At home

For Harriet's birthday I did the usual vegan Mediterranean style medley.  This year I added Patatas Bravas to the menu.  This is a classic Spanish tapa that I had had at a Spanish restaurant in Auckland & have been keen to try.  First make the sauce.  Sweat a finely chopped onion in a little olive oil with some finely chopped thyme, until the onion is very soft & translucent.  Add 3 cloves of finely chopped garlic & a finely chopped, fairly hot red chilli.  Cook a minute or 2.  Add a tin of chopped tomatoes, 2 tsp smoked paprika, a pinch of sugar, salt & pepper.  Simmer about 10 minutes & keep warm. 
Cook a pan of waxy potatoes cut into 3cm cubes, 10-12 minutes (make lots because these will be popular).  Drain & dry then saute in olive oil 10-15 minutes until they are crisp & golden.  Drain & tip into a dish then pour over the warmed sauce.  Scatter with parsley & watch these disappear from the table. Especially if they are served in this new casserole purchased at Alan Rhodes pottery in Whenuakite, Coromandel.
We had friends over & I wanted to spend the evening talking not cooking.  This pork dish was the answer.  For 4, take 600g pork fillets & tie with kitchen string, tying the thin end under for even cooking.  Combine 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, finely chopped rosemary, zest of a lemon in a bowl & season, then rub over the pork & set aside.
In a roasting dish combine 4 parsnips, peeled & sliced on the diagonal, 2 red onions, quartered, 3 carrots peeled & cut on the diagonal, 8 wholes cloves of garlic, skin on.  Toss with a little olive oil & roast 40 minutes intil tender.  Turn occasionally to ensure even cooking.  Make a dressing of 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 cup good olive oil, 1 clove crushed garlic, 1 tsp grainy mustard, 2 tbsp chopped chives, salt & pepper.  Add a couple of handfuls baby spinach to the veg then toss through the dressing.  Brown the pork on all sides in a pan then roast in a hot oven 12 minutes.  Rest 10 minutes.  Toss through the vegetables. I made the mistake of sharing the recipe, so my friends know I hadn't gone to any trouble.
On Monday - yes it's soup Monday time - we had roasted pumpkin with chorizo.  Dice enough pumpkin for 2 & combine with a little olive oil & butter,  1/2 tsp each ground ginger & allspice, 1/4 tsp chilli flakes, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, in a roasting dish.  Roast at 180 until tender & a little caramelised - about 30 mins.  Meanwhile heat a little olive oil in a soup pan & fry 1 dried  sliced chorizo, 1/2 sliced onion, 1/2 diced carrot, 1 stalk sliced celery, 1 clove crushed garlic, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, until onion is soft.  Stir in 1 tbsp tomato paste, 3 cups beef or chicken stock, the roasted pumpkin & 1/2 tin kidney beans.  Simmer 30 minutes.  Puree a small quantity of the soup so you have a mix of pureed & chunky.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream & a sprinkle of smoked paprika.
We found a great recipe for a smoked mackerel salad that made a very simple work day meal.  Finely slice 1/2 an onion & soak in water or white wine vinegar to soften.  Boil a handful of waxy potatoes until tender & set aside.  Grill a couple of rashers of streaky bacon.  Make a vinaigrette with olive oil, white wine vinegar, dijon mustard, capers & a sprig of dill. Add the onions to the dressing & toss with the halved potatoes while they are still warm.  Mix through a fillet of smoked flaked mackerel & crumble the bacon over the top.  You could consider adding a hard-boiled egg.  I didn't this time but might next.
We had a frightful storm last Saturday & we did an emergency dash in pjs to rescue some roses that I feared would be battered.  They looked so wonderful in a vase that I thought I would share with you.  This is the 2nd flowering and these little babies seem to flourish more each year.  I'm pleased to report that there are still plently of blooms left on the bushes.

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.

On the grill

We bought a Weber kettle barbecue for Christmas but we didn't get an opportunity to try it out until this week.  We have had 2 delicious barbecue meals plus much more.  The first day we did the simple rump steak and a corn cob.  The steak was amazingly tender.  To do the corn we peeled back the husk & pulled off all the hairy bits, then tied the husks back on using an elegant knotting arrangement.  Soak the cobs in cold water for 1/2 an hour or so then cook for 20 minutes in the kettle. 
Having had that success we tried a groper steak and a couple of our delicious Heather potatoes.  These have a beautiful bright purple skin when you pick them but it disappears within moments of heating.  I boiled it for 5 minutes or so first then roasted it in the kettle for 20 minutes.  It was perfect and the fish was moist & firm.  So as not to waste the heat in the barbecue we then grilled out lamb fillet for weekday salads & roasted the baby beets.  This could become quite fun but it's not very appealing to be cooking out of doors in a howling northerly so our opportunities for experimentation may be somewhat curtailed this summer.
I still have a some walnuts sitting in a bowl that were given to me by a grower & we found the perfect way to use them.  Beetroot & walnut hummus.  Start by roasting 50g shelled walnuts at 180 for 5-7 minutes.  Don't buy them shelled  - they will be disgusting.  Always shell them just before eating. Over a medium heat, dry fry 1 tbsp cumin seeds for about a minute & crush them in a mortar & pestle.  Set aside, but not so far aside that you forget to add them to the hummus. Whizz 15g stale bread in a food processor until you have fine crumbs then add 200g cooked beetroot, 1 tbsp tahini, 1 clove crushed garlic, the juice of a lemon, 1/2 tbsp olive oil salt & pepper and don't forget the cumin.  Blend to a thick paste.  Taste & you might want to adjust the flavouring or add a little more oil if it is too stiff.  Serve as a dip or spread.  
My other find for the week was panacotta.  I have always imagined this to be really hard but was inspired when we spent a night at the White Swan in Greytown on a special deal.  We stayed in the White Suite and dined in the restaurant where they served a vanilla bean panacotta.  I had a go when I got home & it was really easy. 
Combine 100ml organic whole milk & 250ml cream in a pan with 40g caster sugar & a vanilla pod halved with the seeds scrapped into the milk.  Put the whole pod in to infuse then remove it before adding the gelatine. Bring the milk just up to the boil without bubbling & turn off.  Soak 2 sheets of gelatine in cold water for 5 minutes then squeeze out the excess water & stir in to the hot milk until dissolved.  Leave to cool then add 150ml plain yoghurt.  Pour the mix into 125ml containers such as ramekins & chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours.  To turn out, dip the moulds into hot water & tip out.  I found I also needed to run a knife around the edges.  So delicious.
We had the tahini dressed salad again with roasted Heather potatoes & it may have been even better this time. Do try it especially if you have a glut of courgettes to get through.  We included scallopini which I love, not least for the lovely colour they bring to the salad.