PANFORTE!

This is a traditional Italian dessert resembling fruit cake, and for those that prefer something a bit more chocolaty at Christmas it is just the thing. It is an incredibly versatile recipe as you can play around with different combinations of fruit and nuts.

Ingredients
85g flour
2 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp dried ginger
200g dried fruit (I used 100g figs, and then a mixture of cranberries, apricots and pineapple)
250g nuts (I used 100g brazil nuts, and 150g roasted almonds, but you could use hazelnuts)
100g chocolate, coarsely chopped
zest of 1 orange
150g castor sugar
150g honey
icing sugar to dust

Method
1 Preheat the oven to 150oC bake. Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.
2 Sift the flour and spices into a bowl and add the fruit, nuts, chocolate and orange zest and mix to combine.
3 Place the sugar, honey, and 2 Tbsp of water in a saucepan and slowly bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Continue to boil over medium heat until the mixture reaches soft ball stage (drip a small amount of the mixture into a glass of cold water. A soft ball should form.)
4 Using a wooden spoon and working quickly, pour the caramel over the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
5 Spoon out into the greased tin and bake for 15 mins. Cool and sprinkle generously with icing sugar. Store in an airtight container. Serve in small bite-sized pieces with coffee, or dessert wine.

Florentine Slice

Ingredients
200g dark chocolate (or milk if you prefer)
3/4 cup sultanas
2 cups crushed corm flakes
1/2 cup roasted almonds roughly chopped
60g red glace cherries
2/3 cup condensed milk

Method
1 Put chopped chocolate in top of a double saucepan, stir over simmering water until melted.
2 Spread evenly over base of 28cm x 18cm tin lined with foil. Bring foil over edges for easy removal.
3 Refridgerate until set.
4 Combine sultanas, corflakes, almonds, chopped cherries and condensed milk in a bowl. Mix well and spread mixture evenly ovr chocolate base.
5 Bake in moderate oven for 15-20mins. Cool, refridgerate until set.

YUMMY!

Smoked Salmon Pate

Smoked Salmon Pate

Ingredients
100g smoked salmon
1 x 250g packet cream cheese (I choose to use light, but that's up to you)
half a lemon's zest
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup raw almonds, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped herbs (I used whatever was in the garden - parsley, chives and dill)

12 slices cooked vogel toast bread cut into triangles - or whatever you prefer to serve it with

 Method
1 Place salmon, cream cheese, lemon zest and juice into a food processor. Process until smooth, pink mixture forms.
2 Spoon into two small dishes for serving. Smooth the tops, cover with gladwrap and refridgerate for at least a couple of hours.
3 Combine chopped nuts and herbs. Remove plastic from the top of the salmon pate. Sprinkle herb mixture over top evenly. Place on serving platter with vogel toasts/ fresh french stick,or whatever you want to serve it wth

Alternative:
If you make this recipe with full-fat cream cheese it will set better and therefore you can grease and line a dish with gladwrap and place the salmon in. Cover and leave in the fridge for four hours min before rolling in double the herb mixture.

Taste of Auckland with a Matt Moran Masterclass

  

The highlight of 'Taste of Auckland' this weekend was the masterclass with Matt Moran chef and owner of Aria restaurant in Sydney and Brisbane, and co-host of Australia's Masterchef for Series 3. Check out the video clip of him searing a piece of tuna fish.  He was quite the entertainer!

I have to admit I felt like a teenager about to meet some rockstar - how age changes our priorities.... to good food!

Along with this, we spent a pleasurable three hours indulging in fabulous food from a number of top Auckland restaurants and sampling nibbles from a number of top NZ food producers. Oh, and I forgot to mention the great wine,,, of course couldn't go past the Cloudy Bay stall for some Pelorus bubbles.

Crushed Broadbeans on Brushetta

With new spring veges in the garden and farmers market this beautiful green treat is delicious and a delight to be seen. Motivation came from finding broadbeans at La Cigale (French Farmers Market in Parnel) and I really didn't have a recipe to follow.....but it turned out delicious!

Ingredients
1 bunch Broadbeans (or half a bag of frozen beans) cooked and double podded
Handful of grated parmesan
good pinch of rock salt
two glugs of extra virgin olive oil
1 small garlic clove

Method
1 Add cooked broadbeans, parmesan, olive oil, salt and garlic to a mortar and pestle. Crush all ingredients together.
2 Cut a french stick or small ciabatta into slices and toast in the oven on both sides, brushed with garlic infused olive oil.
3 Load the brushetta with bean mixture and serve.

Chocolate Chip biscuits

This has got to be the most delicious chocolate chip biscuit recipe you can find.

Ingredients
125g butter, softened (you can use unsalted as well)
1.25 cups tightly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg, lightly beaten
1.5 cups plain flour
0.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 cups chocolate bits

Method
1 Preheat oven to 180oC.
2 place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and creamy. Add vanilla and egg and stir to combine.
3 Stir in the sifted flour and baking powder until just combined. Fold through chocolate bits.
4 Place spoonfuls of mixture on a lined baking tray, allowing room for spreading. Cook for 15-20 mins, until they turn pale gold. allow to cool on the tray for 5 mins before placing biscuits on a wire rack to cool further. Makes 16.

Homemade Sausage Rolls

Another great recipe from Masterchef Australia, but as usual I have adjusted it. You can always double the recipe if you want to make loads, but this recipe make about 20 - depending on how big you like them.

