Flat sourdough bread sandwiches

This morning, Joe decided we should go to the farmers markets instead of our usual morning walk – in the interest of good eating, he assured me. I am always keen for an excursion to the markets, so humbly agreed to his suggestion – in the interest of good eating, of course.

You may remember recently I blogged about  Nimbin Valley Dairys Lemon Billy Goats Cheese during my Fig and Goat Cheese Tart post. The deliciousness of that product whetted my appetite for more so I was keen to make my next purchase. This time I came back with some of their delicious Illian Feta cheese. I also had the great fortune of purchasing some gorgeous fresh Summerland Olives. Today I opted for something new and purchased some manzanolli olives instead of my usual kalamata. I also purchased a gorgeous roast capsicum dish made that morning by a local vendor from market produce. All in all, a fantastic excursion, as you would expect.

And so it is that the universe acts to balance the good of the morning with a *kind* of failure… I *may* have misread my recipe and made a slight error with my bread. Never mind, I was able to save the “rolls” and turn it into a delicious, crunch flat bread. I was able to cover up the mistake by loads of awesome fresh produce and some home-made hummus. I shall speak of it no more, other than to say it was a delicious failure!

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Fruitos

I recently blogged about the delicious produce I recently got from Byron Bay Farmers Markets. That post lead to a wonderful exchange with regular reader, Ragamuffin. It turns out that Ragamuffin lives in Alaska. She related how farmers markets are not available for 8 months a year, and sometimes a trip to the produce store may be 6 hours long. I have never considered how difficult it would be for someone to get fresh produce living in such an extreme climate. I can not relate to that type of restrictions for fresh produce as it is such a huge part of our daily diet here.

Once every week or two, we order a $35 box of fresh produce from Fruitos Direct. On the off weeks, we visit farmers markets. In this way, we are able to access a wide range of local and state sourced produce. We specify what we would like in our Fruitos delivery, and I usually aim to get seasonal fruits and vegetables that the whole family will enjoy. I thought of Ragamuffin today as I unloaded my box. I wish everyone had fair and equal access to such gorgeous fresh produce.

Related articles

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Fig and goat cheese tart

You may have noticed my discrete love affair with figs lately. There was figs with mascarpone, chocolate and wine and figs poached in galliano. Well, fearing the fig season is coming to an end and panicked. I snapped up some delicious looking ripe specimens this week at shopping. The idea was to use them in some delightful way when our friend Kat came on her regular visit.

You may remember my recent trip to the Byron Bay Farmers Markets? I picked up some delightful Nimbin Valley Dairys Lemon Billy goats cheese. My mind raced with possibilities – it had to be a marriage of biblical proportions, right? Then I stumbled across this gem by Donna Hay. The rest, as they say, is a delicious memory of savoury delight.

[  SERVES: 6  |  TIME: 15 MIN  |  COST: <$5 - 6  ]
[  JOES' RATING: 4/5  |  MY RATING:  4.5/5 |  Kats' RATING:  4.5/5]

Ingredients

• 4 sheets short crust (commercially produced)
• 130 g Nimbin Valley Dairys Lemon Billy goats cheese or similar
• 4 ripe figs
• 3 free range eggs
• 180 ml cream
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives
• ½ cup grated romano pecorino cheese
• freshly ground salt and pepper to taste

Methods

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Spray your tart tins with cooking oil. Cut the pastry sheets in quarters or in half (depending on size) to line your tart tins. Trim the excess from the edges and pierce the base of the tarts with a fork.
3. Cut the figs in half, and place half of a fig in the centre of each tart. Crumble some goat cheese around the fig.
4. In a bowl, combine the eggs, grated cheese, chives, and salt and pepper. Whisk well until well incorporated and aerated. Pour mixture carefully into around the figs.
5. Bake the tarts for 25 minutes or until the cream & egg mixture has set and the pastry is cooked.
6. Delicious hot or cold. nom nom

Observations

• There is a sophistication to this dish that can not be overstated. It is flavourful, delightfully surprising and is quite more’ish. It would make a sensational appetizer for a dinner party, or just a special treat for guests. It would be beautiful served with a fresh salad of greens on the side.
• The cheese I used today was marinated with lemon myrtle, busy pepper and roasted garlic. It gave a delightful subtle lemony flavour to the entire dish.
• We all felt that the punch of the goats cheese was a little too subtle. Next time, Id definitely add more goats cheese than stated above.
• Diabetic Note: Oh dear…….. lets just not worry about that, shall we?
• Ethical Note: Local produce once again with a low carbon footprint make this meal even more special.

Related articles

• Figs poached in Galliano (mizrhi.wordpress.com)
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Byron Bay Farmers Markets

Today Joe and I had the good fortune to venture to Byron Bay Organic Farmers Markets. Usually, we visit our local farmers markets, but we had heard that the ones at Byron was something special, and as it’s a neighbouring town, it’s not too far out of our way. And let me tell you, I am so glad we did make the trip! Yes, it was a little expensive compared to our regular markets, but wow! So much goodness in one place is well worth it. This is our grocery bag. You be the judge and see if you could call the price of our haul.

We got:

• 500 grams free ranged pork loin chops from Sunforest Farms
• 500 grams free ranged pork collar steak from Sunforest Farms
• 280 grams goats cheese – lemon merthyl flavoured from Nimbin Valley Dairy
• pepper pecorino from Bangalow Cheeses
• 300 grams tempeh with fava beans and wakame from Byron Bay Tempeh
• 500 grams brown rice from Nimbin Valley Rice
• 3 large squash
• 5 baby corn
• 300 grams cherry tomatoes
• 500 grams shiitake mushrooms
• 250 grams Dutch cream mushrooms
• 4 passionfruit
• 2 punnets of blueberries
• 1 dragon fruit
• 1 star fruit
• 5 bananas
• 5 bunches Bok choy
• 1 kilo Kipper potatoes
• 3 large zucchini
• punnet lettuce seedlings (not pictured)
• punnet broad bean seedlings (not pictured)
• punnet bok choy seedlings (not pictured)

Pinny is a local favourite with her produce, jams and preserves. She does can be found at both Ballina (Sunday am) and Byron Bay (Thursday am) Farmers Markets.

How much do you think this would have cost us? Go on, have a guess!  (Please put your guess in the comments section – I am actually interested in what you guessed!) This little bag of goodies cost $80. When assessing the value of these goods, there are a few things to bare in mind:

• All of these products are fresh. They haven’t been bought in bulk, shipped to a distribution centre, spent a few months in cold storage and then put into retail outlets for the consumers. They were hand-picked within the last day or so.
• All of these items are locally made. Purchasing these items supported the local economy, and supports local enterprise.
• All of these items are organic. The carbon footprint of these products will be dramatically lower when compared to commercially produced alternatives. Additionally, organic farming practices are much more sustainable when compared to the alternative.

For most people (us included) this is not a weekly shop. We just couldn’t afford it on a weekly basis, but once a month, for one shop, it is definitely a more sustainable (and economically possible) option. For our family, the price / ethical trade-off is an acceptable justification. Remember what I said recently about you having an incredible weapon each time you shop? The choice is ultimately yours, and  a commitment to just one more ethical shop a month or switching to one organic brand per month is a huge step. So what are you waiting for? Find your local farmers markets, and check it out. You never know… you just might be surprised!

Ballina Farmers Markets (pictured) operate on a Sunday morning, from dawn to 10am.

Related articles

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