Lately

When I started this blog I was a lawyer who wanted to be a chef. I'm no longer a lawyer and I don't think I ever really wanted to be a chef, even though I really do love cooking. Life is certainly different, and lately it's been looking a bit like this: throwing dinner parties, cafe outings involving kid-sized hot chocolates, setting up an office, sharing tiramisu, writing some columns, watching some Netball, spouting drivel on twitter, making macarons, not writing enough blog posts, feeling guilty about not writing enough blog posts, swanky lunches, catch up wines, meetings about meat, and inappropriately adding to my Gorman dress collection. 

All that, plus admiring Auckland in Autumn, slow cooking beef cheeks, and parallel parking like a boss.

I'm addressing the blog post thing, honest.  

 

 

party, party, spin, salad

I had a very delicious weekend in Wellington. It went a bit like this: Matterhorn, Havana, Tommy Million's, Prefab (couldn't get a table), Cafe Laffare (could get a table), Sweet Mother's Kitchen, Slow Boat Records, Six Barrel Soda Co, my friend's flat in Mt Vic, Beth's amazing 30th birthday party dinner in the Aro Valley Community Hall, Fringe Bar, Tommy Million's, the City Market, my favourite kitchen table in Newtown, my friend's flat in Mt Vic, Sweet Mother's Kitchen, and the Tasting Room. I ate and drank and danced and sang (some truly awful karaoke). I always come back from Wellington creatively inspired and excited about life (and usually hungover).

I have returned to a ridiculously full week, including deadlines and dinners, but with creative inspiration and lots of eating also came an overwhelming need to inject myself with vegetables. My intention was to ease back into exercise with a bikram-induced sweat-fest but my rubber arm was instead twisted into a spin class. High on endorphins I loaded up on vegetables and felt bloody good about it afterwards. I had enough for leftovers tonight, which I dealt to after I went for a run in the rain. And so instead of actually continuing with the tackling of my scribbly-scrawly task list I'm writing a blog post and sharing the recipe. 

I'm saying 'take that Tuesday!' which I'm pretty sure just means that Wednesday is going to waste me. Oh well. Here's a chicken salad. 

Pearl Barley and 4 Green Vegetables warm Chicken Salad 

This is just some vegetables stirred through some pearl barley with chicken on top. You could omit the chicken, use different vegetables, or replace the pearl barley with couscous or risoni or brown rice if you wanted. 

Brussel sprouts

Broccoli

Green Beans

Red Onion

Fresh Lime

Rocket or Baby Spinach

Almonds

Pearl Barley

Free range Chicken thighs, boneless and skinless

Olive Oil

Smoked Paprika, Chilli powder, Salt, Pepper

To begin: halve your brussel sprouts and floret your broccoli. Place on an oven tray and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle over whatever spices take your fancy, and season. Roast at about 200C. They don't need long. 

Season the chicken with the smoked paprika, chilli, salt and pepper, and also add to the oven. (You could chop the chicken up and just do in a frying pan too).

Cook the pearl barley on a stove top as you would brown rice. 

Meanwhile, cook your green beans, having cut off the ends, in rapidly boiling water. 

Finely slice half the red onion and place in a bowl and cover with fresh lime juice. Set aside. 

Check the chicken, adjust temperature if necessary, remove the veges if they're done and crisp up the chicken a bit.  

In a large bowl, assemble. Pearl barley, roasted greens, beans, rocket, onion slices, roughly chopped almonds. I squeezed over some fresh lime juice and a splash of balsamic. Mix up, and serve with the chicken (which I also squeezed with lime). You could also add feta if you had some. With the almonds adding great texture, along with the beans, and the onion giving a good tangy kick, this ends up being a very satisfying and easy dinner.  

Enjoy, basking in Monday night health! 

 

brunch love

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of brunch. For a while there, scrambled eggs really were my signature dish, and lolling about the lounge with something homemade, plunger coffee, music as you please, the newspaper, and whichever friends or flatmates were around, was far, far superior to paying heaps to sit in a cafe and stressfully wait for food to come, usually extremely hangry and most likely hungover. Sometimes though, it's just so great to just have someone else cook for you. Depending on your pantry ingredients, your state of mind, and whether you cooked dinner for 54 people the night before (more on that later) a brunch out is a great treat, and if catching up with a friend from out of town, even better.

Just about my hands down favourite brunch spot in Auckland is Cereal Killa on Dominion Road. The area is a bit of a barren wasteland as far as cafes go. Yes, there's the dumpling mecca further down, and the (I hear, am yet to visit) wonderful Meredith's across the road, but don't get me started on Mt Eden village and its insistence on staying firmly in the '90s. When will those ubiquitous white cups serving single shot flat whites banish from this city? Probably never.

