So So Simple Food

A Vegan Pasta What’s More!

2012-01-24T20:12:00.000-08:00

The idea of this dish is inspired by the South of Italy Province of Puglia
Mario Batalli who I really admire, cooks a lot of food from there.
It is renowned for its simple vegetarian food
Not all vegetarian but ‘making the most of what you have’ type of food
I like Vegetarian food, but this is unusual for me. No dairy or animal products at all...but for anyone who is interested, this is a fabulous pasta dish.
Very easy, just a little tomato sauce mixed with cooked spaghetti, topped with herby breadcrumbs
As they say Healthy As. And I say Simple As
Except for the spaghetti… all made by moi.

I made breadcrumbs from some leftover bread, that I had made by my own two hands

Sage and parsley from my little garden
Not the other vege though
All courtesy of the local supermarket

2 cloves peeled garlic lightly Smashed
6 leaves sage
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
6-8 bail leaves chopped
2 handfuls fresh breadcrumbs
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch sea salt

3 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion peeled and chopped
1 red pepper finely chopped
4 medium tomatoes chopped
Chili to taste
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

200 gms spaghetti cooked to manufacturers instructions

For the tomato sauce
Sauté onion, pepper in olive oil till soft
Add chili and tomatoes
Sauté about 5 minutes
Don't cook too long, the fresh taste is what we are after
Season with S&P and a little sugar

Meanwhile cook the spaghetti

In another pan gently heat the garlic and sage leaves in olive oil
Remove
Chop the sage with parsley and basil
Chop the garlic and add to the tomato sauce

Add breadcrumbs to flavoured oil
Toast till just crisp
Add chopped herbs and season with S&P

When spaghetti is cooked add to tomato sauce
Mix well

Serve topped with seasoned breadcrumbs and devour

Pretty in Pink – Pickled Onions Fit for a Princess

2012-01-22T21:01:00.000-08:00

I saw these pretty onions on Market Kitchen by a Chef called Valentine
Had to make them
1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
½ tsp dried oregano
5 black peppercorns
2 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
Juice ½ orange
½ tsp sea salt
1 bay leaf
½ tsp ground cumin

Bring a small pan of water to the boil
Blanch the sliced onions for about 30 seconds
Drain
Place in a glass or ceramic bowl
Cover with the other ingredients
Marinate for at least 1 hour
The onions will turn a vibrant pink. Pretty as.

These will keep for several days in the fridge

Another first for me Lamb Schnitzel
I used Lamb Steaks
bashed out in thin slices

First make a marinade
10 mint leaves finely chopped
1 tsp sugar
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 red chili finely chopped

Marinate the thin slices for at least 2 hours

Drain on a rack
The dip into flour well seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Into beaten egg
Then into Panko breadcrumbs
Let sit for another hour to set the crumbs

Fry in vegetable oil till golden brown
I served this with a Cabbage Salad which contains

Red pepper and of course the Pretty Pink onions
Plus some grated carrot and finely sliced celery
Toss well with a slosh of olive oil
The onions will supply the vinegar part of the dressing
Dont forget to season with S&P

On the side a tasty potato salad very much improved by tossing in Tartare Sauce

½ cup mayo
Tablespoon chopped mint
Tablespoon chopped parsley
1 spring onion finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped gherkins
1 tablespoon chopped capers
Juice ½ lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peeled and cut potatoes into 2 cms chunks
Boil till just tender
Drain and toss in a little French dressing while still hot
This flavours the potatoes and stops them sticking together

When they have cooled toss them with the Sauce Tartare
Once again, this needs to sit for at least an hour, to take on all of these wonderful flavours.

A dinner... indeed...fit for a princess

How to Peel Boiled Eggs - Good Hint for Cooking Steak

2012-01-18T15:13:00.000-08:00

Just to prove Auckland can turn on a good day.
This is the view from our deck

Auckland City there in the distance
Turn around

And again

Only 5 kms from the city Motuihe Island. Haven't been here for a while but it is lovely.
Lucky Us.

Got a handy hint from Ed Baines, Celebrity Chef and judge on Britain's Best Dish.
It can sometimes be a problem when peeling Boiled eggs. What a mess it turns out.
Ed Baines came up with this. Peel your eggs under wtaer.
Voila it works.

Plus decades ago my friend's father Doug Peacock, gave me a hint how to cook stek.
I did it for years then you try other methods BUT this is great and always works.

For med-med rare
First lightly oil the steak and season with freshly ground black
HOT pan
Add sea salt directly to the pan
Add steak
Cook about 3 minutes
Do not touch
The blood will start to rise
Flip and cook another 2 minutes
Remove
Rest about 5 minutes and serve
Guaranteed perfect

Cajun Moon-First Voyage 2012- Perfect Boat Food

2012-01-10T21:00:00.000-08:00

Took a while to get on board, it's been over 6 months, since Cajun Moon has been out and about, the dislocated thumb put the skipper out of action for months.

Not quite the maintenance man we are used to!
We arrived to a mess, but Lana (Plane Server, her occupation according to her little friend Zavier…Love it, Not Trolley Dollie, just a plain Plane Server)
got working.
We finally got the food stored and in-between showers, managed to unload the rest of the stuff from the car.
Finally got underway, no rain thank God and about 15 knots wind...on the nose of course.
An easy trip to Islington Bay.

The best first anchorage when it has been a little stressful leaving port.

On arrival the anchor caused a little problem, it was very stiff, from under use and the breeze was chilly but Lana persevered.

Yay done.

Should be easier next time
Lana made great lunch.
Prawn cocktail with fresh bread and a Watermelon, Marinated Feta and Celery Salad.

Excellent.

How simple is this, Lana used a bought seafood dressing. It was fine.

So big fat prawns, tossed in a seafood dressing,on a bed of lettuce, with some avocado, chopped spring onions

A little bowl of chilli mussels on the side, a Perfect Boat Lunch

Bottle of Deutz, to whet the whistle, we rested, read and I finished "Before I Go To Sleep"…Good little thriller.
It had been a late lunch and luckily,we had already decided to have an easy dinner,

bit of cheese and crackers glass of wine

Just as well, because when Dale went to turn on the gas...

guess what...wasn't working. Bugger.

Now as it turns out two Xmas holidays ago, we had a gas problem, whilst in the Coromandel and bought a couple of burners from Mitre 10.

Cheap as chips and very efficient.

Found them in a locker.

Hooray, but where are the canisters. No luck,

Skipper couldn't remember where they were.
Lana scuffled through the side cabin but to no avail.
No problems, we could always go shopping in Waiheke tomorrow.
Drank wine and ate the cheese, with left over bread and some crackers.

Problem no 3
Dale has had a sleep button put on the stereo, so that we can go to sleep with the iPod going, a great idea, but as it turned out…it went off after 30 minutes. All of the time!

We couldn't seem to over ride it.

Oh well, worry about that tomorrow!

After a couple of dodgy starts we got the DVD going and settled down to watch "The Killing" Series2. Gripping, except for the sleep button.

The TV turned off every 30 minutes.

Never mind, worry about that tomorrow.

Next problem the solar anchor light is not working, BUT we do have a real one on top of the mast, so problem fixed.

Uses a lot of power, but we are visible and we do have plenty of battery power.

Oh well, worry about that in the morning.

Another small problem.

For Christmas, Dale gave me a car charger for the iPhone and supposedly the iPad..Thought it would great to use on the boat.

But it seems it only does the phone.

Oh well, we have the inverter and other chargers.
Next, cleaning the teeth...mmmm, water tasting a little salty, strange.
Off to bed.

Slept all night.

Thursday
Dale woke up and found the canisters, in the locker, obviously too hard at night.

Hooray… We could have our hot lemon and water which gets our systems going.

It was a lovely day.

Warm sunny.

Lana had her first swim of the year

A bit of ship shaping and we were off to Waiheke.

This is more like it

The familiar sights of Skipper

And Bosun

Calm as - lovely.

Yes the anchor went down reasonably easily. Great.

Nice to be back on board, just need to get rid of a few niggles!!!
Changed over to a new water tank, still salty...

Oh well, good for cooking pasta and potatoes.

We have many containers of fresh water, so we are Ok for drinking.

Interesting for showers though.

Salty skin.

Not to worry, lots of body lotion.

Oh and the Hot water is not working.

This would normally not be too big of a problem, but when washing dishes with salt water, one finds that, one gets through a hell of a lot of washing detergent

Oh well Weather is good.

