French Kitchen

I have just returned from a relaxing weekend visit to Akaroa, New Zealand. Akaroa is a picturesque seaside, historic French/British settlement; set in an ancient volcanic area 75km from Christchurch, New Zealand. I was so looking forward to staying at Fleur cottage on Rue Jolie, it did not disappoint. This historic 1870′s two storey cottage has been romantically restored. The owner Valerie has a wonderfully creative eye and the overall sensitive renovation has managed to retain a nonchalance which is in keeping with the relaxed spirit of Akaroa. The cottage is very chic, very frenchy!; for two days I was able to dream I was really in Provence. I love garden design and interiors magazines and this was like stepping inside one.

The garden was lush, green and a bit bohemian, a canopy of six trees covered the outdoor table for intimate outdoor dining. Apparently the owners of Fleur cottage had hung bags of bricks on the branches as they grew to weigh the branches down so they grew outwards. The garden had a magical sense, it could easily be a set for A Midsummers night dream.

I adore the old worlde sage green that Fleurs kitchen is painted. I loved looking in the cupboards and discovering treasures; a groovy vintage Kenwood stand mixer and eclectic china. This is one of those little kitchens that is soooo inviting; Tiny & cosy with a real big Baltic pine turned leg dining table. We hung out round the table, drinking and eating, writing and reading, talking and laughing. The chairs were painted a delicious sorbet lemon colour. This overall interior effect was good enough to eat.

Once we ate (seafood pie bound in white wine cream sauce) and drunk too much <em>(Syrah and Chardonay) we retired to the lounge and sunk into one of the comfortable, french linen, shabby chic couches, dimmed the lights and enjoyed the wonderful home that is Fleurs cottage.
Ces’t la vie !
Bonnie x

To view or book see link

http://www.holidayhouses.co.nz/properties/11854.asp

The sunday loaf

Sunday lunch sounds so romantic and plain pleasurable. It excites me with nostalgia to lay my vintage embroidered table cloth, cut the loaf, set the cheese and toss salad for my family to help themselves too. A ”just baked this morning loaf” of Maori flax seed bread, locally smoked Gouda goats cheese, a tin of the best quality marinated mackerel, and a salad of rocket, avocado and sweet cherry tomatoes, lightly dressed in vinaigrette. My best childhood memories are of buying a hot cheese loaf of bread at the bakery after church on Sunday. Mum would nearly always invite a family back for lunch and the table would be lay-ed. I loved all the different dishes to choose from and construct my sandwich, listening and participating in the good conversation and laughter around the table. Lets bring back the unhurried sunday lunch, I love creating this family culture for my daughters. It is the antithesis of our fast eating world.

Banana & Almond muffins

I am immensely proud of these little beauties. This is the kind of mid afternoon pick me up I crave with a cup of tea. They are a little sweet, moistly dense (think brownie), and crunchy on the top. Yes these hit the spot nicely…very easy to go back for a second or third.

Ingredients

60 g plain yoghurt
1/4 cup sunflower oil
60 g butter melted and cooled a little
3 medium overripe bananas
1 cup soft brown sugar
2 eggs
80 grams ground almonds
1 1/4 cup plain white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon golden syrup
pinch of sea salt

25 grams sliced almonds for sprinkling over the top prior to cooking

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, mash the bananas with the oil, yoghurt, butter and oil. Add the vanilla extract and the sugar. Beat together to combine.
Now beat in the eggs.

Sift the flour with ground almonds, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt. Fold these dry indredients into the wet mixture unitl no flour is left visibly white. Be careful not to overbeat this mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins, sprinkle with sliced almonds. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes until cooked when a skewer comes out with hardly any crumb. Leave to cool five minutes in the tin then place on a cooling rack. Serve warm.

Joyful eating from 2012

When caught out hungry I can be a right grouch. My husband jokes we need to keep a mini snack box in the car just for me, his favourite line is ‘are you hungry again we just ate 3 hours ago’ I say ‘yes that was breakfast’. Call it low blood sugar levels but I really do need to eat quite regularly so am always planning out what I am going to eat next!.  Cooking is a passion, but more thrilling is the joy of eating what I cook. The icing on the cake is serving that food up to my hungry, appreciative guests. When greedy silence descends on the table you know you have nailed it.

My second daughter Evie Rosa was born on 19th September 2012. A second peaceful birth at home meant that I could get in the kitchen and cook some nourishing post birth meals. 2012 was a huge cooking year for me pregnant and with a new-born baby and I never got around to posting the photos and recipes I made. So here is a quick 2012 photo diary of some of the everyday meals that came out of my kitchen and were very joyfully received by my family and friends that never made it on to my blog.

