Winning ways with chard

We eat seasonally and often from the garden.  It's not large but there are only two of us and it can feed us well.  You know how you look forward to the first crop and sometimes enthusiasm wanes at the end.  We've been enjoying chard over winter picking a few leaves to make a delicious chard meal each week, sometimes twice a week. And then it turns on you.  Suddenly you have the Karori chard monster growing so fast and tall and threatening to go to seed.  Meanwhile you are trying to consume the kale and cavalo nero before that too bolts and you know you really have to eat the last of the broccoli this week. I knew things were serious when I mentioned to Peter that a friend who kindly took some chard off my hands this week said how much she had enjoyed her three chard meals.  Peter's response - "well that's three chard meals we don't have to eat".  If you have your own chard dilemma I have a few suggestions.
Chard works really well with grains such as barley, farro or freekeh.  For a great pilaf, saute a finely diced red onion in olive oil.  Add 2 tbsp coarsely chopped pistachios, grated zest of a lemon and a cup hot chicken stock - you may need different quantities of liquid depending on which grain you use so top it up with hot water if it is drying out. Mix and cover with a lid.  Simmer gently for around 20-30 minutes until the water has evaporated and the grains are cooked.  Season and stir through about 250g roughly chopped chard.  When the chard has wilted, add about 150g crumbled feta and stir through a little olive oil and the juice from the lemon.  You can serve on its own for a light weeknight supper or with lamb.  Use fillets, backstraps or rump.  Rub the lamb with a mix of ground cumin, cardamom and coriander and then briefly sear the lamb in a hot pan and finish in a hot oven.  Slice the lamb and serve on the pilaf topped with mint leaves and a sprinkling of sumac.
I made a great a great Iranian style stew with yellow split peas.  Saute an onion until soft then add 2 cloves crushed garlic with a cinnamon stick, a tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp fenugreek and a pinch of saffron strands.  Add 100g yellow split peas and 500g chicken or vegetable stock and cook until the peas are nearly done.  Add more hot stock or water if they are sticking.  Add 100g brown basmati rice and cook a further 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked.  Add more liquid if necessary.  Stir through 250g roughly chopped chard and let wilt a little.  Finish with 2 sliced spring onions, 1tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses.  Scatter with chopped mint leaves and pomegranate seeds to serve.
Try a chard gratin served with a crisp green salad. Heat a crushed garlic clove gently in a frying pan then stir in a tsp each of chopped rosemary and thyme and 250g roughly chopped chard. Season and stir over a medium heat for a couple of minutes.  In a large bowl beat together two eggs, 1/4 cup milk and salt and pepper. Stir in chard mixture and about 50g Gruyère. Stir in a cup of sweetcorn and mix well. I usually use frozen corn out of season but you could just as easily use canned if you prefer.  Pour into a greased baking dish, sprinkle parmesan on top and drizzle over a little olive oil.  Bake at 180 for 35-40 mins until nicely browned.  Rest 10 minutes before serving.
We had chard with chickpeas and tamarind. Saute a sliced onion with 1 tsp each of ground coriander and 2 tsp caraway seeds.  Add a tsp tomato paste, a can of chopped tomatoes, 300mls chicken stock, a can of chickpeas, 4 tbsp tamarind paste and 400g roughly chopped chard with stalks. Season and bring to the boil then cover and simmer 30 minutes.  When done it will be a thick soupy consistency.  Finish with a little lemon juice and serve with rice and a dollop of yoghurt and a drizzle of olive oil.
Don't forget our old favourite, Floriditas' chard risotto, which has had a few outings.
Our final chard meal of this crop was the pilaf with lamb.  Now we move on to the broccoli, starting with a broccoli and blue cheese salad.


 

Birthday pork

The birthday season is upon us, although this year I only have two birthdays to cater and someone has to do one for me. It's an opportunity to do something special and with usually only Peter and me at home an opportunity to cook something we can't easily do for two. Isabel chose pulled pork - good choice. 
This is pretty simple.  Combine a tsp each of smoked paprika, English mustard powder and 1/2 tsp ground cloves with salt and pepper and rub into the flesh side of a piece of skin-on pork shoulder. We added a bit of Culley's hickory sauce for extra flavour. Our piece was around 2 kg. Rub olive oil and salt into the skin.  Pour 1/2 cm water into a roasting tin and add the pork skin side up.  Roast at 140 for about 6 hours or until the meat is perfectly tender.  Add a little more water if necessary.  When it is done turn the grill to it's highest setting and grill the pork until the skin is crackled and golden - it doesn't take long so don't let it catch.
I made an apple and broad bean salsa to serve.  Our broad beans are a few weeks away so I had to resort to frozen.  Combine 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 cloves crushed garlic, 2 tbsp each orange and lemon juice, 1/2 tsp each dried oregano and cumin, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, salt and pepper in a jar and give it a good shake. Pour into a serving dish.  Add 2 cups blanched and peeled broad beans, 1 julienned Granny Smith apple, 1 tbsp chopped capers, 2 tbsp chopped parsley. Gently combine.
We also had crispy roasted potatoes.  I sprinkled the par-boiled potatoes with a little polenta before roasting which crisped up the skin.
We also had leeks and cavalo nero because all meals right now MUST include chard or cavalo nero before these go completely to seed. Slice a couple of leeks and cook in olive oil and a little butter with salt until soft and sweet.  Take the tough stalks out of the cavalo nero and roughly chop then add to the pan, cover and cook a few minutes until the greens are wilted.  Season and add another small knob of butter.  Lost of recipes tell you to cook the greens in water then press out all the water with a tea towel and then chop the greens before adding to the pan.  I don't usually bother - it seems like far too much work and stains the tea towels green. My way seems to work fine.
We had the summer Pimms cake for pudding and once again this cake was the star of the show.  This cake is super easy and a bit of a show stopper. These were our first strawberries of the season - not home grown I'm afraid although ours will be ready shortly if we ever get any sun. The borage isn't flowering either so I used cornflowers for the blue.
What better way to use up pulled pork than Monday night tortillas?  To make flour tortillas gently mix 1 1/2 cups plain flour in a bowl with 1 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt.  Warm 1/2 cup milk in a small saucepan and pour into the dry ingredients.  Mix with your hands into a soft dough and rest in cling film 15 mins.   Then divide into 6 balls, roll out on a floured surface as thinly as you can and layer them between sheets of greaseproof paper with a light dusting of flour as you go. Cook them on a hot grill or cast iron pan - 40 seconds on the first side and 10 on the second.  Heat the pork in a pan with a little water and some smoky tomato sauce you have in the fridge.  Pile the pork on the tortillas and top with left over apple salsa.

