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GROWER produce

State 

OF TASTE

Produce moves
from grower to
kitchen in
recipes
that celebrate
the taste and
sophistication
of our
fresh food.
Producer & Styling Anna Flanders
Recipe Development Amanda Daniel
Food Prep & Styling Fenella Peacock
Warm Radicchio
Renaissance Salad
EXPOSURE is a big theme in conversations with growers. The feedback we are receiving is we need to raise the profile of our industry to not only educate consumers on our industry, issues and food, but also attract the best people into horticulture. While we haven’t worked in this space for a while, it has become abundantly clear that we need to. Our Grower section of recipes, produce and grower profiles is part of this push. We plan to use the content we generate to showcase vegetables in retail and consumer-facing environments to make the industry more visible to the general public. This will foster support, understanding and leverage for us on key issues. It is also in line with our national body AUSVEG, which aims to launch a campaign for change to educate consumers on the benefits of eating fresh. We at vegetablesWA are committed to this, plus promoting the grower and how to cook in a time-and cost-effective way.

Warm Radicchio Renaissance Salad

Serves 4-6 people as a main salad
This salad is a fresh, sophisticated centrepiece with just enough warmth for winter. Great with: roasted/grilled meats, baked fish with lemon and sourdough with farmhouse cheeses.

2 radicchio hearts*
1 navel orange
2 persimmons
Sea salt
Fresh black pepper
Dressing
4 medium shallots
½ cup EVOO
Sea salt
Fresh black pepper
3 x5cm sprigs of fresh rosemary
½ cup walnut halves
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Wash and drain ingredients. Remove outer leaves of radicchio, then remove hard core at the bottom. Peel off leaves, ripping them to size and scatter over a large platter.
Cut orange in half, remove the top and bottom bits, then slice into thin half circles. Leave skin on, unless you really don’t like it. Scatter slices over radicchio. Thinly slice persimmon, scatter over, then sprinkle salad with salt and pepper, and give it a gentle toss.
For the dressing
Peel shallots, thinly slice into rounds (or use a mandolin), then add to a frying pan with 3 tbsp of the oil, a pinch of salt and pepper and cook while stirring to a light caramel colour. Add rosemary and walnut, cook for a moment, then add the balsamic and continue to cook until balsamic reduces by half. Add the rest of the olive oil and mix together. Taste to check seasoning and adjust, if required. Pour over salad evenly and give it all a light toss. Serve while warm. It’s also great at room temperature if you wish to pre-prepare. We added green onions to ours for the colour, but it doesn’t need it.
*We used Loose Leaf Lettuce Company radicchio twin pack, thanks to Chris Hewitt at Quality Produce International.

Savoy Cabbage & Apple with Burnt Sage Butter

Serves 4 as a side dish; 2 as vegetable dish
Sauté chiffonade savoy cabbage and apple with burnt sage butter. Chef Amanda says this is the best side dish ever. Great with: shaved parmesan, a lamb dish, roast chicken or roast pumpkin.

¼ or about 390g savoy cabbage, excess outer leaves removed
1 red apple
8 sage leaves
Sea salt
White pepper
2-3 tbsp olive oil
70g unsalted butter
11g sage leaves
Fresh black pepper

Wash and drain produce. Remove cabbage core, then finely slice cabbage (I used a mandolin). Slice apple into a rough, fine julienne. Add both to a bowl and mix with 8 sage leaves, ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp white pepper.
Heat oil in a non-stick pan, add cabbage-apple mix and toss or stir over moderate heat. Cook until cabbage is tender, but still has bite. Check seasoning and adjust if required. Pile on a platter. While still hot, start cooking sage butter.
For Burnt Sage Butter
In a small frying pan, add butter and melt over a moderate heat. When it starts to foam, add sage leaves, ¼ tsp salt and a grind of fresh black pepper. While frying leaves, stir gently to ensure leaves fry without burning. You will know when leaves are ready as they are darker in colour and butter will be a golden-brown, quickly remove from heat. Arrange leaves on top of cabbage-apple mix and pour over brown butter. Serve immediately.
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Savoy Cabbage &
Apple with Burnt
Sage Butter

Fennel & Truffle Mellifluous

Serves 4 as a platter side dish or 2 as an entrée
Fresh, elegant, easy and indulgent... Great with: shaved parmesan, brown-butter garlic pasta, baked fish, a lamb dish or thyme-dressed poached chicken.

