knife) with thyme and bay. Tossed in some organic tomato puree, let it intensify and braised the lentils in that till near cooked. Added roughly shredded savoy cabbage, that my daughter was getting sick of and let it simmer away till done. To add zeal it was finished with a tangerine parsley gremolata.

The salad on the side, was like as my mother says , "like bringing coals to New Castle" more vegetables. But it cant hurt, right !? The radicchio needed eating ! Making a perfect partner for the white beans that I sauté in olive oil, adding a tiny bit of moisture to steam them through. All dressed with a little citrus and olive oil .

Thursday I went to the Butcher!

Nights in pAris

2009-12-16T11:59:00.000-08:00

Vegetables
After delicious affairs in French brasseries with delicious people, it is time to cleanse the system.

Wandering through picturesque streets, museums and galleries; still looking for an open air market close by. In haste I purchase a perfect Savoy cabbage and base a meal around it!

When I cut the core holding the leaves off this crimped beauty, it snaps like cables bearing the weight of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is stressfully fresh.We dine on a steaming bowls of braised celeriac ( the size of my head ) pear and cabbage. A salad of divine escarole and tangerine.

I must remember to buy a knife; the bread knife in the apartment is getting boring.

I found a market the next day. A small covered market with organic stalls. Garbed the radicchio, pears and herbs, bumbled into a fromagerie for some baby fig shaped goats cheese, a puck of goaty creaminess. Next door for a forest dark bread, smelling of weet bix? Lunch was going to be easy. A light lunch to leave room for Restaurant dinning.

Salad of seared, caramelised, big thick slices of pear, cooked with thyme and seasoning, tossed with the radicchio. The dressing was a squash of tangerine with salt and oil. Bubbles of goats cheese floated atop the colour. The bread rustically drew attention to it-self. Raspberries my mother bought sat in their cute punet, perplexing me with their seasonal origins? All was good with the world.

The next evening I was privileged to be taken back to said lovely Brasserie with the rest of my little family, by a lovely man. As you can be assured fate did provide me with another creme brulee to finish. I actually ordered the cheese but the waiter, bless him, knew better.

A charming traditional dinner, with the girls ordering rémoulade with shave bayonne ham. I had tarragon cream coated eggs, that bled yellow into the green and white. A dish from the textbook!

The girls had duck breast; they swallowed the fat. I was challenged as there where no vegetarian dishes and fish seemed to non-ethical to have twice, but I did. Luie fish , big flaked moist white flesh with peppers and olives.

A Perfect day ... in Paris

2009-12-14T11:05:00.000-08:00

Under the surreal Eiffel Tower, resembling a Hollywood set, I met my man, a kiss, a walk, its cold.
Yes, ... not cooking tonight! I am taken to a Brasserie, Terminus Nord.

The classic French Brasserie, a working model of a restaurant that really flies, effectively and efficiently with every twist and grand turn of hand. Glasses break, people laugh, French people of a certain age eat plies of steak tartare, whipped quickly together by waiters, pomme fritte are fat and gold, wine bottles bare labels that are cellar tattered, women are elegant and still casual; all the men look like they know what they are doing... my perfect world. The reason I fell in love with Restaurants in the first place, all activity has purpose, drama and romance. The food endlessly turned out every day. Each dish bearing the reputation of the establishment since 1923! There is a menu formula that works.

Entrée: Compote of legumes with poached egg. Main: Duradard ( bream ) Provençal. Dessert: Set vanilla bean speckled cream with a veil of shattering caramel, the classic creme brulee.

The legumes where content with flavour and held their constancy, egg was runny yolked. My bream was leaning on a compote of roast fennel bulb core and all, eggplant, peppers , tiny roast coriander seeds, finished with chives. So satisfying I could feel the nourishment infiltrating every cell. The company was close to complete the fairy tale.

In Paris

2009-12-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

In Paris

We arrived in Paris 2 days ago myself, my daughter and my mother. Three blonde girls, one little family. Now we are nearly acclimatised, nearly very French polite shoppers. I have already had more butter and cream than I am accustom. We will be testing the concept of The French Paradox.

