A few of our favourite things

Becs: The Taste Bistro stall at the Christchurch Farmer's Market has been serving up some delicious food lately.  Chef Alicia cooks up a storm and the ready-to-eat meals are the sort of unpretentious/tasty/slow-cooked comfort food you would make at home if you had the time and/or budget to have the oven on for hours and hours. My favourites include the slow-cooked pulled pork sandwiches and the incredible braised oxtail or lamb shanks. The homemade bread and salads are delicious too, often it's a chickpea, barley and seasonal veg concoction, and service is always provided with a smile. Unlike the scorn dished up by a well-known Christchurch chef peddling fancy tacos at the market. I should have known better than to order at the end of the morning when more fat than meat appeared to be on offer, but didn't expect my request for less flab to be met with such contempt. (Sorry to brickbat as it's not our thing but arrogant chefs rile me!) Note - the photo above is pinched from the CFM facebook page - I never get a chance to photograph the food as it is tucked into pronto.

Libby: I've never been a fan of tonic water. I always felt it ruined perfectly good gin but this Quina Fina (you say it "kee-na fee-na") is very drinkable. It's only very gently bitter and not too sweet - perfectly balanced. I like it on its own with lots of ice and lemon. 

a few of our favourite things

Miriam: I love this cake stand from Texan Art Schools that Mike gave me for my birthday. On Saturday friends brought around some treats from Pandoro, so I was able to supplement my Sticky Lemon Slice on the bottom and fill the cake stand up with a selection of other treats for dessert.



Libby: I spent the weekend in Hawke's Bay so made a quick visit to the Hawkes Bay Farmers Market on Sunday morning. The market is held at the Hastings A &P showgrounds and attracts a huge crowd. But the stalls are well laid out so even though there are hundreds of people at the market it doesn't feel crowded. There was so much variety - produce, cured meats, fresh and smoked fish, breads, sauces, jams & chutneys - and all so beautifully fresh. I picked up a huge bunch of asparagus for only $4 and some lovely Hohepa cumin gouda. Unfortunately I put the asparagus in the fridge and forgot about it until well on the way back to Wellington - hopefully it travelled back to Christchurch with the rest of the family later in the day.

It was only the briefest of visits to the farmers' market - just enough time for one lap but you could easily spend an hour or two wandering around. We had lots more to fit in including a visiting a favourite place from childhood... Waimarama beach.

Becs: I feel like a born-again gardener at the moment, but Spring does that to you so please forgive the horticultural enthusiasm! Check out my rocket patch above; I was a little heavy-handed with the seed scattering a few weeks ago and now have an enormous supply to cut when needed, so no more bags in the fridge turning to mulch. Even if you aren't into gardening, I recommend getting a pack of rocket to sow, it will grow so easily in a pot or seed tray (I love these beautiful cedar ones from Mapua Country Trading). I sowed a mix of Kings Organic Rocket and their Arugula Wild Italian Rustic. The store bought variety doesn't come close to the taste of homegrown stuff that has a proper peppery bite to it.

A few of our favourite things...

Becs: I recently had the pleasure of helping out with the Taste Farmers Market New Zealand Awards. Judges (pictured from L to R) Al Brown, Brett McGregor, Zo Zhou, Jonny Schwass, Suzanne Dale and Chris Fortune deliberated over more than 100 beautiful products from small NZ producers who sell at farmers markets around the country. It was a dream of a day; unpacking the courier parcels containing all the award entries was my idea of Christmas, as was tasting everything from buffalo yoghurt to homemade walnut baklava (in between jotting down the judges thoughts of course!) For a sneak peek at some of the highlights do have a look at Zo's blog, where she gives an excellent run-down.

Miriam: On Sunday Lewi and I went out to Huia in the Waitakeres. It was a beautiful sunny morning and after a couple of hours of walks, we stopped in for lunch at the Huia Beach Store & Cafe. We enjoyed an old school thick shake and a cheese & pineapple toasted sandwich. Although the thick shake was $7, and the toasted sandwich was so crunchy with butter it undid all the good of our walk, it was such a blast from the past and the perfect setting to enjoy these treats.

posh porridge

I started a new venture at our local farmers market recently, it's called Posh Porridge. Hot organic porridge ready to eat on cold winter mornings at the market, with lovely fruit toppings (think pudding, but on top of porridge!) After weeks of porridge cooking and eating trials I found a local supplier of sweet, nutty kibbled oats, which when slow cooked become deliciously creamy but still retain a bite, a little like a good risotto. Business is building up slowly but steadily, and last week Posh Porridge had sold out by 11am which was exciting.

