Minted Pea, Feta & Quinoa Fritters

With St Patrick's Day looming large, at I Heart Cooking Clubs this week we are celebrating the Eating of the Green, preparing Donna Hay dishes which are green or feature green-hued ingredients.

To be honest, I've never really been one to enter into the spirit of St Patrick's Day, but eating green food ... now that is something I have no trouble getting excited about.  Many of you, I know, are right now enjoying the first flushes of spring and all things gorgeous and green will be bursting onto the market.  In my part of the world, however, it's autumn and green things are becoming a little more scarce, so I was pretty happy to have one more "green fling" before life becomes all about pumpkins, mushrooms and root vegetables.

These pea and quinoa fritters with a tahini dressing, which appeared in the spring issue of Donna Hay magazine, have become one of my favourite dishes over the last few months.   The great thing about these is that with frozen peas they can really be made any time of year.   As a final nod to the disappearing summer, I added some mint to the mixture (not much of it left in the garden now), and also included some feta (because that always reminds me of holidays in the Greek Islands, and so always seems very summery to me).  As you'd expect, these are delicious, hot and crispy, straight out of the pan, but they are just as good the next day, and delicious at room temperature too. 

Minted Pea, Feta & Quinoa Fritters Recipe
Adapted from recipe by Donna Hay
from Issue #71 of Donna Hay Magazine
Serves 2 as a main meal or 4 as an appetiser
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Fritters:
1/3 cup white quinoa
2/3 cup water
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup rice flour
1 tablespoon tahini
small handful mint leaves
small handful flat-leaf parsley
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
100g feta, crumbled
olive oil for frying

Tahini dressing:
2 tablespoons tahini
juice of a lemon
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon olive oil
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

To serve:
baby spinach leaves
blanched snow peas
extra virgin olive oil

Begin by putting quinoa and water in a small saucepan, and set over high heat until it comes to the boil.  Turn the heat down to low, cover the pan, and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove pan from the heat, leave the lid in place, and allow to stand for 5 minutes.  Remove quinoa to a medium bowl and set aside to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the tahini dressing by placing all ingredients in a small bowl and whisking until smooth.  As you begin to mix the ingredients together it will look a little as though it is "curdled".  Don't be alarmed, just keep whisking and it will come together in a smooth sauce.  Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.  Set aside.

Put the peas, tahini, rice flour, lemon juice, herbs, salt and pepper, and half the quinoa into a food processor and blitz until you have a coarse paste.  Return to the bowl containing the remaining quinoa, add the crumbled feta, and mix until well combined.

Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan set over medium heat.  With wet hands, shape mixture into small fritters, and cook in the hot pan until golden and crisp on both sides.

To serve, arrange baby spinach leaves and snow peas on a serving platter.  Arrange fritters over the top and drizzle with the tahini dressing (if dressing has thickened while it has been standing, thin with a little water until you reach the consistency of runny cream).  Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

If you would like to get to know Donna Hay a little better, and to see all the fabulous dishes my friends have come up with, then do go visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace, Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, and at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollam.

          

Pan Fried Tarakihi with Green Chilli Noodle Salad

Some of you might recall that when I put up last week's post for this fabulous Salmon with Mango, Edamame & Pink Grapefruit Salad, I was waxing lyrical about the latest summer issue of Donna Hay magazine.  Now, I'm the first person to admit that I will often buy a foodie magazine such as this, spend hours reading it cover to cover, and then, often as not, actually end up making nothing from it.  Not so this issue.  I have already made several dishes, and have several more bookmarked.  Although this is the summer issue, there is plenty on offer here that will still be perfect now that we're drifting into slightly cooler autumnal weather.  In fact, I recommend buying this issue for the Beetroot Salmon Gravlax with Tahini Flatbread alone - soooooo ridiculously good (and ridiculously easy to make), I've made it three times in the last two weeks - I just can't get enough of it.  Seriously, as soon as you've finished reading this post, rush out and buy a copy before they're all gone.  If you live in Australia or New Zealand, it's a pretty small investment, and well worth every penny.  A bit more extravagant, I know, if you live in the northern hemisphere, but if you have an iPad you can get it online for a fraction of the price.  And, don't just take my word for it ... ask Sidewalk Shoes ... Pam reckons it's worth every pixel too.

