More from the Market.

AS we wandered around the market, we discovered a stall selling jams and chutneys. My dislike of all things fruity when combined with meat has been well documented here, but Furry canna pass up a free sample. And there are plenty of delights to sample here. The company is Elfred's of the Peninsula, and they are doin' some seriously funky stuff...

We first sampled the chilli jam. A smoothsweet taste of damson plums gives way to a chilli hot of moderate magnitude. I was expecting something akin to dodgy sweet chilli sauce, but this is more complex and rounder than that. It IS chilli jam. Being the gastronut that I am, I immediately began designing recipes around it. Mix it with chocolate and pour it over wine-simmered pears, thin with balsamic vinegar and use over a blue cheese tart. Stuff figs with it.

It was really REALLY good!!

We also picked up some:



But what really REALLy got my juices flowing was their Mumbai chutney. I am all good for some green mango pickle with meat, but I have never been a fan of meat and chutney since the great Keens Curry Powder on Mince with Sultana's and Sliced Banana debacle of 1972.

But I am happy to say, I am now a proud convert. It's sweet. The way a good curry is sweet. Sweet with complex spices and slow cooking. Sweet with nuts and cinnamon and fenugreek and ginger. A really, really complex and smokey flavour.

I marinated a couple of Lilydale free-range chook breasts in it for about 4 hours, oven baked and served it on coconut and lime basmati rice.

And it was so heavenly, I forgot to take a photo!!

BUT, I did find this:

Elfreds of the Peninsula 23 Alma Street Tootgarook VIC 3941 Tel: 03 5985 3103 email: elfreds@elfreds.com.au Website: www.elfreds.com.au

Elfreds of the Peninsula is the creation of Fred Johnson and Michele Flack. Fred is an European Chef who has been living and working on the Mornington Peninsula for the last ten years. He has cooked in various restaurants, hotels and catering establishments from Portsea to Melbourne and all over Australia. Michele is an Art Teacher who has swapped her paintbrushes and palette for a different form of art. Her flair adds to the colour and vibrancy of Elfreds. Elfreds are keen to promote local produce and are proud to be part of the Mornington Peninsula wine and culinary region of Australia. Elfreds' products which are a range of chutneys, relishes, sauces, pickles, preserves, spices, jams and marmalades are recipes that have been gathered over the last 20 years by Fred working as a chef in various parts of the world. Products vary with the seasons and Fred and Michele select the best produce when it is at its prime, as seasonal changes allow. Elfreds are currently trading at Red Hill, Mornington Racecourse, Flemington Racecourse, Werribee Racecourse, Dingley, Balnarring Racecourse, Mornington Main Street, Queen Victoria Gaslight Market and various wine and gourmet shows. You can also find their products in various shops and deli's.

Get thee some of their produce ASAP!!!

And the above article lead me here, to an online Mornington Peninsula Gourmet guide!!

For those of you who know how passionate I am about my beloved MP, this may hep you understand WHY!!!

A face like a half-eaten pie!

Man, did I take one for the team this weekend. First, let me present the latest chapter in the hunt for the great Aussie meat pie.

Further to our trip to the Peninsula Farmers Market, last week, we tracked down this roving circus of goodness in Boneo Road, this weekend. And we specifically attended to try the Gourmet Meat Pie stand.

Furry and I have been trying pies all over Australia for many years and we have a certain criteria. There must be a definite difference between the pastry on the top and the pastry underneath. The filling needs to have a good meat:gravy ratio. It has to taste like it sounds (All Aussie Chunky Beef pie cannot contain mince and vegies, for example) and it must pass the sog-test.

The sog test is simple.

Before you bite into it, you hold the pie aloft in your cupped hand.

The perfect pie has no "give". The bottom doesn't sag and the sides don't flex.

So, off we go and hunt down our quarry:



Their range is astonishing!! (pity they only had about 1/2 their advertised line actually hot!)



Furry went the Shepherd's pie.:



Which was made with mince, not lamb. Strike out!!.

Although he said it was very nice, it didn't pass the sog test. The bottom was not cooked enough, and it became very VERY messy to eat, whilst walking around.

I went the Chunky Roast Pork pie, and as you can see from the first photo, it had great potential.

The crust pastry was perfect. Flaky, buttery goodness!!

It certainly lived up to its name:



Now, THAT'S a chunky pie!!!



