A dinner to remember

On Sunday we had a farewell dinner for friends moving to New York & I wanted to cook a dinner to remember.

We started with mussels & clams in a tarragon broth. Prepare the shellfish - 2 kilos mussels & 1 1/2 kilos clams for 6 -8 people as a starter. Boil together 1/2 cup white wine, 1 cup chicken stock & a bay leaf. Add the mussels & cook till opened then remove & do the clams in the same way. Set aside & cover to keep warm. Strain the cooking liquor through muslin to remove any grit. In a large pan cook in butter 100g streaky bacon & 1 onion thinly sliced, 2 stalks celery, 2 cloves garlic finely chopped, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp tarragon, until the onion is soft. Stir in 3 tbsp flour & cook for 2 mins or so then gradually stir in the reserved cooking liquor & 1/2 cup cream. Bring to the boil - season with pepper only as the cooking liquor will be quite salty. Add a handful of raw prawn cutlets & simmer 5 minutes then stir through parsley. Tip the mussels & prawns into a warmed bowl & pour over the delicious creamy liquid. Serve with crusty bread to mop up the juices.

This was followed by a navarin of lamb. Start with a boned shoulder of lamb & cut into large chunks. Brown in batches in a large casserole dish. Take out the meat & fry until golden, 2 onions, 3 cloves garlic and a carrot thinly sliced & 1 tsp sugar. Add 2 tbsp flour to thicken, 1 tbsp tomato puree & cook 2 mins. Return the lamb to the pan with a sprig of thyme, a couple of bay leaves & 600ml chicken stock. Season, bring to the boil & simmer very gently about 40 minutes. Meanwhile cook baby spring vegetables to accompany - onions or shallots, carrots, turnips, potatoes. I just boiled them until tender except the onions which I oven-roasted to add a bit of colour.

When the lamb is done, remove it & strain the liquid through a sieve into a bowl. Use a spoon to press through as much as possible and then discard the vegetables. Return the lamb & sieved liquid to the pan & add about 50g each peas & french beans. I blanch the beans first to keep their colour & because I find they take a little longer to cook. When they're nearly done, stir in the other vegetables to warm them through & let them take on some of the flavour. At the end, stir in finely chopped mint mixed with a clove of crushed garlic.

The piece de resistance was pudding which I made earlier in the day. Warm 500 ml full fat milk with 250ml cream in the microwave. Put 120g caster sugar & 2 tbsp cornflour in a largish saucepan & sieve in 70g cocoa powder. Add 4 tbsp boiling water & whisk to a paste. Whisk in 4 egg yolks one at a time, followed by the warmed milk & cream & 2 tsp vanilla. Whisk over a low heat until it takes on the consistency of mayonnaise. This took about 8-10 minutes but might take longer. Just keep at it.

Take off the heat & whisk in 120g of the best 70+% dark chocolate you can get. Pour them into small cups or other serving dishes (about 150 ml each). Chill but don't forget to take them out of the fridge in advance because you want to eat them room temperature. I served these with local macaroons. Do you think my friends will carry the memory of this meal with them to New York?

Pumpkin, pasta & pesto

I keep thinking about bringing soup Monday to a close for the year and maybe moving to salad Monday. If you were in Wellington last Monday you will know why I didn't. We had the coldest day of winter. Temperatures didn't rise above 4 degrees! If it's cold in your town, try this delicious heartwarming pumpkin soup. Soften finely chopped onion (2), carrot, garlic (2), ginger (2 cm) in some olive oil with 1 tsp ground cumin & 1/2 tsp each cinnamon, turmeric & cayenne (maybe less cayenne if you're not a fan of spicy). Stir in a tin of tomatoes, 6 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock, 1 cup red lentils & about 800g pumpkin chopped into 2cm pieces. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat & simmer until the pumpkin is tender. Break up some of the pumpkin so that the soup is a rough lumpy texture. Season & serve with a dollop of sour cream & a pinch of cinnamon.

I have discovered a pasta recipe that I feel will become a regular at our table over summer. This week I made 2 versions - one for vegans & one for not. Both were delicious

For vegans blend a couple of handfuls of spinach leaves with a little olive oil & a handful of toasted pinenuts. You could use basil but I had lots of spinach. Genoese pesto for the non-vegan version. Put to one side.

Thinly slice lengthways one courgette per person with a vegetable peeler or mandolin & saute in olive oil. Steam a bunch of asparagus. Cook your favourite pasta according to the instructions. I used spaghetti for the vegans & egg tagliatelle for the non. Stir the sauces through the pastas, mix the courgette & asparagus and a chopped up avocado through both. Top the vegan one with breadcrumbs toasted in olive oil (often known as poor man's Parmesan) & the non version with Parmesan. Serve with a leafy green salad.

Pita meals & marmalade

With the advent of spring or at least rumours of its advent I have been thinking about lighter meals. I bought some spicy lamb sausages from the Island Bay Butchery and made a quick meal on pita breads. Heat the oven to 200 & saute 2 thinly sliced onions in a little olive oil with 2 cloves of garlic, 1/4 tsp each allspice & cinnamon & a handful of pinenuts. Slip the sausages out of their skins - this is quite easy, just slit the skins with scissors & peel them off. Use 1-2 sausages per person. Break the sausages into 1 cm pieces and add to the saute pan breaking then into bite sized pieces as they cook. When they're cooked and lightly coloured add a handful of flat leaf parsley & take off the heat.

Carefully slice pita breads in half so that you have 2 rounds. Allow 1-2 rounds per person depending on greed/ appetite. Put the pita on a baking tray and brush around the edges with olive oil - to coat the bits that won't be covered with topping. Divide the sausage mixture among the pita slices & top with halved cherry tomatoes -about 2 tomatoes per pita. Bake 10 minutes until the edges of the pita are crisp & golden.

Serve topped with a drizzle of Greek yoghurt & a sprinkle of cinnamon. I actually used Cleveland buffalo yoghurt & when I was in Auckland at the weekend I saw the buffalo and was able to thank them. I served this with a salad of cos lettuce, finely sliced spring onions, finely sliced orange pieces (peel a couple of oranges & remove all the pith then halve & slice thinly), black olives & feta slices. Make a vinaigrette with red wine vinegar or lemon juice. Coat the lettuce first with some of the dressing then layer up the orange & feta, scatter over the olives & spring onion & drizzle the remaining dressing. The citrus makes a great foil for the richness of the sausage.

Later in the week I made a vegan version using Antoinette's authentic Lebanese falafel. I have just discovered these and recommend you rush out & get some. The vegans drizzled over hummus instead of yoghurt & I had both. I served this with the orange salad again & our old favourite roasted asparagus, which I eat at least once a week at this time of year.

We went to Auckland for the weekend to help a certain sister celebrate a certain birthday. She had an overburdened grapefruit tree so we took a large bag full home & made some grapefruit. I use Edmunds & made a marmalade with 3 grapefruit, 1 orange & a lemon. Unfortunately it didn't set as well as I would have liked & I suspect the grapefruit were over ripe. I read that if they didn't have many pips they would be over ripe & contain less pectin. Earlier in the week when I was preparing them for breakfast they were very pippy but when I was preparing them for the marmalade we found barely a pip. We needed to wrap the pips in muslin & cook the with the fruit. Phoebe & I wondered if as the fruit ripened it ate its own pips. Can anyone enlighten us. Any way for those of you who have a jar of marmalade I hope it doesn't run off the toast.