Potatoes, garlic and carrots

  It sounds like a perfect dish! But no -  this is really a post about small beginnings.
I planted Jersey Benny potatoes for the first time this season. I also planted organic garlic - another first, the result was not exactly a massive harvest but you have to start somewhere I suppose. I also harvested carrots of a strange shape, not your usual carrot shape, more 'stumpy'. My hubby thought they looked like something from 'Hobbiton' but then nothing surprises him when it comes to my gardening! They were delicious, so sweet. I grew the Jersey Bennys in a big barrel (another first). They certainly took their time and while the quantities were not big they tasted wonderful. 
  Another success was my rhubarb. I was given a plant when I first moved to Welly but it hasn't really thrived. This season, after a lot of compost and the odd sheep pellet and lots of watering, I have a lovely crop. I made some into a yummy Chelsea Winter rhubarb crumble. So delicious. I secreted away a little plate of left overs but unfortunately my little grandson had spotted me and asked for it the next day. How could I say no?! Drizzled with cream, the plate was literally licked clean.  

potatoes, garlic and my stumpy carrots

   Looking over my photos recently I came across these of my first house. It was a truly humble little place but I was so proud of it. As you can see the back yard was pretty much vegetable garden, which supplemented my pathetic income at the time. In those early years I had a little more strength and energy, so it was well and truly laden with vegetables. I do remember spending hours digging and weeding, often in searing heat, and the early experience planted (excuse the pun!) the love of growing my own produce. I spent months and months redecorating the inside, landscaping the outside of the house and sorting a driveway and single garage. I sold it after about three years. It looked a picture on sale day and the first person (a woman) through the door bought it on the spot.

Me, proudly in front of my vege plot

A garden not that flash looking but good soil

The back yard on sale day - with new fancy paths and lawn

   While my daughter was visiting over the holidays we organised a 2013 book of my blog using Blurb. When I first started my blog I thought it would be a great way of recording and sharing my 'tried and true' recipes but it has become a little more than that. Now I also see it as a way of 'talking' to my friends and family, a bit of a journal really and making the book ensures these conversations are not lost. So now I have the 2012 and 2013 Capital Living editions and it is lovely to look back on them and use them as recipe books.
So from small beginnings - looks like I will continue gardening, creating and writing into 2015!

Summer Berry Trifle

  Have you ever seen a grown woman swoon over a spoonful of trifle. Well yes, I have! Because this recipe is a real 'doozey'.
  Trifles can be a little boring - think the old days when money was a little tight and your lovely Mum had to compromise by using raspberry jam and fruit salad when making the family trifle (it also had to go a long way). And that was the way I thought you should make a trifle until I 'saw the light' and made this one. Yes, raspberries can be a little pricey at Christmas time but that only adds to the luxury of the dish. It gives us a good reason to grow our own raspberries don't you think.
  There is no jam or fruit salad in this delicious bowl of loveliness! Just lots of gorgeous fresh summer berries, custard, (slightly) sherry drenched sponge and cream. And it is so simple to make!
  I thought with the additional sugar the dish may be a bit sickly sweet, but it isn't. 
  It looks pretty and tastes divine, a definite winner. Having made two over the holidays it is now in my Christmas repertoire.
   Like me, the other recipients of the trifle were also in raptures - which is fine with me - I like to make people happy and it means another empty bowl to take home!

Summer Berry Trifle – Fiona Smith - Cuisine magazine Issue # 149

Sponge cake – make your own or use a large square Ernest Adams plain sponge - it is perfect for this

For the fruit

125g sugar

60ml water

2 sheets leaf gelatine (or 1 ½ tsp powdered)

3 cups raspberries

3 cups of strawberries hulled and halved (or quartered if large)

Place the sugar and water in a saucepan. Heat for a few minutes until the sugar dissolves.

Remove from the heat.

Place the gelatine in cold water for 5 mins to soften. If using sheets squeeze out the excess water then stir into the sugar liquid. If using powdered gelatine, sprinkle it over the liquid and wait for it to soften then stir in. Stir in the berries then allow mixture to cool.

