Danish elderflower gravlax

1 K salmon fillet
4 tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
4 tbsp sugar
8-10 elderflowers

The salmon should be frozen at least 24 hours before you start ( just in case there are parasites in the fish).
Clean salmon fillets of any bones but keep the skin.
Wash the elderflowers and separate the tiny flowers from the stalk by using a fork or a pair of scissors.
Mix together the salt, pepper and sugar.
Rub the fillet with some of the mixture.
Rub the rest of the mixture on top and add cleaned eldeflower.
If you have two fillets, place them together, meat against meat with flowers in between.
Place the fillet in a plastic freezer bag and close it carefully.
Let the fillets rest in the fridge for 2 days.
After 2 days, unwrap and clean the fillets
Start to slice the Gravlax into thin diagonal slivers using a fillet knife starting at the small end of the fish.
Gravlax can bestored in the fridge for nearly a week or longer in the freezer.

Lemon Sauce
1 tsp mustard 1 tsp honey
4 whole black peppercorns 1 tsp elderflower cordial
Some salt

Fresh cut oregano or other herb that gives character and freshness to the dressing
Crush mustard seeds, peppercorns and salt in mortar. Stir in honey and the freshly cut oregano. Set aside.

Mayo
one egg yolk
1-2 tsp good white vinegar
50-100 ml (1/4-1/2 cup) grapeseed oil or other neutral oil

Whip egg and at the same time drip the oil drop by drop in the egg mixture
Now you have a mayonnaise ... Blend together the honey mustard mixture with the mayonnaise. Add some sour cream.

Elderflower tea

1.Pick fresh elder flowers from an elder tree. Depending on where you live, elder flowers generally bloom during the late spring or early summer.
2.Boil water for tea. Place 2 to 4 fresh elder flowers in a tea pot. Pour the hot water over the flowers.
3.Cover the teapot and allow the flowers to steep for about 10 minutes. Strain the tea and serve hot.

Elderflower pomegranate cocktail

Ingredients:
2tbsp elderflower cordial
50ml vodka
Ice cubes, to serve
Soda Water, to top
Seeds of 1 pomegranate

Method:
Place the cordial and vodka in a cocktail shaker with some ice cubes (if you don’t have a cocktail shaker place them in a jug and use a strainer) and shake them well to combine.
Pour into martini glasses and top up with soda water. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.
Step back and admire.

Vodka, soda & elderflower

Dilute as desired one measure of vodka, one measure of elderflower and top up to the brim with soda. Cheers

Elderflower Collins

Ingredients:
Gin
10ml Elderflower cordial
15mls lemon juice
Dash of peach bitters Soda water
Lime wedges

Glass type: High ball

Method
Stir together gin with elderflower cordial and lemon juice
Fill up with ice
Top up with soda and stir
Garnish with wedge of lime
Add dasg of bitters

National Radio - Elderflowers

CHECK OUT THIS WAY UP (SAT 11/12) WITH PROFESSIONAL FORAGER JOHANNA KNOX OF http://wildpicnic.blogspot.com/ WHO EXPLAINS ELDERFLOWER, ITS QUALITIES AND GOODIES YOU CAN MAKE FROM IT.

SOUNDBYTES AVAILABLE AT
www.radionz.co.nz/audio/national/twu/2010/12/11/foraging_elderflower

CHEERS

Strawberry and Elderflower Sorbet

These resipes are for the foodies coming to check me out at the REMARKABLES MARKET between 8AM and 1PM this Saturday (11/12/2010) in Queenstown.

Following is an array of recipes that use elderflower cordial. BUT I am cheating! I have been flat out making the cordial over the past week that I have not yet trial and errored these yet. I am going to start next week and we will no doubt all eat ourselves to death in my house next week. So, I am sorry I cannot guarantee any of these recipes yet, or tell you whether they are any good or cheap to make yet. All I can say is watch this space for comments ...

Strawberries are selling 2 punnets for $4 down in the Wakatipu at the moment, perfect for this recipe!!

Strawberries, fresh garden mint and frothy white elderflowers are the very essence of early summer and work nicely as a threesome. The flowers can be turned into a refreshing cordial with water, lemons, sugar and a suitable acidulator. I find the widely available cordial from the hands of artisan producers invaluable and something I keep in the fridge all summer long for cold, non-alcoholic drinks with slices of lime and ice cubes. Serves 4-6

“i find the widely available cordial from the hands of artisan producers invaluable and something i keep in the fridge all summer long”

Ingredients:

For the sorbet:
250g strawberries
125g caster sugar
120ml water
juice of half a lemon

For the syrup:
150g strawberries
75ml elderflower cordial
15 small mint leaves

Method:
To make the sorbet, put the sugar in a saucepan with the water and bring to the boil. You can remove it from the heat as soon as the sugar has dissolved and set aside to cool.
Rinse and hull the strawberries then whiz them in a blender or food processor till smooth. Add the lemon juice, then stir the strawberry purée into the cold sugar syrup. Now either pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn till frozen, or pour into a freezer box and place in the freezer.
Leave for a good couple of hours then remove, and beat the freezing edges into the middle with a whisk. Refreeze for a further two hours then beat once more, again bringing in the ice crystals from the outside into the middle. Return to the freezer till firm.
Make the syrup by cutting the strawberries in half and putting them in a bowl with the elderflower cordial. Chop the mint leaves finely and stir them into the cordial and berries. Cover, refrigerate and leave for a good 30 minutes for the flavours to marry.
To serve, place scoops of the sorbet into small bowls, then spoon over the berries and their mint and elderflower syrup.

