Being a FRUGAVORE

I'm a bit of a 'frugavore' these days.  If you've not heard of the term is was the recent title of a book by Arabella Forge and essentially outlined how we could live more sustainably, more locally and hence more cheaply by cutting back on excesses, growing our own food, etc, etc.  It's not rocket science, but it does take a bit of an effort.  It helps that I work from home (while raising three small children), and that I pull in enough money from all my little bits and bobs to get in home child care when I need a few hours to smash out a blog post, or write some assessment documents (that's right, my life is not all about wine!), or cook up a pot of stock, or a huge meat sauce.  It also means I have the ability to search out the cheapest local produce to cook with!

 Wherever possible I try to buy organic produce, however in my old age I am beginning to see just how important food miles are, and free range of course.  My priorities have shifted a bit and I'd buy a locally grown, seasonal, free range product over organic if push comes to shove.  I will also choose free range eggs over organic.  Gotta love a happy hen!

The best way to be a frugavore is to grow your own vegetables, and if possible to keep a couple of happy hens who will keep you in eggs.  Obviously it is cheaper if you are a vegetarian, which I am not, but we do try and eat mostly vegetarian meals, with meat appearing on the menu only a few times a week, and then in small quantities (a 100 gram steak is all I'd ever dish up to my family members).  It's also really helpful to think about meals further ahead than 'tonight'.  For example, tonight I am poaching a whole chicken with a bunch of vegetables.  The kids will eat the chicken and veggies for dinner.  We grown ups will have the chicken with a salad from the garden, and tomorrow I will make a soup from the broth.  The rest of the chicken will go for a few more days, with bits for the soup, for wraps for kids lunches, and possibly in a pasta dish.  There won't be any waste (except for the bones) and I know that we will be eating nutritionally, and cheaply, for at least 4 evening meals this week from that one starting point.  Any broth left over I'll freeze for another day, always good for risotto or the like.  A bit of planning will really save you in the long run.

I've got a few tips below on how to keep your grocery costs as low as possible (I spend about $50 a week on fresh vegetable/fruit produce for a family of five, plus about another $100 on dry good, bread, milk, meat and incidentals like toiletries, cleaning products and such).  I'd love to hear your tips, so feel free to leave me a comment!

1.  SHOP SEASONALLY!  When I was a bit younger and had more time to fiddle around in the kitchen making amazing meals to impress my friends I would buy whatever I needed at whatever cost...WTF was I thinking?!  Now I buy only what is in season and Australian (preferably from my own state).  No more Peruvian asparagus, or Chillean blueberries.  If it's not in season, it's not hitting my table.  Yes, this can be a bit dull.  My kids are thoroughly sick of apples and pears by mid-winter.  When those first punnets of strawberries and blue berries become available it's like Christmas (literally!).  Fortunately, we can all adapt, and sometimes we could all use a lesson in what it means to fly exotic fruits across the planet.  Global warming is that lesson.  I'd rather have a planet that we can live on than a mango out of season.

2.  Find your local fruit market and use it!  I walk up to the Brunswick Market every week and do my shop.  The produce lasts the whole week, is local and fresh.  It's also lovely to see the cultural groups who live in your area doing their shopping.  The Brunswick Market is super 'Turkish', so lots of Evil Eyes, Halal meat and okra are on offer.   I can always get a piece of cheese, or locally packed spices, which is great and it keeps my menu ideas interesting. 

3.  Cut back on the meat.  Yep, no-one NEEDS a 500 gram t-bone steak to meet their iron needs.  Meat is expensive and just not necessary in such quantities (or at all if you are willing to balance your diet in other ways).  Try reducing your portions, or making several of your meals 'meat free'.  Your body will thank you for it, and so will your wallet.

4.  Don't go shopping when you're hungry.  Seriously.  How did that packet of chips end up in your trolley?

5.  Have a vegetable plot and grow seasonal veggies in it.  Leafy greens like chard or kale are always a winner (and dead easy to keep alive), beans, peas, tomatoes, Asian greens, herbs, the sky is the limit depending on space.  Nothing is more impressive than cooking up a meal with ingredients entirely grown in your own garden.