After 21 hours in the air, an hour stop-over and 5 rich meals, we are very happy to be nesting in our new apartment in Marais. It is so tiny, I commented to my Mama that it was a little like being in a stylish caravan. I have yet to see a caravan decorated in shabby chic flea market, with parquetry!

Any daughter will tell you it is not easy to be with ones Mother; imagine being in close quarters with your Mother and your teenage Daughter! Yes, I am giving myself a medal, right now. Those of you who don't understand this emotional tight rope im walking ... well, just wait, your day will come!

I gave myself 2 days to get the lay of the land before starting this mission.

The mission: to live for one month in Paris, shopping in local markets for as little as possible, as healthy as possible and as ethically as possible .... So I could buy clothes!

I will be taking my own photos and writing my foodie suggestive recipes for a book. The title is still a work in process. "3 women in a French shoe box with a frying pan"maybe not?

In a state of jet lag to be delirium we wandered amazed through Bon Marche, marvelling at the tiny morsels in aspic, the piled display, the packaging, the practicalities and the endless choice.

My little wheat eaters ordered their first croissant and I my cafe au late, relatively confidently.

I have started to take the occasional sneer of a Parisian as a compliment and make most of my waiters laugh, at me I think?

My daughter Bella has had her first traditional bistro meal, all important to a girls education.

For 11 Euro we had 3 very simple courses. For rather a lot more Euro we went to a charming bistro where the Madam knew her patrons by name, taught Bella to eat crevettes with her fingers and patted visiting dogs as other guests arrived. The Skate for main with cappers lemon and of course, butter ... brilliant . My first course of Boudin Noir in a terrine with cooked apple that held fruit and acid balance was divine. That dark rich sweet of blood cooked to custard set with soft white fruit through the centre, all flicked with a balsamic reduction, simply sliced.

Cooking:

Well, being tired and hormonally congested with touches of jet lag, my first meal was to come from the closest Super Market. I did not want to get to much from here; I really wanted to shop at the markets. We Purchased dinner for 3 for about 6 Euros, with the aid of olive oil and Sel de mare left in the apartment. Oh and a few left over dried figs bought on our market wanderings. We where all craving a meal without butter, cream and protein, so it was to be a cauliflower, 5 large white mushrooms and a fennel bulb.

The apartment has a 2 convection burner hot plate and a microwave ... I don't use microwaves (unless heating babies bottles, and thankfully those days are far behind me). As Bella started to hit another jet lag teenage wall dinner was ready : Steamed whole cauliflower with a saute of fennel & mushroom

Going to pAris - Markets - to COOK

2009-12-05T04:41:00.000-08:00

5AA Local Blue swimmer crab w ginger & basil

2009-12-04T21:26:00.000-08:00

LOCAL BLUE SWIMMER CRAB w GINGER - BASIL - TOMATO

Local crab season get to you beach.

Keep it SIMPLE......

INGREDIENTS

1 crab per person

1 knob of ginger

a large ripe tomato per person

a bunch of basil

olive oil

macrobiotic sea salt

fresh ground white pepper

Lemon

Steamed organic rice

METHOD

Clean crabs of mustard - save and use in the recipe if you like a stronger flavor.

Break legs , lightly.

In a large wok heat oil.

Toss in sliced fresh ginger root, a handful of basil.

Add crabs broken in half - saute

Add rough cut tomatoes

Seasoning

Cook till crabs are cooked through.

Pour the lot over steamed organic rice .

Finish with lemon zest, torn basil.

SHARE ... A beer ?

Seafood on a budget ...

Raw Beetroot & Cherry relish with .........????

2009-12-04T17:42:00.000-08:00

Fisheries have closed on Snapper for a month due to the fish spawning.

So look at this fish in a month.

The fresh Relish is still good with rare Kangaroo, goats curd etc.

BAKED LINE CAUGHT WHOLE SNAPPER .....

with RAW BEETROOT - GINGER - SOUR & SWEET CHERRY RELISH

Take one whole baby snapper ... get your lovely fish man to gut & scale him for you... they do this willingly when you smile!

