Nourish Magazine Summer 22 Waikato Edition

A very special release

The very last release of new homes at Tamahere Country Club is now available.

Now’s the time to make your choice, and with just 19 homes set on some of our most spacious sites you’ll be spoilt for choice. Located within a stone’s throw of the picturesque village lake and lake house, Stage 2C also features a range of new facilities on your doorstep including the country club’s café, croquet lawn, tennis court and an outdoor amphitheatre.

If your dream for the next chapter of your life includes luxury living amongst a vibrant social community and acres of atmosphere, Tamahere Country Club will be just perfect for you.

Full plans and specifications for the new villas can be viewed at our sales office.

tamaherecountryclub.co.nz | Monday – Friday, 10am – 2pm (excluding public holidays) For

628 385

Artist impression only, subject to change without notice.

Here's to Summer

As I sit writing this, the C word is on everyone’s tongues and causing lots of angst. As is often the case in the Nourish office, where we are thinking comforting winter soups and puddings in January, we saw this coming a few months back and threw out a few F words. The result is our first ebook – Festive Fare

If you are one of our VIPs, you will have already received a copy in your inbox. If you are not a Nourish VIP you can be by signing up on our website, and for $49 you will receive a copy of Nourish each season delivered to you along with awesome discounts, opportunities to win and surprises like our Festive Fare ebook.

This ebook is just a taste of the big things we have in the works for 2023. We have been working on the details for our tour to Sicily next October, and you can find the details for this opposite or on our website. It’s so good to be able to travel again, and if you are looking for some inspiration, on page 62 Wayne Good recaps his recent trip to Portugal.

Like many, the Nourish team are taking a well-earned break over summer. While not camping this year, you can get my tips (on page 64) on how to be well equipped and fed if you are this summer. This year instead of the campfire I will be taking some advice from Fiona Hugues and lighting lots of citronella candles

as we dine with friends into the wee hours. On page 52 are Fiona’s recipes for a wonderful summer meal alfresco, and on page 16 Harriet discovers how to cook the perfect steak before turning it into a delicious summer salad.

On page 33 Emma Galloway chills out with some easy ice cream desserts, and, with easy in mind, on page 20 Kathy Paterson whips up some quick seasonal salads. Whatever your plans over the next few months, may they be filled with moments and people you wish to hold on to.

Happy Holidays

Vicki Ravlich-Horan Editor

THE SHACK

If, like many in the Waikato, you are planning to spend some time this summer in Raglan, be it a week at the bach or a day at the beach, a stop at The Shack is always compulsory in my book. While each summer there are always new spots to discover at Waikato’s favourite beach town, there is a reason The Shack has been there for over a decade and still the place you have to queue for a coveted table – it’s worth it!

theshackraglan.com

2.IN HER BLOOD

Ngaio Marsh

is also a

member, ensuring our I’s are dotted and t’s crossed and clearing up those apostrophe debates, so we are super proud and excited to get our hands on her fifth book –In Her Blood (out 30 November). Described as a compulsively readable, dark, twisty and atmospheric thriller, sure to keep you turning the pages deep into the night, it sounds like the perfect holiday read to me.

OPITO BAY SEA SALT

Each crystal of award-winning Opito Bay Sea Salt has been crafted through the careful combination of sun, wind and pristine sea water from Coromandel’s iconic Opito Bay. This delicious natural salt is made in small batches creating big, translucent crystals with a unique minerality, for a mouth-watering “wow” burst of flavour. While their award winning Natural Sea Salt is always a treat and has its place, you’ll delight in their various other flavours from Black Truffle to Dry Gin Sea Salt or their gold medal Rosemary Sea Salt. Find out more at opitobaysalt.co.nz

Award shortlisted author Nikki Crutchley

key Nourish team

CHEF’S SELECTION AT HAYES

I’m a huge fan of dining without a menu, and one of the places I always love to trust the chef is at Hayes Common. So I am thrilled to hear they are bringing back their Chef's Selection menus, including a plant-based option.

Owner Lisa Quarrie explains, “essentially, it's a set menu based on guests sharing plates between two or more. This style of dining really aligns with our values of sustainability, using local products, and offering something unique to our community. The beauty of it is, with a smaller menu format, we can change it regularly and keep it interesting for our regular diners as well as our chefs.”

hayescommon.co.nz

MAGILLS PULLED MEAT RANGE WINS AGAIN

Te Awamutu based butchers Magills have yet again had their Pulled Meat range recognised, winning gold and two silvers at the NZ Artisan Awards 2022. Taria Given, Magills Marketing Co Ordinator, says they were thrilled to win the accolade, “as with the recent opening of our purpose built facility it's great to have acknowledgement that the product is still at award-winning standard, for us and for our customers”.

Magills Pulled Meat range is available from selected retailers nationwide or magills.co.nz

PEPLERS BLACK RASPBERRY VINAIGRETTE

Just in time for summer, Peplers iconic Black Raspberry Vinaigrette is back in stock. This crowd-pleasing dressing is the perfect stocking stuffer, a must in the cupboard at the bach and a sure-fire way to get the kids eating salad.

www.peplers.co.nz

On Track at the Bikery

WORDS DAVID WRIGLEY | IMAGES ASHLEE DECAIRES

Situated on the ground floor of the stunning Grassroots Trust Velodrome, where there is always a buzz of excitement, the café is an oasis of calm. The beautiful outdoor area is surrounded by planter boxes filled with flowers and aromatic herbs. It’s a great place to relax and watch the medal winning Olympians on their way to training, the amateurs taking a break from the nearby Te Awa River Trail, and families enjoying the nearby bike skills park. A variety of groups, who use the Velodrome’s world-class facilities to keep fit, count The Bikery as their local café. The staff greet them by name and make sure they have their regular post-workout treats ready and waiting.

New owners Jana and Rob Hart took over the already thriving café in March this year and are gradually bringing their own vision and style to bear on the café’s culture and offerings. Jana studied hospitality management after leaving school and worked in the sector for a few years before forging a successful career in accountancy. Rob comes from a business and banking background. The couple moved to New Zealand from the UK with the dream of owning and running their own café, a dream that is finally coming to fruition.

“I wanted to get involved in hospitality again and we both wanted to have an active, outdoors lifestyle, so when the Bikery came up for sale we jumped at the opportunity,” Jana says as she keeps an eye on the team gearing up for the lunch rush. “It was also really important to us to bring what we’d learnt in the corporate world about work culture and for that to inform the way we ran the business.”

Jana and Rob have worked hard to build an environment that nurtures staff and gives them the skills necessary to succeed, not just in the hospitality industry, but also the wider world. They also believe that a happy team will make for happy customers. This means fostering a collaborative spirit within the team and encouraging them to make suggestions and try new ways of doing things.

That spirit of collaboration is apparent in the café’s food offering. The cabinet is packed with delicious and clever twists on Kiwi classics. The cheese and pesto scones are fresh out of the oven, homemade and bursting with flavour. The roulade with salmon or sticky Thai pork are perennial customer favourites, as are the excellent custard slices.

A lot of the ideas and recipes come straight from the young,

dedicated team of chefs. The kitchen staff also go out of their way to make sure they are catering to their customers’ dietary needs, with both the cabinet and the eclectic menu providing a range of vegetarian, dairy-free, and gluten-free options.

The team also supplies Jana and Rob’s catering company, Fresh Balance, with delicious platters, sandwiches, dinners, lunches, and canapés. They cater to a range of local businesses and individuals as well as servicing the many meeting and conference rooms inside the Velodrome itself. They even make delicious care packages that customers can order as gifts for friends who need a little pampering. They have been especially popular with new parents, to help them get through those first, gruelling weeks.

The café also boasts a freezer-full of lovingly prepared readymeals for busy families to take home with them. It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of the owners and the team that they manage to produce such an incredible and exciting range of offerings so consistently, seven days a week.

Of course, as with any Kiwi café, all the wonderful food would count for nothing without first class coffee to wash it down. The beans come from Morrinsville’s Essenza Coffee. Rob says, “We’re so happy to have such great coffee roasted so close by. It’s great to keep things local, especially when the product is so good.”

Quality milk comes from Kaipaki Dairies, just down the road. Jana and Rob have had a tap installed next to the coffee machine to cut down on packaging waste. The front of house team knock out beautifully executed flat whites and long blacks that more than do justice to the excellent beans and the delicious Waikato milk.

The Bikery is so much more than a great café. It’s the hub of the Cambridge cycling community, the heart of a first-class catering business, and a home away from home for a hard-working team. Jana and Rob’s dream of running a successful Kiwi café has become a thriving reality.

The Bikery

15 Hanlin Road, Avantidrome, Cambridge www.thebikery.co.nz

DAVID WRIGLEY

David is a freelance writer based in Cambridge. His work has appeared in publications such as The Guardian and Noble Rot. He is a veteran of over 20 years in the London restaurant scene.

The Bikery Café in Cambridge sits, as the name suggests, right at the heart of New Zealand’s cycling culture.

Bikery’s Berry Shortcake

With summer on the doorstep, berries are easy to come by. Served with yoghurt or cream, this is a favourite with our regulars! The great thing about this recipe is that you can swap out the fruit for whatever is in season. In the winter, try some sliced apples mixed with a little maple syrup and lemon zest.

250 g butter

¾ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2½ cups plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 cups of mixed berries

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Grease a shallow baking tin (approx. 35x25cm) and line with baking paper.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla and beat well. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold into the mixture until combined. Press two thirds of this mixture into the lined tin, then spread the berries over the top. Dot the remaining shortcake mixture over the top, place in oven and bake for about 30 minutes until risen and brown. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.

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RINGING IN 20 YEARS AT RIVER RIDGE

Building delays caused River Ridge East Birth Centre to go way past its due date, but it was finally delivered on Christmas Day, 2002.

It seemed an auspicious time to open, and the first baby was born pretty smartly on Boxing Day. To be followed, in the past two decades, by thousands more arrivals at the distinctive blue building in Hamilton East, owned and operated by Hamilton couple Clare and Warwick Hutchinson.

Warwick estimates that for every baby who has stayed at River Ridge East in the past 20 years, there have been at least five or so visitors to admire the new arrival, so that adds up to a large passing parade. “Many people in the Waikato know this place,” he says.

“This place” is a huge source of satisfaction for Clare, Warwick, and their daughter Vanessa Shirlow, who is the chief executive officer. They’re together at the centre on this Monday morning as they share its history with Nourish, ahead of the 20-year milestone coming up on Christmas Day.

River Ridge East grew from an idea by Clare, a midwife and the centre’s clinical director: she says that 25 years ago Hamilton mothers had the choice of giving birth either at Waikato Hospital or at home, with limited services available for the latter. When

Government health reforms in the 1990s offered more flexibility, Clare thought, “Surely we could create something in between [the hospital and home birth].”

Bringing this to fruition took family teamwork. As Vanessa explains, “Mum has lots of ideas and Dad turns them into a plan with a budget. He makes the plan a reality.”

The Hutchinsons began with a partnership arrangement at Southern Cross Hospital, offering independent maternity services in an unused wing. It was a successful trial run, and when the lease expired they developed River Ridge East next door, a purpose-built primary birth centre in a homely style with a unique look and feel.

It gathered momentum immediately from the Christmas Day opening, and a display wall of thank-you cards from families attests to the relationships formed over years of births and parenting support.

The centre’s clients chose their own lead maternity carer (LMC), but there are two staff midwives rostered 24/7 for post-natal care. “We mother the new mothers,” says Clare. “Whatever time they ring the bell for help, it is answered.” Nowadays, there are almost 40 staff members, a mix of permanent and casual, some who’ve been with the Hutchinsons since opening day.

Staff also look after the midwives who pass through, providing

WORDS DENISE IRVINE | IMAGES ASHLEE DECAIRES

them with meals, coffee and opportunities for collegial support. Clare says this is as important as caring for mothers and babies. “It is holistic care for everyone involved, for mums, dads, babies, families and LMCs.”

Vanessa says the centre hasn’t closed for a single day since opening. “We handle everything, juggling multiple arrivals and departures, at all hours. It’s a bit like a hotel, or an A&E department. Nothing fazes us.”

She says there are now “repeat customers”, with a second generation of some families using the service. “We’ve had grandmothers coming to visit newborn grandchildren in the place where they gave birth themselves.”

