It can be done! With the climate we enjoy on the South Coast and a passion for self-sufficiency, your veggie garden can provide all the vegetables you need year-round. David (the enthusiastic grower)
and Judy (the creative cook), with help from Liz and Helen and Slow Food committee members, demonstrated at the final Slow Food Saddleback event for the year that a backyard garden can provide far more than the basics – it can produce a gourmet feast.
Fingerfood and assorted dips served before the main meal used vegetables that are sourced from the Ball’s garden at various times of the year. These included a beetroot dip, radishes served with creamed butter and salt, an aubergine dip, Persian herb frittata, butternut and tahini spread, muhammara and tortilla.
The dips were served with Turkish bread home made at Wollongong’s popular Turkish Paradise restaurant (have you tried the mushrooms?) and dropped off in Berry by proprietor Michael’s daughter (no wasted food miles here!)
For the main course, vegetables picked fresh from the garden and cooked in the wood fired pizza oven complemented pork sourced from Foxground and cooked to perfection by Des and Helen.
Oven roasted potatoes, cumin-coriander roast carrots (these went very quickly) and wilted pak choy were served with a green salad with shaved fennel and leek, and a beetroot, silverbeet and lentil salad. Liz’s pickled rhubarb went brilliantly with the pork.
Judy’s herb infused icecreams (lemon and basil, lemongrass and coconut) served with rosewater rhubarb and Barb’s frozen home grown bananas completed the meal. A fitting finale to a great year of Slow Food events.
Check out the Gallery page for more pictures – click on each thumbnail to see the whole photo. Recipes can be viewed in the recipe section.