All posts tagged: featured

Satay Chicken Burgers

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My husband and I, and our rabbits moved from Auckland to Whanganui into our first home a few days before lockdown. Level 4 lockdown in New Zealand looks quite different than isolation in other countries. For starters, all hospitality was shut down. Yes, that includes restaurants, fast food, bars and cafes. All of them. Even drive-through and delivery. All classed as non-esssential. Level 3 lockdown included takeout and delivery. Level 2 included dining out but with many restrictions in place. Obviously, I haven’t had much of chance to explore where to eat in our new city during lockdown, but so far I’ve been missing Auckland’s large selection of very excellent fried chicken. My favourite fried chicken in Auckland is at Lowbrow and when fried chicken guru, chef Kyle Street recently shared his fried chicken tips on Instagram, I was intrigued. I’ve combined his tips with an “11 herbs & spices” recipe and the result is bangin’. I’ve combined this into a burger with a local wonder sauce. Sone’s Satay Sauce is a dreamy mix of …

Venison, mushroom and red wine pies

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“I love cooking with wine. Sometimes, I even put it in the food.” There’s a chill in the air. The days are getting shorter. Winter is coming. Comfort food is calling. This venison pie is great with some green vegetables or mash. Extra gravy too if that is your thing. Venison, mushroom and red wine pies Makes 4 pies INGREDIENTS 2 tablespoons cooking oil 500 grams venison mince 1 onion, diced A knob of butter 100 grams thinly sliced button mushrooms 2 tablespoons plain flour 1 cup red wine 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 cup beef stock 1/2 teaspoon salt Freshly ground pepper Cooking spray (or butter) 4 sheets frozen puff pastry 1 egg yolk, beaten FILLING Place a sauté or non-stick frying pan on medium high heat. Add cooking oil. Once hot, add venison mince and onion, breaking up the venison with a wooden spoon and stirring as you go. Cook for 5 minutes on medium heat until venison is browned. Add a knob* of butter, mushrooms and flour and cook for 2 minutes …

Rainbow Bowl: Sweet soy ginger braised pork belly

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I‘m not a salad kind of girl but I love a good rainbow bowl. Sweet soy ginger braised pork belly on rice with a perfectly gooey free range egg, sauerkraut, cucumber, carrot, capsicum, spring onion and a dollop of my favourite mayo. Garlic furikake and wild Korengo seaweed for texture and flavour. I could eat this breakfast, lunch or dinner. This pork belly braise uses black vinegar. Also known as Chinkiang Vinegar, this can be found at Asian grocers. Delicious for dipping steamed or fried dumplings into. You can use balsamic vinegar as a substitute. Sweet soy ginger braised pork belly Makes 4 portions INGREDIENTS 500 grams ( 1 lb) pork belly, cut into large cubes 2 tablespoons brown sugar 3 slices ginger 3 cloves garlic, smashed 2 star anise 2 bay leaves 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes 2 tablespoons black vinegar 2 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce 2 cups hot water PREPARATION Heat a non-stick frying pan and add pork belly. Fry on medium heat for 5 …

Pork and prawn wontons

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The wonton. The less glamorous sister to the dumpling. Wontons are my ultimate comfort food but I’ve served these a little different to how we ate them growing up. This recipe makes 50 wontons and freeze well. So enjoy some now and freeze the rest for later. Wonton wrappers often come in packs of 100 so just double the recipe, or freeze half the wrappers. If you want to make the full 100 wontons, you might want to employ an extra pair of hands or put on your favourite podcast and settle in. Pork and prawn wontons Makes 50 INGREDIENTS 500g (1 lb) pork mince 250g (1/2 lb) shelled prawns, chopped 1 cup finely chopped cabbage 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper 1/4 teaspoon five spice powder 50 wonton wrappers PREPARATION Place the filling ingredients together in a large bowl and mix well. Take 1 wonton wrapper and place a heaped teaspoon of filling …

“Shrimp grits” Congee

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“Shrimp grits” congee 15 mins prep  |  45 mins cook Difficulty: Easy  | Serves 4 Ingredients 1 cup long grain rice, washed 3L water or stock 2 tablespoons butter 400g peeled prawns 5 cloves garlic, chopped 2 tomatoes, sliced A thumb size piece of ginger, cut into batons 1 spring onion, thinly sliced Optional: hot sauce Garnish: chopped coriander Preparation Place rice and water in a saucepan and bring to boil. Turn down to medium and partially cover with lid so that steam can escape and it doesn’t boil over. Cook for 30-45 minutes until the consistency of porridge. Stir every now and again to prevent grains sticking to the bottom of the pot. Add more water if the porridge is looking too thick. The congee is done when you can see that the individual rice grains have broken down into soft flakes. Season with salt to your taste, remove from heat and divide into serving bowls. While the congee is cooking, make the topping. Melt butter in a frying pan. Add the prawns, garlic, …

Vege Wonton Noodle Soup

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This post was made possible thanks to MAGGI 2minute Wholegrain Noodles – They are made with the goodness of wholegrain and are 99% fat free. Available at all supermarkets. Do you have a favourite meal? Is it comfort food? I am all about comfort food. As stated on my ABOUT page, wonton noodle soup is my favourite meal. I grew up on wontons and back in the day, I folded many, many wontons for our Chinese take away. Unpretentious. Easy to portion to suit your current appetite. Easy to digest. While I love the Cantonese classic of pork and prawn, I decided it was time to reinvent this old favourite to be vegetarian-friendly. Perfect for spring, this light yet satisfying meal is a hug in a bowl. I make no claims on the authenticity of this recipe. It is fusion at best. Win! MAGGI 2minute Wholegrain noodles come in Chicken or Beef 5 packs, are baked, not fried and are 99% fat free. Thanks to MAGGI’S 2minute Wholegrain Noodles I’m giving away a set of …

Poké face

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Poké (pronounced “po–kay”) landed in Auckland last September in the tired underground IMAX food court on Queen Street. My fork buddy and I hit up Poke Time on opening day: bright and little tacky, as Hawaiian-themed things can be, the experience has a Subway vibe and is essentially a build-your-own raw fish salad bowl. You pick whatever you want, although it can be too many decisions for the uninitiated. If you’ve never tried poké before, it can be overwhelming but if you know what you are doing, Poke Time is great value. With heaps of options including salmon, two types of tuna, and trevally, they also have token vegetarian options, but that’s probably not what most will come here for. Tip: go for the seasoned fish, the non-marinated options are essentially sashimi bowls, rather than poké bowls. Poké means “chop” and is a Hawaiian dish influenced by Japanese cuisine. Poké is raw fish (such as tuna, salmon or octopus) is cubed and seasoned with soy sauce, sesame oil, seaweed. Poké is often served served with fresh vegetables and rice …