Grilled Haloumi and Eggplant with Lemon Basil dressing

Grilled haloumi cheese: Don't grill the haloumi for too long as I did! It is so much better slightly gooey on the inside. Should only take a minute each side on a hot grill.

My house is being painted, so I've been lucky enough to be able to move myself and my son, into my Aunties pad, a stone's throw from Takapuna Beach on Auckland's North Shore. I feel like I've been on holiday, every night after dinner, I take Rhys down the beach, there is a swing that someone has hung from an overhanging tree and that is our place every night around 6p.m.

It's been two weeks now, and the painter is not quite finished, and I'm secretly glad, I'm quite happy to hang around here for a bit longer. I can't believe I left it so long to rediscover Takapuna, it really has changed from when I used to hang out here as a teenager, it's quite the place for eating good food and drinking coffee,  (Try Mossimo - specially good for kids, has a playhouse and courtyard, Sal's New York Pizza - the pizza is served on a stand and Aubergine for a good steak).

If only I wasn't pregnant I would have been drinking a cold pint in the sun along Hurstmere Road so instead I keep myself going with a good ole Tip Top ice cream from the local diary at the top of the street.

I made this grilled salad quickly on a hot day, after being at the beach, when I didn't feel like anything heavy, but wanted a salad with substance. It did the trick. Enjoy, Ingrid

This is a great throw together salad for a barbeque

Grilled Haloumi and Eggplant with Lemon Basil dressing

Makes 2 salads as a main or 4 as a side

What you need
1 eggplant (cut into rounds)
Salt
500g haloumi cheese (1cm thick slices )
130g bag of salad greens (or a mix of lettuce and spinach leaves)
1 lemon (juice of)
4 Tbsp Olive oil (and a bit extra for the hot plate or pan)
Small bunch of basil (chopped roughly)
Pepper

The perfect salad for vegetarians, blokes and bbq's. 

How to make
Sprinkle salt on both sides of the eggplant rounds and leave in a colander for 30mins until the salt draws out the water. Make dressing by mixing the juice of one lemon, olive oil and pepper to taste in a bowl and set aside. Pat eggplant rounds dry with paper towel. In a salad bowl add salad greens.

Place eggplant rounds on a bbq hot plate (lightly oiled) or under the grill until they become soft and golden brown. Grill both sides. Place haloumi slices on lightly oiled hotplate or lightly fry in a pan on the stove top and grill for a minute each side until golden. Roughly rip each eggplant round and add to salad bowl. Cut haloumi slices in half and add to bowl. Coat salad with dressing. Add chopped or torn basil, and mix through the bowl. Serve.

A twist on classic french onion soup

Onions cheap and cheerful and make a delicious soup

I was in the mood for cooking something savoury. I find making stock and soups really therapeutic and relaxing however there wasn't much in my fridge. I have spent the last few days looking at a wilting aromatic celery that was left over form a "Life and Leisure" foodie shoot (yes a bit of name dropping here) and decided to make use of it. I looked around and the only other thing that would work was onions. Sprouting onions are better than no onions.

I love French onion soup, I love the sweetness, the cheesy croutons on the top and the sherry/Cognac/brandy kick. I though I would try a take on this classic dish and combine the onions with the celery and add a dash of milk/cream at the end to give it that creamy warmth. 

A satisfying and economical meal made from nothing! 

What you need
Oil or butter (I used both)
About 6 large onions
1/2 a celery
2 chicken stock cubes
About 1 - 2 litres of water
Salt/pepper
A handful of chopped Spinach
1/2 cup cream or milk
Parsley garnish

Healthy other than the cheesy toast! 

How to make 

Put the oil and butter in a pot 

Add the finely chopped onion and celery and saute until soft

Add the crumbled stock cubes and add water to double the volume in the pot (roughly) 

Salt and pepper to taste. 

Simmer for 30 mins or so until you have a nice flavour and the soup has thickened a wee bit. 

