Gabrielle's "Sticky" Lemon Squares Recipe

Well this is a first - I've never posted any "baked goods" here before.  Basically, this is because I don't bake!  There are two very good reasons for that.  The first is that anything I bake then needs to be eaten and, quite frankly, my hips just don't need that.   The second reason is that really my baking is never any good and, since by definition you would expect "baked goods" to actually be good, I tend to leave any baking to be done to those who are infinitely more competent in that department than me.

I truly believe there is a gene for baking, and somehow I didn't get it.  My Mum had it - her scones were legendary, and her 5-minute chocolate cake (light as air) was so popular it would disappear in about as many minutes.  My Dad can also make a pretty mean batch of scones;  does great Belgian biscuits, shortbread and steam pudding; and every year makes me a beautiful Christmas cake.  But somehow in their coupling I got left out of the baking gene pool.  Maybe, when two parents have the gene they cancel each other out.  I dunno - whatever, I just didn't get it!

When I was at intermediate school (here in Kiwi-land that is for 11-12 year olds), the boys would get packed off once a week to the tool shed to do metal work and wood work, while the girls would do cooking and dressmaking .  I can still remember my family recoiling in horror whenever any of my baking attempts were brought home for them to try - scones as heavy as bricks, and my scone making hasn't improved one bit over the years.

There is something about the science of baking that I just don't get - as for all that measuring and weighing - and there is something about baking recipes that always seems just a bit incomprehensible to me.  I drool longingly over some of the sensational looking cakes, biscuits and pastries that I see out there in the blogoshpere, wishing that somehow the mysteries of the baking universe would reveal themselves to me.  It's as though people who bake belong to some kind of "secret society" that I just can't break into.

That said, I really do try on occasion (I can hear my Dad now saying, "yes, you're very trying!! - he means it in the nicest possible way, of course).  I've made fairly passable brownies from time to time and the odd fairly average banana cake.  So it was that last weekend I decided to make a banana cake for my partner, banana being his favourite and it being a rather belated "birthday cake" ... and, surprisingly, it turned out ... well, good - not perfect, but good.  But more about that in another post.

Anyway, all of that is a rather long-winded way of telling you that I got a bit of courage up after that effort, so when it came to choosing a dish this week for our last Bittman pot luck dinner over at I Heart Cooking Clubs, I felt I just had to bake something.  I was pretty sure that I was going to have a go at his brownies, which a few of our participants had tried previously, until I was scrolling through the Brownies and Bars section of the "How to Cook Everything" application on my iPhone - there it was Gabrielle's Lemon Squares, and since I love anything lemony (at least as much anything chocolatey, maybe even more) I knew immediately that I had found what was to be my contribution.

Let me tell you that these are not just good - if you are a lemon lover, they are divine.  The recipe is mostly straight forward, even for someone who is often confounded by baking recipes.  Though there are a couple of instructions that bewildered me slightly.  Firstly the recipe calls for making a kind of shortbread-like base and baking it (no problem with that), then a topping is mixed together, poured over the top and returned to the oven.  The instructions say to "bake until firm on the edges but still a little soft in the middle".  Now if that was a piece of meat I would know exactly what that should be like, but cake - I was wondering, "how far in from the edge should be firm?" "where does the edge finish and the middle begin?" "how soft is a "little soft"?" - you get the picture.  Anyway to cut a long story short, I think I could have cooked mine a little bit longer and not had quite so much "soft in the middle", hence the reason why I've called them "sticky" lemon squares.  That said the glory of these is that I don't think it matters too much - what you end up with here is a slice which has something like a shortbread base, a slightly chewy, cakey top, and a lemon curd filling - under-cooking it means that you just have a more gooey, curd-like filling, and that doesn't seem like such a bad thing.

The other instruction which is a little confounding to me is that the instructions say to store, covered and refrigerated, for up to 2 days - I'm not altogether sure what is going to happen to them in 2 days time.  I understand keeping them in the fridge with the lemon curd centre, but since I'm the only one who'll be eating them around here I'm hoping they'll last a little longer than 2 days.  Rest assured, though, these are exceptionally good, so if you have a few lemon-lovers in your house you might have trouble getting them to last till the second day.

I hope you'll give these a try - even if you don't have the baking gene, they are dead easy to make and maybe, like me, you'll feel inspired to try a little more baking.