Versatile vegetables

Phoebe is always doing interesting things with cauliflower but I've never done much other than cauliflower cheese, curry or soup until now. This week I branched out with two new cauliflower ideas.

On Sunday we had lamb kofte with cauliflower "couscous".  To make the kofte for two, combine 300g lamb mince, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, chilli flakes, 1 clove crushed garlic, finely chopped parsley, zest of half a lemon, 1/2 tsp dried mint, salt and pepper.  Make little meatballs - I made 6 - and poke a pre-soaked bamboo skewer through each one, then shape into sausage shapes on the skewer. Set these aside while you prepare the couscous.
Break half a cauliflower head into florets and grind to a fine crumbly couscous-like texture in the food processor.  Spread these out on an oven tray and bake at 200 for 5 mins.  You could microwave in a bowl for a few minutes but I can't as I don't have one.  Set them aside to cool and cook the kofte on a tray in the oven for about 12 minutes.
While they are cooking mix finely diced cucumber, chopped tomato, a small quantity of finely diced red onion, chopped olives, chopped mint and parsley, and crumbled feta with the cauliflower. Dress with lemon juice and olive oil.  Serve with yoghurt and a little chopped dill.
I used the other half of the cauliflower to make a pizza base.  Crumble the cauliflower and lightly cook as above then wrap in a tea towel and wring out any moisture.  I didn't do this and mine was a little soggy but still delicious.  Mix the cauliflower with a little beaten egg, crushed garlic and a little grated parmesan, mixed dried herbs, salt and pepper.  Shape into a pizza shape on an oven tray lined with baking paper.  Make it quite thin - about 1/2 a centimetre.  Bake at 200 for 30-40 minutes.  It should be firm and golden.  Take it out of the oven and turn up to 220.  Spread the base with passata or a similar kind of tomato sauce, halved cherry tomatoes and blobs of mozzarella.  Grate over some parmesan and sprinkle on a few basil leaves.  Bake another 5 minutes until the cheese is melted and serve with a few more basil leaves.
I will definitely be trying other things with cauliflower.  Any suggestions?
I returned to a favourite from this winter.  The charmingly named Dr Feel Good winter salad.  This is a brilliant recipe and although it looks fiddly is well worth the effort.  I save a bit of time by using roasted capsicum in a jar rather than roasting from scratch.  These are great and can go in many dishes.  Try them with the cauliflower couscous.  On this salad occasion Phoebe was coming for dinner and got there first so I phoned ahead for her to turn on the oven and put the beetroot on to boil.  That was useful.  You will really like this salad and you can be flexible with the ingredients.
I also made brilliant little apple puddings that I was alerted to on Facebook.  When I told them at work they all cried, "too hard", but in fact they were "too easy".  And they did taste delicious.  I sprinkled with icing sugar mixed with cinnamon because I had some pre-mixed which had been left over from a cake I had taken to work.  It was a great combination and a little dollop of whipped cream is the perfect finishing touch.
Now that asparagus season is upon us I like to eat them as much as possible.  A great idea for a spring Saturday lunch is salad greens, thinly sliced radish and steamed asparagus piled on a grilled slice of sourdough that has been spread with mayonnaise.  Add egg boiled just enough to peel with the yolk still soft and drizzle over a little lemony vinaigrette.

