All posts tagged: New Zealand

GIVEAWAY 5: TASTE OF AUCKLAND – DOUBLE PASSES

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Today’s giveaway is open to NZ residents only. The highlight of my foodie calendar has got to be Taste of Auckland in November. I have blogged about here and here and it’s a chance for every day people to have a taste of very lovely plates of food by many of Auckland’s best chefs. Pictured in the montage above are some of the dishes I’ve had the pleasure of trying at past editions of Taste. Taste is now in it’s 5th year, you can look forward to delicious offerings from: The Commons Fish Depot Everybody’s Izakaya Toto’ The Grove Bracu Baduzzi ….plus food and wine producers and much, much more. I am happy to announce as part of Bunny Eats Design’s 3rd year anniversary celebrations, two lucky readers will win a double pass each to Taste of Auckland courtesy of the festival. Prize can be redeemed at any session. Taste of Auckland 14-17 November 2013 Victoria Park, Auckland city http://www.tasteofauckland.co.nz To enter, please fill in the form below including a prize question. THE SMALL PRINT …

THE HONESTY BOX 3

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I’m testing out a few CSA and produce delivery companies in Auckland. If you are curious about CSA and like see what other people around the world are getting each week in their boxes, please check out at the weekly link party What’s In The Box over at Heather’s blog In Her Chucks. First impression Once again, a branded The Honesty Box arrived with a smart but simple typographic print. There was 10.5kg of produce in this box and at $37.50NZ including delivery, the average cost was about $3.5NZ per kilo. Good value. My first impression was that this box was very optimistic of the season. It’s early spring yet eggplants, capsicum and strawberries!? Amazing! No doubt, grown in greenhouses, it’s pretty awesome to see these in the box. It should be noted that the vegetable and fruit ratio was almost even this time round at 54% vegetables, 46% fruit. Vegetables 5.8kg Fancy red lettuce x 1 Celery x 1 Baby potatoes x 25 Eggplant x 1 Avocado x 1 Capsicum (red pepper) x 1 Carrots x 2 Onions x 2 Kumara …

Friday the 13th: A Gory Fruit

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Happy Friday the 13th! Last week, a coworker and I devised a plan to dress up in black today and order Hell’s Pizza for lunch. Almost everyone at work agreed to join in so it must have been a good idea. Hope you enjoy yourself a kooky-fun day too! Today’s slightly morbid, semi-gory post is in response to this post. “Way, way back in the late ’80s, a young boy at Glenholme Primary School in Rotorua, New Zealand accidentally slammed his fingers in the classroom door. I will never forget it because he also happened to be holding a tamarillo at that precise moment. The horrific tamarillo mess will be forever etched into my mind. As the news spread that someone had squished their fingers in the door, the fact that he was also holding a tamarillo dropped away. To our active imaginations, it was finger guts that bloodied the classroom entrance.” Until I shared my tamarillo memory, I didn’t realise that tamarillo were uncommon in other parts of the world. A little research suggests …

The most creative ice cream in the world

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Last week, I was invited to visit behind-the-scenes with Gianpaolo Grazioli at his quuintessential gelato shop, Giapo on Queen Street (Edit: since 2017, Giapo has moved to 12 Gore Street, Auckland). Giapo is the name his mother called him and therefore Gianpaolo = Giapo. Giapo has just one location and has carved a niche for very fine ice cream, gelato and yoghurt and most of their flavours are organic using locally sourced ingredients. This newly renovated institution is much more than an your average ice cream parlour. Not a single store-bought rainbow sprinkle, pink wafer or Snickers in sight, the flavours they do have are smart, original and  very good. While I was there I sampled a range of gelato, ice cream and yoghurt flavours such as dark chocolate brownie, vanilla cardamom and eggplant, banana yoghurt, hazelnut chocolate, tiramisu, finishing off with a classic digestive: green tea ice cream. I was impressed to learn that everything was made on site daily. The stainless steel kitchen was small and spotless and Gianpaolo and his expert crew …

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 Honesty Box 2

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Way, way back in the late ’80s, a young boy at Glenholme Primary School in Rotorua, New Zealand accidentally slammed his fingers in the classroom door. I will never forget it because he also happened to be holding a tamarillo at that precise moment. The horrific tamarillo mess will be forever etched into my mind. As the news spread that someone had squished their fingers in the door, the fact that he was also holding a tamarillo dropped away. To our active imaginations, it was finger guts that bloodied the classroom entrance. I have honestly never bought a tamarillo in my  life. I guess subconsciously, finger guts are pretty far down on the list of my preferred fruit. It’s a shame really, because I just found out that The Koala adores tamarillos. This winter, I’m testing out a few CSA and produce delivery companies in Auckland. If you are curious about CSA and like see what other people around the world are getting each week in their boxes, please check out at the weekly link party What’s …

