Food

2015 and Beyond

2015, the year of my return to the professional stoves, has been fantastic. Wombat Hollow Forums with Michael and Susie Yabsley have centred on art, music and fierce debate. The Farm Table Restaurant at Mittagong put into use the amazing produce from our farm and food and wine dinners with local winemakers kept the palate challenged and sated! Our very private cooking classes stepped up the Lessons From the Farm.

It has been uplifting to connect with my professional restaurant instincts and skills, and I’ve loved every minute of sharing my deepest passion with all the wonderful visitors to the Farm Table Restaurant. This chapter has drawn to a close as we move on to other food projects and focus on strengthening existing activities. It has been quite a surprise that so many regular diners from my Aviemore Restaurant days in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s came to reconnect and share a meal with us again. Of course, this is where my garden to table philosophy and lifestyle was born all those years ago. So many shared memories, thank you. The biggest bonus though was the opportunity to establish a professional relationship (in addition to a loving one of course) with my son Harrison, who graced our tables with charm and professional skills. That makes a father very proud indeed.

There are a number of diverse and exciting opportunities coming up.

My collaboration with Michael Yabsley at Wombat Hollow, which developed over much of 2014 and 2015, will continue in the new year. His dream is to build a centre of excellence for the arts and culture and a forum for progressive business discussions featuring prominent leaders in their field, all around good food. Michael and I are excited to pursue this combined vision together.

In 2008, I began a venture with Thomas Dux Grocers. Through my collaboration with Pat McEntee, I was charged with the task of developing a team who could understand and procure wonderful artisan products for customers of their specialist small grocery stores in Sydney and Melbourne. Seven years on, I still provide my hand made pizza bases through Thomas Dux, and I’m pleased to say that I will be back in store with Harry and my team to inspire with some new products from the farm and new ideas for creating some unique pizza creations!

Through the luxury travel company, Abercrombie and Kent, I have been taking gastronaughts around the world on food adventures. We’ve just completed an outstanding tour in Morocco with a terrific group, who assure me that there are still some fine rugs and artefacts left in Casablanca! The culture around markets and food is extraordinary. I was fortunate to take Harry with me on my first trip, a reconnaissance mission to put the tour together, and in early January, I will be going to map out the next tour… in Sri Lanka. This time my skilled eating and photography team will be daughter Natasha and son Jonny and together we will seek out and taste all that is delicious and intriguing on the emerald isle. The guided tour through A & K will be in October 2016 (see here for details).

Of course, as always, we will continue to focus on hand made products from the farm, and for now, you can taste these for yourself at Eveleigh Farmers Markets in Sydney, where we have a weekly stall. This is such a great venue at Carriageworks. The historic and atmospheric site is undercover, so we are on rain hail or shine, and of course you can make a day of it and take in a performance in the afternoon or evening just across the track.

We continue to have our products available online, in a number of local stores in Bowral, including Highlands Hampers . Carol from our local Harris Farm Markets is a real foodie, was a regular at the restaurant and a champion of local produce; I love working with her. She has arranged a fabulous local section at Bowral Harris Farm, displayed magnificently on an old cart and here you will find our Roasted Capsicum Jam and Bread and Butter Cucumbers along with those of other quality local providores.

I’d like to wish all our friends and partners a safe and enjoyable festive season; may good food, wine and friends always grace your table.

For updates, best place to keep in touch is through facebook and Instagram. Twitter as well, when I remember.

10:08 pm by Geoff Jansz 1 Comment

Gathering Mushrooms

Autumn is a very bountiful time of the year in our garden and out in the wilds. This year we’ve been busy getting ready to open a restaurant, and ‘shrooming has not been a high priority. However, on the weekend, driving along the main road between Bowral and Moss Vale (OK, Burradoo actually) I noticed some pine mushrooms growing in the grass on the footpath. So we stopped, took some photos, picked them and headed home.

The plan had been to teach Kai the art of hand making pasta, but the afternoon evolved into a lesson on how to take a handful of wild mushrooms and transform them into a wonderful, rich ragout to serve with our fettuccine and feed a hungry gathering of family and farm helpers. While I don’t recommend you go gathering mushrooms for dinner unless you are 100% sure you can tell the difference between the delectable and the deadly varieties, I do suggest you find a tried and true (surviving) shroomer and do as we did. Gather the troops and have a cook up… all hands on deck.

Drink Pinot and don’t spare the Parmesan.

Here’s our day in pictures…

20150413 203151 from Geoff Jansz on Vimeo.

