Author: Bunny Eats Design

Sin Removed

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A bagel is a doughnut with the sin removed. – George Rosenbaum When I was a young design student, bagels were my eat on the run breakfast food. There was a bagel cart just outside the design building and early starts meant nothing else was open. The only savoury bagel I could afford was the cream cheese one and fresh, toasted cream cheese bagels are not too shabby for a student diet. It’s been 7 years since I’ve had a decent bagel. I ate them out of convenience and then promptly forgot about them when they were no longer convenient. Until I spied the bright Abe’s Bagel’s stand at the Food Show over the weekend. Their parmesan bagels rock my world. Cut in half, they fit into our toaster and smeared with cream cheese, avocado, salt and pepper they were easy yum. The Koala pronounced it, “Fucking delicious.”

Will design for Dahi Puri

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I went for a walk yesterday during lunch and my curiosity had me peering into the window of a not-yet-ready-to-open new business. Freshly painted dark red walls. Luxurious fabric covered chairs. What’s this? A tell-tale shiny new sign resting across some chairs. It bears the name of one of my all time favourite restaurants. Delight! Excite! This restaurant is consistently considered one of Auckland’s favourite Indian restaurants and the place to go for south Indian food. They currently have 3 restaurants and this will be their 4th. Many years ago, The Koala lived behind their Hobson Street restaurant. This was in the early days long before I fell in love with cooking. We ate there a lot. When the family realised that The Koala was artistically inclined (the art in the alleyway gave it away), they requested help with a child’s homework project. Butter chicken was payment for artistic guidance. I wonder if times have changed?

Food Show – pics and picks

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I had a good time at the Food Show in the weekend and I bought much more than last year’s show. This year felt less busy than last year. I don’t know if it was just more spread out or if there were less visitors/exhibitors. There were lots of new things to taste and we got wine glasses around our necks for easy boozing. My picks of the day… Best looking display: All Good Bananas and Pam’s. Meat tasting of the day: Heller’s brand new fresh chorizo sausage (not yet available in stores) Wine of the day: Coopers Creek “The Clays” Huapai Malbec 2008. Cheese of the day: So many excellent cheeses. Too hard to call. I bought a peppered havarti though which is unusual for me. But it’s creamy peppery bite was pretty special. Interesting foodie concept: Kapuka Pork’s Adopt A Pig scheme. Adopt a pig, get updates on your free-range pig at the farm and when it is ready, it will be processed, packaged and sent to you. Interesting products: Namida Wasabi Spirit. Tastes like wasabi …

A Talisman

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I have an unexplained obsession. My heart does flip flops. If it’s a bright colour, it makes me happy – like the world is giving me a big cheesy smile. When I see one, I feel like it as a good luck omen. It appeared from nowhere. This week, every morning and every evening, this bright yellow speciman greets me on my walk to and from work. Isn’t she lovely? I don’t drive, but I would love to have a Morris Minor. Bright red preferably. Do you have any random symbol that makes you happy like this?

Special Salmon

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I love when salmon fillets are on special at Nosh. I buy salmon when it is on special so it’s good that it seems to happen fairly regularly. To keep each fillet in one piece, I fry it on the skin side only. It gets a little steam session so that the top and inside gets cooked too. Teriyaki Salmon Fillet Ingredients (for one portion) 1 salmon fillet 1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce A tiny bit if oil for the pan Salt (optional) Preparation Brush the fillet with the teriyaki sauce and marinade for an hour or so. Add oil to a hot pan, carefully lay the fillet skin side down and sprinkle with sault. Fry for several minutes. You should see the cooked colour (less bright) of the fish rise up the side. When it reaches the top, Add up to half a cup of water to the pan and cover. Allow steam to cook fish through (about 10 minutes depending the thickness of your fish). Remove lid and continue cooking until all the water is …

Anticipating Food Show

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It’s Food Show time here in Auckland! Wahoooo! Last year we went for Miss C’s birthday and this year will be no different. Super food bargains and plenty of samples here we come! Many exhibitors invited me into their stalls to get better photos of their products. My SLR must say “legitimate photographer”. Hey, I guess I could say I’m from the press.Wordpress that is… Here are some of my photographs from last year’s show. There are lots of interesesting cheeses at the food show and lots of bargains to be had. We had just been to a cheese factory before last year’s food show so we missed out on the Food Show cheese. I swore that I would go on a cheese famine before this year’s show. Mega fail. I currently have 3 kinds of cheese in my fridge at home. Is there room for more? Maybe just 1 or 2? This year it is $22.50 and you can buy tickets and find out more info on their website here. Last year’s Food Show Tips …

When it rains, it pours.