Ingredients
1 Tbsp butter
1 large carrot, peeled, grated
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small brown onion, finely chopped
4 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 garlic cloves, crushed
200g beef mince
200g pork mince
1 Tbsp fresh oregano
I Tbsp tomato paste
! Tbsp lea and perrins
1 cups fresh breadcrumbs
2 x sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed, halved
1 egg yolks, lightly whisked
sesame seeds, to garnish
tomato or BBQ sauce, to serve

Method
Step 1: Preheat oven to 180°C.

Step 2: Heat butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add grated carrot and cook for until carrot starts to soften. Cover with a lid and cook for 4-5 minutes until very soft. Puree carrot mixture in a blender until smooth. Season to taste. Set aside to cool completely. (Puree optional)

Step 3: Heat oil in frying pan over medium-high heat, then add onion, thyme, bay leaf, garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook for 4-6 minutes or until onion has softened. Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaf and set aside to cool completely.

Step 4: Combine minces, the carrot puree, oregano, onion mixture and breadcrumbs in a large bowl. Season with salt. Divide the mince mixture into 4 portions and shape into a log the length of the past sheet. Place pastry sheet onto a floured work surface and slice each pastry sheet in half lengthways. Place the sausage log across the closest edge of a pastry sheet. Roll to enclose mixture until the two edges of the pastry meet, trim and discard excess pastry. Brush a little egg wash on the join to secure.

Step 5: Cut the rolls to the size you prefer (I cut 5 per roll) and place on a lined baking tray, brush evenly with egg yolk and sprinkle with seeds. Repeat with remaining pastry. Cook in the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Step 6:  Serve with either tomato or BBQ sauce.

My Anzac Biscuits

I've never been one to really follow a recipe and this is a prime example! I started with an Anzac biscuit recipe and gave it a twist. The attempt was to make a biscuit you felt guilt free when eating. Hey, they have got to be better than eating processed museli bars from the supermarket!

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour
1 cup coconut
1 cup rolled oats
half a cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp hot water
125gm butter
2 Tbsp golden syrup
1.5 cups total of a combination of raisins/sultana, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, sliced almonds. (Or whatever you have in the cupboard)

Method
1 Melt butter and syrup together in a saucepan and leave to cool.
2 all dry ingredients together, add fruit and nuts. Add butter mixture and mix together.
3 Dissolve soda in water and mix in.
4 Place rounded balls on a greased over tray. Bake at 180 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden.
Makes approx 16, depending on the size you choose.

Tempura Vegetables

Tempura Vegetables
Prepare the vegetables. A variety can be used, these are some of my favourites:
Spring onions
Broccoli
Red capsicum
Kumara/sweet potato – thin discs
Green beans

Batter
½ cup flour
1 Tb cornflour
1 egg yolk
½ cup iced water + extra water

Dipping sauce
Mix together:
4 Tb soy sauce
2 Tb mirin
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tb lemon juice

In a bowl, mix the flours together. In a cup, whisk the egg yolk into the water. Add water/egg mix to the flour mixing lightly as you pour. This is the reverse to most tempura recipes that recommend adding the flour to the water/egg but I like to control the amount of liquid being added to get the right consistency. Don’t over-mix – lumps and a ring of flour around the bowl are signs of a good tempura batter! The consistency should be that of slightly thick pouring cream. Add more flour or water if required to get this consistency.
Heat oil for deep frying. Dip each piece of vegetable in batter and then slip it into the oil. It should immediately “fizz” and float to the surface. If it sinks, oil is too cool, if it browns too quickly, it is too hot. Tempura is meant to be very light in colour, not golden. Keep adjusting temperature as you cook for best results.
Serve with the dipping sauce.

A long weekend in Gisborne

My husband and I decided to go on a long weekend to somewhere we had not been in NZ and decided on the historic city of Gisborne.

We chose our hotel through TripAdvisor and were not disappointed with the Emerald Hotel. It was centrally located, staff were friendly, and the room was massive.  The price was competitive ($150/night), and the only other hotel we would have liked to stay at was the Portside – a more modern hotel on the waterfront - maybe next time!

Activities:
As avid wine lovers we wanted to visit some wineries. Be aware, everything shuts down in Gisborne after summer! We were there in April, and there was only one winery open. However, it was a real gem of a place.  Stone Bridge, located 10km from the city centre, is a family owned boutique winery. We were privileged to have the sole attention of Mairead and left with a couple of lovely bottles of their Gewurztraminer and a bag of fresh grapes straight off the vines. Mairead sells the grapes at the Farmers market and they are delicious.

Cook’s Cove Walkway. Take a drive to Tolaga Bay as there is the famous 660m long wharf to check out first, and the carpark for the walk is a minute away.  The guide states it takes 2-3 hours, but this is hugely exaggerated for anyone with reasonable fitness. The walkway is named after the sheltered cove where James Cook spent several days in 1769. The side trip to the hole in the wall is a must see. As it covers farmland, make sure you check out that the track is open, but it is definitely worth a visit for the beautiful views.

Beaches: The Wainui Beach is spectacular. A long surf beach where in the summer must be the place to be.

Restaurants:
On our first night we went to the Fettuccine Brothers. (12 Peel Street, 06 868 5700). I have to admit I was pretty disappointed in their attempts at Italian. But, they redeemed themselves with the sticky date pudding dessert and the coffee was the best we had in Gisborne. The restaurant was full and as long as you go with not high expectations, I’m sure you will not be disappointed.

Our second dinner was at The Works. It is set in part of Gisborne’s old freezing works building and has a lovely feel to it.  However, the food has got to be the worst meal I have had in a very long time.   They need to keep to the simple stuff and try and master that before trying to offer food that is way out of their league to be able to produce. I suggest you stick to the cheese platter as it is your safest bet.

