All posts tagged: menu

1 pâté, 18 cheeses and 3 soups

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Cheesey leftovers We had quite the cheese fest in the weekend and ended up with 7 different kinds of cheese leftover. Leftover cheese!? What is that? I hear you ask. I know, it sounds strange to be the owner of leftover cheese. To be fair, we sampled 18 different kinds of cheese and most of them were finished. I’ll be posting more about the cheese fest later. We had a shit ton of crackers, baguettes and antipasto bits and pieces. I made 3 cups of chicken liver pâté for the occasion and have a little leftover. It is amazing spread on hot toast. If you’ve never eaten pâté on hot toast before, you are missing out. The moment that buttery goodness touches heat, it starts melting. It’s amazing. The Honest Truth This week The Honesty Box delivered spuds, kumara (sweet potato) and a big pumpkin among other goodies. This all screams SOUP to me. Since we had no soup last week, this week we’re having 3 kinds of soup! I’m cutting down on gluten for my Graves’ …

This week’s menu

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“Mmmmm…millet!” Yes, this has been uttered by me on more than one occasion. No, I’m not a hippy, tree-hugging, health freak. I’m also not a bird. I love millet, almost as much as I love rice and I’m a bit baffled why millet isn’t more common. This week I’m making a millet pilaf and stirring through fried sausage, pesto, toasted cashews and lemon zest. I’m going have leftovers the next day for lunch and I’ll probably be thinking about it all morning prior to eating it. If you’ve never tried millet, please give it a go. I tried it for the first time last year with this roast vegetable and millet salad and now millet is a staple in my kitchen. Millet is gluten free, cheap and a great substitute for rice, couscous, pasta etc. It’s quick and easy to cook (similar to rice, a bit more forgiving). It’s good hot or cold, though I prefer it hot in this weather and tends to be quite liquid hungry so will soak up any flavours and sauces that …

Lovely little plates of yum

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Taste of Auckland is tomorrow! If I possessed a foodie calendar, Taste of Auckland would be the highlight of it. I have blogged about here and here and it’s a chance to enjoy lovely little plates of yum by many of Auckland’s best chefs. Taste is a global franchise and next year there will be eighteen Taste events worldwide. It is possible I am a little bias. I haven’t missed a Taste event yet. With that track record, they must be doing something very, VERY right. Call me an earnest fangirl. As part of Bunny Eats Design’s 3rd year anniversary celebrations I was delighted to give away 2 double passes to Taste of Auckland next week. But if you missed out, GA tickets are $25 but don’t forget to allocate some spending money too. Expect to spend between $30 and $60 depending on how much you like to eat and drink. The Menu Click to enlarge     I recommend 3 to 4 dishes per person, depending on how many free samples you try (and how much you drink). Take a foodie …

The Honesty Box Menu 2

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Another well thought-out box from The Honesty Box. This is what our 11kg of produce is being turned into this week. The Honesty Box Menu 2 Items in bold are from The Honesty Box Porterhouse steak with The Koala’s fried potatoes and broccoli with cheese sauce Creamy scrambled eggs with spinach, garlic, thyme, onion with Swiss-style cheese on toast Deviled sausages with onion, kiwifruit and apple. Served on potato pumpkin mash with steamed broccoli Beetroot and Chevre (soft goats cheese) risotto with fresh thyme and lemon slice (pictured) Pumpkin and rosemary soup with soft buttered bread rolls Spicy chicken nibbles with pumpkin and rosemary wedges Braised beef, carrot and beetroot with star anise, cinnamon and soy. Served on rice Smoked salmon and spinach fettuccine with garlic parmesan butter sauce Cheeseburgers with beef patties, red onion, beetroot, avocado and wasabi mayo Sangria (with fruit)

The Honest Box Menu 1

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Since the success of my first pulled pork, I’m doing another twice the size this week with plenty of leftovers to play with. The Koala does not mind one bit! This week we received a whole pumpkin from our F&V small box from The Honesty Box. Sharing a 2.4kg pumpkin between two means  it features heavily in this week’s menu. I’m not a fan of pumpkin but I know what I like and as long as it’s cooked with plenty of aromatic spices I’m good to go. The pouch of herbs will be thrown willy nilly into soups and stews. The Honesty Box Menu 1 Items in bold are from The Honesty Box. Orange pulled pork with smashed garlic, onion and bay leaves Pulled pork rolls with lettuce, red onion and sour cream Pulled Pork Tortillas (see notes below) Rice noodles with pulled pork and broccoli Spiced Pumpkin and kumara soup with smoked cheddar toasties Pumpkin and chickpea curry with garlic, onion and tomato paste. Served on rice with a dollop of sour cream Sirloin steak medium rare …

NATURALLY ORGANIC MENU 3

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We didn’t receive a lot of vegetables in our Naturally Organic this week so our meal plan reflects this. Hope to stretch a few meals so we can have leftovers for lunch but it might not happen. Plenty of fruit to snack on this week though! Naturally Organic Menu 3 Items in bold are from our Naturally Organic box. Hoisin pulled pork with apple slaw on floury baps (pictured) Chicken and leek soup with garlic butter toast Bangers and mash with kiwi caramalised onions (see recipe below) with sautéed garlic silverbeet Spicy udon with beef, onion, egg and cabbage, topped with pinenuts Pumpkin and silverbeet curry with home made roti Orange roasted chicken drumsticks with pumpkin and carrot Apple hand pies with butterscotch sauce and ice cream Butterscotch and banana smoothie I’d like to share a quickie recipe with you that I whip out for bangers and mash occasions. Call it a lazyman’s chutney. It’s chunky and delicious. The flavours of caramalised onion, kiwi and butter work really well together and this would be great with steak, sausages, chops or chicken. This …

