Tasty, quick, everyone loves ’em, cook them indoors or outside (fire up your BBQ), these koftas tick all the boxes I’m looking for in a dinner! (more…)
Foodie
10 ways with leftover Christmas Ham
I should have posted this yesterday, but things have been a little crazy around here and time has simply run away on me!
Anyhow, if, like us, you have leftover ham from Christmas in your fridge, chances are you could be getting a little sick of ham sandwiches and ham and salad. Here’s a quick list of uses for leftover Christmas Ham to get your creative juices flowing! (more…)
Crunchy Carrot, Date, Almond Salad
This is one of the salads that’s made it onto our Christmas Day menu this year! Every time I’ve taken this salad somewhere, I’ve left the recipe behind. It’s always a winner and it’s light, nutritious and utterly yum and it makes a great alternative to a leafy green salad. My friend Kitrina gave me this, recipe, she knows me well and knew she I’d love it. She got it from the Revive Café Cookbook. As usual, I can’t help myself: I’ve fiddled with it and given it a mini makeover…. (more…)
Tomato Chilli Jam
Here’s another DIY foodie gift idea just in time for Christmas (and just in time for tomatoes coming down in price!). This is a Peter Gordon recipe, which I got via Ruth Pretty (a Wellington caterer/chef who I adore – if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend Ruth’s cooking school on the Kapiti Coast).
Anyhow, I digress. If you asked me what you can always find in my pantry, this’d be on the list: It’s like sweet chilli sauce for grown ups. It’s super versatile and goes with nearly everything: All meats, poached/fried eggs, quiche, it’s gorgeous in a stir fry sauce (use it in the place of sweet chilli sauce)… It’s kick-butt delicious on a pizza base… I even have it on top of my cheese on toast.. Sometimes I use it as an Asian salad dressing for Thai Beef Salad (3 Tlb chilli jam, add a bit of rice wine vinegar and a half teaspoon of sesame oil – amazing). One of my favourite ways to serve it is as a dip: Get a big platter. Turn out a tub of Philadelphia Cream Cheese into the centre of the platter. Surround it with corn chips (don’t be shy, load them on). Cover the cream cheese with a generous amount of chilli jam. Get dippin’. Amazing. I usually package this up as a Christmas gift with a vintage knife or fork tied to the jar. Simple and stunning. (more…)
Chocolate Brownie with White Chocolate Icing
This chocolate brownie with white chocolate icing is the BEST brownie recipe, ever. I love making this, it’s really straight forward, it’s got serious wow factor and people usually groan with pleasure when they eat it. But, that’s no surprise really, cast your eye over the ingredients…. All the good stuff, or the bad stuff, depending on which way you look at it (I’m not going to try and pull the wool over your eyes!) But, I eat this so rarely, and it’s so scrummy, I just refuse to feel bad eating it: Life is TOO short to feel guilty about eating a piece of brownie! That said, I do chuckle to myself when people ask what’s in this brownie. I usually just smile and say “one packet of dark chocolate melts in the base. Oh and a packet of white chocolate melts in the icing, along with a tin of condensed milk and butter”. Eyes usually widen and then, with a mouth full of brownie, I hear murmurs of appreciation, and then, inevitably, they ask for another slice. (more…)
Damn Yummy Christmas Ham
Alrighty, not long to go till the Big Red Man comes! Time to think of Christmas Day’s menu. Well, think no further, I’ve taken the thinking out for you. If you asked me, or my family for my best ever recipes, this is IT. Easy. It makes me happy even writing this blog post – I just wish I could capture the smell of it cooking and share it with you! I always have a lot of ‘friends’ in the kitchen when I make this.
Pistachio, Cranberry and White Chocolate Biscotti
I love biscotti and, thinking ahead to Christmas foodie presents, I figured biscotti with cranberry, pistachio and white chocolate would give it a little bit of Christmas cheer (OK, and look pretty). Biscotti is surprisingly easy to make, the only tricky bit is making sure you have enough time to let the biscotti logs cool completely before slicing them up into little pieces and baking them again to crisp them up. Once cooled, package these up in a cellophane bag with a bit of ribbon – you’ve got a nice gift for a foodie. If you’re a complete beginner in the baking world, you might find these a little difficult I have to admit. However, you could always look at some baking classes on a website like Fboi.in to improve your culinary expertise. See how you get on!
This recipe is a little bit Donna Hay and a little bit Beauty Foodie as I just couldn’t find the perfect recipe! Just quietly, I’m pretty chuffed with how this turned out! They taste delicious, I love the texture and the slightly salty contrast of the pistachio with the sweetness of the cranberry and white chocolate. Don’t tell my favourite cafe… But this biscotti is nicer than theirs… (more…)
Asparagus and Feta Quiche
I thought I’d better get in quick with this recipe before asparagus season in NZ winds up for the year! I’ve made this on and off over the years and it’s a recipe I always come back to because it’s straightforward and I don’t have to look up a recipe, I can mix-up the recipe based on what’s in the fridge, it’s filling (as you’d expect with a dozen eggs) and therefore, it feeds the masses (or, in the case of my small family, we can dine on this for days!). (more…)
