Couscous & Consciousness

Almond, Citrus & "44" Cake

2012-01-29T21:54:00.000+13:00

If you visit here regularly, then you will know that coming across anything baked is a bit of a rarity here. There's good reason for that. Firstly, I'm just not very good at it - simple as that! And secondly, I have an absolute horror of ending up with a backside that is three axe handles across, and so having tins full of baked goods kicking around the place to tempt me seems to be not such a good idea.

However, I was visiting friends for dinner last night and I offered to bring a cake for dessert. Quite what possessed me to offer to bring a cake, given my lack of "baking pedigree" I'll never know, but the words had unbidden tumbled out of my mouth, and there was no taking them back. What's more, I had the added challenge of having to come up with something gluten free to suit the intolerances of one of the guests.

Since I needed to dive into one of those seldom-used cookbooks languishing on my bookshelves for my contribution this week to Cookbook Sundays, I thought that I might try the Chocolate Nemesis cake from the River Cafe Italian Kitchen by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers - a recipe I've had bookmarked to try for ages. However, once I had the book down off the shelf and was flicking through it I came across this recipe for Almond, Orange, Lemon and Whiskey Cake. Since I love just about anything lemony, and ground almonds took the place of flour this seemed like an an obvious choice.

Unfortunately, citrus fruit is not really at it's best here right now, so a bit of improvisation was called for. The cooked cake is dredged in a syrup made up of, amongst other things, the juice of 3 oranges and 4 lemons, each of which should yield approximately 320 ml (10-1/2 fl oz) of juice. Well, with the best will in the world, and even after microwaving them for a minute to release the juice a little more, the lemons which are available here right now are never going to surrender that much juice. In fact my oranges also didn't deliver as much juice as expected either, so I padded the whole lot out with some tangelo juice.

The syrup recipe also called for the inclusion of whisky, which I didn't have on hand. I did have, however, have a couple of bottles of "44". You may remember me telling you about this orange & coffee flavoured liqueur about a year ago, when I first set it to steep.

In short, an orange is poked all over with 44 holes. Each of those holes is then studded with a coffee bean. The coffee studded orange is then put into a large glass jar, to which 44 sugar cubes are then added, and the jar topped up with a litre of vodka. The jar is then stored in a dark place, and given a bit of a shake every day for 44 days. Now this is where I departed from the original instructions. I gave it a shake every day for 10 days. It was then subjected it to a 6.3 earthquake, causing the bottle to be jettisoned like a missile across the room with great force. The bottle was then left to roll around the floor, miraculously unbroken, and subjected to a further 2641 after shocks. Next it was packed into a box, and transported to a dark storage place. It was then subjected to a further 1107 after shocks, before being put onto a truck and transported 600 kilometres across the South Island. Finally, after six months, and way more shaking than was originally intended, it was ready to unpack, decant and enjoy - it was definitely worth the extra effort, but hard to imagine being able to recreate that. The resulting liqueur is a beautiful pale caramel colour, deliciously syrupy and "orangey", and the coffee adds a delicious almost "chocolatey" complexity to the flavour and a certain "warmth". I like to store it in the fridge and drink over ice, and I have used it in many instances where an orange flavoured liqueur has been called for.

Anyway, I have digressed. In the absence of whisky I chose to use this in the syrup for the cake. It was a perfect match to the almond and citrus notes of the cake, both in terms of flavour and aroma. This cake is an absolute breeze to make; and it is wonderfully moist and intensely flavourful after its syrup bath. This is also quite a large cake and easily gives 8 generous pieces - could probably even serve 10 to 12 people at the end of a large meal. That said, it is actually a very light cake, and three of us had no problem polishing off a large piece each. I served it with creme fraiche, garnished with some of my Seville Orange Spoon Sweets and some fresh cherries.

This is one of those wonderful cakes that actually makes me feel like perhaps I can bake after all, and it will definitely be at the top of my list next time I need to bring cake. I hope you'll give this a try.

Almond, Citrus & "44" Cake Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Rose Gray & Ruth Rogers from

River Cafe Italian Kitchen

Serves at least 8

gluten free, vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

For the cake:

8 large free-range eggs, separated

200g (7 oz) caster sugar

grated zest of 2x oranges

grated zest of 2x lemons

300g (10 oz) ground almonds

For the syrup:

600ml citrus juice

(any combination of oranges, lemons, tangelos)

75g (3 oz) caster sugar

1 cinnamon stick

500ml (17 fl oz) orange liqueur or whisky

To serve:

creme fraiche or mascarpone

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a 25cm (10 inch) diameter cake tin, and line the base with baking parchment.

In a large bowl, beat the sugar and egg yolks together until pale and fluffy. Add the grated orange and lemon zest, and the ground almonds. Stir until just combined. In another large bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Add a couple of large spoonfuls to the almond and egg yolk mixture, and stir quite vigorously to loosen the mixture. Then add the rest of the egg whites and gently fold in.

Pour the mixture into the cake tin, and bake in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes until set.

Meanwhile, make the syrup. Put the citrus juices, sugar and cinnamon into a pan, set over medium heat, and simmer until slightly reduce. Add the liqueur or whisky. Simmer for another minute or two, then remove from the heat.

Once the cake is ready, remove from the oven and, while still hot, prick the entire surface with a pointed knife. Pour the syrup over the cake, making sure all the liquid is absorbed into the cake. You may not use all the syrup (I used about two thirds of it).

Leave in the tin until completely cooled before turning out.

Serve with creme fraiche or mascarpone.

I'm sharing this recipe with Cookbook Sundays - I hope you'll stop by and see what my friends are cooking. Maybe you'd even like to dust off some of your own cookbooks and join in.

Cookbook Sundays # 8

2012-01-28T20:30:00.000+13:00

If you're anything like meyou have dozens of cookbooks gathering dust on your bookshelves, some of which have never even been cooked from. Sure I spent hours browsing through them when I first bought them, marking all the recipes I was going to make with little post-it notes, and yet still those books languish in the bookcase and never make it to the kitchen. There are others from which I have made but one recipe which was such a resounding success that I've made it over and over again, and yet somehow I've never made anything else from that book. Sound a bit familiar?!

Take comfort - you are not alone, and now Cookbook Sundays is your opportunity to change that. Every Sunday I'm going to share with you a recipe that I haven't made before from one of my ever expanding collection of cookbooks. And, because I know that if you have read this far then you are guilty of this too, I'm inviting you to join in with me. Each week my Cookbook Sundays post will have a linky for you to share something you've cooked from one of your cookbooks.

The rules for joining in are simple:

Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post. Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like. Old posts are also welcome.
Lastly, remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants - you can even "Like" your favourites.

Now, go and dust off those cookbooks and get cooking! Use the linky tool at the end of this post to submit your entry/entries - simply scroll down to where it says "You are next ... Click here to enter", and then follow the instructions. The linky will be open for one week.

Lastly, if you would like to use the Cookbook Sundays badge in your post, simply copy the code in the box beside the badge below and paste it into your post. Feel free to also use it in your sidebar if you wish.

By the way ... come visit again tomorrow - I'll be sharing a fabulous Almond, Orange, Lemon & "44" Cake from the River Cafe Italian Cookbook. See you then.

Crisp Pork Belly with Sweet Peach Salsa

2012-01-22T22:03:00.000+13:00

Poking around in my fruit bowl yesterday, I found a few peaches which needed using with a degree of urgency, so in trying to decide on my contribution for this week's Cookbook Sundays I turned to Nigel Slater's Tender, Volume II, A Cook's Guide to the Fruit Garden for inspiration.

This is a wonderful book, divided in to chapters according to fruit varieties. Each chapter offers: firstly, some general information about the seasonality, origins and history of the particular variety; secondly, some information about growing the particular fruit and available varieties; then, using the said fruit in the kitchen - how to ripen it, cook with it, and other great flavour companions; and lastly, a selection of recipes. Recipes are generally relatively simple and uncomplicated (my kind of food), photographs are gorgeous, and everything is written in Nigel Slater's inimitable style, which makes you feel as though he is right there in the kitchen having a chat with you.

Leafing through the chapter on peaches and nectarines, I found myself wishing that I had several kilos of peaches kicking around the house, as there wasn't a single recipe that I didn't want to try. However, as I had just three peaches on hand, I had to narrow the search somewhat and, given my weakness for porcine flesh, I just knew that I was going to love this Crisp Pork Belly with Sweet Peach Salsa.

Pork belly is marinated in a paste of garlic, soy, chilli and Chinese five-spice, then roasted in a hot oven until the skin is crispy. Nigel suggests marinating the pork for at least four hours, and maybe even overnight. As it turned out, I only had two hours, but the flavour was still exceptional. For the salsa, peaches (I used a combination of yellow and white peaches) and cherry tomatoes combine with chillies, limes and coriander, to make the perfect accompaniment to the pork.

Crisp Pork Belly with Sweet Peach Salsa Recipe

Adapted from Nigel Slater's

Tender II, A Cook's Guide to the Fruit Garden

Serves 4

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1 to 1.5kg (2 to 3 lb) pork belly, skin finely scored

Marinade:

3x cloves garlic

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sunflower oil

2 teaspoons salt

generous pinch dried chilli flakes

1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder

Peach Salsa:

2x spring onions

1x small red chilli

3x peaches (white, yellow or a mixture of both)

(nectarines would be a good substitute if peaches were not available)

8x cherry tomatoes

small bunch of coriander (cilantro)

2x limes

3 tablespoons olive oil

Put the piece of pork belly into a shallow glass or china dish.

Peel the garlic, put into a mortar and pestle, sprinkle over the salt, and crush to a paste. Add the soy sauce, oil, chilli flakes and Chinese five-spice, and combine everything well. Spread this paste liberally over the skin and underside of the pork belly, rubbing it in well. Cover with cling film and set in the fridge to marinate for at least two hours - longer if possible Overnight is good if you have the time.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C (425 degrees F). Place the pork in a roasting tin, skin side up, and cook in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F), and cook for a further 40-50 minutes, until the skin is dark and crispy. Remove from oven, and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before carving.

Meanwhile, make the salsa. Finely chop the chilli (feel free to de-seed first if you don't want the heat). Finely chop the spring onions. Peel the peaches, slice the cheeks off the stones, and finely chop the flesh. Finely chop the cherry tomatoes and coriander. Gently mix everything together in a bowl. Squeeze over the juice of the limes and add the olive oil. Toss everything again to combine.

Serve with the pork belly. Steamed rice and bok choy make great additional accompaniments.

I'm sharing this recipe with Cookbook Sundays - do stop by and see what else is cooking. Maybe you'd even like to dust off some of your own cookbooks and join in.

Cookbook Sundays # 7

2012-01-21T18:28:00.000+13:00

The rules for joining in are simple:

Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post. Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like. Old posts are also welcome.
Lastly, remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants - you can even "Like" your favourites.

Artichoke & Italian Sausage Risotto

2012-01-15T23:18:00.000+13:00

You may recall that last week I brought you coffee, when I had really been planning to bring you risotto. Since then, I was flooded with comments from so many of you saying that you still wanted to see the risotto, and as our theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs is Rice is Nice this seemed like the perfect time to share this dish.

This is another recipe from Tessa Kiros' book Falling Cloudberries, though to be honest I used her recipe more as inspiration than following it too closely. Risotto is one of those things that I make so often that I can pretty much make it with my eyes closed. I have my own tried and true "method" for making risotto and seldom use a recipe other than for inspiration. So it was with this recipe - I took Tessa's idea for artichokes and Italian sausages, but departing somewhat from her method I incorporated them into my usual risotto base. I found a great Italian sausage with plenty of fennel and little hits of chilli which brought loads of flavour to the risotto, and I used bottled char-grilled artichokes instead of the fresh artichokes Tessa used. There are no fresh artichokes available here right now - in fact, even in the season here, they are both hard to come by and ridiculously expensive - and I have never come across frozen ones here in New Zealand either. Bottled ones work just fine, however, and I simply put them in right at the end so that they wouldn't break up too much.

I have always loved the combination of sausage with pasta or rice, and the spiciness of these sausages with the smoky char-grilled artichokes, combined with creaminess of the rice amounted to the ultimate in comfort food. Kim at Stirring the Pot made this last week and said it was one of her favourite Tessa Kiros recipes so far, and I would have to agree - this was definitely one of my favourites. I urge you to try it.

Artichoke & Italian Sausage Risotto

Inspired by a recipe by Tessa Kiros from

Falling Cloudberries

Makes 3 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

4x char-grilled bottled artichokes, drained & cut into quarters
3x medium sized Italian sausages

olive oil

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced
small bunch of thyme

4 generous handfuls arborio rice

1/2 cup white wine or juice of 1 lemon

3 to 4 cups vegetable stock, hot
pinch of saffron threads, infused in the hot stock

2 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup Parmesan, freshly grated

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Remove the casings from the sausages - just run a sharp knife down the full length of the sausage, peel off the casing and discard - it will come off very easily. Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a large skillet, set over high heat. Add the sausages to the hot oil and using a wooden spatula break the sausages up into smallish pieces. Cook, stirring from time to time, until the pieces of sausage are cooked through and lightly golden all over. Remove from the pan and set aside on some paper towels to drain any excess fat.

Return the pan to the heat. With fat that has come out of the sausages, you shouldn't need any more oil in the pan, but by all means add more if necessary - you should have about 2-3 tablespoons of oil. Add the shallot, garlic and thyme to the pan - cooking until the shallot has softened and the garlic is fragrant, taking care not to burn the garlic. Almost as soon as you can smell the garlic it is time to add the rice to the pan. Continue cooking the rice with the shallot and garlic, stirring constantly, until every single grain of rice is coated with the oil - it will take on a kind of translucent look around the edges and will start to "squeak".

Now is the time to add the wine or lemon juice - I used lemon juice on this occasion, which I thought worked really well with the artichokes. Continue stirring until virtually all the wine or juice has been absorbed by the rice. Then begin to add the stock and saffron, one ladleful at a time - stirring constantly until each ladleful has been absorbed before adding the next. The rice will swell up considerably as it absorbs the stock, and when you get to the point where you think the rice will only take one or two more additions of stock, add in the pieces of cooked sausage. Continue adding the stock until the rice is cooked through. Remove the pan from the heat.

Add the artichokes to the rice, along with the butter, two-thirds of the parmesan, a generous pinch of flaky sea salt, and some freshly ground black pepper. Stir well, cover the pan, and set aside for about 5 minutes for all the flavours to infuse. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

Spoon the risotto into serving bowls, sprinkle over the the remaining Parmesan and serve immediately.

If you would like to get to know Tessa a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

I'm also sharing this at Cookbook Sundays, where my friends are delving into their cookbook collections and sharing some of their recipes. Do stop by to see what they're cooking - you might even feel inspired to link up a recipe from one of your own cookbooks.

Rosy Plum Crumbles and Cookbook Sundays # 6

2012-01-14T22:50:00.000+13:00

I've been loving hosting Cookbook Sundays over the last few weeks. It's really had me diving into all those cookbooks that I haven't used nearly enough. Though I seem to be going through a pad of Post-It Notes nearly every second day, tagging all the things I want to make.

High on the list of possibilities for my contribution this week were a pumpkin curry from the Wagamama Cookbook, roasted pork belly with a roasted peach salsa from Nigel Slater's Tender I, and a cherry cheesecake from Nigel Slater's Tender II. However, when I picked up some plums at the supermarket today, the look and feel of which held such promise, but which turned out on first bite to be less than perfect, I knew that they would have to be cooked in some way to really get the best out of them, and that they would have to be the object of this week's post.

I had several plum recipes bookmarked - pies, tarts, and galettes (mmm, you know that I'm still a bit nervous about making pastry); cakes (but who wants to make a whole cake for one person); jams and chutneys (I didn't have a big enough quantity of plums for any of those); ice cream (would have been a possibility, but in order to get the best results I like to leave my ice cream base to chill overnight, so not good timing for that). But the recipe which gave me my Goldilocks moment, the one which was just right, was this recipe for Rosy Plum Crumbles from the Marie Claire, Luscious book by Michele Cranston. These were quick and easy to make from ingredients I had in my pantry, and the great thing I love about crumble is that, with a generous blob of yoghurt, leftovers make great breakfast food.

I adjusted the recipe slightly to suit the quantity of plums that I had. You could make this in one dish, or in individual serving dishes. I used these two little vintage, enamel pie dishes I stumbled across recently. If served with a generous blob of good vanilla ice cream this would be enough for four people, or on its own (with perhaps a drizzle of cream) it would give three generous servings. I actually had this with some of my home made Christmas mince ice cream which married beautifully with the rosewater infused plums and crunchy, caramelly crumble topping.

Rosy Plum Crumbles

Adapted from a recipe by Michele Cranston from

"Marie Claire": Luscious

Serves 3-4

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

450g plums (16 oz) plums

45g (1-1/2 oz) caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon rosewater

65g (2-1/4 oz) dark Muscovado sugar

35g (1-1/4 oz) all purpose flour

25 g (1 oz) dessicated coconut

80g (2-3/4 oz) soft butter

whipped cream or yoghurt or vanilla ice cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).

Cut the plums in half, remove the stones, and then cut into slices. Put the slices into a bowl with the caster sugar and rosewater. (Note - measure the rosewater carefully and don't be tempted to increase the quantity or you will end up with something that tastes like perfume.) Mix everything together well until the plums are well coated in the sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes.

In another bowl, mix the Muscovado sugar, flour and coconut together. Add the butter, and rub the butter in with your fingertips, until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

Stir the plums again, then put into an ovenproof dish, or individual ovenproof dishes. Top with the crumble mixture, place dish (or dishes) on a baking tray, and bake for 30 minutes - until the topping is golden and crisp and the fruit juices are bubbling up around the sides.

Serve warm with ice cream, cream or yoghurt.

Earlier I mentioned Cookbook Sundays. What is that all about, you are perhaps wondering. Well, if you're anything like meyou have dozens of cookbooks gathering dust on your bookshelves, some of which have never even been cooked from. Sure I spent hours browsing through them when I first bought them, marking all the recipes I was going to make with little post-it notes, and yet still those books languish in the bookcase and never make it to the kitchen. There are others from which I have made but one recipe which was such a resounding success that I've made it over and over again, and yet somehow I've never made anything else from that book. Sound a bit familiar?!