For the last 5 mins add the chopped spinach, this just need to wilt

Lastly add either cream or milk to give it that creaminess

Garnish with chopped parsley 

Serve with cheese and chutney on toast

Enjoy - its something made from practically nothing!
Vanessa 

Grapefruit granita

Organic grapefruit straight from the tree

Summer is just around the corner, I took my pasty white legs and sad looking chipped toenails out for a walk in the weekend, I got rid of my black winter uniforms and put the brights to the front of the wardrobe. I ignored the rain, that changed the venue for my son’s 2nd birthday party, I blanked out the downpour that prevented me going for my usual lunchtime walk. I decided it was summer in my little world and I was going to carry around my big oversized sun above my head and I was going to make Grapefruit Granita.

So, if like me, your desperate for summer right now, try this icy dessert or go Italian and have it with brioche for a traditional breakfast.
Other flavours to try: lemon or lime juice, mandarin oranges, jasmine, coffee, almonds, mint, strawberries, berries, chocolate, watermelon, pomegranate, mango. I even found a recipe for ginger and fennel.

I also put some of the liquid into ice cube trays for summer cocktails

Grapefruit Granita
What you need
2 1/2 cups grapefruit juice
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup white sugar
grapefruit zest for garnish

How to make
Combine juice, water and sugar in a bowl and mix until the sugar has dissolved. Place bowl in freezer, cover with cling film and freeze until hard. (2-3 hours) Use a fork to scrape and break up the frozen ice to turn into a granita. Serve in chilled glasses or bowls. Granish with grated grapefruit zest.

Asparagus

Perfect for spring

Spring is finally here. The sun is out, school holidays are underway and I am anticipating most of the foodie magazines will be featuring asparagus so thought I would get in quick to share two of my favourites recipes. The first one stems from lazy mornings, pre kids tucking in to eggs Benedict (eggs drowning in hollandaise sauce) and the second one is a dish our dad prepares when ever he gets his hands on asparagus or spinach. One is very healthy, you can eat it till the cows come home, the other however probably requires a week omitting butter out of your diet to cancel the effects!
Whatever your poison, give them ago. They look great, don't take up much time and are really easy.

If you love hollandaise in a cafe, best you don't find out whats in it, it's seriously decadent!

I have to admit, I had never made hollandaise sauce before. I have eaten enough of it but always dismissed it as being to time consuming and with the potential to not work. Writing this blog has definitely taken us out of our comfort zone and made us try new things out. This sauce is super easy. I found it in a book called "Brunch, the perfect treat" by Jennifer Donovan.
Usually Ingrid and I adapt, change and make up the recipes but for something like hollandaise, I wasn't about to even try. I have however added more lemon than the recipe suggested, as I like mine with more zest. (you could even use limes)

The only thing you really need to make this is a food processor or you could try your blender, that should work as well. 

Asparagus Spears with Hollandaise Sauce 

What you need
2 bunches of asparagus

3 egg yolks

200grams butter (YES this is not a TYPO) 

White pepper (ground not cracked) 

Juice form one l lemon (more or less, just taste

How to make

Add the 3 egg yolks to the food processor or blender with the pepper and blend for a few seconds

Melt the butter in a small pan until its bubbling (be careful not to burn it!)

Gradually and in a steady stream whilst the machine is on pour in all of the butter. 

Lastly add the juice of the lemon. 

The recipe actually says add some warm water if its too thick, mine was just perfect so I didn't need to. 

Serve warm over lightly steamed/microwaved asparagus. I microwave mine (1-2 bunches of thin stalks for about 3 minutes)

Warning - this is addictive, whilst doing this photo shoot my finger was in the bowl many times!     

The next dish is the total opposite, refreshing and lite on the calories. It looks great, is always eaten up at a BBQ.

Fresh and healthy - always gets eaten at a BBQ!