Made a nice Risoni Salad for lunch.
Cooked up some olives, (see below) using Lana's fresh oregano.
She also brought rocket from her garden.
Marinated some red onions,

I think this Pasta Salad would be a good recipe for Ruth Of Click Once Upon a Feast

Blog Event, Click Presto Pasta Nights
to have a look at this weekly event.
Lots of ideas for Pasta Dishes from all over the world
This week, the event is being hosted by Alisha at Cook Craft Enjoy

Once again a Perfect Boat lunch

I am very keen on my cooked Marinated Olives

So So Simple

1 can Kalamata Olives in Brine, drained

4 tablespoons of Olive oil

4 cloves garlic peeled and lightly smashed to flavour the oil

3-4 Sprigs of fresh Rosemary or Thyme or Oregano

Sprinkle of chili flakes to taste

2-3 strips of lemon zest,

Freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil gently

Add the garlic

Just warm through

Add the rest of the ingredients

Let cook very gently for about 15 minutes

Sometimes I put them in a 130C oven for 15 minutes

Let cool and either eat straight away or store in an airtight container

This Salad is once again So So Simple

Just prepare your ingredients

Then, throw them all together

1 can Tuna in Olive Oil drained

Reserve the oil

250 gms Risoni cooked to Manufacturers instructions and drained

Toss it in 1 tablespoon of oil from the Tuna

1 red onion, sliced and marinated in 3 tablespoons French dressing

Best to leave for about an hour

About 12 olives

Good handful of Rocket

Freshly ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together

Taste, you may need some more French Dressing

Once again, best prepared about 30 minutes before you eat

Nice time to meld all of those flavours

We all had swims. It was beautiful.

Here's to Us

For dinner, we had schnitzel with mashed potato and cauliflower plus sautéed courgettes

Here is the trusty burner, we are very grateful for this burner. The gas only lasts for about 2 hours but as luck would have it, we had 3 canisters.

Lovely dinner.

So we’ve got gas

Dale fiddled with the Solar light, so that works

AND he managed to over ride the Sleep Button on the Stereo.

We settled down to another episode of The Killing.

Excellent

Friday,

Another lovely day. Sun, Sea, Good Wine, Good food.

Can’t ask for much more than that.

Lovely Sunset

One more episode then nice sleep.

Saturday

Well so much for "Red Sky at Night, Sailors delight"

Rain!!!

Oh Well, we just sat and watched the next 7 episodes of The Killing.

Didn’t feel at all guilty. It was pouring.

Stopped for lunch and Dinner.

Sunday, time to go home, forecast was for Gale Force winds, but now luck is on our side and the forecast, as it is frequently, was wrong.

It blew a bit but was quite comfortable and no rain

We arrived back to the Marina safely.

So, Dale now left with many chores, before we go out again.

The Joys of Being Skipper.

Christmas Continues at Riverside Matakana-A Wonderful Venue for Our Family

2012-01-08T18:29:00.000-08:00

Nerdy Santa, with his adoring Elf

After the Champagne, the Oysters and still digesting the breakfast...we were starting to panic.
Lunch is looming, guests are arriving soon.
Turkey and Beef need to go onto the BBQ.
Ham is coming with Sheryl and the Salmon for Dale, was leftovers from Christmas Eve dinner.
New potatoes
Green Bean Salad
Fresh Asparagus
The Famous Stuffing Balls
All in all an excellent feast.
This year I wasn't quite so diligent about the photo taking and we are missing one guest from the shots.
One Craig Walsh Wrightson, actually I note that Dale is not in the shots either. Oh well. They were there.
Plus we are also missing the puddings.
OMG they were so good. Helen made her Christmas Pud, teamed with Rum Butter
Chris made an Eton Mess. There wasn't even anything leftover for me to shoot. Oh well.
C'est La Christmas
Memories.

First we had some Cooked Prawns with an excellent Tartare sauce.
1 cup Mayo (shop bought is OK)
1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
3 tablespoons chopped pickles...we like bread and butter cucumber
2 tablespoons chopped capers
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped shallots

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Zest of 1 lemon
Lemon juice to taste
Good shot of your favourite hot sauce
Mix well and leave in fridge for at least 2-3 hours for flavours to meld
Longer if possible
In fact it will keep for a few days

Pate and crackers, all washed down with some chilled Methode Champagnoise

They were wolfed down.
The prawns were roasted click here to fine out how to cook these.
So so simple, so so good

Really the best way to cook them in my books.
This year, we cooked Turkey Breasts
Helen had heard Chef Extraordinaire, Mr Tony Astle, from Antoines Restaurant in Auckland, suggest that steaming the Turkey breasts was the way to go.
We had bought ready stuffed breast from Farro Fresh, Auckland's Boutique Market click here
Our problem was no oven but we did have BBQ's

So Helen rolled the breasts, wrapped them in foil,
We made a water bath, in a foil roasting dish
Made sure the dish wasn't sitting on direct heat
The result
Perfect.
So tender and moist. Will do that again. The stuffing contained cranberries as of course it should.

Here is Sheryl's beautiful Ham. Green Bean Salad and of Course Asparagus

Chris cooked the beautiful piece of Rib Eye Steak
Stuffing balls, our family tradition, recipe here
New Potatoes,

Everyone lined up, getting a bit peckish...it was nearly 3pm already

Baby Ella, took the Fancy of her little sister Jordan, Mia and Karen

So time for the Secret Santa
Santa needed a little padding. Don't you love the nerdy glasses. He was very proud of himself.

Santa is staring to look a little bored

The presents came out thick and fast and were very popular

The elves were more keen on having their photos taken, than helping Santa...no wonder he was bored

And "Ladies and Gentleman, We give you, Queen Elizabeth II".

We always watch the Queens Speech.
One can score points, when someone gets the phrases right...
e.g "My husband and I" etc
So it was time for a little fishing off our jetty

Turn to the left

Turn to the right

Beautiful
Someone was little tired and emotional, she needed a lift home

What a beautiful Christmas Day.

Christmas, Its all about The Family, The Food, The Wine and The Presents

2011-12-27T14:44:00.000-08:00

This year the Family have rented some chalets in Matakana Riverside Lodge. Its fabulous here.
Perfect for our mob. Fun to wake up with the little children opening these presents.
We arrived on Christmas Eve, there was time to put out the food for Santa and his Reindeer

Next was the erection of the beautiful wigwam

Santa made it thank Goodness, He ate some of his cookie, the reindeer had a nibble at the carrot.
Santa, obviously had had too many beers...he was only able to down a few sips.

The day started off well, Santa presents first

Don't you love the delight on their faces

Fab

Katie with a Larry David moment. Trying to open the packaging the new dolls are wrapped in. How do they do it?

You need a Stanley Knife...but what does a Stanley Knife come in BUT a bloody bubble pack.
Anyhow let's not ruin the day.
The Grandfather in his happy place

Over to see the other presents
Ms Sophia got a new laptop from Santa and a stunning, elegant Santa Suit from her younger brother.

He got assorted goodies plus a scooter from Santa

The great thing about Santa's visit is there are loads of wonderful things to play with
Even though he obviously left things off Ms Cleo's list which she found very annoying!!!

Some preening by the live in hairdresser

The plan was 9am Breakfast,
11am Champagne, Oysters and Family presents
Guests arrive at 1pm
Lunch around 2pm
SO
First the boys had to play tennis

Slight delay,
The we had to heat the croissants, lay out the cheese and other bits and bobs
Cook the bacon, Joseph set the table

And before long, the starving throng were hovering around the table

So time was slipping away and next thing we are having to postpone the elevenses, till twelveses
Food to prepare, showers and dress ups to happen
Action Girl!

Whoops, corks were popping again and oysters laid out

Hooray, Santa Jojo was preparing to hand out the Family presents.

The usual carnage

Cheers...Merry Christmas everyone

Still got a whole day to go.

Best Pizza - First Course and Dessert Pizza - A Big Hit

2011-12-08T14:07:00.000-08:00

It was Thursday at Grandmas, and I made Pizza for the kids. I had some tomato sauce leftover from the catering gig.
The following are a perfect topping for kids,

Tomato Sauce
Finely chopped bacon
Finely chopped red onion
Chopped pineapple
Chopped capsicum
Grated Cheese
And at one end I threw on some sliced mushrooms for Dale and Me.
My Pizza Dough is very simple
Click here for the recipe
Don't buy the bases just make it. Cheap as chips
All you need is time.

