domestic mashup

Tuesday night in the new flat: Olympics on the TV, beer in one hand, cup of tea in the other, and a slice of the flatmate's Mum's citrus slice is going down a treat. I embraced the NZ international film festival for the first time this evening and beamed all through Shut Up and Play The Hits the documentary about LCD Soundsystem and their last ever gig. It was so good, and it made me want to get loose and go dancing and be back at a party I was at in Wellington a couple of weeks ago where I got amongst some great yarns with a total babe just as this song got the dance floor going. 

An easy post movie dinner was whipped up tonight, and with just a giant cauliflower and a tin of chickpeas in the cupboard it ended up being a superbly delicious spiced roasted cauliflower concoction; a warm salad if you will. I basically threw together florets of cauliflower, a tin of chickpeas and a red onion, sliced, onto an oven tray and sprinkled it with oil, garam masala, cumin seeds, turmeric, curry powder and some salt. 

Roasted at a high heat for about 25 minutes, it was very similar to this one but tonight adapted from the beautiful Ripe cafe cookbook. Generously garnished with fresh coriander and a yoghurty dressing, whipped up with garlic, salt and pepper, kaitaia fire chilli sauce, fresh coriander, fresh mint and a squeeze of fresh lemon, it was so damn tasty.   

This time last week I was flu-riddled, but the week before that my friend Gwen had me over for dinner and made the most delicious dessert of chocolate fondant puddings. I'm going to recreate them tomorrow night: usually more of a fruity dessert person, these had me sold with their lusciously moussy-cakey soft puddings with that perfect cracking top revealing an explosion of oozing chocolate below. Melting into that was creme fraiche - tart, and the perfect cut-through to the richness of the chocolate. 

Chocolate fondant puddings

200g dark choc
150g butter
4 large eggs and 3 extra yolks
100g caster sugar
50g flour
Creme fraiche to serve


Heat oven to 200 degrees. Grease and flour pudding tins (Gwen used ramekins) and chill.


Melt choc and butter carefully in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. 


Place eggs, yolks and sugar in the cake mixer and mix till moussey and doubled in size.


Fold in the chocolate mixture until mousse is smooth and slackened. Sift over the flour and fold again.


Pour into ramekins and bake 12 mins until risen and set. Serve in the ramekin with a dollop of creme fraiche on top.

The key is to get them not too cakey - just cakey on top to reveal the gooeyness underneath. Likewise you don't want them raw, and I'm told both patience and hungry guinea-pigs for your trials and errors are recommended. These puddings will tip you over the edge after a decent home cooked meal but seriously. They're delicious. 

Make them for someone you want to impress, and in the meantime I'll be balancing out my chocolate intake with vege filled dinners whilst slowly re-embracing physical activity having now partially healed my goddam broken wrist. Time for this pudding-eater to get Olympic-inspired and get moving. 

cocktail hour

It's always a good sign when a midweek 'after work drink' to discuss the planning of a friend's leaving party finishes at 1am with the planning of full scale events (watch this space). After some entertaining emails about why we couldn't go to the new Verona (a bad experience involving an unhinged ex and some nos canisters, apparently) we decided on Coco's Baretta, the former Mister Morning and right next door to Coco's Cantina on K Rd. I've been bemoaning Auckland's lack on straightforward bars which stock craft beer, and the baretta fits the bill.  

I forgave them for their 'ipod on random' music, although my friend was a lot less forgiving when Blindspott came on. I was very happy to see their brief Italian cocktail list featured the Negroni, a wonderfully bitter and strong cocktail, perfect for winter. As I waited at the bar it took me back to Wellington's Matterhorn, and their giant tennis balls of ice, and their expertly burnt orange peel, and that time I dropped one down my friend's pants. The negronis at Coco's are a little less refined, but delicious nonetheless. Ours lead us right next door once the crowd had cleared, and straight to a table where we yarned over bloody great food until it closed. 

Rug up warm on these rainy winter days and start your night with a negroni or two, you never know where you might end up.

A Negroni is simply equal parts of gin, sweet vermouth and campari, with a slice of orange. 