20150413 203805 from Geoff Jansz on Vimeo.

Pictures and videos thanks Antoine Moreau

8:28 am by Geoff Jansz 1 Comment

Chestnuts… Are they really worth it?

Around March/April in Southern highlands of NSW, Australia, our 3 giant trees provide a prickly problem. First we have to beat the cockatoos to the crop, then harvest these vicious little alien spike-balls, somehow prize the attractive sleek varnished pod from it’s torture chamber, and remove two stubborn casings before they’re cooked and eaten. If it was the chestnut, not the apple Eve offered Adam, we’d still be in the Garden of Eden.

However, as a chef, I can’t resist them; they’re implanted in my Autumn psyche and have found a way to be incorporated into my cooking routines, rather than being the sole culinary objective for any particular day. They will pop away in my woodfire oven in between pizzas or simmer away on stove tops as I cook other things.

However… Are they really worth it? You be the judge. With a sharp knife cut the outer shell and peel it away, simmer the chestnuts with bicarb of soda, changing the water three times (this removes the bitterness and helps remove the pellicle layer) then poach them gently in a port, red wine and sugar syrup. I will be serving these with guinea fowl, pheasant or duck at the Farm Table Restaurant (stay tuned!) But make them for yourself to try before you buy if you want.

Image : Antoine Moreau (Instagram)

Chestnut Battles from Geoff Jansz on Vimeo.Starring Charly and Kai, filmed, directed and produced by Antoine!

9:49 pm by Geoff Jansz 1 Comment

Jelly King

I have a personal philosophy that is “nothing is difficult”. All one needs to do is achieve the next step, which is rarely a stretch. There may be lots little steps, but none are a giant leap. It’s handy having someone experienced to guide, but it’s more important to enjoy and learn every step along the way. A little bit of “don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers”.

Take Kai, a tall, good-looking German lad working for a small stint with us at the farm, backpacking on a life journey. Like most 19 year olds, discovering the pyramids goes hand in hand with discovering oneself. So here we have it, Kai working on the farm pulling weeds, picking fruit, planting seedlings and popping in for lunch. Loving lunch, and as time goes by, really loving lunch.

“How did you make that?” “Can I see?” “What are you making tomorrow?”

Over the years we have had many a farmhand and many a lunch, but every now and then I encounter someone with a genuine curiosity about my life passion… food. My next step is to try to put them off.

“Kai, tomorrow, you are in the kitchen with me. You and I have a lot of onions to peel for the spiced tomato relish.” Four hours later, after lots of tears and laughs, “Is that a good knife?” “How do you sharpen it?” “Can I try?” Really? My work is cut out now; I’ve got to try harder to put him off.

So it’s scaling fish and wiping down the bench, neither scale nor aroma to be found. “Can we get some wild fish from the river and do this again? What are we doing in the kitchen tomorrow? I can do this after the garden work if you want”

Well that settles it, we have a foodopath on our hands. I recognise the instant connection, the enthusiasm and the never ending stream of ideas.

“OK Kai, tomorrow we are making crab apple jelly” For those of you still reading and have ever made a jelly, you will know how many wrong turns there are on the way to the perfectly set, crystal clear, aromatic, slightly acidic king of jellies. Well guess what? Kai made none of those wrong turns. We picked the fruit, only the right tiny apples, washed them, discarded the stalks, cooked the mash and drained it through a home made jelly bag. The next day we measured the sugar, boiled down to setting point and bottled. King of Jellies!

A dozen or so simple steps, made without compromise and without the temptation to cut corners. To Kai, jelly making is easy, and guess what… it is! Tomorrow we are going around the hedges on the farm and picking the hawthorn berries and yes, making jelly. Piece of cake!

8:50 pm by Geoff Jansz 1 Comment

Eggplant Kasundi with egg, of course.

Our mother, Val, would line up her 5 sons and make us drink egg flips… Raw eggs, blended with sugar, milk, and vanilla. My brothers and I are planning a class action and are determined to have our day in court.

I now have a horrible aversion to the taste of raw egg yolk. Over the many years of presenting food programs for TV there have been loads of strange foods I have had to eat for the cameras; crispy grasshoppers and scorpions in Vietnam, sheep eyeballs in South Africa, most of the food in the USA, but to this day, I cannot overcome my soft-yolk-phobia.

With my 2014/2015 crop of eggplant being mind-blowingly good, I worked on a really special recipe and created an Eggplant Kasundi (Indian style spicy relish). Everybody seems to love it. Jonny (my 11 year old son – great palate, creative and brutally honest) is my most inspiring food ideas person.