Gabrielle's Sticky Lemon Squares Recipe

Adapted from Mark Bittman's

"How to Cook Everything"

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

For the base:

1 stick (113g) unsalted butter

1/4 cup sugar

pinch salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

For the topping:

1-1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

grated zest of 1 lemon

Plus:

extra butter for greasing pan

icing sugar for dusting

Preheat your oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F), and grease an 8" (20cm) or 9" (22cm) square baking tin (I used an 8").

Cream together the butter, sugar and salt (I used the food processor for this, since I don't have an electric mixer).  Then pulse in the flour - you will end up with a dryish mixture that resembles coarse, damp sand.

Press the mixture into the greased baking tin, and bake for up to 20 minutes, until it is just starting to turn golden.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly while you prepare the topping.

Beat together the eggs, lemon juice and sugar, until colour pales and mixture is slightly thickened.  Add the flour, baking soda and lemon zest, and mix to combine.  Pour the filling over the already baked crust, and bake until firm around the edges and still a bit soft in the middle - about 30 minutes.

Cool, dust with sifted icing sugar, and cut into squares.

Store covered, in the refrigerator, for up to 2 days.

Come on over to I Heart Cooking Clubs, and see what everyone else is bringing along to our pot luck dinner. Next week is our last week of cooking with Mark Bittman, and then the following week we begin six months of cooking with Giada de Laurentiis.

 

Available from Amazon, Book Depository UK, and Fishpond NZ

This post is also submitted to the Tackling Bittman Giveaway at girlichef - she's giving away a copy of Bittman's "The Food Matters Cookbook" - entries are open until 31 January.

I'm also giving this post a second lease on life by sharing it at Sweet New Zealand.  This is a monthly blog event created by the very sweet Alessandra Zecchini, and which I am pleased to be hosting this month over here.  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 may submit as many entries as you like, and old posts (just like this one) are fine too.  You can find a round-up of the first month's special treats on this page of Alessandra's blog, and a round-up of last month's entries on this page of Alli's Pease Pudding blog.  I hope you'll come back and visit me at the end of the month for a full round-up of all the entries.

Pasta with Sausage & Peppers in Cream Sauce Recipe - Cooking Italy # 11

You already know that I love pasta, and big bowls of rustic, flavourful, family-style meals, but I don't think I've mentioned here before that I have a big weakness for sausages.  Whilst, as I've told you in previous posts, I like to keep my intake of meat fairly minimal, I can't imagine ever leaving sausages out of my diet.

One of our assignments back in February (okay, so I'm slow) for the Cooking Italy group was Marcella Hazan's Pasta with Sausages and Cream Sauce from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.  I really liked the idea of this dish, but I also knew (despite the fact that others in the group had tried it and loved it) that I was going to have to make some changes to Marcella's original version in order to satisfy our palettes.

The original recipe called for "sweet sausage, containing no fennel seed, chilli pepper, or other strong seasonings".  Well, that definitely was not going to cut it for me - so rule one broken, and I used these Sicilian-style sausages from Peter Timbs Butchery - they were slightly spicy (not excessively so), contained fennel seeds, and were in my opinion just what I was looking for in this dish.

The second change I made was leaving out the onion that the recipe called for, since we pretty much don't do onion around here.  Instead I chose to add some red and yellow peppers.  I loved the texture and colour that these brought to the dish, and I thought that the sweetness of the peppers was a nice foil to the spiciness of the sausages.

Then, instead of using regular pouring cream, I used some creme fraiche.  I love the "lemony" tang that this adds, and also creme fraiche is such a forgiving ingredient to use - it doesn't take any thickening and never splits or curdles.  Because, I'd used the creme fraiche I left out the parmesan cheese that was called for - I just didn't feel it needed it.

I will definitely make this again, since it went down pretty well here.  It makes a great family style meal, and was perfect for a coolish evening.  Was I happy with the changes I made?  Yes, absolutely.  Would I make any other changes?  If I'd had some on hand I would definitely have added some chopped, flat-leaf parsley at the end, and I think next time I would add a sprinkling of chilli flakes as well to give it a bit more "pep".

If you would like the original recipe, you can find it here on Angela's blog (Spinach Tiger), or read on for my version.

Pasta with Sausage & Peppers in Cream Sauce Recipe

Inspired by Marcella Hazan's

Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

Click here for printable copy of this recipe

Serves 4

500-600g sausages of your choice

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

olive oil

250g creme fraiche

400g pasta shapes

(I used farfalle & gnocchi-shaped pasta)

flaky sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Set a large pan of water over high heat and bring to the boil.  Once it has come to a boil, salt liberally, add the pasta to the pan, and cook until al dente.

