So it's been a busy little while since my last update, with work and general family life taking up more time than I had said I would devote to it at the start of the year, how easy it is to walk around and over the comitments we make.

Foodwise it's been a mixed bag with only half of the family here most nights (Eve waitresses at Strawberry Fare - a dessert restaurant famed for being on the site of an old mortuary - not much else) and Bryn now also working front of house at the Mexican Cafe in Newtown, the second only ever boy to work there (the first was the owners nephew)

I have to own up here, we have been eating there since Bryn was just old enough enough to sit in a high chair and throw up on their carpet when a corn chip got stuck halfway down his greedy throat, and Eve worked there in her first incarnation as a waitress, so he was a walk in when he got old enough.(he's now almost 15 and a half)

So for most of the week I find myself halving portion sizes or over catering and finding myself with lunch for the next day, not that bad really.

It's been a quick steak on the grill, pork chops and salad and then tonight Bryn and Zoe combined to produce Rosti, not bad at all except that Bryn grated the potato on a very small sized hole on the grater instead of using rhe mandoline so a touch more like a dense crispy potato pancake than a light air filled rosti, but tasty all the same.

Eating out has also been sporadic, Yum Cha at Golden century a week back (Saturday morning of the Sevens weekend so quiet) and that's been about it.

All fairly standard except the New Years rice cakes, very gelatinous, slightly caramelized surface as if pan fried after being set as a slab (like grilling or pan frying polenta perhaps?) but with a restrained sweet taste, something I find is rare with asian sweet meats as most are either hugely sweet or are strangely unsweet.

Will have to search my cookbook shelves and see if I have anything that offers a recipe for this.

We are in the end stage of re-decorating our main lounge upstairs, sounds grand but really our place is a slightly odd layout. Two bedrooms down, a kitchen that joins into a dining/lounge type area at the back of downstairs and a single bathroon, small study/office and a single bedroom upstairs. And then the room, the entire front of the upstairs facing North is a single room, flooded with sun year round and now completely redone (except for the carpet) and ready for bookshelves in the 'reading' corner. This will allow me to pull close to 200 cookbbooks out of storage and have these out and at my fingertips. I cannot wait.

In a later post I'll start to share the range of these, as I have been at times an avid garage sale haunt, and managed over a few years to obtain some older and rarer NZ originals;

I've listed a few below (and will over time share a few of the recipes contained within the pages of these pieces of history, especially those that deal with recession time cooking options), I have some already out and just pulled three down; these are,

The "Peace" Recipe Book, an effort by a returned soldiers wife (Veteran African War) Elsie G Harvey and published by N.Z Newspapers at the Star Office, Auckland. There is no publishing date but so perhaps  sometime soon after 1915? if that refernce is the 2nd Boer War?

Practical Home Cookery Chats and Recipes, written and selected by Katrine, Cookery Editress late "Weekly Press" printed in Christchurch in 1929 by Simpson and Williams Ltd

The Blue Triangle Cookery Book - published in Aid of the Funds of the Y.W.C. A., Wellington - again no publishing date.

cheers

Eating out - St John's Bar

So I manage to eat out on accasion, not often but often enough to be able to pick and choose between the where and when.

My most recent opportunity was at the St John's Bar, an old Ambulance station turned into a bar and restaurant, with a fantastic outside area that's full of tables and oversized bean bags in the summer.

I was meeting with a supplier and a colleague and just had time for a quick lunch. A short but sharp menu allowed me to select the roasted salmon fillet, with salad greens and a very simple balsamic dressing.

Coupled with a glass of Lorenz Pinot Gris it was simple and very well prepared and delivered, only issue I had was that the menu made no mention of bread or toasted bread and the salmon arrived sitting on four segments of toatsed sourdough.

Not a major issue but for someone fully celiac a probable major, simply lifted the salmon aside and handed it to my colleague to eat with his seafodd risotto. All in all in and out in less than 60 minutes with a very freindly waitress, good prompt service and a smile.

I didn't take any photos so can't offer any up, but can recommend the St John's Bar as a destination for both food and wine.

cheers

The Tuscan feast

Well I set up the menu here a while back, now I probably need to offer up some recipes and photos from last Friday  night. The below photo is the start point of the Pomodoro gratinati - gratineed tomatoes with herbs, garlic and cheese

of course before this the squid

This is prior to the BBQ treatment, a slight char grilling the into the marinade of olive oil, chillis, parsley and lemon juice.

I have to admit this was underwhelming if the exact recipe was followed. My critics commented rapidly that this was initally insipid so a rapid increase in lemon juice, Maldon sea salt and fresh ground black pepper helped big time.

I think next time I'll jazz it up with a blast of extra chilli or lemon or perhaps something like a Thai dipping sauce turned to a marinade solution.

This was the Verdure miste arrosto - mixed roasted vegetables before they went under the heat

and then the end result

+ the Tagliata con rucola ed aceto balsamico - grilled sirloin on rocket salad

a single sirloin piece that I sectioned so that I could could deliver rare, medium and well done portions across the rocket and parmesan salad and followed up, later by the end of the evening by the

Frutti col nocciolo arrostiti con il marscapone della vaniglia - roasted stonefruits with vanilla sugar marscapone. This was served with Brown Brthers Lexia and a perfect mix, of course by the time I served this up I was feeling little pain, a solution of Pinot Gris, Risling and of course the Lexia. 

the evening was an unmitigated success as only all evenings with friends can be - best times you can ever have.

The reborn card table

So one thing I haven't mentioned here so far is that the wife (Zoe) is something of a designer, having owned her own fabic design company (EONZ) and also having managed the decor all the various houses lived in over the years.

And as I have mentioned we glamp every summer so having the appropiate accessories are required. Last holiday the fold out table fell apart, it was about time I guess as it was a purchase at the Red Shed some time back.

