5 things

So as not to make this blog purely  about my recent drinking exploits, I thought I'd diversify and share with you 5 things I'm loving right now. Happiness you say? Just maybe. I've been meaning to bake this week (there's some rhubarb in my fridge that is desperate to become a good slice) but have instead been replacing creaming butter and sugar with gym classes and indoor netball. Not overly blog-worthy, but fun. In the meantime I've also been settling into my new home, and so far have enjoyed (care of the flatties) a red wine and chorizo risotto with mushrooms, a pumpkin and coriander soup for lunch and tonight a vegetable-laden spaghetti bolognaise. Delish. So, no drunken shenanigans to report (it is only Wednesday) but herewith today's top 5.

1. Sunny winter days
I drove out to Lyall Bay on Sunday and took-away a coffee from the recently renovated Maranui Cafe. The queue for a table to eat was simply outrageous, but the coffee was good and the sun was out. I've also been catching up on gossip whilst walking round the waterfront on my lunch breaks; not quite street gym, but getting outside all the same. I have a sneaking suspicion the weather will turn to custard again soon, so in the meantime I'm getting amongst sunshine and fresh air. Mmm custard.

2. Piako Yoghurt
Have you tried this gourmet yoghurt yet? It's incredible. You must try it. It's like cheesecake, but more luxurious. Is that even possible? Apparently so. And it's healthier which almost never happens. Passionfruit is my favourite flavour. It's about $6 a pottle and it is absolute heaven. The containers make extremely useful lunch box containers also, which is obviously an important consideration when purchasing dairy products...

3. Seasonal veges from the market
My cuisine magazine calendar tells me that Savoy Cabbage is in season at the moment, and this shiny green number (half a cabbage) was a mere 80 cents at the market on Sunday. Bargain! Monday night, I sautéed it with butter and a little oil, ample sea salt and cracked pepper, and then a sprinkling of dried chilli at the end. For those haters out there who don't think cabbage can be glamorous, think again!

4. My impending month as a socialite
August has filled up quickly with visitors, parties and weekends away. The list of things I have to look forward to begins tomorrow night when I'll be having a long overdue catch up with an old friend. It follows through to my Ruth Pretty Cooking School class next weekend, which my Dad will be attending with me. We're undertaking a 'seafood adventure' with the chefs of Ortega Fish Shack and golly I'm excited. The weekend after, my sisters are in town and that will most likely involve lots of eating, drinking and general sassing about. And probably this play which looks worth a look. It's also Wellington on a Plate, and my birthday, and a joint birthday party with my flatmate, and after that one of my numerous dear friends who are Wellingtonians-turned-Melbournites will be here for a visit, so plenty of fun to be had.

5. My new room, and still my bed 
Earlier this year (for reasons slightly out of my control) I was in a room in a flat that had a loft bed on a shitty double mattress, up a rickety ladder. The novelty of being back in my beautiful queen size bed again has still not worn off - and I only lasted in that flat for just over 2 months. God knows how, come to think of it. I'd never thought it possible to be so grateful for something so simple. Bliss.

And on that note, more recipes to follow shortly. Pō mārie.   

another weekend of carnage (and friends and scrabble and wine and food)

Friday night was supposed to be nice and polite girly drinks at my new flat. Friday night ended about 2am after a nameless guest was put in a taxi having sliced off a part of our coffee table with her dancing upon it. This happened after all the wine ran out, some went to town, 2 texted me from my bed needing a wee lie down and then my flatmates came home and busted out the Tanqueray. My solution to having no mixer was to get out the shot glasses but my intelligent flatmate's solution was to use up the lemon, honey and ginger syrup. Much like a cocktail, it went down a treat! Anyway before that the drinks were I suppose a little bit civilised - civilised enough that when one friend wanted dinner, a feast was created.

Drunk-on-chardonnay roasted Cauliflower soup 


Carefully cut the florets of the cauliflower, and put in an oven tray. Drizzle over plenty of olive oil (I used chilli infused) and break over a few dried chilli's and some herbs. I only had coriander, which sounds weird but totally worked. Blast in the oven at about 220*C for about 15 minutes, shaking and turning half way through.

Meanwhile, without onions but with a leek, I chopped that up and sautéed it in more olive oil with some salt and pepper I think. Then used the last of my vege stock cubes and added three cups of stock.

Once the cauliflower was roasted enough, I added that to the leeky stock, stirred it up, splashed it all over myself (pretty standard really) and blended. Everyone seemed keen for some and my very helpful sous chef drizzled each bowl with olive oil, a crack of pepper and a wee sprinkle of fresh coriander for garnish.

