Author Archives: Helen Jackson

BATTLE OF THE BUTCHERS BEGINS

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 Young butchers across the country have begun sharpening their knives in anticipation of the 2012 Alto Young Butcher and Retail Meat Industry Training Organisation (RMITO) Butcher Apprentice of the year competition.

Current RMITO Butcher Apprentice of the Year, Abigail Smith, has her sights set on the Young Butcher title after her success in the apprentice category last year.

“Last year’s win set the standard for me and only makes me eager to push myself to the limit this year and take home the big title,” says Abigail.

Entries are now open to the competition, which kicks off with a series of regional heats across New Zealand over the month of July.
The winners of each regional will go on to compete in the Grand Final, to be held on 24 August at the Viaduct Event Centre in Auckland.

 

During the Grand Final, the young butchers will be put through a practical exam, interview, cutting test and mystery on-stage element to determine who will walk away with the prestigious title and the prize of a study tour to Europe.

The RMITO Butcher Apprentice of the Year will win a study tour to Australia.

The competition is proudly supported by Alto, RMITO, Beef + Lamb New Zealand Inc., Dunninghams, Hellers, Kerry Ingredients, NZ Pork, Wilson Hellaby, Cabernet Foods, Natural Farm and Tegel Foods.

Little and Friday

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Just when cafes were starting to get a bit of sameness about them – think Belgium biscuits and raw energy slice, along comes one (well actually two) that stand unique in home baked goodness and in particular their buttery light pastries and “drive out of your way” donuts.

Little and Friday, like all good stories started from humble beginnings.  Kim Evans was looking for a way to earn a living from her pastry making and started baking at a small commercial kitchen in Takapuna  (Auckland) each Friday to sell at the weekend markets.  The aroma of brioche, donuts and cheese straws wafted out and very soon there were knocks at the door from those wanted a taste of Kim’s wares.   From this a cafe was born, followed by a second in Newmarket.

With a background in arts – Kim studied at art school in Sydney – it is only natural that Little and Friday have the x factor in attention to detail.  While the tall glass vases on the rustic communal tables may contain flowers they make also be stacked with chocolate chip cookies.  Old fashioned glass milk bottles are filled with not just water but a cinnamon quill and mint as well – very refreshing.   There are many other touches that make Little and Friday quirky and interesting but you may just have to go and find out for yourselves or buy yourself a copy of Kim’s book Treats from Little and Friday.

As soon as I opened the pretty padded cover, I knew I was going to like Kim (interviewing her on radio confirmed it). Anyone generous enough to share the recipes she is earning a livelihood from is a good sort.  Cream donuts, chocolate brioche, baci cakes, Eccles cakes, cheese straws…. all of the Little & Friday favourites are here.  Each recipe has an image along with snaps of Cafe life.  While Kim and her team make pretty much everything from scratch you can of course buy your pastry and take a few shortcuts if needed.
While the sweet stuff are extraordinary there are also recipes for savoury tarts & pies, doughs and the very important finishes & fillings.

Little & Friday would of course make a  lovely gift but I like the thought of having my own copy to absorb in a cosy spot over an afternoon or two.

I am off to the kitchen now to master donuts to surprise the kids for afternoon tea!

 

Banana Cakes

This is our interpretation of the Edmonds Cookbook Banana Cake. We make it as a double-layer cake sandwiched together with gooey caramel and mascarpone.

 

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
125g unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup caster sugar
2 eggs
3 cups mashed banana
1 tsp baking soda
4 tbsp hot milk
1 cup walnuts

To assemble

½ cup Caramel
¼ cup mascarpone
1 recipe Cream Cheese Icing
chopped walnuts or banana chips, to decorate

Makes 12 small cakes or one 23cm double-layer cake

1. Preheat oven to 160ºC. Grease two 6-holeTexasmuffin trays or two 23cm cake tins and line the bottom and sides with baking paper cut to fit exactly.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter on a low speed until light and creamy.
4. Slowly add sugar and continue to beat on low speed until light in colour and fluffy.
5. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, and making sure to incorporate each egg before adding the next. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. With the mixer on low speed add the banana.
6. Dissolve baking soda in hot milk.
7. Fold flour mixture and milk into the banana mixture in three equal measures. Lastly, fold in walnuts.
8. Divide mixture evenly between prepared cake tins and bake for 20–25 minutes for small cakes or 45 minutes for large cakes, or until the tops spring back when touched lightly and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle.
9. Let cakes cool completely in tins before turning out.
10. If making small cakes, carefully cut them in half horizontally. To assemble the cakes, spread Caramel over bottom layer, then spread a thin layer of mascarpone over the top. Place second cake layer on top. Spread with a thick layer of Cream Cheese Icing. Drizzle with extra Caramel and decorate with walnuts or banana chips.


