All posts filed under: Eats

Family Dinner with Chef Joey

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We hadn’t seen the family for over a month – since they left us in Hong Kong and we continued with our travels – and last month was our first meal as a family. My sister Joey was the executive chef for the evening. On the menu were some yummy BBQ pizzas, skewers, pasta salad and a couple of classic Chinese desserts. Skewers: streaky bacon with cheese stuffed mushrooms. Chicken, camembert and cranberry pizza. Pesto pizza. Smoked salmon pizza (with a healthy dollop of sour cream). Mango pudding or Mongoh bodeen. Egg custard tarts or Dahn tart in the background. I had painted my nails yellow… …and The Koala happened to be wearing a yellow shirt. So it was only natural we had to pose with the yellow desserts.

Red Pepper Soup

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After I read Millie’s Red Bell Pepper Bisque recipe in her blog Millie Mirepoix this week, I went straight to the local Chinese market after work, bought 4 red peppers and whipped up something similar. I read overseas blogs, but reading NZ blogs is more relevant when we cook seasonally with seasonal produce. I also made some rosemary and celery scones. Served hot and buttered they filled us right up. I love that soup is so forgiving and experimentation usually leads to wonderful things. Millie Mirepoix’s Recipe is here: My changes were: 1 heaped teaspoon of green curry paste instead of cayenne pepper 2 teaspoons of chicken bouillon instead of chicken stock No crème fraîche 2 carrots instead of 1 2 celery stalks instead of 2 This soup is surprisingly filling and I only needed a cup worth and a scone the next day for lunch. Curses to the tupperware container that was not leak proof! Thank goodness I always plastic bag stuff before it goes into my handbag. Tofu the rabbit very much liked …

Burgers at Matakana House

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Opensouls, one of my favourite bands in the whole world, played their final show last Sunday. It was at Leigh Sawmill Cafe which is about an hour drive north. So we made an afternoon of it and packed the van with some friends. Clinging on to the last threads of summer, we visited the beach by Goat Island for a swim and a snorkel. It was a beautiful day in Auckland but as we drove north, the skies turned grey and by the time we’d finished swimming and snorkeling, it was pelting down. Swimming and snorkeling are a surefire way to work up an appetite and with Leigh Sawmill closed until 4pm for set up and every single shop in Leigh closed on a Sunday afternoon, we were forced to drive to Matakana for a munch. Matakana is pretty gourmet as far as small towns go and I realised I’d never been there before. They have a highly rated farmers market which I do hope to visit another time. As we drove down the main …

Sexy French Sausages. Take 2

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I squeezed another meal out of those sexy French snags. More assembling than actual cooking. A huge plate, but the kind of dinner that makes you feel good afterwards. I presented this plate to my husband who for some reason thought it was a shared platter for dinner. He realised his mistake when I brought out a second plate of food for me. One each FTW! Cheese, beans, avocado, cucumber, eggs, spring onion, lemon pepper, cherry tomatoes, rocket and sexy French sausages.

A constant supply of bacon

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It is important that I have a constant supply of bacon in the house. Streaky bacon preferably. I buy a kilo of the stuff, separate into 4 piece portions, roll up and freeze. As long as the bacon roses aren’t touching each other, they will be a snap to remove and defrost. Better living everyone!* *line stolen from Wendy Myer

An Easy Pleaser

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Steak, wedges and salad. Black Rock Aged Beef Scotch Steak marinated in honey and soy sauce. Pretty self explanatory. Has husband seal of approval. Honey Spiced Kumara Wedges Serves 2 Ingredients 2 medium kumara Pinch of coriander flakes 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon curry powder 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs 1 tablespoon flour Salt 2 tablespoons oil A good squeeze of honey Preparation Pre-heat oven to 200°C. Peel kumara and cut into wedges. Test a clean plastic bag by scooping it with air, twist the top closed and squeeze it to test for holes. When you find a good bag, fill it with the kumara and all the other ingredients. Twist the top and give it a good mix and shake about. Carefully pour out kumara wedges onto an oiled baking sheet. Arrange the wedges so they all stand up on the short edge. Bake for 30 minutes. Take out of the oven a few minutes before serving so they will crisp up a bit.