Gooseberry and Elderflower Icecream

(Britta suggests to use rhubarb instead of Delia Smith’s gooseberry as rhubbard is in season now, as tart, and readily available in most people’s gardens)

Ingredients:
700g young green gooseberries
8 tablespoons elderflower cordial
75g sugar

For the custard:
275 ml whipping cream
3 large egg yolks
50g sugar
1 rounded teaspoon cornflour
1 dessertspoon liquid glucose

Method:
First place the cream in a saucepan and bring it up to just below simmering point. While it is heating, place the egg yolks, 50g sugar and the cornflour in a bowl and whisk together till smooth. Now add the liquid glucose to the hot cream and whisk that too until the glucose has melted down and blended with the cream. Next, pour the whole lot over the egg mixture, then return everything to the saucepan and continue whisking over a medium heat until the mixture thickens to a custard. Now rinse out and dry the bowl, pour the custard back in, cover with clingfilm and allow to cool.
Meanwhile top and tail the gooseberries using kitchen scissors and place them in a saucepan with 75 g sugar. Put a lid on the pan, place over a low heat and let them cook gently till soft – about 5-6 minutes. Then place a large nylon sieve over a bowl and press the gooseberries through to extract all the pips.
Next, stir the elderflower cordial into the gooseberry purée and, as soon as the custard is cool enough, combine the two together. Now you can either freeze-churn the mixture in an ice cream maker till thick, or else pour it into the polythene freezer box, cover with a lid and freeze till half-frozen (about 3-4 hours). At this stage beat the mixture, still in the box, with an electric hand whisk. Return it to the freezer, then repeat 3 hours later, and after that freeze till solid and store till needed. Transfer to the main body of the fridge for 30 minutes before serving.

Baby herb salad with elderflower vinaigrette

(Variation of the above recipe)

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 punnet each baby coriander, baby red chard, baby lamb’s lettuce (mâche), baby flat-leaf parsley, baby watercress and baby mizuna greens
½ cup elderflower springs (see note)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Elderflower vinegar
2 cups red wine vinegar
¼ cup elderflower tea

Method:
1.For elderflower vinegar, place ½ cup vinegar in a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Add elderflower tea and stir to combine, then remove from heat and leave for 10 minutes for elderflowers to steep. Add elderflower mixture to remaining vinegar in a bowl and stir to combine. Elderflower vinegar will keep for up to 3 months.
2.Using kitchen scissors, snip baby herbs into a large bowl. Add elderflowers and gently stir to combine.
3.Place 2 tsp elderflower vinegar, mustard, honey and olive oil in a bowl, season to taste and whisk to combine.
4.Add vinaigrette to salad, toss gently to combine, then serve immediately.

Elderflower vinaigrette

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup elderflower cordial
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsps white wine vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp garlic powder (optional)
Salt and pepper (optional)


Preparation:
Place all the ingredients in a screw top jar, screw on the lid and shake vigorously until the all the ingredients are incorporated and creamy.
Serve immediately on baby leaf salads or as a dressing on hot new potatoes. The dressing also makes a good light sauce for fish or baked chicken.

Elderflower jelly with grapes

Elderflower gives a delicate fragrant flavour to these pretty jellies.
Prepare Ahead
The jelly can be made up to 48 hours in advance, and chilled until needed.

“elderflower gives a delicate fragrant flavour to these pretty jellies.”


Total time required 20 mins
Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients:
75ml Elderflower Cordial
4 Gelatine Leaves
4 tbsp Whipped Cream, to serve
1 handful Seedless Green Grapes, to serve

Method:
1.Measure 600ml cold water in a jug and stir in the cordial.
2. Place the gelatine leaves in a small bowl with water for 5 minutes and let them become soft.
3. take them out of the bowl and add them to the elderflower mixture.
4. Place the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, and stir until the gelatine has completely dissolved. If desired add a splurge of vodka or gin.
5. Pour into 4 glasses, or a jelly mould (old aluminium cake mould is fine) then chill on a tray in a refrigerator for at least 2–3 hours, or until set. Serve the jelly in the glasses, topped with whipped cream and a few grapes.
6. To remove jelly out of mould place it in a some luke warm water until jelly comes off and turn onto a serving plate. Serves 4


Also, check out Heston Blumenthal's Heston's Feast programme. In one of his outlandish dishes he makes absinthe and elderflower jelly.

Lemon and elderflower victoria sponge cake

LEMON AND ELDERLOWERD VICTORIA SPONGE CAKE

This all-in-one cake mixture works extremely well, resulting in a beautifully textured cake. The subtle lemon favour combines well with good old-fashioned lemon curd. The addition of the baking powder ensures that the cake rises and is light in texture when mixed with the self raising flour.

Method:
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4, 340F, 170C. Grease a 20cm (8 inch) sponge tin and line with greaseproof paper.
Put butter, sugar, sieved flour, baking powder, eggs and half the lemon rind into a large bowl.
Mix together well, either by hand or using an electric mixer, until smooth and creamy. If the mixture appears a little stiff add 1 dsp water before transferring the mixture to the cake tin.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden and firm to the touch. Turn out onto a cooling tray.
Mix together the remainder of the lemon juice, rind, Demerara sugar and elderflower cordial. Pour over the top of the warmed cake and flash below a hot grill for 1 minute.
Serve cut into wedges.

"In the black" italian chocolate mousse - yum!

I extracted this recipe from a book written by Marcella Hazan. Marcella was born in Censenatico on the Adriatic coast of Italy. With a doctorate in natural sciences and biology under her belt she settled in the big apple New York after marrying an Italian American.There she began giving Italian cooking classes and like Julia Childs, she started giving Italian cooking lessons in her apartment and eventually became a chef with a household name purely by love of and life dedication to cooking food.
Here is her foolproof chocolate mousse recipe (not budget).

Ingredients

170g finely chopped semi sweet chocolate
4 eggs
2 tsp caster sugar
4 tbsp strong espresso
3 tbsp dark rum
mixing bowl kept in freezer
150 ml cold whipping cream

Method

To melt chocolate the modern way, take a bowl, fill it up with boiling water, stack another on top with chocolate in it.
Separate eggs, put the yolks in a separate bowl together with the sugar and beat them until they become pale yellow and creamy. Add the melted chocolate, coffee, rum and mix them in with a spatula until the ingredients are uniformly combined.
Take the bowl out of the freezer, put in the cream, beat it with a whisk until it stiffens, then fold it into the chocolate and egg yolk mixture.
Put the egg whites into a bowl, whip them until they form stiff peaks, then fold them gently but thoroughly into the chocolate mixture.
Pour the mousse into 6 individual serving cups or goblets, cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight.

it can be kept for 3 or 4 days, but after the 24 hours it may wrinkle and lose some of its creamy consistency.

