My parents are amazing gardeners and I couldn’t resist this little scallopini left over from their crop. Mainly because, what a cute vegetable, everyone! How could you not want to take it home? Little and frilly and kind of like a flying saucer. I’ve eaten …
Sometimes, despite the best of intentions, fruit can go a little south in the fruit bowl. Things in general feel like they have gone a little south lately. This time a year ago our current COVID circumstances would have been unimaginable to pretty much all …
Do you get to feeling nibbly late afternoon? Does your mouth start watering as you fantasise about stuffing large handfuls of salt and vinegar chips into your mouth alongside stacks of delicious lovely cheese? Well, friends, have I got a deal for you. Because while my brain would like to cram in a whole lot of fat and salt at 4pm on the dot, my body would not thank me.
These bites will trick your mouth into thinking it’s had a whole lot more salt and fat that you’ve provided. They are pretty generously spiced with the merest smidgen of sharp cheese to ensure you get a flavour hit. There’s a reasonable about of healthy, non-animal based oil as I find it not only helps with satiety but also gives these a lovely, crumbly and slightly luxurious texture. Finally, the sunflower seeds toast up beautifully during baking to give a little crunch.
The secret it to keep them bite-sized. You just want one to pop into your mouth for a savoury pick-me-up, and they get in unmanageably crumbly if much bigger than a teaspoonful.
Ingredients
1 c oats
1 c plain flour, sifted
1 t each of chilli flakes and ground black pepper
1/4 t cayenne pepper
Pinch salt
1/2 c sunflower seeds
1/4 c sharp cheese, grated
1/2 c rapeseed oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
Method
Set the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Line two baking trays with grease proof paper.
Mix together oats, flour, spices and seasoning in a large bowl.
Add the seeds and cheese and stir to combine.
Add the egg and oil. Mix and form into a stiff ball of dough, using your hands to shape and mould the dough.
Place teaspoonfuls of dough onto baking trays, using your hands to squeeze together loose crumbs.
Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool on a baking wrack.
I am busy looking after my garden, or is it looking after me? It’s working hard, growing many of my favourite treats, including raspberries, zucchinis and cucumbers. My rangy, imperfect little beginner’s garden is very restorative. I can nurture my plants and enjoy some success, …
Sometimes you just need some gently savoury food in your life, for comfort’s sake. I have felt this way recently. Freshly-baked bread, cheese scones, pulses and hot drinks are the order of the day. Infused oils are an excellent way to pep up most of …
Some things are meant to be. I’ve been thinking about Kahawai for a while now. Common in our waters, it seems to me – and correct me if I’m wrong – that people can get a little sniffy about them. Kind of like they’re thought of as some kind of second-best fish. Tough, people say. Or flavourless.
I’m always up for a food-related challenge. Determined to find out for myself, and with the entire month of February on enforced bed-rest plus all of the internet at my disposal, I’d been googling all manner of Kahawai-related things. I had just decided on ordering some smoked Kahawai from this lovely-sounding little outfit when…..
…my husband was invited on a fishing trip. He is not a natural outdoorsman and to be honest I suspect he accepted the invitation largely due to FOMO. I wasn’t particularly convinced we would be getting any fresh fish at all. But, doubter that I am, he proved me wrong and returned with two big, silvery, glistening Kahawai (along with some rather cute little gunard – more about them in another post).
The downside to this little story that the Kahahwai were completely whole. Not skinned, not gutted, and looking up at me from the kitchen sink. Thank god for Youtube, and several messy, sweary hours later, we had some neat little Kahawai fillets at our disposal. By this time I was a bit sick of looking at fish, so it was over to the husband, aka Kahawai catcher extraordinaire, to smoke them.
It seems that for as many people who get sniffy about Kahawai, there are as many who sing Kahawai’s praises, especially as either smoked or curried. I adapted this recipe from our beloved National Radio to smoke the fillets, and gosh, they were gorgeous. Lush, flaky and flavoursome, and most definitely fine all by themselves. I do love a dip, and so used one of my precious fillets to make this simple pâté. It’s lovely with some toasted tortilla or flatbread and goes very well with a nice dry cider. I reckon you could substitute another type of smoked fish too, but I have to ask, why would you?
Smoked Kahawai fillets:
For four fillets:
5 T honey
2 T maple syrup
2 T brown sugar
Flaky sea salt
Marinate the fillets overnight in the above mixture.
Cook for half an hour or until skin flakes away with a fork. We did ours on our Weber barbeque using a smoking box and manuka wood chips .
Smoked Kahawai pâté:
1 fillet smoked Kahawai, flaked into chunks.
150g tub of sour cream
2 T mayonnaise
Juice of one lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Place all ingredients in a bowl. Use a stick blender or masher to combine until smooth, or to your taste (some people swear by a chunkier consistency, I like mine a little smoother).
Serve with toasted tortilla or flatbread.
Happy 2017 everyone! I think we can all agree that the year we have just ushered out was rather bruising, whether you’re talking politically, artistically, or for many of us, personally. So, what we really need to ring in the New Year is not cucumber sticks, …
Pork and porridge. It’s not too often you get these two together, but they are both delicious with a little applesauce, no? Admittedly, my first thought on arriving at Apple Sauce in the Edmonds Cookbook (apart from no, not more apples) was ho-hum. Apple sauce …
If you fancy a sugar hangover, look no further. This fudge is mouth-suckingly sweet and all the better for it. A firm Kiwi favourite, it is dense and rich, comprised largely of sugar, sweetened condensed milk and golden syrup.
I can’t get to the bottom of its name. In my travels through the internet, I was delighted to find Nigella acknowledges we call Russian Fudge in our little country, although she calls her version Vanilla Fudge.
This lovely Polish-authored food blog includes a recipe for Polish krówki, which translates as ‘little cows’ (how I love that!). Krówki is a sweet fudge very similar to our Russian fudge, and apparently Russia have a version too. New Zealand has a strong Polish connection, most famously through our post-World War II Polish refugee children. Could this explain it?
I won’t keep you all waiting while I trawl through the history of New Zealand confectionary in hope of an answer. Here is my preferred recipe for Russian fudge. The best tip I can give you is beat the fudge for as long as it takes in the final stage – it really is important for making it set.
Ingredients:
Method:
Place everything except for the vanilla essence into a pot and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Once it is boiling, keep stirring and let it boil for about 20 minutes, until a blob of fudge dropped in cold water can be formed into a squishy little ball.
Take off the heat, add the vanilla essence, and beat the fudge until it starts to thicken (I’m always into doing things by hand but I can really recommend an electric beater for this bit if you have one!)
Spread into a baking tin and leave to set for at least two hours.
I’m finding myself with a lot of tinned goods recently, not unlike many people in our little shaky isles in the wake of our 7.8 earthquake. It pays to be prepared. I’ve heard the comment more than once that tinned pears are the least exciting …