Food NZ

Adult iceblocks! Ice Bar

2011-11-03T11:08:00.000+13:00

No, they are not shaped like naked women so you can lick them...
First taste and you know they're going to be your favourite for Summer. Ginger Beer! Beauty lemonade - not at all sweet but really fruity. But what I really really like is the recipes on the side.

Rugby World Cup Adventures in Aussie

2011-11-02T14:21:00.000+13:00

Can't believe we managed to book a trip to Australia for the very time of the RWC Final in which New Zealand was to STAR (and eventually win...). Neverthless that's what happened. And there we were surrounded by ants ... green ants... bloody ginormous blighters.

Found a cool little beach bar (below) on the beach at Thala Lodge which was sensational. Mental note to stay there for a day or two when I win Lotto. Another mental note to build one of these in the retirement village I'm planning for later in life with friends.

Have not had this experience in New Zealand supermarkets: pick up beetroot chips packet (also a new one) to find live GECKO alongside. Much screaming, other supermarket patrons seriously grumpy, but not something one expects. Livestock on the groceries.

Close up of gecko between bags seen below.

And at last we found a place with a cool beer (or 3) where we could drag a table to watch the game on the giant screen. Most of us couldn't watch the second half.

Biter and bitee

2011-10-31T14:13:00.000+13:00

Let's think now - food blog, therefore writer=biter.
Not in Australia though. All manner of things that will indeed bite you. Even though they may in another life be your food. Therefore in this instance dinner=predator.

This guy was funny - this part of his act called "Man Eating Croc"

This is actually food.

This is the place where that is called food.

Cairns, Port Douglas and Palm Cove

2011-10-28T13:59:00.002+13:00

Just back from hols - if you can call 6 days a hol. Well, kind of. Just not long enough.
In terms of food, pretty good really, although we didn't go mad and eat at the VERY best places. Cairns had a big harbourside destination - rather large, strings of restaurants side by side and sitting under cover while torrential rain fell was rather nice.
Tha Fish at the Pier was the chosen place, and Jules arrived on her very birthday. What a fab way to have a holiday - invited to join some very special people on their big birthday trip.

The chef's tasting menu was the decision all round and very nice it was too.

Sand crab bruschetta with rocket, tomato and capers

Fresh oysters steamed in bamboo basket with soy, ginger and shallots
Then Hervey Bay scallops with braised pork belly, orange, coriander and master stock glaze
Black bean, chilli and seafood wontons with house made sweet chilli sauce
Then Fish of the day - Barramundi
and BBQ tiger prawns with avocado salsa and blood orange vinaigrette
Then Pear and cinnamon frangipan tart with vanilla bean ice cream.

Fortunately during the day Stew had found a way to exercise.

Very cool place for those with a penchant for exercise - a several-kilometre path around the entire harbour, with exercise stations like this every few metres. At the main marina a very large free swimming pool, and posters showing all the group exercise (FREE) classes held each day. Very inspirational stuff and I seee no good reason why we couldn't have that level or organisation here in New Zealand. Tamaki Drive in Auckland is just made for it.

However my adventure at the seaside left little to recommend it. While Stew played with mobilising his mobile in Aussie, I went water-edge for a closer view of the crabs when SURPRISE! I walk straight into knee deep black sticky mud hidden under the sand. White pants no longer, and lucky for me there was a firm bit where I could put the other knee while trying to haul myself out. Looking for Stew to help me I find he's walked on with my handbag and all, not noticing my dilemma. Nice! Covered in mud from the knees down including shoes. Thankfully we found a gardener with a hose. Next stop this sign:

which reads: Warning - do not approach the water's edge, crocodiles frequent this area.

Lovely. Thanks for that Stew, half-way to Darwin while I'm eaten alive.

2011-10-14T12:51:00.003+13:00

Gooding’s….goodies in Rotorua
SISTER ANN REVIEW Lovely roast veggie salad and the coffee is top rate. Browse the store for quirky little interior pieces…from craft to art. I ate the salad before I remembered to photograph it but had not completely mutilated the coffee- so photographed that instead. Mum had bacon and egg kitsch (kitsch?! Where did this woman get her food knowledge - out of a McDonald's bag??! Make that quiche...) and as she proclaims her bacon and egg pie is the best in the world, her approval is worth something

ATMOSPEHERE 9 FOOD 8 SERVICE 9 SPELLING 2

2011-10-11T20:08:00.001+13:00

RUGBY night…semis on saturday
SISTER ANN REVIEW Christine and Stewart were down at Miriam and Norman’s bach for the semi finals. Great rugby. Great backs and really terrific handling and…um…something about a front line. Yes- well I haven’t been employed for a rugby critique. I said the All Blacks are so poetic on the field and was told by Brettt -never to say that again. Eh? Wha!? But the food was Gor-Jus. Christine …. a classic Kiwi roast …mmmm…yams….and Julie made the best carrot cake I have ever tasted!!! It didn’t look that brilliant after the culture vultures attacked it…but it was sublime. Miriam’s afghans were just melt –in- the- mouth -moments! Great company! Cheers Julie and Brett. Nanna was there-put that gin down, you’ve had enough!

ATMOSPEHERE 12 FOOD 10 SERVICE 10 BIASED Yes

2011-10-08T14:37:00.001+13:00

LONE STAR forever
SISTER ANN REVIEW While in Palmy Luke and I went to his favourite restaurant. Chris, you are going to hate the fact I reviewed a ‘chain restaurant’, but it was too good to ignore. I didn’t take the camera, so I have added a few cowboy star stock photos off the net…oh and a lovly one of Audry Hepburn. If Luke had had his way, we would have been there every night. I had the fish,grilled, and it was superb-with a French accent . Luke had meat …it was big and Lone Starry. He went “mmmm’ a lot! So it was good, but he has had to eat food I cooked, for 18 years, so he is grateful to be able to eat what is on his plate. I joke. It looked fabulous and I am not that bad a cook (and Lone Star deserves better). Alexia was amazing as are all the Lone Starf (get it? Lone Star-f) But hey that’s what you get when you train people to be experts in customer service.

TRUE GRIT Script excerpt (or is that Wyatt Earp)

Rooster: I mean to kill you in one minute, Ned, or see you hanged at Fort Smith at Judge Parker's convenience. Which'll it be?

Ned: I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man!

Rooster: Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!

ATMOSPEHERE 9 FOOD 8 SERVICE 8

2011-10-08T14:16:00.001+13:00

Brekkie in Palmy
SISTER ANN REVIEW . I was inPalmerston North for a 3 night break to see younger son Luke and we saw a terrific looking café called AQABA. It seemed to be an Egyptian theme on secondglance, but on first glance it appeared a more expansive version of ‘Lone Star’. I am thinking it is a pretty fab bar at night. My plate was wonderful. I had a basil, tomato,pesto stack(with eggs) ; like an eggs benny, with the hollandaise, without salmon or ham…very very nice. Luke had the Big Breakfast (getting predictable Luke)

ANN ; ”How’s that?”

LUKE ;” Hash browns are pretty damned good”

ANN;” How’s the bacon?”

LUKE;”Bacony”

what did I expect? Overall opinion Luke?

LUKE; “It’s food- I don’t care!”

It looked tasty to me.

The till/billing system was particularly awful. The menus were on the table so you sit down, and after a little light reading, discover a line of copy,at the top of the menu;

‘pay for meals at the kitchen’. Luckily I stopped by the bar, as we were expected to pay for coffee at the bar, and then traipse 500m (it seemed) down to the back of the HUGE hall-like restaurant…. (HELLO HEllo hello-that’s the echo) …to pay for the meal at the kitchen counter. Not! Good! Enough! The staff were clawing their way to average. oh no…just missed that benchmark.

ATMOSPEHERE 8 FOOD 8 SERVICE 1

2011-09-03T18:48:00.001+12:00

Maketu Magic
SISTER ANN REVIEW Kathrine and Nanna and I went to Maketu for the fish n
chips. Fresh fresh fish and a paua fritter. I ate it before I remembered I
wanted to photograph it although we all know how ugly they look don't we?
The fish was a melting in the mouth moment. The chips were average and the
potato fritter was the worst I ever tasted. The paua fritter was gorgeous
and the view was to die for ...which is a possibility agfter that much fat.
ATMOSPEHERE 10 FOOD 7 SERVICE 6

slice of Turkish in K road

2011-08-12T17:02:00.002+12:00

Ann had time in Auckland this week as she was seeing her son Harry off while at the same time my daughter left New Zild for the wirld. Sniff. Sniff.