Risotto from Errol Flynn's boat

Risotto is so easy to make, you can make it with about anything and it tastes amazing when done right.

In 2000 as I walked along port fontvieille in Monaco I got talking to a bunch of people on the most extraordinary schooner. While chatting away I was invited to board the boat and eat lunch with the crew.

The boat was Zaca Zaca , Errol Flynn's boat. It didn't really matter that Errol Flynn was not there, for sure he was in spirit as I felt so nervous treading on the very deck Robin Hood had decades before I was born.

The crew prepared a delish risotto the recipe of which I will write down below.

Ingredients
1 C Risotto
2 C Stock (I just made some fresh Chicken and Fish stock and my recipe will be posted soon)
2.5 C Cheddar
Lemon

Method

Bang into a sauce pan rice and stock. Put on medium heat and let the liquid absorb slowly until the rice is goohey. Add more stock as required to make the rice into goo. Grate and add cheese and vigorously stir under the goohey rice. Lastly zest a lemon and add to the dish as well as some cracked pepper. That's all! Parmesano Reggiano would be ideal of course but it will cost a bomb for 2 cups I am afraid.

How to serve
Serve with a variety of vegetables such asparagus spears in a white cream cheese sauce, beans smothered in butter, grilled tomatoes. Serve with meats like rack of lamb, chops, sausages or bacon.

The perfect poached bah bah rhubbarb

It’s spring and to get a spring in YOUR step this month hurry up and get on with poaching some rhubbard!

Ask your friends and family for some and enquire if your neighbours have an excess of rhubbard growing in their garden they wish to get rid of. People usually do as rhubbard grows like silverbeet-en masse!

Perfect with your cereal each morning or serve as a delish dessert with your meal in the evening!

The Pefect Poached Rhubbard – Telegraph UK, by Xanthe Someone
"It’s worth knowing how to cook rhubarb so that the pieces stay whole, rather than collapsing into a stringy mush.

"I’ve given an oven temperature here, but it’s satisfyingly thrifty and green to use the residual heat of the oven after roasting a joint or baking cakes.
Just prepare it as below and pop the covered roasting tin in the newly turned off, but still hot, oven. Check after fifteen minutes and give it another five or ten minutes if necessary.
Seasonal produce is the key to keeping costs low and quality high in anyone’s kitchen."

Ingredients:

450g rhubarb
110g caster sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 325F/160C/gas mark 3.
Trim the leaves from the rhubarb and wash the stems, then dry them and cut into short lengths. Arrange in a roasting tin just big enough to take them in a single layer. Dredge with the sugar and cover with a lid or foil.
Bake for fifteen minutes and remove from the oven. (This timing is for rhubarb up to broom handle thick. Very thick stems may need another five or ten minutes). The rhubarb will still be slightly “al dente” but bathed in pink syrup.
Leave until cool, still covered, by which time the rhubarb will be perfectly soft

Pub Quiz Pastitsio (Greek lasagne)

I made Pastitsio the first time at my flat in Home Street, Point Chev. when I was reminded of this easy dish again at my regular Monday pub quiz the other day.
It's easier than making Shepherd's Pie and Italian lasagna.


Ingredients:
500g mince
Can of shopped tomatoes
Half an onion
1 clove of garlic
1 c Tasty cheese (Pams)
Milk (Long life or fresh will do)
Flour (Home Brand)
Knob of margarine or butter (Flora)
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch cinnamon
2 1.2 cups of Fusilli or Penne style pasta (Budget)
Salt and pepper (In this instance I used Kelp pepper)
Boiled water 4 white sauce


Method:
Finely chop onion and garlic. Add olive oil/fat/marg/butter, add onions, garlic and mince. Cook until the mince is done. Add can of chopped tomatoes, pinches of nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper to season. Set aside.
Boil water and cook pasta. While the pasta is cooking make a "roux" for the white sauce. To do this, melt the knob of butter then add enough flour for the fat to soak up all of the fat and turns into a clump. Gradually add half milk and half water to obtain the sauce's thickness that you desire. Make sure you stir right throughout to make a smooth and lumpless sauce.

Butter an oven dish, In this instance I used Pam's cranola spray.

Cheese rolls - Southland sushi

A cheese roll is a variation of cheese on toast, mouse trap, croute au fromage de Savoyarde, Welsh rarebit ... but created covering a slice of bread with a prepared filling made of grated cheese and onion soup mix before rolling it up into a tube and toasting it.

The cheese roll is very popular in southern New Zealand. Found in most dairies, cafes and a staple of smoko and morning teas in and around Southland, the cheese roll has become known to the modern locals and travellers as Southland sushi.

Ingredients:

2 cup Homebrand tasty cheese
Sachet of Maggi onion soup
6 slices Homebrand loaf of bread
Margerine or butter
1 cup hot water

Method:

Turn oven on to 150 degrees. Mix sachet of onion soup, grated cheese and hot water into a soggy paste. Butter the sice of the slice that is going to be on the outside. Add a dollop at the top of the slice and spread across.

Roll up the slice into a roll and place on a baking tray. Repeat until all the paste is used and pop into the oven until the outside has become crispy light golden brown.

Snow White's meringues

Looking like the Wakatipu a week ago, these meringues are whiter than white, sweeter than sweet and make the perfect heavenly accomplices to dessert, tea parties, cake decor and the like.

Usually meringues are a product of having excees egg whites from making custards and brulees for me.I freeze them for making meringues later when I have more time up my sleeve. Later can mean months.

A cooking tip, when making meringues the egg whites should be at room temperate before you start.

Also you should know one frozen egg white weighs about 40g.
For each egg white you need 60g sugar.
You can work how may you’ve got stashed away in the freezer by weighing the bag of egg whites.

