Archives for 2018

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Waiheke happenings this week

Santa’s snack is ready. Bread and water. Not.

Don’t be frightened …

Don’t hold back. Give it heaps. Add that salt!

Roasted Chicken Nibbles with Yellow & Red Peppers

You know the saying ‘A watched pot never boils.’? Add another saying to the list: ‘An unstirred dish of chicken nibbles, potatoes and peppers will burn.’ Apart from that, this dish is a doddle.

Rigatoni with Eggplant & Roasted Tomatoes

Bang the gong! This is awesome.

Crema Catalana – Catalan Crème Brûlée

Author Emma Warren makes a mean Crema Catalana. See how.

Baby Broad Bean & Pea Salad – Amanida de Favetes I Pèsols

If you can find it in a deli, finely shaved duck jamón, tossed through at the end, dresses up this salad beautifully.

The Catalan Kitchen

Catalan cuisine – edgy, surprising, intriguing, comforting. New book by Emma Warren.

Radicchio

I love the striking colour of radicchio and the way it lifts a bowl of green salad … and it’s refreshing minerally bitter bite in other dishes.

Artichokes – did I mention spikes!

Deal to them – no mercy – lop the tops off the buggers along with any other spiky unloveable parts.

Linguine with Feta, Broad Beans, Pine Nuts & Rocket

Here’s a spring pasta dish that rings all the bells: bouncy fresh, packed with flavour, fast and filling. And good for you.

Waiheke’s market

Colourful characters, buskers, kids, dogs, collectibles and more … oh, better mention good food.

Wet Sundays

How to lift a boring wet Sunday. Drink gin!

I’m going on an Italian bent for the next week or two. No, not actually going there, just sharing some terrific Italian family recipes. I first went to Italy in 1975. Holy smoke! I must have just been a baby (because, surely, I’m not that old!). I sailed into the gorgeous port of Genova and […]

Bruschetta with Grilled Zucchini & Buffalo Mozzarella

That whiff of barbecue smoke brings them running … though these succulent treats can be prepared indoors in a grill pan any time of year.

Potato & Basil Frittata

Check out the crisp and lacy edges!

Lifting the lid on frittata

The sins that have been committed under the name frittata. Stop! No more please. Call what you bake in the oven in a cake tin a vegetable bake. Got it? Yaaaah!

Cavolo Nero with Ginger & Pine Nuts

What to do with crinkly green leaves? Read on.

New Potatoes Roasted with Fresh Bay Leaves

New potatoes are great any which way … but roasted with fresh bay leaves they just may become your new favourite.

Bay leaves

Fresh bay, strongly aromatic, like pine needles, eucalypt and lemon all crushed together, with a scattering of floral blossoms on top.

Making an omelette

I don’t know why people don’t cook omelettes more often. They’re so quick, so tasty and so utterly satisfying, that it’s almost criminal to think of dashing off to buy fast food when there’s an egg or two in the pantry.

Spicy Pepitas

Zizz up your next drinks gathering with a bowl of these spicy little beauties.

Tortillas with Pork & Tomatillo Salsa

Roll them up, munch away.

Pickled Vege

A little pickle here, a little pickle there … can add interest to burgers, toasted cheese sandwiches, barbecued chicken and steak, or flat-tasting couscous, burghul, quinoa or freekeh. It’s pretty banging …

A good yarn

Unravelling a ball of cheese. New Zealand’s buffaloes drive things up a notch.