produce

sustainable food

Sustainable ethically sourced produce is the start of good cooking. You just can't turn rubbish into a good dish. If I don't know where my food comes from and the impact caused by its production, then I am already a little reluctant to cook with it. With most produce the...

not all milk is created equal...

Pictures of happy herds on rolling lush pastures featured on product labels may not always be the case... Imagine if the milk you drank was purchased at marginal prices from dairy farmers far and wide. The cows were in "full housing" and not free to access real pasture for the...

these kids get good produce! adelaide showground farmers market kids' club

The kids at the Adelaide Showground Farmers Market helped get the chooks and vegies for this recipe from the stall holders and joined in on the cook up. You can see what happened in the movie and find the recipe below... ((WIDGET Video FEOvCCMPEWfQdVit)) free range chicken egg noodlesserves 2...

crispy skin free range berkshire pig belly

Berkshire Pork was on the menu for a hands-on cooking class at Sticky Rice Cooking School in the Adelaide Hills, along with hand dived wild scallops in burnt chilli sambal and poached free range Barossa Farm Produce chooks. crispy skin berkshire free range pig bellyserves 6 with rice as main...

grass fed red angus ribs

Animal Welfare League South Australia took over the Kitchen Door at Penny's Hill Winery for an event in November 2010. I got to share the menu for the night with resident Chef Ben Sommariva, to knock out a five course menu of shared plates. These guys really get it, great...

where's the bycatch?

Depending on who's data you believe there seems to be a growing awareness that the species that appear on most menus and the fishing methods employed for these fish are simply not sustainable. Not too far down the track we will be increasingly turning to fish that during my early...

organic coconut palm sugar, grilled pineapple and banana, chilli and lime sorbet

December, and the quality of pineapples and bananas in local markets is great so this recipe went on a cooking class or three over the last month. It works really well with a few mango cheeks thrown in as a variation and is a perfect warm weather desert with a...

no garden? get sprouting

I am a sprouter, there is always something in a hemp bag hanging in my kitchen, and if it sprouts I will eat it! (Believe me I have tried to sprout the maddest things). My all time favorite sprout is lentils; they have a great earthy flavour and the most...

triple b biodynamic grass fed shabu shabu

The Willunga Farmers Market celebrated its birthday on Saturday 26 February. William the Rooster (the market mascot from the original "old" market location) was ceremoniously instated at his new home in the town square by Zannie Flanagan. No doubt he'll be keeping an eye on things for many years to...

apple, barley and almond muffins

It's March and apples are back. This recipe was one from an Adelaide Showground Farmers Market Kids' Club "muffin frenzy". apple, barley and almond muffinsmakes 6 super big or 12 medium muffins 300 g wholemeal flour2 teaspoons baking powder½ teaspoon lemon zest150 g sugar1 teaspoon ground cinnamon240 ml buttermilk 65...

ocean jacket trunk, buckwheat noodle in light miso broth

Here's a recipe using one of my favourite fish...ocean jacket. The flesh is firm and has a mild, almost sweet flavour complimented by the miso and mushroom soup. serves 2 as a main course soup½ leek end, chopped½ small daikon, chopped3 dried shiitake mushroomsmushroom stems from enoki (used in garnish...

this little piggy

Okay, this picture of the crispy pig belly looks nice enough but could you eat it while thinking about images of sow stalls, farrowing crates, pigs crammed in sheds? Thankfully the decision by Australian Pork Limited last year to phase out sow stalls voluntarily by 2017 should improve conditions somewhat...

lamb with a conscience

There are a growing number of lamb producers who have built a production process around the welfare of their flock. This is one of the happier food industry scenarios whereby the product not only tastes better but these farmers can command a better price for their toil and the sheep...

stepping on eggshells...free range eggs

If you are buying free range eggs there are a few things to consider. You may be surprised to learn Australia does not have a national enforceable independent certification system that applies to the whole industry like the EU has. This is truly a case of "buyers beware" as not...

salt baked msc spencer gulf king prawn with "sort of " nouc mam cham

This method of cooking relies on super heated rock salt and "burying" the whole prawns in it to cook. The result is a paper thin head, tail and carapace (fancy word for the prawn's mid section, shell, feet and flippers). You can crunch right through the whole head and body...

lucky prawns

Some 25 000 tonnes of prawns are caught from Australian waters per year. A great deal of these will end up on our tables on Christmas Day, as our enthusiasm for "chucking a prawn on the BBQ," has become almost ritualistic. So mention the word Christmas to a prawn and...

msc certified coorong wild seafood mulloway steamed dumplings

Coorong Wild Seafood MSC certified Mulloway is too good to waste so if you have some fish trim, here's a recipe to use it all up, dumplings! msc coorong wild seafood dumplingmakes about a dozen 200 g Coorong Wild Seafood mulloway pieces, skin offpinch sea salt1 free range egg whitebig...

rolled lamb neck with almond and rosemary, braised dirt(y) kangaroo island red nugget lentils with smoked eggplant

I was recently down at The Parade Food, Wine and Music Festival 2012, which was a great day with a excellent blend of food, wine and local entertainment. Thanks to Norwood Foodland who kindly supplied all the boutique and local artisan produce for my demo of the rolled lamb neck...

where the good stuff grows

I am a mad keen vegie gardener and can vouch that homegrown tastes better, organic home grown better still. There are a few challenges to get a good vegie patch going, the right soil, watering regime, companion planting knowledge, correct planting times and places, harvest timing, maintenance and most of...

outback pride warrigal and saltbush tart with b.-d. farm paris creek fetta

Outback Pride have a new range of fresh retail product ( that means home shoppers can get the good stuff that chefs have been getting for years) including warrigal, sea parsley and saltbush in 100 g packs, they are available at the Organic & Sustainable Market. Here's the recipe from...

chicken biryani

Thanks to Wilunga Farmers Market stall holders for the produce a few weeks ago for the autumn cook up at the market. Here's the recipe with Inman Valley chooks; B.-d. Paris Creek products; Fleurieu Milk Company cream; Hardings Fine Foods products; Beach Organics spices; Herbivorous herbs; Hillside Herbs chili; and...

if it's not fair, it's just not fair

Fair trade week kicks off in May , here's some food for thought.... Funny to think that a dummy spit in the 1860s by a former Dutch civil servant about corrupt colonial trading practices could have so much impact on the chocolate that you purchase now. Eduard Douwes Dekker penned...

chicken(ing) out

I like chickens; they're intelligent, curious creatures with a way of going about their day to day business that just makes me smile. It's hard to be sad when you see a happy chicken. Unfortunately 90% of Australia's meat birds are produced under "conventional methods" which is a nice way...

cows on grass

Grain fed beef is one of the most successful marketing stories in the food industry. There is simply not enough space in this article to begin a dissertation on how this happened so put a few keywords in google and get reading; (cheap US corn prices, faster growing cattle, marbled...

going native

There is a little strip of soil in my driveway that I couldn't be bothered with when I started planting fruit and vegetables at home. The soil has never been "improved", it rarely gets watered and it gets absolutely hammered with northern sun, yet it is one of the most...