Kebab heaven!

what the wider world must understand is thet Roto-Vegas is SERIOUSLY underwhelming in the food department.
SISTER ANN’S REVIEW: …and it was worth the wait. Little Turkish Cafe - Fabulous service and gorgeous bread. In Rotorua there are only roll up kebabs and I much prefer this plus K Rd is a new(old) hunting ground for us.. we watched as a local called the AA to start his Ford Mustang and we giggled at all the locals passing by watching him with envy.
The coffee was downed before I remembered to photograph it..so here is the empty cup …mmmmmmmmm (and not moccona)

AMBIENCE 9/10

SERVICE 9/10

FOOD 10/10

2011-08-12T16:23:00.001+12:00

Karangahape Road -still a legend…

SISTER ANN’S REVIEW: K Rd was legend in my day..when was that? 1979-1989 I guess age 23 to 33. Harry, Kathrine and I went to relive my youth and add to theirs. Kathrine is visiting from Denmark and my son Harry is going back to New York tomorrow. We passed the Verona coffee shop and on by the ‘Indian Superette, Indian Grocery’. Look at that window! Harry wanted me to try anything . “ This is a bit of you, Mumsie” he said. But I was waiting for the Kebabs…

oh no I did Yum Cha again!!!?

2011-08-12T16:22:00.002+12:00

SISTER ANN’S REVIEW: Yum Cha once more …this time with Harry and Kathrine in Elliot Street Auckland at the Dragon Boat. I remembered going there in 1991 I think when it opened. The food was a-maze-ing!!! Kathrine had not tasted Yum Cha and loved green tea sowhat better reason? Tenuous - but any excuse really. Kathrine is out running now and that is also where I should be…but is there Yum Cha at the end of it? No there is not. How many days til I can go back to Yum Cha? I'm saying perhaps one. Or two.

AMBIENCE 7/10 SERVICE 10/10 FOOD 9/10

2011-08-12T14:29:00.001+12:00

Karen’s Bday in South America -ole!

SISTER ANN’S REVIEW: I have lived in Rotorua for way too many years to remember and I have never dined at the Latin American Sabroso Licensed Restaurant, 1184 Haupapa St . It was full and we had been warned we may need to come back for our table. what? in Rotorua? what an eye-opener! I can see what people like about it. The ambience is that of a warm kitchen in your grandmother’s farm house. Eclectic furniture a la ‘Fat Dog Café’ and a warm glow about the place . The owners are the chef (out the back-never saw him) and a gorgeous Canadian woman not unlike Charlie Sheen’s housekeeper but pretty like an English one-all rosy and busy. well enough of the atmosphere. To the food…cannot for the life of me remember what I had but it was darned tasty. Latin American cowboy food I’d guess. Served on big pottery plates with a beautiful blue border. The colours were spectacular. I had the Argentinean Style Steak - Grilled 250 gram rib eye, chimichurri sauce, green salad, seasoned roasted potatoes, sour cream I enjoyed it. I do not like to cook, I like to eat and anyone capable of fixing a very good steak has my vote of thanks. The spicy Latin American sauce made it! The desserts were creamy and old fashioned. The Mexican Chocolate Cup- A rich and dense cold chocolate dessert spiced with cinnamon and cayenne chili, topped with whipped cream. Wow! I had the Sabroso Sundae - Delicious Vanilla bean ice cream topped with Latin caramel and whipped cream… and it was.

AMBIENCE 7/10 SERVICE 8/10 FOOD 7/10

2011-08-08T21:32:00.001+12:00

Korean BBQ

(Guest blogger Sister Ann) Spent the day at Palmerston North yesterday visiting my son Luke with son Harry and exchange student Kathrine from Denmark. We went to the Korean BBQ Restaurant and had a fab meal! What value!?? $116 for 4 mains and 3 entrees and 3 cokes. Not exactly a Metro Magazine food review - but if you want a nutritious tasty meal at a really great price I totally recommend it! Luke had the Eel and it was sweet and exotic. I had pork belly and enjoyed it…. Kathrine and Harry has squid …a little rubbery but they finished their plates. And remember Korean cabbage pickle was voted in 2009- the most healthy food on the planet. By whom I do not know!! Who can remember details like that.

I'm lucky to have a cook for a husband

2011-07-30T07:00:00.003+12:00

The scenario:
Swiming squad at 5.30pm, rush to the bank by 6.45, stray into the shops and suddenly realise I'm late getting home.
But the wonderful husband meanwhile has cooked dinner, part of which is scalloped potato served in my new red mini casserole dishes and placed on some of my prototype cork placemats.

Noice!... (that's "nice" with a new zealand accent..)

Oh I'm in coffee heaven

2011-07-29T12:08:00.000+12:00

Just look what I have this morning ...

the most beautiful little black and gold cups, halva and Arabic coffee.

The coffee is hot, sweet and strong and Maryna - Stewart's newest employee - has brought some Arabic coffee which is flavoured with cardamom.

Where is our nearest Arabic shop!? I'm suddenly a black coffee drinker!

'Simmering' Yum Cha

2011-07-29T08:38:00.002+12:00

YUM! Cha

SISTER ANN’S REVIEW: hi Chris-this is a pictorial review of 'Simmering' in Eruera Street, Rotorua. Yum cha (simplified Chinese: 饮茶; traditional Chinese: �茶), also known as Ban ming (品茗), is a dining experience which involves drinking Chinese tea and eating dim sum dishes. Yum cha in Cantonese literally means "drink tea". That was the wikipedia summation of Yum Cha. Is that it? That is not enough! YUM YUMMMMM yumm CHAAAAA!!! That is more helpful . I have been waiting til I can return. I LOVED it! Is it too early to return to a restaurant with a one day gap? Sister Ann, guest reviewer. Christine is busy getting together her new showing at the Gift show in August so she gave me the reins. Whoaaaaaa.

AMBIENCE 4/10 SERVICE 8/10 FOOD 9/10

2011-07-29T08:29:00.001+12:00

I must admit I do feel guilty for man-handling Stewart's salad (see before
and after) but everyone at the party thought it was a better, more
attractive, more popular salad than mine. mine is the one in the aluminum
bowl. In hindsight I like his more too. Sister ann

Guest posting from Ann in Rotorua

2011-07-25T13:33:00.000+12:00

Nanna and I went to 'The 3rd Place' a café where all the profit goes to charity.
It is always full and the atmosphere is busy, clean and 'Christian'...
cleanliness is next to Godliness. I say this seriously not as a joke. Nana had 'the usual' - a scone and a cup of coffee (anything that is made to resemble an instant black coffee). The cheese scone was "crunchy on the outside and doughy in the middle" but looked absolutely gorgeous, if that matters.
My heated Roast Vegetable salad was perfect.

The thing I like is; the staff are adorable and concerned, and not unlike mothers dressed up as waitresses. You half expect them to ask if they can band aid your finger and darn a sock while you are waiting for your order. I 'bagged' a custard square for Harry and he said " it was fabulous!"

I'm sure Dee Pascoe works there... she used to sell cars.

True Farmer's market, roadside

2011-07-20T13:33:00.000+12:00

This is the way to go... can't get fresher and you just know not many people have handled it and breathed on it.
Pumpkin Pie here we come... by the way, add orange zest to the pumpkin fillling for real winter luxury.

Vinnie you can live with us

2011-06-29T18:22:00.000+12:00

because Vinnie you have all the best friends (like Oli), and a father who gives us his very own wild duck salami

A certain advantage to offspring

2011-06-29T18:20:00.001+12:00

some of them bring home crayfish.
Oh yeah, oh my, oh boy.

Charlie thought she had a new friend

and then she licked it

and then we did.

Chargrilled with horseradish and lime, served with Caesar salad and who could ask for anything else!?

persimmons

2011-06-13T21:14:00.002+12:00

Just in case you never saw a persimmon tree in fruit.

Big Fat Dog

2011-06-13T21:11:00.000+12:00

One of the fave things to do is visit Big Fat Dog (the Big is mine....)
Breakfast Sunday was all the excuse we needed.

Fat Dog's a bit of a Rotorua institution - hard to get a table on a weekend, but the coffe and the portion sizes are worth the wait

my grandmother is a legend

2011-06-13T21:02:00.001+12:00

Birthday time in Rotorua and while the food at the Dinstinction Hotel is nothing to write home about, it's clean and the staff are attentive and although we were the only people there for lunch, the 2 wait staff were patient and made the birthday lunch relaxed and enjoyable.

beaut burgers, inexpensive, fresh, delicimo

so much fish and chips that a 97-year-old couldn't eat it all. Nothing left though.... Scrummy!

sensational big pots of mussels

How long since I saw banana split on a menu? Years and years.

Best price on Moet in the whole wide world

2011-06-06T16:53:00.001+12:00

Go Public! This sweet bar on Courtenay Place charmed us with the decor, the lovely music and the sensational price on Moet. $50 per bottle - we were sold. Or was that bought?

