DEREK FLYNN

Globetrotter: American TV presenter Adventure Aaron, aka Aaron Carotta, is in Marlborough this week shooting scenes for his new TV show Catch and Cook

Adventure by name, adventurer by nature.

Thrill-seeking American TV presenter Aaron Carotta, aka Adventure Aaron, is in Marlborough this week shooting scenes for his new TV show Catch and Cook.

It's a 13-part series filmed throughout New Zealand that throws Aaron, quite literally, in at the deep end.

After a monster crayfish, the Florida native was dropped in the middle of Cook Strait on Sunday by his tour guides for the day.

"I've only been diving like four times," he said. "It was intense and the blood vessels in my eyelids started popping. But we got a crayfish twice the size of a Maine lobster."

In each region, Carotta is challenged to locate certain ingredients by a local celebrity chef.

In Marlborough, chef Chris Fortune sent the American in search of crayfish and salmon, the latter proving a little tame.

"We just visited the King Salmon farm in the Marlborough Sounds and had a tour of their facility," he said.

But he did manage to take to the skies at the Omaka Wings and Wheels Day on Saturday. "I felt like I was in Top Gun," he said.

Carotta first started his adventures after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2008.

His first TV show Alive with Adventure Aaron developed from a blog he was writing.

The blog was about an everyday guy ticking things off his bucket list, he said. "When someone says you could die tomorrow it changes your perspective. I wanted to experience more from life before it was too late."

The TV show first brought Carotta to New Zealand in 2010.

But he never ventured further than Rotorua. "I never had the chance to do New Zealand justice so that's why I'm doing 13 episodes from Northland to Stewart Island on this new series."

Among activities he is considering is cage diving among great white sharks in Foveaux Strait.

So impressed with his first trip to Marlborough, Carotta is considering a move here.

"On my travels I keep checking off spots where I might relocate and Marlborough makes the list."

Mr Fortune presented a cooking master class with the ingredients at Brancott Estate Heritage Centre earlier today.

 at the Marlborough Community Garden 

Peter Brunt Entomologist will give a talk and general discussion on insects and the bugs that enjoy the smorgasbord of delicious plants available at the Community Gardens and many other Gardens as well.  We have invited Peter to the Gardens on Thursday 23rd February at 4-00pm He will look at the bugs and insects that enjoy our facilities and explain life cycles, habits and various ways of managing the plants while they are present. We believe this will be an excellent opportunity to find out from an expert how insect life functions in the garden and how to manage it so that we to get some enjoyable food as a result of our labours. There will plenty of opportunity for interaction. There is to be NO CHARGE.  We plan to follow this with a BBQ and general chat. The BBQ will be BYO.  For more information http://www.marlboroughcommunitygardens.org.nz/

For more details about these Trademe Auctions www.outstandingintheirfields.org.nz

Jonny Schwass -  Lunch for 4 people in Jonny's Christchurch Garden - Jonny Schwass takes a no-nonsense approach to  local food  and was Awarded Cuisine Restaurant Personality of The Year 2011

 Marc Soper  -  Lunch at Pirinoa Station in the Wairarapa for 6 people, serving a combination of dishes including 2011 Wellington chef of the capital award winning dishes and utilizing some of the finest regional products available

Jan Bilton -  Cloudy Bay Winery will be your venue for 8 guests to sample the very best of Marlborough with Jan Bilton for a cooking demonstration and luncheon to be matched with Cloudy Bay Wines

Julie Biuso - Cooking Class and Lunch for 6 in Julie Biuso’s home featuring fresh produce from the market, organic meats, and eggs from Julie’s own chickens. 

Jonny Schwass,  says that “ Cooking with local ingredients is important to me because it supports the small farmers and gives them and their families a future. It is a great way to connect with the season of the region”  and Chef of the Nation Marc Soper says “It is more pleasurable to be cooking with the freshest of ingredients knowing where they are sourced and how they are produced, having a connection to the producer is a more social aspect where the guest gets to be guided on a journey of their plate of how items are produced, where,  who and how there is a connection”

What better way to celebrate a Outstanding Christmas with your own personalised lunch with four of New Zealand’s best regional chefs, for more details visitwww.outstandingintheirfields.org.nz          or          www.farmersmarkets.org.nz

Arugula was once a popular aphrodisiac among the ancient Romans and ancient Egyptians and it was quite often associated with Priapus, a minor Roman god of fertility.   Today’s focus is more on  promoting the plant instead as an aid for digestion and the fact that it cleans the palate and mind  This peppery spring vegetable is rich in vitamins A and C and many minerals that are essential for feeding the body and mind, perhaps that is why it was once associated with fertility ?  It certainly adds body to any salad and has a strong peppery taste that associates it well with the mustard family.  If you don’t like the upfront and charismatic flavour then simply mix with your other salad greens or vegetables.

