3 things

When times are tough, the existence of three things in my kitchen remains certain - dried pasta, tinned tomatoes and parmesan cheese. Granted, the tomatoes are probably budget brand and the parmesan may have dried out a little (it's still good! it's still good!) but neither are problematic when whipping up gourmet italian for one. It is amazing what you can do.

I'd set myself a little challenge yesterday of not spending any money. Totally aside from the fact that I didn't have very much - I'm currently blaming my recent change in relationship status for my financial hopelessness, and whilst the excuse will undoudtedly change again soon - and reading money blogs doesn't appear to help at all - I thought it would serve as a good reminder that I can usually curb my spending with a little self restraint.

So having had porridge without yoghurt or fruit (I only had brown sugar!) and cottage cheese and crackers, peanut butter on crusts and a soft apple for lunch at work, I was desperate for some fresh produce and near failure of my challenge towards dinner time. I perservered however and managed to come up with the goods.

I scabbed an onion off my flatmate, and sauteed it in a pan in chilli oil with a couple of cloves of garlic. I put some pasta shells on to boil, and added some tomato paste and a tin of whole tomatoes to the onion. It was looking pretty sad as far as a meal went, so I added some chilli flakes, and then I remembered the fresh herbs I'd splashed out on last week - so added some thyme, and let it simmer away.

It was all done after about 15 minutes: I added pasta to sauce, chopped some italian parsley on top, grated over some parmesan, cracked over some pepper and the crucial element was a small drizzle of really really good olive oil. The kind that you get for gifts and wouldn't dare waste on frying.

It epitomised my simple and delicious mantra. A good swag of chilli is crucial to this dish, as is the garlic. But it really was good enough to serve up to people! Sadly it was just I on the couch to enjoy this, but be warned that new leaves are very slowly turning over. But more on that later...

his ship has sailed

The fisherman and I had a yet another goodbye before I spent the weekend with Grandma. It was made easier by the fact our farewell meal was at one of my favourite restaurants - Fratelli, and it also went down a whole lot easier with a glass of montepulciano. We shared a pizza, such has become our habit, and the fisherman actually tried my meal (chargrilled venison on a spinach risotto - total bliss) which is a rarity. We flagged dessert to get gelato and coffee across the road at Kaffee Eis. He was dropping me at the airport, but we parked up on Oriental Bay to eat our ice cream first. I announced this was far too romantic, and what on earth was he thinking, but it was fun, and nice, and it'll be at least 3 months til we see each other. So in the meantime I'm moving on, again - with food (and exercise, and good friends and trips away etc!).

After being cooked for last night (thanks Lucy!) I decided that something special to brighten up the mid-week rain was in order. I had some relationship property fish, fresh frozen from the boat, that I was keen to crack into so the two Hannah's came over and I whipped up a feast. I dragged one Hannah through the rain to Moore Wilson's, at which we acquired a sourdough stick amongst other things. We started by using it to mop up Old Hautere Road Olive Oil - a simple and delicious start.

Since I'd spent my lunchbreak yesterday talking fish recipes with my chef-friend Theo I had decided to cook the fish with fennel. I found the recipe below on the Wild South wines website and used the Hapuka I had instead of the suggested bluenose. It was an extremely tasty combination, and one of the Hannah's who is not usually a fan of fennel, really loved it.

Chargrilled Hapuka with Warm Roasted Fennel and Tomato (recipe supplied by Capitol Restaurant)

In a roasting dish toss together
2 fennel bulbs segmented
1 onion sliced
4 cloves of garlic sliced
1 red chilli sliced
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
2 tblsp olive oil

Season with salt and pepper and pour over a cup of chicken stock (I used a vege stock cube - cheap!). Roast at 180*C stirring occasionally. At the same time roast 2 large, quartered tomatoes sprinkled with fresh thyme. Bake for about 45 mins, they'll look dry but it concentrates the flavour.

Season the fish fillets with salt and pepper. Heat a heavy pan with a good amount of olive oil. Sear fish on one side til really crispy, then turn to finish (6-8mins).

Mix fennel and tomatoes with 8 pitted black olives, a handful of roughly chopped italian parsley and the juice of a big lemon. Pile onto the middle of a plate and place fish crispy side up on top.

Voila! I roasted some potatoes with a bit of fresh thyme to serve on the side, and made baby pear tarte tatin's in a muffin pan for pudding! They were very cute and very delicious, and were the perfect size to polish off two each. After dinner we still managed to down a block of Lindt chocolate while laughing over old photos, but I'm sure you wouldn't expect anything less from not only 3 girls on a rainy evening, but 2 supportive friends and a recovering heartbreak-ee. Bliss.

Weekend at Grandma's

Surrounding yourself with family is an extremely effective heartbreak cure. Except if it's a know-it-all sibling who declares "you were too good for him anyway". Not helpful! But I guess that's what sisters are for (I love you both really!). It's nice to be reminded of where you fit in within a family, and that the world is bigger than just your day-to-day routine.

