To market, to market, to buy .....

...some raw cheese!

On Wednesdays I have this little ritual of going to Formaggi Ocello at the growers markets at the Sydney Entertainment Quarter (formerly known as Fox Studios). I relish in sampling some of the finest cheeses from Europe and Australia, my taste buds abuzz from enzymatic activity….like a glass of bold aged red.  Among my favorites are the Truffle infused cheese from Italy, over-ripe creamy Brie from France and the fresh ricotta from Italy - one of the few full fat ricottas still available in Australia.

This week I enquired about raw milk cheeses (which are richer in enzymes, micro-nutrients and more digestible) and the following varieties are available:

1. "C2" from Bruny Island, Tasmania. This only recently hit the markets (about 2 weeks ago). This is an aged hard cheese that is incredibly spicy and flavoursome. At $140/kg the price tag reflects the taste and care that has obviously gone into making it. Very much a special occasion cheese.
2. "Bra Duro" from North Italy. This is an very salty aged hard cheese. It was served to me with Truffle-infused honey which offset the saltiness of the cheese and sent me into seventh heaven. At $55/kg it is much more affordable.
3. a number of the Swiss cheeses are made from raw milk including Gruyere ($59/kg) and Appenzeller.
4. the well-renowned Italian Parmigiano Reggiano ($55/kg).

As an aside, I sell Gruyere and Reggio to my clients and regular customers from home at $40/kg (much less than retail prices).

Ocello also has a store in Surry Hills. Occasionally I buy cheese from David Jones for convenience (it's quite pricey but has a great selection and I often buy what's on sale/special. Check out the Lincet de Bourgogne from France- it's exquisite). And of course home made cream cheese is dead easy and super cheap to make (enrol in one of my lacto-fermentation courses to find out how).

In addition to its inclusion in a cheese platter, Gruyere is famous as a melting cheese e.g. in omelettes and soufflés. Here’s how I use it to make a super simple omellete:

Beat eggs (allow 1-2 per person) with 1-2 tablespoons of cream or milk with hand held blender. Melt 1-2 tablespoons of  butter in a frying pan on low heat then pour in egg mixture and a handful or two of grated or shaved Gruyere. Cook the underside of the omellete on the stove top for 5 mins then transfer to the oven under a heated grill element to cook the top side until golden brown. For variation, add shaved ham and/or vegetables (eg thinly sliced zucchini and asparagus spears) after pouring in the egg mixture and before adding the cheese. A great weekend breakfast.

Entertainment Quarter growers markets are open every Wednesday 10am-3:30pm. Check out the French man (whose name escapes me) who makes and sells pastured fed salamis. There's 1 or 2 certified organic produce stands every week and the florist stall sells what I think are probably the cheapest flowers in the Eastern suburbs.

Smile and Say Cheeeeeese!

(finally) coming up for air.....update on the retreat and other shenanigans

I took a couple of months off blogging. Partly intentionally to spend more time with my family and partly because I've been flat chat with holding a couple of lacto-fermentaion workshops in September and more significantly the Blue Mountains retreat in October which I hold annually with my business partner Lisa Wood. I'll give an update on lacto-fermentaion in another post. I wanted to share with you in this post the awesome experience myself and a group of 7 clients had in the mountains on the retreat.

I started holding these retreats because I (selfishly) wanted to go on a retreat myself in a tranquil setting away from the buzz and jolt of Sydney and be assured of being served up real food ie traditional nutrient-dense fare that your ancestors would have just called "food". No toxins, no grains, no sugar, no industrialised oils, just hearty delicious meals. I explained to the clients over the course of the weekend how dead-easy it is to prepare food in this way and showcased how to make a casserole in a matter of minutes plus a mini-workshop on making goats curd which we then used to make labne dip. Over the 3 days I held a couple of info / Q&A sessions on the Fundamentals of Good Nutrition where we blew the doors off some commonly held myths and opened our minds to a way of eating that is designed to promote robust health and longevity (and not the hip pockets of big business). Largely due to my 2 super efficient helpers, this year I actually got to take part in most of Lisa's movement classes, the bush walk, the nature walk through the rhododendron gardens and the inspirational doco film Finding Joe (which I thoroughly recommend).

I wanted to thank each client for taking the time to invest in their health and being open to new ideas about nutrition and movement. Thank  you to the 2 most awesome helpers ever - Kate Callaghan and Erika Parisi - the retreat would not have been possible without your tireless help in the kitchen! Thank you to GRUB butchers who supplied the grass-fed lamb shoulders and pastured chickens. And to Egganics for the amazing eggs and to Pete from Suveran for the fresh produce.

This is what a couple of the clients who went on the retreat had to say:

"Hi Soulla, Lisa and crew,

To say a few words about your retreat, it was inspiring, nourishing, challenging and peaceful at the same time. 

To Soulla -  You have inspired in me a novel approach to nutrition and this is something I'm still very excited about. I now understand why you called it a nourishing retreat, the food was delicious and aplenty. Claire and I learned how to nourish ourselves properly with the right nutrients!

