How to avoid the Swine Flue

What a really interesting week I have had, I am not sure if it was good or bad but it certainly had its highs and its lows and by the end I felt like a  free range chicken gently roasting in a hot oven with salt and lemon.   Now how does a free range chicken feel I hear you ask, well it has led a happy and fulfilled life on the farm and now that it is in my oven it will be loved and cared for by the lemon and salt!    I  have meet some of most interesting and sincere people  and also dealt with people and things that I would normally avoid like the swine flue (sorry to the pigs , I mean the Influenza H1N1)

 

Lets  rewind the clock  -  it all started with a meeting with the Senior advisor for the Equal Employment Opportunities and Crown Entities and the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner on Monday or to be more precise the Kaihautu Oritenga Mahi.    No I have not done a Gordon Ramsey and abused my staff (humm now there's a idea!) but rather we discussed the bigger picture of what is happening in NZ in regards to the opportunities in Hospitality and the fact that I have had more people applying for cooking positions in the last two months than I have in the last two years.    Moving along to a meeting  with a local butcher talking about Beef and the quality of what we export versus what we can purchase as consumers, a wild foods tasting competition using four different parts of Goat from Premium Game, hosting a tour group and serving lamb racks and local seafood, serving up Crayfish and Kai Moana (thanks Ted you are the real star ! ) to 330 guests at the Stars in Your eyes  Competition  for the Spring Creek and District Lions Club to raise funds for distribution amongst Marlborough youth and youth Groups. 

 

To finish off the week it was my great privilege to be involved with Brayshaw park and the Marlborough Community Gardens,  everyone  has to put on there list of once In a lifetime experiences of running around town with a vintage tractor collecting tools and Donations followed by a sausage sizzle (thanks mike from Meaters) and a cup of tea. 

Now the swine flue things and people  that distracted me during the week,   I think that I will leave the that Chapter for my new book as I would rather remember the good things in the week rather than the negative!

 

How to avoid the H1N1 flue

 

1 Free range Chicken

Marlborough Flaky Salt

Marlborough olive oil

3 Lemons

12 tea bags

A mixture of Community Groups

A handful of Children and laughter

8 Vintage Tractors

3 Flat white Lattes at Raupo Riverside Café

Sausages from Meaters (they are the best!)

White toast bread and tomato sauce (wheat bread if you  must)

Ted and his Kai Moana

Wild food from Premium Game

A Flock of great Kitchen staff

 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, sprinkle the salt over the chicken and squeeze the lemon over the top,  drizzle with olive oil and put the lemons inside the chicken, place in the oven for 45-60 mins or until the juices run clear ( The secret is to leave it to rest for as long as you have cooked it, and this is the hardest part).  Take the remaining ingredients and scatter them around your week allowing enough between each so that you can spend time with your family and friends, if you do not scatter them evenly then repeat the following week ensuring  that you get a even spread of all.  You can add different ingredients into the recipe but ensure that you leave the negative stuff to the side otherwise it will taint all of the good stuff.   Once the chicken has rested serve with roasted winter vegetables gathered from local food producers and enjoy.