Crumbed, golden and glorious! chicken, fish, haloumi cheese, there are so many options. I can never decide whats best fresh breadcrumbs, or ground macadamia, almond nuts, parmesan cheese, panko crumbs. Crumbed foods shallow fried in butter and olive oil, or the fat of your choice, find me someone who can resist this. Forever the reason my home has been affectionately nicknamed ‘fat camp’ from my friends and family.

Cake and baking became my friends in 2012. As Nigella Lawson says if you can measure and follow a recipe then you can bake!. It’s not that hard I have firmly discovered. I thoroughly enjoyed baking some of Diana Henrys lovely recipes from her book http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Cook-Simple-Diana-Henry/9781845335748?redirected=true&gclid=CPK1y7n3_7QCFQRKpgodXVcAUA

This recipe came from this book. A very easy chocolate cake that takes minutes to mix the batter. The almonds look so stunning contrasting against the glossy chocolate icing.

I am also in love with Nigellas new Nigellisima cook book. This is her italian apple pie cake I made. http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Nigellissima-Nigella-Lawson/9780701187330

I ate my fair share of rice and potatoes last year. Fish kedgeree stared a few times. certainly a dish which is more than its sum of parts. Breakfast, lunch or dinner – the perfect meal for anytime of the day. Nelson New Zealand Mapua smokehouse produces outstanding moist, sweet, oily smoked fish. It is swooningly delicious and never dry.

I discovered Dulche De Leche. Why it has taken me this long to taste something this decadent from a jar. For once I praise industrial food. Thank you Argentina for Dulche De Leche. Right now you will fall into two camps.

1: you are nodding your head knowingly as you read this and have a secret stash of Dulche De Leche in your cupboard which you sneak spoonfuls straight from the jar when you need to mainline some pure sugar!. Oh its good.

Or

2: If you have no idea what I am going on about. Please go to a specialty food imports store or online and buy some asap. There are so many ways to have your dulche de leche – milk caramel sauce. I made a chilled vanilla rice pudding, I then mixed dulche de leche with some cream to thin it down and drizzled it all over the rice pudding. The only problem here is stopping at one bowl. We also enjoyed a banoffee style american pancake stash with bananas, softly whipped cream and dulche de leche drizzled. delicioso.

With all this cake eating going on in 2012 I have been thinking my pantry needs a health overhaul and it is time to get my kitchen whizzing up split green pea soups, quinoa salads, farro oyster mushroom rissottos, buckwheat pancakes with blackberries and bowls of steel cut oats. I cant wait to get cooking.

Traditional roast lamb

Across the world roast lamb has a cultural place in the homes and hearts of all meat eaters. So many variations and all delicious, however they are prepared. In our home I am a fan of a wet Greek style roast lamb cooked long and slow with tomatoes until the lamb is so meltingly tender it can almost be eaten with a teaspoon. The only addition required is some cooked orzo stirred through the tomato gravy and salty feta cheese crumbled over the top until it amalgamate in with all the delicious lamb juices. My second favourite is a Provencal style wet roast studded with rosemary, garlic and anchovies, wrapped tightly in parchment paper so it cooks slowly and sweats in all the divine juices. All you need to serve this with is some nutty, cooked barley, cherry tomatoes and lightly steamed silverbeet, a little shaving of parmesan cheese over the top is lovely. I am forever on the search for new ways to roast a lamb leg.

These holidays my darling husband has been requesting a traditional lamb roast. A harking back to a New Zealand tradition of meat and three vegetables and accompanied with a mint sauce; perhaps gravy. Traditional does not have to mean dry overcooked meat and boring over boiled grey old vegetable. I couldn’t help myself when I made this so decided to jazz it up a little.

I used a Rachel Allen easy meals cookbook recipe as a guide. She recommended slicing potatoes, red onions and parsnips and tossing together in the roasting tin with olive oil,  adding finely chopped rosemary and season. I then lay the seasoned lamb leg over the top of the vegetables and roasted in a preheated 180c oven for 1 1/2 hours.  Once the lamb was done I rested it and increased the heat to finish the potatoes in a hot 220c oven. All the lamb juices soaked into the potatoes and went lovely and crispy. This easy to make mint sauce – 3 tbsp chopped fresh mint, 1 heaped tbsp caster sugar, 50 ml boiling water, 1 tbsp lemon juice – stir and sit for 10 minutes; made all the difference to the meal as only fresh mint can. The sides were green beans lightly steamed and then tossed with toasted almonds and sateued garlic and anchovies for a great savoury flavour. The carrots were roasted with the meat in a separate tin with maple syrup, olive oil and sea salt and pepper. I am with Nigel Slater when it comes to cooking and savouring the rustic crispy sticky pieces. This roast was superb.