The rules for joining in are simple:

Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post. Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like. Old posts are also welcome.
Lastly, remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants.

I am also sharing this post with Sweet New Zealand, a monthly blog event created by the very lovely Alessandra Zecchini, and which this month is hosted by the equally lovely and incredibly talented Arfi at HomeMadeS. This is an opportunity for all Kiwi bloggers (whether you are living in New Zealand or overseas), as well as for non-Kiwi bloggers living in New Zealand, to connect and share some of those sweet treats from your kitchen. So, head on over to Arfi's and share something sweet.

Cappuccino Freddo/Coffee Granita

2012-01-09T12:27:00.000+13:00

This was going to be a post for Risotto with Artichokes and Italian Sausage, and I'm sure you can see the connection .... oh, not so obvious?

Ok, let me explain. This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where we are enjoying six months of cooking with Tessa Kiros, our theme is Under the Tuscan Sun. "Excellent!!" I thought, as I had long ago bookmarked Tessa's recipe for risotto with artichokes and Italian sausage in the Italian section of her book, Falling Cloudberries, and I knew this would be the perfect occasion for making and posting it. With me so far?

Well, I need to go back a bit. Last week at IHCC our theme was Winter Wonderland - an opportunity to break out all those lovely wintery, comforting dishes likes soups, stews and lasagnes. Of course, they're a pretty good group over there, and they realise that not all of us are blanketed under several inches of snow right now. So those of us residing in warmer climes right now were directed to come up with some kind of icy treat, something that reminds us of ice and snow.

When I came across Tessa's Coffee Granita with Whipped Cream, I absolutely could not resist sharing this icy treat. Now this is not the kind of granita that goes into the freezer, and which you scrape with a fork every so often to break it up into millions of tiny icy shards. No, this is something much more instant - and let's face it, who of us doesn't like a little bit of instant gratification. The kind of thing you whip up when you're gasping for a caffine fix, but don't feel like a hot drink.

This is very reminiscent of the Cappuccino Freddos which I enjoyed on a daily basis on my trips to Greece, the only difference being that a Cappuccino Freddo uses cold frothy milk on top rather than cream, but the principle is the same.

So this I thought would be the perfect treat to share for our Winter Wonderland theme. Trouble was the week came and went and somehow, the post never got posted. However, since this recipe appears in the Italian section of Falling Cloudberries, I thought I could share it with you this week after all. That artichoke and sausage risotto is just going to have to wait!

Now on with the recipe. Actually, this is really more of a method than a recipe, and I did depart a little from Tessa's method, but you do need an espresso maker of some sorts for this - whether that be an Italian-style stove top type, or something altogether more sophisticated.

Three-quarters fill a sturdy glass with small ice cubes, or crushed ice
If you like your coffee sweet, sprinkle sugar into the glass (I don't have sugar in my coffee, but just for the fun of it I added some vanilla syrup - courtesy of Bron Marshall's giveaway last Christmas)
Pour a double shot of espresso over the ice
Whip 1/2 cup cream together with 1/2 tablespoons icing sugar (this will be enough for two people), just until very soft peaks are starting to form. I kept mine really very soft - so it was not of a "dolloping" consistency, but a bit thicker than normal pouring consistency. Of course if you would prefer your cream to sit in a thick dollop on top of your coffee just beat it some more.

For an authentically Greek experience serve with spoon sweets on the side; or, if you're going Italian then a biscotti or amaretti biscuits on the side would be a great accompaniment.

If you would like to get to know Tessa a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

I'm also sharing this at Cookbook Sundays - this week's linky is open here. There's some great entries in already - why not add yours?!

Fregola Soup with Shrimps & Chorizo and Cookbook Sundays # 5

2012-01-07T23:05:00.003+13:00

The thing I love about cooking, as opposed to baking, is the way that you can take just about any recipe and adapt it to suit your tastes or the ingredients you have on hand without necessarily sacrificing anything in the way of the quality of the dish. Baking on the other hand is a precise science, and disaster lurks in the wings for those novices who dare to tinker with the recipe.

Today's recipe is a great example of being able to adapt and still come up with a great dish. I would not for a moment suggest that my adaptation is an improvement. After all, the original came from the book Molto Italiano by Mario Batali, the orange-clogged "God" of all things Italian, and I'm pretty sure his word cannot be bettered. Still, I like to think that my interpretation of his Fregola Soup with Clams turned out to be a pretty good dish.

So this is the way it went down. Having half a bag of fregola languishing in my pantry, I had decided a couple of days ago that I was going to make this dish today for my contribution to this week's Cookbook Sundays. Trouble is, I forgot to check the recipe before I went out this morning to do my shopping. I knew I had to get clams, but not finding any available today, I opted for some shrimp which I thought would make a good substitute. Since I keep a fairly well stocked pantry, I thought that I would have pretty much everything else necessary on hand. Turns out I was wrong. For starters, I didn't have a red onion, but there were a few spring onions in my vege crisper and I knew that I could get away with finely slicing just the white part of them - of course, a shallot or two would also make a reasonable substitute. The recipe also called for some prosciutto, which was conspicuously absent from my fridge, but I did have some chorizo sausage, which was a great alternative and paired really well with the shrimp. I was also missing some basic tomato marinara sauce, but I had some really good hot, roasted pepper sauce that I have been loving lately, so subbed that in instead. Also, as I am only one person, I halved the original recipe (intended to serve 4 people) to create two very generous servings, which means that tomorrow night's dinner is already sorted!

All things considered, all though I changed the dish quite significantly, I was really pleased with the end result. The earthy flavour of the saffron which comes through in the broth is both comforting and a great foil to the brininess of the shrimp - I can imagine that this would be amplified if you used clams here as they have even more of that briny quality than the shrimp. This definitely works as comfort food, but it also has an elegance about it, and I would not hesitate to serve it to company.

Fregola Soup with Shrimps & Chorizo

Adapted from recipe by Mario Batali from

Molto Italiano

Makes 2 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

250g (1/2 lb) fregula (see note below)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 spring onions, white part only, finely sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

125g (4.5 oz) chorizo sausage

250g (1/2 lb) peeled shrimp

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup chicken stock

pinch saffron threads

1/4 cup basic marinara sauce*

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes*

(*I used a hot, roasted red pepper sauce as a substitute for both of these ingredients)

large handful flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

Note: Fregola is the Sardegna version of couscous. It is not that easy to find here in New Zealand, but you will come across it in gourmet specialty stores such as Mercato, Zarbo, Farro, Sabato or Nosh. It does have a fairly hefty price tag, so if that's not in your budget you could substitute Israeli couscous (mograbieh). Mind you, that too can be pricey, so if that is still not in your budget go and check out this post from Mika at milliemirepoix for a more budget friendly Palestinian couscous.

Set a large pan of water over high heat and bring to a rapid boil. Salt the water very liberally, then add the fregola and cook according to the package directions - could take anywhere from 12 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, set a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, and once the oil is hot add the chorizo sausage. Saute until the chorizo is just starting to brown, then add the spring onions and garlic. Continue to saute until the onion has softened and the garlic is fragrant.

Add the shrimps, wine, stock, saffron and roasted red pepper sauce. Bring to the boil.

Drain the cooked fregola, add it to the pan, and cook until the shrimp is pink and you have reached the consistency of a soupy risotto.

Stir in the parsley and serve in warm bowls.

The rules for joining in are simple:

Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post. Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like. Old posts are also welcome.
Lastly, remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants.

I'm also sharing this post at Souper (and Sammies & Salads) Sundays hosted by my lovely friend Deb, at Kahakai Kitchen, and at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the equally lovely Michelle, at Ms enPlace.

Wild Rice, Black Cherry & Goat Cheese Salad and Cookbook Sundays # 4

2011-12-31T20:57:00.000+13:00

It's Saturday evening in my part of the world, which means that it's time to dust off another of my cookbooks and share something with you for Cookbook Sundays. If you'd also like to scare a few moths out of some of your own seldom used cookbooks and join the fun, you'll find full details later on in this post.

It's also New Year's Eve here and, although I have no plans for partying, I still felt compelled to make something a bit special and seemingly celebratory for my dinner. At the same time, since I've been a bit unwell this week, I wanted something that was both healthy and slightly comforting.

For healthy and comforting, one of the best places to turn in my opinion is the divine Heidi Swanson. A couple of weeks ago I shared a recipe from her first book Super Natural Cooking; however, I thought it was time I turned to her more recent book Super Natural Every Day.

I came across a recipe for "Whole Grain Rice Salad", which certainly sounded wholesome enough, but that seriously doesn't sound like celebration fare, now does it? Still the picture in the book looked pretty and a read through of the ingredients convinced me that this dish could indeed be a festive dinner. Now, really, don't you think that a dish of wild rice, studded with black cherries, toasted hazelnuts, goat cheese and tossed with a cherry vinaigrette, and which looks like this, deserves a better name than Whole Grain Rice Salad?

I did change things a bit from the original recipe. Firstly, I used half wild rice and half brown rice, since my budget didn't run to using all wild rice. The original recipe claimed to serve six, but since I didn't have five other people to feed, I reduced the amount of rice by half. But as I still wanted this to be a substantial meal, and I wanted there to be leftovers, I kept all the other quantities roughly the same. For the dressing I adjusted the ratio of vinegar to olive oil as I found it to be just a bit too, well ... vinegary. I also added a bit of maple syrup to the dressing as I felt it need just a bit more sweetness - this of course might depend on how sweet your cherries are. I replaced walnuts with toasted hazelnuts, just because I love them and also because I love the way shape of the hazelnuts echoes the shape of the cherries. And, lastly, because I am ever one to gild the lily, I added some pomegranate seeds.

Wild Rice, Black Cherry & Goat Cheese Salad

(previously known as Whole Grain Rice Salad)

adapted from a recipe by Heidi Swanson from

Super Natural Every Day

Serve 2 as a substantial meal or

serve 3 as a light meal or

serve 4 as a side dish

Vegetarian

(for a vegan alternative omit the goat cheese)

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

125g (4.5 oz) wild rice

125g (4.5 oz) brown rice

3 large handfuls of baby spinach leaves

2/3 cup toasted hazelnuts

200g (7 oz) black cherries

125ml (4.2 fl oz) extra virgin olive oil

40ml (1.4 fl oz) white balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon maple syrup (optional)

flaky sea salt

handful of crumbled goat cheese

small handful of baby basil leaves

small handful of pomegranate seeds (optional)

Put the rice into a large saucepan with plenty of salted water, and boil until tender - about 30-45 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the cherry vinaigrette: remove the pits from and combine one third of the cherries in a blender with the olive oil, vinegar, salt and maple syrup. Blend until the mixture is smooth, taste and adjust any of the elements as necessary. Set aside.

Once the rice is cooked, drain, and put into a large bowl along with spinach leaves and most of the hazelnuts. Toss together well until the spinach begins to wilt slightly. Add a generous amount of the dressing and toss well. Taste and add more salt if necessary.

Cut the rest of the cherries in half and remove the pits. Then stir most of them into the rice.

Tip everything out onto a platter. Strew the remaining cherries and hazelnuts over the top, along with chunks of the goat cheese and the pomegranate seeds. Finally stud with the sprigs of basil and serve immediately.

This is a great dish for a summer celebration - packed full of amazing flavours and textures - and I do hope you'll try it.

This last year has not been without its difficulties, and I won't be sad to close the door on it in a few hours time. However, there have also been wonderful moments in my year - new friendships forged, the kindness of strangers, memorable travels, and the opportunity to start a new life in a new home and city. Most of all I am immensely grateful for all of you who stop by here regularly, who take the time to read what I have to say, leave me your comments, and lend me your support and wisdom. I am optimistic about the year ahead, and for all of you I wish you a happy and inspirational time in 2012.

The rules for joining in are simple:

Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post. Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like. Old posts are also welcome.
Lastly, remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants.

I'm also sharing this post at Souper (and Sammies & Salads) Sundays hosted by my lovely friend Deb, at Kahakai Kitchen, and at My Meatless Mondays hosted by Chaya at My Sweet & Savory.

Rolled Almond Meringue with Christmas Mince Ice Cream & Cookbook Sundays # 3

2011-12-25T20:27:00.000+13:00

Happy Christmas everyone - I hope you are all enjoying a lovely day with your families, and enjoying good food on your tables. This year is a quiet Christmas for me, my partner being away in Australia for work, and finances being such that travelling to spend time with family or friends was just not an option this year.

Nevertheless, I am having a lovely relaxing day, and will certainly be enjoying my share of festive fare. Dinner tonight will be a salad of crispy-skin, five-spice duck, with watercress, mango, sweet potato & crispy noodles, with a tamarind and sesame dressing. Dessert will be this rolled almond meringue filled with a fruit mince ice cream. The great thing about a dessert such as this is that I can cut off a slice (or three), and keep the rest frozen for another occasion.

This is an adaptation of a recipe from Jan Bilton's Fresh & Fancy Fare, a book I've had for about 25 years and haven't used nearly enough, so I thought this would be a great submission for this week's Cookbook Sundays. The original recipe calls for a filling of whipped cream mixed with shredded coconut and oranges, but since I wanted to create something less perishable the ice cream filling instead of cream seemed the way to go. And besides, who really needs an excuse to make ice cream?!

As luck would have it, I just happened to have half a jar of Christmas fruit mince left over from last year. It was however looking a bit dried out and sad, but I remembered that it had been particularly good, so I felt sure that if I gave it a bit of love I could resurrect it and use it as the base for my ice cream. I added a heaped tablespoon of my home-made Seville orange marmalade, 50g of chopped chocolate (I used Whittakers Dark Ghana), and a hefty slosh of my Damson gin. Not only did that breathe new life into my old Christmas mince, but I think I successfully improved it. Any good quality Christmas mince that you happen to have on hand will suffice here.

For my ice cream custard, I used David Lebovitz's base for his Brown Bread Ice Cream - well, him being the God of all things ice cream in my opinion, where else would I turn?

There is brown sugar and sour cream in the ice cream base which gives it a lovely caramel base flavour, with a hint of tartness, all of which married beautifully with the spices, bitter orange, chocolate and almond flavours coming through from the Christmas mince - utterly divine. You can be sure there will be more than one batch of this whipped up over the summer - actually beautiful flavours for a winter ice cream too, which is not to be sniffed at since ice cream is (hands down) my favourite dessert all year round.

The meringue is beautifully chewy and marshmallowy (is that a real word? - you know what I mean), and the hint of almond adds yet another layer of flavour to those coming through from the ice cream.

Rolled Almond Meringue with Christmas Mince Ice Cream

Adaptations from recipe by Jan Bilton

from Fresh & Fancy Fare

and recipe by David Lebovitz

Serves 6-8

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

For the ice cream:

1 cup whole milk

1-1/2 cups cream

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

pinch of salt

225g (8 oz) sour cream

5 large egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup good quality Christmas fruit mince

For the meringue:

5 egg whites

1 cup caster sugar (mine was vanilla infused)

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon white vinegar

2 teaspoons cornflour

Begin by making the ice cream, and I suggest that you start this at least 24 hours before making the meringue.

First of all make an ice bath by putting ice cubes and a bit of water into a medium bowl. Then put the sour cream and 1 cup of the cream into another medium sized bowl. Stand this bowl in the ice bath and set everything aside.

Put the egg yolks into yet another bowl, whisk slightly to break up the yolks, and then set this aside also.

Put the milk, the remaining 1/2 cup of cream, the sugars and the salt into a medium-sized saucepan, and heat over a gentle heat. Stir constantly until the sugar has dissolved completely and the mixture is warm. Test by sticking your little finger into the mixture and when it is too hot to hold your finger there it is ready.

Remove from the heat, and gradually pour some of the milk mixture onto the egg yolks. Whisk constantly as you pour - this is important or you will end up with scrambled eggs. Once about half of the milk mixture is incorporated into the eggs, scrape the whole lot back into the saucepan, again whisking constantly.

Set the pan back over low heat, and stir constantly until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spatula.

Remove from the heat, and strain the mixture over the top of the cream and sour cream mixture resting in its ice bath. Whisk constantly until the mixture is smooth and has cooled completely. Stir in the vanilla.

Cover with cling film, pressing it right down onto the surface of the custard. Refrigerate for several hours at least - ideally overnight.

Next day, churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions. Remove the churned ice cream to a cold bowl, stir through the Christmas mince, then freeze until firm.

Now make the meringue. Begin by preheating your oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Lightly butter a Swiss-roll tin and line it with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a scrupulously clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Add the sugar, a little bit at a time, and continue beating until all the sugar is dissolve and the mixture is stiff and glossy.

Fold the almond extract, vinegar and cornflour gently into the meringue.

Spread the mixture into the prepared tin, and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, spread another sheet of baking paper out onto your kitchen bench and dust it liberally with icing sugar.

Remove the cooked meringue from the oven, and turn it out onto the icing sugar dusted baking paper. Allow to cool completely.

Spread ice cream over the centre of the meringue (soften your ice cream first if necessary), roll up from the long edge. Wrap in parchment paper and freeze until you are ready to serve.

Enjoy and have a happy Christmas - for those of us here in New Zealand it's nearly over, but I know that for many of you it is only just beginning.

The rules for joining in are simple:

Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post. Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like. Old posts are also welcome.
Lastly, remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants.

I am also sharing this post with Sweet New Zealand, a monthly blog event created by the very lovely Alessandra Zecchini, and which this month is hosted by the equally lovely and incredibly talented Bron Marshall. This is an opportunity for all Kiwi bloggers (whether you are living in New Zealand or overseas), as well as for non-Kiwi bloggers living in New Zealand, to connect and share some of those sweet treats from your kitchen. So, head on over to Bron's and share something sweet.

I'm also sharing this at Bake with Bizzy.

