A few of our favourite things

A couple of favourite my things this week actually... with Becs in Australia & Miriam in South America it's just me here and I have two new (to me) food discoveries to share with you.

The first is Bliss Banana Caramel yoghurt made by Cyclops. I thought I was really onto something when I found this in the chiller at Thorndon New World. I love Cyclops banana yoghurt (the one with the yoghurt on the bottom and fruit on the top) but it's really hard to find. This takes it one step further and adds caramel to the banana-fruity part for extra deliciousness. The label says it contains "7 serves of happiness" and I completely agree. It is so SO good. With great excitement after my first mouthful, I called my sisters to tell share this amazing discovery... only to find they'd already tried it. Perhaps you have too? If not, get some but don't share it - it's too delicious!

With the beautiful weather we had in Wellington over the weekend it feels like spring is well and truly on its way. This Aroha tart rhubarb cordial is the perfect, refreshing drink for this time of year. I like a dash in soda water, just enough to blush it pink, with lots of mint and ice. Also good with a splash of gin. Bring on summer!

dinner date - spanish spiced chicken breast with hot chorizo and chickpea salad

My friend, Ash, presented me with this recipe, which comes from Nosh. I served it up for dinner on Sunday night, much to the delight of my flatmates. We bought the chorizo in a 60g piece from the deli section of nosh, but I guess you could use any variety of chorizo. It's a simple dish to make, and oh so delicious and satisfying. I loved the combination of flavours and textures, and it was just as good for lunch the next day. I think it will become a regular in our dinner repertoire.

Ingredients
salt
olive oil
4 x boneless chicken breasts
4T flour
1½ T paprika
1 pinch cayenne pepper
60g pamplona chorizo, cut into lardons
60g traditional chorizo, cut into lardons

1T fresh oregano, finely chopped
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 can baby roma tomatoes, drained
1 large onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lemon, zest & juice
120g pkt baby spinach

For the hot chorizo and chickpea salad: Add chorizo lardons to a saucepan with a little olive oil and cook until the lardons start to crisp. Once the chorizo has let off a bit of the paprika infused oil add your oregano, onion, garlic, celery, carrot and cook for 2 minutes. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, chickpeas and drain the baby roma tomatoes. Cook for a further 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Once the ingredients are cooked turn off the heat and stir in the baby spinach.

For the Spanish spiced chicken: In a large bowl mix together the flour, 2 tablespoon of paprika, 1 pinch of Cayenne pepper and salt. Lightly oil your chicken fillets and dredge in the spiced flour. Heat your heavy based pan to a medium high heat and cook the breasts on each side for 5 min or until juices run clear. Season again and set aside to rest for 3 min.

Present the salad on a white plate topped with the chicken breast and served with a wedge odlemon, extra lemon zest and unsweetened yogurt.

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...)