Home and abroad

It's been a while but I find myself with a moment to spare and I thought I'd catch up with you.  We've been away.  This isn't an excuse but I thought I'd start by sharing some of the delights we ate while we were away.  We travelled to England and Scotland and I made a side trip to Rogat in the Netherlands.  We ate some amazing food and I am not going to mention the not so great - best forgotten.
There are some wonderful places to eat in London.  We made a day trip to Hampstead Heath and I wanted to eat at the Spaniard's Inn.  The food wasn't this good last time I was there.  We sat in the sun and enjoyed a leisurely lunch and a pint.  From the June menu, I had the Scotch egg and Peter had the terrine. We then shared the salad of bulgar wheat, quinoa, lentils, soy flakes, radish, pomegranate & asparagus.  There was one surprise with the salad - no asparagus.  And a slightly odd response to its absence.  The waitress had no idea what asparagus was and peered at the plate uncertain what was actually missing.  The chef and the duty manager were surprised that I had thought fit to mention its non-appearance.  That said, this was the best Scotch egg ever and  a wonderful salad sans asparagus.
I was keen to try out Ottolenghi's Soho offering, Nopi.  We couldn't get a table in the main restaurant but there was space at the downstairs bar.  It was a great atmosphere and great food.  We had a selection of dishes to share.  I was browsing in the Time Out and I found a review for another Middle Eastern restaurant in Soho, the Palomar.  If you only eat at one Middle Eastern restaurant in your life, make it this one.  Again we couldn't get a table but we did secure a perch at the bar where we could observe the food being prepared and the chefs having fun while they cooked.  
We had two great meals in Glasgow.   We were taken by friends to Two Fat Ladies at the Buttery.  This was a five-star restaurant specialising in fish.  We don't often eat out like this.  At the other end of the scale we went to a family run Italian restaurant, Sarti, which is definitely worth a visit. 
Phoebe searched out another amazing find in Canterbury.  Next to the railway station is the Goods Shed where produce was once stored before being transported by train.  This is now a Farmer's Market and restaurant serving locally sourced seasonal food.  I can't describe the meal - you'll have to try it out for yourself.
I also enjoyed home cooking in the village of Rogat in the Netherlands province of Drenthe.  I enjoyed traditional Dutch cooking including Stamppot, made with endive as a summer substitute for kale, and chervil soup.  Most of what I ate was produced from the back yard including eggs and honey.   
Since we've been back we have been enjoying some of the coldest weather Wellington can throw at us, so we thinking slow cooking and lots of winter greens.  Luckily the kale, cavalo nero and rainbow chard in the garden is keeping us going.  We have a new eatery in Wellington, Loretta, sister restaurant to Floriditas.  They have the ultimate comfort rice dish  - warm rice with broken sausage and thyme.  I am making a basic risotto with a sprinkle of chilli flakes and a handful of thyme leaves in with the very finely chopped onions.  I used pork & fennel sausages, skin removed and broken up.  Cook these lightly before adding the rice.  Add extra stock so the resulting dish is quite sloppy.  Add extra thyme at the end and omit cheese.  Truly.   I served with  leeks and winter greens from the garden.
You should also try a potato tagine-style stew which has become a staple at our table.  For four to six, soften a finely sliced onion and two roughly chopped carrots with a pinch of salt, in a heavy bottomed pan.   Add a teaspoon each of ground coriander, cumin, ginger, turmeric and paprika and a pinch of chilli flakes along with three crushed garlic cloves, zest of a lemon, tbsp clear honey, a couple of bay leaves and three long green chillis left whole.  Cook for a couple of minutes.  Add scrubbed red skinned waxy potatoes cut into chunks and turn in the spices. Add a tin of tomatoes, a tin of chickpeas, two cups chicken or vegetable stock and bring to the boil.  Cover and simmer fotry minutes.  Add a handful of green olives at the end and serve with dollops of Greek yoghurt (I use Zany Zeus) and scatter with toasted pumpkin seeds, a tsp of paprika and some finely chopped parsley (or coriander).  You will make this again and again.
 

