panda cookie cutters!

Moo's grandma Mama Su has just been to up to stay for a few days. She came bearing these super cute Panda cookie cutters for Moo, so we had to set aside an afternoon to making Panda cookies.

They came with instructions and recipe, however we couldn't read them so we made up our own recipe. We worked out we needed a recipe that didn't rise and spread to much as it would distort the cookies.

Basic Cookies
Ingredients:
50g soften butter
70g sugar
1 egg yoke
3 tsp milk
150g plain flour
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cocoa
2 tsp hot water

Method:
1. Cream butter and sugar til pale and creamy. Add egg yolk and mix well.
2 Add in the milk mix well. 
3. Divide the cookie mixture into thirds. ⅓ for lemon cookies - 1 tsp lemon juice 
 ⅔ for cocoa cookies - add 1 Tbsp cocoa dissolved in 2tsp hot water  
4. Gradually add seived flour, 50g to the lemon mixture and 100g to the cocoa mixture. Mix well.




5. Roll out 3mm thin. Cut the faces and details from the lemon cookies and panda bodies from the cocoa cookies and piece together. 

Bake in preheated oven at 180°c for 12-15mins.

Makes 20 little cookies, simple and they don't need to be iced as they're so cute they won't last long. 

or if you really wanted to you could cookie the layers separately and stick together with a little icing (but seems like a lot more work to me).

chocolate smoothie

We all enjoy this for breakfast!
The basis of this smoothie is from Dr Libby's Real Food Chef. I would also like to try using Maca powder instead of cocoa which I read abut on the Petite Kitchen blog.

crazy weet-bix cookies : for moo

Yesterday we made some Crazy Weet-bix Cookies, it's based on a traditional afghan cookie but I have always preferred to use Weet-bix instead of Cornflakes.

CRAZY WEET-BIX COOKIES

Ingredients:
200grams butter
½ cup Sugar
1 ¼  cups flour
¼ cocoa
4 Weet-bix broken up
½ cup coconut flakes or shredded
½ cup mini marshmallows

Method:
Preheat oven to 180°c. Cream butter and sugar together. Sift if flour and cocoa into butter mixture. Stir in Weet-bix, coconut and marshmallows. Using your hands work into balls and flatten slightly on tray. Bake for 15mins.

The girls at work sure appreciated them and perfect for a little lunchbox treat for Moo. 

almond butter and apple

At home today feeling a bit under the weather, wanting a snack but lacking energy when I remembered I made my first batch of Almond Butter a few days ago. So good on slices on apple with a squeeze of lemon for a yummy and nutritious snack.
I used the recipe of My New Roots but it's as simple as roasting raw almonds and blending until they turn in a paste. I added a dash on sesame oil to mine as the consistency was little hard.

Delicious and half the price of store brought almond butter.

pork and corriander dumplings

Everyone loves dumplings don't they? We sure do, and regularly go to try out local dumpling places our favourites being Grand Habour for Yum Cha, and Barilla Dumpling on Dominion Rd for cheap eats - it's so bustling with energy. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

I grew up with my Grandad and Mum making huge batches wontons to deepfry or make soup with, they are still the best I've ever eaten. I've made wontons before but couldn't master the fold. I find dumplings however are really easy to make, and cook in a simple bamboo steamer.

PORK AND CORRIANDER DUMPLINGS

Ingredients:

500g pork mince

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

4 teaspoons fined grated ginger

4 spring onions finely sliced

fresh corriander - a big handful shredded

30 x dumpling wrappers

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. 

2. Take one dumpling wrapper and cup it your hand, fill with 2 teaspoons of pork filling. 

3. Brush edges with water and pinch to seal along top edge.

4. Steam in a bamboo steamer over a pot with quarter fill with boiling water for approx 5 mins.

Makes 30 dumplings

I got my steamter at Wah Lee's. I think I need to go get a bigger one though.

Moo loves them!

a picnic dinner

Yesterday being Waitangi Day in New Zealand it was a public holiday. We had a very quite day with Moo playing at her friends house most of the day.
So we thought we'd make the most of the sun when she got home and have a picnic dinner down at the beach. I packed the following - Frijoles Negros (black beans), corn chips, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, BBQ sweetcorn & lemon, fresh limes and some Six Barrel Soda - what a feast for a picnic! 

Mima's mummy gave me these neat stacking metal bowls which are perfect for the warm picnic dishes.

Six Barrel Soda Raspberry and Lemon topped up with soda water was a delicious drink to go with our meal. 

