The Caker in the Kenwood Kitchen at the Auckland Food Show

 

It was such a treat to watch Jordan Rondel aka The Caker demonstrating in the Kenwood Kitchen at the Auckland Food Show.

I was spellbound with her highly original approach to baking. Who would have ever thought of adding fresh mint to chocolate chip cookies?

The quick pic I took of her cake doesn't do it justice, it looked beautiful sprinkled with wild rose petals, Turkish delight, freeze dried berries and candied citrus.

Her chamomile and honey muffins were gluten free light little treats, not too much butter and sweetened with honey.

We were all allowed to sample each item and the recipes were handed out as well so I'll be able to try them at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Auckland Food Show 2013 : Say Cheese

It was the exhibitors who were so knowledgeable and full of enthusiasm that helped to make made the Auckland Food Show 2013 such an interesting event. There's many a story behind their products. After enjoying a chat I persuaded some of them to say cheese and caught them  on my camera. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Energy Balls

I brought home a jar of Nutz Dark Chocolate Peanut Spread from the 2013 Auckland Food Show and used some of it to create these little balls that are packed full of goodness. They take no time at all to make and would be good for a breakfast on the run or just for a treat at any time .

Any good toasted muesli would do for this recipe but I use my home made muesli made with cinnamon, raisins and sunflower seeds. You can find it at
http://focussedonfood.blogspot.co.nz/2013/01/home-made-muesli.html
or my Anzac muesli made with golden syrup at:
http://focussedonfood.blogspot.co.nz/2013/06/anzac-muesli.html


Ingredients:

1/2 cup of toasted muesli
2 tablespoons of runny honey
2 tablespoons of Nutz chocolate peanut butter spread
finely grated rind of 1/2 orange
juice of half an orange
a few drops of vanilla essence

Method:

Mix the runny honey and chocolate spread together. You may need to zap them for a few seconds in the microwave to soften the peanut spread.
Stir this mixture into all the other ingredients
Make into walnut sized balls
Roll in desicated coconut




 

Golden Tamarillos roasted in a Figgy Syrup

I came away from the Auckland Foodshow with a bottle of Te Mata Fig syrup in my bag.  I love figs but I'm not crazy about all those little  pips which tend to stick in your teeth so I was delighted to find that in this product they had been removed leaving only the fruity fig syrup.
I roasted some golden tamarillos in it, and let it reduce into a deliciously sticky sauce. Only a few drops of vanilla were added. More and the delicate figgy caramel flavour would have been overwhelmed.

We used to grow tamarillos when we lived in Hamilton. Unfortunately the tree grew crooked so that the entire crop would fall into the neighbour's garden.Oh well, at least they enjoyed them.


Ingredients:

500 grams golden tamarillos
4 tablespoons of Te Mata fig syrup.
4 tablespoons of brown sugar
A few drops of vanilla essence

Method:

Pour boiling water over the tamarillo skins and leave to stand for a minute or two.
Pierce each tamarillo with a knife. The skins should peel off easily now.
Slice the tamarillos and put them in an ovenproof dish in a single layer.
Mix the fig syrup with the brown sugar and pour over the tamarillos.
Roast in a medium oven (180 degrees C) for 30 minutes or until the sauce has reduced and is sticky.
Can be served warm or cold with yoghurt or ice cream


This fig syrup can also be used straight out of the bottle over yoghurt or ice-cream or in cocktails.

The Auckland Food Show 2013 : Hunting and Gathering

 

 

At the Auckland Food Show this year I decided to focus on what was a different, new and innovative rather than just wander around snacking on everything on offer as I usually do. If you don't have a plan It's all too easy to become overwhelmed by such a vast selection of food and drink..

I  hunted out some great products ,chatted to some really interesting and enthusiastic producers, watched some amazing cooking demonstrations and tasted and shopped wisely. I had a great day. Here are some of my foodie finds:

 

A Figgy Treat:

 

A Spanish Fig Cake (Pan de Higo) made by Te Mata, an artisan company from Hawkes Bay. This chewy figgy treat is rather like Panforte. It comes two ways: a healthy version with no added sugar and a second one with added chocolate .This one a little naughtier and was my favourite. It would be perfect to hand round after dinner with coffee.

