Lamb, aubergine and cardamom curry

A few months ago I visited the spice shops in Petone and picked up lots of whole spices, including cardamom pods. Cardamom seems to be enjoying a revival at the moment and I feel like I'm constantly coming across new recipes - both savoury and sweet - that call for a few of the little green pods. Or perhaps it's just because I now have them in the pantry.

This delicious curry has a few pods thrown in but if you don't have any you could use ground cardamom. Just a little though - a quarter teaspoon or so - as you want the cardamom flavour to be subtle. It's a difficult flavour to describe - I've heard it described as "medicinal" and "camphorus" which I think sounds awful but really it's not... it's aromatic and ever-so-slightly aniseed-y and together with the other spices in this curry it's just perfect.

The curry and accompanying bean recipes are based on a recipes from last August/September's Dish magazine. I've simplified the curry, added aubergine, and used diced lamb instead of chops. I've never been a chop fan. So much work for so little meat. The original recipe is also garnished with golden brown onions - something I've never been able to make without burning and I don't really like anyway so left them out. Enjoy!

The curry

400g diced lamb

2 small aubergine, diced

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 onions, sliced

1 teaspoon salt

3 whole cardamom pods, lightly crushed

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup water

1/2 cup cream

spice paste - blend in food processor to a smooth paste:

1/2 cup raw cashews

3 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons ginger, chopped

1 teaspoon each ground cumin, coriander, garam marsala, chilli & tumeric

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 can chopped tomatoes

to garnish...

fresh coriander

1/2 cup roasted cashews

Heat a large casserole over a medium heat and add the oil, onions and salt. Cook for about 10 minutes until the onions are soft. Add the spice paste and cook for another few minutes stirring frequently. Add the diced lamb to the pan and stir to coat in spices.

Add the cardamom, cinnamon stick, water and cream. Combine well, cover and simmer over a low heat for 1 hour. Stir from time-to-time. Uncover and add the diced aubergine. Cook for another 20-30 minutes, uncovered until the lamb and aubergine are both very tender and the sauce is nicely reduced.

Serve in bowls with rice, a scatter of fresh coriander and cashews and these colourful beans...

Green beans with coconut & chilli

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon yellow or black mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seed

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon tumeric

1 red chilli, seeded and finely sliced

400g green beans, topped, tailed & diagonally sliced

1/4 cup long thread coconut

water

salt

Heat the oil is a large sauté pan over a medium to low heat. Add the onion and cook until soft - about 10 minutes. Add the spices, chilli and garlic. Cook for about five minutes, stirring. Add the coconut, beans, water and salt. Toss everything together and cook until the water has evaporated (add extra water if needed) and the beans are tender but crisp.

two ways with mince

A rather boring title for my first proper blog post for 2012 I know, but here are a couple of tasty dinners we have enjoyed lately. I am not too much of a meat snob, and provided it is decent mince I quite enjoy cooking with it.  A recent visit to Nikau inspired this dinner above - crispy Moroccan-style lamb on hummus.  The trick to getting it crispy is having a hot hot pan (cast iron would be best) and not cooking too much mince at once as it cools the pan down and ends up stewing.  So tempting I know to chuck it all in, but don't.  My rendition was more heavily spiced than Nikau's, so suit yourself in that regard, but it was still delicious.  We ate it with warm pita and a salad of roasted eggplant and red pepper.

To make a quick hummus in the food processor I blend a tin of drained, rinsed chickpeas with the juice of a lemon, salt, a clove of garlic and a spoonful of tahini if I have it. Then I add little pour of olive oil and a good dollop of yoghurt to loosen it; I like my hummus to be fairly sloppy in texture and sharp in taste.

crispy spiced lamb with hummus and herbs

 rice bran oil

1 onion, sliced

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp cinnamon

400g lamb mince

chopped fresh mint and Italian parsley to serve

roasted almonds/pistachios/pinenuts or dukkah to serve

Slowly cook the onion until golden and tender, add the spices and fry gently for a few minutes. Put aside.

Just heat oil in a pan until smoking hot, add the lamb, breaking it into little bits with your spoon and fry until dark brown, stir through the onion mix and continue cooking.

Tip onto a plate spread generously with hummus, scatter with the herbs and nuts and serve with pita bread.