Jelly airplanes

2011-06-06T16:01:00.003+12:00

Woop woop Air NZ!
Flew down to Wellington with Flipping what's their name? Jetstarve...
BUY a coffee? Not likely... 30 minutes check-in? Get a life...
Boring in-flight magazine? Keep it!
But AIR NEW ZEALAND on the other hand, on the way back today, had a choice of 3 treats - biscuit, pretzels or jet planes. Free. With tea or coffee. Also free. Yay! Stew was so sick from dinner out last night that he couldn't eat his. So I had them. And I love Kia Ora in-flight mag - I always pull out several articles to share with people.

I must admit to being a little bemused by the safety message delivered on-screen by Richard Simmonds ... quite bizarre. The staff stood rather grimly through it, when all we wanted was for them to join in. DO THE PONY! A little pre-flight 70's aerobics? All they needed was the bright lycra, a few sequins and big hair. Come on hosties, be a sport!

At least we no longer have to imagine them in nothing but body paint....

Bees can't be ignored, honey

2011-06-06T15:51:00.000+12:00

Are you noticing articles cropping up in unlikely places lately, about honey bees?

Turns out (to those of us who didn't realise) that these small fellas are pretty darned important. Not only are we seeing a rise in home bee-keeping, but there are examples like the team of 4 girls from Oturu School (Far North of NZ). At this school the environment plays a big part in learning. Pupils sell produce from their bees and trees and olive pressings. The girl-team are making their way to take part in an international problem-solving competition at the University of Wisconsin, after winning a place in a national competition. Their idea is to educate people about the importance of bees so that the dwindling populations of honey bees can be revived in New Zealand and globally.

Taggart Siegel, a film-maker who lives in New Zealand 3 months of every year, is also a mouthpiece for bees around the world. His documentary about them, Queen of the Sun, has received acclaim around the world. Seigel calls bees "the legs of the plant".

40% of our food is reliant upon bees - and in an agriculture-based country like NZ, that means we need to take notice.

High Tide Tea

2011-06-04T11:19:00.000+12:00

When one holds a High Tide tea - as you do - there are certain visitors who must be expected, and they didn't disappoint.

Maintenance session at the rowing club turned into a bit of a do. Shared breakfast...yum!

Those Apple Strudel scones from Baker's Delight were awesome - cinnamon and sugar, lovely apple flavour.
Bacon. Maple Syrup. French toast. Orange Juice. Fresh coffee. Fruit. Luxury.

Porridge with Evan's amazing stewed rhubarb

No rowing today, but who could resist coffee in a great big mug down on the water-line with scones and lashings of butter?

The date scones are pretty darned good too...

Membrillo - Quince Paste

2011-05-28T18:41:00.002+12:00

Why why why did I not share this at the time.... made it just before Easter when quinces were in the shops - they're not now though!
This traditional Italian/Spanish paste is nice nice nice - deliriously amazingly delectable with a strong cheese.

Take your so-ugly-they're-beautiful quinces and cover with water

Boil them until the skins crack. At this stage they're easy to peel, and you can take the skins off when they're cool enough, and remove the pips and cores.

Boil again until soft.

Now strain off the water, puree the fruit and add the same quantity of sugar - weight for weight.

Slowly bring back to the boil while stirring to make sure the sugar is all dissolved.

You need to let this cook now for ages - let's say an hour but it may be longer. Stir occasionally. It changes slowly from a light beige colour to a strong pinky red and gets very thick.

Once you think all the moisture has boiled away, pour it into a baking-paper lined tin. Some people now bake this on low heat for another hour to make sure it's going to set.
I was over it by then - ours is set just enough but gosh it's good... I wrapped it in several blocks in baking paper and it keeps in the fridge for ages. If you let it. I didn't.

Goody goody strudel

2011-05-27T15:54:00.002+12:00

I have news from a very good source who tells me that Baker's Delight have a new kind of scone (Apple Strudel - sounds good!) on the market, which might prompt me to hold a High Tide Tea at the rowing club. I've tried their scones before and though mine are pretty good - theirs are actually better. And quicker. Can't go past a good date scone on a wintry morning at dawn. I'm assuming that cinamon and apple versions of this will have a similar appeal, no?

But only with enough butter to see where your teeth have been...

I've been asked to review them - let's see next week!
And watch this space for a chance to win your very own Baker's Delight vouchers.

Bambi and Sweep

2011-05-27T15:41:00.000+12:00

A weekend at Uruti Valley last weekend for Stew and his boy-mate McBrett whereupon the valley was deafened with gunshots and one bambi succumbed. Along with a goat which I've named after our childhood pet.

Alan is very kindly butchering and boning and very soon now you'll have some views of goat sausages and venison shanks casserole.

Tip Top is my hero

2011-04-28T14:22:00.000+12:00

Imagine the brain who could combine All Blacks, icecream and Hokey Pokey.
Now imagine the icecream itself, and ask yourself - would I want shares in that?!
The answer for me, is Yes please...

and thank you, Tip Tiop. You're onto a winner there. Love the creamy caramel centre, love how I can win another one (and I did!)

Whakatane Picnic, Riverside

2011-04-28T14:18:00.000+12:00

Easter time and a row along the Rangitaikei River near Thornton in the Bay of Plenty. We headed out with several boats and aimed for Edgecumbe.
Eight km's later, we arrived at a paddock and were greeted with...

What a spread! We added our Easter buns and then tucked in. One of the best fruit cakes I've ever eaten, no photo for you but here's the recipe:
1kg very moist fruit
soaked overnight in 2 cups fruit juice
The next morning, add 2 cups of flour and 2 tsp baking powder, stir and bake.
Yes, that is stunning in its simolicity. And in honourof simplicity, I will NOT answer any questions about temperature, size of tin, length of cooking time. Let's go with our instincts o this one - it's cooked when it smells divine, the oven needs to be moderately hot, and just use a tin you have!

Easter brings a workout

2011-04-28T14:08:00.000+12:00

A group of us including some of my favourite people were lucky enough to get a few days away at gorgeous Ohope for Easter. Of course, home made Easter buns were on the menu, and Adie was the one nominated to get the workout.

Two hundred kneads.

Temperature's rising

Paste on top - large crosses

Delicious!

Recipes online in their droves... just want to share pictures really.

Indian in the countryside

2011-04-28T14:02:00.000+12:00

This dinner happend a few weeks back but not to waste the photos - and the lovely company. Caro cooked, superbly as always, and came up with this marvellous array of food.

I think Indian must be almost my favourite - after dessert...
Caro made verything right down to the naan.

My next mission - to make my own peshwaari naan.

A little bit of jelly goes a long way

2011-03-31T11:13:00.000+13:00

and there's a jar of each going to Rotorua for Ann - the donor of the grapes.

Simmer your fruit, stalks and all, with a little water. Make sure it's well and truly cooked down. It just needs to simmer gently for around an hour. Get some muslin from the hardware or fabric shop and pour the fruit into 2 layers of it. Do have a bowl underneath or it all goes down the plughole.... Tie the muslin up, not squeezing the fruit but you need to contain it. Then find a way to suspend the bag over the bowl so it can hang there for several hours or overnight.
In the morning throw away the fruit (don't squeeze it first) and measure the juice into a pot. For every 600ml add something like 1- 1 1/2 cups sugar (slightly less for tart apples). Add the sugar before you heat the juice for better results. Bring to the boil while stirring to dissolve the sugar then boil it rapidly for about 10-15 minutes.

Do you know how to test for setting? Drop a small amount onto a cold saucer and push it with your finger - if it's ready little wrinkles will form. (On the jelly not your finger dummy..)

Now bottle it in sterilised jars. I usually have mine heating in the oven while I'm making the jelly.

(See sugar amounts and setting guides below)

Fruits with enough pectin to jell easily when cooked are blackberry, plum, gooseberry, apple, raspberry and grape. (Wild grapes jell better than tame ones). Pectin levels drop as fruit ripens so try to gather mid-ripe fruit. But don't let it stop you!
To achieve proper proportions of pectin and acidity and to add flavour to the jelly, different fruits can be mixed. Some good combinations are crab apple with grape, currant with raspberry, gooseberry with raspberry, tart apple with plum and tart apple with quince. You can add 1 tablespoon of orange, lime or lemon juice per cup of juice to make it jell better.

The amount of sugar you add does depend on the pectin level and the way to test is to add 2 tsp methylated spirits to 1 tsp juice. If low in pectin, the mixture will clump in little blobs. If medium, 2 or 3 blobs, and if high then you'll have one big jelly blob. The higher the pectin content, the more sugar you need.

