Take a country cooking class in the Southern Highlands

Everything about Fox Hill Farm in NSW's Southern Highlands screams country charm.         Photo: Carla Grossetti

Lynne Derwin loves nothing more than to teach visitors to Fox Hill Farm the joy of country cooking.
Up until 2009, chef Derwin and her husband John, a civil engineer, ran the highly successful Roundstone Vineyard and Winery in the Yarra Valley until it was destroyed in the bushfires that roared through the valley in February 2009.

Lynne Derwin loves sharing the joy of country cooking.       Photo: Deirdre Worsley

The couple lost everything apart from a flock of Suffolk sheep, which relocated to Fox Hill Farm with the Derwins in 2012. The fact the sheep are huddled together outside the kitchen of Lynne's new homestead located in the Southern Highlands gives the classes real warmth and connects us to Lynne's life in Victoria and, of course, that devastating loss.

This flock of Suffolk sheep are part of the family at Fox Hill Farm. 

The mood, however, is anything but sombre and while the hands-on class touches on Lynne's past, it is very much devoted to the here and now, of learning the secret of rustic home cooking, with time and patience essential ingredients.

A visit to Fox Hill Farm puts that 'tree change' back on the agenda.       Photo: Deirdre Worsley.

The day starts with a gumboot gambol down to the kitchen garden to gather ingredients, followed by a demonstration led by Lynne who is on hand to help you master the art of making everything from golden crusty bread to kale and watercress soup, lamb with mint dressing, beef bourguignon, potatoes Provencale, mixed leaf salad, a beet and feta salad and roast pears with maple syrup and vanilla creme fraiche. It's an ambitious yet manageable menu.

Guests arriving at Fox Hill Farm are offered treats of kohlrabi topped with smoked trout. Photo: Deirde Worsley

Each person is assigned a course and rather than there being a 'knives-out' competitive vibe in the kitchen, what I loved about this class is that it felt like a family affair - especially considering Lynne's daughters, Kristy and Phoebe, are on hand to help with everything from hosting to the washing up.  

Fox Hill Farm Country Cooking Classes use produce plucked from the homestead's kitchen garden. Photo: Deirdre Worsley.

Central to Lynne's class is a desire to show how easy it is to make good, honest home-cooked country cuisine. At the end of the hands-on class, we sit around the farmhouse table and chat about what we learnt, elaborate on what our favourite dish was and talk about any new cooking skills we'd like to learn. We also tuck into a five-course meal - the result of our combined efforts - and a well-earned glass or two of local Sutton Forest Estate Wine, Bungonia Creek Wines and Southern Highland Wines.

Roasted beetroot and feta salad and potatoes Provencale are part of the rustic banquet to share.  Photo: Carla Grossetti 

This is real farm-to-fork cooking as the school responds directly to the seasons, giving visitors a taste of country life while celebrating nature's bounty from the surrounding farmland. Anyone who has ever collected a windfall of fresh herbs and vegetables from a kitchen garden will appreciate the emphasis on local, seasonal produce and how much that impacts on taste and flavour.

Thyme one of the essential ingredients plucked from the kitchen garden to add to beef bourgignon.   Photo: Deirdre Worsley.

The four-hour class also walks you through various basic techniques - from browning meat, to thickening a sauce, deglazing a pan and the importance of assembling your ingredients before you start. Classes are for no more than 10, which makes for an intimate setting in which to ponder what lessons we will take home from today when we next attempt Sunday lunch.

Lynne oversees the lesson as we all chop, stir and mix in unison.    Photo: Deirdre Worsley.

Aswell as learning about how to get the most out of seasonal ingredients, the class is an advertisement for cooking with an Aga oven, which is the centrepiece of Lynne's kitchen. Rather than being a lecture where we all sit around taking notes, the class feels very much like Lynne is working to recreate her family album.

Lamb with mint dressing was one of the hearty mains prepared by the group.    Photo: Deirdre Worsley

The classes run on the second Wednesday of every month and, over winter, catch the Southern Highlands at its magical wintry best. While novices will definitely come away with a greater understanding of country cooking, it's also certain that participants will leave with a few new food-obsessed friends. Those who want to stay and play in the leafy country lanes of the Southern Highlands should visit  southernhighlandsfoodandwineclusters.com.au for inspiration.

The Fox Hill Farm Country Cooking Class is followed by a convivial feast.     Photo: Deirdre Worsley

Fox Hill Farm Country Cooking Classes cost $150 and are held on the second Wednesday of each month or by appointment. Visit foxhillfarm.com.au for more details.

Bungonia Creek Wines are sourced locally and proffered as part of the Fox Hill Farm feast. 

Healthy meals in a hurry

While the notion of having fresh produce or pre-prepared nosh delivered to your door is nothing new - it's been happening for decades in Australia - there are now a raft of companies that have taken things up a notch - from sourcing artisanal ingredients to doing your weekly shop for you and telling you what to cook and how to cook it. 