Pork mince is another favourite starting point for a quick dinner. The pork spring rolls below Mum made; don't let the fact that the recipe comes from Food in a Minute put you off,  they are very tasty.  I think homemade spring rolls are the only way to go - comfortingly you can rely on the filling being identifiable, and ensure a good ratio of filling to pastry.  This version is brushed with oil and baked in a hot oven, so they are pleasantly free of excess grease. You can find the recipe here.

Asian-style chicken salad

I may have eaten one too many barbecued sausage over the Christmas break because since coming home I've been felt like cooking anything but barbecued food. I've been making lots of curries, with loads of fresh garlic, ginger and whole spices and tonight, for a change from barbecued food and curries, I made this chilli-spiked, salty-sweet Asian-style chicken salad. It's inspired by this recipe here from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty and a recipe from Oamaru's Riverstone Kitchen that was in this week's Sunday Star Times.

I know the ingredient list below is a reasonably long one but you're missing something just swap it for something else or leave it out. It's more a list of suggestions than a recipe. I used iceberg lettuce because I love its refreshing crispness but finely sliced cabbage, baby spinach or any other salad green will work just as well as iceberg. The pineapple could be swapped for mango or left out altogether if you don't like the meat-with-fruit combo. Similarly, cashews or plain peanuts would also be delicious instead of honey roasted ones. Or if you're feeling extravagant make the caramelised macadamia nuts in the Ottolenghi recipe linked above. They are truly delicious so make enough to nibble a few while you cook.

Asian-style chicken salad

2 chicken breasts

400ml can coconut milk

dressing

2 pinches chilli flakes

1 large clove garlic, crushed

1tsp flaky sea salt

2 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tsp fish sauce

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 iceberg lettuce, shredded

1 capsicum, deseeded and thinly sliced

1/2 pineapple sliced into thin batons (or a finely sliced mango if available/affordable)

1 cup bean sprouts

1 cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped

1/2 cup fresh mint, roughly chopped

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

to finish

1/2 cup honey roasted peanuts, finely chopped

4 tablespoons crispy shallots

Place the coconut milk and chicken breasts in a saucepan, bring to a simmer and simmer for 8-12 minutes - until chicken is cooked all the way through (if your chicken breasts are fat ones allow more time). Leave the chicken to cool in the coconut milk. Once cool, shred and place in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to assemble.

Bring the coconut milk to the boil and add the salt, chilli flakes, garlic and sugar. Simmer for a minute or so to dissolve the sugar then remove from heat and add the lemon juice and fish sauce. Pour a few tablespoons of the dressing over the chicken and set the rest aside to cool.

While the dressing is cooling prepare the salad ingredients and place in a large bowl. When ready to serve, add the chicken and an extra 1/2 cup of the coconut milk dressing and mix. Serve topped with the fried shallots and peanuts.

Serve with rice noodles or plain steamed rice and extra dressing on the side.

This recipe makes enough for four people. Adjust the quantities as required.

meatloaf with lamb, mint and honey

I can't resist a second-hand bookshop, and when in Melbourne recently I happily picked up a copy of Belinda Jeffery's book Tried and True. Her books are hard to find in NZ, and always full of reliably delicious recipes.  These Middle Eastern-style meatloaves have been post-it marked from the first browse, and were rather fantastic. 

The sweet/sour topping of lemon juice, honey and crunchy almonds added at the final stages of cooking is inspired. It also goes without saying that it performs the miraculous task of aesthetically enhancing the finished meatloaf! I definitely suggest you make two as they are a bit of a fiddle prep-wise, so a double yield makes it thoroughly worth it. I can't wait to have leftovers tomorrow in a sandwich, and they would be a perfect addition to a picnic lunch. 

We ate the loaf with a hot mezze hummus recipe I have also been wanting to try (interesting and worth a try, but the high yoghurt content meant the texture cooked out a bit like an over-baked custard, I think I prefer hummus more sloppy...) The base hummus recipe was excellent though - I love yoghurt in hummus - and the crunchy, buttery topping of sesame seeds, sumac and almonds was delicious, so next time I make hummus I will make this to pour over.  We also ate an eggplant, feta and walnut tabbouleh, and a broad bean, asparagus and pea salad with herbs from the fabulous Black Dog Cottage book.