When asked, “Mate, what would you eat with this Eggplant Kasundi?” he shrugged his shoulders and frowned in the manner of someone thinking , ‘Isn’t it obvious’ and said “Eggplant Kasundi?…. have it with an egg. But Dad, you have to eat it with soft egg yolks so the flavours can mix and become like a sauce.”

Even after I explained to him that eating soft egg yolks can cause your arms to fall off, he urged me to “Just try it”.

Well guess what? Jonny was right. Lashings of butter on a lightly toasted soft bun, topped with soft fried egg and the star of the show, eggplant kasundi… Heaven! Even though the flavour of soft egg yolk still comes through, it is blended into the tapestry of spices and other ingredients in the kasundi and combines to become a most interesting and satisfying breakfast.

I’ve only made a small batch of Kasundi which I will make available at the Bowral Markets this coming Valentine’s day (February 14); you’ll fall in love with it.

9:14 am by Geoff Jansz 1 Comment

The second cumin’… A revelation

I brought a couple of kilos of cumin back from Morocco last month. It was ground before my wide eyes and under my amazed nose at a market in Marrakesh and I was determined to get it home. The aroma was incredibly intense and very complex with overtones of lemon, mild fennel and menthol layered amongst the unmistakable cumin curry character.

My travelling companion, son Harry, calculated that we would probably have to swallow about 12 balloons full to get through customs, but fortunately we were able to have it professionally packaged, and we thankfully moved on from that thought rather quickly.

Couldn’t wait to get into the kitchen. My spice dishes were really going to sing now… I had a secret weapon and was prepared to use it. Boy, did I get a surprise; I couldn’t simply substitute this probably Turkish-grown, Moroccan cumin for my usual Indian sourced cumin. Not even adjusting the dose would prevent my dishes from taking on a completely different character. Who the hell is this guy in the cumin suit?

On the surface, Moroccan cumin would appear to be a more intense version of say, Indian cumin. But although this is true, what it seems to do is jump into the recipe, call a meeting with the other ingredients, and talk them into trying something different.

To vindicate this I visited Les at Grahame’s Spice World in Yagoona. Les is a long time spice aficionado and along with me, a friend and admirer of Ian Herbie Hemphill, our Aussie spice authority. In a nutshell, Les knowingly confirmed my experience and now I am going to look even deeper into the mysterious, exotic intricacies of adding spice to my life. Les, some of his staff, and I have arranged to meet and cook meals together to further drill down into the nuances and possibilities of specific ingredients… I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, why not join my at my farm on March 22nd for a cooking class with a Moroccan theme. I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned on my trip and making some interesting dishes with ingredients grown on the farm combined with freshly ground North African spices from Les, and of course, the contraband cumin.

8:59 pm by Geoff Jansz Leave a Comment

Lunch at the Farm

There was something symbolic and deeply satisfying about a lunch enjoyed by a small group of competition winners at my farm just recently. Here’s the background:

My Brother, Russell and I are on a quest to firstly, develop my small farm to produce exactly the perfect ingredients for our small range of artisan products (have a look at our Store to see what they are). There’s one particular tomato, a small range of chillies, garlic, ginger, herbs and a few other crops that create the flavours which are unique to my cooking; much like how ‘terroir’ describes the conditions that impart a uniqueness to a particular wine. So, we are not at the mercy of what is available only at the marketplace in order to prepare our foods.

Secondly, and importantly, the traditional way of getting products to market are being challenged. We are not employing designers, agencies ordistributors, organising a launch, paying for an ad campaign and so forth… All of which adds cost to the final product. Instead, we are taking a “slow burn”approach of trying to directly reach people who get it, love it and want to share it.

Kim Alford and her friends celebrate food regularly. They appreciate Russell’s and my efforts and are fans of our products. Kim won a competition we did online for the best, most creative use of our products in a recipe. The prize… lunch with us.

We had a ball. Now, we have seven more advocates for our food and philosophies who in turn want to share their stories and experiences with their other friends. We believe this is a better way for food to be prepared and provided; it’s genuine, open and somewhat community building.

I’d love to see lots of small Australian growers and artisan producers developing real relationships with their customers and cutting out all the middle men and extra cost that is driving the quality of Australian food down and the prices up.

Photos from the day courtesy of Kim Alford and Peggy Anezis.

