Roast Leg of Lamb

Makes your mouth water a little bit, doesn’t it? I was at the Bondi Farmers Market this last weekend, acting as the in-house photographer (yep, I work for the folks that run the markets at Bondi Beach & Manly Beach on weekends, it’s a great gig!), and of course had to avail myself on all of the awesome veggies and breads and goodies there. It was a great market, and I don’t say that lightly! One of the best features of my home town in Canada is its tightly knit community, which in the summer seems to revolve around the local farmers market. I’ve grown up on fresh produce and market goods, and it was difficult to reconcile myself to second rate stuff at grocery stores when I moved away for university.

Fortunately, the Foodie Revolution means that farmers markets are cropping up everywhere and flourishing too. Have you noticed this? In both Sydney and Vancouver, the two cities I’ve lived in most recently, organizations are working hard to get these markets off the ground and to be the centres of their community. I think that this will certainly happen in Bondi—this oh-so-famous part of Sydney is chock full of folks who know what’s good for themselves and for the environment. Yay Bondi! There were hundreds of people at the markets this Saturday and I hope that it stays as busy for all the Saturdays to come.

What fell into my bag? Some organic carrots, a few chocolate croissants, a delicious fruit and nut loaf, and some wholewheat flour stone-ground by hand the day before I bought it, by the man who handed me the bag (yes!). It smells like heaven and I can’t wait to get baking with it. Seriously, life just doesn’t get better than a good farmers market!

While this leg of lamb is sadly not from the farmers market, it is a darn good recipe for a Sunday afternoon roast. (Which should totally come back into fashion, by the way—talk about a little effort for a lot of food!) So read on…

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Edited: May 3rd, 2011

White Fish + Black Olive Salsa

This recipe (almost) qualifies as a guilty pleasure of mine, as our flatmate doesn’t like fish, olives, or spicy foods. Fortunately my boyfriend does! This was a culinary adventure of ours (inspired by a Jamie Oliver recipe, of course), while our flatmate was out for an evening.

This is a very flavourful recipe without too much effort. Since fish cooks so quickly and the sauce only requires a bit of chopping, it would be a great weeknight meal or a tasty option to serve to guests with minimal stress.

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Edited: May 15th, 2010

Beer Stovies

A few weeks ago now, I made a very impulsive purchase—I found two Jamie Oliver cookbooks on sale for $15 each. I had to get them! Ever since, I’ve been trying all sorts of new recipes. I love his emphasis on using fresh, organic, and locally sourced produce and meats, as well as making things from scratch. This recipe is from Cook with Jamie, though I’ve well and truly altered it. Certainly not because I can do better, but because I just like being adventurous now and then!

Jamie Oliver’s version of this recipe first drew me because of its inclusion of celery leaves. I had just bought a giant head of celery that had these beautifully lush leaves—it broke my heart a little bit to think about just tossing them in the bin. Celery has such a delicate flavour that it’s difficult to find recipes that do it justice—its leaves are a bit tangier than the stalks, fortunately, and help to cut through the sticky potato flavour in this dish.

Even though this is just potatoes, this is surprisingly tasty on its own. Serve as a part of a balanced meal, but don’t underestimate how easily these potato morsels get gobbled down!

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Edited: March 19th, 2010