Meanwhile, 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.

Core and de-seed the peppers, and cut into pieces - roughly about 2cm squares.

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 (about the same kind of size as the pieces of pepper).

Once the sausages have started to brown and are almost cooked through, push them to one side and add the peppers to the pan.  Sprinkle a little flaky sea salt and freshly ground pepper over the peppers and continue cooking until the peppers have softened and started to caramelise, and the sausages are completely cooked through.

Add creme fraiche to the pan, and stir until the creme fraiche has completely dissolved and warmed through, scraping up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Set aside about a cup of the pasta water, then drain pasta and add to the sauce.  Toss pasta through the sauce until completely coated, adding a little of the reserved pasta water if necessary.

Serve, family style in a large bowl or platter, sprinkling some freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley over the top if desired.

Available from Amazon, Book Depository UK, and Fishpond NZ

Do visit my Cooking Italy page to learn more about the group (maybe you'd even like to join in - you don't have to have a blog to join the group and cook along with everyone else), find links to other members of the group, and links to all the Cooking Italy recipes I've cooked so far.

I'm submitting this post to Hearth and Soul blog hop - do visit and have a look at some great food submitted by wonderful people who really do cook from the heart.

Mystery Food Photos - Random # 6

I do have a new photo for you this week - unfortunately no mystery since, if you can read Spanish (or actually, to be more precise, Catalan), you will know immediately what it is.  But before I come to that, I thought I would give you a bit of a round-up of all the mystery photos I have shared with you in case you missed any of them.

Photo # 1 - pistachios - photographed on the island of Paros, Greece

I think this was my favourite photo of them all, and this was the one that stumped all of you.

Photo # 2 - carob - again photographed on Paros

Some good guesses for this one, and Natalia at gatti fili e farina got it right.

Photo # 3 - gooseneck barnacles - photographed at La Boqueria market in Barcelona

This one really got your interest, and there was all sorts of wild and wonderful guessing going on, with one anonymous reader guessing that they were in fact barnacles.

Photo # 4 - liquorice (or licorice, depending on where you come from) root, again photographed at La Boqueria market

This one attracted lots of very good guesses, with even-star, Elizabeth and Alaskan Dave Down Under all getting it right.

Photo # 5 - razor clams - once again, photographed at La Boqueria market

Okay so you guys really know your clams - Natalia at gatti fili e farina, Joi, Heather at girlichef, Natashya at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, Alex at A Moderate Life, and Rhonda all got this one right.  (Why not go and visit these great bloggers - they obviously know a thing or two about food!)

And now to today's photo.  I guess it won't come as any surprise to you that this was once again photographed at La Boqueria market in Barcelona.  Well, I make no apology for that - after all, you just don't see stuff like this at Peter Timbs Butchery in Edgeware!

As I said earlier, this is no mystery as such, since things are quite clearly labeled - but the real mystery to my is why on earth anyone would want to eat some of this.  Personally, I quite like a bit of offal (that is, liver and kidneys), and I get that it is truly honouring the animal which has given its life for your sustenance by eating every part of it, but I'm not ashamed to admit that there are just some things that I'm just a bit squeamish about.  In this photo are:  lambs' heads (on the left), bulls' testicles (centre front), bulls' gullets (on the right, directly behind the kidneys).  This vendor also usually has bulls' penises, but they were all out on the afternoon I was there (no doubt they're so popular they sell out of those by lunch time)!

I would love to know - which was your favourite photo in the series, and what food or animal body parts make you feel squeamish?

I really enjoyed bringing you all these photos, and I am immensely heartened by the interest that you all showed in this series.  Although some of these items are somewhat more exotic (and not necessarily available everywhere), it was a very salient reminder to me of how far removed from the source of our food we can become when we buy packaged ingredients at the supermarket.