3:38 pm by Geoff Leave a Comment

Rural Sprawl

On Sunday 12th October, two young city dwelling professionals launched the Brewery Yard Markets in Central Park, Sydney, Chippendale. 20 somethings, Jacob and Rupert, created a buzz with a young, fresh and dynamic marketplace on the lawns of the Central Park hub, alive with a constant stream of bands on the main stage, stall holders displaying an eclectic range of food, fashion and craft. Geoff Jansz Farm was delighted to play an ambassadorial role with the food served there. Ambassadorial in this sense: the surrounding buildings and courtyard space beneath have been designed to be clean, energy efficient, green and sustainable, an amazing urban innovation that will hopefully inspire more of it’s type. Geoff Jansz Farm is based on these same principles. But more than this, we strive to showcase the produce provided by other small farmers who also care about beautiful flavours prepared in ethical and sustainable ways. We use these ingredients in combination with our farm grown produce to serve wholesome food on the day. For the innaugural markets, we featured Salumi Chorizo and Egg Rolls, amazing start to the city morning made with lettuce and slaw from our garden, mayo that I had made the day before and extraordinary eggs from Dunollie Rare Breed Farm Eggs. Look at the amazing blue and olive coloured ones, all the same inside though, fresh and vibrant yellow yolks. Furthermore we provide contact details to anyone wishing to procure this produce beyond the fortnightly Sunday markets.

Geoff and Russ flippin’ it

Look out Sydney…. we small farmers are coming to you!

Next market is on Sunday 26th October. If you can’t make it, you can always order our range online.

8:46 pm by Geoff Jansz 3 Comments

Ask a Farmer…

Aussies are so much more food savvy than 10 years ago. Savvy about the bigger picture too: environmentally sound practices, workplace ethics, sharing benefits of farming rather than corporate greed being services, and much more. No longer duped by clever advertising campaigns claiming “99% fat free” or “Straight from the Farm to your Freezer”, we’re asking all the right questions; “Do your chickens really have a chance to roam?” “What sprays do you use?” “When was that picked?” “Can I bring my kids out to visit your farm?”

At Farmers markets, we can ask these questions, and guess what??? It’s fun. It’s education on the run with relationships being forged. We farmers/growers/artisan cooks love to be asked; we’re food proud and love to share. Everyone’s a winner… Except of course, if you’re NOT doing the right thing.

10:00 am by Geoff Jansz 11 Comments

Win a Dinner Party Pack from Geoff!

The entire Jansz clan loves our Roasted Capsicum Jam, Spiced Tomato Relish and Hot and Sweet Chilli Sauce. They are so versatile. Despite having quite a few foodies within our ranks and lots of recipes up our sleeve, we are constantly surprised and delighted by the creative suggestions our friends have for enjoying these products. Bravo. So, we have decided to run a little competition…

Submit YOUR best suggestion for a creative, delicious way to use one of our three products in a comment on this page. We will cook them up and have a taste-off to judge the winner, who will win…

A Geoff Jansz, personally cooked, gourmet dinner party pack for six people.

Geoff will contact the winner and coordinate a special menu for them and five of their friends. The gourmet dinner pack, along with comprehensive clear instructions will be sent, chilled and ready, 24 hours before your gathering. We will even have Geoff on phone alert for advice, should guidance be needed on the night.

This is a great prize that promises to reward a creative cook with a fun and unique night with their friends.

COMPETITION CLOSED

To enter, simply leave your best suggestions for one, or all, of the Geoff Jansz Farm products in the comments section below (use a separate comment for each suggestion if you have more than one). Competition closes on Monday 12th May, when we will start cooking up the best suggestions to narrow down a winner. The cook-off and winning idea will be posted on our blog and Facebook page. Please only enter the competition if you are in Australia (If you are from elsewhere, you are welcome to join in, but not for the prize!) The winner will be notified by email, so you must leave a valid email address to be in the running.

~~So what are you waiting for? Start leave your suggestions below and good luck!~~

28.05.2014

Thank you all those who entered the competition by suggesting your favourite recipe using my products.

We have a winner!!

Kim Alford! Congratulations! Your dinner party for 6 will be cooked by me. Can’t wait to repay the favour of your outstanding lamb recipe with my Spicy Tomato Relish (last night’s dinner at the Jansz’s).

The reason your recipe stood out (marginally, I might add) from the other worthy suggestions was simplicity of method, ingredients easy at hand, affordable and above all a recipe that cooked ingredients to perfection and was flavourful. I will be in touch soon to make arrangements.