The building expanded as demand increased, and there are now 16 well-equipped post-natal rooms, four labour rooms, two birth pools and a bath, two assessment rooms, and spaces for ante-natal clinics, ante-natal classes, exercise classes, support circles and other aspects of the centre’s work.

Clare Hutchinson’s original intentions haven’t changed, though, firmly based on giving mothers and babies the best possible start in life. “We have always aimed to be warm, welcoming, and multicultural, catering to our diverse community.”

The service is free of charge, funded by Government for a 48-hour stay for each mother. Women either give birth at the centre, or at Waikato Hospital and transfer for their post-natal care. They’re offered a third night stay free of charge if they need a little more time; Warwick says it’s just something they like to do.

Mothers and babies can also transfer after discharge from Waikato Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). “We rewind the clock,” says Vanessa, “and parents have the chance to do all the things they would have typically done if their baby hadn’t needed a bit of extra help initially.”

The Hutchinson family has a history of innovation and helping others, channelling Clare’s ideas and Warwick’s pragmatic planning. Clare, from Holland, and Warwick, a Kiwi civil engineer, met when they were both working in Indonesia. They married in Amsterdam and later lived in Nigeria and Libya. They came to Hamilton in 1982 with their three children for a new post for Warwick, and Clare worked at Waikato Hospital in NICU and as a midwife. She was also a home-birth midwife.

In 1996, they helped to establish the Waikato Waldorf School in Rototuna, later adding Kōwhai Childcare on an adjacent property and more recently Earth Stewards Urban Farm, growing organic

vegetables on 1.3ha of lovingly cared for land. Earth Stewards, of course, supplies the kitchen at River Ridge East.

Vanessa says she and her parents are constantly looking for ways to extend and enhance the birth centre’s services. “Great food is one of the things we are renowned for. New mothers need the energy.” They also established the Hamilton Breast Feeding Trust, offering lactation consultation services free to women who have given birth at the centre or stayed post-natally. A free visit from a physiotherapist is available for women before they head home, a valuable opportunity to talk about their wellbeing and recovery. Similarly, long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) is available on site from a Family Planning nurse. Women can have this procedure before they leave the centre and save themselves the time and energy of having to arrange it at a later date.

Vanessa says the goal is to always try to deliver over and above the minimum specifications. “If we can do more for mums and babies, we will see great outcomes for the whole family.”

She says it’s also a pleasure for her to work closely with her parents. She initially did tertiary studies at Waikato University and then she travelled overseas, married a Welshman, lived in Holland for six years, and returned to New Zealand in 2005. She was practice manager at a Hamilton law firm before the move to River Ridge East three-and-a-half years ago.

“River Ridge was something that as a family we knew and loved. We were always involved and my daughter was born here in 2007. My children know it well; it is like a home away from home.”

Vanessa says she wants to acknowledge the 20th anniversary, and in particular her parents’ contribution to maternity care in the Waikato, their innovation and wanting to offer more when they see gaps in existing services. “They are committed to creating equitable access and excellent maternity care.”

Clare and Warwick are modest about their work. Clare says creating River Ridge East has been a real team effort. Says Warwick: “It has been a privilege for us to run this place. Here’s to the next 20 years!”

River Ridge East Birth Centre 35 Von Tempsky Street, Hamilton East, Hamilton www.riverridgeeastbc.co.nz

ROSTREVORST

3 4 5

Cocktails in the CBD

It’s a hard job but someone has to do it! Here’s the Nourish team's round up of some great cocktails and cocktail spots in Hamilton Central.

1. THE LOCAL TAPHOUSE - COOKIES AND CREAM HARD SHAKE $16 346b Victoria Street

Oreos, dark chocolate liqueur, Baileys and Absolut Vanilla Vodka.

2. MR PICKLES - GUMMY BEAR SOUR $18

298 Victoria Street

Sweet, sour and tangy. It tastes just like a Haribo Gummy Bear. Sloe gin is mixed with fresh lemon juice, lychee liqueur, and Heiwa Shuzo Tsuru-ume Yuzushu. Zesty and fresh, a drink for every day.

3. BANH MI - LYCHEE MOJITO $18

298 Victoria Street

Havana Rum, fresh lime, mint, lychee puree and soda.

4. WONDER HORSE - CHERRY KOLA SOUR $18

236 Victoria Street

A nostalgic concoction of white rum, lime, house-made kola syrup, cherry brandy, and bitters, that we then carbonate to produce a fizzy liquid version of cola lollies.

5. ERNEST - CITY CLUB $21

30 Alexandra Street

A very drinkable sour fruity cocktail with a hint of sweetness, made with Pisco, Dry Vermouth, basil and strawberry.

6. BULL & BEAR - BLUE HAWAIIAN $19 127 Victoria Street

Live in the sunshine. Swim in the sea. Drink the Blue Hawaiian made with Flor de Cana white rum, De Kuyper Blue Curacao, coconut cream, pineapple and lime juice, served shaken with ice.

7. MAD HATTERS TEAPOT & COCKTAIL BAR - APPLE PIE $18 20 Hood Street

Jack Daniel’s fire, butterscotch liqueur, vanilla syrup, apple juice and fresh cream.

8. THE MERCURY ROOM- THE LADY MERCURY $15 1/15 Hood Street

Ink gin, grapefruit, lemon, lychee and soda.

9. TUDO BEM - CAIPIRINHA $12 29 Hood Street

Citric and refreshing; Cachaça, fresh lemon and lime and sugar syrup.

10. HOUSE ON HOOD - BLACK FOREST MARTINI $15 27 Hood Street

Chambord, chocolate grappa, cassis, strawberry purée, cream.

11. GOTHENBURG - RASPBERRY MOJITO $20 17 Grantham Street

Bacardi rum, Chambord, raspberries, mint, sugar, lime.

I always viewed cooking steak a bit of a boy’s job. At childhood dinners with family and friends, the men all stood around the BBQ while the ladies prepared the accompaniments. That trend has continued into my adult life despite ever-changing gender roles. But watch out boys, I’m here to raise the steaks. I desperately lack confidence in fast cooking meat. I’m more of a low and slow girl. I went into this experiment completely unbiased on the best way to cook a steak. I knew that quality meat is always best, salt is your friend, and medium-rare arguably equals perfection; but in terms of the cooking method, I was very open to suggestions. I picked stovetop methods using a cast iron pan, but my final recipe will work just as well on a BBQ.

THE SOUS VIDE

In Kenji Lopez Alt’s book The Food Lab, he teaches a few methods of steak preparation, including sous vide. This is a very cheffy technique where you seal food in a vacuum-packed bag and cook low and slow in a temperature-controlled water bath. I seasoned the steak generously with salt and pepper, threw in some thyme and rosemary and sealed the bag. The steak bathed at 54 degrees for one hour, which cooks the entire steak evenly medium rare, rather than a pan method where it will be cooked on the outside and rare in the centre. Out of the bag came an insipid steak, needing a bit of love. I heated up a cast iron pan until smoking, then seared it for about 30 seconds each side to attain a perfect golden caramelisation. The steak was unbelievably tender, perfectly seasoned and boasted a beautiful herb flavour. The only downside was that the fat didn’t render down, and I am not a fan of eating solid beef fat. While this was an unbelievably tasty bit of steak, it’s not something your average home cook will whip up. Totally worth it if you have a sous vide machine though!

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THE DRY AGED

Kenji’s ‘dry brining’ method was next in my test kitchen. The steak is liberally seasoned with salt, then left to dry age on a wire rack, uncovered in the fridge, for 24 hours. The salt penetrates through the steak, giving it a deep level of seasoning and helping to break down the proteins, whilst also allowing the edges of the meat to dry out. A dry steak surface is key, so the pan can focus on browning the meat rather than evaporating moisture before working to brown it. To cook the steak, I set a cast iron pan over the highest heat possible and added a splash of canola oil. Once smoking, the steak is placed in the pan (straight from the fridge) and seared on one side until golden brown, flipped to colour the alternative side, then flipped every minute or so until medium-rare. Like all steak, it’s rested for around 10 minutes, but this one had hardly any resting juices seep out. This steak was outstanding. Incredibly flavoursome, tender, and surprisingly juicy. There was a very defined colouring, cooked on the outside and pink in the middle. I am usually a pepper girl, but I didn’t miss the pepper in this one.

THE QUICK PAN SEAR

Throughout my research, the most common method was to sear a liberally seasoned, room temperature steak in a smoking hot cast iron pan until medium rare. Kenji’s version of this method adds in a knob of butter, sliced shallots and thyme sprigs near the end of cooking, which is basted over the steak. The butter adds sweetness to the charred steak while the shallot and thyme deepen the flavour. Kenji is an American chef, so most likely hasn’t experienced a Bunnings sausage sizzle. If he had, he would have realised his steak is the gourmet replica of the iconic $2.50 treat. Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious, but the steak gets lost amongst the BBQ onion flavour.

THE STOVETOP CHAR

I expected Samin Nosrat, author of Salt Fat Acid Heat, to have a bit more of a complex steak cooking method. Samin followed the common method; however, to get her cast iron pan smoking hot, she pre heats it in a 260°C oven for 20 minutes. This set my smoke alarm off, and my oven is still recovering from the trauma. Once hot, the pan is transferred to the stovetop on a high heat. The recipe never mentions adding a splash of oil, so I seared the liberally seasoned steak in a dry pan. The pan was so hot the steak blackened a little on the edges, so I turned it down a smidge to control the heat until it was medium rare. Surprisingly, the steak was swimming in resting juices after 10 minutes. The intensely charred flavour was impressive considering there was no BBQ in sight, but unsurprising, as I continued to choke on the smokefilled air of my kitchen. The meat was incredibly juicy and nicely seasoned but the char was the overriding flavour.

THE HERB WHIPPED

Whilst scouring YouTube, I found Jamie Oliver’s perfect steak method. Picture this, in his lispy British accent he says to give the steak a “ruddy good whipping” with a bouquet of herbs. After a good giggle I picked this as my final steak recipe. Jamie also follows the room-temp steak technique, heavily seasoned with

both salt and pepper, and seared in a smoking hot cast iron pan. Once the steak has a nice sear on it, you rub it with a bit of butter to impart a sweet flavour onto the crust. This is also when you get to give the steak a ruddy good whipping with a bunch of thyme and oregano. Once medium rare and rested, I eagerly sliced it up. Turns out the whipping was just for fun as the flavour of the herbs was lost, especially when compared to the herby sous vide steak. Whilst still delicious, this one just lacked compared to the others.

After cooking these beautiful steaks, I gained huge confidence on fast cooking meat and a greater appreciation that if you put in the love, you’ll reap the rewards. While the sous vide steak was one of my favourites, I think it’s best we leave that method to the chefs. The dry aged steak had an unbeatable tender flesh and perfect seasoning, while Samin Nosrat’s deep char brought the nostalgic BBQ notes to a stovetop steak. As for the buttery steaks, the added sweetness was noted but unnecessary.

MAGILLS BUTCHERY TIPS:

Scotch fillet and sirloin (or porterhouse) are great choices for steak. Top tip, look for great marbling which will indicate a great balance of flavour and tenderness.

Don’t dismiss the cheaper rump steak which has a delicious beefy flavour and is great for the BBQ and feeding a crowd.

The very lean eye fillet is super tender with a melt in your mouth texture, perfect for a special occasion.

Keen to impress, t-bone and tomahawk steaks look and taste impressive and cooking on the bone will give your meat more flavour. www.magills.co.nz

Perfect Steak

WITH MEXICAN TOMATO SALAD

Combining the dry age and stovetop char methods, you will love this steak and your newfound meat cooking confidence. Remember, practise makes perfect, so don’t stress if you over or under cook it the first few times. The cooking method will work equally as well with a smokin’ hot BBQ or grill pan.