Going Dutch

This week we stuck with the old standbys with just a couple of new things to share.
We haven't had a fish soup for ages and this week we tried a variation on an old favourite.  For 2, steam a dozen mussels in 1/2 cup white wine until the mussels have opened.  Set the mussels aside and strain the cooking liquor through a fine sieve.  You'll want about 3/4 cup of liquid.  Set a couple of mussels aside to garnish & halve the rest.  Rinse out the pan and put it back on the heat with a little olive oil & butter, 1/2 leek finely sliced & 1/2 fennel bulb finely sliced.  Season, cover & cook over a low heat about 10 mins until tender.  Add a clove of crushed garlic, some fresh thyme & a pinch of saffron.  Cook about a minute.  Add the mussel liquor, 1 1/2 cups chicken stock & 1/4 cup cream.  Bring to the boil & simmer 10 minutes. Add about 300g firm white fish cut into bite-sized pieces.  We used  porae from Yellow Brick Road - responsibly caught via long-line on day boats, traceable, certified by Friends of the Sea.  I added that because, if you check the app I mentioned last week, porae is listed as a bad choice.  Simmer 3 mins or so until the fish is just cooked then take off the heat and add the mussels & some chopped parsley.  Add a reserved mussel to each bowl along with some fennel fronds & a grind of black pepper.  Serve with freshly baked sourdough.
A real find this week was the Dutch favourite Stamppot.  This is Dutch sausage & mash & is divine.  I found the recipe on a Dutch blog along with other interesting ideas so we may be trying some Dutch fare over winter. I pretty much followed this recipe to the letter and although I was sceptical about the vinegar it was perfect addition. The recipe recommends adding a stock cube to the potato cooking water but, in fact, I boiled the potatoes in our home made stock.  I bought the rookworst at Moore Wilson and again I didn't expect to like it but it was delicious.  I also think this would be nice with a good pork sausage and a blob of apple butter.  Did I mention that I had made it again this year, but this time with more sugar because last year it didn't keep well?  This year's batch is much firmer & could be spreadable but still delicious.
We also went back to that old favourite kedgeree. We got some beautiful smoked fish from YBR but I can't recall what it was.  I was reminded how much I love kedgeree and I'm sure it will reappear on our table before too long. 
Next week is going to be interesting.  Harriet has challenged us to spend no more than $21 on the entire week's food including coffees and other treats.  I feel confident we can do it.  I'll let you know how we go.  If you have any suggestions please share.  Alternately if you have any suplus in your gardens they would be welcome too.

A bit of this & a bit of that

I have discovered another Asian dish, this time with chicken. For four, pound 5 cloves garlic, 2 tsp black peppercorns, 2 tbsp coriander root & 1/2 tsp sea salt in a pestle & mortar. You want a thick paste. Using 2-3 large chicken breasts, depending on size, into bite size pieces. Fry the paste in a little vegetable oil until fragrant then add the chicken pieces and stir until coloured. Add 2 tsp brown sugar, 2 tsp fish sauce & 1/2 cup chicken stock. Simmer until cooked. Meanwhile prepare the greens. I used choy sum but try gai larn when in season. Pull the greens into individual stems & blanch 1 minutes, refresh in ice cold water & drain. Dry thoroughly. In a tbsp peanut oil, fry 2 tbsp grated ginger & 2 cloves garlic crushed. Add the greens & toss until hot. Stir a little chicken stock with 2 tsp cornflour top make a paste then combine with 3 tbsp oyster sauce & 1/4 cup chicken stock. Add to the pan and stir until thickened. Serve the chicken & greens with brown jasmine rice.
The sourdough starter is going well. I have shared & the recipient is having great success. I bought a new breadpan to bake it in - a Romertopf Pane. It is working well. It gives a good shaped loaf.
A couple of weekends ago we picked the last olives from the trees of a colleague & we are in the process of brining them. Should be ready in 6-8 weeks.
As a welcome dinner for the new arrival from Melbourne I made a vegetable tagine. It was something I could transport easily and we could eat on our knees with minimum utensils. A few years ago I was given a lovely book of tagine recipes & I just kept making the same one. The carrot and chickpea tagine so inspired me that I have now instigated tagine Saturday until we have worked our way through the entire book. In a tagine or heavy casserole saute 1 finely chopped onion & 3-4 finely chopped garlic cloves, until soft. Add 2 tsp turmeric, 1-2 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cayenne & 1/2 tsp ground black pepper. Stir through onions then add 1 tbsp dark liquid honey & 3-4 medium carrots sliced on the diagonal. Pour in enough water to cover the base of the dish & bring to the boil. Simmer on the stovetop or put in the oven at 180 for 15 minutes until the carrots are softened. Add 1-2 tins drained chickpeas & cook covered a further 15 mins until carrots are cooked. Sprinkle with a little rosewater & chopped parsley & serve with lemon wedges.
You may know I am not a tamarillo fan but they seemed the right thing to take a NZer returning home in winter. Baked with honey & red wine they did have more appeal. Use 1-2 tamarillos per person and try a mix of colours. To skin the tamarillos, make a small cross in the pointed end, place in a bowl & cover with boiling water. Stand for 2-3 minutes & refresh in cold water. Heat the oven to 160. Cut the tamarillos in quarters & roll back the skin from the point to the stem. Lay them in a baking dish. Wear an apron & take care not to splash.
For 4-6 people, combine 1 cup red wine with 2 tsp dark liquid honey & 2 star anise. Simmer until the honey is disolved in the wine. Pour over the tamarillos & cover loosely cover. Bake about 15 mins then baste & continue cooking another 10 mins. Serve with cream or ice cream.
While we've had Phoebe back in Wellington, for the few evenings we've had her home we've been delivering her favourite meals. Onion soup, pork chops in mustardy cider, home made hamburgers, tex mex, meatballs and one of her all time favourites - toad in the hole.
Make a Yorkshire pudding style batter. Break 2 eggs into a bowl & season. Whisk lightly & add 1/2 cup milk. Whisk again & add 125g flour. Whisk to form a thick batter & whisk in another 1/2 cup milk. Add chopped thyme or sage & set aside. You can rest for several hours in the fridge. I use sage for pork & thyme for beef sausages.
Preheat the oven to 210. In an oven proof pan, fry 1 sausage per person in a little olive oil until lightly browned on 2 sides. Add 1 sliced onion and 1 capsicum cut into thick slices. Fry lightly. Push the sausage and vegetable towards the centre of the pan & with the pan still on the heat pour the batter around the edge. Put the pan straight into the top third of the hot oven & bake about 20 minutes. Serve with sauce & follow with a crisp salad. This is real comfort food - not for everyday but it will warm your heart on a cold winter's evening.