Then I decided to make a Dessert Pizza
I peeled, cored and sliced 2 apples
Threw them into a dish with some sugar
few knobs of butter and the juice of an orange
I roasted them till tender but still holding their shape

Rolled out the dough and covered it with yogurt
Arranged the apples on the top
Sprinkle over some brown sugar
Bake about 15 minutes

Let cool a little before cutting
Serve with whipped cream
Its wonderful... Summer is here
We were able to eat outside
The kids loved it

Always inventive with the cushions
An obstacle course for Ms Cleo

Hockey World Champs-Feeding the Crew

2011-12-07T22:07:00.000-08:00

Ho Ho Ho, Christmas is here
My Friend Mary Will tarted up my candelabra
I just love the white reindeer
I bought them from one of my favourite sites
Father Rabbit

I brought out my other lovely Christmas things. Really feel in the spirit now.

I've had a fun week, New Zealand is hosting the Hockey World Championship here in North Shore. Auckland. Here are some teams warming up

The Outside Broadcasting Team are filming it for The World.

Organised by our Juice TV. I was asked to provide Lunch and afternnon tea for 7 days.
20 people.They are a hungry lot.
It has been a fun project. A lot of cakes, scones, cookies, pizza, filled rolls, wraps.
Kept me pretty busy. It has been fun.
Today they got Tortilla. I bought some great little containers, which were great for the Tortilla. Individually served with a nice relish on the side.

I also made an Apple and Raisin Cake and some White Chocolate and Craisin Cookies

Here is the recipe for the cake. Given to me by my friend Mary
Mary’s Apple Cake
2 apples, peeled and chopped in small pieces
1 cup sugar
125g melted butter
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1teaspoon baking soda
1teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon each of salt, nutmeg, allspice
1 cup raisins
1/2-3/4 cup walnuts (Optional)

Icing sugar

Pre heat Oven to 180C
Prepare tin. Grease and flour
I like to line the bottom with baking paper

Combine apples and sugar,
Stand for 5 mins.
Combine cooled melted butter and egg with apples.
Sift dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.
Add raisins and 1/2 cup walnuts.(if using them)
Spread mixture into 23cm, greased tin.

Put remaining walnuts on top if using.
Bake for 45- 50 mins.
I find it takes a bit longer.
Leave in tin for 10 mins, before turning out

Dust with icing sugar.

For the Cookies... click here for the recipe.

I bought half baked Paneton Rolls
These are brilliant.
Paneton is a French Bakery here in Auckland.
They make great baguettes and these wonderful Ficelle Rolls
Just op into a 180C oven for 8-10 minutes
Voila...Fresh Bread

So Mise en Place
Filled Rolls
Chicken, Avocado, lettuce, Citrus Mayo
Ham, Cheese and Spinach salad
And some Corn Muffins, basket of fresh fruit

Wraps are great
Spinach, Carrot salad and chicken
Spread the wrap with Mayo
Toss the spinach in a little French dressing

Make an easy carrot salad
Top with moist chicken

As an alternative
Lettuce, Egg salad, and Cucumber

Another day of Filled Rolls
How about the old favourite?
Corned Beef, Cabbage and Carrot
I cooked a piece of Topside Corned Beef
and the cabbage was Cole slaw, of course.
A salad with a little difference.
I mixed the Mayo Dressing with some Onion Marmalade, plus a little whipped cream to lighten it up.
Delicious

Gave an great extra flavour to the rolls. Made some chicken ones for the non meat eaters

Also, some cut up pineapple,(for health)... Chocolate Chip Cookies and for afternoon tea
Sausage Rolls. Well the sausage rolls went almost straight away. Nothing like a warm sausage roll, dipped in my special Ketchup.

Monday was supposed to be a lay day. but because of inclement weather, the games were postponed on Sunday. So the crew had to start early so I sent over some hot cheese scones.
These are wonderful, full of cheese and butter...no good for those of us, who could be dieting. I don't think the crew will care.

I will do another post with the recipe later.
Two more days to go. Great fun.

You say Frittata, I Say Tortilla- Depends on the Country-Our time in Spain

2011-11-29T14:04:00.000-08:00

I am still trialing dishes for the Juice TV Crew lunches next week.
Mainly I need timing. My delivery time is before 11 am, so I need to know how much I have to do the day before and how much on the morning.
This Frittata is a very simple dish. A stable in Spain, part of the Tapas Menu as well.
When we were in Spain in the 60's, we stayed at a wonderful Camping Ground, called Vilasar De Mar.
Just outside of Barcelona.

The owners of the property, Damian and Isabella, plus his brother Jose and wife Maria adopted us.
This put our original plan, to drive through to Torremolinis and onto Morroco aside.
We had such a good time, we spent 2 weeks in their camping ground.
It was the end of the holiday season, so they devoted their time to making sure we saw everyting we could in Barcelona and the Environs.
They took us of course, to bullfights

They introduced us to Gerhard and Adele, a German couple, who ran a water ski school.
They taught us to water ski. Even I got up first time. A miracle.

I think I spy a cigarette in my hand.
Gerhard also took us to a big football game in Barcelona... which was very exciting, as he was an even more aggressive driver than Dale, and that's saying something. It was scary.
Isabella, also showed me, how to make the Spanish Omelet or Tortilla.
In New Zealand at that time, Spanish omelet was a bit like that Russian salad, with peas, potatoes and carrots.
The Spanish only add potatoes and fried potatoes at that.
Couldn't wait to tell My Mother that she had it wrong. (Bit of youthful arrogance perhaps)
God, it was wonderful.
They also invited us to dine with them.

Which was a nice change from eating in the tent.

How about those shorts?
So, onto the Spanish Omelet
I have added some onion and parsley.
And just for a little extra flavour, I grated some Parmesan on the top.
I like that.
This will feed 6 people for lunch, with some french bread and a little relish on the side.

Olive oil
2 large potatoes, peeled, chopped into chunks
1 large onon peeled and cut into chunks
8 eggs
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Some chopped parsley
Grated Parmesan Cheese

You need a pan which can go into the oven
The omelet starts off on the stove, then you pop it under your Grill/Broiler to finish off

Toss the potatoes in olive oil S & P
Into 175C oven roast till tender and golden about 20 minutes
Remove and place in a bowl
In you pan lightly saute the onions in olive oil till tender, don't brown them
Add to potatoes.
You can do all of this ahead of time.
Which is great, if you have to make a few of these.

Hey look at these eggs. A carton of double yolkers!

Pre heat your Grill/Broiler
Break eggs into a bowl
Season with S & P
Whisk well
Add cooked potatoes. onions and parsley
Heat your oven proof pan on the stove top
Add a good slurp olive oil
Throw in egg mix
Grated Parmesan Cheese over the top
Let sit and and cook till the omelet starts to set
About 4 minutes

When you can lift it up with your spatula and it has started to brown
Pop under the grill.
It will take about 5 minutes and it will rise and look wonderful

Remove onto a board or plate

Cut into slices and enjoy

Easy Lunch Food

2011-11-26T19:06:00.000-08:00

This was for lunch but would also make a great breakfast

I am 'trialing' easy lunch foods... as I am going to cater for Juice TV crew, in a week or so.
The brief is, "food they can eat easily"...lunch and afternoon tea.
Wraps seem like a great idea and I made these for lunch today.
Bacon and Omelet for me.
Smoked Salmon and Omelet for Dale

Very simple and mouthwatering.
I have the Farrah 12 inch wraps.
They promise never to crack when you roll and so far they seem to work really well.
For each individual wrap
I made a simple 2 egg omelet

1 teaspoon Butter
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon finely grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon mayonnaise
3-4 rasher of bacon cooked to your liking
Whisk together eggs, water, cheese, S &P and herbs
Heat a non stick pan
get it pretty hot

Add butter
turn it around the pan
pour in egg mix
It will start to cook and set
Shake the pan to move the egg around

Start bringing the eggs in from the outside, to the middle
Meanwhile, tilting the pan, so the uncooked mixture goes to the outside

You want this to cook as quickly as possible
When it is nearly set should only be about 1 minute
Remove from heat

Meanwhile
Lay the wrap on the bench
Cover with mayo
Turn the omelet onto the wrap

Cover with bacon/ or smoked salmon if you would prefer
Fold in edges

and roll up to a nice sausage

Cut on the diagonal for better presentation.
Easy peasy lunch.
Served with a piece of fruit and a cookie
Healthy!

