Salad days

Here we are after a summer of fun.

Routine is beckoning, but bathers, sand and the sweet scent of sun cream lotion still happily make
their presence felt in our day to day life as we wait for the crescendo that is school opening its doors for another year.

I have taken my annual vow of health and well being, and my husband was a terrific sport keeping a straight face when I declared that no wine would pass my lips for the next week. I also made note of mentioning increased efficiency, renewed vitality, and a deep commitment to frugality; but he had busied himself doing the dishes whilst I was babbling away, so I didn’t push the point too far.

Suffice to say here is a little recipe that ticks most of the boxes. Maximising seasonal goodness this jolly little salad is as refreshing as it is easy on a hot summer’s day. And yes; it would go particularly well with a cheeky little glass of summer holiday white wine.

 

Green bean, orange and almond salad.

This is such a joyful looking salad that celebrates Australian fare. Look out for Valancia oranges, their slightly greenish skin belies their juicy interior, they are our summer orange crop and vastly superior to any out of season import.

 

400 grams green beans

100g snow peas

Flesh of half an orange

¼ cup whole almonds

For the dressing

Juice of half an orange

2 Tbs seeded mustard

3 Tbs olive oil

Salt and peppe

Top and tail the peas and snow peas. I tend to serve the snow peas raw in the salad and only blanch the beans to balance tenderness versus crunch.

Blanch the beans by bringing a large pan of water to a brisk boil. Cook the beans in the boiling water for no more than 2-3 minutes. Drain them immediately under plenty of cold running water to stop them overcooking and help retain their bright green colour.  Dry well.

Combine the beans and snow peas on a serving dish, cover and chill until required.

Make the dressing by combining dressing ingredients in a small jar and shaking vigorously to combine – check for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

Just before serving: In a frypan over medium heat, roast the whole almonds to make them beautifully crunchy and flavoursome. This should take about 2 mins. Roughly chop to create lots of interesting shapes and textures. Cut the orange into small chunks, being sure to discard any pith or seeds.

Toss the dressing through the chilled beans and scatter the oranges and almond atop. 

Tickled pink

Whilst recipes are all fine and dandy, a large part of this blog is meant to illustrate the progressive growth and development in my meagre photographic skill.

So let this be the official starting point where I free myself from the trainer wheels of the AUTO function of my new fancy camera.  Hold on to your hat's folks I am experimenting with aperture. There is a whole new world of artsy fartsy focusing now at my beck and call.

Flouncy flamingos somehow seem the perfect backdrop to the lurid pink vibrancy of the salad. Actually they were the accidental heroes of this sunny Sunday photo shoot, but some how they capture the slight hysteria beetroot always brings to the kitchen.

Stained fingers and astringent pickling juices are not my cup of tea. So this is the route I tend to take to weave the beautiful earthy veg into the mix. I prefer not to peel the beetroot, a good soak and scrub does the job and then the raw beetroot is grated along with a carrot or two to form the base of this addictive and refreshing spring salad.

 

Beetroot salad

1 large beetroot

2 carrots

1 orange cut into dainty segments

A handful of green herbage (optional)

 

For the dressing

2 Tbs good quality white wine vinegar

100ml extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbs Dijon mustard

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

1.       Give the beetroot a good soak, and peel the carrots, grate coarsely and combine all of the grated goodness.

2.       Make the dressing by popping all ingredients in a jar and shaking like mad.

3.       Pour the dressing over the carrot and beetroot then artistically slot in the orange segments and sprinkle about the green herbs.

Get Set For The Weekend



Porky goodness



Come Friday night all I want is a glass of wine and a little peace and quiet. “Easier said than done,” the mothers of the world cry in unison. Well surely a cheeky crisp white sav Blanc is easy enough to rustle up, and with a just a moments forethought the dinner can magically happen too.

Alarmingly the secret to being cool on a Friday night involves actually thinking about it on a Wednesday.  Yes that’s right it takes me two days preparation to be a fun mummy.

This is the route I took last weekend, and it worked spectacularly well.

Basically as I was doing some sort of mid week frenzied mad dash around the market I spied pork roasts for a good price. One ended up in the trolley, on arriving home it didn’t even make it to the fridge – I just popped it straight in the pan and left it to do its thing, whilst I bellowed and nagged my way through the joys of homework and lunchboxes.

