Australian Garden Show Sydney - Sept 5-8

Just 6 weeks to go before I unveil my Kitchen Garden installation at the inaugural Australian Garden Show Sydney. Australia's premiere horticultural and garden show will be held at Centennial Park from September 5 - 8.
As an ambassador and curator for the show I was asked to design a sustainable edible garden to capture the imagination of the tens of thousands of garden enthusiasts who will be visiting our displays. My installation will feature heritage breed chooks, aqua-ponics, pedal-powered sprinklers, native bee hives, worm farms, composting systems, vegetable arches, a vertical strawberry wall and - a merry-go-round ! (plan below)
There'll also be talks and cooking demonstrations from celebrity chefs Kylie Kwong and Matt Moran and a champagne bar so you can kick back while the kids are running around the gardens.
Of course they'll be the traditional garden and flower displays from some of the country's and the world's leading garden designers including Andrew Fisher Tomlin, Patrick Blanc, and Myles Baldwin.
Book your tickets now at www.australiangardenshowsydney.com.au

Wayside Chapel rooftop honey

My story about bees and the delicious honey we produce at the Wayside Chapel's roof top garden features in the Sydney Morning Herald. 

http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/food-news/bees-all-the-buzz-on-13th-floor-20130606-2nrb6.html

Join Indira's tour visiting NEW YORK's roof top farms

Palm Beach - Sustainable Seafood Lunch

It's late autumn and we're in Palm Beach, NSW, to throw a sustainable seafood feast for our friends.

The setting is the glorious beach-side garden of Frangipani Cottage.

 

The two-bedroom cottage, owned by Barrenjoey House, is a stone's throw from Pittwater Beach and the Central Station bus and ferry stop. A perfect getaway from the hubbub of city life.

 

The table is set...

 

.. and the guests arrive.

 

 

Our sustainable seafood selection has been hand-picked by Carmelo at De Costi Seafoods at the Sydney Fish Markets. With the world's fish stocks in desperate decline, it's vital that consumers only purchase sustainable fish species. How can you tell? Well, the best reference guide is the Marine Stewardship Council. They put their label of approval on 11,000 sustainable species. Look out for it before you buy.

The oysters Carmelo has selected for us are 3-4 year old Sydney rock oysters from Merimbula on the NSW south coast. We're having them with an aged champagne vinaigrette.

They have that wonderful briny bite of a younger Sydney rock but are also larger and creamier with a spritzy ozoney after-taste.

Sensational with this bottle of toasty Pol Roger 1998 that's been gathering dust on our wine rack.

 

Next it's meaty prawns from Yamba on the NSW north coast.

The hungry crowd goes through 2kgs in no time.

 



 

Everyone agrees they're the tastiest prawns they've ever had.

'No, please - I simply can't have anymore!'

 

 

Next, Carmelo has carefully filleted some saltwater barramundi fillets from Wild River in Queensland for us. They are firm-textured and deliciously fresh.

 

 

Lunch guests Paul and Tim simply fry them in olive oil, salt and pepper and drizzle over a sage burnt butter sauce.

 

Served with a simple boiled new potato and spinach salad tossed with a tangy salsa verde, seafood really doesn't get any better than this.

 

 

The seafood we've feasted on has been raised in pristine waters in their natural ecosystems which is why it tasted so good.

 

clean plates tell the story.

 



 

and of course there is always room for a little chocolate tart prepared by the chefs at Barrenjoey House. 

 

Saucy Onion stayed as a guest of Barrenjoey House and all seafood was supplied by De Costi Seafood at the Sydney Fish Markets.

 

Barrenjoey House

Phone: +61 (2) 9974 4001

Fax: +61 (2) 9974 5008
Email: info@barrenjoeyhouse.com.au
1108 Barrenjoey Rd, Palm Beach NSW 2108

 

De Costi Seafood at the Sydney Fish Market

Black Wattle Bay Pyrmont

(02) 9692 9188

email: carmel@transtasman.com.au

 

Michael Pollan wants us to cook

Here's my interview with Michael Pollan and review of his book Cooked which is published in today's SMH/The Age Good Food section. http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/food-news/stop-cook-and-listen-20130511-2je7s.html?rand=1368598266787