Tag Archives: sydney

chevre, it’s a little bit goaty

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I’m having a bit of a goaty moment. Not the whiskers on my chin kind, but goat cheese. Otherwise known as Chevre. I had tasted a few really great goat cheeses while I was in Tasmania and I wanted to continue the love when I got home. However, I didn’t want just any old goat cheese. I wanted to see if I could find a great local one. A quick search, and hey presto…I found Willowbrae.

Willowbrae is a family run goat farm, based at the foothills of the Hawkesbury Valley. They produce a number of products; from an unsalted 8 hour cream, the very popular fresh curd, marinated fetta, and mould ripened cheeses.  Talking with David (at Fox Studio Farmers’ Market) who runs the front and back end of the business, (as he described) he milks the goats twice a day, while his wife and daughter do the cheesemaking.

The more I try of goat cheeses, the more I like. The very popular fresh curd is subtle, creamy, and really soft on the palate. I find this kind of cheese is really versatile to play around with. Whether it’s teamed up with a savoury style dish or something sweeter.

So what does Chevre mean? It translates as goat in French, and is a generic term used for any goat cheeses. Musing on this I wondered if Italians called Chevre…well Chevre. Apparently not. Caprino is their term for goat cheese. Again derived from the word capra, meaning goat. I kind of liked the sounds of caprino. (But then as many people before me have said…everything sounds better in Italian.)

Back to the Chevre. Where to buy some of Willowbrae’s delicious cheese? See here for market days and times.

And what to do with it once you have the tasty little goat milk goodness in hand?

First up, I quickly made up some sourdough flat breads. Some of my dad’s garden cherry tomatoes, (the sweetest I’ve tasted in years.) Some of the creamy chevre, and a drizzle of The Little General’s olive oil.

Simple, I know where it all came from and damn tasty.

How to tell a farmer you love them

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Farmers’ Markets. I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it another 5000 times.

I love them.

Having that contact with the growers and producers makes the food taste so much better for it. Knowing that my rhubarb was picked the day before. My milk comes from a single herd, and my tomato comes from an heirloom variety thrills me to bits. (A feeling I don’t tend to get coming out of the supermarket.)

Visiting Orange Grove Farmers Market recently I was actually quite excited to see the place had grown since I was last there. At 8.45am the place was jumping. Baskets were emptying, queues to pay were forming and independent stall holders were all doing their thing.

With the recent devastating floods around the country, I feel this is the time to make that special effort to support our local producers. By shopping like this I am showing my support for what they do. Giving them some love in the form of our dollar. For an idea of what it is like as a farmer on the other end please read Kate’s, (from Daylesford Organics) recent post. I can’t begin to imagine how hard it must be.

Buying straight from the producers gives you a freshness that just can’t compete with buying in a supermarket. That oddly misshaped heirloom tomato the size of a babies head, you are not going to find it in your leading supermarket. Tasting of summer, with seeds squirting down your chin. Team that up with some locally made cheese and you are in business.

Heirloom, natural, organic, single herd, artisan, picked yesterday, seasonal, fresh, locally grown….it’s all there, just go take a peek. Our job is the easy one, go that extra kilometre, pay that extra dollar and show them your love.


picking your own blueberries

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Standing in Berry Sourdough Bakery, waiting for coffee. My eye catches sight of a rather enticing book; Locavore, A foodies journey through the Shoalhaven. Hello, what have we here?..The Shoalhaven is an area that sits just south of Sydney, and according to this book there is a whole wealth of wonderful food deliciousness just within reach. Now I already knew of a few, but to discover more? Well, I had to buy the book didn’t I?

One of the places mentioned is Clyde River Berry Farm. A place where you can pick your own fruit. Primarily a blueberry farm, it also has a variety of other berries, peaches, plums, nectarines, honey and jams.  A slight detour on a dirt road and we were there. Obviously very popular, as the place seems to be rather busy. It’s bakingly hot, the middle of the day and we still had a long way to drive with The Monkeys. We wander through the orchard rows, picking blueberries, nectarines, plums and peaches as we go. At least now, we had something to munch on in the car.

