All posts filed under: Recipes

How to make Chinese Soup

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I grew up with a bowl of Chinese soup before dinner. Chinese soup is a clear broth full of nourishing goodies. The Chinese love their soup and many Chinese families make a healthy brew to enjoy every day. These soups not only nourish, but are prized for properties such as clear skin, healing, cooling, warming as well as many herbal and medicinal ingredients which all have their uses. A happy home is a Chinese soup home. Chinese believe in daily soup to prevent illness while the West often serves soup to cure illness. I’ve been craving Chinese soup this autumn and when I found out that The Koala also loves Chinese soup, I started planning my first Chinese soup. There is a whole aisle of dried soup packs at my local Chinese supermarket, but apparently you only really need these if you want to make a medicinal or herbal soup. Dried ingredients for soup are really cheap at just a few dollars each so it’s ok to experiment without having to squint at your bank balance. …

Looks like poo, tastes like awesome.

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I did my best to make this look pretty, but there’s no two ways about it, stewed fruit and melted chocolate looks horrible. I made this recipe up based on what I had on hand. No reason why you can’t do the same. By all means, experiment! And eat the evidence. Feijoa  (pronounced fee-jo-ah) can be replaced with berries or stone fruit. Feijoa Custard with Chocolate and Cointreau Makes 2 Ingredients 12 feijoa 1 tablespoon sugar 1 shot of Cointreau 12 chocolate buttons plus 4 extra for garnish 1 cup of custard (chilled) Preparation Cut feijoas in half and scoop fruit out and into a small sauce pan. Add sugar and Cointreau. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Stirring with a wooden spoon and breaking up the fruit as you go. When the fruit is all broken down and resembling baby food, drop in 12 chocolate buttons. Give the mixture gentle mix and divide into 2 ramekins. Top with custard and make a butterfly garnish on each dollop of custard using 2 extra chocolate buttons.

Unbelievably Easy Feijoa, Chocolate & Custard Pastries

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Tofu the bunny has been eating feijoas (pronounced fee-jo-ahs) and I have to check the lawns every day so that he doesn’t over eat. I toss any half eaten feijoas into the worm bin. The uneaten feijoas get turned into all sorts of yummy things. I made these babies for Natahma’s baby shower last week. It was the first baby shower I’ve ever been to and it was mostly just eating yummy food, talking about girl stuff and drinking champagne and feijoa wine. We didn’t play any silly games and the experience didn’t put me off having babies for life. These pastries are really easy to make and if you have a heavy feijoa tree in your yard, this is a good way to get rid of some. If you don’t have feijoas, I’m sure you could experiment with other fruit. I considered using plums and maybe still will at a later stage. I made something similar over a week ago but the latest ones are much, much better because they have chocolate in them. …

Baked fish and chips with coleslaw

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Happy Easter everyone! Hope you all have some feasting and chocolate eating this long weekend. We have both Mondays and Friday off for Easter. Is that the same the world over? I thought it fitting to write about fish today since Good Friday is traditionally a day when you abstain from meat, but apparently, fish is fair game. Personally, I don’t morally differentiate between eating fish and meat, but hey, I didn’t make the rules. If you don’t eat meat on Good Friday, you don’t eat meat on Good Friday. We don’t eat fish and chips very often. It’s not one of our regular takeaway choices – it’s a summer treat reserved for afternoons spent at the beach. Fish and chip shops here can be a bit hit and miss. Fresh fish comes at a price. The fish and chip shops by us are either too greasy or too expensive so it’s easier just to go without. Our too greasy local was to be just around the corner from our Sandringham flat and their “number …

Cabbage soup with meatballs and duck stock

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Autumn weather is in full force and we’ve brushed the cobwebs off the hot water bottles and have been snuggling up to them in bed. The heater hasn’t made it’s debut yet, but in an old villa, it won’t be long. We had Peking Duck on Sunday at Canton Cafe and I took the duck carcass home. I remember when we ate Peking Duck in Beijing, the duck carcass was taken home to make soup. So I figured I would boil up the bones and make a rich duck stock to form a soup base. Cabbage soup with meatballs and duck stock Soup Ingredients 1.5 cups soup mix (pearl barley, yellow split peas, green split peas, red lentils) Quarter of a large cabbage 1 tablespoon of oil 5 potatoes Duck stock 1 duck carcass (meat removed for another meal) Meatball Ingredients 500g beef mince 1 tablespoon ground chilli seasoning* Salt Half an onion, finely chopped Half a cup of breadcrumbs 1 egg, beaten 2 tablespoons Worcester sauce Preparation In a large pot, heat the oil …

We don’t have feijoas coming out our ears.

