annas crayfish salad

Wow Anna that looks devine and delicious.
Chris and I were fortunate to be out again on my sister and brother and laws boat over the last weekend at Great Barrier Island.  What an amazing place.  Diver Dean caught numerous crayfish which mean't I gave some away to Anna ( I didn't want to be greedy) and this is what she came up with her lunch yesterday.  I wish I stayed around.  I made a crayfish risotto which we had for dinner last night and I have been nibbling on it this morning and I will take the remainder for my dinner at work tonight.
Very fortunate. Yum Yum.
Shit just realised I have posted 2 crayfish recipes in a row.

crayfish fettuccine with herbs and lemon

This is what I had for my dinner last night at work.  Yes I ate all that crayfish for myself.  The family had fresh snapper so I didn't feel too bad.   Fish and crayfish caught out at Great barrier Island courtesy of Dean and Phillipa, Thank you.

Start by chopping about 6 cloves of garlic finely and adding it to the fry pan with sizzling herb butter and some olive oil.  Gently cook the garlic.  Turn off the pan if gets too hot.  Meanwhile cook the pasta (about 225g) or enough for 2-4 people.
Once the pasta is cooked add to the herb butter along with zest and juice of 2 lemons more chopped herbs, whatever you have (basil,chervil, tarragon, parsley) as long as it is fresh.  Use plenty.  Finish up with the cooked chopped crayfish a few shakes of chile flakes and salt and pepper and loosen up with some pasta water and olive oil.

compound butter

 
I decided to make this butter to use up some of the numerous herbs that are in the garden.

This is Gordon Ramseys recipe which is as follows

200g of unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tsp of parsley
1tsp of chevil
1 tsp of tarragon
salt and pepper

Mix together until all combined

Put it on some gladwrap and roll into a log and then put into the fridge ready for use.
The possibilities of herb and flavour combinations are endless but I think this one lends it self well to fish and seafood dishes.

crunchy chicken and sticky rice with 3 sauces of awesome

This meal seems to be my kids favourite at the moment.  It is very good and I bet there isn't a kid out there who wouldn't agree.  The 3 sauces of awesome (that is what Finn calls them) bring it all together.
The 3 sauces of awesome are tarmari soy sauce, kewpie mayonaise and sweet chile sauce.  There is something about the combination of all 3 that is just deliciousness.

The chicken tenderloins are coated in rice or corn flour dipped in beaten egg then crumbed in panko and glutenfree crumbs for Finn and of course 2-3 tablespoons of sesame seeds.
The rice is of the sticky variety and the coleslaw is green and red cabbage with grated carrot.
Just have a little bit of everything in each mouthful.

roasted carrot and beetroot salad with herb dressing

I have made this salad a few times this summer and it goes especially well with BBQ beef or lamb.

For this salad I used

Carrots - cut lengthways and roasted in the oven, you will need a lot
1beetroot - baked in the oven with foil for about an hour
goat cheese - crumbled
rocket
capers
herbs, any will do,  I used chervil, basil, and parsley as they were in my garden
herb dressing
Just put together as much as you like

The beetroot came from my garden along with the herbs

For the dressing I used

white wine vinegar
olive oil
lots of finely chopped herbs, I used oregano, basil, chervil and parsley
Maldon salt and pepper

Give it all a good shake in a jar and pour over salad just before serving.

soy maple glazed grilled salmon

 I have a sort of love hate relationship with salmon.  I know it is very good for you and probably one of the top ten healthiest foods but I just seem to struggle with it.  I have decided that I just need to buy it and give it a go, so today I did.

This is the quickest, simplest way to cook it.
I used equal parts tamari soy sauce and 100% maple syrup, a tablespoon of each was enough.

I grilled it in the oven for 3 lots of 3 minutes basting at each interval and it came out perfect.
This was a 200g piece.
I ate it just like that, the sweetness and salty of the glaze seems to cut through the richness just right.  A squeeze of lime juice wouldn't go a miss either.
I think some sticky rice would go nicely with it for next time.
Don't use baking paper like I did as it burnt, so I would recommend foil instead.

summer rice paper rolls

I made these rice paper rolls for my lunch today.
I had some crumbed chicken tenderloins leftover so I decided to use them along with some cucumber, red pepper, lettuce and herbs that were in the garden.

 The key to making these is to not soak the rice paper for too long in the water.  Only about 10 seconds.  They get too flimsy and difficult to work with otherwise.  It should be still hardish.  I then like to fold it in half.  Sometimes it snaps in half.  Thats ok.  It will soften up by the time you are ready to roll.
First I put the herbs down with the nice side facing outwards. Place in the middle of the rice paper.  I had coriander, mint and vietnamese basil.  Then a bit of lettuce, some chicken, cucumber and peppers some more herbs and lettuce.
Lastly pickup the end closest to you and roll over and keep it all firm and keeping rolling until all enclosed.  Traditionally summer rolls are served with peanut sauce.  I used sweet chile as I couldn't be bothered making peanut sauce, maybe another time.  This would be nice with prawns also.

black barn bistro hawkes bay

Chris and I drove down to Wellington to take Jacob to Massey University to start the next chapter of his life, Yay, how exciting for him.
Anyway we decided to stay a night in Hawkes Bay on the way back, and went to 'Black barn' for lunch.

It was a scorching hot day so it was perfect to be shaded by the beautiful grape vines under the pergola.

I know the pictures are n't that great but it was hard to get right with the dappled light and Chris becoming impatient and embaressed because I am taking pictures of our food.

This was Chris's 1st course, which the menu describes as
'Lemon Kingfish Ceviche' thinly sliced marinated in lime and lemoncello on pickled fennel with sesame snow and pea tendrils

This is what I had 'Waikanae crab gazpacho'  NZ paddle crab meat on an avocado and cucumber salsa with tomato gazpacho

For the main course I had 'Panfried Market fish' on black tiger prawn, red pepper and courgette, BB fusili pasta with chorizo tomato cream sauce.

Chris had 'Twice cooked free range pork belly' with chilli pineapple salsa, sesame bok choy, crackling, kumara and ginger mash in an Asian broth

and finally for dessert Chris had 'Valrhona chocolate and kahlua mousse' topped with fresh and freezed dried raspberries finished with vincotto and chocolate pearls.  We  also had a cheese board of Kapiti blue with praline and Arataki Kamahi honey.  I didn't take a picture as Chris tucked in to it too quickly.

All in all the food was pretty good, not amazing, but the surroundings certainly made up for it.  Would go again 7/10.

chile, kaffir lime leave beef with fat rice noodles

This was my lunch the other day.  I had some beef left over and I got a craving for rice noodles,
so without putting a lot of thought to it, this is what I came up with.

For the marinade I used

sliced fresh ginger
kaffir lime leaves
2 chilies
2 tablespoons brown sugar
sesame oil
tamari soy sauce
fish sauce

Sorry not good with the quantities as it just came out of the bottle.  Just taste it.

Let the beef marinade for a while,  1/2 an hour is good.
Then cook the beef in batches in a wok or a fry pan on high heat very quickly and then remove from the pan.
Meanwhile cook your noodles in boiling water for about 5-6 mins, check them though.
Add the noodles and beef back to the wok and pour over the marinade (with all of the bits in it) and add a bit more of any of the sauces if you want too.
I finished it up with the herbs from the garden, coriander, mint and basil and some chopped peanuts.
Actually there was some cabbage in there too, I must have cooked that after the beef.
The kaffir lime leaves are definitely the star of the dish.