Finnish Mustard

2011-12-24T20:34:00.000+13:00

Of necessity, this post is going to be brief. Firstly, it's Christmas Eve, and right now I feel more inclined towards settling down with a nice glass of wine than I do towards writing a lengthy blog post. Secondly, at the risk of repeating myself, it's Christmas Eve, and I'm fairly sure that right now you too feel more disposed to relaxing over a festive tipple than you do towards reading a lengthy post from me. So brief it shall be.

I am sharing this post at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where we continue to cook with the delightful Tessa Kiros, our theme for this week being Holiday Goodies. Great theme, since I still had a few little treats that I wanted to make to give to friends, but I wanted to come up with something other than all the tooth-aching sweetness that abounds on the net right now. Don't know about you, but even though I've been managing to avoid the consumption of cookies, cakes, fudge and bucket loads of chocolate, just the sight of so much of it everywhere I look has started to give me that "over-indulged" feeling. I was looking for something more savory, and when I stumbled upon Tessa's recipe for Finnish Mustard in her wonderful book, Falling Cloudberries, I knew I'd found just the thing. This would be the perfect gift for friends who almost certainly have enough chocolate already, as well as a great item to keep in my fridge for slathering on those endless summer sandwiches.

This was a breeze to make, has a generous amount of heat, softened with a nice bit of sweetness, and would make a nice accompaniment to all manner of cold meats. I can imagine it also going well in dressings, or slathered on some nice ciabatta bread with some char-grilled vegetables.

I did make a couple of minor changes to the recipe. The first change was intentional - I used rice wine vinegar, because I wanted to make it gluten-free, but use any vinegar that you like. The other change was really accidental - the original recipe called for the inclusion of a tablespoon of olive oil, but I forgot it. Now, I don't know what difference the olive oil would have made - it seems perfectly fine without it, and in fact I didn't even realise I'd omitted it until I started to prepare this post. But if you feel so inclined, go right ahead and put it back in.

Hope you'll give this a try. As a gift I think it makes a nice change from all the sweet stuff going around, which seems guaranteed to make your gift all the more memorable.

Finnish Mustard Recipe

Adapted from a recipe by Tessa Kiros from

Falling Cloudberries

Vegetarian, Gluten Free

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1/3 cup mustard powder

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup cream

1 tablespoon olive oil

(I omitted this, but feel free to include it)

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

(or vinegar of your choice)

juice of 1/2 a lemon

Put the mustard powder, sugar and salt into a small saucepan, and mash with a wooden spoon to get rid of all the lumps. Now add the cream, oil (if using), vinegar and lemon juice, and set the pan over low heat. Stir continuously until it comes to a boil. Then cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly, until it has darkened and thickened - it will look like caramel.

Remove from heat, and give it a stir from time to time as it cools down. Pour into glass jars. Will keep for several weeks in the fridge.

And my tip for getting that last little bit of mustard out of the jar ... when you get down to those last traces of mustard sticking around the corners and sides of the jar, add 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, generous pinch salt, and 1 teaspoon maple syrup to the jar, shake vigorously, and hey presto - vinaigrette and no wasted mustard.

If you would like to get to know Tessa a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

Lastly, in case you're wondering, Cookbook Sundays will be up and running this week as usual, but will just be a day late.

"End of Spring" Ministrone with Rocket, Spinach & Walnut Pesto and Cookbook Sundays # 2

2011-12-17T21:46:00.001+13:00

It's been a funny old week. It may be the start of summer here but, with torrential rain and heavy flooding in many parts of Nelson, it's felt rather more like winter. Many families in our city had to be evacuated from their homes, either because of flooding or because of danger from hillside slips. Thankfully, we live high enough on a hill to escape flooding and were lucky enough not to be subjected to any slips either. A special thanks also to so many of you for your kind thoughts and concerns for my safety - your thoughtfulness never ceases to warm my heart and is a constant reminder of the joys of belonging to this food blogging "family".

So, after all that rain something warming, nourishing and comforting seemed to be called for, but at the same time I wasn't wanting anything too heavy. When I came across this recipe for Spring Ministrone in Super Natural Cooking (one of my favourite cookbooks) by Heidi Swanson it seemed to fit the bill perfectly. I also knew that this would be perfect for my contribution this week to Cookbook Sundays (read more about that at the end of this post).

For this soup brown rice is cooked in a light vegetable broth, with spring vegetables (I used asparagus, zucchini, and peas) added right at the end, so that the vegetables are still bright green and crispy. I made a pesto from some spinach and rocket (arugula) I'd harvested from my garden, and topped the soup with a generous dollop of that, along with some freshly grated lemon zest and shaved pecorino cheese.

I know that there are amongst you those who love soup and could eat it (or should that be drink it) just about every day of the week. I am not such a person. I don't mind a bowl of soup now and again, but you know maybe 6-8 bowls of soup in the whole year is probably about my fix. It is not something I would ever order in a restaurant, unless of course it's an Asian restaurant of some sort, in which case there is a very strong possibility that I would order the noodle or wonton soup. This doesn't count as one of the 6-8 bowls of soup previously mentioned, as I think of this as noodles, not soup - those are the rules! My other soup rule is that I almost never have soup in summer.

Now, I've got to say this .... this soup just broke all of my soup rules. This is quite possibly the best soup I've ever tasted - at least, the best one that I've ever made, and you know what? This soup is definitely going to have me exceeding my annual soup quota - in fact there is a good chance I'll exceed that before the week is out. This is a soup that I could really eat every single day - of course, things like asparagus and fresh peas won't be around for much longer, but I will be making the most of it while they're still here.

The nuttiness and chewiness of the brown rice gives that little bit of "comfort factor" and enough substance to be able to make a meal out of this. The crisp, green vegetables provide a lovely textural balance to the rice, while the hit of fresh lemon and fragrant pesto keeps the spring-like freshness in this dish.

Of course, you could swap out the vegetables I used with all sorts of other alternatives: green beans, snow peas, broad beans, artichoke hearts, edamame, cauliflower, broccoli, bok choy. Just keep it green would be my mantra here - save the carrots, pumpkin, corn, etc, for something else. I urge you to try it - I know you won't be disappointed.

"End of Spring" Ministrone with Rocket, Spinach & Walnut Pesto

Adapted from a recipe by Heidi Swanson from

Super Natural Cooking

Makes 4 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Vegetarian

For the soup:

2x tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2x shallots, thinly sliced

1x garlic clove, minced

1x cup brown rice, rinsed

6x cups vegetable stock

2x zucchini, thinly sliced

8x asparagus spears, cut on the diagonal into 2.5 cm (1 in) lengths

1x cup freshly shelled green peas (frozen is fine too)

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

For the pesto:

3x large handfuls of rocket (arugula) & spinach leaves

1x large handful of toasted walnut pieces

2x cloves garlic

extra virgin olive oil (about 1/3 cup)

1/2 cup freshly grated pecorino cheese

flaky sea salt

To serve:

freshly grated zest of 1x lemon

pecorino cheese, freshly shaved

Begin with the soup. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic to the pan, and saute for a couple of minutes until the shallots have softened and the garlic is fragrant. Add the rice, and cook for a minute, stirring constantly until every grain of rice is coated in the oil. Now add the stock to the pan, bring up to the boil, then cover the pan with a lid, lower the heat to a simmer, and cook for 30 to 45 minutes until the rice is tender.

Meanwhile make the pesto. Put the walnuts, rocket, spinach, garlic and salt into a food processor and pulse until the leaves and nuts start to break down. Then leaving the motor running, begin to add the oil in a steady stream until you have a smooth paste. Remove to a bowl, stir in the grated pecorino, taste and add a little more salt if necessary. Set aside.

Now back to the soup. Once the rice is tender, add the vegetables and season generously with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Simmer for just 2 or 3 minutes, so that the vegetables are still bright green and crisp, add freshly grated lemon zest, and serve immediately.

Ladle into bowls, add some fresh shavings of pecorino cheese to each bowl, and top each with a generous dollop of the pesto.

The rules for joining in are simple:

Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post. Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like. Old posts are also welcome.
Lastly, remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants.

I'm also sharing this post at Souper Sundays, hosted by the lovely Deb at Kahakai Kitchen, at My Meatless Mondays, hosted by Chaya at My Sweet & Savory; and at See Ya in the Gumbo hosted by Michelle at Ms. enPlace.

Chicken with Coriander & Spinach Rice

2011-12-16T00:07:00.000+13:00

It's a rare thing for me to be lost for words, but right now lost for words I am. You see, I made this dish way back in October for one of the I Heart Cooking Clubs cooking with Tessa Kiros challenges - may have been the "peasant food" week, don't exactly remember. Sadly, the week came and went, and I just didn't get a chance to get my post done. Never mind, I thought, there will be another challenge that I can use it for. Other suitable occasions came and went, and still it didn't get posted. Well this week is our Pot Luck week, and I can keep it from you no more.

After all this time, however, what can I tell you about this dish? Well, I remember enjoying this dish a lot and the other half did too. I recall that by the time I dished up dinner it was too dark for a photo, so I set a portion aside (the one you see in the picture above) to take a photo the next day. And I also recall said other half being rightly miffed that he wasn't allowed seconds because this portion had to be saved for the photo. Such are the joys of living with a food blogger - he keeps threatening to write his own blog about that very subject! I even marked it in the book (Falling Cloudberries) as being a favourite and one that I would make again.

But, two months later, the subtleties, the various nuances of the dish that I might ordinarily want to share with you are forgotten. So I can only tell you this - it was a great family style dish, and one that could easily be multiplied to feed a crowd; I know you will enjoy it and I hope you give it a try.

Chicken with Coriander & Spinach Rice

Adapted from a recipe by Tessa Kiros from

Falling Cloudberries

Makes 3 generous servings
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

small bunch coriander

100g (3.5 oz) baby spinach leaves

1/2 cup water

olive oil

1kg (2.2 lb) bone-in chicken thighs

2x garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 carrot, diced

1/2 red pepper, deseeded and diced

1x red chilli, finely sliced (deseeding optional)

1-1/2 cups short grain rice

1/4 cup frozen peas

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Spiced Yoghurt:

1 cup plain Greek-style yoghurt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons olive oil

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Begin by making the spiced yoghurt - simply mix all of the ingredients together and set aside until you are ready to serve.

Pick the coriander leaves from the stems and put into a small food processor with the spinach leaves and water. Blitz into a puree and set aside.

Heat olive oil (about 3 tablespoons) in a large, heavy-based frypan over medium heat. Add the chicken, and fry until golden brown and crispy all over. Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.

Add a little more olive oil to the pan if necessary. Add the garlic, and as soon as it becomes fragrant add the carrot, red pepper and chilli. Saute for several minutes until the vegetables have softened.

Add the coriander and spinach puree to the pan and cook for two minutes before returning the chicken to the pan. Season generously with flaky sea salt and pepper.

Saute for another couple of minutes and then add 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes allowing the chicken to cook through and absorb all the flavours.

Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside, keeping it warm. Add the rice to the pan, and add enough hot water to cover the rice by about 3cm (1-1/4 inches). Cook, uncovered, until the rice looks as though it has absorbed most of the water (5-10 minutes). Add the peas. Turn heat down as low as it can go; cover; and, stirring just once or twice to prevent sticking, cook for around 15 minutes, until the rice is cooked. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

Put the rice onto a large serving platter, arranging the chicken pieces over the top. Drizzle some of the spiced yoghurt over the top, or serve in a separate bowl allowing each person to add their own.

If you would like to get to know Tessa a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

I'm also sharing this post at Cookbook Sundays, See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by Michelle at Ms. enPlace, and Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage.

Chocolate, Almond & Damson Slab, and Cookbook Sundays # 1

2011-12-10T16:56:00.001+13:00

I'm very excited that today is my first day for hosting Cookbook Sundays (keep reading for more details), so something a little bit indulgent and celebratory to share with you seemed to be in order. This sweet treat makes the perfect ending to a meal with a coffee or a "sticky", or a lovely handmade festive gift for a special friend.

This recipe comes from "Maggie's Kitchen" by Maggie Beer, but I do confess to having made a bit of a departure from the original recipe which called for the inclusion of prunes soaked in sherry. You might have seen this post back in February when I made, amongst other things, Damson Gin. Well, a couple of weeks ago I decided that said Damson Gin would be ready for drinking. I strained the liquor off into a bottle, but was then left with the gin-soaked damsons themselves. After sampling a couple of them, I decided that they were far too good to discard. So they've been sitting in a jar in my fridge waiting for some inspiration, and as soon as I stumbled on this recipe I knew I'd found just the right thing.

The damsons, after sitting in alcohol for 10 months impart an almond flavour and fragrance, which I thought would complement nicely the almonds in the slab. It did occur to me however that I could be setting you all up for cyanide poisoning, but after eating quite a lot of the gin-soaked damsons this afternoon I can tell you that I have come to absolutely no harm - did get a bit tipsy though - just saying! And, of course, it was purely in the interests of public safety - such are the lengths I will go to in order to ensure your well-being.

This was a doddle to make, even in a slightly inebriated state, with the hardest part being waiting the hour for the chocolate to set. Now, I know not everyone has boozy damsons hanging around the place, so I will give you the directions for the prunes as well.

Chocolate, Almond & Damson Slab

Adapted from a recipe by Maggie Beer

in Maggie's Kitchen

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

100g (3.5 oz) pitted gin-soaked damsons (see notes below for alternative)

(just pull the damsons apart with your fingers until you have 100g of flesh -

they will easily come away from the stones)

200g (7 oz) dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

(I used Whittakers Dark Ghana)

1/3 cup cream

20g (.7 oz) butter

Note: if you don't have the damsons, you will need 100g of pitted prunes and 50ml (1.7 fl oz) of sweet sherry

Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F).

Spread the almonds in a single layer on a baking tray and roast in the pre-heated oven until they are golden brown - approximately 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, cool and then chop roughly.

Note: If using prunes, soak them in the sherry until they have soaked up all the liquid, then chop roughly.

Chop the chocolate roughly, and put into a heatproof bowl with the cream and butter. Set the bowl over a gently simmering pan of water, stirring occasionally, until melted and glossy.

Add the damsons (or prunes) and almonds to the melted chocolate mixture, and stir to combine.

Pour the mixture onto a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Spread evenly into a slab, and refrigerate until set - about 1 hour.

Once set, break into pieces and serve with coffee or dessert wine. I served mine with damson gin - what else?! Store in a cool, dark place (not the refrigerator) in a sealed, airtight container.

Now, at the start of this post I mentioned Cookbook Sundays. What is that all about, you are perhaps wondering. Well, if you're anything like meyou have dozens of cookbooks gathering dust on your bookshelves, some of which have never even been cooked from. Sure I spent hours browsing through them when I first bought them, marking all the recipes I was going to make with little post-it notes, and yet still those books languish in the bookcase and never make it to the kitchen. There are others from which I have made but one recipe which was such a resounding success that I've made it over and over again, and yet somehow I've never made anything else from that book. Sound a bit familiar?!

The rules for joining in are simple: your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from, and your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post. That's it really. Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated. You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like. And remember, what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants.

I am also sharing this post with Sweet New Zealand, a monthly blog event created by the very lovely Alessandra Zecchini, and which this month is hosted by the equally lovely and incredibly talented Bron Marshall. This is an opportunity for all Kiwi bloggers (whether you are living in New Zealand or overseas), as well as for non-Kiwi bloggers living in New Zealand, to connect and share some of those sweet treats from your kitchen. So, head on over to Bron's and share something sweet.

Stuffed Aubergines

2011-12-08T22:24:00.000+13:00

When I first started cooking for my partner, there were a lot of things he wouldn't eat. "Doesn't sound like something I'd want to eat" was an expression he used frequently when I made a variety of dinner suggestions. However, I'm not stupid. Two of his favourite things happen to be broccoli and chicken, and it didn't take me long to work out that if I worked either of those two ingredients into a dish, I could also manage to sneak in a couple of other ingredients that he might ordinarily have shunned.

And so it was, that over time, I have managed to get him eating aubergine. Now I wouldn't go so far as to say that he loves them, and he would probably balk at an "aubergine as hero" kind of meal (such as the Aubergine & Lemon Risotto I posted a few days ago), but as an ingredient in a number of dishes he quite enjoys it.

Thumbing recently through my copy of Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros for one of our I Heart Cooking Clubs challenges, I came across her recipe for stuffed aubergine. Now I would have quite liked to try a vegetarian interpretation of this, perhaps filling them with rice or perhaps some mushrooms, and that is something I will definitely try on another occasion. But I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if I was going to make this dish fly around here it would have to have the meat filling. So, "what's for dinner tonight?" he asked me, and I've got to tell you he looked positively stricken when I said "stuffed aubergines". Clearly a leap too far. "They're stuffed with mince, and feta, and pecorino cheese, and flavoured with garlic and that smoky paprika that you like", I said. He looked highly relieved by that and agreed to give them a try, but I could tell that he was nervous about it because several times during the day he asked me "remind me what's in those aubergines again?"

Well moment of truth arrived when the dish was served. He approached the dish somewhat sceptically, though admitted that it looked pretty good. A nervous mouthful was taken, and then lo and behold the first serving was scarfed down in no time flat, and seconds were requested. What's more, there was a bit of filling left over that didn't fit into the aubergine shells, which he asked to have for his lunch the next day. Now that's what I call progress.

I actually made this for an I Heart Cooking Clubs challenge a few weeks ago, and didn't get around to posting it. However, while we continue to cook with Tessa Kiros, our theme this week is "A Study in Scarlet", challenging us to come up with red or scarlet-hued food. This seems to fit the bill perfectly, so I'm thrilled to get this post out of draft. What's more, it's summer here in New Zealand, and whilst we might normally associate summer with lots of leafy green salads, this dish is so reminiscent of dishes I ate in Greece earlier in the year that it will always be a quintessentially summer dish to me.

This is great hot out of the oven, but is also great served at room temperature. I urge you to try it.