It is easy to grow and is prolific in the garden and there are many many ways to use common sense these days, just add a sprinkle of it on at the dinner table every second night !

1. Combine the clean, sharp flavors of arugula with sweet tree ripened  peaches or nectarines  for a superb Summer salad. Toss with white balsamic vinegar and some freshly ground black pepper.
2. Sprinkle your homemade pizza with a generous handful or two of arugula. Just add the leaves at the last minute of baking..
3. Add arugula to your pasta dishes. You don’t even need to cook your arugula leaves. Just toss them in at the end. The heat from the pasta will wilt them.
4. A easy pasta combination – shallots, garlic, cherry tomatoes, and arugula. Sauté garlic and shallots till golden. Add the cherry tomatoes, cooking till heated through. Toss with the cooked pasta and arugula.
5. What ever you don’t eat fresh turn into Pesto

WILD ROCKET PESTO

Ingredients:

100g wild rocket leaves, washed

60g Marlborough Pinoli pine nuts

60g grated Hard Cheese cheese

1 (or more) clove Marlborough  garlic

125ml (or more) Marlborough Olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

If using a pestle and mortar, chop the rocket up as finely as possible and crush the garlic first.  Crush the rocket, cheese, garlic and pine nuts together until mixed, then gradually add the oil and continue to mash until a paste forms.

If using a food processor, blitz together the rocket, cheese, pine nuts and garlic until finely chopped.  With the processor running, add the olive oil in a steady drizzle until you reach a consistency that you like . Test for seasoning, add salt and pepper, and your pesto is ready to eat!  It also freezes well in a sealed container.

When you drop it, this its a squash

One of my favourite vegetables is the Pumpkin, it is humble yet flavoursome, not so pretty on the outside but beautiful on the inside.  It can be used in a multitude of ways and is always cost effective and adds character to any dinner table.    While it may not have the prestige and elegance of many other vegetables it is truly Outstanding in its Field.  

To celebrate this beautiful orange creature we are inviting everybody to Ready Steady .....Pumpkin.   That is have a go at growing the biggest pumpkin, the ugliest pumpkin or the best dressed pumpkin.  Free seeds will be given to all and information and advice is on tap as we celebrate this vegetable with wrinkly skin and all.   Anybody  can register at the Nelson Famers’ Market or the Marlborough Farmers’ Market and each  registration will receive a packet of seeds and instructions on growing pumpkins. Throughout the growing period people will be able to share photos, stories and ask questions on the Ready Steady Pumpkin website.   This outstanding imitative is supported by the Nelson Marlborough Health Board .  As more families have become time poor there is a need to educate and promote healthy growing of produce and participation in the food we cook and serve at the dinner table

All registrations will have will have until April to grow there pumpkins and there will then be a pumpkin festival to mark the end of the competition.     There will be a number of activates and competitions running during the festival including the  major weigh in of the giant pumpkins.   These Giant  pumpkins can grow up to 800 kgs if looked after and cared for properly and are mainly ornamental (think Cinderella and the Pumpkin Carriage), while  normal pumpkins are around the 2-4 kg mark, perfect for feeding entire families.       For more information www.readysteadypumpkin.org.nz

Weather you roast it, mash it, steam it, fry it or boil it the best way to eat pumpkin is to eat one you have grown yourself, who knows you could be a truly outstanding in your field when you have a go at growing your own food.

Pumpkin Gnocchi

600 g pumpkin, peeled, cut into 3cm cubes

400 g Potatoes  peeled and cut and boiled for 10 mins until soft

salt and white pepper, to season

1–1½ cups plain flour

¼ cup Cheese finely grated

Drizzle of Marlborough Olive oil and garden herbs

Roast pumpkin for 30–35 minutes or until soft. Transfer to a large bowl. Mash until smooth with potatoe.  Sift flour into pumpkin and potato and add Cheese. Stir until well combined and a soft dough form, roll out with a little flour. Cut each roll into 3cm pillows.   Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil  and cook batches of gnocchi 2 minutes or until it floats to the top. Drain and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and garden herbs.  Enjoy

The beautiful thing about rubber chickens is that they pull back into shape easily  because on Sunday…. PLEASE PLEASE  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE – just once more,  pleeaaaseeee…. Miss 4.9 and master 9.5 were pulling on different legs…….drink over there, lunch over here, pretty flowers  and garden art up the other end.  You have got to love the Stihl Shop  Garden Fete.    The gigantic water fountain and the chocolate icies were the winners of the day and well done to the organisers  for ensuring that the weather played its part as well.  Like a good rubber chicken I managed to work most of the day but from what I saw from behind my hot stove it was another great event for Marlborough