The most intriguing spread:

Misomite: a Japanese version of Marmite made by Urban Hippie in Nelson. Made from New Zealand grown soya beans and locally harvested sea salt. It is full of protein, vitamin B12 and minerals so it’s very healthy. I’ll be spreading it on toast for breakfast to acquire the taste. I loved their Miso soup as well.

 

Hot and juicy

 

Silver Fern Farms were serving little chunks of roast venison and lamb straight out of the oven.  They were too irresistible. I greedily went back for seconds .Then I bought some of their venison to take home for dinner.

Bomber Smoky Ale

The Mc Cashin’s Family Original Stoke Bomber Smoky Ale sounded like a dangerous brew but turned out to be a very quaffable beer with a wood smoked caramel flavour .It was strong but not too bitter.

A Hearty Onion Soup

Or as they call it in France: Soupe a l’oignon .This very traditional soup consists of caramelised onions in a beef broth and was created by Tomette, a local French company. They use only fresh ingredients .It was rich and deeply flavoured, as good as homemade. Buying some sachets of this will save me from having to chop a pile of onions.

Sheep’s Milk Yoghurt

Made by Hipi it makes good use of some of our millions of sheep. It comes plain or with a dash of honey which masks the rather distinctive sheep milk’s flavour.  Sheep’s milk yoghurt has long been very popular in Europe and should become here as well.

Organic Dried Apricots

The Sade organic apricots looked rather small, dark and uninviting but once I popped one into my mouth I loved the intense flavour. They are imported from Turkey.

Nutz 100% Chocolate Peanut Spread:

This is a mixture of their peanut butter and New Zealand made dark chocolate. It has 70 percent less sugar than most chocolate spreads and tastes seriously good. Move over Nutella! I’ll keep indulging in this.

A relaxing, soothing and aromatic tea,

Footsore and slightly overwhelmed by so much food and drink on offer I stopped off at Dilmah’s Tea stall and was revived by a cup of their green tea with cinnamon, peppermint and ginger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nutz Dark Chocolate Peanut Spread Cookies

I caught the creative baking bug this morning and made this recipe using  Nutz Chocolate Peanut spread which is a clever combination of  peanut butter and Donovan's NZ made dark chocolate.
I rolled the dough into walnut sized balls so that it made 2 dozen small cookies. They were light, crisp and yummy.
Indulge in a few of these with some coffee.
So easy that kids can easily make them as well.
although the dough is so fingerlicking good some of it may disappear along the way.

Ingredients:

1 cup of Nutz Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter spread
1 cup of brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
4 tablespoons of dessicated coconut
1 cup of cornflakes

Method:

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together with your hands to form a dough.
Roll into walnut sized balls.
Put a little distance apart to allow for spreading on a baking paper lined oven tray.
Bake at 170 degrees C for 15-20 minutes
Enjoy!

Makes 2 dozen

Spicy Indian Roasted Vegetables

 

A large dish of these spicy roasted  vegetables is a great family dish. If you crave more heat  add a whole rather than half a teaspoon of Hot Samoan Boys Chilli Sauce.

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon of coriander seeds ( toasted and ground)
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds (optional)
1 clove of garlic (peeled and smashed)
2 tablespoon of olive oil/rice bran oil/coconut oil
1 kilogram of mixed kumara, pumpkin and potato (chopped into pieces)
1 onion (diced)
1 red pepper (seeded and chopped into chunky pieces)
1/2 teaspoon of Hot Samoan Boys Chilli Sauce
salt and freshly grated black pepper to taste
Coriander leaves to garnish

Method

Stir all the ingredients except the red pepper and coriander leaves together.
Put in a large baking dish.
Bake at 200 degrees C for 15 minutes.
Add the red pepper and continue to bake for about 20 minutes until the kumara, pumpkin and potato have started to brown and are tender.
Before serving sprinkle with coriander leaves as a garnish.
 