This picture was taken after a few wines and once someone had eaten half of it, so it's not nearly as pretty as it was 5 minutes before the photo was taken. In fact it really looks like crap. It wasn't! Sorry. 

Saturday was nice and lazy, scrabble and a fireplace and then more wine. Then a byo dinner, a couple of bars and eating half of my friend's falafel kebab at 3.30am. We had a cranking sunday night dinner, which finished with none other than the kiwi classic ice-cream slices (vanilla ice cream sandwiched between pink wafers).

I don't know if it was just the wine, but that soup was surprisingly delicious. So easy! It's looking like a quiet week ahead so more baking (and less drinking) should be on the way soon.

more pie, less heartbreak

I'm beginning to feel like my pre-heartbreak self again, and it's a wave of optimism I'm thrilled to be riding. This blog has led to a number of people who were well off my day-to-day radar emerging through the woods, and as a result I've had some truly lovely emails, messages, comments, coffees and last night one of the most beautiful, memorable meals I've ever had.

Finally, I made it to the Boulcott Street Bistro. A massive part of my heartbreak difficulty has been the fact that much of the fisherman's family feels like my own. Many of them live in Wellington and whilst I didn't have to worry about running into him himself, I still see his family around. One aunt is currently overseas and a reader of heartbreak pie, and very kindly instructed her husband that I needed taking out. He goes to wine tastings organised by the wonderful Regional Wines and asked if I'd like to go along. He casually said that "the one tomorrow night would be good because it has food". Not just food - a 5 course degustation with matching wines in the private dining room. It was nothing short of amazing.

I was always gutted I never made it to Citron, the restaurant of Rex Morgan and his partner Wendy. Rex is now at the helm of the BSB (not to be confused with this BSB) and put together the 5 courses we enjoyed matched with Kumeu River wines. Raymond from Regional asked Wendy whether she thought Rex started with the food or the wine when planning wine match menus. She said he begins with the wine- because that's already in the bottle and you can always change the food.

Course one consisted of prawns, fennel and apple with a mirin dressing. This was my favourite course, and was offset by a beautiful single vineyard chardonnay (Rex came upstairs after the meal and said it's alwaysd the first course people like the most because they're still sober: cue laughter and agreed nodding). I'm not going to pretend I'm a wine expert, but I could follow and understand and taste what both Paul from Kumeu River and Raymond from Regional were talking about. The next two courses were also matched with chardonnay: a roasted duck leg dish and one of finely sliced pork belly. The last time I had each of these I was overwhelmed by the richness and could taste nothing but fat. Rex threw all such misguided views out the window with the delicate balancing of the duck with watercress and chesnuts, and the pork belly with reduced butternut pumpkin and smoked almonds.

We then had a decent break before dealing to a pinot noir matched with venison, peruperu (maori potato) and spiced cinnamon cherries. It was divine. Perfectly executed with flawless service, constant antipodes sparkling water and crusty baguette and butter in between, this meal was something special. As the wine flowed, so too did the conversation between a largely unconnected group of 15. The final course was a munster cheese, which smacked you in the back of the mouth. So strong, it was a double whammy served with a wine Kumeu River named after their mother - Melba. A 2000 vintage, the wine also smacked you around a bit, full bodied and a heavy mix of merlot, malbec, cabernet amongst others. It got fruitier with a bit of time, but by then the wine rep Nick who I was in discussions about the intricacies of hospitality with, had already ordered 2 bottles of Taittinger champagne. What an end to the evening! 5 hours of new people, great conversation and simply divine food and wine. Thank you D & D!

It got me well and truly excited about Wellington on a Plate, and about trying to get to as many restaurants as possible (More than once Nick said 'you've got to get out more!'). I get so inspired eating delicious food, and when I know that there are places like Boulcott Street out there, my already high standards rise even higher. I just don't understand why you'd be in the industry without the highest standards. Everyone has dining horror stories, but what are your most memorable meals? The opportunities are out there. Take someone on a date! And leave a comment about it!

(image from http://manageyourcellar.blogspot.com)

So, I'm happy. I'm beginning to feel like the luckiest girl in the world again. My new home feels like home, which is a relief. So far I've baked cookies, gingerbread loaf, spinach brie and mushroom pie, rhubarb and pear crumble, lasagne - but my camera has been out of action. It's back, and I promise to be more frequent with my ramblings over the next wee while.

the unbeatable combination of spinach, feta and filo pastry.