Prawn Cocktail-An Oldie but a Goodie with a Difference-Perfect for Summer

2011-11-26T15:25:00.000-08:00

Prawn Cocktails
This can bring shivers to your spine but basically it is still an excellent starter for the summer.
Prawns are so cheap these days. I like to buy what they call prawn meat. They have been topped and tailed, so ready to cook. Just keep a bag in the freezer pull out what you need defrost them, cook them and Bob's your Uncle. this is not as spectacular as when you use whole gorgeous prawns...but this is not a restaurant. Just a little old home kitchen.
On 'Martin Likes Fish' on Food TV he made this simple sauce, which he devised, to serve with Salmon but I thought it would make a great dressing for any seafood.
My addition was Tabasco, for that extra kick.

I also thought. that I would pull on my memory, of my Mother's lettuce salads.
Remember the sliced lettuce, with the sliced tomatoes and sliced eggs laid on top.
Served with the Condensed Milk Salad Dressing!
A bit boring, but My Mum spiced it up a bit...always added chopped onion, celery, radish, all fresh from the garden to her lettuce.
Seasoned it with salt and pepper (white of course), a little sugar and tossed it all in a little vinegar.
No oil in the 50's. Closest we had to vinaigrette!
Then she laid the sliced cucumber, sliced tomato and sliced hard boiled egg.
She also served with the Condensed Milk Dressing, actually I shouldnt be so rude.
It is quite tasty. Mustardy and tangy.
The vinegar really lifted the lettuce, my Mum's knew how to make food taste good.

So to make The Prawn Cocktail

You will need some Iceberg lettuce, Baby cos could be good, something crisp
Red onion
Chopped Chives
Ripe tomatoes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
French Dressing
Lemon
Prawns
Olive oil

Prawn Cocktail Dressing (see below)

Garnish
Tomato. lemon and some Chopped Parsley

So for the base of my Prawn Cocktail
First I marinated some finely sliced red onion in French Dressing, for about 2 hours just to take the sharpness from the onion
I cooked the thawed prawns

Pre-heat the oven to 210C
Toss the prawns in some sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and some lemon zest
Lay on a baking sheet
Into the oven for exactly 6 minutes
Remove from baking sheet straight away and chill for about an hour

Then I made the dressing
Very simple
2 tablespoons of Good Mayonnaise
Juice of 1 large lemon
Good pinch sea salt
2 tablespoons lightly whipped cream
Several drops Tabasco sauce
Lightly fold everything together
Set aside for about an hour for the flavours to meld
Now to assemble

I shredded the lettuce, and added the onion, and some chopped chives

I then cut some sweet little tomatoes into thin wedges and sprinkled on top.

Then I tossed the chilled prawns, in the dressing
Popped on top of the salad
Be generous with the prawns
Just top with some chopped parsley, tomatoes and a little wedge of lemon
Actually the photo doesn't do it justice. I'm afraid. There were at least 10 prawns there.

It was so delicious, I am glad I have revived it for our table.

Quick Roast Salmon-Makes a Great Salad

2011-11-23T17:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I did a blog on Quick Roasted Salmon. I was very pleased with it.
We were off to see Bic Runga last night. She was performing at the Cathedral in Parnell.
By the way, it was a very enjoyable concert.
I wanted to make a quick dinner using the salmon.
This salad...
So so simple and very very tasty

The amount below, fed two of us
Piece of roasted Salmon click here
1/2 red onion finely sliced
About 9 cms of Cucumber. seeds removed
3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into 2 cm cubes
1 stick of celery, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped chives
Lettuce. I used Iceberg, I still like it's crunchiness.

French dressing
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon mustard
Sea salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp sugar...just to cut the acidity a little
Whisk together

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water till just tender
drain and toss with a little of the dressing
Add celery and chives
Cool

Meanwhile marinate the onions and cucumber
Best to marinate for at least 2 hours
this takes the sharpness from the onions

So when you are ready.
Rip the lettuce into bite size pieces
Place the potatoes and celery over the lettuce
Throw onions and cucumber on top
Finally, break up the salmon and place that around as well
Drizzle the rest of the dressing over the salad
Perfect for a quick meal

Salmon at its Best-Roast Quickly

2011-11-22T14:42:00.000-08:00

I saw Mark Sargeant cook this Carppacio of Salmon on Food TV yesterday.
With Christmas coming up, I am always looking for exciting ways to cook Salmon.
We only get farmed Salmon here in New Zealand shops.
(You can get Wild Salmon, but you have to hunt it.)
I actually bought this filet at the supermarket.
On Christmas Day, we are going to stay at Riverside Matakana...family en masse.
We don't have an oven, just hobs and BBQs.
You could do this recipe on the BBQ as long it has a lid, so you can get a really good hot temperature.
This is so fabulous. I am drooling.

You need boned and skinned filet of Salmon.
I butterflied this piece, to get the salmon nice and thin.
Pre heat 205C
Line a baking sheet with baking paper
add 1 tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grate the zest of 1/2 large lemon
Add salmon

Oil, season and add the rest of the lemon zest
Pop into the oven
Just 6 minutes
Remove from oven and onto a serving dish
I just chopped a few chives over the top
Sorry not very Chefy looking but I'm not a Chef.

It is moist, tasty, DELICIOUS.
Roll on Christmas Day.
I am having problems, keeping my greedy hands off it.
We shall have it for dinner, with some Couscous I think.
Can't wait.

A Rick Stein Inspired, Sardinian Tomato Pasta Sauce

2011-11-20T16:29:00.000-08:00

There is something really special about Rick Stein, I think you don’t even have to be a Passionate Cook/Foodie to enjoy his Television programmes. I can even get my husband to watch somewhat grudgingly and he has to admit, he enjoys the programme.
Not only is Rick a wonderful inspirational chef, but he seems to really love having a good time. Not adverse to the odd drink or two as well..A Bon Vivant you might say.
Anyway thanks to Food TV and Prime we have a lot of Rick to watch.
Repeats of course but like any good TV programme or movies. They frequently improve with any re-viewing.
So The Mediterranean Escape episode this week has Rick in Sardinia and Sicily.

So many so, so simple dishes. Not recipes as such. Just a wonderful feel for great flavours.
My mouth was watering.

This recipe is from Sardinia and the sauce is for Skate Wings Antipasto Dish
It is served at room temperature.
I didn’t have any skate wings on hand but thought that the sauce could be good over spaghetti. I was right. It was wonderful.

There is a Southern Italian Dish called Scapece, which is marinated flounder, have a look here

Both of these dishes make great antipasti. I think this Skate wing dish could transfer to flounder or sole. Will try this at some stage.

Anyway here is the sauce, a little bit of sweet, sultanas… and a little bit of sour, vinegar.
I like to use White Balsamic Vinegar, it has a little extra sweetness, complements the saltiness of the capers
Yum

1/4 cup of good Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
2 tablespoon capers
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon chili flakes
1 400 gms can of tomatoes
Salt
Handful of Sultanas
Good slosh white balsamic vinegar

Add the oil to a pan over medium heat
Add garlic
Let it cook for a minute or two don’t let it burn
Add parsley, chili flakes and bay leaves
Careful it will spit a bit
Then add the capers
Cook for a couple of minutes

Add tomatoes toss well
Taste and add salt and freshly ground black pepper
as much as needed

Throw in the sultanas
And the vinegar

After a couple of minutes
It is done
So while you are doing this
Cook your spaghetti in boiling salted water,
to the manufacturers specifications
and when it is al dente (about 8-9 minutes)
Add the pasta to the sauce
Toss well
And serve

Now if you want to do the skate
Gently poach the skate for a couple of minutes
Remove the skin and any bones

In a serving dish
Put half of the sauce in the dish
Lay the fish on the top
Cover with the rest of the sauce
Leave to cool to room temperature
Will be trying this shortly, with flounder I think.

Beautiful Cous Cous-Healthy Fast Food-Fresh, Fragrant and Fast.

2011-11-18T18:17:00.000-08:00

I am trying to use food I have in the house, instead of just running off to the Supermarket everyday.
There is lots of goodies in the pantry and the freezer
Its a lovely day and a nice fresh Citrusy Couscous seemed like a good idea for lunch.

