We were having friends over for dinner, so we decided to show off a bit by serving them new potatoes from our own garden. The varieties are jersey benne and urenika (purple ones). I thought I had already pulled out the whole urenika plant, I was quite surprised when these babies turned up among the jersey bennes. We ate them pure - boiled with butter. We were so proud.
Who knew that pancakes could be made with apples? What a brilliant idea - talk about a yum way to get your five plus a day! When I saw them over at Smitten Kitchen, I just knew I had to have them. They have been on my mind ever since (kinda weird and obsessive I know). So when I finally got a night off exam study, I didn't hesitate to whip up a batch. And eat them. Yum!
Apple Pancakes
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
3 granny smith apples, peeled and grated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg or cinnamon
1. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs well, add the milk and vanilla and beat together.
2. Sift in the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add the grated apple, nutmeg or cinnamon to the bowl and stir to combine.
3. Heat a large frying pan over a medium-low heat and spray lightly with oil. Place spoonfuls of the batter into the pan, flattening them out slightly to ensure even cooking. When lightly browned underneath, flip and continue cooking for another few minutes until cooked through.
4. Serve warm with a dusting of icing sugar or drizzle of maple syrup. Or both!
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen.
I made these delicious blondies for an event I organised at my church - a screening of the movie Black Gold about the coffee trade, and a discussion about Fair Trade and what we action we can take. These blondies, along with the brownies I also made, received lots of positive comments on the night so I decided the recipe was worth sharing. They are really yummy and the orange zest really gives them a lift. Of course, you could also use dark chocolate instead of white.
White Chocolate and Orange Blondies
Serves 20 approx
200g butter
200g white chocolate
zest of 1 orange
145g plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
360g caster sugar
4 large eggs
1. Preheat your oven to 180°C. Line a 25cm square tin with baking paper.
2. In a large bowl, melt the butter and the chocolate (either in the microwave, or over a pot of water on the stove) and mix until smooth. Add the orange zest, and stir together.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and sugar, then add this to the chocolate and butter mixture. Stir together well.
4. Beat the eggs and mix in until you have a silky consistency.
5. Pour into the baking tray, and bake in the center of the oven for 25 minutes approx. Cool in tray, then cut into small squares.
Adapted from Jamie Oliver's recipe for "Blooming Brilliant Brownies."
Lately I've found that I'm becoming increasingly domesticated in the kitchen, much to the delight of my husband. In a day where we can buy anything ready-made that our hearts desire, I strangely feel compelled to rebel and master the art of making things from scratch. When I came across a recipe for a no-knead pizza base, I knew I had found my first challenge. I'm not into kneading so much, so this recipe was a winner straight up. To be fair, I haven't made any other pizza base recipe to compare this to, but I'm pleased with these results. It doesn't take much effort, but you do need to be organised enough to mix up the dough the night before.
I used completely wholemeal flour here in an attempt to be a bit healthy, and it turned out great. Not too dense at all. I have recorded the original recipe here, but adapt the flour to suit your tastes.
No-Knead Wholemeal Pizza
Makes 2 large pizza bases
2 cups white flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon honey
2/3 teaspoon dried active yeast
400ml water
1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl (it will be quite wet). Leave in a warm spot on the bench for between 12 and 24 hours.
2. Oil the baking trays and your hands. Split the dough in two, and spread out the dough onto the oiled trays. Leave on the bench for an extra hour or two.
3. Bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes or until the bases begin to change colour. Remove from the oven and spread with your desired toppings, then return to the oven until the cheese is melted, around 10 minutes.
Recipe from NZ Gardener Homegrown 2: Live off your land for less.
I'm in a season of baking at the moment, mainly because I'm on holiday and am allowed to spend time doing such things. I've been looking ways to use up a bottle of Bailey's Mint Chocolate Irish Creme we got given for a wedding present (apart from the obvious drinking it!), and adapted this recipe from a Baking Bites recipe for Bailey's mint chocolate chip cupcakes.
