Discoveries at the Farmers' Market

I love the vibe of a farmers' market. That slowed down, chilled out feeling just sets the weekend off in the most wonderful way.

One of my new favourites is the Stirling Farmers' Market on a Sunday morning. The aim is generally to get there at about 8.30, about an hour after they open. There is such a great variety of stalls, with one of my favourites being the A & S Marchetti and Sons fruit stall.

They sell delicious, seasonal fruit grown on their property in Roleystone, only about an hour away. The stallholders are incredibly friendly and very happy to talk about the produce. I always tend to grab a selection of apples and pears as these seem to be the easiest sort of lunchbox fillers.

This is also where I discovered the wonders of the Kieffer pear. It is a sweet and crunchy fruit that goes beautifully with cheese and dried apricots, but is also great eaten on its own. There isn't a great deal of information on these in Australia and I think you might have a bit of trouble tracking these down anywhere other that a farmers' market.

The markets aren't necessarily in the prettiest location, but by being in the carpark of the Stirling Council offices and just off the freeway, they are easy to get to and there is heaps of parking.

What amazing discoveries have you made at Farmers' Markets?

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Easy Peasy Cheesy Scones

Christmas 2011 went far beyond the 12 days the song boasts about. As we didn't arrive back in Australia until mid January, the exchanging of gifts carried on towards the end of the month.

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the new Annabel Langbein book, Free Range in the City, from a fabulous friend. This made for wonderful afternoon reading through those scorcher days of 40 degrees. Although it was way too hot to turn the over on, I could dream about the days when the rain would be falling on the back verandah and we would all be inside waiting for the warming offering to come out of the oven.

The days did eventually cool down, but not like my dream. The oven was turned on and the rocket from the farmers market was put to very good use to make Cheesy Rocket Scones for Beginner Bakers.

I followed the recipe fairly closely but used milk instead of cream, and as you can tell, I didn't chop the rocket. I decided on the rustic (lazy) approach of just tossing it into the bowl.

These would make a great morning tea or after school snack.

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In My Kitchen

A trip to the Farmers' Market can be a great source of inspiration for the rest of the day.

There was no way I could walk past the beautiful bags of basil leaves being sold from the back of the truck without adding a bag to my basket. Basil just makes me think of pesto, and pesto is such a versatile ingredient to keep in the fridge. A spoonful through some pasta, smeared over a pizza base or added to a piece of barbecued chicken, it just seems to add a bit of yumminess.

While the outside temperature soared towards 42 degrees (107 F) I locked myself away in the kitchen.

With leaves rinsed, I was ready to get started on the Basil Pesto.

A huge thank you to Stupendous Joy for my gorgeous tea towel. It's too beautiful to use for dishes.

A quick whizz in the food processor and my work was done.

I wasn't able to find any pine nut, only pine nuts mixed with almonds but these worked wonderfully. There is now one container in the fridge and one in the freezer.

With a fresh batch of yoghurt in the fridge, a little more inspiration struck. A bunch of chives was picked from the garden and garlic clove of two crushed into the mix before it was poured into some muslin and suspended, all in the name of labna.

After a quick recipe search, I was ready for another dip: tzatziki. The combination of tanginess from the yoghurt, cucumber and lemon is so refreshing at the moment.

As the afternoon cooled down, there was a need to make something to dip into these.

I found a lovely looking recipe in the Veg Everyday book and thought that flatbreads would work well. Rather than throw out the whey from the labna, this was added to the bread dough as the water component. Some water still needed to be added as there wasn't enough whey.

I'm now off to make some more yoghurt as the jars are looking a little low.

What's happening in your kitchen?

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Cooking Seasonally

Our little Saturday morning jaunts to the local Farmers' Markets have become a regular part of out weekend. Everyone knows that by getting out of bed and dressed, they will be rewarded with a yummy breakfast of something other than toast or Weet-bix.

Although the weather was a tad on the chilly side, two of us organised ourselves onto bikes and headed over. Our regular organic supplier was there and didn't disappoint with a great selection of seasonal fruit and vegetables. I love the winter vegetable in particular because just looking at them makes me think of warming soups and stews. When I heard one lady ask for a cauliflower to be cut in half, I knew the other half was meant for me.

So cauliflower soup in now simmering on the stovetop ready for tonight's dinner.

Luckily the bakery had a great loaf that would be the perfect accompaniment. (I know I should have made my own, but I like to think on these little occasions that I am helping support small business).

The soup turned out to be average at best. Any wonderful cauliflower soup recipes would be greatly appreciated.

Farmers' Market Figs

This morning the kiddies and I cycled over to the local farmers' market. It really is a highlight of our weekend. There are some council restrictions which only allow them to open every second weekend, but we take it when we can.

I took the plunge and bought some kale so I am sure I will be spending the rest of the day searching for something to do with it. It just looked so green that it had to go into the basket.

Another purchase of the day was some fabulous figs. I am a huge fan of dried figs as I love the sweet, gritty texture of them. Fresh figs are a bit of a treat. As I was lining up I heard the girl behind me talk about having them with icecream so I think that making a fresh batch will be on the 'to do' list for this weekend. A teaspoon of vanilla paste should work well in the mix. I might even end up changing my mind and going for a Jamie Oliver style salad with figs and goats cheese.

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Farmers' Market Fabulousness

For over a year now we have had a ritual Saturday morning visit to a farmers' markets. Our market of choice is a good 20 minute drive away. This is also the closest market.

This morning things were different. We all dressed ready for riding our bikes to a new market that was opening today. It was so lovely to ride out bikes for the 20 minutes that would normally be spent dealing with impatient Saturday morning drivers, traffic lights and parking issues.

First stop was breakfast with sausage sizzles and bacon and egg rolls consumed, while I walked around and looked at all of the stalls. Bread, quiche, fruit, vegetables and preserves were quickly running out. I was glad we had arrived early as I think many of the stall holders had underestimated the turnout.

I was happy the Freshline Organics were there as they usually have a great supply of delicious fruit and veg.

I must say that my 'Find of the Morning' was a bunch of purple carrots. We can't wait to give these a try.

Being in my community, it meant that there were a lot of people that we knew that we were all able to stop and chat with. For many of them this was their first taste of a farmers' market and they all seemed fairly impressed.

I try to ride my bike where possible and recently purchased a fabulous quick-release basket. This simple bike accessory has already saved us many trips to the shop in the car. It didn't let me down today either.

This is where I now need some help. There were bunches of kale but I had no idea what to do with it. I have heard about people making kale chips but I'm just not too sure. I would really love to hear about what other people do with it.

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