Christmas cake

My quest for the best Christmas cake to bake this year is over. The winning recipe was for a Whiskey cake which is easy, moist and fruity.
Mary Jane from Milly's Kitchen Shop in Ponsonby generously divulged this recipe.

There is need to soak the dried fruit beforehand, or cream the butter and sugar. You simply boil, simmer and stir. But what set this cake recipe apart was that it contained loads of ginger and apricots which are two of my favourite ingredients.

Before putting it in the oven I made a decorative pattern with almonds on the top so I wouldn’t need to bother to ice it. The batter was dense enough to prevent them from sinking. After baking I brushed a little more brandy over the top.

It’s a light fruitcake which I think is perfect for summer weather. It did need to be cut carefully with a sharp knife. I served small slices of it with tiny glasses of ice cold home- made limoncello. It went down so well that there’s not much left! I will make another.

Next time I bake this cake, instead of a pattern of almonds I’d like to try another easy topping from Delia Smith which she created for people who don’t like the extra sweetness of icing. For this brush the cake with a glaze made by heating a heaped tablespoon of apricot jam and two tablespoons of brandy. Make a pattern of toasted pecans, Brazil nuts and walnut halves over the top of the cake. Then glaze again.

To keep the cake moist I’ll wrap it in glad wrap before storing it in an airtight tin. Hopefully we’ll be able to resist further temptation so it will last the distance until Christmas day.

Whiskey Cake

Thanks to Mary-Jane from Milly’s Kitchen shop
https://www.millyskitchen.co.nz/
for this great recipe

Put into a saucepan:
 ½ lb butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1+¼ lb mixed fruit (I used sultanas/
raisins/apricots)
1 pkt ginger (finely chopped)
* (I put apricots and ginger in food processor to chop)

Bring to the boil and simmer a few
minutes
Take off stove and add 1 tsp baking
soda and let cool about ½ hour.
Beat 2 eggs well and add to mixture.
Stir in 2 cups sifted flour, and add
1 tsp each vanilla/lemon and almond
essence
2 tblsp. Whiskey (I used brandy)
Mix and put in 8” square tin lined with
Baking paper.
Cook at 300F for about 1 ½ hours,
dependent on oven, check after
1 hour.

Quail eggs with Dukkah

Movember Sprouts

It's Movember again, when men are encouraged to talk about the fact that there are diseases unique to them, such as prostrate cancer. I'm proud of my rellies and friends who are joining in and growing bros.

From what I have read - and I’m no medical expert - it would seem that cruciferous vegetables, especially broccoli, could be players in the prevention of prostrate and colon cancer. Small quantities of broccoli sprouts may protect against cancer as effectively as much larger quantities of the mature vegetable. It’s a chemical they contain named sulforaphane that is reputedly the effective anti-cancer agent.

As I write, a bunch of them are growing in a jar on the windowsill in my kitchen - a perfect spot as it is light, but not too sunny. Harsh sunlight can fry sprouts!

I picked up my sprouting skills at a recent sprouting session held at IE produce in Takapuna, my local organic and fresh produce shop. Katrina Wright, the managing director of “The Wright Sprouts” had come up from Hawke’s Bay for the presentation and tasting.

At the sprouting session we learned, not only how to grow them, but got to taste a whole lot of different sprouts such as those made from adzuki beans, sunflower and broccoli seeds seeds, chick peas, blue beans, alfalfa and mung.

This is how you grow these mini super foods. The process is the same for different sprouts but some take a day or two longer to sprout than others.

How to sprout:

• Soak the beans overnight.
• Put in the lidded jar
• Put the jar upside down, or as Katrina does leave it to drain at an angle in the dish rack.
• Rinse once in the morning and once at night
• Sprouts need light but don't put them in direct sunlight or they will cook
• The sprouts will be ready to harvest in 3-5 days

Home Made Pesto

Summer is on the way at last and the days are getting longer. In the early evening, if friends drop by it will soon be warm enough to be out on the deck leisurely sipping a glass of wine and enjoying some pre dinner snacks.
Two of my favourites snacks are made with pesto, a classical Italian sauce. Freshly made pesto is more fragrant and tastes so much better than that out of a jar from the supermarket.

Traditionally it was made by grinding the herbs with garlic, nuts and coarse salt with a pestle against the sides of a mortar, a laborious task. Purists may still want to do it that way but in the food processor it only takes a few seconds to reduce all the ingredients into a smooth and silky sauce.

The secret of making a good pesto is to use a good olive oil and nuts which are fresh so it’s best to avoid those from the bulk bins. Stale or rancid nuts will spoil it. Lightly toasting the nuts improves the flavour.

