pantone801

Veggie Patch

// January 15th, 2012 // 5 Comments » // Uncategorized

One of the things I am most excited about in having our own house is having my own garden. All those years of renting and planting in pots are gone- we can now start putting things in the ground! There are grand plans for the garden- there are several trees which cast a lot of shade, and a hammock is slung between two of them. This area under the trees is going to be filled with sub-tropical plants such as bromeliads, gingers, heliconia, anthurium, ferns, cordyline and impatiens.

Then there is the vegie patch along the westen fence. Inspired by Don Burke’s book Organic we started the plot last weekend. There are going to be two plots, each 2.4m x 1.2m and they will have a sleeper border that will get built in the coming weeks, the two beds are going to be separated by a 1m gap that will be bridged by an arbour for growing peas, beans and other climbers. (more…)

Red Velvet Cupcakes (Redux)

// January 15th, 2012 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

I made this old favourite again yesterday. See my previous post for the recipe. I have changed the icing mixture slightly and now leave out the butter. I found the butter yellowed the icing mixture too much. The cream cheese is moist enough to hold the icing sugar and gives a nice creamy colour to contrast the bright red cupcake filling. The red and white pinstripe cupcake cups from Paper Eskimo are perfect for this recipe and I topped them with pink heart-shaped sugared almonds from the Bulimba Deli.

Simon Hopkinson’s baked pasta with porcini

// October 30th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

We have new food-porn! Simon Hopkinson [wiki] has a show that is playing here on Friday nights on ABC called The Good Cook. I have not really followed him that much. His style homely and simple. The show is filled with stunning videography including tilt-shift and the Matrix effect, in fact they can seem overdone. He also his great little segments explaining where the ingredients come from and how they are prepared.

So Simon introduced me to dried porcini mushrooms. I have seen them round but never really knew how to cook them, and would steer towards fresh mushrooms. I have been missing out. Porcini have a meaty (in a good way) smell and are filled with glutamates, and have a sweet flavour.

I am a kitchen gadget collector, I think I get this from mum who’s kitchen benchtops have and electric grater, steamer and juicer and drawers are filled with little time-saving devices. This recipe calls for a lot of stirring which means I can use my auto-stirrer. I picked this up from Walgreens in Racine, Wisconsin earlier this year. Walgreens have this cheesy as-seen-on-tv section filled with crappy gadgets and I was a sucker for this (and a set of talking Jersey Shore pens). The auto-stirrer is basically a whisk-like attachment with a vibrator attached. It works a charm, see the video below.

(more…)

Rhubarb and Apple Chutney

// October 1st, 2011 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

I am back after a long hiatus. We have been so busy with travelling and work that I have not had much time to do much interesting cooking, or had time to record anything here. Mark and I recently went to Amsterdam, Brussels, London and Chicago for a month-long holiday. We found some fantastic foods while away, and brought back a suitcase laden with spices, jams, relishes, hot-sauces and a tonne of Belgium chocolate.

We made this a few days ago to have with roast pork, and it was so good that we have run out already and have just made a second large batch. This chutney is a great mixture of savoury, sweet and spicy flavours, and is great with white meats like pork or chicken. We have also been having it with sausages, on a cheese platter, or even on a simple sandwich with white bread, cheese and ham. Mark can be a bit crafty- he made the labels using swingtags and a moustache stamp.

  (more…)

Choc-Chip Cookies

// October 1st, 2011 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

These cookies are a version of Dreena’s Vegan cookies, I am not vegan, and if you are use her version for some tasty cookies, this recipe is foolproof and I have made it a couple times now. They are chewy on the outer and soft in the centre, and are perfect with a large glass of cold milk. My last effort used maple syrup we picked up when travelling through Saugatuck and Douglas in Michigan, and 70% dark Papua New Guinea chocolate from Neuhaus Chocolatier in Brussels, that we picked up on a big northern hemisphere holiday a few months ago.

(more…)

Steamed Artichokes with Tangy Hollandaise Sauce

// July 11th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

There is a fantastic new foodie haven in Teneriffe called Sourced Grocer that stocks produce, meats, cheeses, preserves and olive oil from locally sourced suppliers. We stopped in on Saturday afternoon to check it out and left leden with goodies including fresh Globe Artichokes.

The globe artichoke is a perennial thistle originating in southern Europe around the Mediterranean. When choosing, pick artichokes that feel heavy for their size. We first cooked this recipe as an entrée for our friends Craig and Karen; long before they were married. From memory this was one of out first dinner parties. It was in out tiny flat in Parnell in Auckland, so small that you could not swing a cat. Our dinner table was a small wooden coffee table which we all sat around cross-legged on the floor.

Making Hollandaise sauce is really quite simple, the trick is to constantly whisk, and if it starts to split get it off the heat and whisk like mad. I have also managed to rescue a split sauce be blending it. We like our hollandaise quite tangy, so it depending on how sour your lemons are we find that we usually use more than the recipe below. If for some reason you do not have lemons, plain white vinegar also does the trick.

(more…)

Worm Shake

// June 3rd, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

So this is not really an edible recipe. A few weeks ago be bought a nifty plastic worm farm from Aldi (have I mentioned how much I love Aldi?) that sits in the garden under the shade of the mango tree. It’s filled with 1200 earth worms that munch their way through our kitchen scraps and produce a delicate brew called worm-tea. The tea is diluted in water and used for fertilising our Orchids, herbs, veges and pot plants. Its early days but the little tykes seem happy with the snacks we give them. We have a composting bucket under the sink where all vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, and eggshells are stored, I have been alternating giving them the whole scraps and making this tasty worm-shake.

(more…)

Kumara and Coconut Fritters

// May 15th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

Sunday brunch is a big deal in the Deveraux house, and can be simple bacon and eggs on a turkish bun with lashings of HP sauce or something more substantial to keep us going until dinner time. This morning I made these fritters. The recipe is from a book called Zarbo Zest. Zarbo is a delicatessen and café in Newmarket in Auckland that is a family favourite. Kumara is the Maori term for sweet potato, also called yams in the USA. These are best served with baby spinach, poached eggs, bacon and topped with tomato relish.

(more…)

Home Panorama

// May 14th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

Its been a while since I posted a pic of our home. Mark took this with a panorama app on his phone. I think our place is looking quite funky. Click the image below to embiggen,

Soldiers on Toast

// May 10th, 2011 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

So last week I was sick at home missing work with a major case of the man-flu. Our pantry is usually well-stocked, but this day I could find nothing to inspire me and had not desire to go supermarketing. Soldiers on toast seemed to be all I could come up with, and this is the perfect brunch for a flu-ridden raining day, sitting on the lounge floor at the coffee table in my tracky-daks watching morning cartoons.

I picked up a clever egg timer a few years ago that is ingenious. You simply drop it into the water with the eggs and it changes colour as they cook, guaranteeing perfectly cooked whites and runny yolks. My other major S on T tips are to free range eggs, thick white bread, and good butter. I also like to apply salt flakes and freshly cracked pepper to the bread dripping with melted butter, rather then to the eggs themselves.

(more…)