Anyway, all of that was a very round about way of telling you that when it came to choosing a recipe for this week's theme of "Noodles, Noodles, Everywhere!", this magazine was the first place I turned.  Actually, not just in this mag, but in her vast array of books, Donna has so many noodle dishes on offer that it was hard to choose.  Broaden the scope of that to include pasta as well, and you'll find that she literally has dozens and dozens of quick and easy, yet inspiring, dishes to tempt your tastebuds.

Still, I'm digressing a little again .. back to the "issue" at hand (ok, I know that was bad - really, really bad - but I just couldn't resist).  I happened to have a nice piece of fresh tarakihi on hand, so I wanted something "noodley" to accompany it.  Donna's crispy skinned fish and green chilli noodle salad seemed perfect.

I'm not going to reproduce the recipe here exactly, as I didn't make any changes to it, and actually you really don't need to be too attached to specific quantities here.   Begin by putting some rice vermicelli noodles in a bowl and covering with boiling water, allowing to stand until the noodles are soft (about 5 minutes).  Drain and refresh under cold water.  Mix together fish sauce, lime juice, caster sugar and chopped green chillies (leave seeds in or remove according to your tastes) - taste and adjust according to the salty, sour, sweet, and hot balance that suits your palate.  Using a peeler, shred carrot and telegraph cucumber into long, thin ribbons.  Add vegetables and noodles to the bowl of dressing and toss everything well to combine.  Pan fry fish in a little peanut oil until cooked through.  Arrange noodle salad in serving bowls, top with the fish, and sprinkle over chopped salted peanuts and fresh, chopped coriander.  (You can find the original recipe on page 39 of the magazine.)  Great flavours, great textures - definitely a make again dish.

If you would like to get to know Donna Hay a little better, and to see all the fabulous noodle dishes my friends have come up with, then do go visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace, Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, and at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollam.

          

Salmon with Mango, Edamame & Pink Grapefruit Salad

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, our theme is Tropical Delights.  I love food that transports me to the tropics any time, and enjoying the tail end of summer here in New Zealand right now, this was the perfect theme to get excited about.

I've holidayed several times in Bali, and also in Queensland (Australia), and on such occasions nearly the first thing I do as soon as I get off the plane is find a good fruit stall and stock up on papaya, mango and pineapple.  These are pretty much my all time favourite fruits, but as none of them are really grown here in New Zealand, indulging in them is at best a rare treat.  Set me down in a tropical destination, however, and you will find me literally gorging on them every day for the duration of my stay.

As most of you will know, our current guest chef, Donna Hay, is based in Australia where tropical fruit is abundant at this time of year.  Little surprise then that the latest summer issue of Donna Hay magazine is positively groaning with tropically-inspired fare - seriously, I was just about drooling over every single page.  But the dish that really leapt out at me was Donna's Salmon with Papaya Salad & Pink Grapefruit Dressing.  Of course Donna's styling is always stunning, but I found the picture of her crispy skinned salmon, alongside a gorgeous wedge of orange-fleshed papaya, garnished with lotus root chips and Thai basil leaves particularly captivating - the kind of dish I could easily imagine myself eating on a steamy evening, sitting on the terrace of one of my favourite Balinese restaurants.

Of course, I live in Nelson, New Zealand, not some tropical island paradise, so I couldn't find a ripe papaya last week for love nor money.  Ditto Thai basil leaves.  Also lucked out on the lotus root, which they do often stock in the freezer of my local Asian supermarket, but the one day I want some ... nada!

So, what's a girl to do when obsessed with a certain dish and ingredients aren't available?  Improvise of course.  Mango seemed like a good alternative to papaya.  I could use some peppery rocket leaves and mizuna instead of Thai basil and Chinese spinach.  I also decided that since the salad had a pink grapefruit dressing, some grapefruit segments in the salad would be a nice addition, and I also added some edamame to make the salad a little more substantial.  In fact, even without the salmon, the resulting salad would make a delicious, light meal in its own right.