Ingredients:
Sugar
Egg whites

Method:
Preheat oven to 140 degrees. Whisk egg whites until stiff. Use an old fashioned hand whisk, electric beater, free-standing mixer or blender even.
Nigella uses her free-standing blender, I use my thirty year old electric beater which I balance on the edge of my glass bowl and let rip for as long as it takes for the whites to become stiff.

Pour sugar in little and slowly at a time with a metal spoon. Don’t pour the whole lot in at once. Make sure its not grainy from the sugar but satiny. The meringue will take on a wonderful satiny gleam.

Line one or two baking trays with parchment or greaseproof paper or a silicon mat, some sort of silicon non stick lining paper, which at about $30 are available at most homeware shops like Briscoes. I think the Warehouse even sells them.

I use a pickn’ mix recycled Allison Holst’s zip lock bag, cutting the corners to substitute for a piping bag which make just as good twirls. See photos.

Spoon mixture into bag and once the bag is half full of the meringue mixture , unfold the bag’s skirt and give pressure to the meringue within, keeping one hand at the top and one at the tip where the meringue is flowing out of.
Turn out preferred meringues to your liking. If you prefer to use a spoon, that’s ok too. Just plonk a generous dollop of mixture on greaseproof paper!

Sprinkle the raw meringue with almonds or hazelnuts!

Put the trays of meringues in the oven for about 40 minutes, tap them regularly to check how hard they are becoming at regular intervals. When they feel firm (and you can lift one up to check that the underside is cooked) turn the oven off, but keep the meringues in there until they are completely cold.

If you take them out too soon the abrupt temperature change will make them go hard and dry and even crack.

Once they are cold you can keep them for a long time.

Mad for madeleines

Madeleines are plump, little sponge cakes traditionally flavoured with just vanilla. These have a small bit of orange zest in them for added warmth and aroma. Gt for lunch boxes, morning teas and for afters.

I have always wanted to make them and the urge grew stronger. With the purchase of an el cheapo silicon Madeleine tray from one of Briscoes’ fab sales the deal was sealed.

The only drawbacks and there are two. They take 2 hours to prep i.e. the mix needs refrigerating 2 hours. So the trick is to do it during your fav TV night. Second, they are notoriously stubborn to get out of their tray without cracking them so generously grease tray with grease spray and do it with patience on your side!

The upside, they only take 13 minutes to bake and seconds to devour.

So total time to make is 2 hours and 13 minutes
½ c butter
2/3 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp of orange zest
3 large eggs
1 c all purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
2 tbsp caster sugar

Method:

Cream the butter and granulated sugar on high until it is light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract (Pams) and orange zest (grapefruit, lemon or lime juice would do) to the butter. Turn the mixer to low speed and add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl with spatula as needed.

Beat the mixture on medium-high for about 3 to 4 minutes, until the mixture has lightened in color and is very fluffy. In a separate bowl mix together the flour and baking powder. Very gently fold the flour and baking powder into the egg mixture. Once the batter is smooth, cover it and transfer to the fridge for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375F. Generously grease 2 standard madeleine pans (or one and bake one after the other) and spoon the cold mix into the molds. Bake them for 10 to 13 minutes, until they are puffed and turn golden brown. Invert the pans onto wire racks and give them a hard tap to remove the cookies from the molds. Serve them warm dusted with a bit of caster sugar for the best flavour!!

Don't they look cute?

Onion chutney from Beaneaters & Breadsoup

There is this awesome, awesome book called Beaneaters and Breadsoup cowritten by a Kiwi Jason Low. Borrow it! This guy went to Tuscany and basically took snapshots of local artisans ranging from potters, winemakers, beekeepers to homemade wool mills and all share their recipes. Highly recommend it for a read for foodies.

Makes about 500 g

1 kg of onions (whatever kind you've got and in a hurry want to get rid off)
100 g salt
5 cm cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp cloves
1 Kg sugar
600 ml balsamic vinegar
200 ml cider vinegar (Or verjus, or wine vinegar)

Halve and thinly slice the onions and place in a bowl. Add the salt, toss well and leave to stand for 5 hours, to allow the onions to release their liquid. Rinse the onions under cold water and pat dry.

Tie the spices up in a square of muslin and place in a medium saucepan with the sugar and both vinegars. Bring the mixture to the boil, stirring regularly until the sugar dissolves.

Add the onions and bring back to a simmer. Cook until the onions are transparent and the liquid is dark and syrupy for about 1 hour.

Setting point - Do a setting test like you would making marmalade by dabbing a teaspoon of the mixture on a cold plate and leaving it in the fridge for 30 seconds to see whether it is setting OK.

Refrigerate when cool.

Serve with cold meats and roasts. Or, as a relish/chutney maybe with a slice of cheddar if it takes your fancy:)

Ma's super onions she grew in her garden last summer!

Peregrine Wines Oink! Oink! Belly

Currently I am working for a winery based in the "Valley of Wine " (Gibbston Valley,Central Otago for Peregrine Winery.
I have never worked in a more beautiful place in my life and I am so fortunate to be part of the clever team steered mostly by its business manager Craig Biggs. Craig is a chef in his other life and kindly shared his braised pork belly recipe here which he picked up at St Anton, Austria.

Quite a few years ago Craig worked in a kitchen of a pensione. Other than banging out oodles of Apfelstrudel (another recipe I must scab off him soon)and grating fesh horseradish which as a child I was nuts for and often times polished off my aunts stash before she had any chance of doing something with it... , the only other gastronomic highlight for Craig was roasting lots of pork belly.

Since pork belly stole my heart at Queenstown's Luciano's a few months ago when a kind person shouted me dinner out, I scabed off Craig his recipe for braied pork belly to save pennies,continue to impress upon friends my cheap culinary can-do or for a top notch date to impress with.

Cooking time 2 hours, about enough time to watch news and two favourite programmes which for me would be 30 Rock and How I met your mother!