So Zoe goes online to Trademe searching for a folding card table, this is what she found.

an old feltless card table for $5, a stunning buy.

Problem is that the seller was based in Palmerston North, 2 1/2 hours north of where we live, so how to get it to our place. Answer - Sara and Adrian live not that far way so a quick request and the deal was done, they deliver the talble and I'm pimped out to cook a meal, thus the Tuscan feast last Friday night.

A quick trip to the Spotlight store and voila

the end result, is a glamorous art deco style table, covered in white vinyl with black brad tacks for the contrast

End result the stunning photo above, a table that will not only become a central point for any possible card or board games we willhave at the campsite next time - but also a dinner table if required and whatever else we find it useful for.

We have friends coming to dinner tomorrow night, a year ago I was MC at their wedding and their thank you was a copy of Twelve - A Tuscan cook book so I'm cooking a meal from the book for their visit.

The menu is;
Seppa sulla griglia - grilled squid with garlic, chilli and herbs

Tagliata con rucola ed aceto balsamico - grilled sirloin on rocket salad

Pomodoro gratinati - gratineed tomatoes with herbs, garlic and cheeses

Verdure miste arrosto - mixed roasted vegetables

and

Frutti col nocciolo arrostiti con il marscapone della vaniglia - roasted stonefruits with vanilla sugar marscapone

I'll post recipes after the fact and any photos I manage to take on the night.

Back at work

Well after 9 days back in the office it's much the same as last year. Busy and lot's of change.

The weather's got better so I've been able to get the BBQ fired up a couple of times and enjoy that.

One of the favourite meals we've enjoyed in the last year has been braised/roasted turkey nibbles, now chicken nibbles are those little wing portions that are great marinated and served up in varied forms, Buffalo Wings as they're often called.

Many years ago at a small place somewhere close to West Palm Beach (maybe called Rosies Crab Shack?) we enjoyed a hot and spicy version along with crab claws, crawdads and Key Lime pie for dessert.

Now turkey nibbles are the same 'but" just super sized, a little like Fred and Barney designed them and being larger need a longer cooking time. I tend to mix up a marinade with ginger, garlic, chilli sauce etc. and place all in a snaplock bag and let sit aside for an couple of hours if possible.

One simple option is as below;

Spicy Turkey Wings

Ingredients

1/2 cup hoisin sauce (there are GF versions around but read the ingredients lists on the bottle carefully)
1 teaspoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1 tablespoon gluten free
1 tablespoon rice vinegar (not seasoned)
8 chicken thighs with skin and bones (2 3/4 lb)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 180c

Whisk together all the marinade ingredients together, and pour over the turkey nibbles (having placed these in a large snaplock bag) then massage the marinade in and set aside for at least a couple of hours or overnight in the fridge. Roll around in the marinade inside the bag as often as possible to ensure a full cover.

Then the two part cooking starts. Heat the oven to 180c and layer the nibbles in a deep casserole or dutch oven and either cover with the lid or a double layer of foil.

Depending on the size of the nibbles allow to cook for at least 30 - 45 minutes checking on a regular basis. Once the meat is beginning to come away from the bone, remove and place in a large oven tray pouring all the cooking juice, marinade etc. over the top, also add any left in the snaplock bag.

I have a three burner hooded BBQ and fire this up to full heat with the hood down, about 600c, then lift the hood place the oven tray on the grill top and turn the burners down to low for 10 minutes then off completely.

Turn the nibbles each time and check to make sure they are still coated with the marinade and this reduces and becomes nice and sticky. This takes 30 - 45 minutes for fully cooked, 45 minutes + for the slightly charred option.

Serve with either a green salad with red onion rings (soak in a mix of vinegar and cold water for 30 minutes to crisp and mildly pickle) and oven roasted potato wedges.

cheers

Christmas glamping 2009 - 2010

Every year for the past 7 or 8 Christmas holidays we've packed ourselves up with camping gear and taken the ferry north to south (New Zealand is two major islands named imaginatively North Island and South Island) with a fully laden station wagon and for the past several years a fully laden trailor hanging on the back.

After all a three room tent for us, the small tents for the kids, the cookers, gas bottles, gas fridge, pots, pans, utensils, chillibins, solar powered lights, airbeds, kitset wardrobes, tables, pantries and on and on.......all takes up room.

Camping (or as we put it glamping, glamourous camping) is a full on experience, a friend suggested we didn't camp as much - we moved house for a week or two. I mean really, just because we take a gas powered fridge, a two burner cooker, a three burner cooker, a food chillibin, a drinks chillibin, pots, pans, roasting trays, glasses and so on doesn't mean it's over the top.

The Jersey Bennes being sauteed

What may be ever so slightly excessive are the meals we have while at the campsite. Having loaded the chillibin with a frozen butterflied leg of lamb to act as the slicker pad (works really well) that's the option for night one. Here's where I reveal the 'must have' accessory for camping, ziplock bags.

The perfect tool to marinate, save and reuse everything. In this instance, the lamb went into a large bag with garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, various herbs and back into the chillibin for about 3 hours.

The blackboard menu

The two burner was fired up to parboil the jersey benne potatoes in the cast iron dutch oven, these are then cooled and sliced - two non-stick pans readied and the potatoes go in to saute and brown and then back into the dutch oven to keep warm (over a low flame) while the lamb finishes.

The lamb is now on the two burner with the grill plate across the two burners and the lamb is sitting under the lid of the oval roaster (keeping heat and moisture in) and then rests there with the burners off while the rest is being readied.

Then carve and serve with the potatoes and green beans, oh and of course some well chilled rose from a local vineyard in the Moutere valley to drink alongside. Perfect end to the day.