It was a March hare’s mad tea party of a show today. Alison Drover was our guest fresh reporter and she was in an Italian mood, she prepared a whole lot of info on fruit and veg in season in March, especially zucchini eggplant and figs, then she couldn’t get to the studio so sister T has to pretend to be much blonder and nicer and better dressed (you can tell in the voice) and read out all Alison’s info and recipes. On the first belly in April though, she will be live on air in person. Also, straight from the belly lab, a wonderful new discovery, lychee choc tops, the belly bulletin featuring breast milk ice cream, stories from fabulous community radio food shows, lots of women’s voices to celebrate 100 years of International Women’s day, Danish mardi gras, and this week’s markets as usual.<\/p>\n
ALISON’S GUEST FRESH REPORT : IN SEASON AROUND AUSTRALIA IN MARCH<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n This month March and I tend to think I am very Italian because it is the season for many fruits and vegetables, which characterize a lot of Italian cooking\u2026\u00a0 The fig, the zucchini flower, the eggplant, the zucchini, pumpkins and basil.<\/p>\n It is about using the seasons in abundance having a lot of something like eggplant and adding something special to it like an artisan cheese or some prosciutto but taking time to prepare the vegetables well. The Italians are inherently sustainable in the kitchen and supplement vegetables, which are low carbon footprint with small amounts of meat or often than not any meat and also make flavorsome cheeses, curds and intense pestos.<\/p>\n Zucchini Flowers<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 are at the markets however they disappear. Harris Farm and other groceries stock them however it is worth talking to your grower and even asking to reserve some. They are fragile and therefore you need to consider this with regards to price. They price can vary from anything to $4.00 a punnet upwards. The best incentive to grow food is to taste it.\u00a0 The recipe that I have provided is for zucchini flowers and is a little \u201cspecial\u201d however worthwhile and then another that can be whipped up easily.<\/p>\n Corn<\/span><\/strong> \u2026is ready and its arrival was celebrated in Corndale at the Chicken and Corn night in a few weeks ago at the Community Hall.<\/p>\n March is the month of figs<\/strong><\/span>. This is a time to seek them out and dedicate meals to them. I love figs grilled with cheese, salad, balsamic and roasted macadamias however they are good in so many ways especially on top of cakes.\u00a0 Finding the Fig \u2013 figs are not going to be everywhere like the custard apple or the lime however this makes them more treasured. Look for them at local stores ie Bexhill Store has some great ones bought in by locals or the markets.\u00a0 They have only a very short window at their peak so check out the local market now to see if you can get them. Figs grow quite well on the North Coast, despite coming from a more Mediterranean climate. The delicious plump fruits are highly perishable and can only be stored in the fridge for a few days. You can poach, grill and bake figs and add them to salads. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Custard Apples <\/strong><\/span>\u2013 love to grow in this region and are plentiful and often found on the side of the road at stalls as well as at the markets. More and more recipes for using them http:\/\/www.custardapple.com.au Peter Gilmore from the Quay restaurant in Sydney made them famous with the Custard Apple ice cream which is great.<\/p>\n Eggplants <\/strong><\/span>are glossy purple and in abundance. Many people overlook this vegetable however it is such diversity. The recipe I have included is for an eggplant stack with roasted tomato sauce, feta and basil. Whole eggplants can stored for two weeks in the fridge but once cut, they quickly discolour. Eggplant can be sliced and fried for use in lasagna but this method soaks up a lot of oil. Whole eggplants can be sliced lengthways and roasted for half an hour or so in a moderate oven until they collapse. The skin can be easily peeled off and the flesh pureed with tahini, lemon juice, a hint of crushed garlic, a teaspoon of cumin and a little olive oil and salt to make a brilliant dip \u2013 Baba Ganoush.