WEEKEND COOKING RETREAT 16th to 18th MAY 2025

We’ve just finished a huge weekend hosting and cooking a Weekend Cooking Retreat. The guests arrive at 2pm on Friday and we started cooking with drinks at 5 PM and then spent the weekend cooking Friday dinner, Saturday Breakfast lunch and dinner and Sunday breakfast. We made everything from scratch, we shucked oysters, cleaned occy, filleted fish, smoked fish and our own stocks. We made pasta, pastry, croissants and sourdough and more. A fun and delicious weekend cooking around 30 recipes, favourite dishes from the bistro and cookbooks. And cooked new recipes from books in production.

We cooked and enjoyed

Starting with some snacks we had ready:

Smoked quail
Fish pate
blue and brie cheese
quince paste (recipe from Tasmania Pantry)

FRIDAY DINNER

Sour dough
oysters
bay trumpeter crudo
grilled quail, white bean hummus and bush chimichurri
Seafood Paella (recipe celebrate cookbook)
Thai dressed crispy Boarfish
venison spiced baked quince and mulberry lavender relish (recipe Lavender Cookbook)
apple and blackberry pie (Tasmania Pantry cookbook)
ricotta, lavender and chocolate pie (Lavender Cookbook)

SATURDAY BREAKFAST

Sourdough fruit loaf with ricotta, apple and cinnamon
Eggs baked in romesco sauce with chorizo and halumi cheese with sourdough

SATURDAY LUNCH

herb and garlic pull apart (Tasmania Pantry 2)
octopus, proscuttio, bean soup
smoked fish pate
baked Leather jacket
Vietnamese Quail salad

SATURDAY DINNER

Cob Loaf (celebrate cookbook)
pickled occy salad (seafood Everyday)
duck confit (Tasmania Pantry 2)
Hong Kong Parrot fish (Tasmania Pantry 2)
Beef cheeks with fresh pasta
apple, herb stuffed mutton birds
rhubarb and lavender cream brulee (lavender cookbook)

Sunday Breakfast
croissants and scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and Brie

And Arwen whipped up a lavender and lime Basque cheesecake to finish with.

Seafood Cooking workshop February 27th .

We had a fun day at our Seafood cooking workshop yesterday cooking up an epic feast of seafood. The fish and oysters were alive the day before happy in the ocean. Lucky guests!

We are taking workshops by demand this year, private groups bookings, or if you have a few interested in a date we will look at listing one on a day that suits you. Make a weekend out of it and team it up with a winter special in our lovely spa chalets on site or for groups and families at our Beach House in Eaglehawk Neck And we have our May cooking Retreat for those that want some more cooking than just a day workshop!

The guests Started with crayfish dip (seafood everyday) and macadamia, white choc and lavender cookies to go with coffee and tea on arrival

then we cooked:

a pull apart- with my own little ‘provincial herb’ mix, native oregano, native thyme, lavender, saltbush & rosemary and garlic and cheese.

Oysters natural with a Thai dipping sauce and salt and native pepper and saltbush.

Fish chowder

honey mustard broccoli smoked salmon salad

baked octopus

macadamia crusted trumpeter

trumpeter carpaccio

hong kong parropt fish

apple and blackberry pie

January 6th 2025

On Thursday the 2^nd January we hosted our first cooking workshop of the year, not mucking around this year we were straight into it. Booking it in the crazy Christmas/new year week was a challenge for us, with fully booked accommodation and a busy lunch and dinner service to follow the workshop but it was for a regular bistro guest who had family she wanted to bring along while they were in Tassie.

We cooked

A garlic and rosemary, fetta pizza bread,
sashimi
Hot and sour fish soup
Baked octopus
Hong Kong parrot fish
Tomato stuffed with lentils with blue cheese sauce
Grilled quail
pork belly
Pantry hummus, lamb cutlets, lemon and oregano
Wallaby with kunzea and pepper berry
lemon tart

the guests left this lovely review on our facebook page:

“Our group did the cooking workshop today, and came away exhilarated! Ellie prepared 10 courses (and I mean courses, not your tiny little ‘degustation menu’ thing- a quail’s egg and two lettuce leaves on a plate). No. With calm efficiency she showed us all the preparation, explained the technique, and then it was cooked. The dishes included: baked octopus in extra virgin olive oil, wallaby cooked to rare perfection, pork belly with apples and fennel – melt in the mouth, chicken pate, garlic pizza, whole steamed parrot fish with Asian herbs, soy and sesame oil, fresh fish sashimi, quail on a superb apple salad, tomatoes filled with lentils and feta baked on a bed of mushroom polenta… we lost count towards the end. The dessert was an exquisite lemon tart. The workshop is not just for beginners – we seasoned cooks learnt so much from the class. Ellie also provided Bream Creek wines with the meal. Such generosity of spirit! All in all, a wonderful class taught by an expert.”

