Tag Archives: LAMB

flavours of Mullumbimby & Leah Roland’s June parsnips & greens

Today on belly, I continue meeting wonderful librarians, and finding out about their food loving readers. Sister Rasela does a musical tour of the Mullumbimby community garden, sister Deanna twists the marmalade, and Leah Roland of the Bangalow Cooking School shares a wealth of delicious recipes for some of her June favourites.

First up, a recipe from one of the Mullumbimby Library patrons, Lani, who is coming on belly later this month.

ROAST PUMPKIN SALAD – by Lani, who cooks at Kohinoor Hall Social Nights, in Upper Main Arm

Pumpkin wedges, roasted in olive oil, garlic, smoked paprika, or any spices you fancy (half a pumkpin)

Avocado, sliced (one)

A handful of rocket, just enough for colour and crunch

Roasted macadamias (1 cup)

Crumbled feta, or goat’s cheese (half a cup)

A splash of lemon myrtle dressing is nice, or any home-made dressing you prefer

The combination of colours, flavours and textures are exquisite, and I usually use the same sort of formula in everything I cook.

All the recipes below are from Leah Roland. Some in season goodness for June, I can’t wait to try the Japanese inspired but thoroughly Mediterraneanised sesame greens. And Leah battled on valiantly though I got hopelessly confused between parsnips and turnips – not good with the ‘nips in general. The parsnip chips below have made Leah fall in love with those healthy roots for the first time, especially the curly crunchy tails. And below, also a very light, unusual pastry dough that mixes yeast and self raising flour, and a whole lot of recipes from Leah’s Lebanese and Greek heritage.

Thank you Leah! Get in touch with the Bangalow Cooking School here.

SESAME SEED GREENS

500- 1kg gms of greens like snow peas sugar snaps green bean
3 tablespoons of sesame seeds
¼ teaspoon salt
1-teaspoon sesame oil
1-tablespoon olive oil
1 lime or ½ lemon

1. blanch greens in boiling hot water and refresh in cold then drain
2. dry toast sesame seeds in a skillet until lightly coloured
3. grind sesame seeds and salt in a mortar and pestle until medium groun
4. toss greens in oil dress in lime juice and finish with toasted sesame salt

ROASTED PARSNIP CHIPS – So love these chips sweet and earthy.

1 kg parsnips approx
50ml of oil your choice
flaked sea salt

1. peel parnips and cut into approx 5 cm long batons. Be sure to remove the wood core closer the base as it gets stringier at the thicker end.
2. rub with oil and salt and bake single layer in the oven. Use baking paper so less oil is needed. This is lovely flicked through pilaf or on its own as is .

PASTRY – FOR FATAYER/ LAHME BA JEEN

flat yeasted pocket bread used for kebabs and pastry/pizza bases

makes 10 med/15 small flat disc bread

ingredients

2 cups plain flour (whole meal can be used)

2 cups self raising flour

300-350ml warm water

60ml olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoons of salt

1 packets dry active yeast or 15grams fresh

extra flour or oil for rolling

utensils

large plate

heavy cast iron skillet

rolling pin

large bowl

2 clean cloths

method

in large bowl mix flour, salt and yeast then rub oil into flour mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs

add most of the water and mix in, gathering the flour together to form soft dough. Add more water if mixture is too dry knead dough on a floured surface for 5-8 minutes or until it is smooth and elastic. Place into an oiled bowl and cover with damp cloth. Set aside in a warm spot or over a bowl of warm water for 20min until it has doubled, pastry is ready to go !

If using for individual pastries divide dough into 4 equal portions and our of each portion you can roll between 4-6 balls. Depends what size you would like

PASTRY FILLINGS

FATAYER – spinach/endive and herb pizza

ingredients

4-6 leaves of spinach or endive (approx 2 cups finely chopped)

½ cup chopped parsley, 1 onion finely diced, 1-2 tomatoes finely diced, ¼ cup oil

salt and chilli to taste, ½ teaspoon of baharaat middle-eastern mixed spice

juice of ½ -1 lemon

pastry

½ quantity of dough

method

mix together all filling and place 1-2 heaped tablespoons of filling onto a 10cm dough disc (3mm thick)

fold three sides of the pastry disc into as closed triangular shape and bake for 15-25 min in moderate oven until golden. You can brush with egg wash if you want them shiny.

LAHME BA JEEN – “lamb in pastry” – spicy lamb pizzas

enough for 15-20 small pizzas

utensils

baking trays

food processor if meat not minced

sharp knife

rolling pin

large bowl

med/hot oven 200 degrees

ingredients

½ kg lamb or beef finely minced

2 onions finely diced

handful chopped mint (optional)

½ cup chopped parsley

¼ cup olive oil

2 tomatoes finely diced

1 teaspoon of baharaat m-e mixed spice

2-5 hot chilli minced finely (or to taste)

MANNOUSH/ZAHTAR – thyme, sesame and oregano pizza

ingredients

100 grams of zahtar pre- made, available from any middle-eastern stockist, (Baraka’s

in Byron or the monthly markets)

¾ cup olive oil

1 onion finely diced (optional)

1 large tomato finely diced (optional)

pastry – ½ quantity of khoubiz dough

method

. follow method as above. The difference here is the pastry discs are kept flat.