\u00a0 Of course you can mix eggplant with other \u2018in season\u2019 vegies such as tomatoes and zucchini to make a\u00a0 ratatouille, which is basically a mixed, or roasted vegetables and onion in a tomato sauce. I take out all the tomatoes that I harvested in December from the freezer and mix them with the zucchini and eggplant.<\/p>\n Zucchini<\/strong><\/span> are robust and will keep in the fridge for a while and can be grated to make fritters with, chargrilled and layered like the eggplant, diced and fried with pasta or can be oven roasted with oil and garlic and rosemary make a great salad for a bbq.<\/p>\n March is the month for harvesting and eating beans, beetroot and Bok Choy. Beans <\/strong><\/span>of all sizes and shapes including green (or French), butter beans (yellow), scarlet (actually purple) and runner beans are in season now. One idea is steamed with basil, chopped boiled egg, macadamia oil and some red onion.<\/p>\n Baby beetroot<\/strong><\/span> should also be ready now and available at your local market. If you grow your own, you have the added bonus of using the tops – the smaller leaves in salads or the larger leaves in cooking, as you would use spinach. The roots are good sources of vitamins B1; B2 and the leaves are high in Vitamin C.<\/p>\n March is the month for:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022\tMaking lime cordial so that you can top up your vitamin C in winter when limes are going to be very expensive<\/p>\n \u2022\tCelebrating the fig \u2013 bake a cake, roast them poach them grill them<\/p>\n \u2022\tEating eggplant every which way and how<\/p>\n \u2022\tEnjoying berries blueberries and strawberries before they disappear.<\/p>\n \u2022\tEating plums the last of the stoned fruit although in this area look for the sugar plums as they grow better here<\/p>\n Fruits in season this month:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u2022\tApples \u2013 galas and red delicious have been in the shops for a few weeks, while Jonathons are coming off the trees at the moment<\/p>\n \u2022\tAvocadoes \u2013 Hass are finishing up, but Shephards are coming into season<\/p>\n \u2022\tBananas<\/p>\n \u2022\tBerries \u2013 this is the end of the season, but blueberries and blackberries are still very good<\/p>\n \u2022\tFigs<\/p>\n \u2022\tFuji fruit<\/p>\n \u2022\tGuava<\/p>\n \u2022\tMangoes \u2013 Kensington Prides have finished but the end of season Palmer mangoes are beautiful<\/p>\n \u2022\tPears \u2013 William, Sensation and Bosc<\/p>\n \u2022\tPineapples \u2013 Bethongas are still great<\/p>\n \u2022\tPlums are gorgeous at the moment \u2013 particularly radiance and I\u2019ve seen the first of the tiny sugar plums<\/p>\n \u2022\tPomegranates \u2013 mostly still fruit from the US, but the local supply will start later in March<\/p>\n \u2022\tQuinces<\/p>\n \u2022\tRhubarb<\/p>\n Vegetables in season this month:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022\tAsian greens<\/p>\n \u2022\tBeans<\/p>\n \u2022\tBroccoli<\/p>\n \u2022\tBrussels sprouts \u2013 the season is just starting<\/p>\n \u2022\tCapsicums are good and cheap<\/p>\n \u2022\tCucumbers<\/p>\n \u2022\tChestnuts should be coming in later in the month<\/p>\n \u2022\tChillies<\/p>\n \u2022\tEggplant \u2013 the long thin Italian eggplants are particularly good<\/p>\n \u2022\tLettuce \u2013 although they\u2019ve been small recently<\/p>\n \u2022\tMushrooms<\/p>\n \u2022\tOkra<\/p>\n \u2022\tPotatoes \u2013 Dutch cream and Sebagoes are the best<\/p>\n \u2022\tSnow peas<\/p>\n \u2022\tSugar snap peas<\/p>\n \u2022\tSweetcorn<\/p>\n \u2022\tSweet potato<\/p>\n . Zucchini \u2013 excellent small zucchini available at the moment<\/p>\n ZUCCHINI FLOWERS STUFFED WITH FETA AND WHITE WINE BATTER<\/strong> – by Alison<\/span><\/p>\n Tips \u2013 If you open a bottle of wine mid week and don\u2019t finish it take a freeze bag and