As passionate advocates of locally sourced produce, we were delighted to discover that Local Harvest were challenging Australian's to eat locally for the first week of April (1st to 7th April), and we couldn't wait to participate. In their own words, this challenge is "a week when people are asked to take on the task of reducing the degrees of separation from their food."

You may have read about Local Harvest on SMH Good Living recently but if not, Local Harvest is a new website that facilitates consumers locating good, honest, locally produced food close to them. By visiting the site, you can type your postcode into the 'search' function and locate producers, providores like us, restaurants, cafes, community gardens and farmers markets all within reasonable distance of your postcode. It's a perfect directory for those of us concerned about where our food is produced and how far it has traveled.

Above: Our listing on the Local Harvest website when "Orange, 2800" is searched.

Naturally, we eat locally every day so we were keen to increase our level of commitment for the Local Harvest Challenge and we are hoping to eat 100% locally all this week. We are so lucky that the Orange region grows incredible produce so the only things that will be challenging for us (that we foresee) are milk, cream and hard cheeses as the area doesn't currently boast a dairy.

Approaching other people about participating in the challenge, we are now also joined by other passionate local foodies who have committed to the challenge for the week. Those lovely Orange/regional locals are:

- Katie and Beau Baddock from The Farm Gate by Nashdale Fruit Co. These guys are the amazing growers who supply us with the delicious fruit and veg that we sell in store as well as our bountiful weekly produce boxes. You can follow them on Twitter and Facebook as well as their blog. We will be using produce boxes from The Farm Gate all week during the challenge and they are bursting with amazing seasonal delights.

- Sophie Hansen. Sophie is a food writer who also owns Mandagery Creek Venison with her husband Tim. We are enormously proud to stock their venison in our store and I am sure it will feature once (if not twice) in my menu this week. You can follow Sophie's gorgeous blog here and she is also on Twitter and Facebook.

- David Cumming. David owns Define Wine, a marketing and communications agency specialising in the wine industry. As an enormous advocate of local wine it didn't take much for David to jump on board too. Follow David on Facebook and Twitter.

- Julia Andrews. Along with her husband Jamie, Julia owns Hamilton's Bluff Wines located just outside the gorgeous country town of Canowindra. While I am sure that would keep her busy enough she somehow also has time to write freelance for a number of publications including STYLE Magazine. Julia can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.

- Kate Barclay. Kate owns Bendy Street Emporium, a stunning shopping haven in Canowindra. If you are keen to drool over her wares or keep up date to with her local food challenge you can follow Kate on Facebook and Twitter.

We will all endeavour to keep you up to date with our daily meals and challenges during the week so please stay in touch via our Facebook pages, Twitter and our blogs. If you too would like to join in the challenge it's not too late to register on Local Harvest and, of course, it's never to late to try and incorporate more local food into your weekly shopping every day :)

Follow A Slice of Orange on Twitter and Facebook.

We are extremely fortunate in Orange that the area is full of amazing vineyards, producing award winning wines but did you also know that we have our own cider house? That’s right, Small Acres Cyder has been operating just outside of Orange (Borenore) since October 2007 and it is a wonderful addition and compliment to the Orange food and wine scene.

Frustrated by the lack of quality cider in Australia, since moving from the UK, Gail and James Kendell decided to create their own. And what better place to do it than here? Orange makes absolute sense given our cool climate and rich volcanic soils which are ideal for growing apple and pear trees, the hero ingredient in cider. Given the ideal environment it may be surprising to know that Small Acres is the only cider-producing company in the region! At the moment, all of their ciders are alcoholic but hopefully soon there will be something non-alcoholic we can sell in store.

Above: The home of Small Acres Cyder. On the board: don't forget to check out their regular events.

Small Acres Cyder currently have seven different cider styles available including a dessert style ice cider, a dry cider, medium dry cider, medium sweet cider, dry sparkling, medium dry rose style cider and, for the first time this year, a medium dry cider made entirely from pears instead of apples known as Perry. My choice is the medium dry rose style one affectionately named “Cider Rouge” but it is hard to pick a favourite as they are all lovely! You can browse the full award-winning range on their website here.