Just quickly - Shirley's Kitchen - er, yum

2011-03-29T13:45:00.000+13:00

Had visitors the other night and they brought with them this divine fig and walnut log

...made by a friend of theirs in the South Island. Shirley Bradstock of Shirley's Kitchen.
Look them up, see where you can get some and go there. Go now!

Well, what are you waiting for!? Go when I tell you to...

Goodness of friends

2011-03-29T08:38:00.000+13:00

Thanks Pete
The fish pie is in the post

Had a kahawai delivered from his stocks and what else can you do with that...

along with the Feijoa and Ginger chutney from the fallen feijoas

Grapes of abundance in Roto-vegas

2011-03-28T08:32:00.000+13:00

Love these unexpected deliveries of home-grown goodness. No spray, she said (other than the neighbour who might visit them in the moonlight...) still - a good wash will fix that

Grape jelly underway as we speak...
Had to make a white one and a black - I'm already imagining the colour
Thanks Ann!

we need one of these Simon

2011-03-09T14:08:00.000+13:00

Okay Simon and Kirsty here's a project that you'd like

and here's my challenge to you
DO IT AS WELL AS THESE PEOPLE!

Second Bite

2011-03-09T14:05:00.001+13:00

Whip over to Melbourne and have a read about this awesome project.
This follows on the heels of some reading I was doing about the wastage of food we in the first world allow/cause - what you will. Supermarkets could easilty be blamed but then we also are precious about our choices. Did you know that huge torrents of food are rejected because of size, shape and colour? I must do some more research on this but I can already feel myself gettting angry.
Anyway here's a couple of places to look further if this is of interest to you.

Yay Brett's cook book's here

2011-03-08T15:37:00.000+13:00

What a fantastic job you've done with this Brett!
I'm green with envy...

...and what a generous thing, to add a page from the other 11 Series 1-ers.

Thank you, it's going onto my recipe book shelf right now!

Apple forest

2011-03-07T12:19:00.001+13:00

Look what I did with some black and red food colouring and some beautiful little apples

Dinner tonight at Adie's with Grant doing his Italian meatballs and I get to take dessert. Get your false teeth ready girls!

For the toffee:1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup water, plus 1 tbsp vinegar. Simmer till sugar is dissolved, boil for about 8 minutes then add colouring. Roll the apples in it.

Eat and enjoy!

Master Chef Series 2 coming up 20 February TV One

2011-02-07T15:52:00.000+13:00

Sounds like the date is out... I read it in the Sunday Star Times.... and the publicity machine is going into action. Check the facebook page for news as it happens.

I read a bit from new judge dude Josh Emmet saying that the new lot of contestants are better than the last! Huh! Charming... not that I take offence easily and he could well be right. I trust none of them make Chicken and Raspberry Tarte Tatin...

Anyway I had fun while it lasted, and I was given a copy of the cook book in the process! What-ho... might have to try some of those recipes! Actually I'm looking forward to Brett's new book which should be along in a month or 2. Aww it's just because I might have a recipe in there... yes I know, I'm shallow. No surprise there then.

Charlie Royal

2011-02-07T15:40:00.000+13:00

Love the name...

Charles hails from my neck-of-the-woods, Rotorua. He's a celebrity Maori chef dude.
Ann sent me a pack of his KawaKawa herb, which smells delicious. Might combine it with the next fresh snapper haul.

Go have a little look at his website. I think his range and his tours sound amazing. What a great concept, so pleased to see someone commercialising this Maori food idea with taste (get it? Taste... hahah) and sensitivity.

too little too late...

2011-02-06T15:19:00.002+13:00

apologies are not my thing... do I owe anyone this blog? No. And I don't feel that I let myself down..... it's not that I'm doing nothing out here! Just have a look at that excavation in progress, and think about how that's my usual work space in there. Not this week though! Rising Damp - funny maybe, but don't laugh near me. There we were sitting in our lovely carpeted new office-in-the-garage and then one day last week, wet feet. And the next day, wetter feet. Yes the rain had been pelting down but 3 days later no difference. So that afternoon we shifted the entire office out - 4 work stations plus the carpet. Same afternoon we went fishing (Anniversary Day regatta) and broke down in the middle of the shipping lane. Amongst the regatta, the tugs and the 1m swell. Nothing a tow from the Coastguard wouldn't fix though.

Two days later Stew (Engineer man) brought in the heavy machinery and there we were with dirt and dust and mess and noise and the whole house shaking. Carpet piled up in the main bedroom. Two work stations in another. Me in the third. And Em working on the kitchen table.

Therefore no apologies owed and none given - but I had the weekend in Rotorua and the morning that I left Stew was preparing the latest harvest from the sea.

Not only had he been for a little bike ride Saturday morning, but also spent a half day fishing with clients the day before. No break-down that day!

Charlie (cat) has decided she loves fresh snapper. So have I.

Too many tomatoes, too little time

2011-01-24T09:52:00.000+13:00

A bumper crop, all ripe at once
Breakfast: take a plethora of toms, addd basil, feta, parmesan, basil, salt and pepper and a trickle of balsamic

I love our grill - we use it for many things. The oven is too large to heat just for something like this.,

Delicious! I think we might try to cut out a lot of white bread (sniff!) as I'm starting to believe the stuff I'm reading about wheat causing women to swell in the stomach area - to put it kindly.

Fortunately coffee and a pastry are only half an hour away... breakfast is usually a little larger than this.

My rowing weekend at the Blue Lake Rotorua...

2011-01-24T09:47:00.001+13:00

...featured a barbeque cook-off. Six teams, one barbeque, 10 minutes and 2 judges.
It was a wild night - a tropical cyclone raging outside, no facilities bar a bucket of hot soapy water, a trestle table and a small pantry of ingredients, 1 knife between 24 people and a bowl per team.

The creations were impressive, ranging from spicy thai chicken burgers and impressive yoghurt and mint sauces, to Blue blue beef burgers with plum chutney and blue cheese dressing (my team!)

My team were of course dressed for the occasion in MasterChef aprons and chef's hats.

Six burgers presented for the judges - where's Ray when you need a caustic comment about garnishes that you can't eat!?

Some very serious effort going into the judges' deliberations.

Unfortunately too many glasses of The Wright Off cocktail we designed for the event meant that I can't remember who won - but it wasn't my team. They say we cheated... Hard to believe! I think they meant we were cheated.

Fishing tonight..

2011-01-20T14:49:00.001+13:00

Fishing last night - so I made sushi, such a simple thing and easy to eat with one hand while the rod is in the other...

Caro contributed a home-made mince pie, home baked bread and we that with a bottle of Lindauer Summer (my new favourite sparkling...) while the sun set and the full moon rose.

Bill Hohepa, you're a legend. We find he always knows what the conditions will be like. LOTS of tiddlers, we threw many more back than what were kept, but enough for lunch today.

How slack can a blogger be...?

2011-01-17T11:00:00.001+13:00

can't quite believe the time that's flown by.
Must make a New Year's resolution, not to be so slack.

Ooops... fail!

Christmas - the most repeated food blog posting of all

2011-01-17T09:42:00.003+13:00

Rather boring for the reader I'm sure - however in the absence of more interesting food experiences lately, here you go!
Christmas Eve lunch was my contribution, with a 3-course meal for the whole fang damily, 2 choices per course and 17 people.

Stew and I hung branches and candles

My Mum and Dad played our silly game and wore the crowns

Here's my grandmother (97 this year) and nephew Harry - home from Yale for 2 weeks to the delight of everyone, especially his mother and grandmother

Ann designed the menus for me - Rangiputa Fish cakes (below) or mussels in white wine sauce for the entree.

Mains were barbecued turkey with cranberry relish, or fillet of beef. Simple sesame asparagus and a caesar salad on the table made the sides easy.

Harry had everything that was going, plus a packet of chocolate biscuits from the pantry. While he thought we weren't looking.

Dessert was a choice of mini pavlovas with champagne and mint strawberries, or my home made baklava. Most had both.

Stew was King of the barbeque!

Born and Bread from Baker's Delight...

2010-11-12T16:29:00.000+13:00

I'm onto a winner here... a lovely selection of new artisan breads from Baker's Delight was here when I arrived home after doing exam supervisions today.

Beautiful fresh, soft, crusty baguette...

turkish bread that's destined for breakfast tomorrow

Ciabatta that I couldn't stop sniffing!

I could feel a platter coming on! In the fridge was a ripe avocado, on the shelf was pomegranate molasses and somewhere I have a jar of pickled onions....

The avocado never made it but there was a glorious pumpkin hummus in the fridge with dukkah topping.

So the breads have been christened but I'm looking forward to using more of them later.

Quickest chocolatiest pud....

