Cardrona skifield seafood chowder is one of the best there is.
Rich and hearty, it has great flavour which Russ (head chef) attributes to using Nelson smoked trevally.
The quantities have been scaled to suit the home kitchen.
In our adapting of the original recipe the proportion of wine has been reduced by half and the cream by a third. Change this back if you would rather.
These bars are easy to make and even easier to eat!
This is the most delicious way to eat broccoli, just make sure you cook plenty as it is sure to be eaten!
Full of the delicious flavours of ginger, lemongrass, garlic, chilli and lime.
This chicken is easy to make and delicious to eat!
The shortest day may be behind us but the coldest surely cannot be and we are working on some new winter warming recipes.
Around the shortest day many of us get the urge to indulge in extra treats and for me it has to be our homemade Bounty Bars that while certainly not health food, they do have less sugar than many. Our teenager seems to make a constant supply and it is my mid-afternoon go to treat.
While curries come from tropical climates it is in mid-winter that I really embrace being warmed from the inside and Yellow Chicken Curry is a firm family favourite.
Happy Cooking!
These bars are super delicious and a very much like a reduced sugar version of the popular Bounty bar.
Coat them with cacao if you prefer but we like a dark chocolate coating.
Press release: June 2016
EVERYONE LOVES THE TOP SHELF!
TopShelf, local makers of mouth-watering batch-made aioli, dips, pesto and tapenades, have introduced punchy new flavours and packaging to its range. As of June 2, TopShelf and other small NZ artisan producers have been carefully selected to range in the deli section of the highly-publicised new Countdown store on Williamson Ave, Ponsonby.
TopShelf was established in 2004 by father-son duo Malcolm and Jesse Watson who run a small North Shore-based team of genuine foodies and taste chasers.
Starting out from the weekend marketplace, TopShelf were dipping into the best artisan food retailers soon after. A humble family business since its beginnings, TopShelf has been a proud supplier to My Food Bag since it started in March 2013, helping Kiwis to create magic in their own kitchens.
All TopShelf products are a combination of carefully chosen ingredients, artful packaging mixed with attitude, and vibrant, zingy and fresh flavours. The full range of twenty includes Aioli in five flavours, three creamy Feta spreads, a selection of Tapenades, Pesto, Vinaigrette and Salsa, and three new sauces available at Farro Fresh, Bearnaise, Hollandaise, and Tartare.
Your pack of four samples include the following variants:
Black Garlic Aioli – Ingredients include: soybean oil, black garlic, free-range egg yolk, cider vinegar, honey, lemon juice, squid ink, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Serve with fresh pan-fried fish, salt and pepper squid, hamburgers and wraps.
Red Pepper Pesto – Ingredients include: char-grilled red capsicum (67%), raw cashews, red wine vinegar, ginger, garlic, lime juice, extra virgin olive oil, cane sugar, red chili, salt and pepper. Serve on its own on an antipasti platter or spread in sandwiches or rolls.
Hot Jalapeño Salsa – Ingredients include: tomatoes, tomato paste, onion, jalapeno (5%), brown sugar, cider vinegar, garlic, capsicum, plums, lime juice, molasses, rice bran oil, lemon juice, mustard, chipotle, spices, olive oil, and natural smoke. Use to enhance your favourite Mexican dishes, or enjoy with traditional corn chips.
Classic Green Olive Tapenade – Ingredients include: green olives, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, vinegar, garlic, olive oil, rice bran oil, lemon juice, cane sugar, mustard seeds, and black pepper. Complement with any meat, chicken, seafood, pizza or pasta dish.
The TopShelf range is now available in the deli section of the new Countdown Ponsonby, opposite seafood, participating New World supermarkets, Nosh Food Markets, Farro Fresh stores, Moore Wilson and specialty food stores throughout the North Island. RRP (210g) $6.49-$8.49.
NB. Website is currently being upgraded and full range and stockists will be available to view from Thursday June 16. www.topshelffoods.co.nz.
Edamame make a fresh and delicious variance to regular chickpea hummus.
This is quick and easy to make with frozen edamame beans, just thaw them first.
Full of delicious flavours and very simple to make.
Serve with a green salad or steamed greens.
The Vital Bowl creates delicious, satisfying, sugar-free muesli and chia cups that contribute to a balanced diet and healthier you. Life is sweet enough without sugar and it’s all about finding vitality and balance. We believe in using top of the line, high-quality ingredients that have countless nutritional benefits. The Vital Bowl offers breakfasts, which showcase our belief in bringing food back to the basics and cutting out the unwanted sugar. All packaging used by The Vital Bowl is carefully selected to ensure it is eco-friendly and biodegradable. Each bowl is made fresh with love from Auckland, New Zealand.
