Peaches and Nectarines

Even though we are sisters, we have a very different approach to food and photography. Each fortnight we are going to choose the same ingredient or theme and post the result. These are results of our third food fight.

Peaches

Peaches, they evoke memories of summer whether it be tinned with ice cream or fresh from the tree. Unfortunately today the luxury of picking peaches off your next door neighbours tree or even better yours, seems to be dying out. Never the less they are a romantic and nostalgic fruit that have so many uses both sweet and savoury.   

  

Interesting Peach Facts

• A peach pit contains hydrocyanic acid, which is a poisonous substance.
• Nectarines are a variety of peach with a smooth skin.
• A medium peach contains only 37 calories.
• The juice from peaches makes a wonderful moisturiser.

Vanessa's Dish - Peach pastries

It was partly disorganisation and also not knowing that nectarines were actually peaches that encouraged me to use tinned peaches. Previously I thought tinned peaches were a bit naff and common and really the only use was in a smoothy or on ice cream, which incidentally I can't stand.

Anyway it motivated me to get on with the challenge and without a garden to raid, tinned it would be. I am not a pastry person and when you can buy it for about $2.00 a block who would bother making it. I pulled out a block of flaky pastry from the freezer and put tinned peaches on top - it was as easy as that! My son loved them, we called them peach surprises and I was impressed how pretty they looked, they even reminded me of something that might come out of a French bakery...hmmmmmm

Peach Surprises - the biggest surprise was how easy they were to make

You will need   

A block of puff pastry

A tin of peaches

Sugar

How to cook

Defrost the pastry

Cut into shapes - I used a pastry cutter but you could do squares easy enough without.

Place the peaches on top in an attractive design - I sliced them in half to make thinner slices.

Put on baking paper and sprinkle with sugar - brown or white. 

Bake  at 180 degrees for about 15 mins - keep checking as the sugar and syrup do burn. 

When cooked take off the baking paper as soon as you can. 

Sprinkle with icing sugar if you desire

Lovely with a coffee and a bunch of friends or something to put a smile on the kids faces.

Ingrid's dish - Honey baked nectarines with vanilla and brown sugar

Thanks to a little breeze and the neighbours tree, dessert was homegrown.

 

The in-laws arrived a month ago and the first thing they like to do when coming from a chilly British winter, is get stuck in to all the juicy summer fruits on offer in New Zealand.

I had planted seedless watermelon and rockmelon to coincide with their visit in the hope that I could show off my green fingers but I had no luck and they are still creeping their vines along my patch quite happily. Anyone know if they will still grow through winter?

So when I saw my neighbours nectarine tree, edging over the fence, I thought, with a little breeze we might be ok here. I only needed a few, one nectarine to feed two. So with a little help from the British, I was on my way to making a tasty dessert straight from 'my' garden.

Honey baked nectarines - I just wished I made more

The beauty with this dessert is you can prepare it, and place it in the oven whilst your still eating your dinner, and it can be served straight from an overproof pan, keeping dishes to a minimum. And it looks really impressive in a 'french country' kinda way. Enjoy

Honey baked nectarines with vanilla and brown sugar

enough for 6

You will need

3 Nectarines (ripe and cut in half, one nectarine for two)

sheet of baking paper

3 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence or scrape out a vanilla pod

3 Tbsp honey

6 Tbsp yoghurt (drizzled with honey)

How to make

Set oven temp to 180C. remove stones and place cut nectarines on baking paper in an oven proof dish/ pan facing up. Drizzle honey, vanilla, and sprinkle brown sugar on top. Bake at 180C for 15mins, scoop up the juices and coat nectarines and bake for a further 15mins or until golden and sticky. Serve with yoghurt, drizzled with honey.

Autumn Chestnuts Reminds me of London...

Close up of a bowl of chestnuts

Beautiful chestnuts in a bowl

I was at the local Asian market yet again rushing around with Master 3 attempting to get vegetables and meat for dinner that evening, when I spied a bag of chestnuts.

Immediately I remembered my time in London and the novelty of warm chestnuts cooked on what looked like a tin rubbish bin.