2010-11-11T21:03:00.000+13:00

I am suffering at the moment. All this training (8 sessions per week...) and by evening I'm starving...My favourite course is of course dessert. So tonight at 8pm after re-heated lasagne and fresh asparagus I needed carbohydrates. And I remembered a really quick dessert recipe for chocolate brownie. You may have this awesome recipe...

3/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
100gm butter melted
2 eggs
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
vanilla

....... plus I added walnuts and chocolate buttons. Microwave for 6 minutes in a high-powered microwave then turn out onto a platter and dust heavily with sifted icing sugar.
I could in fact eat a quarter of this but I decided to be good and cut it into 6. Made a real egg custard and poured that over in lieu of cream or ice-cream... and ate it all really quickly.

Rowing World champs

2010-11-09T15:39:00.002+13:00

now you may be thinking this has little relevance to food - but I do find the mobile food carts at these events of interest. The World rowing event at Karapiro had to cater for many thousands of people each day and in the whole they did an awesome job. The volunteer workers would have won international awards for being tirelessly cheery and helpful. Everyone I spoke to had words of praise for all the staff they encountered in a uniform.

Here is a selection of the vendors lined up there...

from coffee to icecream

to "good sausages..."

to gourmet wild foods

to a french patisserie next to a coffee cart. Just what the doctor ordered after an hour's drive to get there.

Laura was convinced to eat a donut or two - and the organisers were saved from one sore point when they relaxed the rules about taking food into the grounds. So a nice picnic on Sunday, but we did still spend money at the carts. As my sister pointed out, they seemed to think we might be like a rugby crowd - but we're not! So once they realised we could be trusted not to get drunk and punch people, we were allowed to take food in.

Power to the rowing audience! and congratulations to the vendors who had interesting foods, clean surrounds and prices that were fair.

Kapiti Yoghurt! dream dream...

2010-11-02T22:27:00.000+13:00

oh my - if you can find this yoghurt, BUY some and don't tell anyone in your house. Stewart put ours in the freezer, thinking he had frozen yoghurt and indeed very shortly he did.... but I was in fact quite pleased and proceeded to eat it straight from the pottle because if anyone knew I did, they wouldn't want any. Great! More for me!

4 flavours, but I can't wait to see which one goes best with my favourite baklava...

Vanilla bean...

Champagne and Rhubarb...Passion Mango...

Butterscotch!

Tomorrow the champagne one, Thursday the Passion Mango. Flavoured with honey, and it has that tart and intense flavour.

Yum! About $5.50 retail.

luxury in the suburbs

2010-11-01T22:00:00.001+13:00

How many of you can match my breakfast this morning - WHITEBAIT fritters. NZ Whitebait fritters. Oh the indulgence!
My Mum gave me some - Dad must be forgiven for throwing it in the green bin... fortunately we were wise to his tricks and found it there amongst the poppy trimmings and with a blowfly circling. Once that was all brushed off we were in business.

Take your 257 whitebait...

Add them to a bowl with eggs and a little flour - a very little please!

Mix.....

Fry in butter in groups.

The egg sets around the fishies.

And once it's brown, you EAT them.

Do NOT believe those West Coasters who say that they only work with mint sauce.

Rangiputa - again!

2010-10-27T22:09:00.000+13:00

This is the place that gave me the recipe with which to enter Master Chef - the gorgeous fish cake with smoked capsicum salsa.
We were treated again to a return visit during Labour Weekend.
The olive trees were in full bud with bees a-buzzin'...

The sea was without a ripple

and the dolphins were in the bay

All that was missing was the fish - but not for want of trying.
The bait almost jumped into the boat, but after that we had our work cut out. Very little fish resulted... but who cares! We had a marvellous time in the sun with good friends.

Stew's Birthday

2010-10-10T17:39:00.025+13:00

Okay it's not really a food post, but we had 18 for dinner and I had work that day so it was an exercise in organisation and relaxation. We shifted the outside table in , covered everything in white cloths and had the simplest meal - a whole fillet on the barbeque, caesar salad, potatoes dauphinoise and a huge chocolate log and apple strudel to finish.

Oliver arrived from Wellington

The Howick chapter pulled funny faces....

My brother Craig was in town unexpectedly

Richard enjoyed the beers and food as usual

Big McWatson got heavy with the photographer,

Ann captured some of the food (for once it wasn't all eaten before we remembered to take pics.)

Stew tried really hard to enjoy himself

The olds made it too...

and as usual, everyone stood in the kitchen while I tried to cook. Pete!

Searching for Doughnuts...

2010-10-04T09:59:00.000+13:00

There just has to be a REAL doughnut somewhere in Auckland ..... fried, not baked, and crispy crust with real cream, coated in cinnamon and sugar.
I'm trying, oh dear I'm trying.... through several so far but no luck.

Dinner Party Thursday at the Hobbs'

2010-09-29T18:21:00.021+13:00

We've been entertaining on a Thursdays a lot lately ... it's the last day of the 'working' week for me and I often feel like I can cope with the cleaning up afterwards on my day at home.

Adie and Grant came along - fresh from haircutting services. Stew had corrective eye surgery that afternoon too so we were all pretty spruced up and ready to eat.

The Menu:
Homemade oat biscuits (super easy) with Miriam's Chicken Liver pate

My homemade dukkah served with fresh walnut bread and olive oil for dipping

Seafood chowder - wonderful with fresh clams, salmon and prawns and accompanied with a little ciabatta and lots of butter (that's for me).

A salad of spiced venison fillet, caught by Stew a few months back, with roasted kumara, baby spinach and roasted red capsicum. Unfortunately (as is often the case at our place) the food was consumed before a camera could be found...! But it was wonderful, very colourful, and I loved the dressing.

Simply coat venison or lamb fillet with toasted cumin, fennel, mustard seeds, lemon zest and ground pepper and marinate for an hour. Cut the kumara into wedges and roast - I use the electric frypan for this. Toast some pine nuts, roast a red pepper and slice, and make the dressing. When you're ready, cook the venison quickly over the bbq. Cover with foil and let it rest for 10 minutes then slice thinly. Pile all the ingredients into a large bowl and top with this dressing:

Dressing:

Half cup greek yoghurt, quarter cup lemon juice, a pinch of paprika and a few leaves of mint finely sliced.

Followed all this with a simple dessert course which is very unlike me - for one thing I'm not a blue cheese fan, and for another I like sweets. But this was very elegant and easy.

Blue cheese, pear and honey parcels with that walnut bread, toasted this time.

Peel and slice enough pears to give half per person. Slice and fan the halves on squares of baking paper.

Crumble about 50gm good blue cheese over the top. Top with a tablespoon of honey and a good dollop of thickened cream or runny cream.

Staple them up into parcels that won't leak and bake 20 minutes. Let them rest for a while if you like. Cut them apart and present on platters - one for each guest.

We had a bottle of First Knight Ambrosia from the Food Show, made in Gisborne. It was utterly divine with the pears - as you can see from the amount left in the bottle.

MasterChef Book Series One coming soon.....

2010-09-05T17:17:00.001+12:00

can't wait - I get a copy for me! and I have a recipe in it I'm told. Famous-ish at last....
Wonder if I can get the Masterchef top 12 to meet for a signing session?

Experimental Meringues

2010-08-28T21:30:00.003+12:00

so I'm experimenting with ideas for the October chef-fest and I wanted to try meringues with marshmallows inside them. Which I made tonight .., they are yummy as only meringues can be but maybe not quite worth the extra effort of enclosing the marshmallows. Yet! My cooking colleague Gary suggested freezing the marshmallows so I can get the meringues cooked while the marshmallows stay soft and creamy... I tried this and it was definitely better but still not quite right.

Mainland Butter giveaway with Simon Gault

2010-08-28T18:28:00.001+12:00

International, Masterchef Simon Gault (I met him - famous by association again...) in association with Mainland Butter has launched a series of webisodes. Simon, like many excellent chefs, agree that the simple things in life are the best and shows this by cooking some mouth watering recipes inspired by his love for Mainland Butter.

To celebrate one of life’s simple pleasures I'm very pleased to be able to offer a Simple Pleasures competition prize pack for one of my readers including; Simon Gault’s book Nourish, a months supply of Mainland Butter along with some spicy fruit loaf and a cooler bag.

Cool! Free stuff! and what's more, it's free USEFUL stuff....

To be in the draw to win visit http://www.asimplepleasure.co.nz/

and find the answer to the following question:

What does Simon Gault serve with one of New Zealand’s

favourite fish?

Snapper topped with________________

Email me with your answer and I'll draw a winner by 15th September 2010. Good luck!