The green herbs, the olive oil and the nuts in pesto all add up to a healthy food. Macadamias are rich in monounsaturated fats, Brazils in selenium, almonds have healthy unsaturated fats and walnuts are the omega-3 nut.

Pesto Genovese (the original pesto) is made with basil and pine nuts but there are lots of other possible combinations. Green herbs such as mint, parsley, coriander and rocket can be used and baby spinach. Different nuts also give different flavours.

I made several batches of pesto this weekend. We did a tasting of 3 kinds of basil pesto made with Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts and almonds. The Brazil nut pesto was the favourite with a good texture and flavour. The macadamia pesto also appealed, it was smoother but a little oilier. The almond pesto would have been better if I had skinned the nuts first. The texture was a little rough. I also made a walnut pesto with rocket instead of basil which resulted in a peppery flavour. A squeeze of lemon juice enhanced it.

Any leftover pesto won‘t go to waste. It keeps well in the fridge for a week or so with a splash of olive oil over the top to keep it from drying out. Store it in a tightly sealed container. If you want to keep it longer you can freeze pesto in an ice cube tray.

One snack I often make is based on a recipe from BBC Good Food by Rick Stein. He cuts puff pastry into little squares and spreads each with pesto. First a half cherry tomato goes on top followed by a little more pesto ,a fine asparagus spear, a sprinkle of grated parmesan and a dribble of olive oil. Then he seasons them well with rock salt and pepper and bakes them in a hot oven slightly spread apart so they have room to puff up) for about 5-8 minutes until the pastry is golden and the cheese has melted.
Instead of asparagus I use whatever there is in the fridge at the time such as thinly sliced mushrooms or sliced yellow pepper or a sliver of bacon or may garnish each square with finely chopped basil once baked.

Pesto Recipe

Here is the basic recipe I used and its nutty variations. It makes a moist pesto which is how I like it. Decrease the amount of oil if you want a firmer mixture. Do experiment further by substituting different herbs or nuts.

Ingredients:

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
¼ cup of a good olive oil.
About a dozen nuts (brazil/macadamias/walnuts/ almonds)
3 cups of basil leaves
4 tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan
A squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
Rock salt and black pepper to taste.
Method:
Put the garlic, nuts and basil in the food processor and process briefly until these are finely chopped. Then start to gradually pour in the olive oil. You can add more or less depending on the consistency you want.
Scrape the mixture into a bowl, stir in the freshly grated parmesan, and season to taste.

 

Small Plate of Mushrooms

Kerstkransjes

The Dutch don’t do anything by halves. Father Christmas comes twice! First up the first Father Christmas who is called Sinterklaas ( St Nicholas) arrives in Holland on December 5. I remember him from my childhood as a tall imposing figure dressed in a red cape with a bishop’s mitre on his head and saddled on a white horse.

Running alongside would be his servant Zwarte Piet (Black Peter) wielding a mattenklopper (carpet beater) to smack children who had been bad during the year, and throw small treats to those lucky ones who had been well behaved. Not PC by our standards today!

During the night, with his assistants, the good saint would ride his white horse on the rooftops and deliver children’s presents through the chimneys. St Nicholas still arrives by boat from Spain each year. His arrival is shown nationwide on Dutch TV.

St Nicholas was re-invented in America as the more jovial and rotund Santa Claus. Santa now also visits Holland at Christmas so kids get two lots of presents!

Neither country, however can lay claim to be the home of the original Santa. St Nicholas was actually born in Turkey, and lived from 280-342. Born into a rich family, but orphaned early, he spent his inheritance giving money to the poor and needy. He became the Bishop of Myrah and the patron saint of children and sailors. A folk festival was begun in his honor which was a time to celebrate but also to give to the poor.

When I was a kid I only knew about Saint Nicholas and had never heard of Santa Claus. Christmas for us was a Christian festival and a time to have a family get together. There were always real candles burning on Christmas trees. The soft flickering lights, and the smell of fresh pine leaves still linger fondly in my memory. Times change, Today Holland is largely a secular country and Christmas is generally celebrated with a special family dinner on Christmas day and presents under the Christmas tree.

Like immigrants from other countries the Dutch brought some of their food traditions with them to New Zealand and they became treasured family recipes. My mother’s recipe for banketstaaf ( almond roll), a traditional Christmas treat is one I will be making again this year. The almond filling is similar to almond paste but it is a coarser mixture. It tastes better if you let it rest in the fridge for a few days before using. Then it is encased in flaky pastry and baked until golden brown.

The recipe is easy to make but beware! The first time I made it I didn’t seal the pastry well enough so as it baked the almond filling escaped all over the oven tray. Since then I have been more careful and made it again successfully.