My other memory of chestnuts was a friend giving me a tube of French chestnut puree. I can't remember what I did with the beautiful looking tube of puree but knowing I had a bit of French style put a smile on my face. 

I couldn't resist buying the chestnuts, they were only $3.95 per bag and decided I would recreate the nostalgic memory of a winter in London many years ago...

How the looked in the shop - chestnuts $3.95 a bag

My first step was to find out how to roast these babies. It couldn't be easier however the preparation was a bit fiddly. The suggestion is either a cross or slit in the top of the chestnut prior to roasting. I highly suggest the cross so do take the time in preparation - a bit like painting your house really! You will thank yourself for it in the long run! I, however took the shortcut and suffered getting them out of the shells... you live and learn! 

So all you do after the cutting off the skin is put them in a roasting pan or dish, pop them in a medium oven, 180 degrees fan worked for me and roast them for about 15 - 20 minutes. 
I don't remember having them with salt in London but thought something was missing, so after roasting doused them with lots of freshly milled salt.  

Serve in a paper bag and serve them warm!


Now for the disappointing bit, they were quite tricky to get out of the shells and actually the memories came back to me of walking the streets of London spitting bits of shell out. Half a dozen is do-able, any more and you would need to stop in a cosy pub for a beer to wash it down with. 

Chestnut Facts
If you don't slit them they will explode when roasting!
Chestnuts have high water content and are low in calories compared to other nuts and seeds. 
Chestnuts are mostly carbohydrates.   
Chestnuts are called marrons/chataigne in French, castagno in Italian and castanwydd in Welsh.  

Happy roasting and reminiscing

Vanessa

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New York Style Lemon Curd Cheesecake, perfect for Birthdays...

Happy Birthday to you...Lemon Curd Cheesecake

Birthdays in my family equals going out to dinner and there is always presents and a cake.  The restaurant choice was out of my hands but birthday boy being a bloke, unsurprisingly it involved meat and lots of it. The restaurant in question has been around in Auckland for decades however had moved into a seedy/trendy brick alley at the bottom of town. I booked online and asked if bringing a birthday cake was OK...

 

I decided to make a baked cheesecake, a bit different and a great dessert, and was banking on the gang loving them as much as I do.

Normally I don't bother putting the base up the sides or adding the additional layer topping but because it was a birthday and thinking about blogging it I went the whole hog. 

Initially I was going to do the sour cream topping but only had low fat Greek yoghurt and was a bit worried what would happen when baked so to save the stress of a cake that fails, created a plan B! 

I have made lemon curd many times and added it to ice cream, crepes, toast or yoghurt so why not add it to the top of the cheesecake.  Hooray Hooray it worked and added a much needed zest to a creamy and decadent desert. 

What you need 

Base

2 packets of malt biscuits

1 tsp of mixed spice, all spice or cinnamon

100grams butter (melted)

Filling

2 regular tubs softened cream cheese - either room temperature or microwaved briefly

1 cup castor sugar 

4 eggs 

1 tsp vanilla essence 

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

Topping  

50grams butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup lemon juice

2 beaten eggs

Lemon zest from 1-2 lemons

How to make

Grease a round springform baking tin.

Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees

In a food processor blitz the biscuits until fine and add both the spice and melted butter. 

Press into the tin and up the sides. If its not sticking to the sides you may need to add a bit more melted butter or blitz the biscuits finer. (I had to re-blitz the butter and biscuits). 

Once pressed into the tin, put into the fridge whilst you make the filling. 

Beat the cream cheese until smooth, add the sugar, eggs one at a time, vanilla, zest and juice. beat again until smooth. 

Check the base and if firm pour the liquid into the tin and bake for 45 minutes or until just firm. 

Whilst the cheese cake is cooking you need to make the final layer. 

In a double boiler (a heat proof bowl above a pot filled with boiling water) melt the butter, stir in the sugar and lemon juice until the sugar has dissolved. Add the beaten eggs and lemon zest.

Stir constantly to prevent ending up with a lemon scrambled eggs. The mixture should start to thicken however it can be a bit of trial and error... 