6.  Get into food trading!  My neighbours and I have a 'food swap' situation going on.  Each of us cooks up something on a three weekly rotation and delivers it to the others in the swap.  It's awesome!  One night a week we have a meal delivered that we didn't have to cook.  Many a time it's been a lifesaver, for all concerned.

7.  Buy and cook in bulk.  Large sacks of rice.  Big batches of Bolognaise sauce, or Passata.  These things will freeze, or last for ages, and mean you have meals at the ready...less takeaway baby!

If you've got the time have a look at Arabella Forge's Foodwise site.  It's pretty clearly laid out and shows how a bit of thought and effort can help you live more cheaply and healthily!

Of course - WINE. as an aside if thinking about your carbon footprint is important to you when it comes to selecting what wine you drink please have a look at our website.  Wineries that produce organic wine tend to care about the way they produce their grapes.  Sustainable practices are often at the forefront of their production.  They aim to lessen their impact on the earth, and leave it in better nick than when they found it.  You can see that buying organic wine isn't only better for you, but better for the planet.   Most of the wines we sell are Australian (no, not all of them, but most), and many have super light glass bottles (again, not all...Kalleske you know I'm talking about you...).  Making a wine bottle as light as possible means that it has less of a carbon footprint when it's being shipped, locally or from overseas.  Many of our Temple Bruer bottles are uber light, and our Spanish wines by Vicente Gandia are prime examples of a 'lean green' light wine bottle, perfect for the export market.  'Phew,' I hear you say...thank goodness there is no need to stop drinking wine in order to be a frugavore!

Happy drinking! 

 

Food and Wine Pairing: Shiraz.

So, today's wine for food pairing is SHIRAZ!

I've chosen to start with the 'King of Reds'.  Shiraz (or Syrah) is pretty much the most popular red wine there is on the Australian market (and Australia is the biggest producer of Shiraz in the world).  And yes, it is pretty darn delicious.  If you're a straight up Shiraz drinker, please don't neglect the other red wine varietals.  Pinot, Merlot and poor old Cabernet Sauvignon get so overlooked, especially with a spike in popularity of European varietals like Tempranillo and Sangiovese.  But never fear, we will get to all of them in due course.  For now we'll start at the very beginning. 

 

So, Shiraz can come in many guises.  It's a versatile grape and depending on where it was grown, cool or warm climate, and how it is made into wine, there is a huge range in flavours and characters that can be produced.  This versatility really helps when looking at food pairing, because essentially you can probably find a Shiraz which will tick any box you need it to; lighter bodied and savoury, or sticky dark fruit flavours with intense tannins.  In general Shiraz is quite a full bodied fruity drop.  There are notes of charred summer fruits, pepper, liquorice, berries, currants and even chocolate.  It is distinctive and delicious.

Shiraz pairs well with beef.  However duck and pork with heavily flavoured savoury sauces also work well (mmmm, Peking Duck!).  Shiraz doesn't really work quite so well with cheeses.  It you really only drink Shiraz (perhaps it's time to expand your horizons a bit!), and want to eat cheese at the same time, try a creamy cheese like Camembert or Brie.  Even a smoked softer cheddar would work well.

I'm a big fan of Shiraz, and we've got loads of it in our organic and preservative free range.  I find it hard to go past the Paxton MV Shiraz for price and excellence, James Halliday gave it 95 points recently, and for a wine at the $20 price point this is nothing short of outstanding, we've also got the amazingly special Paxton Jones Block... so worth a little splurge.  It's no secret that I'm also a fan of the Kalleske Moppa, it's BIG, and impressive, the hearty flavours leave you in no doubt that this is indeed a Shiraz.  Oh, and I couldn't neglect to mention the Bunn Shiraz, it's warming and spicy all wrapped up in rich velvety fruit flavours.  Man, I am so having a bottle of Shiraz tonight.  You can read up on our range on our website, and if you feel so inclined put in an order for a bottle or two.