SERVES 5–6

4 x 250g scotch fillet steaks (I like the ones from Magills Butchery) flaky salt

5–6 vine tomatoes

1 punnet of mixed cherry tomatoes small handful of fresh coriander 40g punnet of microgreens tortilla chips

1 cup sour cream

¼ cup chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (available at Vetro) 3 tbsp lime juice small handful of chopped coriander

To prepare the steak, clear a space in your fridge big enough to fit an oven tray. Set a wire rack over the oven tray. Remove steak from all packaging, then sprinkle liberally with flaky sea salt. Place steak on the wire rack/oven tray and leave uncovered in the fridge for at least 24 hours or up to 2 days. If you are reading this and don’t have 24 hours to allow your steak to age, skip this step entirely, a few hours of dry aging isn’t worth it. Instead, just pat dry and season liberally before cooking. Remove the steak from the fridge an hour before cooking, to allow it to come to room temperature.

Open the windows and turn on the extraction, then heat up a cast iron pan until smoking hot. Once smoking, carefully place your steaks in the pan (no oil or extra salt needed). Cook on one side for about 1 minute or until it has a golden-char colour, then flip to caramelise the other side. If the steak is burning, turn the heat down slightly, but not too much, as you do want the BBQ char flavour. Flip every minute or so until the steak has had about 3–4 minutes each side (for medium rare). Take these timings with a grain of salt, each steak differs in thickness and each pan’s heat will vary slightly, but these are a good guideline for a 250g steak. Rest the steaks for 10 minutes while you prepare the salad.

Blitz the sour cream, chipotle peppers, coriander, lime juice and a pinch of salt in a food processor until smooth. Set aside.

Slice the vine tomatoes into thin rounds, slice the cherry tomatoes in half. Arrange the tomato slices on a wide platter, dotting the cherry tomatoes throughout. Season the tomatoes generously with salt and pepper, then dollop half of the dressing over. Slice the rested steak into thin slices, then arrange on top of the tomatoes. Sprinkle over the fresh coriander, microgreens and dollop the remaining dressing. Serve with tortilla chips.

Best Dressed Salads

WORDS AND IMAGES KATHY PATERSON

Three simple salad recipes and my love of sherry vinegar. Recipes jam-packed with flavour and nutrition and put together in quick time.

Sherry vinegar is crisp with acidity balanced by nuttiness and caramel notes. It both intensifies and brightens flavours in a salad, and I often splash a little sherry vinegar over green leafy salads. Sherry vinegar is brilliant when added to the pan juices of roasted chicken to make a pan sauce.

The feathery fronds of foraged wild fennel, roughly chopped or torn between your fingers, is a wonderful addition to salads. Be mindful of how much you use, as you don’t want it to overpower the other flavours, or the whole salad for that matter.

Marinated Green Beans

The beans will lose their bright green colour after a few hours if making ahead, but there is no loss of flavour.

SERVES 4

400g green beans, trimmed, left whole or sliced

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

1 handful of flat leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped

3 tbsp sherry vinegar

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil flaky salt

Steam or cook the green beans in salted boiling water for about 2 minutes, until bite-tender, then drain and quickly refresh under the cold tap. Drain well then put into a bowl. Stir in the shallot, spring onion, parsley, chilli and pour over the vinegar and oil. Season with salt then toss gently to combine. Leave to marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature to allow the flavours to mingle.

Put into a salad bowl for serving.

Change it up – Replace shallot with half a red onion (finely chopped).

Other herbs that work well are a combination of parsley, basil, a little sweet marjoram and fennel fronds.

Cherry Tomato Salad

A bright and cheerful salad, without the need for olive oil (in my view!).

For added flavour and substance, add in some thin slices of cured meat. Pancetta is truly delicious – pan-fry slices until dark golden and crisp then crumble a little before adding to the salad at the last minute.

SERVES 4

400g cherry tomatoes, halved

2–3 sticks celery, strings removed with a peeler and finely sliced

4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

1 handful of flat leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped

1 tbsp roughly chopped feathery fennel fronds, or use dill 1 tsp nigella seeds (available at Herbal Dispensary and Vetro) 1 tbsp sherry vinegar (or an aged balsamic vinegar) flaky salt, for sprinkling

Put the cherry tomatoes, celery, spring onion and herbs in a shallow serving bowl. Sprinkle over the nigella seeds then drizzle over the vinegar. Sprinkle with the flaky salt.

Cucumber Salad

Refreshing with a punchy hit from the shallots. The dressing is quite thin so use some crusty bread to mop up all the juices.

SERVES 4

DRESSING

½ cup kefir yoghurt (I used Raglan Food Co natural kefir yoghurt smoothie - available at Herbal Dispensary)

1 tbsp sherry vinegar, or use your favourite white or fruit vinegar

1 tbsp honey flaky salt

SALAD

1 telegraph cucumber, thinly sliced 2 shallots, halved and thinly sliced 4 tbsp chopped mixed herbs, such as flat leaf parsley, dill or foraged wild fennel and chives 2 tbsp white sesame seeds, toasted

In a bowl, whisk together the kefir yoghurt, vinegar and honey. Season dressing with salt.

Put the cucumber slices on a large shallow plate and top with the shallots. Sprinkle over the herbs and sesame seeds, then drizzle with enough dressing to moisten well.

Tips – Finely chop the shallots if you prefer. Add some finely sliced spring onion tops (green part) to the salad as I have in image.

Change it up by adding some crumbled feta to the salad.

Kathy Paterson

Kathy Paterson is a recipe developer, food stylist and photographer. A plentiful herb garden and a trial and error vegetable garden give Kathy the starting place for her recipes along with her love of the classics with a modern twist. www.kathypaterson.co.nz

BEHIND THE MARKET

WORDS VICKI RAVLICH-HORAN

Whether you are one of the first at Cambridge’s Victoria Square, with your market bag at the ready, or one to lie in on a Sunday and roll on into the Hamilton Market for a coffee and peruse it can be easy to take for granted the work of the Waikato Farmers Markets stallholders – growing, harvesting, making, baking and then packing it all up to bring fresh to the market. We thought we would take a look at what you don't see at the market to truly understand the love, passion and work that goes into the goods you buy each weekend.

While the bakers at Volare are busy making fresh sourdough and those delicious treats in the wee small hours of the night, the Jersey Girl team are right behind, rising with the sun to milk their girls.

For over 100 years, the Vosper family have worked the land at Cleavedale Farm in Matamata and it's this history that plays an important role in defining how they operate. Committed to achieving circular sustainability, they are leaders in organic, sustainable dairy farming, something you can taste in the milk.

PIRONGIA MOUNTAIN VEGETABLES

For some, like Tony at Pirongia Mountain Vegetables, it’s the weather that keeps him up all night, and this year’s been a doozy, with floods and frosts keeping him on his toes.

With summer here so too is the new harvest of garlic to add to the array of fresh produce.

GOOD BUGS

Did you know many of Tony’s spray free cabbages find their way into Good Bugs’ award winning fermented goods?

GREENFERN

As Christmas approaches so too does the end of the asparagus season and Bill and Irene Cummings from Greenfern can put their feet up for a bit.

KAIMAI FREE RANGE EGGS

Karlene and Jim are the faces that greet you at the Waikato Farmers Markets each weekend and serve you up eggs with a side of banter.

They are second generation on the family farm and are getting involved and hands on in the family business – eggs! Kaimai Free Range Eggs start with one day old chicks which are reared on farm ensuring their control of raising happy healthy birds and caring for them their entire life.

Good Bugs sauerkraut, kimchi and pestos are all lovingly made by hand by Marea and her team using locally grown, sometimes even home-grown produce.

IMAGE LOTTIE HEALEY

MANUKA BROTHERS

Before you’ve even thought of your morning coffee, ‘Black Betty’, the beautifully engineered machine at Manuka Brothers, has been batch roasting coffee over the glowing embers of manuka wood, giving their beans a distinctive warm, sweet and complex flavour. Bringing your beans to market, be it to take home to enjoy or drink there, is a true artisan process of chopping wood, batch roasting, hand stamping and packing bags, ensuring each bag of coffee is created with quality control and care.

SWEETREE HONEY

You can’t get much more local than honey. The hard-working honeybee flies a maximum radius of 12km from its hive. So when you enjoy local honey, it is just that! Sweetree were one of the first beekeepers to highlight the provenance of their bees over the florals the bees were feasting on. Check out their Kirikiriroa honey from bees kept at the Hamilton Gardens and Zoo.

OVER THE MOON

The cheesemakers at Over the Moon also like to keep it local. The dairy milk for some of their cheeses comes from the farm Sue used to own and still lives next door to. Plus, those hands that lovingly hand make the cheeses are all Putaruru locals.

NEW AT THE MARKETS

Mama Kali’s Farm – Convenient, fresh and delicious micro greens. Dr Bucha kombucha – Hand crafted kombucha, bursting with gutloving probiotic goodness.

Mon's Flavors – Add a little spice to your life with Mon’s Flavors. Handmade spice blends made from high quality ingredients.

Annelies Bakes – Traditional Kiwi baking made from scratch just like your grandmother did.

Hello Mushrooms – Beautiful mushrooms grown in Matangi.

Small Batch – Locally-made peanut butter and nut butter that is roasted to perfection in small batches to ensure the best flavour and quality.

Foraged in Raglan - Bea makes preserves with a difference using homegrown produce like carrot and passion jam.

Summer is the only gardening season that catches me unaware ... every year. How can it be time to dust off the beach bags and stock up on sunscreen when I haven't even sown my eggplant seeds yet?

Summer gears up as the rest of the year winds down, but now is not the time to take your foot off the pedal. Now is the time to sow, plant, water, feed and repeat, then you can get on with cleaning the barbecue, stocking the beer fridge and relocating the stash of garden hose fittings you tidied away – somewhere – at the end of last summer.

It's funny how our taste buds seek out summer's succulence long before our gardens are ready to supply its most famous flavours: tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, peppers, basil and sweetcorn. I find it impossible to resist the first small bags of green beans that appear in supermarkets just as my homegrown seedlings are barely breaching the soil. Ditto cherry tomatoes; boutique hothouse varieties are available at my local farmers' market before I've even dared introduce my baby seedlings to the great outdoors.

But better late than never, right? If, like me, life got in the way of your seed sowing plans (fantasies?) this year and you missed the boat to sow eggplants, tomatoes, capsicums and chillies, garden centres are well-stocked with an increasingly diverse range of gourmet varieties.

I've raised eggplants from seed before, but I don't think I'd bother again. For starters, there's nothing to gain by getting a jump start on summer, as eggplants sulk in cold soil and won't set fruit until it warms up. Unless you have a heated glasshouse to cosset them along indoors until November, when the weather gods are less tetchy, it's far easier to buy large sturdy seedlings from garden centres now – even better if they're grafted for extra vigour and faster fruiting.

Prepare a sunny spot for planting, enriching the soil with compost and general garden fertiliser. (If you have a keen fisher in the family, the finest eggplants I've ever seen in a friend's garden were grown on top of a trench of fish frames buried a foot deep so the family dog didn't dig them up!)

Protect seedlings with slug bait, and water deeply throughout summer, soaking the soil around the plants rather than spraying the foliage. Mulch to conserve soil moisture and, once the plants start flowering, feed regularly with liquid tomato fertiliser. Then it's just a waiting game until it's baba ganoush season again.

VARIETY GUIDE

Eggplants have a reputation for being pernickety prima donnas but that's largely due to our climate, rather than their constitution. They need shelter and heat (especially warm nights) to flourish.

The easiest eggplants to grow outdoors are the small-fruited aubergines, such as the purple chipolata-shaped Ping Tung Long, which crops all summer long, and the green speckled Thai types (sold as Kermit or Green Egg). As a general rule, the smaller the fruit, the more you'll get off each plant.

In pots, plant compact hybrid varieties such as Patio Baby or Ophelia (these may simply be labelled as “dwarf eggplants” in the shops).

Large, plump, pear-shaped purple eggplants are skite-worthy but also, in my experience, a little sulky. Black Beauty, Black King and Florence Round Purple all need staking, otherwise these buxom beauties are liable to split their stalks under the weight of the fruit. It's also a good idea, after each large fruit has set, to carefully pick off the old flower petals so they don’t rot onto the fruit, causing botrytis fungus to set in.

Lynda Hallinan

Waikato born-and-raised gardening journalist

Lynda Hallinan lives a mostly self-sufficient life at Foggydale Farm in the Hunua Ranges, where she grows enough food to satisfy her family, free-range chooks, kunekune pig and thieving pukekos. She has an expansive organic vegetable garden and orchards and is a madkeen pickler and preserver.