Stuffed Aubergines

Adapted from a recipe by Tessa Kiros from

Falling Cloudberries

Serves 2 greedy people for a substantial meal

or 4 people for a light meal

or 8 people as an appetiser

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

4 small, long aubergines

olive oil for brushing

Tomato Sauce:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

3 cups tomato passata

1 cup water

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Filling:

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 stalk of celery, finely chopped

1 teaspoon smoky paprika

400g (1 lb) minced beef

3/4 cup freshly grated pecorino cheese

150g (5-1/2 oz) feta, diced or crumbled

generous handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).

Begin by making the tomato sauce. In a medium saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the minced garlic clove, and as soon as it begins to release its fragrance add the tomato passata and water to the pan. Season generously with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Remove the stalks from each of the aubergines and cut them in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, scoop the flesh out of each aubergine half, to give you a boat-shaped shell. Chop the flesh that you've just scooped out into smallish dice and set aside. Now liberally brush the "boats", inside and out, with olive oil. Place on a shallow baking dish, lined with parchment paper, and put into the preheated oven. Bake until golden brown and softened but still holding their shape. Remove from the oven and set aside.

While the aubergine shells are baking, make the filling. Heat the olive oil and the minced garlic in a large non-stick saute pan set over medium heat. As soon as the garlic becomes fragrant, add the diced aubergine flesh, celery, and paprika. Saute until softened and pale golden brown. Now add the minced beef and cook for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned, stirring from time to time with a wooden spatula and breaking up any clumps of meat. Season with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir in 1 cup of the tomato sauce and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Stir in the pecorino cheese, feta and flat leaf parsley. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Using a baking dish that is just big enough to fit the aubergine shells quite snugly in a single layer, ladle enough tomato sauce into the baking dish to cover the base to a depth of about 2 cm (3/4 inch). Fill each of the aubergine shells with the meat mixture. Pat it in quite well with your hands, but take care not to make it too compact. Place the filled aubergines on top of the tomato sauce, and drizzle with a little more tomato sauce over the top.

Bake for approximately 30-45 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling and and a golden crust has formed in places. Remove from the oven and cool slightly before serving.

Serve with a fresh green salad, and some crusty bread.

If you would like to get to know Tessa a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

I'm also sharing this post at Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage.

Lastly, a reminder that the all new Cookbook Sundays begins here this coming Sunday 11 December. So dust off those cookbooks and come and join the fun.

Cookbook Sundays

2011-12-07T14:24:00.001+13:00

I was very excited then, when a little over a year ago, I discovered the Cookbook Sundays event over at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen. Brenda is adorable, and like many of us she has a stack of cookbooks on her shelves doing little more than growing cobwebs. So she began the Cookbook Sundays event to get herself, and others, cooking out of those books that just never seem to get used. I used to really enjoy participating in this event, and it certainly did encourage me to use my cookbooks more.

More recently the event moved to Mom's Sunday Cafe, where it has been hosted by Melynda (quite simply one of the sweetest bloggers ever, and self confessed custodian of 329 cookbooks). As I was preparing my post on the weekend, I went over to Melynda's blog to get the links for entering my post only to discover, sadly, that she had decided to discontinue the event.

Long story cut short, I emailed Melynda and asked if she would mind if I kept the event going and hosted it on my blog. Not only did she agree but, in her inimitably generous way, within hours she had put up a post on her blog letting readers know the event was moving to my blog - thanks Melynda, you're a star!

There you have it - beginning this weekend, Cookbook Sundays will be taking up residence here at Couscous & Consciousness. This will be a weekly event, and entries will be open for the whole week. Joining in every week is by no means compulsory - just join in whenever you feel like it. There are no complicated rules for joining in. Simply, your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from, and your post must link back to and mention the current week's Cookbook Sunday post. That's it really. Including the Cookbook Sunday badge is optional, but always appreciated. You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like.

So, what are you waiting for - go and dust off a cookbook or two and come back Sunday.

Aubergine & Lemon Risotto

2011-12-05T21:18:00.001+13:00

Oh, hello blog - remember me?! Sad to say, that while I have been busying myself over the last few weeks with major kitchen renovations and the opening of my new yoga school, my poor blog has been suffering from extreme neglect. Although I have in that time managed to cook several dishes that I want to share with you, actually getting that translated into posts just doesn't seem to have happened. Time to rectify that!

I am mad for aubergine at the best of times, and I've really been using it a lot lately - grilled on the barbeque, stuffed (post coming soon I promise), in moussaka, and in salads. One of my favourites has been this aubergine and lemon risotto, unsurprisingly from one of my favourite cookbooks Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi. The lemon complements the aubergine perfectly, and adds that note of brightness and freshness that transforms this from the wintery comfort food role with which we normally associate risotto into a lighter more summery dish.

Now, since I'm anxious that this post shouldn't spend yet another month languishing in draft, I'm getting straight onto sharing the recipe with you without any further preamble.

Aubergine & Lemon Risotto Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi from

Plenty

Makes 3 generous servings

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2 medium aubergine

olive oil

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 generous handfuls arborio rice

1/2 cup white wine

3 to 4 cups vegetable stock, hot

1 large lemon, grated zest & juice

1 tablespoon butter

1/3 cup mascarpone

1/2 cup Parmesan, freshly grated

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

generous handful fresh basil leaves, shredded

Using a sharp knife, pierce the skin of one of the aubergine in several places. Place on a foil-lined baking tray, and put into the oven under a hot grill until the skin has blackened and the flesh appears to have collapsed and deflated. Keep an eye on it, turning the aubergine over several times; it will take between 30 minutes and 1 hour. Remove from the oven. Once the aubergine is cool enough to handle, make a lengthwise cut through the skin; scoop out the flesh, chop it roughly and discard the skin. Set aside.

Return your oven to its regular baking function, and heat to 220 degrees C (425 degrees F).

Cut the other aubergine into large dice, toss generously with olive oil, and spread in a single layer in a shallow, parchment lined baking dish. Season liberally with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put into the hot oven and bake until the aubergine pieces are golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Set a heavy based pan over medium heat, and add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the shallot and garlic to the pan - cooking until the shallot and garlic just begin to soften - take care not to burn the garlic - almost as soon as you can smell the garlic it is time to add the rice to the pan. Continue cooking the rice with the shallot and garlic, stirring constantly, until every single grain of rice is coated with the oil - it will take on a kind of translucent look around the edges and will start to "squeak".

Now is the time to add the wine, and continue stirring until virtually all the wine has been absorbed by the rice. Then begin to add the stock, one ladleful at a time - stirring constantly until each ladleful has been absorbed before adding the next. The rice will swell up considerably as it absorbs the stock, and once the rice is cooked through, remove the pan from the heat.

Add half of the grated lemon zest, the lemon juice, the soft flesh that you scooped out of the blackened aubergine, butter, mascarpone, and half of the parmesan. Also add a generous pinch of flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir well, cover the pan, and set aside for about 5 minutes for all the flavours to infuse. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt, pepper or lemon juice as necessary.

Spoon the risotto into serving bowls, sprinkle over the golden cubes of oven-baked aubergine, the remaining Parmesan and lemon zest, and the basil.

I'm also sharing this post at See Ya in the Gumbo hosted by Ms. enPlace and at My Meatless Mondays hosted by Chaya at My Sweet and Savory.

Sweet New Zealand October Round-up

2011-10-30T15:02:00.000+13:00

It has been my privilege to host Sweet New Zealand this month - a monthly blog event, created by the lovely Alessandra Zecchini, which offers an opportunity for all Kiwi bloggers (whether you are living in New Zealand or overseas), as well as for non-Kiwi bloggers living in New Zealand, to connect and share some of those sweet treats from your kitchen. There have been some absolutely wonderful entries this months, and I have certainly enjoyed discovering and visiting a few blogs that I hadn't known about before. Thanks to all of you for participating.

The first entry in was from Alessandra Zecchini from her Only Recipes blog - she shared a Dark Chocolate & Fig Cake. Alessandra was lucky enough to be able to forage a supply of figs in her neighbourhood. Having only moved into our house a couple of months ago, I was thrilled to discover that my next door neighbour has a fig tree right beside our fence, and they don't eat them! As soon as those little green fruit I see forming are ready, you can be sure I will be trying this cake.

On her Vegan Recipes (and best vegan dinners) blog Alessandra also shared a fresh, tropical Papaya, Lime & Mint Salad. I love papaya - it is one of my absolute favourite fruits. It is a bit of luxury to have here in New Zealand though, so I always love travelling to the tropics or Asia and having the opportunity to eat it everyday! Alessandra is right - a squeeze of lime over a piece of papaya completely elevates the flavour - love the idea of adding some mint.

Vanille from @ Down Under came up with a real ode to spring, in the form of these beautiful "edible tulips" - a lovely fresh fruit salad, served in these delicate, crispy Tulipe Biscuits. I'm so in awe of the ability to be able to craft something so beautifully elegant - I'm pretty sure that, were I to try this, my efforts would result in something resembling shoe leather.

Frances from Bake Club came up with a Gluten-Free Vegan Date Loaf. I love dates, and I really don't know why I don't use them more often. Personally, I'm lucky enough not to be wheat or gluten intolerant, but I have friends and relatives who are and I'm always on the look-out for recipes to share with them or to prepare when they come to visit - this one definitely makes the list.

For some obscure reason, I hadn't visited Lisa's wonderful blog, Sunday Hotpants, for quite awhile, so it was such a delight to have her join in here at Sweet New Zealand and to have the opportunity to reconnect. Despite everything the kitchen gods threw at her recently (I swear I would have just given up and wept), she still managed to produce this family favourite Chocolate Birthday Cake for her Dad's birthday. Do go and read her funny and touching story and learn why this cake holds a special place in her heart - thanks for sharing it with us, Lisa.

You can always rely on the lovely Emma from my darling lemon thyme to come up with something truly inspirational. Her blog is a place I often visit when I'm looking for inspiration - seeking something outside the box - this Strawberry, Black Pepper & Thyme Cordial is no exception. I haven't had my first strawberries of the season yet - they're still just a bit pricey down this way - but as soon as they're abundant I will definitely be trying this combination of flavours.

Do you sometimes wonder, were the house to catch on fire, what would be one of the first things you would grab before you ran out of the house? Or, were your house to be burgled, what one kitchen gadget would you not want them to take? My answer would be my ice cream maker. I love ice cream, all year round (even in the depths of winter), and I love making my own. I'm always on the look out for a new recipe, so when Mairi from Toast submitted her Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream it went immediately into the bookmark list. The great thing about this recipe is that you can use fresh or frozen raspberries, which makes it just perfect for enjoying all year round.

Are there any two words that belong together more than "caramel" and "chocolate"? After Taste is a new-to-me blog, but when she shared her Baked Caramel & Chocolate Slice I knew that this was a blog I was going to want to know a little better. This recipe seems a little different to what I would expect from a caramel slice, and I can't wait to try it.

American-living-in-Kiwiland blogger, Christina from Gninword on, is mourning the absence of pureed pumpkin in a can in this country. She consoled herself by taking an Antipodean classic (sticky date pudding); adding a bit of chocolate (well if you're consoling yourself, why wouldn't you?); turning said classic pudding into cupcakes; and topping the whole lot off with a butterscotch buttercream frosting. Go and check out her Chocolate Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake and Cupcakes - seems like she's kind of over the pumpkin thing, don't you think?

I don't know why I never think of using my slow cooker for desserts, but somehow it only tends to get used for soups and slow cooking chickpeas and beans. I was thrilled when Barbara from winosandfoodies produced this Slow Cooker Recipe for Pears in Caramel. This is absolutely my kind of dessert - quite apart from the fact that pears and caramel sauce are such a wonderful combination (which could only possibly be made better by the addition of some vanilla ice cream), but the idea of just popping everything in the crockpot and forgetting about it for a couple of hours really works for me!

Style-goddess, Bron Marshall faced off against a wet and wild day with Spanish Churros and Hot Chocolate. Yes, it is spring in New Zealand, but the weather can still turn to crap for another month or so. I have eaten churros before in Barcelona - a decadent street food treat - but I have never been brave enough to try making them myself. Bron's recipe certainly makes them sound achievable, and doesn't that photo make you want to just dive head first into that bowl of hot chocolate? Oh, come on, I know I'm not the only one!

Bunny. Eats. Design. admits to being a terrible baker. Now I've told you before that I'm convinced that there is a gene for baking, and that by some birth defect I too am a terrible baker. Quite possibly we were twins, separated at birth. Still, I've got to hand it to her for ingenuity - what can you do when light, fluffy baking is just not in your repertoire? Bake something hard of course! These Chocolate Espresso Biscotti are the perfect solution - I'm inspired - clearly she is the smart twin.

Zo from Two Spoons made this gorgeous Pear & Kamahi Honey Frangipane Tart. To be honest, when I first saw this picture it looked decidedly outside of my skill set (note comments above), but Zo provides loads of really useful information and advice in this post - so much so that even I think I could give this a go ... maybe! This would undoubtedly be a very classy and elegant dessert to serve for a special occasion.

These Kahikatea Cupcakes from Alessandra Zecchini were a complete revelation to me. I have never seen kahikatea berries, and I had no idea that you could eat them. Alessandra has baked them into a simple vanilla cupcake, and added a few more on top for decoration. The berries look so pretty - rather like pomegranate seeds - though she says the taste is a little sweeter than pomegranate. I need to go and find a kahikatea tree now!

"I love dates" says Alli from Pease Pudding, and so do I. I totally love the look of these Date, Walnut & Orange Blossom Moroccan Inspired Treats and the fact that they contain no added sugar, no flour, no dairy, and NO BAKING, means surely that even I couldn't make a disaster of these. These are so on my list of things to try. Bunny. Eats. Design. - are you reading this?

These Pink Rose Cupcakes from Kirsten at High Tea with Dragons would have to be just about one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. That anyone can do anything so beautiful with a simple cupcake and a bit of icing just astounds me. Kirsten says this is easier than it looks, and includes an excellent step by step tutorial which does actually make it look fairly straight forward ... but I know my limits. I'd struggle to create a decent cupcake to go under the icing - I totally take my hat off to you Kirsten.

Now this I know I could do. This beautiful, refreshing Mandarin Ice Cream from Lucy at The KitchenMaid is right up my street. At the risk of repeating myself, I love ice cream. I love citrus flavours. What's more this ice cream uses just three ingredients, and doesn't even need churning, so if that aforementioned burglar happens to make off with your ice cream maker you'll have no trouble with this one.

Lesley from eat, etc... set out to capture some childhood memories with a Dark Sticky Gingerbread. Gingerbread is one of my all time favourites and I can't wait to give this intriguing recipe a try. This recipe has some surprising ingredients, which I think will ensure this gingerbread will really lend itself to my favourite way to enjoy this treat - with a dried fig compote and a piece of blue cheese. Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it - trust me, it works!

And the final entry for the month came from Mel at Treehouse Kitchen, who produced this insanely good looking Caramel & Macadamia Cheesecake. The recipe is from the Ottolenghi cookbook, which I know is a favourite book amongst so many of us. Despite a few kitchen disasters along the way, Mel still managed to make this look amazing, and immediately I saw this post I had to drag my Ottolenghi book down off the shelf and bookmark this recipe.

Of course, I mustn't forget my own entries, which were firstly Gabrielle's Sticky Lemon Squares. This was an old post, but it is such a favourite of mine, and with a fair amount of citrus fruit still around, I couldn't resist the opportunity to share.

I also shared a tart, refreshing Cranberry Sorbet - totally worth making if only to gaze upon something of such extraordinary colour.

Well, that's it everyone. I'm sure you'll all agree there are some stunning sweet treats amongst that lot, and now it's my pleasure to hand the baton off to Mairi at Toast who is going to be your host for the month of November.

Seville Orange Spoon Sweets

2011-10-17T14:18:00.000+13:00

Few things make my heart happier than a bowl full of citrus fruit sitting on my kitchen bench. Even though citrus grows incredibly well here in New Zealand, particularly in the North Island, there is something about the colours that just scream sunshine, even on a cloudy day, and the fragrance every time you pass by, that transports me to infinitely more exotic places. And then, when that bowl of citrus fruit actually happens to be 6 kilos of Seville oranges, well I am transported directly to heaven. Also often known as bitter oranges, and rightly so since they are far too sour to eat, these make hands-down the best marmalade. They have a very short season, and you generally will not find them in the shops - leastwise not here in New Zealand. However, if you are lucky enough to know someone who is in the know (thanks Mairi) you may be able to get your hands on some. You are going to have to wait another year now to do that though, as that very short season I mentioned just finished last week. I have a number of projects planned for these babies, which of course I will share with you, including marmalade, bitter orange curd, burnt orange ice cream, and a bitter orange sorbet. I've also read that the juice of Seville oranges is often used for marinading meats in a variety of Caribbean cuisines - so a bag of these will be headed to the freezer to take out for juice during the year.

As I've been telling you over the last couple of weeks, the I Heart Cooking Clubs group is now cooking with the gorgeous Tessa Kiros, and our theme this week is From the Orchard. Well I've got to tell you that whilst most of my friends over there are in the midst of autumn (fall to them), and no doubt enjoying an abundance of fruit hanging from the trees, here in New Zealand it is spring. That means that you sure won't find much dangling from the branches here. Right now, although strawberries are beginning to show up regularly at the market, fruit trees are laden with nothing more than promise, in the form of blossom. So this box of Seville oranges, which appear briefly here from September through to mid-October, could not have arrived at a better time.

When I holidayed in Greece earlier this year, I found some wonderful little coffee shops in Athens to sit and while away an hour or two. It was a common sight, in many of these coffee shops, to see huge jars on the counter full of beautiful fruits preserved in thick, sweet syrup: cherries (both sweet and sour), figs, grapes, bergamot, quince, my favourite - bitter orange, and many more. They are called "spoon sweets" and, as the name might suggest, they are usually served on a teaspoon alongside a good coffee and a glass of cold water. You can also buy the spoon sweets in jars in most supermarkets there, and I developed a real liking for having the bitter orange for breakfast on top of some toasted bread and mizithra. Needless to say, when I came across Tessa's recipe for Preserved Fruits in Sugar Syrup in the Falling Cloudberries book I couldn't wait to try it.

