New York, Paris, Huddersfield

We've been eating around the world recently. We had four friends over for the best of New York City, starting with a Manhattan and a platter of oysters, Bluff & Pacific served with thinly sliced sourdough, lemon wedges & Worcester sauce.  This dinner started out because a friend said she'd never eaten oysters.  She liked them. Oysters made me think of NYC so I went on to do a rib roast served with Delmonico potatoes and a garden salad with Thousand Island Dressing.  I made my first ever attempt at New York baked cheesecake and it was excellent.  Unfortunately we were having so much fun we forgot to take photos!
Then another friend said she'd like French onion soup so we had another group of four for a taste of France.  We started with a champagne 75 , kind of like a gin and tonic but with champagne in place of tonic.  We followed the soup with a boeuf bourgignon, roasted potatoes and buttered peas and then Phoebe kindly made us a cherry clafoutis.  Again too much fun, too few photos.
Then it was back to the best of British for Peter & I.  I had a hankering for parsnips and found a Nigel Slater idea for sausage with baked parsnips.  Nigel had black pudding with his, but I thought we could live without.  Peter however had other ideas and a black pudding was duly purchased.  It was actually really nice.  Not just 'I managed to eat a slice' nice but actually so nice I had two slices and sought out another recipe to use the rest.
We came upon Jamie Oliver's scallops & black pudding with clapshot which is just mashed neeps & tatties with chives.  Note that when the Scots refer to turnips they mean swedes not the little white turnips we get.   I served a handful of rocket & watercress on the side to counter the richness of the pudding & scallops.  Sometimes it's worth trying new things even when we've spent all our lives thinking we don't like it.
Another recent find was toad in the hole for vegetarians - mushroom toad with mushy peas and onion gravy.  This was a perfect meal and just thinking about it makes me want to eat it again.   I got the blue peas at Common Sense Organics.  They're so pretty.  Try them with a simple fish supper.
 I saved the cooked barley and had it as a salad with lamb meatballs later in the week however I think you could actually do the onion gravy without.

Pastrami on Rye

I love New York!  The food is wonderful. Our movements were somewhat restricted due to Hurricane Sandy but that didn't seem to prevent us from eating all the things we wanted to and some things we hadn't thought of.
Again the oysters were unexpected.  Many bars have oyster happy hour - $1 per oyster.  On the Sunday evening before the storm we enjoyed a dozen oysters in a the Domaine wine bar in Long Island City.  Then because there was a hurricane coming by and not so many customers, the barman suggested that we have another dozen at happy hour prices. 
That evening we also went to a nearby bar to listen to Edgar Allan Poe readings by the fireside.  This event was related to Halloween but the eerie atmosphere was enhanced by the strengthening winds swirling outside.  Unfortunately, the basement of this bar was flooded during the storm and it lost power for some weeks and all its sound equipment.
I had the best cocktails ever in the Dutch Kills Bar in Long Island City.  If you are in the area visit this bar.  They serve outstanding cocktails mixed with hand cut ice.  Visit the web site and watch the videos. Rather than too sweet, many of the cocktails are made with ginger and lemon and are really refreshing.
I wanted to go to an authentic New York Italian restaurant and we went with our host and his neighbours to the very thing.  Trattoria L'Incontro in Astoria, Queens.  There is an extensive menu but don't pay much attention to that because once you have perused it and considered what you might order, your waiter will return and reel off a list of specials so long you won't retain any of it although you will vaguely recall that you liked the sound of item 13 if you could only remember what it was.  This was an outstanding meal. 
The other thing I was keen to do was to eat in a New York deli.  We were recommend to try the Stage Deli on 7th Avenue and I can recommend this to you.  Peter and I both went for the traditional pastrami on rye with a side of potato salad.  We barely managed it.  I saw a Triple Decker being delivered to another table and I must have looked so astounded the server came over and said to me, "yours is just a trainer sandwich!"  We shared a slice of New York cheesecake between three with coffee afterwards.  I have never liked cheesecake in my life but I liked this.
And you can't go past the traditional diner.  We absolutely loved the Red Flame diner on West 44th St.  You could even order and have the meals delivered.  Good quality, affordable meals - the problem is what to choose off a menu the length of a small novel.  The salads are really good and it was here that Peter had wonderful homemade lemonade.
It's nice to be back to home cooking but I am looking forward to a follow up hurricane-free visit when I hope to sample more traditional NY fare.