Family roast night

When I was growing up we had a roast dinner once a week.  This was usually beef or lamb and occasionally pork which was more expensive.  Rarely, if ever, chicken which was far too expensive for an everyday meal.  Once a week, in households all over New Zealand (in fact all over the empire) women were roasting a joint and serving with potatoes and seasonal vegetables followed by pudding.  We all knew how to do it.  When our children were growing up we usually served a roast on Sunday.  Often chicken which was cheapest or lamb, rarely beef or pork which was too expensive.  I doubt if any of our offspring could put a roast on the table without consulting a recipe.  (Is this true?)  I obviously failed there!  As tastes and habits changed, the regular weekly roast fell off our repertoire and rarely appears at our table apart from Christmas and Easter and the occasional chicken.  I have decided to revive this flagging tradition as an irregular family get together.
Last night was very cold and the young people were hailed on between the street and the front door so they were very grateful for the gin hot toddy that was offered.  This is a fantastic idea for a winter cocktail.  Per person pour juice of 1/2 lemon, 15 ml thyme infused syrup (or 1/2 tsp brown sugar), 30 ml gin, 15 ml green ginger wine into a heat resistant glass.  Top with boiling water and stir.  Garnish with a sprig of thyme, a few juniper berries and a piece of cinnamon stick.
We started our family roast cycle with a rolled rib of beef from our local butcher.  We drizzled a little olive oil and rubbed the meat all over with dry English mustard.  Put the meat in a roasting dish with enough room for vegetables, add 1 tbsp beef dripping and put in the oven at 250 for 15 mins then reduce to 180 for the remainder of the cooking.  Calculate 35 mins per kilo.  Add the vegetables for the last 45 mins.  We had whole small carrots and parsnips and shallots which had been peeled or scrubbed and tossed in a little olive oil with salt and pepper.
My mother always added potatoes to the meat but we did ours separately in duck fat.  Peel and cut Agria potatoes into chunks - I usually allow three pieces per person plus an extra portion in case. Bring to the boil and simmer 4-6 minutes, then drain until all the steam has dispersed and they are completely dry.  Add to a roasting dish of hot duck fat (2 tbsp) and put into a hot oven (250), immediately turning down to 180.  They will need about an hour.  When the meat is done leave to rest and transfer the vegetables to a serving dish which you can keep warm while making the gravy.  Put the meat pan on the element and thicken with a little flour.  Add 1 cup beef stock, 1 tbsp red currant jelly and a slosh of red wine.  Heat stirring until it is the desired consistency.  I think the best accompaniment to roast beef is frozen peas.  Add a knob of butter and plenty of pepper when you serve. 
We also did Yorkshire puddings which was a bit of an extravagance but in England is an expected accompaniment to the Sunday roast.  My mother NEVER made these. They're pretty simple. For six, make a batter by adding 125g flour to a bowl then make a well in the centre and whisk in 2 egg and 150 mls milk.  Lightly season.  Add a dab of dripping to the required number of  compartments in regular muffin trays and pop this into the oven to get really hot.  Then pour the batter evenly across the compartments and put in the oven on a rack above the meat.  We have two ovens so I had the potatoes in the bottom oven. Serve with gravy and a little horseradish paste mixed with crème fraiche.
The timing is a bit of a juggle but actually not too hard.  Remember women all over the western world managed this every Sunday, and many in the UK still do.  I worked back from the time we wanted to eat and stuck a note on the fridge to remind me what time to put each component on to cook.
And this wouldn't have been a Sunday roast (albeit on Saturday) without pudding.  Our childhood favourite was Dominion pudding from the Edmonds book.  Cream 50g butter with 100g sugar, add an egg and beat well.  Add 1 cup flour sifted with 1 tsp baking powder alternately with 1 cup milk and mix until you have a smooth batter.  I was taught to always end with the flour.  Grease a pudding basin and put a few spoonfuls of raspberry jam on the bottom.  Pour over the batter and secure the lid on the basin.  Steam in  a large pan of boiling water for 1 1/4 hours.  If you have never done this before Edmonds is not helpful.  It says  "steam 1 1/4 hours".  Bring the water to the boil add the pudding, cover and turn right down.  It needs the full cooking time but will not spoil if it goes over. Serve with custard and/or cream.
The next day you could have roast beef sandwiches with horseradish, watercress and some sliced roast potatoes if there were any left over.  This is where that spare portion might come in handy.
Tonight we made a cottage pie with some of the left over meat.  I made a sofrito of onion, carrot, garlic and fennel.  I use whatever is in the fridge that might work including celery or leek which we don't have today.  It's not strictly a sofrito but that gives the general idea.
Add the leftover meat and vegetables finely chopped.  Add the leftover gravy, leaving some aside if you have a Yorkshire to reheat, and a good slosh of some kind of tomato sauce or chutney to give a good consistency of pie mix.  Turn mix into a pie dish.  I always use my mother's 1 3/4 pint Denby casserole dish.  (She used this dish for all potato topped dishes, rice pudding, crumble or with the lid for casserole.)  Top with some kind of mash.  I had celeriac and pumpkin in the freezer so mixed them together.
And now I have one meal quantity of beef left.  Any suggestions?