This was a really fun preserve to make - I would definitely do it again - and I can't wait to try some of the other fruits now as they come into season. I am only sharing the instructions for doing the oranges here, but Tessa's book also includes recipes for cherries, green plums and figs.

Seville Orange Spoon Sweets Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Tessa Kuros in

Falling Cloudberries

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2kg bitter oranges

400g (14 oz) caster sugar

450 ml (15 fl oz) water

You will also need:

needle

cotton thread

piece of baking paper

Wash the oranges well in warm water, and dry thoroughly.

Using a good peeler, peel off the skin of the oranges in long strips. Try to leave behind as much of the white pith as you can - you want only the thin skin. If you find that your peeler takes off too much of the pith, then just lay the strips on a board, pith side up, and remove with a sharp knife. I peeled my strips from the top to the bottom of the oranges, and got 6-8 strips from each orange. If you prefer you can go around the circumference, in which case you will end up with fewer but longer strips, which you will cut in half.

Put the strips of peel into a pan, cover with cold water, bring to the boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the strips have softened and are pliable. Remove from heat and drain. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

Starting at one end, roll each strip of peel up quite tightly, and using a needle thread onto a length of cotton, as though you were making a necklace. Keep the pieces close together - this helps the strips to stay in their little rolls while they are being boiled in the syrup. Although a little fiddly, this is fun and really quite therapeutic - also all the oils that come out of the orange peels will make your hands feel and smell amazing.

Put the sugar and water into a pan, along with the strained juice from one of the oranges. Stir constantly until the syrup comes to a boil, then carefully drop in the necklace of orange strips. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the surface with a circle of baking paper (to keep the necklace submerged in the syrup), and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Remove the "necklace" from the syrup to a clean bowl. Allow to stand for a few minutes until cool enough to handle, then slide the orange rolls off the thread into a sterilised preserving jar.

The syrup will have thickened up a bit during the cooking, but you can keep simmering it for a little longer if you want it to thicken some more. When you are happy with your syrup, pour it into the jar until the peels are just covered.

Once cool, refrigerate, and use within a month.

Kali orexi

By the way, once you've harvested the peel for this recipe, don't discard the rest of the oranges - they are precious. Juice them and store the juice to use for marinades, sorbets, or dressings. Alternatively, you can put the whole oranges into a bag and into the freezer, and then just pull them out when you want to juice one.

If you would like to get to know Tessa a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

Chicken Shish Tawook with Radish Tzatziki

2011-10-15T21:16:00.000+13:00

When we lived in Christchurch our favourite haunt for Middle Eastern food was Sami's Cafe in Riccarton - always chicken shish tawook for my partner and falafel for me. You may say that we are creatures of habit, but I like to think that when you find something that seems as close to perfection as you can get, why would you choose anything else? And believe me when I tell you that Sami's falafel really are perfection - in fact if anyone knows where you can get better I'd like to hear about it. Not only is the food here great, but Sami himself is an absolute delight - it is so obvious when you watch him working that he pours so much love and pride into every single souvlaki he prepares - perhaps that's why they taste so good. Needless to say, whenever we revisit Christchurch these days, a meal at Sami's is always on the agenda. On one such recent visit Sami gave me a selection of their Sami's Kitchen range of spice blends to trial, and I'm enjoying experimenting with these (see note at the end of this post). There are four different blends in the range, each one prepared according to recipes that have been handed down through several generations of Sami's family, and all blends are free of gluten, wheat, MSG, and other fillers.

The first blend that I tried was the Shish Tawook, which I used to marinate some chicken pieces, which were then skewered and barbequed, and served with a peppery radish tzatziki and Chickpea, Feta & Coriander Salad which I shared with you a couple of weeks ago. This blend of spices includes, garlic, paprika, pimento, nutmeg, cinnamon and thyme, and the resulting kebabs (according to my partner) tasted just like the shish tawook that he enjoys at Sami's. The chicken once it came out of its marinade-bath was incredibly tender and the end result, although wonderfully flavourful, was not overtly spicy. It is likely therefore to appeal to a variety of palates, even those that might ordinarily eschew spicy foods or be wary of trying dishes that may be foreign to them. I think this could also work very well with a variety of seafood, especially shrimp, or as a rub to change up that Sunday evening roast chicken.

Hope you'll give this a try, and keep watching this space as I try out some of the other spice blends.

Chicken Shish Tawook with Radish Tzatziki Recipe

Makes 6 large kebabs

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

For the marinade:

2 tablespoons Shish Tawook spice blend

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 garlic clove, finely minced

flaky sea salt

For the kebabs:

500g chicken thighs

6 button mushrooms

1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into 2.5 cm (1 inch) squares

6 bay leaves, fresh

For the tzatziki:

2 cups Greek yoghurt (see note below)

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

juice of 1/2 lemon

4-6 medium radish (depending on size), finely grated

handful of fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Begin with the marinade. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the spices, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and sea salt.

Cut the chicken thighs into 2.5 cm (1 inch) cubes, and add to the marinade. Mix well until all the chicken pieces are thoroughly coated. Refrigerate at least 3-4 hours, preferably overnight.

Thread onto skewers as follows: begin with a piece of red pepper, then 3 or 4 cubes of chicken, mushroom, 3 or 4 more cubes of chicken, another piece of red pepper, and lastly a bay leaf (folded in half).

Barbeque or grill until the chicken is completely cooked through - about 15 minutes.

While the chicken is marinating, prepare the tzatziki. Put the yoghurt into a bowl; stir in the garlic, olive oil and lemon, and blend well. Add the grated radish, fresh mint, a generous pinch of flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix well, taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Note: If you are lucky enough to live in a place where you can get Greek yoghurt, then use it. Unfortunately, here in New Zealand, although there are a number of yoghurts on the market now labelled as "Greek-style", they are still not like a true Greek yoghurt. I find the best way to approximate it is to put the yoghurt into a sieve lined with a paper towel, place the sieve over a bowl, and refrigerate for several hours to allow the whey to drain off.

Important note: Although I was given the Sami's Kitchen spice blends to trial, I have in no way been paid to endorse this product. The opinions given are my own, and you can be sure that if I wasn't happy with the product I would not be telling you about it here.

Cranberry Sorbet Recipe

2011-10-10T17:32:00.001+13:00

Whenever I buy a new cookbook (and I am totally not going to divulge just how often that might be), I find that there is always a stand-out recipe that really catches my eye - one that screams at me "you have to make this". It might even be the recipe that convinces me I just have to buy the book. It will get bookmarked; every time I take it off the bookshelf I will remind myself that I have to make this recipe; and yet I will often make dozens of other recipes from the book, but not the very one that had attracted me to the book. Sound familiar? Oh, come on, admit it - I just know that I am not the only one who does that.

Anyhow, such was the case when I purchased Tessa Kiros' gorgeous book "Falling Cloudberries", which I told you about last week. This cranberry sorbet in fact graces the cover of this book, and I knew that I just had to make it, if only because I could not resist the idea of making something of such sublime colour. And yet, somehow, every time I got the book off the shelf and drooled over the cover photo I ended up making something else. Until now ... I told you last week that the I Heart Cooking Clubs group is now cooking for the next six months with Tessa Kiros, and since our theme for this week is Pot Luck it seemed like the perfect opportunity to rustle up a little sorbet.

You can use fresh or frozen cranberries for this - I'm guessing for those of you living in the northern hemisphere, you must be getting pretty close to fresh cranberry time, but here in New Zealand I had to settle for frozen ones. On a whim, I also added a couple of tablespoons of orange flavoured liqueur.

This is an absolute breeze to make, especially with the assistance of an ice cream maker. The result is very fresh and tart, but I find there is a certain dissonance going on that I really can't get my head around. Now don't get me wrong - I love tart, bitter, sour flavours, but there is something about the look and colour of this sorbet that makes you think it is going to be really luscious and sweet. With every spoonful, I find that my eyes are telling my brain that a certain fruity sweetness awaits, and indeed the first notes that my palate registers are sweet, but the finish is decidedly tart, and then my brain just feels all confused. So, it's not unpleasant - it's actually rather nice - but it is just not what my brain thinks my mouth should be experiencing. In all, as a dessert, I find this a little unsatisfying - there is just something about the expectation and all that confusion, that makes this not really work for me as a dessert. However, I'm finding a nice spoonful or two mid-afternoon is an absolute delight, and I imagine it could also work really well as an inter-course palate cleanser. I would say that this is worth making at least once, if only for the sheer beauty of it, but also I think it's good to surprise your tastebuds every so often with something they aren't expecting. If you give this a try, I'd love to know what you think.

Cranberry Sorbet Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Tessa Kiros from

Falling Cloudberries

Makes approximately 1.25 litres

Vegan

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

500g (1 lb) cranberries, fresh or frozen

1-1/2 cups (345g) caster sugar

3-1/2 cups water

2 tablespoons orange-flavoured liqueur (optional)

Put the washed cranberries into a pot with the water and sugar. Stir constantly while you bring up to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the berries are soft.

Puree using an immersion blender, strain, and set aside to cool completely. Refrigerate overnight.

Next day, add the liqueur (if using), and then process in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

If you would like to get to know Tessa a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

I am also sharing this post with Sweet New Zealand, a monthly blog event created by the very lovely Alessandra Zecchini, and which it is my pleasure to be hosting this month. This is an opportunity for all Kiwi bloggers (whether you are living in New Zealand or overseas), as well as for non-Kiwi bloggers living in New Zealand, to connect and share some of those sweet treats from your kitchen. You can find all the details, along with a linky tool to make it really easy to submit your entry right here.

Cauliflower Soup with Spinach Pesto

2011-10-07T21:45:00.000+13:00

I actually made this soup a couple of weeks ago and, like a lot of other potential posts, it has been languishing in draft ever since - I've got to tell you, it wasn't lonely; there's a lot of stuff there in "draftland". Anyway, even though here in New Zealand we are now well into spring, evenings are still often cool enough to enjoy a good bowl of soup, and I know that those of you in the northern hemisphere will welcome this now that the days are definitely getting cooler and shorter for you. So I thought I really ought to share this with you now before the opportunity is lost.

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a beautiful cauliflower at my local market, and looking for inspiration I turned to one of my favourite bloggers and cookbook authors, Heidi Swanson. Heidi doesn't know me, but she is one of those people who inspires me beyond belief. Her gorgeous blog, 101 Cookbooks, is the first food blog I ever stumbled across and was my inspiration for starting my own blog. Her photographs are gorgeous; her recipes healthy, flavourful, interesting, and always reliable. Of all the blogs I visit, she still sets the benchmark that I aspire to. Of course I couldn't wait to get my hands on Super Natural Cooking: Five Delicious Ways to Incorporate Whole and Natural Foods into Your Cooking (her first book), and more recently her second book - Super Natural Every Day: Well-loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen. On her blog, Heidi has a number of cauliflower recipes, but on a chilly Sunday afternoon it was this recipe for cauliflower soup in Super Natural Cooking that really appealed to me. I did modify the pesto a little, using toasted sunflower seeds (which I had in the pantry) instead of brazil nuts (which I didn't), and using pecorino instead of parmesan, just because I love it and there are many things in which I prefer it. I also used leeks in the soup instead of onion, such is my preference, but feel free to go either way.

Cauliflower Soup with Spinach Pesto Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Heidi Swanson in

Super Natural Cooking

Serves 4

Vegetarian
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

For the pesto:

1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds

2 large handfuls baby spinach leaves

4 cloves garlic

1/2 cup freshly grated pecorino cheese (I used a pecorino sardo)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

flaky sea salt

For the soup:

3 tablespoons butter

2 cloves garlic

1 leek

1 teaspoon chilli flakes

1 large potato, peeled and chopped

1 cauliflower, cut into small florets

5 cups vegetable stock

1/3 cup cream

flaky sea salt

To make the pesto, put the sunflower seeds, spinach, garlic and salt into food processor and pulse until the leaves and nuts start to break down. Then leaving the motor running, begin to add the oil in a steady stream until you have a smooth paste. Remove to a bowl, stir in the grated pecorino, taste and add a little more salt if necessary. Set aside.

To make the soup, begin by heating the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, leek, and red pepper flakes and saute for a few minutes until the garlic and leek have begun to soften. Add the potato pieces and cauliflower florets, and saute for another 2 or 3 minutes. Pour in the stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender.

Remove from the heat, and puree using an immersion blender. Stir in the cream and season to taste with the flaky sea salt.

Serve in individual bowls, finished with a big dollop of the pesto.

This soup was deliciously smooth and velvety, and the little kick of heat from the chilli flakes together with the spinach pesto added another dimension to what could potentially be a rather bland dish - such is the genius of Heidi. This makes a great Sunday night supper, served casually in a big bowl with some crusty bread, but could be equally well received as an elegant starter to a more formal meal.

Chickpea, Feta & Coriander Salad

2011-10-03T17:57:00.000+13:00

If you've been following this blog for awhile, then you know that one of the places I like to play is at the I Heart Cooking Clubs group. This group chooses a different chef and cookbook author every six months, and during that time we explore the recipes of that chef according to a variety of themes. We've just finished cooking for the last six months with renowned British chef, Jamie Oliver, and you can check out all the contributions over that period here.

Now it's time to welcome in a new chef, and this week we begin cooking with the very talented Tessa Kiros. Tessa was born in London to a Finnish mother and Greek-Cypriot father. When she was four years old the family moved to South Africa, and when she turned 18 Tessa decided to spread her wings and travel. During her travels Tessa has explored many different cultures and traditions, and worked in restaurants in Sydney, Athens, Mexico and London. On a trip to Italy she met her husband, Giovani, and now lives in Tuscany with their two daughters. Tess has written a number of cookbooks, and I have to say that if you don't have at least one Tessa Kiros cookbook in your collection you are truly missing something.

I picked up a copy of Falling Cloudberries (A World of Family Recipes) about 18 months ago (thanks to some Christmas gift vouchers). In her introduction to the book, Tessa says:

"These are the recipes I grew up with: the recipes that have woven their way through the neighbourhoods of my mind, past indifference and into love. Those that have stayed while others might have fluttered away with a gentle spring breeze. These are the ones I choose to share; the ones that special people have taught me and that I have recorded, sometimes over a pot of coffee at my own kitchen table, and sometimes struggling to understand through the barriers of language on a journey somewhere."

There are recipes from Finland, Greece, Cyprus, South Africa, Italy, and many of the other places that have influenced Tessa's cooking style. The book is beautifully photographed; the recipes are simple and accessible; and all the recipes are interwoven with wonderful stories about Tessa's childhood and travels.

Our theme this week, unsurprisingly, is "Welcome Tessa", and I chose to make her Chickpea, Feta & Coriander Salad from the Falling Cloudberries book. This was incredibly quick and easy to make and, left to marinate for about three hours for all the flavours to infuse, made a great accompaniment to some chicken kebabs and rice. I did make a couple of minor changes, leaving out red onion and spring onion (since, as you most likely know by now, we don't do onion in our house), but if you feel inclined to include them, then saute one red onion in the oil until cooked through before adding the garlic and chilli, and mix some spring onions in when adding the herbs.

Chickpea, Feta & Coriander Salad

Adapted from recipe by Tessa Kiros in

Falling Cloudberries

Serves 6 as a side dish

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

400g tin of chickpeas

3 tablespoons olive oil

5 garlic cloves, chopped very finely

1 or 2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped

200g feta, cut into small cubes or crumbled

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

1 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

juice and zest of 1 lemon

Drain and rinse the chickpeas, put into a bowl and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a small pan, add the chillies and the garlic and cook briefly - really just until the chilli has softened and the garlic is fragrant. Take care not to brown the garlic. Set aside and allow to cool completely.

Add the feta, coriander, parsley, lemon juice and zest to the chickpeas. Add the cooled garlic and chilli oil, and then extra virgin olive oil. Mix everything until well combined, taste and season with flaky sea salt and freshly ground pepper as desired.

Set aside to marinate for 2 to 3 hours to allow the flavours to develop fully. Serve at room temperature.

As mentioned, I served this with chicken, but it would also make a great partner for fish or lamb, or even on its own with some grilled pita bread for a light lunch. Oh, and by the way, if you are lucky enough to have leftovers, this tastes even better the next day.

If you would like to get to know Tessa a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

I am also sharing this post at Cookbook Sundays, hosted by Melynda at Mom's Sunday Cafe, and Meatless Mondays, hosted by Chaya at My Sweet and Savory.

Sweet New Zealand

2011-10-02T14:58:00.001+13:00

We are now into the third month of the Sweet New Zealand monthly blog event, created by the very lovely Alessandra Zecchini, and it is my pleasure to be hosting the event this month. This is an opportunity for all Kiwi bloggers (whether you are living in New Zealand or overseas), as well as for non-Kiwi bloggers living in New Zealand, to connect and share some of those sweet treats from your kitchen. You can find a round-up of August's special treats on this page of Alessandra's blog, or go and visit this page of Pease Pudding's blog to find a round-up of September's sweet treats - I want to try everything! This is a really fun way for us all to get to know each other, and I hope you will all join in for another month. If you're new to this event, the rules are simple:

1. This event is open to all bloggers living in New Zealand (even if you are not a Kiwi), as well as all Kiwi bloggers living and blogging overseas.

2. You can enter anything sweet: cakes, biscuits, slices, desserts, even drinks, and you may submit as many entries as you like, including old posts if you like.

3. Your entry must contain the phrase Sweet New Zealand, the Sweet New Zealand badge (choose your own size), a link to the host, and to this post - so if you are submitting an older post remember to update it accordingly.

4. To make submitting your entry really, really easy I have included a linky tool at the end of this post. The linky will be open until 28 October and I will do a round-up of all entries on 31 October. To use the linky tool, simply scroll down to where it says "You are next ... Click here to enter", and then follow the instructions. If you prefer you can email your entry to me by 28 October, providing your name, your blog name and URL, your post URL, and a photo. Please email to yoga dot tapas at gmail dot com.

And that's it - no more rules! Have fun and I look forward to seeing all your sweet entries.

