All posts filed under: Culinary Adventures

Make Bacon

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After reading the book Heat by Bill Buford, I’ve dreamed of curing my own pork. Curing meat uses salt to draw out the moisture and this allows the meat to last much longer. When the apocalypse that we’re all waiting for hits, we might need low tech techniques like these to make our food go further. Maybe. In the meantime, there’s nothing wrong with home made bacon just for fun. Traditionally, pig slaughter takes place in autumn, after a summer of fattening up and curing begins at this time of year too. The work is generally done outside and needs cooler temperatures to keep the meat happy. Winter is too cold in many parts of the world to work outdoors, so Autumn is the perfect season. Also, in the northern hemisphere, the holiday season follows soon after autumn and there is much appreciation of pork over the festive feast period. Christmas ham anyone? I’ve always loved the idea of curing/brining my own bacon. I wasn’t sure if I was going to smoke it too since I …

Experience a degustation

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Celebrate The Koala and I have been together for 10 years, and we recently celebrated our third wedding anniversary. As with any good relationship, good eating has been and will probably always a part of our relationship. To mark 3 years, we treated ourselves to a degustation dinner at Kermadec in the Viaduct. Two years ago, our first official anniversary dinner was unplanned. It ended up being at KFC in Hamilton. It was scoffed down, on the way home from a wonderful weekend in the Bay of Plenty, but we can’t help thinking of how far away a degustation in the Viaduct is from “Kaccas in The Tron”. Degustation A degustation is a tasting menu, designed by the chef. You get to sample a range of delights over many courses, and the number of dishes usually ranges from 6 courses up to 12. It’s considered the best way to sample a chef’s skill. Instead of choosing what you want to eat, you completely surrender your choice to the chef. Degustation can be matched with wine …

Urbis Designday 2012 Eats

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Post 2 of my 3-part review on Urbis Designday which was on Saturday the 24th March. I’m going to post about 3 blog-specific aspects of Urbis: post 1: Bunny, post 2: eats and post 3 (sometime in the coming week): design. This post is all about the delicious delights to be found at Urbis Designday. I had been looking forward to the Fisher & Paykel exhibit and this year’s The Social Kitchen did not disappoint. Last year, it was in a huge inflatable structure in Auckland’s Britomart Station area and this year’s reiteration at The Cloud on Auckland’s Queens Wharf was a great step up. The Cloud was the venue for many of the Rugby World Cup events including a special edition of Taste of New Zealand. You can read more about that event here. Brilliant and light, The Social Kitchen at The Cloud is a 50m+ installation/exhibit/buffet line/kitchen line/processing plant while the rest of the room was made up of long tables and coloured stools to sit and enjoy the creations. To say this …

Farmhouse Pasties

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I’m glad I gave the traditional Cornish Pasty recipe a whirl already this autumn. Now I’m inspired to do some weird, non-authentic pasties. This next recipe uses some of the original ingredients like beef, lamb, onion and potatoes, but also puff pastry, bacon, carrots and cheese. You can put the cheese inside the pastie if you prefer, but I’ve sprinkled cheese on the outside. I thought it would look prettier, but it only looks ok.  I’m loving smoked cheddar at the moment. It has a distinctive smokey flavour that is divine with streaky bacon. I’m buying ethical meat when it’s convenient, even though free range vs organic vs free farmed can be confusing to the average home cook. It’s nice to remember that at least here in New Zealand, lamb and beef are free farmed at minimum. At best, they’re free range. I don’t think there are any wild cows or wild sheep out there. Although that might be interesting! Lamb and beef I consider my “happy meats”. It’s only chicken and pork you have …

Sayaka Minemura Breakfast Project

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I eat breakfast 2 to 3 times a week. Naughty. I know. I just can’t bear getting up early enough to work up an appetite and also whip up some breakfast. Maybe one of these days I will force myself to do some kind of breakfast project. Sayaka Minemura wakes up on the right side of the bed. Her breakfast series is whimsical proof that she sets herself up for a great day. See more at her Flickr stream: Breakfast Project