Persian delights

In March 2011, I first made khoresht-e gheimeh then in November 2013 I discovered khoresht-e ghormeh sabzi.  I revisited both of them this winter and went on to make khoresht-e mast with chicken and maygoo polow with prawns and herbs.  Most satisfying, I mastered chelow, the classic Persian rice dish and this is now my go-to rice dish.  I am also working my way through the variations.  If you want to know more about Persian cooking borrow the book, Saraban, from the library.  If you just want to make a delicious meal let me tell you how.  I always make these dishes for six because they freeze well and then there is always something delicious in the freezer during the film festival when there may not be time to cook after a movie.
The chicken khoresht is great if you don't have two or three hours to cook the lamb version.  This will only take an hour once you've sweated the onions.  To start, sweat 2 finely chopped onions with 2 finely sliced celery sticks until soft.  Stir through 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp  ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cardamom, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper and cook for a few more minutes.  Cut 1 kg of boned chicken thighs into 2 or 3 pieces each.  Add them to the pan and brown briefly over a high-ish heat making sure they are all coated with the spicy onion mix.  Add a bay leaf, 500 ml chicken stock, a few saffron threads, zest and juice of a lime and juice of an orange.  Season with salt and simmer for an hour or so.  While the stew is cooking whisk 350g of Greek yoghurt with an egg.  When the stew is ready, whisk a few tablespoons of the hot broth into the yoghurt and egg mix then pour it all into the stew.  Add 1 tbsp slivered pistachios and cook at a bare simmer for five minutes to thicken.  Stir in one direction only and be sure not to let it boil or it will curdle at this stage.  Now Greg Malouf adds golden raisins but I do not.  It brings back memories of terrible 70s curries and I can't quite do it.  Apricots and prunes, yes but raisins, no.
Now as I mentioned above I feel I have mastered the Persian chelow and I am not sure what I was afraid of.  You need to allow about 80 minutes but most of that time it is looking after itself so it's no effort.  The recipe is for 6 so I just do 1/3 when making for two.
Wash 300g basmati rice and leave to soak in a generous quantity of warm water for 30 mins (30 minutes doing nothing with rice).  Strain the rice and rinse it again with warm water.  Follow these steps and you will be rewarded with perfectly separating grains.  Now boil a large saucepan of water, salt generously and stir in drained rice.  Boil at a rolling boil, uncovered for 5 minutes. I bring the water to the boil while the rice is soaking to save time and I turn it off if necessary so it only takes a minute or two to reboil when needed. Strain and rinse again and drain off as much of the water as you can.  Now is the tricky bit but it's not really tricky at all.  Melt about 40g of unsalted butter with 2 tbsp warm water and set aside.  Heat 1/4 cup oil with 1 tbsp water on a medium high heat in a large saucepan - the one you used to boil the rice.  When the oil begins to sizzle spoon in enough rice to cover the base of the pan in a thin layer - this is going to form a crust.  Spoon in the rest of the rice gradually building it up to a pyramid.  Don't tip it all in because you want it loosely piled to achieve the fluffy separateness.  Use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke a few holes down through the rice to the base of the pan.  This is to help it steam.  Now drizzle the melted butter over the rice.  Wrap the saucepan lid in a tea towel and tightly cover the pan.  Leave it on the medium high heat for a few minutes until you see some steam trying to escape then turn right down and leave for 40 minutes.  Another 40 minutes doing nothing with rice.  Don't peek.  It won't hurt if you leave it for up to an extra 20 minutes.
When you are ready to serve plunge the pan into a few inches of cold water in the sink.  The sudden change in temperature cause the rice to shrink from the sides of the pan loosening the delicious crunchy bottom.  Now invert the pan into a serving dish and it may plop out as one glorious mound with a beautiful golden crust.  Or it may not.  In which case just scoop the crust, known as the tah-deeg, over the top. Once you have mastered this you can do all sorts of variations to the crust with yoghurt, potatoes or bread.
And you can make an complete dish of the rice such as maygoo polow with the addition of herbs and prawns. Wash soak and parboil the rice.  Soak 1 tsp fenugreek seeds for 10 minutes, then gently fry in a frying pan with a small finely chopped onion, 1 tsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp ground ginger.  Add a chopped deseeded tomato and 200g peeled prawns with tails on.  Don't worry if they're not.  Stir briefly until the prawns just begin to colour.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir through 1/3 cup finely snipped chives, 1/3 cup shredded flat leaf parsley, 1/3 cup shredded dill sprigs.  You can also add coriander if you must.  Now start to prepare your parboiled, drained rice for steaming.  Heat the oil and put the layer of rice in the bottom for the pan.  Scatter a layer of the prawn mix and layer up your pyramid with rice and the prawn mix ending with a layer of rice.  Poke the holes, drizzle over the butter, wrap up the saucepan lid and go off and do something else for 40 minutes.  Don't peek.  When done tip out as described above. 
You can serve all Persian meals with a herb salad and flat bread.  I sometimes serve stews with wilted spinach seasoned with nutmeg.
If you would like to carry the Persian theme through to coffee whisk some mascarpone with a little honey and lemon zest.  Slit some medjool dates to remove the stone, but don't cut in half.  Pipe the mascarpone mix into the dates and sprinkle with pistachios and rose petals.