EJIE – herb omelet

makes 10-15 small omelets which can be served hot or cold as a breakfast dish or mezza

ejie is a fantastic source of iron and protein

utensils

heavy base fry pan

egg flip

plate and paper towels for draining

large spoon

medium bowl and small bowl

ingredients

6 eggs

4 stems shallots chopped finely

1 cup chopped parsley

¼ cup mint fresh leaves chopped

salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup olive oil/sunflower for frying shape knife and chopping board

method

in the medium bowl place all chopped herbs

crack eggs one at a time into separate bowl removing any shell and checking for freshness. Place into bowl with herbs

add salt and pepper to taste

heat oil in a heavy base pan

when oil starts to smoke add 1 tablespoon of omelet mixture. Fill up the pan with lots of little omelets being careful not to let them touch

cook for 3-5 min flipping once. Cook the other side for 2min or until golden brown

carefully drain on a paper towel lined plate and repeat cooking process until all of the mixture is cooked. Place neatly on a serving plate

LUBYA BI ZAIT – “beans in oil” – caramelised onions with tomato and green beans

serves 4-6 people as side dish

utensils

heavy base pan

sharp knife and chopping board

colander

wooden spoon

ingredients

1kg round or flat green beans

3 large onions (thinly wedged)

5 cloves of garlic (sliced thinly)

3 ripe tomatoes chopped into wedges

½ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon baharaat middle-eastern mixed spice

1-2 teaspoons salt and pepper to taste

method

sliver onions into thin wedges. Fry in oil over medium low heat stirring frequently

whilst onions cook, top, tail, wash and break beans in half. Be sure to drain and de-string particularly if you are using a flat bean variety

once onions are golden (approx 15min) add beans and stir in. Fry beans until they go from bright green to a khaki colour. (15-20min)

toss in garlic and stir until you can spell their pungent aroma (2-5 mins).

add chopped tomatoes salt, mixed spices and pepper. Cover and let simmer very slowly for another 20mins. Do not add any extra water.

note: this dish can be eaten hot or cold and is great eaten with traditional Lebanese bread khoubiz. This cooking method can be used with vegetables such as eggplants, okra, potatoes and/or mushrooms.

cook’s tip: for meat based add 500gm of small cubed beef or lamb. Fry in with beans adding 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and about 200mls of water. Simmer covered until meat is tender. Great served with rice.

TAHINI SAUCE

this lemony sauce is used as a dipping sauce for falafels, salad dressings and for the dish samkhe harra hot fish makes. Makes 2 cups

utensils

whisk

medium bowl

measuring jug

ingredients

1 cup of hulled tahini (light)
2 lemons juiced
salt to taste
100-200mls water
optional extras 1 tablespoon cumin, ground clove of garlic, chopped fresh herbs

method

whisk together tahini, lemon and half of the water. The mixture will appear to curdle as the tahini swells to absorb the extra moisture. Keep stirring until a smooth consistency is achieved

slowly add extra water if needed. The sauce should resemble pancake batter consistency

add salt and spices (optional) and check for seasoning

note: can be made ahead of time and stored in air tight jar in the fridge for up to a week
___________________________________________________________________________

TOUM – garlic paste used as a marinade or dip

[Leah recommmends this as a good choice at this time of year – all that flu-fighting garlic!]

utensils

food processor with small bowl or a mortar and pestle
ingredients
4 heads of Australian fresh garlic peeled
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup lemon juice and 2-3cup virgin oil

method

blend garlic and salt until very fine in a small bowled food processor

drizzle in olive oil slowly whilst blending stopping when the mixture becomes thick and resembles a paste like consistency

blend in lemon juice toward the end. This stops garlic from oxidizing.

BABA GHANNOUSH – poor man’s caviar

utensils

cast iron skillet

open flame bbq or hot white coals

food processor or mortar and pestle

colander

citrus juicer

ingredients
2 medium to large eggplants
2-4 cloves of garlic
½ cup tahini
1-2 lemons juiced
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
method
1. directly place whole eggplants on an open flame or wood coal bbq. If you do not have a bbq use a cast iron skillet on a stove, preferably gas on high heat

2. cook eggplant on one side for 10-15 mins until skin has charred. Carefully turn over and cook second side for a further 10 mins being careful not split the skin

3. remove eggplants. allow to drain and cool in colander

4. whilst eggplants are cooling crush garlic with salt in a mortar and pestle

5. carefully peel and scoop out flesh of cooked eggplant pulp. Pick out any dark or fibrous seeds

6. place pulp with garlic, tahini, salt and lemon juice into a food processor

7. blend until mixture is homogenised and check for seasoning. Add extra lemon or water if mixture is too dry or not sour enough
cook’s tip: traditionally baba ghannoush is served on a flat plate. Garnish with sweet paprika, chopped parsley and a well of extra virgin olive oil in the middle. Eat with khoubiz (Lebanese flat bread). It’s also delicious with baked vegetables and bbq’d meats.

AUDIO :

In the Mullumbimby Library with Kate and Dianne.

Mullum library start

Mullum library 2

Mullum library recipes

Mullum library end

Take a musical tour of the Mullumbimby Community Garden with sister Rasela and lots of lovely volunteers

Mullum musical meander – audio

BELLY BULLETIN

The NSW government had decided to remove commercial catch limits for many fish species including flathead, but has now changed its mind, after criticism of the plan by both commercial fishing operators – the South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association, and local environmental group BEACON, the Byron Environmental and Conservation Organisation. The original restrictions will now remain.

