The cold weather has well and truly set-in, and what is more warming when wandering through some farmers' markets with a beanie, some sort of nose-warmer and a good old-fashioned pie? Well for a modern twist on an age-old recipe, we opted for some goat pies and truly they were really something to bleat about. I'm not kidding.

These pies are sold by the Goat Pie Guy who can be spotted at an array of markets around Brisbane town (including some that I natter away about on 612ABC).

Now I know that some people's reactions to eating goat revolve around various variations on the phrase "ew". If you're happy eating other kinds of meat, I really do recommend giving goat a try- it has its own unique subtle flavour and these pies are packed full of herbs, spices and other fantastic flavours so they're a great way to ease into trying out something new.

Made from Australian Boer goat meat, various pies on the Goat Pie Guy's menu include: The Grecian Goat Pie (with rosemary, garlic and wine); The Moroccan Goat pie (with cumin, tumeric, corriander, sweet potato and dates); the Jamaican Goat Pie (with Caribbean curry) and the Gov'nor (with brown ale and Lancashire Relish).

As you can tell form the pics, I not only grabbed a beautifully cooked goat pie on the run, but loved it so much I stocked up and brought a batch of them home for dinner with some roast veg. I opted for the Deluxe Goat Pie, mainly because it seemed to be selling out fast and I trust all of you goat-pie-eating-aficionados out there. 

The Deluxe Goat Pie is Goat Pie Guy's signature pie, packed full of slow cooked goat meat infused with honey and thyme surrounded by a port and redcurrant jus. If you're still unsure about the whole goat thing, try this. The flavours blended together fantastically and the honey and redcurrants gave a gorgeous sweet edge to the goat meat. The meat itself just fell apart and each mouthful, and the pastry was amazing with a strong suet-style base and a super flaky puff pastry top. It was without doubt one of the best pies I've ever experienced.

These goat pies are handmade by chef Mick Hobson, who is obviously passionate about sharing unique foodie ideas with the good people of Bris-vegas, and executes his ideas brilliantly. Word on the street is that Pork Pie Guy may be coming soon to a market near you which I for one would hog at the dinner table. 

Website: Goat Pie Guy
Facebook: Goat Pie Guy

If you're out and about traveling this Easter long weekend, you will in all likelihood be in need of travel snacks, and if your appetite is anything like mine, you need a variety of travel snacks. Enter Kingaroy Gournet Peanuts- Honey flavour for an all-in-one sweet and savory bite.

I stumbled upon these at a food festival where the sample bowl was definitely one of the more popular ones on display. Moreish doesn't even begin to describe these nuts- I've been eating them by the handful.

The peanuts themselves are big and really good quality. They've got a great balance of being crunchy on the outside, but not at all dried out in the middle.The honey coating on them just lifts this snack and makes you want to power through a pack without any thought of when your next meal is scheduled to be.

These peanuts have been grown in the South Burnett region, where the soil is rich and the peanuts are tasty.

Available in a resealable pack, these honey peanuts make for a great snack to chuck into the car for those long highway drives to various beaches and bushland around Aus.

Website: Kingaroy Gourmet Peanuts

I recently raved on about how I was now a kasundi convert after tasting my very first batch courtesy of the talented people at Spread. Well I couldn't very well stop there when I knew that Spread was responsible for other relishes as well, so here I present to you an array of Spreads which- if you're making a sandwich right now, you need to get one of these onto it. Stat.

Three Spread relishes I relished spreading are...

Middle Eastern Relish: I'm starting with this relish because- wow. It is packed with spices, dates and lemons, which takes you into the heart of a souq if you close your eyes. I made a roast leg of lamb which I served up with cous cous, and the Middle Eastern Relish was the absolute perfect accompaniment. This relish is aromatic and warming and would also go well on a falafel dish. Spread recommends adding this relish to goat, and who am I to counter this judgement after they've created such a great blend of tastes in this little jar?

Red Tomato Chutney: This lasted 2 days in our house- I am not kidding. I made mushroom burgers pictured below and we all just slathered this Red Tomato Chutney onto it because all you could taste were rich, ripe tomatoes beautifully blended with spices. The fresh herbs used in this relish adds a lighter dimension as well. The Red Tomato Chutney was chunky from blending a bunch of natural ingredients together and keeping out any artificial thickeners. Use this on anything you would normally use ye olde tomato sauce for and make your meat pie magical.

Pear, Fig & Ginger Relish: I've never tasted anything like this relish before- pear, fig and ginger is just one of the most inspired combinations and is insanely good served up with a cheese board. I've also used this in a cold turkey sandwich which worked a treat and I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to cranberry sauce again. Being something of a fig-fan, I wasn't sure how much fig you'd be able to taste in this, but figgy-goodness carries through really well and isn't at all smothered by the ginger.

All Spread products are vegan-friendly and free from gluten and soy. Another Spread-secret that adds to the taste but not to the waist, is that they only use half the amount of sugar that is used in traditional recipes.

If you happen to find yourself roaming markets in and around Port Campbell, you may find one or more of these relishes, and if you do, try some samples- your taste buds will thank you!