Make Cornish Pasties

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After trying both venison and beef versions of Sarah’s Cornish Pasties at Splore a few weeks ago, I was hell bent on making some of my own. For those that aren’t familiar with Cornish Pasties, they’re a submarine-shaped pie and traditional ingredients include beef or lamb, potatoes, swedes and onion. These  parcels of goodness were originally baked for tin miners who worked underground and didn’t come up  to air at lunch. They ate these pies and with their dirty, arsenic laden paws. They clutched the crust, ate the pastie and discarded the soiled crust at the end to avoid poisoning. Cornish pasties are baked from raw ingredients and it surprised me that both the meat and the vegetables cooked perfectly in these parcels. Short crust pastry is traditional but after eating these, I may retry with puff pastry because I adore puff pastry. I find short crust to be a bit heavy. I used both lamb and beef (why pick one when you can have both), potato, swede and onion. This recipe adapted from the NZ …

Hello Autumn, my good friend.

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The first weekend of Autumn is here and it’s certainly starting to chill. That humid, sticky-air feeling is giving way to a bite and the wind is almost unbearable. I haven’t succumbed to wearing a jacket yet, but I had to give into a scarf last night. Denial is fun. Autumn is my favourite season. Autumn in Auckland is usually warm enough still to do things, but not so hot as to need to shower or swim afterwards. I usually relish in Autumn after a long hot summer. We’re just not ready for it yet. I was reluctant to make a to list this season as we’ve got some big events planned which will take me away from my kitchen, but once I got started on my list, I was away. I managed to stop at 10. Probably overly ambitious as usual but I don’t know what I could cull. I’ve yet to complete any of my lists so far, but I’m a dreamer. I don’t need the smug satisfaction of reaching all my goals. Most …

A Cheated Summer In Review

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Summer is officially over. It has rained heaps this summer. Tomatoes have loved it. The rest of us have grumbled. Still we made the most of what we had and I managed to ticked off 7 out of 10 items on my Summer To Do list. Here’s a the summer summary of my to do list: 1. Have a picnic at the beach It wasn’t the picnic to beat all picnics, but hey, it was a picnic at the beach, a marine reserve in fact. There was still hot free range roast chicken, salads and breads before and after snorkeling. Like a comforting farmhouse meal only at the beach. Read about it here. There were no other picnics in our summer, but we did have plenty of BBQs in our backyard. So many that we ran out of gas. Must remember to refill that thing… With the funny weather we are having, I wouldn’t be surprised if we are able to squeeze in a picnic or two before the end of April. 2. Grow mint …

Roll Sushi

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In the very early ’90s, sushi became popular in New Zealand and I found out the sushi that I already loved, wasn’t cherished among my peers. Not then anyway. Before this discovery, my sister and I had been happily enjoying raw fish sushi in uncool bliss. At school, instead of bags of chips, we snacked on small packs of dried seaweed. When The Koala and I visited Osaka, Japan in 2008, we were surprised to find sushi we are familiar with here in NZ, is quite different to Japanese sushi. Like so many imports, sushi has morphed away from tradition. Tried and true is great, but weird reproductions can be great too. NZ was not ready for raw fish in early ’90s. There had to be another way. Chicken sushi, which is novelty in Japan, converted hoards of New Zealanders to sushi and it’s unlikely you’ll find a sushi joint in NZ that doesn’t offer it. Where would we be without wacky combinations to humour our palates? Some less than authentic sushi I’ve enjoyed over …

Jamaican Me Hungry

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I heard of Jamaican Me Hungry when I tried their jerk pork at Splore 2010. Splore is my favourite music festival and Jamaican Me Hungry is my favourite Jamaican food source. They are caterers based out in Warkworth which makes them pretty niche. Jamaican food isn’t big here in NZ and I guess there isn’t much of a Jamaican population here. It’s shame because their food translates very well. 2 years later, last Sunday at Splore 2012, I had the pleasure of trying their curry goat. Wow. I was worried it would be a intense for a Sunday bungday (one that could have been hangover city), but I was feeling pretty good (considering the liquor and lack of sleep). The goat was oh-my-goodness delicious. I’m just sad that these guys don’t have a restaurant I can access. I really hope that the next Jamaican food I have is sooner than Splore 2014. http://www.jamaicanmehungry.co.nz