L to R: Labels ready for the new vintage bottles. Small Acres Cyder "Sparkling" - chilled and ready to enjoy.

For the last two years I have loved attending the launch of the years’ cider vintage at their property, and am so impressed by the styles they now have available, and the food they match it with for the day, that I wanted to share the delights of their cider with you all.

Upon arriving at the vintage launch we are all allocated a glass and it is explained that we should start our tasting at the top of the table and work our way down. Each cider (starting from sparkling right through to the dessert cider) had been expertly matched with a hors d'oeuvre that complements that cider absolutely perfectly. These are easy matches so I recommend trying them at home!

On the day we are spoilt with the following:

L to R: I love that what you are matching the cider with is scrawled on the tablecloths!

Cider is one of those delicious beverages that I think works perfectly well in any season. The dry ciders are great in winter with a lovely pork belly and the sparking or rose style is lovely for a summer evening. You can even use cider in cooking, much the same way you would use wine or verjus. Some ideas include creating creamy sauces, adding it to risotto, as an ingredient in pies or casseroles, baking it with pork and apples, using as a glaze ingredient with ham, adding to curries or sweet and sour pork and using sweeter ciders in puddings and cakes. Yum. Or, you could cheat and pick up some gourmet pork and cider sausages from Small Acres Cyder and impress your family that way!

L to R: Pork and Cider sausages - Yum! Some of the Small Acres Cyder range and descriptions.

The launch for 2011 was held in November so this post is a little late due to our busy Christmas period but the good news is all varieties are still available. You can find your closest stockist by browsing the list here.

An interesting fact: Cyder or Cider?

Cyder, spelt with a “y” refers to a boutique product made from a single pressing of vintage fruit.  Cyder will mature and improve with age in either a bottle or cask and is considered by connoisseurs to be the ‘real thing’. Cyder made on a commercial scale, or not made from a single pressing of fruit is referred to as cider, with an “i”. It’s production methods are sometimes less traditional and therefore it can be less ‘hand made’.

It is only 4 weeks until Christmas which is very exciting (and slightly stressful)! We have lots of delicious goodies to share with you for the festive season so I thought it would help to list them here. Please drop in, call or email us if you need further information or if you’d like to order anything :-)

Local Christmas Hams – Available from our Orange store we have Trunkey double smoked hams available in the following sizes and prices. Please pre order by Dec 12^th.

• > Boned and rolled double smoked ham :: 2kg to 6kg :: $20 per kg
• > Whole leg bone in :: 6kg to 10kg :: $16 per kg
• > Half leg bone in :: 3kg to 5kg :: $16 per kg
• > Mini gourmet ham ::0.2kg to 1kg :: $30 per kg

Local Free Range and Organic Turkeys – Available from our Orange store in the following sizes and prices. Please pre order by Dec 12^th.

• > Medium free range organic turkey :: 3kg to 4kg :: $22 per kg
• > Large free range organic turkey :: 4kg to 5kg :: $22 per kg

Essential Christmas Sweet Treats – We have the full range of Anna’s Cuisina’s famous puddings, fruitcakes, shortbread, fruit mine tarts and low gluten fruitcakes now in store. They range from the gorgeous 110g individual servings right through to 1.75kg and 3kg sizes. Made in the heart of Orange, these products are Christmas essentials and are available at our Orange store and online here.

Gourmet Christmas Hampers – Last year our local produce gift hampers were so popular that we have set some standard sizes and prices for easy purchasing. They are packed full of our best sellers and are always well received.

• > You can view the $50 gift hamper here
• >You can view the $80 gift hamper here
• > You can view the $100 gift hamper here
• > You can view the $150 gift hamper here

Of course, if you need to order bulk hampers or wish to create a custom hamper, please get in touch. We are more than happy to fulfill corporate orders. All deliveries in Orange are FREE.