I care passionately about eating food which, as much as possible, is made from scratch from natural ingredients;  food which is made slowly, with passion and with love;  food which is fresh and seasonal;  food which is prepared simply and not messed about with;  food made from ingredients you know, understand and can identify - not ingredients which have sesquipedalian (I sooo love that word) names you can't pronounce - really, who wants to eat calcium disodium ethylenediamintetraacetate (yummo!)?  That said, I'm not super woman - I don't have the time to spend in the kitchen that my grandmother may have done, so keeping it real means that I do take some shortcuts in the kitchen.  Whilst I like to make my own pasta on occasion, most of the time I buy store-bought, dried pasta.  Likewise bread - yes I do make my own sometimes, but mostly I buy a good artisan loaf from a local baker.  I like making my own jam, but can't be bothered too much with preserving so I use tinned tomatoes instead of bottling my own.  I often fall back on a jar of curry paste or tin of cannellini beans.  And I eat more than my fair share of ice cream and chocolate - both of which are health foods as far as I'm concerned.

A place where you'll find many like-minded souls, wonderful people who all share a similar food philosophy is the Hearth and Soul group.  Previously, known as the Two for Tuesdays blog hop, the group has had a name change and refocus of definition to better reflect what food means to its contributors. Why not hop over and see what it's all about.  I am contributing this post to the group, and you can see all of this week's contributions here.

Caramelised French Toast with Raspberry Compote

At I Heart Cooking Clubs we continue cooking (for just a few weeks more) with Mark Bittman, and our theme this week was "Damn, that's Sexy!"  An opportunity to cook (or have someone cook for you) the food that really turns you on.  What's your idea of sexy food?  Chocolate - goes without saying; some fresh fruit - almost any berries, mango, figs, pomegranate, papaya; certain seafood - oysters, scallops, lobster, and crab would all be on my list.  Also high up on my list of "sexy" is having breakfast in bed, and staying in bed until midday - even if you're on your own.  In fact, in my opinion, treating yourself to something special when you're dining alone is the ultimate indulgence (you may have read some of my earlier posts about solitary pleasures here and here).

But I digress.  It's been a funny old week here in Christchurch, and this morning seemed like the perfect time for a bit of self-indulgence - time for a big sleep-in, make a bit of breakfast, and retreat back to bed for a couple of hours.  Mark Bittman's Caramelised French Toast from How to Cook Everything seemed to fit the bill perfectly.  I also took some frozen raspberries out of the freezer to make a warm berry compote to accompany the french toast - now, you can't tell me that's not sexy!

First, you need to start with good, day-old bread - I'm sorry but Tip Top sandwich sliced simply will not do.  I used this Honey Vienna loaf from Vic's Bakery - it has a beautiful chewy texture, and the little bit of sweetness makes it perfect for things like bread puddings and french toast.

Cut bread into thick slices, and soak in a shallow "bath" of beaten eggs, milk, vanilla essence and sugar.

After a couple of minutes of soaking, turn bread over and sprinkle the top of the bread with brown sugar.  Soak for a couple of minutes longer.

Meanwhile, heat butter in pan over medium-high heat, and when the butter is melted and hot add the slices of bread to the hot pan, sugared side down.  Now sprinkle the other side of the bread with brown sugar.  Cook until the bread is nicely browned on the bottom, then flip over and brown the other side.

While the bread is cooking, put raspberries into a microwave-proof dish and microwave on high for 2 minutes.  Stir, add sugar, and microwave on high for a further 2 minutes.  Stir.

Remove browned toast from the pan to a warm plate and serve immediately, with raspberry compote on the side or spooned over the top.

Caramelised French Toast with Raspberry Compote Recipe

Adapted from Mark Bittman's

"How to Cook Everything"

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Note:  The original recipe quantities below are for 4 servings - my notes in blue are my adaptations I made to serve one person

2 eggs (1 large free-range egg)

1 cup milk (1/3 cup milk)

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon sugar (1 teaspoon sugar)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

brown sugar

butter for frying

8 slices bread (2 slices bread)

For Raspberry Compote:

1 cup frozen raspberries

1 tablespoon sugar

Break eggs into a shallow bowl.  Add milk, salt, sugar and vanilla extract, and beat lightly to combine.

Cut bread into thick slices, and add to the "eggy bath".  Allow to soak on one side for a couple of minutes.

Turn over and sprinkle thickly with brown sugar on the top side.  Soak for another couple of minutes.

Meanwhile, heat butter in pan over medium-high heat, and when the butter is melted and hot add the slices of bread to the hot pan, sugared side down.  Now sprinkle the other side of the bread with brown sugar.  Cook until the bread is nicely browned on the bottom, then flip over and brown the other side.

While toast is cooking, put raspberries into a microwave-proof bowl, cover and microwave on high for 2 minutes.  Stir, add sugar, and microwave on high for another 2 minutes.

