Feeling like you need a weekend escape away?

WIN a luxury escape in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland

In conjunction with my Sicilian Banquet Freestyle Escape Cooking class I have two amazing getaways to give away to two lucky winners.

1.   The first is a weekend getaway staying in the luxury Freestlye Escape Arthouse valued at $600. The Arthouse is a contemporary studio cottage nestled in the middle of 25 acres of rainforest, an ideal escape to relax, indulge in a little romance and get away from the city hustle and bustle.

2.    The second prize offers a midweek 3 night stay (Value $1500) in the luxury Freestyle Escape House for 2 people. Bathe while being taken away by the breath taking views, read a good book, listen to the birdsong or music, or wander through the rainforest. Relax and unwind here in your little piece of paradise.

Each weekend wins a gift basket of weekend goodies and wine!

To be in the running to win all you need to do is go to www.dominiquerizzo.com.website and visit the Contact Page, select Other as the subject and tell me in 25 words or less why you need an escape away.

Click Here to enter and Good Luck!

If you were thinking about coming along to any of theWagga Wagga classes at Food I Am, don't delay any longer!! Spaces are limited so click on the image to follow the link and book your spot now!

 After hitting the streets of Spain and coming out all things European there is nothing like giving yourself a bit of a culture shock in all areas of mind, body and belly. I planned to meet my mother in Surat Thani to attend a Buddhist monastery on a noble silent retreat for 10 days.  I had discussed this with her prior to leaving Australia and had decided that it was what I wanted to do for my 40^th Birthday. Something different I thought something that would help me with the next and significant years of my life. Now we could have gone up to Noosa and done something similar and as I hear without the harsh realities of a Buddhist monks regiment although very relaxed lifestyle.

We were housed in what I would call a brick cell, extremely modest with a wooden pillow; a piece of maisonite timber on top of a cement and brick shelf was the bedding and a mosquito net that for me was being held together with band aids. I am a simple, low maintenance girl at heart so cobwebs, cockroaches, frogs, bad bedding, cold baths, no toilet paper, one meal of rice soup and a divine vegetarian curry a day, the daily job of cleaning the toilets, no speaking and 4am meditation starts for 10 days were all ok, what really got to me was the 5-6 hours of meditation that for a beginner was very difficult, frustration, relentless and challenging.  Having passed new years eve, with a scrapped knee as I fell trying to clean my teeth into the gutter surrounding the cement communal baths  and then my birthday, glancing over to my mother and smiling in silence as I tried to think about not thinking, I wondered how many days I could possibly stay here. As the days continued, there were some significant changes that did occur, I forgot about the importance of hair washing, wearing shoes and changing outfits, what freedom for a change, there were also no mirrors so the liberation of not even worrying about what you looked like was heaven and peace enough for me. So use to carrying around a hand bag full of stuff, suddenly I had no stuff, no need for stuff and wondered as I watched people take bags of stuff to the open meditation hall… what do you need from a bag to close your eyes and be in a quiet peaceful state, what was in their bags that maybe I had left behind and did I need stuff to help me dissolve my thoughts into my breath. 

Well another couple of days passed in silence and after going through elements of sheer frustration, thinking about not thinking, again, and reorganizing my entire life in my head. I kept breathing, again thinking about not thinking and then the highlight…watching and becoming mesmerized by ants climbing up a tree, making a tunnel in the wet sand and watching fireflies illuminate the sky,  I had my epiphany and decided my time was compete and I had achieved what I had come for. I decided to call it to an end on the 6^th day and left for my next adventure in Thailand leaving my mother behind to continue her path to the blessed and euphoric “nibbana”. And that’s when the light returned back into my body, I reconnected with my love for food, for people and discovered that I am doing ok and that for me, my “nibbana” and complete happiness is where I am at that moment as long as I am in the moment and enjoying my life. 