As with all our workshops, yes, it ends up being a pretty fancy long lunch feast of about 10 recipes for our guests to enjoy over a long lunch. but we hope the guests also leave with a bunch of helpful tips and ideas to make that everyday cooking more enjoyable and easier, as we know that cooking our food from real food is important for good health so we really need to be cooking a lot each day. We are mostly listing workshops for private groups by request now, or like on this day, they had 3 people to book in so we can list the workshop and sell a few more spots to fill the group up. We have a Seafood Workshop in February with spots available and I am about to list a Bread Baking workshop and check out and our much-loved Weekend Cooking Retreat is in May!

Pics supplied by guests:

Nice review spotted on tripadvisor today,

“The restaurant is superb! A real chef is at work here, someone with flair and talent. The menu changes constantly – ideal for locals. Offerings include local fish, slow cooked beef, wonderful burgers. The ambience is warm and welcoming, with a wood fire blazing in the background, and lovely views of the water. The prices are very reasonable. We highly recommend this restaurant!”

We also have 4 gorgeous chalets onsite, we are often told that our chalets our guests favourite stay in Tassie. The chalets are self-contained with kitchen, laundry facilities and spa baths. And AMAZING value winter packages, one night and a 3 course dinner for 2 is just $299 this winter! There are ONLY 10 more weekends left for winter so if you are thinking of doing this then book in as soon as you can.

NEW WORKSHOPS LISTED FOR TERM 3
Ellie teaches her cooking and photography workshops from the bistro kitchen on set days, they are casual and fun. Everyone sit around the big bench and jumps into help if and when they want too. Then they enjoy a big feast of the mornings cooking, around 10 recipes from her books. It is a pretty fancy lunch feast but hopefully guests leave with lots of ideas and hints to make every day cooking that bit easier. The bistro is still open on these days, maybe just a little later when required. We also take bookings for private groups for workshops. Book in through our website there are dates listed for term 3. A new Cooking with Tasman Honey workshop is listed and guests will meet Sandra from Tasman Honey at the workshop and learn about the bees and honey.

HEAT AND EAT MEALS

We have a range of heat and eat meals. Theses meals are frozen and can be purchased during our opening hours. The meals weigh about a kilo, feed at least 2 people generously and are $30, we can pull them out to start to defrost with notice. Designed For our guests in the accommodation when we are not open but are also popular with locals and shackies who want a night off cooking. And Hobartians are taking the drive to stock up on them!

Ellie’s 6 award winning cookbooks can be purchased from the bistro and we also have gift vouchers that can be used for the bistro, accommodation or workshops.

TERALINA BEACH HOUSE

Perfect for groups and families take advantage of our Winter special book three nights Direct at reduced winter rates and we will include a $200 voucher for the Bistro, this could be used for Heat and Eat meals for your arrival.

Photos from a beautiful sunset in Taranna last weekend.

we have now have some cooking workshops for term 2 and a Weekend Cooking Retreat listed available to book into. We have Gift Vouchers that would make excellent Mother’s Day gifts, the vouchers can be used for accommodation or accommodation & food packages, workshops, towards the cooking retreat, cookbooks, in the bistro or for Heat and Eat Meals

WINTER ACCOMMODATION SPECIALS

We have a few winter specials listed. One night in a spa chalet plus a 3course meal for 2 in the bistro $299 per couple (3 course meal can be enjoyed in room when bistro not open).

Book 2 Nights direct through our website we will include a meal to heat, local wine and breakfast provisions

There really is so much to do and see on the peninsula and plenty pf other great places to eat if you are staying a while.

WORKSHOPS Term 2 2024

Saturday 11th May Bread Baking
Friday 17th May Phone photography and Food Styling
Friday 1st June Seafood Cooking

** please enquire about other dates for private groups for Workshops they make excellent networking events and celebrations or if you have a suggestion of a date you think we should list something on.

www.littlenorfolkbaybistroandchalets.com

TERALINA BEACH HOUSE

Winter Special
Sleeps 10 in 4 bedrooms

$599 night minimum 2 nights stay

Book three or more nights and we will include a $300 voucher for Little Norfolk Bay Bistro to organise Heat and Eat Meals for your arrival or to use in Bistro.

pictured a beautiful sunrise from the deck of Teralina Beach House

http://www.teralinabeachhouse.com

MONDAY ART CLASSES WITH NICOLA

A light grazing lunch is included

Weekend Cooking Retreat

Our Weekend Cooking Retreats at Little Norfolk Bay Events and Chalets are the best use of the property, especially in the cold winter months in Tasmania. While hail was blasting at the front door over weekend we had 8 guests, myself and my amazing helper Maggie, inside our Event House all very toasty warm between the wood heater and the stove, cooking up a storm of beautiful seasonal food.