My maternal Grandmother is 91 and she is an absolute legend. I spent the weekend with her and her cat, on the the farm in the far north. She is still fiercely independent, incredibly insightful and despite the odd moan about getting old, she does amazingly well for herself. We went to town for coffee, I did some vaccuming, we watched the All Blacks beat Wales, and when my savage cold set in, she was the one making me hot lemon and honey drinks before bed.

She also beat me to the fast-ripening bananas on her windowsill. "I'll make you a banana cake in the morning" I declared. I then made the mistake of sleeping in until 8.45am on Saturday morning and by the time I got up for tea and toast the mixture was made. All I could do was assist in pouring it into the cake tin. What emerged was a beautifully moist banana and walnut cake, which Gran iced like a true pro.

When I was perusing her old recipe book, I noticed the recipe came from a 1983 Australian Woman's Weekly magazine. When I announced that that was older than I was, Gran bent over double laughing "Never!" she said. She had to call her friend Molly to tell her. I was still finishing my breakfast porridge when we cracked into it ("fancy cake at this hour!"), and I couldn't resist. She makes a bloody good cake, my Grandma.

Banana Walnut Cake (from a 1983 Australian Woman's Weekly)

125g butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 very ripe small bananas

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

3/4 cup self-raising flour

3/4 cup plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Have butter and eggs at room temperature. Mash bananas finely with a fork (you should have 3/4 cup mashed). Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add bananas and vanilla, beat on low speed until well combined. Stir in walnuts then sifted flours and soda in two lots. Mix well.

Spread mixture into a well greased 20cm ring tin, bake in a moderate oven 40 minutes or until cooked when a skewer is inserted. Stand a few minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool. Ice if you wish, with chocolate or passionfruit icing.

More again soon!

scarves, gloves, hats and cookies

As an eternal optimist, when autumn sets in I kind of look forward to winter with a romantic dreaminess. I stay positive coveting new boots, thinking about being rich enough to own a beautiful cashmere coat from Harry's, and of sassing up my wardrobe with hats and scarves and gloves.

What I forget though is the sideways southerly rain that pricks like ice on your face, the fact that umbrellas are a waste of time in Wellington, and that no pretty scarf will cheer up a depressing lonely Sunday. Today was one of those days, and not because I got home at 4am, nor for any reason associated with the fisherman(!). Today I just really missed my friends. Now scattered around the country and the world like never before, I missed funny hungover Sundays mooching on the couch talking smack, chocolate milk, duvets and takeaways. I did manage to venture round the corner to find a few of the boys in the grey-trackie uniform of hungover Sundays watching football. They talked me into baking them the cookies I'd promised, and although I enjoyed knocking about the kitchen with the rain hitting the window, even eating chunks of cookie dough couldn't shake my mood!

I've now got the heater going, have talked to/texted 3 of my missing bitches (including one who is actually in Wellington but who is currently living and breathing post grad study...) and with a lot more cookie dough chilling in my fridge for future biscuit requirements, things are looking up.

This recipe is from my friend Paul's sister's blog, and she got it from here.

It's always a battle to hold back from eating all the dough, but from what I could gather the cookies are worth the baking time (10-15minutes). The batch for the boys didn't get chilled first, but they turned out just fine. I made up the chocolate contingent with a 100g block of Lindt dark, 2 whittakers almond gold bars, a packet of cadbury dark choc chips and half a pack of cadbury milk choc drops. I also just used raw sugar instead of demerara, and used a teency bit of rock salt as I was all out of Maldon. The recipe makes enough dough for three batches, and whilst the satisfied feeling you get from giving away home baking doesn't quite match the satisfied feeling of having a flat full of friends, it undoubtedly helps.

3 courses for the long weekend

It's only now that I'm working full time that I truly appreciate long weekends. I couldn't manage the thought of staying in town for this one, what with the weather and the glass cage of emotion I'm currently in. My aunt and uncle live about an hour north of here; they have a beautiful home and my Aunt Robyn is an all round domestic-goddess.

My friend Olivia and I drove up on Saturday afternoon and were welcomed with a glass of red and a roaring fire. Robyn had prepared a simple and delicious 3 courses. We were treated to fennel, pear and parmesan salad, a Donna Hay lamb shank pasta with boccocini and pesto, and then yoghurt pannacotta with stewed tamarillos. A rather lovely way to spend a Saturday night, especially with never-ending rain outside.

On Saturday we perused Robyn's infinite supply of cooking magazines, and she thought it might be nice if I cooked for them. I decided on a simple 3 courses also, and after dropping Olivia at the train station, got right amongst the well-equipped kitchen.

We began with Pan fried Haloumi served on a bed of rocket, served with lemon wedges and chilli oil drizzled on top (heat 1/3rd of a cup of olive oil on medium heat, grate in the zest of a lemon, add a finely chopped chilli and 2 finely chopped garlic cloves and heat through for about 10minutes before leaving to cool to room temperature)

The main course consisted of ricotta (and lemon zest, thyme, sage, and shallots) stuffed chicken breasts, with a sage leaf and a strip of prosciutto wrapped around it. I seared the chicken first, then finished it in the oven. This was while the fennel and potato gratin was baking, which is a recipe worth sharing:

Potato and Fennel Gratin (from Dish magazine, spring 2009)


*Preheat oven to 180*C. Take 1 kg agria potatoes, peel and cut into 3cm chunks. Cook in boiling well-salted water until just tender. Drain well.

