mums are the best!!

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!

preserved lemons and puny carrots

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...

auckland farmer's market

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!

an abundance of herbs (or a bit of a show off)

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)

Basil

a lemony obsession

I 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.

Microwave Lemon Curd

1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
3 lemons - zest and juice
1/2 cup butter, melted

1. Choose a large microwave-safe bowl and thoroughly whisk together the sugar and eggs. Stir in the lemon zest and juice until completely mixed through. Add the butter to the mixture slowly but surely, slowly whisking it all together.

2. Cook on High for 1 minute intervals, stirring after each minute. A necessary step to avoid creating very lemony scrambled eggs. Could be alright? I don't know, but I think I would rather have lemon curd myself. Repeat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, and resembles a creamy velvety consistency. It will thicken further as it cools.

3. Remove and pour into hot sterilised jars (leave jars and lids in a big pot of boiling water for 10 mins). The lemon curd will keep in the fridge for about 3 weeks. Yummy! This recipe should make around 3 cups I think.

If you're a bit lost for uses for lemon curd, simply fill a sweet pastry case (or mini ones) with lemon curd and drizzle with choc sauce or top with berries and serve chilled for an amazing dessert in a minute. Or, do as I did, and use it as a filling for vanilla cupcakes. I also made mini cupcakes and used it as a glaze. Man I'm hungry now - gotta go have me some lemon curd!

recipe list

baking

• Bailey's Mint Chocolate Cake
• Dairy-Free Chocolate Cake
• Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting
• White Chocolate and Orange Blondies

breakfast

• Apple Pancakes
• Microwave Lemon Curd

dairy free

• Dairy-Free Chocolate Cake
• Preserved Lemons

dessert

• Apple Pancakes

fruit

• Apple Pancakes
• Microwave Lemon Curd
• Preserved Lemons

gluten free

• Italian Inspired Quinoa
• Microwave Lemon Curd
• Preserved Lemons

meat

• Italian Inspired Quinoa
• No-Knead Wholemeal Pizza

preserves

• Microwave Lemon Curd
• Preserved Lemons

vegetarian

• No-Knead Wholemeal Pizza
• Pasta with Rocket and Chilli Pesto

links

cooking sites

• All Recipes
• Epicurious
• Foodlovers
• Food & Wine
• Healthy Food Guide
• Jamie Oliver
  
• Recipezaar
• Taste

food blogs

• 101 Cookbooks
• Baking Bites
• Becks & Posh
• Cannelle et Vanille
• Chocolate & Zucchini
• Cream Puffs In Venice
• Culinate
• HomeMadeS
• Homesick Texan
• La Tartine Gourmande
• Lottie + Doof
• Ms. Adventures in Italy
• Not Quite Nigella
• nz cupcake queen
• Orangette
• Simply Recipes
• smitten kitchen
• Syrup magazine
• Tartelette
• The Domestic Goddess
• The Kitchn
• use real butter
• winosandfoodies

gardening sites

• New Zealand Gardener
• You Grow Girl

other favourites

• Craftzine
  
• Design*Sponge
• Is My Blog Burning?
• Lovely NZ

welcome one, welcome all...

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