I also thought it would a good addition to Ruth at Once Upon A Feast 's weekly event Presto Pasta Nights. This time the event is being hosted by Simona at Briciole click here to visit Simona's blog

There were some blanched almonds in the freezer, an orange and celery in the fridge...sultanas, onions and couscous in the pantry. Plus fresh herbs from the garden.
That will do.

I like the instant Couscous, it is so simple and you can make a meal less than 20 minutes.
Fresh, fragrant and fast.
You can change the quantities, I used what I had.
In the dressing, I added a little Cider Vinegar, just for some extra acid to boost the orange juice

So: Take
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
2 cups boiling chicken stock (I used a stock cube)
1 cup instant Couscous
Zest of 1 orange
Handful each of parsley, mint and chives
2 tablespoons blanched almonds toasted in a pan, then roughly chopped
2 tablespoon sultanas

Dressing
Juice 1/2 medium orange
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Melt butter in a saucepan
Add onion and celery
Saute gently till soft

Add boiling chicken stock
Bring back to boil

Turn heat off
Add Couscous and stir
Cover and leave for about 10 minutes

Meanwhile
Toast the almonds gently, then chop
Zest the orange
Chop the herbs
and make the dressing.

Just add all of the ingredients and stir well.
Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
A lovely light lunch.

Gorgeous Golden Syrup Pudding and Tacos at Grandmas-Kid Friendly Meals

2011-11-18T17:33:00.000-08:00

It's Thursday and this is the first time I have had the kids around for 3 weeks.
We of course, have been in Rarotonga .
Joseph sent me an email, he has been cooking steamed puddings with his father.
Golden Syrup Steamed Pudding, what’s more
Great… dessert problem solved.
In my freezer, I had some Black Bean Chili, click here for the recipe which is delicious
So let's do tacos.
The beauty of Tacos is that they assemble themselves
Make their own choices.
The kids just loved this meal.

So to make the pudding
Joseph used the Chelsea Sugar Recipe from their Website.
This is enough for 4 individual puddings or 1 larger one
We used Dariole Molds

Ingredients
125g butter
1/2 cup Chelsea White Sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour
Pinch salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup unsweetened yoghurt
1/2 cup Chelsea Golden Syrup

Method
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well.
Add sifted flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Add yoghurt and half the golden syrup and mix well.
Lightly grease a pudding bowl or in our case individual Dariole molds
Pour in enough of the remaining Golden Syrup to cover the bottom of the molds
Spoon the batter on top.
Cover with lightly greased foil and secure with string.
Place molds into large pan
Pour boiling water till halfway up the molds

Cover with lid
Bring water back to boil, then turn down to simmering
Boil gently for 40 minutes, adding extra boiling water if necessary
Remove molds carefully, and slide knife around pudding before turning out.
Serve warm with whipped cream

What lovely light pudding, soaked in Golden Syrup.
We served with a big dollop of Chantilly Cream.
(Cream whipped with sugar and vanilla).
Heaven.

The tacos were great
I wont give exact quantities, it is really up to you.
All depends on how many people or how much of each ingredient suits you

So you will need a box of Taco Shells
Then to serve with the Chili, I made a simple Avocado Salsa

1 ripe avocado,
1 tablespoon of finely chopped red onion,
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley,
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
Mash lightly with a fork, just enough to break the Avocado up

Had a stressful time whilst making the Avocado Salsa
The lid came off the black pepper grinder and black peppercorns went everywhere, including into the salsa. Very frustrating.

So all the Avo had to be scraped clear of any pepper and virtually, I had to start again.
No-one wants whole peppercorns in their salsa

A Quick Tomato Salsa
Chopped tomatoes,
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Slurp of olive oil,
Several basil leaves, torn

I also mixed a 1/2 cup of unsweetened yogurt with a handful of chives and
The juice of half a lemon
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

A bowl Grated Cheese
And a bowl of Grated Carrot
A very easy meal and how healthy is that?
Joseph grating the Cheese

Miss Cleo was desperate to help
She picked the herbs for me.
She cleared the table

Then she cleaned it

But it all gets a bit much for her at times...

Yes once again I am the Leftover queen
One must use up the bits and pieces in the Fridge
There was some Chili, not quite enough for a full meal
1/2 an avocado
Some cooked potatoes
There was still some Yogurt left from the night before
and some fresh Herbs from my garden

How about Mexican Rostis
Rosti, Potato Cake is a Swiss dish but I thought would make a good carrier
for the leftovers

Fusion Food?
Yes I think so.

First grate the potato
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat some olive oil in a pan
Take a big handful of grated potato
Place into the hot pan
Squash into a flat cake
Turn the heat down to medium and cook the Potato Cake till golden
Turn onto a plate and slip back into the pan to cook the other side
When that side is golden slip onto a plate for serving

Meanwhile
Make a quick Avocado Salsa
Lightly mash the Avocado
Add 1/4 red onion finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 medium tomato de-seeded and finely sliced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dash hot sauce
(I used Chipotle Sauce, that I had in the fridge, but Tabasco would be fine)
Mix and set aside

In another bowl place
3 tablespoons unsweetened Yogurt
Juice 1/2 lemon2 tablespoons of chopped chives
Mix well and set aside

Heat the Chili and you are ready to assemble
Top the Rosti with the Chili

Yogurt
and finish off with the Avocado

Nice glass of wine and Friday dinner sorted

Black Bean Chili - Feeding a Crowd - Thank you Bobby Flay

2011-11-18T17:29:00.000-08:00

Bobby Flay, King of South Western Cuisine, is the inspiration for this Chili Dish
It was son-in-law Chris's birthday

and there was a crowd. What better to feed many people.
This delicious Chili, is served with Toasted Cumin Crème Fraiche and an Avocado Relish.
I served it with rice.
I also added frozen corn, it seems to me, that one should have corn, in this kind of Chili
There was enough for the meal that night and enough leftovers to make Chili and Rice Pies

and then plenty more to freeze. (This made a Taco meal for the Grandkids)
So so tasty and so so economical.
This is his recipe in entirety, which includes Chili Powders that I couldn’t find here in New Zealand, so I just used the Chili Powder available. BUT if you can buy his Chili please use it

For the Chili
1/4 cup olive oil
1 kilo minced beef,
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large red onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons ancho chili powder
1 tablespoon pasilla chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 bottle dark beer
5 cups homemade chicken stock, or canned low-sodium or water
1 can chopped tomatoes, drained and pureed
1 tablespoon chipotle pepper puree
1 tablespoon honey
2 cups cooked or canned black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups frozen corn
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Handful of chopped Coriander leaves

Directions

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat.
Season the beef with salt and pepper, and sauté until browned on all sides.
Transfer the meat to a plate and remove all but 3 tablespoons of the fat from the pan.

Add the onions to the pan and cook until soft.
Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the ancho powder, pasilla powder, and cumin and cook an additional 2 minutes.
Add the beer and cook until completely reduced.
Return the beef to the pot,
Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, chipotle puree, and honey, and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to medium, cover the pan, and simmer for 45 minutes.
Add the beans, the corn and continue cooking for 15 minutes.
Remove from the heat, add the lime juice, coriander and adjust seasonings.

Serve with a dollop of Toasted Cumin Crème Fraiche and Avocado Relish.

Toasted Cumin Crème Fraiche

1 tablespoon cumin seed
1 cup creme fraiche
Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the cumin in a small sauté pan over medium heat.
Toast until lightly golden brown.
Place in a small bowl.
Stir in the crème fraiche and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Avocado Relish:

2 ripe Hass avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeno or serrano chile, finely diced
Lime juice
Chopped cilantro leaves
Salt and pepper

Our friend Justine would have happily eaten the Avocado Relish as is.

Rarotonga-Beach Days with the Family and Banana Bread from the Bananas growing in the Carport

2011-11-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

We have our own bunch of Bananas. Between us and the chicken we have managed to use them

Great for Breakfast, Cocktails

And I decided to trial some Banana Bread. It made great toast.

This bread is really easy
Just make up some of my Basic Bread dough
I used 3 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
2 pkts yeast (16gms)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tsp sugar
Approx 300 mls of hand hot water

Click here for the method

To make the Banana Bread
After the first rising
Take 350 gms of the dough
(I used the rest to make bread rolls)
Put on top
1 ripe banana mixed with 10 gms sugar
40 gms of nutty muesli

Fold over and knead for about 5 minutes
It will take about that amount of time to mix all the ingredients in
Leave it to rise again till double in size
Shape and put into greased loaf tin

Leave to rise again and then dust with flour and slash top

Bake in 200C oven.
It should take about 25 minutes

So off to the No-ever Beach
You don't normally see Dale sitting like this

This is the normal view.

