The Beaut patch

We have recently got back from a few days lazing at our bach named after the Isle of Beaut, Scotland (my husband ancestors hail from there). It is inland 170km from Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand, well basically let me tell you it is in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by high mountain ranges (winter ski field is ten minutes up the road), a river, sheep, Llamas, cattle, willow and native trees, it is a restoring backwater.

With no power and bathing choices being; tank water, an outside fire bath or a bucket of river water it is perfect for exploring my off grid side. Admittingly I don’t rough it entirely as well as I like to imagine, usually I am hankering for makeup, a fresh blow dry and high heels after three or four days.  It all makes up for it to see LB running barefoot with honey bees and enjoying nature, eating popcorn and hanging out with her friend from Nelson Luca.

Food however makes the whole experience much more pleasurable. Reading, cooking, eating, drinking, sleeping…..then repeat is generally the daily rhythm of the Beaut Patch breaks. We are lucky to have a tiny gas fridge and a gas cooker.

I try to plan meals that are simple enough to make in my Bach kitchen but never plain.

Our first night I cooked a spicy beef and red kidney bean chilli con carne and filled a soft burritos.

RECIPE

Beaut patch Burritos

Ingredients

• 4 Tablespoons Olive oil
• Small Green pepper chopped
• One onion chopped
• 1 garlic clove chopped
• 250 grams beef mince
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• Pinch of chilli flakes (to taste)
• Tomato paste
• 400 grams tin of chopped tomatoes
• 400 grams chilli red kidney beans (rinsed if in brine)
• Two cups of water while it simmers over the fire
• 6 Soft burritos
• Iceberg lettuce sliced
• Chopped tomatoes
• Grated cheese
• Sour cream
• Optional spring onions, advocado

To make

1.  Chop onion and green bell pepper, chop carrot finely, finely chop the garlic.
2.  Heat olive oil over medium heat and add the carrot and onions, cook until softened, this may take 10-15 minutes. Add the garlic and beef mince, fry until browned. Add the cumin and chilli flakes, season a little with salt as you go.
3. Add the tomato paste and cook off for a minute. Add the tin of kidney beans  and the tomatoes, add a cup of water. Bring to the boil, lower heat to a simmer. Leave to cook for 30-50 minutes. The flavours will mingle and develop. Add more water if it gets to dry.
4.   Serve with burritos, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and cheese.

Sometime you need to go far away to appreciate simple honest food. I tastes so much better cooked over the fire, or maybe it fills me with thanks to be eating anything at all so far away from civilisation.

All things pretty and nice

 I woke up boxing day feeling energised to be creative. In fact I have been cooking up a storm in the lead up to Christmas even more than usual. It is a luxurious pleasure to have free time and endless warm summer days to cook and bake all those recipes you coveted over the year and make them my own. I have been pushing the boat out and trying some new techniques and recipes I have not made before. If my Strawberry & lime curd cream Puff (photo below) may not look that pretty, it tasted beautiful.

New Zealand’s own home grown cooking celebrity http://www.annabel-langbein.com/tv-series/ has fantastic recipes that are always amazing. This recipe came from her book The Free Range Cook and It turned out almost the same as her photo. I found it easy to make the choux pastry in a saucepan with melted butter, water and flour. It was a bonus I got given homemade lime curd for christmas as she had suggested lemon curd. Rather than let it sit in the pantry for a year (which is what normally happens to random Christmas presents like that) I decided to put it to good use folded into whipped cream. I am not usually a big baker, preferring to cook savoury dishes.

My husband, daughter Lucia and I headed to the Christchurch Botanical Gardens for a picnic.  Lucia loved sitting on the picnic rug and opening her new Dora Lunchbox and looking inside to find homemade mayonnaise colesaw, humus & smoked chicken wraps.

I managed to spend over $500 on food in the days leading up to Christmas. Are you shocked? see I had found this stunning picture in my Dish magazine for a Strawberry tart. It had a sweet short crust pastry, filled with a french goats cheese, 500 grams of italian mascarpone, orange liqueur, orange zest, icing sugar then filled with topped fresh strawberries glazed with apricot jam and fresh mint leaves. I also held a cocktail party at my home on christmas eve and catered finger food for 14 people. I will have to save that for another post.

Here is a picture of my exquisite Strawberry tart. It was so much fun to make.

caramelised nuts – walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds

Salty, sweet, crunchy and utterly moorish. I am so proud of myself for finally getting around to making these, now I must stop eating them. I never realised just how easy it is to caramelise nuts.

I have been in love with caramelised nuts for quite a long time, I love caramelised hazelnuts sprinkled over a hot smoked salmon, roasted beetroot & vinagarette leafy salad greens. Today I plan to break these up (once I stop munching on them) and scatter them over a roasted beetroot salad and serve that alongside my onion, thyme and parmesan tart.