Gift Vouchers – Our gift vouchers also make the prefect gift for any discerning foodie. Delivery is free Australia-wide and the vouchers can be redeemed online or in our Orange store. Gift vouchers can be ordered here or by emailing or phoning us.

We also have Gingerbread Houses and Trees that you can decorate yourselves - a fantastic activity for the kids! We're running a Facebook competition to see who can decorate the best house - the winner receives a $20 in store voucher - so upload your decorated house to our Facebook Page for your chance to win. Good luck!



And, if all that yumminess isn’t enough, we have lots of other delectable treats available by viewing the Christmas section of the online store or by popping in to 200 Anson Street, Orange.

Ho, Ho, Ho and best of luck with your pre-Christmas shopping! Lisa :)

Jess and I recently attended the Orange launch of The Art of Pasta by Lucio Galletto and it was such a beautiful evening I thought I'd share it with you. Held at Racine Restaurant @ La Colline, and hosted by Boomers Bookshop, Lucio and his wife Sally were warmly welcomed by an intimate group keen to discover the art of pasta making. We were also lucky enough to have the book's artist, Luke Sciberras, in attendance.

Lucio Galletto is the owner of renowned Paddington eatery Lucio's Italian Restaurant on Windsor Street. Awarded 2 SMH Chefs Hats again this year, Lucio's was established in 1983 and is almost as famous for it's art-adorned walls as it's food. This book then, is accurately described as bringing "together Lucio Galletto's two great passions in life: food and art" with the help of original artworks by Luke Sciberras. Created in the studio during the cooking, styling and photographing process, Luke's exquisite and inspiring pieces are beautifully integrated into the books pages in a powerful collaboration, the quality of which is rarely seen.

Above: One of Luke's gorgeous pieces for sale.

During the evening we browsed the range of artworks by Luke, all of which were absolutely stunning and, teasingly, most of it was for sale. While mingling we were treated to starters created by Shaun Arantz of Racine that included chicken broth encapsulating a quails egg, topped with a parmesan crisp, followed by a delightful mouthful of scampi tail, squid ink angel hair pasta and lemon chilli oil. Once seated we were presented with a vibrant plate of gnocchi, slow cooked lamb and spring greens, all of which melted in the mouth. Dessert was a simple yet delicious vanilla bean ice cream with fresh seasonal berries, hazelnut oil and balsamic.

L to R: Chicken broth with a quails egg topped with a parmesan crisp. Andrew and Robert from Boomers Bookshop with Sally Galletto. Lucio shares his book with a guest.

Pasta, as described by Lucio, is the basis of Italian family cooking and he rejoices in recollections of his mother, covered in flour, preparing pasta for the family. Lucio's connection to pasta and pride in this part of his heritage is evident every time he speaks and flicks through the pages of his new book enthusiastically. He is, deservedly, very proud of this amazing collection of recipes.

Jess and I both purchased the book on the evening and were thrilled that Luke drew us our own artwork of squid on the front page. Lucio, when signing my copy, directed me to page 198 which features a recipe for green tagliolini with blue swimmer crab which he says has been on the menu at Lucio's for 28 consecutive years!

L to R: Lucio signing my copy of the book. Luke illustrating the front page of The Art of Pasta for a guest.

The Art of Pasta is Lucio's third recipe book and is undoubtably the most beautiful to date. Available in two editions, this book can be purchased from Boomers Bookshop for $59.95 or you can treat yourself to the gorgeous Collector's Edition which is presented in a slipcase, is signed by Lucio and Luke and comes with a signed and numbered limited-edition etching from Luke for $250.00. Either edition would be equally at home as a coffee table book or as a much thumbed recipe book. I was personally so inspired by the stunning and simple to follow recipes that I've purchased the Kitchen Aid pasta making attachment to make the most of this stunning tome as regularly as I can.

Happy cooking!