middle eastern lamb loaves with mint and honey - makes 2 large loaves

50 ml olive oil

3 large onions, finely chopped

5 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

1/2 tin diced tomatoes

3 tsp seasalt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 c diced dates

1/2 c tomato paste

1/2 c honey

1/3 c white wine vinegar

1/2 c parsley, finely chopped

1/2 c mint, finely shredded

1 kg lamb mince

2 c fresh breadcrumbs, lightly packed

2 eggs, lightly beaten

topping

2 tbsp honey

2 tsp lemon juice

1/3 c chopped almonds

roughly chopped parsley  

Heat oil in a large heavy pan and cook onion, garlic and ginger until soft and pale gold.  Add tomatoes, salt, spices, dates, tom paste, honey and vinegar and increase heat; let the mix bubble away until it thickens.  Cool thoroughly.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Press into 2 x paper-lined loaf tins, and bake loaves at 180c for an hour.  Heat the topping ingredient together and pour over the meatloaves, bake a further 10-15 minutes until the nuts are golden.  Cool for at least 20 minutes,scatter with the chopped parsley before serving.

hot mezze hummus -  adapted from Scent of the Monsoon Winds by Michal Haines

1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/4 c olive oil

finely grated zest and juiceof 2 lemons

2 tbsp tahinin

200ml thick greek-style yoghurt

1 clove garlic, finely chopped*

2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground

1 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground

1 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/3 c chopped almonds or pinenuts

2 tsp sesame seeds

20g butter

1 tbsp ground sumac

evoo and lemon juice to serve

In a food processor puree the chickpeas with the yoghurt, garlic, spices, salt and pepper.  Spread into a shallow oven-proof dish.  Toast the nuts and seeds in a dry pan, add the butter to melt.  Add the sumac, then pour over the hummus.  Bale at 200c for 15 minutes.  Drizzle with evoo and squeeze over lemon juice to serve.

* I just noticed while typing that the original recipe had 4 cloves of roasted garlic, I will definitely try this next time

pumpkin & mascarpone ravioli with brown butter hazelnuts

This is a dinner to make on a rainy weekend when you're not in a hurry and as was a real marathon effort, starting the day before with the homemade mascarpone. You could speed things up by using bought mascapone or even cottage cheese or ricotta and using a pasta roller rather than a rolling pin (as I will next time...) But even if you cut a few corners it's still a dinner that requires lots of prep (or "admin" as Miriam would say) before it all comes together.

The filling was inspired by this recipe, found via a google search for "fresh pasta fillings". I made a few additions so my filling was rich mixture of mascarpone, roasted pumpkin, red onion, bacon and roasted garlic. For a lighter version, cottage cheese would make a good substitute for the mascarpone (which is really just solid cream) and leave out the bacon.

I used a Jamie Oliver recipe for the pasta dough - basically a ratio of 100g of 00 flour to every size 7 egg. You need to get this underway several hours in advance too as it need to rest before rolling.

Unfortunately when I went to roll the dough with the mechanical pasta roller it had seized up and stubbornly refused to work. So most of the dough was rolled using a rolling pin - about two hours of hard work! The pasta roller was fixed during this time with much cursing of shoddy Italian workmanship - it's now all ready to roll out the last of the dough into something simple like lasagna sheets or pappardelle.

The quantities below make enough pasta for six generous servings.

Pasta (as per this recipe)

600g 00 flour

6 eggs

Filling

Half a pumpkin, peeled, and chopped into 2cm dice

4-6 cloves of garlic

A sprig or two of rosemary

1 red onion, finely chopped

Olive oil

2 rashers of bacon

250g mascarpone

Salt & pepper to taste

To finish

A generous knob of butter (as much as you are prepared to use!)

A large handful of toasted hazelnuts (or walnuts)

Shaved Parmesan cheese

Baby spinach (Becs' addition)

Roast the pumpkin with the whole, unpeeled garlic, rosemary sprigs and enough olive oil at 180 degrees Celsius until tender - about 20-30 minutes. Cool and transfer pumpkin to a large bowl (discard rosemary sprigs). Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves from its skin into the bowl too.

Cook the onion in a little oil over a medium heat until very soft, add a splash of water now and again to keep from browning. Throw it in the bowl.