Kitchen Notes Place in an airtight container and store in a cool place (not the refrigerator) for up to three days. The banana flavour gets better with age at room temperature.

Caramel
2 cups caster sugar
600ml cream

Makes 3 cups

1. Place sugar in a small saucepan and just cover with water to achieve a wet sand consistency.
2. Bring to the boil but do not stir. Using a wet pastry brush, clean down sides of saucepan to remove any stray sugar crystals.
3. Continue to boil until the sugar turns amber. At this point, quickly remove from heat.
4. In a small saucepan, heat cream to boiling point. Gradually add this to caramelised sugar, stirring constantly to achieve a smooth consistency. This may take a while but it will eventually combine.
Kitchen Notes Timing is paramount with Caramel. Both the cream and the sugar need to be really hot when they are combined.

Cream Cheese Icing
Makes 3½ cups

125g unsalted butter, softened and cubed
500g cream cheese, cubed
1 cup icing sugar, sifted

1. Thoroughly cream butter in an electric mixer on high speed, continuously scraping down sides of bowl.
2. Soften cream cheese by squeezing through your fingers and add to butter. Continue beating on high until there are no lumps, scraping down sides of bowl frequently.
3. Turn mixer to slow speed and add sifted icing sugar. When icing sugar is fully integrated, turn up speed and beat until mixture is smooth. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Reproduced with permission from Treats from Little and Friday by Kim Evans. Published by Penguin Group NZ. RRP $44.99. Copyright © Kim Evans, 2012.

 To win one of 3 copies of Treats from Little and Friday email your name and address to [email protected] with Little and Friday in the subject line.

Competition closes May 30th 2012.

 

 

 

 

Thai Green Papaya Salad

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Green papaya is available at Asian style markets or green grocers.  However I think telegraph cucumber makes a perfectly acceptable substitute – especially if it is the difference between making the salad or not.

500g green papaya (or 1-2 telegraph cucumber)
1-2 red chillies
1 teaspoon sugar
100g green beans, roughly chopped
50g peanuts, lightly roasted
2 cloves garlic
150g cooked prawns, shell removed and roughly chopped
10 cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 cabbage leaves
½ cup coriander leaves

WELLINGTON CHEF SCOOPS AUCKLAND AWARDS

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Al Brown’s Depot Eatery & Oyster Bar supreme winner of Metro / Audi Restaurant of the Year

Restaurateur / chef Al Brown’s Depot Eatery & Oyster Bar is the winner of the supreme award in the Metro / Audi Restaurant of the Year Awards 2012.

The awards have been announced tonight (Monday 23 April) at an official ceremony in Auckland.

As well as the Supreme Award, Depot has also taken out Best New Restaurant and Best Casual Bistro. Brown – who hails from the capital city – has been awarded Audi Progressive Restaurateur of the Year.

 

Awards judge and Metro magazine editor Simon Wilson says Depot has changed the dining scene.

“We’re getting more casual and Depot leads the charge here, providing a great dining experience in a relaxed atmosphere and some of the fine dining restaurants are getting more casual in response.

“Al has taken Kiwi cuisine and shown just how well it can work in a restaurant. The New Zealand-ness of his menu contrasts sharply with many other restaurants and that’s a great thing. He’s shown us that the food we all love to eat on the beach or around the barbecue can be cooked so well that it’s great to eat in a restaurant too,” Wilson says.

“Lots of chefs say they do this kind of thing, but no one understands it or does it as well as Depot. The simplicity of it is often the best part.”

Clooney has won Best Fine Dining Restaurant, something awards judges noted with excitement in light of a disappointing 2011 for the Freeman’s Bay restaurant.

“They have picked themselves up and come out on top; very impressive,” says Wilson.

Restaurant Personality of the Year – the only category decided by public vote – has been won by newcomer Ganesh Raj of Kumeu’s The Tasting Shed.

And best dish went to the fish soup at Roxy with the judges describing it as “simply a joy”.

“It doesn’t look like fish soup, but chef Sean Marshall’s superbly cooked fish and shellfish, served with a cold jellied bouillabaisse, is a taste revelation.”

The awards are judged by a panel of 12 experienced food industry people – a combination of critics and professionals. The bookings are normally made under false names, the visits are not announced and all meals are paid for.