*Heat 2 tblsp olive oil and a knob of butter in a large pan

*Add one large onion, thinly sliced, one large fennel bulb, cut into 1cm thick slices, some chopped thyme, and 2 crucshed garlic cloves: saute for about 10 minutes

*Add 1/4 cup cream and 1 and a half cups chicken stock. Bring to the boil. Season and simmer for 5 mins

*Put the potatoes in a greased 6-cup capacity gratin pan and pour over the fennel mixture. Sprinkle with plenty of parmesan and bake for 35-40 mins until golden and bubbling.

It's DELICIOUS.

I served it with these peas from Orangette



The piece de resistance however, were the individual Pear tarte tatin.

Holy shit, these things were incredible. I reckon I could have destroyed Brett if I'd whipped these up in the Masterchef final, I'm not going to lie. They were from an old Autumn edition of Donna Hay magazine (issue 8), and they were simply delicious. Those who know me well know I have a wee addiction to pastry at the best of times, but these were small, just enough, and an ideal finish to a gorgeous dinner. I've been dreaming about these all 24 hours since I made them.
I was going to try and make a funny comment about not needing men if you have pastry and toffee combined, but I didn't really want to be left open to the jokes that would undoubtedly follow...it's much too soon...

Anyway. They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and by god if you want to impress, make these. I sure will be next time I have anyone to cook for.

Pear Tarte Tatin (individual ones, from Donna Hay)

Make basic caramel sauce first:

*place 1/3 cup water and 2/3 cup caster sugar in a saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves

*simmer for 6 minutes until golden

*remove from heat and carefully pour in 1/3 cup cream

*stir until combined

Then,

*preheat oven to 180*C. Pour 2 tbspl of the caramel into the base of small greased pie tins.
*put in half a cored pear, cut side down (I put in a star anise here too)
*Use a round cutter to cut rounds of flaky puff pastry
*Place over the top of each pear
*Bake for 25mins until the pastry is golden
*Invert onto plates and serve immediately with runny cream and leftover caramel, or just a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream

It is heaven on a plate, and will cure whatever ails you. Even the broken-est of hearts, momentarily. I promise.

soup for one

Winter has well and truly set in down here in Wellington and heartbreak's a bitch when you're lonely and it's cold outside. Having been through every emotion imaginable over the last few months/weeks/days, I've decided that I'm going through an anger phase (despite myself, and against everything I believe in, sort of Kelly Clarkson rather than Bright Eyes), but body combat classes at the gym are helping with that. Anyway what with the cold, and with having no post-butt-kicking plans, and despite being payday and still seemingly somehow having no money, soup was the one and only answer.

Being a little slow, I hadn't really picked up on just how easy it is to make your own soup. 3 things pushed me over though. First, I bought soup from the supermarket for lunch the other day and it was tomato, roast garlic and lentils. It was good, and I just added some baby spinach leaves. Second, my friend Liv had told me how she made a spinach and soybean curd soup that tasted like Saag Paneer (yum), and thirdly last night my friend Hannah whipped up right before my eyes pumkin soup using stock cubes. I always thought you needed either homemade or store-bought real stock, but tonight my snobbery was overcome with none other than oxo stock cubes. Genius!

The result was a hearty and satisfying Italian style vegetable bowl of goodness.

Italian Vege Soup (I made this bad boy up all by myself)

*In a decent sized saucepan, I heated some chilli infused olive oil, and a decent sized red onion, sliced.

*Add about 3-4 garlic cloves, after smushing them a bit. I also added some leek.

*Dissolve a vege stock cube in a cup of water and add to the onion mix.

*I then drained a can of Lentils and added them

*Add a whole lot of spinach that you've washed and chopped.

*I added brocolli, but I would flag if I were you

(this is all on a med-high heat by the way...stirring with a wooden spoon)

*I then added another cup of dissolved stock, and sprinkled over some dry risoni pasta

*Then I chucked in a can of tomatoes and let it simmer. And broke up some fresh basil leaves.

*Cook until it looks ready!

*Season well and sprinkle with feta or parmesan

With lentils and risoni, it was hearty and delicious and I really didn't need the 2 bits of vogel's that I'd toasted, but obviously I ate them anyway. The garlic flavour came through nicely and all in all a perfect lonely winter dinner. Also, there's enough leftover for lunch and dinner tomorrow and probably another portion for the freezer.

Next time I'll be coming to you from the dizzying heights of Sunny Otaki, where I'm headed for a relaxing long weekend full of food and books and knitting and red wine. Anger will have hopefully simmered a little by then, I just need to avoid Coldplay and everything will be fine!

Sweet dreams x