For breakfast or lunch try Zest (great) or Cafe Ruba.

Gisborne is a picturesque city and well worth a visit. We will be back some time in the summer when this sleepy city is in full swing.

Time for winter warmers - cauliflower

Cauliflower mash

With lots of cauli in the garden I went in search of some new recipe ideas.


This very simple recipe comes from Masterchef Australia and can be served in place of mashed potato. It is delicious, and with the added benefit of much less calories.

 Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
one whole cauliflower cut into florets
2 cups milk

Method

1 Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat and cook shallot for 2 mins or until soft.
2 Add cauliflower and milk, and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes or until tender.
3 Drain, reserving half a cup of milk. Process cauliflower and the reserved milk in a food processor until a puree (can be rough or smooth depending on preference).
4 Transfer to a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Handy tip: If you have any left over. Freeze portions and add to vegetable soups.

Leek and Bacon Tart

A delicious tart/pie that you must try. Great for pot luck dinners and lunch with friends.

Ingredients
375g shortcrust pastry
2 Tbsp olive oil
30g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
150g bacon, chopped
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
200g sour cream
4 Tbsp milk
6 eggs, beaten
50g parmesan cheese
large handful flat-leaf parsley

Method
1 On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry. Line 27 x 4 cm deep loose bottomed tart tin. Chill the pastry for 20 mins.
2 Preheat the oven to 180C. Line the pastry with baking paper and baking beans and bake for 15 mins. Remove the paper and beans and return to the over for 5 mins or until golden.
3 For the filling: In a large heavy-based saucepan heat the oil and butter. Add the onion, bacon and leeks and sweat until cooked and starting to caramelise.  Stir in the garlic for a further minute then remove from the heat.
4 Lightly beat together the cream, milk and eggs. Add the leek mixture, parmesan and parsley and stir. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pour the filling into the warm pastry case and bake for 30-35 mins until set and golden.

Serve with relish and salad.

Lamb Shanks with red wine and rosemary

This is an extemely easy and delicious slow-cooker recipe by Joan Bishop that has been adjusted slightly.  I have cooked it a number of times and think the key is buying good quality shanks from the butcher rather than the supermarket.

Ingredients
4 lamb shanks
2 medium onions, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup flour
2.5 tsp ground corriander
1/4 cup beef stock
3/4 cup red wine
2 Tbsp tomato paste
grated zest and juice of 1 orange
2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

Method
1 Trim any excess fat from the shanks.  Place the onions and garlic in the cooker.  Toss the shanks in flour. Sprinkle the remaining flour over the onions and garlic in the cooker and place the shanks on top.
2 Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and stir until thoroughly mixed. Spoon this over the lamb shanks.
3 Cover with lid and cook on low for 8-9 hours, or on high for 4.5 hours. Once cooked remove the shanks and thicken the gravy in the cooker. Serve with mashed potato and a green vegetable or salad.

Clevedon Village Market

Clevedon Village Market
A&P Showgrounds, Monument Rd, Clevedon
Open Sundays 8:30am-12:00noon

I have been meaning to make the trip to the farming community of Clevedon (South of Auckland) to check out their Farmers Market for quite some time, and so finally made the trip with a friend today. Now I say farming, but actually there is an array of products being produced out of this region now and it is not just cows and sheep! It now grows award winning olive oil at the River Estate, wine at Puriri Hills and Vin Alto, and award winnng buffalo mozzarella, ricotta and yogurt at the Clevedon Valley Buffalo Company just to name a few.

What got me excited at this farmers market was the freshly made pasta available from Pasta Nostra, which is owned by, don't quote me on this, Sage Restaurant in Mission Bay.  It looked fantastic, but since I'm on my own pasta making mission these days, I refrained from purchasing any and just took home some buffalo ricotta to make my own.

There are a number of food options available, from Cornish pasties, Hungarian twisters, fresh juice and coffee, Paella, crepes, chocolate, fudge, fresh bread, and bagels. We chose to try the I Love Pies chicken and leek pie at $6.50 each.  This company prides itself on pies and I'm sure are a step above the pie you will find in any service station, but we did need to ask where the chicken was! Shame really, but no point cutting corners if you pride yourself on being the best.

What makes this farmers market different from any other I have been to so far is that it has a lovely relaxed environment, very friendly people on the stalls, a great area to sit and eat, and pony rides for the kiddies.

There are quite a few produce places selling organic fruit and vegetables and meat, including a stall selling Maori potatoes. My only other purchases today were 3 plants for the garden - spring onions, rhubarb, and sage (3 for $5) and a real bargain!

This is definitely worth a visit, and my only recommendation is to take a map, as it is not a direct route to get to.

Zucchini Parmesan

Well I am now cutting 2-3 zucchini a day and so need to start finding some recipes.

Tonight I made a simple side dish to have with my chicken ravioli and pasta sauce.

Zucchini Parmesan

Ingredients (for 2 people)
1 zucchini
parmesan grated
rock salt

Method
1 Blanch the whole zucchini. (Two minutes in boiling water). Rinse under cold water.
2 Slice the zucchini into strips making sure it keeps connected at one end.  Then separate and flatten like a fan onto an oven-proof dish.
3 Sprinkle with a little rock salt (optional) and grated parmesan.
4 Put under the grill untill golden.

And serve.  It is delicious!

Spinach and Two Cheese Ravioli

I know, they are not pretty, but I did get better at it and they tasted superb!  Next purchase will be a proper ravioli maker. I was told once you start making your own pasta you never go back to the bought stuff... and I think they are right.