If you'd like to keep up to date with Lucio's, Boomers Bookshop or Racine you can follow them on twitter: @luciositalian, @boomersbookshop, @racinelacolline

Every week or so I find myself wandering around our store, market basket in hand, picking up my kitchen essentials so I thought I'd share my must-haves from the shop with you. Obviously I cook with and eat everything we sell but I find my self stocking up on these items time and time again. I'd also love to hear what your essentials are when you come in too.

I always have a 2 litre cask of local extra virgin olive oil on hand. At the moment I am using Gibson's Grove's unfiltered extra virgin olive oil. I try to alternate between the brands to get a good understanding of each of their flavours and best uses. I also go through a lot of Orange Mountain Verjus and it is terrible if I run out unexpectedly.

Next I can't help but stock up on jams and breakfast spreads. A bottle of Highland Heritage raspberry jam is always part of my shopping list as is a different flavour of honey, often depending on the season. A favourite is Cabonne Country Honey's Bloodwood - it has a lovely rich flavour and isn't always readily available.

From the fridge I grab a packet of each of Trunkey chorizo, pancetta, ham and short cut bacon. All Trunkey products can be frozen and I often find it handy to have at least a chorizo and some pancetta in the freezer for extra taste in an easy dish. High Valley marinated fetta is also a favourite. The pesto flavour is by far our best seller but I love the kick of the chilli one as well. A couple of Fresh Fodder dips are also included in my haul with taramasalata being a winner every time.

Meanwhile, from the freezer I stock up on a Gina Allen chicken and leek pie, or two :) and a twin pack of Wellington Farm Lamb pies. Without a doubt, I have never enjoyed pies as much as I love these two types. They are so yummy that Gina's pies get pre-ordered by customers to make sure they don't miss out.

I always like to have a selection of savoury condiments in the fridge and I alternate between Murrungundy Pistachio's Red Tomato Relish and Tall Poppy's Spicy Tomato Relish. Both are great sellers and I hate to run out!

Seasonal fruit from The Farm Gate also can't be missed while Fourjay Farm's gluten free hazelnut muesli is a great base for adding chopped fruit to. A carton of Egganic free range eggs also goes quickly at our house and their taste is so amazing we can't be without them so I grab those as well.

Blood plum finishing vinegar from La Barre, Plougman's Hill olives and a Lolli Redini salad dressing have me covered for my salads and a bottle of Lime Grove lime juice cordial is a must for creating refreshing cocktails or zesty summer drinks.

And finally, if I am feeling decadent, I'll splurge on some truffle salt or saffron for a special mid-week meal.

I'd love to hear what your must-haves are from our shop.. surely I can't be the only one addicted? Lisa :)

Verjus has been in use to some degree (both culinary and medicinal) since ancient European times right through the Middle Ages but proudly, Aussie icon Maggie Beer was the first person to produce verjus in a commercial capacity, world wide. Following on from that, Maggie’s cooks books, television show The Cook and the Chef and her appearances on MasterChef can certainly be credited for raising awareness and demand for this product.

So, what is verjus? In essence verjus is a liquid made from unripe wines grapes and is ideal for use in dressings, marinades and for deglazing pans. Terry from Orange Mountain Wines started to make verjus to avoid wastage of grapes from his vineyard and winery located at Borneore, just outside of Orange.

L to R: Autumn vines at Orange Mountain Wines, Borenore. The barrel press used to extract every ounce of liquid from freshly picked grapes.

Terry explains that he uses bunch thinning on his vineyard in order to reduce the grapes growing on his vines thereby making it easier for his plants to grow a healthier crop and hopefully superior wines! The unripe wine grapes picked during the thinning process usually go to waste, however, to his credit and our joy, Terry chose to utilise them to create verjus. This sustainable view of vineyard management also makes commercial sense as Terry gets more value from of his crop and is essentially diversifying his product offering: wines AND verjus. If it looks like it may be a bad year for wine, Terry and Julie also have the option to make more verjus, and can make that call early in the season, something no other Orange winemakers currently do.

The process of creating verjus starts with picking during December or January when the grapes are still small, hard, green and acidic with no juice. For those familiar with winemaking terms, this is usually a Baume level of 7 – 9. If picking were to be left only two weeks after this time, the sugar levels in the grapes would be too high, and they would be much more inclined to ferment (try and turn into wine).