Fry the bacon, finely chop and add to the bowl with the pumpkin etc. Once all the bits and pieces for the filling have cooled add the mascarpone and season with salt and pepper. Mix it all up, squashing the pumpkin a little so it looks like this:

Now you can roll out the dough as per Jamie's instructions and make the little raviolis. Once you have nice thin sheets of pasta, cut circles with a round cutter, put a teaspoon of filling on each circle and top with another circle and pinch the edges together firmly.

Dust each little ravioli with a little extra flour. Keep going until you have used up all the mixture. You'll probably have some extra dough left for another night. I used about 3/4 of the dough and made this much:

To cook, boil a BIG pot of salty water and drop the pasta in and cook for 7 minutes.

While the pasta is boiling heat the butter and toasted hazelnuts in a frying pan over a medium heat until the butter is golden brown.

Carefully drain the pasta (if you tip them from a height they may explode!) and place on hot serving plates. Top with a spoonful of butter and nuts. If you want more of a sauce, you could top the pasta with a small teaspoonful of mascarpone and the roasted nuts (without cooking them in butter). Add some baby spinach leaves if you have them and some shavings of parmesan cheese.

The following day, a some of the ravioli made it's way from Wellington to Christchurch for Mum and Becs to enjoy for lunch. Becs added baby spinach for a nice bitter contrast to the richness of the creamy filling and buttery nuts!

dinner date - roasted chicken, leek and pear salad

This tray-baked wintery salad has been doing the blog rounds, so I am sorry if it looks a little overly familiar...but I still wanted to share it as it is SO tasty, not to mention quick to throw together.  Chicken, pears and the much underrated leek make such good friends, especially accompanied by crunchy garlicky chunks of bread (they are too rustic to be called croutons!) and dollops of melting goats cheese.  A most satisfactory dinner, especially after a rather tiresome afternoon of yet more nasty earthquakes.

A little trick I have for the goats cheese - for cooking I love the flavour and texture of the soft, creamy french chevre de bellay logs, however these are pricey  - so I buy a NZ goat feta and blend it up in the food processor with some softened cream cheese.  It takes the harsh edge off the feta but still lets the fresh tang of the goats cheese shine through,  giving a result pretty similar to the french stuff. It is definitely easy on the wallet too so can be used with great(er) abandon. If you use a whole pack of both it will make loads, but it freezes beautifully. Lovely on pizza too...

Scoot over to Millie and Mel's blogs if you like for their versions of this salad (which originally appeared in Cuisine mag last year) but here's what we ate for dinner last night - 

roasted chicken, leek and pear salad with goats cheese (for 4)

6 x chicken thighs

1 tbsp yellow and black mustard seeds (or a dollop of grainy mustard)

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 leeks, diagonally sliced 1 cm thick

drizzle of olive oil

splash of red wine vinegar

s and p

chunks of old bread, ciabatta, focaccia etc

soft goats cheese, or feta

salad greens

Preheat oven to 200c. Place the chicken, mustard, herbs, garlic, leeks in a large roasting tray, drizzle over some olive oil and red wine vinegar, s and p, and toss well to combine, then cook for about 30 minutes or until chicken is done ( I used boneless thighs which cooked really quickly).  Once the chicken is nearly done scatter the bread over the other ingredients, drizzle with a little more oil and return to the oven for another 10 minutes so the bread crisps up.  Remove from oven,  throw over the goats cheese and let it melt a bit.  Serve warm in bowls with the salad greens tossed through.

coq au vin

I love autumn, when the cold weather is still a novelty rather than an uncomfortable annoyance, and comfort food reigns supreme. One of the wintery dinners we have enjoyed lately is Coq au Vin, such a classic but for good reason, it is so delicious. I based mine on Tina's recipe, but with drums instead of thighs; I like to cook this really slowly so the meat falls off the bone, and although I love thighs for most things, when slow cooked they can go a bit stringy. Drumsticks are often really cheap too, so are great to cook for a crowd.

If I make this in advance I will often pull the meat off the bone after the initial cook, which makes it easier eating after you reheat to serve. Making it in advance lets the fat settle on top too, so you can scoop it off easily, plus the flavours are so much better after some fridge time. Like anything with a rich wine-y sauce, this dish demands a lovely big pile of mashed potato or something similarly starchy to soak up all the beautiful sauce.