Cereal Killa make perfectly executed eighthirty coffee (a double shot in a tulip cup, rejoice!) and juices (I highly recommend the beetroot filled booster) in handles. Something as simple as bacon and eggs is done very well (perfectly poached free range eggs, smoky, streaky bacon, chewy fresh sourdough, great relish on the side) and they've got homemade brioche on the counter.

This morning Mika and I ate ourselves silly during life downloads, with big breakfasts, multiple coffees, and necessary boosting juices. I branched out and had the far too big vege feast; amongst the spinach, roasted tomatoes and sauteed mushrooms, the haloumi was a highlight. The avocado was ripe, the rosti was delicious and I didn't even get half way through the excellent scrambled eggs.

Talking blogging and dating (or lack thereof) and travelling and families and law and writing and dinner parties, we whiled away our Sunday morning very happy indeed.

Cereal Killa, 360H Dominion Road, Mt Eden

 

back again, buns in the oven

Yet again, it has been a while. March has passed in an absolute blur. A blur of food and travel and drinks and parties. Of visiting sisters and phone calls with friends and doughnuts and laksa and deadlines. I've resigned from my day job, which is just about the most exciting part of it all, but more about that later.

Currently I sit, pink lillies in sight, with my very first batch of hot cross buns ever happily on the bench, and with the Dark was the Night album on for a bit of nostalgia. I miss Wellington a bit tonight. Aro Valley, and my old flatties, and lolling around in my dalmation print flannel pj pants getting mocked and laughed at by the boys. 

No time for dwelling on that though. I've got fun to tell you about. 

As a quick recap, with more detailed recipes and reviews and write-ups to follow, I went to Dunedin for a 21st and ate delicious things at the Otago Farmers Market. I then came back for a hen's night before flying into Melbourne, and being whisked away by Brown Brothers up to Milawa, in north east Victoria. We ate and drank and ate some more and drank some more, which was pretty much amazing. I then had a couple of days in Melbourne, where I drank lots of coffee, caught up with my dear Melbourne-residing friend, ate kangaroo at the pub, went on a burger date, bought some spices, and then came home again. I then catered a kitchen tea for a family friend, bought a frock and some new heels, got my haircut and flew to Queenstown. It was then a drive over the Crown Range, an amazingly beautiful wedding of two very wonderful friends, partying with people on shoulders and a rip-roaring dancefloor, a next day lunch, and then doing it all over again. It was so much fun.

And now I'm home, and I'm tired, but with buns in the oven and blogs on the go, it's feeling all so comfortingly familiar. It's been amazing. Stay tuned.

delicious things of late

I ambitiously declared, at the end of a boozy January, that I might go sober for February. Give my liver a break and what not. "But what will you write about?" was my supportive Dad's response. Evidently, nothing! An extreme drought of blog posts wasn't intentional, and it turns out the sober stint didn't require willpower at all; I was unglamourously struck by a summer flu involving, but not limited to, a loud hacking cough (date me!) and for the majority of the month I've been health-wise miserable. However! Things are on the up and up. I've moved into a lovely new home for good, and although I was recently accused of burning the candle at both ends, I have been relaxing and resting and trying hard to get well. I've had plenty of eating to do amongst it all though. And so, some delicious things of late. 

1. Depot

This consistently excellent establishment serves shared plates (something now emulated at lesser-places around town) and I love most things about it. The service, the delicious food, the complimentary flatbreads, right down to the beautiful Havana coffee. It's always a hit with out of towners (I took my sister's American colleague and his wife here before Christmas and they loved it), and for catch ups (with visitors from London especially lately!) Depot is my central city go-to.

I can't go past the skirt steak with habanero mustard - it's served with soft onions and a ranch-dressing-drenched iceberg wedge, and all together in a mouthful it tastes exactly like a fancy Big Mac, aka awesome. Yesterday I met my friend Hannah and her lovely English boyfriend there, and they loved it too. As well as mussels with chorizo, and the hapuka sliders, we reminisced about law school over the potato skins, which are served with truffle and parmesan. They were ridiculous. In a good way. 

2. The Hamptons

I work in the city, and over a couple of weeks in January we watched in awe as a bar literally popped up right across from our building. I'm always bemoaning Auckland's lack of good bars, ones which don't try and become nightclubs and which serve craft beer on tap. Add sunshine and delicious food and you have The Hamptons. It's a beachy haven in the middle of suits and buildings, and although probably best avoided on a Friday after work (unless swarms of blue-checked-shirted lawyers are your thing), I had a beautiful lunch there last week. I had an inspiring food-filled yarn with Tom the chef after my workmate and I were treated to the crayfish roll, the very impressive green gazpacho, and the kingfish ceviche, before both devouring a delicious main meal as well (me the barbecue brisket, her the hapuka).

