On air on bayfm 99.9 community radio Byron Bay, on October 1 2012
On belly today, a preview of the 2012 Sample day at Bangalow Showgrounds, this Saturday 6 October, with organiser Remy Tancred.
Twelve hours (8am to 8pm) of cooking demonstrations, music, farmers market and other food producers, and lots of the region’s best restaurants showing off with samples of their food. Take lots of $5 and $10 notes, we are buying small and large tastings directly from the restaurant stalls this year. But there is no entry fee to the festival, and plenty of free things to see and do, including plenty for the kids. Even a cooking session for them. It was a great day out last year for anybody remotely interested in food, and should be again. look out for bellysisters wandering around with a mike, I’ll certainly be there if you want to say hi.
Info: samplensw.com
Sample is also a magazine full of local flavours from some of our best producers and chefs. For spring, there is a very ‘cheffy’ looking lamb recipe which is Remy’s current favourite: “lamb shoulder tourchon with beetroot tarte tatin and salsa verde” from new Byron Bay restaurant the Belongil Bistro. Check it out here, the beetroot tarte tatin alone looks like a lovely recipe. The lamb is seared, slow roasted, then shaped with plastic wrap and cooked again, which looks a bit daunting. I’m sure I’d end up with well-seared plastic. But you could use something metal, like biscuit cutters if you have enough, or metal tins. Maybe even a muffin tray and just sear the tops under the grill.
And we’re off to the desert with desert sister Rasela. If you have been missing her voice on belly, check out her desert adventures here. Would you believe it’s hard to get organic quinoa at outback roadhouses?
FRESH REPORT
My pick of the market last week was new season globe artichokes so small & tender you can eat them raw, as a great cleansing spring salad.
Plenty of other new season fruit & veg turning up, so tune in to Miss October next week on belly to get lots of seasonal cooking ideas. All this month there are free Byron farmers market tours, part of the Crave food festival events – by Gavin Hughes head chef at the Byron at Byron resort or one of his sous chefs Blake or Stephen. Meet at the Northern market entrance at 8am,no need to book. The Bangalow farmers market on Saturday will be part of the Sample food festival, so it is moving to the Showgrounds, and includes many more stallholders but runs at its usual times 8 to 11am.
BABY ARTICHOKE SALAD – from the belly lab – Sister Tess
very small new season globe artichokes (about egg sized or smaller) – as many as you can afford/can be bothered cleaning
green olives, pitted and roughly chopped
parsley, chopped
garlic chives, or green garlic, or shallots, or any member of the garlic or onion family but keep it mild
good olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper
cooked chickpeas (opt)
Remove tougher outer leaves of artichokes, slice off the tip of the artichoke with its baby thorns, still prickly though small. There should be no furry choke in the middle when they are this small, but check. Basically if you can slice through the artichoke easily with a sharpish knife they should be ok to eat raw.
Whenever you cut artichokes, they should go into a bowl of water with a little lemon juice until you are ready to use them so the cut edges don’t go black.
When you are close to serving time, slice them finely & dress with lemon, olive oil, chopped green olives, parsley & garlic chives . Add chickpeas if you want to make the salad go further & mellow the slight bitterness.
BELLY BULLETIN
Thank you to Quentin Watts for reminding belly that National Organic week begins this Friday October 5 to Sunday 14th. It’s a ten day week designed to increase awareness of the benefits of organic products and farming production systems and encourage their adoption in Australia. Details of evens on the website, & lots of organic info. organicweek.net.au Also from Friday you can vote for your favourite organic business on their Facebook page.
Alison Drover, locavore, frugavore & our Monthly Miss who brings you best in season recipes, is doing cooking classes for kids 6 to 12 years old, this week here at the Byron Bay Community Centre. Tomorrow and this Wednesday October 3, 10am to 3.30 pm. Call Alison to book or for more details – 0404 304 458
Congratulations to the Federal community for raising the many thousands of dollars needed to buy the Federal Hall from the Anglican Church and keep it going as a vital community hub. Now the friends of the Burringbar Hall are running a series of very interesting cooking classes to raise funds. They have been having possum trouble apparently. Cheesemaker Debbie Allard will come on belly in a couple of weeks to talk about the Hall, and cheese of course, but meantime, classes start this Sunday 7 October with Brett the Burringbar butcher, then on Friday 19 October the gorgeous Faith Newham who baked for the Byron Farmers Market for many years will teach breadmaking. Other classes will cover chocolate, cheesemaking, Roberto’s Italian food, French high tea… I think I have to move to Burringbar. More info from Debbie on 0404 812 011 or email drallard@bigpond.com, or check them out on Facebook
And the Byron Community College spring term is also starting up this month. You can do an accredited course as a barista, or if you’re brave as a food safety supervisor. Learn Christmas baking with Alison Drover or Christmas cupcakes with Lauren Blong. Asian food with smiling Despina or soft cheese with Debra, or Alison’s popular farm to fork classes. And there is always a wonderful series of partly subsidised sustainable living courses. Lots of gardening, from permaculture to strawbales, a wild feast with the gorgeous Andrew Carter, & my pick – an introduction to beekeeping. We need more beekeepers because our world needs more healthy happy bees. It’s a one day course on Saturday 27 October in Mullumbimby. www.byroncollege.org.au or 6684 3374
ABC online reports that strawberry growers in Queensland are expecting an early end to the season, with many farmers wrapping up production because of low prices. The Queensland president of Strawberries Australia, Bill Sharpe says ideal growing conditions led to a glut this year. “It’s unfortunate we’ve had the perfect weather conditions,” he said. Mr Sharpe says strawberry lovers should buy now before prices rise dramatically. He estimates by this Wednesday or Thursday prices will increase because most farmers will have stopped. So make strawberry jam tomorrow. Or you could buy locally grown berries of course, normally available for many months yet.
AFP reports that a United States chef has been convicted of second degree murder after he admitted slow-cooking his wife‘s body for four days to get rid of the evidence, while claiming she had died accidentally, after he had tied her up to stop her drink driving. David Viens, 49, a former restaurant owner from Lomita, south of Los Angeles,woke up four hours later to find her dead, and panicked. “I cooked her four days. I let her cool, I strained it out,” he told detectives in evidence revealed during the trial. He said he then threw the remains in the rubbish. Her body was never found. I do think it is a good idea to follow a mostly vegetarian diet while travelling. Just in case.
MUSIC
Abbie Cardwell & her Leading Men – Candystore , The Future’s so bright
Ilona Harker – Pick you up
The Little Sisters – Dirt track girl
The Rusty Datsuns – Tattoo
love and chocolate roasted lamb (yes that’s a real recipe), Sister Tess