Current stockists: Farro Fresh (Grey Lynn, Epsom, Mt Wellington, Mairangi Bay), Blend Cafe (Mt Eden), Huckleberry Farms (G.I & Royal Oak), Harvest Wholefoods, Bin Inn Wholefoods (Dinsdale, Pukekohe, Kerikeri, Lower Hutt, Hamiltion, Whangerei), Moore Wilsons & Thorndon New World (Wellington) & Bikram Yoga Britomart.
Soon these will be stocked in central Auckland New Worlds and hopefully healthy vending machines around Auckland Uni campus & some corporate buildings!
Check out The Vital Bowl
Bringing home some of the delicious flavours of far away shores can be a huge temptation but the fear of having it flung into a bin by NZ MPI staff is a very real deterrent.
Here in New Zealand we have strict biosecurity laws and for good reason, they are there to protect our ecosystems and any new pests are certainly not welcome.
So, what food are you able bring into New Zealand and what do you need to look out for?
From my own travel experience and a few phone chats to the lovely people at MPI (Ministry of Primary Industries), here are things that you can usually bring in, but make sure you declare everything even if you think it is fine!
Spices. For those who travel to India, Sri Lanka and parts of SE Asia you are sure to come across spices that are superior in quality to those readily available at home. Generally speaking you can bring up to 1kg of spices for personal use. Whole spices are of more interest to Customs than ground and obviously they need to be dried and cannot have any dirt or leaf matter on them.
Look for;
Kampot Pepper in Cambodia
Saffron in Spain
Nutmeg and cinnamon in Sri Lanka and India
Nuts. Nuts that are shelled and packaged are only a brief interest to customs and as long as you are not bringing in more than a few kilos then you should be fine.
Look for;
Almonds in Sth Australia
Cashew Nuts in Sri Lanka
Pistachio nuts in Turkey
Walnuts in California
Hazelnuts in Spain and France
Vanilla Pods. Dried vanilla falls into the same category as spices and you are able to bring these in.
Look for
Vanilla while travelling in Niue,Tahiti and Tonga
Chocolate and Confectionery. As long as the food is shelf stable then you are fine. As with everything else listed here, make sure you declare it.
Tea and Coffee. If the tea and coffee and packaged and sealed and you are only bringing in enough for domestic use then there shouldn’t be a problem. Tea lovers s travelling through India and Sri Lanka can certainly bring a few packs home.
Cheese. It may come as some surprise that you are able to bring in up to 2kg of cheese from anywhere in the world for your own personal use.
It doesn’t matter if it pasteurised or not but make sure that it is wrapped in its packaging.
Dried peas and Legumes. These are usually required to be heat treated so that they are only useful for culinary purposes as opposed to sprouting and growing.
Check the packaging of the specific product before bringing it in. Chickpeas definitely need heat treatment. If in doubt you will run the risk of needing to pay Customs to heat treat the product or possibly discard it.
Canned food items. Most canned foods are permissible as long as they don’t weight more than a total of 2kg.
Take Note that fruit, vegetables, plant material, meat and fish are not able to be brought into New Zealand.
For more information look at Items to Declare
Media Release
Monday 30th May 2016
Adrian Barkla becomes first Auckland supermarket owner
to stock only cage-free eggs
Some things are worth standing up for and Adrian Barkla thinks poultry welfare is one of them. From this month he has decided to only sell cage-free eggs in his busy city supermarket.
“We’re really trying to support animal welfare rights wherever we can, and we’d love to see other food retailers do the same.” says Barkla. “Obviously the whole egg situation has been brought to light in the last year and it’s great that this has meant people are starting to think more about where their food comes from, and how animals are treated along the way.”
Barkla already tries to support small local producers, stock as much organic produce as possible and make sure free-range options are available to his customers at New World, Remuera. Now, more than ever before, consumers are rising up against caged hens and animal welfare is guiding their shopping choices. Since he shares these values himself, it seemed like a logical move to put his money where his mouth was.
Adrian and his team have been very selective with their major suppliers, aiming to provide both value for money and high quality eggs. For example Henergy Cage-free eggs have the SPCA tick and Big Paddock hens lead an enviable free range life in the Whangaripo valley. There are of course other cage-free and free range options available as well.
Cage-free hens live in barn situations with room to move and nests to lay their eggs, their free range counterparts have access to the outdoors. It’s a far more humane existence than some of the factory situations that have been brought to light by media in recent times.
Research from the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation supports inclusions of eggs as part of a healthy balanced diet, low in saturated fat.
This roast chicken is meltingly tender and full of lovely garlic flavours.
