Cheesy Green Feta Bake

 This slice (in the original recipe it was called Feta and Spinach Brownie), but I've decided to call it Cheesy, Green, Feta Bake- just for fun.

Really, the mixture is just a variation on a savoury muffin, a frittata or fancy scone and it is so easy. It includes loads of greens & is brilliant hot, cold and for travelling and picnics.

There's lots of lee-way- just use what you prefer & what you have available.

The key ingredient is a load of greens- either spinach, or a mixture of garden or wild greens. 

These all came from our garden- a mixture of spinach, silverbeet, beet leaves, nettles, nasturtium leaves, loads of wild onions (whole plant) tender parsley stems, coriander, thyme, dandelion leaves, chickweed and anything else that takes your fancy.   

Rinse the greens if necessary, shaking off all the water well. Snip them all up with a pair of kitchen scissors & saute they them all in a fry pan with a good glug of olive oil. Cook just enough to cook them down as if blanched. Cool.

In a large bowl add 1 cup of white flour (organic white spelt for me)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp good sea salt & ground black pepper

Mix together

Add 1 cup of milk, 1/4 melted butter & 2 eggs & mix again.

Then gently add in the cooled greens, 1 cup of grated cheese- whatever's your preference: cheddar, mozzarella etc, a packet of feta (crumbled), and 2 tbsp of parmesan.

Other additions would be finely sliced sundried tomatoes, cooked asparagus, broccoli, capers, olives, sweetcorn etc

Spoon into a deep baking tin such as a cake tin lined with baking paper. The one I use is 18 cms square.

Bake in a moderate oven for around 40/45 minutes until it's firm and golden.

This bake is delicious hot, but just as good cold and reheats very well too.

I doubled the recipe and we took this away with us on our last trip to The Stables in Otaki and it was so useful to have with us.

Great for picnics.

Katie X

Orange Frangipane Tart

 Oh how did I not understand frangipane before now!?

We fell in love with a walnut tart a while back, so when I read a recipe from @NZLife for an orange tart I knew I needed to adapt it to be frangipane too.

So here it is- an orange frangipane tart that is perfect for mid winter, while we have the sublime locally grown navel oranges in abundance & for picnics. Last week we had a wonderful wandering adventure out in Havelock North. Our afternoon tea under a leafless oak tree up at Keirunga gardens simply comprised of an orange frangipane tart & a tea of rose petal, hibiscus (sabdariffa), linden & double pink hawthorn blossom that was light & floral & perfect.

So to make the tart:

Pastry: 125 gms of chilled, cubed butter, a pinch of salt if it's unsalted like ours

1 1/4 cups of flour- I used 1 cup of wholemeal spelt & 1/4 white spelt flour

1 rounded tbsp of jaggery or brown sugar & a 1/4 tsp ground cardamom

2 tbsps cold water.

Either process the mix to a fine crumb & then pulse in the water, or rub the butter through the flour & sugar & mix the water in. Chill while you get organised- like turning on the oven to 180 degrees C 

Bake for 10 minutes in a 23cm tart tin lined with baking paper, or several smaller ones 

Filling: soften 75 grams of butter & a large tbsp of jaggery, raw or brown sugar, beat together 

Add 1/2 cup of lovely honey

Beat in 4 eggs one at a time

Add the grated zest of a good rough (easier to grate) large orange so that you have at least a tbsp of zest

Add the juice of the orange, a tsp of lemon zest & the juice of half a lemon

Then stir through a cup of ground almonds & a tbsp of flour

Pour in to the par baked shell. Add mandarin segments in a pattern on top if you like.

Bake 180 degrees for 10 mins & then 20- 25 minutes at 160 until the tart is golden & set.

Cool before removing from the tin/s

Katie X

Apple, Raisin and Oatmeal Biscuits

 I don't bake a lot of biscuits but these apple, raisin and oatmeal biscuits are great.

See alternative recipe below made with sweet persimmon.

The recipe makes loads of good sized biscuits. They keep surprisingly well considering they have apple in them, they are really satisfying and best of all they are perfect for picnics.

In a large bowl mix

3 cups of rolled oats & 1 cup of flour- I prefer white or wholemeal spelt flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 

1/2 tsp of cinnamon.

In another bowl cream 170 grams of butter (cut up & soften) with 3/4 cup brown sugar or jaggery.

Add an egg, a tsp of vanilla extract and 1/3 of a cup of milk.

Mix the dry and wet ingredients together along with a large grated apple and 1 1/2 cups of raisins or sultanas. 

Bake in a preheated oven at around 160 degrees C on baking paper for 15- 20 minutes until golden.

I used generous tablespoonfuls of mixture. They don't spread particularly so you can bake them quite close together.

Cool on a wire rack.