To Lisa - Your movement classes were a harmonious balance between challenge and peace. Thank you for teaching us how to stretch and about body movement.

Can I say that I believe the success of the retreat can be attributed at least in part to the wonderful small group of participants and coordinators. Thanks to everyone... you really made our weekend special!

I'm looking forward to staying in touch with the fantastic work you do and see you next year!

Tom Clark"

And another:

"This retreat was a spa for the senses. The first morning my eyes delighted in the beauty of purple, blue & white tiny bush flowers as the early morning sunlight shyly appeared round the paperbark gums, making a beautiful backdrop to our outdoor breakfast table. Soulla's whole-food dishes were a taste sensation, each meal toasted with a shot of apple cider vinegar. My ears listened to volumes of new information about why whole foods and organic produce make sense. Since the retreat I've switched to cooking with coconut oil & butter and tomorrow I am giving my first organic dinner party, the menu is entirely made up of dishes I learnt on the retreat although I'm cheating with the pate appetizer ....I'm picking that up from Soulla's place at 4 tomorrow....ssshh!  For smell, just walking past the kitchen as Erica and Kate worked hard dishing up Soulla's creations was a pleasure all of it's own.   For touch we followed Lisa's instruction and stretched our bodies in yoga & gyrokinesis and on the Saturday we went on a bush walk in the beautiful Blue Mountains. All in all the retreat was an experience I will never forget and it has certainly made me rethink the way I feed my family. Thanks Lisa & Soulla for everything. Nicky "

Stay tuned for more blogs over the coming weeks as I share loads of new recipes, new products, and cooking classes for early 2013! Enjoy the  2012 Retreat photo gallery below.....

Entertaining made easy....here's how I do it!

Lately I've been doing a lot of entertaining....almost every weekend as it turns out. I love it. With so much practice, I have fine-tuned my 'formula' to the point where entertaining has become effortless and a pleasure- the way it should be. It wasn't always this way.  Not that long ago I used to find it stressful and exhausting.  It would put me off inviting friends over.  So here are a dozen tips on how entertaining can be made easy (with a couple of sample menus below): 1. Keep it really really simple. Less is more. For example 1 home-made dip for appetizer made with real fresh ingredients and served with vegetable sticks is, in my view, better than 2 or more store

bought dips served with nutrition-less crackers (and much much cheaper!!). 1 nutritious meat dish for the main is perfectly acceptable (rather than 2 or more smaller fiddly dishes). And don't be afraid to serve  1 (or 2 max)  basic salads with 1 main meat dish. There's no rule that you have to have a number of different courses. I like the Mediterranean way of entertaining where all the food is laid out in one hit on the table and people help themselves. Easy. It's perfectly fine to serve a gorgeous cheese platter with various Australian or international cheeses instead of (or for) dessert. Cakes and sweets are time-consuming to make! When guests ask what they can bring ask them to buy a couple different cheeses from a local cheese shop (I love Occello) or the markets or David Jones food hall. If a couple of guests each do this you've got a lovely cheese platter. No crackers required. Just get stuck into the cheese or add some fresh fruit... and Bob's your uncle.

2. Serve food that doesn't require you to spend much if any time in the kitchen when guests arrive. In winter soups, casseroles, roasts and salads can all be prepared ahead of time and brought out when the guests arrive.  The only thing I really want to be doing when guests arrive is serving drinks and conversing. And in summer the Aussie quintessential meat on the BBQ with 1 or 2 salads and home-made tomato sauce works perfectly.

3. Ditching the grains has made entertaining and catering incredibly simple. No soaking or sprouting required. No making and rolling out pastry. No boiling up pasta at the last minute to make it al dente. No furiously stirring risottos to ensure they haven't stuck to the pan when main is served. No empty fillers. What a relief! Just more delicious nutritious bang for your buck and more free time!  Vegetarian meals are time-consuming!!! Traditional meat dishes on the other hand take a fraction of the time. It takes me a couple of minutes to throw casserole ingredients together or assemble a roast meat dish. There's no chopping or cutting of the meat. Its either pre-cut by the butcher or whacked in the oven whole. When the meat dish takes centre stage the sides can be incredibly simple (e.g. a garden salad, steamed buttered veggies).

4. Increase the volume of food with the number of guests - not the variety of the dishes. Whether I'm catering for 5, 10 or 20 people - I keep the number of dishes the same - I  just increase the amount of each dish and not the variety of dishes. So for example, I make a larger garden salad rather than 2 different salads. I make 1 larger meat dish instead of 2 different meat dishes. The additional effort to cater for 20 people than 5 people is marginal (assuming no space issues!) if you are simply making more of the same thing rather than more different things.

5. I'm not exotic with drinks. The choices are filtered water (with sliced lemon and mint), red wine, white wine, sparkling or beer. No fancy time-consuming cocktails. But that's just me. If shots, cocktails and mocktails are your thing.... then all the more power to you!