Royal Gingerbread Babies

 

Little kids are just as excited about Prince George as the rest of us. So why not have fun baking with them and creating these royal gingerbread babies with red, white and blue Smarties buttons.
Older kids may like to add more detail with royal icing.
Susie baked this batch and then spent the rest of the afternoon helping the littlies make theirs.
The dough is not too sweet and it is sturdy. Brushing the gingerbread babies with a sweetened condensed glaze not only made them shiny and brown but also helped the Smarties and Choc bits to stick.
I found the basic gingerbread recipe in a supermarket leaflet and have given it a  royal twist.

Ingredients:

125 gm unsalted butter

1/3 cup of brown sugar

1/4 cup of Highlander Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 egg

1 tsp of grated ginger/ or 1 teaspoon of ground ginger

2 tsp of ground cinnamon

2 1/2 cups of plain flour

1 tsp. of baking powder

Red, white and blue Smarties and Nestlé's Milk Chocolate bits for decorating

For the glaze:

1 tablespoon of water

2 tbsp. Highlander Sweetened condensed milk

Method:

1.  Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C

2.  Melt the butter, brown sugar and Highlander Sweetened Condensed milk in a saucepan.

3.  Whisk in egg and spices.

4.  Sift flour and baking powder together in a large bowl. Stir into the mixture.

5.  Divide in half. Wrap both pieces in plastic wrap.

6.  Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes.

7.  Roll out each piece to 5mm in thickness between 2 sheets of glad wrap. Peel off the top sheet of glad wrap.

8.  Using a biscuit cutter cut out the gingerbread shapes and place on baking paper lined oven trays.

9. Mix the extra Highlander Sweetened Condensed Milk with the water. Use a pastry brush to spread this over the top of the biscuits.

10.  Decorate them with red, white and blue Smarties and Choc bits. Press these down firmly into the dough to help them to stick on.

11. Bake in preheated oven, one tray at a time, for 12-15 minutes or until the royal gingerbread babies are golden brown.

12.  Leave them on a tray for 5 minutes, and then lay gently on a rack to cool.

I posted this recipe on The Breeze Radio Website

 

Earth Gems and Chorizo salad with a Spicy Dressiing

 

When my daughter Kate brought home a bag of earth gems which she spotted at Moore Wilson in Wellington I just had to create a salad to show these decorative little root vegetables off . She's vegetarian so I made one little meatless platter for her and added some spicy chorizo to ours. Either way the mustard and lemon/lime dressing added a citrussy tang. To turn up the heat add a dash of Hot Samoan Boys Chili Sauce

Ingredients:

(For one large meat eaters platter and a small vegetarian one)

1 bag of earth gems (500 gm)
1 bag of watercress
2 spicy chorizo sausages
5  eggs
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoon of lime/lemon juice
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
A dash of hot chilli sauce ( I used Hot Samoan Boys Chilli Sauce)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:

Gently boil the earth gems in salted water until they are tender (about 10-15 minutes)
Slice and fry the chorizo
Hard boil the eggs and quarter them
Shake the oil, lime/lemon juice, mustard and salt and pepper together to make the dressing. Add a dash of Hot Samoan Boys Chilli Sauce.
Toss the watercress in half of the dressing and arrange on a large platter.
Scatter the other ingredients decoratively over the top.
Dribble over the remaining dressing.
Serve warm.

For the vegetarian version:

Omit the chorizo








 

Pear Tarts from Little and Friday

This very decorative dessert was baked by my sister in law Alison for a dinner last night at our house. The recipe made 8  individual tarts and looked amazing. It came from the Little and Friday recipe book in which there is a superb collection of treats.

Each sweet short pastry base was filled  with 3 tablespoon of frangipane.
The bottoms were sliced from each pear before poaching so they would sit flat. Keeping the tops intact vertical slices were cut from the stalk of each pear, making each one a few millimetres apart.
Then each pear was gently spread apart to make a circular fan.
A pear fan was put on top of the frangipane filling in each tart . The pear was twisting slightly so it extended to the edges. The tarts were baked for 30 minutes in a moderate oven.

It sounds rather complicated but the end result was well worth it.

In the original recipe the tarts were served with mascarpone but some of us ate them plain and some added a dollop of whipped cream.