The Shoestring chef

2010-08-25T18:34:00.001+12:00

this sounds wonderful - wish there was something near me like this... very useful! Cooking classes for $15 every Thursday evening in Kingsland by the Shoestring Chef - email them to learn more. It's held at Crave cafe amongst industrial buildings in Kingsland, behind the main shops. I want their lights! And their large White's Aviation photo of Auckland!

October chef-dom

2010-08-19T20:50:00.000+12:00

I've accepted an invitation to do a cooking evening as a fundraiser... last weekend in October, in Rotorua. why do I do this! It sounded like fun, and if I can help then I always like to... they've sold tickets already, and they're not printed yet. Must be a good sign.
But! what do I cook? I'm thinking of asking everyone who buys a ticket to answer 4 simple questions and then designing the evening around that. Should be achievable...? Shouldn't it...?

love competitions?

2010-08-19T20:47:00.000+12:00

enter here for a chance at $1500 travel...

Love friends like this...

2010-08-02T17:48:00.000+12:00

We go for a drink and we end up being served beautiful fresh bread and a platter of fresh seafood.
AND I have the link for everyone - fresh seafood delivered to the door... no need to go out on a rainy weekend now! Solander Gourmet Seafood

...and so we had crayfish for dinner

2010-07-26T21:29:00.000+12:00

Tail the thing - take the tail in one hand and the head and legs in another, and twist while pulling apart. Put the body and legs in a large stock pot after taking out the 'mustard' - you'll see it up inside near the head.

Now split the crayfish tail in half through the length. This is ready to cook on the barbeque now.

I did however forget a very important step One - first, clean your barbeque. We had not looked at ours for many weeks, being mid-winter, and so it needed a fairly comprehensive clean to start with.

Heat the grill plate and when it's very hot place the 2 halves flesh side down.

In the second picure they've been turned over. They'll be cooked when they are bright red, and the meat has loosened from the shell.

You need to make a soft butter mixture with 100gm butter softened, juice and finely shredded rind of 1 lemon or 2 limes and 1 heaped teaspoon of horseradish. Whisk all really well to combine.

Once the tails are cooked, brush liberally with the butter and serve with your choise of accompaniments. We love vegetables so that was our choice.

Not sure how long it is since I've eaten crayfish but now I'm thinking I need to bribe Olie to get me enough for my secret kitchen evening... coming?

Parcel in the Mail

2010-07-24T19:39:00.000+12:00

Look what came with the courier today...

I know, you're wondering what this has to do with food, but bear with me!
This courier parcel was from Wellington where we have a child (21 - but still called a child....) who likes to dive. In the sea. For things like this.....

Snow play

2010-07-21T17:57:00.000+12:00

every time I think I'm cold in Auckland (like now...) I want to remind myself of what cold really is... this was taken 4 weeks go in Mount Cook

..but at least there were Denheath Custard Squares!

Rose hips from Rotorua

2010-07-20T17:50:00.000+12:00

My sister has been waiting ofr the pruning of the roses before sending me some hips... aren't they beautiful?

I think I'll try making a recipe from the 1600's for a Rose Hip Tart - although I prefer a sponge top for fruit ...

crazy food

2010-07-14T15:00:00.000+12:00

Slipping behind here... must get back into the regularity habit.
Found this sensational photography recently on a website called Dornob..

Sue's Pie

2010-07-09T17:01:00.000+12:00

Love it when people come to visit and they cook..

Sue's horrified that I didn't offer her a 'proper' pie dish but I like large square pies for serving purposes.. Hers was chicken, corn and asparagus which she carried up from Rotorua and assembled here. Delicious!

she'll be even more hofrrified that I'm showing it in its failed state - served hot and falling apart! But that didn't detract from the flavour, and of course we love being cooked for.

dining in secret

2010-07-08T17:40:00.000+12:00

So what do we think of this new idea of 'underground dining' and 'pop up kitchens', where you go to an anonymous person's home for dinner with others who you may or may not know? I'm very interested... I imagine there's also the potential to hold an event at another person's place (bigger kitchen, better facilities, more convenient?)

Check out this Wellington blog for The French House and the Auckland keen cook's blog named Plum Kitchen.

Sound like you? comment below if you'd like to be on my invite list... I'm thinking of holding a Winter event for 8 in Auckland

I've been auctioned....

2010-07-04T06:26:00.001+12:00

but it was all for a good cause. Rotorua Rowing club held a massive High Tea and auction last weekend at the Blue Baths and I was one of the auction items - first up as it turned out, and hotly contested! (Does wonders for the ego, this stuff... and the stress levels!)
The auctioneer achieved $700 which goes to help 3 young rowers who are off to row for New Zealand. Fabulous! The Blue Baths did themsleves proud - I was so impressed with their willingness to get behind this event and offer all the assistance they could. I simply have to cook 3 courses for a dinner party of eight.

Roast Roots

2010-07-03T12:55:00.001+12:00

in truth, Roasted Red Roots..... even if I didn't love this simple but impressive dish I'd cook it just so I could say its name.....

Peel and chop into similar sizes an assortment of the following:

Kumara

Red onions

Capsicum

Yams

Beetroot

Radishes

Pumpkin

Parsnip

Potatoes

then sprinkle oil and balsamic and lots of fresh herbs over, plus salt and pepper.

Roast for as long as it takes - I had 3 large pans of them plus 2 of scalloped potatoes so I gave them 2 hours.

21 at a 21st

2010-07-03T06:26:00.001+12:00

Oliver had his 21st at our place this week with some friends, some parents and a grandparent or 2. Before they all arrived we chained him to the stove and put 4 paua in front of him. Oh, and a beer.

Oli's Paua Fritters

4 large paua (ours came from Chatham Island - luxury!)

Trim the lips off them to remove any chance of rubberiness

1 large red onion chopped finely

2 medium carrots, peeled and grated

1 cup plain flour

5 eggs

plenty of salt and pepper

Mince the paua and add everything else. Stir well. Cook. (I do love recipes like this...)

Stew fried them later in very small spoonfuls to serve cold on platters with a wasabi mayonnaise dip.

Simple Wasabi Mayo
Find a mayo you like in the pantry or fridge.
Add wasabi to taste
Stir well and season with salt and pepper and lime or lemon juice
Thin if necessary with cream or ricotta

Welcome to NZ, Mr Stein...

2010-06-24T17:09:00.007+12:00

When I heard that globe-trotting chef-King, Rick Stein, is coming to New Zealand, I hoped that (as a semi-regular visitor) he has been privy to the delights of Mussel Fritters. In honour of his visit I decided to devise a recipe using New Zealand’s very own fantastically affordable, fat and delectable green-lipped mussels.

If you’re seeing Mr Stein, please give him a copy of this with my regards – or ask him to drop in at my place and I’ll cook them for him... Absolutely no visit to New Zealand is complete without a dish of these.

What a plateful of ocean, what a dish of summery holidays. Reminiscent of beach and bach, long hot days with family and friends, catching pipis and body surfing. These are sweet and crisp, hints of mushroom flavours, and mousse-like texture.

Wasabi and Coconut Mussel Fritters

About 20 large mussels, steamed open and beards removed. Chop roughly. Don't eat too many just yet...
1 medium onion, chopped very finely
1 cup of plain flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar*
3 eggs
An 8cm squirt of Wasabi
200ml coconut cream
Plenty of salt – roughly 1 ½ tsp

*If you don’t have Cream of Tartar then use 1 tsp baking powder in place of the soda and cream of tartar... but I do think the combination of Tartar and Soda make a much lighter fritter. Same for pikelets.

Chop the mussels by hand or in a blender. Leave them fairly coarse. Sniff ... wonderful! Add to a bowl with everything else. Stir. Cook. (Why have complicated instructions?)

However I do mix the Wasabi with the coconut cream in the blender so there are no big lumps. Nasty!

I use Rice Bran oil because it can stand the high heat for frying. Use enough oil to come halfway up the sides of the fritters, and cook them in fairly large spoonfuls. Be generous!

If you have to add more oil, add it between batches and let it come up to heat before spooning the next batch in. Drain well and serve in hot piles of crispy, mussel mousse freshness with lots of lemon wedges. Salt with reckless abandon! If no lemons or salsa present themselves, just dip in sweet chilli sauce. (No, not Watties tomato sauce...)

Here’s my salsa invention to accompany them
Coconut, Corn and Coriander Salsa

Combine all:

2 medium tomatoes, chopped
Plenty of fresh chopped coriander
¼ cup toasted long thread coconut
½ cup drained whole kernel corn

Enjoy with a lovely cold Marlborough or Hawkes Bay Chardonnay.

And if you do get a chance, hop along to the Rick Stein show - while you're there, would you drop off a copy of this recipe for him!?

Come on now, Cadbury...

