FOOD WITH MIGUEL MAESTRE Miguel visits Reverend Bill Crews, founder of The Exodus Foundation in Ashfield and prepares a Christmas feast for some of the regular visitors to the onsite Loaves & Fishes Free Restaurant. He prepares a risoni dish, perfect to feed the crowd, followed by a summer pudding but it all has to be prepared in bulk! There are plenty of hungry mouths to feed!
REVEREND BILL CREWS Born in England in 1944, Rev. William David Crews was educated in Australia where he studied Electrical Engineering. In late 1969 Bill first visited the Wayside Chapel in Sydney s red-light district of Kings Cross and became involved in voluntary programs visiting the elderly, sick and shut-ins of the Woolloomooloo- Kings Cross area. By 1971 he had quit engineering and worked full time at the Wayside Chapel. He was a member of the team that created the first 24-hour Crisis Centre in Australia. By 1972 he was the Director of the Centre and directed all social work programs of the Wayside Chapel until 1983. In that time he established the first programs in Australia to reunite adoptees and birth parents and another to assist parents who were at risk of abusing their children. He also established the first modern youth refuge in Australia. In 1973 he became a member of the NSW Drug and Alcohol Authority and was intimately involved in establishing drug rehab, education and prevention programs throughout the state. In 1978 he and Reverend Ted Noffs created the first Life Education Centre. Bill then studied theology with the Uniting Church, being ordained as a minister of the Ashfield Uniting
Church in 1986. There, he created The Exodus Foundation to assist homeless and abandoned youth, and other people in need. Reverend Crews holds a multitude of awards including the Rotary Foundation International Award and has been voted Father of the Year and Humanitarian of the Year. In 1998 he was included in the National Trust s 100 National Living Treasures. In 1999 Rev Crews was awarded an Order of Australia for his services to the disadvantaged and his work with homeless youth. In 2001 Bill was named Ashfield Citizen of the Year for his contribution to the local community. He received the William R. Tresise Fellowship Award from the Australian Lions Foundation in June 2001 the highest honour the Foundation bestows for humanitarian services. In 2001 Rev. Crews also received an Alumni Award from the University of New South Wales. Bill actively supports multi-faith dialogue and understanding between cultures. He meets regularly with the Dalai Lama and supports the Free Tibet movement in Australia. Rev. Crews is a Patron of Australians For Just Refugee Programs, and Chairman of Fair Go Australia an anti-racism project sponsored by the NSW Government through the Department of Community Relations Commission. Since August 2002 Rev. Crews has broadcast his Sunday Night Crews radio program on Sydney station 2GB. In 2006 Bill was awarded the Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award in recognition of his world-class leadership and innovation in social programs. In 2007 Rev. Crews was named as one of Australia s 100 most influential people by the prestigious Bulletin & Newsweek magazine. In 2010 The Bill Crews Charitable Trust was established to encourage and develop new and innovative projects aimed at alleviating poverty, mostly in developing regions. The Trust works in close partnership with social entrepreneurs making positive change through hands-on work supporting local people. In September 2015 Rev. Crews was announced as the recipient of the 2015 NSW Human Rights Award. The NSW Human Rights Award pays tribute to those who support the disadvantaged and marginalized and endeavour to make NSW a better community.
THE EXODUS FOUNDATION The Exodus Foundation provides food, primary healthcare and crisis support to Sydney s homeless and marginalised with community support in the form of donations, volunteering and strategic partnerships. The vision of the foundation is to give those experiencing poverty the help to break free of it. The Exodus Foundation is one of Sydney s largest frontline charities. It runs Loaves & Fishes Free Restaurant, serving 800 meals to the needy every day. It also operated a multipurpose Health & Outreach Centre, which provides help and support services such as social workers, chaplaincy, counseling, food parcel assistance and primary healthcare. Each night, a specially equipped food van takes hot food prepared at their onsite restaurant down to Woolloomooloo, near St Mary s Cathedral. The service provides hot dinners to the poor and homeless serving 150 200 people each day.
CHRIS ONI Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 10 minutes Serves: 8 people Ingredients 2 ½ cups risoni pasta 3 tbsp butter 50mL olive oil Kernels from 2 cobs corn 200g roast turkey, shredded 200g leg ham, diced 200g Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced 1 red capsicum, diced 1 red onion, thinly sliced Handful of frozen peas, thawed ½ cup dried cranberries Juice of one lemon
150g feta, crumbled ½ bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped. Method 1. Cook the risoni in a large saucepan of salted boiling water according to packet instructions or until al dente. Drain and set aside. Reserve pasta water. 2. Meanwhile, in a large frying pan heat the butter and 2 tbsp of the olive oil. Fry the turkey meat and corn until caramelised. 3. Next add the ham, sprouts, capsicum and red onion and cook for another 3 minutes, until softened. 4. Add the cooked risoni to the frying pan together with the cranberries, peas, remaining olive oil and lemon juice. Also add a couple of spoonfuls of pasta water to bring the whole dish together the starch in the water will help the sauce coat the pasta. Season. Stir to combine. 5. Top the risoni with the feta and chopped parsley. Serve warm. SUMMER PUDDING Prep time: 15 minutes Setting time: Overnight Serves: 6 people
Ingredients 1 kg frozen mixed berries, thawed 75g caster sugar 9 slices of day old white sliced bread Fresh berries to serve, optional Pouring cream to serve, optional Method 1. In a large saucepan heat the thawed berries together with the sugar and 4 cups of water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and leave to simmer for 3 to 5 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved and the water is flavoured with berries. Strain the berries, keeping the liquid. Set both aside to cool. 2. Meanwhile, line a loaf tin with plastic wrap, leaving an overhang on each side to wrap the entire pudding once it is constructed. 3. Remove the crusts from the slices of bread, these can be kept to be used as fresh breadcrumbs in another dish. 4. Dip the crustless bread into the cooled syrup and use to line the base and sides of the tin. Overlap slightly to ensure there are no gaps. 5. Spoon the cooled fruit into the lined tin, covering it with more crustless slices of syrup soaked bread. Pull over the overhanging clingfilm to wrap the pudding. 6. Place a saucer/tin that fits inside the tin on top of the pudding, then place a weight (a few cans of food will do) on top of it. Refrigerate overnight to soak up the juices. 7. Place the remaining juice from the berries into a small pan. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 5 to 10 minutes or until the juice has reduced into a light syrup. Pour into a jug and also keep in the fridge overnight. 8. Reserve the remaining juice to serve with the pudding. 9. To serve, remove weight and unwrap the pudding. Carefully invert onto a place. 10. Serve large slices with the syrup, cream and fresh berries, if desired. WEBLINKS For further information on Reverend Bill Crews and The Exodus Foundation take a look at the following website: https://www.exodusfoundation.org.au For further information on Gift of Bread take a look at the following website: http://giftofbread.org