If you use this recipe for cupcakes, it should make about 16 full-sized or 48 mini. Also, reduce the cooking time to 18 minutes for full-sized or 10 minutes for mini-cupcakes. Regular Bailey's of course could also be used here instead.
Bailey's Mint Chocolate Cake
1 1/2 cups flour (I used wholemeal which made it quite dense)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Bailey's Mint Chocolate Irish Creme
1/4 cup milk
white chocolate buttons
1. Preheat oven to 175C, and line the bottom of the cake pan with baking paper.
2. In a small bowl, sift and mix together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a larger bowl, cream the butter and sugar.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Mix in half of the dry mixture, followed by the Bailey's and milk, then the rest of the dry mixture. Be careful not to overmix.
4. Pour half of the batter into the pan, and scatter white chocolate buttons over the top. Cover with the rest of the batter. Bake in center of oven for 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean from the middle.
5. Ice with your favourite chocolate or mint icing. I used up the leftover chocolate marshmallow frosting from my previous post.
Recipe adapted from Baking Bites.
We had a friend around for dinner who can't eat dairy. The meal I made got rave reviews, so I thought I would share the recipes. I can't take full credit, as I followed the recipes pretty much exactly. For the main meal I made Braised Chicken with Prunes from the Healthy Food Guide cookbook. The link will take you to the full recipe on their website. All of their recipes are great actually. Healthy but still tasty. I'm slowly working my way through the cookbook.
For dessert I made a dairy-free chocolate cake with chocolate marshmallow frosting. The ingredients seemed a little strange to me, but it turned out moist just like any other cake. It was quick to throw together too, straight into the baking dish.
Dairy-Free Chocolate Cake
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
5 tablespoons oil
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup water
1. Preheat oven to 175C.
2. Sift the dry ingredients into the cake pan. Make a well and pour in the oil, vinegar and vanilla. Then pour the water over top. Mix together with a fork (be careful with a non-stick pan!).
3. Bake in the center of the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle.
Recipe originally from All Recipes.
Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting
This icing didn't turn out the best. It was way too runny, so I ended up piling in icing sugar to make it thick enough, which took away it's marshmallowiness (is that a word?). I think I over-beat the egg white perhaps? See the original lemon marshmallow frosting recipe at the clean plate club. I left out the lemon juice and added some cocoa powder. Next time I would also halve the recipe as I had enough to ice about three cakes! Post a comment if you have better luck than me!
Go to any cafe and you will notice that rocket (or arugula in the USA) is quite the "in vogue" salad green at the moment. It has a strong peppery taste that makes it a nice change from plain lettuce, and what's more, it is super easy to grow yourself. I sowed a packet of organic rocket seeds this afternoon in a long trough. You can use any container, even a bucket or ice-cream container with a few holes nailed in the bottom for drainage. It depends on how much you want to grow.
The method is simple: Fill the container with potting mix up to about a couple of inches from the top. Cover with a thin layer of seed raising mix (I use Yates Black Magic). Scatter seeds over entire surface. I recently heard that you should scatter them as thick as you would hundreds and thousands lollies over a cake, but that depends on how much you like hundreds and thousands! You get the idea though. Cover with another thin layer of seed raising mix, and press down gently. Water gently either with a watering can with a rose sprinkler end, or pour water through your fingers. It is important to keep the soil moist until the seeds germinate, but not too wet. As the leaves are big enough, just snip them off as you need them, rather than harvesting the whole plant.
This is part of my sister-in-law Jeni's garden, bursting with rocket. I'm so jealous of her real garden, when I just have a community of pots! But the question is, what else can you do with this abundance of rocket besides eat salad for every meal? Because of its peppery, herby nature, rocket is actually quite versatile. A few weeks ago I made pasta with rocket and chilli pesto, which was really good. No, pesto isn't just for basil. You can make it out of coriander, parsley, rocket, even broccoli. It depends on your tastebuds really. Let me share this yummy recipe with you. Its quite simplistic and a nice change from meat focussed meals (although my husband my disagree with me there).
