Join  Free Range Chef Stephen in our kitchen, to watch as he shows and prepares 3-4 tapas dishes, you can do at home, he’ll be discussing the basic and professional techniques of the dishes. Try and taste each one of the tapas he makes and take home all the recipes from the evening.
In addition, we will have testing platter for you with all  products from Two Feijoas Handmade Gourmet Foods range!


                   Class date Friday 17 May 2013, starting at 18.00 and finishing about 21.00.
                                                                            $70.00 per person
                                            Please contact us for tickets and  booking information.

                                                      http://www.twofeijoas.co.nz/?page_id=13

                           Here is the German magazine article which show cased New Zealand.
              The writers I cooked for  stayed at Hurakia Lodge and apparently it was the highlight of
                                                                      there stay.
                                 It's always nice to see your name in something like this !!
                          Now I just need to get it translated.!..................Can anyone help?

This is the section about the lodge

Our last event on the 14th April was fully booked and it was a fun and very tasty evening, all guests had a chance to ask questions and see what I was cooking.Every plate was left clean with shouts of more !!!!!!

                                                    The Menu for the next event is

Lola

Maria

Wedding Cake

                                                 

                                                        
                                                       has started a culinary collaboration with                                                                                           Avantgarde's Red Kitchen Dining 
                                                                           events

The evenings are set in the most unique and private high-quality setting , custom built for just the occasion. 
 Avantgarde Kitchen & Bathroom Studio, 44 Broadway, Newmarket specialize in kitchen and bathroom renovations with the retail showroom in the heart of Newmarket, Auckland's most fashionable suburb. It comprises of a unique array of kitchens, bathroom furnishings, dining room furniture, tableware and accessories.
 The evenings 4-course gourmet menu designed and cooked by Free Range Chef are all complimented by a glass of wine with each course.
You get a chance to watch the chef at work, ask questions and see how the dish is put together with a cooking demonstration of the dishes.
  

Hi Stephen and Lola,

Thank you so much for making my 40th birthday such a wonderful, memorable night for Mark and I and our close friends.
The service we received from the both of you, was warm and friendly while being very efficient and professional.
The entree and main were absolutely outstanding both in presentation and taste and 2 weeks later everyone is still raving about how delicious and stunning everything was. It definitely felt like we were in a top restaurant within the comfort of our home. The birthday cake was decorated beautifully.
The fact that everyone's glasses were regularly topped up with subtle efficiency, the dishes done and kitchen left spotlessly clean was amazing.
An outstanding evening thanks to you both. We will definitely be using your services again and would highly recommend you!

Kind regards

Andrea Campbell

The Fine Food Fair ran from 13th to 15th June and was strictly only for people working in the food industry.

The show had a fantastic array of information and foods with over 70 stands ranging from dairy free cheeses, organic foods, gluten free beer and wine and Ultra pet food......pets suffer too you know! It was very busy with most stalls giving away samples to try and seminars on allergies, diets and contribution's from leading people in the industry.

I liked the fact it was mostly Kiwi companies, pushing the envelope, and having the great ideas. The Gluten free plain and raising flour were of interest ,something that is always useful. The dairy free and egg free marshmallow mix and meringues being the most surprising. They were very good a lot softer than ordinary meringues but will use them in the future if necessary.

Other products of note were the sea vegetable company Pacific Harvest with a range of edible seaweeds and natural sea salt products great for using on fish, seafood, game meats and for sauces and dips.

I picked up lots of information on a huge range of products from different companies, and have a number of recipes, including some of the products I found, so if you need to find out more or cant find some products for you or your family, get in contact and I will be glad to help.

How much do we really know about the food we buy at our local supermarkets and serve to our families?

Come Home To Your Own Chef
For busy families, it's worth it to let a pro do the cooking

In the weeks leading up to Apr. 15, San Diego tax adviser Tina Huston simply doesn't have time to cook. "It's difficult enough working 40 hours a week and preparing dinner each night. It is impossible working 60 hours a week during tax season," she says.