Salmon with Mango, Edamame &
Pink Grapefruit Salad Recipe
Adapted from recipe by Donna Hay
From Feb/Mar 2014 issue of Donna Hay magazine

2x skin-on, bone out salmon fillets
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Salad
1x firm mango, ever so slightly under-ripe, peeled and cut into wedges
1x pink grapefruit, peeled & cut into segments (membrane removed)
3/4 cup shelled edamame
2x generous handfuls of peppery leaves such as rocket, cress, mizuna

Dressing:
juice of 1x pink grapefruit
2 tablespoons grated palm sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 cm (3/4 in) piece of ginger, finely grated

Begin by making the dressing.  Place all the dressing ingredients in a small jar and shake vigorously to combine.  Set aside.

Put vegetable oil in a non-stick frypan set over medium heat.  Season salmon with salt and pepper, and once pan is heated, place salmon in the pan skin side down.  Cook for 2-3 minutes, before turning over and cooking for approximately one more minute or until done to your liking.

While salmon is cooking, place all the salad ingredients in a medium bowl and toss gently to combine.

To serve, arrange salad on serving plates, drizzle with the dressing, and top with the salmon.

This was a wonderful dish, full of great flavours and textures, and washed down with an excellent gewurtztraminer loaded with tropical flavours of lychee and papaya, it wasn't hard to close my eyes and imagine myself in some island paradise.

If you would like to get to know Donna Hay a little better, and to see all the fabulous tropical delights my friends have come up with, then do go visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace, Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, and at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollam.

          

Rose Petal & Prosecco Punch

When it comes to drinks, be they hot or cold, alcoholic or not, I'm pretty much a straight-up kind of a girl.  As far as hot beverages go, I'll drink coffee (either a flat white or a short black, depending on my mood at the time), green tea, or some kind of fruit or herbal infusion.  When it comes to a non-alcoholic, cold beverage, tap water is my tipple of choice - fruit juices and sodas generally don't appeal.  And in the alcohol department, I would normally opt for a glass of wine, a gin & tonic, or a blizzardly cold beer on a hot day.  Cocktails don't particularly interest me, though I can on occasion be tempted by a margarita or a martini.

Why am I telling you this?  Well, this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, our theme is "Raise Your Glass", sharing and posting the Donna Hay beverage of our choice.  Whilst I know that there are many of you out there who are always looking to try out a new beverage or tipple, I have to admit that in any new cookbook the drinks section is usually the one I skip right over.  So I really agonised this week over what to share with you, but with romance in the air this week and Valentines Day just passed, this pretty Rose Petal & Prosesso Punch from the Donna Hay 10th Birthday Collector's Edition magazine seemed like a natural choice.  This was refreshing & lovely and would be perfect for a summer celebration.

Rose Petal & Prosecco Punch Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Donna Hay

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup rosewater

1/2 cup gin

2 cups prosecco (or other sparkling wine)

2 cups soda water

To serve:

ice cubes

pink rose petals (make sure you use spray-free roses)

Put sugar, water and rosewater into a small saucepan.  Set over low heat and stir constantly until sugar has dissolved.  Increase heat, bring to a boil, and continue to boil for about 5 minutes until slightly thickened and syrupy.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool completely.

Put plenty of ice into a large jug.  Add the rosewater syrup, gin, prosecco and soda water.  Stir to combine, and top with the rose petals.

If you would like to get to know Donna Hay a little better, and to see all the fabulous dishes my friends have come up with, then do go visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

I will also be submitting this post to Sweet New Zealand.  Inspired by Alessandra Zecchini, and hosted this month by Frances at Bake Club, Sweet New Zealand is an event for all Kiwi bloggers (whether living at home or abroad), or all foreign bloggers living in New Zealand, to link up their sweet treats.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace, Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, and at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollam.

          

Chargrilled Artichoke Hearts on Pea & Feta Crostini

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, we're "Getting Saucy" with Donna Hay, and whilst the Pea & Feta Puree I bring you today, atop crunchy sourdough crostini, is not exactly a sauce or dressing, I figure it's near enough.

I was inspired by this recipe from Donna's website, but made a few simple changes ... I adjusted quantities a little to suit my tastes and needs;  I decided to add some goat feta to the puree instead of finishing with shaved parmesan;  and I also added a few capers.