Munch we did. It was so lovely to be able to taste fresh fruit. Really, fresh fruit. Selected by the grubby paws of Little Monkey and Monkey Boy, nothing could be finer.

Some Blueberry tips:

* Let the berries stay on the bush for a week once ripened.

* Once the fruit has been picked, it can stay in the fridge for up to a week plus.

* If still uneaten after a week, can be easily frozen.

* Don’t wash them first before freezing, as they won’t defrost well.

Awhile ago a reader suggested I try growing blueberries after hearing of my rather dismal gardening in pots effort. The next week I went out and bought a bush. I still haven’t killed it, (hooray!) it seems to be quite happy in a pot, no critters have demolished it, and I have now tasted my very own blueberries from it. So Lotte, if you are still reading…Thank you.

sourdough blueberry pancakes

Clyde River Berry Farm is open December- January. 10am-6pm.

meat…could you? would you?

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I have meat on my mind. Not the usual thing on my mind and a little less exciting than the next sourdough to construct, but non the less it’s there.

A few things in blogland had prompted the thinking and also just a natural progression I guess of wanting to know where my meal comes from.

This household doesn’t eat a lot of meat. Monkey Boy and Mr Chocolate really enjoy it, but Little Monkey and I can take it or leave it. Free range chicken, organic minced beef, free range ham, and organic sausages seem to be the usual selection of what we choose from. Nothing too exciting there. Over the years, other meaty items just slowly got bumped off. Canned tuna, daily ham on sandwiches, fresh fish…all for various reasons, now don’t usually find themselves on our every day dinner table.

In my little world, the majority of our meat is bought from the supermarket, butcher, or if I’m lucky enough some farmers markets. Ideally what am I looking for? Meat that has been ethically raised, sustainably produced, not compromised on taste, and at a budget that doesn’t hurt the hip pocket. Is that just too hard though on a day to day level for most people?

Many people can’t argue with the convenience of a supermarket. However there is an increase in buying organic, local, free range pieces. If I can manage to get it, I love being able to buy meat either straight from the producer (easier at a farmers market) or at least knowing the area in which it is from and buying through a middle person.

Some of my recent meaty prompter’s…

Pick a pig– Friends put me on this link from the UK. A system that lets you buy your animal, it’s reared by the farmer, slaughtered and then gets delivered to you in the cuts you ask for. A large up front cost, but….you are getting a whole lot of pig there. Also you know where your pork cuts are coming from. I would love to know if there are any people doing something similar in Australia. On a large scale this is a really interesting way of cutting out the middle man. Another similar scheme again in the UK is Yorkshire Meats

Perennial Plate, an online short documentary style programme on sustainable foods- warning it is a little graphic.

Gourmet Farmer– you know I am a fan. What the man has documented on his show is his journey of going from city fella, to small town living. Rearing animals for his own consumption, learning how to kill chickens, and send his heritage breed pigs to the slaughterer.

Slow Living Essentials- cute fuzzy ducks, and I was thinking dinner.

So whats my beef? (every pun intended.)

Have we become completely desensitized to seeing animals being killed for our plate? I know I don’t feel completely comfortable with it. I would like to think I could do it. Raise an animal, bump it off and then eat it, but could I? I feel if I am willing to eat it, I should be willing to admit that cute little piglet is going to get its head taken off and make some truly delicious ham. It could be a real turning point to vegetarianism for me. However… I would like to think I could rear an animal and either assist in some way in the slaughtering process or do it myself…. Confronting as it most certainly would be.