For the love of dill

A week ago I was craving the herb dill. My modest herb garden at home supplies me with my usual kitchen staples; flat leaf parsley, coriander, thyme, mint, sage and rosemary. However dill is one thing I do not currently grow. I managed to buy some from my farmers market and made some lovely meals infused with the fresh uplifting aniseed taste, fennel fragrance of this under used herb. Its appearance is wiry thread like leaves which look so pretty sprinkled or stirred through a dish. I have been cooking up  a storm from cook book writer Diana Henry. This idea came from her book effortless cooking http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Cook-Simple-Diana-Henry/9781845335748 I have cooked about 15 recipes from this book in 3 weeks, I highly recommend it for a good variety of everyday recipes that are simple yet full of flavour.

Baked beets, Jersey bennys with onions, sour cream, dill & salmon

There are still bags of beetroot for sale at the farmers markets and it makes me feel virtuous to feed freshly roasted beetroot to my family especially as I am sure I am doing something special for my husbands poor liver after too much winter wine drinking. I had to share this recipe as it was very easy to put together and can be easily assembled and eaten at room temperature.

To make the beetroot you will need: 750 grams raw beetroot (try to get small ones if possible), 4 tbsp olive oil, sea salt and pepper, 2 red onions, 150 ml sour cream, 1 tbsp chopped dill.

1: Wrap the unpeeled beetroot in a foil parcel, drizzle with half the olive oil, season and put in a roasting tin. Cook in an oven preheated to 180 degrees until tender. (How long this takes depends on the size of your beetroot) – it could take as long as 1-2 hours. Put the onion wedges in a small roasting tin, drizzle with the rest of the olive oil, season and roast in the same oven for 20-30 minutes. The onions should be tender and slightly singed at the tips.

2:When the beetroot is tender, peel each one (or leave the skin on as I have in the picture above) and quart or half depending on their size. Season the beetroot and put on a serving dish with the onions. Daub the sour cream over the vegetables and sprinkle with the dill. Serve hot or at room temperature.

3: I boiled new small waxy potatoes for 15-20 minutes until tender and added a little butter to warm through them. To serve I placed the potatoes in wide shallow pasta bowls, spooned the beetroot & onions on top and placed some chunks of smoked salmon on top. Very Scandinavian!.

With a little fresh dill leftover I made a spring green risotto the next night with courgettes, asparagus and dill. This was lovely for a change to my usual risotto.

Fish Burritos

Fresh, clean and zingy flavours hit all the right notes for dinner tonight. It has been a biting cold day in Christchurch, New Zealand. I have not really been enjoying the typical winter fare we all end up cooking in the depths of winter; slow braises and stews, lazy pastas, big-hearted soups, red meat & roasts. I just felt like something cleaner, lighter, easier and crunchier.

Bill Granger is one of my favourite Australian cooks. Naturally when this fish burritos recipe result came up on my blackberry screen in the car park of the fish shop I knew it would be good – it was.

Fish Burritos

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 cup roughly chopped coriander leaves and stems
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 small red chilli, seeded and chopped
1 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
zest of 1 lime
80ml olive oil
750g gurnard fillets, or other firm white fish, skin removed, and cut into strips

Method

Place all ingredients except the fish in a blender or a food processor and process until a paste forms. Place the fish in a bowl, add the paste and stir to combine. Leave to marinate for 15 mins. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a high heat until hot, add some of the fish strips in a single layer and cook for 2 minutes. Turn and cook on the other side for 1 minute, or until the fish has been cooked. Remove from the pan and continue until all the fish has been cooked.

Cucumber salad

Ingredients
1 telegraph cucumber
250g cherry or vine tomatoes, sliced or chopped

4 spring onions sliced
handful of coriander leaves
1 tsp lime juice
1 small red chilli, seeded and sliced finely
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp caster (superfine) sugar

Method

Peel the cucumber and slice in half lengthways, remove the seeds with a teaspoon and slice into 5mm (1/4 inch) pieces. Place the remaining ingredients in a bowl and toss to combine.

Lime Mayonnaise

Ingredients

250g (1 cup) whole egg mayonnaise
finely grated zest of 1 lime
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp sea salt.

Method

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Refrigerate until needed.

To serve
lime slices 8 tortillas

cucumber salad (recipe above) lime mayonnaise (recipe above)

Optional extra salad leaves (I prefer the simplicity of the fish and cucumber salad)

Assemble, serve & eat…