Apricot, White Chocolate & Cashew Nut Slice for Julia

2011-09-27T21:16:00.000+13:00

To those Kiwi bloggers who live in Auckland, Zarbo Cafe & Delicatessan will require no introduction whatsoever. I was first introduced to Zarbo by one of my dearest friends, Julia. Julia and I saw each other through many trials and tribulations, from the wild and mis-spent days of our twenties, to more "grown-up" times in our forties, including marriage and children (in her case) and marriage and divorce (in mine). Sadly I lost Julia to her long battle with cancer about four years ago, and it saddens me greatly that now in my fifties (which I happen to think is the best time of my life so far) I cannot share this time with her. But while she was still alive, Zarbo was "our place" - it was the place we used to frequently meet at and hang out together whenever I was visiting Auckland, and when they published their first cookbook, "Zarbo, Recipes from a New Zealand Deli", Julia was quick to gift me a copy.

I miss Julia's friendship a lot, and think often about those long afternoons sitting in Zarbo, nattering over a cup of coffee (or two) and a piece of cake or slice. So today when I was looking for a contribution to this month's Sweet New Zealand blogging event (more about that in a minute), I knew that I would find the perfect little something in my trusty Zarbo book. The "Hello Rosie" Slice on page 95, was exactly reminiscent of the kind of thing Julia and I would have shared, though I have made a few changes. The first change was more by accident than intent - because I am an idiot, and didn't read the recipe correctly, my chopped nuts ended up in the base instead of the topping - an accident I didn't discover until the slice was actually in the oven!! I was worried that the end result would be something altogether too crumbly, but the slice has held together just fine and doesn't appear to have suffered in anyway from my mistake. Accordingly, that is exactly how I have instructed you here, but if you feel like putting the nuts back into the topping, then go right ahead. I also made a few substitutions - I have used cashew nuts instead of walnuts, dried apricots instead of sultanas, and white chocolate instead of dark. I think you could easily experiment with all sorts of different fruit, nut and chocolate combinations in this recipe. I hope you will feel inspired to have a go and come up with one of your own special combinations to share with someone close to your heart.

The Sweet New Zealand monthly blog event was created by the very sweet Alessandra Zecchini, and is hosted this month by the equally sweet Alli at Pease Pudding. This is an opportunity for all Kiwi bloggers (whether you are living in New Zealand or overseas), as well as for non-Kiwi bloggers living in New Zealand, to connect and share some of those sweet treats from your kitchen. You can find a round-up of last month's special treats on this page of Alessandra's blog, or go and visit this page of Alli's blog to find out how you can join in this month. Alli will be posting a round-up of entries at the end of the month. I think I'm only just going to manage to slip in under the wire with this post, but if you feel like joining in and you don't have time to conjure up something new, you are welcome to link up an older post.

Now on with the recipe ...

Apricot, White Chocolate & Cashew Nut Slice Recipe

Adapted from

"Zarbo, Recipes from a New Zealand Deli"

Vegetarian

Makes 18 bars

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

For the base:

100g butter, melted

250g malt biscuits, crushed

2 cups raw cashew nuts, roughly chopped

For the topping:

1-1/2 cups white chocolate morsels

1 cup chopped dried apricots

3 cups long strand coconut

500g sweetened condensed milk

Grease a 20cm x 30cm (8 inch x 12 inch) slice tin, line with baking paper, and set aside.

Mix the crushed biscuits, chopped nuts, and melted butter together, and press into the tin.

Mix the chocolate, apricots, coconut and condensed milk together and press over the base.

Bake at 160 degrees C (320 degrees F) for approximately 30 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Take care not to overcook as the finished slice should be sticky, chewy and slightly moist. If you find that the slice is browning too quickly, cover with a piece of baking paper until finished cooking.

Leave until cold before slicing.

Blue Cheese, Fig & Walnut Flatbread

2011-09-20T22:44:00.001+12:00

Seven months after our lives were turned upside down by the Christchurch earthquake, we have finally settled into our own home in Nelson. The last of the boxes (well, all bar two) have been unpacked; the guest bedrooms have been painted in readiness for anyone who wants to come for a visit; a new hot-water cylinder has been installed so that a decent shower is now a possibility; paintings have been hung; and plans are underway for a new kitchen.

We are beginning to feel "at home" in our house and in this new community, and with that my inspiration to find my way back to the heart of my home - the kitchen - has returned. I have unpacked all my cookbooks and spent hours pouring through them all, enjoying coming back to ones that I haven't opened for a long time, and I'm inspired by the abundance of beautiful fruit and vegetables and great small producers that I find at our local market.

This weekend I picked up some beautiful local cheeses and chorizo at the market, and was inspired by a recipe from Return of the Naked Chef, by Jamie Oliver, to make this Blue Cheese, Fig & Walnut Flatbread to accompany them. Although it didn't quite start out that way - it was going to be a cheese, chilli and paprika flatbread, but when I went to the pantry looking for dried chillies and paprika, somehow dried figs and walnuts were what jumped into my hands.

This bread was easy to make, has great texture, keeps well, and the filling turns this into a great "stand alone" bread. Hope you'll give it a try.

Blue Cheese, Fig & Walnut Flatbread Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Jamie Oliver

Return of the Naked Chef

(Makes 2 large loaves)

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

For the bread:

3 teaspoons dried yeast

1 tablespoon honey

625ml (1-1/4 pints) tepid water

1kg (2.2 lbs) high grade flour

2 teaspoons salt

extra flour for dusting

For the filling:

6 dried figs

200g (7 oz) blue cheese

1 cup walnuts

Dissolve yeast and honey in half of the tepid water, and set aside until a thick foam forms on top of the water.

Put the flour and salt into a large bowl, making a well in the centre. Pour the frothy yeast mixture into the centre and then, using your hand, stir in a circular motion, gradually drawing more flour into the centre until all of the yeasty liquid has been absorbed. Pour in the remaining tepid water and continue mixing until all the flour has been incorporated and you have a nice moist dough - use more liquid if necessary.

Dust a board or bench top with some extra flour, turn your dough ball out and knead vigorously for about 8 minutes.

Flour your hands well, and sprinkle a little flour over the top of the dough. Form into a ball and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Score the top of the dough with a sharp knife, cover with a clean tea towel, and set aside to prove until the dough has doubled in size.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Soak the figs in a little hot water until soft and plump, then chop coarsely. Toast the walnuts until golden; chop coarsely. Put the chopped figs and walnuts into a small bowl, crumble in the blue cheese, and mix together well. Set aside.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat your oven to 220 degrees C (425 degrees F).

When the dough has doubled in size, punch the air out of it and knead again for a minute or so. Cut the dough into four equal sized pieces. Set three pieces aside and cover with a tea towel, while you work with the first piece.

Roll the first piece of dough out into something vaguely resembling a large oval shape, and about the length of your baking sheet. Place the rolled out dough onto the lined baking sheet. Sprinkle half of the fig, walnut and cheese mixture over the top, leaving a 2 cm (1 inch) border.

Roll out the second piece of dough to roughly the same size and shape (you don't need to be too precise), and drape this piece of dough over the top. Press the edges together. Make three or four deep slashes down the length of the bread, and stretch to open up the slashes exposing the filling.

Now repeat with the remaining dough and filling.

Set loaves aside to prove for another 20-30 minutes, then bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes.

This would be a great addition to an antipasto platter, or tear into chunks and serve with your favourite soup.

I'm sharing this post at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where this week we have our final week of cooking with Jamie. Do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all been cooking up for our farewell to Jamie, and find out who we'll be cooking with for the next six months ....

.... and check out Jamies Italy and many of his other great titles, available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

I'm also sharing this post with Meatless Mondays hosted by Chaya at My Sweet and Savory, Bake with Bizzy, and the Hearth & Soul Blog Hop hosted by April of The 21st Century Housewife.

Roasted Aubergine, Mango & Soba Noodle Salad

2011-07-19T21:23:00.003+12:00

Sad to say that my posts have been a bit thin on the ground over the last week. Oh, I've been cooking plenty, but I have been trying to get used to a new camera and all of my photos so far have been diabolical, rendering any potential posts completely unblogworthy.

Perhaps I should go back a bit. A few months ago my neighbour, Alli of Pease Pudding and The Gourmet Gannet cooking school, organised a photography workshop with Sean Shadbolt for some enthusiastic Auckland bloggers. To a woman, we were all greatly inspired, no-one more so than I to discover that there was a good deal more to my little point and shoot camera than just turning it on and off. Talk about the scales falling from my eyes - all of a sudden a whole new world of possibility (albeit it still a rather confusing one) opened up before me. The terms aperture, shutter speed, ISO and white balance had previously meant nothing to me, and the notion that these were things that I could manipulate even on my point and shoot was a complete revelation.

Fast forward a little now. You know that I have just recently been overseas for several weeks, and having been smitten by the photography bug I decided, since I would be passing through Singapore on the way home, to invest in my first DSLR camera. So ever since I got back, I have been playing with this new toy - exploring it, and trying to get some understanding of what different settings will achieve. The results have not been flash. Until yesterday - I went out for a few hours with my camera, took a whole lot of photos, rushed home to download them, and actually felt reasonably happy with my results. They weren't fantastic photos, but I did feel as though a penny had dropped somewhere, and I could see and understand the outcome of different things I had done.

Buoyed up by my new-found confidence, I got cooking and photographing and these are the results. Not brilliant photos by any stretch of the imagination - there is such a long way to go. However, I can safely say that since I started my blog, just over two years ago (gosh, I actually just realised my blogoversary slipped by a couple of weeks ago) these are the first photos I have really felt happy with, and certainly the first photos that I haven't had to edit in anyway other than a tiny bit of cropping here or there.

As for the food, waiting for me when I returned from overseas was a nice stack of new cookbooks that I'd ordered before I went away. Amongst them, Plenty from Yottam Ottolenghi which I had been wanting for ages. As I leafed through the book, one of the first recipes that jumped out at me was Soba Noodles with Eggplant and Mango. I love soba noodles, and was intrigued by the combination of aubergine and mango. Whats more, it may be winter here but I would still rather eat some kind of salad any day of the week, than a stew or a casserole. Of course I don't mind a braised lamb shank or a really good osso bucco on a rare occasion, but in the main I am just not a stewy, casseroley kind of girl.

I loved this dish. Even though this is not a hot dish, the aubergine provides enough "meatiness" and substance to compensate. I love the lightness of soba noodles - there is nothing about them that weighs you down - and they are a great vehicle for carrying flavour. The mango is tangy and refreshing, and did indeed complement the aubergine beautifully. All of this is bathed in a bright, tangy dressing which hits all the right notes of sweetness and sharpness, with a little kick of chilli heat. I ate this as a meal on its own - it would be perfect for a light lunch, or would also be great as a starter to a larger meal. On that subject, a note about the quantities - the original recipe claimed to serve 6. Since I was making this only for myself, I halved the recipe (which in theory should therefore have served 3) and anticipated that I would have some leftover for the next day. As it turned out, I ate the lot! I didn't have anything else though - this was my dinner - and if I had been serving this as an appetiser I think it easily would have delivered 3 portions.

Roasted Aubergine, Mango & Soba Noodle Salad Recipe

Adapted from recipe in Plenty, by Yottam Ottolenghi

Vegetarian

Makes 3 appetisers, 2 light meals or 1 generous main

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Dressing:

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small hot red chilli, finely chopped

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 lime, grated zest & juice

1 medium aubergine, cut into 1cm (1/2 inch) cubes

sunflower oil (or other neutral-flavoured oil)

90g-100g (3 to 4 oz) soba noodles

1/2 large mango, flesh diced

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup coriander (cilantro), chopped

Begin by making the dressing: Put the rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt into a small saucepan, and heat gently for about a minute - just until the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat, add the garlic, chilli and sesame oil, and then set aside to cool. Once the dressing has cooled completely add the freshly grated lime zest and juice.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C (425 degrees F). Line a shallow baking dish with parchment paper and set aside. Cut the aubergine into cubes, add them to the paper lined baking dish, drizzle with oil, and toss well to coat.

Once the oven is hot, put the tray of aubergines into the oven, and bake until golden brown and cooked through - this will take about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. (Note the original recipe called for the aubergine to be fried, but why stand over a frying pan, when you can let the oven do all the work. I think baking them in the oven also uses less oil, which is not really a big deal to me, but it might be to you.)

Now onto the noodles. Bring a large pot of water to the boil, salt liberally. (Note: My packet of soba noodles stated that salting the water is not necessary, but I do it anyway, and I note that Yottam does too.) Add the noodles to the boiling water and cook until al dente - mine only took 4 minutes, but yours may take a minute or two longer depending on your brand of noodles. Once the noodles are cooked, drain and rinse them well under cold running water. Shake well to remove as much of the water as possible, and then spread them out on a clean tea towel to dry.

Transfer the dry noodles to a large mixing bowl, add the dressing (you will probably only use about half of it), the aubergine, mango, onion, and two-thirds of the coriander. Toss together well.

At this point you can either serve the salad immediately, or allow it to stand for a couple of hours and let all the flavours infuse. If you do allow it to stand, you will probably want to add some of the leftover dressing before you serve it. Pile it up onto a platter, sprinkle over the remaining coriander, and serve.

I hope you'll give this one a try - it's definitely on my repeat list.

I am sharing this post at Presto Pasta Nights which will next week be hosted by Debbi Does Dinner ...

I am also sharing this at Let's Do Brunch hosted by Chaya at My Sweet & Savoury.

Also this post is entered in the July Culinary Smackdown. The challenge this month has been laid down by Eggplant To Go, and the theme ingredient is .... eggplant.

Pasta e Ceci

2011-07-13T21:01:00.001+12:00

Sadly the sun has definitely set on my Greek island holiday where, as you know, I have been doing a 5-week yoga retreat with my teachers, Graeme and Leonie Northfield.

From past experience, I have found Graeme and Leonie's workshops to be deeply profound on many levels, and this year was no exception. For me this was a much needed time of letting go, after all the stresses of the Christchurch earthquakes and their aftermath, and I am enormously grateful to Graeme and Leonie for having allowed the space and the support for me to find a way in my practice to both honour and overcome what I have been through. I have come home with the inspiration to take a more joyful and compassionate approach to my practice, letting go of much of the judgement that has always "dogged" my practice up until now; a new-found gratitude for what I can do, rather than harsh judgement of what I can't. It was wonderful to come together again with special friends made at previous workshops, and to make some new friends too. The bond which seems to develop between people practising together in this intense way is unlike any other. Off the mat also, the retreat did not disappoint. We enjoyed glorious, sun-filled days (not a single drop of rain in six weeks), mornings at the beach after practice, leisurely breakfasts, mid-day trips to town for coffee and a bit of shopping (which may or may not have included pastries), afternoon siestas, and long dinners at the local tavernas. We even managed to take in a cooking class, which was one of the real highlights of the trip for me, and which I will tell you more about in another post.

And now I have returned to wet and wild here on the Auckland west coast. Day after day the coast has been lashed by fierce winds, bringing with it huge surf. Even in normal conditions the sea here can be treacherous, but right now we are witnessing mother nature at full force. Then at night come the electrical storms.

It is of course all very spectacular, and although it has its own dramatic beauty which I love, there is no doubt that being thrust into the midst of wintery storms after weeks of endless 30 degree C days is a bit of a shock to the system. Crisp, fresh salads and summer fruit have had to move over in favour of more warming food such as soups and pasta dishes, and yet I still want to cling to some of that lightness of summer foods - my body is not quite ready to plunge into heavy stews and casseroles just yet. In a recent issue of Jamie Magazine, The Italian Issue I came across this recipe for Pasta e Ceci, which seemed to fit the bill perfectly. The pasta and chickpeas provide just enough substance to provide comfort and warmth; spinach, herbs and lemon add lightness and brightness to the dish; and the accompanying mixture of creme fraiche, garlic and paprika adds some extra warmth and creaminess without a trace of heaviness. Actually in the original recipe Jamie uses a mixture of yoghurt and harissa, but since I didn't happen to have either of those on hand I used a little creative license.

I'm sharing this recipe with my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where we continue to cook with Jamie Oliver. This weeks theme is Pot Luck, and I think such a dish would be a great contribution to a pot luck dinner anytime of year.

Pasta e Ceci Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Jamie Oliver

Jamie Magazine, The Italian Issue (March/April 2011)

Vegetarian

Makes 3 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

250g pasta shapes (I used strozzapreti)

400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 tbsp fresh mint, coarsely chopped

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 lemon, grated zest and juice

4 generous handfuls of baby spinach leaves

200g creme fraiche

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon smoky paprika

Bring a large pan of water to the boil over high heat, salt the water liberally, then add the pasta to the water and cook until almost al dente.

Meanwhile, put the chickpeas into a bowl. Add the chopped mint, salt, pepper, olive oil, grated zest and juice of the lemon. Toss well to combine.

Add the spinach to the bowl of chickpeas and toss together.

When the pasta is almost, but not quite al dente, remove it from the heat, and reserve about one cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta and then return it to the pan, adding in the mixture of spinach and chickpeas.

Place the pan over medium heat, add the reserved cooking water, and cook until the pasta is fully cooked through and the spinach has wilted.

Remove from the heat, add a little more olive oil, and taste, adding more lemon juice, salt or pepper as necessary.

In a separate bowl mix together the creme fraiche, garlic and paprika and serve alongside the pasta.

I really enjoyed this dish, in fact I ate it three nights in a row - it is certainly not a heavy dish, so could easily be enjoyed anytime of year, and if you're after quick and easy it doesn't get much better than this.

Interested in getting to know Jamie a bit better? Then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all been cooking up ....

.... or check out Jamie's Italy and many of his other great titles, available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

I am also sharing this post at Magazine Mondays (hosted by Cream Puffs in Venice) and at Presto Pasta Nights (which will this week be hosted by Tandy of Lavender and Lime).