Coq au Vin

2 tbsp each of olive oil and butter
100g bacon, diced
pickling onions, peeled (12 or as you like..)
button mushrooms (12 or as you like...)
8 pieces chicken
flour seasoned with s and p

1.5 c red wine
1 c chicken stock
4 tbsp brandy
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
sprigs fresh thyme, rosemary, parsley
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp tomato paste
chopped Italian parsley to serve

Heat butter and oil and cook the bacon, onions and mushrooms, until the mushrooms brown and the onions start to go translucent. Remove with a slotted spoon and put aside. Dust the chicken in the seasoned flour, then fry, you may need to add more oil and butter. Once browned, return the vegetables to the pan, and add the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook at 160c for 1.5- 2hours or until the meat falls off the bone. I like to leave it overnight, then skim off the fat and reheat, thickening the sauce at the last minute with a little arrowroot.

Indian Spiced Cauliflower

This spiced cauliflower salad is another excellent recipe from the Ripe cookbook. We made it recently to bulk out the vege component of an Indian feast that Sarah and I prepared...but it would be equally at home as a side dish at a BBQ or simply as a bowlful eaten for lunch. Even Dad, who is not fond of brassica, claimed to enjoy it. It was delicious the next day too, once it had warmed up enough to lose the flavour-numbing chill fridges inflict on salads.

The yoghurt dressing is great, and would work well as a condiment for loads of things - tossed through a roasted vege salad, spooned over grilled meats and tucked into a pita with salad... I added the chickpeas to the cauli to roast them, thinking they may be more flavoursome this way, but it made their texture a little dry. Next time I think I would add some toasted almonds to this to add another texture, or those roasted chickpeas you can buy might work well. We also flagged the baby spinach as we didn't have any, but this would make it more of a salad. We ate the cauliflower with a cashew nut chicken curry, dahl and our favourite Roti from the freezer at the asian supermarket.

Indian Spiced Cauliflower

1 c chickpeas
1/4 c vege oil

2 onions, peeled and thinly sliced

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp curry powder

2 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp garam masala

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 large cauli, cut into 3cm florets

2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

2 c fresh coriander, roughly chopped

1 large handful baby spinach leaves

juice of 2 lemons

juice of 1 lime

s and p

1 c yoghurt dressing

Preheat oven to 180c. Heat oil in a frying pan over a high heat, add onions and salt and cook until transparent. Add the dry spices to the onion and cook for 2 minutes or until fragrant. Place cauli florets into a roasting tray, add the onion and spice mixture and toss to coat. Bake 20-30 minutes or until cauli is tender to bite. remove from oven and cool. In a large bowl place the cauli, sweet chilli sauce, lemon and lime juice, coriander, spinach and chickpeas. Toss gently and season with s and p. Drizzle with yoghurt to serve. (Or toss it all together in the roasting pan to save dishes as we did...)

Yoghurt dressing

1 1/2 c plain unsweetened yoghurt

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

1/2 c fresh coriander, chopped

1 tbsp curry powder

s and p

Combine all ingredients and mix well.

pork lettuce cups

Libby made these for our dinner on Sunday night. This is a nice 'throw-together' kind of recipe, that can easily be adapted depending on the contents of your fridge. It's carb-free if that's your thing - it's not ours but we had been pre-dinner snacking on a bowl of homemade refried beans and corn chips so weren't overly hungry. However you can add some rice noodles to the pork mix to bulk it up a bit.

Pork Lettuce Cups - based on an Annabel Langbein recipe

500g pork mince
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp kecap manis
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 cm fresh ginger, grated
1 red pepper, finely diced

2 c mung bean sprouts
1/2 c fresh coriander or mint, roughly chopped

1 iceberg lettuce, washed and separated into individual leaves
1/2 pineapple, finely diced
1/2 c cashews or peanuts, roughly chopped

Cook mince in a frying pan with the sesame oil, sauces and ginger. Once cooked add the pepper and beansprouts. Sprinkle with herbs and serve at the table, spooning the pork mixture into the lettuce cups and topping it with the pineapple and nuts. Enjoy.

dinner date - chicken ragu with pappardelle

On Friday I bought a new cookbook: Manna from Heaven by Rachel Grisewood. I'd almost bought this book on a couple of other occasions but had never quite got round to parting with my money. This time, I was spurred into action by the prospect of my Borders book voucher becoming worthless currency given the company's current financial state. It was slim pickings among the cookbook section of Borders Lambton Quay. There were plenty of Gordon Ramsey titles and generic 1001 baking recipe books but little that appealed. When I spotted the bright pink and orange cover of Manna from Heaven on the shelves it was an easy decision.

