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.