Eating on the road

It's often nice when you go away to eat in. It saves money and if you are in a small place where choice is limited, you are more likely to get food you like if you make it yourself. The trick is to plan. We recently spent 4 nights away & we cooked in for 3 nights & had a great meal out on the last night.

The first night we had lamb steaks with couscous & courgettes. We took the wherewithal for the first night, including buying the lamb steaks at our butcher on the way out. We stayed at Sage Cottage on the Brodie wine estate in Martinborough. It was kitted out with a barbecue and good sized pans & serving dishes. The lamb was rubbed with cumin, salt & pepper & the courgettes were tossed in olive oil, provided in the cottage from the estate, salt & pepper - then both were cooked on the barbecue. All I had to do in the kitchen was prepare the couscous which involved lightly frying a couple of spring onions then adding the couscous with an equal quantity of boiling water & setting aside about 10 minutes. When done, I turned through a little olive oil, some toasted pinenuts (toasted the night before & packed in an airtight jar) & some roughly chopped parsley. We enjoyed Schoc chocolates from Greytown with our coffee. My favourite is the new lavender salt caramel individual chocolate.

The next day we drove through Feilding where we stopped at the Farmer's Market. It's worth checking out market days before you leave home because that can be a good source of interesting local produce. We bought lamb & mint sausages from the Wai-Ora Lamb people, new season's potatoes, and some tomatoes for the salad. We brought lettuce from our garden & a few salad items in the chilly bin. We bought some organic kamut bread & Cranbrook pates for starters & finished up with delicious peaches. It was quick & easy to barbeque the sausages & boil the potatoes then toss with oil & parsley.

I had brought a packet of fettucine & picked up some prosciutto in Greytown, so on the third night we bought a packet of frozen peas at the supermarket & had pasta with prosciutto & peas, and a salad. This motel wasn't so well stocked with kitchen implements so I had to cook the pasta in 3 saucepans but it was quick & easy & delicious.

On the last night we treated ourselves to a meal at Element Cafe in Whanganui, which I thoroughly recommend. In addition to outstanding food, the highlight was the guitar player - a very talented young man who, we discovered, is off to Auckland in a couple of weeks to study bio-medicine!

Finally, I am seeking your help. Can anyone identify this mystery vegetable that has popped up in the garden? I assume it was something that has seeded in the compost, so a vegetable we ate last summer. I am hoping it will become apparent as it increases in size but for now I am mystified. Resembles a courgette but is quite squat. Scallopini perhaps? Any thoughts?

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.