Just love all those shades of Turquoise
Katie testing the water

Miss Cleo, so cute

Our Mermaids, Mia and Cleo

Happy Families

So gorgeous here in Rarotonga

Carry on Living in Rarotonga

2011-11-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

We are prepared for the arrival of the Nobles. Mr Shark all blown up. Dale thought blowing up one of them was more than enough work for an old fella, so saving the next one for Chris.

Here they are, Katie clutching Ms Cleo, and not far behind with all of the luggage. Chris with Mia,hidden at this stage.

I had been to the market and bought 'Eis' for them all...they really are gorgeous. Just love the fragrance

Of course a swim was in order straight away. Never mind that it was 11.30.

Floaties on Miss Cleo, as we have all been told many times she 'drowndid' here in Rongatonaga last time. Not this time tho!

So the morning arrives and Mummy Hen and Her chicks have arrived watched over carefully by Mr Shark and His Sister

The kids of course just love the chickens. They come through everyday. There are a couple of families. They are so cute

Hey I bought a special gadget at Briscoes, it is a tennis racquet bug zapper. Has batteries and sizzles up the Mozzies. Katie here shoe off her deft forehand. Actually this year the Mozzies are keeping away. Still have a few but generally very pleasant.

Kids and water keeps them happy for hours.

Time for the beach now. It is so inviting.

One of the things we love about Rarotonga, is the food and the odd outlets. Some real creativity with names
Got some beautiful Albacore from there, only $8, enough for Sashimi, to have with drinks then Ike Mata the next day

Cafe Jireh is a favourite for coffee and cakes. They boast the best Custard Squares on the Island
and it's true, plus their ginger crunch is pretty good.
Right next door to the Gym. Eat cake - Work it off

All looking a bit squashed but to taste - Divine

First Days In Raro 2011,

2011-11-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

Its our first few days in Raro, I have been a bit slow on 'diarying', just never know where the time goes
We got off the plane really fast,
Bags came off almost straight away,

Listened to Jake Numanga welcoming us as he been for over 30 years

Great excitement at the speed.

But then we had the wait at The Budget Rental stand.
Been booked for ages of course they didn't have the right car for us.
We were pretty relaxed about this

Got to the heck out at the airport and the little Car Rental Man forgot to give us our passout.

It was only $2, but the principal... so I walked back, to get the pass, this nice watched the car and Dale for me

Finally we made back to Kathy's House, Taipara Retreat
Just like a big welcome home for us.
Pool looking very inviting
Our first visit from Mama Chook and her babies

Bit Chilly on first dip, Dale had first go

Meanwhile I set up the camera for our Evening Assume the Position Photo,a ritual I set up last year

Dale joined me just a gentle Vodka and Tonic.

Before I left home I booked us into the Vaima Restaurant. We have been going there since we first stared coming to Raro over 30 years ago.
It has been through many people and is now in the capable hands of Dorothy and Cameron. Dorothy booked a lovely table right on the beach.

The food started coming,
We shared, their Ike Mata and an Excellent Salt and Pepper Squid.

Dale ordered the Fish and Chips, Parrot fish, just perfect

And I had the Roast Pork Belly. It was fantatsic, so much of it I had to have a doggy bag.
Pork sandwiches for lunch Yum. That Crackling Yummee

An Heart Attack on the way.
But with a view of this, very calming

The next day I was off into to town for supplies and my Raro Drivers license.
That is always an experience.
Off to the Police Station

Stand in line, fill out the form,have your mug shot taken and now set for the next 5 years

Only $60 nice little earner for the Raro Government.
So home to make pizza, Pork on my side, smoked salmon on Dales.

All set up on the front deck with a nice glass of wine

After lunch unfortunately the rains came down...Apparently very welcome for the Islanders.

Only lasted a short time so guess what we did...drink in hand watched Boardwalk Empire

on the computer. An excellent way to spend the rest of the day

Cous Cous with Roasted Prawns - So Simple, So Tasty

2011-10-31T13:54:00.000-07:00

This is what we wake up to every morning

Turn to the left, pretty nice, not bad for a morning view.

In our first few days up here in Rarotonga, we have been working with minimum ingredients
On our arrival Kathy had left us this beautiful fruit. Breakfast organized.

This the best time to visit. All of the tropical fruit is at its best. The pineapples are so sweet and the Mangos chin dripping, those fat green things are the loclal lemons. Juicy!
Perfect for cocktails.

Did a basic shop and managed to turn out a delicious Prawn Cous Cous dish for dinner.
Even with normal old table salt and not freshly ground black pepper,
I got some good flavour
Thought this was a quick and easy Pasta Dish for Ruth of Every Kitchen Tells a Story.
She runs an event called Presto Pasta Night once a week,

Why don’t you pop over to the site….click here will be many really pasta dishes for you to try.

So to my Cous Cous

1 red onion finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil.
1cup instant Cous Cous
1 cup boiling water

Salt & pepper

2 large handfuls frozen prawns, thawed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1garlic clove peeled and finely chopped
Zest and juice of 1 lemon

S&P
Dash white wine

6 large leaves fresh basil

In a pot sauté red onion in olive oil
When tender season with S&P
Add boiling water
Bring back to boil
Take off the heat
Add Cous Cous ,

quickly stir
Cover and leave for about 3-4 minutes to steam
Meanwhile pre heat your oven to 210C
You are about to cook your prawns.
In a baking dish
Throw in the thawed prawns
Add S&P , lemon zest, garlic and olive oil
Toss around with your hands
Into the hot oven for 6 minutes.
Yes only 6 minutes
Remove add dash of white wine
Stir well

Meanwhile back to Cous Cous
Flake it all up with a fork
Add butter
Then basil
Taste and add season if necessary

Add prawns and all of their juices
Mix around with the fork
Squeeze in lemon juice for your taste.
Voila, dinner in a flash.

Slow Roasted Lamb - Perfect for Feeding a Crowd-#BAD11

2011-10-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

We had visitors from Hawkes Bay, for the weekend, Mary and Heinzie

They wanted to join in the Rugby World Cup festivities.
We did a trip down to the Waterfront. It is great down there.
We took the Bus, our new Bus service is fantastic...I have been on more Auckland Buses in the last month, than I have in the whole 34 years we have been living in Auckland

So buzzy. Unfortunately it wasn’t the best of weathers but we still managed to enjoy ourselves

To celebrate the Heinzies visit we had the family en masse over for dinner.
I had seen Theo Randall cook this Slow Cooked Lamb teamed with Polenta.
Theo insisted that you use real Polenta not the instant kind. By the time it is flavoured up I’m really not sure if a normal person could tell the difference. But I did it anyway…I always do what I am told

I decided to serve it with a lovely rich tomato sauce.
This recipe will feed 4-6 people. As there were 13 of us, I bought 2 lamb shoulders.
To make life easier I had the Butcher roll and tie it for me.
Perfect for a crowd
Also an excellent subject for Blog Action Day. Slow Cooked Food and Family...What could be better?

Plus I made a very decadent Chocolate Torte gleamed from my trusty Triple Tested Cookbook
I haven’t made this in years but it is beautiful.
I will post this separately.