This made a delicious light meal, or would also be great for an appetiser.  The pea puree has a wonderful balance of flavours and texture - sweetness from the peas, brightness and freshness from the lemon, some salty tang from the feta, and a little brininess from the capers.  A little mint would be a nice addition too if you have some on hand.  You could use this in a multitude of ways:  serve as a dip with fresh vegetables or pita crisps;  instead of artichokes hearts, top the crostini with some smoky chorizo or sweet scallops for a fabulous appetiser;  or even as a side dish with some grilled salmon.

Chargrilled Artichoke Hearts on Pea & Feta Crostini Recipe
Inspired by recipe from Donna Hay
Serves 2 as a light meal or 4 as an appetiser
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

4x slices sourdough bread
extra virgin olive oil
1x clove garlic

1 cup frozen peas, thawed
grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
75g (3 oz) goat feta
1x clove garlic
1 teaspoon capers
freshly ground black pepper
4x chargrilled artichoke hearts, cut into quarters
extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F).

Brush slices of bread lightly with olive oil, both sides, and place bread on an oven tray.  Bake bread in the preheated oven until toasted and golden.  Remove from the oven and rub both sides of the bread with garlic clove.  Set bread aside to cool.

Put thawed peas, lemon zest, feta, garlic, and capers in the bowl of a small food processor, and pulse a few times until ingredients are combined but still have some texture.  Season liberally with freshly ground black pepper.

To assemble, spread toasted bread liberally with pea puree.  Top each one with a couple of pieces of artichoke, and finish with another grind of black pepper and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

This was quick and easy to put together, and I will definitely be making this again.  I hope you'll give this a try.

If you would like to get to know Donna Hay a little better, and to see all the fabulous dishes my friends have come up with, then do go visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace, Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, and at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollam.

          

Double Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

When it comes to cookies, cakes, bars and slices, my all-time favourite treat, hands-down, is a brownie. And that applies when it comes to making them as well as eating them.  You know that I'm not the most enthusiastic baker on the planet, so I love that making brownies is beyond simplicity.  There is no dexterity required to separate eggs and, consequently, no separate bowls or beaters for whisking egg whites, and no creaming of butter and sugar.  One pot to melt some butter and chocolate, and one bowl to mix everything together.  Doesn't get much simpler than that.

The other thing I love about brownies, apart from the obvious decadent chocolatey fudginess, is the fact that if you aren't making these for a crowd, they freeze really well.  Frozen in individual serving size pieces, this is a great way to ensure portion control - perfect for those of us who have no self discipline and would never be able to leave a tin full of brownies alone.

So I was pretty excited that our theme this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs was Blondies and Brownies.  Donna Hay has a multitude of brownie recipes available - I think I found at least one in every one of her books that I own, as well as many others in her magazines and websites.

I had actually decided several weeks ago that I was going to make these Brownie Cookies with Peanut Butter Frosting for this theme.  It's a recipe that's been on my radar for a couple of years now, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to indulge.  But as it turned out I've been a bit swamped with work lately and I was feeling tired and overwhelmed.  So keeping it simple was the order of the day.

I decided to run with the Classic Brownie from the 10th Birthday Edition of Donna Hay magazine, and I tricked it up a little with the addition of some raspberries and chunks of white chocolate.  The end result was delicious, and I'm sure there will be no complaints from my friends at work when I bring them in for morning tea, but I have to admit these are not the brownies that will bring you to your knees.  My personal preference, and whose wouldn't be really, is for a brownie which is intensely rich and fudgy - I found this lacking a little of the richness, and dense fudginess that I was hoping for.  Don't get me wrong ... this is a good brownie, and the addition of the raspberries and white chocolate definitely made it more interesting, but this is probably not the brownie that is going to earn the title "best brownie I've ever eaten".