Mandarins are now the biggest selling citrus fruit in Australia in winter. This year is a bumper crop. Both exports and domestic demand are up, plantings are growing…sounds like good news, but the SMH reports that many small growers are struggling to compete in price with large farms. Mandarins are seen as part of a shift to more convenient, self packaged food, like bananas. Farmers are replacing orange trees with mandarins in Victoria and South Australia. Mark Watkins, whose family has been growing mandarins for over 100 years, recommends potash for a juicy crop.

And good news if you are a truffle lover, or would like to become one. Truffles, the non-chocolate kind, love the cold weather. A bout of frosts in south-east NSW and the ACT has meant that the truffle season has started earlier than expected this year. You might have to battle the French and other overseas buyers, who have discovered the joys of Australian truffles. Apparently summer truffle recipes, like fruit salad with truffles, are becoming popular in France. The easiest way to buy them is to do an online search.

The Sustain Food eating local month has now finished but their website is still a good place to go to find interesting food related events and workshops. See www.sustainfood.

Coming up in June:

Make and Manage Garden Compost @ ACE Community Colleges, Jun 15

ForestLinks Conference For Landholders – A non-glossy event @ Sourthern Cross University on Saturday the 18th and a field trip departing from the Uni on Sunday the 19th

Gardening in Containers @ ACE Community Colleges, Saturday June 22

The Northern Rivers Writers Centre has a food writing workshop coming up with Barbara Sweeney

Saturday 22 June, 10am-4pm in Byron bay

Cost: $75 members, $95 non-members. Please call 02 6685 5115

If you want to write food stories for magazines, write a cookboook, a blog, or write sizzling fictional food scenes.

Like all good writing, food writing is about observing the details, creating a sense of place and telling the story. The best food writing engages the reader and keeps them enthralled to the very last lick.

Some of the topics to be covered include: finding the story; avoiding food clichés; the craft of writing; different types and styles of food writing; food issues; and the food writing industry.

Easter with yiayia, Barbara the lamb, & Anthea’s lemons & tamarillos

ready to do battle with Greek Easter eggs

We had lots of fun on belly today, in theory getting to know about the traditions of Greek Easter (Orthodox Easter was celebrated yesterday), but really being entertained and charmed by Sister Ilias’s delightful grandmother, who is possibly the oldest belly guest we’ve had so far. I was smiling all day after that, thank you to those of you who let me know you really enjoyed listening to her taking over the show! If you have any grandpersons, uncles aunts etc, who have food stories to tell, please do bring them to belly, accents and so on are really not a problem, just add flavour to the airwaves. What you missed though was Ilias’s mum doing entertaining sign language at the back of the studio, especially at the memories of cleaning lots of smelly offal to make traditional Easter soup and guts-on-a-spit.

The family cooked the world’s best lamb, called Baaarbara.

We finished the show with a visit from Anthea Amore of Organic Passion Catering in Mullumbimby, who was our guest fresh reporter, picking a couple of favourite flavours for the month of May. Thank you so much Anthea for sharing so many delicious recipes using lemons and tamarillos. I encourage you to go to her blog, there are lots of great recipes there using locally sourced ingredients.

ANTHEA’S IN SEASON MAY – LEMONS AND TAMARILLOS – all recipes and photos by Anthea Amore

JUNGLE JUICE – GINGER, LEMON, TURMERIC & CHILLI TEA

Warn off the winter bugs with this deliciously tasting infusion. It spicy and sweet and sour with the fragrant flavours of ginger and tumeric. Thanks to Sal, a Naturopath and dear friend, for introducing me to this potent concoction. I fill a large plunger (4 cup) of it and keep topping it up with hot water and more lemon juice and maple, as needed. It taste delicious and keeps the colds & flu’s at bay!

Four cup plunger:

1 inch fresh ginger, finely grated

1 inch fresh tumeric, finely grated

1 small clove garlic, finely grated

1-2 lemon, juiced

1 chilli’s, de-seeded (vary the amount of chilli depending on the heat of the chilli)

1 tbs maple syrup or honey (for those who use it) per mug full

Add all the ingredients to your plunger, except the lemon juice and maple syrup. Then allow it to infused and ‘brew’ for approximately 3-5 minutes. Then plunge! Add the lemon juice freshly squeezed and maple syrup (to your taste) to your mug or thick glass and sip.

The nicer tasting you make it, the more you’ll want to drink it. You can omit the garlic if your not sick and if you simply want to boost your immune system through the winter but the garlic is the queen of immune boosting so leave it in if you can bare it (and your friends and hubby can bear it too!).

LEMON & MACADAMIA COOKIES

Makes:8 cookies (approximately 90gm each)

1 cup white spelt flour

3/4 cup brown rice flour

zest of 2x large lemons

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup almond or macadamia oil

1-2 tbs soya milk (or rice milk)

1 cup coconut sugar

1/2 cup macadamia nuts

pinch good salt

Combine the oil & sugar together then add the remaining ingredients except for the flours.

Once thoroughly combined, sifted in the flours and fold into batter until it forms a stiff cookie dough.

Weigh into 8 balls of dough about 90 gums each. Shape into biscuits about 1.5-2cm thick.