2010-06-21T07:15:00.000+12:00

I'm sorry but there's a problem with the Roses chocolates. It's not a new problem, but it is one that's continuing to annoy me. I notice that the Orange chocolate has gone and that's wonderful - no more avoiding that one until there's nothing left in the box...but there is another that seriously needs to be removed as well. Yes, I'm talking about the sickly sweet, slightly pretentious Strawberry Creme. Now as New Zealand's preferred "Thank you" gift, (especially when thanking oneself) it is an embarrassing thing to offer Strawberry Creme. What girl in her right mind would choose it? What bloke? Reminiscent of the cloyingly pungent Strawberry Oil from high school in the 70's, not at all up to the standard required.
Just a hint - BRING BACK THE HARD CARAMEL!

Zarbo delizioso

2010-06-19T13:15:00.017+12:00

Stew and I did breakfast at Zarbo, and I'm so delighted with the dish I ordered. Often I look at what others order and wish I'd chosen differently, but not this time...
Sweet French Toast with cinnamon, poached fruit and berry coulis
Oh my, that French toast - crispy, spicy, drenched in syrup... a breakfast dream on a plate. All for $13.50. We do breakfast rather well here in enzed don't we? This plate of food had lots of the things I love about breakfast in New Zealand. Freshly poached fruit with zing, punchy spices, warm and comforting. Simple, uncomplicated, just well-cooked and hot. Plenty of salty moist bacon, streaky but not cooked within an inch of its life. And don't hold back on the carbs - oh, I love those carbs. A plentiful serve of toast. Creme fraiche on the side, you can see I'm a dairy-holic as well as a sweet freak.

A recent revelation to me was how much better French Toast is when made with French Bread... but then I always was quite slow. Don't add too much milk to the eggs - about 1 tbsp per egg - and cut the bread on a diagonal so you get plenty of surface area. Spice it well with cinnamon or allspice. Dip it both sides: I let it soak for a bit. And then fry in NZ butter. If you don't have pears or apples for the poached fruit, just add half a banana to the pan with the bacon. It all cooks fast and within 10 minutes you'll be upending the maple syrup bottle for that finishing touch. Add Sunday newspaper, home made plunger coffee and you'll have something almost as good as Zarbo's.....

Thanks to the staff and the boss who were prepared to risk me taking photos of their place - I have a deal with Mark, the owner, that if I win "NZ's best food blogger" on the strength of my visit to Zarbo, I'll take him to the Rick Stein show in early August. He's keen... as am I.

NZ Sandwich Memoirs

2010-06-15T13:51:00.003+12:00

What do you remember of your school lunches? I began to relate to Stew the sandwich fillings I remember and it very quickly got weird... but then I came up with the one I'd serve Maestro Rick Stein if he came for lunch... and he just might, he's in the country soon though it appears he might have a few other things to do

My favourite NZ childhood food memory from Ohope and The Mount.... Pipi sandwiches (this one for Rick...)

Lovely white bread - I still have cravings for white bread - that's been buttered and stacked in a pile. Pipis collected that morning, digging feet into the low tide sand to feel for the shells. Handfuls brought up between waves and dropped in the bucket with waves washing in. Crabs nipping, kids squealing. Left in fresh water to spit their sand out in a bright coloured bucket under the pohutukawa, then quickly onto the wood-fired barbeque. You could feel the heat trying to beat the sun. Pull them out of the shells, collect in bowls, a dash of vinegar, then everyone gathering to make their sandwich. Salty and tasting of the sea, butter and vinegar combining for a tangy bite.

Lunch with the staff at Hell's Gate in the 90's... Mashed egg and potato chips

It became a staff favourite. Beautifully fresh wheaty bread, eggs just past soft-boiled, mashed with mayonnaise and lots of salt and pepper. Mash them warm for that scent of a winter Rotorua dawn. Add potato chips in a layer, Ready Salted for preference. If you're not expecting this filling, it's like biting into broken glass...

Sandwiches for lunch at Intermediate school in the 70's: Jam and whipped cream

Friends would share lunches, and once they were used to the novelty of my creation, berry jam with whipped cream on white bread, I then took jam and shaving cream... but only once.

Dad's attempt to gross us out as kids... Chocolate Biscuit sandwiches

He would use biscuits called 'Crunch' which we can't buy any more. Shame, because they were gorgeous. Hokey Pokey flavour, crisp texture, a round buiscuit with a full chocolate coat. Sandwiched between 2 slices of bread and eaten without cutting...

Fond memories of Chip Sandwiches

.. and I know people still do eat these, though my fish and chip encounters are few and far between now. But the thought of that lovely soft and yeasty white bread, thick margarine (never thought I'd say that - but it really is better than butter for this), plenty of Barbeque or Steak sauce for spiciness, wrapped tightly around a good handful of hot salty chips. How many can you do?!

Star Dip

2010-06-12T07:00:00.000+12:00

Look at this wonderful dish from Geraldine - a ceramic dish for your oils to dip bread into. I use pomegranate molasses with a nice olive oil.

The brand is Dalla Piazza and it cost $10 - pretty nice as a gift for a foodie?

Cultured friends

2010-06-10T13:02:00.001+12:00

I culture my friends rather as I do my container garden... just enough love from me to elicit their response. With the plants, it's in the way of growth and, hopefully, produce. With friends, it's now you see me, sometimes you won't. In other words, I'm not to be relied upon to be thorough and slavish.

My policy with house plants always was, if they can survive without relying on me then they're welcome. At this time in my life I have no house plants. They all died. But this is not to say my friends are treated with similar disdain! After all, they at least can reach the fridge unaided.

But seriously, the best response I can get from a friend is the gift of their kitchen labour. Whether in the way of a meal, or as above, their preserves. This one is a liqueur quince syrup to have on icecream. It's a vibrant jewel, and often I stand such treasures on the windowsill to remind me of the summer sun that's around the corner.

Roasted Pumpkin Salad

2010-06-09T12:58:00.000+12:00

I do admire vegetables: so self-assured, so flamboyant, so vibrant.

A salad with roasted pumpkin and pine nuts, feta cheese, capsicum, chopped dates, baby spinach leaves, crema de balsamico (that's fancy talk...), olive oil...

Cape Gooseberry happiness

2010-06-09T12:55:00.000+12:00

Paid a visit to my container garden this morning early.. wet and miserable out there, but the little darlings are fruiting away happily. Can't wait - memories of Cape Gooseberry jam with cream piled lavishly on pikelets...yum!

Air New Zealand meal

2010-06-07T16:30:00.000+12:00

Who else loves all those dinky little meals on the plane? I do! I wonder what happens to businesses who win a contract to supply Air New Zealand with items, such as this muffin from Rangiora Bakery?

Twizel entertaining

2010-06-06T16:21:00.002+12:00

Eight of us visited the snowy South during June for the South Island Masters Rowing Champs. Superb! I love the south: it has those huge vistas with clear skies and no people (except us ...). Very hard to get views like this in the North Island.

We rented a nice little house with a wood burning stove - essential! and after a visit to the cheese maker in Geraldine we had nibbles for the first evening.

Capsicum, apple, pear and fig chutney from Hororata, cheese from Geraldine, hummus from the local Four Square. Note the gorgeous star-shaped dish.... Fill with Pomegranate molasses and olive oil for the most sensational flavour burst you've had in a long time.

Stew cooked a fish and shrimp laksa - wonderful on a foggy night with good company.

Trish and I improvised with a cake mix (of all things) and made a self-saucing pudding for after

Denheath deserves a highlighter

2010-06-01T16:21:00.003+12:00

Whenever I see Denheath custard squares on sale I convince whoever I'm with to try them. Or I simply have 2 (...joke...) For lots of good clean jokes visit Denheath's facebook page. I just love custard squares, but after a bakery owner told me that the filling is usually made with a commercial product that resembles wallpaper glue, I'm less enthusiastic. However these Denheath beauties are for real.

Auction the cook...