To make pesto from this recipe, add some olive oil to the rocket mixture until it is the consistency you like, and store in a jar in the fridge for a few weeks, covered with a layer of oil to stop it going brown.
Pasta with Rocket and Chilli Pesto
Serves 2
200g quality dried pasta (eg. spaghetti)
large handful rocket leaves
1/2 cup roasted pinenuts or almonds
1 tsp crushed garlic
1/4 tsp chopped fresh chilli
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp salt and pepper
1 tbsp finely grated parmesan
1. Cook pasta to packet instructions.
2. Meanwhile, blitz rocket in a food processor with nuts, garlic, chilli, lemon, salt and pepper and parmesan.
3. Drain cooked pasta, saving 1/4 cup cooking water. Mix reserved cooking water with rocket mixture then toss through pasta until evenly combined.
Recipe adapted from Assemble by Annabel Langbein
Also check out these recipes for potato, red onion and rocket soup; roasted tomato, red onion and rocket tart; quiche of blue cheese, rocket and tomatoes; roasted pear and rocket tarts. If you have any other ideas for uses for rocket, please post a comment and let me know because I think I'm going to have a lot of it in a month or so!
Why would you eat out when you have this at home every night!
These silicone heart shaped cupcake cases are my new favourite thing. I've made cupcakes in them a few times now. Funny how I seem to do more baking when I'm supposed to be doing other things, like assignments. What can I say, I'm a procrastinator and I'm good at it! These cases sit on a baking tray to cook the cupcakes, and the cupcakes slip out so easily for eating. Then you wash the case, and make some more. Pretty and good for the environment. Although paper cases are cute too.
You may have noticed that the icing resembles dog poo. I'm definitely still a beginner in the decorating department. I won't post the recipe for these as they weren't the most amazing of cupcakes. I'll just have to make more to practice, and start going for runs to balance out the sugar and carbs intake. Ha, me running. Now that is a good one.
I heard on the news today about Seasonal Affective Disorder, where people get depressed in winter and crave lots of sugar and carbs and lose concentration easily. This is me down to a tee. I'm not depressed, but I do seem to have the other symptoms. At the moment I have a list of sweet treats in my mind that I want to bake, but I have to space out the making of them. Wouldn't want a sugar overload now would we!
Really the only purpose of this post is to brag about the box of goodies my Mum sent us this week. She had told me she was sending up a gardening magazine, but somehow that turned into a big box of yummy stuff! Mum went to the Nelson market and gathered up a bunch of local products for us, as well as some cute cupcake stuff! I can't wait until I have time to do some baking. Andy's the jar police, and only letting us open a couple at a time, but I just want to try each one all at once! The passionfruit curd and crab apple jelly are amazing, as are the savoury ones. Go Mum!
And the lemon obsession continues...
Most Moroccan dishes call for preserved lemons, so I decided to have a go at making some myself. I love lemons and Moroccan flavors so this sounds like my kinda food. Armed with half of the bag of lemons from the farmer's market yesterday, this was the result:
Preserved Lemons
The basic process is:
1. Quarter the lemons and coat with salt.
2. Put a layer of salt in the bottom of a sterilised jar, layer up the lemons with a layer of salt in between each layer, and finish with a layer of salt on top. You've gotta use a lot of salt.
3. Squish down to push out the juices, and add extra lemon juice to cover everything.
4. Leave at room temp for 3 weeks, shaking once a day. I've heard that they keep in the fridge for up to a year. We like that!
Recipe originally from Hungry Tiger.