So for the Main Event
First make the tomato sauce
Enough Olive oil cover bottom of pot
1 onion chopped
2 cans whole tomatoes
Plus 1 can water
8 Leaves basil
2 cloves Garlic peeled and chopped
1 heaped teaspoon brown sugar

Add all ingredients to the pot
Bring to boil and
Simmer for 45 minutes
Blend with hand blender

Test for salt and add if needed
Set aside

For the lamb
1 lamb shoulder, bone removed and excess fat
trimmed off
2 tbsp olive oil
1 glass Italian white wine
2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic, left whole

Mirepoix
1 onion finely chopped
1 carrot finely chopped
1 stick celery finely chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
200 mls of hot water

Method
For the lamb: preheat the oven to 160C/fan
Lay the lamb on a chopping board, then roll it up and tie with
butcher’s string quite tightly.
Season the outside of the lamb
well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Heat a large heavy-based ovenproof saucepan, pour in the 2
tablespoons of olive oil and when it’s really hot, put the meat in
the pan and fry to seal it so its browned all over.
Remove the meat from the pan and pour off any excess fat.
Deglaze the pan with the white wine – stand well back in case it flames – and let
it bubble for a few seconds.
Stir in the balsamic, bay leaves and garlic.
3. Return the lamb to the pan and cover loosely with tin foil.
Bake in the oven for 1 hour, then lower the temperature to
140C/fan
Cover and seal well with foil to keep the
moisture in, then return to the oven for 2 more hours, basting
the meat occasionally during the cooking.
Remove meat, wrap in foil and set aside in a warm place
Add the Mirepoix to the drippings
Toss the vegetables in the drippings
Saute about 5 minutes and
Add the water
Season and simmer till tender
Add the tomato sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes

I have given the instructions for the real slow cooked Polenta but quite frankly
I would use the instant stuff. Your choice

For the Polenta
250g slow cook Polenta, not instant
75g butter
50g freshly grated Parmesan

For the Polenta:
About 40 minutes before the lamb is done,
make the Polenta according to the packet instructions, adding it
in a very fine stream to 1 litre salted, simmering water,
remembering to stir.
After 30-40 minutes of frequent stirring, the
Polenta should be like a thick, smooth porridge.
Season with salt and pepper, stir in the butter and Parmesan, taste and
adjust if needed

To serve
Carve the Lamb
Sit on top of the Polenta
And cover with Tomato Sauce

Of course I cooked far too much Polenta.
The best thing to make with this are Polenta Chips
Just lay the cooked Polenta into a flat greased dish
Cover with plastic wrap
Into the fridge.
This will keep for up to 5-6 days
Remove from dish
Cut into strips
Flour, egg and breadcrumb them
Fry in vegetable oil
Serve with a nice Lemony Mayonnaise
Or as I did for the Grandkids
Ketchup

These are so delicious and moreish. Everyone loved them.
Perfect to serve with pre-dinner drinks

Pizza Blanco- Lunch for Two

2011-10-14T18:11:00.000-07:00

Today I cooked lunch from the pantry and fridge.
Pizza, Yes I think so?
No canned tomatoes, but I did have sour cream
Pizza Blanco...

Some garlic, chili, mushrooms, spinach and cheese
Yum
First I made my pizza dough
A really simple recipe
1 cup flour
1 tsp table salt
1 pkt dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
100 mls hand hot water
A little extra water in case the dough is too dry

Dissolve the sugar in the water
Add oil and yeast
Stir and leave for the yeast to work
It will froth up
Takes about 5 minutes

Meanwhile put the flour and the salt in the food processor
Whiz to aerate
Add the yeast mixture
Whiz again
Watch the dough come into a ball and leave the sides of the bowl

You may need to add a little more water
Tablespoon at a time
Whiz for 1 minute
Let rest for 5 minutes
Onto the bench and knead using the stretch and roll method

Turn into a ball and leave to rise in an oiled bowl
Cover with a tea towel or some plastic wrap
When it has doubled in size

Turn onto floured bench
Knead again for a minute or two
Roll out into a small disc
Leave on the bench lightly covered for another 5 minutes, for it to relax
This makes it easier to roll out

Heat the oven to 220C
Line your lightly greased Pizza tin
Prepare your toppings

70 gms Sour cream
Pinch chili flakes
2 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Mix together

About 10 mushrooms finely sliced
Big handful of spinach
50 gms grated cheddar cheese
A little grated Parmesan

Spread the dough with the sour cream mix

Pile spinach and mushrooms on top
Season with Salt and pepper

Cover with cheddar cheese and grate a little Parmesan on top

Drizzle with olive oil
It should take about 10 minutes to cook
Yum

Chocolate Torte-Divine Decadence

2011-10-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

This Meringue, Mousse and Cream Delight is just fabulous.
Once again found it in my Trusty Triple Tested Cookbook.
It was a huge hit and I feel we will just have to make it again.
I doubled the quantities and it fed 1e3 people with some left over.
It is delightfully rich.

It consists of a meringue shell, covered with a layer of Chocolate, then a raspberry cream and topped off with mousse.
I changed the recipe a little.
I love raspberries, chocolate and cream, so I added raspberry puree to the cream layer.
A bonus, you use both the yolks and the whites of the eggs, no more sad little
containers lurking in the fridge.
Chill in the fridge for a few hours and Voila.

First the Base
2 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Fillings
1 cup semi sweet chocolate pieces
2 beaten egg yolks
1/4 cup water
1 cup cream
1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1 tablespoon sugar

For the Shell
Beat the egg whites, salt and vinegar until soft peaks form
Blend sugar and add gradually to egg whites beating till very stiff peaks form and the sugar has dissolved
Spread in an 20 cm circle on baking paper on a baking tray
Make the bottom 1 cm thick and make an edge about 3 cms high
Bake in a very slow oven 130C for 1 hour
Turn off heat and allow to dry in oven with the door closed for about 2 hours.
Peel of paper. Of course you can make this ahead and keep in an airtight container till you need it.

For the Fillings
Combine raspberries and sugar with a blender to make a puree
Set aside
Melt Chocolate over hot water
Cool slightly then spread 2 tablespoon of the chocolate over the cooled meringue shell

To the remaining chocolate, add egg yolks and water and blend
Chill until the mixture is thick
Combine cream and sugar and whip until stiff
To half of the cream add the Raspberry Puree and spread over the chocolate layer.

Fold the remainder of the cream into the chocolate mixture and spread on top
Chill for several hours
Slice and Drool.

Sicilian Fish Teamed with some 'Citrusy' Cous Cous - What a Lovely Birthday Lunch

2011-10-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

We have been up to Omaha Beach for our Friend Sheryl's Birthday
Isn't this idyllic

Wasn't quite warm enough for swimming or actual sunbathing but just to be on the beach is enough.
Our menu was a beautiful Goats Cheese Tart supplied by Sheryl's friend Sue for the starter.

I made Sicilan Fish accompanied by a Moroccan Cous Cous
Both of these dishes are great for a crowd, really simple to prepare and easy to expand.
The flavours worked really well together.
This Fish Dish is best with a meaty fish
The flavours are quite strong...e.g. Rosemary, capers, anchovies and lemon
Meanwhile the Cous Cous complements, with Orange, Currants and Pinenuts

For the Fish
200 gms white fish per person e.g. Hapuka, Swordfish
Several stalks rosemary
4 lemons thinly sliced
1 jar capers
8 tablespoons Olive oil
1 jar anchovies
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cut fish into chunks about 4 cms and place in a bowl
Put rosemary leaves capers and oil into a mortar
Scrunch up with the pestle and add to the fish
Massage fish well
You can do this in advance and keep in fridge till ready

Heat oven to 220C
Into your roasting pan lay out the fish
Season with S & P
Cover with lemons and anchovies
Pour over any remaining marinade
Cook for 20 minutes

On this occasion for added luxury I scattered some roasted prawns just before serving
Plus a little chopped parsley is nice

Got this idea for the Cous Cous from Mrs Ina Garten The Barefoot Contessa
I added Zest of an orange to marry with the marinade
And some rocket leaves for colour and bit extra bite
Also I made a dressing with the juice of the orange and some olive oil
This was so tasty.
And of course I made little cakes with the leftovers for lunch the next day.

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup chopped shallots
3 cups Homemade Chicken Stock or canned broth
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 cups couscous
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup currants
Zest of 1 orange
2 handfuls rocket

Dressing
Juice of 1 orange about 2 tablespoons
4 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch sugar

Directions
Melt the butter in a large saute pan,
Add the shallots and cook for 3 minutes over medium heat.
Add the chicken stock, salt and pepper, raise the heat to high and bring the stock to a boil.
Off the heat and add the couscous.
Cover the pan and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Add the pine nuts, currants,orange zest and rocket to the couscous,

Toss with the dressing
Serve.

