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.