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New South Burnett
Niche Pork Producer
-
 23rd
February 2006: "Would you like hormones or antibiotics with that?"
Unless you want a body like the Incredible Hulk I'm sure the answer would
be "thanks… but no thanks!" Over the last few years I've reported on
various alternative farming enterprises in the South Burnett, and now I'm
pleased to add Jestin Farms to our region's rapidly growing line-up
of niche food producers. Jestin Farms is the brainchild of Clinton
and Julia Butler. Their piggery is located 7km out of Kingaroy and
specialises in hormone-free and antibiotic-free pork products.
The couple moved to Kingaroy 3½ years ago in the hope of getting the
business off the ground. Clinton has 15 years experience in the pork industry
and saw the growing market in natural and alternative farming practices.
"I've done a lot of market research and I've learnt a lot, mostly about the
types of meat cuts and packaging consumers want", he told me. Jestin Farm's
products are currently available direct from FoodWorks grocery store
in Kingaroy and the pair sell their pork at Toowoomba's Wilsonton Undercover
Markets every Sunday. You can also look-out for their stall at the
Nanango Country Markets on the first Saturday of each month. Clinton
and Julia also provide a home delivery service for the local area
every Friday. I'm told that orders need to be placed 7-days prior on (07)
4162-7388 or
via email.
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Top Foodies Coming
To Judge 2006 Regional Cuisine Cook-Offs
-
 20th February 2006: In a little under three weeks from now
on Saturday 11th March the 2006 PCA South Burnett Regional Cuisine
Cook-Offs are going to be run at the
Wine & Food In The Park
Festival in Kingaroy. And as the chief organiser of this event -
thanks to the ongoing sponsorship of the
Peanut Company of
Australia - I can assure you this year's Cook-Offs are going to be
the biggest and best yet! The Cook-Off's rules have changed
slightly this year (as they do every year) to keep competing chefs on their
toes. And each contestant will have to please a pretty tough and knowledgeable
judging panel: legendary chef Alastair McLeod from Channel Ten's popular
Ready, Steady, Cook show (Alastair was also a judge last year
and really wowed the crowds); feature writer and well-known foodie Fiona
Donnelly (pictured at right) from the Courier-Mail's Good Life;
and three times Cook-Offs Grand Champion Steve Gudzinski, who'll be
making a trip back from the Gold Coast Hinterland on the day to take part.
The Cook-Offs will get underway under the giant PCA marquee when the gates
open at around 10:00am and will run right through until the final
winners are announced at around 5:00pm. Admission is completely
free and if you love watching great food getting prepared by top chefs
(and learning all their tricks!) the South Burnett Regional Cuisine
Cook-Offs really are a must-see. Over the last 4 years they've steadily
grown to become one of Wine & Food In The Park's stand-out attractions
for dedicated foodies and I think this year's roll-out certainly won't
disappoint! [PS: you can now get all the recipes from the three
previous Cook-Offs on
PCA's web site - just
look at the site's left-hand side menu]
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New Owners At Kilkivan's
Fat Hen Farm
-
 17th February 2006: I'd heard that Kilkivan's Belle Villa
Farm had new owners some time ago - but I hadn't followed it up until one
of my TAFE hospitality students discovered the Farm's web site and drew my
attention to it. Alan and Bronwyn Wood took over the reins
of the property 16 months ago and re-named it
Fat Hen Farm after the
adjoining Fat Hen Creek. They've since transformed it into an exciting tourism
destination. Fat Hen now produce up to 2 tonnes of succulent
redclaw (a fresh water crayfish) every year from 13 purpose-built
ponds. The redclaws vary in size from 80g to a substantial 200g and can be
purchased either live or cooked. "We sell our crayfish direct from the farm
gate and also take them to the Eumundi Markets every Saturday" Alan told
me. Fat Hen also has one of the oldest olive groves in South-East Queensland,
with 650 trees of Spanish Manzanillo, Italian Coreggiola and
Hardy's Mammoth varietals. The olives are harvested by hand and made
into assortment of products including extra virgin oils, flavoured
oils, tapenades, pestos and marinated table olives.