So, if you need the recipe for the dough, it is on the page with the pasta maker.  You can always, buy your own pasta sheets and roll it out yourself also.

These were made using the pasta maker to the thickness of 6. Because I was trialing a few different options, I made a small batch, but here are the ingredients for a bigger batch (24-30 depending on how big you make them).

Ingredients
1 bag baby spinach
150 grams ricotta cheese (I used the Clevedon Valley Buffalo Ricotta and it was amazing).
1 cup grated parmesan
1/4 red onion chopped up finely
1 clove garlic chopped finely (optional)
1 pinch of nutmeg (optional, if not using garlic)

Method
1 Saute the garlic and onion for 2 minutes and then add the spinach until wilted. Let cool.
2 In a food processor combine the spinach mixture with the parmesan and ricotta.
3 Now, don't improvise and make them like I did, find a ravioli maker so you can't be embarrassed by the way they look!
4  Let dry on a lightly floured piece of kitchen paper. Alternatively, if you are going to freeze them, they can go directly into the freezer on the sheet.  Once frozen they can be put in a snap-lock bag.
5 If you are cooking them, boil a pot of lightly salted water and add the ravioli.  They should take approximately 5 mins. Drain carefully before adding to sauce for serving.

Today I served them with the Sabato Pasta Sauce with Rocket, which is delicious - yes, I cheated, and also a sprinking of parmesan.   But who wants to be in the kitchen all day, right???!!!

The Mercato Atlas Pasta Maker

Another New Year's Resolution was to make my own pasta, particularly ravioli.  So my new gadget is the Marcato Atlas pasta maker, which is made in Italy.

You can find one of these in Stevens for $149, or The House of Knives for $142.

I must admit, the instructions that come with it are pretty poor.  No-where can you find how thick the pasta should be for any type of pasta you are making. So, my first efforts have been a bit of trial and error.

However, saying that, the pasta maker works well, and although there is a bit of technique needed to master (wait till you see the picture of my first attempt!), one afternoon's effort from one batch of dough has made enough fettucini for 2 meals for 2 people, and enough ravioli for two meals for 2 people as well.  Check out the what's cooking tonight - pasta section for the recipes.

For a simple pasta dough recipe, use 2 cups and 2 Tbsp 00 flour, a pinch of salt and 3 large room temperature eggs. Create a well in you flour and add the eggs.  Mix with a blunt knife, mixing in the flour gradually.  Use your hands to form a ball and knead for 5 mins.  Alternatively, you can put the eggs into your food processor and gradually add the flour to it (which is what I did). But still follow the kneading process.  Add a little flour if it gets sticky. Have fun!

Tanuki's cave

Tanuki's Cave
319 Queen Street, Central Auckland
Opening hours: From 5:30pm daily

Overall Rating: 5/5 Price: $$-$$$
Cuisine: Japanese - Yakitori

Food: 9 Drinks: 9 Ambience: 9 Service: 9

Tanuki's Cave is my favourite Izakaya (Sake bar) style Japanese restaurant in Auckland.  It has a traditional Japanese feel to it, and even though a noisy restaurant, it also is quite intimate due to the seating and lighting.  Tanuki's is a great place to go before a show or movie, and the staff will always ask you if you need to be out of there by a certain time.

The menu consists of an extensive selection of yakitori (skewered meats and veges of the same size, grilled over charcoal) , and  kushiage (skewered and deep fried) items.  There are very cheap set menu items as well, which is no wonder why it seems to be full of university students at times. 

Keeping with the Japanese tradition of sharing dishes, we had the bacon and spinach salad (delicious), chicken and leek yakitori, rice balls (always a must have), beef steak with butter yakitori. and a couple of the specials for the week, incuding mozzarella spring rolls, and salmon wrapped in filo pastry (a kiwi touch) - and all fabulous.  Tanuki's serve great Japanese beer by the tap and bottle and right now for $15 you can 'Sumo Size Me' and get a litre glass of beer! I try to stay away from Sake, but Tanuki's has a wide range if you care to indulge.

This restaurant does not take reservations, so you need to arrive early unless you don't mind to wait.  It is a great place for a small group and is high on my list for recommendations.

Toto' Restaurant Review

TOTO' Restaurant
53 Nelson Street, Auckland CBD
Ph 09 302 2665

Overall Rating: 5/5 Price: $$$
Cuisine: Italian

Food: 9 Drinks: ? (Wasn't drinking!) Ambience: 9 Service: 10

To be honest, I checked some reviews before going to Toto this week and found quite a mixture of reviews. 

We were a party of 11 girls, and so lots of dishes were tried.  
For entrees, the ones that stood out were: 
GAMBERI AL POMODORO - Prawns w chilli, garlic, cherry tomato sauce & toasted bruschetta   $21.50 - fabulous (see pictire)
FRITTURA DI CALAMARI - Aromatic lightly fried baby calamari w crispy vegetables & ”agrodolce” sauce $19.50
BUFALA E PROSCIUTTO - Fresh buffalo mozzarella w tomatoes, basil & extra virgin olive oil  $18.50
You can see they were all quite expensive, but were very big dishes and almost big enough to not have a main.  Most of us had two entrees instead as many of the mains came in entree size.