La Pasta in Casa

I thought it would be nice to make pasta and I bought 00 flour.  Some considerable time later I thought, "Must get on to that pasta making" and I bought a pasta machine.  More time passed and I thought, "Must get that pasta machine out of the box".  So at last the flour and machine were introduced.  It transpired that some years had passed between the initial thought and the action.  The flour was no longer viable and the pasta was not a success.  Undeterred I bought another bag of flour and this time it all came together.
Making pasta really is quite simple.  Just make sure your flour is fresh!  I consulted Marcella Hazan, her son, Giuliano and the New York Times.   This is what worked for me.  Start with 1 egg per 100g flour.  You need at least two eggs to get a quantity you can work with and you can dry it and store in an airtight container so there is no issue with having more than you need.  Before you begin, clear your work surface because you will need plenty of room once you start rolling.  Pour the flour into a mound on the work surface.  Note that marble is too cold and won't work.  Make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs one at a time into the well.  Beat the eggs gently with a fork until the yolks and whites are mixed together - actually this proved a bit hard and I resorted to whisking the eggs first before pouring into the well.  With the fork, gradually incorporate the flour into the egg until the egg is no longer runny.  Work from the inside wall of the well.  If the egg escapes onto the bench it is not easy to recapture.  Once you've reached the stage where you have quite a viscous mixture, quickly bring the remaining flour over the egg mixture and scoop it up, mixing with your hands until you have a moist but not sticky dough.  Wrap the lump of dough in cling film to stop it drying out at all and clean the work surface and your hands ready for kneading.  Knead the dough until it is very smooth and silky - this only takes a couple of minutes if all is well. Rewrap in cling film and rest for at least 20 minutes.
Set up your machine for rolling and get out lots of tea towels to lay out the rolled dough.   Cut a three-egg dough into six portions and keep the ones you are not working with wrapped in cling film.  Flatten the chunk of dough in your fingers and start to feed the dough through the machine starting at the widest setting.  Feed each portion through this setting three or four times, folding into three after each roll.  Then, reducing the rollers by one notch each time roll all the pieces through the machine and lay them out on dry tea towels.  Leave to dry a little so that it feels a bit leathery but not brittle.  Maybe 10-20 mins.
When they are ready, shape your pasta.  We made fettuccine according to the instructions on the machine.  To store the ribbons, wrap them loosely around your hands to form nests then leave to dry on a tea towel before storing in an airtight container.  They will keep for months.
To cook drop the pasta in a large saucepan of well salted boiling water and boil with the lid off for a few minutes until al dente; 2-3 mins will be enough on the day of making. 
I rediscovered the classic tomato sauce for pasta.  Put two tins of tomatoes in a saucepan with a halved onion and 100g butter.  Simmer over a low heat about 40 minutes until the tomatoes have reduced and slightly separated from the butter.  Discard the onion and either use the sauce immediately, set aside to reheat later or freeze. This sauce is indescribably good.   It will keep for a few days in the fridge. Serve this on any kind of pasta including filled shapes, which is our next project.  I served the first batch with cauliflower florets that I had lightly steamed then roasted in olive oil with a sprinkling of chilli flakes.  Just top with the sauce and some grated parmesan.
We used the reserved fettuccine with chicken and mushrooms with tarragon, which is a dish well worth trying.  We have made this two or three times and it is nice with any of the suggested accompaniments.
We  made some pappardelle by loosely rolling the sheets and cutting by hand about two centimetres wide.  We served this with my go to Bolognese recipe.  This sauce with pappardelle is one of my favourite pasta dishes and the home made pasta just made it better.
This experiment has been worth the effort and we will be keeping it up. Next we will be trying stuffed pasta.  If you have any suggestions about making pasta at home please share.  All ideas welcome.

Chicken dinner

We don't eat chicken as often as we used to.  Not even to make stock because we can buy frames at Moore Wilson.  Recently we needed to replenish the stock and I recalled a wonderful chicken recipe with orzo and leeks, which I discovered last year.  This is such a simple way to serve a roast chicken meal with minimum effort and put at least one more meal on the table during the week, as well as replenish your stock stores. 
Sit a chicken in a roasting pan, breast side up.  Pour over the juice of a lemon, rubbing some into the skin, then stuff the lemon skins into the cavity along with some sprigs of thyme and rosemary, and tarragon if you have it.  Ours has died back for the winter. 
Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and dot with a little butter.  Chop some more of the herbs and sprinkle over, then season with sea salt and black pepper.  Add about 2cm of water to the pan and lots of unpeeled garlic cloves.  A dozen would be good.  Roast at 200 for 70 minutes or until done. 
Transfer the chicken and garlic to a plate, cover with foil and keep warm while you prepare the accompaniments. Add about 1/4 cup white wine to the pan juices, bring to the boil on the stove top and reduce to a pouring cream consistency. 
Meanwhile, and I would start this just before taking out the chicken, boil a saucepan of water for the orzo and sauté in a little olive oil a finely sliced leek in a heavy bottomed frying pan.  Cook the leeks until they are soft and sweet then add 2-3 bunches of finely sliced spinach.  Cook the orzo (or risoni or any rice shaped pasta) according to the instructions on the packet and mix with the leek mixture.  Pile the orzo mixture onto a serving plate and top with the chicken and garlic then drizzle over the reduced winey pan juices.  This will become your go to chicken recipe. 
Next day make stock.  The left over orzo makes a good weekend lunch  - just heat and add any other left over greens you have in the fridge.  You could add some cooked puy lentils if there is not so much orzo and more of you.
During the week you could use up the left over chicken in a pasta dish.  Make a tomato sauce by gently frying chopped garlic in a little olive oil then add a crumbled dried chilli, 2 tsp dried oregano and 3 tins of tomatoes.  Simmer for an hour then add a tbsp. red wine vinegar and stir well to make sure all the tomatoes are broken down.  You can use what you need now and freeze the rest in batches for later.  Once you've set aside some to freeze add the shredded left over chicken and maybe some blanched broccoli or whatever green vegetable you have to hand.  Serve with penne or fusilli pasta topped with grated parmesan. Or your home made tagliatelle.  But that is another story.

