Author Archives: Helen Jackson

Parmesan, Rosemary and Garlic Beer Bread

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I have often made Basil Beer Bread but this one is winter friendly and is perfect served warm from the oven with a hot bowl of soup.
Beer bread is best eaten on the day of making, we like it warm, either from the oven or toasted.
Warming the beer first helps to make the bread rise. Remember how we warmed baby bottles of milk?  I heat beer the same way, just sit in a jug of hot water for about 5 minutes until luke warm.
Remember if you scoop your flour into a cup you will end up with more than if you pour it in.  Scooped flour may mean that you need to also add a little water to get a sticky dough.

 

Ours Truly™ Launches 3L Organic Milk in a Cask!

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Waikato, Monday 28th June, 2021: Waikato-based boutique dairy company, Ours Truly™, has today launched an organic A3™ milk with a difference – it comes in an easy-to-pour 3 litre cask.

Ours Truly™ first made waves within the dairy industry in March this year, when it launched its first consumer offering, Organic Full Cream A3™ Milk. The ‘clean’ dairy product – free of any nasty chemicals and pesticides – was first available in recyclable 1 litre bottles. Like the 1 litre product, the new 3 litre cask is also available as part of Ours Truly’s door-to-door subscription service, delivering milk to many parts of the North Island.

“The larger quantity, and the functionality of the cask – which has a tap to control milk flow – makes the 3 litre ideal for hospitality and food service providers,” says Hayley Denney, Organic Dairy Hub Business Development Manager.

“It’s also great for households that go through a lot of milk. The cask fits well on a standard fridge shelf and it tastes how milk is supposed to taste – like the good old days!”

Ours Truly™ organic milk is available in 3L casks and 1L bottles online at www.ourstruly.co.nz for either a weekly, fortnightly and monthly subscription so residents within from Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty – and most places in between – can sign up to an Ours Truly™ subscription and enjoy fresh, organic milk delivered right to their door!
Ours Truly also offers delivery to cafes, restaurants and other venues for hospitality customers who place larger volume orders.

Ours Truly™ cows are well-looked-after through sustainable and regenerative farming.

“These practices give our milk a natural and high-quality profile,” explains Denney.

“We are starting with milk, but we have other organic NZ made products in the pipeline – we want to bring kiwis their dairy staples without any hassle, straight to their door!”

Ours Truly 3L organic milk – RRP $12.30
Ours Truly™ 1L organic milk – RRP $4.25

For food service and hospitality providers, please contact: [email protected]
For household shoppers, Ours Truly milk is available at www.ourstruly.co.nz
Instagram and Facebook @ourstrulynz


About Ours Truly™
We are kiwi farmers dedicated to producing the best organic milk products while keeping the care of our animals, our people, and the environment at the forefront of everything we do.

Ours Truly™ was created by Organic Dairy Hub (ODH®) in 2020 with one goal in mind: create a range of delicious-tasting, organic consumer products right here in New Zealand – by kiwis, for kiwis…and beyond!

Our people are at the heart of Ours Truly™,  our farmers are passionate about sustainable and regenerative farming; practices that not only ensure that our cows are happy, healthy and well-looked-after, but also gives our organic milk a natural and high-quality profile – put simply, our organic cows are certified as grass fed, GMO free and free from antibiotics and pesticides.

Not only do we look after the environment and our animals, we also look after our people. Ours Truly farmers are all about whanau – we live and breathe our local community. We are many things to many people, such as coaches of local sports teams and contributing members of clubs, volunteers for off-shore Search and Rescue, and we serve on school and community boards.

 

We believe that great people create great products with an emphasis on quality and health, and that is exactly how we have crafted ours…truly.

Chunky Chocolate Chip and Bourbon Vanilla Cookies

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These full flavoured biscuits take your usual chocolate chip biscuit to a whole new level.
Personally I would be adding in some chopped walnuts or macadamias (my kids rebel if I do).
Change the chocolate if you want to – dark, milk or white or a mixture of all.
You can omit caramelising the butter but it does add another flavour dimension that makes these extra delicious.