When you see the meat being sold in the supermarket all wrapped in styrofoam and plastic, all cut up and ready to go. There is usually very little to show you that this pink piece of flesh was once a mooing four legged creature. Feathers still stuck to your chicken pieces? Most people get rather unhappy if this was the case. I remember unloading some groceries from the supermarket in Italy once and there tucked away under the cling wrap and styrofoam was Ms Guinea Fowls head still intact. In my world, I’m not used to that. If I see meat I don’t expect it still to look like the animal it once was. I don’t want any happy memories of a life it once had floating around the room still. But this also seems ridiculous…almost a little precious. It is meat, which means it used to be an animal. Is that as silly as denying a chip in front of me used to be a potato growing in the ground?

Is it merely enough to know what you are eating and where you bought it from? There being no need to kill it yourself, when some one else can do it for you? Will more people begin to choose their meat while thinking of it being sustainably sourced, organically produced, locally harvested and ethically raised. I would like to think so, but feel we have a loooong way to go first. It’s turning around a whole mind set. A whole meat eating culture that needs to be slowly changed.

Should we be taking a moment to acknowledge and honour the life that has been giving up for our plate?

I understand why someone would become a vegetarian for ethical reasons. I also understand why people truly enjoy eating meat. (we still talk about that pork dish at ARIA.) I do think however, that people should know where their dinner came from if at all possible. How many primary schools would teach young children about where their meat comes from? How many parents would talk about it to their young children? How many highschool students would get to study the make up of an animal, different breeds, how to raise them, slaughter, and then cook them? (Agriculture is a chosen subject, in very few highschools.) If this is a part of our every day lifestyle why wouldn’t we be able to learn about it from the beginning.

English, maths, science, food*.

Incorporate it in to learning how to grow, and harvest vegetables. Surely these are important principles that people seem to be so far removed from these days.

I’m still trying to work out where I stand with it all. It’s not easy. Do you eat meat because it’s there, it’s healthy, it’s what everyone else does? Do you eat all parts of the animal avoiding any wastage? I’m not a fan of any kind of offal, however it does seem rather silly to breed a huge beast for consumption and then only eat half of it.

I would like to think that any meat I ate was treated as humanely as possible in their life beforehand. A chance to live as a young calf, piglet, lamb should, before going ‘down town’. Being mindful of every mouthful of meat that I eat. Being thankful that a life has been given up to feed my families belly’s. Thinking about it where it came from and not taking it for granted that I am here and I need and deserve to eat that eat meat! Happy paddock loving animals look differently to large production ones. Australians are one of the top meat eating countries in the world. A weekend BBQ isn’t usually a success unless there is an array of meaty goodies on offer.

Now I could waffle on and on about this meaty topic and go round and round in circles. For the sake of not boring you all to numbing tears I wont. However I will pass this over for discussion. (Feel free to disagree.)

What do you believe in?

Is buying our meat at the supermarket simply progression? Modern times. We have moved on from backyard butchery. A time now of convenience of food…

Do you consider where you meat comes from when selecting it for the dinner table?…

Do you like having that distance between you and that furry beast/ succulent juicy steak on your plate?

Could you rear and slaughter your own animals for eating if you had access to it. (Either via someone elses farm and livestock, or your own.)

…and would you want to?

*******

* I know that in some wonderful schools the Edible School Yard programme or Kitchen Garden programme is up, running and doing really well. This is still a minority in most schools as far as I am aware though. It is also still dependent on the community to get it up, running and maintaining it.

chasing the sun

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A nudge awake at 5am.

A frantic run towards the coast.

No buses.

Just have to leg it.

Wait sun!

Wait until I get closer to raise your sunny head above the horizon.

Please wait…I’m coming.

Chest heaving, legs running.

It feels so good. The Monkeys are still tucked up in bed, their Dadda can whisper the good mornings today.

It’s 5am, and it’s my time this morning.

My time to chase the sun…

foodconnect

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For quite awhile now I’ve been frustrated with my vegetable eating options. Actually…no. It’s not the eating options, it’s the buying options. Ideally, I’d love to be growing them. However living in a flat in the city with a designated area that’s not optimum for growing, my growing in pot choices are limited. So what are some other choices available to the average city dweller?