I also think these would be just plain lovely served with drinks on Christmas eve in a little bowl. You may like to give everyone their own bowl!.

RECIPE

ratio is up to you to decide, this is how I did it.

• Two handfuls or so of walnuts and sliced almonds
• 2 tablespoons of Extra virgin olive oil
• 3-4 tablespoons of soft brown sugar
• teaspoon of sea salt or to taste
• big pinch of cinnamon

1. heat olive oil gently over a low to medium heat (be careful not to burn)
2. add brown sugar, sea salt, cinnamon and stir together
3. add the nuts, cook gently until everything gets thick and sticky.
4. spread nuts out on to baking paper to cool for ten minutes.
5. break up into pieces.

apple butter french crepes at bedtime

These were meant to be for afternoon tea, by the time I made the crepe batter, laboriously stood over the hot stove and made each individual crepe, was distracted with household routine, came back to prep and cook the apples, and then lovingly put this simple little dish together, serving time was bed time. I love naughtiness and anyone watching their waistline would have headed straight to bed without these. I smeared the dish in 60 grams of butter, enclosed each rolled crepe with soft cooked apple, sprinkled plenty of caster sugar over the top and dotted with cold cut butter. This was then baked in a hot oven until the crepes went a bit crispy on the edges and the sugar and butter melted into delicious goodness. Luckily my always hungry brother-in-law was around to help eat these all up. I served mine with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Oh la la.

Grateful for Spring

It makes me feel so productive to bake and cook, these are some of the things I have been enjoying …. Blueberry and chocolate bit muffins.

Lentil salad, new season sautéed courgettes, blanched green beans, sweet red onion and feta cheese. Gently tossed in a simple squeeze of lemon juice & my best New Zealand extra virgin olive oil. Season, season, season.  The perfect accompaniment to a greek oregano & lemon roast chicken.

Early season tiny broad beans, podded , dressed raw with lemon juice, sea salt and a tickle of olive oil. After a half hour of therapeutic broad bean podding, I decided to put this Haloumi salad together. Not strictly traditional, I have no idea if they eat broad beans in Greece. It was delicious, after some quick googling for further inspiration and desire to keep it as simple as possible; I decided on a tahini, honey,  lemon juice & olive oil dressing. The greek haloumi was wonderful fried nice and crispy golden, the trick is too eat the haloumi hot immediately.

 A highlight of a recent trip to Wellington, New Zealand was a visit to a Cuisine magazine recommended restaurant http://www.capitolrestaurant.co.nz/ . When I saw the Creamy pumpkin, sage, parmesan and pine nut risotto on the menu I was excited, when it came to the table it was a decadent wet style risotto, which I love. Pure comfort food. I have been dreaming of this risotto ever since, so was even more excited when I came across a recipe for it in an Old Australians Womans Weekly magazine. This version as per my photo below had half a cup of mascarpone and parmesan cheese through it. Definitely not for lettuce leaf eaters!, which I am certainly am not. The recipe was divine.

Right time, right place – out of the rubbble of Christchurch

In my opinion if not one of the most exciting and progressive things that has happened to Christchurch since the February earthquake has been
the opening of the Cassels & Sons Brewery & Cafe at the Tannery Woolston http://casselsbrewery.co.nz

This new start venture reads like one of those classic kiwi business ventures, father and sons home brew beer over a unique wood fire in the back
yard and over a beer decide let’s start a boutique brewery. After a few setbacks and two major earthquakes which nearly decimate there business with vision they decide to push forward and rapidly expand the brewery into a prime restaurant, cafe, bar & entertainment music venue.

With the choice of the crème  de la crème of the Christchurch hospitality staff out of work they recruit them all, Barista Tonto from ex Vivace Cafe fame, chefs, bakers, front of house  staff.

We are now utterly spoilt for a premium destination for most importantly  boutique beers, wood fired pizzas, rustic food, sumptuous cabinet food that  would not be out of place in any international city. I adore this place, it  opens seriously early in time for all day breakfasts (try the chilli baked beans on hot buttered toast), serves up lunch, affordable cabinet food by a  clever mother and son kitchen team. The salads are vibrant and piled high on  platters, think Otto Lenghi style http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/.

 The Dinner menu is thoughtfully written, wood fired pizzas inspired by local place  names, how tempting does Horotane Pear, Blue Cheese, Thyme & Smokey Bacon  wood fired pizza sound?. Check out the website for a line up of entertainment in the form of live music acts, this is bound to fill the void  for  entertainment deprived locals that the loss of CBD has left. This is what a  true local food & drink place should be like; children are welcome with  highchairs and a big old cane basket full of wooden toys and books. I get the innate sense that this is just the beginning for the Cassels and this Brewery/Bar/Cafe/Restaurant/Entertainment venue is filling the gap perfectly and will be here for a long time to come….in fact it feels as if it has always been.