3. Stone fruit tart

I've had lots of family time lately, and my food-loving aunty Robyn was recently up in Auckland for a few days. I do miss jaunting up the Kapiti Coast for visits, so it was a treat to have her do brunch for us and a heap of my cousins with their ever-increasing broods of beautiful babies. A stone fruit tart for brunch-dessert (the best!)  was a highlight, and one which I've since made three of.

The recipe, very loosely, involves making a food processor dough of 125g butter, 1 level cup plain flour, 1/2 level cup icing sugar. You process it, roll into a ball, and refrigerate for at least half an hour (and can go overnight). You knead it a bit, then roll it out, and sprinkle over a mixture of 2 tbsp ground almonds, a little flour, and a little white sugar. Then, a whole lot of stone fruit. Apricot halves or nectarine slices work well, as do peaches or plums. 'Rustically' fold up the edges, on a tray with baking paper, and bake for about 25 minutes at 180C fan bake. It such a good and easy dessert, or morning tea, and takes about 5 minutes to prepare.

4. Jimmy the Fish

The current issue of Metro has my latest column featuring a round up of calamari joints around Auckland (of which there are many). I ate a heap of calamari, but only ended up writing about a smidgen of them. One worth a mention here though is Jimmy the Fish in Ponsonby Central. He's a fish-monger who does little tubs of tentacles with herbs and mayo, and they're such a good little snack. The squid is cooked fresh and tastes bloody good, plus I hear excellent things about the beer battered tarakihi.


5. Pop up dining

My workmate cringes at the term 'pop-up' being thrown around, and it can mean a number of things. 'Temporary' maybe, or 'one-off' can work. Semantics aside, the pop up dining guys are a posse of serious chefs who hold events in closed cafes at night time. The having a five-course French one in Newmarket next week (come along! tickets here!) and they also do cheap-eats inspired by food trucks overseas at Doc bar every couple of weeks. Last night it was Korean style scallion pancakes with braised pork and beef and fresh kim chi. Through drippingly saucy fingers Sarah interviewed me for her cute new blog, about doing things in Auckland. Their blog features a write up of Eat Here Now's meat fest on Sunday which I'm very sorry I couldn't make it to. Pop up dining, it's totally a thing. Watch this space.

6. Mozzarella pizza

I'm still writing for Fishhead magazine in Wellington; look out for a holiday-inspired mozzarella salad recipe hitting shelves shortly. With the leftover ingredients from the salad photo shoot, including Mum's homegrown tomatoes and basil, my parents and I had a pizza feast one sunny evening last week. We used this recipe for the food-processor dough, and used a supermarket tomato base sauce, fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and a sprinkle of bog-standard cheese, for a classic margherita. Unbeatable. (Hot tip! If you are without a food processor I got a cheap small one off trade me recently for $26. Treat yo self.)

7. Dessert for lunch at Kermadec 

How is that one finds themselves at a dessert lunch in Auckland's viaduct with the head of a PR company, the editor of the National Business Review, and a high-up member of the NZ Food Writers Guild? I don't know, but that was my life the other day. Kermadec was showcasing us their desserts, and it is next-level dessert stuff: liquid nitrogen, texture mash ups, intense flavours, and beautiful execution. The strawberry frozen espuma had banana and Jaina white chocolate purée, shortbread,
strawberry fizzy rocks, and banana sorbet. It's beautiful to eat, and it looks like art. Dessert aficionados will be impressed.

8. Cakes

I had a baking frenzy last weekend thanks to my lack of drinking and my friend buying a house. She warmed her lawn on Saturday with Pimms and friends, and I baked some cakes for the occasion. I was reminded of a) how much I love baking, and b) how good these three recipes are. The hummingbird cake is pictured (decorated with blueberries, coconut and fresh flowers), the plum and yoghurt cake, and orange and cardamon cakes, aren't (although I did go cake crazy on instagram).

9. Shao Lin Kung Fu

After the first week of summer-unwellness, I ambitiously thought I was getting better, only to then get much worse. In that brief period of optimism, I had a dinner date with my little sister and her best friend and we went to Shao Lin. After drinking some tea we gorged on delicious hand-pulled noodles, the cleaver beef ones being absolutely off the chain. I've never paid more than 10 bucks when sharing with a group there, and even though I had a coughing fit thanks to a rogue piece of chilli, it was worth it. More bargain amazingness on Dominion Road.