* Super market bought fruit and vegetables- big business

* Independent green grocer- small business

* Farmers Markets

* Wholesale Markets

* Box schemes- quite often delivered to your door

* Community gardens- add your name to the waiting list and grow your own

* Food Co-ops- member owned and operated, bulk goods

* CSA- Community Supported Agriculture

Choosing how you get your fruit and vegetables depends on many things, so it feels like it’s been a long time coming that I’m finally happy with a fruit and vegetable scheme that works for us.

Four weeks into my new CSA fruit and vegetable box and I couldn’t be happier. It suits our family, the quality is fantastic and it works for me. Hoorah!… I found it in Foodconnect.

Foodconnect uses local sustainable farmers, bringing their produce to city folks like me. Box gets dropped off at a local drop off point, where you pick it up once a week, and go home happily munching on the seasonal goodness. All boxed and ready to go, all you have to do is pick it up from a local ‘city cousin’.

So it’s local, organic, seasonal, easily pay from 4 weeks- to a year, it’s not the same fruit and veges each week, supports regional growers, farmers get a good price, super super fresh, has got us eating different vegetables, (I was in a vegetable rut and didn’t even know it) if I don’t like something there is a swap box and I don’t have to do anything but pick up the box. Pretty good deal I think.

* I’m always happy to see a caterpillar or slug in my organic produce. To me, it means it was pretty darn happy just to hang out in the leafy goodness, and also shows that it’s really fresh. Saying that, I would prefer to find them before I eat the leafy greens and not after, wiggling out of the kitchen sink. All this does to me is question my washing skills and did I just inadvertently eat its sluggy cousin?

Now there’s a cheery thought…

Sydney Foodconnect

Adelaide Foodconnect

Brisbane Foodconnect

The importance of cafes in local community city living.

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Walking down to our local cafe the other day, I was a bit shocked when two strangers were standing behind the counter manning the coffee machine and working the grill. So shocked, that I stood there, mouth gaping a little, eyebrows frowning while I contemplated the scene in front of me. Hang on a second, this wasn’t right…who are you? Where’s Anthony? Which is what I blurted out. (Not the who are you, but where’s Anthony?) He sold up and we have taken over…*gasp!*…oh, I meekily said and muttered something about a latte and I would sit in the back. Sitting there mulling over what I had just been told, I phoned Mr Chocolate straight away and told him…*gasp!* He did what?!

Our favourite local cafe owner had sold and up and buggered off. Not a word, not a whisper and as I sat there trying to gather some thoughts, I was gutted. Mr Chocolate was gutted…The Monkeys would be gutted. Why? Not because I was a daily cafe frequenter and should have put up a little plaque in my honour on a chair, but because we genuinely loved the guy. He made the cafe.

Simple, tasty food, small setting. People came back because Anthony made you smile, he remembered your name. He knew what you drank. He was my foodie sounding board. The Monkeys adored him and would always run over and say hello regardless of whether we were buying anything. For 3 years this was our local. This was a place where I could study undisturbed for an hour sitting on one coffee, a place where my grandparents were introduced, Mr Chocolate and I had discussed any home issues at a back table, (when The Monkeys were being entertained elsewhere) milkshakes had been slopped by inexperienced child hands, biscuits handed out generously. It was OUR cafe and Anthony an important part of that sweet blend. THE important part of it.

But not any more. Two strangers stood before me, dishing out coffees and explaining the changes they had made to people coming and asking where Anthony was.

This got me thinking….How important are cafes within our community. For inner city living, the cafe culture is alive and strong. Weekends are full of streetside cafes, takeaway coffees a must and many a meal taken up in cafe. These cafes serve as meeting places, appealing to the family for a special treat out, friends meeting up, and singles seeking some alone time. With the absence of backyards for many inner city living people, this is a way of life. For many, if you are living in a small household like a flat in the city, you can be quite restricted with space. As our urban population increases, so will that high density living and lack of space.