From the sea to our table

I love food from the sea.  Fish, shellfish, crustaceans  - I love them all.  We have such great seafood here and I love to showcase it with visitors.  Some people, though, can be a little delicate when it comes to seafood so I tend to fall back on lamb or other safe choices.
I was therefore delighted when we recently hosted visitors from Scotland who wanted to try everything.  I just prepared a variety of sea foods and put them all on the table for people to help themselves.  We had bluff oysters  with a little pepper, green-lipped mussels and littleneck clams steamed in white wine and parsley and flaked Coromandel Smoking Company kingfish on a dish.  For pepper seared tuna, mix a little sesame oil with a tsp English mustard and brush over a tuna fillet cut in a log of even thickness at each end.  Heat a dry frying pan until it is very hot and sear the tuna on the long sides.  Take out of the pan immediately and cool.  With a sharp knife slice as finely as you can and serve with finely sliced spring onion, soy sauce and wasabi.
For a ceviche-style dish get some good quality fillets of white fish such as blue cod and slice as thinly as you can.  Lay out on a large platter and dress with finely sliced spring onions and deseeded red chillies.  Just before serving squeeze over the juice of a lime or two.
This was accompanied with salad greens.  It was so simple, it was hardly cooking but was really delicious.
A few weeks ago a friend gave me some tuna.  You may recall I have been the beneficiary of this friend's bounty in the past.  This time we prepared two quite different dishes. 
The first was spiced tuna with an aubergine relish.  To make the relish, which would also go well with lamb or chicken, cut an aubergine into cubes, toss in olive oil and bake in a single layer on a baking tray at 200 for 30 mins or so.  In a frying pan, soften half a finely chopped red onion then add 1/2 tsp each coriander, cumin, cinnamon, paprika and cook for a minute.  Add 1/2 tin chopped tomatoes, 2 cloves crushed garlic, 1/2 a finely chopped green chilli and bring to a simmer.  Add the cooked aubergine and add a pinch sugar, a squeeze of lime and salt and pepper to taste.
Brush the tuna steaks with olive oil and season then sear in a hot grill pan two minutes each side.  Serve on the aubergine and top with mint leaves.
For something quite different we had our old favourite tuna and white bean stew.  This is a traditional Mediterranean method where the tuna is cooked in a sauce.  Using a tuna steak per person, sear the steaks first in a pan and set aside.  In the pan, saute 1/2 a finely chopped onion, 1/2 a finely diced carrot, 1/2 a stick of finely diced celery, 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic with 1/4 tsp each toasted cumin and coriander seeds, coarsely ground.  Add 1/2 tsp Spanish paprika and a handful of black olives.  Lay the tuna back in the pan in one layer and add 1/2 tin chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup chicken stock.  Simmer about 15 minutes then add 1/2 jar of cooked butter beans and gently mix through.  Sprinkle with parsley to serve.  You will want some crusty bread to mop up the sauce at the end.

Good Food

When I first came to Wellington in 1985 I regularly clipped the recipes from the Listener and collected them in a scrap book.  Initially Lois Daish and Annabel Langbein alternated weekly and then Lois took the column over for many years.  Many of these recipes were and still are my go to source for family staples.  Most of my favourites were captured in Good Food which my mother  bought me and which is now rather dog-eared and stained.  Later I collected all Lois' books.  One recipe that wasn't in any of the books was my go-to meat loaf recipe, aptly titled My Meatloaf.  When we were renovating the kitchen all the cooking books were packed away for the duration and this scrap book never reappeared.  I have searched high and low and always hope that it will turn up along with a book about coffee by Claudia Rodin that my mother once gave me.  They must both be in the same carton - if you've seen it let me know or if you ever happen across a copy of the coffee book, I would love to replace it.
The recipe from the book whose loss I have most regretted is the meatloaf.  I have tried over the years to find another.  Friends have passed on recipes which were good but not as good. The problem is often consistency - they are too smooth whereas I remembered Lois' as being coarser, a bit more substance. Recently I discovered that a good friend is Lois' neighbour and I told her my dilemma.  She mentioned this to Lois and now I have the recipe back in my collection.  The original column had a photo of the loaf cooked in a tin but I didn't recall this as I had only clipped the recipe not the picture.  I had always shaped the loaf according to Lois' instructions in the recipe.  This is how it was intended.
When I read over the recipe, it read very much like many of the other recipes I had tried but when I made it, it was clear that it was the right one both in flavour and consistency.  To make Lois' and my meatloaf, sauté a finely chopped onion in a little butter with some finely chopped thyme and sage.  In a large  bowl mix 2 cups of fresh breadcrumbs with a cup of milk, two eggs and salt and pepper.  Add the onions and 500g each minced beef and pork.  On a lightly greased baking tray form the mix into a sausage-shaped loaf.  Cover with 6-8 rashers of bacon.  Bake at 200 for 45-60 mins.  We used to serve this with mashed potato and broccoli and home made tomato sauce.  This was just perfect.  This is quite a large quantity and will feed a crowd (or our family of seven).  I think you could easily halve it.  Just watch your cooking time and don't let it dry out.  On this occasion I froze the left overs in two portions for future occasions.
We have many other favourites from Good Food.  Louisiana chicken salad  was often Isabel's birthday choice and Jasper requested it when he was recently home from France. I always make the broccoli salad with our own crop although Lois may not recognise my modifications.  All these are just great family meals which were always popular in our house and which we now all have in our repertoires.  I am so glad to be reunited with My Meatloaf.