The gravy was a little sweet for me, and it also didn't pass the sog test (but it didn't get nearly as messy as Furry's). I put it down to it only being 9.30 am. Maybe if we'd tried on later, they would have had time to crisp up.

No matter though.. I can always tell a pie that hasn't been baked blind ;)

Stand by for the great Aussie Burger challenge.

What's my craving?

I am spoiled for choices, working in Springvale. Ethiopian, Thai, Viet, Mc Donalds.. I can get pretty much anything I want within a 5 minute drive.

But today, as I was shopping down at Springy South, I had an overpowering urge to eat......

A spring roll.

Not just any spring roll, but a Chien Wah one. One of those ubiquitous spring rolls that closely resembles a Chicko roll, but is different. Same, same but different, ya know?

Not for me, the fine, glass-like structure of spring roll pastry. I want the Chien Wah stuff... the thick, crispy but doughy stuff that takes WORK to bite through!! Not quite the CHIKO pastry, but close.. kinda all lump and nodule-y.. like spring roll pastry with acne. Or Lupus. Or Scurvy.

And the filling!!! I want mass boiled cabbage held together with a cornflour glaze. I want it tasteless and hot..I want to KNOW that it's cabbage, but not be able to identify one single, solitary piece of glassy vegetable-like structure. I want my glaze eerily ejaculation grey-white.

And I want it deep fried and then left in a baine marie for a couple of hours. Cos otherwise you get the crispy ends and the soggy middle. And god forfend that you get a cold bit of filling in the middle.

An hour or two in the baine marie ensures the filling is uniformly hot throughout the roll.

And I want it to ooze fat. I want the Chien Wah bag to be opaque by the time I'm half way thru it. I want it to dribble down my chin. I want to spend all afternoon tonguing a coating of grease off my teeth.

I want to be able to solve the world energy shortage with the oil in my roll!!!

And why?|

Why do I want this??

Is it a reaction to the divine-ness of the bounty the other night at the Bloggers Banquet???

NO!!!

It's for two reasons.

The first bite... and the last.

In a perfectly cooked Chien Wah Spring Roll, the way the pastry is folded, gives you a perfect crispy bite at both ends.

Unlike a Chicko which cannot be said to be perfect unless the hot **ahem** "vegetable" filling has oozed out thru the bottom.

I googled madly for an image, but alas, all I could find were "nice" spring rolls. Obviously us connoisseurs of the darker side of life keep their addictions secret. I mean, in the whole WWW I couldn't find one single picture of one.

If you are of a certain age, and live in Melbourne, OZ you know of what I speak.

And I bet you're craving one right now.....

Le Sigh.

I settled for a 99% fat free soup from the IGA.

Bloggers Banquet. The photos...

Bloggers Banquet 031
Originally uploaded by divinepurplegoddess

You've seen the before.

Now check out...

THE AFTER....

And some more yummy morsels that I dined on last night...

Silk Worm Pupae, anyone??

Food Bloggers message board...

After talking to several peeps last night, there was some discussion about having a central place to post "stuff".. rather than going to 63 different blogs, leaving 67 different messages....

I run a phpBB message board, and.. IF there is any interest, I'd be able to set up a message board (similar in style to Taste.com or Chowhound), and prolly do it for free.

We could have different rooms for different discussions... or just one big ole kitchen, where we hang out.

That way, we eliminate the need to keep email lists of each other, or spend hours jumping from blog to blog to leave messages.

I am happy to give it a red hot go, IF anyone thinks it's a good idea.

But I am not going to ferret around for 40 hours, making a board no one will use.

So, IF you think this is a good idea, let me know in da comments. Hell.. let me know if you think it's crap.

I can prolly get an ad-free space from phpBB, but I'll need to investigate further.

Ideas on "rooms" or names for the site are welcome too...

wot say y'all??

Bloggers Banquet!!!

It's tonight!!! And I've just finished reading what people are planning to bring!!!

Oh my giddy aunt!!!

Anyhoo, check out what's waiting in MY fridge!!!



Sorry about the dodgy dishwashing powder in the background!!






Yup, as promised, prosciutto-wrapped 'sparowgrass and organic, vine-ripened tommies stuffed with a green olive, garlic and roast capsicum "pesto"

AND, some Mornington Peninsula strawb's, ready to be drizzled with my very own, home-made balsamic reduction!!!

So, what are YOU having for dinner tonight??

When I grow up, I want to be a condiment

Vietnamese mint in our new garden bed.