For mains, particular favourites were:
RAVIOLI ALLE ERBE CON PESTO ALLE NOCI  - Stuffed homemade ravioli w mix herbs, Swiss chard & ricotta on walnut pesto & fresh tomato $18.50 / 22.50
FUSILLI AL CARTOCCIO  - Fusilli pasta baked in a paper parcel w eggplant, zucchini & capsicum sauce, parmesan & fresh basil $18.50 / 22.50
POLLO  - Chicken wrapped in speck, stuffed w ricotta, pecorino & pistachio on a capsicum peponata  $32.50

And finally, a PIZZA - CALABRESE - Tomato, mozzarella, salami, oregano, chilli & olives $20.50.  This was delicious, even though it was slightly over salted.

Unfortunately I chose the gnoochi and was disappointed, this was removed from the bill as our wonderful waiter Frank, spotted my dislike and offered a choice of an alternative dish.  I didn't want anything else so he did not charge for it - I was very impressed with this kind of service.
  
Frank is certainly as asset to this restaurant and I certainly give it my full recommendation.
 
Check out the restaurant's website at: Toto Restaurant

What's growing in the garden?

This section is going to discuss different vegetables I'm growing in the garden.  I don't have a large vege patch, but I do have one under construction right now, so watch this space.....

So what I thought I'd do, is show the growing process of growing the plant, give tips on growing them (or more to the point, not what to do because I have failed!) and then some recipes for them once grown.

My first vegetable is going to be zucchini.  I bought 4 plants for $3.25 from Bunnings 4 weeks ago and from the picture you can see how much they have grown.  Zucchini love lots of sun and water.  These were put into some soil that is full of clay, but it says they will grow in just about anything. I have learnt today, by doing some research, that there are male and female flowers and the males have long stems, and the females are the ones which grow the zucchini (check them out in the photo).  Pollination needs to occur between the male and female flowers, and preferable between plants, not by the same plant - would hate to have inbred veges! I'm very much the novice gardener, so please, send me any tips you have as well!

Much of the zucchini can be eaten, including the flowers - stuffed and deep fried, and delicious.  So, hopefully in a few weeks we will have some ready to experiment with!

Wagamama, Newmarket

29 Nuffield Street, Newmarket, Auckland

Overall Rating: 2/5 Price: $$-$$$
Cuisine: Japanese (kind-of)

Food: 4 Drinks: 5 Ambience: 4 Service: 6

First thoughts about this restaurant is 'school cafeteria'.  It is noisy, impersonal, and with bench seats where you can be sitting next to anyone removes any privacy from your conversation - apart from the fact that it is so noisy that people probably can't hear you anyway.

Wagamama prides itself on positive eating + positive experience - neither of which we had.


To the food, we had the ebi gyoza for an entree - actually everything comes at once in this place - well supposedly, as one main we waited for over 5mins. I don't mind entrees coming the same time as mains - if they all come together.  My teriyaki salmon ($21.50) was nicely presented, but was already luke warm when it arrived, so was cold by the time I got to start. I don't understand how rice is not kept warm in a place like this that is so busy and is on about half the dishes served.  My accomplice had the teriyaki steak soba ($21.50), which was a little tasteless and what he called 'sloppy'.

What put me off the most, was the food that had been cooked onto my plate - from a previous customer, the fingerprints all over my plate when it was served, and the piece of spagetti that was in our bowl of edamame (soyabeans). I hate to complain, but sorry, for a gold A star establishment for cleanliness this is unacceptable. No desserts were had as I was put off by this stage.


We have been to this establishement a number of times, never expecting anything spectacular bacause we know what to expect, but from this experience we will not be returning.
 

Gourmet Pork and Pineapple Burgers

This month's Taste magazine recipe that I have adapted, is on the front cover, which makes my photo a poor comparison. I think I need to learn the art of food styling!

Anyway, these are delicious burgers, but I have changed the recipe slightly - by removing the chorizo, as it is really not needed. I wouldn't have thought the kidney beans would work either, but the combination with the spices is fabulous. I also used pineapple chutney, that a friend had given us, and it really complemented the pork extremely well - sorry, it's not available on shop shelves as yet!

Our guests loved them!

Ingredients (serves 4)
For the patties:
600g pork mince
50g breadcrumbs, mixed with 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 Tbsp Spanish paprika
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground chilli powder
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
100g red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp olive oil
100g chorizo sausage, minced and fined chopped and pre-cooked (optional)
Grilled pineapple:
4 fresh pineapple rings
1 tsp honey
1 tsp lime juice
To serve:
4 slices aged cheddar
your choice of bread for 4 burgers
4 Tbsp good quality pickle
4 lettuce leaves
8 slices tomato
8 olives and small skewers (optional)
American yellow mustard

Method:
1 For the patties, combine ll of the ingredients, except olive oil, in a bowl and season. Mould mixture into 4 equal sized patties (more, depending on how big you want them, as I made 6) and refrigerate for 15mins.
2 Brush pineapple rings with honey and lime juice and then grill on the BBQ on both sides and set aside.
3 Cook patties in the BBQ hotplate for 8-10 mins on each side or until cooked to your liking. Rest meat for 4-5 mins. Place a slice of cheese on top of each patty so the cheese softens.
4 Cut bread in half and place on BBQ grill just to colour. Spread 1 Tbsp pickle on each base, then top with lettuce, tomato slices, a meat patty and grilled pineapple. Spread other half of bread with mustard and place on top. Put 2 olives on each skewer, if using, and push through burger to secure. Serve.

Kenwood kMix

I had to show you my new toy! Yes, we went to find a new food processor of some kind so that we could blend up the food scraps for the baby worms in the worm farm (well that was the excuse anyway) and we came home with this little gem - isn't she beautiful!