Wanting to make the most of my new purchase, I adapted the recipe for duck ragu with pappardelle for dinner on Sunday night. It was a wintery choice given the uncharacteristically good weather Wellington's experienced of late, but I like making slow cooked meals on Sundays when I'm not in a hurry. Not this was a difficult or time-consuming meal to make. It needs an hour and a half in the oven but while in there, it needs only minimal supervision.

This recipe lends itself to all sorts of adaptations. Like chicken instead of duck - so much cheaper and more accessible. In fact, it's a fantastic way to turn dirt-cheap drumsticks into a luxurious meal. I added a couple of boneless thighs too but drumsticks alone would do just fine. A little bacon or pancetta thrown in with the celery would make a delicious addition, as would a few sliced field mushrooms.

1tbsp olive oil

4-6 chicken pieces (I used 5 drumsticks and 2 thighs)

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1 small red onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

200ml chicken stock

1 canned Italian tomatoes

3 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (I used basil, sage, oregano and thyme)

3 bay leaves

200ml red wine

1 tbsp fresh cream

sea salt & cracked pepper

400g pappardelle pasta

parmesan cheese & fresh herbs, to serve

Heat the oil in an ovenproof & stovetop safe casserole dish over a medium heat. Add the chicken and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside. Drain all but 1 tbsp of fat from the pan and add the celery and red onion. Cook for a few minutes to soften. Add the garlic and cook a further few minutes. Add the chicken, stock, tomatoes (plus half a tinful of water), herbs, bay leaves and wine.

Bring to a gentle simmer, cover with a lid and place into an oven heated to 180 degrees Celsius. Cook for 1.5 hours, or until the meat falls from the bones. Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little.

Remove the skin from the chicken (with tongs if too hot to handle) and cut the meat from the bones. Discard the bones and skin and set aside the meat. Simmer the sauce over a medium heat on the stovetop, adding extra water if too thick or reducing if too thin. Skim off any fat that comes to the surface.

Once it's at the consistency you like, return the chicken meat to the pan along with the cream and lots of salt & pepper and cook until warmed through.

Meanwhile cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water. Drain well once al dente and stir some of the ragu through the pasta. Distribute into bowls and top with more ragu. Serve with parmesan and more fresh herbs.

dinner date - smoked fish pie

This smoked fish pie is loosely based on a recipe from the Ripe cookbook and it's the best fish pie I've ever made! I usually make a very basic fish pie with a simple white sauce but this recipe, with a few additions to the sauce - cream, lemon zest and capers - takes it to a new level of deliciousness. The Ripe recipe uses a mix of white fish and smoked fish which would also be good. I'll try that combination next time.

The cream in the white sauce, along with the eggs makes this very rich meal but you could use all milk and leave out the eggs. Mum often made fish pie when we were little and never put eggs in it and it was always lovely. Make it how you like it! The only thing I would suggest not changing is the agria potatoes: they really are the best potatoes for mashing.

Mashed potato topping

4 medium sized agria potatoes, peeled

butter, milk or cream, salt & pepper for mashing

Filling & sauce

3 hard boiled eggs, chopped

400g smoked fish fillets (I used terakihi)

1/2 cup cream

1 cup milk

2 bay leaves

30g butter

30g flour

1 TBSP capers

zest of 1 lemon

Handful of fresh herbs - chives, dill or parsely

Salt & pepper

Start by peeling and chopping the potatoes. Place in a medium sized saucepan and fill with cold water, add a little salt and bring to the boil, simmer for 20 minutes or until tender.

While the potatoes are boiling, place the fish, cream, milk and bay leaves in a pan and bring to a simmer, simmer for five minutes over a medium heat then set aside to cool (I didn't wait long). Strain the liquid from the fish and reserve the liquid. Discard the bay leaves and place the fish into a ovenproof dish along with the chopped boiled eggs.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Now prepare the sauce. Melt the butter over a medium heat and stir in the flour. Cook for a minute taking care not to burn the mixture. Now add the reserved milk/cream and stir continuously to avoid lumps. Cook for a few minutes over a medium heat, stirring all the time. Add the capers, herbs, lemon zest and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the fish & eggs.