Dining in DC

We have been enjoying the delights of North American cuisine and I thought I'd share with you.  We spent 4 days in Washington DC and that was an unexpected culinary delight.  We stayed at the Tabard Inn in Dupont Circle.  This was recommended by a friend and I am recommending it to you.  Breakfast was included in the room rate and this was a great breakfast.  We also spent some time in the hotel lounge enjoying the pre- and post-prandial cocktails.  I recommend the Don't Bring me Down, Spruce. 
Washington is located by the Potomac river and seafood abounds.  On our first day The Old Ebbitt Grill caught our eye and we dined there that evening.  They had an extensive oyster menu and we shared a dozen as a starter with the recommended glass of Jules Taylor Sauvignon, which was named Grand Champion in the Old Ebbitt Grill 2011 International Wines for Oyster Competition!
I followed these briny delights with lobster which I have never eaten before.  It just seemed the right thing to do.  It's a bit fiddly but well worth the effort if you haven't tried it.  This is definitely a seafood town. 
Peter had the crab cakes which are a speciality of the region.  They are essentially a fish cake so comprise fish and potato.  These and the ones I enjoyed later in the week at the Tabard restaurant were definitely a very high ratio of crab to potato.
They did not disappoint.   I am not sure if they are seasonal or if you can enjoy them year round. 
The rest of the time we enjoyed diner fare.  A good American diner is a delight and we enjoyed 2 in Washington.  The Luna Grill and Diner nearby served classic diner fare including delicious salads, burgers and somewhat over-sized sandwiches.  This is proper food at affordable prices.  Yes, some of the meals are over-sized but you don't have to eat it all.  Your lettuce will be fresh and crisp, your vegetables will be perfectly cooked,  your burger will be grilled to your specifications and the service will be impeccable. As you can see I am a fan of the diner.  When we spent a morning strolling around Georgetown we had lunch in a diner there.  Martin's Tavern claimed to have served every sitting president since it opened and that JFK proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier there.  Certainly their home while he was a congressman is just around the corner.
I was really delighted with eating in Washington.  I hadn't been expecting anything special and was saving my eating for the next leg of our trip - New York City.  Here we enjoyed more cocktails, classic NY Italian fare, the deli sandwich and a hurricane.  More on that to come.

A Holiday by the Sea

We've just returned from 7 nights in the Coromandel.  We stayed at Kuaotunu and aside from the joys of walking on the beach & swimming, (yes! your eyes do not deceive - bathing in the sea did occur), we enjoyed the local produce which mostly comprised "fruits de mer".
On our way from Auckland we stopped at Coromandel Town which is a really delightful town that I heartily recommend.  Coromandel offered many delights.  Our first stop was the Coromandel Oyster Company which is essentially a roadside stall selling primarily oysters but also other shellfish products.  We bought Coromandel oysters on the half shell which we enjoyed with a slice of delicious bread we bought at the Chai Tea House (scroll to the bottom of the page).
We also bought a tub of Mussel Chowder which we enjoyed for lunch the following day again with the delicious Tea House bread.  It was a dense seedy sourdough loaf. 
Next stop was the Coromandel Smoking Company where we bought some smoked scallops & prawns along with a fillet of smoked kingfish which we prepared in a salad comprising potatoes, eggs & spring onions mixed with mayonnaise and served on a bed of lettuce.  This was a variation of a smoked fish salad we regularly have at home.  Unfortunately you can no longer buy Coromandel Smoking Company fish in Wellington as far as I know.  If you know something I don't please let me know.
We were staying in a bach at the back of a house & I had noticed some mint in the garden which gave me the idea of cooking a lamb steak served with roasted potatoes & yoghurt mixed with mint.  Lamb steaks are something I often cook on holiday because you don't need the resources of the pantry.  We always travel with coffee & our trusty espresso pot, along with a bottle of olive oil, grainy mustard, white wine vinegar, the pepper grinder & a jar of cumin.   We are well prepared for whatever culinary treat presents itself.
To our delight our host went out fishing one morning & presented us with a plate of freshly caught snapper fillets.  We served these simply pan fried with a squeeze of lemon, more roasted potatoes & a salad.  This was the most delicious snapper I have ever eaten so we were delighted when another few fillets came our way the next day.  We had plans for dinner so we used them in a salad for our lunch.
We also visited the local eating establishments.  One of the highlights for me was a visit to Colenso Country Cafe where I enjoyed a slice of plum cake so delicious I had to return a few days later & have another slice.  Speaking of plums, which did put in multiple appearances on this holiday, we visited The Artists' House at Whenuakite and on our arrival the artist (Julie) offered us a plum straight from the tree.  This was a magical plum experience - a Luisa plum which was egg shaped with firm yellow flesh.  I find most yellow fleshed plums floury & tasteless but this was firm fleshed & truly delicious.  Unfortunately I suspect they would not do well in Karori.  The artist was planning to make plum brandy with her surplus.
One evening we treated ourselves to a meal at Salt Restaurant in Whitianga.  I had the Coromandel mussels followed by the market fish.  Both were superbly cooked & presented.  On a return visit to Coromandel Town via the 309 Road (check out Stuart's pigs), we bought a tub of Oyster Bisque from the Oyster Company for our dinner.  We lunched at Umu Cafe (third down the page) and Peter & I shared a mussel platter.  If you are a fan of mussels you will love this.  There were smoked mussels, crumbed mussels, chowder, pate.  This was mussel heaven.
We will certainly be returning to those sandy beaches and enjoying more delights of the sea.  On the return journey we spent a couple of nights with relatives who were suffering, like the artist above, from a surplus of plums.  We are now enjoying Aunty Lorraine's plum jam on our morning toast.  They also had tired of apple cucumbers and we returned home with a large box.  I have since produced 16 jars of my grandma's cucumber pickle.  This is really simple.  You need
1 doz apple cucumbers or 6 long green (peeled)
3 lb onions
2 lb white sugar
2 pints vinegar
Chop cucumbers & onions.  Sprinkle with salt & leave 2-3 hrs.  Drain & add vinegar, leaving out 1 cup to mix with thickening.  Add sugar, boil till soft (1-2 hours).