It is the Kenwood kMix, which comes with all the attachements you need (whisk, frother, blender, plus slicing/shredding disc, and knife blade for inside the bowl) and takes up half the space of a normal food processor with the same, or more, power - 700watts. It also was the red dot design award winner in 2008. All style!

Kenwood Website

Frasers, Mt Eden

Corner Mt Eden and Stokes Road, Mt Eden

Overall Rating: 3/5 Price: $$
Cuisine: cafe style

Food: 6 Drinks: 7 (coffee is excellent) Ambiance: 6 (pretty noisy) Service: 7

Frasers is a bit of an icon for Mt Eden village, but to be honest I felt for the first time a little lost for words about the place. It is not a place for big groups, pushchairs, people who suffer from claustrophobia, or anyone suffering from a bit of deafness, as the place has never been quiet when I've been there. However, the coffee is excellent, and depending on what you choose to eat, can be delicious.

Our group of three were there earlyish on Sunday morning, slightly before the queue began!  We had the omelette with bacon ($18.80), Pancakes ($17.50) and Scambled eggs with bagel ($11.50). All three meals were 'ok', certainly not to be raved about unfortunately. To be honest, for an extremely popular place, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about.  Maybe I need to come back for lunch, or try the very reasonably priced dinner menu.  However, be warned, there is no table service and they have no alcohol licence or BYO either.... ok, so maybe I think having a glass of wine with dinner is important!!

Salmon with Mango Salsa

This has to be one of my favourite salmon recipes. I find salmon quite rich, but served with this delicious salsa it balances out the richness of the fish.

Off to the Auckland Fish Market I went to get the freshest salmon I could find to feed three adults tonight. (The recipe is to serve four). I'm pretty sure this recipe is from an old Taste magazine, but I only have the piece of paper, so not sure.

Ingredients
3 x 200g salmon fillets
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salsa:
1 large mango, peeled and diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander
1/4 cup finely cropped red onion
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp orange zest
2 tsps finely cropped red chilli (or 1 tsp minced red chilli)
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve:
3 poppadoms

Method
1 Combine the salsa ingredients in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper and set aside.
2 Preheat oven to 180Celsius.
3 Heat an oven-proof, non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Rub the salmon fillets with oil and season well with salt and pepper. Place salmon fillets into the frying pan, skin side up.
4 Sear until brown and crisp, about 3 mins. Turn the fillets over and bake in the oven until just cooked through, about 5-10 mins.
5 Place each fillet on a poppadom and top with salsa.

White Chocolate Creme Brulee

One of my New Year's resolutions was to get out the gas torch I had been given over a year ago and finally get some gas in it so that I could try making my own creme brulees. Of course, I'm not going to make any ordinary creme brulees, hence, starting with this wonderful dish. I wasn't sure on the size of the ramekins the recipe suggested, so trialed two different sizes and found the smaller cups to be the better size.

Ingredients
5 lg egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups whipping cream
75grams white chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp sugar

1 Preheat oven to 150Celsius and place rack in centre of oven.

2 Whisk egg yolks and 1/4 c sugar in medium bowl.

3 Bring cream and remaining sugar to simmer in medium saucepan, reduce heat to low and gradually add chopped chocolate to cream mixture and whisk until smooth.

4 Gradually whisk hot chocolate mixture into yolk mixture and add vanilla.

5 Ladle custard into four-six custard cups or creme brulee cups depending on how big you want the dessert. Place cups in large baking pan and add enough hot water to come halfway up sides of cups. Bake until custards are set in centre (about 1 hr).

6 Remove custards from water and cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

7 Next comes the interesting part. Sprinkle 1/2 tbsp sugar over each custard. Using the grill, or a gas torch caramelise the sugar.

8 Serve hot or refrigerate for about 1 hr and serve cold.

These were served to friends last night and they were delicious. Very smooth and not too rich either. Lovely.

Thai Style Whole Snapper

For something different when cooking fish, try this delicious Thai style whole snapper. It is a really healthy meal, served with white rice and some asian greens.

Ingredients
2 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce
2 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp white wine
600g whole snapper, cleaned and scaled
2 spring onions, cut into julienne strips

Method
1 Place the garlic, fish sauce, lemon juice, ginger, chilli sauce, coriander, rice wine vinegar and wine in a jug and mix together well.
2 Place the snapper on a large piece of tinfoil on a baking tray. Pour the marinade over the fish and sprinkle with the spring onion.
3 Wrap the foil around the fish like a parcel and bake in the oven for 20-30mins at 190Celsius. Alternatively, throw it on the BBQ - which is exactly what we did tonight. The fish doesn't look so pretty once it's cooked, but it is delicious!

If you have a large fish, I suggest doubling the marinade recipe. Oh, and by the way, the recipe came from the step-by-step series, Curry and Chilli. Enjoy!

Date and Lemon Scones

Now don't say it, scones are actually in vogue - well, according to Masterchef Australia anyway, where I got this recipe from. I must admit to being an avid watcher of Masterchef and it really did not help my exercise regime!

So here is a recipe that does not use any butter, no, no lemonade either, but cream. It is extremely simple - love that, and they come out delicious. Now if you can beat this I need to hear about it. And by the way, I actually added another tsp of baking powder to the ones I made today.

Ingredients
100ml milk
100ml cream
1 egg whisked
3 cups self-raising flour
2 Tbsp castor sugar
1 cup chopped dates
zest of 1 lemon

Method
Mix all ingredients together and don't overwork the dough. Use a milk and sugar glaze and cook at 200Celsius for 10-15 mins. To see if they are cooked, tap on the bottom of one. If the sound is hollow they are cooked. Yum!