The next days in Thailand were filled with wonderful new food experiences, making new friends and lots of laughter. When you are travelling on your own it is often easier to simply go up to people and strike up a conversation even if you can’t speak the language, fortunately for me, my new found friends spoke some English and we were able to get our messages across quite easily of course with the help of modern technology.  

 

 

While having breakfast in my little local resort I met three wonderful women, Fon, Kook and Meaw  who over the next two days took me under their wings, invited me into their homes, gave me a Thai cooking lesson, wandered behind me explaining all the details of unusual produce at the local markets while I proceeded to take photos of just about anything and everything that was unusual or different.

 

 We picked wild mushrooms and bagged them ready for the markets, Stopped by road side stalls searching for pippies, wild leaves and other ingredients needed for the cooking lesson.  

 

 

 

 I became obsessed with eating these beautiful fruits the Longan, similar to a lychees but with really small almost no seeds and a grapefruit, lychee flavour, refreshing, sweet, juicy and easy to peel just have to be careful of the ants that also like the fruit and live in between the tightly bunched stalks.

We dined on fresh crispy fried prawn cakes with chili dipping sauce, squid and bean thread salad, dried curried scallops with sugar snap peas and baby corn, spicy green papaya salad with salted eggs and nam prik and vegetables, a spicy sauce made a variety of ways accompanied with a selection of raw vegetables. Similar to the Italian style bagna cauda but with three times the punch in chili as the bagna cauda has with anchovies and salt.

     

My cooking lesson was filled with excitement as the girls proceeded to lay out all the ingredients for our floor banquet which later we shared and laughed as the tears rolled down my face , my nose ran and the excruciating look of burning lips and tongue appeared on my face. But that didn’t stop me from loving every minute of the pain and of the eating.

 We enjoyed the tasty little mouthful of what the girls described to be as a bit of a palate cleanser consisting of  a betel leaf, rolled with toasted shredded coconut, fresh chili, dried prawns, a piece of lime, a piece of ginger, peanuts and then a wonderful sour sweet thick sauce which was a dollop on top, the tasty morsels of fishy, bitter, sour and sticky sweet  were then rolled up and crunched into and to my delight they were delicious as I knew they would be.

We finished with a creamy sticky coconut rice and fresh mango drizzled with a coconut palm sugar sauce and cooled my sizzling lips with icy cold fresh coconut and jelly, which again was something that in our summers here in Queensland should be a staple on the side of our roads as well.

 

 

 

 

Getting back into daily routine after the crazy Christmas and new year season need not send you into a panicked frenzy. For easy main meals for fussy or allergy eaters I always love to serve a selection of dishes banquet style as I myself love to have many different flavours and dishes on offer. With this option there is sure to be something that someone likes.  

Throwing together a wonderful dinner can be as simple as having a barbeque, to easily jazz it up try brushing over chunks of vegetables with rosemary twigs soaked in olive oil and crushed garlic, you can also use thyme springs and then toss the grilled vegetables with mixed leaves and or crumbled feta. Have a smaller selection of meats, pieces of fish or chicken that you can easily throw onto the grill or hot plate. Instead of trying to have different main meals, create a selection of salsas or dressings including a Moroccan spiced charmoula, yoghurt scented with saffron, roasted garlic and sweet apple vinegar or a pistachio and herb dressing that can be spooned over a plain grilled or barbequed piece of meat, chicken or vegetables. Many great side dishes including wild grain and hearty vegetable salads can be made ahead of time and brought out just before serving.