On Thursday night, book club with no books in Brooklyn went off with a bang. A spinachy flaky red wine fuelled bang. Work was busy and the weather was foul, but I rushed home via the supermarket and amazed even myself with my kitchen speed and confidence. Our kitchen was an absolute bomb site, but amongst the chaos emerged a thing of beauty.

I've talked about my affection for filo in previous posts, and I usually make spanakopita individually in triangles but this time a pie was in order. It's definitely pie weather at the moment and this one was good.

My greek chef-friend Theo says his Mum always has a spanny on the go, and I think every good home should. It's so easy! And so tasty! I decided smacking one of these out on Sunday would set you up for some enviable lunches during the week. I didn't quite have the wonder woman powers to make the fresh tzatziki I normally would, and settled for store bought. Either way, it's crucial in my humble opinion. I am a condiment kind of girl though, so each to their own.

Spanakopita

I took a bunch of spinach from the supermarket, and cleaned it and removed the stems. Theo reckons traditionally you shouldn't cook it first, but I gave it a quick blat in the microwave, then drained and chopped it. 

In a bowl combine:

*spinach, as above

*1 bunch of spring onions, chopped. 

*feta (I used one packet of bouton d'or cow's feta. As far a quantities go just wing it. In the words of Black Men United you will know)

*2 free range eggs

*some crushed garlic

*a little Italian parsley

*salt and pepper (I over-salted this one: so watch out. you might not even need any with the feta)

*a wee sprinkle of nutmeg

*if you're so inclined, you can add ricotta or cottage cheese, even instead of one of the eggs. I didn't have any so flagged, but have used them before. 

Get your filo pastry out, melt some butter and brush some sheets together. Line a pie dish with the pastry, and pour filling on top. Brush butter over remaining filo and assemble on top however you wish. 

Bake! I gave mine about 25 minutes in a 190*C oven. Serve with tzatziki. 

We had a picnic on the floor, with a salad of baby spinach and roast pumpkin. It was ideal for a group and everyone said they enjoyed it, which is always nice. We were comforting one freshly-heartbroken friend, and a group of girls sitting round with wines and music seemed to slightly help.  

It's now Sunday and I'm in my new home! I moved yesterday in the rain, with the help of two boys, two coffees and a van with roof racks. I'm dedicating my afternoon to baking them thank you gifts so more on that later. I'll also introduce you to my new flatties in due course - I've already had one inappropriate nickname thrust upon me by them which I'm hoping won't stick. In the meantime I'm stoked to be living with friends again, in a house that gets sunshine and doing meals together will mean the double whammy joy of cooking for people and being cooked for. Things are looking up.   

loafylicious

I made this loaf on Sunday evening. I intended to present it to our office world cup morning tea, but in a last minute attempt to win a vuvuzela I instead whipped up a bunch of fairly average cupcakes and iced German flags on them. I got the red strip and the yellow strip round the wrong way, but I don't think anyone noticed.

I had the loaf spare so I thought all day about who I could surprise with fresh baked goods, but ended up just keeping it and telling my flatmates they could help themselves. Having it softly whisper to me from the kitchen bench reinforced all my ideas about why I must never bake without a purpose because otherwise I will eat it all. 

Ok, so I didn't eat the entire thing, but the two pieces I inhaled after work today before a gym class was not my finest moment. It also lead to the stitch about 20 minutes in. Aah but it was worth it. This loaf is delicious. Loaf might not be the chic-est of baked goods, nor the most trendy, or readily available in cafes. But loaf is dependable. And can be surprisingly luscious. My Gran had bought me a loaf tin for my birthday a couple of years ago, and I haven't used it as often as I now most definitely will with this in my repertoire. It's a Donna Hay recipe and was in the NZ Herald Canvas magazine a few weeks back. 

Lemon & Raspberry Loaf

110g softened butter

1 cup caster sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups self raising flour

1/2 cup milk

1 Tblsp finely grated lemon rind (I just used a whole lemon, and it was not grated finely!)

1 cup frozen raspberries

Preheat oven to 180*C. Place butter and sugar in a bowl and using electric beaters, beat until pale and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. I think a key to all good baking is creaming the butter and sugar for ages. Just when you think it's turned white and fluffy and you're bored of holding the electric mixers, give it 5 more minutes and taste the difference.

Add the flour, milk, lemon rind and raspberries. Mix to combine. 

Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 7cup loaf tin lined with baking paper. Bake 50-55 minutes or until cooked through and a skewer comes out clean. 

Lemon Icing - place 2 cups of sifted icing sugar, 3 tsp lemon juice and 3 tblsp boiling water in a bowl and mix to combine (again, I didn't really measure. I think I used the juice of 1 lemon and it was really tangy and good). Spoon icing over loaf and allow to set before serving.   

