Free Range in the City with Annabel Langbein… in Noosa…

With Annabel Langbein visiting Noosa’s Sails Restaurant for the launch of her new book ‘Free Range in the City’, it became all of the excuse that I needed to treat myself to another foodie lunch.Readers of my blog are probably thinking that I do is go to cookbook launches, and if the last few weeks are anything to go by, they would be right, but it seems to be the season; everyone getting their books out in time for Christmas.  And look, I am not exactly complaining, I mean an excuse to have awesome lunches, recreated from the books being launched, in equally awesome locations – what is not to like?

The latest launch was at the beautiful Sails, and the Sunshine Coast put on its brightest and best weather so the beachside location’s magic could be appreciated to its fullest.Annabel Langbein is known for her books as well as her TV series ‘Annabel Langbein – The Free Range Chef’ which is all about free range gardening and organic cooking. While I watch the show here and there and she always comes across as a garden loving passionate chef, I wasn’t quite prepared for what a delight that she would be in person.

She chatted to us about her foodie origins and how her career came to be, and I enjoyed listening to a humorous recount of events that eventually led to her passion in food and the garden.  She is quite the storyteller, has had a somewhat colourful existence, and I welcomed that she didn’t gloss over the saucy bits – I like hearing about other people’s ‘naughty teenage years’ stories; it is something I can quite relate to… see, we all come good eventually… although being a possum trapper is not something that I would have expected to be amongst Annabel’s long list of credentials.

The lunch itself, was simple but delicious, which is the key to Annabel’s style of cooking:

Melon with mint and prosciutto
Christmas duck with allspice beets
Toss of peas and beans
Maple roasted vegies
Raspberry jelly creams

After lunch Annabel took the time to wander around and meet everyone and sign books and you can’t help but be taken with her easy going and entertaining nature.  It was a great afternoon and as I sat there enjoying my raspberry jelly creams as I watched the world go by on the beach, I felt grateful that I will always find and excuse to have a lunch of some sort in this beautiful part of the world.

Annabel’s book is  a fantastic collection of recipe’s  as well as some hints and tips on growing your own small scale produce , in the city.

Free Range in the City is available at all good book stores, or purchase online below…

This post was written by Petra Frieser – Local Harvest