While I will always prefer the experience of mooching around a market and sourcing ingredients for myself, there are times in my life when finding food parcels on my doorstep feels like manna from heaven. Here are four home-delivery services I put to the test to help me get over those hump days.

Marley Spoon spoon-feeds you every step of the way with recipe cards and ingredients ready to go. 

Marley Spoon
The new kid on the gourmet home cooking service block is Marley Spoon, which has upped the ante by bringing a roster of celebrity cooks and chefs to the table to share their easy-to-prepare dishes. It's like someone has flicked through your favourite cookbooks and plucked out the best fuss-free recipes from chefs such as Michael Rantissi of Kepos Street Kitchen to Luke Nguyen, of Red Lantern. Each guest chef brings their own unique flavour to the menu, with Rantissi sharing his take on roast spatchcock with spiced lamb and pine nut stuffing and Everyday Gourmet's Justine Schofield sharing favourites such as the speck, porcini and pine nut pasta. The ingredients arrive in brown paper bags with 6-step illustrated recipe cards. There is even a cooking hotline for home 'kooks'.
BEST FOR: Cashed-up 20-somethings who want to take the guesswork out of dinner and time-poor cooks who want to be inspired in the kitchen.
HANDY HINT: Most of these dishes can be made in one pan and whipped up on a weeknight in as little as 30 minutes.
For more information, visit www.marleyspoon.com.au

Impress the neighbours with this dish'd dessert: heritage raspberry tart with butter shortcrust pastry.   Image: Supplied

dish'd food store
There are lots of reasons to love receiving your delivery of dish'd. Firstly, if you're going to get food delivered, then you want some of the hard work done for you. As well as offering free delivery on orders over $80, there are more than 200 dishes to choose from on the site. After 18 years of running his own restaurant, French chef Jacques Reymond has curated the dish'd menu, which includes dishes such as prawns en papillote with zucchini, edamame beans and lemon crème, green beans, romanesco, cauliflower and broccoli and potato Dauphinois with cheese. Never thought I'd be a fan of pulling food out of the freezer, but there was a great range to choose from and a few nights where dish'd saved my bacon. Fake it until you make it with one of Reymond's French tarts such as raspberry and pistachio frangipane tart with butter shortcrust pasty. Superb!
BEST FOR: Busy couples with dual incomes or single 20-somethings who enjoy chef-inspired dishes but don't know their way around the kitchen.
HANDY HINT: If, like me, you don't own a microwave, simply adapt recipes and use your stovetop to heat up your dinner instead. Oh and repurpose any single-use containers to hold herbs, nuts or seeds.
For more information, visit www.dishd.com.au

Steak and lentil delight from the HelloFresh range of recipes.            Image: Supplied.

HelloFresh
Despite being a passionate cook, I'm often so busy during my working week that I feel like I'm preparing food from a bunker. HelloFresh took me by surprise in that it told me what to cook and shoehorned me out of my food rut. The delivery service arrives with recipe kits and a box full of fresh ingredients portioned out so I could plan my weekly cook-off. I loved being bossed about so I could just focus on the meditative act of chopping, stirring, searing and serving. I also love that by delivering the exact quantity of ingredients I needed for my weekly meals, there was no food waste whatsoever. Family favourites from the 'healthy' range included the harissa chicken with smashed chickpeas, cherry tomato, olive and goat curd penne and chicken soba noodle soup.
BEST FOR: Working parents who want to expand their cooking repertoire with ease and takeaway addicts who are hungry for inspiration.

HANDY HINT: New customers are invited to take the HelloFresh challenge by claiming back the cost of their takeaway dinner to the value of $40 so they can put HelloFresh to the test.
For more information, visit www.hellofresh.com.au

My Food Bag sources quality ingredients and tells you what to cook and how to cook it.

My Food Bag
Dinner can also be delivered to your doorstep courtesy of My Food Bag, which offers four different food bags to choose from. The first food bag comes with a recipe folder that you can fill with meal ideas from the Classic Food Bag (which feeds two adults and two teenagers or four adults), Family Food Bag (which feeds two adults and 2-3 young children), Gourmet Food Bag (for cashed-up couples) or My Own Feed Bag (for busy singles).   The service has teamed up with celebrity chef Miguel Maestre to help Australian householders find their mojo when it comes to making healthy home-cooked dinners. The recipes were also created in consultation with food nutritionist Nadia Lim so are beautifully balanced and nutritious, too. Hits in our household included teriyaki salmon with brown rice and edamame and radish salad as well as pistachio-crusted lamb with red cabbage, kumara and beetroot relish.
BEST FOR: Those who are too busy to do a weekly shop and want to avoid takeaway.
HANDY HINT: Despite the Family Bag being portioned out to feed two adults and two children, we found that we always had leftovers for lunch the next day.
For more information, visit myfoodbag.com.au

If you are struggling at the end of a working week, My Food Bag will help you through Hump Day. 

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