The top photo is the newest addition to the menu...porridge with roasted rhubarb and vanilla bean custard. I have been eating it for breakfast this week and it is sensational, perhaps my favourite so far.

Posh Porridge is available at the Christchurch Farmers Market which is held in the grounds of Riccarton House every Saturday morning, rain or shine, from 9am-12pm. Most weeks I make a few take-home and reheat puddings too, sticky date with toffee sauce and rhubarb and apple crumbles being the favourites. Nothing cutting edge but comfort food at its best!

A few of our favourite things...

Libby: My favourite place in Wellington for coffee at the moment is Memphis Belle on Dixon Street. The guys that own and run this place know how to make good coffee and I don't think they'd send a coffee out if it was less than perfect. The decor is an eclectic mix of the 60s and 70s (you can just make out the Crown Lynn "Pioneer" saucer the cup is sitting on) and with floor to ceiling windows on two sides, its an interesting place to sit and people-watch. That's if you can get a seat, there are only a few tables and they're usually full!

Miriam: A couple of years ago, Becs started a pudding making business, Cream. It's was so successful, Sunday magazine (that comes with the Sunday Star-Times) featured Cream Handmade Puddings in their 'going up' section. Cream took a break, but recently has been resurrected, and the sticky date puddings are as delicious as ever! When I was in Christchurch a few weeks ago, Becs packed a pudding in my bag to take back to Auckland. It was very popular in my household, quotes from the lucky recipients included "I loved that pudding" and "that was one of the nicest desserts I've eveeeeeeeer had!!" If you're lucky enough to live in Christchurch go buy one of Becs' puddings at the Christchurch Famers Market.

Becs: I had always been a little underwhelmed by chorizo, until I tried the fresh version from Christchurch based Mariano's. Theirs have a meaty texture and a lovely sweet, smoky flavour. I like to split the skins and squeeze the meat out, panfrying it with some red peppers before adding a few spoonfuls of romesco (or red pepper pesto) and a pour of cream or lite evaporated milk, before tossing through hot spaghetti with a handful of roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley and some toasted pumpkin seeds. A little goes a long way, so a pack of 4 chorizo served this way will easily serve 4.

a few of our favourite things...

Miriam: A few years ago, Becky told me about the wonderful flat bread from the Persian Network on Dominion road. I used to go there a bit, but had totally forgotten about its existence until I rediscovered it again last week. Even though it had been a few years, the shop hasn't changed - it still sells an eclectic mix of dried goods, refridgerated products, persian rugs and even has a special section cordoned off for DVDs. I was very pleased to find that the flat bread is still available and as good as ever, and at $2.50 a pop it looks like their prices haven't changed either. I see the bread company have their own website and courier the bread 'for home or restaurants' http://www.parsiannz.com/

Libby: The Harbourside Market at Wellington's waterfront on Sunday mornings is worth getting up for, not that I make it every weekend as its best to get there early before the crowds arrive. The market has expanded in the last couple of years and gone from selling mostly fruit and vegetables to all sorts of stalls selling nuts, bread, meat, baking, pizza etc... The fruit and vegetables are mostly excess/non-export quality stock from big distributors, though there are a few smaller organic stalls. The best thing about this market is the bargain prices (especially compared to Thorndon New World). Everything is so cheap it's easy to go overboard and buy more than you can eat. This was my haul from last Sunday - $20 well spent.

Becs: Piako Gourmet Yoghurt has been talked up quite a bit in previous Lovely Wee Days posts, and with good reason. Piako were the first NZ company to offer like the thick, dessert-like yoghurt common in Australia, especially in Queensland. With its beautiful silky texture - thick enough to stand a spoon up in - it tastes almost like cheesecake. I like to eat it spooned straight from the pottle for a pick-me-up treat. I love the mango flavour best with the lemon curd a very close second, and would rather have a tub of Piako than ice cream any day (and did I mention it is 95% fat free...)