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.

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.

cheap easy lazy chicken dinner

 I was working yesterday so I just grabbed some vegetables and some chicken drumsticks from the butcher in greenlane on my way home.  This is
just a throw together dinner and I know it looks like it too.

For this dinner you will need - feeds 5

• 2 kg of chicken drumsticks (that equates to about 15)
• 10 carrots ( at least, peeled and split in half)
• 5 onions (red or brown will do chopped into quarters)
• a bunch of asparagus
• a bag of beans
• lots of salt and pepper

Put the carrots and onions in the bottom of a large roasting pan with lots of salt and pepper.  Put the chicken on top with more salt and pepper and a little bit of olive oil.

Put it in the oven at about 190c for twenty minute episodes.  Pull it out and give it a toss in the fat that is rendering from the chicken.  Nothing really comes together for at least and hour.  I think I did another 20 minutes as well.  Just keep going until it looks the way you want it too.  The chicken is just releasing  its juices and creating a delicious sauce.

 When the asparagus is so thin and fresh like this I just pour on boiling water to cook it and it stays in the water until I am ready to use it without over cooking it.  For the beans I steamed them for 4-5 mins and then blanched them in ice water.
To assemble, find a large platter lay down the chicken with the carrots and onions followed by the greens and then pour on the pan juices.  Then add more salt and pepper.  This dish would so not do when I was a kid because I had very strong views about not allowing my different food groups to touch.  I would be horrified if that came to the table like that.  Anyway I have grown up now.
This is a really simple and easy satisfying dish.  The time is in the cooking so put it on early.

 Dinner was followed by strawberries and icing sugar.

broad bean dip

This dip is made with frozen broad beans bought from the frozen section of the super market.  Not always that easy to come by as they are not always there year round, but they should be there as they are in season now.
They are actually a very good product, probably like frozen peas but unfortunately I  have a very unhealthy aversion too, due to childhood trauma of force feeding.

Anyway the recipe is as follows

• 250g of frozen broad beans or 1/2 a packet
• 10-15 mints leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest and squirt of juice
• pince of salt and pepper
• a chunk of feta cheese, probably a large tablespoon
• drizzle of good olive oil

This is what they look when the come out of the frozen packet, quite disgusting really.

Pour on some boiling water and leave for at least 5-10 minutes.  I find there is no need to boil them in a pot.  Drain off the water and them pop them out of their pods.  Look how beautifully devine they are now that they have shed their grey green skin.
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and whiz until you get the desired consistency.
You could just smash them all together too for a more chunky look.
Serve on toasted bread or as lily does something she dips her carrots into for school lunch.

beef salad with thai dressing

Well I thought it was about time that I got myself organised and started posting again.
This was what I had for lunch yesterday, left overs from last nights dinner. The beef and the dressing were the same but the choice of vegetables were different.
What really makes this salad good is the dressing the coriander and mint, some crunchy vegetables topped of with some peanuts and deep fried shallots and of course some chile.

For this salad I used

• lettuce leaves
• bean sprouts minus their heads
• yellow pepper
• cucumber
• a little bit of carrot, just because I like carrot
• avocado
• spring onions
• red chile
• mint
• fresh coriander
• asparagus was used on the sat night
• chopped roasted unsalted peanuts
• deep fried shallots
• And don't forget the beef,  I used finely sliced BBQ rump

The dressing is really simple and goes perfectly with the beef, herbs and crunchy toppings

• juice of 2 limes
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar or more depending on how sweet you like it
• 2 tsps of fish sauce
• I also used some kaffir lime leaves as they were in the garden pounded in the mortar and pestle with the sugar before I added the juice and fish sauce

Combine until all the sugar has dissolved and add at the very last minute before serving

Actually this is what the salad really looked like before I ate it.

chicken mango salad

We had this salad on Friday night which was originally made with green prawns. I made it again on Saturday using the leftover greens, but used BBQ chicken thighs instead, which also works really well with the mango and the lime and sesame dressing.