Ingredients (serves 4)

Pork Belly (Havoc Farms - happy pigs - organic) $25
Olive Oil
Salt
'What's in the fridge" veggies (make it up):
Yams
Celery
Potato
Onions
Carrots
Fennel seeds - 2 tsp
Garlic
Lemon
4 Apples
200 ml White wine

Enough potatoes for mash

Method

Dry and score the pork rind. Rub a small quantity of oil over the skin and sprinkle over a good quantity of salt. Ensure the rind is well covered with salt.

Over a medium/low heat sweat off the lsiced vegetables in the oven dish until soft. Add apples and fennel seeds. Mix well.

Using the same pan, place pork belly skin side up on the bed of apples and vegetables. Add the wine to the pan making sure that the rind stays out of the tide but the meat is resting in liquid.

Place whtout a lid into a moderate 180 degrees oven and bake/braise for around 2 hours.

Keep an eye on the meat and keep the wine topped up if necessary but let the jus thicken and reduce towards the end of the cooking. This method slow cooks the belly meat but also works up a cracking, cracking crackling!

When cooked, the pork belly will pull apart soft with a crispy brown crackling. I find it easier to cut through the crackling when the belly is on its back i.e. crackling side down.

Put a generous helping of mash in the middle of a serving plate, then add a couple of spoonfuls of roasted veggies and sit the pork belly on the bed of mash/vegetables to serve.

Spring is in the air, and so are lamb racks!

Rack of lamb with a bread, mustard, rosemary, garlic crust





1 rack of lamb
1 slice of toast
Whole grain mustard
Village Press (cheapest) garlic oil
Rosemary (straight from garden)
Salt and pepper

Or, an alternative crust to make with pinenuts, rosemary and garlic which is the dearer option of the two as pinenuts cost a bomb.

Method

Turn oven to high. Place toast in oven to quickly dry out. Once dry, crumble bread in blender to make instant breadcrumbs. Add to wholegrain mustard, rosemary and garlic oil. Apply mixture on the rack. Cook rack for 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

Watch that the crust does not burn. Cook lamb medium to well done to suit your personal preference.

Serve with salad or vegetables and roasted potatoes or lightly buttered spaghetti.

Italian meatball soup for brrr! weather

When I was working in comms at NZ Post my colleague Tanya Stoyanof sent me this recipe and is one of my oldest emails sitting in my inbox nothing done about. It's been sitting there stewing for over three years and I think it's about time I take it out and cook it.
Tanya, my colleague's family originates from Bulgaria the country where literature was born. This soup is literature defined in a soup pot and eats like a good heart rendering novel combining all the hearty ingredients to stave off the wintery cold.

Mince is regularly on sale at the supermarkets most of these days and getting 500g mince for a fiver if not under is doable on most shopping trips.

Tip: Edit and use the meatball recipe here for a quick Indian! Just stir under Patek Korma curry sauce and a can of coconut cream for an Indian variation on this recipe and substitute the basil with coriander Raj's your uncle!

Meatballs:

500g lean beef mince
1 red onion - grated
3 cloves garlic - crushed
Handful finely chopped fresh basil, or fresh out of the tube
Salt, pepper to season
1 lightly beaten egg
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs

Mix all ingreds together and shape tablespoonfuls into balls

Soup

Make tomato sauce or cheat like I do and buy ready made Tomato/Garlic/Basil pasta sauce (Dolmio 550g I think?) or a can of Watties chunky tomatoe soup works a treat and is cheap!
4 cups good qual chick stock (homemade is best)
2 cups water

Put in deep saucepan and bring to the boil

Add meatballs and turn heat down to gentle boil for approx 10mins plus.

Add veggies of your choice preferably what's on special at the supermarket e.g. diced courgette, spinach leaves, fresh beans cut in half, carrots, celery and 1/2 cup of risoni (Barilla is best. See if it's on special!)

Continue to simmer uncovered for approx 5 mins or until pasta is cooked, veggies tender and meatballs done

Serve immediately in big bowls plain or sprinkled with chopped Italian parsley (optional) and grated fresh parmesan

Yummy with toast or hot crusty bread like Ciabatta if you can stretch your pennies that far

Pumpkin soup with coconut

Bring the tropics into your winter by adding a touch of coconut and curry to your pumpkin soup. This recipe is perfect for ticking all the boxes: comfort food, best substitute for a savoury Pina Colada cocktail come dinner come winter, quick, easy, filling and last but not least perfect for frozen pre made dinners.

I have actually made two different versions. One is with coconut milk only (nice and simple) and the other with curry for something different to stop becoming complacent in the kitchen. If you are making an ample batch you may as well make two types and freeze one for later.

Ingredients

½ Pumpkin $2.50 instore special
1 can Home Brand Coconut Milk $1.50
1 tbsp Pams Curry Powder $ 1.50
1 tsp Patak’s Korma Paste
1 can of Home Brand chopped tomatoes
1/2 onion
Meat of your choice
Salt and pepper

Method

Cut and peel half a pumpkin. Cut into reasonable size segments bigger than what would take up too much time prepping, and smaller than what would take up too much time cooking.

Steam pieces in a big saucepan for around 20-30 min until the pumpkin is soft and mushy. Take off the heat and blend pouring in a can of coconut milk still blending. Make sure there are no chunky bits left.Ladle half of the soup into a plastic container for freezing or eating later.

Add to the remaining soup chopped tomatoes, softened finely chopped onions, curry powder, Patak paste (or other Indian curry paste) salt and pepper. Make sure you taste it and see whether it is tasty enough. Fry up meat of your choice (chicken, steak,lamb) and add last. Ladle this variation into a plastic container for freezing or eating now.

Come on over! coconut brulee

I have given up forking out 100 plus dollars on cool recipe books and bought into recipes through hearsay, magazine and tellie which I can splice and merge with my idea of cooking (cheap, cheap, cheap). Here goes a creme brulee one that I picked up from the Listener.
This recipe is SO cheap, quick and easy it's out there for impressing people. It's got me hooked. Great for a Malibu theme dinner party or excuse to get the Hawain shirts back on during winter!