Slit angled cuts deep into the flesh, 4 or so along the body.

Rub in good macrobiotic sea salt , slices of lemon and a grind of pepper.

Stuff the insides with cooked, seasoned wild rice & basil.

Splash with local olive oil.

- wrap him all up in foil or baking paper if your feeling French!!

Bake till cooked!

Cooking time depends on how hot your oven is - how big your fish is

The best idea is to open up your parcel and check the flesh down to the bone.

Mean-while grate fresh raw beetroot, fresh ginger root & fresh ground white pepper, good salt, pipped & halved raw sweet cherries & sour cherries. Toss together with some olive oil , ubiquitous lemon zest & a splash of sherry vinegar and finish with shredded basil.

Serve a side your baked big fish - tangy, sweet & sour, bleeding red juice, dotted with good extra virgin oil , toped with ripped basil.

CHRISTMAS STARTER

2009-11-27T17:37:00.000-08:00

For Christmas
For Starters

......... where you want to be with your family & friends - NOT trapped in a hot kitchen over a stove .....

I like to start a meal with light fresh , clean flavors that make people happy .

Evoke their senses , with fragrance , food that makes people happy to eat more as it is actually good for them .

Cooking for people you love , you want to take care of them.

This is a starter i have made for a very famous wine makers Christmas lunch ... where it was paired with a beautiful pink Rose that had a sense of aged strawberry & and depth of tannins balanced the must like fruit.

For the best starter get to your local Farmers Market ..
to make this beautiful , fresh , fragrant enlivening summery starter....

Watermelon & Goats cheese , Mint & Olive with Sourdough crouton

Ingredients

Select amounts in proportion to how many people you want to feed - 2 or 100?

Water mellon
Local goats cheese ( cherve Ash coated is best )
Local big black olives , a lime or 2
A bunch of fresh mint .
And some new season local extra virgin olive oil.
Fresh grind black pepper
Macrobiotic sea salt.
Sumac
A loaf of Organic Sourdough

Method
Select a large platter dependent on how many guests you have .

Cut chunks of pick up-able pieces of water melon - with skin on . It makes it easier for picking up.
Scatter pieces on a the platter.
Sprinkle lightly with macrobiotic salt.
Cut chinks of goats cheese and scatter amongst the watermelon.
Sprinkle olives
Slice the lime thin & scatter them over the dish
Throw mint leaves over the whole dish
Grind pepper over every thing
Drizzle with a little olive oil
And finish with a sprinkle of sumac

Serve with a stack of toasted organic sour dough bread & a knife and a napkin !!

A bottle of lush Rose ....

And a merry christmas to you all ..

GREEN SEASON

2009-06-08T04:54:00.000-07:00

At the Adelaide Show Grounds Farmers Market there where stacks of antioxidant greens, bitter & leafy.

It amazing mother nature knows just what we need & when , but who listens to their mother right.. Well eventually , as we get older & presumably smarter , or just more mortal we realize that mum was right. Never will we let her know. Maybe in a weak moment... Ours , not theirs.

I was a horrid child, you can tell!

The point , yes greens brilliant , so i cooked a devastating amount of the stuff to show how simple, how easy , how much you did not need meat, cheese & starch to put together a meal..... Just an idea mind you.

Please add regional organic dairy, beef, bacon or eggs if desired.

GRAPEFRUIT FENNEL RADDISH PEAR & ORANGE SALAD

Will keep the Doctor away , unless he is cute....

So simple

Go to market now, get in season gear .

Slice pears toss in macrobiotic sea salt

Take skin & pith off grapefruit slice toss in..... and let the juice go in too...

slice a fennel bulb throw over shoulder..

slice a bunch of radishes..

slice an orange thin

sprinkle some fennel top..... grind some fresh pepper...

those using powdered will be shot..

toss together

a spoon of honey ....XX

a splash of good olive oil

let sit for as long as you can stand it ....... SO done!

good the next day ...