SPUDTACULAR DRESSINGS

WORDS HARRIET BOUCHER | IMAGES ASHLEE DECAIRES

My grandparents are keen gardeners and have an impressive patch of baby potatoes. Having their home-grown potatoes each Christmas has inspired me to create a variety of dressings to be enjoyed throughout the summer.

Not everyone is a gardener though, so these recipes have been based on a 1.5kg box of new potatoes. It’s rare not to see a stash of new potatoes in our pantry, ready to be whipped out for spontaneous BBQs with friends. They are such an easy way to feed a crowd and are an essential summer ingredient.

CASHEW, LIME & CORIANDER

DRESSING

This may seem like a bit of an odd dressing to put over potatoes, but don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. Its creamy, fresh and can also be used over a cos, cucumber and radish salad, or on some grilled chicken skewers.

1 cup raw cashew nuts, soaked in ½ cup boiling water for 20+ minutes

¼ cup lime juice

¼ cup olive oil

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp maple syrup

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup water

1½ cups coriander

1 ripe avocado

cracked black pepper

1.5kg new potatoes

Cut any larger potatoes in half, then place in a large pot of cold salted water. Bring to the boil and cook until tender. Drain and allow to cool.

Put all the ingredients (including the water the cashews were soaked in) in a high-speed blender and process till smooth.

Stir the cashew dressing through the potatoes and arrange on a platter. Garnish with extra fresh coriander.

OLIVE AND CAPER VINAIGREE

This is the easiest dressing to make, and the end result is a fresh, zingy potato salad that would pair beautifully alongside summer BBQ lamb or fresh seafood.

¹/³ cup apple cider vinegar

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup capers

¹/³ cup black olives

¼ cup parsley

¼ cup mint

zest and juice of 2 lemons

1 tbsp whole seed mustard

1 tbsp brown sugar

salt and pepper

1.5kg new potatoes

Cut any larger potatoes in half, then place in a large pot of cold salted water. Bring to the boil and cook until tender. Drain and set aside to cool.

Roughly chop the capers, olives, parsley and mint. Place all of the ingredients into a bowl and whisk until well combined. Season with a generous grinding of salt and pepper. Add more sugar or lemon to balance it to your liking.

Once your potatoes have cooled slightly, spoon the dressing over the potatoes and arrange in a serving bowl.

CREAMY EGG DRESSING WITH ASPARAGUS AND PANCEA

This is my take on a Caesar inspired potato salad. If you don’t like anchovies, simply leave them out! If making this out of asparagus season, replace it with some spring onion or green beans.

6 eggs

1 bunch asparagus, sliced on a diagonal into 3–4 pieces 200g pancetta or bacon (available at Vetro) 2 anchovies 1 cup mayo ¼ cup chives or flat leaf parsley, finely chopped juice of 1 lemon

Cut any larger potatoes in half, then place in a large pot of cold salted water. Bring to the boil and cook until tender. Drain and set aside to cool.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Once boiling, gently drop the eggs in and cook for about 7–8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove from the pot into a bowl of ice water and allow to cool before peeling. Peel the eggs and dice, then set aside in a large bowl.

In the same pot of boiling water, blanch your asparagus for 30–60 seconds until just tender. Drain and refresh under ice cold water.

Slice the pancetta into small batons. Heat a frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil and fry the pancetta until golden and crispy and the fat has rendered down. Place onto a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb any excess fat.

Crush the anchovies on a chopping board using the flat part of the knife and smear it along the board to create a paste. Repeat this motion until the anchovies are smooth. Add the asparagus, pancetta, anchovies, mayo, herbs, and lemon juice into the bowl with the eggs along with a grinding of salt and pepper and give it a gentle stir together. Stir through the cooled potatoes and serve in a large bowl.

HARISSA HOLLANDAISE

Hollandaise can be daunting for some, myself included, until I was taught by Ashleigh Brodie. Her recipe is a secret though, so unfortunately this isn’t it! If your hollandaise splits, start again with 2 egg yolks and 1 tbsp of boiling water, slowly pour the split mix back into the blender and hope for the best.

1 tbsp Peplers Harissa Paste

3 egg yolks

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

¼ tsp Dijon mustard

250g butter

¼ tsp salt

1 bag of watercress or rocket

1.5kg new potatoes

Cut any larger potatoes in half, then place in a large pot of cold salted water. Bring to the boil and cook until tender. Drain and allow to cool.

Using a food processor, in the smaller bowl if you have one, add the harissa, egg yolks, white wine vinegar and Dijon. Blitz until well combined.

Heat the butter in a pan until it just comes to the boil. Then pour into a jug and allow to settle for a minute.

Slowly and consistently pour the hot butter into the egg mix with the motor running the whole time. Once the butter has been added, you should be left with a silky smooth hollandaise.

Taste and stir in a bit of salt if needed.

Arrange the cress or rocket on a large serving platter. Place the slightly cooled potatoes over the leaves, then drizzle the hollandaise over the potatoes.

Harriet Boucher

Harriet is a Waikato born and raised foodie. She is a chef by trade and has worked in a few popular cafes and restaurants around Hamilton. When she isn’t whipping up treats, you can find her enjoying a walk along the river or dining at her favourite local eateries.

Transport yourself to a time and place where romance was born and love affairs blossomed.

Chic French charm and timeless English heritage will inspire you. At its heart is an inner courtyard. From bedrooms to living areas, French doors flow out to this divine setting, embraced by sheltered verandahs.

Bi-folds above the butler’s sink in the kitchen serve it superbly. Farmhouse finish, granite counters and high-end appliances, cater to formal dining and café relaxation, while two separate lounges offer different moods. It’s all in the detail; traditional, with modern twists.

Four bedrooms include a romantic master retreat and an ensuite guest with kitchenette for personal privacy. Three indulgent bathrooms also follow heritage philosophy, while a powder room adds convenience.

This is the essence of country life. Around 5720sqm of manicured gardens, lawns, blossom trees and English Plane trees to a potager herb corner and cottage shed. Enter the heritage electric gates into this private enclave and you’ll never want to leave.

For further information or to arrange your private viewing, contact Angela 021 623 550!

CHILL OUT

WORDS AND IMAGES EMMA GALLOWAY

I love ice cream, whether in a cone, in a bowl or eaten straight from the tub with a spoon. It’s the perfect easy summer treat. It’s also nice to take said ice cream and add fun stuff to it for a simple and always winning dessert. I’m not gonna lie, I love a good ol’ banana split, but it’s also nice to play around with other fruit as well. So long as the elements of cool creamy ice cream, something fresh and flavourful and something with a bit of crunch are there, you can’t really go wrong.

CARAMELISED PINEAPPLE + LIME SUNDAE WITH COCONUT MACAROONS

Macaroons are traditionally shaped into cookies before baking, but for these I thought it would be nice to cook the mixture in one piece and then break it up into random shards to serve. If preferred, shape into small cookies before baking.

SERVES 4

1 litre of your favourite vanilla ice cream (I use Little Island dairy-free) ½ large pineapple

1 tbsp coconut oil

2–3 tbsp raw caster sugar

1 lime

COCONUT MACAROON

1 cup shredded or desiccated coconut ¼ cup raw caster sugar

1 large free-range egg white

Preheat oven to 160°C. Line a tray with baking paper.

Zest the lime and reserve. Remove the hard core of your pineapple and finely dice (you need about 2 cups diced). Heat a large frying pan over high heat, add coconut oil and diced pineapple and cook, stirring occasionally until charred in places and tender (3–5 minutes). Add sugar, to taste. (If your pineapple isn’t super sweet and flavourful, you might need to add a touch more. Taste and adjust as needed.) Squeeze the juice of half the lime over the pineapple and stir to combine. You should have a lovely syrup around the fruit. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool.

To make the coconut macaroons, combine coconut, sugar, egg white and reserved lime zest in a small bowl. Transfer mixture to the lined tray and, using the back of a spoon, spread out to form a thin, flat rectangle of macaroon mixture. Bake for 10–12 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Break into random shards before serving.

To serve, place a couple of scoops of ice cream in the bottom of your glass, top with a spoonful of pineapple, more ice cream and another spoonful of pineapple and a little of its syrup. Serve with shards of coconut macaroon (or if you prefer, break the macaroon up into small pieces and layer throughout the sundae).

BLACK PEPPER-ROASTED STRAWBERRY SUNDAES WITH MAPLE CACAO NIBS

This is a lovely one to prepare in advance as both the roasted strawberries and caramelised cacao nibs store well. I’ve used vanilla ice cream but, of course, chocolate would be another great alternative!

SERVES 4

1 litre of your favourite vanilla ice cream (I use Little Island dairy-free) 500g fresh strawberries, hulled 1 tbsp maple syrup freshly ground black pepper

MAPLE CACAO NIBS

½ cup cacao nibs (available at Vetro and Herbal Dispensary) 2 tbsp maple syrup pinch fine salt

Preheat oven to 200°C. Cut strawberries in half and transfer to an ovenproof dish. Drizzle over maple and add a few generous grinds of black pepper – how little or much is up to you, or simply leave off if it’s not your thing. Roast 20–25 minutes or until berries are tender and a lovely thick syrup surrounds them. Remove from oven and set aside until cool. These can be prepared up to two days in advance and stored in a lidded container in the fridge (where the colour actually becomes richer).

Combine cacao nibs, maple syrup and a pinch of fine salt in a small frying pan over medium-high heat and cook 3–4 minutes, stirring constantly, until the maple starts to caramelise. Transfer to a plate and allow to cool, where they will harden further. These can also be prepared in advance and stored in a lidded jar at room temperature for up to a week.

Providing

wholesale

SHOP INSTORE: 81b Jacobs St, Te Awamutu

SHOP online: www.magills.co.nz

PAGE 34 | WWW.NOURISHMAGAZINE.CO.NZ

Emma Galloway

mydarlinglemonthyme.com | @mydarlinglemonthyme

Emma Galloway is a former chef, food photographer and creator of the multi-award winning food blog My Darling Lemon Thyme. She is the author of three cookbooks, her latest book Every Day was released in April 2021. She lives in Raglan with her husband and two children.

GET GRILLING

WORDS AND IMAGES AMBER BREMNER

It’s okay to have mixed feelings about barbecue season if you don’t eat meat. Salad and a bun, processed meat alternatives or bland veggie skewers are nothing to get too excited about. It doesn’t have to be this way! Undeniably, vegetarian barbecuing takes more effort, but you do get back what you put in. Get organised earlier in the day and you’ll be ready to sit back and enjoy a relaxed barbecue later on.

Black Bean Burger Patties

Home made veggie burger patties can be a challenge to get right, without them falling apart during cooking. These patties are tried and true, and just as happy cooked on the barbecue as in a frying pan. Chia seeds help bind the mixture, which is full of flavour and texture. A little flour helps ensure a firmer texture for grilling, but can be left out if you prefer – the recipe works without it, but the patties will be a touch more fragile.

MAKES 16 SLIDER SIZED PATTIES OR 6 FULL SIZE PATTIES.

1 tbsp chia seeds

3 tbsp water

1 x 400g can black beans, drained and rinsed (or 250g cooked black beans)

½ cup rolled oats

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed or grated ½ cup coriander, finely chopped

1 tbsp bbq or tomato sauce

1 tbsp flour (optional)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp salt

pinch of cayenne pepper or chilli flakes oil for the barbecue slider/burger buns and fillings to serve

Mix chia seeds with water and set aside for 5–10 minutes to thicken. Stir to loosen a bit – the mixture will be very thick and gloopy.

Roughly mash black beans in a mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix well to combine, ensuring the chia seeds are evenly mixed through.

Use your hands to squeeze mixture into even sized balls and flatten into a pattie shape, about 1.25 cm thick. Put finished patties on a plate or baking tray, and into the fridge to firm up for an hour (or more).

Cook on a hot, oiled barbecue, using the flat part. Brush the tops with oil before flipping. Cook until well browned on both sides. I like to lower the barbecue lid for a few minutes during cooking to get the heat up and ensure the patties are well cooked through.

Serve in buns with your choice of fillings. I like to keep it simple with a bit of crunchy lettuce, pickles or kimchi and a generous smear of mayo.