Place on a lined babying tray and bake for 12-15 minutes on 180C or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool slightly, before carefully removing them onto a cooling rack.

Once cool, eat with a cup of tea or chai.

LEMON, COCONUT & GOJI BERRY SLICE

Makes = 12-15 squares (depends on size you cut them)

Topping

2 cups cashews or cashew butter

1 cup desiccated coconut

1 cup coconut oil

1 cup lemon juice & zest of 3 lemons

(approximately 4-5 lemons)

1/2 cup light agave syrup

1/2 cup cacao butter, shaved

1 tsp salt

Base

2 cups cashew or macadamia’s

1/2 cup goji berries

1 cup desiccated coconut

2 cups shredded coconut

4 tbs coconut oil

4 tbs cacao butter, shaved

4 tbs light agave syrup

Process the cashews in a food processor until it begins to look like a crumbly but slightly chunky texture.

Then add the goji berries and process for a further 20-30 seconds or until goji’s begin to break down.

Add the desiccated coconut, coconut oil, cacao butter & agave syrup and process until the mix is just combined. You want it to be crumbly & have texture.

Pour into a bowl and hand mix in the shredded coconut.

Press into a tin lined with baking paper.

Chill in the fridge while you make the topping.

Making the topping

Place a stainless steel bowl over water boiling in a saucepan. Be sure to make sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Add shaved cacao butter and turn the heat off. Continue with the rest of the recipe…

Blend the cashews into a butter or close enough to nut butter texture.

Add the rest of the ingredients accept the cacao butter and blend until smooth.

Then add the cacao butter and blend until just combined. Be careful not to over process as it can separate!

Pour the smooth creamy mixture onto of the base and smooth out with a palate knife.

Refrigerate overnight, then cut into squares and eat!

[Anthea gave me a taste of this slice after the show, it is absolutely delicious – zesty and refreshing and just rich enough, so you aren’t sure if you are having a sweet indulgence or eating something that is good for you – quite possibly both!]

BELLY BULLETIN

There are so many workshops and events in may that we devoted the whole bulletin to them this week.

Every year throughout the month of May, the Cancer Council encourages people all over Australia to get together in their community and host a morning tea. This year is the 20th anniversary of this very successful idea, and the Council has tried to make connecting and donating easier by proposing virtual morning teas, for those of us too time poor to go and sit down over a cuppa with our neighbours. A bit sad really, but often those dealing with disease in the family are the most time poor of all, so check out local papers & the web. You can host or attend a morning tea anytime through May or June. The website is www.biggestmorningtea.com.au, there is a facebook page with plenty of info and recipes, and please let the bellysisters know if you have an event coming up in the area, as to find an event through the cancer council page you pretty much need to know the name of the host.

Or call bayfm & request a community service announcement, during office hours on 6680 7999.

Sustain Northern Rivers is hosting Think Global, Eat Local in May. The campaign is all about eating local food. They would like you to contribute reviews and stories about local food places, there are prizes to be won every week including dinners at local restaurants and hampers of local goodies. Alison Drover is coming on belly next week to suggest ways we can eat more local food.

the sustainfood.com.au website has a really good list of upcoming food events in the Northern Rivers, including:

Tuesday 7 May – ‘Bringing your little piece of Australia back to how it was’ workshop, Mullumbimby Community Garden

– ‘Post Harvest and storage’ Djambung Gardens

Wed 8 May ‘Composting workshop’ Caldera Farmers Market, Murwillumbah

Sat 11 May ‘Caring for native bees’, at ACE Lismore

And there’s never been a better time to learn to make cheese at home, another cheesemaking teacher is coming to visit. Lyndall Dykes, an artisan cheese maker from the Coffs Harbour area will be in Ballina on the 18, 19th & 20th of May. She’s on a mission to spread the word that really tasty gourmet cheeses don’t have to be an expensive, luxury item. Lyndall now trains hundreds of people each year, so the bellysisters look forwards to the end of plastic cheese, & some wonderful cheesy experiments once we have all mastered the basics.

Lyndall will have 3 one day workshops, on:

Saturday 18th May – Soft Cheese making

Sunday 19th May – Advanced Cheese making

Monday 20th May – Homemade Mozzarella, Pasta and Gnocchi

• For more information about cheese making workshops throughout the year or to order your copy of ‘The Cheesemaking Workshop’ book contact Lyndall on 02 6656 2335 / 0458 562 135 or visit www.thecheesemakingworkshop.com.au

BUILD A CHOOK TRACTOR – with Sharon Gibson – sustainability series at Byron College

Chickens love to scratch, dig and will gobble up every weed, seed and bug and their poo makes a wonderful fertiliser. We can use Chicken tractors in our vegetable gardens to cultivate the soil and under fruit trees to weed and for pest control. Come and learn to build chook tractors at the Mullumbimby Community Garden.

