Celebrating Fair Food Week at the Jiggety-Jig Farmers Market in #Ballarat

I trotted off jiggety-jig to market, this morning. 

No, I didn't buy the fat pig of the nursery rhyme. 

Being vegetarian, I steered clear of the meat that was available

and focussed on bread and veges. 

 The Jiggety-Jig farmers market was on this morning. 

 Local producers. 

 It costs a little more to purchase the food available at good farmers' markets 

but it is worthwhile to spend a just a little extra 

to purchase local food of good quality 

which has not travelled far from the farm; 

where you can be absolutely guaranteed that free range eggs 

are actually free range.

It is also wise to remember that
if we don't support our local producers and makers
then, one day in the not too far away,
we will lose them.
If we lose them and make ourselves slaves
to imports and cheap foreign government subsidised food,
with these people will go the skills that
ensure that we can feed ourselves.
So purchasing from the locals
is like making a down-payment on
a sort of food insurance policy.

Below is an album of my purchases. 

Some good eating is contained therein 

Cabbage Steaks - givng a new twist to a traditional vege

This recipe comes from my friend Alida.

Haven't tried it yet - but it sure does look yummo!

Worth a go, could use other spices or Dukkah. Caraway always complements cabbage too.

Garlic Rubbed Roasted Cabbage Steaks

If you love cabbage, you are going to freak out about how good this is. Now, if you are on the fence about cabbage, you need to try this because this might be the recipe that converts you to a cabbage lover.

This is a simple side dish worthy of a dinner party and couldn’t be easier to make. Four ingredients, a couple of minutes to prepare and toss in the oven for an hour.

Ingredients
1 (approx 2lb) head of organic green cabbage, cut into 1″ thick slices
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
2 to 3 large garlic cloves, smashed
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
spray olive oil OR non-stick cooking spray

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400F and spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Pull outer leaf off cabbage (it’s usually dirty and nasty looking), cut cabbage from top to bottom (bottom being root) into 1″ thick slices.

2. Rub both sides of cabbage with smashed garlic.

3. Use a pastry brush to evenly spread the olive oil over both sides of the cabbage slices.

4. Finally, sprinkle each side with a bit of kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

5. Roast on the middle rack for 30 minutes. Carefully flip the cabbage steaks and roast for an additional 30 minutes until edges are brown and crispy. Serve hot and Enjoy!

Soup's on at St Peter's.

 

 Bread and Soup and St Peter's.

At top, is the soup simmering away while Mass is on.

Those in serving in the Sanctuary remarked on the aroma 

all through Mass!

On the left is the Creamy Carrot & Coconut Soup.

On the right is the Butternut, Apple & Cinnamon Soup.

In the middle, is my Olive Bread.

 

I live in Ballarat where winters are very cold and very damp.  We haven't had snow this winter but it is not unheard of.  I attend St Peter's Anglican Church in Sturt Street, Ballarat. It is Ballarat's oldest church and famous for its historic peal of bells.  Now that winter is officially here we have taken to having Bread and Soup after the 10 a.m. Mass.  Yesterday, it was my turn.  I am basically a vegetarian so I was looking for something a little different in the way of meatless soups and I came up with these two which turned out to be very popular - with some people coming back for seconds.  So let me tell you what I turned up.  You can follow the original recipes (to which I link)  to the letter, if you choose.  I tweaked mine.  

Before I tell you the links and the tweaks, let me begin by saying that the basis of any soup meat-full or meat-less is a good stock.  This is the foundation on which the soup edifice is built.  Your basic stock can then be tweaked, modified, added to for a variety of wonderful soups.  Forty-eight hours ahead of my soup-making schedule, I made a huge amount of vegetable stock.  I used vegetables at hand, bought some others veges, and even threw in a piece of broccoli which had not been used for its original intention and now was past its prime.  I stored the stock in the frig - where, of course, as all soups and stocks do, it gained even more flavour.

Creamy Carrot and Coconut Soup

Tweaks here were few.  Needless to say, I multiplied quite a bit.  I roasted the carrots ahead of time to add to the flavour.  I used Coconut Cream instead of Coconut Milk.

Butternut, Apple & Cinnamon Soup

Tweaks here were:

• Roasting the Buttnernut Pumpkin to add to the flavour.  This is a good ingredient at the moment because Butternuts are plentiful.  They are wonderful for their sweet flavour and their tenderness - so please be gentle with them.
• I used one decent sized Butternut but added a few more apples.
• I used something called Dutch Cinnamon. I think it may be a little more flavourful than other Cinnamon. Anyway, it was beautiful in the soup.  After all, we do know how well apple and cinnamon go together. Now, I can assure you, it goes well with Butternuts as well.

As you can see from the photograph, I made my soup pots three-quarters full.  This was because there has been a problem in estimating numbers.  This was the third week. The first week too much had been prepared. The second week there was not enough.  The third week seems to have been just right and some people were able to come back for seconds as well..

I served this with my own bread, buttered.  I had some jars of sliced olives in the frig (they are great when you do your own pizzas) and turned my plain dough into Olive Bread. 