The second recipe is for kerstkransjes (little Christmas wreaths). I like them flavoured with lemon and sprinkled with sugar, but they can also be decorated with flaked almonds or chocolate icing.
They are fun to make with kids, and they make great Christmas tree decorations, although in our house we have to hang them above dog height or our lab will sniff them out and demolish them!

Banketstaaf: Almond Roll

Amandelspijs (Almond Filling)
Ingredients:

125 gm sliced almonds
125 gram castor sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
the grated zest of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Method:
1. Whizz the almonds and sugar in the food processor till almonds are ground.
2. Tip into a bowl and add the egg, lemon zest and juice.
3. If possible wrap in glad wrap and store in the fridge for several days before using.
Banketstaaf:
Ingredients:
300 gm amandelspijs
300 gm flaky pastry
Apricot jam
Candied fruit
Method:
Roll flaky pastry out to a rectangle (40 cm long, 10-12 cm wide)
Make the almond paste into a long sausage shape 3 cm shorter than the pastry so the pastry can be folded over it.
Roll the pastry around the almond filling so it is completely encased. Seal the joins carefully with water.
Put on an oven tray with the seam underneath.
Brush the top with some egg yolk.
Cook at 200 degrees C for about 25 minutes till golden brown.
Melt some apricot jam,
Brush jam over the top of the roll while it is still warm.
Decorate with some candied fruits.
Nicest eaten while still warm, but can also be served cold.

Kerstkransjes (Little Christmas wreaths)

Ingredients:160 gm butter
120 gm sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 egg yolk
250 gm flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
A few drops of vanilla essence
Pinch of salt
Extra sugar for sprinkling ( I use Chelsea Organic Raw Sugar)
Red/green ribbon .

Method:

Put all the ingredients in a food processor. Whizz until small clumps form. Then put into bowl and knead into a ball.
Let the dough rest in the fridge for ½ hour.
Roll out to a thickness of 4 mm.
Cut with a fluted scone cutter into round shapes.
Cut the centers out (I use the top of a small bottle for this, but some cooks prefer the end of a wooden spoon)
Sprinkle cookies with extra sugar.
Put on a baking paper lined oven tray.
Bake for about 12-15 minutes in a moderate oven till just starting to brown..
Thread ribbon through when cold.
Hang on Christmas tree,

Blueberry Watermelon and Ginger Fruit Salad

Fair Trade Banana Cake

Feta, Nectarine and Blueberry salad.

Ingredients

Mesclun salad

Basil leaves

1 large or 2 small nectarines

A handful of blueberries

Sliced feta cheese

For dressing

10 blueberries

2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar ( Lup is fine, as the blueberry taste is quite strong don't use a more expensive one!) not that I actually have one!

1/2 teaspoon of honey (or to taste)

4 tablespoons of olive oil

Sea salt

Mash the blueberries in a mortar and pestle ( use marble , or do in a bowl)as might stain wood. Add salt , oil, balsamic and honey. Stir till honey is dissolved. Season to taste with sea salt.

Salad: On plate arrange mesclun mixed with basil leaves.

Scatter blueberries, nectarine slices, and feta over the top.

Drizzle with the balsamic blueberry vinaigrette.

Enjoy!

Book Club Gingernuts

Books are like moveable feasts. Unlike a TV you can carry them round with you wherever you go and change them every week. They’re small enough to tuck into handbags, bring out in buses, in airports, in parks and anywhere around the house. 

This week it’s my turn top bring some nibbles for the book club I have joined and I am giving it some serious thought. As there is only a small gap between work and book club it has to be something that can be made or gathered in a very short time, or baked some days ahead.

Sandwiches are great, as are small cheeseboards with crackers, and bowls of olives, or crisp sliced green apples. I am tempted to make Christina’s little cream cheese and ginger, or  smoked salmon and rocket sandwiches moistened with a little wasabi mayonaise.

But this week I think I’ll make Kate’s cookies as they don’t crumble at all. They are her own invention; she has played with them over time to get them just right. And they’re fast and easy. Once you have bashed a bar of chocolate into smaller pieces, you’re almost done as the food processor takes care of the rest

Kate’s Cookies200 g of chocolate
125 g butter
150 g flour
½ teaspoon of baking powder
75 g rolled oats
1 egg
125 g of brown sugar

Whizz together:
About 1/3 of the chocolate then the butter, flour and baking powder.
Chop the remainder of the chocolate by hand. ( I do this by placing it in a plastic bag and bashing it energetically with a rolling pin). Kate has assured me that the chunkier the pieces the better the cookies will taste.
Now add the rolled oats, egg and brown sugar, and whizz again briefly to mix.
Roll into small balls and flatten slightly.