I make these Frijoles Negros - Mexican black beans in big batches several times a year. I can fill 4-5 takeaway containers with approx 1 cup each and freeze until needed. I have made an addition for the nacho's.

Black Beans - My nacho addition 
1 garlic clove
2 tomatoes diced
1 cup of the black beans 

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp cumin

2 chargrilled capsicums, peeled deseeded and sliced
sea salt and black pepper

Gently fry the garlic in a little olive oil for a minute, add tomatoes and cook for another minute or so until softened. Add black beans, spices and capsicums, stir well and bring to boil. Then turn down heat to simmer for 15-20 mins. Squish a few beans and the liquid should thicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 3 - serve with corn chips, guacamole, sour cream and grated cheese. 



I love BBQ sweetcorn but I had never tried BBQ lemon until recently when were staying with friends in Hawkes Bay, I liked it so much I'm sharing it with you!

BBQ Sweetcorn & Lemon
2 sweet corn cobs - husks on soaked in water for half an hour
1 lemon 

Barbeque on the grill side for 15-20mins until blacked on all sides a little. Watch it as it can catch fire. Peel corn and slice lemon into segements, to serve garnish with finely sliced, red chilli, spring onion and a handful of corriander.

Serves 2-3

ice lollies

I have been making ice lollies for Mima as a yummy and healthy snack for hot days.
They are super simple! I make two flavours, apricot/yogurt and berry/yogurt.

First get your ice lolly moulds and fill them with water to work out how much mixture you need to make to fill them, I use 1 cup. The basic idea is half yogurt half fruit mixture.

To make the apricot fruit mixture... 

I take a hand full of organic dried apricots, place them in a saucepan covered in water. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes then turn the heat off and leave them in the pan to cool with the lid on. The apricots with become very plumb.

Once cooled blend with the remaining apricoty liquid from the pan. Then mix with the plain greek yogurt and spoon into the ice lolly moulds.
Put them in the freezer.

To make the berry versions... 
Take a handful of frozen berries place them in a saucepan with 1 tablespoon of maple syrup and a little water (enough to half cover the berries). Bring to the boil and simmer until the the berries have started to break down. Allow to cool in the pan, then follow the instructions above.

YUM!

a summer feast

Over the holidays we spent a few warm evenings in our courtyard feasting with friends. We have an old door which we found years ago in an inorganic collection for a table top, we bring our dining chairs out, sit amongst the vegetable garden and look out at the giant trees in the park beyond, I love it, it is so idyllic.
I thought I would share with you the highlights of what we feasted on...
Over the past couple of months I have been following and trying recipes from the blog Petite Kitchen. I am a big fan. I have made a lot of the sweet treats or my variation on them with much success. In particular I have used the honey, almond and vanilla cake as a base to made little cupcakes for Mima, I don't do the topping but add berries to the mix, she loves them.
So I wanted to try some more recipes...
To start we had the chill, oregano and orange zest baked ricotta with the flaxseed crackers.

For our main we had the pork belly with salad, an asian slaw was a particularly good match.
Vanilla and lemon cream pie topped with blackcurrants was the desert, although I used fresh blueberries instead, it was delicious, Mima enjoyed it too.

And to drink Wrights organic Champagne with a dash of cherry and pomegranate six barrel soda syrup and selection of craft beers from Brothers Beer.
Good times!

christmas : six

GLAZED HAM

This is a very important part of Christmas in our house, mostly because of Mima's Dad, he loves it on toast with butter and mustard. I haven't made one for a few years and with the addition of Mima I thought it was time to get back into the tradition. 
In the past I have made my glaze with mustard, beer and a lovely fig jam from and small producer Mustard Makers based in Puhoi north or Auckland where we live, but I don't think they make this product any more, so I had to re-think my glaze.
Beer is a lovely starting ingredient as it helps keep the ham vey moist. I know some people who have used other liquids including Coca Cola and rave about, but beer is perfect for us. Mima's Dad is passionate about boutique beer brewing and his choice for the ham was Tuatara London Porter. 
I had a little search around and decided this recipe on the Cuisine magazine website would be good to try. It involved grinding a selection of spices (star anise, cloves, fennel seeds, ground cinnamon and ground ginger) then adding a cup of dark brown sugar and enough beer to form a thick paste. 