Tips 

If after about 15 minutes its not thickening either try turning up the heat and possibly adding more boiling water or add an extra beaten egg. The egg is the thickening agent. I like my lemon curd quite zesty and sour so added more lemon juice and zest and had to add an extra egg at the last minute. Also keep in mind when it cools it firms up and sets. 

When the cheese cake is ready, let it sit for 5 minutes or so before you pour on the lemon curd layer. 

Let it cool and put in the fridge until ready to serve. 

I made mine the night before and it was perfect after being in the fridge 24 hours. The lemon curd set really well and the contrast of the yellow and white looked beautiful. 

It went down a treat!  

             

The day after, still as delicious as ever - Lemon Curd Cheesecake

Two ways to use Basil

Even though we are sisters, we have a very different approach to food and photography. Each fortnight we are going to choose the same ingredient or theme and post the result. These are results of our second food fight.

Basil facts

• The ancient Greeks and Romans thought basil would only grow if you screamed wild curses and shouted intelligibly while sowing the seeds.
• Basil is Greek for 'royal' or 'kingly'.
• In Italy, basil has always been a token of love.

Vanessa's dish - Pesto pasta

A work colleague arrived today with an armload of fragrant and vibrant basil. My classroom smells like an Italian kitchen and I am itching to get busy creating a dish to photograph, eat and post tonight.

The obvious is pesto so with a few other essentials and a food processor or mortar and pestle that's the plan.

I have some tasty tomatoes straight from the garden however they aren't the best looking as the birds or slugs have been snacking at them.

I would be happy with pesto and tomato however the males in my house may like it jazzed up with "meat" so crispy bacon on top should do the trick...

Wish me luck...

Pesto pasta with roasted tomatoes and pinenuts

Shopping list

Parmesan

Olive oil

Bacon

Pine nuts

Pasta - spaghetti

Bunches of basil

Salt and pepper

Garlic

A few hours later...

I cant believe the price of pine nuts, no wonder bought pesto contains 'other' nuts and vegetable oil.

I choose to go the whole hog and use extra virgin olive oil and expensive pine nuts, here is how I did it.

What you need
Dried pasta - spaghetti
Olive oil - about 300mls
Pine nuts - a hand full
Grated Parmesan - 1 cup
Salt and pepper
Garlic cloves - 1-2
Basil - 2-3 cups packed down (that's quite a bit of basil)
Tomatoes - 6
Bacon 300grams

How to make
In a food processor blitz basil, oil, Parmesan, salt, pepper and garlic. Add the pine nuts at the last minute and pulse for a few seconds.
Set aside.
Boil the salted water and cook the pasta until its al dente - firm to the bite.
Grill the tomatoes and bacon both drizzled with olive oil and salt/pepper.

To assemble
When the pasta is cooked and drained stir pesto into the hot pasta. You may need to add more oil or even some of the hot pasta water to fully coat the pasta. Top with crispy bacon, roasted tomato halves, more pine nuts and Parmesan cheese.

Ultimate comfort food - Pesto pasta

Delizioso
 

Ingrid's dish - Chunky chips with lemon basil aioli

My big plan was to make aioli (Lemon basil) from scratch, I did my research, I stole from the best (Jamie Oliver) and went to work. I had a little helper, Jim, my partner, telling me where I was going wrong, he was hungry and it was getting quite late, I told him its OK, I have Jamie, it can't go wrong.

Lemon basil aioli - The cheats way.  

I hit a curb ball when the recipe called for 500ml of olive oil (half virgin, half normal) to one egg yolk. I was astounded. I just love aioli, mayo, tartare...surely I haven't being dipping my chips in a great big pile of oil all this time. No matter how much I beat, blitzed, or processed, my aioli still looked like oily orange juice.

At 8.30p.m, when the chips were golden, I had to surrender. Thank god for Donna Hay! I grabbed the store-bought mayonnaise, added crushed garlic, my chopped basil, squeezed a little lemon/ lime, gave it a bit of a blitz and lemon basil aioli - the cheats way was born. Enjoy

The paprika adds a little bite to the chips, a squeeze of lemon cools it down

Handmade chunky chips with lemon basil aioli

makes enough for 4 (as a side)

You will need:

Chips

5 large floury baking potatoes

sea salt (to taste)

1-2 tsp paprika (sprinkle)
4 cloves of garlic

pepper (to taste)

olive oil

lemons (wedges or slices)

How to make

Set oven temperature to 180C. Bring to the boil a large pot of half filled water, Leaving the skin on, cut potatoes in 1cm thick slices, and them slice into chips. Boil potatoes for 3-4 mins. Dry on a paper towel and place in an lightly sprayed or oiled baking dish.