Salad of Roasted Beetroot, Pink Grapefruit & Pumpkin

2011-06-06T01:21:00.000+12:00

I've been meaning to share this salad with you for a couple of weeks now. This is one that I pulled together from some fridge remains before I left to come away on my trip, inspired by a recipe from Maggie's Kitchen, by Maggie Beer. Maggie is one of my favourite chefs - I love her down to earth approach to using seasonal, fresh ingredients, putting them together in ways which are sometimes surprising, and presenting them in a simple, no-fuss way. This salad is a great example of that - the original recipe called for a combination of beetroot, blood oranges and pumpkin, together with witloof and watercress. I was really intrigued by this combination and had the recipe bookmarked for making when blood orange season comes around, and that I will do, but in the meantime I had some beetroot, pink grapefruit, pumpkin, rocket and goats cheese to use up and so this salad was born - thanks for the inspiration, Maggie. Maggie's original recipe called for boiling the beetroot, as opposed to roasting them as I've done, and she also serves the salad with a scattering of crispy sage leaves over the top, which I didn't have. You can find Maggie's original recipe here.

Salad of Roasted Beetroot, Pink Grapefruit and Pumpkin Recipe

Inspired by a recipe from Maggie's Kitchen, by Maggie Beer

Serves 2 as a light meal, or 4 as a side dish

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

4 small beetroot, washed, dried & cut into quarters

pumpkin (approx 1/4 of a pumpkin), peeled & cut into wedges

olive oil

flaky sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 large pink grapefruit

a couple of generous handfuls of rocket (arugula)

goat's cheese feta, about 150g, cut into cubes

Dressing:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

1-1/2 teaspoons maple syrup

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F). Place the beetroot quarters and pumpkin wedges into a roasting pan, drizzle with a little olive oil, and sprinkle over flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss everything to coat well, and put into the hot oven for about 20-25 minutes.

After this time, check the vegetables - the pumpkin should be cooked through and coloured, but still firm. The beetroot may, however, need a little more cooking. If so remove the pumpkin, set it aside, and return the beetroot to the oven until fork tender - maybe another 10-15 minutes. Once all the vegetables are cooked, put them into a large bowl.

Remove the skin and all the white pith from the pink grapefruit. Then, working over the bowl containing the vegetables and using a sharp knife, cut down in between the membranes to remove the segments of grapefruit flesh. Let each segment drop into the bowl as you work, and then once all segments have been removed, squeeze the remaining membrane over the bowl to extract any juice.

Add the rocket leaves to the bowl.

Make the dressing by combining all of the dressing ingredients in a small screw-top jar. Shake vigorously until everything is well combined, then taste and adjust any seasoning as necessary.

Pour enough dressing over the salad to just coat everything. Toss well to combine, and then put everything onto a large serving platter. Scatter the cubes of goat's cheese over the top and serve.

This is a great autumn salad, best served slightly warm or at room temperature. The earthiness of the roasted beetroot, combines well with the pumpkin, and the peppery rocket, citrusy tang of the grapefruit, and sharp saltiness of the feta compliment the vegetables well. The inclusion of the feta helps also I think to make this a complete meal.

I am sharing this post with Cookbook Sundays over at Mom's Sunday Cafe - maybe you'll feel inspired to get one of your cookbooks down off the shelves and get cooking!

Paros Potatoes

2011-06-05T05:03:00.000+12:00

Today marked the end of week one of this yoga retreat, and although we have begun by easing ourselves into things very gently, by the end of this morning’s practice we were all feeling ready to embrace the forthcoming rest day tomorrow. Especially after Graeme’s special workout that he put us through yesterday afternoon - a routine which he has devised to help students develop the strength and fitness which will, in the long run, make our asana practice more effortless - at least that’s the theory anyway.

Of course, such hard work must always be balanced by a certain amount of fun and relaxation, so last night we had our weekly pot luck dinner. A wonderful variety of dishes appeared, including: a beautiful mixed salad, zucchini fritters, a torn bread salad (with caramelised onions, garlic and prosciutto), lentils, beetroot in a yoghurt sauce with toasted walnuts, hummus, rice with mushrooms and asparagus, and chicken cooked in a coconut milk and banana curry. Needless to say, we had beautiful local Paros wines to wash it all down with, and for dessert we had big bowls of fresh apricots and cherries, as well as chocolate-dipped strawberries and Greek pastries. For my own contribution to this feast I made a big bowl of these crispy paprika salted potatoes - so simple, it is a stretch to really call this a recipe; however, they were such a huge success that I thought it would be rude not to share them with you as well.

I discovered in the local supermarket the other day this wonderful tin of paprika salt. Now I would not ordinarily buy something like this - after all it doesn’t take much to mix a bit of salt and paprika together to make your own - but as soon as I lifted the lid of the tin to inspect, I was so captivated by the smell and the colour that I just couldn’t resist. Besides, this is my idea of the perfect “souvenir” to take home as a reminder, for months to come, of this holiday.

Paros Potatoes Recipe

(Quantities here are not critical, this recipe is really just a guideline)

potatoes (Agria, if you can get them, are best)

olive oil (Greek, if you can get it)

paprika salt (or coarse sea salt and smoky paprika)

dried oregano

freshly ground black pepper

Peel potatoes, and cut into largish dice - about 2.5cm (1 inch). Put potatoes into a pot and cover with cold salted water. Set the pan over high heat and bring to the boil. Boil for about 5 minutes - by this stage the potatoes should be just barely fork tender - not cooked through, but just starting to yield when poked with a fork.

Remove pan from the heat, drain potatoes into a colander or sieve, and shake really well to “rough” the potatoes up. Set aside for half an hour or so to allow the potatoes to dry completely.

Pour olive oil into a large skillet - enough to completely cover the base of the pan to a depth of about .5cm (1/4 inch) - and set the skillet over high heat. Once the oil is hot (test by carefully dipping a piece of potato into the oil - if it immediately starts to sizzle it is ready) add potatoes to the pan in a single layer. You may have to cook them in several batches if you are doing a lot of potatoes. As soon as you have added the potatoes to the pan, sprinkle over a little of the paprika salt (coarse sea salt and smoky paprika) and dried oregano. Turn the potatoes over in the hot oil from time to time (depending on your element you may need to turn the heat down a little) and cook until they are golden brown all over, cooked through, and crispy on the outside.

Remove to a paper towel to drain, sprinkle again liberally with the paprika salt, dried oregano and freshly ground black pepper. Keep warm while you cook the remaining batches.

Once all your potatoes are cooked, put them in a large serving bowl, toss them well to make sure all the potatoes are well coated with the spices.

Serve immediately and try not to be overwhelmed by the sighs of satisfaction from your guests. One word of advice - bring these to the table last, for I can tell you this - the minute you put these on the table someone will not be able to resist sneaking one, and before you know it the bowl will be empty before you even finish bringing the rest of the dishes to the table. As you will have already devoured several of these in the privacy of your kitchen as you’ve cooked, you should not be surprised by this!!

Greek Salad

2011-05-30T03:27:00.000+12:00

After four wonderful days in Athens, I have now arrived on the beautiful island of Paros, where I will spend the next five weeks on a yoga retreat with Graeme & Leonie Northfield. Though it would be fair to say, that even though this trip is really all about the yoga, to a large extent it is also all about the food.

As I was saying, I had four wonderful days in Athens, and relished the opportunity to get to know this city a little better. I visited the Acropolis when I stopped in Athens briefly last year and, although there are many more fascinating ruins and such like to be seen here, I will freely admit to being a “seen-one-ruin-seen-em-all” kind of girl - of course, I know some of you are going to be absolutely horrified to hear me say that, and if history is your thing then this is without a doubt the city for you. However, I am just not good at being a tourist, and visiting all the usual tourist attractions (fascinating though they may be) holds no interest for me whatsoever. I’m sorry, but I would rather gnaw off my right arm than stand in a queue a mile long of other tourists all waiting to see some old relic.

I am more of a chameleon by nature - I like to blend in with my surroundings, sit back almost unseen, and just observe. Take me to a city like this and I like to try and imagine that I live here - I want to slot right in with the natives, shop in the places the locals shop, eat where the locals eat, and do the things the locals do, and let’s face it you don’t see too many of them queueing up to take snapshots at the Roman Agora.

I like to get off the main street, away from all the brightly lit stores and glamorous “shop-girls”, and find the places where the locals shop. Not for me the Bennetton, Toi & Moi, Gap, Zara and Sephora stores of Ermou Street!! Within metres of my hotel I found a fascinating mix of specialty stores - I saw a shop selling only walking sticks; another selling only string, twine and rope in all manner of thicknesses and colours; a store selling only light bulbs, another only candles; and a store which sold only bottles (in every imaginable size, shape and colour) along with large metal vessels all of which I imagine are intended for storing your precious olive oil or perhaps wine. Now admittedly, these are not the things I am going to fill my suitcase with to take home, but it is nevertheless fascinating to me that these places exist and I love to peer through the windows and watch the local people shopping here. And then there were the places that had diversified a little with a rather mysterious, and seemingly incongruous mixture of products - a store which sold door handles and toilet brushes, and another offering dried fruit and nuts alongside wedding veils and bridal fabrics. How did these products come to be married together I wonder - I imagine the conversation going something like this:

Over dinner one night, Christiana pushes a sardine to one side of her plate and says to Dimitri, who has been selling dried fruit and nuts in his little store on Atthinas Street for 40 years: “Glykia mou, I think we should diversify.”

Dimitri stabs his fork into a fat, black olive, then pauses and looks up: “Hriso mou, that’s a great idea. What else should be sell?”

Christiana takes a bite of her sardine, and thinks for a moment: “Mmmm, let me see now. I know - what about bridal fabrics?”

Dimitri, drops his fork in wonder: “Of course - why did I not think of that? That seems so obvious now. You are so clever, my little baklava - no wonder I love you so much!”

Equally mysterious is why, in the central market, the lambs feet are sold in the fish section. Why?

Speaking of the central market, it goes without saying that this place would be heaven to me. I would show you pictures, but this is not the kind of place where you pull out your camera. I have been to La Boqueria in Barcelona where the shoppers can hardly move for the tourists taking photos of the fascinating array of products on offer (I have done this myself). But this is not the case at the Athens market - this is a busy and bustling place, and this is all business. The meat section of the market is huge - bigger I think than any I have ever seen, and even here they seem to specialise. Unlike our butcheries at home which seem to sell meat of every description, here you will find one butcher selling only lamb, another only pork, one selling only whole chickens, another selling only chicken portions, and others selling only offal (and I imagine, although I didn’t take too much notice, that even that is specialised by beast).

And it was here in the market that I had the best meal of my stay in Athens - in fact I would rate it as one of my best meals ever. This was one of those tiny places, with only a few tables and no menu. The chef came to my table and said: “I have meat or I have fish”. I asked what was the fish, and was told that there was sardines, calamari, octopus or whole fish available. I said that I would have the calamari, to which he asked: “Do you want grilled or fried - grilled is best?” I told him that I would have “the best”. He then offered me a choice of different salads, from which I decided to have the ubiquitous Greek salad. When it arrived the calamari had been very simply flavoured with paprika, oregano, olive oil and salt, and had been grilled to absolute perfection. The tentacles and edges of the wings were just charred and crispy, and the body of the squid was so achingly tender that it almost brought tears to my eyes. The other delightful touch, and you find this in all Greek restaurants, is that they always finish off the meal by bringing you something complimentary as a “gift”. Sometimes this might be a bowl of fresh, seasonal fruit, maybe a plate of yoghurt and nuts, or possibly a special liqueur or wine - on this occasion I was served a lovely block of halva, studded with almonds and sprinkled with cinnamon, served with a glass of white wine. My meal ended perfectly with a leisurely stroll back to my hotel, followed by a two hour sleep!!

Of course, after several days of eating out, it is wonderful to be now on Paros and able to return to the kitchen - and of course the first meal I prepared was a Greek salad. You know that I participate in the I Heart Cooking Clubs group, and that right now we are cooking with Jamie Oliver. Our theme this week is “Mad about Herbs”, and on researching Jamie’s recipe for Greek salad, I discovered that it was well-flavoured with dill, mint and oregano, so this seems like the perfect contribution this week. I added some freshly grated lemon zest and used lemon juice instead of vinegar, as I personally think that lemon juice is a less “aggressive” partner with tomatoes than vinegar, and I left out onion as I am not hugely fussed on raw onion. I had a wonderful selection of olives which I had picked up from the market in Athens, and used some of the big fat Kalamatas and some of the tiny dry-cured ones.

I also used some of the local mizithra cheese instead of feta - just for a change. A variety of different tomatoes, if you can get them, adds interest to the salad, but most important is that they be perfectly ripe - the very best tomatoes you can get your hand on them - and don’t fuss about trying to dice or slice them perfectly. Keep the chopping irregular - cut some into irregular chunks, others into wedges or dice, others into slices, and maybe cut smaller ones just in half.

Greek Salad Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Jamie Oliver

(Made 3 generous servings)

Vegetarian

Click here for printable copy of this recipe

an assortment of tomatoes

(I used two large ones of differing varieties, and 3 smaller ones)

(include cherry tomatoes if you have them)

3/4 of a telegraph cucumber, cut into thickish circles

1 red or green pepper, deseeded and sliced

handful of fresh dill, roughly chopped

handful of fresh mint, roughly chopped

generous handful of black olives, assorted

1 lemon, grated zest & juice

flaky sea salt

extra virgin olive oil (Greek if you can get it)

mizithra or feta cheese

dried oregano

Chop your tomatoes into a large bowl, cutting them into a variety of sizes and shapes. Add the cucumber slices and slices of pepper to the tomatoes in the bowl.

Scatter the chopped, fresh herbs over the ingredients in the bowl. De-stone half of the olives, by pinching them between your fingers and breaking them open to pull the stone out - not a difficult process. Do this over the bowl, so that as you do so the juice comes out of the olives and begins to season the salad. Add the remaining olives whole.

Add the grated lemon zest, pinch of flaky sea salt, and lemon juice to the bowl. Add a generous “slosh” of extra virgin olive oil (most likely around 2 tablespoons). Toss everything together well, taste and then adjust any of the flavours to suit your palate.

Empty the bowl onto a large serving platter. Drop large spoonfuls of the mizithra over the top, or if you are using feta place it in one large block on top. Drizzle with a little more extra virgin olive oil over the top (particularly over the cheese), and lastly sprinkle the dried oregano over the top.

This quantity made three generous servings as a light meal, but would easily serve six people as an accompaniment to other dishes.

I hope you enjoy this delicious salad for a real taste of summer, and if by any chance you happen to have any leftovers, try Jamie’s suggestion .... put everything into the blender, add a few ice cubes and an extra “glug” of olive oil, and then blitz until smooth for a Greek take on gazpacho. Haven’t tried this, but sounds perfect to me.

Interested in getting to know Jamie a bit better? Then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all been cooking up ....

.... or check out Jamie's Italy and many of his other great titles, available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

Salad of Cannellini Beans, Chorizo & Tomatoes

2011-05-23T01:47:00.000+12:00

Another week has gone past in a flash, as I have been busy preparing to leave for six glorious weeks on a yoga retreat in the Greek Islands - it’s a filthy job I know, but someone has to do it, and really who better than me. If it’s any consolation, I am drafting this somewhere over the Pacific on the 10-1/2 hour flight to Singapore, where I hope to actually get it posted during the 5 hour wait for my 12 hour flight to Munich - by the time I finally get to Athens, I will have had about 37 hours of travelling, which is the downside of living at the bottom of the world.

After the last few months of stress, and more than a little heartache, following the Christchurch earthquake back in February, this trip offers plenty of reprieve - an opportunity to recharge both my yoga and emotional batteries; a time for reflection and renewal; a time to reconnect with my wonderful yoga teachers, Graeme & Leonie Northfield, as well as with special friends; a time, no doubt, to make some new friends; and almost certainly an opportunity for fabulous food, which you will no doubt hear more about over the next few weeks. Oh, and did I mention swimming and the suntan?!

Speaking of fabulous food, it’s time for me to share my weekly contribution with the I Heart Cooking Clubs group. You know that we are cooking with Jamie Oliver, who has an absolute abundance of fabulous recipes to choose from, and our theme this week is Pot Luck. Everyone in the group loves it when we have our monthly Pot Luck, as that is the time they turn to that special recipe that they’ve had bookmarked for ages just waiting for the right occasion to share it. There are some wonderful bloggers in this group and I know that everyone will be pulling out all the stops this week, so for plenty of fabulous food and inspiration go and visit my friends at IHCC.

As for me, it was not so much a case of pulling out all the stops, as it was of pulling out a few remnants from the back of the fridge and pantry that needed to be used up before going away. I discovered a chorizo sausage, some cherry tomatoes, and a bag of rocket, all needing to be turned into something edible. Adding a can of cannellini beans to the mix, I made this salad which I had seen Jamie Oliver make on TV once - I think it was an episode of Jamie Does Spain, but I can’t be certain as I can’t find the original recipe anywhere. So you are just going to have to take it on faith that I saw him make something like this, and this is my interpretation of it.

This makes a great light meal for two, served with some good, crusty, bread, or would also make a great accompanying side dish to some lamb chops or fish.

Salad of Cannellini Beans, Chorizo & Tomatoes Recipe

Inspired by a recipe by Jamie Oliver

(Serves 2 as a light meal)

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1 tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

flaky sea salt & freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large chorizo sausage, sliced about 3mm (1/8”) thick

1 shallot, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled - leave cloves whole, but smash slightly

20 cherry tomatoes

extra virgin olive oil

red wine vinegar

Drain and rinse the cannellini beans, put into a medium size bowl, season well with flaky sea salt & freshly ground pepper, toss well, and set aside.

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced chorizo sausage to the pan, and cook until starting to brown around the edges. It will render out quite a lot of its own fat. Remove the sausage from the pan, leaving the fat behind in the pan, and add the sausage to the bowl with the beans.

Return the skillet to the heat, add the shallot and smashed garlic cloves to the pan, along with the cherry tomatoes. As soon as the garlic starts to turn golden brown and the tomatoes start to pop, remove the pan from the heat. Discard the garlic cloves, and tip the entire contents of the pan (including all of the oil) into the bowl with the beans and sausage.

Add a good slosh of the red wine vinegar (about a tablespoon) to the bowl, season again with flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, and mix gently but thoroughly to combine. Taste and adjust with more oil, vinegar or seasoning as necessary.