Place on a baking tray.

Bake for 15-20 minutes @ 180 C until lightly browned.

Be careful not to let them burn!

Skinny Summer Salads

It’s a myth that eating salads will help you to lose weight. A salad can be more fattening than a big Mac and chips if the vegies are swimming in a gluggy sea of greasy mayonnaise or oily vinaigrette. A small splash will do. Then a salad can really be health in a bowl.

We’ve been surviving on salads for much of the summer. On our skinniest days a crisp wedge of iceberg lettuce, some ripe red tomatoes and sliced cucumber taste good by themselves. Here are some of our other favourites: dressed barely with oil or not at all.

Tzatziki :

To make tzatziki peel a telegraph cucumber. Scoop the seeds out and discard. Grate the cucumber coarsely into a strainer.Salt lightly and leave for half an hour to let the liquid drain out. Squeeze it by hand to dry it out further. Then stir it into a cup or so of thick greek yoghurt . Add a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of olive oil, a crushed garlic clove and a squeeze of lemon juice. Finally stir through some chopped mint.
Tzatziki can be a light lunch scooped up with triangles of pita bread which have been brushed with oil and baked briefly in a moderate oven until crisp.

Tomato salad:

For this thickly slice ripe tomatoes, season with salt, grind over black pepper, drizzle with a splash of balsamic vinegar and little olive oil and sprinkle with torn basil leaves.

Beetroot, mint and pomegranate salad:

This ruby red salad is delicious. Peel and grate a couple of large beetroots. Stir in about two tablespoons of pomegranate molasses. You may like to add more but add small amounts at a time as its sweetness can overwhelm the salad. Stir in plenty of chopped mint.
Alongsideserve some slices of grilled haloumi and some toasted sourdough bread. This makes either a starter or a light meal

Nick’s Couscous Salad

For the carnivorous this salad goes well with some barbecued chicken. And for the vegetarians, falafel patties (made with a tub of falafel mix from the supermarket)
Leftovers will last in the fridge for a few days.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of couscous
1 1/2 cups of boiling water
Olivani /butter 1 teaspoon
½ cup of craisins
1 packet of sliced almonds (lightly toasted)
2-3 spring onions
½ cup of chopped herbs (choose from parsley, mint, coriander or a mixture)
2 cups of roasted pumpkin ( cubed)
Juice of one orange
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste.
Method:
1. Pour boiling water over couscous. Stir in 1 teaspoon of olivani/butter.
2. Cover and leave for a few minutes until the couscous has absorbed the water.
3. Stir it lightly with a fork until fluffy.
4. Stir in the remaining ingredients and season to taste.

Blueberry Coconut and Quinoa Porridge

 

A healthy breakfast gives you a great start for the day. For a special treat try my version of blueberry, coconut and quinoa porridge. It’s not only delicious, it’s health in a bowl.
Three of the main ingredients are:
Blueberries: A Superfood which is one of the richest sources of natural antioxidants, more than twice the level of other berries.
Quinoa: An ancient grain which has been cultivated for thousands of years in the Andes and was prized by the Incas. It has a nutty taste and aroma and is high in protein and fibre
Coconut Oil: Use virgin coconut oil which has not been chemically treated (other kinds of kinds of coconut oil have been partially hydrogenated which creates those nasty unhealthy transfats.) Virgin coconut oil contains about 50 percent lauric acid, a medium chain fatty acid which is also abundantly found in breast milk. What’s good for babies is good for you!
Ingredients:
1 cup of quinoa
2 cups of cold water (check cooking and proportions)
1 punnet of blueberries (or more according to how fruity you would like this breakfast to be)
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of coconut oil (I used Celebes Virgin Coconut Oil)
1 tablespoon of honey
1 pinch of salt (optional)
1 lemon
Coconut cream ( 1-2 tablespoons per bowl)
Method:
1. Wash the quinoa in a sieve under the tap
2. Add it to 2 cups of water and bring to the boil.
3. Put a lid on the saucepan and leave it to simmer. Check after 10 minutes
4. Let it simmer on a low heat for about 10- minutes. It may need a little longer. Little tails will appear on each grain when they are done.
5. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, 1 tablespoon of honey, the cinnamon and a pinch of salt.
6. Ladle into small bowls . Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice over the top.
7. Then pour over 1-2 tablespoons of coconut cream.
8. Sprinkle blueberries on top.

Angela's Pacifica Christmas Cake

Years ago, when my new sister in law Angela arrived in New Zealand it must have felt really strange for her to have a winterless Christmas. She brought with her a  love of traditional British Christmas fare, including of course the cake!

