Donuts, spring flowers and a tasty laksa...

Hi my friends, its been awhile yes.. I haven't had my phone, internet, toilet, power or water connected yet and life back in Bertha my 64 foot caravan has yet again been challenging!!

Why is it Murphy's law always comes into play when you least want to see his ugly face! as soon as we moved back into the caravan the rain came, the wind came and we lost all power! CRAP! however I have moved on from the bad weather thing and am incredibly ecstatic to finally have my internet on!! and a new telephone number..... but no lights yet and we are still using a porter loo

the trials and tribulations of building house!

Apart from alot of discomfort in the home I have been loving that Spring feeling in the air... the smells have been wafting through the empty house and I have almost managed to steal a baby lamb.. so so cute, I have taken a hiatuses of eating spring lamb at least until they have grown to full size.. I know baby lamb is tasty but it doesn't help when friends have 11 in there back yard! Spring flowers are so beautiful and my daughter put together this beautiful posie of beach side flowers, I was so inspired by the colors and couldn't help feeling hungry actually... Spring is truly magic!

 I had a day to myself on Wednesday and took a visit to one of my favourite textile stores Martha's looking for curtain fabric. I had heard that the famous "Little and Friday" cafe had set up there and was very keen to indulge in some of their famous oozy jam and cream donuts. All the food is remarkably Good! the sammies are laden with excellent produce, the tarts are big enough to feed two and best of all the relish that you can help yourself to is simple but so so delicious! I love eating food on a communal table and there's plenty of people to chat with and always great mags to read.. three of my most favourite things, good food, great company and beautiful things to gaze upon! keep up the great work guys!

 This week I decided to make a laksa for my adults cooking class on Wednesday, why? well I love to shop in my local store Waiheke fruit and veg, I get such satisfaction in using fresh and seasonal produce and making up a great meal to match.. this week I spied some fresh Turmeric so hence the laksa took form.. Australian tiger prawns, scallops yes it tis the season for scallops! and snake beans are so yum... anyway it was a great meal and I believe everyone enjoyed it imensly!

Heres the recipe for you to cook... please make sure your not allergic as I experienced with one of my students... :[

Tiger prawn and scallop laksa

Serves 4

For the soup:

           250g raw unpeeled prawns

            100g scallops

            Vegetable oil for frying

            400ml coconut milk

            2 tbsp fish sauce

            1 tbsp palm sugar

            400g fresh or dried egg noodles

            100g bean sprouts

            100g cooked fine green beans or snake beans

To garnish

            4-6 shallots fried in vegetable oil

            ½ cup sliced cucumber

            A handful of mixed mint and coriander leaves

            Red chilli to garnish

            3 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced on the diagonal

For the laksa spice paste:

            4 dried red chillies soaked for half an hour

            20g nuts cashew nuts

            2 stalks lemongrass chopped

            3 fat garlic cloves 15g

            20g piece ginger,

            2 tsps curry powder

            1 knob fresh tumeric

            75g shallots, roughly chopped

            2 tsp blachan (shrimp paste)

            ½ teaspoon salt

            1 tbsp vegetable oil

            Sambal oelek, to serve

Lets cook!

         Peel the prawns, reserving the heads and shells. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium-sized pan, add the heads and shells and stir-fry for a couple of minutes until they are crisp and golden. Add 1 litre of water, bring to the boil and leave to simmer for 4 minutes strain.

2       For the laksa spice paste, put the chillies into a food processor with the remaining ingredients and blend to a smooth paste.

4
       Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a large pan over a medium heat, add the spice paste and fry gently for 2-3 minutes until it starts to smell fragrant. Add the prawn stock, coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt or to taste, and simmer for 3 minutes. Drop the peeled prawns into the curry soup and simmer for a further 2 minutes very lastly add the scallops, be careful not to overcook.

5
       Bring a pan of water to the boil drop in the fresh egg noodles and leave to heat through for a few   seconds.

6
      Drain and divide the noodles between 4 warmed, deep noodle bowls and top with the bean sprouts,    cooked green beans.  Ladle over the curry soup, trying to divide the prawns and scallops equally        between each bowl. Top each with the spring onions, mint, coriander, cucumber, shallots, bean sprouts and chilli.

        Enjoy xo

What I've been upto lately - Evolu Skincare launch

Last week Evolu and I put together a little collaboration to celebrate the launch of their new skincare range which is truly good enough to eat. I got to design a menu around the beautiful ingredients that Evolu are using and we had a lovely evening trying out the products with the food.

xo Ana

An easy dozen...

Hi guys

I was lucky enough to get flown down to Welly town this last weekend to demonstrate with Kitchen Aid. The lovely Sharyn of Peter Mcinnes ltd had asked me if I would come and help her whip up some delicious food while she demonstrated the amazing range of Kitchen Aid products.

Well I jumped at the chance, firstly a weekend away would be just the break I needed and secondly I was excited about getting to test drive the mixer as mine is awaiting the new kitchen we are currently designing.

I also had another reason to visit Wellington as currently Wellington on a plate is on and I was keen to visit the oyster saloon on Cuba street. This is in preparation for Sculpture on the Gulf event where I would like to set up my own using our local Te Matuku oysters.

The oyster saloon was such a fab idea, street food inspires me immensely and there's nothing I enjoy more then watching the world go by whilst eating beautiful food and meeting locals at the same time. There were 5 varieties of NZ oysters and they simply came fresh or tempered. Wonderful condiments were spaced around on wine barrels where you gathered round and enjoyed with local wine and boutique beer. I had a such ball!! 
Duana and Shelly from Te Matuku were there shucking oysters like pros and I was happy to catch up and eat as many as my wallet would allow.

