Winter well-and-truly struck Melbourne last week. It’s been quite a while since we’ve had a “proper” winter, cold and drizzly, requiring stew and stodge to keep the inner fires burning.
Last Sunday I wanted a cup of tea and a pikelet or two. Warm liquid, a delicious stodge! While I was mixing up a batch, I noticed the organic oats I’d bought a few weeks ago. Hmm.. Oaten Pikelets? yes please.
A couple of weeks ago I went to the markets with friend Mellie, half of Tummyrumbles. We spied “tamed nettles” lovingly picked off their stems and bagged for us by one of the stall holder’s sons as his “pin money” job. I quietly suggested that nettle gnocchi may have to be in order to Mellie. I’ve seen her gnocchi posts, and was hoping she’d pick up the hint (and some nettles!). She did, and she bought nettles and invited me over to dinner. To complete the trifecta, she has now also graciously passed on the recipe, in the form of a guest post. Thanks for the gnocchi Mellie! Enjoy the post everyone.
Gasworks Park: Pickles Street Port Melbourne .. South Melbourne .. Albert Park? Middle Park? I dunno!
Another of the four Melbourne Community Farmer’s Markets, accredited, friendly and as one I only occasionally visit, a few stalls that are less familiar to me. Here’s my haul.
I love a good challenge! Don’t you? So join me on this one and help me with some inspiration.
I often cook for one or two mouths, and I don’t really love eating leftovers the next day for work .. so I have a freezer full of odds and sods, bits and pieces, and “that’ll come in handy for later”. Also, I shop at Farmers’s Markets a lot, and you can’t always plan your meals in advance, nor buy the exact amount you need. You have to “go with the flow” somewhat.
So … I’m getting a pretty full freezer. I’m about to stuff a kilo of chestnuts into it, so I need to clean it out and use the food.
Here’s what I’ve got:
Now that I have found a ready supply of free range chicken frames I find myself making chicken stock regularly. It is so easy and lends itself to a quiet Sunday afternoon at home, then to be turned into soup or risotto for an easy Sunday meal. You can also use up any not quite so fresh vegies in the bottom of your fridge to keep your nice, fresh, market goodies unsullied!
Part of what I did with my market haul this weekend.
2 – 3 chicken frames (carcasses)
2 – 3 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
2 medium brown onions peeled and sliced roughly
2 carrots chopped roughly
2 sticks of celery chopped roughly
1 piece of lemon zest
2 – 3 bay leaves
parsley stalks
6 peppercorns
Place everything in a large stockpot and cover with cold water. Bring gently to a simmer, skimming the surface of the stock regularly. Leave at a gentle simmer for 3 hours or so. Strain and discard all solids. Cool stock and refrigerate. Remove any fat that has risen. Freeze in 1 cup portions.
If you want a richer, darker stock, roast frames and bones for 20 mins or so at 180 degrees before making stock.
Saturday 12 June was a chilly and rainy kinda day – with enough sun peeping through to keep a smile on my face.
Anorak, scarf, produce bags and carry bags – CHECK!
It got a bit muddy as they morning progressed, but it was heartening to see the line up of folk waiting when I got there just before 8:00 am, and a bit frightening to see the guy in front of my wearing no shoes, at all.
Have you? If not, why not?
Yes, Food Inc is disturbing. But not so horrible that you can’t watch it. Yes it is a bit depressing, but you can feel morally superior because “that’s not how we do things in Australia” … yet.
I did think I’d heard all this before, I’ve read Omnivores Dilemma, I’ve read Barbara Kingsolver’s “Animal Vegetable …Miracle”; I shop at Farmers’ Markets; I hate large scale shopping centres of any kind; I encourage others to do the same (mostly by taking bowls of delicious “just picked – no cool room” strawberries to work); what was here for me?
Well, I needed to see this film. I needed to say that I had sat through it, I needed to strengthen my backbone and be a bit tougher with myself. I needed to see more of Joel Salatin.
Tammi’s fantastic post on listening to Joel Salatin at the Lake House in Daylesford reminded me of some of the things I said I would do. See, I gutted chickens for a while to help pay for Uni. I was a vegetarian for 16 years. I don’t wear fur, don’t anthropomorphise animals, don’t think that humans are superior to anything else living on this planet, I’m OK. Surely. But I realised that I can, and should, do more.
The ABC’s Landline program did a story on Joel’s recent trip to Oz, not his first. What struck me was that many of the folk in the audience at the Lake House were producers. Maybe they are right, maybe we, as consumers, just have to ask for it? It’s on iView. Go have a look.
But I want to do more, I want to do more because I’m scared of WalMart stocking organic yogurt. Just like I’m scared of McDonalds promising to use free-range eggs. There aren’t anywhere near enough free range eggs produce in Australia to supply McDonalds. So what happens then?
Heck, I got nervous when I read about a well known chef talking about how great Schulz’s Organic Milk is. That’s the milk I buy at my local Farmers’ Market. I know Simon. What’s going to happen if “mega-famous chef” builds a huge amount of demand for Simon’s milk?
Here are a few things I’m going to do/be better at as a result of having my conscience pricked:-
As consumers, we’re not powerless. We need to ask for what we want. Ask.
What can you do?
Jorg opened last night (Friday 4 June) for dinner. EatingMelbourne has already been.
Finally with a recognisable shopfront we can tell you a bit more about new bar/cafe/restaurant (?) Jorg.
As of Tuesday 1st June they aren’t open yet, but it doesn’t look like it’s far off.
“Jacques Reymond’s head chef, Michael Smith, and Church Street Enoteca’s sous chef, Bryce Bernhardt, have named their informal European venture in North Fitzroy Jorg.” According to The Age, and the were to open around Easter. We’ve been waiting for a sign of where they were going. I thought it was what turned into Musterhause, Then I noticed that Glitch has closed and is being refurned, but no, it’s turned up in the old fruit and veg shop, which was a video and discount store before that, next to the new premises for The Signing Whale and two doors down from my favourite little bar, Deco. Yes Fitztroyalty, there is an end in sight!
Jorg
203 St Georges Road
North Fitzroy 3068
We recently dined at Circa The Prince in St Kilda, and I was really surprised by the Chestnut soup we were served. I asked chef, Matt Wilkinson, if he would share the recipe with me. He graciously agreed. The soup I made isn’t quite as refined as the one they serve at Circa but the flavour is divine. Chestnuts are in season right now, but fleeting. So grab some at your next farmers market and give this a go.
On the 25th April 2010 we treated ourselves to lunch at Circa The Prince in St Kilda to celebrate JB’s birthday. I haven’t written the full post yet, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to ask Chef Matt Wilkinson for the recipe for one of the dishes we ate that day, Chestnut soup. I’ve since made the soup, so have put the photos up on the blog so you can “compare the pair”.
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