Change of season

I guess I have been suffering from food boredom. My jaded palate has not
been craving anything at all. The thought of cooking has been giving me food
fatigue. I guess the most enthusiastic chefs or foodies all go through these
seasons. I put this down to too much cooking, I have overdone it and have been
falling back on my favourite tried and true recipes. Burrittos, Roast chicken, rissotto,
simple spaghetti cabarnora made with fresh eggs, bacon and parmesan cheese and lot of fish dishes!. Sorry no photos, the meals have not even warranted a photo. When my husband says at the end of the meal ‘that was a bit simple’ I know he has been far too spolit with decadence night after night. With my spring fitness motivation I also decided It was time to make some salads for dinner.

Lamb, Barley & spinach salad

We have been having an early spring with some lovely days in the 15-18 degrees. Let me tell you that is like a blessing after a few months of cold, wind, rain & snow. So all this food fatigue has been swept away by some warmer days. I have been working ALOT, and have now managed to get back into my training routine. I have an amazing trainer Jess Ford who runs weight resistance circuit style girls only group training 3 mornings a week in Sumner. So I have been getting up at 5:35am and have enjoyed getting my sluggish butt back into some vigorous training.  Post feb earthquake my favourite Bikram hot yoga was closed. I have since discovered www.hotflowyoga.co.nz and went along to a class today. I loved it the room was only heated to 36ºc and the class was a power vinyasa style yoga. In true yogi style I came home with the inspiration to make a simple red lentil, carrot, pumpkin, sweet potato soup. I used my freshly made chicken stock as a base, it makes such a huge difference to bought stock. The soup was thick and delicious and I felt as if I was nourishing my body just by eating it. The change of season is welcome with so much to look forward to…aparagus, strawberries, blueberries, stonefruit, tomatoes and a bounty of courgettes.

Coriander and mint cold curry

I am a huge fan of Ray Mc Vinnie and his take on classic recipes. Sunday’s highlight is reading the Sunday Star Times Ray McVinnie food section for two recipes he supplies each week. I was excited when I saw the picture of his Balinese coconut Chicken, my mouth was watering. I have never been to Bali and thought I was not familiar with this style of cooking. I liked the look of crisp tender green beans, simple sliced cucumber and a delectable looking roast chicken turned into a cold coconut curry with plain steamed rice.

Balinese/Indonesian/Malaysian style Cocunut Chicken

As I started to prepare the recipe I realised I had no Malaysian shrimp paste and that the recipe felt similar to a Lindsey Bareham recipe I had made from her book The Fish Store (Highly recommend this book). Lindseys recipe is called a Malaysian Chicken Rendang which her fore-word says is a famous curry eaten for breakfast in Malaysia. I fondly remember eating lots of curries for breakfast when I travelled through Nepal and India, the breakfast curry is strangley perfect in a hot climate.  This version originates in nearby Indonesia or Western Sumatra where it is made so hot and spicy it keeps at room temperature for a week. Lindsey and Ray’s versions are softened with plenty of coconut cream to stop your head blowing off!.

Malaysian/Indonesian Style coconut Chicken

(recipe adapted from Lindsey Bareham and Ray McVinnie)

Ingredients

• 1 size 14 free-range chicken
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 6 Tbsp soy bean oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 Tbsp finely chopped ginger
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 red capsicum
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 150 ml cold water
• 1/2 cup lightly toasted desiccated coconut
• 400ml thick coconut cream
• 4 Tbsp chopped coriander
• lime juice, to taste
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced; 200g green beans, stalk ends removed, blanched in boiling water for 4 minutes, cooled under cold water, well drained, mint or coriander leaves to garnish

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°c. Cut down each side of the chicken’s back bone (I use kitchen scissors) and discard the back bone or keep to make chicken stock. Cut through the middle of the breast bone so the chicken is in two halves.
2. Put the garlic in a roasting dish and place the chicken on top, skin side up. Drizzle 2 Tbsp of oil over the chicken and season well. Place in the oven for 1 hour until cooked through and browned.
3. Place the finely chopped ginger, onion, red capsicum, 1/2 tsp chilli flakes, 1/2 tsp ground turmeric, 1 tsp ground
   coriander and  150 ml cold water in the bowl of a food processor and blitz till you have a smooth paste.
4. Heat the oil in a wide hot pan or wok  and add the puree and cook for 15-20 minutes till it has darkened a bit and is fragrant.
5. Remove the chicken from the oven and when cold enough to handle, take the crisp skin and meat of the bones and shred coarsely.
6. Mix the chicken, toasted desiccated coconut, fresh coriander, coconut cream and bring to the boil and simmer for 6 minutes or until it is very  hot. Add the lime juice, salt and pepper so the mixture is pleasantly tart and well seasoned.
7. Serve with steamed rice, sliced cucumber, green beans and mint leaves.