Corn Fritters - you can't beat this recipe!

Since corn is now in season, I thought I'd use one of my old favourite recipes this weekend for brunch. You don't need to use fresh corn, as the recipe is great using canned corn as well. But, give it a try, as it really gives a fresh edge to these fritters.

Corn fritters can be served a number of ways, but this recipe, from Sydney Food, is served with roast tomatoes, rocket and bacon.

Ingredients (to serve 4)
1 x cup flour
1 x tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups fresh corn kernels, cut from the cob
1/2 cup diced red capsicum
1/2 cup sliced spring onions
1/4 cup chopped coriander
4 Tbsp olive oil
to serve
8 halves roasted tomatoes
1 bunch rocket
4 rashers grilled bacon
olive oil

Method
1 Sift flour, baking powder, paprika and salt into a large bowl, stir in sugar and make a well in the centre. In a separate bowl, combine eggs and milk. Gradually add the egg mixtures to the dry ingredients and whisk until you have a smooth, lump-free batter. The batter will be quite stiff.
2 Place corn, capsicum, spring onions and herbs in a mixing bowl and add just enough batter to lightly bind them (about 3/4 cup).
3 Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a non-stick frypan on medium heat, then drop 2 Tbsps of batter per fritter and cook for 2 minutes, or until the underside of each fritter is golden.
4 Serve with roasted tomatoes (in oven with salt and olive oil, can take about 30mins to cook), bacon, and rocket. It should make two each.

Delicious and very light.

Veal Involtini

Involtini means 'little bundles' and if you travel around Italy you will find this recipe in many guises. You can use a number of meats, fish or chicken. What I particularly wanted to do was cook something with the in-season asparagus.

Last night's recipe was from an Italian cookbook called 'The food of Italy'. This is a beautiful cookbook, almost a coffee table book with its beautiful pictures.

So, I decided to make a trip to Farro Fresh, in Mt Wellington, to see if I could get the ingredients. Firstly, veal escalopes (steaks?) were not available, mortadella (like luncheon with pistachios) not available also, the cheese was a Bel Paese (never heard of it!) once again not available. So just like me, I improvised, and went with prosciutto, and a beautiful French cheese called Raclette, famous for melting beautifully, and a wonderful experience if you have ever been to a restaurant of the same name. I stopped in at the famous Elerslie Butcher on the way home for the veal.

Since the Italians use a variety of different ingredients, you can definitely improvise as they turned out delicious. (bacon, tasty cheese... these also keep the price down)

Ingredients - (I was cooking for 2, so double for four).
2 x veal steaks, pounded with a meat mallet until thin
4 x slices of raclette cheese
4 x slices prosciutto
8 x asparagus spears
plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
kitchen string

Method
1 Remove woody ends of asparagus and blanch in boiling water for 3 mins. Drain and set aside.
2 I didn't have a meat mallet so ended up using the potato masher (great innovation there) to get the veal quite thin. I decided to make 4 smaller parcels, so you decide how big you want them, the recipe suggests 12 x 18cm rectangles.
3 Cover each piece of veal with a slice of the prosciutto and then the cheese. Top with two asparagus spears each facing the opposite end. Roll each veal slice up tightly and tie in place at each end with kitchen string.
4 Heat 2 Tbsp butter with the olive oil in a frying pan. Fry the rolls over low heat for about 10 minutes, turning frequently, until golden.

Now, you can serve just like this, or you can add a Marsala sauce to it. This would be a good idea during the winter, as it will be like a gravy. Add 3 Tbsp Marsala, 1 Tbsp butter, and 3 Tbsp of the water you cooked the asparagus in to the frypan. Simmer for 3-4 mins, scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pan. Taste for seasoning and then spoon over the rolls.

In winter these could be served with mashed potato, but we just had it with a fresh salad and a piece of the new season corn. Easy!

Gnocchi with spinach, bacon and tomato

I always try to cook at least one dish out of every monthly issue of Taste magazine and one of my recent favourite dishes comes from the October 2009 issue. I have changed it slightly by replacing the prosciutto with bacon (cheaper and easier) and halved the amount of mascarpone they suggest (thinking of our waistlines). I have had loads of compliments for this dish, so try it as the carb component of your meal. It works well with a BBQ.

Ingredients:
1 x packet of Gnocchi (once again, you don't need to make this yourself. A good alternative can be found at Nosh, in the dry pasta section - it is much better than the supermarket kind, but use whatever you like).
half a packet of Mascarpone - about 125g (this is a soft cream cheese)
200g of bacon, cut into small pieces
half a bag of spinach (use more than you think it needs as once it cooks it disappears)
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
Parmesan grated for the top

Method
1 Preheat your oven - fanbake on 200 Celsius
2 Pre-cook bacon so it is crispy
3 Cook gnocchi according to packet instructions - usually only for a couple of minutes, or until it floats to the top.
4 In an oven-proof dish toss all of the ingredients together.
5 Top with Parmesan
6 Place in oven for about 15 minutes and grill the top if it needs it.

Don't expect any leftovers as there never are any in our house!

Gourmet Lifesyle NZ - shop online

While in the Hawkes Bay, we stumbled across a little cookware store run out of the garage of Val Beattie's home. She is a food lover herself and we were privileged to get a tour of her fabulous garden and try some of her home cooking. But more importantly, she has a fabulous little shop full of beautiful cookware and at very competitive prices.

