proscuitto and rock melon

Beautiful combination.  NZ rock melons are perfect this time of year....

prawn pork dumplings with chicken broth

These were simple and fun to make, though I have adapted my original recipe because they were a little porky

 For this recipe you will need

• round dumpling wrappers
• 300g of pork mince
• 300g of finely chopped or whizzed raw prawns
• 3 finely chopped spring onions
• 1 large tablespoon of finely chopped ginger
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• maldon salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• some chopped water chestnuts would be nice too ( I didn't have any)

Combine all the ingredients together

Place a teaspoon of the filling in the middle of the wrapper and wet one half of the edge, (there should be enough cornflour on the wrapper to act like glue).  Fold over so the edges join, press and make sure you have all the air out.
With the sealed edge up, bend it slightly forward and bring the left and right ends downwards and together and stick together with some water.  Have a look at the picture I,m not sure if I am explaining it right.
I served them with some chicken broth  that has been infused with ginger slices and spring onions.

baked dulce de leche cheesecake with toffee shards

Well impressed with Chris's cheesecake efforts...the recipe came from taste.com.au

He even made his own toffee crumbs...Looks damn good but I could only managed a few mouthfuls before I felt ill...

broccoli bacon salad

This is my dinner for work tonight...time to get back to the healthy eating...how boring
I was inspired to make this recipe from here, but with a few changes

For this recipe you will need

• 1 small head of broccoli, chopped and steamed to how you like it
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped cooked bacon
• 1/4 cup of nut mix ( I used almonds, cashews and cranberries, a pre mix from from 'Pak n Save')
• 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme
• maldon salt and pepper
• maple syrup vinaigrette 

Assemble and toss with the dressing

chicken herb pasta

This is my default pasta recipe as I always seem to have the ingredients at home

For this recipe you will need

• bavette or linguine pasta
• big bunch of finely chopped basil
• big bunch of italian parsley
• zest and juice of one lemon
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of chile flakes
• 1/2 to 1 cup of finely grated parmesan cheese
• a generous glug of 'Colonna' olive oil with lemon, but any good olive oil will be good
• lots of maldon salt and black cracked pepper
• 2 chicken breasts or thighs, pan fried and sliced finely, which I usually chuck on top of the pasta at the end

Cook your pasta and add it to the fry pan that you cooked the chicken in.  ( deglaze the pan with a little of white wine just after you have cooked the chicken first).  Add all the remaining ingredients toss until all combined.  Top off with further parmesan cheese and olive oil if you desire.

sushi rice salad

I have been meaning to put a salad together like this for a long time.  It is another way to use sushi rice and whatever vegetables you have on hand.  The idea is that you chop your ingredients all the same size and group them on top of the rice.

For this recipe I used

• 1 chicken thigh panfried and finely sliced
• an  assortment of julienne vegetables - cucumber, cabbage, beansprouts (with their heads removed), avocado
• top it off with some spring onions, red chile and chopped  peanuts (you could use sesame  seeds as well)
• asian dressing of some sort - I used some dressing left over from last nights 'Pad thai' dinner, but you could use the sticky sweet soy sauce or miso dressing or anything else you would prefer

The combinations are endless, I want to try it with prawns next time.
This would be a good lunch to take to work already prepared the night before, just add the dressing and the nuts before you eat...

new Kopu bridge - Coromandel

Seems to be the highlight of our summer holiday thus far....going over the new 'Kopu bridge'

Not impressed with the volume of rain...decided to cut holiday short at Whangamata due to cabin fever