1 can of coconut milk
2 tbsp of palm sugar (but caster sugar will do)
pinch of salt
4 egg yolks

Banana, tinned pineapple pieces or anything tropical that is on special for garnish
4 oven proof tea cups or ramekins
roasting dish

Method

Pour coconut milk into saucepan and combine with salt and sugar. Then warm up the mixture on the stove and set to the side. Whisk well your egg yolks in a separate bowl. Pour the warm coconut milk bit by bit into the yolks whisking all the while. Once everything is combined pour the mixture into the tea cups or ramekins.
Turn on the oven to 180 degrees, fill a roasting dish with boiling water and place the dessert into the water bath for approx 40-60 min. ( Watch a TV show)

Over a saucepan melt the palm sugar (caster) in a splash of water. Garnish the puddings with seasonal tropical fruit or canned tropical fruit.

If you have a blow torch, sprinkle some sugar on the dessert and heat with the torch but it's not necessary.

This dessert is best made, like Lasagna, the night before.

Holy Breadmaker!

Bread is a workout and a half to make by hand and even for those with bread makers who try and follow a recipe keep producing bricks at the end of all the effort.
Experimenting is the only thing to do about it and thanks to my ma's Panasonic and my Breville we have had to do some experimenting to find the right recipe for the right machine. However when the aroma of fresh bread wafts through the house and warm slices are served with homemade jam for brekkie the past bricks quickly become a blurry memory and a feeling of having all been worth the efforts becomes cherished.

Following are recipes for Breville and Panasonic bread makers for keen bakers and those who want to leave the brickwork to men.

Surebake Yeast - You must use this yeast for bread making. All Purpose Active Yeast will not work and is only suitable for pizza dough.

Panasonic
2 tsp Surebake Yeast
350 g White flour
100 g Wholemeal flour
1 tsp Gluten
1 tsp Butter
Pinch of salt
350ml Water

Panasonic programming
Select French
Push Start

Use the Timer to set bread making for morning or late afternoon breads.
If you are adding extras e.g. herbs or raisins (see variations below) use the dispenser lid.

Breville
2 tsp Surebake Yeast
350 g White flour
100 g Wholemeal flour
1 tsp Butter
Pinch of salt
350 ml Water

Breville programming
Select French
Select Medium Crust
Push Start

Method for both bread makers

First add the yeast then add the rest of the dry ingredients; flour, gluten (if applicable), salt. Then add a knob of butter and the water. Try and aim the ingredients as close to the kneading blade as possible. This way assures that all ingredients are combined well.

For Breville users, once you hear the kneading blade starting to mix ingredients, open the lid after a few minutes, check the mix, take a spatula and scoop out the flour that gets stuck into the corners and manually mix it back under the mix with the blade running. This way you are helping mix together all the ingredients and will save the bread from floury edges.

Generally I reckon it depends on the sequence in which the ingredients are added to determine the best outcome.

Variations

For savoury dinner bread add fresh herbs e.g. chopped rosemary or basil for example.

For sweet breakfast/morning tea bread add nuts or/and raisins



Tips!

The way bread turns out and looks, varies from bread maker to bread maker nonetheless tasting equally as good:)

Buy bread makers on Trade Me or advertised in your local rag for as little as $40. That's where I got my Breville. Before you hand over the cash ask to try it out or ask the seller to show you bread they made before you come/check out the bread maker at their home.

If you are trying to impress someone or having pp around bake some bread before hand give the house a nice welcoming/ homely feeling.

Bread making is gt for making ahead of time and freezing.




Best of luck!

Learning to love lentils

News that travels 13,000 miles might be wort listening to...Lentils might just be the prefect food, says Rose Prince in The Daily Telegraph.

Inexpensive and tasty,they are packed with vitamins, protein and complex carbohydrates, which help suppress your appetite (making the ideal for post Christmas diets or sport nutrition). Add rice and you get your day's protein worth without touching a bit of meat.

They are 1% fat and 44% insoluble dietary fibre, which helps cut down blood cholesterol.

They love lentils in Italy and France, and dal on the Asian continent. Pulses are thought to be a factor in those countries' relatively low rates of cardiovascular disease. They are also extremely economical and easy on the wallet.

So why don't we eat more?

They have been thought the cause of flatulence. But given the good we know lentils do, its time to embrace the pulse- and if that means the odd "gust of methan, think of your health and blush with satisfaction". I do!
(Extracted from The Week)

Emerson's organic beer from Dunedin, or V8, and sounds from Studio One classics make the best accompaniments!


Ingredients

3 tbs of butter
1 tsp of cumin seeds
½ tsp of tumeric
1 tsp mustard seeds
½ of salt
1 c split yellow mung beans (or red/yellow lentils, split mung beans, dal) rinsed
6 c water
1 onion
3-4 medium sized fresh, juicy tomatoes
Other veg ( courgettes)
1 c basmati rice


Heat butter,onion, pastes.Add everything but water and mix together until very hot. Then add water and boil on low heat for 40 min. Or longer if needed.Make sure to keep a watchful eye on sauce pan as the water can evaporate fairly quickly and burn the dal. Keep cooking and adding more water until the dal is soft. Chop up tomatoes and add them at the end. When tomatoes are cooked the dal is ready to serve.


Short version
Forget individual spices and use 1 tsp of thai curry paste (red, green, yellow ...) and 1 tsp of indian curry paste ( I use Patak's Korma)to give the lentils spice and flavour.

Cherry Jam

Inspired by David Lebovitz and Otago cherries.
To add to my southern fruits jam making portfolio is cherry jam. It's cherry season and I got given a whole lot from Tim, our neighbour, today. They are almost on the point of fermentation and they certainly smell alcoholic, but that said for jam making it doesn't matter if the fruit is turning into eau de vie or growing green whiskers. The riper the better, although firmer is better tasting.
Ok.Stand back. This is gonna get messy.