For the salad I used

• salad greens of rocket and thinly sliced iceberg and endive
• bean sprouts minus their heads
• julienned sliced mango - Mexican ones are fairly affordable at the moment
• coriander
• spring onions
• avocado sliced
• toasted sesame seeds and chopped peanuts
• BBq chicken thighs thinly sliced

For the lime and sesame dressing I used

• juice of 3 limes
• 2 tablespoons of palm sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 1 tsp of finely grated ginger
• smidge of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil

The quantities for the salad is up to you and the measurements for the dressing are as close to a guess as I can remember as I don't measure, but taste it until it's balanced and right for you.

Dress the greens with some of the dressing and gently toss before adding the mango and avocado, so you don't make it mushy, finish off with the chicken and the nuts add some more dressing and give it a final gentle toss with your fingers.

brown rice salad with butternut pumpkin

I made this salad yesterday to use up the ingredients that are floating around in my kitchen.  I have had a butternut pumpkin sitting on my bench for over a week now and the nut mix was not going to be nice if I didn't use it soon.  The last of the goat cheese was used and so was the sweet tomato sauce that was left over from the weekend dinner.  There are always onions and brown rice in my pantry.

For this  salad I used

1 cup of uncooked brown rice - cooked
1 butternut pumpkin - that was a lot you probably only need to use half
handful of nuts that I toasted  (tasti do a nut mix that have cashews, pumpkins seeds, sliced almonds and pinenuts)
2 onions cut into 1/8ths
bulb of garlic (optional) I over cooked most of mine
handful of water cress or rocket
chile flakes
a few crumbles of goat cheese or feta
chopped chives - they were in the garden - you can use any herb
sweet tomato sauce dressing

Start off by cooking your rice.  I did that as soon as I was up so it was already to go at lunch time.
Next cut your  pumpkin into whatever size you like.  (Jacob said he thought ours was too big).
Roast with the onions and garlic.  Divide up the bulb but leave the skins on.  I like to put all in a bowl and mix with the olive oil and salt and pepper before putting in the roasting pan so they all get a good coating.  Space out the vegetables as they will go soggy and gently turn them over 3-4 times during their cooking time.  A little care is required so the pumpkin retains it shape.  If the onions are getting too scorched, take them out ahead of the pumpkin.
While the veges are cooking make the dressing.  Use 2 tablespoons of the sweet tomato sauce along with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.  Whisk together and add to the brown rice along with some chile flakes and combine well.  Always a good idea to dress your rice first so it can absorb the flavour and it doesn't mush up your vege if you added it later.
Once the veges have cooked to your liking let them cool for about 15 mins then add to the rice mixture along with the rest of the ingredients.

raw sandwich pizza

  When I was in high school I had the same sandwich just about everyday.
Grated raw beetroot, carrot and cheese on vogel bread and maybe some lettuce if we had some. (actually, vogel bread what pretty new back then).        I had two sandwiches one for morning tea and one for lunch.
So that was my inspiration for my lunch yesterday.  I added a few extra things also as you can see.

For this recipe I used  - layered in the following order

• 1 small lebanese bread  ( softened up in the toaster )
• avocado mixed with some mayonnaise
• finely sliced cabbage
• grated beetroot
• grated carrot
• grated cheese
• sliced yellow pepper
• bean sprouts 
• some more avocado mayonaise
• finely some chopped chives

I just folded it over to eat.  As you can see it was a little messy.  I did eat every last bit though.

You don't have to add this much filling, but that is the way I like it...

easy stirfry

Like the fried rice recipe this has no rules.

I know the stirfry is very 80s - 90s but it is a goodie for a week night family dinner.
We would probably have some sort of stir fry once a fortnight.  This is one way of getting your 5 fruit and vege a day in one go.  I always make a huge amount so there are some left overs as Finn and Lily like taking it to school for their lunch.  Use what ever protein and vegetables you have at hand or choose, asian greens are perfect also, but the idea is to have a lot.