The rest of the beer is poured over the ham, then you cover it in tin foil and cook for 40 minutes. The glaze paste is then added and you continue to cook for 30 minutes until golden brown. Super easy and I was right it was lovely.
Then it is important to put the ham in a ham bag which has been soaked in  a vinegar solution or lemonade, before placing it in the fridge. 

christmas : two

PUD

Each year it is my job to make the Christmas pudding for our family get together. I'm not a fan of Pavlova so this suits me perfectly. I use Nigel Slater's gorgeous recipe from The Kitchen Diaries. It is so perfect I don't change anything so I won't post the recipe you can get his fabulous book for the measurements and details.

First I cut up all the fruit, there is a lot and a wide variety, its Christmas so why skimp! Then I soak the fruit in brandy over night.

I add the rest of the ingredients, one of these ingredients is suet, instead, I freeze the amount of butter I need then grate it. Then I spoon the mixture into my greased pudding basin. My basin was my grandmothers, so you really don't need a new one, I would just buy one second hand if there aren't any hidden away in a relatives attic. Cover the mixture with a greased and pleated (to allow for the mixture to rise) piece of grease proof paper and pop on the lid. Steam for three and a half hours.

Now we are ready to reheat on Christmas day, YUM!

green smoothies : matakana superfoods

For the last month we've been having smoothies for breakfast during the week. It's such a good start to the day. I don't if it's the change of season being spring in New Zealand but we feel the need to boost ourselves with healthy foods right now.

We're obsessed with Matakana Superfoods - Super Greens with Chlorella Cracked Cell and Spirulina Powder.

Here I have two Green Smoothies for you. Pictured is the Tropical 

Tropical Green Smoothie
½ a pineapple - skinned and chopped
1 banana - peeled and chopped
1 handful of baby spinach leaves - washed
2 teaspoons Super Greens
2 ice cubes 
½ a glass water

Blend ingredients. Serves 2-3 

Simple Green Smoothie
1 banana
1 weetbix
1 glass soy milk
1 teaspoon Super Greens
2 icecubes

Blend ingredients. Serves 2

homemade playdough

I've been making homemade playdough for Moo since she was around one year old. The recipe is so incredibly simple, I have it scribbled on the back on an envelope from a friend in my recipe file. There's something about the texture of homemade playdough that you just can't get with the manufactured product.

Ingredients

2 ½ cups Flour

½ cup salt

2 tablespoons Cream of Tartar

2 cups Boiling water

2 tablespoons oil

Food colouring

Method

1. Shift flour, salt and cream of tartar in a large bowl.

2. Pour in the boiling water and oil and mix quickly to make a soft dough.

3. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes or until you achieve a smooth consistency. Add a little more flour if the dough is too sticky.

4. Divide in the amount of colours you wish to make. Add food colouring and conitnue to knead until colour is even.

5. Store in airtight containers in the fridge. Will last a few months.

We made all the colours of the rainbow, I doubled mixture to make this many colours.

loaf : soda bread

I have just started making bread. The idea of making my own bread has developed since Mima was born and a desire to make as much as possible of what she eats, so I know the ingredient and where they came from. I tried using a bread maker with decidedly average results, the loaf didn't rise much, looked horrible and tasted very yeasty. So I thought I would try soda bread. I had a recipe from the River Cottage Baby and Toddler Cookbook so tried that first. We were very happy with the result, it tasted lovely and looked fantastic. Soda bread is so quick and easy to make that it is now part of my weekly routine, I make two small loaves.
I will update you on any better recipes I find in the future, actually if you know any please email them to me! Also if I give it all up and start buying bread at the supermarket!
The recipe in the River Cottage Baby and Toddler Cookbook is for double this amount. I like to make this smaller size.

INGREDIENTS
125g plain white flour
125g wholemeal OR spelt flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
pinch of salt
150ml plain, full fat yogurt
100ml whole milk

METHOD
Pre heat oven to 200C.
1. Put flour, bicarbonate soda and salt in a bowl and whisk to thoroughly combine.
2. Stir yogurt and milk together, then add to dry ingredients and mix well. This will make a sticky dough, which results in a lovely moist loaf that keeps well.
3. Scrap on to a baking tray lined with baking paper, forming a large mound, I like to leave the surface nice and textured.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, until well risen and golden brown. Leave to cool.
I slice and freeze what we don't eat that day.

loaf : sticky gingerbread

I love a good gingerbread loaf, infact I have a big weakness for any ginger spiced baking, but gingerbread goes particulary well with a nice strong black coffee on a weekend morning. I've tried quite a few different recipes and this one is by far my favourite, good old Nigella.