June 2024 and we are still loving these biscuits. Right now we're in the middle of persimmon season. To be honest, I prefer sweet persimmons just as they are but lots of people have been telling me about using them in other ways so, when we decided to head off for an adventure on Monday- King's birthday, I decided to have a go with persimmon not just apple & they are fabulous biscuits indeed.

I made a variation of the above

In to one bowl put:

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup of shredded coconut

1 cup of organic flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups raisins (or cranberries, apricots etc

1 tsp each cinnamon & ground ginger

1 tbsp chia seeds (add some sunflower seeds if you like too)

2 grated persimmons

calendula flowers- three or four flowers just the petals

In another bowl add:

170 gms butter- soften

3/4 cup brown sugar cream together

Add 1 egg 

1 dsp vanilla essence

Add the above dry stuff in to the bowl plus 1/3 cup milk 

Mix altogether.

Spoon out large spoonfuls of mixture- shape & flatten a bit.

Bake for 20 minutes at 160 degrees just the same.

Katie X

Strawberry Coconut Shortcake

When I lived i Wellington 42 years ago, I fell in love with this strawberry shortcake from a little organic cafe I found upstairs in Cuba street. I eventually figured out how to make it and all this time later I am still reinventing it. I don't generally do dessert, for pudding's sake, but I sometimes work it in to being part of a meal. This take on the classic strawberry shortcake is made with a base of wholemeal, coconut and almond flours, the topping a mix fresh strawberries, coconut & brown sugar. 

This is the most brilliant recipe because it can be made with almost any fruit. Apricot and coconut are delicious together too. A great way to use up fruit that might otherwise be wasted.

Base: cream 100 gms of softened butter with 1/3 cup of brown sugar

Add an egg and beat again

Fold in 2 cups (total) of an even mix of coconut flour, spelt flour and ground almonds

And a tsp of baking powder 

Press mix in to a greased baking paper lined tin

Pop in to the fridge while you're preparing the topping.

Topping: slice up a large punnet (which I guess is a kilo) of washed strawberries in to a large bowl

Add 1 cup of fine coconut & 1 cup of shredded coconut (or whatever you have on hand)

And 1/2 cup of brown sugar

Lastly a splash of rosewater.

Add a tbsp of cornflour & a tbsp of almond flour if the fruit seems quite moist. 

Mix together 

Spoon the strawberry coconut mix over the base and smooth out

Bake for 40 minutes in a moderate oven until firm

Keeps really well in the fridge 

In the last photo the shortcake is topped with coconut chia pudding made with coconut cream chia seeds, rosewater and honey, red and gold raspberries, white alpine strawberries and pansies from the garden.

So good!

The next version I made was apricot.

 With juicy fruit it's a good idea to turn down the heat and cook for another 5 or 10 minutes until the fruit topping has firmed well and set.

I am thinking that Black Boy peach would be amazing and also pineapple and passionfruit.

Katie X

Spicy Vege Pie

This spicy vegetable pie is so utterly delicious and really very like samosas, only there's no deep frying. The pastry is simple and delicious, the filling can be made with leftovers, or designed with great care.
It's good to think ahead before making.
Firstly, pop 113 gms of butter (a stick in US terms & this amount was perfect, so 113 grams it is!) in to the freezer while you peel and cook 3 potatoes- Agria would be great.
So the filling:
Peel, dice and cook 3 Agria (or other mashing potatoes) until tender, pour off the water.
Mash.
In a smaller pot lightly cook some cauliflower- 1&1/2 cups is what we are after.
In a frypan or skillet fry a chopped red onion, a diced carrot and 1/2 a red pepper in a little olive oil.
Towards the end of cooking add 1 tsp cumin seeds and some crumbled curry leaves, a good grating of fresh ginger and fresh turmeric (dry will do too) if you have them.
Add a tsp of good salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
Then add 1/2 cup of frozen peas and continue cooking until they are defrosted.
Combine the mashed potato and the pan full of flavours together, add a tbsp of olive oil and either a big squeeze of lemon juice or some Mango powder (found in Indian shops).
Lastly, snip in some fresh coriander.
That's the filling. Taste and see if you need to adjust the seasonings.