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Really we don’t. Our tree is giving us a respectable 3 to 6 fruit a day. Totally manageable. This week, I learned that feijoas (pronounced fee-jo-ahs) thrive in our sub tropical climate and also don’t have any natural pests here. Every day, I check the lawn under and gather up any fallen fruit. Although Tofu doesn’t seem to be interested in feijoa this autumn, he could just be trying to trick me into nonchalance. I’ve caught him hoeing into them in other years so I’m not so easily fooled. I’m still squirreling away all the macadamia nuts that are dropping onto our lawn. I haven’t bought a macadamia nut cracker yet so I’m just collecting and collecting. The only way I can get them open right now is using a brick and smashing the nuts on concrete. But it’s not pretty and kind of caveman like to be honest. I hope my neighbours don’t see me smashing bricks and nuts in the backyard…and eating the results. The nuts have a great flavour, but aren’t crunchy. I’ve already …

Cabbages and pears

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Just another mid week dinner. I read Citrus and Candy’s braised cabbage recipe the other day and was inspired to pair cabbage, balsamic and a fruit too. I didn’t have granny smiths and I don’t really braise during the week, but I had a pear and I’ve cooked cabbage in a frying pan a gazillion times before, so frying pan and pear it was. I’m trying to make extra these days so we can have lunch the next day. Lunch can be so expensive and cooking a bit extra doesn’t cost much at all. Intrinsically, this is chicken, cabbage and potato. I have a microwave at work, The Koala is on the road. So I’m taking chicken and cabbage for lunch tomorrow to heat, The Koala is taking chicken and potato salad to have cold. Hopefully his new insulated lunch box will keep it cool. Cabbage and pear with balsamic A side dish to pretty up any plate. Ingredients Quarter of a red cabbage 1 pear About 2 tablespoons of butter A glug of balsamic vinegar A …

I ♥ Pork & Apple…still

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Tasty, fatty comfort food. Make a big pot of this stew plus a big pot of rice and help yourselves to little bowlfuls whenever it takes your fancy. Great for lunch the next day and this stew seriously tastes better and better with time. Pretty similar dish to this rough guide. I seared (even burnt bits) the pork in a pan before I simmered and included some chunks of turnip (Chinese white carrot). Star anise might not be familiar to y’all but it’s a aniseed flavour that I love even though I don’t like licorice. They are added to food for flavour, but don’t eat them. It’s not nice to crunch on so try and remove them prior to serving or if they are intact, they can serve as a pretty garnish. The rough guide to Aromatic Pork Belly and Apple Ingredients: Pork belly, granny smith apple, onion, garlic, ginger, 5 spice powder, cloves, star anise, black vinegar, raw sugar, soy sauce. Preparation: Brown the pork and then simmer with all the other ingredients for about 1.5 …

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. …

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. …

Crunchy yum bacon quiche

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I love pulling out random ingredients from the fridge and being able to make something cohesive . I keep a constant supply of streaky bacon and puff pastry in the freezer and eggs are usually around too. Then it’s a matter of using up whatever vegetables are in the fridge at the time to fill up the rest of the quiche with and to make a side salad. We were lucky to have a bit of beetroot chutney too. Otherwise it would have to be tomato sauce and/or Kaitaia Fire Kiwifruit & Habanero Pepper Sauce. Also time to show off my new tea towel from the Fisher & Paykel stand at Taste of Auckland. Fisher & Paykel are a major appliance manufacturer based here in Auckland. Fisher & Paykel are pretty smart with their online presence. They’ve realised that people that buy their products like to cook and be inspired by foodie things. So they’ve set up their own food blog called Our Kitchen. Brilliant! See how two of the pastry corners curled over and two …

Pork ♥ Apple

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I love pork belly and this time I tried paring it with green apple. I think it’s safe to say that pork loves apple. It’s funny, pork belly is one of those cheap cuts turned glamourous by celebrity chefs all over the show. Since I often shop at a Chinese butcher and the Chinese have long prized pork belly, it’s not really a cheap cut at all. Oh well, win some, lose some. The rough guide to Aromatic Pork Belly and Apple Ingredients: Pork belly, granny smith apple, onion, garlic, ginger, 5 spice powder, cloves, star anise, black vinegar, raw sugar, soy sauce. Preparation: Brown the pork and then simmer with all the other ingredients for about 1.5 to 2 hours in a little water with lid on. Remove lid for last 15-20 minutes and turn up heat to reduce the sauce into a thick syrupy elixir. Served with rice and greens and plenty of green tea. All the apple, garlic and onion disintegrated into this intense, delicious sauce. This hearty dish does not require teeth …

First fava harvest!

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Our fava beans or broadbeans are finally ready for a small harvest. I knew that the first thing I wanted to cook with these would be something simple and delicately flavoured to compliment beans. A creamy prawn and rice concoction was just the ticket. I wrote this recipe down first, then cooked it and made a couple of adjustments. With the price of frozen prawns these days, I consider this dish to be suitable for a gourmet pauper. Fava pods bursting with potential. Shelled and waiting to be blanched. Not much meat from those pods. A sexy close up… Creamy Rice with Fava and Prawn Serves 2 Ingredients 1 cup shelled fresh fava (broadbeans) 1 cup whole shelled prawns or prawn meat, defrosted 4 garlic cloves 1/2 cup cream 1 and 1/2 cups long grain rice 1/3 cup white wine 1 cup chicken stock Butter Salt Black pepper 1 lemon Handful of fresh herbs, chopped Preparation Quickly fry the prawns in a little butter until just done. Remove from heat and set aside. Cook the …

It should look slightly obscene, like a demented butterfly.