Val has a website also, where you can purchase goods, but if you live in the Hawkes Bay, you have the opportunity to see her in action by having a Gourmet Party - run on the same lines as Tupperware I think.

Her shop is definitely worth checking out on line at Gourmet Lifestyle

Raspberry and White Chocolate Profiteroles

Here is a delicious recipe that I have now made for the past two Christmas's when the raspberry season is in full swing. I'm sure you could use frozen berries, but I prefer to use in-season fruit and veg as much as possible. Credit needs to go to the December 2008 issue of Taste magazine as this is where this idea has come from. The magazine has a much more spectacular idea, but if you just want dessert for 4-6, this is ideal. Of course, when time, you can make your own profiteroles, but for a quick and easy dessert buy them from the supermarket.

Ingredients:
1 x small bottle of fresh cream
1 x punnet of raspberries
1 x packet of profiteroles from the supermarket (box of 14)
1 x large block of white chocolate (actually you only need half - but someone is sure to want to eat the rest)

Method:
1 Beat the cream until stiff. In a separate bowl, use a fork to swash the raspberries until they are almost liquid. Fold the raspberries into the cream.
2 Cut the profiteroles in half, ready for the cream.
3 Melt the chocolate on a low heat in a bain-marie (that means in a pot of water with the bowl on top). Make sure you stir, as if it gets too hot the chocolate will crumble and not spread well onto the profiteroles. Once melted, let cool a little, but don't let set.
4 Fill the profiteroles with cream and put on the platter for serving. Using a spoon, carefully drizzle the chocolate over the top of each profiterole. Place place in fridge for setting.
5 They are ready to eat as soon as the chocolate is set, but can also be prepared a couple of hours ahead.
6 Before serving, sprinkle some icing sugar over the top and add a few extra raspberries for decoration.

What's cooking tonight?

This section is going to have some of my favourite recipes that have been tried and tested. I am no gourmet chef, but I do love to cook delicious food with as little effort as possible.

When I'm on holiday I always get a bit more adventurous, but generally during the working week, it is all about getting good food on the table as quickly as possible!

I will try to be as accurate as possible, will try to add photos, and will always reference my recipes from their source. (However, I am known to not follow the recipe very often). My mother will vouch for that, especially as a teenager learning to cook!

Please feel free to email me recipes yourself and I will add them. Give yourself an alias, or your name if you prefer and I will credit you with the blog entry, but most importantly make sure it is tried and tested, and that there is not too much skill required! We can then all comment on how good it is when we try it ourselves.

Happy cooking....

Mission Estate Winery

Overall Rating: 5 Price: $$$ Cuisine: Contemporary
Food: 8.5 Drinks: 9 Ambiance: 9 Service: 10

On another gorgeous day in the Bay we visited the famous Mission Estate for lunch out on the terrace of an elegantly restored historic seminary building.

The history of the place goes back as far as 1851 when it was established as NZ's first winemaker. But today, we were not there for the wine, more the food and a birthday celebration.

The Mission's lunch menu has some very tempting entrees, but our party of 5 decided to settle for a main and dessert. Mains ranged from $24-32 and were all individually prices so there was no confusion! The mains we chose were the Moroccan spiced short loin of lamb, which was served on a bed of a poor attempt at babaganosh, but was otherwise quite nice; fish of the day(bluenose), and fish and chips.

I think the highlight of today's meal were the desserts. Mine, the butterscotch creme brulee was fabulous, the Tiramisu looked and tasted divine (see photo) and the pannacotta with peach sorbet was also delectable.

There had been one mention of a birthday when our orders for mains were taken and so it was a surprise to see 'happy birthday' written in chocolate on the birthday girl's dessert plate. Brownie points go to the waitress who subtly took note of this. All staff were extremely friendly and the service could not be faulted. Wines were obviously from the estate, and there were beer and softer options available. The setting is also a beautiful spot, with grapevines overhead and a beautiful view.

This well established restaurant obviously prides itself on excellent food and service and is legendary amongst the locals. It is definitely a place not worth missing on our next visit to the Hawkes Bay.

Craggy Range Winery

Terrior Restaurant

overall rating 3 stars Price: $$$$

Food: 9 Drinks: 7 Ambiance: 9 Service: 5

Craggy Range winery is set beneath a stunning outcrop of rock and really is a sight to be seen. The restaurant is aesthetically pleasing with the outdoor tables set next to grapevines and beautiful views abound.

This is an upmarket establishment and with lunch main prices over $30 you expect good service. We had a wonderful French waiter and the timing and food could not really be faulted - as you can see from the photo, my beef with potato and truffle gratin, with Bearnaise sauce and Craggy Range merlot jus. Other mains we enjoyed were the very well cooked salmon sitting on a bed of caperberries, olives, mandarin slices and watercress; and the organic chicken breast with a fabulous combination of babaganosh, lentils and preserved lemon.

However, our experience at this restaurant is an example of why I write restaurant reviews. Between the 5 of us we had two different versions of the menu, with different prices particularly for the mains. We asked for clarification from our waiter and were told all mains were $32.50 except for the fish of the day $36.50. The fish was actually not available when we arrived. When we received the bill the mains were $32.50, $34.50 and $36.50, making it not match either of the menus we had seen. With the total bill coming to $287 we were hardly going to argue over $6-8, but we all felt that something should be said. We politely told the Maitre d' as we were about to pay. Unexpectedly, the response we got could not have been worse. He was rude and bordered on aggressive. There was absolutely no need for quite the response we received and it really ruined the lunch for everyone.

We were not all visitors to the region and the snobbery and arrogance shown to us will not earn them any recommendations.