Today is the last belly of 2013 for sister D and me, so we've packed it full of goodness for you.  In the first hour, Jody Vassallo will tell us about the wonderful new Bangalow Banquet community cookbook project, then we'll talk  hanukka & stonefruit, in our second hour we have one of Australia's best fish cooks, Paul Wrightson - Byron Beach Cafe executive head chef, here to talk about sustainable and fabulous fishy choices for the party and Christmas season, a new cookbook to give away, news, markets & more, so tune in to the belly kitchen.

 

BANGALOW BANQUET COOKBOOK

 

Here are a couple of recipes for you from this wonderful community project.  Something old and something new, both highly recommended by our guest Jody.

 

CHIA CRACKERS WITH AVOCADO, LIME AND CORIANDER DIP

Chia Crackers recipe submitted by Jody Vassallo

These crackers are the perfect wheat free snack,
top them with a few slices of avocado and a
drizzle of lemon juice or use them as a dipper for
guacamole, salsa or any type of hummus that
takes your fancy.
½ cup chia seeds
¼ cup sunflower seeds or flax seeds
¼ cup sesame seeds
½ cup almond meal
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ teaspoon sea salt
225ml water
1 tablespoon tamari

Preheat oven to 160°C (320ºF). Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Put the seeds, almond meal, salt and herbs into a bowl and mix to combine.
Whisk together the garlic, water and soy and pour over the seed mix. Stir until combined. Spread onto a
baking tray and bake for 30 minutes, then slice in half and carefully turn over, don’t worry if it breaks you are
going to make smaller crackers in the end. Continue cooking for 25 minutes or until the crackers are crisp.
Allow to cool on the tray before breaking into cracker size pieces. Store in an airtight container.

Avocado Lime & Coriander Dip recipe submitted by Sally Johnston

2 avocados, mashed
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large red chilli, seeded and chopped
1⁄2 small red onion, finely diced
1⁄3 cup coriander leaves, roughly chopped
3 drops Tabasco sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste

Place avocado in a bowl. Spoon over 2 tablespoons lime juice and toss gently to coat. Add oil, chilli, onion and
coriander to avocado. Add Tabasco sauce to taste. Season with salt and pepper and toss gently to combine.
Stand for 5 minutes. Serve with crackers
 

FIVE CUP CAKE

from the section of the cookbook called : The Middle Years 1970s ~ 1990s

 

5 Cup Cake Recipe submitted by Felicity Scott

Easy, delicious, never fails.

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup soy milk
1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup chocolate chips or dried fruit

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper.
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a wooden spoon.
Pour mixture into tin and bake in oven for 40 minutes. Serve warm with lashings of butter.
Serves 6-8

 

SUSTAINABLE FISH A.K.A. GLAMOROUS MULLET

 

 

WHOLE SUSTAINABLE FISH BAKED IN SALT – by Paul Wrightson

 

fiery saffron aioli and a simple salad

 

For the fish

1 kg coarse rock salt

2 large free-range eggs

1½ tablespoons fennel seeds

1 lemon

2 portion –sized whole sea mullet or sea bream, from sustainable sources, gutted, scales left on, gills out

1 small bunch fresh basil

1 small bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley

For the aioli

3 large cloves garlic, peeled

1 pinch saffron

sea salt

50 ml olive oil

50 ml good-quality Spanish extra virgin olive oil

For the side salad

½ cucumber, peeled

1 large handful green olives, stoned

2 bbq peeled red capsicums

a few sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped

freshly ground black pepper

 

Method

This Spanish technique of baking fish in a thick layer of salt is not only quite theatrical, it will also give you the most perfectly cooked fish.

The salt is there to create a little kiln or oven around the fish so don’t; you won't be eating any of it. Make sure the fish isn't scaled because the scales help keep the moisture inside the fish as it cooks.

·         Preheat BBQ or oven on high.

·         Put the rock salt into a large, wide bowl with 2 tablespoons of water, your eggs, fennel seeds and the peeled rind of the lemon.

·         Mix everything together until sticky and claggy

·         spread two-thirds of the mixture around the base of a roasting tray in a thick layer.

·         Stuff the cavity of your fish with the basil and parsley (or any fragrant herbs),

·         lay the fish on the salt bed, and completely cover it with the rest of the salt so you get a layer just over 1.5cm thick.

·         Pat it down firmly, then put into the oven for 15 minutes to 20 minutes

Once cooked, remove from the oven, take a sharp knife and stick it through the salt into the middle of your fish. Carefully touch the knife to your lip and if it's hot, the fish is ready. Leave to one side for 10 minutes and make aioli and salad.

aioli

·         pound and mush up the garlic, saffron and a good pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle until you've got a smooth vibrant orange paste.