She baked a new recipe which she found in a newspaper column in the eighteies. It had a foot in both cultures. Alongside the traditional  sultanas and nuts there were tropical dried fruits including pineapple and pawpaw. It made a nice culinary statement about where she had come from and where she had recently settled. You could call it a Pacifika Christmas cake.

For this cake you don’t soak the fruit before baking but toss it in the flour which no doubt prevents it from sinking to the bottom. It’s laden with fruit and nuts. No spices but the mixture of 4 essences gives it a subtle and complex flavour. To bake it at that time she would have used greaseproof paper, but I’d use baking paper. No need to grease and so easy to use. But it’s still important to use a double layer of it to prevent a charred bottom.

She made it again three decades later  to welcome her daughters who will be home from America and Brussels for Christmas this year.


Angela's Pacifica Christmas Cake

Ingredients:

• ½ cup of mixed peel
• ½ cup of dried pineapple
• ¼ cup of dried pawpaw
• ¼ cup of dried pear
• ½ cup of dried brazil nuts
• ½ cup of hazelnuts
• ½ cup of almonds
• 1 ½ cups of sultanas
• 1 ½ cups of flour
• 100 gm of butter
• 1 cup of sugar
• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup of sherry
• ½ tspn each of orange, vanilla. almond and lemon essence.

Method:

• Prepare a 20 cm ring tin . Line the bottom and sides with a double layer of paper and grease it well.
• Cut the fruit into large pieces. Coursely chop the nuts. Place together with sultanas into a mixing bowl..
• Sift the flour into the mixture making sure its completely coated. Cream butter and sugar together until it is light and fluffy.
• Beat in the eggs one at a time. Pour in the sherry, orange, lemon , vanilla and almond essence. Mix well.
• Fold the fruit and nuts into the creamed mixture. Press into the prepared tin.
• Bake at 130 degrees C for 2 hours.
• Lower temperature to 100 degrees C.
• Cook for a further 15-30 minutes until the cake is set.

Bartha Hill's Really Good Bread

My favourite bread recipe is one that has been perfected by one of my sisters for over 25 years.

It’s a healthy loaf as it’s half wholemeal, with the added goodness of bran and milk powder. Not too dense, with a good crust and an excellent flavour. So why does it taste so good? Her opinion:

“I think the key is using malt-and a little butter. In all my other baking I use olivani, but for this loaf butter gives a better flavour. The other important thing is to use Surebake Yeast (a blend of active dry yeast and bread improvers). I developed my recipe to include this to replace the common yeast we used to use-and which required the sponge phase. My bread is now so easy!”

A Bread maker takes all the hard work out of baking a loaf. Once the ingredients are in it’s on the way with the push of a button. It’s also an energy efficient way of baking as it uses less power than an oven.

But I don’t have one, and as bread is not something I make every day, I prefer to make it by hand. I like the rhythmic kneading; the feel of the dough as it changes from sticky to silky, punching it down again after the rising, and shaping it by hand.

The recipe suggests kneading for five minutes, but I give it ten. The kneading develops the gluten in the dough and it’s this gluten, or wheat protein, which makes the bread rise. So a well kneaded loaf will be lighter. You don’t want a brick!

Instead of putting the tins in hot water in the sink I sometimes put the dough in the fridge and let it rise slowly for most of the day. Or if I start it off in the evening it can stay in overnight. The cold temperature will not kill off the yeast and it improves the flavour.

The one ingredient for this bread that I was unfamiliar to me was Maltexo. Maltexo originated in Dunedin at the turn of the Century so has been around for a while. Essentially it’s a malt extract made from New Zealand Barley. It is turned into a concentrated syrup through controlled germination and brewing processes. For decades kiwi Mums  used to feed their kids a regular spoonful of Maltexo as well as using it in their baking.


Bartha Hill’s Really Good Bread Recipe

Whole wheat bread mix
(I prepare up to twelve bags of this mix at a time and keep them in a cupboard. Using them means you need to allow only a few minutes to set up the bread maker. You don’t, of course, need to use a bread maker. I used this recipe for 20 years before I had a bread maker. If you choose to make it by hand, put all the ingredients (including those listed under the directions) in a bowl and mix by hand, kneading the dough for five minutes at least( great fun to do with grandchildren!) – leave to rise in a greased bowl until double and proceed as from step 5.