freeze it and write across it \u201cWhite White\u201d . This is a great way of ensuring you have wine for cooking when you need it without opening a bottle especially<\/p>\n Ingredients:<\/p>\n Vegetable oil, to deep fry<\/p>\n 140g feta\u00a0 (try to go to the Farmers Market and get a local feta as it has so much flavor and you are supporting farmers who we rely on for the skills of traditional cheesemaking)<\/p>\n \u00bc cup parmesan, grated<\/p>\n 2 Tbs thickened cream<\/p>\n 6 zucchini flowers<\/p>\n 1 cup plain flour<\/p>\n 1\/3 cup white wine<\/p>\n \u00bd cup corn flour<\/p>\n Method:<\/p>\n Fill a saucepan half full with oil and place over a medium heat until hot enough to deep fry.<\/p>\n Combine the feta, parmesan and cream in a small bowl, season with salt and pepper. Spoon into a piping bag, pipe the mixture into the zucchini flowers and twist the flowers closed.<\/p>\n Place the flour, and white wine in a bowl, add a cup of water and using a whisk, whisk to make a batter.<\/p>\n Coat the zucchini flowers in corn flour, then carefully place in the hot oil. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until golden and crispy. Drain onto a plate lined with kitchen paper. \u00a0 Sprinkle with salt to serve.<\/p>\n ALISON’S RAT (ATUILLE)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n If you have some left over bread make it into breadcrumbs lay them on a tray with some olive oil on low heat to crunch them up and you can use this as a topping.\u00a0 I also add some finely chopped rosemary and thyme from the garden which I have hung to dry.<\/p>\n 5 \tred capsicum<\/p>\n 70 ml \tolive oil<\/p>\n 4 \tgarlic cloves, thinly sliced \u2013(please use local garlic)<\/p>\n 1 \tonion, finely chopped<\/p>\n 4 cups peeled and diced tomatoes -passata<\/p>\n 800 gm \teggplant (about 2), cut widthways into 5mm-thick slices<\/p>\n 400 gm \tgreen zucchini, cut widthways into 5mm-thick slices<\/p>\n 6 \tRoma tomatoes, thinly sliced horizontally<\/p>\n 140 gm \t(2 cups) fresh coarse breadcrumbs or leftover bread finely chopped<\/p>\n 100 gm \tfinely grated cheddar or your choice hard cheese<\/p>\n 2 tsp \tthyme leaves<\/p>\n Preheat oven to 180C. Place capsicum in a roasting pan, drizzle with 2 tsp olive oil and roast until skin is blistered (10-15 minutes). Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and cool.\u00a0 When cool, peel and remove seeds (discarding peel and seeds), thinly slice lengthways and set aside.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and saut\u00e9 until soft (5-7 minutes). Add tomatoes, season to taste and simmer, stirring occasionally to combine (4-5 minutes), then pour evenly into the base of a 3 litre-capacity deep baking dish.<\/p>\n Layer eggplant, overlapping slightly, over prepared base. Season to taste and repeat with zucchini and roast capsicum. Scatter anchovies over and finish with a layer of Roma tomatoes.<\/p>\n Combine breadcrumbs, cheddar or your choice of hard cheese and thyme in a bowl. Season to taste, then scatter over vegetables and drizzle with remaining olive oil. Pop in the oven and bake until top is golden about 55 minutes.<\/p>\n Alison Drover<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FROM THE BELLY LAB<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n One other delicious thing in season this month is lychees, a bit of an odd up and down season this year, but there are quite a lot around at the moment.\u00a0 Look out for small stone ones, a whole lot more flesh in even the small looking ones.\u00a0\u00a0 I had a lovely lychee martini in Brisbane recently, the best part was 3 frozen lychees on a stick as decoration\/swizzle stick.\u00a0 I took the idea back to the belly lab, and after much product testing, highly recommend to you…<\/p>\n LYCHEE CHOC TOPS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Peel and remove the stone from lychees, trying not to open them up too much.<\/p>\n Soak in a white spirit – white rum works well, vodka is drier and lets you taste the fruit more.\u00a0 Skip for kids of course.<\/p>\n Freeze.\u00a0 When frozen, coat in warm tempered chocolate <\/a>and re-freeze.