Hot Club Sandwich - Christchurch Benefit Concert at Old St Pauls Wellington

Last night we were lucky enough to be part of a wonderful concert at Old St Paul's Cathedral in Wellington.
"Hot Club Sandwich" made up of  Andrew London, Terry Crayford and friends... find out about them here

They were performing a benefit Concert for Christchurch and had invited our friend Bob Heinz,,, one of the World's Finest Guitarists. Fiona Pears...Violinist Extraordinaire. Check her out on her website here and Malcolm McNeil, Great Jazz Singer, specializing in songs from the Great American Songbook.
What a night ,over 3 hours of superb music. Great fun and what a venue.
Old St Paul's stunning 19th Century Architecture, check it out here

Wine for sale. Perfect for us of course. We need concerts with our wine!
Now we know what these shelves ont eh back of the pews were built for,,, You might mistakenly have thought Hymn Books. NO... Wine glasses. Mind one doesn't want to lay them down whilst still full, Could be interesting.

Sorry about the quality of the snaps but hopefully you get the picture.
Thanks Guys, we had a wonderful time.

Raspberry Pastries-Fun for the kids to Eat and Make

Raspberry Pastries

I saw these on Everyday Baking on Food TV

Ready Rolled pastry
Raspberry Jam
2 tablespoons sugar


1 Egg beaten with 1tablespoon water
Extra tablespoon sugar

Thaw the pastry and cut into 5 even pieces horizontally

Spread raspberry jam over
4 parts of the pastry
Leave one piece free to make a lid
Sprinkle with sugar

Layer one on top of another

 Top with the lid

Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with extra sugar

Put into the freezer about 30 minutes to firm up and stop from sliding when you cut them

Cut into little pieces
Arrange on a piece of baking paper
Make sure they are wide apart,
they do spread and when I first cooked them they all joined up.

Bake at 200C
They should take about 10 - 12 minutes

Cool, don’t want to burn your mouth
Our kids loved them with ice cream.

I loved them just as they were.
They were still very good the next day.
Nice with morning cup of coffee.

Fresh Salmon - Three Ways

Easter 2011 and Easter means long weekend on the boat. The lateness of Easter this year, meant the weather was a little inclement, but nice to be out on the water.
I was lucky enough to manage to get a side of Salmon for $24. Salmon is a great fish to take on the boat. It's oiliness means the "Keeping Power" is superior to white fish.
I spread through 3 different meals and I have to share.
Got first idea from Chef Michael Smith
I didn't have any horseradish so I used Wasabi which worked.
And Braised leeks as an accompaniment
Potato Encrusted Salmon

The Salmon


* 2 russet Potatoes baked and chilled
* 2 tablespoons Horseradish
* 2 tablespoons Oil
* Salt & Pepper
* 4 Fillets Salmon 6 ounces each


The Pickle Sauce


* 2 dill Pickles chopped
* 1 small bunch of Dill chopped
* 1 green onion chopped
* 1 tablespoon Mustard
* ½ cup mayonnaise
* Juice of half a Lemon
* Salt & Pepper

The Salmon

1. Preheat oven to 190C
2. Grate potatoes through the large holes of a box grater into a medium sized bowl.
3. Stir in horseradish, oil and salt and pepper mixing well.
4. Pat crust onto top surface of filets and place in a baking pan or on a baking sheet.

5. Bake until salmon is cooked through and the crust is golden and crispy, about 15 minutes.

The Pickle Sauce

1. Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix well.
2. Serve with salmon
I just served with a wedge of lemon but the pickle sauce would be excellent.

Salmon Number Two
I have always loved rice bakes and this has some excellent flavours
Lovely winey leeks and carrots mixed with salmon
If you want to be gluten free use rice flour or cornflour to thicken the sauce.