Street Eats Auckland 2013

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The Scene Thousands of Hungry Hungry Hippos Aucklanders flocked to Street Eats at Shed 10, Queens Wharf, yesterday to gorge themselves with cheap and cheerful eats. Local cafes and restaurants offered a handful of dishes each priced mostly $5 to $10 and the atmosphere was festive despite the “shed” location. Matched with a tipple of your choice, it was a fun way to try a bunch of food on a budget. Advertised as a family affair and appealing to the everyman, the crowds were larger than expected which was both a curse and a blessing. The event was advertised for 10am to 7pm but when my friend Coco and I arrived in the early afternoon some places had completely sold out. With the success of this inaugural event, it should mean many years of Street Eats to come. Street Eats is part of Auckland Restaurant month and more info can be found at: www.biglittlecity.co.nz/auckland-restaurant-month/ The Eats Even though we were low on cash, the EFTPOS line snaked back three days long so we decided to spend …

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 …

THE HONESTY BOX 1

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This winter, I’m testing out a few CSA and produce delivery companies in Auckland. If you are curious about CSA and like see what other people around the world are getting each week in their boxes, please check out at the weekly link party What’s In The Box over at Heather’s blog In Her Chucks. The Lowdown The Honesty Box has a great name and refers to unmanned roadside stalls all over the New Zealand countryside, where you purchase produce by leaving money behind in the honesty box. I don’t know if this is common in other countries but around here, it’s looked upon fondly, though dishonesty is slowly taking over and honesty boxes are less and less common. With The Honesty Box, the name actually refers to their corporate programme where companies can purchase a box of fruit for the office and employees can buy fruit at work by way of honest box. A healthy alternative to the chocolate bar and chips snack box. The Honesty Box also offer home deliveries which is what we went are …

Auckland Restaurant Month on a budget

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I enjoy eating out just as much as I enjoy cooking and in a few days it will be Auckland Restaurant Month. Testing out the promotional menus is a great way to get out of a winter hibernation funk. With over 20 foodie events and 120 restaurants participating, get into Auckland and eat something new this month. More info can be found at: www.biglittlecity.co.nz/auckland-restaurant-month/ Street Eats at Shed 10 The number one foodie event I’m looking forward to during next month is Street Eats at Shed 10 on Queens Wharf. Entry is free and you can expect a feast from 10.30am to 7.00pm on Saturday 10 August 2013. “Taking place at Shed 10 on Queens Wharf, Street Eats is a family friendly event with our favourite chefs serving up their most beloved street food.” I am hoping Street like the restaurant section of my favourite food festivals but without the entry fee. The lineup for Street Eats includes: Besos Latinos Atico Cocina Ima Cuisine Mecca Cafe Toto Merchants of Venice Monsoon Poon Faro Korean Restaurant Thai Street …

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 …

Happy meat makes me happy

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I’ve always wanted to buy meat direct from a farm, but I thought that was reserved for people with chest freezers in the basement. We have neither chest freezer or a basement. We are really lucky here in New Zealand to have many independent farms who offer meat to the public. If you follow Bunny Eats Design on Facebook, you might have noticed me recently gloating about the 20 or so kilos of beef we have in the freezer. The skinny Steve and Pip delivered the meat from their 1300 acres in Wairarapa direct to our home. It really doesn’t get much easier. Eketahuna Country Meats raise their own deer, lamb and Angus beef. Eketahuna Country Meats offer: Angus beef (whole $1300, 20kg packs $300, half or quarter*) Lamb (whole $220*) Pork (whole $600, half $300*) Someone who has been buying beef this way for years gave me a wise tip: Don’t eat all the steak first. With 9 packs of mince and 7 packs of sausages in our lot, I can see why. The …

Naturally Organic 3

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This winter, I’m testing out a few CSA and produce delivery companies in Auckland. I have already tried Foodbox.co.nz and now I am trying is Naturally Organic. Naturally Organic is a market based in Albany, Auckland and their produce boxes are only a small part of what they offer. Unlike other companies that have a set delivery day, Naturally Organic offer 6 day delivery. Check their website out for specific details for your area, but I can order up to 7 days in advance and get same day delivery Monday to Friday if I order by 9.30am. First impression Our first Two Person Box was overwhelming and the One Person Box wasn’t really enough so this round I requested the Two Person Box with more vegetables than fruit. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen and once again we received heaps of fruit. 44 pieces of fruit! As before the produce is of excellent organic quality and the box was huge but felt a bit empty. I ordered some chicken this week and these were were individually wrapped in …

