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Local Food

Maleny Coffee

The men behind Maleny CoffeeMaleny CoffeeA new Has Garanti 15kg Coffee Roaster was installed in Maleny last year as we in Maleny and the Hinterland continue our love affair with coffee. Maleny has long been renowned for our high-quality coffee cafe scene with many tourists and locals choosing to visit and relocate based on the location, congenial atmosphere of a small country town with a love for coffee and community. The smell of coffee roasting now drifts over our green hills thanks to Steve & Adrian from Maleny Coffee. Steve and Adrian have been regular visitors to Maleny during their 17 year partnership. They love the diversity of Maleny with its robust conversations, great foodie locations and the ethos of developing a new product for Maleny. In 2012 Adrian and Steve chose to relocate to Maleny from the inner city Brisbane suburb of Windsor to pursue their dreams of creating an artisan roasted, signature blend.

It has taken Steve and Adrian a year to perfect the blend they call 1891. Why 1891? Well it’s the year Maleny was proclaimed a town. The world demand for quality coffee continues to grow with 1.4 billion cups of coffee drunk every day worldwide but Steve and Adrian have no plans for world coffee domination. They want their business to be successful but not to the point where it devours the laid-back lifestyle of an artisan coffee manufacturer.

Creating relationships and being strategic by choosing to stay small and boutique but high quality is part of their business plan. Lifestyle needs to come first, with Maleny Coffee sustaining their new lifestyle and contributing to the draw and ‘branding’ of Maleny.

Packaging and branding Maleny Coffee was a big consideration. Maleny Coffee’s main logo is a tree, symbolic of Maleny and our deep appreciation for trees and nature. Steve and Adrian’s  graphic artist created ‘seasonal’ versions of the tree. The version shown on the packaging is the ‘summer’ tree and on their business cards is the ‘autumn’ tree, very appropriate as Maleny Coffee makes it’s debut now in Autumn 2014.

You can now find Maleny Coffee for sale at both Maleny IGA and across the road in our Gifts & Gourmet store. Available in 250g, 500g and 1kg packs. Perfect to brew a great coffee at home and they also look great in a gift hamper! Remember our Maleny IGA Deli staff are always happy to grind your coffee, purchased through us for free. Let us know what grind you would like and we can easily do this for you.

Come along to our next Foodie night at Gifts & Gourmet on Wednesday 28th May 6pm to meet Steve and Adrian and sample their delicious coffee. Steve and Adrian cup each roast of coffee they create. This is a quality control method ensuring each bag you buy of Maleny Coffee is high quality and the flavour, aroma etc you expect. The way you prepare your coffee makes all the difference. During the Foodie Night you’ll learn all there is to know about the different methods coffee can be prepared for drinking.

From percolating to brewing to espresso and everything in between including what sort of grind you want from your beans to make the perfect coffee.Come along and join us for this free Food Night. Bookings preferred. Please book your spot at Gifts & Gourmet.

Salads @ Palmwoods

Blake Salads at Palmwoods 2Blake Nicolle has been farming his whole life. He and his family moved to Laidley from Zimbabwe in 2008, and opened a hydro farm growing Asian greens, and fresh herbs in 2011. They moved to Palmwoods in 2012, taking over the ‘Salad Bros’ lettuce farm and renaming it ‘Salads @ Palmwoods’, and adding his Asian greens and herbs. Blake is passionate about the importance of buying local, to ensure that farmers get paid adequately for their produce, and believes that cutting out the ‘middle man’ is imperative to keeping smaller farmers in business.

Thankfully the Maleny IGA is focussed on buying fresh, local produce such as Blake’s tasty lettuces; straight from farmers. Look for ‘Salads @ Palmwoods’ Watercress, Salad Mix, English Spinach, Baby Cos Leaves and Roquette in the Maleny IGA Fresh Produce Section.

Maleny & Montville Gourmet Local Food Tours in 2014

Maleny IGA Local Food Bus TripA great day out! NEW for 2014 are monthly Maleny IGA Maleny & Montville Local Food Bus Tours. Leaving at 8.45am for a jam packed foodie day, visiting 6 local producers, enjoying a gourmet lunch and all in the scenic Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Tickets are $59. NOTE: this is a heavily subsided and discounted ticket price designed to kick start local food tours in our region. Dates for 2014:

You can buy your ticket from Maleny Visitor Info Centre or via our Maleny IGA Eventbrite Booking Page.

Maleny IGA Real Food Festival Taster

Local chef and owner of Wild Rocket, Peter Brettell was serving up delicious, freshly cooked donuts, with a local strawberry compote and Colin James ice-cream at the Maleny IGA last Friday morning 30th August; a tasty brunch treat for shoppers and passers by. For those that just happened to find themselves in ‘the right place at the right time’, it was a delightful surprise.