Add olive oil, enough to lightly coat, sea salt to taste, sprinkle paprika, cracked pepper, and place whole cloves of garlic in the dish. Bake for 15mins, turn chips, and bake for another 15mins or until golden. Serve with lemon wedges.

Lemon basil aioli - The cheats way!

You will need

4 Tbsp store bought mayonnaise

1 clove of garlic, crushed

bunch of chopped basil

squeeze of lemon or lime

How to make

Blitz in a food processor, (or chop basil finely and mix all ingredients together well) and serve in a bowl with hot chips.

Discover Dragonfruit

I was perusing the fruit and vege shop the other day and I got quite excited when I came across this vivid and bony looking fruit. Bright cerise in colour, with a sharp exterior, I just had to see what was inside.

The shop girl got quite excited too, apparently she got hooked on Dragonfruit whilst travelling in Cambodia, she told me they taste a lot like kiwifruit but not as tart, she also said not too many people seem brave enough to try them. I said to her it was more likely the price ($6.90 NZ each) than the bravery.

However, I was curious, and I also wanted to photograph this little puffa fruit, inside and out. And visually, I wasn't in anyway disapointed. Cut open, the Dragonfruit was quite spectacular, as you will see from the pics. However, the taste test was a bit hit and miss. Here are the results of the taste test.

Dragonfruit taste test

Ingrid: Sweet tomato ending with a crunch (the seeds), pleasant, would be great in a 'flashy' fruit salad

Bloke: ordinary taste, bland, reminded him of something he couldn't quite remember which makes sense considering how boring this fruit was 

Rhys (16 months): I heart dragonfruit


Dragonfruit facts

• It grows on a climbing cactus. 
• It tastes better when stored in the refrigerator
• To enhance the flavor, sprinkle it with a bit of either lemon or lime juice.
• Dragonfruit can also be made into wine, fruit juice, or jam.
• They have been known to cause allergic reactions in some people, such as rash, hives and swollen lips.

Vegetables, cheap and cheerful but look impressive!

Roasted vegetables before cooking with the help of a keen apprentice!

Roasted vegetables are so easy, nutritional and great when you don't have the luxury of time to fiddle around in the kitchen because you have kids tugging at your apron strings (actually nagging you to play trains).
As far as photographing them for the blog, it was totally impromptu BUT like spur of the moment things it worked a treat!

Roasted vegetables served with roast chicken.  

The finished result. We ate these with a supermarket roasted chicken - so easy and delicious. Jake even asked for it the following night! The next day I had a few leftovers so in the creative mood, turned the roasted vegetables into an equally delicious salad served with a berry vinaigrette. In hindsight one thing I would have added would have been nuts or seeds or sliced red onions.

Roasted vegetable salad - fresh and delicious! 

Roasted Vegetables

What you need

Pretty much any vegetables that can be roasted. 

Garlic bulbs are one of my favourites.

Carrots, onions, pumpkin, squash, potatoes, parsnip, aubergine, courgettes...

Olive oil

Salt, pepper and herbs such as rosemary, thyme or oregano

How to cook

Peel and cut, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbs.

Bake at about 180 degrees for about an hour. 

Serve with any roast meat!  

Roasted vegetable salad

You will need

Baby spinach leaves

Leftover roasted vegetables

Nuts or seeds

Red onions

Feta cheese (optional)

Any vinaigrette you have - even Olive oil and vinegar mixed

How to cook

Really simple, just toss together and add the vinaigrette at the last minute.

A fantastic addition to any meat of fish meal or served with a quiche or pie at lunchtime.

Extra addition - I couldn't resist  adding this picture! Dinner tonight with a cooked chook! 
Roasted apples, garlic, carrots and  tomatoes.