Chermoula Mushrooms with Baba Ganoush

Chermoula is a North African oil-based sauce that is ideal for marinating anything that’s going on the heat. Packed with herbs, spices, garlic and lemon, it’s both bright, smoky and a little fiery, packing a real flavour punch. Here I’ve used it to marinate whole swiss brown mushrooms before grilling. Swiss brown mushrooms have a stronger flavour and firmer texture which makes them ideal for the barbecue, but you can swap them out for button mushrooms or large portobello mushrooms if you prefer. Served with creamy baba ganoush, these mushrooms are a knock out veggie dish for the summer season.

BABA GANOUSH

2 eggplants (about 300g each)

3 tbsp tahini (available at Vetro and Herbal Dispensary)

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped ½–1 tsp salt, to taste pinch of smoked paprika

Start by making the baba ganoush, which can be done ahead of time. Preheat oven to 220°C (or 200°C fanbake). Prick eggplants all over with a knife, wrap with aluminium foil and bake for 45 minutes, until completely tender. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Over a colander in the sink, use your hands to tear the eggplants open and pull the tender insides away from the skin. Discard skin as you go and drop the eggplant flesh into the colander to drain away excess liquid.

In a food processor, pulse eggplant flesh and remaining ingredients together until fairly smooth – don’t over do it. Taste and adjust salt to your liking. I find a teaspoon is about right, but it’s better to start with less as eggplants do vary in size. Store in a sealed container in the fridge until ready to serve. Leftover baba ganoush will keep for three days.

CHERMOULA

1 cup coriander, chopped

1 cup parsley, chopped

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3 tbsp lemon juice

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground turmeric

½ tsp chilli flakes

½ tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp salt

Blitz all ingredients together in a food processor until fairly smooth. Makes about ¾ cup.

MUSHROOMS

400g Swiss Brown mushrooms oil for the barbecue

Clean mushrooms by brushing off any excess dirt. Remove stems if, like me, you find them unpleasant. In a mixing bowl, toss the mushrooms with two-thirds of the chermoula, ensuring they’re well coated. Set aside for at least half an hour before cooking.

Cook mushrooms on a hot barbecue, using the hot plate, not the grill. I like to cook them flat side down first, and spoon any dregs of chermoula into the centres. Once well browned on the bottom, flip and cook for a few minutes more. Serve with baba ganoush and a drizzle of the remaining chermoula. A hunk of sourdough to mop up the juices doesn’t go amiss.

Amber Bremner

Quite Good Food | www.quitegoodfood.co.nz Amber Bremner is the author of popular plant based food blog Quite Good Food. A champion for cooking and eating food that makes you feel good, she believes small changes in the way we approach food have the power to make a difference.

51a Riverlea Road, Riverlea, Hamilton www.lacave.co.nz

W W W . D I E S E L C O F F E E . C O . N Z

French cheese, pastries, wine and much morecome in and treat yourself!

WORDS HARRIET BOUCHER | IMAGES ASHLEE DECAIRES

ROASTED BLACK DORIS PLUMS, CINNAMON WAFFLES AND DUKKAH PRALINE

One way to win over mum is to whip these up for a breakfast-in-bed treat! You can make the plums well in advance if they are bountiful. Warm them up before serving if they aren’t fresh out of the oven. The dukkah praline adds a nutty, sweet but savoury crunch that brings it all together, but the waffles and plums alone will also do the trick.

ROASTED PLUMS

1kg Black Doris Plums

3 tsp rose water (available at Vetro and Herbal Dispensary)

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup white sugar

Cut the plums in half and remove the stone. Place cut side up on a tray. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, rose water and vanilla. Mix to combine, then smear over the plums. Make sure the plums are fully covered in the sugar mix.

Bake in the oven at 210°C for 20–25 minutes or until the sugar is syrupy and the plums are soft but still hold their shape.

CINNAMON WAFFLES

115g butter

2 cups flour

3 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

2 large eggs

1½ cups milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

Melt the butter in the microwave, then set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the batter.

Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk to break up any lumps. Whisk the eggs, milk and vanilla together, then slowly whisk in the melted butter. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until just combined.

Heat the waffle iron according to the instructions. Coat the waffle iron with cooking spray, then pour the recommended batter quantity in, depending on the size of your machine.

Bake the waffle until the batter is cooked through. Note that due to the cinnamon and brown sugar, this waffle mix may look darker than a standard batter!

SWEET DUKKAH PRALINE

1 cup of nuts (I use a combination of hazelnuts, pine nuts, walnuts and almonds)

¼ cup sesame seeds

1½ tsp fennel seeds pinch of flaky salt 1 cup white sugar

¼ cup water

Pre heat the oven to 160°C.

Place the nuts, sesame seeds, fennel seeds and salt on a tray and toast for 5–10 minutes, until lightly golden.

Transfer to a mortar and pestle (or a blender) and gently crush, keeping it a bit chunky.

Place the sugar and water into a small saucepan, bring to a boil quickly (do not stir), then turn it down to a medium-low heat. Keep an eye on it the whole time, giving it a swirl if needed to even out the colouring. Once the sugar turns a rich amber colour (this will happen very quickly so keep an eye on it), quickly pour in the dukkah and give it a brief stir, then pour onto a lined baking tray and spread out with a spatula.

Allow the praline to cool, then smash with the end of a wooden rolling pin or a meat mallet to get chunky pieces, or blitz in a high-powered blender to get a finer, sweet nutty crumb.

To construct the waffles, place 1–2 waffles on a plate. Dollop some whipped cream or mascarpone on top, then place a few warm roasted plums around the cream, making sure you drizzle some roasting liquid over the waffle. Sprinkle some praline across the waffles and serve alongside a hot coffee or tea.

LUISA PLUM AND FENNEL SALAD WITH BURRATA

This is a refreshing summer salad, and who doesn’t love burrata? I used the frozen pizza dough from Vetro, proved it, rolled it out with some semolina flour and grilled it with lots of olive oil and sea salt. If you are after a quicker option, serve it with your favourite fresh bread, flatbreads or pita.

1 fennel bulb (reserve the fronds)

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp brown sugar

zest and juice of 1 orange (about ¼ cup juice)

6 Luisa plums (firm is best)

1–2 radishes

handful of basil leaves

1 burrata (available at Vetro)

½–1 tsp sumac flaky sea salt pepper

Finely shave the fennel on a mandolin, then place in a bowl. Add the olive oil, vinegar, brown sugar and the zest and juice of the orange to the bowl and mix in. Allow the fennel to marinate for 10–15 minutes.

Halve and pit the plums, then thinly slice lengthways. Julienne the radish. Add the plum, radish and fennel fronds from the bulb into the bowl of fennel. Give it a gentle mix so you don’t damage the plums.

In a shallow serving bowl, place the burrata in the middle. Arrange the salad around the burrata. Sprinkle the sumac and salt and pepper over the salad, then garnish with torn basil leaves. Serve with chargrilled flatbreads or pita.

CHRISTMAS PLUM CHUTNEY

Use up those early season plums with this Chinese five spice chutney. Serve this chutney alongside your Christmas ham, turkey or roast chicken, then use it with leftovers toasted sandwiches for days to come. You can also blitz it up for a smooth plum sauce.

1 small onion, diced

4cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated (around 30–40g)

1kg of Billington (Christmas) plums, cut into large cubes

2 apples, peeled and grated

¾ cup malt vinegar

1 cup water

¼ cup soy sauce

¾ cup brown sugar

large pinch of chilli flakes

1 tbsp Chinese five spice ¼ tsp cloves good grinding of pepper

Place all ingredients into a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a simmer then turn the heat down and reduce into a thick chutney, about 1 hour. Pour into sterilised jars and seal.

COOKING WITH KIDS

WORDS BRAD KING | IMAGES BRYDIE THOMPSON

At The Falls Retreat, we believe that a kids’ menu should be equally as enticing and nutritious as the adult version (if not more so for those little growing bodies!).

No frozen chicken nuggets around here! Whilst we encourage our kids to try new flavours, we are also aware that their favourite meals are often the tried and tested family favourites, such as homemade fish and chips or spaghetti Bolognese.

The best part of creating simple, family meals is that you can also engage your kids with the cooking – lack of complicated recipes and easy to follow instructions give them the opportunity to help prepare a family dinner

This recipe for fried chicken tenders is the one we use for our kids’ menu at The Falls Retreat and is one that the whole family will enjoy making and eating. It can be adapted to suit your family’s tastes, so feel free to omit cayenne pepper if the little people are not keen.

Having access to our organic veggie gardens means our meals are packed with whatever is coming out of the gardens, so we find dinners such as these are often accompanied by baby carrots or cherry tomatoes, depending on the season. If you want to get your kids eating salad and nutritious green leaves – try sorrel. It can be served raw, and its tangy, sour apple flavour is often a hit with kids. Or get them making crispy kale chips – simply toss leaves in olive oil and a pinch of salt and roast on a baking tray at 175°C for 12–15 minutes (be careful not to burn them, as they become bitter).

Then the best part of all – sitting down together to enjoy your family feast.

Falls Retreat | 07 863 8770

25 Waitawheta Road, Karangahake Gorge

www.fallsretreat.co.nz

BUTTERMILK CHICKEN TENDERS

MARINADE

1kg chicken tenderloins or breast (about 2cm thick)

1 cup buttermilk

1½ tsp salt

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp paprika

BUTTERMILK DIP

3 tbsp buttermilk

1 egg whisked

CRUMB

1½ cups flour

1½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp paprika

1½ cups cornflakes, scrunched

COOK

3–4 cups vegetable oil, for cooking

To marinate the chicken: In a bowl combine the chicken tenders with the marinade ingredients, mix well, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Crumb: Combine the crumb ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Dip: Whisk buttermilk dip ingredients together and season. Assemble: Remove the chicken from the marinade one at a time. Run the tenders first through the dip mix then into the crumb bowl.

Press the crumb mix into the tenders to get a lovely thick coat. Be sure to press the crumb firmly into the chicken so that the clumps adhere to the tenders.

Set crumbed tenders on the prepared baking sheet and rest in the fridge to help set the crumb to the chicken.

To fry the chicken: Deep fry in batches at 180°C until golden (or alternately drizzle with oil and bake in the oven at 180°C until the internal temp of the tenders is at 75°C or the juices run clear). Drain on paper towels.

Season with a pinch of salt over the cooked fried chicken and serve.

The Icing on Top

WORDS VICKI RAVLICH-HORAN | IMAGES ASHLEE DECAIRES

I’ve decorated my fair share of cakes. In fact, when I was child-free, Aunty Vicki’s cakes were my contribution to my nieces’ and nephews’ celebrations. And while these cakes were always well received, the end product never quite matched my initial vision and enthusiasm.

I needed some expert help. That help came in the form of a Frozen themed cake by Lynn from This Little Cakery when I had my own child, whose birthday is just three days before Christmas. Lynn’s help can also come in the form of passing on her skills too, and we recently experienced this at a cup cake decorating class at Sweet Pea Parties.

With the move to their larger store on Rostrevor Street last year, Kirsty and Chris from Sweet Pea Parties added a space where they could hold classes. It is here Lynn runs a number of classes where you can learn to decorate a cake or, in our case, a cupcake. Demand for the classes is high and Kirsty admits they should do more, but it really is about finding the time.

Both these ladies are super busy. Lynn, whose donuts, fudge, brownies and other sweet treats are available at This Little Cakery on Princes Street five days a week, also continues to take commissions for cakes for all manner of celebrations.

Kirsty runs Sweet Pea Parties, now New Zealand’s largest party supply business and recent winners of a Hamilton CBD Award. Add to this a new sideline business – The Jig Store. Oh, and did I mention these ladies are both mums?

The day of our class, Kirsty and Lynn were decorating Christmas themed cup cakes for an upcoming fundraiser. “We like to pay it forward,” says Kirsty. Supporting Laura from the Cake Detective is another way Sweet Pea Parties do this. The Cake Detective is a charity run by local woman Laura Casey, who ensures every child feels uniquely celebrated on their birthday regardless of circumstance. And they do that by creating amazingly unique birthday cakes. Sweet Pea Parties supports the Cake Detective by providing their kitchen/classroom space for her to work as well as all the cake decorating goods at cost.