2010-05-30T15:11:00.016+12:00

everyone needs a sister with this much enthusiasm ... big sis Ann in Rotorua is a huge supporter for Rowing Rotorua, and is helping with fundraising for 3 Rotorua rowers to go overseas: New Zealand Representatives NZU23 Team Julia Edward and Laura Fischer and NZ Junior Nigel van den Akker. I'm off to an afternoon tea Charity Auction event at the Blue Baths in Rotorua next weekend where I've agreed to be auctioned off as a cook for a dinner party of 8. Yeearrrgh!!! (Let's hope Mum wins the auction)

Have a look at Ann's great rowing blog.

persimmon jelly... an experiment

2010-05-28T12:25:00.000+12:00

So I had these gorgeous looking things that bring back terrible memories of my father forcing me to taste them ... and have never eaten them since.
I saw someone peeling and eating one, like you would a pear, and I tried that... beautiful! And the colour is so jewel. Surely they would make excellent jelly?
I boiled them up and forced them through a seive - first mistake. Do not force, the syrup should stand in a muslin-lined colander to slowly drip through. (I knew that...) and now I have it doing just that.
It's also rather bland - delicate, but bland - so I've added cinnamon stick, honey, lemon juice and a little ginger.
More soon!

smoked snapper

2010-05-28T11:39:00.000+12:00

You know me, I'm having a smoking obsession... Stew and I hot-smoke a piece of salmon over the gas hobb for breakfast about twice a week - the cost? around $5. Serve with ricotta (no fat in that, and the texture is wonderful!) and capers - lots of capers - on a toasted bagel.
Last week I spotted fresh whole snapper for $8.95 per kilo at the swoopermarket - I swooped! And there it is in all it's scaled, boned and opened glory. (Still vacuuming scales from the floor a week later - must remember to be less exuberant with that...)
I added brown sugar and soy sauce as normal - that did not last long! We had people here for dinner a day later. The home made hummus I'd served with drinks was a no-no - Raewyn has an allergy to herbs of any kind. Lucky for us the fish was a hit ..... served with garlic pita and slatherings of lemon

The French Cafe

2010-05-25T17:00:00.000+12:00

I've been treated lately to some fabulous dinners: what a bonus! Other people have birthdays, and I get to eat with them at places like this.

It's my first visit there for at least 30 years, and I was very very pleased to be given the opportunity.

Deep fried quail's eggs on the side of the quail dish

What a gorgeous place! The staff are very attentive and lovely. We were quite early which was nice, we had the staff to ourselves for a while. But that soon changed - most impressive to see such a large and high end restaurant fill up to the level it did on a week night.

Lots of the group had the duck (above) but I was happy with my rabbit (below) with basil foam

Loved the presentation - a different plate or platter for each and every item. Seafood dishes such as Scallops (above) and tempura (below) served on beautiful glass platters

The birthday girl had a call from her grand daughter in Australia.

For her last year's birthday we had given her The French Cafe cookbook which was also fantastic. (Still trying to steal it back for a read - mental note: borrow from the library!)

All in all, I think The French Cafe can rank as my new favourite restaurant in Auckland

Fruit Bowl delight

2010-05-14T09:34:00.001+12:00

The fruit bowl is looking fabtastic at present:
feijoas, limes, quinces, bananas, persimmons.. what a lot of stuff to experiment with!

How to eat a chocolate finger

2010-05-13T16:59:00.001+12:00

My most favourite bikkies are on special at the local supermarket this week... Yum!

When I'm bored there's only 1 way to have them - with a cup of tea and a special ceremony.

First take your biscuit

Bite off one end and then the other...

not too much, you want a decent straw length....

place in the hot tea

and suck...

eat it all in one mouthful before it melts!

Excellent! This works with Tim Tams too,

but I find they're too big.

I like Fingers 'cos you can have 4 or 5 at once...

Banana and Caramel Dumplings

2010-05-12T16:30:00.001+12:00

More of my favourite winter food.. in this case, one of the desserts my younger daughter always loved. I cooked it again recently and it certainly was warming on a cold autumn night.

Make the dough

wrap pieces of banana

melt the butter, golden syrup and water and bring the syrup to the boil.

Add the 8 dumplings and put the lid on. Allow 20 minutes to cook.

Serve with ricotta for a fat-free option, or whipped cream if you're a dairy-vert like me.

Recipe coming... sorry!

Obesity in NZ

2010-05-12T16:19:00.002+12:00

I read a terribly worrying article in the NZ Herald last weekend. It refers to research by Professor Philip James from London who was invited by AUT to speak in Auckland and Hamilton. Professor James is an advisor to World Health Organisation and president of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

His main message while here is that New Zealand has one of the highest rates of obesity in the Western world at 25%, and additionally that New Zealand’s obesity controls have fallen behind the rest of the West. In his view the reason for obesity is a genetic predisposition in an environment that allows it to happen with an “out-of-control” food industry and over-use of cars – in Britain it’s been accepted by the Cabinet that it’s not your fault if you get fat. Professor James says, “It’s a normal human response to get fat in the NZ environment”.

What he advocates (and he is astounded at the National Government’s reversal of the decision to allow only healthy foods to be sold in schools) is strict controls in schools, a food labelling system, bans on food marketing to children, tax breaks on fruit and vegetables and more cycle ways. He warns that without changes of this nature, obesity and the diseases it causes will overwhelm health services.

Let’s do everything we can to support anyone or any group that is trying to make these changes.

Source: NZ Herald 8 May 2010

Nasties

2010-05-06T13:57:00.002+12:00

I've had a few conversations lately about food aversions and where they come from. For me, it has a lot to do with the things I was forced to eat as a child.

Peanut Butter: we 3 kids had it in turn (week about) to make the school lunches for everyone. My brother would make peanut butter sandwiches every time.... and there's the problem. Even now I can't stand people eating it near me, putting their peanut butter-covered knife in my jam, breathing in my direction. It is indeed heinous.

Broad Beans: mother dear (such a good cook in other ways) why oh why did we have to eat frozen broad beans, boiled within an inch of ther lives and served in piles... and with our father insisting that all good children had to eat everything on their plate we were loathe to eat anything else until those beans were gone. Anything else seemed like a reward after them.

Kidneys: this is an odd one: I don't in fact have an aversion to these, I just haven't cooked them for years. However my cat eats them almost exclusively, and now I associate them in my head with cat food.

Brussels Sprouts: see broad beans above... however I'm almost convinced to give these another whirl after my brother (see Peanut Butter above) announced them to be his favourite vegetable. I've cooked them lots, I'm simply not convinced.

Black pudding: dad loved this, and I have cooked it, but still I imagine the floors of the butcher shop with the sawdust and other unimaginable sweepings going into the casing...

There are also some foods that I've tried and found to be very disturbing. Amongst those would be

Kina: having hunted this shellfish down in a Waihau Bay rock pool I can honestly say I've eaten these under the best possible circumstances. Never again.

Tongue: sorry, but I can't get my head around this one. A picture in my head of a very large, very blue cow's tongue cannot be controlled.

Mango: something about the flavour and the texture of a ripe mango makes me retch.

Smoked Fish Pie

2010-05-06T10:11:00.001+12:00

is there anyone who doesn't have a favourite way to make this classic family dish? And if there is then I'll share mine with you right here, right now, for nothing!

Smoked Fish Pie
700 gm smoked fish or 1-2 cans smoked fiish fillets
1 large onion sliced
1 clove garlic crushed
25gm butter
1/2 cup plain flour
2 1/2 cups milk (I use a mix of milk, plain yoghurt, ricotta, cream - whatever is on hand)
Grated cheese - tasty if you can
700gm potatoes - about 3 large ones - boiled and mashed

Melt the butter and cook the onions and garlic over low heat until soft and transparent.
Add the flour, increase the heat slightly and cook for a minute or 2. Add the milk slowly, stirring well to make a smooth white sauce. Add the cheese and simmer slowly while you assemble the dish.

Take the fish off the skin and remove bones, or drain the water off the canned fillets (as Bronwyn knows, you use this liquid in the sauce). Place chunks in an oven-proof dish. At this stage add peas if you wish - frozen is fine. Must admit I've been known to adding halved boiled eggs at this stage too. Pour the cheese sauce over the whole lot, give it a gentle stir and then top with the mashed potatoes.
Heat the oven to 170 C.

I make a buttery crumb mix: 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, 20gm butter melted, chopped herbs (sage, dill, parsley or similar) and crushed garlic plus salt. Mix all well and scatter over the potato.

Bake 20 minutes, serve with a green vegetable and plenty of buttery bread.

Left-overs are pefect on toast for breakfast.

Yay for Winter food! New soup for me ...

2010-05-04T16:57:00.003+12:00

I love soups! And I do tend to stick to my old favourites, like Pea and Ham, or Pumpkin.
Here's a new idea - really lovely combination of flavours, and ends up being thick and nourishing. Like all good soups should be!

Leek, Parsnip and Ginger Soup

3 tbsp oil
3 or 4 good sized parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 leek, cut in half, washed between the leaves and sliced
2 inch piece of root ginger peeled and finely sliced
4-5 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 cups good white wine
Cream and/or milk ... about 2 cups in total

Heat the oil and fry the leeks, garlic and ginger over medium heat till soft. Add the parsnips and stock and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes until the veges are cooked.

Puree all this together. I use my old mouli...

Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the cream and/or milk and wine to taste. Heat gently before serving with scrumptious ciabatta rolls and lashings of butter ...

(by the way, what is a lashing...?)