All in all, the whole thing was well received.  The two soups were beautiful.  When I sup on the Creamy Carrot and Coconut, I think it is the best soup ever. And then when I sup on the Butternut, Apple & Cinnamon, I think exactly the same thing. 

I highly commend these soups to Tucker Lovers.  They are different, full-bodied, flavour-full soups.  The people I prepared these for had not come across them before - so you also have the novelty value to impress people.  Happy eating!

 Next week at St Peter's

Justin is doing the soup.

It sounds wonderful.

It will be based on a chicken stock.

Come along!

All welcome! 

Buying local at Bridge Mall Ballarat

 

Click on collage and open in new tab or window for a larger view.

Yesterday I did my vege shopping at Bridge Mall in the CBD of Ballarat.

Lovely stuff.

As well as colourful stalls and kids activities,

the animal farm was there.

Bacchus Marsh fruit & veg shopping - and the yummiest vegetable pies

Tripping back from Melbourne to Ballarat on Sunday

I did a detour through beautiful little Bacchus Marsh

and I couldn't resist pulling up at this fruit stall and doing some shopping.

 

I purchased some of Grandpa's huge tomatoes -

they originated in Macedonia just like Grandpa!

I bought lots of fruit and veges
which became a huge bowl of fruit salad and two vegetable pies.
The vegetable pies are just chocka with veges and herbs
and are absolutely scrummy!

Below is a picture of the pies - please note the retro Chef Starfire stove.
What is not clearly visible are the Flying Kangaroo motifs on the pie lids.

Inspiration for the pies in my lovely brown enamel pie dishes
came from seeing a recent River Cottage program
where Hugh made pies in enamel (blue and white) pie dishes for some mums.
Hugh's pies were not vegetarian.

Heritage, Food and the Future

Picture from here

Isn't this the most gorgeous vegie patch you ever did see?

I love to wander over to Casaubon's Book, the blog belonging to Sharon Astyk.  She has fled the farm and is off to this vegie patch at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello to do something useful -  like low-energy food preservation, complete with tastings.  She will also be speaking about Jefferson's idea of a nation of farmers under the title of A Nation of Farmers: coming home to our land.  Here follows an abstract of her talk.  Her abstract and that of others can be found here.

Our present agricultural system depends on heavy inputs of increasingly expensive and scarce fossil fuels, and is exacerbating our current world food crisis. It warms the planet and depletes soil and water and contributes to every major problem we face. Meanwhile, 100 million people have joined the starving and one in every 10 Americans requires food stamps to sustain them. But that doesn’t have to be the case – agriculture could help us regenerate our society. We explore the possibility – and urgent necessity of creating a truly sustainable food system.

Now I'm sure the patch is not maintained by part-time gardeners.  It displays investment of labour, knowledge and dollars.  In many ways, it is a garden that is not easily replicated.

 And I have to confess.

I love the lushness of the jumble of things growing together -

be it ever such a humble and ill-informed project.

VICHYSSOISE - WONDERFUL WARM OR COOL

It is cold, rainy, bleak here in Melbourne - as it has been so often in weeks past.  I have blessed myself with some vichyssoise and included recipe and picture.  Please note: the last word in the recipe says "Chill".  I haven't. Vichyssoise is beautiful warm too.  I didn't use chicken stock because I am vegetarian - and I didn't have any vegetable stock, so I did without.

Indulgence at Simon Johnson's Toorak store: spice, pasta, and haricot beans from Spain.

I was in Toorak yesterday and between appointments so what better way to while away some time but a nice browse in Simon Johnson's.  I have been in Melbourne nearly six years and haven't set foot in Simon Johnson's.  Years ago when in lived in Elizabeth Bay, I would visit the Woollahra store.

I loved this window setting.

The large bottle of Olive Oil looked like perfume, don't you think?

It was quite a surprise to find the oil beautifully centred

in the reflection of  two charming old Toorak buildings.

It was a lovely sunny Melbourne morning - for once in July - and I was offered a cafe latte (free).  The two women in the store were friendly and we chatted.  Very pleasant.  A feature of all Simon Johnson's stores is the Fromagerie  And this one was stacked and packed - and the wonderful cheesy aroma.  I stood in there and just inhaled!

I made some simple purchases.  An emblazoned Simon Johnson carry all, a jar of Christine Manfield Satay Spice Paste, a pack of Benedetto Cavalieri's cartwheel pasta, and a jar of  Monjardin organic white haricot beans all the way from Spain

The site of Conservas Artesanas El Navarrico of which Monjardin is a part is delightful..   The trip around the 'net, particularly to Spain, extended my simple and small shopping pleasure.  One request, Tucker lovers: there is scarcely a haricot bean recipe on the site without some animal flesh in it so I would like to take this opportunity to request your best suggestions and recipes for the haricot beans.  And while your at it, vegetarian satay and pasta dishes as well, please.  Let's have a party!  

