dinner date - corn fritters

Corn fritters are something I rarely order in cafes, for fear of the stodgy, super-thick versions so often served up. This recipe is based on one of Richard Till's that featured a while ago in the Sunday paper. These fritters are chock-full of corn, and held together by a minimum of flour, so they crisp up nicely and taste like corn rather than batter. The cheese is a delicious addition too.

We ate the fritters with sour cream, some chunky guacamole and a dollop of tomato chilli jam. I picked up a cheap box of sauce tomatoes the other day at the local vege shop, so our chilli jam stocks have happily been replenished. I make Ruth Pretty's recipe (which was originally Peter Gordon's) and love it. It is lovely with anything you would serve sweet chilli sauce with, but has fish sauce, ginger and garlic in it so has more depth of flavour...it's addictive.



corn fritters


3 cobs corn (or about 3c corn kernals, tinned or frozen)
3 eggs
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 c grated cheese
1/4c chopped herbs - parsley, basil, chives etc
1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
ground pepper to taste
oil for frying


Strip off the corn kernals, and put 1/2 of the corn into the food processor and the rest into a bowl. Into the bowl add the pepper, herbs and cheese. Into the food processor add the eggs, salt and pepper, and blend well with the corn. Add the flour and baking powder and whizz some more. Pour the contents of the food processor into the bowl, and fold together. Fry in a little oil in a heavy pan.

A few of our favourite things...

Libby: This banana salsa is one of our family's classic recipes. Mum used to go off for a ladies day at a cook school every now and then and this is one of the recipes she picked up. The original recipe calls for pawpaw and lists banana as a substitute but we've never made it with pawpaw. (I think pawpaw smells like vomit anyway.) To make the salsa mix a handful of chopped dates, a diced red capsicum, a handful of chopped mint (and sometimes parsley too), a little fresh chilli, some olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and a sliced banana (add the banana at the last minute). It may sound a strange combination but it's the perfect accompaniment to a butterflied leg of lamb cooked on the barbeque - try it this summer!

Becs: I just love these little stools. I bought a trio of them a while ago on Trade Me, went shopping for some pretty oilcloth at Femme de Brocante, and sent them off to the upholsterer to be beautified. They were returned last week, looking as cute as can be. They are proving very useful too, currently being used as a bedside table, Daisy-feeding perch, and doorstop...

Miriam: In keeping with the silly season, Sunday was re-named 'Snakebite Sunday' and the afternoon was spent sitting in the sun with a group of friends drinking snakebites. For those unfamiliar with this delicacy (I'm not sure if this is the correct word?), snakebites are a mixture of beer, cider and raspberry cordial. Purists may scoff at this combination, but it is surprisingly refreshing and social too - there was a strong sense of comradery among fellow snakebite drinkers!

Trifle: the perfect pudding breakfast

This easy strawberry and Cointreau trifle is a perfect "make-ahead" dessert as it improves enormously with a day or so in the fridge... and the leftovers are the perfect "pudding breakfast".

I made it for a mid-week potluck Christmas dinner so prepared it the night before, then came home from work, covered it with whipped cream, sprinkled it with a crushed flake and headed out the door with it. I used bought custard, (which I am strangely fond of), but it you have the time and forethought you could make your own.... But that would mean getting started a couple of nights before to give the custard time to chill. Same with the sponge cake.

The dinner was over-catered, as potluck dinners invariably are, so I returned home with half a trifle to get through... I took some to work the following day for an mid-afternoon pick-me-up... and pick me up it did! I may have been a little heavy handed with the Cointreau as it felt like I was drinking on the job! If anyone had come too close I'm sure they would've smelled the alcohol on my breath.

I used Cointreau but any favourite liqueur would do. Or perhaps orange juice if you're not into boozy trifle... orange juice would also make this trifle more acceptable as a "pudding breakfast"... unless, of course, you see nothing wrong with drinking before 9am!

Strawberry and Cointreau Trifle

1 packet of sponge fingers or your best home-made sponge cake

600ml custard - bought or home-made

Cointreau or other liqueur (or orange juice) as required!