Naturally Organic Menu 2

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We had one of those weekends where you divide up your day into two-hour slots so you can get everything done. I attended Creative Mornings last Friday and witnessed the entertaining magic of Otis and Sarah Frizzell’s taco truck adventure. Inspirational stuff. When you look upon their setbacks, I think most sane people would have quit long ago. I learned that sheep scrotums taste like bacon. Considering how many sheep we have in this country, perhaps this is a largely untapped market? On Saturday The Koala and I happened to chance upon The Lucky Taco in Ponsonby so we shared four tacos and their flagship rice milk drink. I tried not to fan-girl too hard, I popped my head in the side door and maybe I gushed. Hopefully, Sarah and Otis were too busy to notice. I met up with my friend Vanessa to help her set up a blog and she sent me home with a gang of lemons from her tree. I’m super excited this week to play with the lovely delivery from …

Naturally Organic Menu 1

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This winter, I’m testing out a few CSA and produce delivery companies in Auckland. Currently our delivery is from Naturally Organic. Naturally Organic is a market based in Albany, Auckland and you can view the contents of the box on my post here. A brief menu this week. Plenty of leftovers for lunch though. Naturally Organic Menu 1 Items in bold are from our Naturally Organic box. Spiced pumpkin soup with garlic toast Orange roast chicken with beetroot, pumpkin and carrot Chili bean chicken with kale yellow rice Minted lamb chops with sauteed kale, mushrooms and The Koalas fried potato Cheesy kale and mushroom macaroni with breadcrumb and parmesan topping Grilled pork chops with caramalised pear, sauteed cabbage and potato mash. Beef and bean nachos with cheese Maple French toast with banana and bacon Porridge with banana Hong Kong style breakfast: macaroni soup with ham, fried egg and sliced cabbage. Chinese tea egg salad with spring onion, sesame, bean sprouts, red cabbage, grated carrot and orange   (pictured) Ham sandwich with cheese, red cabbage, bean sprouts and pickle Prawn, red cabbage, carrot and spring onion …

Foodbox Menu 3

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Winter is coming. Over the last week, The Koala and I have hunkered down and watched three seasons of Game of Thrones. According to story, since we had a long and hot summer we will have a particularly long and cold winter. Joy. The Koala’s job requires him to be on the road all day so he doesn’t have the luxury of a microwave or fridge. Last summer, I bought a nifty warmer/refrigerator to take with him on the road. Because of this, I have been able to send him to work with hot lunches. It’s getting chilly now and leftovers have become a welcome part of our work day. I can tick off one of my bucket list items. Woo! I used to buy my lunch but now I bring leftovers and we have so many leftovers I can barely keep up. Not a bad problem to have. I’ve had to put more than one meal in the freezer to enjoy another time. One day I’ll remember there’s a couple of roast drumsticks and baby potatoes that need …

Foodbox Menu 2

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A delivery once a fortnight is perfect for our two person (plus one bunny) household. I’m glad we’re not getting these once a week. Possibly if we ate only fruit and vegetables, but we’re omnivores so the Tuesday box of goodies is only part of what we eat. I wouldn’t mind a little more fruit to get us through, but other than that, the vegetables are spot on. Because we only get the $33 Appetiser box, that makes it great value at $16.50 a week. Vegetable garden I’ve been slacking off in my vegetable garden lately due to the rain. I think my radishes, carrots and beetroot are suffering. Would it be considered crazy to poke clear umbrellas into the soil to shield them from the weather? Planning I’m getting the hang of planning for the two weeks at a time. The bonus is that we shop less than so I can spend more time cooking, writing, photographing, and dreaming up new projects (also eating, being wrapped in blankets, drinking wine, playing with a fat …

Foodbox Menu 1

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This the first week of our Foodbox deliveries. If I didn’t plan out a menu, we wouldn’t have a hope of finishing all the produce. I have decided to receive a Foodbox once a fortnight instead of once a week. I rediscovered a jar of laksa paste in our fridge so features heavily on this week’s menu. I got personal with the paste and a free range chicken at the start of the week and a spatchcock chicken led to dinner for two and 2 lunches. Foodbox Menu 1 Items in bold are from our Foodbox. Hash brown, garlic butter mushrooms, free range bacon and fried egg. (pictured) Scrambled eggs with parmesan and onion on Vogels toast. Avocado and parmesan on Vogels toast. Chicken salad with lettuce, tomato, boiled eggs, broccoli florets, dressing. Roast chicken sandwiches: lettuce, edam, mayo, mustard, pickles, tomato. Spatchcock chicken, smeared with laksa paste, roasted with potatoes, kumara, courgettes, onions, carrots and garlic Laksa with fat noodles, prawns, lime, mushrooms, broccoli and onions. Pan fried salmon with butter lime sauce. Served with sweet corn, courgette and millet. Courgette pasta …

No love

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When you can’t decide what to order at an unfamiliar place, I’ve always figured your best bet is to go with their specialty. At a steak house? Order steak. Sushi shop? Order sushi. It should be a no brainer. If in doubt, don’t order the seafood platter in a burger joint. Don’t order the cheeseburger in a fish and chip shop. Both will usually contain frozen elements and possibly nuked back to life. There’s a trend for places to offer too wide a menu and instead of doing a few really things well, they do many things badly or average at best. An Australian coffee chain was offering “authentic” Thai cuisine not long ago. Really? I wish I could have a Thai fish cake with my espresso…said no one ever. The other day I went out for lunch with The Koala. Going out for lunch is a treat that every worker should reward themselves with once in a while. It breaks up the day and for a moment during the week, you can pretend you don’t …