10.  I scream you scream

We had some frozen strawberries in the freezer (hot tip: hull them pre freeze) and like magic one night, they were food-processored with a little balsamic, a little icing sugar, and some cream. Into the freezer they went thanks to my aunty, and in next to no time at all you have an intensely-flavoured, luscious dessert. I'm wondering if this freezer stash will be perfect for when the winter blues kick in, but I'll probably be perfectly happy with crumble and cobbler by then. In the meantime, serve with some slices of white-fleshed nectarine and enjoy this dreamy Summer while you can.

the summer of mixed drinks

We're currently in the sweaty throes of a tropical Auckland summer, and the post-lunchbreak pink tinge is thankfully eased with air conditioning. It's shaping up to be a glorious week ahead, and lucky for us up here we've got a three day weekend to enjoy it over. With sunshine inevitably comes basking and drinking, and this summer I've embraced old drinks as well as tried new ones.

Beers are always a good option, and it appears that cider is too, given the saturation of variants currently available. Pear, berry, dry, sweet; it's usually the first couple in the sun that go down well before you have to move on to something else. I've had some crisp whites and some blushing nighttime reds, and I was in absolute heaven on new year's day, which was spent with a bunch of mates on the manicured lawn of Mission Estate in Hawke's Bay. We drank them out of their delicious rosé, which was the best way to see in 2013.

It's shaping up to be a goody, and in the meantime here's a few tasty beverages I've been enjoying lately.

1. the pink g & t

I served this as an aperitif at my December dinner party, and it's become a firm favourite since. It's reminiscent of a negroni, one of my favourites, but is slightly sweeter, and with less kick-you-in-the-face strength. Aperol is something I've only recently discovered, and it's similar to Campari, but not as strong. A couple of these at the beginning of an evening will set you up very nicely indeed.

1 shot Aperol
1 shot Tanqueray gin
a cross section, circular slice of orange
Quina Fina tonic
Ice

Put ice and orange slice in your glass, add the booze and then top with a little tonic.

2. the bloody mary

If you haven't seen me harping on about it on other social media forums yet (twitter and facebook for example), or seen me enthusiastically tell you about it in person, you might not know that I'm thrilled to have a new monthly column in Metro magazine called 'searching for perfect'. Each month I'll be looking at a drink or dish around town, and writing up my experience, along with a recipe. December's quest was for the perfect Bloody Mary, and I had some boomers around the city. I love this traditionally layered cocktail, especially with brunch. And whilst the key attributes are vodka, tomato juice, and plenty of tabasco, my full recipe is available in the latest issue. The magazine has all sorts of other excellent Summer reading in it, including reviews and columns by three of my favourite food writers. Get into it.

3.  the boysenberry smash

One of the best things about Hawke's Bay in the summertime is the abundance of amazing fruit. In Napier we stopped on the side of the road and on the 31st of December I made what I declared my 'best purchase of 2012' when I handed over $10 for a kilo of fresh, plump, juicy boysenberries. Into everyone's drinks they were smooshed as we saw out 2012 - great with bubbly and the shining star to my new year's cocktail. We, in a harkback to the glory days of the sixth form, bought vodka to see in the new year, and this fruity drink was a hit.

Double shot vodka
Fresh mint, roughly torn
Fresh boysenberries
Wedge of lime
Soda and ice

Put ice, mint, berries, and lime in a glass. Muddle slightly, or just stir together. Top with soda.

Note: you can sub out the soda for ginger beer, which is basically the same as the raspberry ginger fizz, below.

4. the summer Pimms jug

One of my favourite friends was back from London briefly, and I was lucky enough to get in some quality time with her, whilst testing out my new maxi dress, at a barbecue she hosted on Sunday. Initially I planned on wholeheartedly embracing the sabbath day and resting my liver, but alas, Shannon had made Pimms jugs and that idea went out the window. It took me back to not only the time I first tried it at Wimbeldon, alongside strawberries and cream and plenty of tennis, but also of the time my friend Harriet donned a wedding dress, and I became Princess Kate, for our Royal Wedding party. One beweddingdressed  guest ended up eating our orange garnish seductively in the corner, but before things descended into the completely debaucherous, Harriet and I drank a bottle of Pimms. Naturally.

Into a jug: plenty of ice, plenty of Pimms, some freshly chopped strawberries, slices of orange, some stalks of fresh mint, and ginger ale.

5. the raspberry ginger fizz

I've blogged about this one before, but it is just always such a hit. Fresh raspberries, if they ever reduce in price, are just so good in this fruity number, but frozen are a good out-of-season substitute. It's based on a Jamie Oliver recipe from an old Delicious magazine, and it's become a summer staple of mine, especially if wanting to impress visitors or friends. This year for our work Christmas shindig we had a pizza picnic in Albert Park. There was swing ball, and Toto's pizza by the metre (incredible), and these cocktails. Add a party straw and you have yourself a party. Perfect.

Ice, fresh mint, a lime wedge, fresh raspberries, Vodka (absolut raspberry works well if you've got some) into a vessel: top with ginger beer.

Long may the balmy evenings and the summer of delicious drinks continue.