Remove browned toast from the pan to a warm plate and serve immediately, with raspberry compote on the side or spooned over the top.

Eat alone or with someone you love!

For other great Mark Bittman recipes visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs or get the book:

Available from Amazon, Book Depository UK, and Fishpond NZ

Pink Guava, White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Ice Cream Recipe

At 4.30 on Saturday morning life as we know it here in Christchurch changed forever.  We were woken with the bed shaking violently and a loud rumbling sound - yes, we were in the grips of an earthquake.  Now here in New Zealand we live on the fault line and earthquakes are nothing new to us.  But it didn't take long for us to realise that this was something way bigger than we had experienced before and, once we could hear glass breaking and stuff crashing down all around our apartment, we knew it was time to get into a doorway - quick!  It turned out to be a 7.1 magnitude quake, and although it was all over in 15 seconds (apparently), those seconds were terrifying and seemed like minutes.  Equally terrifying have been the constant after shocks - over 100 of them now since the big one, and many of them in excess of 5 on the richter scale.

For all that, on a personal level, we have survived with nothing more than a bit of broken crockery and a few broken bottles which fell off the kitchen shelves - a shattered bottle of orange blossom water and a jar of teriyaki sauce that lost its lid and sprayed all over the kitchen walls - the combination of the two together left an interesting aroma in the kitchen!  So we have been incredibly lucky.

Many others have not been so lucky - there are many people who have had to be evacuated from their homes, and many who still have no power or running water.  Many of the old character and heritage buildings in the city, which give our city its particular charm, have been severely damaged and will almost certainly have to be demolished.  Our central business district, where many of these older buildings are located, is largely unsafe and has been completely closed off for the last four days.  Many of our smaller businesses (despite the immediate setting up of financial assistance by our government) will simply not survive.  Redevelopment and rebuilding of the city will doubtless take several years, and the character of our city will be very different, which is rather sad to contemplate. 

Miraculously, however, the human toll has been minimal.  Not one life has been lost, and despite quite a few minor injuries, there have been only two serious injuries.  I believe we are amazingly blessed to live in a city with a small population (we have only 330,000 people here), so we don't have buildings which are over-crowded;  we have relatively good building and construction standards in New Zealand;  and essential services have been able to swing into action with relative ease.  But the greatest miracle of all must surely be that the quake happened at a time of day when our city buildings and streets are largely deserted - even just a couple of hours earlier the results would have been catastrophic.

There's no doubt that an event like this, even when you come out of it largely unscathed, leaves you feeling shaken up and vulnerable.  It has clearly reminded me of the value of living from moment to moment - I definitely feel very uneasy, and every after shock scares the hell out of me, but all my yesterdays and tomorrows have never felt less relevant.  Despite my nervousness, right now, I am alive, I am safe, I am healthy - what more could I possibly ask for?!  I am grateful to have a yoga practice which sustains me at a time when I need it most, and I am also immensely grateful for all the emails and comments I have received from so many of you out there in "blog land" - that so many people from all over the world, who I've never even met, have taken the time to spare a thought for me and the other people of Christchurch is deeply humbling and I thank you all.  I will reply to you all, but please don't be offended if I haven't gotten to you yet.

And since I'm so grateful to you all, I thought I should share a recipe with you - would be rude not to, wouldn't it?!  To be honest, I haven't been cooking much the last few days, but I sure as heck have been "comfort eating".  Now when it comes to comfort food, favourites come in the form of chocolate, brownies and ice cream, and making a batch of ice cream seemed like just the thing to satisfy, as well as providing a good distraction.

I made this adapting my favourite vanilla ice cream recipe by David Lebovitz as my base - I left out the vanilla bean, although I did include the vanilla extract, and I added an extra egg yolk.  To this I added a couple of tins of pink guavas (pureed) and some chunks of macadamia nut white chocolate.  The result is a beautifully delicate flavour (I think next time I would cut the vanilla back a bit, as it does dominate the guava a little); a gorgeous, pale, pinky-peachy colour;  and, a smooth, creamy and luscious texture interspersed with hits of crunch from the white chocolate and macadamia nuts.  I will definitely make this again - perfect for a celebration meal, or when you just need a bit of comfort and indulgence.