Price $60.00 (Concession $48.00); Fri, 17/05/2013 – 17/05/2013

BYS BARISTA COURSE

Tuesday 21st May – 4 to 7pm, $50, Ages 15 to 24

Byron Youth Activity Centre, 1 Gilmore Crescent Byron Bay

To book a place call Steffie on 6685 7777

And if you’d rather just go and have a delicious meal, check out the pop up dinner at Burringbar, Kris & Matt’s feast

raw food & Indian inspired dishes feature

At Burringbar Hall on 19 may & 16 June, 6pm

$55 p/p byo, contact Matt 0402 235 465 or Kris 0409 456 299

Love and chocolate halva, sister T

Sample time

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

Easter belly

On air on Byron Bay’s community radio station Bayfm 99.9 on April 2, 2012

Sister T and Miss April, Alison Drover from Fork in the Field, had fun today talking about Easter food. We had eggs hidden around the studio, lambs and Easter bunnies running around, hot cross buns in the oven, smelling great… In the Byron area for many of us this time of year is also all about the Bluesfest, so most of the tracks today are from this year’s Bluesfest artists.

HOT CROSS BUNS

This year for Easter I thought I would focus on these delicious cross topped raisin and spice buns. There is a really good recipe here, from the very reliable Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine. They are pretty simple to make, a bit like muffins in that you mix all the dry and all the wet ingredients separately first, but yeast risen. This makes them very easy to change, glam up, complicate or simplify. Heston Blumenthal makes earl gray tea flavoured buns, a chocolate chip variation is apparently particularly Australian, you can get coffee, sour cherry, gluten free, in Newtown, Sydney, you can find them with frankincense glaze so you feel like you are in church – which is a bit odd becuase you shouldn’t eat in church. Or even filled with flavoured mousse or bread & butter pudding.
Every year in Australia someone complains that shops are selling them in January, in the UK you can get them all year round.
For a sweet little bun, they were always controversial – in England at one stage forbidden by Protestants as too Catholic, then limited to Good Friday (maybe it was easier to get people to obey then – an eye for an eye, a head for a bun…)
Now there is also controversy among historians about whether they used to be made in honour of the goddess of light or of the moon, the cross originally the horns of a sacred ox.
Certainly there were many superstitions about them – if you bake them on good Friday they will never go off, you can hang one in your kitchen to bring luck, they were even used ground up as medicine.

Have a look at the recipe link,I love the mix of orange zest and candied orange in it, or try your own favourite hot cross bun recipe with one of these belly lab variations:

Tuscan bun – skip sugar glaze and sugar in dough, add rosemary

Pagan bun – The cross is normally made with a simple paste of flour and water (see recipe link). Make a sunburst instead of a cross by adding 2 more lines, or try other designs, moon, starts, happy face, flowers …, colour the flour – or just leave the cross off, call them buns, eat them all year round

Ultra traditional bun – make cross shape with a wooden ‘bun docker’ – see here for how to make your very own docker – probably useful to give yourself stigmata too…be careful

MISS APRIL’S BEST IN SEASON

Out with the nectarines in with apples it’ April!

Celebrate the new life with eggs and a roast lamb or if you are not a meat eater perhaps a fish pie for Good Friday.

Crack a real egg over a chocolate one and make a baked egg custard and serve with a roasted stuffed apple or simply the custard paying homage to the egg.

Give your garden a new life by getting in there and weeding and treating it to some worm juice make your own or look at the farmers’ market or community garden for some and see everything spring to life.

Miss April Alison Drover Fork in the Field X

What’s in season NSW

Almonds

Miss April in milkmaid mode

Apple

Avocado

Banana

Beetroot

Broccoli

Brussels Sprouts

Cabbage

Capsicum

Carrot

Celery

Chestnuts

Chilli

Coriander

Cucumber

Eggplant

Fennel

Fig

Garlic

Ginger

Grapes

Green Beans

Hazelnut

Lemon

Lime

Lobster

Mushrooms

Okra Olive Onion Oregano

Papaya Parsnip Pear Persimmon Pistachio Plums Pomegranate Potato Pumpkin

Quince

Sage Shallots Silverbeet Spinach Squash

Thyme Tomato Turnip

Walnut

Northern Rivers Locally best is … silverbeet, basil, avocado, and tomatoes.

MISS APRIL’S EASTER RECIPES

EASTER POMEGRANATE AND YOGURT LAMB

Serve with crunchy rosemary potatoes

Shoulder of lamb – deboned approximately 1.6 kg or more

• 1 tsp. cumin

• 1tsp coriander

• juice of lemon

• 3 cloves of garlic (not imported) minced

• 1 tsp. fennel seeds

• 1 tsp. chopped thyme

• 4 tablespoons of olive oil

• 4 sprigs thyme

• 1 tsp. cinnamon

• 1 tsp. salt

• 3 cinnamon sticks

• 4 tablespoons yogurt

• 1 pomegranate – seeded

• 2 onions

Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.

Take each onion cut top and bottom off (don’t cut off the skin).

Place onions in the bottom of baking tray. This will be used to rest the lamb on.

Place all the pomegranate seeds in a saucepan and 2 tablespoons of water and heat gently on a low heat on the stove for about 5 minutes or until the seeds have softened. This is a simply way of making a syrup to rub over the lamb.

Mix all the spices except the thyme and the cinnamon quills add the yogurt.

Take a paring knife and cut across the lamb. Ensure you have clean hands and then rub the spice and yogurt mix into the lamb. Take the pomegranate syrup/seeds and rub this all over the lamb.

Push the cinnamon quills into the lamb and then the thyme sprigs into the cinnamon.