Make this and give it to someone. Or have people over for afternoon tea. They'll like you even more than they do already, I promise! It's dense like a loaf should be, but also so moist you would never want to lather it with butter. The lemon zest is subtle, but the icing is tangy and offsets the raspberry and the texture perfectly. It's divine. Happy Tuesday! 

friends, wine, scrabble and Alice Cooper

To all four of my readers out there, I humbly apologise for my recent lack of postings. Last week saw me, amongst other things, 1 - being a shoulder to a heartbroken friend 2 - have a day in bed with a sore throat and lame movies and 3 - suffering from general no-money related non-cooking-inspiration. A bit ho-hum really.

A weekend out of town with friends, food and Alice Cooper swiftly saw the end to any lack of motivation. This was helped along of course by scrabble, sunshine and far too many bottles of wine - are we seeing a trend here?!

Olivia and Edward and I boosted up the coast in sideways rain but upon arrival lit the fire and spent Friday night with vege burgers and chunky kumara chips. Jimmy (he of the venison and afghans in post #1) and his lovely girlfriend Nicky came and hung out and there was chess, music and in-depth discussions regarding contentious murder cases in New Zealand's recent history, amongst other things! Saturday morning was a perfect winter morning washed down with endless cups of tea. We waited until about 3pm before cracking into the wine!

I had a crack at home-made basil pesto:

in a mortar and pestle, grind up
*pinenuts
*grated parmesan
*fresh basil
then, add olive oil and blend to a pesto-like consistency



voila! (not a recognised scrabble word, for the record)


Spread this between two mountain bread tortilla wraps with some parmesan and toast like a quesadilla in a fry pan and you have yourself a perfect afternoon snack to enjoy with a beverage or two. Slice into wedges and dip in hummus, if you're so inclined.

I had taken Jimmy's venison as I decided I should make the most of my Aunty's well-equipped kitchen while she was overseas. After basking in its beauty after defrosting,  I chopped it into squares, seasoned it then put it in the le creuset (one day I'll be able to afford one of these bad boys) on the stove top with the usual suspects - olive oil, onion, garlic and a bit of chilli. I added mushrooms and carrot and rosemary, and then chucked in some water and about half a bottle of red wine. With plenty of salt and pepper I left it to slow cook. It was worth regular checking and liquid topping up though.

Olivia being a gluten-free vegetarian, presented me with the kind of challenge I relish on, so I was able to do some gorgeous stuffed capsicums with olives, garlic, anchovies and caper-berries just for her. Just before dinner though, and after 3 bottles of chardonnay and nearly just as many reds, Ed decided to play DJ. Being 1-up on our 2-person dance party of last week, I'll spare you the photos. The Big Chill soundtrack was one of many, many highlights, I'll say that much.

Dinner, though!

A haloumi starter was followed by a de-constructed venison pie of sorts, with mustard mash, sautéed brussel sprouts and roasted broccoli with chilli flakes.

Dessert was the wonderfully seasonal tamarillo - picked from the tree, and stewed. This was served with manuka honey, alongside some luxurious Gingernut ice cream from Kapiti topped, at Ed's insistence, with Anathoth boysenberry jam. 

Stuffed and boozy, we watched the All Blacks beat South Africa, which was nearly as satisfying as the venison pie. At times I couldn't help but think there was someone missing, but that feeling passed quickly enough. 

It wasn't until I was back in Wellington on Sunday afternoon that I felt sickened by the couples around me. I entered the couple-pit of doom, Moore Wilson's Fresh, which unfortunately is my favourite store. I grabbed some fruit and treated myself to a single-girl berry danish and before I turned fully green with envy and loneliness at all the smug couples preparing for their romantically casual Sunday night dinners entwined on the couch with each other, I ran across the road to the formerly-too-pretentious-to-open-on-Sundays Cafe Lafarre to grab a take-away coffee. Oooh what a mistake that was. Apart from the slightly cute if not a little grungy barista, the entire cafe was filled with couples. I nearly spewed into my flat white as He said 'Eggs Benedict please' and She said 'Pancakes for me!' - urrrgghhhh. 

Some deep breaths, a dose of caffeine, and berries wrapped in danish pastry saw me calm down, and in a rare moment of having the house to myself, I found myself not depressed but in fact empowered! I am woman hear me roar and all that. I then dedicated my evening to baking and was better off for it. Results coming soon. Have a great week x

spew and cupcakes

I've reached that point in heartbreak where you're simultaneously excited about the possibilities that the future holds and genuinely sad about what you're now missing out on, on a daily basis. To that end, I was determined to have a good weekend; I was forced into feeling happy and I can't help but get hugely excited about what may lie just around the corner.