Tomorrow I have my Evolu event at Maincourse in the Beaumont quarter, I am really excited as this is the first of this kind of event for me and I love collaborating with others to come up with a really unique event. I will be busy prepping today and tomorrow and plan to wow them with 5 tasting plates whilst Kati will be launching her new gel cleanser..  

I am in the process of designing some beautiful kitchen- ware, and hope to have things to sell by late spring.. so keep and eye out on my products page of my website.

 

To wrap things up today here is a lovely oyster chowder recipe, simple yet absolutly delicious!

Oyster chowder

Ingredients

½ cup bacon, finely diced
1 Tablespoon butter
1/3 cup onion, finely diced
1/3 cup leek, finely diced
1/3 cup celery, finely diced
1 teaspoons garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 cup white wine
2 cups milk/cream
4 cups chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
24 local juicy oysters
 

To make.

1. Cook bacon over medium heat in a heavy duty sauce pot until well browned but still fatty, about 8-10 minutes.
2. Add the butter, onions, leeks and celery, cook covered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute covered.
4. Add the thyme and white wine, reduce until almost dry, about 7-10 minutes.
5. Add the milk/cream and reserved oyster juice. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. It will be “broken," but it is OK. Blend the soup with a hand-held or counter-top blender. Then strain.
6. Reheat the oysters in the chowder on very low heat, Do NOT BOIL.
   Season with salt and pepper.
7. Garnish with parsley and a drizzle of good olive oil.

Enjoy ox

3 courses with wine match....

Hello my friends,

This week I will be filling you in on my event as guest chef at Cable Bay Vineyards....

What a great event it was! I still have a huge smile on my face and its been over 2 days ago ;] ( and yes there was alot of beautiful wine poured!} but mostly because I couldn't have enjoyed myself more.

When I meet up with executive chef Sam Clark of Cable bay vineyards that morning and we plated all 3 dishes, I was so blown away with all three courses. Both the presentation and the flavors we had designed together were impeccable. What a treat to have a executive chef replicate my dishes! all the dishes were inspired by my travels during the show and guest judges I had meet on the way.

We organised a recipe challenge for each course where not only did the guests have to identify the ingredients in the black pepper sauce but also had a 2 minute pressure test where they had to list all the ingredients in the lamb dish. The dessert they had to recognise all the ingredients of all 6 elements on the lemon tasting plate, they were asked to work as a team with the guests at their tables and over all I was very impressed with how much food knowledge they had!

There were many competitive guests who were determined they knew all the right answers, It made me laugh because the more determined they became the more the fought and yelled! I think the guests enjoyed the challenges so much and there were over $1000 of prizes handed out over the night! Even though some people went home empty handed, they loved the food and the wine flowed generously.

Thanks again to Nathalie who came up with the concept and organised everything down to the last detail.. It went so well i am hoping we can organise another event this coming spring, so if you missed out I will let you know when and where? through my events page. Also a special thanks to Charlotte of Island Beauty and Melissa of Phoenix hair on Waiheke who made me look and feel so fabulous!

Here are some pictures of the three courses, I can tell you they were as delicious as they looked!

Carpaccio of NZ Scallops with Black Pepper sauce and Ponzu.

 
Braised lamb neck with Eggplant Puree and Cavelo. Nero.

Lemon Tasting plate

Lemon Posset, lemon curd, Hazelnut crumb, Tamarillo sorbet, Italian meringue and Candied Tamarillo.

Heres the recipe for lemon posset for you, you could substitute lemon for lime or orange, or even blood orange if you like...

 

Lemon posset

 Serves 4

 2 cups heavy cream

 2/3 cups granulated sugar 

5 tablespoons lemon juice

 2 sheets gold leaf gelatine.

To make: 

1.In a small saucepan, heat cream and sugar to boiling, stirring to dissolve sugar. Continue boiling for 5 minutes. Watch the heat - don’t let the cream boil over.

2.Remove pan from heat and stir in lemon juice and dissolved gold leaf gelatine. Let cool, about 15 minutes.

3.Pour even amounts into four ramekins. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, or until set. 

Enjoy ox

Cable bay "Come Dine with Me"

Hello my friends,

I've got a big week coming up! Friday night is one of my first nights hosting a dinner and celebrating my achievements of Masterchef NZ  {well to be perfectly honest... there's been plenty of celebrating}  for those who aren't in the loop I am hosting a private dinner at cable bay vineyards, Waiheke island where I have designed and perfected a three course menu based on my inspirational journey on Masterchef NZ. You can book through this link if your interested. There will be a recipe challenge for those who enjoy a little bit of  a competition, fabulous prizes given away  and I assure you it will be a fun, fabulous foodie night out!

I still can't believe that this time last year I was off to my auditions in Auckland.  Now here we are one year later and I not only have my own website but  have many exciting projects coming up... good luck to those new contestants who will be embarking on series 4... remember to be yourselves, let your personalities shine through and cook like rock stars!!

 

One event that I am involved in and so excited about is a product launch with Evolu skin care. Kati Kasza has kindly asked me to design and demonstrate 5 tasting dishes incorporating ingredients and textures used in her 5 step Cleansing Range, I will be nourishing your appetite with beautiful food where Kati will nurture your skin and senses.. There will be a demonstration night held at Main-course in Auckland cbd, tickets are limited so if you are interested check out my events page.  

Meanwhile I am very excited about my house build which should be all done and dusted in 6 weeks or so time, painters arrive next week, kitchen is getting the final touches to the design and this week I go and pick all my new kitchen equipment!  Yay!!

Soon I will be hosting dinner parties and testing out all my new recipes in my amazing kitchen and running cooking classes by summer time...so FRIENDS watch this space! 

No recipes this week as caravan living is very challenging!

xo