Related matters:

Lisa Audit Fromagerie 8 x 20 Print

Australian Cheese: A Guide to Cheeses Made in Australia by the Australian Dairy Corporation

Dairy Farming in Australia: Australian Cheeses, Dairy Products Companies of Australia, Coon Cheese, Dairy Industry Association of Australia

Chokoes, Chutney and Relish

In the long ago, there was a gripping novel and a suspenseful TV series, called The Day of the Triffids.  Who said vegetables can't take over the world!  Clearly, chokoes know they can and get on about doing it. Pictures above and below show the ever so humble choko vine taking over my courtyard at the rear of Home Beautiful and climbing the garage wall and roof.  The TV antenna (don't need it because we have Foxtel) has collapsed.  Could it be from the combined weight of vine and product?

 

And above is some of the product.

Chokoes (our Australian name for the above ) have many names in many countries.  To begin the growing process is really easy.  Buy a choko from your the local vegetable shop or department and then hide it - in a drawer or cupboard - out of the light.  After a couple of weeks, out of its larger end will come a sprout.  When the sprout is about 3-5cm, take the choko and put it in a pot or in the ground, needless to say the sprout will be above the soil.  

The tropics is sometimes too darn hot and frosts of course are not helpful.  The growing place for my vine is a rear courtyard in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne which is partially covered by a clear corrugated fibreglass roofing product near a brick wall.  Needless to say, please make sure that the soil is rich with compost.  Chokoes have marvellous tendrils to aid their quest for world domination.

Picture from here.

Queenslanders are particularly familiar with this fruit-bearing vine of vines.  It takes over back fencies and, in the era before sanitation came indoors, took over many a dunny.  The choko has even entered the vernacular.

Generally, our carnivore cobbers in Australia will be familiar with chokoes served with white sauce as an accompaniment to corned beef or other meats.  The choko is well travelled and there are lots of recipes on the net: everything from vegetable accompaniments to relishes and chutneys.. 

...and here are some recipes that (yes I have made them) hiding in my old handwritten recipe book.  They come from Mrs Pobar.  When I lived in Toowoomba long ago, I was a member and president of the Darling Downs Housewives and Homemakers Association (we were a consumer organisation with hundreds of members before women were in the workforce en masse and before governments had established Departments of Consumer Affairs!)  

The DDHHA was founded by the talented and indomitable Cherith Weis. I was a young Mum of about 25 when I joined and met Cherith, Founder and President.  I had been in community organisations before and am still a community involved person.  I afterward obtained a university degree which included Community Studies - but I think I had got a university education with Cherith and the Homemakers and all I needed was to formalise it into the language of academe!  So there are many memories of people, events, longings, and futures all tied up in these two choko recipes.

Mrs Pobar's Choko Pickles

Ingredients

1/2 dozen chokoes

1 lb. onions

1 cup salt

1 quart vinegar

3 cups sugar

2 tabs Plain Flour

2 tabs mustard

1 tabs curry powder

1/2 dess tumeric disolved in reserved vinegar.

Method

Prepared vegetables and cover with hot water.  Stand overnight.  Add vinegar.  Boil until tender.  Add sugar.  Thicken with Plain Flour, Mustard, Curry Powder and tumeric dissolved in reserved vinegar.  Simmer for 5 minutes.

Choko Chutney

 8 chokoes

6 apples or tomatoes

3 lb onions

Salt

2 quarts vinegar

1 teas spice

1 teas ginger

1 cup flour

2 dess mustard

2 dess curry powder

Sultanas & raisins (optional)

Prepare vegetables and stand overnight.  Put vinegard on to boil.  Add vegetables, spice, ginger.  Boil until tender. Mix flour, mustard, curry powder and thicken.  Boil for 5 minutes. Add sultanas and raisins if desired.

Related reading

Vegetables for small gardens & containers in Australia

Fruit and Vegetable Gardening in Australia (Royal Horticultural Society)

The A~Z of vegetable gardening in Australia.

Tropical Food Gardens: 

A Guide to Growing Fruit, Herbs and Vegetables in Tropical and Sub-Tropical Climates

 

Tropical Vegetables (Periplus Nature)

Belinda and Andrew came to visit on Sunday afternoon.

They brought gifts - a tomato plant and a tomatillo.

How prescient were they!

Because of the move to Home Beautiful, did not have either of these.

There is little space in the garden at HB. It is almost all spoken for.

But dear B and A,

they have been planted in the furthest corner of The Secret Garden.

They have been watered and Charlie Carp'd.

And they brought this book below.

I had never heard of Transition Towns until recently.

Now with Carol, Belinda, and The Book

just maybe I'll become an armchair expert!

Permaculture in Castlemaine

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On 28 November, I was in Castlemaine. I was there for a meeting on water organised by Carol McDonough who provided me with the Cook's Tour prior to the meeting.

Part of the tour was to the headquarters of the Mount Alexander Sustainability Group (MASG).  Mount Alexander is the name of the shire of which Castlemaine is part.  The album above is of the marvellous permaculture garden that is part of MASG's historic premises.  Thank you Carol for a marvellous day.