So here we are on a Sunday afternoon surrounded by piping bags of colourful buttercream icing eager to learn more. This is no place for perfectionists, warns Lynn. “It’s about having fun! You can always take the icing off and start again.”

With that in mind, and after a few demos on how to make a gorgeous rose, a leaf, on trend wave and more, we are off, with Lynn always close by to answer questions, guide our hands or congratulate us.

Sweet Pea Parties

70 Rostrevor St, Hamilton www.sweetpeaparties.co.nz

This Little Cakery

6 Princes Street, Hamilton www.thislittlecakery.co.nz

The Cake Detective www.thecakedetective.org.nz

BASIC BUTTERCREAM RECIPE

500g butter

1kg of icing sugar

Beat the butter for at least 10 minutes. Add the icing sugar and, starting on low, slowly increase the speed and beat for just a few more minutes.

Colour using a gel-based food colouring.

Top Tips

Use a piping bag coupler so you can change your tips –this is a game changer!

The closer your hand is to the nozzle the more control you have, so when using small tips don’t fill your bag too much.

When starting out, practise on a board so you can scrape off the icing and reuse.

It’s about patience not speed.

For more info on Sweet Pea Parties’ classes, go to www.sweetpeaparties.co.nz

Life with Lexus

WORDS LIZ FRENCH | IMAGES BRYDIE THOMPSON

The Lexus EV, be it as a hybrid or fully electric, is rapidly gathering fans. Owners find that doing their bit for the environment and saving on fuel is almost secondary to the pure pleasure they get from driving the Lexus.

QUIETLY CLASSY

Larraine chose her Lexus UX250H Hybrid because “I didn’t want to have to plug a car in”. She loves the freedom to drive without worrying about batteries running down as her Lexus HEV selfcharges as she is driving.

Larraine and husband, Terry are no stranger to hybrids. They have been driving them for eight years and this is their third Lexus. Well, it is really Larraine’s but Terry “steals” it for round town driving, as it is nimbler than his larger car.

It’s practical too. “I know Mitre10 like the back of my hand and it is so easy to drop the back seats when I need more boot space,” says Larraine. Whether for gardening supplies or groceries, her boot

will open with a touch of her toe on the sensor.

They freely admit to high expectations and feel that Lexus has delivered “over and above”. Lexus incorporates a lot of technology and Larraine is grateful that at Lexus they set her car up for the functions she wanted to use most and are happy to tweak it for her anytime.

As Larraine often drives at night on a busy semi-rural highway, she appreciates how the auto dip and the cornering light functions of the car free her to concentrate on the road.

Larraine’s Lexus has its dark interior highlighted by beautiful cream leather upholstery with the subtle Lexus signature pattern. “Quietly classy,” she says.

A RESPONSIBLE CHOICE

Mark Triandafilidis had one overriding reason for buying a fully electric Lexus, the personal responsibility to reduce emissions of CO2. For five years he and his wife have made a conscious effort to live sustainably. Replacing his former Lexus, a GS430 V8, with a Lexus UX300E was a logical progression.

Mark does his research. For EV long term reliability, Lexus and Toyota come tops in his opinion. Mark points out that Toyota (for whom Lexus is their premium brand) have spent billions in researching battery technology.

He feels secure and comfortable in his Lexus, bearing out its extremely high rating for safety. The car drives very smoothly and quietly, allowing him to listen to the music that is so important to him. “A high-quality sound system is part of my driving pleasure and you can’t get much better than Mark Levison audio.”

In his first month of ownership, Mark drove his Lexus some 3,000 kilometres, and he’s never had a problem finding somewhere to charge the car. He points out that while at 100% charged the

Curators of ethical orals and conscious goods

battery should ideally do about 300 kilometres, New Zealand roads are quite demanding, and he usually gets about 200 kilometres.

While the feature Mark enjoys could fill a novel, and he can’t speak highly enough of the before, during and after service from Lexus, the one thing that he finds the most “amazing” in enhancing his driving pleasure is the way high beam automatically diverts right or left of an approaching car. “Not only safe for me, but also for other drivers in never blinding them.”

RIGHT DECISION

Paul and Zoe Whitehead purchased their Lexus NX450H (plug in hybrid) in the process of going from owning two cars to sharing one. When Nourish interviewed them they had had the car two months, driven it 1,700 kilometres and were yet to fill it with petrol. Paul simply plugs it into a normal three-pin plug in the garage. This is their third Lexus so they had experienced the driving pleasure and the exceptional Lexus service. The spiralling price

of petrol was the second factor in their choice of vehicle. As to the environment, Paul points out that in the current method of automotive production, the carbon footprint from that process is still significant.

The Whiteheads find the car exceptionally comfortable, love the dual seat memory function when there are two drivers using the car, and find it very quiet. Paul remarked on the camera providing a perfect rear vision picture and that an all-round camera is excellent when parking.

Titanium is a popular colour for a Lexus. They like its depth and ability to reflect other colours. Zoe says she’s still getting used to the distinctively Lexus black and white upholstery, but overall, “we are very pleased. We made the right decision.”

Lexus of Hamilton 5 Kahu Crescent, Te Rapa Park, Hamilton

Experts in kitchens and interior joinery solutions

Treetown Kitchens has traded in Cambridge for over 50 years, with a reputation of designing high quality, custom built kitchens and cabinetry that last. For us, quality comes first.

In Italian, the expression al fresco usually refers to spending time in jail, and to be perfectly honest there’s always a few types about that aren’t as keen as I to dine outdoors on a balmy day.

Unfortunately, the karma wrapped around their dire party pooping attitude almost immediately summons giant clouds of pint sized Draculaesque ravishing mosquitos and aerial assaults of dive-bombing blowflies whenever, wherever they are reluctantly seated. However, I’m rather persuasive when it comes to the importance of gathering together these days, so I make it an act of course to have citronella candles burning and bug spray at the ready so said reluctants are less likely to abstain in joining me for fabulous feasting outdoors. (Throw rugs and a firepit are a good idea too if dining late into the evening, as undoubtedly they’ll whinge about getting cold too.)

Gratefully, most of my invited kindred folk are delighted to dine with me ‘aperto’, as Italians prefer to call it (translated to ‘in the open air’) and these recipes are a few of my staples for sharing on those lovely days when you’re deliciously loitering outdoors with friends, bon vivant style drinking and eating simply when the desire takes your fancy. They’re all relatively quick to prepare, so in the morning when the weather looks good, there’s nothing to stop you seizing the best part of the day with the people you love (and not so much).

RECIPES & IMAGES FIONA HUGUES

Cucumber, Grape and Avocado Salad

Continuing culinary aversions and detesting certain ingredients, fruit in salad is not done easily either by a fickle few, and I think I’ve mentioned it before. Despite the unwillingness the sweet crunchy pop of fruit with vinegary veg is what I do more often than not. This time cool cucumbers and creamy avocados are met with sharp shallots and sweet green grapes, which when showered in herbs and grassy olive oil is simply sensationally summer in a bowl.

2 shallots, finely sliced

¼ cup good white wine vinegar (chardonnay if you have it)

1 tsp sugar

1 large avocado, chopped

1 cup or so of green grapes, some halved

3–4 Lebanese cucumbers, chopped

1 medium telegraph cucumber, seeded and haphazardly chopped extra virgin olive oil (use your best) cup fresh dill, roughly chopped fresh mint leaves, some chopped some whole flaky sea salt & fresh ground pepper

Place the sliced shallots in a small bowl, sprinkle over the sugar and the vinegar. Microwave on high for one minute and set aside to cool. Combine all the other ingredients, throw in the cooled shallots and toss. Drizzle decently with good olive oil and season well. Serve on its own with crusty bread or alongside BBQ meats. Adding crumbled chèvre, ricotta or fromage fraise is also a smashing time.

I frigging love panzanella, that oily vinegar soaked sourdough gets me every time. I could eat it daily in the summer when tomatoes are great, and it is first on my list to make when friends come to visit, as she’s simple to prepare, likeable, great on her own and even better with a grilled protein of any kind. But here’s the thing – it’s a pretty straight forward boring recipe that probably many of you would know, so I’ve removed the mundane expected and given it a bit of a swank up by nestling it on a bed of creamy stracciatella and punching it out with a vibrant basil oil. The real update is in slightly charring your sourdough in the style of a woodfired al forno, which adds glorious bitter caramel notes. I mimic this by whacking slices in the toaster for a little too long and breaking them into bite-sized bits.

1 small red onion, finely sliced a medley of ripe tomatoes, around 3 cups (I used 4 large heirloom and a bunch of various cherries)

¼ cup or more of sherry vinegar

3-4 slices day-old sourdough bread, sliced and heavily toasted, broken into bite-sized bits a tiny bit of crushed garlic

1 packed cup fresh basil, with a few pretty leaves reserved ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, with extra to drizzle ½-1 tbsp of chardonnay or white wine vinegar a handful of olives (I used small green Spanish ones)

1 x 200g pot of stracciatella (or use a whole burrata or a mozzarella ball torn and drizzled with a little fresh cream) flaky sea salt & fresh ground pepper

Slice your red onion and let it sit in a bowl of cold water for a bit – this softens the sharpness.

So here’s the swanky trick I learnt from a chef friend. Take your largest reddest tomato and, using an old style cheese grater, grate the flesh into a bowl. This leaves behind the skin to get rid of and gives you a crimson slop of the most wonderful thing to make your bread saucy. Add to this the sherry vinegar and a decent sprinkle of salt. Have a taste, adjust seasoning then proceed to throw in your medley of chopped tomatoes. Give it a toss, add your almost burnt bread bits and toss again to get everything to really know each other. Set aside, and while this sits, make the basil oil.

Place the basil leaves, oil, a smidgen of crushed garlic, a touch of chardonnay vinegar in a blender and blitz until it’s smooth and bright green. Taste and adjust seasoning. It will keep in the fridge for a week. When ready to serve – throw the olives and drained onions in with your tomato bread mixture, drizzle over a little olive oil and toss to combine. Arrange the stracciatella on a serving platter and then plonk on the tomato mixture. Drizzle the lot in basil oil and throw over the pretty basil leaves to decorate. Add some olive oil and another shower of seasoning if you’re that way inclined, like me, and serve immediately.

Galette

This is one of the quickest, easiest summertime sweet things to prepare and it always looks divine. I religiously keep frozen pastry in the freezer for moments like these when there’s a glut of fruit. Use whatever fruit you have heaps of. I used nectarines and cherries but apples, berries, rhubarb and stonefruit all work well. Mix it up and get creative.

Preheat the oven to 190°C.

Add the sliced nectarines to a bowl and sprinkle over the cornflour and three tablespoons of the sugar. Toss to coat.

In a processor add the almonds, 2 tablespoons of the sugar and cinnamon and blitz to make a breadcrumb type consistency.

Lay the pastry on a lined baking tray and trim to make a rough circle the size of a large diner plate. (I freeze the excess pastry to make smaller ones later.)

Leaving a clear 1 inch edge around the outside, sprinkle the nut mixture onto the pastry.

Arrange the chopped nectarines and tuck the cherries on top.

Fold the edge of the pastry border over, crimping around the outside.

Brush the edge of the pastry with egg wash and dot the butter over the top of the fruit. Sprinkle the whole lot with the remaining sugar and bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is cooked.

Serve on its own, or with clotted cream or vanilla ice cream.

Pissaladière

(A rude sounding Salty Summer Tart)

Sometimes I’m sure my Frenchman would rather stab a fork in his own eye than eat a slice of my traditional pissaladière, a rather rudely sounding pizza-like tart native to France. It’s the anchovies. He detests them even though they melt to a wondrous gentle umami taste. If only I could convince him to indulge in such a delightful pie. The sweet onions and creamy olives are a good balance of flavours and it’s a great salty thing to have with a glass of something cold and lovely. C’est la vie, more for me.

3

tbsp butter

8 medium brown onions, peeled and cut into wedges

¼ cup capers, drained

3 cloves of garlic, sliced

1–2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

2 tbsp sherry vinegar

1 packet ready rolled flaky pastry (I used Paneton, available from Vetro and La Cave)

1 beaten egg for egg wash

flaky sea salt & fresh ground pepper

1 tin anchovies, around 18 (use the best you can get your hands on. I used Ortiz)

approx. ½ cup olives, pitted (I used a mix of kalamata and green Nocellara Sicilian. Smash them with the bottom of a heavy glass to easily remove the pits)

In a fry pan over medium heat add the butter, onions, capers and garlic. Season well and sauté until softened and slightly caramelised, around 20 minutes. When they are almost done, throw in the vinegar and fresh thyme. Toss and set aside to cool slightly.