To assemble

Sherry to taste

300ml cream, whipped

500ml of custard

Cut the sponge into large cubes. Arrange half the cubes in a large glass bowl then sprinkle with sherry. Top with half the fruit mix and some syrup, then half the custard. Repeat in layers then top with cream.

Serves about 6 - 10 people depending on serve size.

P.S Because I love blueberries I thought I might use blueberries instead of raspberries next time. They might bleed a bit, but worth a try I think.

My layers were not so perfect but still look pretty good

I made the mistake of adding a layer of cream on top of the custard, but it seemed to add to the gorgeousness

Tossed flaked almonds as a garnish on top

Multi-grain salad

   Feeding vegetarians always poses the problem 'what should I cook?' as I am always looking for something to surprise and satisfy the recipient. This time I also wanted a recipe that looked a little 'Christmassy' and 'summery' for them. And this recipe was a winner. I just love the way it looks and tastes. Pomegranates are available for a such a short period over summer, it is a perfect way to use them. I just love the colour they introduce to dishes.
   The dish serves about 4 - 6 but I found you can add extra to bulk it up and serve more. It comes with a carrot and harissa puree but I did not make it for our Christmas table.
   I made it again to take to a post wedding lunch, held on a really lovely sunny day (the pohutukawa was out and the gods were smiling). The great thing is the salad ingredients can be organised the day before and just assembled when needed.

The Pohutukawa is stunning this summer

Multi-grain Salad - Albion Canteen, Napier - as in Cuisine Issue #166 (p.50)
For the Salad (slightly adapted by me)
3 cups of cooked mixed grains (barley, farro, freekeh or quinoa or brown rice)
1 cup mixed toasted nuts and seeds (almonds, pumpkin and sunflower seeds)
1/3 cup chia seeds
4 tbsp preserved lemon finely chopped
4 tbsp cranberries (or chopped dates, apricots or currants - a mixture of all is lovely)
1 cup coarsely chopped Italian parsley ( only used a small amount as my parsley had gone to seed)
2 cups broccoli florets, blanched and refreshed in cold water - well drained
Gently mix altogether - add the following dressing until salad is well covered (I found I didn't need it all)
For a garnish I also added the seeds of 1/2 pomegranate - looks really nice with the green of the broccoli
Dressing
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
zest and juice of one orange
200ml mild olive oil
Mix in a sealed jar

Holiday in East Cape

   December has been an exciting month. A month of preparation and lots of organisation. A big family Christmas was planned which involved lots of preparation, baking and many, many lists!
   But before our busy Christmas, the hubby and I thought we would give each other the gift of time together. A small holiday was quickly planned. I had remarked that I had never visited the Bay of Plenty area. So it was decided to take advantage of our 'spare' week in December and drive to Gisborne, onto to Tokomaru Bay, Tologa Bay, Waihau Bay, Whakatane, Tauranga and back home via Taupo. We had a very special time in each place. I loved the history of the area, and everywhere we went people were so friendly and helpful. I finally managed to walk along the "most loved beach" in NZ, Ohope Beach. And a visit to the historic sites on route was truly memorable.
   In Gisborne we stumbled across Muirs Bookshop and Cafe. What a wonderful find, one of the best bookshops I have ever been to.http://www.muirsbookshop.co.nz/
   Another highlight was a meal at Roquette in Whakatane http://roquette-restaurant.co.nz/. I would recommend you try this lovely place.
   And finally, the Bay of Plenty is a bit of a photographers paradise.  I am already planning another trip in 2015.

Our first night - the Gisborne sunset

Toes in Ohope Beach - I thought the sand would be white?

