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Sizzle & crunch

ByJulie Biuso 29 October 201930 August 2023

How has your week been? In New Zealand we have just celebrated a long holiday weekend and we fared pretty well with the weather. Maybe you were lucky enough to catch fresh fish, and for sure you dusted off the barbecue. If you live further afield there is still plenty in this week’s Shared Kitchen’s offerings. Making great fish and chips is often something we leave to our local fish shop or restaurant chains, but when made at home with a good batter – and I use batter made with beer – it’s not difficult and it’s absolutely scrumptious. Why does beer make such a great batter? What other ways can beer be used to bring flavour to food? Can you deglaze a pan with beer? And what sort of beer is best for marinading and cooking? Find all the answers here Cooking with Beer And for sizzling fish and chips check out here Beer-battered Fish & Chips
Keen on a new meat cut for the barbie? Grab a bit of skirt steak. It’s a trick to cook it right – high heat and fast – as anything past medium-rare will turn it to boot leather, but the picture tells the story. Slice it thin and tumble it into soft tortillas or puffy flatbreads for a sensational (and inexpensive) summer treat. Skirt Steak in Beer Marinade
If you are lucky to have freshly caught fish one of the best and simplest treatments is to serve it raw (crudo/cru). I love it with lime, kaffir lime leaves and green chilli. Fresh Snapper with Lime & Chilli
I enjoyed a lunch at Waiheke’s Three Seven Two restaurant with my son Luca recently and when we spied panelle on the menu, we zeroed in on them. Delicious. Read about the dish here Panelle with Extras and how to make them Panelle – Sicilian Street Food Excuse the pic of the panelle – it’s munted, but never mind!
Finally, a big platter of luscious tomatoes, goat’s cheese, pine nuts and basil oil. Serve a bowl of olives on the side and a loaf of crusty bread and kick back on these light-filled evenings. Tomato, Goat’s Cheese & Pine Nut Salad
Oh, Halloween. If you are up north of New Zealand (USA, UK) there are plenty of suitable recipes on Shared Kitchen. Just go to the side bar of the home page and tap on Autumn. Here you go https://sharedkitchen.co.nz/category/autumn/ It will bring up a gazillion choices suitable for your season, including lots of ways with pumpkin if that’s your whim.
For the kids, if you want to go home-made, make up a batch of Chocolate Fudgey Slice or American Brownies, or do what I am going to do, and run away! Yes, I’ll be out on Halloween, or at least my house will look like no one’s home. Haha!