If you want to go some where else, the options aren’t huge. The park, a bar, the beach or a cafe. I do my fair share of parks and beach, bars don’t appeal, so for a little me time now and again that hour in a cafe is gold. Pure gold.

There is something really inviting about going somewhere, where you are greeted warmly by name. Your coffee is being made without having said a word, and the conversation is easy. It’s hard to find that. It’s almost like an extension of your home. For many of my friends who live in the area and all living in 2 bedroom apartments with kids, these cafes are utilised frequently. Whether it be a place to take small children to on a rainy day for a babycino, a meeting spot with friend or a place for some quiet contemplation without kids. Cafes in inner city living are used, utilised and loved. Having a warm friendly face to greet you as you come in makes the experience. That cafe space for me has been on many an occasion, a life saver.

So now as we go past our old cafe I have to deal with from Monkey Boy, Mama it makes me feel so sad that Anthony is gone. I want to talk about him all the time, it makes me feel so sad…

From Little Monkey, ANThatttiii…ANThatttiii!! With small arms outstretched towards his cafe.

I know what you mean boys, I feel the same way.

need to sing a little aria…

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Sometimes a bit of the city comes out of the hippy farm girl. Sometimes that city part needs to be nourished, embraced and relished in. Sometimes, just sometimes that city living is enough to make you want to sing…

Sing an aria.

I have been singing all week. Ever since I got the confirmation email…”we are pleased to confirm your reservation…and look forward to welcoming you to ARIA restaurant.”

Now call me a dag, call me a curd nerd, call a ‘bloody hippy’, but you can also call me a Matt Moran fan. Why?…There is something about that guy that and his food that catches my attention. I had wanted to go to his Sydney restaurant (two hatted) for quite a few years now and here I was finally about to get that opportunity.

…and yes I was singing with excitement.

A gorgeous day out with my man, they could have served us canned baked beans and I would have been happy. Why?

1/ We don’t go out that often by ourselves…actually, um never.

2/ The Monkeys weren’t grappling my legs. Instead happily tying their grandmother to a door frame at home, lighting small fires under her feet and taunting her. (As long as we didn’t get a phone call, that was fine.)

3/ It really is the most stunning harbour, sometimes I need to be poked and prodded and reminded of this.

So did they serve baked beans?

amuse bouche- leak and potato soup

Kurobuta sweet pork belly (the best I have EVER tasted) with pickled watermelon and crackling

cured goose breast with chicken liver parfait, poached rhubarb, black pepper and ginger bread

seared fillet of Murray cod (so crispy skin), spinach purée and fricassée of salsify and borlotti beans

char-grilled Rangers Valley sirloin with a cauliflower and bacon croquette, roasted king brown mushrooms and a grain mustard sauce. (otherwise known as the best steak we have ever eaten.)

custard tart with poached pears, nutmeg and ginger bread ice cream

chocolate deliciousness of some kind or another

complimentary petit fours- turkish delight, lamington, nougat
So was it good?….
It was sooo good. The food really was amazing. A truly gorgeous afternoon for a special occasion.
Stand out dishes. The pork- oh sweet mama it just melted on your tongue and made me do embarrassing little groans at every mouthful as it was so good. The poached rhubarb black pepper a combination that I really need to steal. The steak was served with a steak knife- No need, it was the softest, most melt in your mouth steak I have ever come across. And I don’t even like steak!
The custard tart soft and delicate, the gingerbread icecream with a heady taste of spices that makes you roll each bit around on your tongue.
All simply delicious and inspiring.

Truly beautiful food that I got to share with my lovely Mr Chocolate on our wedding anniversary, on Sydney harbour, next to the Opera house….

Book us in again for next year please.

Sustainable House Day

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Sustainable House Day is on this Sunday 12th September all around Australia. To find out where the open houses are in your area, click here.

