On Sunday, 11th September, the Blue House hosted a ‘Design for Climate’ workshop as part of the celebrations for the 10th Annual Sustainable House Day.

Other Coast homes  that opened their doors to the public  included:-

30 St Pauls Ave GOLDEN BEACH QLD  4551 (2011 Glossies Winner)

VEGIE PIKELETS

250g fresh cassava

2 arrowroot tubers

1 sweet potato

1 large onion

2 heaped teaspoons curry powder (or to taste)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon Turmeric and Galangal Paste (recipe follows)

1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder

2 cups besan (chickpea) flour

Water

Olive Oil

Finely grate all vegetables.  Combine vegetables, curry powder, cumin seeds, turmeric & galangal paste, stock powder and besan flour in a large mixing bowl; add sufficient water to  make a fairly thick batter – let batter sit for 10 minutes.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a frypan, drop spoonfuls of batter into hot oil and cook about 3 minutes each side until cooked.  Drain on paper towels.  Can be served either hot or cold.

TURMERIC AND GALANGAL PASTE

Turmeric roots

Galangal roots (one third the amount of turmeric)

2-3 cloves garlic

1½ small red chillies

3cm piece of fresh ginger

¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt

Olive Oil

Process all ingredients finely in a food processor until it is paste-like.  Heat oil in a pan and cook the paste until all excess moisture has been removed.  If paste appears too dry, stir through extra oil until required consistency.  Spoon paste into sterilised jars and store in the fridge.

Paste can be used as a base in any recipe calling for a curry flavour – just add other spices to suit.

CASSAVA CAKE

4 cups grated fresh cassava

3 eggs

1 tin coconut cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ to ¾ cup sugar (I use coconut palm sugar or rapadura sugar)

Desiccated coconut

Mix all ingredients, except coconut, together in a large bowl and pour into a baking paper lined lamington tray.

Sprinkle desiccated coconut over the top.  Bake in oven @ 180 for 30-45 minutes then turn the heat down and bake for a further 15 minutes.  Insert a skewer in centre of cake to test if cooked through.  The cake will continue to set and firm up overnight in the fridge.

LEMON MYRTLE SHORTBREAD

250g butter, softened

1 cup cornflour

1 cup icing sugar

2 cups plain flour

6 teaspoons lemon myrtle powder (or to taste)

Cream butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy.  Sift cornflour and flour together and stir in lemon myrtle powder.  Mix dry ingredients into creamed mixture.  Knead well.  Form into a roll on lightly floured board.  Refrigerate for 20 mins or so then slice into desired thickness.  Place on a greased oven tray and bake at 150 deg C for 30 mins or until pale golden. Makes about 30.

MADAGASCAR BEAN PATTIES

1½ cups of madagascar beans, cooked and mashed
1 cup of soft breadcrumbs
½ cup of finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons of parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of black pepper
½ teaspoon of dried ground sage
Olive Oil

Combine mashed madagascar beans, breadcrumbs, onion, parsley, salt, pepper and sage. Shape the mixture into flat patties about the size of a small hamburger. Refrigerate the patties for 1 hour, during which time you can prepare the Creole sauce. Sauté the patties in a little oil for about 3 minutes per side until they are nicely browned.  Serve with a salad with the Creole sauce poured over.

Creole Sauce

1 tablespoon of olive oil
½ small onion, finely chopped
½ green capsicum, seeded and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon of dry mustard
2 tubs of tomato paste
2½ tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley
Tabasco sauce to taste

In a frypan over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onion and capsicum and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the remaining ingredients, including the hot pepper sauce to taste and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes. Serve hot.

In a rare bout of glorious weather, Costa opened the celebrations to a large crowd and spent the day wandering around the gardens, talking with locals and visitors.  As gardeners everywhere have embraced Costa’s all-consuming passion for plants and people, permaculture members were thrilled that Costa would take the time out of his extremely busy schedule to visit us and share his infectious character and passion for the soil, embracing nature’s cycles and seasons, and nurturing our soul with gardening.

There were also wonderful presentations from the likes of Bob Cameron from RockCote,  speaking on pizza cob ovens;  Murray Hallam of Practical Aquaponics, talking all things aquaponics;  Elisabeth Fekonia of Permaculture RealFood speaking on sub-tropical plants and  Rosina Buckman sharing her passion on backyard chooks.

Part of the large crowd listening to Costa on National Permaculture Day at Yandina Community Gardens.

National Permaculture Day was proudly sponsored by Permaculture Noosa, Yandina Community Gardens and Edible School Gardens.