Zesty Asparagus and Egg Salad
What you need

2 bunches of asparagus
2 lemons
2 generous splashed of olive oil
2 boiled eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

How to make
Hard boil the eggs
Blanch, steam or microwave the asparagus
Cool under cold water
Arrange on a plate - tips facing the same way
Squeeze the lemon juice over the asparagus followed by the oil
Cut the boiled eggs into quarters and arrange
Season with salt and pepper.
Chill before serving

Tip - this recipe can be used with steamed spinach or silver beet. Just make sure you squeeze out any excess water from the cooking process before you dress it.

Vanessa 

My giant jam sandwich

Vanessa and I recently decided to stop our fortnightly food fight challenge (choosing the same ingredient, and each posting our own creation every fortnight) as we thought once a fortnight was way too long to wait, the food blogging world moves so quickly, we didn't want anyone to forget about us! So starting from last week's fish post from Vanessa, the plan is to choose seasonal ingredients and do weekly posts, so we have new recipes and inspirations (hopefully) each week to try. That's not to say, the food fight is over, I intend to try and out-cook Vanessa with each post, isn't that what little sisters are for? Ingrid

This week I chose rhubarb, mainly because my neighbour, fellow blogger Johanna Cotter, who is a vege growing superstar, has a garden like an organic supermarket, and being her mate, I'm very privileged to get any fruit and vege that she can't use.

I also photograph her blog and last week she made Rhubarb Crumble Muffins (recipe below), which were duly accepted as a thank you for my hard work (hmmm, it's no hard work on my part, imagine hanging out for a day with a friend, who makes you laugh hard, whilst she cooks up a storm and lets you test all her creations, it's a pretty cushy number!) 

Johanna Cotter's Rhubarb Crumble Muffins  

Preparation Time: 10 minutes  
Serves: 12

This recipe is a lovely combination of dessert and baking, meaning you can enjoy it for both dessert or with a cup of coffee for morning or afternoon tea

Ingredients

2 cups plain flour
3/4 C Sugar (I like raw sugar, you could use white or castor)
2 tsp Baking Powder
2 eggs
100g butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup milk
Juice and rind of 1 lemon

2 cups stewed rhubarb

1 stalk fresh rhubarb, cut into small pieces

Crumble Topping

½ cup flour

½ cup rolled oats

¼ cup soft brown sugar

Pinch of cinnamon

50g butter, melted

To stew rhubarb

1.Chop rhubarb into small pieces and place in a saucepan with the juice and rind of a lemon and 2 large tablespoons of castor sugar.
2. Cover rhubarb with water and bring to the boil.
3. Cook until the rhubarb breaks up.

4. Remove from heat and strain through a sieve to remove the excess liquid. Add more sugar if still to sour at this point. 

5. Set aside to cool

Heat oven to 180 degrees. Grease 12 muffin tins. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl and add sugar. Stir gently to combine.

In another bowl combine eggs, melted butter, milk, vanilla and lemon juice and rind. Whisk to combine then add wet mixture to dry ingredients. Fold together until they are just combined, then half full muffin tins. Add a teaspoon of the rhubarb to the centre, and top with remaining mixture.

Combine dry topping ingredients and add enough melted butter to combine, then sprinkle over muffins. Add a couple of pieces of leftover rhubarb to the top of each muffin.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until risen and golden.

Recipe extracted from Johanna's Blog 

  

What about that sandwich?

I liked the idea of making a Jam. I've never ever done it before, I always put it in the same category as making a wedding cake. It's seemed time-consuming, something I don't ever seem to have. But when I was thinking about what I was going to make I really felt like smearing some jam on a doorstopper slice of fresh white bread, (this might be, in part, due to early pregnancy) and I couldn't get it out of my head, so Jam it has to be. So here goes....an amateur jam maker takes her first step.

Rhubarb has inspired a number festivals around the world. The one that took my fancy was the Whoop-Up Days and Rhubarb Festival in Conrad, Montana. You take in a rodeo whilst eating rhubarb pies. Yum!