Pink Guava, White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Ice Cream Recipe

Adapted from David Lebovitz's Vanilla Ice Cream

Makes about 1.5 litres

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

250ml (1 cup) full-fat milk (preferably organic)

pinch of salt

150g (3/4 cup) sugar

500ml (2 cups) heavy cream

6 large egg yolks (preferably free range)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (maybe reduce to 3/4 teaspoon)

2x 410g tins guava halves

1 tablespoon cassis (optional)

125g macadamia nut white chocolate, cut into small chunks

Drain guava halves of all their syrup. Using a food processor or stick blender, process the guavas until you have a smooth puree, then strain to remove the seeds (you could probably do this in a food mill if you prefer). Add the cassis, stir well, then cover and refrigerate for several hours, ideally overnight.

Next, strain the cream into a 2 litre bowl, and then stand that bowl in an ice bath.

Lightly whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl and set aside.

Combine milk, salt and sugar in a small saucepan and gently heat. Then slowly pour about half of the warmed milk into the egg yolks, stirring constantly to ensure the eggs don't curdle.

Return the warmed egg yolks and milk to the saucepan.  Then cook over a low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon or spatula.

Strain the custard into the cream, which is standing over its water bath, and keep stirring until the custard is completely cool.  Stir in the vanilla extract.

Cover with cling film, pressing it right down onto the surface of the custard, and then refrigerate for several hours, ideally overnight.

Mix the custard and the guava puree together, and then churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Remove churned ice cream to a cold bowl.  Stir through the chopped up chocolate.

Serve immediately, or freeze in a suitable container until ice cream has firmed to your desired consistency.

For ice cream inspiration and perfection, I recommend:

Available from Amazon, Book Depository UK, and Fishpond NZ

I'm submitting this post to the Two for Tuesdays blog hop.

Whitebait Fritters Recipe

Spring, at last, has officially come to New Zealand - not that one wishes one's life away, but I have longed for this day for the last two months.  I am just so not a winter person, and even though I did manage to escape the start of winter by spending a month in the Greek Islands, I have not faced the last two months with any kind of equanimity.  I've ached to be back on Paros (you may remember an earlier post), enjoying sun filled days and clear blue skies ...

... eating beautiful seafood and summery salads ...

... and relaxing and laughing with wonderful friends.

Meanwhile, back here in Christchurch, even though we have a way to go before we're really enjoying warmer weather, the days are at last getting longer and a bit more conducive to spending a bit of time outdoors.

(No that's not me in this photo)

In spring my heart feels lighter - to me it always seems to be a time of hopefulness, of renewal - the air holds such promise - and that sombreness that creeps into my soul in the winter seems to dissolve away.  I notice it in my yoga practice too - that lethargy that seeps into my bones during winter is starting to lift and I feel more vibrant and energetic.

And with the arrival of spring, the quintessential New Zealand spring dish simply has to be whitebait fritters.  New Zealand whitebait are much smaller than Chinese or British varieties, and have a sweet, delicate flavour.

Very strict regulations control the catching season and types of equipment used, making whitebait a prized delicacy and the most expensive fish in New Zealand (usually anywhere from $100-$150 kilo) - it pays to make good friends with someone who catches their own!  Although the season is relatively short here, whitebait do freeze well, so if you can get your hands on a good supply it's great to have a few kilos in the freezer to enjoy during summer and autumn.

When it comes to making whitebait fritters, I think people are pretty much divided into two camps.  First there is the more solid version - sort of a pattie which seems to have but a few whitebait dispersed through a firm batter with lots of flour in it - this is the method which seems to be largely favoured by West Coast cafes and fish & chip shops (where the ubiquitous whitebait sandwich is popular), mostly I think because they can be pre-cooked and reheated.  The alternative, is something altogether more delicate - a light, lacy fritter, packed full of whitebait, just barely held together with some beaten egg.  This is definitely my preference, and here is my recipe.

Whitebait Fritters Recipe

Makes about 12 large fritters

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

500g whitebait

3 large free range eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons flour

salt & pepper

neutral flavoured oil or butter

Sift flour into a bowl, then gradually add beaten egg a little at a time, stirring well after each addition, to get a nice smooth batter of pouring consistency.  Season with salt and pepper.  Wash whitebait well and add to batter.

Heat a little oil or butter in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add spoonfuls of batter to the hot pan and cook until golden on both sides.  Remove and keep warm while you cook the remainder of the batter.

Serve on a large platter with lemon wedges.

I also served this with some plantain chips and a fresh green salad, and who could resist a good New Zealand sauvignon blanc with this?!

In the unlikely event that you find yourself with any leftovers, they are great the next day served cold on fresh ciabatta bread.