<\/p>\n Eat straight from freezer with great delight.<\/p>\n You could also experiment with filling the centre of the lychees with nuts, chocolate ganache, another fruit….too much is always good!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n DANISH MARDI GRAS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Yes they are dancing in the streets in the biggest Carnival in the world today, in Rio, and all over Brazil and the Catholic world, celebrating life and love and rich food before we all get very serious and give up all animal products and sugar until Easter.<\/p>\n Most of us have heard of the Rio mardi gras, and the Sydney one, but have you heard about Danish mardi gras, or fastelavn?\u00a0 It evolved out of the Catholic tradition, but as Denmark became mostly Protestant, it turned into “a time for children’s fun and family games” like whipping your parents.\u00a0 It is celebrated the Sunday or Monday before Ash wednesday.<\/p>\n Some towns in Denmark hold\u00a0 large Fastelavn\u00a0 parades and festivities , including hitting a wooden effigy of a cat filled with sweets – which once used to contain an actual cat.<\/p>\n Of course there is a special food associated with Danish carnival, a sweet bun sometimes filled with cream.\u00a0 It is made with potatoes, flour, egg, sugar and butter and deep fried.\u00a0 Typical carnival food, sweet fried dough seems to be popular all over the world for mardi gras.<\/p>\n The other typical Danish tradition is a good flogging, now done mostly by children to wake up parents on the Sunday of fastelavn.\u00a0 They use bunches of twigs or willow, decorated with sweets or feathers, egg-shells, storks and little figures of babies.\u00a0 Apparently it started as a fertility ritual, when it was mainly the young women and the infertile who were flogged.\u00a0 Then very pious parents would flog their kids to remind them of Christ’s suffering.\u00a0 Now the kids get their revenge.\u00a0 But the flogged ones always get a sweet bun in return.\u00a0 If you are living at home with mum and dad, you could just go multicultural and be Danish for a day.<\/p>\n FASTELAVN BUNS<\/strong><\/span> – from this<\/a> unadorned but great collection of Danish recipes, a lot from his mum, bless him.<\/p>\n * \u00bd pound potatoes<\/p>\n * 1 cup potato water<\/p>\n * 1 package dry yeast<\/p>\n * \u00bd cup water<\/p>\n * 2 cups flour — sifted<\/p>\n * 2 tablespoons soft butter<\/p>\n * 1 egg — beaten<\/p>\n * \u00be cup sugar<\/p>\n * \u00bd cup warm water<\/p>\n * 1 teaspoon salt<\/p>\n * 5 cups flour<\/p>\n Cook potatoes. Drain and reserve potato water. Mash potatoes. Mix mashed potatoes, potato water, yeast cake soaked in the 1\/2 cup water, and the 2 cups flour. Let stand overnight.<\/p>\n In the morning add the butter, the egg and the sugar, and cream well. Add the lukewarm water, salt and the 5 cups flour. Beat well. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.<\/p>\n Punch down and roll \u00bd inch thick. Cut into rounds with a cookie cutter and drop each round into hot fat, browning on both sides. Remove and drain on paper towels.\u00a0 Roll in sugar while still warm.<\/p>\n AND TO CELEBRATE 100 YEARS OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n I played a few minutes from a couple of my favourite community radio food shows.\u00a0 Because on community radio you can be involved no matter your gender, colour, sexual orientation or fanciability.<\/p>\n This <\/a>is a story from the American network NPR, by those other fabulous sisters, the Kitchen Sisters, about an indomitable woman who fed and helped the black civil rights campaigners, including ML King.<\/p>\n And this<\/a> is from the Melbourne station 3CR, a piece from their long running food show ‘Food Fight’.\u00a0 If you are chasing up info on all the benefits of coffee grounds for your garden, or you are thinking of starting up a coffee grounds recycling system where you are, the website is http:\/\/groundtoground.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n AND FINALLY …. sometimes it’s hard to believe belly only goes for one hour:<\/p>\n