L to R: Completely dry and brittle grapes left over from the pressing process.

Immediately after picking, the bunches are loaded straight into the press where a very small amount of very acidic juice is squashed out by an intense amount of pressure. This juice is settled at 0°C, filtered and bottled by February each year. The process of making verjus sounds similar to the process of making wine, on paper, however it is a far more strict and sterile process with little room for error or creativity. The grapes really want to ferment so preventing this is key. Once bottled, the verjus can be used straight away though it does improve the longer it is in the bottle.

Terry and Julie have 4 different bottles of verjus in their range: caramelised verjus, clear verjus in 750ml or 375ml and pink verjus in 750ml. Their clear verjus is made from a blend of chardonnay and viognier grapes while the pink is made from shiraz. The clear verjus is ideal for white sauces, fish dishes and for use in cocktails where you don’t want any colour. The pink verjus is fantastic for deglazing pans and has slightly more flavour and depth than the clear. Saying that, the clear and pink verjus’ are completely interchangeable, it is simply a matter of personal taste and preference.

L to R: The grape juice is settled at minus 5 degrees Celsius for a week or two before being filtered and bottled. Orange Mountain is also renowned for it's award winning wines - join their wine club for member benefits.

Terry only created a small trial amount of caramelised verjus last year and it sold out within a couple of months so he’s increased his volume this year which we know many customers will be thrilled about. As far as we are aware, there is only one other caramelised verjus in the world at this time! It is made by reducing the clear verjus to intensify and sweeten its flavour which takes approximately 10 hours in a large pot. Caramelised verjus can be used to make many dishes richer and is perfect for use in desserts as well as savoury dishes. If you are familiar with vino cotto, it is similar to it and can be used in the same way.

Once people try verjus, Terry and Julie say they fall in love with it and it becomes a kitchen staple. Personally, we use it at least 3 or 4 times a week in cooking at home and just love it. The biggest challenge for Orange Mountain is therefore consumer education in terms of it’s use and the encouragement of experimentation. We really hope you enjoy cooking with Orange Mountain Verjus – we know we do!

A friendly tip: make sure you keep opened bottles of verjus in the fridge otherwise those cheeky grapes will try and ferment into not-so-yummy wine.

Combine the breadcrumbs, herbs, salt and pepper and mix with the grape seed oil.

Season the racks of lamb with more salt and pepper and place the lamb (meat side up) in a pan and roast for 10 minutes. Remove from oven.

Coat the lamb with honey and sprinkle the breadcrumb/Herbs de Provence mixture, pressing well into the meat.

Return the meat to the oven and roast for another 10 minutes for medium rare.

Let the lamb rest for 5 minutes before carving into individual chops. Serve with roasted seasonal vegetables. Mmmmm.

We are extremely lucky to be able to stock locally grown Saffron at A Slice of Orange. It is certainly something that lots of people are keen to try and we love chatting to customers about new and different ways of using it in meals.

The suppliers of our “High Ridge” Saffron have been quietly and diligently nurturing their Saffron bulbs for almost 10 years now and I was delighted to meet with them recently to discuss the finer details of Saffron ‘farming’. I was surprised to discover that Saffron is actually a bulb so most activity prior to harvest occurs underground. The Saffron bulb “Crocus Sativus” originates from Central Asia and today most Saffron is grown in Spain, India, Greece, Azerbaijan, Morocco and Italy with Iran producing almost 94% of the world’s total production.

When I enquire about why our suppliers decided to grow such a delicate and labour-intensive crop, they explain that they were inspired to grow their own Saffron after experiencing difficulty finding the spice when living in Sydney. They already owned a property at Triangle Flat, near Orange and, as it was the perfect climate, they bought some bulbs from Victoria and planted them at their farm. Here they are cultivated in slightly raised beds where they like an optimal mix of friable soil (well draining soil that crumbles easily), full sun and minimal rain in summer. Luckily, given the local climate, the bulbs can tolerate snow.