Normally, I end up having to remake a lot of my recipes or as the experts say, triple test, as I tend to think I can walk before I can crawl. I'm always adding or reducing ingredients, when I haven't even tried out the original. I just can't help myself, and my jam making wasn't any different. Thankfully, it seems to be quite forgiving to my creative experiments.

Making jam was pretty easy, however I did burn my pot, and no amount of scrubbing or hot water seems to be resurrecting it (so don't have your element on high, medium heat is fine as long as its bubbling away). I was also blown away by the amount of sugar - sometimes being ignorant when your smearing jam on your toast for breakfast, is how I want to be. But sugar never-the-less, is what you need to make jam, and lots and lots of it. But I was really impressed with the results, and I plan to try out some more soon, I'm thinking grapefruit marmalade.

Do you remember the children's book The Giant Jam Sandwich?

Rhubarb, Ginger and Lemon Jam

Takes around 40mins 

Makes five to six jars

What you need

800g rhubarb (chop stalk into small chunks, discard leaves as they are toxic)

650ml water - this makes for a sticky thick jam, add more water for thinner consistency.

1.5kg sugar

2Tbsp root ginger (grated or squeezed through a garlic press)

1 lemon (juice and grated rind)

How to make

In a large pot, add rhubarb and water. Boil covered for 10mins until rhubarb softens. Add sugar, stir to dissolve.  Boil on medium heat until setting point. Add ginger and lemon and stir through. My jam took 35mins. I tested it by putting a plate in the freezer for five mins, then adding a spoonful of jam, and putting back in the freezer and seeing if it sets. Skim foam off the top. When cool, pour into jars.

When Vanessa tried this jam, she wanted to put it on crackers with blue cheese, so use this jam for savoury and sweet.

This jam is great added to sweet short pastry parcels, check out http://www.foodopera.blogspot.co.nz/2012/01/stone-fruit.html

Boysenberry and Rhubarb Jam 

Takes 50mins

Makes five to six jars

What you need

800g Rhubarb (chop stalk into small chunks, discard leaves as they are toxic)

500mls water

1 can of boysenberries (425g) 

1.5kg sugar

How to make

In a large pot, add rhubarb and water. Boil covered for 10mins until rhubarb softens. Add boysenberries, and sugar, stir to dissolve.  Boil on medium heat until setting point. My jam took 35mins. I tested it by putting a plate in the freezer for five mins, then adding a spoonful of jam, and putting back in the freezer and seeing if it sets. Skim foam off the top. When cool, pour into jars.

This jam wasn't as thick as the rhubarb, ginger and lemon, I'm guessing because it had more water content with the can of boysenberries, but the berries gave it a beautiful rich crimson colour, and it had the more traditional jam flavour. Enjoy, Ingrid

Hobsonville Farmers Market

A few Sundays ago we decided to head to Hobsonville point in Auckland to check out the farmers market. It was a bit of a drizzly day but with nothing else planned and a busy 3 year old, we had to get out. I had been to the area before doing a 10km fun run (Runway challenge) and knew the area but had never been to the market. 

History of the area

In 1924 Hobsonville was chosen by the government as a site for both land and sea based aviation. The Landing, a key feature of the site, was constructed in 1928 by hand and horse-drawn scoops. An access road, slipway and jetty were constructed in 1929.

By the 1930s, the land airstrip was too short for larger planes and Hobsonville eventually became a repair and equipment facility. The base has also since that time provided housing and support facilities for the nearby Whenuapai airbase.
In 2001 the NZ Defence Force began the gradual relocation of its operations from Hobsonville.