So the next day we had leftovers
I added a couple of eggs to the mixture
Rolled into balls and flattened to a patty
Roll in fresh bread crumbs

Place in fridge for about an hour to set
Fry in vegetable oil (I like Rice Bran)
Voila

These were delicious served with some meaty sausages and a Feijoa Chutney
Of course a birthday Cake was in order
This recipe also came from Ina Garten
Originally for cupcakes

It makes 30 cup cakes but I decided to turn half of the mixture into a 'Cake' Cake
You have to have a real cake for a birthday
Covered with Vanilla Lemon Frosting
Perfect.
It is a beautiful mix. Think it will always be my Birthday Cake from Now on
(Unless you want chocolate)
Our Grandson Joseph was in charge of lighting the candles

Preheat the oven to 170C Fan bake.
For the Cup Cakes
Prepare muffin tins, I used Paper linings
The quantities below are for the full Monty

I halved the mixture and made 2 batches
1 batch made 15 Cup Cakes
The other made the Cake

For the "Cake" Cake
I prepared a 20cm tin
Lined the bottom with baking paper and greased and floured the sides

Ingredients
18 tablespoons (290gms) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups sugar

6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

225 gms (about 1 cup) sour cream, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 lemon, zested
3 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Now to make the cake,

Cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
(I used a hand beater, that is fine)
On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time,
then the sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest,
scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix well.
Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir just until smooth.
Finish mixing by hand to be sure the batter is well mixed.

Fill tins to ¾ and bake in oven
Bake 18-20 minutes.

Test with a skewer until it comes out clean
You may find it needs extra time just keep an eye on them

With the Big Cake, I tested after 50 minutes
Could take up to an hour
Just test with the skewer
Cool to room Temperature.

Vanilla Lemon Frosting

250 grams cream cheese at room temperature
115 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Juice of 1 lemon
350 grams icing sugar, sifted

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed,
cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and lemon juice.
Add the icing sugar and mix until smooth.
Smother your cakes
For the festive look I sprinkled a few Silver Cashous over the top
Happy Birthday Sheryl

Fresh Sweet Scallops-Risotto-Starter and Main

2011-10-10T18:32:00.000-07:00

Our beautiful sweet New Zealand Scallops are small and I don't think they take too kindly to high searing so I decided to roast them a la my prawn method.
So simple. You don't need quantities for this it's really up to you.
Pre heat the oven to 210C

Just toss the shellfish in some good olive oil. some crushed garlic, Zest of a lemon,
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pop the scallops into the hot oven for 6 minutes
Into a bowl a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
Superb.

Beautiful so sweet and tender

My plan was to serve them with risotto.
Turns out, that would have got me a slapped wrist on Master Chef

The risotto was too strong for the flavour of the beautiful sweet scallops.
So we ate them separately and it was divine
With the change of plan.
You do need an accompaniment for these delicate little scallops
So I quickly whipped up an Avocado and Tomato Salad.
Once again just tossed with Olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Now that was a pairing.

So the Risotto became the main course
I used the Olivado Chili Oil which had a real kick
But you can just use your favourite olive oil

I removed the corals and turned them into stock for the risotto

Stock
Corals of scallop
3 cups of water
1 Shallot peeled and cut into chunks
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a few sprigs of Parsley
Good squeeze of Lemon Juice
Bring to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes
Strain and keep the stock gently simmering to make the risotto

For 2 people

1 cup of Arborio Rice
1 tablespoon Chili oil
1 Red onion peeled and finely chopped
100 mls White wine
Sea salt and freshly black pepper
Approx 3 cups of the prepared stock

To finish off
Unsalted Butter 25g
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Gently heat the oil in a pan
Add the onions and sweat them off
Add a little sea salt
When they soft
Add the rice
Turn up the heat a bit so that the rice will toast
Toss around for about 5-8 minutes
Add freshly ground black pepper
Add white wine
It will bubble up
Stir till the wine is absorbed

Now start adding the hot stock, ladle by ladle
After each addition of the hot stock
Just keep stirring
We want the rice to be tender ,with just a little bite to it
This will take about 15 minutes

Eventually you will have a nice creamy rice dish
Taste and season if necessary

Finish off with some lovely unsalted butter
and the chopped parsley
Scallops on the side.

Sorry about the presentation but take my word for it.
Delicious

Raisin Bread - Better than a Bought One

2011-10-02T19:09:00.000-07:00

I have been making some really good bread, with my basic white dough.
Great pizza, lovely bread for sandwiches
A good all round dough.
A friend of mine asked if I had a recipe for raisin bread.
So I thought about it and came up with this recipe.
It might seem a little finicky but seriously worth it.

A few hints for good bread
Always make sure your dough is moist, rather than dry
Don’t add too much extra flour
Even though it seems to be too wet, when you add the fruit.
It will knead out
And only takes 5 minutes or so.

Total time around 3 hours from flour to bread.
BUT most of this time is proving and cooking time
Actual work
About 20 minutes max

So for 1 loaf
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 mixed spice

1 tsp sugar
1tbs olive oil
200 mls hand hot water
Keep about 50 mls extra aside in case you need it
1 pkt dry yeast

40 g currants
90g sultanas
100 mls boiling water

Dissolve sugar in 200 mls of hand hot water
Add oil and yeast
Stir and leave to froth up about 5 minutes

Meanwhile put flour, salt, sugar, mixed spice into food processor
Whiz a couple of seconds
Add yeast mixture
Whiz again, it should form a ball almost straight away
And come away from the sides
If not add a little more water a tablespoon at a time

Then, let the machine knead it for about a minute
Leave it to sit and relax about 5 minutes

Tip out onto bench and stretch it out
It should be really soft not too dry

Turn into a ball and place in an oiled bowl
Slash a cross on the top with a sharp knife
Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap
Leave to rise

Add boiling water to dried fruit
to plump them up

When the dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour
Tip onto bench again
Stretch out again

Strain fruit and put in middle of dough.
Fold edges over and let sit for another 30 minutes

Back onto lightly floured bench... keep some extra flour on the bench
You will need this flour, the mixture will be quite wet
Knead.
Don’t worry about the fruit going all over the bench
Just keep folding it over, bringing the errant fruit in, till it is blended
adding a little more flour, as you need it

Back into bowl for another 45 minutes

Onto lightly floured bench again
Last time, I promise!
Pat out to a square
Bring the sides into the middle
Just like a little parcel
Put the little parcel into a greased and floured loaf tin
Seam side down
Push the edges down, to get a rounded shape

Cover again and leave for another 45 minutes approx
It will double in size again
While this is happening
Pre-heat the oven to 210C
Slash a pattern across the top
Gives a nice appearance
Sprinkle with flour

Put bread into oven
Check after 20 minutes
It will probably need another 5-10 minutes
Just use your eyes and nose
It should be golden brown and smell delicious

Let cool in tin for a few minutes, then leave to cool on a wire rack

Fresh…Just smother with a bit of lovely butter

Next morning Toast
Yum

Healthy Fish and Chips - Another Take on a Favourite Meal

2011-09-26T17:44:00.000-07:00

Hash Browns and Pan Fried Fresh Fish
just a simple, quick, reasonably Lo-Cal option.
So to start at the beginning...through the Cook Eat Share Website, one of the contributors, John Spottiswood put up a recipe for Potato Pancakes.
Click here to read the original.
He made mashed potatoes, turned them into patties and made a sandwich of them with Mushrooms

I thought they sounded delicious and made them for dinner to have with some filet steak
Steak Mushrooms and Potatoes...what could be better
Very simple and very healthy

For 2 people
2 large potatoes
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I like Rice Bran)
4 large mushrooms sliced
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tbs dried Oregano
Sea salt and pepper
50 mls white wine
Dash of cream if you have it for that extra flavour

Peel and cut potatoes into chunks
Bring to the boil in salted water and simmer till fork tender
Drain well, in fact I put them back into the pan with the heat on for a minute,
The place a tea towel on top and let the steam out
They will be fluffy and dry
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
I then put them through a ricer but you can just mash them well
Lay out on a parchement lined tray and leave to get cold
Best leave them for about a couple of hours in the fridge

Meanwhile
In a hot pan
Add the oil
Saute the Mushrooms
to get a good colour and aroma
Season with sea salt and pepper and oregano
Add garlic
Add wine and reduce
When the wine has been absorbed
Add the cream if you want that option
Set aside to cool
On this occasion I made balls out of the mashed potato
Squashed them into a patty shape
Topped half of them with the mushroom mixture

Put another patty on top
Push the edges down to seal

Fry in some vegetable oil till golden

With a quick frilled piece of eye filet.
A salad on the side
Perfect

So, time to branch out a little.
Our granddaughter Mia likes Hash browns for breakfast and her Mother is not keen on her eating the bought ones everyday.
SO... I have turned this Mashed Potato idea into Homemade Hash Browns.
After they cooled in the fridge
I just cut them into squares
Cooked them in oil till golden brown
Froze them and
Voila

Just heat them in a little oil
Breakfast for a hungry girl
Add some eggs, baked beans and or bacon.
Yumo.