Free Range Eggs

It shouldn't be a hard question - what is a free range egg? Most people would imagine chickens running around grassed paddocks, scratching up worms and .... well being chickens and that is what they pay for when they buy eggs labelled as free range. But things are not that simple.

Phil Westwood from Freeranger Eggs in Grantville, Victoria helps us understand what are the current definitions as well as discussing the proposed changes.

For more information check out the Free Range Farmers Association. Choice also has a great article that is worth a read. And you can keep right up to date by checking out the ACCC.

So, what can consumers do?
1) Look for credible accreditation - the term "free range" is not representative of consumers expectations, if you are thinking you chooks live like those in the picture. Check if your eggs are supplied from an accredited free range farm, or Humane Choice approved or a similar branding. At the moment most farms selling pastured eggs (as opposed to 'free range'), are accurately branded but there is no certification process.
2) Visit your farmer - ring up and ask to come and meet the chooks. All farms have some biological hazard procedures (such as washing boots, or not getting in the paddocks with the animals) but if your farmer continually says no to a visit, then maybe you need to think about what they are trying to hide.
3) Contact your members of parliament. The time for comment in this round has closed but it shouldn't be taken off the agenda - and whether this is an animal welfare issue for you, or just truth in labeling - we need legislative clarification.
4) Let your wallet do the walking. While the pollies and the egg industry are sorting out the bits and pieces be aware that your consumer buying power is speaking for you - spend your money on a brand of eggs that represents your stand on the issue, whatever that stand is.

Image from Freeranger Eggs

Bits and Pieces

Pete and I started talking about his recipe and ended up discussing half a dozen things so I though it was important to put in some follow up information.

Snail forks: I got the snail fork half right (as you can see from the pic) but they don't have little hooks on the end.

Purging snails: another thing I (almost) got right - the most common way to purge snails is to allow them to fast for about 5 days. Some googling has told me that you can feed them cornmeal, oats or bran just before this time, but the most common method remains a fast.

River Cottage: home of all things wonderful - currently on ABC1 but check out their website for more info.

Cheesy Cauliflower: (as opposed to cauliflower cheese) I blogged about this when I first made it because it was so good and so easy but reproduce it here:


Dead easy and particularly delicious. For the cambembert: cut it into wedges, dip in flour, egg and breadcrumb and then deep fry until golden (but no so golden that the cheese has melted). For the sauce: cook cauliflower florets of 1 biggish cauliflower in milk with 1 bay leaf and 1 clove until the cauliflower is tender. Remove bay leaf and blend until smooth.

Dip cheese into sauce and grin madly :-) All up, from start to finish, about 15 - 18 minutes.

PS: The left over sauce made a scrummy topping for toast lol


Snail fork image: Hospitality Wholesale
Cheesy Caulifower image: Pearl Maya

The Podcast is Up

This week we take a quick drive down the highway to talk to Penny Love-Lipinski about the Camden Public School garden, we catch up with John from Byron Bay Chillis to find out about them and this weekend Sawtell Chilli Festival and Pete Bufo drops by with another vegetarian recipe.

Download the podcast here.

Camden Public School Garden

A school with an award winning garden helping students to connect with where their food comes from, the taste sensations that result and a range of environmental activities. no wonder they are award winning!

Swing by the schools website for more details on what they are doing that includes, but goes beyond, just teh three R's.

Check out the chat with Penny Love-Lipinski here.

BBCC Ultimate Pumpkin Soup

4 C cooked pureed pumpkin
1 tin coconut cream
1/3 bottle BBCC Fiery Coconut Chilli Sauce
4 shallots
1 T freshly grated ginger
1 C chopped red onion
1 T butter
1/4 C mild chili sauce (optional)
1 C water
2 cubes chicken or vegetable stock cubes, crumbled
1 C milk
Yogurt or Sour cream (to swirl)

Saute shallots, ginger and red onion gently in butter. Add water, stock cubes and milk and mix through. Add pumpkin, coconut cream and sauces. Heat through. Season to taste.

Serve with a swirl of yogurt or sour cream.

Recipe supplied by Byron Bay Chilli Company

Byron Bay Chilli Company

Surely one of the best chilli sauce makers in the world - with an almost complete set of international awards to prove it - Byron bay Chilli's are also home to salsa and corn chips. Drop by their website to check out your local suppliers, buy some delights online or check out a great range of recipes. And if you would like someone else to do the cooking, and you are in Byron Bay, swing by OzyMex - it is just by the main roundabout, you can't miss it!

For listeners closer to Bellingen, swing by and meet John and co, have a taste and a chat at the weekend's Sawtell Chilli Festival. And if you aren't a big chilli fan, drop by anyway as Sawtell's First Avenue explodes with food, entertainment and color.

Roast Fennel with Breadcrumbs, Parsley and Parmesan

2 large fennel bulbs
100 ml olive oil
4 T water
1 T butter
1/2 C roughly chopped parsley
4 sprigs thyme
2 thick slices ciabatta
3 T freshly grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oven to 200 C.

Cut fennel vertically into wedges. Cook wedges in frypan in a little of the oil until browned. Add butter and water and for for another 3 minutes.

Put fennel and the stock it is cooking in into oven dish. Sprinkle over parsley and thyme. Rip up bread into chucks and scatter over fennel. Sprinkle over the rest of the oil, season to taste and sprinkle over Parmesan.

Roast for about 20 - 30 minutes.

Recipe supplied by Pete Bufo

Image: "Fennel" by Ewwiej

Podcast

We continue our reconciliation celebration with a chat with Noongar Elder Carol Petterson and take a wander around the Bellingen High School Community Garden

You can download the podcast here.

Food Brings Us Together

Noongar Elder Carol Pettersen joins us in the kitchen to discuss her life as well as sharing some food stories. Carol is an amazing woman and you can find our more here when Carol won the Elder of the Year (Female) at the 2008 Naidoc Awards.

A real honor and a privilege to share time with an incredible person. You can download the podcast here.

Bellingen High School Community Garden

Bellingen High School's Community Garden is an integral part of Bellingen. Located at the high school it enables students to both grown and cook their own food. After school hours it becomes a community space. Working bees are held every Sunday afternoon. No experience necessary. For more information, or to find out how you can get involved, check out their Facebook page.