Place the lamb in the oven and then cover the dish with a lid or the tin with a large piece of foil. Roast the lamb, undisturbed, for 3 hrs, then remove the lid or foil and continue to roast for 30 mins to give the lamb colour. When the lamb has had its time, pour off the juices, remove as much fat as possible, then pour the juices back over the lamb.

BAKED EGG CUSTARD

• 425ml organic full-cream milk

• 300ml organic double cream

• the zest of 1 orange

• 140g natural caster sugar

• 5 large, free-range eggs

• 4 large egg yolks

• a few drops of real vanilla extract

• a few gratings of nutmeg

• a 25cm deep ovenproof dish

Preheat the oven to 120 C/gas mark . Put the milk, cream and orange zest into a largish saucepan over a low to medium heat, and slowly bring the contents to a simmer. Immediately remove the pan from the heat, pour in the rum and leave the milk to infuse for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, whisk the sugar, whole eggs and yolks until thoroughly combined. Strain the milk on to the egg mixture (discarding the zest), stir well and add the vanilla extract.

Pour the custard mixture into the dish, grate on nutmeg, and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 1 hour, or until the custard has set (gently push the top with a finger to test). Serve at room temperature.

MUSIC

Love You More, Bobby Alu

Trouble Somehow, The Audreys

Rocksteady Woman, Nicky Bomba

Magdalena, Watussi

In the ghetto, Candi Staton and Elvis Presley

love and chocolate hot star buns, Sister T

ps – if this is all too much Easter sweetness for you, check out the Easter bunny and Ghengis Khan going head to head in a rap battle on Youtube here

A Tongan Feast

For the first belly of 2012 Professor Mike Evans from Southern Cross University joined sister T to talk about his time doing research in Tonga, and the great Tongan New Year feasts.

Music and dancing are very important in Tonga - photo Mike Evans

Mike shared a couple of favourite recipes from his time in Tonga.

LU SIPI (LAMP FLAPS COOKED IN TARO LEAVES)

… can be done with other sorts of proteins as well. I’ll mention this one because it is a guilty pleasure. I have written on the impact of imported lamb flaps in a critical way, but I love this way of eating them. It may be that there is a lesson here in terms of portion control (though maybe not) … this way of cooking the lamb does not require much meat, and the taro greens are packed with goodness.

Take a portion of the lamb and cut into large bite size. In a large bowl mix with a little onion, shallots, garlic, or similarly savoury vegetable. Season to taste and put aside. Make some coconut cream and put aside.

Lay out a large section of banana leaf (or tin foil if leaf is not available); on top of the leaf make a nest of the taro greens; lay the leaves together to form a bowl, and then spoon the lamb mixture on to the leaves. Cup the leaves into a bowl shape using the underling banana leaves as additional support, and pour coconut cream over top of the mixture (150-250 ml or so to cover the meat). Close the taro leaves to seal the mix in a packet, seal the packet in the banana leaves and tie shut. Cook in the underground oven (called an ‘umu) … if using an oven place the packets into a covered pan with a bit of water in the bottom – the key is that the taro greens must cook in a moist heat. Be sure the packets are sealed … one hour at 170-80 …

Eat with baked or boiled taro, breadfruit, yams, cassava, or sweet potato.

To go heart smart trim the fat off the lamb, dilute the coconut cream with some water.

‘OTA ‘IKA

Take a firm white fish fillet (tuna is good) and cut into bite size pieces. Chop some onion and garlic into fine pieces and mix with fish in a bowl. Add citrus juice (say 2 lemons) and marinate for an hour or so. Pour off the lemon, add coconut cream (and maybe some chopped tomato or peppers [capsicum]), season to taste, and serve.

Kienga's traditional garden - photo Mike Evans

Ronit’s Morocco

On air on bayfm99.9 on Monday 11 April, 2011

Sister B and brother Andrew (A & B!) had a wonderful talk with Ronit Robbaz-Franco about the country and food of Morocco. A big thank you to everyone for keeping the belly show on the road when I could not go on air at the last minute. I am sorry to report the belly cat is now chasing mice in cat heaven, but we had some lovely last few hours together – and some hard ones. A and B tell me Ronit brought all the colours of Morocco into the bayfm studio. Sister T

Ronit setting the scene for a Moroccan banquet

*Ronit’s Story*

My parents were born in Morocco. My mother is from Casablanca and my father
from Marrakech. Both grew up in Morocco but left for Israel in 1950s, where
I was born. My mother was a chef, specializing in pastry, so my upbringing
evolved around food. My Great Grandfather was an Ambassador in Morocco,
that’s how they landed in Morocco initially. I come from a large, colourful
family, where all our family affairs happened around a Moroccan feast. There
was always a hearty celebration taking place, a passionate and dramatic
affair with family & friends. My brother’s wedding lasted for 3-5 days. The
Moroccan women are known to be feisty, colorful and vibrant. I have 5
sisters & 1 brother, so I grew up with many women around me, listening to
their stories.

Growing up in Israel in a Moroccan household, it was infused with Moroccan
culture, heritage and social ethics. When I visited Morocco I felt I had
arrived home.

My mother’s family is scattered all over the world, basically the wandering
Jew. I decided to leave Israel after my military service at 20 years of age.
I lived in South East Asia, India, Japan, South America, mainly Brazil,
where I lived for 5 years, then Central America and finally I arrived on
these shores about 14 years ago. Travelling around the globe, I gained a
wealth of experience in middle eastern, primarily Moroccan cuisine, Indian
and Gourmet Wholefood. I set up my business called Open Table Catering in
Byron Bay and it’s been operating successfully for 7 years.