Easter traditions

As you know Easter is always a favourite time in my culinary year.  There are traditional favourites we have every year and there is always the time to try something new.
I have been making Nigella Lawson's hot cross buns from Feast for many years but this year I thought I would try Cuisine's proclaimed best-ever hot cross buns.
These will be my go to recipe for the next few years.  They were spicy perfection.  The only improvement could be my crosses which were a bit too runny and elicited the following from Phoebe - "I don't think Jesus died on a blob".  It didn't stop her from eating them on Friday and Saturday and taking some home.  I used to try and make these for breakfast but it was always a bit pressured so I now go for a late morning brunch which carries us through to an early supper.  We can reheat what's left for breakfast on Saturday...and Sunday if necessary. They kept very well.
Our Good Friday supper was, as usual, smoked fish pie.  I don't really vary the recipe although I might vary the type of fish.  This year we used smoked hoki and warehou.  Both were perfectly flaky.
I used to make this regularly as a family meal and it was once a great favourite with the children but alas they all outgrew it and it has been relegated to Good Friday.  Much as I enjoy both making it and eating it, I don't mind that it has become only an annual event.  We all look forward to the meal, enjoy it and then put it aside until next year. 
Easter Sunday is always a good opportunity to have friends over and share some kind of slow cooked lamb.  We have usually enjoyed a leisurely but also industrious three days and we can still enjoy an evening with friends and a sleep-in the next day.
We started the meal with some Pascal's smoked paprika pate served with a selection of cheeses - tome de savoir, manchego and a Waimate brie, on grilled slices of  home-made sourdough. The pate is excellent - Pascal's grandmother's recipe, he tells me.  We got it at the City Market.  Try it.  I had just read about serving torn pieces of very ripe figs with rocket so we had that to accompany and I recommend it.
I often go for the middle eastern-style lamb but this year we looked to Jamie Oliver and a very British approach with a slow roasted shoulder of lamb and smashed root vegetables and greens.   Earlier in the day we had been tidying up the garden to get in some winter crops and came across the last of the agrias that had been missed.  That went in our mash along with the last of the garden carrots.  I have to mention here that it has been an outstanding year for carrots.  We have had a bumper crop with the largest carrot weighing in at 750g.  It was still sweet and delicious, not at all woody.  A bit like last years giant radishes which definitely didn't perform as well this year.
I also love swede in a mash.  It brings a lovely creaminess and a little goes a long way.  I often add swede to pumpkin soup as well.  For our greens we had red kale, cavalo nero and savoy cabbage.  There is a stall at the vege market that sells incredible kale and cavalo and can usually be relied on for outstanding cabbages and leeks.
As usual I thought we needed something else but in the end I refrained and I am glad because we had a delicious meal with very little effort.  There was enough to feed the seven of us at the table and on Monday I turned what was left into a delicious hash/bubble and squeak.
At Easter I like something apple-y to herald autumn.  I enjoyed the seasonal aspect of Easter in the northern hemisphere and I was thinking of Harriet, Max and Jasper  heralding the arrival of spring in their respective locations.  Here I like my Easter meal to represent the autumn bounty. I made an apple and blackberry crumble.  It is only recently we have been able to buy fresh blackberries and I am making the most of them.  Lightly stew 1/2 dozen apples in butter and three tbsp golden caster sugar, or any caster sugar, covered for 15 mins.  I used Cox's Orange plus a couple of windfalls off our tree.  Add about three punnets of blackberries and simmer with the lid off for five mins.  Strain the fruit, retaining the liquid.  Layer the fruit in a dish and top with a crumble mix.  I often add spices but on this occasion I simply rubbed butter into flour, added caster sugar and a little Demerara along with a handful of rolled oats.  Keep the crumble in the fridge until you need to top the fruit and bake.  I poured a little of the reserved juice over the fruit just before baking.  I served this with home made vanilla ice cream.
We had another success this Easter.  For the first time we had enough crabapples to make crabapple jelly.  Not a lot but enough to make 1/2 a dozen jars.  For the first few years of the life of the tress I was reduced to improvising cranbapple chutney. This was nice enough but does not compare to jars of delicious fruity jelly.  My Grandma always made crabapple jelly and I can't eat it without thinking of here which is an excellent reason to make it.