In each bag put:

300 g high grade white flour
300 g whole wheat flour (if you can get it, stone ground whole wheat flour is the best)
¼ c bran (either wheat bran or oat bran)
¼ c whole milk powder
¼ c gluten flour
1 dessertspoon salt

To make bread:1. Into bread maker (in this order) put 2 T Edmonds Surebake active yeast mixture, 1 packet of the flour mix, 2 T butter
2. Add 1 cup cold water
3. Put 1 rounded tablespoon malt extract (Maltexo) in a cup, fill with boiling water and stir till dissolved. Add to bread maker
4. Set bread maker to whole-wheat bread/ dough (At this stage you can choose to complete the entire process in the bread maker – in which case you should choose the whole wheat bread/ bake option).
5. When done, take risen dough out, roll out on bench, roll up and cut into two sections. Put into greased bread tins
6. Place bread tins in sink of hot water (water to come up to about ¾ of tins) and cover tins with a cloth.
7. When risen to at least double in size, place in preheated 2200C oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 1800C for another 16 minutes.
8. Turn out on to rack and leave to cool.
This bread also freezes really well, especially if you wrap it and put it in the freezer while still slightly warm.
The recipe also makes great rolls – at step 5 make into rolls and place on greased tray. Raise as for bread

Fijoa Smoothies, Health in a Glass

Lucky us! Our neighbours Gill and David are collecting bucketfuls of feijoas at present and they keep giving us bags of them.

Apart from cutting them in halves and scooping them out with a spoon they make great cakes and Fijoa and apple crumbles.

This year I decided to try something new and spent a few hours in the kitchen creating feijoa smoothies.

Feijoa and Nashi Smoothie:1 nashi pear
4 feijoas
A squeeze of fresh lime juice
A teaspoon of freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon of chia powder
½ to 1 cup of milk
2 tablespoons of yoghurt
Crushed ice

Tropical Fijoa Smoothie
8 feijoas
1/4 fresh pineapple cubed
1 orange (all peel and white pith removed and chopped)
1 banana
1 teaspoon of chia powder
½ cup of light coconut milk
Crushed ice

Blueberry and Fijoa Smoothie
4 Feijoas
¾ cup (1 small punnet) of blueberries.
½ to 1 cup of milk
2 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt
1 tablespoon of honey
1 teaspoon of acai berry powder
Crushed ice
Honeymead Pick me up smoothie
6 Feijoas
1 large juicy orange (all white pith removed) peeled and cut into chunks
1 large splash of honey mead (I used New Zealand made Haewai)
Crushed ice.
Add more water to thin if necessary.

Fijoa and Apple pie smoothie

6 feijoas
2 sweet apples
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
½ teaspoon of ginger
1 teaspoon of chia powder
2 tablespoons of quark
1 tablespoon of honey
½ to 1 cup of milk
Crushed ice

Tzatziki Smoothie

6 feijoas
1/2 cup of cucumber (diced)
1 tablespoon of honey
3 tablespoons of Greek Yoghurt
½ to 1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of chia powder
A few sprigs of mint

Pop eye smoothie
½ cup of water
1 cup of baby spinach
5 feijoas
1 avocado
Some freshly chopped coriander
Crushed ice
For this smoothie first blend the water and spinach together in bursts until the spinach is reduced to small flecks. Add the feijoas, avocado and coriander and blend again. Add crushed ice and blend again briefly.

An Easy Mexican Dish

Tortillas: Healthy Holiday Snacking

Tortillas: Healthy Holiday Snacking

To entertain kids in the holidays and keep them fed at the same time entice them into the kitchen to make a snack with tortillas.

For advice on how to make this genuine Mexican dish I went to Margaret Flores, my colleague, who spent years living in Mexico and married into a Mexican family. 

“All sorts of variations on the tortilla appear in recipe books but most of them are local inventions and are not how they are eaten in Mexico. For instance they would never add lettuce to a tortilla filling.” she said

In New Zealand she often uses flour tortillas.

“Flour tortillas are a staple in Northern Mexico. In other parts of the country they use corn tortillas which are smaller. These are difficult to find in New Zealand. The packet ones from the supermarket taste dry. When I can find the time I occasionally make them myself with maseca which can be ordered from Mexifoods in Christchurch. They also stock a range of salsas and other Mexican food.”

Her advice is to buy the Woolworths Home brand flour tortillas. Each packet contains 15 tortillas and they are the cheapest and best.

“In Mexico alongside the tortilla there will always be a sauce

“Chilies are usually used in a sauce. But Mexican food does not have to be hot. There are many different kinds of chilies. It’s not how hot they are but their different flavours which interests Mexican cooks. A dish may have eight different kinds of chilies to give the desired complexity of flavours.

Some sauces in Mexico are cooked while others are raw. And in Mexico they would use white onions. Our brown onions are perfectly adequate but they do have a stronger taste. “

For a really quick snack her suggestion is to follow three easy steps to create a quesadilla.