Sexy French Sausages

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I hadn’t been to Nosh in ages so I visited there on Wednesday afternoon. Yip, still love that place.  It was ok weather when I left the house but it was pelting felines and canines the whole walk back. Committed much? I’m still convinced that you can shop smartly there and come out better off than your giant Australian chain. $3 for 3 avocados? Yes please! A bag of rocket for $2.50? Don’t mind if I do. I was casually browsing the meat section as I usually do, when I spied some sexy French sausages. The sausages sang to me, “Bonjour, mon cher ami, bon-jo-ur!” and I shyly fudged a little high-school French back. There was something very likeable about these sausages and we became instant friends. Later on, with sausages safely tucked away in the fridge, I asked The Googe about these new sausage friends of mine. I guess asking The Googe about a new ingredient is like Facestalking someone you’ve just befriended. The Googe says: Toulouse sausage. Pronunciation: too-LOOZ Notes: This exquisite French …

Congee. Jook. Rice Soup. Rice Porridge.

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I love congee! I love Jook! Chinese congee is usually very mild. Bland even. Even the chicken and scallop version I had for breakfast not long ago in Hong Kong could have done with a little more seasoning. So it was a delight for me to try versions of this dish that other asian countries had to offer. Congee is not something that is found easily in Auckland city. Kiwis don’t really dig it and it’s considered poor people food by those who love it. Not something you would order when you eat out. What’s the difference? The easiest way to differentiate between rice soup and rice porridge is that rice soup is cooked rice in a flavoured broth. In rice soup, the rice and the soup are separate layers. You can have a spoonful of soup and then a spoonful of rice if you please or you can have both at once. Much like noodle soup. Rice porridge has the consistency of porridge because the rice granules are cooked until they break and thicken the soup. …

Today’s Experiment…

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Today’s experiment is portobello mushroom wrapped in streaky bacon, topped with cheese and a fresh sage leaf. Baked for 20 minutes… I love the lighting in the kitchen in the afternoon. But as soon as the sun goes down, food photography is close to impossible. Pre-oven experiments: afternoon sun, no camera flash. Post-oven experiment: after sunset with flash. Look at that terrible lighting! No. Don’t look at it. Just look at the yummy experiment. Served with fried eggs (with capers, fried garlic and worcester sauce), rice and buttered corn. I suppose the goal is to cook and photograph food during daylight. It makes a huge difference. But, with winter coming up, it’s probably not going to be likely. Hmmm…at what stage do I set up a mini photography studio in our kitchen?

Mystery fruit

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Someone at work dumped a bag of citrus in the lunch room so I popped a couple into my handbag to experiment with later. Still not sure what these are, they have thick yellow skin, orange flesh and no pips. They are more sweet than sour with no bitterness. It didn’t really matter what they were, I squeezed one and marinated half a kilo of chicken wings with the juice and little soy sauce and chili sauce. Popped them in a super hot oven for about half an hour and…Bam! Mystery fruit chicken wings. I admit, I maybe have gone a little overboard with the vegetables. That or we need larger plates!

Eat Your Greens! (With Bacon)

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We did a little shop the other day. The first shop in over 2 months meant that we got a few essentials. From these things I was able to pick out an easy soup to make. Pretty standard, so maybe you already have these ingredients in your kitchen too. Soup isn’t the kind of thing most of us make on a summer afternoon, but this will fill you up without making you feel heavy. Tasty enough to serve to company as a starter.   Easy Green and Bacon Soup Serves 2 Ingredients 2 medium potatoes 1 cup of frozen peas half an onion 2 pieces of streaky bacon Salt Lemon pepper Dash of cream Preparation In a pot, boil a litre of water. Peel and chop potatoes and add to pot. Slice onion and add to the pot. Boil for 20 minutes. Chop bacon into matchsticks and fry until done. Add frozen peas to the boiling pot and bring up to boil. Drain out most of the boiling water (leaving behind a small amount) and blend …

Scallopini in the house

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I planted a zucchini seed from the packet on the right before we left New Zealand and our friend Lum had been tending to it while we were away. The tiny seedling I left two months ago is now a huge beast that takes up most of the planter. Turns out it wasn’t the sausage shaped zucchini I thought it would be. These flower petal shaped things baffled me. The frog and buddha didn’t know either so I had to ask The Googe what they might be. The Googe said they were Scallopini Squash. What do you cook when you haven’t really cooked in 2 months? We never ate salmon while traveling. Something about eating NZ salmon in a foreign country just doesn’t sit right with me. So salmon was definitely on the cards. I roasted the larger of the scallopini squash in a bit of oil, garlic and fresh rosemary. Paired with some potato mash and the salmon that I’d been missing, made for a simple but slightly fancy first dinner for some jetlagged …

