HEAT 3 - SATURDAY, 23 JULY 2011
Comboyne blue berry farmer Penny Tideman and Beechwood garlic and vegetable farmer Jeremy Bradley will compete for a place in the Essential Energy semi-finals. Early on Saturday morning, the cooks will collect the ingredients for their dishes direct from the market. At 10 am they will get to work on gas cookers generously donated by Essential Energy. Their culinary creations will be judged by Huntingdon School principal Gunnar Fruhmann, ABC radio presenter Bev McMullen and Lifestyle Magazine editor Sharon Davidson.
HEAT 2 – TAKES OFF AT THE HASTINGS FARMERS' MARKET AT WAUCHOPE
SATURDAY, 25 June 2011
Local cooks who love to create great dishes from fresh local produce should throw their hat in the ring for the Essential Energy/Hastings Farmers Markets Cook-Off held at the Wauchope Showground on the fourth Saturday of each month.
Heat 2 of the four month competition kicks off at the showground at 10.00am this Saturday when two enthusiastic cooks have scoured the market for their ingredients then take to the Essential Energy kitchens to roll out their creations.
The Cooks are David West from Comboyne and Pramila Curtin from Wauchope.
Community interest and involvement in the event is spreading and this month’s judges are Marie Winter from Wauchope Rotary, Cassegrain Wines Managing Director, John Cassegrain and ANZ Bank Manager, Pauline Bryant.
All contestants receive a Hastings Farmers Markets apron. The winner of the heat additionally receives a bottle of wine and handmade chocolates generously donated by regular market stall holders, Jim Mobbs from Bago Vineyards and Tash Topschij from Baba Lila Chocolates.
Semi finalists in September and October have the chance of winning a dinner for two at either Mercure Centro, Port Macquarie or Fusion 7 Restaurant. The Final Cook-Off will be held in November offering a $300 cash prize and vouchers to select equipment from the Cook’s Concept.
“The cook-off is a great way to highlight the availability of fresh local produce and lovingly made gourmet product”, said market coordinator, Elly Franchimont.
This month any of the vendors donating their product for the cooking competition will be easily recognised with a Cook-Off flag on their stalls.
“Many of the vendors will also have copies of last month’s recipes created by the winner Margaret Sipkes and runner-up George Hegarty. “said Elly.
“We are encouraging shoppers to collect the recipes and purchase the great local produce for their essential energy cook-off recipes.”
For further information: Contact: Elly Franchimont Ph: 6585 6636.
Marg Sipkes from Byabarra used Wilmaria olive oil, Hastings milk, Quigleys Smokehouse smoked trout and FUN organic eggs from Jan and Paul Eggert to create her pancake stack. Pappinbarra’s George Hegarty sourced fresh organic chicken from Joliffes’ Poultry of Burrawong, Ricardoes tomatoes and cucumber, Tubman garlic, Feltrin’s North Coast bananas, Keith and Kay Racevich’s ginger and Fred and Rosemarie Sidler’s eggplant and spinach, Gary Branch’s coriander, Amos’ pumpkin, Dallas and Kay’s Comboyne potatoes and Ray Scott’s Lorne macadamias and macadamia oil for his chicken curry with side dishes. Locals and visitors - some from as far away as Cyprus - took a keen interest in the proceedings. Essential energy sponsored the event, providing gas-powered cook tops and benches.
Judges - Neil Porter (PMHC Administrator), Rob Hamilton (President, Wauchope Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and Wendy Beverley (PMHC Industry Development Coordinator) selected Marg’s dish as the winner with a score of 22 out of 24. George was “more than satisfied” with his score of 22. Both enjoyed the experience and recommend it to other locals who love to cook. Recipes they used will be available at the market next month. Onlookers were able to taste the dishes. Great interest was shown in George’s ‘potato ricer’ - used to prepare a bed of potato on which to serve the curry. Since rice isn’t a local product he improvised by using a floury potato recommended by Kay White.
Marg was so impressed with the Wilmaria oil she went back and bought more.
With the competition to run for another six months, the June heat will see Pam Curtin of Wauchope pit her culinary skills against those of Comboyne’s Dave West.