Still, Huston is committed to giving her diabetic husband, Jeff, and their two young daughters healthful, low-carb meals. So last year she hired personal chef Beckette Williams to come to her house once a month to prepare and stock the freezer with entrées such as tequila-and-lime chicken and beef Stroganoff. Each meal is labeled with heating instructions and nutritional information so Jeff can adjust his insulin pump accordingly. Huston quickly got hooked: "We kept the service even after tax season. Instead of spending time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning, we have free time in the evenings with our kids."

For most of us, the words "personal chef" conjure images of a celebrity entourage. But families like the Hustons are typical clients. According to the American Personal Chef Institute & Assn., there are about 9,000 personal chefs in the U.S. serving 72,000 clients -- families with two working parents, busy single professionals, people with restricted diets, and, increasingly, senior citizens who no longer can cook for themselves.

Over the next five years, some 300,000 clients of 20,000 chefs are expected to pay $1.2 billion for in-home meals. "Most clients are middle-class folks who are too busy to cook and are tired of eating take-out or in restaurants where the food is loaded with fat and preservatives," says Candy Wallace, executive director of the American Personal Chef Institute & Assn. "Our message is that you don't have to be Oprah to have a personal chef."

Begin by finding a personal chef in your local area. Set up a meeting to discuss your food likes and dislikes, allergies, and any special dietary requirements.

Be as fussy as you like. In San Diego, Chef Williams leaves out garlic, onions, and mushrooms for one client and provides a special brand of low-fat sour cream for another. Anne Hayward, who runs Premier Concierge of Columbus, Ohio, adds three times the number of vegetables to her beef stew for 36-year-old mother Felicia Hinrichs. An ex-ballet dancer, Hinrichs is determined that her sons, 8 and 2, learn to resist the persistent call of fatty, packaged foods in favor of fresh fish and fresh vegetables. "Whatever works for them works for me," says Hayward. "That's what a personal chef service is about."

PACKAGE DEALS
The next step is deciding how many meals you need. Although prices and packages vary, most chefs offer what's known as a "five by four" -- four portions of five entrées and side dishes. This will provide 20 dinner-size servings. Personal chefs also offer a "five by two" -- two portions of five entrées. But this is usually not cost-effective. A typical five-by-four costs between $350 and $400, including groceries. That's $17.50 to $20 per person, more than a family-style eatery but less than an upscale restaurant. A five-by-two -- half as much food -- costs only about 20% less, $285 to $325, or around $30 a person.

To get more bang for the buck, some families request six entrées in lieu of vegetable side dishes. After all, it's not hard to open a bag of prewashed salad or steam some broccoli. Clients who want all organic meat and vegetables can expect to pay a surcharge. Hinrichs claims to save money with a personal chef even over eating at home, because she doesn't waste money on food she buys but never cooks.

If you're concerned about fat, carbs, calories, or any other component of the food you're eating, ask if the chef can provide a nutritional breakdown for each meal. Chefs can offer this information by feeding the ingredients of a menu into a special computer program that then prints out a nutritional label. It's similar to what you'd see on the side of a cereal box.

Many personal chefs are retired restaurateurs, but hundreds of home cooks have been drawn to the business by the flexible hours and growing demand. A culinary school education, restaurant training, or professional seminars are desirable but not essential to finding a qualified personal chef.

Just make sure anyone you are thinking of hiring provides references from satisfied customers. You should also try to taste the food. If the person won't bring samples to the interview, as a caterer often will, pay to have him or her prepare one or two representative meals before you make a larger commitment.

Since the chef will usually be cooking in your home, check that the person is licensed and insured against a fire breaking out in your kitchen or damage to appliances. All chefs affiliated with the American Personal Chef Institute & Assn. are certified safe food-handlers. They also have valid municipal business licenses and carry general liability insurance of $2 million.

Finally, think about what you'll do with all that time you're not shopping and cooking. "This service is [about] more than food," says Wallace. "It's about stress reduction and enhancing the quality of your life." Call it the taste of freedom