Sushi: Food or Art?

Spotted at the Food Hall in Royal Oak. Almost too cute to eat.

Baked Cherry Tomatoes with Green Beans

 

Baked Cherry Tomatoes with Green Beans

Last week I was down in Invercargill and had the opportunity to visit one of the Blue River Dairy Farms. While most kiwi farmers grow sheep only for their woolly coats and meat here they have embraced the ancient Mediterranean farming practice of sheep milking.

But this is not about shepherds tending small flocks and hand milking them. The Blue River Dairy team have embraced modern technologies.

I watched as large flock of sheep was efficiently herded into their state of the art milking shed, Above each sheep a small LED screen showed and recorded exactly how much milk it produced.

The sheep milk is made into various cheeses : Tussock Creek and Vintage style Feta, Monowai Halloumi, Curio Bay Pecorino, and Blackmount Aged Cheddar.

I took home some of their Curio Bay Pecorino, a hard cheese which was a 2010 Silver Medal winner in Cheesefest.Once made this cheese is left to mature for 5-7 months. Underneath its natural rind it is the colour of yellow straw and has a very distinctive taste.

Back home there was a plentiful supply of cherry tomatoes waiting to be picked and our neighbours kindly dropped off some of their surplus greenbeans . With the addition of a splash of olive oil, some sprigs of fresh thyme and some grated Curio Bay Pecorino cheese these were soon transformed into a colourful and tasty vegetable dish.

Baked Cherry tomatoes with green beans

Ingredients:
200 gm. of cherry tomatoes
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
400 gm. of green beans
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 tablespoons of Curio Bay Pecorino Cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 180C.

2. Toss the cherry tomatoes and sliced garlic in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.

3. Place the tomatoes in a greased ovenproof dish in a single layer

4. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

5. Scatter some sprigs of thyme over the top.

6. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

7. In the meantime bring salted water to the boil.

8. Top and tail the beans.

9. Boil the green beans for 6 minutes.

10. Stir them through the cherry tomatoes.

11. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of grated Curio Bay Pecorino cheese.

12. Bake for another 10 minutes until the cheese is crusty and golden.

Carrot , Yam and Kumara Soup

The worst of the winter appears to be over but in the evenings especially it's still soup weather so I set to and created this recipe. It is comforting and nourishing and makes good use of vegetables which are in season.
Its vivid orange colour will brighten up any winter's day. Although it is a thick soup it is low in calories.
I recently discovered the little apricot delight orange coloured yams in our supermarket. They are grown in Feilding by Halford's and add a pleasant earthy flavour. If unavailable just leave them out for a slightly thinner soup.
Serve  with a swirl of cream  or yoghurt if you wish, and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Ingredients:

1 tb of butter
1 tb olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 tb of freshly grated ginger.
500 g of carrots (peeled and finely chopped.)
500 gm of Apricot Delight Yams
1 orange kumara (peeled and finely diced)
1 bay leaf
1 tspn cumin (freshly roasted and ground)
zest of one orange.
1/4 cup of fresh orange juice.

1 litre of vegetable or chicken stock. ( I used 250 ml sachet of Cuisine Essentials chicken stock and 750 ml of water)
salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan.
Fry the onion and garlic gently for about 6 minutes until the onion is golden.
Add the carrots, kumara, orange rind, ginger and cumin and give it a good stir. Keep frying for about  2 minutes.
Add the stock and the bayleaf.
Bring to the boil.
Then simmer for about 20 minutes until the carrots and kumara are tender.
Use a stick blender to puree the soup.
Pour in the orange juice and season to taste.
Reheat the soup to boiling point if you want to serve it piping hot.
Serve in bowls garnished with chopped parsley or coriander.

Korean popsicles?

I spotted these delicious morsels at a Korean Food Fair on the North Shore recently. Not dumplings, not satay sticks. Savoury popsicles perhaps?

Neudorf Sheep's Cheese

Neudorf Sheep's Cheese.
Bought for me at the Motueka Farmers' market by my daughter .
Crumbly and with a very distinctive flavour.
It made a great lunch.

Red Dhal with Curry Leaves



This is a really tasty dhal recipe because the spices are added at the beginning , rather than at the end of cooking, giving it a more intense flavour. The recipe is adapted from one in great recipe book called 100 great Indian recipes , compiled by Master Chefs of India and published by Lustre Press ( Roli Books)

The original recipe , called Khade Masoor ke Dal ( Lentil flavoured with Curry Leaves)had far more Ghee and chillies in it making it a very rich dish which I am sure would be exceptionally delicious but very calorific and too hot for some.

Instead of garlic and ginger paste I chopped some garlic and grated some fresh ginger.

The curry leaves are an important part of this recipe. Asian food stores often stock them. They taste much better fresh than frozen.

Red Dhal with Curry Leaves

Ingredients :

1 cup of red lentils ( masoor dhal, rinsed thoroughly)

2 tablespoons of ghee/ vegetable oil 

1 large onion (finely chopped. 

2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)

1 yellow chili ( from which the seeds have been scraped out and discarded.The chili is then finely chopped)

1 tablespoon of finely grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon of red chili powder

1 teaspoon of turmeric

12 curry leaves

Salt to taste

Juice of 1 lemon

Method:

Heat the ghee/oil in a pan.

Add the onions, yellow chili, garlic, ginger , red chili powder, and curry leaves. Fry for 3 minutes.

Add the lentils and salt. Fry for a further 4 minutes.

Pour in 2 cups of hot water.

Bring to the boil, cover and simmer until tender and the ghee/oil surfaces

Add the lemon juice and serve.

Affogato made with Kohu Road Vanilla Ice-cream.

So delicious!

Just brew a cup of espresso coffee and pour over bowls of Kohu Road Vanilla Ice-cream. This ice-cream is totally natural, made with free range eggs, organic milk, organic sugar and  A Grade Tongan planifolia vanilla pods. It's seriously good.

Eat at once, before it melts.

Before Breakfast

That quiet moment on a weekend morning before the breakfast bowls are filled. Photo taken at the Great Ponsonby Art Hotel.

Eye Candy

I snapped these chocolate flowers at a Food Show. Too cute to eat.

Almond Croissants: Who makes the best ?

There's a little French bakery at Northcote Point where the almond croissants are divine. Could these be surpassed? I'm on the lookout.