Smoked Salmon and Urenika

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If you like colourful, accessible food, this one is for you. This recipes shows off the lovely purple Urenika potato but you can substitute any good quality potato and the flavours will be the similar. Coloured potatoes contrast beautifully with smoked salmon and lemon so if you can, opt for colour potatoes. The deep purple Urenika or Maori potato is precious here in New Zealand. They are pretty boring looking the outside, and their secret is within. The small knobbly spuds can be found at most farmers markets but are absent from supermarket chains and as there is no mass farming of these potatoes. It’s as shame as they are quite beautiful to look at and taste earthy. I guess their rarity makes them more special. I’ve heard these potatoes can be quite easy to grow. In any case, at the end of summer, I poked a few sprouting potatoes into a planter box. The tomatoes were finished so I figured I had nothing to lose. A plant that looked liked nightshade sprouted up and …

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 box 2

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This winter, I’m testing out a few CSA and produce delivery companies in Auckland. I have already tried Foodbox.co.nz and the next one on my list is Naturally Organic. Naturally Organic is a market based in Albany, Auckland and their produce boxes are only a small part of what they offer. Since our last order was a little overwhelming, this round I went for the smallest box and added some fun extras. I ordered the One Person Organic Fruit and Vege Box for $19 plus $7.98 delivery and also added some Māori potatoes (urenika) and onions to bump up the produce to $26.25 to be comparative. The $19 produce weighed 5.4kg (vegetables 2.4g, fruit 3kg) and the onion and potatoes an extra 1kg. Unlike other companies that have a set delivery day, Naturally Organic offer 6 day delivery. Check their website out for specific details for your area, but I can order up to 7 days in advance and get same day delivery Monday to Friday if I order by 9.30am. First impression Even though we …

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 …

Naturally Organic box 1

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This winter, I’m testing out a few CSA and produce delivery companies in Auckland. I have already tried Foodbox.co.nz and the next one on my list is Naturally Organic. Naturally Organic is a market based in Albany, Auckland and their produce boxes are only a small part of what they offer. Their products are marked organic, spray-free, gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free and local where appropriate, so if that kind of thing is important, you can shop online with ease. They have a huge catalogue of products like baby products, cleaning products, drinks, pantry items and you can get even get Aoraki salmon and Harmony/Freedom Farm pork delivered with your product box. This week I ordered the Two Person Organic Fruit and Vege Box for $30 plus $7.98 delivery. Unlike other companies that have a set delivery day, Naturally Organic offer 6 day delivery. Check their website out for specific details for your area, but I can order up to 7 days in advance and get same day delivery Monday to Friday if I order by 9.30am. First …

Tequila Joe’s

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Tequila Joe’s had only been open for a couple of days when we happened upon it. They don’t get heaps of foot traffic over on Vivian Street, but we passed this place twice a day on our walk in and out of town. The Koala has had a yearning to open a tequila bar in Auckland for the last little while. No such thing exists in Auckland (yet) so when we saw this tequila spot we had to try it out. Come here for… California-style Mexican food and top shelf tequilas. Unexpectedly wonderful… Caramba Pink Reposado sipped with a sangrita. A delcious tequila with caramel flavours. If you have ever had tequila treat you bad, this is the one to make you fall in love all over again. The most interesting thing on the menu… Churros and the Mexican hot chocolate. I would come back to try… The snacks and a cocktail or two. The atmosphere is… Still working itself out. It’s in a funny part of town and the word hasn’t got around yet. …

Sweet Mother’s Kitchen

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Thanks to our friend Elijah for this recommendation. I am obsessed with New Orleans cuisine so I was already biased. We ate a breakfast and a dinner shift and would have eaten a lunch too if they were open on Queen’s Birthday. Sweet Mother’s Kitchen stole our hearts (arteries and all). Photos are only of breakfast because night time photography is rubbish. Is it self righteous to say they play really, really good music when really, I just mean they play all my favourite bands? Maybe. I was stoked to be able to try chicken and waffles. We don’t eat chicken for breakfast in New Zealand. It’s just not a thing. So for those who have never heard of chicken and waffles, it’s deep fried chicken served with waffles and syrup. Sounds crazy right? Come here for… Cajun and Creole dishes from Louisiana and a smattering of Mex snacks. Unexpectedly wonderful… Curly fries with Creole mayo. The most interesting thing on the menu… Gumbo, jambalaya, chowder and hush puppies are obvious classics. But I was …