For this recipe I used

• 2 pieces of rump steak chopped into small pieces
• 10 chicken loins (they were on special at New World) chopped into small pieces
• 2 courgettes sliced julienne
• 1 head of broccoli cut into small flowerets
• 1/2 head of large cauliflower chopped into small flowerets 
• 2 brown onions sliced julienne
• 1 small red pepper sliced julienne
• 1 small yellow pepper sliced julienne
• 2 carrots sliced julienne
• 2-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• sticky sweet soy sauce with cornflour and water added
• brown rice 

Start off by heating your wok on medium to high heat with some oil, peanut oil goes well until smoking.  Stir fry your beef and chicken in small batches and then put aside.  The idea is to get some colour and not to cook it right through as that will finish off when you add the sauce at the end.

Once you have done the meat put aside.  Add some more oil to the wok and put in the onions, courgettes and garlic  and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Then add the carrots and the peppers and the broccoli and cauliflower (that I have previously steamed) and mix around and stir fry for around 2 minutes and then finally add your sauce.  I make quite a large quantity of the sauce mixed with cornflour and water and add until I have the amount I want.  Lots of sauce its good as you want plenty for the rice.  The sauce will thicken as it heats up.  Finally add the beef and chicken and give it one more stir through and serve with rice.  I used brown rice as I am going through a brown rice  phase.

brown rice fried rice

 Fried rice is such a simple meal to make and makes use of whatever vegetables you have left in your fridge.
William my nephew who is a cyclist, inspired me to add some spinach when I was reading his blog 'Yarns of a kiwi cyclist'. He adds it to his bacon and egg fried rice.

I decided to use brown rice as I thought it would go well with the spinach.

Left over vegetables that needed using in my fridge were

• 1 courgette diced
• 1 orange pepper diced
• spinach sliced up ( you can use a lot as it cooks down to nothing)
• beansprouts - a big handful

I also added 

• 1 chicken breast cut into pieces - any protein would be good or a combination
• 1 brown onion - finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon fresh finely chopped ginger
• sprinkling of finely chopped basil, as there was some on the bench
• tamari soy sauce
• sweet chile sauce
• 7 peppers, pepper

First off add 1 cup of brown rice in large pot of boiling water and boil until cooked.  I often will put some rice on in the morning so when I want to make the fried for lunch or dinner it is already to go when you want to prepare the fried rice.

 Next fry off the chicken in the wok or fry pan with some oil and then put aside.

Then cook the onion, courgette, garlic and ginger in the wok until softened and cooked down and a little browned, takes about 10 minutes followed by the spinach and beansprouts,  They only take a minute to wilt away.

Finally add the rice and chicken and the soy sauce to your liking.

I add a blob of sweet chile on the top with the basil and some 7 peppers, pepper.

This is always a good meal as it stores well in the fridge ready for a re heat whenever you are hungry.

sushi

I love sushi and I go through patches where I make it all the time and then nothing for months, I guess that is like anything though.
Well, I am going through a sushi making phase once again and this time I attempted to make inside outside rolls.  Not too bad for my first attempt, still far from perfect.  I think the photo makes them look better than they were.  They are filled with tuna mixed with kewpie mayonnaise, avocado, red pepper and cucumber.

roast vegetable salad with beef fillet

I do like a beef salad and this is my 3rd variation. Using the beef added to the salad makes it go a lot further.  I made a basil, chipotle mayonnaise with my stick blender as well but the colour of it was a hideous muck green so I did not post it.  It tasted ok though.


For this recipe I used

• 4 small pieces of beef fillet, marinated in garlic and olive oil and BBQ
• 5 medium sized carrots
• 2 handfuls of mushrooms left whole
• 4 small orange kumara
• 5 smallish red onions
• 2 whole beetroot (roasted in foil separately so the rest of the vege do not turn purple)
• 1 small red pepper finely sliced in strips
• 1 small yellow pepper finely sliced in strips
• 4 tomatoes into wedges
• rocket
• sprig of rosemary and thyme, only because they are in the garden
• handful of finely chopped basil 
• parmesan cheese about 1/2 to 1 cup grated on a fine grater plane
• handful of finely chopped italian parsley
• balsamic dressing made with good olive oil.