Shepherd's Pie & more

Not a lot of time this week but I must tell you about the shepherd's pie that followed last week's delicious lamb. I minced the leftover lamb, added softened onion & garlic, finely chopped all left over veg, which included potatoes, kumara, pumpkin, broccoli, sprouts. Added the gravy and a couple of chopped tamarillos, some herbs, salt & pepper to taste. You want the mixture just moist but not soggy. Pile into a casserole dish & top with mashed potato & kumara. Remember kumara & lamb are good friends. I added a grating of nutmeg. Bake in a moderate oven for about 1/2 an hour until topping is golden. I always use agria potatoes for mash because they have a beautiful colour as well as flavour. This was the best shepherd's pie ever - I'm not sure why. I put it down to a either the tamarillo or the gravy or a combination of both. Try adding a tamarillo to a casserole as well. You will not be disappointed. They add a delicious sharpness.

You will remember last week we bought those sausages. They went into a leek, mushroom & sausage risotto. This was done in the usual way - soften mushrooms with the leek, add rice, then wine, then stock. I added fennel seeds & rosemary. I pan-fried the sausages, drained, chopped and added with Parmesan. One sausage per person is plenty so splash out on really good sausages - or make your own.

There was a leek languishing in the pantry on Friday so I put together another risotto, this time adding frozen peas and some crispy fried bacon (free range) at the end.

We went to friends for dinner on Saturday & had a delicious meal. Before dinner we had a superb pork terrine with crackers. (If you are reading this can you remind me where it came from). For dinner we had oxtails with dumplings, mash & brussels sprouts. Pretty much my perfect meal. Followed by Caramel & Croissant pudding.

The night Phoebe went out to a chemistry quiz, we treated ourselves to a potato, mussel & chorizo salad. We'll be having that again!

This morning we went to the vege market and called into the new City Market. I am reserving judgement for now. We didn't eat before we went as we thought there might be tastings. And there were, but we also treated ourselves to a cup of cod & oyster chowder. It was the perfect breakfast.

2 Little Piggies went to Market

Welcome to new blog followers. I'm interested to hear what you think and happy to answer questions. Actually I'm really keen to answer questions so please feel obliged to ask one.

School lunches for Phoebe at the moment consist of a wrap filled with shredded lettuce, grated carrot & cheese & shredded chicken. If you buy shredded chicken at the supermarket it is probably not free range but we have found a delicious & simple way to produce shredded chicken at home. You don't always have left over roast chicken to shred but if you buy a breast you can poach it with herbs & spices which produces a delicious moist result. In a saucepan, well cover the breast with cold water, add flavourings (e.g. 1/2 lemon sliced, 2 bay leaves, sprig of thyme, peppercorns), cover pan & bring to the boil. As soon as it boils take it off the heat & leave covered for at least a hour & a half. Shred & refrigerate. Use the poaching liquid as stock. This is about 30% cheaper than buying shredded. It's probably better quality chicken and it is delicious. Poaching chicken like this is also great for salads.

We made delicious quesadillas for lunch today using the wraps. Makes a nice change from a toasted sandwich. We spread a generous layer of green tomato chutney (home made) then a dollop of drained kidney beans, a layer of washed (& dried), shredded spinach, grated Gruyere, a sprinkling of thinly sliced spring onions, a grinding of black pepper. Fold them in half (or quarters if you think the tortilla won't hold the weight), then toast in a ridged sandwich press, or a ridged pan or grill. If you don't have any of those I would grill in the oven until crisp. They do need to be toasted on both sides.

We went to the market this morning and what a feast! Tamarillos at $3.99 instead of the $8.99 in the supermarket so I have a batch of tamarillo chutney on the stove. Mum's recipe which cannot be equalled. Simmer the following for 2 hours. Makes roughly 9 jars depending on size.

2 doz tamarillos, peeled
2lbs brown sugar
1 pint vinegar
1lb apples
1lb onions
1tbsp salt
1tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp pickling spice

Back to the market. Apples at $1.29 ($2.99 in supermarket). Used for chutney, made an apple cake & juiced a batch. We have a Wai-ora Farm lamb roasting in the oven. Gravy. I have always made the gravy in our house but while I was writing this Peter took over this evening & added Maria Pia's Vinocotto. It was truly delicious - really flavourful. I may never make gravy again.

We also bought some Heritage Meat Co. pork & apple sausages. They sell grilled sausages in ficelle at the market. A kind of up market piggy in a blanket, & the Romanian spiced sausage with chutney is hard to resist on a cold morning.

And this morning's find has to be the ceramic grater - a grate plate. This is amazing. Used it to grate nutmeg & ginger for the cake with great success.

