It has been almost seven years since Melissa met me with the words “you can hire a hall kitchen!”. She had previously asked if I would cook for her beautiful café The Pickle Pot, but I had told her, that as I didn’t have a commercial kitchen, I was unable to. She then went on to explain how others were hiring commercially registered hall kitchens to prepare food for their small catering/food businesses. So off I went, I did my research, talked to people, did some study, applied for, and received council registration, and we were off – SBA’s Kitchen gluten free catering was in business – who would have thought…
Since then we applied for, and were successful in having our home kitchen registered for commercial food preparation, which I am sure lengthened the life of the business. We were able to continue to work during COVID (all halls were closed during the pandemic), and it provided us with more flexible working hours, and all through this time, while we have had other clients come and go, The Pickle Pot, has remained our main client.
As we all know, nothing is forever! Sadly the beautiful café is closing its doors. Fortuitously, the timing was perfect for me, for us, and today we made our final delivery of homemade gluten free food, prepared and baked from our kitchen at Tranquility.
The Final Order
I am not sad. As I said, the timing was actually perfect. You see, I also run, what I call small Knowledge Sharing sessions, (some may call them cooking classes) throughout the region. I pack up my car and travel to regional towns where I run my sessions in conjunction with community groups, known as Community Centres, Neighbourhood Centres, Neighbourhood Houses, etc. While in some countries the term Neighbourhood House may have a different connotation, in Australia, they are centres set up to help the local community with much needed food banks, self help sessions, art and craft sessions, and, yes, cooking sessions, etc. So I get to travel our beautiful region, gathering with people who I would never have met before, and as I share my knowledge, we cook, we eat and we chat! It is fun and I love it.
Of course there is more, there is learning to be done, I am studying again. I have gone back to finish off a Diploma of Sustainable Living through the University of Tasmania – three units completed, five more to go. There are words to read, and words to write, there are books to read, and, maybe, a book to write. The garden needs me, my blog has been, sadly, neglected, but more importantly, we will have more time for our beautiful family and wonderful friends. I cannot wait to share the next leg of my life’s journey with you all, stories about family, friends, community, cooking and gardening.
For today, I re-share with you, the recipe for my Zucchini Velouté, a regular winter warmer at The Pickle Pot, here in Maffra, and a staple in our home kitchen.
A creamy zucchini soup made with zucchini fresh from the garden.
- 600 g courgette/zucchini chopped
- 200 g potato peeled and chopped
- 145 g carrot washed and chopped
- 75 g onion chopped
- 75 g tomato chopped
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 20 g butter
- 600 ml vegetable stock
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp fine ground white pepper
- Greek yoghurt
- chives finely chopped
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Place a stockpot over medium head and add the butter and all the vegetables. Sauté for 5 minutes.
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Add the vegetable stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and cook for 20 minutes, or until all of the vegetables are cooked.
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For Thermomix instructions, see Notes, below.
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Allow the soup to cool a little and then either using a stick blender, blender, or food processor, puree to a smooth creamy consistency.
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Serve hot with a dollop of Greek Yoghurt.
- Instead of Greek yoghurt you can serve with a drizzle of cream.
- Substitue the butter with olive oil for a vegan option.
- To prepare in Thermomix,
- Place all ingredients, except for the butter, into the TM jug.
- Insert measuring cup into lid.
- Cook 15 min/100˚C/Speed 1
- Add butter.
- Blitz to puree, 1 min/Speed 4 gradually increasing to Speed 8.
A heartfelt thank you to Melissa for her support and encouragement during this journey. We know that whatever she puts her hand to in the future will be done with grace, good humour and passion.
Until next time…
Bon appétit!
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With many thanks and kindness,
Julie.
I love reading your blog Julie. You are so relatable and down to earth with many skills. Your writing style is certainly very readable and I always feel more inspired by your stories
Thank you so much for your kind words, Gayle.