Although there is a huge variety of food cooked over the weekend, it is not excessive, there is not any waste, apart from a few scraps for the chickens. We cook good wholesome food making all our own stocks, pastas, breads. Starting with mostly meats, fish and veggies and turning them in to delicious meals suitable for special occasions. I also try to incorporate food for the normal weekday meals. So my guests don’t just leave the weekend with only knowledge of fancy ingredients they may never use again and recipes they’ll never actually cook! I actually want to help and inspire people to cook more. Lets be honest, cooking the family meals can become a chore, as it is so important for health, it needs to be a priority so whatever can make it more enjoyable helps I believe!

In my book Packed I make the claim that ‘cutting out wheat and dairy is not hard when you are cooking with real foods like meat, eggs and veggies’. My claim was put to the test with a dairy free and gluten free guest scheduled to attend.

I do believe that the commercial ‘packet food’ industry has run off with these allergies and cashed big time, and the list of the ingredients on some of these products the commercial food industry makes is freaky!! Using a packet of GF whatever, is not always healthier. Yes, they can be a nice and probably handy substitute for those who NEED it but not always healthier for everyone. Some recipes need gluten or dairy to be successful, I would say white fluffy bread is one example, if you are not going to achieve what you want it is probably easier to eat something else. There is so much other beautiful food to choose from!

So I simply choose the dishes that didn’t contain gluten or dairy or the could be substituted for a similar or even better flavour combination, and it really is not hard when you are starting with real food. I was not going to attempt gluten free pasta as structurally that would need something added as the gluten is an important part, however we easily submitted some corn and rice flour into gnocchi. And I am absolutely make a coconut cream clafoutis with almond again as they added beautiful flavours! Here are our menus and photos from the weekend:

Arrival Drinks of Bream Creek Sparkling, Ashbolt Elderberry and lime spritzer & Crayfish Pate (recipe Seafood Everyday) with
cheeses and Quince paste (recipe The Tasmania Pantry)

Dinner Friday
Oysters parsley and lemon (recipe seafood Everyday)
Garlic and herb Pizza Bread (with a GF version made with quinoa, rice and corn)
Scallops in Noodle Broth (new recipe for TSIC)
Rannoch Quail, Quinoa and citrus salad (Tasmania Pantry 2)
Wallaby, pumpkin and Goats Cheese and cherry chutney(recipe Tasmania Pantry 2)
Caramel Macadamia Pie (New recipe for soon to be released Celebrate) Gf pastry sub with quinoa, rice and corn.

Saturday Breakfast

Caper Tart, Tassal smoked salmon and red onion Jam (recipe Seafood Everyday- with a GF pastry sub Quinoa, rice and corn)
Baked Beans and Eggs (Tasmania Pantry 2)

Saturday Lunch

Octopus, pumpkin and Fetta (we used the delicious soyoyoy un-fetta) (recipe Packed)
Prawns and broccoli and honey mustard salad (recipe Packed)
Lamb Kofta (recipe Packed) pantry hummus (recipe Tas Pantry 2) my fermented olives
Spiced Cauliflower (Tasmania Pantry 2)
Baked Tassal Salmon noodle salad (recipe Seafood Everyday)
Quinces baked with Blue cheese and Vino Cotto (recipe Tasmania Pantry 2)

Saturday Dinner

French onion soup (recipe Tasmania pantry 2)
Baked Squid (recipe Tasmania pantry 2)
Smoked Quail and honey mustard (recipe Tasmania Pantry)
Oyster, fennel, Gnocchi Bake (new recipe for the TSIC)
Venison carpaccio (recipe Tasmania Pantry)
Twice cooked Beef (recipe Tasmania Pantry with a red wine sub for the stout)
Plum and lavender Creme Brûlée (new recipe Celebrate)

Breakfast Sunday

Coconut almond Clafoutis
Congee corn and mushroom (Packed Cookbook)

unfortunately no photos of Sunday breakfast as I was having Credit card issues. Honestly, tech anything and I have a bad relationship at the moment! I have been hacked and booted off facebook and Instagram so I have started new pages.

Facebook Eloise Emmett Chef Little Norfolk Bay
instagram EloiseEmmettChef

This year I have not been advertising my weekends as much due to all the chaos covid has created. But in 2023 I am hoping to work towards having quite a full winter calendar. Please get in contact if you have a group interested and a date in mind. Or if there is just yourself or a few of you interested get in contact anyway as it helps with the planning if I know someone is keen for a particular date. There will be a price adjustment for next year to take in consideration of rising costs, of well EVERyTHING, but I doubt it will be drastic and I will do my best to keep it extraordinary value.

Buy copies of the books from my website and in other exciting news I am hosting another cooking challenge the month of October, a great way to get some cooking inspiration!