2 punnets of strawberries, hulled and sliced

300ml cream, softly whipped

1 chocolate flake bar

Dip the sponge fingers into Cointreau and line the bottom of a 20-ish centimetre square dish with them. Cover with sliced strawberries, custard and another layer of Cointreau-dipped sponge fingers. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight if possible.

An hour or two before serving, cover the trifle with whipped cream and sprinkle over crumbled chocolate. Chill until ready to serve in generous slices with extra fresh berries.

thursday baking - blueberry and yoghurt scones

Morning tea today was one of these delicious scones, warm from the oven. The yoghurt in them makes them beautifully light, and the sugar on top forms a lovely crunchy crust. I stocked up on frozen blueberries yesterday, Countdown sell the -18 below brand of frozen blueberries which were on sale for just $7.99 for a kilo bag, a great price. Lois Daish has long been one of my favourite NZ food writers, her departure from NZ Listener being sadly lamented. The recipe makes 9 scones, just the right amount to eat while they are still fresh. I will definitely be making these scones again.

Blueberry and Yoghurt Scones - Lois Daish - Week 32

2 c flour
4 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp castor sugar
80g butter
1/4 c natural yoghurt
3/4 c milk (may need a little more)
milk/sugar to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 200c. Combine the flour, bp and sugar. Rub in butter with fingertips. Add combined yoghurt and milk, pouring into a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Mix lightly with a knife until just combined. Gently pat into a square 2-3 cm thick, and cut into 9 scones. Brush tops of scones with the milk and sprinkle with extra sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and crunchy on top and bottom.

Dinner date - chorizo tray bake salad

This is not so much a recipe as ingredient assembly. Inspiration for this quick but very tasty dinner comes courtesy of Chloe. Simply fill a roasting tray with chunks of potato, garlic cloves (skin on), chopped up good quality sausages, handfuls of stale bread, and chunky pieces of any other veges that take your fancy. Drizzle with olive oil and season with chopped rosemary, salt and pepper, and roast at 200c for 30 minutes or so until everything is well cooked.

I used my favourite chorizo, and roasted it alongside potato and garlic, red pepper, courgette and ciabatta. (I added the bread nearer the end of cooking so it didn't cook to a complete crisp...) After letting everything cool slightly I tossed through handfuls of salad greens, and we ate it as a warm salad. Such an easy dinner and really delicious.

A few of our favourite things...

Miriam: I do love the silly season! We've just decorated our Christmas tree, which we purchased using a voucher off Grabone - a website that has a new special each day. It's oh so hard to resist Grabone's bargains, especially as the website remembers your credit card details so at the click of a button you can grab the daily bargain. The top of our tree is decorated with a 'Pavlova Fairy' which my friend Maureen gave me for Christmas last year. It adds a lovely kiwi flavour!

Libby: I finally visited Maranui cafe for the first time since they reopened post-fire. I enjoyed this delicious berry smoothie in the sunshine with friends. I used to make something similar when I worked in a cafe - it's just frozen berries blended with some banana and juice but it tastes so so good!

Daisy has been enjoying the fine weather lately, and pushing her trolley around outside on the grass.

Thursday baking - melting moments

As we bake our way through a treasury of New Zealand Baking

For Daisy's first birthday I was delegated the task of making mini melting moments. I used the recipe from ATONZB, which I've made several times before with good success. Halfway through making these, I realised we were low on cornflour, so I made the difference up with custard powder, which worked well. These melting moments were melt-in-your mouth, and perfect in miniature, as otherwise all that butter can make one feel rather ill.

Here's the recipe (adapted to the way I made it)

Melting Moments - Alyson Gofton

Biscuits

275g butter, softened

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 1/2 cups standard flour

1/4 cup cornflour

1/4 cup custard powder

Lemon butter icing

100g butter

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

few drops of vanilla essence

1-2 tbsp milk

grated zest of 1 lemon

juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat the oven to 160C. To make biscuits beat the butter, icing sugar and vanilla together until light and creamy. Sift dry ingredients and mix into beaten ingredients. Do not over-mix. Roll small spoonfuls into balls and place on a lined baking tray. Dip a fork into four and flatten the dough balls gently. Bake for 18-20 mins until the biscuits are firm and beginning to brown a little around the edges.