Thicken with:
1 c flour
1 dsp curry powder
1 dsp turmeric
1 tbsp mustard powder
mixed with remaining cup vinegar
Boil till thick – 5-10 mins
Makes 8-9 jars (my 16 jars were probably smaller than Grandma's)
Give me a shout if you would like a jar.

For fish lovers

A nage is a reduced stock/sauce which is delicious served with summer vegetables or fish or both. You need to leave the nage to sit for the flavours to develop so start preparing well in advance. Roughly chop a fennel bulb, 1 large onion, 4 celery sticks, a handful button mushrooms and add to a pan with zest of a lemon, salt, peppercorns, 2 bay leaves, thyme, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds & enough water to cover. Simmer 20 minutes, take off the heat, add 300ml white wine & leave to cool 2 hours. Strain & pour about 1 litre into a wide based pan. You can freeze the rest for another time. Add a few threads of saffron, bring to the boil & boil rapidly until it has reduced to 120ml. Transfer to a small pan & set aside. This will now be a really intensely flavoured sauce.

Blanch some fresh vegetables - beans, baby carrots, broad beans, broccoli cut very small -to set the colour & put aside. Steam the fish & shellfish - mussels, scallops, prawns, a delicate fish like John Dory. We usually steam the mussels open first then just heat through on the half shell. Add the veg to finish off/heat through and keep warm while you finish the sauce. Drain any fish juice/mussel licquor you have into the reduced stock, bring to the boil and gradually whisk in 100g butter in small pieces. This makes the sauce thick & shiny. Plate the fish & veg and pour over the nage. Here is another version.

I like to eat lots of scallops while they're in season. Try this for a quick weekend lunch. Allow 6-10 scallops per person. Warm about 2tbsp grated ginger, 1 clove minced garlic, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp very finely chopped capsicum, 2tbsp olive oil. Cook the scallops - 30 seconds each side - in a very hot pan with a little oil & remove to the warmed sauce. In the scallop pan, wilt down a handful of baby spinach leaves mixed with lemon juice. Put on a warm plate, top with scallops, drizzle over marinade & left over pan juices.

During the season, eat whitebait at every opportunity. Make a light batter with 2 eggs, a scant tbsp flour, salt & pepper. Mix through 200g whitebait & fry in spoonfuls about 2 minutes each side. Serve with black pepper & lemon juice. These are a real taste of childhood.

While on seasons, I tasted a Te Matuku Bay oyster at the market this morning. I'd buy them again, however the season is nearly over. What a great start to a Sunday. Strolling along the waterfront slurping an oyster off a shell!

While we're on fish I should mention salmon risotto. This is the perfect spring risotto. Cut 300-400g boned skinned salmon into 2 cm cubes and mix with lemon rind & pepper then set aside. Make a basic risotto with a leek & add saffron with the stock. Blanch some asparagus or green beans. When the risotto is done stir through salmon, vegetables & lemon juice, cover pot & cook 2 minutes, then leave to stand another 2. Serve with lemon wedges.

And don't forget homemade fish & chips.