If you are cooking with your oven try a baked polenta or pasta dish, a simple fragrant curry full of fresh ginger, lemongrass and lime leaves, or braised beef dish with a splash of Lindeman’s shiraz is easy to throw together and can be left to simmer until tender, these dishes are usually free from all nasty intolerance foods and generally suit everyone.   Don’t be bamboozled by desserts either and try something a little different, everyone loves ice cream and there are plenty of excellent dairy free/gluten free ice creams out there that you can team up with caramelised  or chilled poached or fresh fruits. Serve the ice cream and fruits as is or layered and frozen in a terrine, slice it up and garnished with roast almond praline for something with a little more wow. Try some of the wonderful almond or hazelnut meal torts which are great for gluten free folks which can be whipped up in minutes and are adaptable to all sorts of exotic additions. Chilled puddings of sago or tapioca sweetened with palm sugar and coconut milk are wonderful on the warmer nights and are delicious accompanied with tropical fruits tossed with zested lime and a splash of sparkling wine. Wrap in baking paper and foil, bananas and sliced strawberries with a scattering of dark chocolate and leave to sit on the barbeque until the chocolate is melted. With all these ideas your back to work dinners will leave you enjoying the occasion with friends and family and not stranded and stressed in the kitchen. 

With Christmas and the New Year out of the way we can all finally breathe a sigh of relief that again we have made it through. Although it should no longer come as a surprise and I am not sure why we all seem to get so stressed and exhausted by it all. It happens every year! We should be use to it and have the whole festive season running like a well oiled machine. Well, with my handy tips you will. So now what? We have re and re-worked the leftovers with the tips from foodie magazines and chefs alike, put away the decorations and are all starting to rev the engines back up heading back to work, back to school and back to life before Christmas break. A new year has always been a fresh start for me. For one it falls on my birthday, and what a great way to start the new year and look on  the bright side than to be a year older and wiser, and that’s 40 years this time round.  I take the whole New Year’s resolution very seriously, although not so much a resolution but a pre thought of what can I do this year to de stress, de frazzle and delight my life and I think I have found it. Get rid of the clutter! We are starting with the kitchen and hopefully that will give you some ideas to continue to the rest of the house. Here are some  fantastic tips on how to clean up your kitchen life, save money, save time and breeze into 2012 with a smile and a happy household.

• When organising and cleaning out the pantry stack cans , jars and packets with labels facing forwards so they are easy to read

• Stack like items with like so all your tinned tomatoes, tinned vegetables, legumes, dried flours, nuts, in the same areas that way you can see clearly what you have making it easy for restocking and shopping

• Take foods out of open packets and boxes and store in airtight containers and jars for better storage and more space

• Use split level handy storage shelves to give you more space and spice racks on doors or walls to assist with organising and storing smaller jars which always seem to get lost

• Depending on your style of pantry or food storage cupboard, corners can be like black holes so store larger bulkier items that you don’t use on a daily basis so that you don’t have to move everything every time you need to get to them if you shop fortnightly store double up items in hard to reach corners

• Aim  to cook 2-3 meals a week using at least 3 items from your pantry so that you keep all your pantry items rotating and fresh

• Any items that you haven’t used in the past year, you will never use so if they are still within their used by date drop them off at a food bank for someone else to enjoy

• Look up recipes that you wouldn’t normally cook with ingredients that you bought thinking “one day” and create that one day dish

• When restocking your pantry, make sure that you bring all the old items forward and place the new items at the back if you have several of each item

• Recycle old jam jars, condiment jars and bottles for use in your pantry for spices, homemade dressings, grains and legumes, label with a sticker, write with permanent pen or place a small labelled piece of paper into the jar

• Pantry Moths love cardboard, paper and thin plastic bags so transfer your cardboard items into plastic or glass containers or jars sealed tightly either with a lid or with clamps or rubber gaskets, also clean down the shelves  once every 6 n\months with eucalyptus oil mixed with a little water to prevent them from laying, they seem to dislike the smell

• Encourage your family to use up pre opened goods before opening the new product as we have all had the situation with several jars or bottles of the same item opened, you then up with 2-3 bottles half used of the same product which you can then pour into one and discard the rest.

• Keep your spices fresh by storing them in a cool area in air tight plastic or glass containers. If you only use spices sometimes buy them in small quantities or buy whole spices to roast and grind them fresh when you need them as they will last longer and  roasting them gives you better flavour.