(Taken from http://www.hobsonvillepoint.co.nz/about-the-point/history/)

Now, Hobsonville Point is fast becoming a purpose built housing development area for mid to high priced houses equipped with a cafe, playground, coastal track and of course the farmers market. The houses are compact, mostly two story and with minimum outdoor lawn/garden. This seems to be the way of living in New Zealand now, gone are the days of a quarter acre section, gone too are the days of having the time to tend to the garden and lawn. Saying this if I lived in Hobsonville I wouldn't mind as there is lots of space and flora extremely close by...

An overcast day but perfect to blow away the cobwebs

What a bonus, the market was undercover, even better it was in a large enclosed barn like building. When we arrived we could smell crispy mussel fritters simmering away and a waft of strong roasted coffee. Perfect!

The set up of the stalls is around the perimeter and a few rows in the middle. There was lots of space to walk around, even with buggies, kids and scooters. Dogs had to camp outside!

This beautiful dog was guarding the entrance but secretly dreaming of what was inside...

I actually expected the market to be full of fruit, vegetables and herbs but discovered that yes there were a couple of stalls, most of the market was delicious foodie creations. There was fish, meats, sausages, jams, chutneys, baked goods, flowers, sushi, homemade lemonade, coffee, cheese, pies, langos (Hungarian bread puffs with toppings), olive oil, flavoured salt, fritters and even curry made on the premises. 

What a welcome!

We started the day with coffee and a donut for Jake, not the best breakfast for him but when you have a 3 year old that isn't a great eater in the mornings, you settle for almost anything. Lewis whipped back in to buy a mussel fritter whilst I supervised the sugary and jammy mess about to happen...

Finger lickin good - I got to finish it! 

Looking around the markets with a 3 year old is hard work, we were forever avoiding collisions with others and had to have eagle eyes to avoid disaster so I suggested Lewis took Jake to the playground while I meandered around getting a few pics. Ahhhh Perfect solution! 


Photographing when there are lots of unknown people around can be challenging! I didn't want to be intrusive and was very aware of peoples privacy BUT was desperate to get my lens in to all the delicious food. I was using our NEW 100mm Canon Macro lens so looked the part although was pretty green using it! It made the camera heavier and the focusing a bit tricky when not using a tripod so the first few frames were a disappointment. The lighting was also a challenge because shooting at 100ISO/ASA and a low aperture created blur! I cranked up the ASA/ISO to 400 and played around till I got it right or at least until I was happy. 

A perfect breakfast finished off with a takeaway coffee

You cant go past coffee at farmers markets and just recently preggers, I have been on the decaf with the odd regular coffee. In fact once I got over the initial detox few days (Oh the headaches) I didn't crave coffee like I used to. I still love the idea of sitting in a cafe, car or walking around a market with my steamy takeaway cup of aromatic coffee. This particular morning I very keen to fulfill the pre-pregnancy coffee addiction. There were a couple of places selling great coffee as well as the cafe Catalina, across the way. The thing that excited me the most however was the sign that said "Coffee Sacks $3". Not really having a use for them, I bought 2 and gave one to Ingrid. maybe one day they will feature in one of our blog posts or like the sign also said "A great mat for your pets". My lucky cat Saoirse (Irish for freedom) 

  

A perfect present a bag of fresh coffee with a bunch of flowers

Boy did I miss out on the samples!

Pregnancy definitely had its challenges. Walking around the markets and avoiding the samples is just one of them. On offer were all sorts of delicious looking meats and cheeses as well as salmon, dips and chutneys. 

My stomach was rumbling (It does this all the time now) so lunch was a couple of pies. Now Kiwis are precious about their pies - they love the things. I am partial to them and enjoy when I indulge but don't usually seek them out. I bought a Thai chicken for me and a butter chicken for the lads. The Thai chicken was to die for, my only disappointment was I only bought one!     

Unfortunately no pics of the pies, they were too good to stop and shoot!  

So to wrap it all up I recommend the farmers market at Hobsonville Point, its convenient to get to, undercover, spacious and with lots of parking. Take your walking shoes and combine it with the coastal walk or let the hubby look after the kids at the playground and chill out at the market. 

Vanessa