To make the lemon butter icing, beat the butter until it is pale and fluffy. Sift the icing sugar and beat into the creamed butter with the vanilla and sufficient milk until you have a fluffy, light mixture. Add the lemon zest and juice to the butter icing and beat them in well. Once the biscuits are cold, join them with icing. Store in an airtight container.

Dinner date - ramen attempt no.1

This is my first attempt at recreating the ramen noodles we ate at a fanastic little ramen bar (Cocolo) in Berlin. It wasn't bad for a first go, but needs a few adjustments to get it closer to the real thing.

It's an easy, assembly type dinner that you can mix and match according to what you have available and what you like.

Ramen noodles (soba noodles would work well too)

Dumplings (I used bought ones but homemade would be a big improvement)

Corn kernals (freshly cut from a cob would be so much better)

Spring onions, finely sliced

Mung bean sprouts

Chicken breast, thinly sliced

Chicken stock

Miso soup (I just used a sachet)

For two servings, simmer one cup of miso soup and one cup of chicken stock. Add 8-10 dumplings and simmer for five minutes or so until they rise to the surface. Add one finely sliced chicken breast. Simmer for a further five minutes.

While you are cooking the dumpling and chicken, cook the ramen noodles according to the instructions. Drain and place noodles in bowls. Add dumplings and chicken to each bowl and ladle over some of the broth. Pile mung bean sprouts, spring onions, corn and any other additions on top.

For my next attempt I'll try a soya-based broth as the chicken/miso combination was a little on the bland side and top with some crispy shallots. I'm also going to make my own dumplings (using Plum Kitchen's recipe here) instead of being lazy and using the horrid frozen ones I picked up at New World. That turns it into less of a "quick-assembly" dinner but Plum Kitchen makes dumplings look so easy!

A few of our favourite things...

Libby: This bunch of peonies was an absolute steal at $6 for six stems. I've seen them for as much as $5 a stem - too expensive for something that lasts for a matter of days. I bought these gorgeous peonies from the Hill Street Farmers Market in Thorndon. The stall holder explained the recent warm weather had led to a Hill Street Farmers Market glut of peonies so they were selling them cheaply and they are super-sensitive to warmth: my bunch grew from tight wee buds to blooms the size of saucers overnight!

Becs: I have been enjoying the strawberry season. Prices in Christchurch have finally come down, so at $1.39 a punnet from the local fruit and vege shop they have been on the menu this week. My strawberry patches are gearing up production too. The latest Dish magazine has some delicious strawberry recipes in it. So far I have made the strawberry and hazelnut meringues with crushed strawberry cream, and the roasted strawberry and rhubarb compote, both were winners. Next up = strawberry and vanilla brioche.

Thursday baking - superb chocolate cake

As we bake our way through A Treasury of New Zealand Baking...

Today's Thursday baking is brought to us by Jessica

This recipe is a good standby when you need a quick chocolate cake. It doesn't require a lot of equipment of dishes which is a bonus too.

Superb Chocolate Cake - Robyn Martin (week 30)

Cake
125g butter
1 Cup sugar
2 eggs
1 Cup milk
2 Cups standard flour
1/4 Cup cocoa powder
4 tsp baking powder

Coffee Syrup
1/2 Cup strong black coffee
1/4 Cup sugar
25g butter

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line the base of a 20cm round cake tin with baking paper. Melt the butter in a saucepan large enough to mix all the ingredients. Mix in the sugar, then remove from the heat. Beat the eggs and milk together. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder and add to the butter mixture with the egg-milk combination. Mix to combine. Pour into the prepared tin. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes while you prepare the coffee syrup.To make the coffee syrup, bring the coffee and sugar to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Mix in the butter until melted. Remove from the heat. Turn the cake out on to a wire rack, spoon coffee syrup over the cake and leave to cool. Store in an airtight container.

I would describe this cake as a good 'everyday' sort of a cake, rather than a 'special occasion' sort. It's not particularly rich or decadent due to the use of cocoa instead of chocolate. The coffee syrup adds sweetness and depth of flavour to the chocolate, rather than actually tasting that much like coffee. The taste intensified when left overnight, but didn't keep the cake as moist as I would have expected it to. This is probably because most of the syrup ran off the cake rather than being absorbed in. I would recommend serving it with a good dollop of whipped cream to add some moistness.