To use, you only use the rind, which will be soft and tasty. Give them a rinse if adding to a salty dish. Slice it up and add to a tagine (a Moroccan casserole). I'm going to try this recipe for Tagine of Chicken with Lemon and Olives by Julie Le Clerc. You can also use preserved lemons with a variety of styles of food. I found this list of uses from Hungry Tiger. Now I just have to wait 3 weeks until I can try them out.
By the way, we pulled up our first 2 carrots today. Although the second one's hardly much of a carrot - it's barely a mouthful! We're not quite self-sufficient yet...
We went to the Auckland Farmer's Market today for the first time in ages. Now I remember why we used to go every week. The variety and quality of their produce is amazing compared to the supermarket. They have some pretty good deals too. Plus, they let you sample everything! It's definitely not more expensive, despite what some people think. It has an awesome community feel too, which is rare in a big city like Auckland. There's a few farmer's markets around the place now, so you don't have to travel that far to get a dose of fresh goodness. Find the one closest to you.
Check out what we bought for around $10: a bag of lemons, half a kilo of Urenika Maori potatoes (I found out that Urenika means 'black man's appendage', but don't let that put you off!!), 2 huge feijoas, and 3 persimmons (we had eaten one by the time I took the photo). We had to restrain from buying naughty French pastries to eat for second breakfast!
These Maori potatoes are incredible. They have way more antioxidants, I think because of the rich purple colour, but they taste the same as white potatoes. My purple dragon carrots are pretty much ready for harvest, so I'm planning a colourful purple dinner for when we have people for dinner this week. Hopefully I can sneak a photo of it before we eat to post. How good is food!
Today was a day of firsts for me. I tried my first persimmon - delicious! - and watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure for the first time. A bit lame perhaps, but good times on a sleepy Sunday afternoon. Life is most excellent!
Being the end of autumn, my annual herbs are bursting out of their pots, so I couldn't resist having a bit of a show off. You've got to love the subtropical Auckland weather! My friend Rachael came over last week despairing that something was eating her basil and it seemed to be shrinking rather than growing. Needless to say, my overflowing pots weren't much of an encouragement to her! I'm putting off pulling them out because I'm not sure what to use them for. Pesto is the obvious use for basil, but the coriander? Maybe coriander pesto would work too? Will have to experiment. I've heard you can freeze herbs so maybe that's worth trying. You know what they say: you just can't beat a good handful of fresh herbs.
Coriander - my favourite (but my husband's least)
BasilI wouldn't be at all surprised if my skin began to turn a shade of lemony yellow. About two weeks ago I made lemon curd and I've been permanently attached to it ever since! This stuff is so good and way better than the shop bought stuff. Let me share this obsession with you. Below is a typical snack for me at the moment: lemon curd on grainy toast, and of course a large cup of earl grey.
This recipe is extremely simple. Zesting and juicing the lemons is about the most strenuous part. Most recipes call for it to be made over a double boiler, but is way quicker in the microwave and just as yummy. I've adapted this recipe to my taste from a couple of internet recipes.
baking
cooking sites
And so it begins. I'm feeling the pressure on this first post to make it sound exceptionally enthralling so you will all come back again once we get past the initial awkward meet and greet phase.
I'm Rebecca from Auckland, New Zealand. Although, truth be known, I'm actually a Mainlander - Nelson is my first home.
So why the goodness of creating?
Over the past year or so I've developed an increasing passion for growing my own (food that is!) and food in generally really. I'm learning loads about cooking, and am always searching for interesting ingredients and delicious ways to use them.
Then of course we have the endless search for that perfect cuppa that I'm sure can actually change your life. The search continues...
People are becoming more aware of the benefits of buying local products, not only for the sake of the environment, but just because they seem to taste better I reckon. I'm on a journey of discovering what our region has to offer and loving it. I love Auckland because there's always another obscure wee place waiting to be noticed.
I'd love you to join me as I share my learnings, favourite things and random musings about whatever grabs my attention. Join the discussion, leave comments, please! x x x
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