On Saturday evening my dear friend Olivia and I cooked a healthy dinner of roast vege salad with lots of feta, which we devoured whilst downing a couple of bottles of red. After some good yarns about punctuation and politics with my flatmate, over (another) delicious bottle of red she'd been saving, we retired to my room to sass ourselves up. What ensued was a 2-person dance party which involved Bailey's irish cream and singing loudly to Wilco wearing ridiculous headbands.

We then headed to town.

Olivia and I met years ago working in a restaurant and bar, and both still frequent it reasonably often. A friend was having relatively quiet leaving drinks there, and up we rocked, both dolled up and hyped up. We had shots, we talked rubbish, we laughed and then I made the mistake of challenging someone to a jager-bomb race.

That was basically my downfall, as far as I can remember. I did go out for some "fresh air" but I do have visions of the barman handing me a champagne bucket...before my friends kindly escorted me home. I woke up fully clothed with a sore hip (?) and spent Sunday morning wallowing in bed with a litre of chocolate milk wondering how anyone would ever love me again. God, don't you get smug when you're coupled up? Yes, you!

At least at midday I was probably still drunk and therefore in a good mood, although my patience really was tested when I went down to the Sunday market. I began to struggle, particularly when getting mowed down by women with their obnoxious pushchairs. The sun was out, and despite being back to my bitter and cynical self, the sunshine helped - Sundays are generally the most depressing for singles I've swiftly discovered. Especially if you spent the night in the gutter.

Anyway, cupcakes. Now, I try not to be one to jump on the latest food fad or bandwagon, but cupcakes appear to have cemented themselves in recent food-pop-culture. See for example here or here. I think it's easy to get cupcake-fatigue, plus they're pretty girly as far as baked goods go, however if you get them right I think anyone would struggle to go past these tasty and cute little one-bite gems. Feeling extremely guilty about my descent into being yet another binge drinking cliche I decided cupcakes were in order for the bar staff. I had the ingredients, I busted out the Edmond's bible and whipped up a batch to say sorry for being such a menace. Deliciously light with a very simple passionfruit icing, I was told by the barman they were totally unnecessary (he was stoked though), but they definitely made me feel better. The fact I dropped them off on Sunday evening while having a beer with 2 of my favourite friends also perked me up no end. I left feeling better about my newly acquired single status and about life in general. Watch out!

Cupcakes a la Edmond's


125g butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup standard plain flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 cup milk

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour and baking powder together. Fold into creamed mixture. Stir in milk. Place 18 paper patty cases in patty tins (I used 2 mini muffin pans and ended up with 24. Smaller and cuter.) Spoon mixture in. Bake at 190*C for 15 minutes, until golden and springy. Transfer to a wire rack and ice when cool. (Icing comprised of icing sugar, passiofruit syrup, a knob of butter and boiling water). If you're impatient like I am when hungover, just ice as soon as possible and watch the icing dribble down the sides. Mmmm mmmm.

heartbreak cure of the week

This week has flown by pretty quickly and I have to say that heartbreak cure of the week is a title overwhelmingly won by officially not thinking about it. This is followed in close second by friends, wine and chocolate related cookies (not necessarily in that order).

Following a mass exodus of friends to London, Melbourne, South America et al. it is always nice to scrounge a group together and be reminded that friends, even if you don't see them for a while, can often pop up in the most unexpected places. I've realised lately that there are definitely plenty of us still around, and it never ceases to amaze me that everyone knows everyone who knows everyone...

A friend of mine has a lovely wee flat of girls up in Brooklyn, and they've instigated sporadic book club meetings. They're totally irregular, and anyone is welcome, but the stickler is there are no books - it's simply a prime opportunity to meet up, drink red, sit by the fire and talk smack.

When the email came around this week I ambitiously and enthusiastically announced I'd bake for it, only to fail miserably despite the best intentions. I've decided break ups and moving on are both exhausting and couldn't quite manage the numerous cake recipes floating around my head. The solution came from none other that Mrs Higgins and her magical cookies. I normally wouldn't condone such behaviour, but sure enough in the freezer section of New World for $6.99 I could walk away with 12 frozen balls of double chocolate cookie dough, oven ready and rearing to go. I forced us all to try the dough first, but we all agreed that a melting mass of cookie hot out of the oven and requiring a fork for tidy eating was definitely the winner on the night.

Baking that actually requires ingredients and a recipe coming soon!