Double Chocolate Raspberry Brownie Recipe
Adapted from a recipe by Donna Hay
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

280g (10 oz) butter
200g (7 oz) dark chocolate, roughly chopped
2 cups brown sugar
6 eggs
1 cup plain flour, sifted
1 cup frozen raspberries
200g (7 oz) white chocolate, roughly chopped

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

Place butter in a small saucepan over low heat until melted.  Remove from heat, add the dark chocolate, and stir constantly until the chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.  Set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs and flour, until thoroughly combined.  Stir in the chocolate-butter mixture and mix well.  Add the raspberries and chopped white chocolate, and stir to combine.

Pour mixture into a 20cm x 30cm (8in x 12 in) tin, lightly greased and lined with baking parchment, and bake for 30-35 minutes (I suggest you test after 25 minutes).

Remove from the oven and cool in the tin, before cutting into squares to serve.

If you would like to get to know Donna Hay a little better, and to see all the fabulous brownies and bars my friends have come up with, then do go visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

I will also be submitting this post to Sweet New Zealand.  Inspired by Alessandra Zecchini, and hosted this month by Frances at Bake Club, Sweet New Zealand is an event for all Kiwi bloggers (whether living at home or abroad), or all foreign bloggers living in New Zealand, to link up their sweet treats.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace, Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, and at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollam.

          

Soy Chicken

I love Asian food, of all varieties, and almost invariably if we decide to dine out we will opt for something Asian ... Thai, Indian, Japanese.  Vietnamese or Malaysian would feature on that list too if such cuisines were available where I live, but sadly that isn't the case.

When I'm at home too, and need to turn out dinner in a hurry, I will often look for a bit of Asian inspiration.  I adore the way Asian dishes seem to really wake-up jaded taste buds with their bright, vibrant flavours;  I love that most often Asian dishes deliver maximum flavour with minimal time and effort applied;  my dishpan hands (actually I don't have dishpan hands because I use a dishwasher, but you get my drift) love the fact that Asian dishes (apart from maybe a pot to boil some rice or noodles) are usually "one-pot wonders";   and my wallet is happy that Asian food is usually very budget-friendly to produce.

This week, at I Heart Cooking Clubs, our theme is "Passport to Asia" - a theme I've been eagerly looking forward to for ages.  Our current chef, Donna Hay, has literally dozens of fresh, simple Asian-inspired dishes in every one of her books - the hardest part of this challenge was narrowing it down to just one dish to cook.  In the end I thought I would share this Soy Chicken dish from Donna's book "Seasons".  It's one of my favourite dishes, and one I've made several times, so it seemed only fair to share it with you.

A whole chicken is firstly poached in a mixture of Chinese cooking wine, soy sauce, star anise, cinnamon, ginger, garlic and orange, then transferred to a hot oven to crisp up the skin.  This is absolutely delicious served straight out of the oven, with some steamed rice, and a drizzle of the poaching liquid over the top - some steamed broccoli or bok choy would make a great side.  My other favourite way to serve this is to simply shred the chicken, and serve on a large platter with some carrot and cucumber juliennes, maybe some crisp iceberg lettuce and avocado, some rice vermicelli noodles, even boiled egg wedges and radishes are good too - alongside serve some rice paper wrappers and a bowl of water and let everyone dig in and make their own fresh spring rolls.

Soy Chicken Recipe

Adapted (very slightly) from recipe by Donna Hay

from Seasons

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

640ml Chinese cooking wine

8 cups water

3/4 cup dark soy sauce

1 cup brown sugar

1 stick cinnamon

4 star anise

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

5cm (2 inch) piece of ginger, sliced

4 strips pink grapefruit peel (or orange peel)

1.6kg whole organic, free-range chicken

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F).

Meanwhile, put the Chinese cooking wine, water, soy sauce and sugar into a large pot.  Set the pan over high heat and stir constantly until the sugar has dissolved.

Remove from the heat and add the cinnamon, star anise, garlic, ginger, citrus peels, and chicken.  Return the pan to the heat and bring to the boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the poaching liquid, place on a rack in a baking dish, and cook in the preheated oven until the skin is golden and crispy - about 15 to 20 minutes.

Cut into pieces and served with steamed rice.

If you would like to get to know Donna Hay a little better, and to see all the fabulous Asian-inspired dishes my friends have come up with, then do go visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace, Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, at Cook your Books hosted by Joyce at Kitchen Flavours, and at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollam.