November 9th, 2011
Taste of New Zealand 2011
Gary Rhodes Hapuka Asian Style as seen at Taste of NZ festival in October.
Fans of the Food network will know of Gary Rhodes as he pops up on a regular basis. I thoroughly enjoyed his demo at the festival. He is a very precise chef and his recipes seem easy to follow. I do have one of his books on desserts and have used several of the recipes.
Auckland’s Anne Thorpe was introduced as a friend at the end and asked to blowtorch the sugar on the bread and butter pudding . Knowing how Anne avoids sugar I thought she was going to faint at the amount that went on!
She was very good about it but somehow I cant see her making that recipe!
The Hapooka as Gary called it was more to our liking and I was lucky enough to be sitting in the front row so got a taste. Delicious.
The other chef to impress in the Restaurant section was young Nick Honeyman. He is a young man to be watched as already he has great skills and experience (worked with Simon Wright at the French Cafe)
I tried his very attractive Tuna dish and he was kind enough to give me the recipe.
Check out his new venture Cru at Sale St .
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Events
June 13th, 2011
Audi Noosa Food and Wine Festival
Well, we finally made it to the Sunshine Coast. I had assumed it must be a pleasant place to live as half the population of NZ had supposedly decamped there over the last few decades. I can confirm that fact, quite categorically, as I met a vast number of them !
We were there for the food of course (wine not being a major part of the Queensland landscape!) and it didn’t disappoint. The Audi Noosa Food and Wine Festival is highly regarded, particularly by the chefs who love to come to this relaxed part of Australia and often bring their families.
It was interesting to see the two levels of chef/writer participants and their differing styles of recipes they presented. In one camp were the likes of Mark Best from Marque whose Roast oysters with pork jowl , Jamon Iberico consomme(a kg of jamon needed. according to the recipe !), pickled onion rings and fennel flowers was a real restaurant dish through to Valli Little’s (Delicious Magazine)more approachable Sicilian Style Veal Rolls. It was good being able to choose the level that suited you . I suppose budding chefs would have been hanging off the lips of Milan’s Carlo Cracco or Singapore’s Andre Chiang but their fame didn’t necessarily make them all good demonstrators.
This was Valli Little’s Baked Buffalo Ricotta Cake with Prosciutto, Witlof and Walnut salad.(We can get Buffalo Ricotta in NZ now from the Clevedon area). I do have the recipe if anyone wants it.Would make a great starter for summer.
I did enjoy the discussions among food writers on the social media phenomenons of Twitter etc especially when the cheeky Mathew Evans (of the Gourmet Farmer) called food bloggers “food tragics”. The chefs’ ideas on food trends was also interesting.
Most of the chefs paired up for their demos which meant there was a little “jockeying” for attention. In one case the Spanish pair made quite a joke of it. One of these characters,Javier Codina, did a Scallops in salsa verde , padron peppers and white beans which I am going to try when fresh scallops come back into season.
On the Saturday the food outside was provided by well known foodwriters such as Matt Preston and Simon Thomsen and the public then voted on their favourites. Unfortuantely I could only manage 2 servings so it was a bit hard to judge. However Matt Preston lost his crown this year. The following day it was the restaurants from around town who were on show and there were plenty of delicious choices.Unfortunately I was having such a good time I didn’t take many notes (apologies) so I guess you will just have to go next year and see for yourselves!
I must say it was great to see our Kiwi boys represented. Ben Shewry and Justin North featured in the classes and Ben did the dessert at the special dinner which unfortunately our budget wouldn’t quite cope with. Alterations at home took precendence.
More next time on other features of our trip.There is also my ”Queensland revisited” article on www.foodie.co.nz . Go to features and scroll down.
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Events, Gourmet travel
March 12th, 2011
Joan Campbell’s Apple Charlotte
This recipe is best made for a large group (say 8 people) as it is important to cook it for 3 hours to allow the alchemy of butter, sugar, apples and bread to become crispy and syrupy! .
Apple Charlotte (Joan Campbell 1980 VE)
8 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1-cup sugar and a splash of water
225g butter 1 loaf thinly sliced white sandwich bread. Parcook apples with sugar and water.Melt butter and cut off bread crusts, dip in butter and line baking tin. I use a deep sided (5 cm deep minimum) glass dish Pour in hot par-cooked apples and top with more buttered bread. Cover top with the apple peelings to stop burning. Cook at 150c non-fan or 130c fan 2 hours then remove peeling and crisp up 1 hour or less. Serve with vanilla icecream.
I just tested this by cutting the recipe down to two servings. I also used some light sourdough instead of sandwich bread and while it did take a bit more than 1/4 of the butter it was GOOD. It still took two hours to reach that crispy, syrupy heaven but I was slow cooking a piece of pork belly at the same time so I felt the oven was doing two jobs at once!
You could try adding other flavours such as lime marmalade instead of some of the sugar.
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Recipes
February 18th, 2011
Audi Noosa Food and Wine festival 2011
Lunch at The French Cafe was the venue for the Auckland launch of the Noosa festival 2011.The picture above shows my main course of Snapper with cauliflower puree, langoustine, grilled Iberico Ham, green beans and almonds. It was of course the usual high standard The French Cafe is known for and the fact that the Festival launch is held here is a great insight into the very high standards one can expect from the event in Noosa in May. This year I will be attending and I am certainly looking forward to the series of events. I must be one of the few Kiwis left who has never been to the Sunshine Coast and indeed haven’t been to Brisbane since the early 80′s when I performed in Evita!
The list of chefs attending , demonstrating and doing special one-off dinners reads like the Who’s who of the Australian culinary scene and in fact there are a number of chefs from overseas as well. One of the people I am looking forward to meeting is Valli Little from Delicious Magazine whom I find constantly innovative and inspiring and hope to catch up with Matt Preston from Australian Masterchef whom I met in Central Otago a while back.
The website has all the programme details on www.celebrationofaustralianfoodandwine.com.au
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Events
December 28th, 2010
Pickled Gherkins
1 kilo Gherkins
1-tablespoon salt 1 ½ cups water 1-cup brown sugar 2 ¼ cups spiced vinegar.
Rub the gherkins to remove the little prickles.Combine salt and water to make a brine and soak gherkins for 24 hours. Drain well.
Pour a jug of boiling water over the gherkins then pack into jars and pour over sugar and vinegar. Seal.
This was the recipe I talked about on Newstalk ZB on 27th Dec. Given to me in 2004 by a listener whose name I didn’t write down for some reason. Anyway thanks to whoever it was!
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Recipes
November 24th, 2010
Cocoro in Ponsonby
Recently I was invited to a special function at this new Japanese restaurant in Ponsonby.
Cocoro is another offering from the team at Soto in St Mary’s Bay Rd but it is a more intimate space which they see as being more appropriate for sake tastings as well as offering a degustation menu and Japanese tasting plates. (I dont want to call them tapas)
The degustation menu was the one we were offered and it was a very interesting evening for me. I rarely eat in Japanese restaurants apart from sushi places and from the scrumptious whitebait savoury baked custard inside the black box above to the succulent lamb cutlets, it was a revelation.While Soto’s menu could not be considered strictly Japanese, the service definitely is.
(While at the Taste of Auckland recently we also tried the huge prawns and Teriyaki chicken from Soto/Cocoro which had us both licking our fingers with great glee.)
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Events
July 6th, 2010
Belgian Biscuits Newstalk ZB Recipe
This is the recipe (with my metric adjustments) as heard on Newstalk ZB Thursday 1st July.
4 oz butter (softened) 115g
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 large cup (1 1/4 cups) plain flour
1 sm cup (3/4 cup) cornflour
1 tsp Baking Powder
2 desspn (1 1/2 Tablespoons each of cinnamon and cocoa
Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat again. Sift in dry ingredients and combine. If it is too soft (though mine wasn’t) chill for an hour or so until it can be rolled out to 1/8th inch thickness (dont ask me for the metric version of that!) Cut into rounds with a cutter or glass and bake on a tray lined with baking paper at about 160 fan or 180 non-fan for 12-15 mins or until nearly firm and smelling good.Cool slightly and sandwich together with raspberry or plum jam (if you are like me and hate raspberry seeds in your teeth!) Ice with a simple lemon icing if desired but they are quite sweet so be warned.Makes about a dozen or more joined biscuits depending on size.They will soften on standing so keep them unjoined until you want them, if you like crisper biscuits!Your call.
Sue Story
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Recipes, Uncategorized
July 5th, 2010
No Rain for a week in Ireland!
In the middle of May we were in Southern Ireland and were lucky enough to visit Dunbrody Country House Hotel on Wexford’s south coast.
Kevin Dundon and his wife Catherine run this gorgeous 250 acre spot. Kevin is a TV chef and cookbook author who also owns 2 restaurants in the U.S.
We had been introduced to Kevin through an Auckland chef Michael van Elzen from Molten in Mt Eden who once worked at Dunbrody .Kevin generously spent time with us showing us the marvellous fruit and vegetable gardens ,which in summer supply 90% of the restaurant needs.They even have a resident pig as well as lovely chooks! Kevin cooked us a seafood chowder for lunch with Irish soda bread and showed us the spa and cooking school which makes this a great weekend retreat. www.dunbrodyhouse.com
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Gourmet travel
January 11th, 2010
Pickled lemons
Pickled Lemons
Pickled Lemons are very easy to make and work so well in Moroccan dishes. They can also be used to wake up bean dishes or dips and marry beautifully with smoked salmon. There are a variety of ways to pickle them but this method (you can hardly call it a recipe) is easy and a favourite with me.Choose firm lemons (Meyers tend to be quite soft) Yen Ben, Eureka or Lisbon are best.
I described the method on Newstalk ZB on Saturday where you make a cross cut almost though the lemon leaving the base intact and stuffing with rock salt but if you want to save on salt and jars try cutting them into quarters. Get about 8 lemons and a cup or two of rock salt. Cut as described. In the photo above I did some whole and some quartered and they look fine. Put an inch or so of salt into the bottom of a large sterilized jar, place the cut lemons in a large bowl and rub the salt into them. Pack them into the jar layering well with more salt and some extra juice. Top up with a little boiling water and if you like, float a layer of olive oil on top, though I didn’t for the photographed ones.
Some methods call for a few coriander seeds to be added or cinnamon stick /bay leaf, but it’s the salt that pickles them. Leave them on a windowsill for about a month. Some people store them in the fridge once opened but I haven’t found it necessary.
To use, remove from the jar with a fork (not fingers) to stop contamination. Rinse off the salty liquid, remove the flesh and most of the pith and finely slice or dice skin, as required. Add to couscous with chopped coriander or parsley to liven it up.
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Recipes
December 30th, 2009
Newstalk ZB Chocolate Mousse
Here is the chocolate Mousse recipe I gave out on Newstalk ZB on Boxing Day.
Newstalk ZB Chocolate Mousse (or frozen chocolate mousse) (Makes enough for at least six good serves or 8 as the frozen one)
This classic recipe adapts well; for example try orange liqueur in it instead of rum.A coffee liqueur would work as well.
Shave some chocolate on top of the cream or even a little crunchy praline for texture.It’s all about balance of flavours and textures. You would think the cream would make it too rich but it helps cut throught the chocolate, as do tart fruits.I remember drizzling Cointreau over one indulgent version many years ago.
175g dark chocolate, chopped (I use the 72% Whittaker’s dark Ghana or Green and Black’s Orange)
4 Tblsp strong black coffee (instant is fine)
1 Tblsp butter
4 eggs separated
1 Tblsp rum or ½ tsp vanilla essence or orange liqueur
3 Tblsp caster sugar
Warm the chocolate with the coffee (I usually heat in the microwave 1 ½ -2 mins on 50% power. It will take less if the coffee is hot). Stir in butter and flavouring. Mix in egg yolks one by one so that it thickens slightly. Let mixture cool till tepid. Whip the egg whites, add sugar and continue whipping for 30 seconds to make a light meringue. Fold into chocolate mix and place in a big bowl (or tiny coffee cups or wine glasses)to chill.Serve with a spoonful of crème fraiche or whipped cream and caramelised oranges or some tart fruit like raspberries to cut the richness. To make the frozen version add 150ml softly whipped cream and freeze.You can also serve the version with the cream added, unfrozen.
To make it dairy free , eliminate the butter (and cream of course).
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Recipes