SYDNEY FOOD & WINE SHOW 2010

A few weeks ago I attended the Sydney Food & Wine show. As food is one of my big passions in life I was over excited about going, until the day before I had a chat with my ever loving husband who broke the news to me that his commitments on that day would be that he would be able to have all the children except the youngest:( Now I love my son enormously but the prospect of taking on crowds with my Pegperego pram that has a wonky front wheel was not making my feel as excited! Alas, the show must go on and I went on with my son, the wonky pram, and my mum!

When we arrived the crowd was overwhelming. The doors had only been open for about an hour but the place was buzzing with people licking lips and fingers. There were people everywhere! My first stop was the Leggos stand. I saw two big lines at computers and wondered what was going on. For signing up to their fan base/marketing panel you got a free bag of goodies. What i liked most and I am not sure how many other people were listening, but the chef who was explaining how to sharpen a knife. I found it very edumacational! No, I really did, but I was worried most of the liner upperers were only interested in their little bag of goodies.

Next we did our very best to plan out how we were going to take on the hall. It was very big and their was lots to see, taste, and do. The stalls that I liked most were:

Always Fresh - heaps of taste testing and if you signed up to their market research panel you got a free "Antipasto to Go" pot.

Forever Knives - now if you ever want a good knife, these are the people I recommend. There knives were totally amazing. Super light and so easy to cut, my mum purchased one and she just loves it. The discounts at the show were at least 50% off, which I really should have taken advantage of.

Riverland Meat - this was top notch salami and sausages of the kind. The ladies were run off their feet with keen sydney siders purchasing big on what they had to offer. My kids love salami and so I purchased their plain salami sticks and they loved them!

ChopChop! Chicken - I have seen this in the supermarkets before and I purchased it straight away, mainly due to my knowledge of food storage. I have heard many a thing about canned chicken before but never thought it would hit our shores! Now it is here and I love it! Its just the same principle as canned tuna. I know a lot of people were turned off by it, but I also think an equal, if not more, amount were pleasanty surprised by how well it tastes.

Abe's Real Bagels - I have seen these in the shops but never purchased. They had an amzing deal of purchasing 5 bags of bagel chips for $5, barganista in me took over and I (and my kids) were very happy with them.

Vitamix - no I am totally convinced of the greatness of the Thermomix, but if are still bummed out by the price of one, take a look at what the Vitamix has to offer for a much lower price. I was pleasantly surprised, however I am still not sure which one I will purchase.

These are just some of the amazing stalls I went to. My day was cut a little short because my little man woke up from his hour long sleep with a high temp so I had to get him off to the doctors! It was a good day all in all and I look forward to next years, and fingers crossed I don't have to take one of the kids!!!

Mexican Lasagne!

I made this up this evening for dinner. I had some SORJ bread to use up before it went stale and I purchased a BBQ chicken last night at Woolies on discount, so didn't want that to go to waste. I also had pumpkin that had to be used up and some grated cheese. So,I thought about what I could do and came up with a Mexican Lasagne. The best thing about this recipe, is you really add whatever you want. You can add some of your food storage items like kidney beans, or frozen veges, or any kind of mince. Basically whatever your heart desires...or whatever you need to use up!!!
I seem to be on this multicultral theme lately. I never thought I would cross Mexican and Italian, and I suppose I haven't really, but the ideas are there!

Mexican Lasagne

2-4 sheets of Sorj(anything like this) bread

1 BBQ chicken flesh take off and chopped up

1.5 jars of salsa (250g size)

pumpkin thinly sliced and cooked until tender

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 1/2 cup grated cheese


Method

1. Spray glass baking dish with oil spray and preheat oven to 180C

2. Put one piece of Sorj/lavash bread down and spread some salsa over the bread and layer some pumpkin.

3. In a bowl mix together chicken, peas, and 3/4 cup of cheese and rest of the first jar of salsa and add mixture on top of pumpkin.

5. Repeat pumpkin, chicken and then spread rest of cheese and salsa over the top.

6. Place in oven for 15 mins or until cheese is melted and browned.

Serve with dollop of sour cream and some salad.

Its a super healthy meal, and of all things, my kids loved it!!

TIPS: The Sorj bread or any type of lavash style bread can be put in the freezer for later use. The ingredients I have used are a guide only. Use what you and your family would like.

Blog Hopping on Friday... ya gotta get into it!

  

 

So I have Yoghurt and Flour.....

I was very suprised when I found out that greek yoghurt had a pretty good shelf life. I purchased some recently and realised I could keep it in my fridge for over a month! So what can you do with it and why would you keep it for so long? Well, if you plan your meals on a fortnightly or even monthly basis, its good to know that you can purchase your greek yoghurt, particularly if its on special and have it sit in your fridge for a little while. Greek yohgurt it good for to have with fruit or in smoothies. But I bet a lot of you may not think you can make a good savoury meal from it with just a bit of flour!

I came across this recipe in a super food ideas magazine a couple of years ago. I have since lost the actual recipe but I have continued to make it and everyone in my family still love it. The best thing about this recipe is you can put whatever you want in it. Its based on a turkish gozleme and is a little similar to the italian calzone. Its very basic and inexpensive and you can make it as a main meal or finger food for a party, its very versatile. Anyway, heres the recipe and unfortunately, I forgot to take a pic of my final product the last time I made them, but I will do it next time!!

Yummy Gozleme

Dough
2 cups plain flour
500g plain greek yoghurt

Filling
200-250g greek feta crumbled
1/2 cup mixed grated cheese (tasy, mozerella, parmasen - whatever you like)
1/2 cup baby spinach leaves chopped
1/4 cup baby rocket chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Method
1.Combine flour and yoghurt until sticky dough forms. It will be rather sticky, but just add a little bit of flour at a time, but not too much. Allow to stand for 10 mins.

2. Mix all filling ingredients in a bowl.

3. Take some dough about the size of a tennis ball and roll (with a rolling pin) out flat until its about 10mm thick. Add some filling on one side and fold over so you have a half(semi)-circle and squish sides. Continue until dough and filling is used up. 

When I took the photos, I made two large ones, which is why my dough looks rather large. Basically, you can make them any size you want to. I also didn't roll it thin enough, make sure the dough is thin so it cooks well.

4. Heat pan on medium heat and add some olive oil and cook each gozleme until golden brown.

5. Serve imediately so that the cheese is yummy and melted! Enjoy.

I haven't tried to freeze the yoghurt and see if it can still be used in this recipe, but if someone does let me know if it works, because that would be even better as a long term recipe. Its such an easy recipe and so different. The versatility also comes with the freedom of  adding whatever you like or whatever you have. I usually make these vegetarian style and I like adding semi dried tomatoes, roast capsicum and other yummy vegetables but you could add mince meat, chicken pieces or BBQ chicken, salami, chorizo, ham, anything!!!

I have re-heated these the next day in a foccacia/sandwich press.

Hope you like it:)

* I have just realised, that I have given this meal a turkish name and used *greek* yoghurt and *greek* feta. A truly multicultral meal if I do say so myself!!!