Saffron stigmas peeking out from the flower head - almost ready for harvest.

From little things, yummy things grow

When “High Ridge” first commenced planting they started with 100 bulbs. After 5 years, and due to the annual multiplication of the bulbs, they were required to dig them up and replant them across more beds. Saying that, Crocus Sativus isn’t an annual bulb in the true sense, as they do not require separation and replanting on a yearly basis. Interestingly, however, there is a village in Italy that treats them as such.

The growth of a crop is dependent on this multiplication – every year they divide in the ground with the ‘daughters’ growing above the ‘mother’ bulb. As they crowd each other out and reach the surface they are separated and replanted but the mother bulb dies every year so it is the daughter bulbs that carry on. Incredibly, approximately 200 plants are required to obtain one gram of stigmas! 

Open flowers with stigmas exposed and ready for immediate harvesting. Note the 3 stigmas in every flower head. 

The plants flower in Autumn but nothing shows on the surface until they are almost ready for harvest. The mauve flower or the leaves may surface first (or both together) but once the flower rises out of the ground it must be picked very quickly before it opens to ensure unadulterated stigmas. The picking process is very intensive as all flowers need to be picked by hand, opened and have the three stigmas removed manually. Last year there was a flower with five stigmas but as a rule all flowers only have three stigmas.  Harvest takes approximately four to six weeks at "High Ridge" and once all flowers have been picked the plant continues to grow leaves that then form a lovely green carpet across the beds.

It is still possible to pick the stigmas after the flower has opened but by this time the flower’s pollen has been released and it is considered to have then slightly affected the flavour of the stigma itself.

Proving popular

Unsurprisingly the reception for “High Ridge” Saffron has been excellent among our customers and the few local retailers that stock it. We sold out of the product before the next harvest was ready so it really is first in best dressed at the moment while production is still small.

Time for the tasting

When I ask our growers the favourite way to use this amazing spice they say it is probably Risotto Milanese – the dish that inspired their initial search for Saffron in Sydney. They do also encourage more unconventional uses such as sprinkling the stigmas over a roast chicken or using them in dessert such as panna cotta. They remind me that the best way to extract the colour and flavour from Saffron threads is to steep them in a small amount of hot water for at least 30 minutes (if not overnight) before using them and it is also important to store Saffron in a dark, dry place.

Harvest time at "High Ridge" is April/ May so we now have the 2011 Saffron stigmas in store for your enjoyment! You can buy it in our online store here.

Ingredients

Dissolve the sugar in 3 cups of boiling water and then boil until reduced to 2 cups total volume, set aside in the fridge to chill (this can be made the day before).

Combine 500ml Orange Mountain verjus, with the sugar syrup. Beat 2 egg whites to the consistency of firm peaks then fold into the sugar/verjus liquid. Pour the mixture into an ice-cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions.

If you don’t have a machine put the liquid into a metal tray, cover and freeze until ice crystals are setting around edges (approx 2 hours). Take out and turn into a bowl to break it into smaller pieces beat with electric beaters until slushy then return to tray and freezer.

Repeat this process 2 or 3 times (the more beatings the lighter the consistency), then finally freeze until firm.

Add the Saffron to a small amount of hot stock or water and let steep for 30 minutes.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat half the butter over a medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened and translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon until the rice is well coated, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the wine to the rice and cook until almost evaporated. At this point, start adding the stock, which is kept simmering in another pan. Add a ladleful at a time, stirring often so the rice doesn’t stick to the pan.

Continue adding stock a ladle at a time, waiting until the liquid is almost completely absorbed before adding more. If the amount of stock is not quite enough, dilute it with hot water.

After about 20 minutes begin to taste the rice. It is ready when it is tender and creamy but still a little firm to the bite.

Towards the end of the cooking time, add the saffron liquid. Having stirred in the Saffron, add the remaining butter and the Parmesean cheese stirring well to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

More butter and cheese can be served separately.