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I’ve seen butterflied chickens for sale at the market, but never bought one. I love stuffing so if we have a whole chicken, it usually gets stuffed. I’ve recently had my knife sharpened, so I decided that I’d butterfly a chicken myself. Butterfly is such a lovely word. To be butterflied, is not so lovely. Hopefully you will find this recipe lovely. One of the benefits of butterflying a chicken is that you can marinade both sides. Inside and out! Ideally, you would marinade this for a few hours but I wanted to eat asap so this recipe should take less than 1 hour from start to finish. Change it up if you have time to marinade. Use whatever root vegetables you like. This time, I used red skinned potatoes, red onion and parsnip. A Recipe for a Demented Butterfly Ingredients 1 smallish chicken An assortment of root vegetables and a few cloves of garlic A fresh salad Marinade 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped Zest of 2 lemons Juice of 2 lemons 1/2 teaspoon ground …

Onion Weed Dumplings

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Maybe you have a ton of onion weed in your backyard like we do. It’s chive smell can be experienced every time we or a neighbour mows the lawn. Onion weed is actually quite pretty with it’s fairyland looking flowers. It’s hard to imagine that it is so offensive to some people (being a noxious weed and all). If you are unsure, don’t eat it. Otherwise, happy foraging! Tofu the bunny doesn’t pay onion weed any attention. Since our neighbour mentioned they eat onion weed in dumplings, I’ve been dying to try it out. So here’s a recipe I fudged together. Enjoy! Onion Weed Dumplings Makes about 50 dumplings Ingredients 500 grams (1 pound) pork mince 10 leaves onion weed 7 onion weed flower tops (about 5 flowers each) 12 dried shitaake mushrooms 1 tablespoon black vinegar Salt 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 teaspoon chili seasoning 1 teaspoon minced ginger 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1 cup of water 1 packet of dumpling wrappers Preparation Soak the mushrooms in 1 cup of hot water for a 5 minutes. …

Moki Moki Moki!

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So you might already know that my favourite fish is salmon. I adore white fish too, but white fish is white fish to me. Whether it’s $40 snapper, or $25 Tarakihi, or $10 Moki. I don’t have a preference, I’ll eat them all. Maybe this horrifies you. Maybe it doesn’t. What it does mean though, is that I will never pay $40 for snapper when a $10 Moki will do the job swimmingly. Herb Encrusted Moki burgers Serves 2 hungry punters for a big lunch or normal dinner Ingredients 1 fillet firm white fish. About 10cm x 20cm size. About 400-500 grams (up to 1 pound) Half a cup breadcrumbs 2 tablespoons dried herbs 1/2 teaspoon salt Generous grind of black pepper Knob of butter, melted A handful of salad greens 2 slices of tomato Fresh buns Mayonnaise Preparation On a plate, mix breadcrumbs, herbs, salt and pepper. Cut the fillet into 2 square pieces. Brush melted butter onto fish and push onto breadcrumb mixture so that all sides are thickly coated. Heat a non-stick …

$5 for 5kg

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  I find it hard to pass up 5kg of potatoes for $5. 10kg for $10 is a common occurrence but who can eat 10kg of potatoes before they go funky? I don’t have an army to feed, so 5kg is more reasonable. Loose pototoes go for $2-3 per kilo. So even if you give away half of your 5kg bag, you are still better off. Now, what to do with all these pototoes? We’ve got lemons, sage and rosemary in the garden at the moment, so lemon, sage and rosemary wedges was calling out to be made. Lemon, Sage and Rosemary Wedges A spring time lunch for two. Ingredients 4 medium potatoes 1 tablespoon flour Zest of 1 lemon 1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage and rosemary 2 tablespoons oil Salt Pepper Sour Cream Cheese Preparation Preheat oven to 200°C. Cut potatoes into half and then into wedges. Place in a plastic bag and add flour, lemon zest, oil, salt and pepper. Shake well. Arrange potatoes onto a lightly oiled oven proof dish. Stand every piece …

The only way to eat leeks

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I always write down my recipes after I’ve cooked them. It’s just the way I work. I guess I like freestyling more than I like following recipes. This time around, it was a little different. I had some time on my hands so I typed up this recipe based on ingredients I knew we had, and then followed the recipe. I have made only 1 alteration to this recipe after cooking it. The leek soaked up a lot of stock so next time I would use 2 cups instead of 1 so there can be more of this lovely sauce. After tasting this, you too will believe this is the only way to eat leeks. My husband has decided he loves leeks too after eating this. Creamy Braised Leeks with Broadbean and Chorizo Ingredients 1 leek A knob of butter A splash of white wine or cooking wine 1 cup chicken stock 2 cups chicken stock 4 chorizo sausages (or other spicy sausage) 2 handfuls of broadbeans A splash of cream A sprinkling of herbs, salt, …