Real Food Festival Director, Julie Shelton said the morning was a ‘taster’, an opportunity to wet peoples appetites for the upcoming Real Food Festival, being held at the Maleny Showgrounds this coming weekend the 7th and 8th of September. “Pete is one of our chefs, so we’re promoting the wonderful food that Wild Rocket has, and getting people all excited about next weekend; feeding them some yummy local strawberries and the donuts, and some local ice-cream.”

As one of the sponsors of the event, the Maleny IGA was happy to host The Pastie Pom, Pete, as he wowed shoppers with his yummy treat and cheeky grin. Rob had simply one word to describe the dessert – “Sensational. You can’t go wrong with freshly made donuts!” he said. Another shopper enjoyed it so much she asked for the recipe!

For Julie and fellow Real Food Festival team member, Alex Bouchet, it was a nice opportunity to step out of the Headquarters on Coral St, Maleny and meet people face to face. Julie said “The promotion at the IGA is always a real highlight for the Real Food Festival because Maleny is where the festival is hosted, and it’s the hub of food production on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, and the Maleny IGA is such a strong supporter of local producers it’s nice to have really big special promotion here.”

Peter will be at the festival with some of the Wild Rocket team, and is bringing back the famous Hazelnut Crusted Prawns from last year, and for dessert he will be teaming up the strawberry compote and Colin James ice-cream with a white pannacotta in a delicious marriage of flavours. He will also be appearing as one of the chefs at the festival, demonstrating how to make delicious, light gnocci from scratch, at 2:30pm on Sunday at the Kunara Real Food Kitchen. So get along and pick up some tips from him.

Food stylist and chef, Chris Klaas stopped by to check out Pete’s dessert, and said he was looking forward to his food photography workshop at the festival, and invited people to bring their own camera and participate.

To view the program for the Real Food Festival go to realfoodfestival.com.au/2013-program/ Creative Commons Licence CREATIVE COMMONS COPYRIGHT FOR THIS ARTICLE Maleny IGA Real Food Festival Taster by Maleny Supa IGA is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at http://www.malenyiga.com.au/wordpress/maleny-iga-real-food-festival-taster/.

Maleny Supa IGA leading the world in grocery shelf labeling

Maleny IGA Labelling_low resMaleny Supa IGA has led the way in helping customers identify what’s on their shelves.Owner Rob Outridge said “I believe we were the first in Australia to introduce the ‘True Blue’ shelf labels, helping customers easily spot products made by Australian owned businesses.” Years later, with the increasing focus on local food producers, the store once again saw the need to let customers know how they too could support their local farmers and producers. The answer was simple. “We added a cow to the blue label to indicate a product made locally. This coincided with the launch of the Real Food Festival and a range of ‘shelf talkers’ that highlighted even more the products that supported our Sunshine Coast businesses.” Always keen to listen to customers and improve their service, Rob and the team launched a final label – pink for Gluten Free products.

“We have a very discerning community with a growing number becoming more health conscious. The pink label and the gluten free ‘end’ near the deli makes it easier for them to find what they need.”

Creative Commons Licence Maleny Supa IGA leading the world in grocery shelf labeling by Maleny Supa IGA is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at http://www.malenyiga.com.au.

Announcing our 2013 "Sunshine Coast Local Food Experiences" Bus Trips

Sunshine Coast Local Food Experience Tickets Our inaugural Sunshine Coast Local Food Experiences Bus Trip left Maleny IGA on 22 July 2013.  Travelling in a comfortable mini-bus our 1st group enjoyed a gourmet lunch by caterer and local supplier Black Ant Gourmet in Kin Kin. Gluten Free Grain Free Company, tastings & morning tea with Tania Hubbard and Fab Slabs factory tour plus a talk by Felix from Kin Kin Naturals.

Organised by Lisa Blainey-Lewin with Arcadia Love as your host on the bus each month, so you'll have lots of fun and games along the way. Enjoy meeting local food suppliers and making a connection from the person to their product.

Tickets are $49 and include a small goodie bag, lunch and morning tea. Tickets are available for purchase now @Maleny IGA, 26 Maple St, Maleny from their Customer Service Kiosk or online http://malenyiga.eventbrite.com.au/

NOTE: this is a heavily subsided and discounted ticket price designed to kick start local food tours in our region.

FUTURE TRIP DATES

Tuesday 20 August 2013 Montville and the top of the range Thursday 12 September 2013 Beerwah, Woodford, Wamuran Tuesday 22 October 2013 Sippy Creek, Caloundra, Yandina Tuesday 19 November 2013 Noosa Tuesday 3 December 2013 Kenilworth

NOTE: Itineraries may change without notice due to weather and local supplier availability.