Now the pastry: in to a bowl measure out 1 cup of white flour and 1/2 cup of wholemeal flour.
Grate the frozen butter into the flour and mix it in as you go so that it doesn't get clumpy.
Mix a little with your hands until it all looks like rolled oats but don't over handle and don't fuss too much.
Add 1 tsp of salt, and 2 tsps of toasted cumin- just use the pan that you cooked all the onion etc in.
Cook for a round 2 minutes stirring as you go so that it doesn't over toast.
Add a pinch of sugar.
Make a well in the centre and add 1/4 c of milk and a 1/4 c of yoghurt.
Mix all together with a spoon until it comes together. Kneed a little but not too much.
Place in a small bowl & cover with bees wrap and put into the fridge for an hour, or overnight.
Once you're ready to put it all together.
Turn on the oven to 200 degrees C
Cut the pastry dough in half and roll out on to the bench or a board that is very lightly floured.
Make a rectangle (or any shape that takes your fancy including "handpies").
Spread the filling through the middle- making a hill as you go and leave a little space at the edges.
Roll out the other half and place on top.
Use a good heavy fork to seal around the edges.
Make some slits across the pastry with a knife.
This is so much fun to make "together" with someone you love.
Brush the top with a little melted butter (or beaten egg).
Bake for 10-15 minutes and use fan grill until it's all looking golden and smelling amazing- around another 15 minutes.
This is so delicious just as it is and brilliant served with Samosa chutney from an Indian shop.

The original recipe and inspiration came from this wonderful post here.

Katie X 

Handy Little Bacon & Egg Pies

These simple little pies are just delicious- why ever didn't I know about them before! The recipe I followed suggested to oil your tins very well...so I did! Don't want them getting stuck in there.
Muffin tins are ideal too.

I tried cooking the bacon rashers draped around the inside

of the tins, but they just slumped down. So I cooked 

the next lot in the oven for 10 minutes in another dish.

After that it's quite easy to arrange the bacon

around the inside. Before doing that, I cut several pieces
of flat bread (the super thin stuff) and lay them on the base,
then in goes the bacon. Over the flat bread add a couple
of pieces of camembert (or other cheese) if you like,
and then crack two eggs on the top.

And that's it!

Bake for 15- 20 minutes in a moderate oven.

Or until they're just how you want them to be.

This was my first attempt that I made for my dinner- the yolks were still soft as I was eating it hot.

They were just as delicious cold on our picnic at the Church Knoll out at Pouerere Beach.

We'll certainly be coming back to make these little gems again.

Brilliant for Rob to take to work on an afternoon shift.

Katie X

Cottage Cheese Loaf

I think I picked up this recipe back 37 years ago through Le Leche League but now that I look at the recipe again, hand written in an old book, I wonder how anyone thought that they'd feed a family on the amounts listed. Such a quick & easy loaf- keeps well & is delicious.
Lots of flexibility so always just use what you have & what you love.
In to a large bowl put 2 cups of quick cook rolled oats
Add 1 cup of milk
3 eggs
A tsp of good sea salt & some ground black pepper.
A tbsp of olive oil
Mix together well & leave to sit for 20 minutes while you get together the herbs & veges.
Cook a chopped red onion or a couple of leeks in a fry pan with a little olive oil. Add garlic if you like.
Add to the mix in the bowl with a cup of chopped fresh herbs & greens like spinach, chickweed, parsley etc.

Other additions that work well are: chopped sun-dried tomatoes, olives, capers etc
Stir in a 500gram pot of cottage cheese.
Pour in to a greased loaf tin & bake for 30-40 minutes in a moderate oven- until golden brown & firm.

Not the best photos of the loaf itself- but when you're making it for actual dinner the light's not always great & you just want to get on with eating it!

Tasty, filling & goes along way.

Katie X

Summertime Wraps

We love colourful food & we love beetroot. We eat beetroots in all their glorious colours almost all year round as there are some fabulous beetroot growers at our Farmers' Market.
This dip is just amazing & so handy to have in the fridge for adding extra pizzazz to almost any meal. It is also an excellent ingredient to add in to summertime beetroot wraps.

 The wraps themselves we get at New World- they are Farrah's Superbeet Wraps & such a cool colour & not at all stodgy.

 Here's one version that we made last summer.

And here's the pictorial inspiration- just so we remember what to do next time round.

This beetroot dip was made with mostly yellow beets with one red one. 

The first addition to this particular creation is some homemade pickled ginger.

Cucumber is always delicious however you want to use it- sliced, grated, shredded- even sticks.

 The egg salad is also a great thing to have on hand in the fridge in summer- just boiled eggs, shelled, seasoned, mashed with the addition of some whole seed mustard & some good mayonnaise.

 The carrot salad is just grated carrot, corn cooked & cut off the cob, salt & pepper, lemon juice & parsley, coriander or finely chopped mint.

 Nasturtium leaves are a great addition- just a little spicy. And Red Shiso is one of our favourite summer herbs. Heirloom meaty tomatoes can be sliced very thinly- then sprinkled with salt & pepper.

 Radicchio is so cool & perfect to add in to a wrap, as it's slightly bitter & nicely digestive, or use other lettuce or salad greens.

 And then there's avocado or anything else that takes your fancy.
Wrap in natural greaseproof paper to take on picnics & make sure you have some serviettes to mop up the juicy, delicious mess.

Katie X