Wellington has had an outstanding summer and we have eaten outside more than usual. This has been very conducive to summer dining and we have had lots of salady things and summer vegetables. The garden has really enjoyed the sun and we have been racing to catch the courgettes before they escaped to marrowdom.
Summer feels right for Spanish cooking and we remembered a while back, on Rick Stein's series on Spain, he made an intriguing Catalan pasta dish which we've been meaning to try for ages. Catalan use Fideua noodles which are short thin pieces of dried pasta similar in thickness and texture to spaghettini. We found something called fadennudeln, which is German but which fitted Rick's description. You could just use spaghettini & break it up. Whatever you decide, have a go.
The recipe said to make a fish stock with tomato passata but we actually had some tomato sauce we wanted to use up so we improvised a bit and just used that, diluted with some light chicken stock. I would make the fish stock next time if I had the time.
In the paella pan (if you don't have one use a regular slope sided pan), fry 2 cloves of thinly sliced garlic. Keep a close eye on it because garlic burns easily and you are looking for golden rather than charred. As soon as it colours scoop it out & set aside. Add 150g of the noodles and fry them in the garlicky oil until they are golden. Again you are looking for light golden rather than dark. Stir in 500g of the tomatoey stock or stocky tomato sauce, a little salt & the fried garlic. Bring to the boil, then reduce & simmer 9 minutes or so until all the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat, cover with an opened out newspaper and leave to rest. When Rick did this all the pasta strands pointed upwards but that didn't happen for us.
While the pasta is resting cook the seafood. We had squid and prawns which worked well. You'll want to have them prepared before you start the pasta so maybe I should have mentioned this at the top of the page. You should always read the whole recipe before you start. Don't you hate it when you're halfway through cooking tonight's dinner when it says "now put in the fridge overnight"?
Use 75g-100g each of peeled prawns and sliced squid. Heat a little olive oil in another pan, add the squid & prawns over a high heat for 1-1 1/2 minutes until just cooked but nicely caremelised. Season with a little salt and serve alongside the pasta. To serve the pasta, dot with aioli (which the Spanish call alioli). If you don't like seafood you could probably sautee some chicken thighs cut into quite small pieces.
Now that the aubergine season is in full swing we have been making aubergine stacks with chicken and cheese. We were inspired to this by a delicious meal we ate at the house of one of you. I don't know if this is what you did but this is our method. Slice two chicken breasts into thinner slices and flatten the thicker slices by bashing between cling film. You want thin escalopes of chicken that will sit on a slice of aubergine. Brush the chicken pieces with oil & white wine vinegar & season. Fan grill at 200 for about 15 minutes turning once.
Slice an aubergine lengthwise and brush with olive oil. Grill on a ribbed hot plate or heavy bottomed pan 2-3 mins each side then finish off with 5 mins under the fan grill. Grill thick slices of haloumi. Heat through a small quantity of that homemade tomato sauce you always keep in the freezer. To assemble, lay a slice of aubergine on the plate, top with a slice of chicken, a slice of haloumi, some torn basil leaves and top with a splodge of tomato sauce. I think you could be flexible here and think about trying different cheeses & herbs. Maybe try oregano with the haloumi & mozarella with basil. You'd probably have to pop the assembled stack under the grill to melt the mozarella. Or try paneer with coriander.
Last Sunday I made an outstanding vegan pudding I had been meaning to try. This was inspired by a recipe from the raw food people in Auckland,
Little Bird. I don't actually subscribe to the raw food philosophy any more than I embrace veganism or gluten free for its own sake, but I will champion any meal prepared with good quality ingredients that tastes great. These chocolate ganache tarts certainly measure up. This is the
version we saw on River Cottage Veg. I used cashews instead of pecans - cheaper. I used
Blue Coconut oil,
Green & Black organic fairly traded cocoa and I substituted the maple syrup for the agave nectar. Actual maple syrup not maple flavoured syrup! I also made individual tarts using muffin pans and a couple of extras served in a dish as mousse. Think about freezing & serving as ice cream. Note that you must serve this really chilled - at room temperature you may taste the avocado. It will taste less sweet when chilled so sweeten to a little sweeter than your taste prior to chilling. It is really rich so think about mini servings. It is truly delicious so hungry people may eat two but people who overfilled on mains won't manage it even if they think they want to.
On a final note, over the next month we are hosting visitors from foreign parts - the UK & Canada. What shall I feed them? Any suggestions for meals which show off what we produce in New Zealand and are summery?
We still have plenty of beetroot and radishes. I found a delicious new way to serve squid which has the added advantage of using some of the beetroot leaves along with spinach. For four, saute a finely chopped red onion in a little olive oil then add 500g squid sliced into rings, with 1/4 cup white rice. It may not seem like much rice but it is enough. You don't want the rice to overwhelm. The squid & spinach are the stars here. Cook 3 minutes or so then add a tin of tomatoes and a handful of roughly chopped spinach & beetroot leaves with 2 tbsp chopped parsley. Simmer 10 mins or until rice & squid are cooked. Delicious.
Remember spicy bean stew? This a herby version. Saute a sliced leek in olive oil until soft then add 2 cloves chopped garlic and cook a minute or two. Add a tin of tomatoes and a good handful of finely chopped herbs - parsley, thyme, chervil. Cook about 10 minutes and if it looks dry add a splash of water. At the end add some finely sliced spinach & beetroot leaves with a drained tin of canellini beans and cook until the greens are wilted and the beans are heated through. Add a sprinkling of herbs to serve.
We went to friends for dinner, were served a wonderful meal and sent home with a bag of freshly picked runner beans. I cooked these with herbs and served with steak and a corn and avocado salad. For the beans, slice them thinly and cook in water about 10 mins & drain. There were about 400g. Heat a little olive oil & add a good handful of chopped mint, parsley, chervil & dill with 4 tsp capers, juice and zest of a lemon, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 2 small shallots finely chopped. Stir in the beans & serve. Add any leftovers to a salad the next day. 
For the corn salad, combine kernels from 2 cooked corn cobs or about 2 1/2 cups frozen, 4-5 tomatoes cut into wedges, 2 diced avocados & handful of basil leaves. Toss with a herb dressing made by mixing in a food processor 3 handfuls basil leaves, 2 cloves of garlic, zest of a lemon, 1 1/2 cups olive oil & a pinch of salt. This will keep in a jar in the fridge for a week & is also great with fish & freshly dug potatoes.
The garden is certainly serving us well. On Sunday I tried to finish up odds and ends. We bought some fish from the market & served with the last of the potatoes & aforementioned oil, a corn cob mixed with the last of the peas and the lone leek sauteed with the lone courgette. The courgettes got off to a slow start but are coming on now. I think it may have been the lack of sun as there was a shortage of female flowers on the plants and apparently they appear as the weather warms up.
I have been reading about Isabel (Mrs) Beeton's carrot jam which was intended as a kind of substitute for apricot jam. On further investigation, I stumbled upon a treasure trove of vegetable jams from our old friend Hugh F-W. Not chutney, but vegetable jams. I started with the carrot version, which resembles a spicy marmalade with lots of peel and is delicious. I am keen to try the green tomato but we didn't put in any tomatoes this year. I may be able to muster up the pumpkin jam as we have a splendid crop and if the courgettes improve look out for courgette and lemon jam.
With the pumpkin I have already made what looks like the winter's supply of pumpkin soup. I will be looking for smart ideas for pumpkin shortly. 