Preheat your oven to 180°C fan bake. Lay your pastry on a lined baking tray and prick the bottom with a fork, leaving a clear inch around the outside to make your edge. Brush the edge with beaten egg.

Spread the onion mix onto the pricked area and then lay the anchovies in lines (traditional criss-cross or whatever takes your fancy) followed by the olives.

Bake in the oven until puffed and golden, around 30 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Fiona Hugues

Award winning food stylist, designer & creative multi-hyphenate Fiona Hugues spent her childhood gallivanting around the Waikato countryside on horse back. After Hillcrest High School, Elam School of Fine Arts took her to Auckland where she has lived ever since and now resides on a rural property with her French husband, their three children & a plethora of animals. She’s an entertaining expert, sourdough coach, art director and gourmand and it’s said in dire circumstances she would possibly trade one of her children for a bottle of Pinot Grigio & a good burrata.

Design Tips

WORDS VICKI RAVLICH-HORAN | IMAGES ASHLEE DECAIRES

Building a house can be a daunting project, which is why multi award-winning builders Urban Homes go that extra step and help their clients across the whole journey. Taking up an entire floor of their head office in Hamilton is their state-of-the-art StudioU Design Centre.

StudioU is where you will find Jen Boyles’ team of colour and selection experts work their magic, amongst an extensive range of exterior and interior options from roofing, cladding, flooring, tapware, even down to kitchen sinks.

Jen says the process starts with Urban’s New Home Consultants who help clients create the right house design, including things such as the orientation of their house along with other functional decisions “ensuring spaces are designed to fit your lifestyle”. Once all decisions have been made, it’s Jen’s team’s product and interior design knowledge which kicks in to help bring the exterior and interior finishes together.

I spent some time with the team at StudioU to pick their brains about what’s on trend, what you need to consider when building and how great colour and selection decisions can really make a difference.

Kelly says the trend in tapware right now is brushed brass and gunmetal, they’re even seeing matte white options from suppliers. Like your jewellery, Kelly’s advice when considering these options is to consider the whole outfit, or in this case the rest of your house. “If you choose anything other than traditional chrome,” Kelly says, “consider whether you want that to carry on throughout your house on door handles, kitchen cabinetry and so on.”

LEFT TO RIGHT: JORDIE, KELLY, CAROLINE, LIANA, KATIE, JEN.

In the bathroom, Katie says, “Ambient lighting is just as important as task lighting.” While in functional spaces, like the bathroom and kitchen, task lighting is essential, adding dimmers and LED strip lighting are great ways to add interest and mood.

In terms of flooring trends, Jordie says timber look flooring continues to be popular, and more organic midtones are being selected over very light Scandi look tones. These tones are generally more forgiving when trying to match furniture. With hard flooring and open plan spaces, Jordie’s advice is to use rugs, which define spaces while adding texture and colour as well as reducing noise.

In the kitchen, Liana says black appliances are very popular. “With open plan kitchens still on trend, your appliance choice and the look of these is important.” Liana also says creating beautiful and practical laundry spaces is another key area she is seeing more clients do. “It’s amazing what you can do, from pull out ironing boards, in built laundry hampers, to cabinetry that matches the kitchen.”

Adding texture is Caroline’s tip. “There is a move away from a pop of colour on a feature wall and instead, adding texture with the use of paneling.” Products like Hardigroove or Surround by Laminex provide heaps of options to get creative with features such as walls, ceilings, kitchen islands and even chimney breasts!

When designing your ultimate home, the team are unanimous in the need to optimise storage, from utilising space in the attic or under the stairs, to taking the kitchen cupboards to the ceiling. And for the ultimate in luxury, the team says a walk-in linen cupboard is the dream!

To book your exclusive StudioU experience email sales@urban.co.nz

What's Hot this Season

Genuine Vintage Beer Garden Sets

All the way from Germany, these are the real deal and have plenty of stories to tell! Ideal for al fresco entertaining and so practical as they fold up when not in use.

$650

Find them at The Sunday Society 452 Tauwhare Road, Tamahere www.thesundaysociety.co.nz

Ferm Living's Ripple Glassware

From Danish design house Ferm, these mouth blown into mould glasses feature a beautiful ripple surface. The vertical ripples add a strong and sophisticated look to these incredibly lightweight and elegant glasses. Perfect for both summer entertaining and special occasion gifting.

From $89

Find them at The Sunday Society 452 Tauwhare Road, Tamahere www.thesundaysociety.co.nz

Richard Beauchamp Stoneware

Canterbury based potter Richard Beauchamp’s previous career in the coffee industry has taught him a thing or two about what makes a good cup. His stoneware mugs are made by hand using a combination of wheel throwing and hand-building techniques.

From $50

Available at the Flower Crate 394 Grey Street, Hamilton East www.theflowercrate.co.nz

Curves

That’s right, curves are in. Hayley from Treetown Kitchens says, “We continue to see a growing demand for curves in cabinetry, particularly in kitchen islands and vanities, where the addition of a curve adds a unique feature in the space.”

So if you are going around the bend or want to keep things on the straight and narrow give the Treetown Kitchens team a call.

57 Albert Street, Leamington, Cambridge treetownkitchens.co.nz

Summer’s Missing Piece

Unplug and unwind this summer with a beautiful jigsaw from The Jigstore.

These stunning modern jigsaws are the perfect way to bring the family together and spend some quality time.

Available at thejigstore.co.nz

What's Hot this Season

The New Blue Hue

Bright and cheerful, this new sky-blue Dutch Oven from Biroix comes as a welcome addition to the zesty yellow, orange and green colours already on offer.

NZ owned Biroix Dutch Ovens are made with high-quality cast iron with a glossy enamel finish. Its studded lid allows for condensation to disperse evenly and ensures consistent texture in every dish.

$258

Available from biroix.co.nz

WORDS & IMAGES WAYNE GOOD

Wayne Good discovers on a recent trip to Portugal

there is more to see and taste than pastéis de nata.

How lucky was I to find myself in Portugal in May this year. After what seemed like a lifetime of not being able to travel, here I was.

This was part of a larger trip I had to France, Andorra, Spain, Portugal and a quick dash to the UK.

It was refreshingly nice to find that the rest of the world had “got on”, and things seemed pretty normal.

Arriving in Lisbon, you instantly notice the colour. You see, the Portuguese just don’t build a building, they paint them pretty soft colours, top them with terracotta tiled roofs, and if that isn’t enough, they embellish them with stunning ceramic tiles, in either geometric designs or lavish blue and white tiled scenes. Then the pavements are made into mosaic designs, and to top it off, there are the cutest little yellow tramcars trundling along the streets, from another era, 1901 to be exact.

After the relative flatness of Barcelona, Lisbon is hilly, and you certainly get to walk off the excess of beautiful food.

There is so much to see in Lisbon, and there are the ubiquitous “hop on hop off” buses to get you there. Not usually a fan of such modes of transport, I did, however, find this gave me a great overview of the city and its sites. The Tagus River runs through downtown, and the mighty Arbil Bridge spans the Tagus. An exact copy of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I visited Praça do Comércio in the evening, watching the locals, and having a meal at one of the many very good restaurants there. I had grilled octopus for the first time – delicious!

For a great shopping experience, the Sunday Thieves Market or Feira da Ladra is the place to go. Antiques, vintage, Art Deco, you name it, it’s there.

A leisurely drive north found me in Porto. One has to remember that Portugal isn’t the richest country in the EU, and initially this was obvious in Porto. However, once I walked around, the charm of this city became evident. It has more of what I would call a faded charm.

The old part of the city has beautiful buildings, gorgeous tiles and the churches. It’s very easy to get over looking at old churches, but in Porto they are simply beautiful. Very old, not large, but beautiful interiors, with lots of gold leaf everywhere.

Again, Porto is a very hilly place, with the River Douro at the bottom of town. A river boat trip is a must to see Porto from another perspective, with some truly impressive architecture.

Now, did I mention shoe shops. It seems in Porto every second shop is a shoe shop with beautiful Portuguese shoes at ridiculously cheap prices. Shoe shopping heaven.

I also haven’t mentioned the pastéis de nata, or Portuguese custard tarts. Oh my goodness they are SO good, with me consuming several a day from the hotel breakfast buffet. I bought the tins, intend to make them, haven’t yet, so I’m just going to have to go back to Portugal, to have them there again.

Wayne Good

Wayne Good is a chef, interior designer and travel guide. Renowned for his hospitality, Wayne’s cooking classes and tours of France are hot tickets!

Discover more at www.arkanda.co.nz

Another must do for dining is the fantastic Time Out Market. A huge hall with many, many choices of restaurant quality food and bars, large communal tables, and hundreds of people. I loved this.

EATING CAMPING OUT

WORDS VICKI RAVLICH-HORAN | IMAGES ASHLEE DECAIRES

I think it’s safe to say I am not the camping type. I’ll preface that by saying I’m known to bring my own loose leaf tea with me when staying in a hotel! Last year when we took a week to motorhome around the East Cape, we took our espresso machine.

In preparation of that trip, the ex caterer in me came out in full force with meal plans and prep lists as I grappled with fitting a week’s worth of food in a mini bar fridge. The key I found was being creative with food that didn’t need to be refrigerated while also using the same foods in several different ways. For instance, where a lettuce needs to be kept in the fridge, a cabbage will be fine in a cool dark cupboard for a week. Carrots, too, are fine out of the fridge, while tomatoes should never be put in the fridge! No Kiwi summer holiday is complete without onion soup and reduced cream dip, so I doubled up on these basics to make an easy pasta meal. A rotisserie chicken can cleverly be made into several meals from a salad one night, on sandwiches the next day and then in a risotto that night.

DAY ONE Asian chicken salad

DAY TWO

Breakfast – Bacon and eggs

Lunch – Chicken sandwiches

Dinner – Chicken and mushroom risotto

DAY THREE

Breakfast – Cereal Lunch – Sandwiches

Dinner – Onion soup pasta

DAY FOUR

Breakfast – Cereal Lunch – Pasta salad

Dinner – Sausages with corn on the cob

DAY FIVE

Breakfast – Banana pancakes Lunch – Cold sausages and bread

Dinner – Corn fritters with bacon and tomato

Before you leave, make a few dressings and a bit of baking, which will make you feel like you’re not roughing it. For instance, a basic chicken salad sarny is suddenly elevated with a slather of homemade aioli, and that slaw of cabbage and carrot is suddenly delicious dressed in my chilli lime dressing.

Aioli

This easy to make dressing comes with five left over egg whites. You could make these into mini pavs and take them along for an easy dessert one night or turn them into my friands, which go perfectly with a mid-morning cuppa!

5 roasted garlic cloves (you can use raw but I think roasted garlic is a lot more subtle. If using raw garlic only use 2–3 cloves) 5 egg yolks 2 tbsp lemon juice (or white vinegar) 1 tbsp mustard (wholegrain or French) salt

sunflower oil (or another neutral oil like canola will work)

Put all the ingredients but the oil in a food processor. With the motor running, slowly pour in the oil. If you pour it in too fast it will curdle, so take your time. The aioli will get thicker the more oil you put in. It will keep for at least a month in an airtight container in the fridge.

If you don’t have a food processor, whisk all the ingredients, except the oil, in a glass or stainless-steel bowl. While you continue to whisk, slowly drizzle in the oil. This process is helped tremendously if you have someone who can pour the oil in while you whisk!

Banana Pancakes

These work best with very ripe bananas. They are such a favourite in our family we purposely make bananas go ripe so we can have these for breakfast. The beauty of this recipe when camping is again it uses basics like self-raising flour and eggs, but also the bananas add a real sweetness to the pancakes you don’t need any syrup. They are delicious on their own or with fresh berries.

Makes approx. 8 pancakes

2 ripe bananas

2 eggs

1 cup self-raising flour butter or oil

Mash the bananas in a bowl. Mix in the eggs, then fold in the flour.