• Aim to reorganise your pantry every 4-5 months

Come join me for my first public event for the year!

Celebrate A Summer of FOOD, FLOWERS AND FUN!
At The Ginger Factory Friday 27th to Sunday 29th JANUARY 2012

ENTRY IS FREE

The Ginger Factory will burst into bloom with the very first ginger flowers and heliconias for the season, to be unveiled at the Ginger Flower & Food Festival. I will be there for the three days doing cooking demonstrations will all local and the Ginger Factory's finest produce. Look forward to seeing you there. Click Here for more information.

To me the real joy of travelling is the experiences that we have along the way, the people we meet who change our lives, who open their homes, hearts and kitchens and the lands upon which we find ourselves standing mouths open in wonderment and breathing in the sheer pleasure of being in a place that gives you a certain peace in heart and soul. My 10 days in Sardinia, now a  beautiful memory will be somewhere that I will return. Having left with new found friends, a belly full of real earth giving foods and an experience of being in a land as beautifully stylish in fashion as it is in its simplicity in the lifestyle, the cooking and the ruggered coast line that surrounds this island of life. 

Arriving on the island well outside of holiday season was to me a blessing, although many of the coastal restaurants, hotels and bars were closed with shutters drawn, signs over turned and in certain towns there was an erie but comforting feeling of desertion. Unlike the peak season of July to September when you can barely move, drive or find a spot of sand to sit under the beating sun, I was fortunate to have the sun still shining on my face as I sat sipping campari on ice by the waters edge, the smell of the ocean in my lungs, its waves crashing on jagged rocks calling out to the sands is something that I am continually mesmerised by.

I stayed in a simple very modest farm house with 8 cats waiting to be fed every morning, pomegranates, mandarins, oranges and rosemary growing in the wild abandoned garden, and a tiny kitchen where I most enjoyed some of the simplest of dishes. Cheese as I mentioned in my last blog is one of Sardinia's precious gems along with its bottarga, sausages and meats and of course its breads, fresh fruits and wild vegetables. Studded with olive trees, citrus, artichokes, the mountains of Sardinia provide the succulent maglionino - baby wild pig, rabbits, lambs and its beef, although its seafood, fish, crustaceans and the deliciously creamy sea urchin or ricci is a dish not to be missed.

Olives are brined in salted water for 10 days, changed every other day and then  left to brine in a mixture of salt, water, wild fennel and bay leaves. Others are left to sit in salt overnight then baked in a very slow oven for 4-5 hours to then be marinated in some of the most divine olive oils I have tasted. Pasta is tossed with garlic, olive oil, parsley, tomato passata and bottarga then finished with some of the delicate sea urchin, tossed together at just the last minute, for an even creamer pasta you omit the passata and the bottarga and the hot pasta infused with the garlic and parsley is delicately stirred with the salty flesh creating a creamy almost buttery texture. Heavier pastas are tossed with a sugo of diced beef, pork sausages, lardo, fresh salami and home made tomato sauce simmered for almost an hour with rosemary, fresh bay leaves and the quintessential onion, garlic, celery and carrot. Chunks of smoked fresh ricotta is spread onto crusty bread or their traditional carte di musica a wafer thin crispy flat bread delicious as is, or dredged through olive oil dressings, sauces and the like. Mussels, clams dance through hot spaghetti tossed with white wine, prawns, calamari and octopus are cooked and chilled to then be thrown into a explosion of flavour with lashings of olive oil, lemon juice and the flavours of the sea in simple seafood salads. Artichokes are eaten raw marinated with olive oil and lemon and covered with shaved Parmesan, or fried with garlic, parsley and oil and eaten as a side dish or light lunch. Wine red or white substitutes water and is as light or heavy as you like, straight from the vats came this divinely subtle drop with a slight sweetness fruity, fragrant and accompanied every meal. Finishing the days feast was always fresh fruit and a digestive of either Mirto the traditional drop of Sardinia made either from the berry itself producing a rather dark slightly bitter sweet flavour or from the flower and the leaves a light, sweeter style of digestive more preferred by the ladies. There is also the traditional home made grappas, fennel, lemon and other wonderfully concocted liqueurs aging in small jars and presented to guests and alike to try after the meal.  The desserts are simple with an almost basic pastry being used for quite a few of the more traditional pasticceria and filled with saffron and orange scented ricotta, sultana and wine paste and crushed almonds mixed with lemon, sugar and egg whites. fennel, almonds, chocolate and dried fruits are also popular with many of the desserts.