6. Clean up (a little) as you go from time to time.The clean up job is for me more time consuming than preparing the food as my food prep is very simple and straight-forward as I've set out above. So to avoid a massive clean up job at the end of the night, what I do after the main is finished is alternate conversing with guests with cleaning up  a little if I don't think that I'm being rude if I dash into the kitchen to start stacking the dishwasher for a few minutes before returning to the guests. It's a bit like my strategy with juggling kids and housework - I play with the kids/attend to their needs for a bit, then get on with housework for a bit, then return to playing with kids for a bit etc.

7. Accept people's offers of help or don't be afraid to ask people to help. My husband calls it being bossy but I'd prefer to say that I'm a good delegator.   I usually accept a guests' offer of help and get them to do the next task I was about to so I can move onto something else. e.g. "Can you please do the rounds to see if people want more drinks?" or "Can you please take these plates to/from the table", "Can you please offer this dip and carrot sticks to people?". Don't put pressure on yourself to do EVERYTHING or you'll exhaust yourself and feel resentful. I want to feel energised when guests leave, not depleted.

8. If kids are on the scene and they have scattered toys, dirt and the contents of your pantry from one end of the house to the other (as kids typically do!), I tell them that they must tidy up BEFORE they get dessert. This is usually a pretty significant motivation for kids (and their parents) to help tidy up so that the place doesn't look like a bomb's hit it when they leave. Also, with rare exception, the kids always eat the same thing as the adults. The sooner kids (after the age of 1)  eat the same meals that the rest of the family is eating the easier it is cater for them. Kids have a choice in my house: eat what I offer or don't eat at all. If you don't  like it, there's nothing else. They will soon learn to love what you serve.... or starve!

9.   Accept that as the host you probably won't get to indulge in a long D&M with every guest. If I can get around to talking to every guest even for a few minutes then I think that's ok. Asking people to swap seats before dessert is a good way for you (and your guests) to converse with different people.

10. Its ok to start the prep work a couple days before the event and do a little each day, rather than leaving everything to the day of the event. I was always a diligent study nerd at high school and uni. I never crammed. I would have found it too stressful. I plugged away from day 1 term 1 so that when exam day arrived it was all under control. Once a nerd, always a nerd. So with entertaining, I write up the menu a few days ahead and start preparing the things that I can.  Home-made dips easily last 2-3 days in the fridge so can be prepared ahead of time. Meats for casseroles can be bought 2 days ahead and marinated to infuse the flavours and banged into the oven the day before to slow cook for 24-36 hours. Most cakes/desserts can be made the day before, as can frittatas. Stock and soup can be made days or weeks before and frozen and defrosted and reheated. As a busy mum I accept that I no longer have the luxury of time to make everything on the day of entertaining and murphy's law is that if I leave everything to entertaining day one or both of my kids (or other life circumstance) will require more of my attention than planned, making entertaining very stressful.

11. Don't blink an eyelid if your plates, cutlery, glasses, chairs etc don't all match, as no none else will. What's important is the quality of the food on the plate, not how expensive (or chipped) the plate is. 

12. Relax, enjoy, have fun, and play some games if that takes your fancy.

I set out below the menus I put together for 2 recent events I held at home. The first was a more formal dinner (my close friends 'Great Gatsby' themed 40th birthday bash) in early August. The second was a very casual lunch with close friends last Sunday.

Menu for 16 adults for my friend's 40th birthday dinner:

• Appetizers: tzatziki (Greek yogurt cucumber dip),  caramelised onion and fig chicken liver pate, wild salmon dip - all served with vegetable sticks, activated almonds, and olives
• No entree (remember: keep it simple)
• Main: 30 hour slow cooked Morrocan spiced lamb shoulders served with 2 salads (one Greek salad, and one garden salad with sliced apple and activated walnuts). Tzatziki dip from appetisers brought to table to serve with lamb.
• Birthday cake (dessert): activated almond coconut cake with orange syrup served with ricotta and rehydrated figs
• Afterwards: herbal chai tea or coffee

Menu for  9 adults and 6 children for casual long lazy Sunday lunch:

• Appetizers: tzatziki (Greek yogurt cucumber dip) with carrot and celery sticks, activated almonds, and olives (assembled on the day of lunch)
• Entree: fish soup (I baked the fish and steamed the veggies the day before. Then on the day of lunch I added these to the fish stock that I had made and frozen weeks before and defrosted)
• Main: roast vegetable frittata (made day before and heated on the day), crab salad (kindly brought by a guest) and garden salad (made day of lunch)
• Dessert: fruit and activated nut bar (made days before) topped with home-made vanilla ice-cream (in freezer from months before) and Alpine goats yogurt dusted with cinnamon powder
• Afterwards: cheese platter (kindly brought by a guest) with herbal chai tea and coffee

I'll soon be writing a post on catering for kids birthday parties following my son's recent 7th birthday....so stay tuned!