Tologa Bay wharf - an amazing restoration

So many beautiful Pohutukawa trees

Historic St Marys Church

Unbaked Christmas cake

I love collecting recipes, especially those from friends with a bit of a personal story.
I have made many, many friends through my volunteering. Said friends have a habit of enjoying a morning tea break or lunch time together. Around the table (as you can imagine) we talk about all sorts of things and invariably we end up talking about food and recipes.
This recipe came from one of those friends. I will not embarrass her by naming her, lets just call her B.
She is an amazing woman, always ready for a challenge. Inspirational, caring, kind, interesting and fun to volunteer with. She is in her latter years but her energy and enthusiasm for life would shame many people half her age.
I have printed the email when she sent the recipe and will always treasure a couple of personal comments she included in her message.
Unbaked Christmas cake ( from B's repertoire)

Place in a large saucepan -

250g butter

1 cup sugar and melt

Add to this hot mixture 2 beaten eggs – remove from stove

Add two packets of crushed (not too small)  malt biscuits. Add 1 tsp of Rum, brandy, almond lemon or vanilla essence.

Add 3 cups of mixed dried fruit such as currants, sultanas, raisins, papaya (lovely for colour), cherries, peel, ginger and cut up brazil nuts.

Press mixture immediately into a large flat baking tin and cover with slivered almonds and put in fridge to set.

Cut into small pieces and place in an airtight container and keep in fridge.

Keeps well, excellent to have on hand to serve with coffee etc. at Christmas time. It is nice and sweet so a little goes a long way.

 

Seville Orange Marmalade

I fulfilled a long held promise last week. A month or so ago I came across Seville oranges for sale at the Farmers Market in Hastings, Hawkes Bay. Yay! I was finally able to make Seville Orange Marmalade. (My English friend Di told me many years ago, 'the only marmalade worth eating is Seville Orange Marmalade', but until recently I had never seen Seville oranges for sale here).
This, my first attempt, produced a fantastic result. My medication prevents me from enjoying my Grapefruit marmalade. Now, there are no limitations to the amount of marmalade I can smear on my Burgen toast. So delicious, so satisfying! It took an afternoon to make it and oh the mess. But it was a totally worth it!
For making - I followed the sellers instructions.
 - Cut oranges into quarters, remove seeds and these put into a muslin bag.
 - Weigh fruit.
 - Weigh an equal amount of sugar and set aside.
 - Place fruit and seed bag into a large pot and (just) cover with water.
 - Boil for about 30 minutes, by then the skins should be soft.
 - Cool, remove muslin bag - then toss fruit into a processor and pulse into little pieces.
 - Watch this step as you don't want to process to mush, it should be just chunky.
 - Place fruit back into pot and bring back to boil.
 - Add equal amounts of sugar to fruit. (Or less if you like it more bitter).
 - Stir gently to combine. Bring back to boil.
 - Boil mixture for about 20 minutes (watch it doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan) and start testing for setting.
 - Boil until set.
 - Cool, put into sterilised jars seal when cool.

Sticky yummy stuff

Oops! Spot the spelling mistake

What a mess I made, it took ages to clean up

So satisfying to see all the jars lined up

Bliss balls - chocolate and cranberry - gluten free

Until recently I had never heard of a Bliss Ball  (I don't get out much!) On the Healthy page of the Sunday Star Times, I came across this nice gluten free, healthy option and really liked the look of them.
I have since seen Bliss Balls displayed on a couple of cafe counters! And if you go on line you will find many varieties of this little treat. But I have found this recipe the most versatile as it is sugar free (sort of), dairy and gluten free. Ideal to have around at Christmas for your family and friends who avoid all of the above.
You will see from this recipe it contains a large amount of dried fruit. There is your sugar, but in my book that doesn't really count as real sugar.
I hope you like them.

Choc-Cranberry Bliss Balls

Sunday Star Times –  Niki Bezzant

Makes about 12 balls

1 tbsp no added sugar or salt peanut butter

½ c dates

2 tbsp cocoa

½ sultanas

½ c cranberries

½ natural almonds

Chop dates into smaller pieces. Process all the ingredients with 2tbsp warm water, scoop out even amounts and roll into balls. I used a lovely Martha Stewart scoop I purchased in the US a couple of years ago. It is perfect for the job as the handle has a spring that slides a lever that pushes the mixture out. (if you get what I mean).

If desired you could roll in chocolate hail or coconut but they are equally nice without a coating.

I double the recipe too, as they keep well in an airtight tin.