Wilson says that the key question in judging is ‘How much do we want to come back?’. “Competition is fierce right now with new venues opening up, it seems, each week. The judging process is rigorous – it doesn’t matter who you know, if the restaurant doesn’t stack up, it won’t make the grade.”

Judges were impressed by a resurgence of traditional and classic foods on menus.

“The fashion for local and homemade – freshly shucked oysters, home-smoked flavours, heirloom tomatoes – is catching and nostalgic. Depot is a leader in this trend, and so, in a fine-dining way, are some of the upmarket places like Merediths and Clooney.”

 

The winners are:

Supreme winner

Depot Eatery & Oyster Bar

Best fine dining, Clooney

Runner-up, The French Café

Best smart dining, Cibo

Runner-up, O’Connell St Bistro

Best upmarket bistro, The Engine Room

Runners-up, Ponsonby Rd. Bistro, Pure

Best casual bistro, Depot Eatery & Oyster Bar

Runner-up, Coco’s Cantina

Best Asian, Cocoro

Runner-up, Ebisu

Best Italian, Totó

Runner-up, Poderi Crisci

Best rural, Poderi Crisci

Runner-up, Casita Miro

Audi progressive restaurateur of the year

Al Brown, Depot Eatery & Oyster Bar

Runner-up, Sid Sahrawat (SIDART)

Best chef, Michael Meredith (Meredith’s)

Best service, The French Café

Runner-up, Coco’s Cantina

Best dish, Fish soup at Roxy

Best drinks list, The French Café

Runner-up, O’Connell St Bistro

Best short drinks list, Cocoro

Runner-up, Molten Restaurant personality of the year

Ganesh Raj, The Tasting Shed

Best new restaurant, Depot Eatery & Oyster Bar

Full details are available in the May issue of Metro magazine, onsale from Tuesday 24 April. Visit http://www.facebook.com/metroNZ for further details.

 

April/May 2012

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Well the kids are back to school and I am back into the kitchen working out some good autumn fare to stock the fridge and also the freezer.
A new favourite in our house is smoked chicken and we have some fabulous tasting smoked chicken recipes to share.   You may have seen me making the pie on Good Morning this week, it is full of flavour and great for these cooler nights.
We took a trip down memory lane in the holidays with instant puddings!  I haven’t had one for years and it certainly didn’t have cream and crunchie bar in it – no wonder the kids love it.
Our no knead bread recipe is another favourite – try it alongside this smoked chicken and corn chowder.
Happy Cooking,
Helen

Annual festival sees game birds on restaurant menus

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18 April 2012

With the opening of the 2012 game bird hunting season only days away – Saturday, May 5 – the annual festival that celebrates wild game birds as a delicious, free range and totally organic food source is back for 2012.

The 2012 Gamebird Food Festival runs from May 5 to July 8 and this year includes new features to encourage more people to enjoy game birds as a healthy and ethical food source.

The ever popular opportunity to take game birds into restaurants to be prepared by top chefs returns as part of the festival again this year.  The list of restaurants and top chefs involved in the festival is building daily with organisers aiming for more than 30 participating eateries this year.

Multi award winning chef and TV presenter Al Brown is well known for his love of creating meals from fresh, wild produce and he’s proud to endorse this year’s Gamebird Food Festival.

“To me, the most satisfying meals involve food that you’ve harvested yourself.  Nothing beats going out hunting or fishing and sharing a meal of your catch with your mates at the end of the day, and the Gamebird Food Festival provides a great opportunity to do just that.”

Al Brown shares one of his fantastic wild duck recipes with the Gamebird Food Festival this year and it can be found on the website www.gamebirdfoodfestival.co.nz along with all the details about festival events throughout the country.

New to the festival are events that will demonstrate how to prepare game birds and cook delicious meals at home.

“Many people are unsure how to best prepare and cook game birds to get the best results on the plate,” says Nicola Pentelow, 2012 festival manager.  “The festival will help them create mouth-watering everyday meals in their own homes.”

All the festival details are available on the website www.gamebirdfoodfestival.co.nz.

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  • The Gamebird Food Festival is a once a year opportunity to dine on wild game birds restaurants as regulations prevent their sale.  During the festival, however, hunters can take game birds they have harvested into a participating restaurant and enjoy a meal prepared for them and their dining companions.
  • Game birds include mallard and paradise duck, pheasant and quail.
  • The game bird hunting season opens nationwide on May 5, 2012.
  • The Gamebird Food Festival is an initiative of Fish & Game New Zealand.