Having only conquered a small part of the island and with my eye on a couple of those gorgeous beaches and in particular a century old tuna festival in June I am certain to return to this beautifully ruggered and breathtaking place. 

Pardon the pun but I love this saying. It’s not often that we have million dollar co-operatives encouraging us to leave the retail chains behind and come together as a community, creating and hand making gifts for our families and friends in wonderful local surroundings. Well this year Southbank gets creative and invites you and your family to join in the Christmas spirit of hand making gifts, saving money, time and creating an opportunity to come together as a family and a community. South Bank have even created your own lounging areas with “Under The Trees”, a  two week long picnic area set up with a themed marquee for shading, old favorite lawn games such as badminton, chess and table tennis along with my favorite and as strenuous as I want to get on a picnic- quoits!  There will be free acoustics every night starting at 6pm and you are welcome to bring your own picnic foods or purchase specialty items designed to be eaten on the green from the local restaurants. How many times have you received a gift made by a friend, colleague, child or family member? It’s a different feeling to ripping open the plastic wrapping to a generic replication of something that we don’t really need only to stack it in the cupboard with all of the other generic repetitive objects that we thought we needed and wanted last year.  Made with Love: A South Bank Christmas, is a wonderful and refreshing venture that Southbank are running from 10^th to the 23^rd December. Ever been to those handmade markets and marveled at the talents, well with a little guidance from some crafty professionals you can join in the Christmas Craft studio at South Bank and come away with an amazing collection of creative gifts such as screen prints, lino etchings and paper prints, cards and handmade gift boxes, learn the art of Japanese flower brooches, folding decorations or kumihimo braiding. For the kids there is “messy monkeys” where they can cut loose to make a mess and really get creative and you don’t have to clean it up. Other tempters for the young ones is puppet and sock monkey making while you are perhaps hand dying your own scarf or up-cycling some recycled bits and pieces to adorn this year’s tree with unique decorations care of “Reverse Garbage” in West End. There will be cooking banners with beautiful Christmas bites and recipe brochures being handed out. As most of the classes take only 20 – 25 people you will need to book in and for a small fee you will be delighted to take home with you a new found love for all things hand made and made with love. For further information, booking details, times and dates click on http://www.visitsouthbank.com.au/the-love-story. Grab the family, loved ones and friends and join in this year’s true celebration of Christmas.

Having already started my holidays and not wanting to make any of you feel left out I thought that I would give you a taste of Sardinia and to be honest.... I am loving it. Coming here in the cooler months has its benefits, the buzz of the beaches filled with tanned European bodies is all but a tranquil pebble laden vista, and to be honest it is still as beautiful. I will miss out on my Mediterranean sun, but am able to move freely and not feeling like I need fight for a piece of beach.  I have based myself for my first few days in the Northern town of Alghero. Influenced from the Catalna colonists in 1323, the town centre has a beautiful medieval feel and somewhat like what I expect to see in Spain. I knew the reason why I was living on salad and fish back home was because here I am living on cheese....Cheeses are among the specialities here in Sardinia and a couple that I have tried among the many other mozzarellas, goat and sheep are the bonassai and the maristella, although everything here is delicious, local, different and unique to this beautiful island. I will post more of my Sardinian, Sicilian and Spanish adventures here, so stay tuned!!