Coco's Baretta 374 Karangahape Rd, Auckland

chicken soup for the miserable

I have been firmly stopped in my tracks with a nasty cold/flu which has seen me bedridden for the last three days, and still not feeling any better. Colds of mine have one prevailing characteristic: very watery puffy eyes. So sexy. My left eye is a giant mess, and all I seem to be doing through nose-blows is sleeping and watching trashy movies. 

Lemon, manuka honey and ginger drinks have been downed with enthusiasm, and today my friend Kitty took the title of Top Friend when she showed up at lunchtime with free range chicken miso soup and an israeli couscous, beetroot, mint, spinach and chicken salad from our friends at Bird on a Wire in Ponsonby (my current favourite takeaways of choice. Look at that salad!)

Our portions were limited when we encountered a wee soup spillage, but oh boy it was tasty.

I hit the chicken soup jackpot when after a huge afternoon sleep, woke up to a phone call from my Mum, who shortly afterwards showed up on my doorstep with more, this time homemade. There's nothing really quite like it when feeling miserable, and through my watery eyes and permanent grey-hoody-dalmation-pj-pants ensemble, I'm remaining optimistic. 


This chicken soupy stew from orangette looks worth a shot, as does smitten kitchen's 44-clove garlic soup. Dariush, the head chef of Auckland's Cazador recommended on twitter that the best cure was to gently poach a whole free range chicken, shred it & serve in the broth with peas and loads of parsley. If I could face getting out in public that's exactly what I'd do.  I'll try anything to get me back to health. 


What's your best cold cure tip?

triple chocolate genius

My former flatmate and good friend Harriet had me to stay in Wellington, and on the foulest, greyest, rainiest, blustiest Saturday, we did nothing but mooch around, pat the cat, talk smack, and daydream about European adventures. Well, I did nothing but that. Harriet made me afghans. She was explaining that since we'd moved out of our Aro Valley henhouse, she'd become quite the DG (domestic goddess, not to be confused with urban dictionary's definition "dirty girl"). 

My challenge was to eat the whole batch (extremely unwise given my current lack of cardio exercise due to le cast). We gave it a good bash, they were so good. Afghans are such a classic, and such a good go-to for a quick and totally delicious sweet treat. It turns out though, that Harriet is not only a wonderful wingman and a truly great friend, she is also a genius. Not content with simply cookies, icing, and a walnut (which is all I do) Harriet has taken chocolate loving to the next level.

Sandwiched between cookie and icing, therein she slips a chocolate melt, like a giant chocolate button. Behold three textures of chocolate in one bite! Incredible, just like her.

Anyone who will bake me cookies (or cupcakes!), make me a cup of tea, listen to my woes of newfound love and offer to melt my frozen heart with her hairdryer is a true friend indeed.

solo living in the city

I've just finished nearly a month of solo inner-city-Auckland living thanks to some absent friends, and I have loved it. Having friends over for dinner and singing loudly to Beyonce whilst getting ready in the mornings; it's been awesome.

I have done very little cooking. There was the bacony-tomatoey pasta, for which I enlisted help, and then with more help in the chopping department (thanks Laura!) I was able to whip up a creamy mushroom and spinach gnocchi for dinner for 6 last week, followed by a slapdash but totally scrumptious apple crumble. Instead of oats (like this and most recipes) I used a muesli full of quinoa and other goodies in the topping. It added great flavour and even better texture and was gratefully snapped up by all involved.

A solo dinner of champions was indulged in on Wednesday night. Beer, beef rendang (pictured above) and the most delicious roti was had, and the rendang was the best I'd had in a long time. With plenty of cardamom and mopped up with flaky, delicious roti, Sri Pinang on K Rd lived up to the good reviews I'd heard.

I've been out for dinner a bit too. I had a dinner date at Depot with Pete, and then one with my little sister at Mexico (blog posts to follow) and friends have welcomed me with open arms to their homes, including another Laura who whipped up an Aro classic of salmon on a bean salad. This week I had little planned, and with the end in sight I couldn't be bothered with too many dishes. I thought my broken wrist low point came on Monday night when I got home with my beef pho from Mercury Lane food court (a bit average actually) and remembered that left handed chopsticking for one so uncoordinated and hungry is no laughing matter. Likewise the low point didn't come when I left-handedly stabbed myself in the mouth with my toothbrush (have since bought an electric one, life-changing).

No. Last Saturday night I was waiting for friends to come into town, and wanted a drink. Pouring myself a gin, and successfully cutting a lime, the problem came when I was unable to get the lid off the goddam tonic bottle. That lid was tight. Left handed, impossible. Right handed, extremely sore. Jammed up against the bench, everything I had attempting to contort the lid off, a failure. I tried using my teeth to no avail, before hacking a hole out and shamefully pouring the tonic out of the side of the bottle.        

That's right, my broken wrist low point came when I found myself home alone on a Saturday night hacking into the side of a bottle of slightly flat tonic with a knife left handed.

I hopefully won't be shackled to my cast (after two in highlighter pink, now a sleek black thanks very much) for too much longer, and I'm shortly moving to a new home for a while, with new flatties to cook for (woohoo!). And after being a bit antsy about my current life crossroads, I have just had one of the funnest weekends in recent memory back in Wellington, full of ideas, creativity, bacon, friends, oysters, dreamboats, afghans and rain. Details to follow, inspiration is running high, watch this space!

purple palace layer cake

One of my first weekends in Auckland a couple of months back involved a big Friday followed by a BYO Saturday, and some scrumpy, and a basketball court, and some karaoke, and then a gin, which lead to a series of events involving an awkward encounter with a guy I'd been on a blind date with way back in December, a friend's couch, and my stomach lining. I had to say sorry to aforementioned friend, and when at her flat a couple of weeks later it was decided, through tears of laughter recoiling the story (not without comparison to this story, and in fact involving the same friend, but I'll spare you the details), that I would make them all a chocolate cake to say sorry. They all threw ideas at me: "cookies and cream!" "berries!" "layers!"

I love a good layer cake, and I love nothing more than dedicating hours on end to baked goods for loved ones. These friends live in a purple palace in Grey Lynn, and when they wanted a chocolate cake, they got a freakin' chocolate cake.

I used the same recipe I'd used to make a wedding cake earlier in the year (still, ahem, to be blogged) which makes a full proof, dense, moist and fudgey cake. Don't be alarmed that it uses two and a half cups of caster sugar (!!!) - I used a little less than that and it was fine; this cake is enormous. I made it in two cake tins of about 32cm and cut each cake in half to make a 4 layer cake with 3 fillings, and ganache on top.

Purple Palace Layer Cake  
the original recipe was suggested by Lucy as a wedding cake when I was begging for help on twitter. Published here, it also contains a useful conversion chart for making it in different sizes.

Serves at least 16.

250g chocolate (I used dark, but you can use a mixture)
250g butter (if using unsalted butter, add 1/4 teaspoon salt with the butter)
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules/powder
188ml (3/4 cup) water
325g (2 cups plus 2 tablespoons) plain flour
30g (1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons) cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups caster sugar
4 large eggs 
2 tablespoons oil - sunflower or canola 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk


Method


Line a tin with baking paper - you made need to make this in batches unless you're making a giant one. I made mine in 2 large springform pans.


Place 250g chocolate, butter, coffee and water in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. When chocolate and butter are melted, remove mixture from heat and allow to cool.


Sift the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda together into a very large bowl, and add sugar and mix together.


In a medium bowl, place eggs, oil, vanilla and buttermilk. Whisk the wet ingredients together until well combined.

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Add the chocolate mixture to the egg and flour mixture in a three batches, stirring until combined after each addition.

Pour mixture into pan and cook for about 1 hour. If making one large cake, you may need between 1 and a quarter and 1 and a half hours. For different sizes and cooking times, check the original recipe here. 

As mentioned above I cut each of my two cakes into two layers. The first layer, at Abbie's request, was cookies and cream. This involved whipping a whole heap of cream, then adding a packet and a half of coarsely chopped oreo cookies. 


The next layer up was a raspberry coulis of sorts. I simmered a small packet of frozen raspberries with a squeeze of lemon juice, a little vanilla and some sugar.


The top layer, and Rob's favourite apparently, was simply softly whipped cream with a generous teaspoon of good quality vanilla extract, and a little icing sugar.


I topped it off with chocolate ganache. Valrhona dark chocolate melted with cream, and left in the fridge to thicken. I had some pink cream cheese icing leftover from my cousin's birthday cake, so dotted that around the edge for fun. 




It was beautiful, it weighed about 3kgs, and from what I hear it was demolished with love.