Shakshuka

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  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium sized red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 red pepper (capsicum), finely chopped
  • 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground paprika
  • pinch of chilli powder
  • pinch of sugar
  • 5-6 Henergy Cage-Free eggs
  • coriander leaves to garnish
  • toasted pita bread

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Heat oil in a large frying pan (one that can be transferred to the oven), add the onion, garlic and red pepper and cook until onion is tender.
  2. Add the tomatoes to the pan along with the spices, salt and pepper to taste and simmer until the tomatoes are thick and saucy.
  3. Lift the pan from the heat and using a spoon make an indent for each egg. Break the eggs into each cavity and then transfer the pan to the oven.
  4. Cook until egg whites are set.
  5. Sprinkle with coriander leaves and serve with toasted pita bread to mop up juices.

May 2021

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having just completed a wonderful 5 day cycle tour of Hawkes Bay I am once again reminded of just how beautiful this country of ours is.  The scenery, food, wine and people were all wonderful and with so many km of cycle trails, it is a safe and scenic destination for cyclists.  I am repeating the trip in September and hoping that we will be wowed with beautiful blossoms, Eat, Drink and Cycle Hawkes Bay.
Tray bakes are occupying my cooking time at present, the type that you just pile ingredients onto a tray, into the oven and 30 minutes later dinner is ready.  Ed particularly likes our Bacon wrapped Chicken and Vegetable Tray Bake.  Please do leave comments on our recipes as you make them, we hope they are good but appreciate all feed back.

 

Baking with Oats

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Rolled oats are an essential panty item, even if you are not a breakfast porridge fan (too gloopy for me), when oats are combined with a few other vital ingredients e.g. coconut, brown sugar and butter, the results can be wonderful.
Like almost everything the standard bag of oats now involves shopping choices from the standard rolled oats to steel cut, wholegrain and Scotch to name but a few.

For muesli making I look for whole grain oats due to the interesting texture, these or traditional rolled oats are great for baking.  Scotch oats are less textured and good for  smooth porridge. Most oats can also be eaten raw in smoothies or the super delicious Bircher Muesli.  Steel Cut Oats are the exception to this as these unrefined wholegrain oats are much kinder on the body when cooked first.

 

 

More of a chew than a crunch, Takaka Wholemeal Cafe Ginger Crunch is one of the best there is, I like to make both the base and the icing good and thick and if you find yourself in Takaka then the cafe is a popular choice.

Anzac biscuits are one of the most popular oat based biscuits around, Some like them crisp but these Chocolate Dipped Apricot and Sunflower Biscuits are a fantastic variation.

Blueberry and Lemon Oaty Slice can feel almost healthy whereas this Oaty Chocolate Caramel Slice has delicious decadence written all over it.

Regardless of the fruit you choose to use this Crumble topping is so good.  It has enough butter to hold everything together so it is not at all crumbly but instead a delicious oaty baked layer on top of the pudding.

Digestive Biscuits are so good with a slice of butter or maybe some blue cheese and chutney.

A few years ago a story circulated about a biscuit recipe and a certain USA department store.  The story doesn’t seem to have substance but the recipe for these Oaty Chocolate Chip Cookies is certainly good.

Pumpkin and Sage Arancini

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I like to double the recipe, serve the risotto for dinner and then refrigerate the rest to make arancini the next day.
These live in my freezer, crumbed and ready to cook.
On the day I need them I fry them and then chill in the fridge and oven heat to serve.  That way I am not frying when my guests are here.
Some arancini have a small ball of mozzarella in the centre which I sometimes do but actually do like them like this, very cheesy parmesan flavour which goes so well with the honey.

Cavolo Nero, Prosciutto and Parmesan Crouton Salad

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This recipe is delicious and is great for a light yet interesting meal.
The ingredient quantities are loose as exact measurements are not needed.
Cavolo Nero provides such a great texture and has a fairly mild flavour.  It is a relation of both cabbage and kale yet is so much nicer than both.  if not available then I would recommend a mixture of very finely shredded cabbage and spinach.

Caramel Pear, Rhubarb and Walnut Cake

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You can mix the fruit in this lovely dessert cake to include apple, poached quince, feijoa etc…  The rhubarb for another tart fruit is good for giving balance to the sweet cake.
Thank you to Jocelyn Wright from Otakaieke School House (Waitaki Valley) for sharing this recipe.  I have made a couple of small modifications but just tweaks; reduced the sugar in the cake, increased topping quantities and took out walnuts in the cake but added more onto the top.  I also added some ginger into the cake.
If you are wondering about sugar quantity then remember the cake does make 12 portions.
Serve it as dessert or afternoon tea with cream, yoghurt or ice cream.