Sunday, September 15, 2013

The Food Show 2013: From Show Room to Dining Room

Today was a day where busy doesn't quite sum it up. It was a good busy and the highlight was The Food Show 2013! We gave you a preview (along with a recipe) in our previous post and live tweeted all day from the events. It was the food festivity of the year with sampling, tastings and awesome new gadgets to be purchased. The amount of food tips, tricks, and knowledge we obtained at this annual event left us dumbfounded once again. We spent the good majority of the afternoon taking it all in visiting stalls and mingling with other attendees while shopping for those must have kitchen items. I did manage to stay focused on dinner for the evening. So tonight we share what went from show room to dining room all thanks to The Food Show 2013.


This NZeola Rapeseed Oil was one of the first hits for us when we arrived. We are always trying out new and natural oils in our kitchen from olive to coconut to avocado and now rapeseed. Rapeseed is light and fresh with so many uses. Throw in a high cooking ability and locally sourced ingredients and we were sold. 



We used it to coat the asparagus before grilling them for about 7 min. each. They were fresh and hearty so a simple vegetable seasoning sprinkled on top did the trick.


We are from bread loving families so our dinner table is never complete without a bit and butter. Butter just makes it all better. Good Honest Products Really Good Bread was a hit. We chose a grainy variety chocked full of seeds and goodness. We also threw in some Ciabatta. The flour coating and soft texture is authentic and delicious. We normally throw our Ciabatta in the oven to get it crispy. It makes the house smell great, too!



Needing a quick dinner we chose a frozen option that was sampled at the show and they were surprisingly delicious. Fry's Family Meat Free Schnitzels. They are filling and full of goodness using soy and other natural proteins like legumes and grains to create delicious vegetarian cuisine that are quick and easy. Consider doing a meat-free day in your house once a week. Ours was delicious tonight and yes, we were full. (Snacking all day at the show probably helped as well.) No meat, egg or dairy products make this the perfect choice for a truly healthy main dish.




The children were wishing that we had this as dessert. We didn't. Again, they had sampled enough for an army at the show.



Created by The George Hotel Executive Chef Andrew Brown and Executive Sous Chef Craig Neal, this innovative dish came together effortlessly. It was a deliciously modern take on Strawberry Shortcake served on the most ergonomically appealing spoons. The samples went really fast and what a smart recipe choice for the coming summer months when strawberries will abound. The sights of this cooking display were just as delicious as the shortcake itself.

We received heaps of recipe cards which we consider priceless. Not too many freebies but lots of show specials that you would never get in the stores so we try to stock up where we we see a deal. Even though we pre-ordered event merchandise our additional cooler was sold out (confusing because we pre-paid) but they did make up for it with an additional zipper pouch and wine glass so that was top customer service in our book. That came in handy as we sipped local wines to our delight. They wineries were out in droves. The range of wines at the show actually deserves it's own post so stay tuned for that one. 

In the meantime, we are going to enjoy a bit of The Doctors from Forrest Family Owned Wines before we go off to bed. We loved seeing them again this year and this range of wine is perfect for anytime and well deserved especially after a long day.

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