FAQs

Are there ID requirements or an age limit to enter the event? Yes you need to be 18 and over to attend.

What are my transport/parking options getting to the event? All day parking is available on Willow Lane, behind Maleny IGA with the new "Waterfall Walkway" the easiest way to access Maleny Supa IGA. Hinterland Connect Bus Stop is on Maple St and an easy stroll to Maleny IGA.

What can/can't I bring to the event? You can bring your cameras, sunhats, water bottle, umbrellas, jackets and smile. Please leave all at home alcoholic beverages.

Where can I contact the organiser with any questions? Contact Maleny IGA Store Manager Sam Davies either by email: manager.maleny@outridgesiga.com.au or by phone 07 5494 2257

Is my registration/ticket transferrable? Under special circumstances ie illness, work roster change etc the event organiser may allow your ticket to be transferred to a friend, with a minimum of 24 hours notice before the event.

Can I update my registration information? Yes via your Event Brite account or by contacting the event organiser.

Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event? Yes, and please bring photo id.

What is the refund policy? Tickets are non-refundable. Please contact the organiser immediately you cannot attend. If at the organisers discretion they are able to on sell your ticket you will be refunded the cost of the ticket less the booking fee of $3.82.

The name on the registration/ticket doesn't match the attendee. Is that okay? With prior permission of the event organiser.

Creative Commons Licence Announcing our "Sunshine Coast Local Food Experiences" Bus Trips by Maleny Supa IGA is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at http://www.malenyiga.com.au.

How to Caramelize Vegetables using Pomodoras Balsamic Dressing

Video Transcript

Balsamic Dressing reduces down in a hot pan. This leaves a residue of the sugar and vinegar and that is what makes the dressing caramelize.

We, Pomodoras Restaurant, mainly use our Balsamic Dressings for salads, but we also use it for caramelizing vegetables.

On the menu at the moment we have Tortellini with Caramelized Zucchinis, Spinach and Cherry Tomatoes.

Make sure your pan is very hot and the olive oil is moving freely. When you add the Balsamic Dressing it bubbles, next add salt, this helps it reduce and immediately increases the temperature.

Add your zucchinis and eggplant and cook for minute or so on each side. Next remove from cook-top and place in a fan-forced oven heated to 210 C. Cook the eggplant for at least 5 minutes, and the zucchinis for around 3 minutes. Serve the zucchini’s im- mediately. Eggplant you can leave for up to 10 minutes before serving. Both of these vegetables go well with freshly grated Parmesan.

Add cut capsicums to your hot frypan, this time add a dash more Balsamic Dressing and salt Keep turning over until they are beginning to brown (caramelize). Next cook for  8mins in a fan-forced oven heated to 210 C. Capsicum goes well with goats cheese.

Two variations for the BBQ are: 1. toss vegetables in a mix of olive oil, salt and Balsamic Dressing and cook on a hot BBQ grill plate. 2. Drizzle Balsamic Dressing on corn cobs and cook on a hot BBQ Grill Plate.

Lastly you can save money and make your own antipasto. Cook up twice your required caramelized vegetables and put half aside. When cool, keep in the fridge till required. Serve either warm by heating under a grill or cold with a drizzle of olive oil.

NOW available for purchase in-store and online store with Maleny IGA’s Home Delivery and Click n Collect Services  www.malenyiga.com.au Ph: 07 5494 2257

Creative Commons Licence How to Caramelize Vegetables using Pomodoras Balsamic Dressing by Maleny Supa IGA is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at http://www.malenyiga.com.au.

Gluten Free Grain Free New Product Launch

Congratulation to Tania & Eric Hubbard from Gluten Free Grain Free, a local innovative Sunshine Coast company.

Maleny Supa IGA was invited to attend Tania's Red Carpet "High Morning Tea" function yesterday Tuesday 19th March 2013 at SCAIP Nambour.

Tania gave a moving story how her journey crafting artisan cake mixes started three years ago with a request from a local mum for a gluten free birthday cake for daughters birthday party. From those beginnings to being named Sunshine Coast Outstanding Business Woman of the Year in 2012, going on a NZ and Australia-wide tour promoting her Gluten Free Grain Free health message, products and "Food We Love" cookbook, Tania launched into the world yesterday her Cake Mix "babies".

Five delicious and easy to cook Gluten Free Grain Free Cake Mixes: Strawberry, Date & Cinnamon, Ginger, Chocolate and Vanilla.

We are proud to be long term supporters of Tania's stocking her products opposite our Deli counter in our speciality gluten free section and we look forward to adding her new cake mixes to our existing range very soon. (Editors note - they are now in stock, find them opposite our Deli)

Creative Commons Licence Gluten Free Grain Free New Product Launch by Maleny Supa IGA is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at http://www.malenyiga.com.au.