Salmon and Rice Bake
1 piece of Salmon Skin on
200 gms per person

Season and oil salmon skin on
Into hot pan presentation side down
Sear about 2 minutes
Turn over cook about 1 minute
Add 150 mls white wine

Let it bubble up
Cook about 2 minutes
Turn heat off and cover
Cool in pan

Remove salmon and flake

Add 2 tbs butter to the liquor
Add 1 leek chopped
1 carrot peeled and grated
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Plus 1 tablespoon dried tarragon 
or fresh is best if you have it

Sauté till soft
Good slosh wine let wine evaporate
Add 2 tbs flour
Cook about 3 minutes gently
Add 1 cup milk let thicken you may need a bit more milk
Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary

Take a pot of boiling salted water
Add 1 cup rice
Cook about 5 minutes
Drain it should be separate grains
Don't over cook as it it has more to go in the oven

Pre heat oven to 180C
Grease a souffle dish with butter (or oil)

Now time to assemble
Spoon 1/3 of the sauce over the bottom of the dish
Cover with half of the salmon
Then half of the rice

Sauce
Salmon

Rice
The top off with the remainder of the sauce
Bake about 30 minutes or till golden brown and bubbling

Niiiice

Now Salmon Number Three
I remember I first made this dish about 1972. Unless you went Salmon fishing, the only Salmon available was canned Salmon
Boy, what a difference a few decades make.
We now have at our fingertips beautiful fresh Salmon
So I used a recipe from Delia Smith for this superb Fish Pie
Russian Coulibiac
A wonderful fish pie, full of Salmon, Rice, Mushroom and Hard Boiled Eggs, all encased in golden pastry.
I made my pastry from the Edmonds Cook Book which I don't have on hand at the moment.
It was very good, not quite like the bought Flaky Pastry, but a lovely dough to handle.
I will find the recipe and remake it and post it another day. handy to have when you are not close to shops.

200 gms of Salmon Skin on
Season and oil salmon skin on
Into hot pan, presentation side down
Sear about 2 minutes
Turn over cook about 1 minute
Add 150 mls white wine
Let it bubble up
Cook about 2 minutes
Turn heat off and cover
Cool in pan
Remove salmon and flake

1 packet Flaky Puff Pastry


75 gms butter
75 gms white Basmati rice
225 mls fish or chicken stock
1 medium onion finely chopped
110 gms button mushrooms finely chopped
1 level tablespoon fresh dill (I used tarragon)
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 large eggs hard boiled and chopped
1 1/2 level tablespoons parsley chopped finely
Sea salt and Freshly ground black pepper


Egg Wash
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Melt 25 gms butter in a pan
Add rice
Stir
Add stock, season
Bring to boil
Stir cover and simmer on low heat about 10 minutes

Remove cover and
Cool
Meanwhile in another pan add the rest of the butter
Add onion and sweat till soft about 10 minutes
Add the mushrooms and half the dill
Carry on cooking gently another 5 minutes
Stir in lemon zest, juice and S & P
Cool
Add to rice mixture

Mix Salmon, Eggs and Parsley together
Taste and season well with S & P


Now, assembly.
Cut pastry in half
Roll out one half, into a rectangle
Lay half of the rice mixture
Leave a border free and brush with egg wash

Cover the rice with the Salmon and egg mix

Top with remaining rice and form into a loaf shape

Roll out the other half of pastry and place over the top
Crimp and roll edges

Slash the top and brush with egg wash
Leave to rest while the oven heats
Pre-heat to 220C
Bake should take about 20-25 minutes

Cut off a big fat slice and serve with either, homemade ketchup or try this sauce from Delia
Foaming Hollandaise Click here

Look at those layers. Mouthwatering.

Home Made Hamburgers - Potato Rolls and Venison Patties

Once again one of My Favourite TV Chefs, Michael Smith...Star of 'Chef at Home' currently showing on Food TV has come up with yet another little cracker.
Potato Rolls

Really easy, I just did it in the food processor.
I will try it by hand though for my own satisfaction.
These are really delicious. The dough is lovely and silky... of course with the egg and milk are a little bit like Brioche. No sugar but I guess the potato covers that bit of starch,
Ingredients

* 3 cups flour
* 2 teaspoons yeast
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 cup potato flakes
* 1 egg, lightly whisked
* 1 1/2 cups warm milk
* 1 stick butter, softened

Directions
Preheat your oven to 190C
Put the flour, yeast, salt and potato flakes into the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attached.
Or in this case food processor
Add egg, milk and butter and turn on low.