And speaking of the apple cake. As well as apples this recipe had raisins and I had just bought this very exciting fruit mix at the supermarket - raisins, sultanas, cranberries, goji berries - so I used them. I think it moves the cake from a "sometimes food" to health food.

The Med in Winter

Roast chicken on Sunday? We started the week with risotto to use up the leftover chicken. On Tuesday we did a delicious mushroom and tomato pasta. We added the rest of the left over chicken. That worked well. A colleague at work rears little piggies in the Wairarapa and I got 3 of her free range loin chops. We pan fried them and made a sauce with cider, wholegrain mustard & a little cream. We served them with potato & celeriac mash, flavoured with a hint of horseradish & steamed Brussels sprouts. That is a problem with all these one-pot meals. They are not really conducive to Brussels sprouts. And Brussels sprouts are one of my best winter friends. I just like them steamed and then dressed with a little olive oil and a grinding of black pepper and a grating of nutmeg.

I have still been thinking spicy after last week's middle eastern focus and on Thursday we went back to an old favourite, Harira. This is a middle eastern lamb & chickpea soup. There are many versions so experiment until you find something you like. I start with the usual suspects, onion, celery, garlic, carrot, softened with 1/2 tsp each of ground cumin, ground coriander, allspice & chilli flakes. Take out the sofrito and brown about 500g diced lamb. When done, squeeze on a generous splodge of tomato paste and return the sofrito to the pan. Add 2 cups beef stock and 2-3 cups water. Bring to the boil, reduce heat & simmer v gently for about an hour. You just need the lamb to be very tender. Add 1/2 cup couscous and a tin of chickpeas, cover simmer a further 5 mins, then turn off the heat & leave to sit for 10 mins for the couscous to finish. Stir in some flatleaf parsley & serve with homemade Turkish bread topped with nigella seeds. You will return to this again & again.

I bought a Gourmet Traveller Magazine (Best of Italy edition) and was inspired by the "Battle of the Bol" article to try to perfect the classic Italian ragu. My pasta mentor is Giuliano Hazan, son of the renowned Marcella. I learned from Giuliano about adding milk or cream and using a ribbon pasta such as pappardelle instead of the more familiar spaghetti. I followed Emma Knowles' recipe, substituting beef for veal. I asked our butcher to mince the beef coarsely & he put it through the mincer only once. I finely chopped the pork myself with the pancetta. I used white wine instead of red because I had a bottle open, and I used a bit less cream but otherwise this turns out to be the ultimate pasta Bolognese. I recommend using pappardelle which is much easier for people with braces to eat and altogether nicer. Make sure you buy good dried egg pasta, not "fresh", unless you've made it yourself.

Sunday we were back in the Middle East with home made Merguez sausages. I made the sausages with the harissa sauce & aromatic pumpkin along with steamed spinach & broad beans dressed with olive oil & feta cheese.

To prepare no-fail spinach, wash & dry thoroughly - I use the salad spinner. Add the spinach in handfuls to the pan, pushing to the back as it begins to wilt. When it is all wilted, add a knob of butter and grate on some nutmeg with a grind of pepper. Even Phoebe likes this.

The sausages were such a success and delicious the next day on toasted leftover Turkish bread with the harissa and some green tomato chutney. I thought that you could experiment with other spice and herb mixes, such as Italian. I thought these might be good for people with heart conditions as they used lean mince. I thought they might disintegrate without skins but they held their shape beautifully and didn't even stick to the pan.

Tonight's dinner was my signature fish stew. Again make this how you like it. Experimenting has got me to this place. Make the usual sofrito. I usually add onion, garlic, carrot, celery, capsicum, fennel if I have some (or a sprinkling of fennel seeds), chilli flakes and a few saffron strands. When softened add 1 or 2 finely chopped Agria potatoes -cook for a minutes or 2. Then add a tin of tomatoes & 2 cups fish or chicken stock. Bring to the boil & simmer until vegetables are cooked. Add a selection of frozen sweetcorn, frozen of fresh prawns and scallops, and about 100g white fish per person. I sometimes include steamed mussels, clams or pipis at the end. This is about whatever you have in the cupboard or happen to fancy on the day. This is best quite soupy and eaten with a soup spoon, mopping up the liquid with some home made ciabatta. (or buy some if you are busy). As usual sprinkle some parsley on at the end.

This afternoon I made a fruit loaf for those fruit toast emergencies and a Madeira cake for school lunches.