Not that I am a booze hound or anything, but I did use alcoholic ginger beer as my braising liquid.   It perfectly set the tone for the laid back mood I was dreaming of and created a sweet succulence that was pretty damn fine. You could just as easily substitute cider, but for preference I would stick with something that has the moody dry sweetness that only a 375ml brown bottle can.

Pork in Ginger Beer

1 pork shoulder roast (mine was 1.8 kg)

1 leek

A couple of cloves of garlic

¾ bottle of “Ranga” alcoholic ginger beer (about 300ml)

1 bay leaf

2 whole cloves

a pinch of sage and thyme

1.       Preheat oven to 160c

2.      In a large cast iron skillet sear the pork to give a nice bit of colour to the two flat sides, add in the leek, garlic and herbs and sizzle till fragrant. Pour in ginger beer and season well with a good sprinkling of salt and pepper.

 

 

 

3.       Cover the dish with a tight fitting lid then cook for 3 hours or until the pork starts to fall apart when gently poked.

4.       Leave to rest and flavours to develop in the fridge for up to 3 days. When ready to serve, heat on a stove top, then take the pork out to trim off fatty bits and shred the pork into large chunks using a fork. Place the pork back in the cooking liquid and serve with crusty bread and leafy green – and a big glass of THANK GOD ITS FRIDAY WINE!!!



 

Neighbours that can bake

Back in the good old days recipes were swapped across fences. The art of baking was a unifying force as the sweet waft of stoves in action filled streets. I can only imagine it would be a stroke of pure blessed luck to lob alongside cooks that were generous in knowledge and skilled in their craft.

Hence my delight that for the next little while the cosy south island of New Zealand is my home. Christchurch to be precise. A poor wounded city that is bravely rebuilding a future. A city with its fair share of quirks and snarls, but city with quite possibly some of the finest baking I have ever spied.

Let it go on official record that our Kiwi neighbours are damn fine bakers. Fingers crossed that during my NZ tenure I learn a trick or two from my fellow Antipodeans.

Check out this delicious assortment on offer at my local Saturday morning haunt - The Riccarton Markets - baking at its best!

 

The Kiwis are masters of sweet toothsome millimetre perfect slices. A cup of tea with out a little square of one of these is a wasted opportunity.

 

This is Anna - she bakes like a woman possessed every week to deliver cakes that are plump and bursting with interesting things. I stalk her stall every week to see what is on offer.

 

Each little home made morsel is as perfect as can be. The hazelnut ameretti are crunchy on the outside and sweet and succulent on the inside - just like they should be.

Row upon pretty row of macaroons at their picture perfect best, Rose with cinnamon happen to be my favourite, closely followed by salted caramel.

 

 

and yes the custard does playfully ooze from these beauties with each bite.

 

Even the much maligned doughnut is given a delicious twist and turned  irresistible by the deft hand of a Kiwi baker.

 If you want the low down on the biggest, best most delicious thing then just ask a hungry wide eyed boy on limited income!

 Yes New Zealand- with your fairy tale beauty and old fashioned hospitality - I think we are going to get along famously.

Salad days

A little bowl of something crunchy and delicious is my little treat. Actually the mere act of being home and tinkering about with nice lunches is probably a bigger luxury in itself. I won't bang on about why I have ditched bread from my daily routine- what I will do, is show you the greatest hits of lunches past.

 

None of them took more than 5 mins to whip up, and none of them used anything clever - they are just a delicious mish mash of tastes and textures and in the realm of a thousand times nicer than a boring old sandwich.

 

 

A little lunchtime trip to Asia - shaved cabbage, leftover chicken, a handful of peanuts and plenty of herbs and lime.

Yes I have hopped on board the quinoa train. A Lebanese fatoush of sorts, with a nice added bonus of leftover roast lamb bits!

 

 Ohhhhh! a weensy taste of summer. 2 fat peach halves with goats cheese, grilled until brown and artfully plonked on some peppy rocket. The joys of seasonal fare!!

And its lunchtime in Mykanos with this little number. Haloumi cheese how I adore you and your squeaky, salty, oozy ways.

 

 What's on your radar for lunch today?