Heat a little butter or oil in a pan or on the hot plate of your BBQ and spoon on approx. ¼ cup measures of batter. The batter is very thick so benefits from being spread out slightly.

Cook over a low to medium heat (to avoid burning them), flipping the pancakes when air bubbles appear on the mixture.

Corn Fritters

Fritters are a great camping dish, as you can whip them up with basics, such as eggs and self-raising flour, and then change the flavour depending on what you have. Corn is perfect in the summer, either using fresh shucked corn off the cob or from a tin. You can also use grated zucchini, or if you were successful at the beach, steamed mussels, tuatua or cockles.

2 eggs

1 cup self-raising flour salt and pepper

2½ cups of corn kernels

½ red onion, finely chopped fresh coriander and parsley (optional) oil

Mix the eggs, flour and seasoning together to form a batter. Add in the remaining ingredients.

Heat oil in a pan or on the hotplate of your BBQ and cook fritters in batches over a medium heat.

Serve with grilled bacon, fresh tomato and, if you have some, avocado.

Chicken and Mushroom Risotto

This risotto serves four but can easily be doubled. If you have other veg like zucchini, asparagus or baby spinach you can add these in halfway through the cooking.

4 cups chicken stock

25g butter

1 onion, finely diced

1–2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 cup risotto rice white wine (optional)

1–2 cups mushrooms, chopped

1 cup cooked chicken, shredded parmesan cheese

Heat stock in a small pot.

In another pan, over a low heat, sweat the onions in the butter. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes till rice is well coated. Add a dash of white wine, if using, and stir until all the wine has evaporated. Stir in the chopped mushrooms.

Ladle at a time, add the hot stock to the rice, allowing the rice to soak up the liquid before adding another, stirring often.

When the stock is nearly all used, add in the chicken, and check to see if the rice is al dente. Remember, it will continue to cook a little once removed from the heat. Finally, stir through parmesan cheese. Check for seasoning before serving.

Onion Soup Pasta

This genius pasta is unbelievably simple to make. I’ve added mushrooms, but you could also add cooked chicken or sausages, baby spinach …

Cook more pasta than you need, and then the next day make a pasta salad for lunch by tossing the pasta with aioli (and a little pesto if you have some) along with chopped ham or salami, capsicums, thinly sliced red onion, baby spinach and some grated parmesan.

250g dry pasta 25g butter

½ onion, sliced 1–2 cloves garlic, crushed 200–300g mushrooms, sliced tin of reduced cream packet onion soup parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. When boiling, add salt and the pasta and cook until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a pan and sauté the onions for 3–4 minutes. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook for 5–6 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft.

Add the reduced cream and onion soup and stir well.

When the pasta is cooked, drain all except approx. ¼ cup of the cooking water. Place the pasta back in the pot along with the sauce. Mix well and serve with grated parmesan on top.

Skillet Cake

In need of a dessert or some baking when on camp? This cake is it! No oven, no problem! It is cooked in a heavy (25cm) cast iron pan on the BBQ. Use anything from fresh berries or fresh stone fruit to a tin of peaches – this cake is as versatile as you are. 1¼ cups self-raising flour ¾ cup sugar 120g butter, melted 1 tsp vanilla paste 2 eggs, lightly beaten fruit, approx. 4 cups (peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums, berries …)

Mix all the ingredients except the fruit in a bowl. Pour this batter into a greased 25cm cast iron pan with a lid. Cram pack the top with the fruit. Place on a med-low heat and cook for around an hour, or until the top is cooked and before the bottom burns. Check it is cooked by inserting a skewer. If it comes out clean the cake is cooked.

Refreshing and Sparkling, Iced Herb Teas

Long sunny days and balmy evenings, BBQs, Christmas and New Year functions, these all symbolise the Kiwi summer. It is customary to feel like something refreshing to drink at the end of the day, whether it is to share with friends, to cool off with, or to just mark the end of a beautiful day. It’s tempting for this to be a wine, beer or gin and tonic; however, today I’d like to offer you some delicious, non-alcoholic options to try.

Iced teas – they are easy to make, impart health boosting properties, plus they are thirst quenching and refreshing! Hibiscus, known as ‘sour tea’ in Iran, is a delicious and refreshing summertime drink. This pleasant-tasting herb with the deepred colour also has beneficial health properties, specifically for those looking to support cardiovascular health. There was a study in 2010 that showed that drinking a daily consumption of three servings of H. sabdariffa (hibiscus) tea, which can be easily incorporated into our daily diet, effectively lowered blood pressure in pre and mildly hypertensive adults.

Studies have shown that H. sabdariffa can relax blood vessels, perhaps via action on calcium channels, and acts as an ACE inhibitor, and a diuretic. There have also been studies showing that hibiscus can inhibit platelet aggregation (blood clotting) and increase blood vessel integrity helping to reduce cholesterol.

Hibiscus also contains vitamin C, which makes it a popular tea to help support immunity and the formation of collagen.

Hibiscus Iced Tea Sparkler

4 cups boiling water 8 bags (or 16 tsp) hibiscus tea ½ cup honey Ice

2 cups sparkling water strawberries and mint to garnish

In a large pitcher, combine tea bags, honey and boiling water. Let steep for 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how strong you like your tea.

Remove tea bags or dried herb.

Add ice to pitcher and stir in sparkling water. Garnish with strawberries and mint just before serving.

WORDS NATALIE JACQUES | IMAGES VICKI RAVLICH-HORAN

Another great tasting herb to make an iced tea with is lemon verbena. Lemon verbena is a fresh, lemon-scented herb that has a long history of medicinal and culinary use. Traditionally it was used to make a soothing tea to aid digestion and to alleviate colds, flu and break a fever. There have also been studies showing that lemon verbena can help with muscle recovery due to its high antioxidant levels, plus may help with weight loss when combined with hibiscus.

Lemon Verbena, Honey and Lemon Iced Tea

1 tbsp lemon verbena leaves

150ml freshly boiled, filtered water

1 tsp honey

1 tsp lemon juice

Infuse the lemon verbena leaves in the water for 5 minutes.

To say there was an air of excitement in the Nourish office the day Christall Lowe’s book Kai arrived would be an understatement. Fans of Christall’s work, as one of New Zealand’s best food photographers, we knew this book would be stunning.

I could wax lyrical about the beauty of the images, but what really stands out in this undeniably beautiful book is the voice that shines through. Christall’s love of food is evident, but this is not just food, this is kai.

Lauraine Jacobs aptly describes Kai as “made in and of Aotearoa, New Zealand.” While devouring this book, I feel like we are turning over a new page in New Zealand’s food story.

Kai is a coming of age, for both Lowe and New Zealand food. For Christall, who normally captures other people’s food, now has her own voice, and what a warm and eloquent one it is.

But it is also a coming of age for New Zealand food, which is beginning to have an identity that reflects and celebrates what makes us unique. As a Kiwi, Kai makes me proud!

Christall says, “I am not a chef – I am a home cook who is obsessed with flavour and absolutely passionate about capturing the mauri of food.” She describes Kai as “a book about our way of cooking, eating and gathering – whether it be the gathering of kai, or the gathering of people.”

For me the section on rēwena will soon be filthy. I’d love to see New Zealanders toss their sourdough out and replace it with rēwena, and if it means I have to lead the charge (with Christall’s expert help of course), I will eat my previous statements about not having time for such faffing around with feeding bugs and so on.

If I wasn’t inspired enough by the rēwena pages, a few pages on is the Condensed Milk Dough Sticks! With similar childhood memories of gobbling spoonfuls of condensed milk straight from the can when Mum wasn’t looking, I concur with Christall that this recipe is genius!

And this is where I will leave you to grab your own copy. As you read and cook from the pages of Kai, smile at a memory similar to those shared by Christall.

Food truly is the way we can come together.

Kai: Food stories and recipes from my family table, by Christall Lowe, photography by Christall Lowe, published by Bateman Books, RRP $59.99. Available now.

RAW FISH

This is probably my favourite way to eat fresh fish — raw. Well, essentially it appears ‘cooked’, but it’s not done with heat. The acid in the fresh lemon juice ‘cooks’ the fish by reacting with the protein in the flesh — it’s quite remarkable. I have such fond memories of enjoying raw fish at the marae, during hākari (feasts).

SERVES 4

500g boneless, skinless white fish, e.g. tarakihi, trevally, snapper, kahawai

cup freshly squeezed lemon juice ½ red onion

1 medium capsicum

2 tomatoes

2 spring onions ½ cup coconut cream

1 tsp salt, or to taste

Dice the fish into 1–2cm cubes, and place in a non-metal bowl. Thoroughly mix in the lemon juice, cover, and leave to chill and ‘marinate’ in the fridge for 1 hour, or until the fish turns an opaque white colour.

Finely chop the red onion, capsicum, tomatoes and spring onions.

Once the fish has marinated, mix in the chopped vegetables and coconut cream, and season with salt to taste.

Keep chilled until serving.

WAIKATO FARMERS MARKETS

Where local and convenience collide, the Waikato Farmers Markets are on every weekend come rain, hail or shine.

Cambridge Farmers Market, every Saturday 8am–12noon, Victoria Square

Hamilton Farmers Market, every Sunday 8am–12noon, The Barn, Claudelands www.waikatofarmersmarkets.co.nz

CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING – GARDEN PLACE

The tree will shine brightly in Garden Place once again in 2022 from the end of November right through to New Year.

Garden Place, Hamilton | FREE www.hamiltonchristmas.co.nz

LUNCHTIME LIVE MUSIC

Live music every Friday 12.30pm–1.30pm

18 November–31 March

Garden Place, Hamilton www.lovethecentre.co.nz

STORIES IN THE GARDEN

Come on a magical adventure under the trees in Garden Place. Enjoy an hour of storytelling and games with characters from Enchanted Entertainment.

19 November–11 March

Garden Place, Hamilton www.lovethecentre.co.nz

NYE

AT FALLS RETREAT!

A five-course immersive dining experience to ring in the new year.

$150pp Saturday 31 December www.fallsretreat.co.nz

FALLS RETREAT COOKING WORKSHOPS

Salads and Dressings Workshop

Sunday 12 February 2023

Pickling, Preserving & Fermenting

Sunday 19th March 2023

$150pp, includes morning tea and a delicious shared lunch www.fallsretreat.co.nz

BEGINNERS CAKE DECORATING COURSE

A five-week course held at Sweet Pea Parties, where you will learn the basics of cake decorating with Lynn Broderick from This Little Cakery.

$249 for five two-hour classes

Starting Wednesday 8th March, 6-8pm www.sweetpeaparties.co.nz/shoponline/cake-decorating-classes

FLAVOURS OF PLENTY FESTIVAL

Celebrate Coastal Bay of Plenty’s worldclass food scene, showcasing the region’s horticultural heroes and weaving a powerful connection from our place to your plates in the second annual Flavours of Plenty Festival.

24 March–2 April 2023 www.flavoursofplentyfestival.com

LOCAL WILD FOOD FESTIVAL

A weekend of events celebrating food from the natural environment.

Mahy Reserve, 13 Pohutukawa Avenue, Ōhope

24-25th March, 2023

Adult $15, under 18’s free entry www.whakatane.com/wildfood

THE GREAT PUMPKIN CARNIVAL

A fun family event celebrating pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. Pumpkin racers, family races, amazing creations and more. Lots of categories to enter even if you haven't grown this year.

26 March 2023, 10am–2pm

Free entry

Rhododendron Lawn, Hamilton Gardens www.thegreatpumpkincarnival.co.nz

LEXUS URBAN POLO

For the first time ever, the Lexus Urban Polo will be held at the Tauranga Domain. An unforgettable day of music, fashion, food and sport.

Register your interest in our VIP Lexus marquee tickets at polo.ebbett.nz

VIP Lexus Marquee $350pp, GA $98 1 April 2023

Tauranga Domain, Tauranga www.urbanpolo.co.nz

ICONS NEVER REST

The 2023 RX continues to raise the bar with an all-hybrid range.

The RX 500h F SPORT Performance combines a new advanced 2.4-litre turbocharged hybrid powertrain, sixspeed automatic transmission and DIRECT4 all-wheel drive system with a driver-focused Tazuna interior.

While the RX 350h brings unparalleled efficiency, refined comfort, and nimble handling for an amazing experience. Register your interest today.

Lexus