Now mash the potatoes with some butter and milk or cream. Season with salt and pepper then spread it over the fish. Rough up the top with a fork then place into the hot oven for half an hour or until it's heated through and the top is crispy.

Enjoy with a simple green salad.

dinner date - chicken marbella

Chicken Marbella, a braised chicken dish with prunes and olives, is one of those classic recipes that has seemed to have done the rounds for years, albeit different versions of it. It originated (I think) at The Silver Palate, a culinary-ground-breaking-at-the-time New York deli that opened in the eighties and released several cookbooks thereafter. Chicken Marbella is the perfect dish for entertaining - most of the prep can be done beforehand, and it looks and tastes much more impressive than the effort taken to make it. Most importantly everyone seems to love it.

Thighs are the nicest cut to use - bone in or out as you prefer. The sauce is a delicious mix of sweet and sour and salty. I like to serve it with little roast potatoes or potatoes dauphinoise and a lightly dressed green salad - the sauce from the chicken on your plate coats the salad greens nicely.

Chicken Marbella

8-10 chicken thighs
4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1/4c dried oregano
1/2 c red wine vinegar
1/2 c olive oil
1 c prunes
1 c olives
1/2 c capers, and a little of their juice
6 bay leaves
1/2 c brown sugar
1 c white wine
1/4 c chopped Italian parsley

Marinate chicken overnight in the first 8 ingredients. Arrange in a single layer in a roasting dish and sprinkle with brown sugar. Pour wine around the chicken and bake for 50 minutes or so, basting with the juices every now and then. Once cooked, strain off liquid into a small saucepan and cover the chicken etc with foil. Remove extra fat from the liquid with a ladle or mop it up with strips of paper towel gently laid over the surface of the sauce. Boil it hard for a few minutes to reduce down and thicken with a little arrowroot. Pour over chicken and sprinkle over parsley.

dinner date - spaghetti & prawns

I made this spaghetti as a quick dinner for two on Sunday night but it's one of my favourite "dinners for one". I don't see occasions when cooking for myself as a reason to just have toast for dinner, rather I see it as an opportunity to have special treat... like prawns!

If you don't like prawns you could add bacon instead, or go without either for a very simple meal.

Like many pasta "recipes" its more an assembly of ingredients than a recipe. I've given rough quantities for two servings, increase or decrease as necessary.

Olive oil

1 small red onion, finely chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1/2 red chilli, finely chopped

1 dozen raw prawns

A splash of white wine (optional)

1 can chopped tomatoes

A handful of chopped Italian parsley and/or basil

Salt & pepper

Spaghetti

Get a large pot of salted water boiling for the spaghetti & heat a lidded pan over a medium heat. Add a splash of olive oil to the pan and throw in the red onion. Cook for 10-15 minutes until soft but not browned. (Now add the spaghetti to the boiling water)

Add the garlic & chilli to the softened onion and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Turn up the heat and throw in the prawns along with a splash of white wine (if using). Stir for 2-3 minutes then add the chopped tomatoes. Cook over med-high heat for five minutes, reducing a little. Once the spaghetti is cooked, season the prawns/tomato sauce with salt and pepper and throw over the herbs.

Drain the spaghetti, then put it back into the pan and stir in a couple of spoonfuls of the sauce to cook. Distribute the spaghetti into bowls and top with prawns & tomato sauce.

Eat!

dinner date - nutty rice salad

This week's post comes courtesy of Sarah.


This simple and tasty salad is based on a recipe given to us by good friend Mary Bollard. After all the rich food over the summer holidays, this salad was fresh and delicious. It can be served as a side salad but is also substantial enough to eat a bowl full on its own. I also thought it would be a good thing to take to a BBQ to keep the vegetarians happy.

Nutty Rice Salad
1 cup uncooked brown rice
¼ cup soy sauce
3 spring onions, chopped finely
1 red capsicum, diced
½ head broccoli, steamed
½ cup chopped dates
½ cup cashews, chopped coarsely
½ cup each of roasted sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds

Dressing
¼ cup olive oil
2 Tbsps lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp honey

Cook rice, mix the soy sauce through and leave to cool. Put ingredients for dressing in a jar and shake together. Add all remaining ingredients and the dressing to the rice and mix well.

the ultimate sandwich

Dinner date today comes courtesy of the venison sandwich stall at the Rotorua Night Market, to which we paid a visit last Thursday night while on holiday up North. Rewena bread (Maori bread that is leavened with a potato starter) stuffed with a venison burger, homemade beetroot relish, kawakawa aioli and salad.