Lastly add the rocket leaves, give one last gentle toss, and serve. This is great served immediately while the sausage and tomatoes are still warm, but also equally good after it has been sitting for a couple of hours and the flavours have really infused. Either way, this should at least be served at room temperature - do not refrigerate.

I hope you enjoy it.

Interested in getting to know Jamie a bit better? Then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all been cooking up ....

.... or check out Jamies Italy and many of his other great titles, available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

Fettucine with Spinach, Crab & Lemon

2011-05-15T23:04:00.000+12:00

Thank you to so many of you, who stopped by my blog over the last week and left your lovely messages of support. I had certainly missed you all and it has been wonderful to reconnect with so many of you again.

As I am now slowly starting to get back on my feet, I was eager to join back in with the I Heart Cooking Clubs group - I have always enjoyed cooking along with a fantastic group of people here, and in the short time that I have been gone they have taken up with a new chef (as they do every six months). So now they are cooking with Jamie Oliver, and the theme this week is "Plenty-o-Pasta". Well you all know how much I like a good pasta dish, so I didn't need any extra encouragement to take this opportunity to join back in with the group, and push along a little further in getting back into my "blogging-stride".

So I decided to seek inspiration in a copy of the Jamie Magazine Recipe Yearbook 2009/10 that Alli (Pease Pudding) had very kindly left me as bedside reading - I felt sure there would be a pasta dish there which would tempt my taste buds, and I was not disappointed. In fact, not surprisingly, there were several recipes for some great looking pasta dishes - but it was a recipe for Spinach & Lemon Linguine that really captivated my interest, and I decided that just such a dish would be the perfect home for a beautiful big bunch of fresh spinach I had picked up last weekend at the Hobsonville Point Farmers Market. (This is a relatively small local market, but there are a number of excellent and innovative suppliers, and the quality of all the produce was absolutely outstanding.)

Now, I did tweak the recipe a little. Firstly, I didn't have any linguine on hand, but I did happen to have a box of fettucine in the cupboard which I felt would make a perfectly acceptable substitute. While I was there, I also discovered a tin of crab meat in the cupboard and thought that would make a great addition - and it did. The original recipe calls for a large red chilli, but I had some of those teeny, tiny, but very hot birds eye chillies which I had also bought at the market and used one of those instead. It may have been tiny but it still delivered a bit of heat and made my lips tingle. I also cut back on the garlic a bit, using only one clove instead of the three in the original recipe, simply because too much garlic when you're getting up-close and personal with your yoga students can be a little unpleasant - so if you like garlicky feel free to add more. Lastly, Jamie suggests serving with a grating of fresh parmesan (optionally); however, because I had added the crab meat I decided to leave out the parmesan. Instead I tried a couple of different serving alternatives, which you can read about in the recipe notes.

This was a great pasta dish - fresh and flavourful, plenty of great texture, and very quick to prepare - another one of those dishes that comes together literally in just the time it takes to boil water and cook pasta. It's absolutely my kind of pasta dish, and I will definitely make it again - I hope you'll try it.

Fettucine with Spinach Crab & Lemon Recipe

Adapted from recipe for Spinach & Lemon Linguine in

Jamie Magazine Recipe Yearbook 2009/2010

Makes 2 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

250g fettucine

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

grated zest of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 small, hot, birds-eye chilli, finely chopped

170g crab meat

200g spinach

juice of 1 lemon

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

ricotta cheese/poached egg to serve

(optional additions - see note at end of recipe)

Bring a large pan of water to the boil over high heat. Once it is boiling, salt the water liberally, then add the pasta and cook until al dente according to the directions on the packet.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the first quantity of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add the breadcrumbs, and fry until crispy and golden. Remove breadcrumbs to a paper towel to drain, then mix through the grated lemon zest, and set aside.

Return the pan to the heat, and add the second quantity of olive oil. Add the chilli and garlic, and cook for a moment or two, just until the garlic begins to turn golden. Add the crab meat, and continue stirring for a couple of minutes, then add the spinach and continue cooking until the spinach has wilted. Season to taste with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Reserve a cup of the pasta water and set aside. Drain the pasta, and then add it to the pan with the spinach and crab. Add the lemon juice, and also stir through a little of the reserved pasta water if it seems necessary.

Sprinkle the mixture of lemon zest and breadcrumbs over the top and serve immediately.

Note: Although this quantity made two large helpings, as mentioned, I was actually eating alone so I ate it over two nights. On the first night, I added a couple of generous spoonfuls of soft ricotta cheese and stirred it through before adding the breadcrumb topping. This added a nice creaminess and reinforced the lemoniness of the dish - definitely a good addition. On the second night, I reheated the leftovers and served a poached egg on top - a runny yolk to fork through the pasta being of paramount importance here. Personally, this was my favourite way of serving it and I only wished that I had done this on the first night, when of course the pasta was at its best rather than the reheated version. Please note, if you don’t like eggs with runny yolks, don’t bother with this variation as a poached egg on top with a hard yolk will do absolutely nothing for this dish whatsoever. Either of these additions is entirely optional and the dish will not suffer in anyway if you leave them out entirely - it has more than enough going on to stand on its own without any added extras.

Interested in getting to know Jamie a bit better? Then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all been cooking up ....

.... or check out Jamies Italy and many of his other great titles, available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

Roasted Pumpkin, Pancetta & Pistachio Risotto

2011-05-09T13:18:00.000+12:00

I need to begin this post by sending out a huge thank you to so many of you, from all around the world, for the wonderful thoughtfulness and kind wishes that you have kept coming my way since the Christchurch earthquake back in February.

It has been an extremely traumatic and disturbing time, and your constant messages have truly kept me going. We lost our home and our beautiful yoga school as a result of the earthquake, and have literally had to start building a completely new life for ourselves. I can tell you that when you are in your mid-50s; when the youthful part of you, who would once have thought this was an exciting new challenge, has been replaced by the wiser and more sensible one who knows it is just going to be damned hard work; when your nerves are so shot to pieces that you think just the rumble of a truck going past is the beginning of another earthquake - the world begins to feel like a very scarey place.

And then, just when you are wondering what the hell is going to become of your life, the blogging world opens its arms, and a complete stranger out there in the blogosphere does something wonderful and heart-warming and remarkable. Right when I was at a pretty low ebb, the lovely Alli of Pease Pudding (who I'd never met, but we'd connected a few times by visiting and commenting on each others blogs - as you do) emailed me and said that she had a flat attached to her cooking school (The Gourmet Gannet at Muriwai Beach) if I would like to come up and have a break away from Christchurch. Well, by this stage we were already thinking that a move to Auckland (my old home-town) was the only option for us, so I emailed Alli back and, long-story-cut-short, she and Phelan have truly opened their hearts and home to us and enabled us to stay in their flat until we find a permanent home in Auckland. To say that we are enormously grateful, is a gross understatement - we will forever be indebted for their kindness, and I hope that at some time in the future the opportunity will arise to repay some of that kindness in some way, by being as open-hearted and generous as they have been, to someone in need.

Oh, and did I mention the kitchen? Let me repeat - this flat is Alli's cooking school = chef's kitchen!! In my last kitchen - the one decimated by the earthquake (perhaps not so sadly, on reflection) - the sum total of my cooking equipment was: one solid hot-plate element, slightly rusty (repeat one!); a tiny "toastie" oven; a microwave; a Breville electric grill; and a crock-pot. Seriously - that was it - no surprise, now that you know, that I considered myself the queen of the one-pot-wonder!! Consequently, I now think that I have died and gone to kitchen-heaven - now that I'm here, Alli may not be able to move me on so quickly!! (It's ok, Alli, just joking)

And, thanks to having the opportunity to cook in this wonderful kitchen, and to relax and unwind in this beautiful part of the world, my "cooking mojo" which had seriously deserted me is slowly returning. Probably not at all surprisingly, I have done a lot of "comfort eating" since the earthquake; there have been occasions when I couldn't be bothered to cook, so have had toast instead, or crisps, or something else really crappy; and there have been innumerable "fails". But each day a little enthusiasm and confidence returns, and the other night I turned to this risotto which is one of my all-time favourites, and is especially good on a cool autumn evening. Yes this is definitely comfort food, and this variation is probably my go-to risotto - the one that I make over and over again; the one that never fails to warm my heart; the one that I can make with my eyes closed; the one that I make by instinct; the one that I want to share with you, if I can just put that into a recipe ....

Roasted Pumpkin, Pancetta & Pistachio Risotto Recipe

Makes 2 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

olive oil

2 to 3 cups diced pumpkin (about 2.5cm/1" dice)

flaky sea salt & freshly ground pepper

olive oil

6 slices pancetta, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 shallot, finely chopped

3 generous handfuls of arborio rice (see note * below)

1/2 glass of white wine (see note ** below)

3 to 4 cups of chicken stock, hot

bunch fresh thyme leaves (about 2 tablespoons of leaves)

butter - a generous "glob"

freshly grated parmesan cheese (about 1 cup)

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

generous handful pistachio nuts, coarsely chopped

extra parmesan and thyme sprigs to finish

Note *: If you plan on increasing this recipe to feed more people, I use the Gordon Ramsay method for measuring arborio rice, which is one large handful for each person plus one for the pot - hence 3 handfuls for two people

Note **: If I don't want to open a bottle of wine for this, I often substitute 1/2 glass of vermouth mixed with the juice of 1/2 a lemon

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C (425 F). Meanwhile line a baking tray with parchment paper and dice the pumpkin. Toss the diced pumpkin with a little olive oil, sprinkle with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and spread out in a single layer on the lined baking tray. Place in the preheated oven and cook until the pumpkin is golden brown and starting to soften (probably around 20-30 minutes, depending on the pumpkin). Remove from the oven and set aside.

Heat a little olive oil (about a tablespoon) in a heavy based pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until golden brown and crispy. Remove from the pan (leaving as much of the fat behind as possible), and place on a paper towel to drain.

Return the pan to the heat - you will want about two tablespoons of fat in the pan so, depending on how much fat was rendered from the pancetta, you may or may not need to add more olive oil to the pan. Add the shallot and garlic to the pan - cooking until the shallot and garlic just begin to soften - take care not to burn the garlic - almost as soon as you can smell the garlic it is time to add the rice to the pan. Also add in one-third of the thyme leaves. Continue cooking the rice with the shallot and garlic, stirring constantly, until every single grain of rice is coated with the oil - it will take on a kind of translucent look around the edges and will start to "squeak".

Now is the time to add the wine, and continue stirring until virtually all the wine has been absorbed by the rice. Then begin to add the chicken stock, one ladleful at a time - stirring constantly until each ladleful has been absorbed before adding the next. (Note: You may want to turn your heat down during this process - sorry but you really have to feel and guage this for yourself, and a lot will depend on your pan, type of element/heat, etc - again, I apologise that I can't be more precise, but risotto-making is not an exact science - you really have to "feel" it.)

All of this stirring and adding of stock is going to take around 20 minutes, and in that time the grains of rice will swell up dramatically. Round about the 15 minute mark, have a taste test - once the grains are still a bit chalky, but taste as if they might not have too much longer to go, add in the pumpkin. You don't want to put the pumpkin in too early, otherwise it just turns to mush. On the other hand, I like to incorporate it before the risotto is finished cooking, so it amalgamates with the rice more than if it was just stirred through at the end.

Once the rice is cooked add another half ladle of stock, stir it through, and turn off the heat (don't worry if it seems a bit "soupy" - this extra stock will be absorbed during the resting time and the finished risotto should definitely not be "dry"). Add the pancetta, balance of thyme leaves, butter and parmesan cheese. Season generously with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir to combine, then cover and leave to rest for 5 minutes to enable all the flavours to infuse.

Lastly, stir in the chopped pistachios and serve immediately, with a grating of parmesan over the top and some extra sprigs of thyme.

I hope you give this comforting and heart-warming dish a try, and enjoy it as much as I frequently do.

Thank you again to all of you for your kind thoughts and messages and for having the patience to keep visiting my blog while I've been trying to get my life back together again. Your love and support has reinforced for me the knowledge that this blog is not so much about trying to churn out great food and photos as it is about making those connections with each and everyone of you. A true reminder that our humanity grows when we understand and embrace the fact that we are all connected.

Testing Times

2011-02-27T19:59:00.000+13:00

Of necessity this is going to be a short post right now. I am sure you have all heard about the devastating earthquake that rocked our city on Tuesday, and I am humbled more than I can say for all the kind thoughts and wishes that so many of you have sent me from around the world.

I am fortunate to be safe and unhurt, and have wonderful family taking care of me. You can see in this picture the state of my kitchen right now, so I hope you understand why I'm not cooking (no power either) and blogging right now.

Communication is not always easy either, so if you have sent me a message or comment and I haven't replied yet please forgive me, but please keep your messages coming - you cannot imagine how grateful I am for them right now and how much they mean to me. So I am getting your messages, but it is not always easy to respond.

Right now I am very much focussed on just trying to function and do the things that I absolutely have to get done. My whole future is completely uncertain right now, and I have no idea what lies ahead, but please know that I will eventually get back to you - it just might take me a few weeks.

There is really much more to say, but right at the moment it is all too raw - I will share more with you in the time ahead, but for now I just wanted to let you all know that I am safe and to say thanks. It may be a few weeks before I am back to any kind of regular posting, but I hope you will keep me in your hearts and keep coming back to my blog.

Make it with ..... Mondays # 8

2011-02-21T13:38:00.000+13:00

Thanks for stopping by and joining me for another "Make it with ..... Mondays" challenge.

Today we bring an end to challenge almonds, and you all absolutely excelled yourselves, bringing some stunning dishes to the table. Almonds is obviously an ingredient that many of you really like to use, and it turned up in all manner of cakes, tarts and cookies, as well as in healthy salads, pestos and sauces, granola and snack bars. So many of these recipes that I want to try, I think I need to start buying almonds by the sackful instead of by the cupful. So, do go and check out all the entries - I'm sure you'll find plenty of both delicious and healthy recipes to inspire you.

A reminder also, that challenge cornmeal is still open for another week (closing midday Monday 28 February - NZ time). So keep those cornmeal recipes coming - remember that you can link up as many posts as you like (as long as cornmeal, in any form, is one of the ingredients), and linking up old posts is fine too. There have been some great posts submitted already, and I can't wait to see what else you can come up with.

Now it's time to turn our attention to this week's special ingredient .....

Coffee

Several species of the small evergreen bush from the genus Coffea are grown in over 70 countries, mostly in southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa - Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia are by far the biggest producers. There are two main species cultivated: Coffea arabica, which is the original and more highly regarded species, and which accounts for approximately 75% of the coffee cultivated worldwide; and Coffea canephora (also known as robusta), which although more bitter and less flavourful, tends to be more full bodied and has 40-50% more caffeine than arabica - as a result it finds its way into many commercial blends and espresso blends not only to reduce costs but also to deliver more full-bodied taste and better crema.

The evergreen Coffea shrubs have dark green, glossy leaves, and produce fragrant white blossoms, followed by small oval shaped berries. The berries are green when immature, then turn yellow, crimson, and once dried black, and each berry usually contains two seeds (what we know as coffee beans).

The berries are picked when ripe - traditionally this was done by hand, picking each berry at its peak of ripeness. Obviously, this is very labour intensive and more commonly now all the berries are picked (either by hand or machine) at the same time, regardless of degree of ripeness.

The beans are then processed, dried and finally roasted. Green, unroasted coffee is apparently one of the world's most traded agricultural commodities and, after water and tea, is the third most popular drink in the world.

So now it's time to get cooking - put your thinking cap on, get creative, and see what you can come up with. You may use coffee in any form - brewed or beans, instant or fresh, sweet or savoury applications - the choice is yours. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

There are really only two rules for participating in this event:

Your post must feature this week's ingredient. If, however, over time you have found a good substitute when you come across this ingredient in recipes (maybe because you don't like it, or it's not readily available in your area, or someone in your family has an allergy to it, or you use a vegan or gluten-free substitute), then, please tell us about it, show us what you use instead and explain to us why, and then of course link up - this is after all a learning experience and it's good to know about alternatives.
Your blog post must link back to this post and mention "Make it with ..... Mondays"

That's it - create your post (or feel free to link up an old post if you have one that uses this week's ingredient); multiple posts are welcome; then scroll down to the bottom of this page where you will see a small box that says "You are next, click here to enter". Click on that link, and follow the simple instructions - please link directly to your post, not just your blog home page.

Want to join in but don't have a blog? No problem - just email me your thoughts, ideas and recipes, and I'll include them in a round-up the following week. To email me just go to the "Contact Me" button on my sidebar.

If you would like to use a badge in your post, simply copy the code in the box beneath the badge below and paste it into your post. Feel free to also use it in your sidebar if you wish.

Please link your posts for "Make it with ..... Mondays" challenge coffee using the linky at the bottom of this page. The linky will be open until 11.59am Monday 7 March (NZT).

Please go to this page to link your posts for "Make it with ..... Mondays" challenge cornmeal. The linky will be open until 11.59am Monday 28 February (NZT).

Last of all, before you get linking, here is a preview of what's coming up over the next 4 weeks:

Week commencing Monday 28 February - we're making it with tamarind
Week commencing Monday 7 March - we're making it with pomegranate molasses
Week commencing Monday 14 March - we're making it with chilli
Week commencing Monday 21 March - we're making it with pistachios

Sasa's Lemon Yoghurt Cake

2011-02-17T12:21:00.000+13:00

Now, I know that I have told you before about one of my favourite blogs, Sasasunakku, and today as part of my new Forward Friday that I told you about last week, I'm sharing with you this gorgeous Lemon Yoghurt Cake.

I know I'm actually a day early, but I'm just about to fly out the door, headed to Auckland for my brother's wedding - that means a long weekend of fun family time ahead, and no blog time. Since I'm staying at my cousins and didn't want to arrive empty-handed, I whipped up this cake last night. Without doubt, the easiest cake I have ever made, and I can't wait to get into it - sure hope Cindy will be sharing!

Have a great weekend everyone, try this wonderful cake, and I'll catch you back here on Monday.