Houses are open from 10-4 pm and are free. Just look out for the balloons.

You get to have a look at how different houses are rigging up solar panels, harvesting water, recycling, gardening and many more things. Lots of info to be had, and a good opportunity to find out what is happening in your sustainable living community.

Anyone in the Sydney area that is interested in having a look, a list here of all the houses.

locavore biodynamic wine

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I hadn’t bought a bottle of wine for a very long time, but Friday night I had decided was wine night, (well this Friday night was anyway.) I needed some antioxidants!

Walking in to the local bottle shop, they had a really big array of wines to choose from. Gosh, how to choose? Its been so long since I had a vague clue as to what was good and what wasn’t. That clue had long since flown out the door, and left with my choices being white or red?

G’day, do you have any organic, biodynamic and or local wines here?

The assistant sprang in to action, and explained he didn’t usually work there but he thought there were a few that would fit my description. Flying all around the shop, he could only come up with one locally produced one (within 160kms). He offered to ring the owner who had stepped out for a minute to ask him if there were any others, but I said that was fine and kept perusing. Apparently requests such as mine only come in about every 1:1000, so demand wasn’t high.

The owner came back and straight away directed me to a biodynamic locally produced family run winery. He was very knowlodgable and didn’t even take a second blink when I repeated my request of what I wanted.

I like that… Not feeling like a complete leper all the time with my requests.

Wine bought ‘Wild White’. Produced by Krinklewood Biodynamic Vineyard– located in the Hunter Valley.

Taste- pretty darn good. I’m no wine expert, but I like it when I like it and don’t when I don’t. I’m complicated like that. I think it would have gone perfectly with a cheese platter or as we did with a light dinner.

I would love to know how much of a market there is out there for these sorts of wines. Organic, biodynamic, or locally produced. Is it something that crosses peoples minds when they are purchasing? Availability? At $18 a bottle it’s not the cheapest of bottles available but certainly not expensive either. And for a person that very rarely buys wines, I am more than happy to support biodynamic farming practices within my locavore area for an infrequent bottle buying.

so High Tea

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High Tea. Just the words bring lovely images to mind. Those cute little sandwiches, those fluffy scones, and sweet little cakes up the top.

What to do when a good friend is returning back to her home country. How do you say goodbye?…. Well saying goodbye in style is a good start, and high tea at The Observatory Hotel, Sydney just might be the place to do it.

Its Mothers Day and a few other people have thought it might be a nice idea to have high tea at the hotel as well. So they have upped the price and moved people around their two rooms used for dining. Now they were a little cheeky in that it is advertised as $49 for high tea, a booking was made at this price. Then my friend who had made the booking was contacted and told that seeing as though it was a special occasion there would be a price increase to $79 would we still like to keep the booking? Yes, yes, we will still be there. Then on arrival, right down the bottom of the menu is $89 for high Tea. A little cheeky yes, were we going to do anything about it?..No. A girly afternoon with out kids, this doesn’t happen often…. no indeedy not often at all.

The room we are in is lovely with murals on the walls, and tables not squashed together. A glass of sparkling wine starts us off, and a selection of 6 different teas is offered. The 3 tiered high tea comes out and it does look really inviting.

The sandwiches are small and daintily cut, the mini quiche lorraine buttery and melt in your mouth. The scones I thought a little on the small side but they were light and tasted good. The strawberry jam chunky, and the cream… well the cream has a couple of long fibres in it. I say fibres in the hope they weren’t hairs. Because I sure as hell don’t want hair in my $89 high tea cream!

The cakes were daintily presented, with the creme brulee being a stand out. The pannacotta was a lost cause- insipid tasting, with a watery strawberry sauce on top. Overall the presentation was elegant and restrained as I would expect a five star hotel high tea. I didn’t expect a big chip in my teapot, and I have to say it did detract… just a little.

The Observatory Hotel
89-113 Kent Street
Sydney
02 9256 2222
www.observatoryhotel.com.au