Mix until a dough forms, continue kneading the dough until it's smooth and elastic.

Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and rest in a warm place
until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough and form into 8 rolls.

Place on a lined baking sheet and let rise a second time until doubled in size.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.

A couple of weeks ago our friend Debbie arrived with an abundance of produce for us. Big bunch of herbs from the garden. Some frozen Venison Patties

and a Hamilton Local Goat Cheese.

But I digress. Now when you have such beautiful buns...What should you do with them?
Well make Hamburgers Of Course.
So I retrieved a couple Venison Patties from the freezer
Now just for a minute...back to TV Chefs
Nigel Slater in his winter Supper ideas... devised Stuffed Butternut.
The stuffing was some luscious fried onions.
These were a little spicy and I thought would go very well with our Venison Patties

So first get the onions on the go.
 
3 large Onions sliced
Sauté in 2 tablespoons olive oil
Season with Sea salt,
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
Add about 1 inch fresh ginger cut into thin strips

Cover with lid and gently cook till soft and unctuous.

Meanwhile Grill your patties
and assemble the Burger
I like to slather the bottom of the bun with Homemade Ketchup

Pop the grilled Patty on top
Cover with Onions.
Some mayonnaise on the lid
Push them together and devour

Those Venison Patties were excellent
 Luckily we have more in the freezer
Looks like Bun day again next week.

Of course there are leftovers aren't there always.
'Waste not Want not', as my dear Mother would say.
So with the Buns I did bit of Posh Cheese on Toast

Great excitement of the day. I went out West to buy Fresh Fruit and Vege from the Market Gardens.
Even though it is the end of the season My friendly Grower had just picked the last of his Tomatoes.
They really are amazing.

The buns are a couple of days old. Homemade bread of course gets stale quite quickly.
So they need to be heated.
How about the Goats Cheese from Hamilton?
Here ya go

Very simple
Heat the Grill in the oven
Toast the buns on one side
Turn over and add 1 very fat slice of tomato
Season S & P
Slice of Goats Cheese
Some chopped chives
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Drizzle with a little bit of beautiful Local Olive Oil
That was Lunch so
What's For Dinner Mother?

Leftover Onions
Now used for their original recipe
Stuffed Butternut
Simple as...
Cut the butternut in half
Remove seeds
Score the flesh
Dot with butter and season with Salt and Pepper

Bake in 180C oven about 1 hour
Remove
Fill the cavity with onions
Top with some chopped rosemary and chili
Finish off with grated cheese

Back in oven about 10- 15 minutes

What a feast.

Sweet Potato Soup Leftovers - Make a Souffle

You may have seen the recent blog I did on Sweet Potato (Kumara) Soup, click here for recipe
I made too much of course, a container for the Freezer and still more left in the pot. Soups made with Kumara or any kind of squash, tend to be really thick and unctuous the next day. That's not a problem, you can shovel this puree into your mouth, or stop and think. "What can I do with this?"
There was not enough for a meal for two... but How about using this puree for the base for a Souffle.
Much healthier than a roux base and Gluten Free to boot.

So for 2 people
Pre-heat oven to 190C
3/4 cup soup puree
3 large eggs separated
20 grates Gruyere cheese (you could use cheddar) (20 gms)
Weight Watchers teach you 10 grates equal to 10 gms

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Butter to grease the souffle dish

In one bowl beat 3 eggs yolks
Season with S & P
Add cheese
Mix well

Add Puree and stir till combined

Meanwhile beat egg whites to soft peaks

Take a large spoonful of the beaten egg whites
Stir briskly into puree and egg yolks
This will slacken the mixture and make it easier to fold in the remainder of the whites

Then carefully fold in the remainder of the egg whites to the mix
Meanwhile grease a souffle dish with butter
Pour mixture into dish
Into oven... it should take about 30-40 minutes
Golden brown on the top
The souffle should have a nice little wobble, when you take it out

Here it is ready to eat

And according to the Beloved
The best bit, the remainder.