Mountain Pawpaws- what ever do I do with them?

When I was a child my grandparents lived in Frasertown Wairoa, for a bit & as I grew older I loved helping Nan in the kitchen & writing out her recipes- for hours on end. We would make a dessert called Fruit Delight with all kinds of cooked fruits- Mountain Pawpaw was a favourite They are pretty odd raw- we would eat the pulpy stuff from the middle (as kids do) but if you can be bothered

 peeling the ripe yellow outer fruit & cooking them gently, they suddenly become delicious.

Best with a little sugar added & even a squeeze of lemon juice.

It turns out that they are delicious with strawberries too. Just add yoghurt or cream.

Nan's Fruit Delight recipe is just here, if you fancy having a go at that. I'm just waiting to end up with enough ripe fruit to make it. It's been a long, long time since I last tasted it.

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

Best Chickpea Salad Ever

I came across this salad recipe in a Cuisine magazine & just loved the sound & look of it so I thought I'd better have a go- thank goodness I did! It's absolutely delicious.

I'm telling it my version, however.

2 cans chickpeas- drained.

The liquid can be used for making a great mayonnaise if you feel so inclined.

Put the chickpeas in to a frypan with a little olive oil & sprinkle with sumac & sea salt & cook on a medium heat until they are starting to colour & taste delicious.

Transfer the chickpeas in to a bowl to cool & then add

Finely chopped coriander, to your taste- loads or a little.

1/2 c coconut chips lightly toasted (in the same pan)

1/2 cup broken or chopped cashews lightly toasted.

Then, either some chopped spring onion, or finely chopped red onion.

You can pour a little rice vinegar over the onion while you're preparing everything else to help soften the raw onion thing- tip off the vinegar again.

6 or so Medjool (type)dates- de-stoned & chopped. 

Dressing

4 tbsps olive oil

2 tbsp tamarind puree- either ready made or soak the caked tamarind version in water to soften, then push through a sieve.

2tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp lime juice

2 cloves of garlic or onion weed bulbs crushed

1/2 tsp fennel seeds lightly toasted & crushed- mortar & pestle or a spice grinder.

A pinch of chilli flakes

Shake altogether in a jar & pour over the salad mixture.

We sprinkled the salad with fresh flax seeds. New year is just the right time to collect them.

 The dark sausagey pods are best.

Here's the original salad that included crushed poppadoms.

 It was the most delicious dinner we've had in ages!

No substitutes on this one- lime juice & maple syrup are essential to the flavours. 

As is toasting the fennel seeds & then crushing them.

You can find the Kawakawa salad recipe just here.

And the Aquafaba mayonnaise just here.

Well, you will find those recipes soon when I've written them up.

Katie X

Beetroot Dip

We love beetroot & cook it often.
Bayfresh at our local Farmers' Market grow fabulous beetroot, as does Epicurean & Gay & Robert, when they're not too busy growing plants.
There are so many gorgeous colours now too.
It's marvellous used cold from the fridge or grated & mixed with a simple dressing & kept in the fridge for the week.
Sometimes, I roast beetroot, other times just simmer them until tender- slip off the skins & they're all ready to use. This delicious dip is so simple to make, ever so colourful & goes with almost everything.

 Aren't choggia fascinating!

Whatever your preference- good old red beets or others.
Soak a cup of raw cashew pieces in water for an hour (or overnight if you've thought ahead)
Cook around 350 grams of beetroot until tender.
Drain the cashews thoroughly & slip the skins off the beets.
Place them both in to a bowl together- cut the beet up a bit.
Add 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar, or lemon juice or white balsamic vinegar- whichever you have one hand, or takes your fancy.
1/2 tsp sea salt & loads of freshly ground black pepper.
1/2 tsp cumin seeds ground in a mortar & pestle or spice grinder next then, if you like, add a 1/2 tsp honey.
Last thing- add 2 tbsp melted/softened coconut oil.
Add crushed garlic if it appeals. As soon as I find some onion weed "onions" I'll use a couple of those in the next lot.
Blend together with a stick blender or in a food processor.

Here are a few alternatives: instead of cashews use a cup of lightly toasted walnuts. Wild onion bulbs work as an excellent alternative to garlic- perhaps 6 or 7 bulbs would be great. Roll them with the flat of your hand on a hard surface & the papery skins come off, then process with the nuts. Olive oil is a good alternative to coconut oil you'll just get a different texture depending on which nuts are used & which oils. A little soy/tamari sauce in to the red beetroot dip is also nice. 