Fake it ’til you make it

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Is it possible to crave something you’ve never had before? I think so. I often read about foods on the internet and then I want them. I want them bad. Lobster rolls are associated with the lobster state of Maine in the U.S. and in New England and the Canadian Maritimes, some McDonald’s offer lobster rolls as a seasonal menu item. They call it the McLobster! We don’t get loster rolls here in New Zealand. I guess it’s because we don’t have lobster here, but we have plenty of things that could substitute. Crayfish would be the most obvious choice. Crab could also work if we were a nation that gobbled up crab. I was craving a lobster roll, but being on a budget – crayfish can be $100kg – I considered making it with surimi instead. At $8kg, surimi is not going to break the bank. Surimi is pretty forgiving too so you can make the mix ahead of time, refrigerate it and eat it over a few days. I’d never do that with fresh seafood though. …

Finger food lunch

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No utensils required. Chicken nibbles: sugar, soy sauce, salt, pepper, sweet chili sauce, oil. Skewers: mushrooms, tomato, sweet chili sauce, soy sauce, salt, pepper. Baked for 30 minutes in 180°C oven. Served with boiled baby potatoes tossed with butter and fresh herbs from the garden (sage, parsley, rosemary). Simple noms.

Vegetarian superfoods dinner

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A 2 course vegetarian meal with superfood. Quinoa (keen-wah) is a South American seed and “The Incas, who held the crop to be sacred, referred to quinoa as chisaya mama or mother of all grains”. You eat this, you can carry llamas and build civilisations at high altitudes*. Broccoli is awesome too. I’m pretty sure that if you eat broccoli you can move small hills and clear forests with your bare hands*. Quinoa salad with balsamic mushrooms and red onion. Brocolli soup served with buttered toast (not pictured). * Disclaimer. I’ve never actually done these things, but I have a vivid imagination.

Herb Chicken with Garlic Potatoes, Beetroot Chutney and salad.

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I can’t be bothered thinking up a post heading today. It is what it is. Herb Chicken with Garlic Potatoes, Beetroot Chutney and salad. Herb Chicken Serves two Ingredients 2 chicken breasts, sliced into 1 inch strips 2 tablespoons of dried herbs – I used oregano 1 tablespoon oil 1 tablespoon soy sauce Generous twist of sea salt Generous crack of pepper 1 tablespoon flour 1 clove garlic, finely chopped Preparation Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Chill for 30 minutes. Add a little oil to a hot pan, pan fry chicken until golden. Garlic potatoes Serves two Ingredients 3 medium potatoes, peeled and into cubed Salt Pepper 3 cloves garlic, chopped roughly half an onion, diced Oil for shallow frying A knob of butter for flavour Preparation Boil potatoes for about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside. Add a generous amount of oil to a hot pan. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened. Add butter and potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown. Serve with a salad.

Creamy mushroom stuffing

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A variation of this recipe. 4 button mushrooms (sliced into matchsticks), half a cup of breadcrumbs, 4 cloves of garlic (chopped), half a bottle of cream (enough to give a sticky consistency), salt, pepper, fresh basil, fresh sage. Mix well. Carefully slice a pocket into 3 chicken breasts and fill with the creamy mushroom mix. Bake for 30 minutes at about 200°C. Plays well with peas and roasted sweet potato. Sorry, no after photos. Wanted to eat this in a hurry!

I love pork. I love strawberry.

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It’s strawberry season here in NZ and strawberries are cheap as chips. I’m not much of a fruit eater but for strawberries, I make an exception. I adore strawberries! Here’s a photo of what I look like with a strawberry in my clutches. Happy right? I’m saying Check it out yo! This is strawberry you mofos! Please note the left hand pointing action before the strawberry will be stuffed in my mouth. Yes, I know, those are rabbits on my baby bib. I think I was born to write this post. So we’ve established I love strawberries. I also love pork. I think you knew that too. Strawberry, meet Pork! (Pork, meet Strawberry!) Pork plays well with fruit. Some fine examples are sliced roast pork with apple sauce (and crackling), glazed ham with pineapple, strips of bacon wrapped around prunes. I’ve never heard of pork with strawberries before so I figured I’d be game to give it a whirl. You may begin with some large, voluptuous berries. Which you cleave into love-heart-esque slices. Then you get …