Seeing Red

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On our Valentine’s Day, we enjoyed a scarlet feast of both sweet and savoury with friends in our backyard until late. Red is one of my favourite colours and it was fun to eat and dress for the occasion. There are loads of red foods and drinks out there and everyone really got into the spirit. Our read feast included: Red velvet cupcakes, jam tarts, pies, cheerios (cocktail sausages) with tomato sauce, home made salsa with nachos, spaghetti and meatballs, plenty of red wine, virgin and non-bloody mary drinks. Instead of having two or three courses, we  put everything on the table and as we pleased. Much like a children’s birthday party, where you don’t distinguish  the appropriate order of eating chips, lollies, fairy bread, sausage rolls or cake. It was a fun way to eat…even if a little sickening. I’m already thinking of the next excuse to have a themed pot-luck.

Celebrating VD

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The freakiest, exotic and un-romantic meal I’ve eaten with The Koala was in Vietnam. At a restaurant where such things happen, The Koala killed a snake and I swallowed it’s raw heart in a shot of vodka. Then we proceeded to eat the rest of the snake over 8 courses cooked by professionals. Supposedly an aphrodisiac, but after we washed down our snake soup shots of Hanoi vodka, we were feeling more sloshed than sexy. Our love is a rom-com. With that in mind, there is world of sexier feasts out there and this coming Tuesday could be a day to eat them. Caviar, oyster and chocolate sellers must look forward to this day. Even if these foods don’t actually get the juices stirring, the purpose is people want to think they’re getting into the mood. The whole aphrodisiac thing is more about rituals than medicine. Since Valentine’s Day falls on a weekday, and because it is red and has a cool name, I leave you with a recipe for Virgin Bloody Mary Shooters. No …

Takoyaki and other street food delights

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Like many others I went to the Lantern Festival at Albert Park over the weekend and gorged myself on an array of street food, witnessed the horrid karaoke and adored the display of lanterns. Armed with my camera and a 50mm prime lens, it was a learning experience for me and the first time I’ve ever taken my manual focus only lens out. Having to manually focus every shot gets tiring, but thankfully, my friend Miss C was very patient with me. I make no secret that I love street food. It’s one of the highlights of my travels. Even if my body doesn’t always agree. I’ve had meat on sticks in many countries and I love when stalls specialise in a single or few items rather than try and do many dishes poorly. When presented with so many potential delights to choose from, my criteria was simple: pick a dish you don’t make at home. Takoyaki Japan These takoyaki hit the spot. For those that are unfamiliar with these piping hot Japanese snacks, a …

Land of Milk and Hammy

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Milk Last night I saw that local food store Nosh, was offering 2 litre jugs of milk for $2 to raise awareness of high milk prices in New Zealand. We a lot for milk even though we are one of the world’s biggest dairy exporters. $2 litres of milk usually ranges from $3.50 up to $6. Today, the New Zealand Herald reported that Nosh’s February only offer was being extended until the end of 2012 and other chains are now tipped to follow suit. Milk wars on!!! Good on you Nosh for being a pioneer on the price of milk. Nosh are a very small reseller of milk so good on them for taking on the giants. Full article here. Some comments on this is that Nosh will have to increase the price of other items to pay for the drop in the price of milk. Since I didn’t buy milk at Nosh before, this hike in everything else would affect me. I guess we will have to wait and see. Nosh’s gourmet positioning turns people …

Do something with rhubarb

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“Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.” – Brian O’Driscoll I think you can consider a rhubarb as a vegetable in the same way that a tomato is a fruit. Rhubarb is completely alien to me. I recognise the word, but I I can’t say I have eaten rhubarb before. If I have, I mustn’t have been paying attention or maybe it was cooked with fruit and I wasn’t sure where the fruit ended and the rhubarb began. I was determined to do something with rhubarb this summer, and to know for sure what it was (and if I liked it). It’s a bit embarrassing that I wasn’t  sure what rhubarb looked like. I couldn’t identify it in the wild, although I’m generally pretty good at identifying edibles in the ground. I thought maybe it looked like silverbeet or celery only bright red. I was on the right track. I even claimed that I’d never seen rhubarb in any shops. Surely if I …