Ingredients

3 pounds of cherries 1.35 Kg (or any fruit donated from someone with a stone fruit tree and generosity)*
3 cups of sugar*
2 lemons*

*for cost see Elderflower recipe
* I have left letters in people's letterboxes with precious fruit laden trees in Auckland, asking wether they would mind sharing 1kg of their glorious fruit in exchange for a jar of plum sauce, apricot jam, chutney etc. Usually if you ask and ask nicely it does work and even a way to get to know your community better:)

Method

Before you panic, remember that your grandmother made lots of things without recipes and without measuring everything down to the last tenth of a teaspoon.
Definitely wear something red. Or black.

1. Rinse the cherries and remove the stems. Make sure to remove all the pits. Chop about ¾ of them into smaller pieces, but not too small.

2. Cook the cherries in a large pot. It should be pretty big since the juices bubble up. Add the zest and juice of one or two fresh lemons. Lemon juice adds pectin as well as acidity, and will help the jam gel later on.

3. Cook the cherries, stirring once in a while with a heatproof spatula, until they're wilted and completely soft, which may take about 20 minutes, depending on how much heat you give them. Aren't they beautiful, all juicy and red?

4.Once they're cooked, add 3 1/4 cups of sugar. It may seem like a lot, but that amount of sugar is necessary to keep the jam from sprouting green whiskers after a few weeks in the refrigerator.

5. Stir the sugar and the cherries in the pot and cook over moderate-to-high heat. The best jam is cooked quickly. While it's cooking, put a small white plate in the freezer. Remain vigilant and stir the fruit often with a heatproof utensil. (Wouldn't it be a shame to burn it at this point?) Scrape the bottom of the pot as you stir as well.

6. Once the bubbles subside and the jam appears a bit thick and looks beginning to gel, (it will coat the spatula in a clear, thick-ish, jelly-like layer, but not too thick) turn off the heat and put a small amount of jam on the frozen plate and return to the freezer. After a few minutes, when you nudge it if it wrinkles, it's done.

7. Sanitise jars by placing them in the oven at 220 degrees for ten minutes. Throw the lids into boiling water for five minutes.

8. Pour jam into jars when they are still hot and close with lids.

Papa Pomodoro

This evening I was really hungry and not without good reason. At 9 AM This morning Serge (from Les Alpes restaurant) and I, set off to Arrowtown to walk the Big Hill trail via Sawpit Gully, Hayes Creek and Arrow River.
The track lay strangely deserted on a Sunday as most people were pulled away to the last day of the golf at The Hills.
While Phil Tataurangi was putting forward his best putt, New Zealand's one shot at winning the New Zealand Open this year, we were putting forward our best foot in the sweltering heat on the steep hills over Arrowtown.
We walked 25 km, 5.5 hours in total.

This recipe is quick, cheap and doubles as a stuffing recipe, stuffing meaning not your face but the rear end of a chicken, and a fantastic summer dish to boot!

1 can Budget chopped tomatoes $.99
Half a sour dough (ciabatta) stick $1.70
1 cup chicken stock* $0
Fresh sage $3
salt & pepper

Cost approx $6 tops for two-three people.

Method

Heat a glug of oil and chicken stock in a pan. Pull bread into small bits and add to the pan until all the bread has soaked up the liquid and is starting to fry. Add chopped tomatoes and more chicken stock to make it a gooey consistency. Chop up sage leaves and mix under the stew.


There is absolutely nothing wrong with buying fresh food items incl. meat reduced to clear as long as you either use them or freeze them instantly so you can use them whenever you need them in a meal. Examples of items I have bought in the past are chicken livers, steak, sponge (for lamingtons), sour dough bread/ sticks, soda water, chocolates. You save a lot of money this way and come up with some interesting ideas to cook for example Papa Pomodoro, the recipe for which I remembered from reading the recipe book of the highly regarded River Cafe, London.
The sour dough stick cost $1.80 reduced from $5.29 at Fresh Choice last week and froze it straight away. It also pays to research and observe what day they fill the reduced to clear basket.

Expect the sage to cost a bit though. Fresh herbs are always dear but definitely worth it, and worth growing I should add. The costs are off set by the savings you achieved through other less expensive items required for a recipe.
Add fresh herbs eg basil, sage, coriander, rosemary, always last as you will get much more flavour out of them.

*The chicken stock should be homemade from the last roast and sitting in the freezer,too.

To make it more picante add anchovies, to make it tart add some white wine which makes digesting easier in a hot climate.

The only drawback of this dish is that it has to be eaten straight away and does not keep.

For the next meal I will be making roast chicken I got for $11 on special at New World. I will use the above recipe as a roast stuffing. So see you back here tomorrow if you fancy some poultry for dinner.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Pizza Schmizza

For a quick pizza-wine-movie, impress-your-other-half fix, make pizza in ten minutes using prefab, homemade frozen dough. See function plus below.
But for now we'll just go for the normal version.

Ingredients (El cheapo)

Home Brand* Flour $2.50
Home Brand Black Olives $3.75
Home Brand Tuna in Oil 425g $3.99
Home Brand/ Valumetric Cheese (Choose your type)1KG $7-8
Home Brand Tomato Soup Condensed 415g $1.49
Home Brand Salt 1 Kg $1.35
Home Brand Olive Oil Pure 500ml $5.99
Onions $1.99 per kilo
Edmonds Yeast Active Dried 150g $4.39

Shopping cost, approx $32.
Cost per pizza, approx $4

Ingredients (El expensivo)
High Grade Flour
Spanish Kalamata Olives
Fresh King Prawns, Bell's Italian salami
Mozzarella
Delmaine's tomato paste
Olivio Extra Virgin Olive Oil ...


Substitute tuna with left over cold meats (Chicken, roast, chops, sausages) Pam’s ham or salami (To be got at New World)

All ingredients can be used in other recipes.Most of them last for a good while in the refrigerator and dry storage/ pantry.

Wherever you are in the world, your Super will have its self owned low budget brand so go and get it Tiger because there is nothing wrong with using it and saving your money for a trip abroad!

* Home Brand is a Woolworth Brand. Substitute with Pams and Budget which are a New World brand.