Now to what I've been eating while sipping shiraz... In my recent food adventures, I've been playing around with Beef Wellington.  Seriously, if you haven't tried this dish, GET ONTO IT.  It is nothing short of amazeballs.  For the uninitiated it is a prime cut of fillet beef, wrapped in pates and prosciutto, surrounded with flaky pastry.  Baked in the oven and served with a rich red wine sauce, wilted greens (or green beans) and creamy-buttery mashed potatoes, it is my 'death row last meal'.  So, so good.  (**Pauses from writing to wipe drool off chin).

I've tried a few different recipes for BW, but one that I really liked, and was pretty simple, is by potty mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay.  I'll include it here, with my own adaptations, plus a recipe for a velvety sauce to go with it.   

 

Gordon Ramsay's Kick A#*@

Beef Wellington.

Ingredients

• 400g flat cap mushrooms, roughly chopped
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil, for cooking
• 750g piece of prime beef fillet
• 1-2 tbsp English mustard
• 6-8 slices of Parma ham
• 500g ready-made puff pastry (or a couple of puff pastry sheets joined up)
• Flour, to dust
• 2 egg yolks, beaten

To keep the pastry light and crisp, I wrap the beef and mushrooms in a layer of prosciutto to keep the pastry free from moisture (sort of, there is always some seepage).  Some people even use thin crepes, but I can't resist the salty parma ham!

Method

1. Put the mushrooms into a food processor with some seasoning and pulse to a rough paste. Scrape the paste into a pan and cook over a high heat for about 10 mins, tossing frequently, to cook out the moisture from the mushrooms. Cook for longer if you need to.  Spread out on a plate to cool.
2. Heat in a frying pan and add a little olive oil. Season the beef and sear in the hot pan for 30 secs only on each side. (You don't want to cook it at this stage, just colour it.) Remove the beef from the pan and leave to cool, then brush all over with the mustard - I like lots of mustard, and have found that the cooking process seems to mellow the 'hot' flavour, so don't be frightened to go hard.
3. Lay a sheet of cling film on a work surface and arrange the prosciutto slices on it, in slightly overlapping rows. With a palette knife, spread the mushroom paste over the ham, then place the seared beef fillet in the middle. Keeping a tight hold of the cling film from the edge, neatly roll the prosciutto and mushrooms around the beef to form a tight barrel shape. Twit the ends of the cling film to secure. Chill for 15-20 mins minimum to allow the beef to set and keep its shape.  (You could even complete this part of the process the day before).
4. Roll out the puff pastry (or use the shop bought sheets) on a floured surface to a large rectangle, the thickness of a $2 coin. Remove the cling film from the beef, then lay in the centre. Brush the surrounding pastry with egg yolk. Fold the ends over, the wrap the pastry around the beef, cutting off any excess. Turn over, so the seam is underneath, and place on a baking sheet. Brush over all the pastry with egg and chill for about 15 mins to let the pastry rest.
5. Heat the oven to 200ºC.
6. Lightly score the pastry at 1cm intervals and glaze again with beaten egg yolk. Bake for 20 minutes , then lower the oven setting to 180ºC and cook for another 15 mins. Allow to rest for 10-15 mins before slicing and serving with the accompaniments. The beef should still be pink in the centre when you serve it.

For my sauce I started with about 500 mls of BONE BROTH (this is just a super duper version of stock that has been slow cooked for 70 odd hours...sooooooo good!).  I get this boiling away on the stove then add a good slug or two of red wine, SHIRAZ in this instance.  I continue to cook until the sauce is reduced by about half and is quite thick, if it isn't thickening up well enough (or if you've just used regular stock), take out about 3 tablespoons of liquid and mix in 1 tablespoon of plain flour until you've formed a smooth paste, then return to the sauce.  As a final thickener and to add that bit of glossy deliciousness add a good tablespoon of butter.  Taste and then season with salt, pepper, and any other flavour profile you'd like (maybe a hint of chili, or a whack of hot English mustard?).  Basically tinker about with the sauce until you get a consistency, and flavour, that you like.

So, there you have it, what to eat when you've got a cracking Shiraz to drink.  And if you haven't got one on hand, drop by our website and order some!

Happy drinking!