Scenic Rim flavours get superstar touch

Want to know the secrets of top chefs Josh Lopez and Richard Ousby? Food lovers in South East Queensland can now create the chefs’ signature dishes using the exact ingredients they use, direct from growers, via the Scenic Rim Farm Box. There’s also a video of each chef creating the dishes to ensure your success in the kitchen, and each is wine-matched.

Launched by the team behind Eat Local Week, which sadly had to be cancelled this year, the Scenic Rim Farm Box delivers fresh produce, products and locally produced wine and beer direct from the farms, vineyards and vats of the Scenic Rim to people’s front doorsteps all over South East Queensland. A celebration of Scenic Rim farmers and flavours, the customisable box is a permanent offer, opening new and direct connections between growers, producers and customers, meaning foodies can eat local every week.

A fertile food bowl

The Scenic Rim is a fertile agricultural region on the doorstep of Brisbane and the Gold Coast that spans more than 4000 square kilometres. The area’s alluvial soil sustains a bounty of produce, including vegetables, olives, macadamia nuts, dairy, poultry, pork, beef, sheep, camel, finger limes, limes, coffee, avocados and rhubarb.

Already ambassadors for flavours of the area, Josh Lopez and Richard Ousby jumped at the opportunity to create a signature Scenic Rim Farm Box.

Lopez is the owner of The Wolfe in East Brisbane. Prior to that headed up the multi-award-winning GoMA restaurant. Ousby was formerly the executive chef at the acclaimed Stokehouse in Melbourne and Brisbane, and now calls the kitchens at The Overflow Estate 1895 home. Both have spent considerable time in the Scenic Rim, working with farmers and growers, and are major supporters of the “eat local” philosophy.

What’s in the box?

So, when do they drop? The Josh Lopez Scenic Rim Farm Box is released on Friday, July 24. It contains all the ingredients and recipes to make a delicious main and a spectacular dessert with Lopez’s signature flair, including beef cheek with ricotta, beetroot, carrots and herbs; and Towri saltbush sheep cheese with rhubarb, macadamia and lavender for dessert.

The Richard Ousby Farm Box is released on Friday, August 7. It contains the ingredients and recipes to create several dishes you can have together or separately, including potato gnocchi with a carrot reduction and honey roasted pecans and Tomahawk steak finished with a brown butter sauce. Both boxes also include matching wines and a complimentary wine tasting, and each box is designed for two people.

The Scenic Rim Farm Shop takes orders every Friday from 3pm for the following week. It delivers to Brisbane, Ipswich, Redlands, Logan, Gold Coast and the Scenic Rim. You can find more information at scenicrimfarmbox.com.au