Let them eat cake

I like to bake cakes but these days the occasions to eat cake become fewer.  With just two of us at home most of the time we are just not going to get through a cake.  It is nice to have a special occasion and an appreciative crowd to make  a cake a worthwhile undertaking.
This summer I have made three cakes I think will be worth revisiting next summer.
My favourite type of cake is the basic pound cake, lemon or blueberry, or my old favourite lemon yoghurt cake.  Sometimes they don't seem quite festive enough for occasions which call for cake.  I am not big on icing so a cake that uses fruit as decoration really appeals. In summer you can't go past strawberries.
The November Dish had a light as air sponge filled with balsamic soaked strawberries and a mascarpone cream.  I made this for both Isabel and Phoebe's birthdays. On both occasions we started the evening with this amazing strawberry cocktail.  It's relatively easy to produce a non-alcoholic version for the drivers.
To make the cake prepare two sponges around 20 cm in diameter.   Hull and roughly chop 3 punnets of strawberries then mush them a bit with a fork.  Combine with 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar and 2 tbsp. icing sugar.  Leave for half an hour then strain the liquid into a bowl.  When ready to serve put one half of the sponge on a serving dish and brush with the balsamic juices.  Top with the strawberries - if they are too many leave some aside to serve on the side. Mix 150 ml of softly whipped cream with 200g mascarpone and spread across the strawberries.  Brush the other sponge half with the rest of the balsamic juices and sit atop the cream.  Dust with icing sugar. 
In January I had a celebration at work which coincided with my discovery of this amazing spiced vegetable cake. We also had courgettes and carrots in the garden so it seemed perfect.  I recommend that you try this cake.  Substituting dates for sugar was a great idea.  The cake was neither too sweet nor too heavy.  I am not a fan of the cream cheese frosting on a traditional carrot cake.  I find it far too sweet and cloying.  This one seemed lighter.  Just think of this cake as one of your five servings of vegetables for the day.
Just when I didn't feel I could serve up the balsamic cake for a third time in three months, Dish presented me with the Summer Strawberry Pimms cake.  This is really too easy.  Into the bowl of your standing mixer add 350g very soft butter, 350g caster sugar, 350g flour, 2 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt, 1 tsp mixed spice, grated zest of an orange, 6 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract and the all important 2 tbsp Pimms.  Beat until you have a smooth batter & divide between two 20cm sponge tins.  Bake at 170 for 25 mins or until done. 
In a saucepan boil 1 cup Pimms, 1/2 cup caster sugar, juice of an orange and a lemon, 2 sprigs mint until reduced and syrupy.  Remove the mint.  Spoon the hot syrup over the smooth sides of the cooled cakes.  Beat 1 cup of softly whipped cream with 200g mascarpone and the zest of an orange.  Don't beat the mascarpone or it WILL curdle.  Spread half the cream mixture between the two cakes and the other half on top. Decorate with orange segments, strawberries,  mint and borage flowers.  I always have borage in the garden in the summer because it brings the bees to pollinate vegetables like broad beans and courgettes.  Once you have it, it will never leave.  I served this cake twice as well  - firstly as a welcome home to Max (from London) and Peter and Mike (from their Routeburn trek).  Then I served at as a celebration of having the entire family at the table for the first time in six plus years.  A fitting celebration.

A cultural exchange

The weekend following the family meals we had another kind of sharing meal.  This time a sharing of recipes and ingredients.  We have visited the home of Georgian friends and we are always served  this amazing Georgian bread called khachapuri.  I wanted to try this at home so our friend came over to teach me and in return I gave her my sourdough culture and the instructions to make bread.  I have had this culture now for four years and I have nurtured it through extended holidays.  It provides me with one or two loaves of delicious bread every week.  I have shared this culture with some of you and it has not ended well   Hands up who still has the culture.  No, I thought as much.
I digress. Khachapuri.  This is a delicious Georgian cheese bread which will be served at any Georgian festive table.  It is not a precise recipe so if you want to try it let me know and I can talk you through what I know.  Essentially make a dough with yoghurt, eggs, a pinch of soda, a little oil and as much flour as you need to make a soft elastic dough. Once you have such a dough you could refrigerate for an hour or so and prepare the filling.  In Georgia they usually use a Georgian cheese called suluguni.  We used 50/50 mozzarella and cottage cheese and a beaten egg.
Take a fist sized chunk of dough and roll on a floured surface into a round that will fit in a 30cm non stick frying pan.  Put the cheese in the centre and bring the edges to the centre in a magical way that you need to see. Fry on both sides until it is done. 
We had another couple for dinner as well and for aperitif I made a delicious smoked fish pate served with thinly sliced grilled sourdough. We did the lamb leg again but this time in the kettle barbeque which was wonderful.  Sear directly over the charcoal on both sides for 5 minutes then cook indirectly for up to an hour or till done to your liking.  I then realised that our other guests were Greek and I did not want to present Greek style food that wasn't really.  I didn't bother with the tzatziki and served the quinoa salad instead of the Greek salad but I thought the skordalia went so well with the lamb that we did that and were not going to mention the word.  The guests did however recognise it as skordalia so I think we got that one right.  I'm afraid we had the granita again too.  When you find a meal which is perfect for the season just keep eating it.
As a result of this evening I am now the owner of The Georgian Feast and am planning my own Georgian themed meal.  As part of this cultural exchange I also have a container of kefir grains.  I had heard of this but wasn't sure what it was.  I am still unsure but it is very good.  Similar to yoghurt but not.  Delicious - kind of sharp and sour but refreshing.  You just add milk to the grains and leave on the bench until it thickens then strain off the yoghurt-like substance to eat, rinse the grains and start again.  No heating milk to a precise temperature, no leaving in a hot water cupboard until set.  Apparently the grains multiply so I will have some to pass on shortly if you think you can keep them alive.
You need to strain off the whey and I used this to make another recipe I encountered recently.  Carrots cooked in whey. I didn't make the whole recipe, just the carrots, which I served with rump steak and other vegetables from the garden. I may try the entire recipe some time.