Moroccan cuisine is extremely diverse, due to Morocco’s interaction with
other cultures and nations over the centuries. Moroccan cuisine has been
subject to Berber, Moorish, Mediterranean and Arab influences. The cooks in
the royal kitchens of Fez, Meknes, Marrakesh, Rabat and Tetouan refined it
over the centuries and created the basis for what is known as Moroccan
cuisine today.

A very traditional Moroccan Recipe by Ronit:

HARIRA SOUP

Harira is a tomato based soup with chick peas, meat, lentils and small
noodles.

It is the most important soup in Morocco as it serves to break the fast
during the whole month of Ramadan. During this month, at the break of the
fast, harira is accompanied by dates, warm milk, juices, bread and
traditional Moroccan pancakes. At the moment of the call to prayer,
Moroccans all over the country utter ‘bismillah’ (in the name of God), bite
into a date and sip a spoonful of harira – their first taste of food after a
long day of fasting.

For 2-3 people

200 grams of meat (lamb or beef) chopped into cubes

150-200g of chickpeas soaked overnight

80g of vermicelli

5 tomatoes

1 cup of chopped celery (krafs)

1/2 cup of chopped coriander

1/2 cup of chopped fresh parsley

2 teaspoons of tomato paste

1 tsp of powdered ginger

1 pinch of saffron (strands or powdered)

1/2 cup of cornflour

1 liter of water

salt

pepper

1 tablespoon of butter

Boil the tomatoes and blend to a puree. In a large pan place the chickpeas,
herbs (parsley and celery but not the coriander), the onions, meat, spices
and butter. Add the tomato puree and 1 litre of water and bring to the boil.
Simmer for 45 minutes or until the chickpeas are soft. Stir in the tomato
paste and thicken by adding water to the cornflour and slowly stirring in.
Add the vermicelli and cook for a further 10 minutes. Take off the heat and
add the fresh coriander. Serve with a wedge of lemon.

Clock tip – for a special treat (especially at Ramadan) serve with dates and
sticky, sweet shebbakiya.

Open Table is running cooking workshops and introducing a new food line: Gourmet Raw Foods called Raw Buzz (from Ronit’s surname ‘Robbaz’)

THE BELLY BULLETIN

Local screenings of the new film “The Economics of Happiness” are on this week.

This is a film on solutions to the problems of unemployment, waste and unhappiness that we see flowing from our current system of trade and production, including things like shipping food across the world just to package it. The film is by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Steven Gorelick & John Page. They say: ‘Going local’ is a powerful strategy to help repair our fractured world – our ecosystems, our societies and our selves. Far from the old institutions of power, people are starting to forge a very different future…

check out “The economics of Happiness” at:

Mullumbimby Civic Hall ,Wednesday, 13th April, 6.30pm

Southern Cross University, Lismore (Main D Block concert space), Thursday 14th April, 6pm

Byron Community Centre, Sunday, 17th April, 6.00pm

more info www.theeconomicsofhappiness.org/

Our local food producers, agricultural industry and community will reap big benefits when some of the Northern River’s most groundbreaking sustainable agriculture projects are showcased in forums across the region in May.

With the focus on sharing knowledge and making food production profitable in a changing climate, the Sustainable Agriculture Forums are scheduled for Murwillumbah and Ballina on May 3 and Casino and Maclean on May 4. They will showcase projects that focus on sustainable greenhouse production, biological farming methods, sustainable grazing and soil health for commercial food production.

The forums are free and open to the public, in particular, representatives from the Northern Rivers agricultural industry, local food producers and community members interested in sustainable agriculture and food security.

For more information, or to register: visit www.northernriversfoodlinks.com.au

or email events@northernriversfoodlinks.com.au

seedsavers 2005 Byron Bay feast

Seedsavers is a wonderful organisation started in Byron Bay by Jude and Michel Fanton, in a suburban house and (bare) garden. Seedsavers now has projects around the world, supporting biodiversity and traditional farmers and home gardeners too.

And occasionally they have wonderful get-togethers in their garden (which now is a paradise of food plants from all over the world), talk and share wisdom and of course cook and eat. In 2005 sister T watched this being cooked over an open fire – right in Byron Bay, not on a small tropical island.

Solomon Fast Food! – Roots in Fire with Johnson of the Solomon Islands

Bamboo (we used Dendrocalamus latiflorus) cut between 2 nodes approx 45cm long
Cut up any root crops eg. Taro, cassava, yam, sweet potato, … & place in bamboo tubes according to type of root (don’t mix) & stuff open end with banana leaves.
Put bamboo in fire flames & cook, turning often, until bamboo is black
Transfer bamboo tubes to fire’s embers & wait until the tubes steam & smell cooked.
Bamboo wall thickness affects cooking times – thinner bamboo walls means the roots cook more quickly & different root crops take different times to cook
approx. 40mins on average.

Fish in Palm Leaf with Atai of East Timor

Make a fire and let it burn down to the coals.
Take: Any fresh fish
Herbs, eg. Fennel
Garlic
Salad: Lettuce, garlic & tomato
Stones that are hot from the fire
Put all in one parcel made of a big banana leaf & tie together.
Put on top of embers & cover with stones & more whole banana leaves for one to one and a half hours.