Website: Spread
Twitter: Spread

I need to take out a gym membership. Because when I tasted this Belgian Chocolate Sauce with Cointreau from the Little Hand Stirred Jam Shop, I ate half the bottle. And knowing that this choc-delight exists in the world, I will be eating spoonfuls more for years to come.

I am already something of a choc-a-holic so while I am pre-disposed to like chocolate items, it takes a really special one for me to go completely weak at the knees, and this sauce really is one of the most special choc-things I've ever tasted. Made with chocolate, cream and cointreau, this simple recipe is one from heaven.

The chocolate used in this sauce is obviously of a really high quality, as it's creamy but still packed full of that decadent cacao flavour. The cream then adds a level of richness that you just don't get in alternative supermarket-bought chocolate sauces.

Just before I tried this sauce, I was a bit concerned that it would have a fake orange flavour from the Cointreau, but thankfully it doesn't. Rather you can really taste the alcohol from the Cointreau and the orange is more like an orange oil taste- it's condensed, not overtly sweet and brilliantly balanced with the chocolate.

The thick texture of the sauce means it's best served at room temperature, but a quick zap in the microwave gets it flowing nicely over whatever fruit or ice cream you love and would like to make better.

I did stop eating spoonfuls of this sauce just long enough to place some token raspberries in a bowl so that I could feel somewhat virtuous health-wise before glugging more of this Belgian Chocolate Sauce with Cointreau all over it. I did actually pour way more sauce than is in the picture below, but I thought I'd take a photo at my half-way mark so you could still actually identify the fruit in the bowl.

The Little Hand Stirred Jam Shop is found in Berrima in the Southern Tablelands of NSW. It's old school with no website, no social media- just amazing chocolate sauce! If you're in town, there are a plethora of other tasty offerings in store as well including jams, chutneys, lollies and ice cream.

Website: Berrima Village

I have a confession to make: until last night I had never eaten a tomato kasundi. I hadn't even heard of it before. But the taste of this kasundi was so spectacular, I thought it really needed its own post entirely devoted to it.

For anyone like me before 8pm last night who had never tasted this Indian-inspired delight, a kasundi is a rich tomato pickle with a whole bunch of aromatic spices thrown in, and underlying all of that is a lovely chilli warmth that just keeps all of these tastes dancing around your tastebuds. Well at any rate, that's what the tomato kasundi from the good people at Spread tastes like!

I served up this special preserve with a lemon and garlic spatchcocked chicken, which itself was quite tasty, but adding a few dollops of Spread's tomato kasundi took my meal to a whole other level.

There is a little word on the Spread label that indicates that a little bit goes a long way, and that word is "hot". I love chilli and this kasundi packed a punch which was just awesome. As my chilli tolerance increased throughout the meal, I couldn't help myself and just kept reaching for the bottle to plonk a bit more on my plate over and over again.

Spread is based in the small seaside town of Port Campbell, and makes the most of local ingredients in its array of jams, preserves and other 'spreads'.

You could really taste the quality of ingredients in this tomato kasundi, but more than that you could taste the quality of the recipe. Spread uses half the amount of sugar usually included in traditional recipes, and that really allowed the natural tastes of the tomatoes, garlic, mustard seeds to shine in this little jar.

If you've never had kasundi before or even if you're a kasundi aficionado, this really is one to keep in the fridge.

Website: Spread
Twitter: Spread

Anyone who loves a good sandwich generally is quite partial to a good relish as well. It's often used as a secret ingredient to making a plain old ham, cheese, tomato toastie into something served up on a trendy rustic chopping board at that new bistro that's opened up in an odd bit of town.

While shuffling through the Autumn on James event in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago, we stumbled upon these tasty creations from Apthorpe Farm: Rhubarb and Chilli Relish and a usually dependable Tomato Relish. Apthorpe Farm is best known for its fresh avocados and rhubarb, but has recently branched out with its own line of relishes, which are all made from locally sourced produce, so there is a little taste of Queensland in each jar.

I know it's not a usual combo, but when I got these little jars of deliciousness home, I made up an avocado, smoked salmon & rocket open sandwich and went for a bit of Tomato Relish on top which actually worked a treat. Relishes can sometimes just have a generic sweet taste, but the tomato relish had a real condensed tomato flavour that it almost had a lovely sundried tomato taste to it.

The Rhubarb and Chilli Relish also went amazingly well on a small ploughman's platter I made up the next day, with crumbly vintage cheese and thick chunks of ham. Sadly, my camera wasn't working and my stomach was grumbling so this got eaten before any photographic evidence was captured... I was a bit concerned that the chilli in this relish would be overpowering, but there were no watery eyes at all and it actually worked really well by providing a sharp kick to the rhubarb. The rhubarb itself had that wonderful mix of tart and sweet flavours which just made relish so interesting and tasty.

If you relish a good sandwich topping, there are a bunch of other flavours available too including Zucchini Relish, Beetroot and Chilli Relish, Pumpkin Relish and Capsicum Relish.

Website: Apthorpe Farm