1 pear
½ cup EVOO
Sea salt
White pepper
2 tbsp Chestnut Orchard Honey*
½ bunch fresh thyme
Fresh black pepper
1 fennel bulb
1 lemon, zest
1 fresh truffle, optional

For the Honey Pear
Wash and slice pear into a rough julienne (thin strips). Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to a frying pan and sauté pear with a pinch of salt and white pepper. As it starts to cook, add 2 tbsp of honey to glaze pear.
Stop cooking before pear loses shape. Set aside.
For the Thyme Oil
Wash thyme and pick off leaves. Place into a bowl with a pinch of salt and a grind of black pepper, then bruise leaves with the back of a spoon. Add 4 tbsp of oil. Crush/ bruise the thyme leaves with back of spoon into the oil. Set aside.
For the Salad
Wash fennel. Cut top stem from the fennel bulb and remove bottom, then take away the rough outer flesh. Cut finely or shave the fennel bulb very fine on a mandolin, scatter a layer on a platter. Add a sprinkle of seasoning and pour over thyme oil. Add a little lemon zest, add a scattered layer of prepared honey pear and shave truffle over the top. Repeat this process one more time. Garnish with thyme leaves, lemon zest, pear, small feathery fennel leaves and pieces of truffle. Squeeze over lemon juice and serve immediately. It’s also great at room temperature, but the fennel bulb will go brown if left too long.
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Fennel & Truffle
Mellifluous
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Orange
Chestnut Parfait
“ Cooking skills are being lost to ‘fast’ sources of food. However, it doesn’t have to take a lot of time, nor does it have to be expensive. We want to revive cooking with fresh food and promote the people behind the produce ”

Orange Chestnut Parfait

Makes 1 large bowl to share or 4 individual serves
This dessert is super simple, yet classy. Great with: a mixed dessert table, after a cheese platter or as a mini dessert to show off at a party.

2 whole small navel oranges
2 whole small cara oranges, if in season
1 tsp fennel seed
Pinch sea salt
Fresh black pepper
3 tbsp chestnut honey*
170g chestnut cream*
150g Greek-style yogurt
200g cream or crème fraiche
1 x75g block 70% dark chocolate**,
grated 8 pinches fresh ground coffee***

For the Orange Topping
Wash oranges and remove skin. Zest half a naval and half a cara orange, then set zest aside for garnish. Dice flesh of the 4 oranges into 1cm-sized (or smaller) pieces and remove any seeds as you go. Put orange into a bowl, add fennel seed, sea salt, a grind of fresh black pepper and 3 tbsp of chestnut honey, then gently stir and set aside to macerate.
For the Chestnut Cream
Mix chestnut cream with yoghurt in a bowl and set aside.
To assemble
In 4 glasses, casually layer the following:
2 dessert spoons of chestnut-yogurt mix (about 80g) on bottom; a good amount of grated chocolate with a pinch of freshly ground coffee in the middle; then
2 dessert spoon dollops of cream or creme fraiche (about 50g) on top. Lastly, top with
 2 dessert spoons of the fresh orange-honey mix and finish with a pinch of orange zest and drizzle of chestnut honey. Serve immediately.
*We used Chestnutbrae Organic Chestnut Cream and Organic Chestnut Orchard Honey from Nannup chestnutbrae.com.au. **Chocolate is Bahen & Co. **Coffee is Loot, which is roasted in WA.