 The top version was made with red beets, yellow version was made with orange ones & the bottom bright pink lot was made with an equal mixture of the two.

 All three together.

 Delicious for a picnic.

 Amazing with other summer salads.

And I was just thinking that it would be brilliant added in as a layer in these delicious salad, summer beetroot wraps.

And one more inspiration-

Basic recipe- from Ruth Pretty passed on from my best cooking friend & inspiration Suzanne.

Katie X

Seed Crackers

 These seedy crackers are so easy to make, stay crunchy for ages & are super munchy & satisfying.
They are a Ruth Pretty recipe, but in my usual manner (which is probably quite rude of me!) I have made some slight adjustments & an alternative version.
Firstly turn on the oven to 180 degrees C
Then put theses ingredients in to a bowl together:
1/2 c sunflower seeds,
1/4 c linseeds brown or golden
1/4 c sesame seeds white or black
2 tbsps chia seeds white or black
1 tsp sea salt & a good few grinds of black pepper.
Add 1 c of white rice flour, 1/2 c water & 1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
The last addition is either a tsp of garlic powder (which I didn't add) or my preference, a tsp of finely chopped rosemary & a tsp of black cumin seeds.
Mix altogether. I like to use my hands to knead it all so it holds together.
Then press it out on to a baking paper lined oven tray as thin as possible/reasonable.
You can either mark the dough into rectangles or just break it all up once cooked.
Bake for around 15- 20 minutes but keep an eye on things towards the end so that they don't over cook, but do go nice & golden.
Once cool, store in an airtight container.

 The second version is lighter & crisper & has no flour in the mix. So instead of adding the cup of white rice flour add 1/2 cup of psyllium husks (organic shop) & 1/2 cup of ground almonds.
Once mixed just let the dough sit for 10 minutes so that the psyllium can do it's work & soak up the liquid & hold everything together- then press out on to the baking paper lined tray.

 The original version is at the front of the photo.

The third rendition 8th January 2023

You can make them as simple or as interesting as you like. I added: white & black sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, some dried onion weed, tiny Rosy garlic bulbs, coriander & black cumin from the garden, flax seeds, linseed, nettle seeds, yellow dock seeds, plantain seeds, sea salt & ground black pepper, water, olive oil, psyllium husks, buckwheat semolina & a little tapioca flour.

NZ flax seed- Harakeke, Phormium Tenax- ready at this time of the year.

Katie X

Elephant Milk!

Last Christmas, there was an unexpected stall at our Farmers' market run by some parents from Napier Central School. They were selling a book called Neighbourhood Eats. It was so beautifully presented & entirely made by the parents & PTA as a fundraiser. It's a gorgeous book, so we bought a copy. We love to support local endeavours. So.. this Christmas we decided to make the Elephant Milk, from the desserts section.

The recipe was provided by Cameron Huckle- a family favourite from Granny in Zimbabwe.

 Elephant milk has in fact been known to me for quite some time. Only, 40 years ago we called it Lemon Crunch Pie. You can find that recipe just here. One of the easiest dessert recipes ever & almost certainly universally loved. The only difference between Lemon Crunch Pie & Elephant milk is two egg whites & a tweek on the method- so just go with whatever works best for you.

Simply pour a can of sweetened condensed milk in to a bowl, add 300mls of cream, half a cup of lemon juice (preferably a Lisbon type- better flavour & setting effect) & the finely grated zest of the lemon. You can skip the zest if you prefer.

Beat altogether until thick, like whipped cream.

Beat the two egg whites to soft peaks & then fold those through the lemony mixture.

 Now pour in to bowls, tea cups or a large bowl  if you prefer & pop in to the fridge to set, or freeze for a couple of hours or overnight to make ice-cream, or pour over a biscuit base & there you have Lemon Crunch Pie- the easiest cheesecake you will ever make. The mixture can also be layered with crushed biscuits, nuts & custard.

 Since I made this at Christmas I have served this ice-cream with lychees, fresh shredded coconut (that I recently discovered in the freezer at the local Asian shop) White Soul strawberries, a ripe Kawa kawa fruit pulled off the stem & finally a drizzle of Linden honey.

 It tastes absolutely amazing together! But as Felicia was want to say- "If you like that sort of thing!"

 These Linden flowers are from a Silver Linden tree & we found them flowering on Christmas day. Their scent is like nothing else on earth- heady Linden plus deep jasmine notes- steeped in a light honey (I used Tawari) for a day or so & you have a truly magical elixir.

So...either keep it simple, or let your imagination run wild. I did!

Katie X