Method

Pizza Dough

Add the following in a big bowl
3 c flour
Pinch of salt

Separately, mix together
3 tsp Yeast
1.5 c Tepid water (Means warmer to colder than warmer to hotter water)
1 tsp sugar

Wait until it has a nice head of froth then tip into the flour mix with
3 glugs of oil

Knead the mix thoroughly in a big bowl until you get a nice smooth dough, like the one you see in Mystic Pizza the movie

The dough is better to be loose than tight and floury.

Divide dough into two parts. Clean the bowl. Grease bowl with oil and place two dough balls inside. Cover up with cling film or towel and let sit for half a day. The dough should have doubled in size before they are ready for pizza making.

In-a-hurry alternative - Put the oven on lowest temperature setting, put bowl with the dough balls in the oven and let them rise the artificial way. Be careful to put the temperature on 20 or 40 degrees. If the oven is too hot it will dry out the dough!
Should take an hour for the yeast to activate in the dough and double it in size faster.

Rolling out dough is tricky. It requires loads of practice.

You need to flour well your bench and roller (Empty wine bottle works a treat) or the base will stick and tear.

Punch the dough down and start to work with it. It works best when the dough is cold as the proteins have not expanded which makes the dough go sticky!

Chemistry aside you need to try and get the base the shape/size you want.Don't make the dough tough, keep air in it so it becomes crispy.
The more flour you add the drier the dough becomes and we don't want that.

For immediate pizza gratification ...heat oven to 220 degrees, prep toppings and add toppings in the following order.

Toppings

Tomato paste (Use soup) – Thinly spread
Onions - Finely chopped into rings
Meat, fish, soya
Cheese - Grated
Olives - De-pitted (Nothing worse than enjoying a meal while having to pit olives).
Mixed herbs - Sprinkle over the whole pizza

GO EASY ON TOPPINGS! Too much on the pizza base will make the crust soggy.It is better to be sparse with toppings and have seconds!It will ruin the base and the flavour if otherwise overloaded with stuff.

Bake Pizza 20-30 min until crust start turning brown in colour and bottom is hard.

For extra flavouring

With chicken – Try chutney
With Tuna or fish – Pour some olive oil, lemon scented if you ‘ve got it
General, garnish with rocket - tastes delish

FUNCTION PLUS

Freeze or refridgerate dough once it has risen for later use in zip lock bags. Make sure to rub oil over dough and inside bag before putting it in the freezer so the dough is easier to take out once it has thawed.

Tip

Remember Mario Battali’s adage on Molto Mario, it's better to start out with a slightly gooey dough than a too dry one as it is easier to add a bit more flour than liquid. Good luck!

Redcurrant jelly

On the same impromptu walk I took on Sunday 17 January as I was rambling I saw some cheeky redcurrants in the corner of my eye blinking at me through the tough Hawthorne.
Back home I decided to add it to my list of southern preserves to tick of my list and added redcurrant jelly to my things to do.
Delia Smith on the book shelf was ready and waiting for me, I searched its reverent pages for a redcurrant jelly recipe, looking like Jesus Christ nailed on the cross after sitting in the Hawthorns but nothing that Savalon cannot fix, and now am proudly displaying five jars of the crimson transparent delisciousness in my pantry.

Cheap as usual, buy a 3Kg bag of self owned label sugar from any supermarket(approx $5). I am making a lot of preserves now (apricot preserve is next)that I may as well buy a big packet of sugar to avoid another visit to the supermarket and keep up the sugar supply at home.

1.5 Kg
900g red currants

Method

Add red currants into a large sauce pan or preserving pan with stalks and all. Bring slowly to the boil, squeezing the berries as they are taking on heat.
Concurrently warm the sugar. Make sure the sauce pan, spoon or anything else you use for handling the sugar is not wet as the sugar will crystallise.

Once the berries are boiling gently, take them off the heat, add the sugar and stir until the sugar is fully dissolved. THe bring the whole mixtures back to boiling point (gently) and boil for 8 minutes.

Sanitise jars by boiling them with the lids in hot water and pour the jelly inside while they are still warm.

Serve with chicke, turkey, hogget, lamb, beef roasts and/ or on toast with a cup of coffee for a red hot loving brekkie.

Elderflowers

Elderflowers flower over Christmas and into the new year. Here in the south they are the fruits in season alongside strawberries, raspberries,cherries, apricots, red currants and so on.

Elderflowers are long-used as a de-congestant and containing essential oils. Elderflowers can inhibit mucus, help fight catarrh, soothe the tongue, mouth and throat, and are a good source of potassium.

I found some Elderflowers still flowering when I went for an impromptu walk to Moke Lake on Sunday 17 January. Last year I expressed to my mother how I was hoping to fill my marmalade making with making preserves out of southern fruits such like Elderflowers and Central Otago fruit, substituting my Auckland citrus fruit with Otago stone fruit, rosehips, quince ...

I picked two plastic bags full, bought sugar, citric acid and wildly expensive lemons from FreshChoice on my way back home and made Elderflower Cordial.

I am so happy I can tick this off on my list of things to preserve in the South Island and once more proud to announce that the Eichardt's Private Hotel are now serving my homemade elderflower cordial too.

Makes approx. 1.3 L

30 Elderflower heads (from Moke Lake)
4 lemons
1.5 Kg sugar
50 g citric acid
4 C water
Muslin cloth (Ask mum, buy at kitchen shop or use a nappy, pref. clean, which you can look for in your local charity shops, check out Salvation Army!)

Method

Add 4 cups of water to sauce pan. Bring to boil. Then add citric acid and sugar. Let cool. Once the syrup is cool at elderflower heads and let sit overnight. In the morning filter the syrup with muslin cloth and pour into sanitised bottles. Refridgerate or freeze.

Cost

Home Brand Sugar $2.50
Lemons .85 each(Queenstown only!Argh)
Citric Acid (good for two batches) $2.70

$10


How to use

Mix with water, a refreshing summer drink
Mix with soda water to make it a refreshing spritzer
Add gin to make a refreshing cocktail
Pour and freeze in icebock containers for cocktails
Make iceblocks for a summer treat, or use for dessert, see below.