The bread was delicious, a bit like a cross between a good ciabatta and turkish bread - light and spongy with a holey crumb and very moist. It had been fried before being oven baked to finish cooking and let the excess oil drain away, so had a lovely chewy crust.

I was so impressed with the attention to detail at this stall - the finishing touches like the homemade condiments, the little brown box the sandwich was served in and the the wee flax toothpick to hold the bread together. The sandwich was delicious, and at $8 value for money; Miriam and I went halves and that was ample after the late lunch we had enjoyed earlier. So if you get the chance to visit the market (every Thursday from 5-8pm) look out for the guy wearing the red chef's jacket!

dinner date - roast chicken with saffron, hazelnuts & honey

I made this chicken from the Ottolenghi cookbook after hearing how good it was from Chloe and Weston. They were right: it is AMAZING! It's so simple but so delicious and so fragrant. The recipe calls for you to cut a whole organic chicken into pieces - too much hassle when have no butchery skills so I just used bone-in chicken thighs. Boneless would work fine too.

I bought saffron especially for this recipe but I'm unsure whether you'd actually notice if you left it out with so many other flavours in there... it sure is expensive and although I knew that when to Moore Wilson to get the ingredients I still gasped when I saw the tiny wee tuft of strands I got for $9!

We ate the chicken with plain couscous and a green salad. It's a great meal if you're having people over on a week night as you can do all the prep the night before and throw it in the oven when you get home. Try it!

6-8 chicken pieces (I used bone-in, skinless thighs)
1 onion, roughly chopped
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
a big pinch of saffron
juice of 1 lemon
4 tbsp cold water
2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
100g unskinned hazelnuts
70g honey
2 tbsp rosewater
2 spring onions, roughly chopped (I forgot about these but they're only for garnishing)

Mix the chicken with the onion, olive oil, ginger, cinnamon, saffron, lemon juice, water, salt and pepper. Leave it to marinate for at least an hour (or overnight in the fridge).

Heat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Spread the hazelnuts out in a baking tray and roast for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Keep a close eye on them as they can go from browned to burnt very quickly. The recipe says to chop and set aside but I placed them in a clean teatowel first and rubbed the skins off.

Place the chicken and marinade into a large roasting tray, with the chicken skin-side up (if your chicken has skin). Put in the oven for about 35 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the chopped hazelnuts with the honey and rosewater to make a rough paste. Remove the chicken from the oven and spoon a generous amount of the nut paste onto each piece, pressing it on to the top of each piece. Return to the oven for 5-10 minutes, making sure that the chicken is thoroughly cooked and the nuts are golden brown.

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.

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.

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!

dinner date - fish + chips

We have fish every Tuesday for dinner, thanks to Homefresh Deliveries who drop off a surprise package to our doorstep each week. Last time it was gurnard, not a favourite, but I thought it would be perfect to try out this recipe for ginger beer battered fish from the book Ruth Pretty Entertains. This made a deliciously light and crispy batter, with a hint of sweetness from the ginger beer. We ate it with homemade chips made using a favourite Julie Biuso recipe - baking them in white wine results in the crunchiest chips ever, do try it!

basil's ginger beer battered fish

1 c flour

2 tbsp cornflour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp flaky salt

1 1/4 c ginger beer (315ml)

2 egg whites, lightly whisked

3 tbsp finely chopped Italian parsley
1/2 c flour, seasoned with S+P

500g firm fish

Combine flours, bp and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the ginger beer, whisk until smooth. Gently fold in egg whites till just combined.

Place parsley onto a plate, and the seasoned flour onto another. Dip fish into the parsley, then the flour, then the batter. Shallow fry in hot oil.


crunchy homemade chips (for 6)

2kg agria potatoes, peeled and cut into chips
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 c dry white wine
1/2 tsp salt
pepper ground to taste
2 tbsp butter, cut into small cubes

Pat potato chips dry in a tea towel and lay out in a roasting tray. Pour over the oil and wine and sprinkle with s + p. Toss the potatoes in the mixture and then dot with the butter. Bake in a preheated oven at 200c for 1 to 1-1/2 hours, turning every now and then.