Alan has a background in corporate marketing and Bronwyn was formerly the
editor of a glossy homemaking magazine. But the couple found they wanted
a tree-change for themselves and their young children, so they moved from
Sydney to the idyllic South Burnett countryside to do it - and I think anybody
could relate to that! Fat Hen Farm is located off the Wide Bay Highway not
far north of Kilkivan. And because it's a working farm, they ask that
anybody interested in tours contact them first via phone on (07)
5484-1372 or
via email. Photo
above: Some of Fat Hen Farm's olive products - you can also buy them
through the Farm's web site.
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What A Nutty Night
Out!
-
 14th February 2006: Following the success of our Nuts on
the Range master cooking class last Friday night (see story 8th
February),
Peanut Van owner Rob
Patch and I now plan to put together further nights of peanut gastronomy
in the future. The 40 guests who attended our first show told us they had
a really great time. They watched Rob and I prepare 5 easy peanut dishes
for their dinner while they washed everything down with
Kingsley Grove wines -
and if anyone had any gripes they couldn't be heard over the stories and
laughter, which both rolled on until late into the night. One of the most
talked about dishes was the
Spicy African Peanut Soup,
which always gets a big thumbs-up (my recipe is available on PCA's website).
I'm also glad to report that we raised $200 for the Queensland Cancer
Fund's
Relay For Life initiative
too. Rob and I would like to thank our sponsors: the South Burnett Times
newspaper, Pro-tech Light and Sound, Kingsley Grove Vineyard and
the Bell Tower Restaurant. We also hope to take the cooking show further
afield - possibly to Childers where Rob recently opened his second Peanut
Van. So if you live up that way, watch out for us! Photo above (L-R):
Rob Patch, Jason Ford and Yvonne Webb at Nuts On The Range.
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Take A 1-In-5000
Chance To Win A Mountain Of South Burnett Wine
-
 11th February 2006: The 2007 Wine and Food In The Park Festival
is going to be a very special day for someone. For a modest $6 investment
in a beautifully engraved South Burnett wine glass, they'll be walking away
with a staggering 42 cases of South Burnett wines from
Cranes,
Ziebarths,
Captains Paddock,
Stuart Range,
Tipperary Estate,
Clovely Estate and
Whistle Stop Wines. Or
to put it another way, they'll be getting 3,780 standard drinks - which is
enough to supply two people with 5 glasses a day each for an entire year.
Or provide refreshments for an awful lot of very big dinner parties! The
Mountain Of Wine promotion will be launched at this year's
Wine & Food In The Park
Festival at Memorial Park in Kingaroy on Saturday March 11th
and will run for a year before the winner is drawn at Wine & Food In
The Park 2007. Only 5,000 South Burnett wine glasses will be sold
in the promotion (so the odds of winning are much better than lotto). And
you can be one of the first to get one at this year's Festival. After that,
you'll be able to buy the glasses at most of the South Burnett's cellar doors
or our region's Visitor Information Centres. The Mountain Of Wine promotion
is being run by the
South Burnett Wine Industry
Association and all funds raised will be used by the Association
to promote the South Burnett Wine Trail: an activity that directly or indirectly
benefits everyone who lives here.
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Go Nuts On The Range
With Me This Friday!
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 8th February 2006: On Friday 10th February a very special
event will be held at the Bell Tower Restaurant on the Booie Range
outside Kingaroy. Together with my mate Rob Patch, I'll be presenting Nuts
on the Range, a fun and entertaining masterclass of peanut gastronomy.
Rob Patch (pictured with me at right) is owner of Kingaroy's
iconic
Peanut Van and chief spruiker
of Australia's vibrant peanut industry. After decades as a leader in peanut
growing, processing and tourism Rob has a lifetime of memorable and often
humorous anecdotes to share. And he's a great bloke as well! Guests on the
night can expect amusing yarns and culinary delights as Rob and I prepare
5 easy and delicious peanut dishes accompanied by
Kingsley Grove wines.
Long considered the poor cousin of more sexy nuts, the modest peanut will
makes its salacious debut in this original and innovative cooking class.
It should open your mind to exciting and delicious possibilities you'd never
have thought possible. Kingaroy is recognised as Australia's peanut capital
with an international reputation for producing a world-class legume.
That's right! Peanuts are actually a legume - not really
a nut as commonly thought. They're very healthy and a multipurpose ingredient
too. Unfortunately - to keep the event intimate - there'll be limited seating.