I started by roasting the beetroot in foil with its skin on for an hour and a half at 180C.  Once cooled peel off the skin.  It comes off very easily.  Cut into chunks.
Next peel and cut the carrots and kumara lengthways , quarter the onions, leave the mushrooms whole and toss with lots of salt and black pepper and olive oil, rosemary and thyme.
Roast in the oven at 180C for about and hour, turning regularly at 10-15 mins intervals.  Watch that they do not scorch too much.
I then mix the parmesan with the basil, parsley and black pepper.

To assemble the salad start with the rocket and a sprinkling of the parmesan cheese mixture.
Then the roasted vege and beetroot, some more cheese sprinklings, peppers and tomatoes, more cheese sprinklings and finally add the beef and the dressing and toss.

simple prawn salad

This is really simple and the sort of food I like to eat.  I bought the prawns already cooked.  They were surprisingly good and I will buy them again.  The rice is my sticky rice recipe.
The salad is what you can see, prawns, cabbage and sticky rice.  Of course I did put a dressing on it before I ate it and some chile as well.
I think it would be nice with a wasabi mayo type dressing which I will make some time soon but I had it with the usual sweet soy sauce.  It's kind of eating sushi without the nori.  Some avocado would be nice also, oh and some sesame seeds, ah and some raw tuna, the possibilities are endless.

blue cod with prawn salsa

This is what we had for dinner last night.  The blue cod came courtesy of my sister and brother in law.  It came from the Chatham Islands and for those who don't know, the Chatham Islands are 800 km east of the South Island of New Zealand..
It is the most devine fish I have tasted, dense and sweet.
It was simply panfried in butter and olive oil and light dusted in flour before hand.  I used cornflour for Finns.

For the salsa put together what ever you have in fine dice.. I used


1 orange pepper
1 yellow pepper
8 tomatoes
2 avocados
1 fiercely hot green chile
1 mango
1 tablespoon of finely chopped coriander
zest of 1 lime
250g of chopped cooked prawns


The dressing was a combination of palm sugar, lime juice and fish sauce.
The salsa goes really well with corn chips too...

This is my ultimate favourite dinner...
actually some shoe string fries and some aioli  on the side and it would be perfect,  oh don't forget the wine...

photos by Jacob

vietnamese salad

We had this salad for dinner last night, but the pictures are from the left overs that I had for my lunch today.  I just added a few more fresh vegetables and herbs.

For this recipe you will need

• 500g minced chicken
• 500g minced pork
• 400g of thin rice noodles (soaked in cold water until flexible)
• 1 cup of finely sliced cabbage
• 1 cup of finely sliced cucumber (skinned and seeds removed)
• 1 cup of bean sprouts
• 2 spring onions finely chopped
• 1 small finely sliced red onion
• 1/2-1 cup of finely chopped peanuts
• 1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves
• 1/2 cup chopped mint
• 2 tablespoons of finely chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons of finely chopped galangal or green ginger
• 2 tablespoons of finely chopped coriander roots and stems
• 6 small finely chopped or 3 large kaffir lime leaves
• 2 tablespoons of jaggery or palm sugar
• 2-4 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 2 limes,  zest and juice
• chile flakes or 1-2 fresh chiles

Start off heating 2 tablespoons of plain oil to a wok or fry pan and gently saute on medium heat, garlic, galangal and coriander root and stems for a couple of minutes.  Do not let it get to much colour.
Next, add the chicken and pork mince all at once and cook through.  Add a little salt to taste.  Then add the sugar, chile and fish sauce.  Turn off the heat.
 Meanwhile drain the rice noodles of the cold water, then cover with boiling water from the jug, drain immediately and then rinse with cold water to stop them getting over cooked.  (you do not want them soggy).
Fold in the cucumber, cabbage, red onion, spring onions, bean sprouts,and peanuts, followed by the herbs, zest and juice of the limes. Add the noodles and combine. Taste for balance and add more of what you think it needs.


Serve and add extra herbs and sliced veges if you want on top.
This is a  really flavoursome delicious healthy meal which can be eaten at room temperature.

proscuitto and rock melon

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

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

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...