Fish Wing Parcel with Atai

Big fish wings marinaded in bush lime juice for 1/2 hour, garlic, onion, pepper, (curry powder can also be added), Lemon Grass, Salt, (Finely chopped Chilli can also be added)
Put all ingredients in Banana Palm Leaves & stitch up using palm fronds along the sides of the parcels.
Put parcels on the fire’s hot coals & cook for half to one hour.
Enjoy!

And there were more good things from the Fanton kitchen, which is a hungry alchemist’s dream of jars filled with strange preserved things – all from the garden of course.

Pickled Bamboo by Jude Fanton of Seed Savers

Dendrocalamus latiflorus & Bambusa oldhamii (which can grow in cool climates eg. NZ)
Harvest in hot months
Cut longitudinally then peel off husks
Boil 20mins (if still bitter then pour off & reboil)
Pickle in strong brine
LATER: Slice & soak to remove salt
Lime juice, fish sauce
Lemon, lime juice lemongrass Kaffir LIme leaves & young cinnamon leaves (+palm sugar or something to sweeten if desired)
Leave to marinate.

Yacon (Polymnia sonchifolia) by Jude Fanton of Seed Savers

“The Yacón is a perennial plant grown in the Andes for its crisp, sweet-tasting tubers. The texture and flavour have been described as a cross between a fresh apple and watermelon which is why it is sometimes referred to as the apple of the earth.” Thank you wikipedia!
Slice then marinade half an hour or so in orange, lime or mandarin juice

Curry Powder

In heavy frypan, put coriander, cumin and fennel seeds and dry roast.
Warm some mustard seeds towards the end.
Chilli if desired.

And it must have been lima bean season…

Lima Beans can be cooked in the following three ways:

Lemon/Lime Lima (Madagascar) Beans with Jude Fanton of Seed Savers

Fresh Madagascar Lima Beans (if green don’t need to soak ie. If they’re just been picked from vine. If dried, soak and boil until soft)
Add any citrus and any oil and any herbs (for example, you could use chervil)

Hommus

To make hommus, mix cooked lima beans with tahini and any citrus.

Fried Lima Beans

Soak and then boil lima beans until soft (with no salt) and then drain.
Refry with onion, garlic and curry powder (see above recipe).

And to finish, after all that healthy home-made vegetarian goodness, a healthy home made cake!

Johnson’s Birthday Cake

( also an excellent all-round cake mix) from Jude Fanton of Seed Savers

2 eggs – separates yolks from whites and beat egg whites with sugar
Add some liquid such as coconut milk, orange juice or any citrus
Could put some butter or oil in.
Add any dry ingredients, such as millet flour, wheat flour, linseed or almond meal plus a teaspoon of a raising agent, such as cake raising mix (1 teaspoon to every cup of flour)
Mix everything together and bake in a moderate oven.

Yummy Caramel Cake Topping from Mara of Puerto Rico

Mix together 1 – 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of lime/ lemon/ orange in a pan on the stove top and stir until sugar dissolves but don’t caramelise it (ie. Remove before it darkens)
At that point of caramelisation, add cream until it’s a bit runny.
You can also add a bit more citrus so it doesn’t harden too much.
Then mix cocoa from the seed and mix with macadamia, cardamon and cinnamon in a mortar and pestle.
Sprinkle over cake and caramel topping – bon appetit!

But wait there’s more recipes! Maybe this was the next day – they have fun on those Seedsavers conferences.

Pigeon Peas by Rob

Soak pigeon peas overnight in hot or boiling water and then drain off.
In a pan, fry some onions, curry powder, garlic, ginger.
Add soya sauce to deglaze (ie. To get the caramel off the pan).
Add hot water, bay leaf and thyme.
Cook for 1/2 hour on stove.

Chilli Guacamole (Guacamole Picante) by Pablo of Argentina

3 soft avocados, 5-6 cherry tomatoes, a little spoon of coriander, 1 chilli, 1/2 an onion, and juice of half an orange or lemon, pinch of salt, 3 soup spoons of olive oil.
Mix all ingredients in the blender to make a paste.

Golden Oven Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes (Papas Doradas) by Pablo of Argentina

Cut potatoes into cubes and put in a pan with olive oil and a little salt
Place in a hot oven of 230 – 250 degrees Celsius
Leave for approx. 45 mins
For sweet potato do the same as for potato and cook for 20 minutes.

BBQ Leg of Lamb (Pierna de Oveja Asada) by Pablo of Argentina

Can’t get any simpler than this…
Cook leg of lamb with sprinkled salt on bbq.

Green Salad (Ensalada Verde) by Pablo of Argentina

Lettuce, onions, fennel bulb with olive oil and salt.

Aussie Fish Cakes by June

Fresh fish (or tinned, eg. Mackerel, Salmon, or Fish Cutlets)
Mashed Potato (double the quantity of the fish)
1 egg
1 small onion
herbs (e.g. Parsley, thyme & oregano)

cook & mash potatoes
mix all ingredients together
make into patties
roll in flour
shallow fry for approx. 5 minutes on each side

Not enough? Here‘s a link to another feast (this a recent one in India)