Home and away

We were away for a few days so this week saw us emptying out the cupboards & eating on the road.  At the weekend, before we went, we had the tagine - the last of the chicken tagines.  This was the more traditional tagine with dried fruit.  For 4, heat 2 tbsp olive oil with a knob of butter in the tagine.  Stir in a finely chopped onion, a sprig of finely chopped rosemary, a knob of grated ginger & 2 finely chopped red chillies & saute until the onion has softened.  Stir in a couple of rosemary sprigs and 1-2 cinnamon sticks.  Add the chicken thighs & brown on both sides.  I rolled & tied these the same way we did for the Moroccan chicken a couple of weeks back.  This gives the thighs a good shape to serve.  Toss in a good handful of dried apricots & 2 tbsp clear honey then stir in a tin of tomatoes.  Bring the liquid to the boil & transfer to a medium oven for 40 minutes.  We served this with couscous and a salad.
We usually eat at the market on Sunday morning but we didn't go because we were going away.  Because we were going away we had very little food in the house and no bread.  So we used up some of the eggs we did have and made pancakes.  This was such a satisfying breakfast.
We did make some bread as well and for a change we made Hugh F-W's sourdough recipe.  This made a nice change.  We were struggling to get through the bread.  We are still making are making it weekly, sometimes a sourdough & a Norwegian but we are halving the loaves and freezing what we are not immediately eating.  This means the freezer is full of bread that can be brought out when we have visitors staying.
For lunch I used up the potatoes & everything else I could in a potato salad.  What didn't get used here went into the fish stew for dinner.  Not only was it very pleasing to consume all potential wastage but the meals were utterly delicious. A reminder that you can make great food with very few ingredients.
While we were in Auckland I made a couple of finds I'd like to share with you.  You Aucklanders probably already know them.  We went to Al Brown's new eatery in Federal St -The Depot.  We had the Falafel & the Battered Snapper Tortillas as small sharing plates.  Delicious.  I also discovered Ebisu on Quay St.  This is contemporary Japanese and again is in the style of sharing plates.  We tried the Gyu no Tataki and the Tori no Karaage.  Both delicious & not especially small.
The other treats were the Strawberry Corner in Clevedon.  My sister took us there and treated us to real strawberry ice creams.  Said sister also keeps chickens and one of the girls had produced an egg that was large, beyond imagination.  It was a double yolker as we suspected and each yolk was the size of a regular yolk.  My beloved nephew isn't a fan of eggs but he knows that eggs are nutritious so he has developed a cunning recipe for a smoothie incorporating a raw egg.  This incredible egg went into the smoothie.
To make the super smoothie blend a banana, 1 tbsp cocoa, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tbsp strawberry syrup, 1 cup frozen mixed berries, 1 egg (preferably a double yolker!), a dash of honey, 1 scoop ice cream (whatever flavour you have to hand), 1/2 cup yoghurt (again, whatever you happen to have),  1/2 cup milk and lastly a tbsp of Vitaplan or similar energy powder.  You'll need a big glass to serve it, although if you are a teenage boy, you will probably drink it straight from the blender.
On the return journey we overnighted at Tokaanu.  At the local supermarket I bought one of those packs of salad with dressing, a pottle of potato salad & some slices of free range ham at the New World in Turangi.  As small town supermarkets go, this was a good one.  We had eggs from Takanini.  Presto - a plate of delicious salad.
It was so good we had a very similar supper when we got home.  You can put together a very appealing table starting with a base of bolied potatoes, eggs and a slice of ham.  Don't forget a plate of steamed asparagus drizzled with lemon infused olive oil.  I think we will be eating like this for the rest of the summer.
I had a birthday this week and we had a similar spread.  This included tabbouleh; Antoinette's falafels; a delicious pea & broadbean mash - we raided the garden; hummus; grilled pita triangles; asparagus; shredded carrot salad; mint labne.  I was given Hugh F-W's new vegetable book so you will see me exploring this over the next few weeks.  My Auckland dining experiences, combined with summer eating & ideas from this book will see me exploring the sharing plate possibilities. 
I was also given a poffertje pan for my birthday & Phoebe had friends over so we tried these.  Yes, Phoebe is back with us for the summer and we may see some of her culinary efforts on these pages.  Back to the  poffertjes.  These are a Dutch mini pancake concoction - apparently traditionally made with yeast & buckwheat flour.  The recipe I had was more like a traditional pancake mix with golden syrup added.  They are served sprinkled with icing sugar & a knob of butter.  We served ours with strawberries.  I forgot to photograph the pan but will do that next time we have them. They were delicious!
I also got a book on cheese making so I will get around to trying that out & share my experience sometime soon.