STEAMED CAULIFLOWER W RUSTIC SALSA VERDE .

One whole Cauliflower

Spike the core a couple of times in the centre, from underneath, so it cooks more evenly.

Steamed in an inch or 2 of drinkable water with a sprig or so of parsley, pinch of macro biotic sea salt.

It looks like steaming white brain when drawn from the pot.

While its steaming :

Wash the salt off a good handful slated cappers.

Chop them with 3 cloves of local garlic.

Then chop in to that bundle a bunch of flat leaf parsley.

Chop , mix together.

Place in a bowl .

add a grind of fresh white pepper.

Add good Extra Virgin Oil to bring together.

Let stand, so flavors amalgamate.

Then pour over your hot , steaming cauliflower..... Let marinate.

Serve hot or cold, as antipasto or veg accompaniment.

Fab with a shave of parmesan...

Alkalines Anonymos head To TURNIP Town

2009-06-03T21:51:00.000-07:00

Been to MArket , been to PAris , been to me ... apologies for all those suffering from the generation-gap..

Inspired by best value Organic spinach and those before mentioned TURNIPS ... underrated vegetable...

.. once a staple of country roast dinner, now a 5 star delicacy grated & dumplingafied, steamed to moist perfection... But life's too short for that.

Catch your Turnips young, when they are bright white with healthy green ends.

The greens can be eaten too- Add to your other greens for a touch of bitterness.

Bitterness is very good for you.

Young Turnips can be peeled, sliced thin , put with in season raddichio, sliced orange, rocket, good oil , a squeeze of orange Juice , a drop of good sherry vinegar, touch of honey, a pinch of Macrobiotic Sea Salt & a grind of fresh pepper...

and to finish some sliced toasted hazelnuts..

Yes you can slice a toasted hazelnut..... or just chop them. Lazy taste good too.

OR .. to get more adventurous... crush some toasted , peeled hazelnuts in a mortar & pestle , with a pinch of macrobiotic sea salt. ... stir in oil & Orange juice ...adjust the acid with the vinegar... and the seasoning... TASTE it .

Rub the dressing onto the salad ingredients... the sexy part....

taste it again.. please.

Oh you have it now ... alone or with a protein of your choice?.. or a friend.

Hey ... delicious .. and you did not turn the stove on!

FARMER's Chef

2009-06-01T03:26:00.000-07:00

Next Sunday I am cooking at the Adelaide Show Grounds farmers Market... at 10am.

Not too early for you healthy party animals.

I have a yen for radicchio & fennel, but don't I always.

But the cauliflower's look so good & the Capper man is there, so I may do a marinated cauliflower with cappers, tones of parsley , salsa verde esque. Great for winter antipasto.

Matthew will have quail eggs, so cute and they will add a richness & a creamy texture to my cauliflower.

Also thinking a braised Turnip dish would excite those not usually excited by such tart radish like vegetables. A glazed turnip goes brilliantly with an old nearly kerosene sweet wine. Food should put into wine what is missing in the palate. Balancing it. Not repeating palate profiles. That is my theory anyway.

May be an orange glazed turnip? Citrus is in.

I am sure I will think of something on the day. Talking to all the growers, finding out what is at its peak.

Its also about the story of the land & how the food has traveled to the table.

How much the water cost, how the farmers where up at 3am, how the season has affected the crop.

Food is a human story.

See you sunday

I may even post a recipe!

(c)

One chicken - many meals

2009-05-31T04:12:00.000-07:00

Cooking with what is in season

A WINTER FIX

My family and my Super Girl friends have asked me for this recipe so many times...

here it is. Keep it simple or make it as exotic as your pantry allows.

The principle is to take one good local chook and what's lying around in your fridge to make a broth, while you poach the bird.
Day 1 - Have the broth and meat one night.
Day 2 - Add some fresh saute greens to the bowl and pour the broth over the top.
Day 3 - Add some black lentils & herbs to the tasty reduction.

This idea is so versatile:
You can remove the bird when it is cooked and serve it with pulses & vegetables
or add the meat back to the pot for chicken soup.