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I had never made lasagna before but in the last few days I got 2 lasagna pins on my foodie sash. I don’t think The Koala minds the new lasagna obsession one bit. My first was a classic attempt. The meat sauce made in the morning so the flavours had all day to develop. This time being a weeknight, I wanted something much, much faster. I had 2 lasagna sheets left over from the other night and only 200 grams of lamb mince so I bulked up the meat with bacon. Lamb and bacon are two of the tastiest meats around. Using white sauce and a vintage cheddar made for a strong tasting sauce rather than the mild ricotta based sauce I made the other night. Bacon and Lamb Lasagna for two Ingredients 2 sheets fresh lasagna Meat sauce 250 grams (half a pound) lamb mince 4 strips streaky bacon, chopped into postage stamps 1 onion, diced 4 garlic bulbs, chopped 1/2 a cup tomato paste 1/2 cup red wine Salt (about a teaspoon)  Cheese …

Make A Lasagna

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I love lasagna but have always avoided making it for fear of hard work. I read a few recipes and found them all to be quite different. With that in mind, I figured I could just take a combination of recipe ideas and still do ok. I made the meat sauce in the morning with beef and lamb mince, 1 onion, 4 garlic cloves, a can of pasta sauce, 1 pottle of tomato paste and a can of whole tomatoes. I browned and then simmered it for an hour and then left it alone until the evening. My friend Miss A helped me with the cheesey white sauce. We used ricotta, milk, butter, flour, vintage cheddar. Meat sauce and cheese sauce layered between 4 sheets of fresh pasta and topped with more cheese sauce and a thin layer of mozzarella. Covered in foil and into the oven for 30 minutes at 175°C. Then another 25 uncovered. Eat with good company and plenty of red wine. Miss A had made a decadent banoffee pie for dessert. …

Best Blog

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Sarah-Rose from Eat, Bake, Love awarded my blog with a best blog award. I also enjoy her blog and while I’m not much of a baker, but I can certainly appreciate eating and loving. Basically you have to answer a few questions about yourself and award 15 blogs with the best blog award and perhaps send a note to let the others know they have also been awarded. The Questions Whats your favourite colour? It used to be red, but now I think it must be purple. Whats your favourite song? Feeling Good by Nina Simone. What is your favourite dessert? I’m not a sweet tooth, but I’m a sucker for cheesecake. Mum used to make cheesecake in a big roasting tray. But she stopped when she realised that I was pretty much eating the whole thing by myself. Whats pissing you off? The rain. When you’re upset you… Get a headache and want to go to bed. Black OR white? Black, but with a white fluffy rabbit, white would be a much wiser choice. Biggest …

NZFF rolls round again

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New Zealand Film Festival time again! Every year we flick through the guide and brain bookmark all the films we would see if we had all the time and money in the world. It’s often too hard to choose so wsually, we don’t go and see anything. I hope to see a couple of movies this year although the only tickets is for A Matter of Taste. It’s a food documentary by Kiwi director Sally Rowe about a young, controversial chef called Paul Liebrandt. I’m going with my little sister on Monday after work.   The other food documentary I’d love to see is Jiro Dreams of Sushi. I’ve read that this movie should not be watched on an empty stomach.   Bourdain’s account of Jiro’s sushi makes my mouth water. Watching this video makes want sushi now even though I’ve already eaten. What are your picks of the NZFF this year?

Junk Food Day

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This drawing was partially inspired by Tofu the bunny. We don’t feed our rabbit chips, but this one time, he found a single nacho under the table. I heard him crunching, went to investigate and he was enjoying it so much (as in LOVING IT) I didn’t have the heart to take it from him. I mean, he found it fair and square. I’m not huge on junk food, as I prefer cooked meals rather than packaged snacks. But once in a while, junk food gives me a little wink. Some celebratory ideas: Have a junk food shared lunch or picnic Junk food quickfire challenge (cook/prepare something using junk food as ingredients) Invent a new junk food Junk up a healthy dish (bacon and potato chip salad) Make a home made version of junk food for dinner (burger, pizza, fried chicken, potato chips etc) A Junk Food inspired menu Starter (inspired by fried chicken and potato chips) Waitoa free range, Karaage (Japanese style deep fried) chicken with potato chip crust, wasabi mayo and fresh daikon. …

Taking on the Ultimate Gnocchi

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I tried gnocchi for the first time a couple of weekends ago. It was at a restaurant and they weren’t the light pillows of deliciousness that I expected. They were dense and a bit chewy. Thinking I could do better, I was determined to give gnocchi making a go. Pronounced nyo-key and translates to lumps, but may have come from the words nocchio or nocca which mean knot (in wood) or knuckle. Commercial gnocchi look more like fat grubs than knuckles. Gnocchi isn’t familiar to me so I’m not sure if it’s considered a pasta or a dumpling and a quick search online suggests that it might be both. I did a little research and found Cook Almost Anything’s Ultimate Gnocchi article an amazing guide for new gnocchi makers to work with. Apparently, too much flour leads to heavy gnocchi and with the fear of creating chewy bullets, I overcompensated. I made my dough with less flour than suggested. My gnocchi wasn’t so soft it disintegrated in water, but they were really, really light and soft. Is there …

Spraypainted bunnies

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The boys were painting a wall so I had a practice with their spraycans on some bits of board. This was my first time freehand painting with spraycans. I’ve used stencils before, but it’s not the same. With my puny paws and wimpy wrists, these bunnies were all I could paint before getting too tired and sore.