·         Use the pestle to mix in the olive oil, a drizzle at a time. Be patient and wait until you've got a smooth emulsion before adding the next drizzle.

·         Do the same with the extra virgin olive oil.

·         Add a squeeze or two of juice from your peeled lemon and taste again.

salad

·         slice cucumber and put it into a bowl.

·         Tear the olives and add to the bowl along with the torn-up cleaned capsicums, the parsley, a squeeze of lemon juice and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

·          Season with a little salt and pepper, then toss together.

by now the salt on your fish should be hard as a brick

·         give it a whack around the edges with the back of a spoon

·         peel off the whole salt top

·         Carefully brush the excess salt off your fish

·         then gently move it to a platter using a fish slice.

 

 

BELLY BULLETIN

 

First up, some fabulous events that are coming up soon.

Kulcha Jam is having a South Indian themed fundraiser this Thursday December 5th.  from 6pm. Russell, the 'dosa' man will be cooking up a
delicious dinner followed by sweet delicacies made by other CO*OP members
who are caterers, chefs, cooks and food lovers.  There is lots of wonderful music, including Ben Walsh, Si Mullum from Wild Marmalade, and a Bollywood Sisters dance, and lots of Bhangra and Bollywoood music to get down to.  It's cheap and for a good cause, all proceeds to the food and music co-op.  At the Byron Arts and Industry Estate, 1 Acacia St, more info on www.kulchajam.org/coop or facebook.  And listen up to belly next week for co-op updates, as Alice will be visiting Sister Michael.

All that dancing on Thursday will get you limbered up for an evening of aphrodisiac delights at the Bangalow A&I Hall, on this Saturday December 7 at 7pm.  Check your local papers or listen to Arts Canvass this Thursday on bayfm for more.  Or check out the excellent blog by Megan one of the organisers – aphrocuisine.wordpress.com
It has lots of lovely recipes, worth checking out even if the only one you're loving at the moment is yourself.  Creative pairings like  Scallops with Custard Apple, Tarragon & Almonds, which the bellysisters have been given permission to share with you.  The menu for the Byron event includes in season watermelon and cucumber salad with rose geranium and toasted coconut, and mango curd tartlets.  mmm.  But maybe you shouldn't look at the menu, because you may be playing games like blindfolding your dining partner (or maybe someone else's, we don't know) and feeding them.          email : aphrocuisine@gmail.com or call 0431 911 403

And then feed your brain and your soul at the 2013 UPLIFT Festival – it  brings together some of the world's  most innovative advocates for global sustainability and oneness.  Byron Bay, 12-15 December.  Speakers who focus on food issues include locals happiness economist Helena Norberg-Hodge, who is a world renowned activist, writer and filmaker,  ex-bayfm presenter of the Healing Wave, Janella Purcell,  Jeffrey Smith, from the US, director of The Institute for Responsible Technology, on GMOs, and the delightful and insightful Vandana Shiva from India, biodiversity and seed freedom campaigner.  She calls patent and intellectual property laws of the World Trade Organisation "a tool for creating underdevelopment" with "only a negative function: to prevent others from doing their own thing; to prevent people from having food; to prevent people from having medicine".  If you can't get to Byron Bay or are looking for a cheaper option, you can subscribe to a live high quality web stream of the event.  See upliftfestival.com

 

HARVEST FESTIVAL – BY MICHAEL DLASK

The Northern Rivers region of New South Wales is blessed with a basket of
riches that is vitally connected to both land and sea. Whilst the coastal
plains and valleys are home to an abundant variety of crops and livestock,
the Tweed, Richmond and Clarence rivers provide a connection to the sea and
the sumptuous seafood that inhabits the coastal waters. In hand with a
number of producers, distributors, retailers, restaurants and cafes, the
farmers, growers and fisherman are all pulling together to celebrate the
quality and diversity that contributes to the provenance of the region.

In the Autumn of 2014, Northern Rivers Food are presenting the region's
inaugural Harvest Festival and are calling on all participants in the food
industry to take part on in what will be a week of events to celebrate and
showcase our finest offerings.
Running from the 26th April to the 4th of May 2014, the Harvest Festival
will host two signature activities that will be co-ordinated by Northern
Rivers Food. The first being the 3Rivers Farm Gate Tours which involve bus
tours visiting source of our amazing produce, and the other being the Long
Table Lunch. Surrounding these two events, growers, producers and
restaurants have the opportunity to create complimentary events (either
individually or in collaboration) across the week.
Want to get involved? Submit your event idea now!
info@northernriversfood.org.au