I love creating a unique event for a product launch, I also love cooking up a feast of local seasonal produce! So it was a lot of fun to organise a special event with Kate Field at Leap Farm to celebrate the launch of the new season Tongola cheese on the 14^thof October.

Kate and Ian Field farm goat, beef and make the cheese on the property, the cheese is produced seasonally and ethically the baby goats spend time with their mums during milking season. The event was a ticketed long Table lunch in the paddock and farm tour. A light drizzle and wind in the morning did not deter us from setting the table in the paddock, although the fully seat table needed to be moved a few times and continued to re-set it due to the winds.

In addition to the produce from Leap Farm we sourced all the produce locally (of course) including beautiful veggies from Fields Farm. The furthest any food had travelled were some North West coast pink eye potatoes, as I could not let go of my dream of smothering freshly dug Pink-eyes in curdy and serving it with local salmon, no other potato would do- I am so Tasmanian. So this was a true paddock to plate in paddock experience.

The lunch was 10 dishes in total, a series of smaller serves of shared tasting platters with  Tongola cheese being the star of each dish.

Amazing sourdough by Mike from fields farm and Burns olive oil.

Leap Farm goat Carpaccio, with radish and Curdy cheese.

Rannoch farm quail (from Nubeena) was served with a apple and curdy salad dressed with Tasman honey and mustard.

Pirates bay octopus(caught by my fisherman husband Brendan), curdy, watercress and red wine vinegar

Scallops (from bass Straight and in season) were cooked in butter lemon and dill and served with capris.

Pink-eyes with Curdy and Tasmanian smoked salmon.

The mains were a spiced pumpkin and watercress salad, pork slow cooked in apple and pinot and Leap farm beef braised in tomato and bay leaf.

The dessert was a pipi cheese, quince paste and local honey served with Bream creek Schonburger.

The pork shoulders were supplied by Cape Bernier a neighbouring Bream Creek vineyard and farm and was slow cooked in Cape Bernier Pinot Noir and local apples, Jen and Andrew from Cape Bernier also attended the lunch to chat about their produce to the guests. The wines for the lunch were from local Bream Creek Vineyard, Fred has been producing wines from his Bream Creek Vineyard for years, this years he has picked up a swag of national and international awards and medals for his amazing wines. We had Sparkling, sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir with the Lunch.

The weather held out (just) for the lunch and we did get a little Blue sky but the feedback was excellent with one of Hobart’s Busiest Foodies Arwen, who goes to everything, said “it was the meal of the year” potentially the Bream Creek wines talking at the end of the event, we will take it anyway.

Serves 1

This was the first time I had tried crickets, actually any insect, so I wanted to cook them simply so I could taste the actual cricket but also wanted lunch, so I turned it into a meal. I have read a lot about edible insects over the years but have never had the opportunity to try them. Rebel food Tasmania is in Tassie’s north west have started farming them from their local farms food waste. Some claim they are the protein of the future and one website stated, and to be honest I am not 100 % sure how accurate it is, 30 grams of crickets = 20 grams of protein. You would need to eat about 100 grams of red meat for that amount of protein. Anyway, I can’t eat food just for health it has to be flavoursome and enjoyable, I second ferment kombucha so it has a nice flavour and I eat kimchi and sauerkraut and veggies because they are delicious in my meals, not just for health benefits. I have likened the flavour to the crunchy delicious fin or tale of a flounder when pan fried.

If the thought of actually eating insects is a bit eekky to you, then you could whiz them up a little in a food processor before cooking and throw them in the pan to sauté with the pine nuts, you would still get the full flavour.  Do give them a try if you see them, I will certainly be cooking them again!

30 grams crickets
1 teaspoon hazelnut oil plus a drizzle to finish
1 tablespoon pine nuts
sea salt & cracked pepper
teaspoon ras al hanout
40 grams goat curd
cup lettuce leaves

Defrost your crickets. Heat a pan to a medium high heat and add the oil add the pine nuts and crickets and spice mix and a pinch of sea salt and cracked pepper. Tossing regular saute until the crickets are cooked and the pine nuts are golden brown. Serve immediately with the goats cheese and salad and add a drizzle of hazelnut oil and salt and pepper.