Auckland Seafood Festival 2012

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Today, armed my sister, Joey, and our cameras, we tackled my first Auckland Seafood Festival. I always suspected that it would be an expensive exercise that wouldn’t be worthwhile. I was wrong. This festival really celebrates New Zealand seafood and the new location of Wynyard Quarter is perfect. Surrounded by water and boats old and new, the festival was beautifully decorated and it was often hard to figure out what props had been brought in to entertain the sea theme and what were already there. We arrived a little after 11am to a queue shortly after the doors opened. Greeted by seafood on ice, this was a nice preview of what was to come. If you don’t like seeing eyes on your food, then keep walking. We made our way around and quickly found something we couldn’t turn down. The Wild Seafood Challenge. There were 6 different items for $2 for each item or $9 for a platter of all 6. This included: kina, prawn killers, turbo shells, sea cucumber, octopus and kina shots. The …

Auckland Seafood Festival – coming up next

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I’ve been gorging myself on seafood lately. Prawns, salmon, white fish, sea cucumber, squid, more salmon, more prawns, more salmon…That’s just the last few days. I do love seafood and it generally seems to be the more politically correct “meat” to eat. It’s a long weekend here in Auckland as we celebrate Auckland Anniversary weekend. The Auckland Seafood Festival is on all weekend so if you are a seafood lover, it’s worth checking out. This will be my first time at the event so stay tuned for my report back this weekend. My sister Joey and I will be going on Saturday armed with appetites, cameras and general silliness. Tickets are $20 each and more more info can be found over at the event website: www.aucklandseafoodfestival.co.nz Things I have my eye on at the Auckland Seafood Festival: Scampi – If you like prawn, you really should try it’s hulking cousin. The meat is sweet and firm. Wild Seafood – If you’re into eating non-farmed food and are feeling a little adventurous, there is a Wildfood Seafood passport …

Trying new food properly 2

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Don’t judge a new food until you have tried it properly. I have commented on others judging a new food from just one encounter but I didn’t realise that I am guilty of it too. I tried Nasi Lemak for the first time in Sandakan, which is in the northern part of Borneo in Malaysia. I didn’t like it and I made my mind up. Dish eaten and dismissed. But I have to add, I tried it at an airport. Airport food has never been a good measure of a dish. So today, in Auckland, at a reputable local Malaysian restaurant, I tried it again. I liked it. Moral of the story, don’t judge a new food until you have tried it properly. At least once. Made by professionals.

Have a picnic at the beach

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We just got home this week from a holiday in Tairua in the Coromandel. The weather wasn’t the best, but we made the best of what we had. We had a well stocked fridge and BBQs just about every day. Heaven is day after day of epic feasts with friends. We are back to work next week, so being the last weekday of the holidays, we decided to head to the beach one more time. Today we went out to Goat Island which is just over an hour north of Auckland and worked up an appetite by swimming and snorkeling at the marine reserve. Sometimes, the best picnics are the ones where not a single thing is prepared at home, but instead, collected from your local supermarket, assembled and enjoyed somewhere beautiful with friends. A hot roast free range chicken, cheesy buns, fancy bread, salads, chips, crackers, cheese, stick shaped vegetables and loads of dips. Dig in.

Food bloggers with Food intolerances

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It seems there is a large number of food bloggers have food allergies, food intolerances or specialty diets. I have had eczema for ever (runs in the family) but I’ve always been of the persuasion that if it was indeed diet related, I’d rather put up with it than give up the foods that I love. For as long as I can remember, every year in November/December, I get eczema. When I was in high school, with exams and art boards due, I put it down to stress. But I finished high school and went to uni and it continued. I graduated 7 years ago and I don’t really have extra stresses at this time of year, yet it persists. I think it could be a combination of things and some internet research suggests that I may be right. It could still be stress and perhaps the warmer weather. The sunshine probably aggravates it and then there are other factors like seasonal foods. This year, it’s been particularly bad and I make no secret that …