Or make a Poached chicken salad, shred the poached meat, toss with chopped picked walnuts, endive, olive oil, lemon and seasoning.

The next day try adding some lentils or rice to the broth and some fresh saute greens.

1 POT CHICKEN SOUP

Basic ingredient IMAGINATION.

____________

Take one Organic chicken.

Put in large narrow pot.

cover with 5 inches of drinkable water

Bring to boil .

Take off scum and fat.

Bring to a slow simmer.

Big pinch of macrobiotic salt .

Grind of white pepper.

CUT VEGIES A BIT CHUNKY!

Add a couple of chopped carrots.

A sick of chopped celery.

Three chopped parsnips.

A couple of chopped Pears.

A couple of chopped turnips..

A big sprig of fresh thyme.

A piece of lemon zest.

Some green onions.

Check seasoning.

Bring all to the boil then turn to slow simmer , for half an hour. Then turn off.

Check seasoning again!

leave to sit for half an hour .

Take chicken out.
Take meat off bone.
Add meat back to soup or use in a salad or main dish.

Bring broth to temperature.
Add a bunch of copped parley.
Check seasoning.

Place in bowls .

A shave of parmesan on top and some good oil ... wont hurt a bit...

With love.. X

PUBLIC SPEAKING : A Dyeing ART

2009-05-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

Home Ec.

Last Tuesday: I spoke at the Independent Home Economics Teachers Conference at Annesley College.

These teachers are giving imperative life skills to our children, skills that secure a healthy adaptability to the world as a whole.

What is the good of being a Brain surgeon if you are going to kick the bucket at 45 with a heart attack; because you have yen for Candy bars & soft-drink , cant use a stove and don't know how to shop......? Ok an extreme example I admit.

Home Ec is the least funded department, it is being and i quote "ripped out of schools'

In this crucial time where parents are less than savvy, obesity reigns supreme; it does not make sense!

So support your local school Home Ec class, with product or just some time.

Go find out what they need. Or you may not get that surgery.

2009-05-27T20:07:00.000-07:00

Best Retro style Fair Trade COFFEE, for a healthy addiction....

GO to Espresso Royale... 357 Magill rd ...

Real community communication! ...Oozes family warmth ...Kids & the hip young things in the know...

those that make a choice.

Just ask Tevor & Bernadette.. for your coffee prescription.

espressoroyale@bigpond.com

BUYing Food is the most Political decision you make Every day..

2 B Ethical Food

2009-05-27T02:16:00.000-07:00

Amanda Daniel Founded 2 B: Ethical Food in 2006.

Under this ethical banner I offer a range of services:

A Food & Hospitality Consultant:

I build branding & marketing into mission statements & Business plans.

Incorporating a holistic, accountable, self worth management system.

Facilitating Franchise opportunities, via developing & implementing standard operations systems.

Facilitating events,negotiating contracts with outside caterers for venues best advantage.

A Food Producer: 2 B Ethical Food organic spelt leaves are about to be released on to the shelves. Offering a non genetically modified , processed wheat alternative for your next cheese or dip platter.

This unleavened crisp bread is texturally enriched to translate the toasty nutty flavour of spelt.

An ancient grain, more digestively soluble it is luxuriously nourishing.

The crisp bread incorporates other ingredients from small regional producers, eggs and jersey milk. An Ethical Conscious Consumer product.

A Food Writer: contributing to Adelaide Magazine for 2 years.

A Chef: recipe development,serving suggestions, food styling, cooking schools & demonstrations. At The Adelaide Showground Farmers Market the second Sunday of every month.

An Advocate: I am for all healthy choices, the facilitating of more healthy choices for ourselves, our families and therefore our environment.

I subscribe to SEASONALITY, REGIONALLY, CULTURAL INTEGRITY, ORGANIC FOODS, BIODYNAMIC PRODUCTION, BEST FARM PRACTICES, CONSCIOUS CONSUMERISM, NUTRITIONAL ECONOMY.

Contact Amanda : amanda@2bethicalfood.com