But all proceeds will be going to the Relay For Life and the Queensland Cancer
Fund. For more details and/or bookings call the Bell Tower on (07)
4162-7943. But be quick: I think there are only a few seats left.
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Four South Burnett
Restaurants Get A 2006 Good Life Guide Gong
-
 5th February 2006: For the third year running, South Burnett
restaurants have been included in the prestigious Courier-Mail Good Life
Restaurant Guide - probably Queensland's definitive guide to the best
eating in the State. And this year an unprecedented four regional
dining spots have found their way into the guide's glossy pages. The Bell
Tower Restaurant at Booie, Kingaroy's
Burning Beats Café
and Nanango's
Copper Country Restaurant
have all been listed in previous issues - but the Bunya Mountains'
Cider Gum Restaurant made its debut this year as well. Once again,
the Bell Tower Restaurant was awarded the extra accolade of a red star
for its consistency in good dining experience - and only a handful of regional
restaurants received the coveted red star rating this year. Paul Stoddardt,
the owner and chef at Burning Beats tells me that he's proud to be chosen
for listing (for the third time running) and that on numerous occasions he's
taken bookings from guests who've travelled from all over Queensland to chow
down on his Asian and Indian foods. "I attribute a good slice of my tourist
trade directly to the popularity of the Good Life Restaurant Guide" he said.
The 2006 edition is out now and is available from all good newsagents - and
that's the only way you can buy it too. For some reason News Ltd (the
Courier-Mail's owners) don't yet provide a way you can buy it online. This
is something I hope they'll remedy in 2007.
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Back To Life....
At Last!
-
 2nd February 2006:
Contrary to rumours that this site had died and gone to heaven, I'm very
pleased to announce that after a 9 month vacation South Burnett Cuisine
is coming back to life from today onwards. The site has been on air but
not updated since the end of May 2005. Why, you ask? Partly
because I got so over-committed with my studies, exams and other work
commitments in mid-2005 that for awhile I simply ran out of time to do everything
I wanted to do. And partly because this web site is scheduled for a major
makeover but
South Burnett Online (our
webmasters) have been just as overcommitted with work projects as I was.
All the same, the growth and development of our region's wine and food
industries has continued steadily while I've been off the airwaves and
I have a truckload of stories to bring to you about this. From today onwards
we'll be returning to our normal 3-day schedule. I'd like to thank everybody
who contacted me about South Burnett Cuisine while we were away and assure
you that all is well. In fact, right at the moment one of the major projects
on my desk - apart from restoring this web site to regular reporting - is
organising the
4th Annual PCA Regional Cuisine
Cook-Offs for the
2006 Wine & Food In The Park
Festival. There are some interesting new twists in this year's Cook-Offs
and you can expect stories about that soon too. Gosh! It's good to
be back!
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South Burnett Gets
A New, Improved Wine Trail Guide
-
 29th May 2005:
In about a month from now the
South Burnett Wine Industry
Association will be unveiling a new, greatly improved and completely
up-to-date Wine Trail Guide for our region. The Guide will take the
form of a tri-fold brochure which will tell interested visitors about the
wines our region produces; give them an accurate and up-to-date wine trail
map; and provide them with useful information about most - but not all -
of the South Burnett's great wineries. The Wine Trail Guide is part of the
work undertaken for the SBWIA over the last year by public relations whiz
Alison Shaw from Smartwine and it fills a major hole in our region's
tourist marketing material. Incredible but true, until Ms Shaw was hired
there were almost no good photographs of our wineries available anywhere.
And the only Wine Trail maps our region's Visitor Information Centres had
for tourists were badly out of date because of the explosion of new
cellar doors we've seen here over the last few years. The new Wine Trail
Guide will certainly help address this problem and I'm sure there'll be a
lot of visitors (and yes, even a few locals) who'll benefit from having
a copy in their glovebox. The new Guide was paid for by SBWIA members who
chipped in to subscribe to Ms Shaw's program. As a result, the Guide
omits any winery that didn't - and that's probably fair. You can expect
to find print versions of the new Wine Trail Guide in Visitor Information
Centres and cellar doors within the next few weeks. You'll also be able to
obtain a copy over the Internet through South Burnett Online's network when
it's out. And if you'd like to take a sneak peek at the final draft (which
may still get a few small changes made to it),
it's available here right
now in Adobe PDF format (947K).
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