·                     Fill: Put grated cheese on half of each tortilla. (For a variation you can also add ham.)Then fold it over.

·                     Heat: In Mexico a tortilla is always warmed. Slide it into in a warmed fry pan, and when heated through on one side flip it over and warm the other side. Or you can use a George Foreman Grill to toast it.

·                     Eat with a Sauce: Here are two easy uncooked recipes.

Salsa Cruda:

 

A Healthy Pineapple Pie

A favourite Samoan treat on special occasions is Pineapple pie (Pai Fala). It’s a delicious sweet half moon shaped pastry. As this week is Samoan Language Week

One of my Samoan students, Sandra Ivala ,  gave me a few tips on how to make a Pai Fala.At her home, as in lots of Samoan families, there is a special extended family gathering after church every Sunday where traditional Samoan foods are enjoyed. 

Sandra’s advice was:
“First make the filling and let it cool before rolling out the pastry on a floured surface.
Lift the pastry onto a plate and then trim the edges so you have a round shape. Then spoon the pineapple filling on one half of it before flipping the pastry over to make a half moon shape.

The last thing you want to happen is for the filling to escape and ooze out during the baking. So make sure to carefully pinch the pastry edges together all the way along,

It looks nice to decorate the pastry by using the prong of a fork to make a pattern along the edge. It’s also important to pierce the top of the pastry several times with a fork so steam can escape.
Then carefully lift the pastry onto the oven tray (no need to grease it) and bake it at about 175 degrees C for 15-20 minutes. You can tell it is done when the crust is a light golden brown. Let it cool slightly before serving.”

All the traditional recipes for Pai Fala which I looked at on the net are very rich in fat and sugar. As healthy eating is a focus of Samoan Language week this year I decided to give the Pai Fala a healthy make-over by reducing the sugar in the filling and using coconut milk instead of coconut cream in the pastry.

I have also made the recipe smaller. It still makes a sizeable dessert, but for an extended family gathering it can be easily doubled or tripled.

Pai Fala (Pineapple Pie)

This recipe will make 2 large pastries.
Ingredients:

Pie crust:
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
50 grams of soft butter
About 300 gm of coconut milk

Filling:
1 440gm tin of crushed pineapple in natural juice
1 heaped tablespoon of custard powder
2-3 tablespoons of sugar

Method:

For the Filling
Pour the crushed pineapple into a sieve that is placed over a bowl.
Gently press onto it with the back of a spoon to extract the juice.
Mix the custard powder and the sugar into the juice.
Microwave 1 minute in a microwave safe bowl/jug. Then stir.
Microwave 1 further minute. It should have thickened. If not, microwave for a few more seconds.
Add the crushed pineapple, then leave the filling to cool

For the pie crust:
Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl
Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips.
Add enough coconut milk (about 300gm) to make a scone like dough
Mix only enough until it holds together (do not over mix as it will become tough)
Divide into two halves.
Roll each out on a floured surface, lift over a dinner plate and trim the surface.
Spoon pineapple filling onto half of it, and flip over.
Carefully pinch the two edges together and then make a pattern with the prongs of a fork.
Prick a few holes into the top.
Lift the Pai Fala onto an oven tray and bake 15-20 minutes at 170 degrees C until golden brown.
Sieve icing sugar over the top, or sprinkle with a mixture of brown sugar and icing sugar. Let it cool a little before serving.
The Pai Fala can then be cut into slices/quarters. A small scoop of coconut ice cream and/or a fresh tropical fruit salad would be delicious alongside!
Enjoy!

Margreet's Pumpkin Soup

Margreet’s Pumpkin Soup: (which I have slightly adapted from her original recipe)
Ingredients:

• 1 whole pumpkin
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 teaspoon of finely grated ginger
• 1 red pepper
• 2 tablespoons of Thai Chili Sauce
• 600 mls chicken stock
• 500 mls water
• Juice of half an orange
• salt and pepper to taste
• ¼ cup of coconut cream
• 2 tablespoons of finely chopped coriander
  

Method:

Make a few cuts into the pumpkin (to prevent it from exploding) before putting it in the microwave for 15 minutes. This will make it much easier to peel and cut up.
Sauté onion, ginger and garlic until the onion has softened but not browned.
Put these in the slow cooker with the chopped up pumpkin and all the other ingredients except the coconut cream and coriander.
Bring to boil in a saucepan, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Process with blending stick or in food processor
Pour into bowls and into each swirl a tablespoon of coconut cream.
Sprinkle with chopped coriander.

Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Pumpkin-soup-and-cheese-rolls---recipe/tabid/420/articleID/165378/Default.aspx#ixzz1rhlu5ido

Telegraph HIll Tasting Plate

Geoff Crawford ­is the owner of Telegraph Hill Olive Estate which is tucked away in the Te Mata Hills, overlooking Havelock North in Hawkes Bay. Telegraph Hill started out from one shed in the grove but is now New Zealand’s largest producer of table olives.

I challenged him to come up with his idea for a small tasting plate built around an olive theme. His favourite platter would be:

Telegraph Hill Warmed Lemon and Herb Olives dressed with extra virgin olive oil
Telegraph Hill Drunken Prunes ( marinated in red wine)
Telegraph Hill Smoked Semi Dried Tomatoes
Blue Cheese
Crackers

If Geoff had lots of guests coming or was looking to fill people up then he would always add warmed fresh bread with oil and dukkah.
Warming the olives makes a great difference. “I always do it,” he says. The Telegraph Hill olives are packed in brine. He just drains them, warms them in a small bowl for 20 seconds in the microwave and drizzles them with some olive oil.
The choice is yours but Geoff prefers a Telegraph Hill barnea /manzanilla olive oil. It has a nice olivey grassy flavour rather than the stronger and more peppery Leccino which he would rather use with more robust and stronger flavours such as game or a strongly flavoured tomato pasta dish.
He prefers a chardonnay with his anti pasta but, as he says, it’s very much a matter of personal choice.
For the cheese I would choose Kaimai Creamy Blue, a personal favourite with a snowy rind and a rich milky taste with the scent of fresh forest mushrooms.
It seemed almost too easy but we tried it. The food looked gorgeous arranged in small white bowls on a red plate which showed off the greens, reds, blacks and yellows. The tastes complemented each other beautifully, went well with some wine, and there was something rather special about sourcing the products from a single origin. It made a good talking point.

meringutangs

Rachel Goodchild created these for the Palmoff campaign at the Auckland zoo and won first prize. Truly delicious!

Meringutans

Ingredients:
For Meringues
3 egg whites
1 cup castor sugar
A few drops of yellow and red food colouring
1 tablespoon of malt vinegar
1 teaspoon of corn flour
1 teaspoon cocoa
For Ganache
100 gm of Whittaker’s milk chocolate
3 tablespoons of cream.
½ teaspoon of orange essence

Method:
1. Beat egg whites till the soft peak stage
2. Beat in castor sugar slowly, one teaspoon at a time till thick and glossy. This should take about 10 minutes.
3. Beat in food colouring, vinegar corn flour and cocoa.
5. Put lots of heaped teaspoons of the meringue mixture (for the child meringutans) and fewer heaped tablespoons of the mixture (for the adult meringutans) on an oven tray lined with baking paper.
4. Bake in low oven 110-120 degrees C for about 45 minutes until the meringues are crisp and dry.
5. While they are baking melt the chocolate and then stir in 3 tablespoons of cream and ½ teaspoon of orange essence to make the chocolate ganache.
6. When cold fill with chocolate ganache mixture and arrange on plates in meringutan families.

Chocolate chip bikkies for Becky

Chocolate Chip Biscuits

Chocolate Chip Biscuits for Becky who wants to learn how to bake. Perfect for snacking with a glass of milk after school.

Ingredients:
125 gm of butter
1/3 cup of white sugar
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of Heilala vanilla paste
11/2 cups of selfraising flour
1 packet of Cadbury's real dark chocolate baking chips ( 239 gram)

Instructions:
Method: Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C
Beat the butter and sugar together till creamy
Add egg and beat again until mxed
Sieve the flour
Add to the mixture. Stir well and then add the packet of baking chips
Use your hands to bring al the ingredients together into a dough
Take teaspoons of the dough and roll into balls
Place on an oven tray lined with baking paper
Flatten with a fork
Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown
Leave to cool on a wire rack
Will make 3 dozen cookies

Decadent Hot Chocolate

Decadent Hot Chocolate

At Easter time I asked the staff at Whittaker’s for their favourite hot chocolate recipe and back came this one from Jasmine Griffin, their brand manager. It is seriously good!

Ingredients:

One Whittaker’s Sante Bar (either 50% dark chocolate or 72% Dark Ghana)
175 ml milk
50 ml cream

Method:

1. Break up the santé bar and place in a pot with the milk and the cream.

2. Whisk or stir continuously over a medium heat until melted. Pour into a cup and serve immediately.

Toppings:

Choose one or more of the following: grated chocolate, a sprinkle of cocoa powder, a dollop of whipped cream or ice-cream, marshmallows.

Serve with a cinnamon stick stirrer.