Ingredients

150g butter

200g golden syrup

200g black treacle or molasses
125g dark muscovado sugar

2 teaspoons finely grated ginger

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in 2 x 15ml tablespoons warm water

250ml full-fat milk

2 eggs, beaten to mix

300g plain flour

Method
1.  Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a loaf tin with baking paper. Makes either one large loaf (30cm x 20cm) or  two small loaves (9cm x 22cm).

2. In a saucepan, melt the butter over a lowish heat along with the sugar, syrup, treacle, fresh and ground gingers, cinnamon and cloves.
3. Take off the heat, and add the milk, eggs and dissolved bicarbonate of soda in its water.
4. Measure the flour into a bowl and pour in the liquid ingredients, beating until well mixed. It will be a very liquid batter, so don’t worry. This is part of what makes it sticky later.
5. Pour it into the prepared tin and bake for 45–60 minutes until risen and firm on top. Try not to overcook, as it is nicer a little stickier, and anyway will carry on cooking as it cools.
6. Transfer the tin to a wire rack and let the gingerbread cool in the tin before cutting.

I made two loaves, and wrapped one in baking paper and tin foil to gift to a friend who is due to have her third baby in the next week or so. It can frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for 3–4 hours.

kale crisps

Kale seems somewhat of a fad food right now, I've been seeing kale on blogs and recipe books all the time lately. Maybe it's relatively new to New Zealand, but I had never eaten it before but I was certainly keen to try. Kale is a superfood that is crazy high in nutritional value, it has high levels of vitamins K, A, C to name just a few and has antioxidant and anti-inflamatory benefits. There's plenty of reading around if you want know more.

I'd come across this recipe a wee while ago on My New Roots food blog and thought it would be the perfect first try. It actually took a request for Kale Crisps from Moo's daddy for me to get around to making them. I was delighted with the result, very addictive. 

We found curly kale at our local wholefoods store Harvest Wholefoods. Louise has informed me kale is crazy easy to grow, possibly the most hardy vegetable there is to grow. I will have to give it a go. 

KALE CRISPS: adpated from recipe by Sarah Britton on My New Roots

Ingredients
200 grams of kale (I used the curly variety)
juice of ½ lemon
1 tablespoon agave syrup 
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons tamari
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup sesame seeds

Method
1. Preheat oven to 100C. Line baking tray with baking paper.
2. Wash kale thoroughly and dry, trying to remove as much water as possible.
3. Tear kale away from stem. Each kale leaf should be torn into about 6 or eight pieces
4. Place all ingredients except for the kale into a bowl, whisk together.
5. Add the kale and mix together with your hands, gently massaging the leaves with the dressing.
6. Lay kale out on the tray and place in oven. 
7. At 30 minutes, remove from oven and gently unstick kale from pan if it has stuck and replace for another 10-15 minutes until kale is dry and crispy.
8. Allow to cool. Can store in fridge for up to a week.

rainbow connection: two

RAINBOW PRETZELS

So pretty and so simple. I love the sweet and salty combination.

Ingredients
50g white chocolate
50g store brought pretzels sticks
3 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles

Method
1. line tray with nonstick baking paper
2. melt white chocolate either in a cup in the microwave for 2mins, stirring every minute or in a bowl over simmer pot of water stirring until there are no lumps
2. dip pretzels in melted and roll in sprinkles and place on tray until set. makes 50-60

rice pud for the whole family

Little Mima is is only 10 months old so I still try to avoid giving her salt, sugar and any processed foods. This is a dairy and sugar free version of rice pudding which is really delicious. 
The fruit puree is from Annabel Karmel's Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner. I also like to use organic dried fruit as the sulphur dioxide or E220 used to preserve the bright orange color of dried apricots can trigger asthma in susceptible babies (I found this out from the book).

DRIED FRUIT PUREE
1. I put a bag of dried fruit (mine are 300g) in a heavy-based saucepan, fill with fresh cold water until covered. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 minutes.
2. Then turn the heat off and leave to cool with the lid on.
3. Once cool I blend them to a puree. I put what I am not using in ice cube containers and freeze. It is great as a natural sweetener mixed with greek yogurt.


RICE PUD

INGREDIENTS
100g medium grain white rice
400ml coconut milk
225ml water
175ml dried fruit puree, raisin or apricot
½ vanilla pod cut in two

METHOD
1. Put everything in a heavy-based saucepan.
2. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally.
OR
1. Preheat oven to 150C. Grease a baking dish with sunflower oil.
2. Put everything in the baking dish.
3. Bake for 1¼ hours, stirring occasionally. Leave untouched for the last ½ hour, if you would like a golden skin to form.