The glory that is prawns

And canned smoked fish. Not together, but in three recipes which are easy, can be made not too spicy and are great for main meals, lunches, appetisers, dinner parties or just a Sunday afternoon as the case may be.

I have extremely fond memories associated with the prawn and kumara Thai fritters I made a couple of weeks ago. In Wellington in 2008 I lived with some very good friends in a house named Harry and my dear flatmate, affectionately known as Chopper, introduced me to these amazing morsels.

A couple of weeks ago something, somehow, somewhere made me think of these fritters which I have not eaten in years and a text message later I had the recipe (which I believe is an Annabel Langbein creation) and could barely wait to whip them up.

These are great in any shape or form, any time of the day, hot or cold. They are simply delicious and I urge you to make them now.

• 1/2 c each self raising flour and rice flour
• 1 c coconut cream
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 Tb minced fresh ginger
• 2 Tb sweet chilli sauce
• Greens of 1 spring onion, finely chopped
• Small handful of coriander, finely chopped
• 1 medium-large kumara, peeled and grated
• 300g raw de-shelled prawns, cut in quarters
• Salt and pepper
• Vegetable oil

In a bowl combine the flours, coconut cream, egg white, salt and pepper, turmeric, ginger, chilli sauce, spring onion and coriander. Mix to a smooth batter.

Add grated kumara and prawns and mix. Rest for at least 15 minutes before cooking.

Heat oil in a frying pan and cook spoonfuls over a medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side until golden brown.

Drain on paper towels and serve with sweet chilli dipping sauce (I found one I like!)

I did quite big fritters as they were for dinner but these would be fab as mini fritters for an appetiser or canapes. If you need to do them in batches you can keep the cooked ones warm in an oven on a low heat. They are also extremely yummy cold.

I am so full right now but I still really want to eat them.

I served them with an Asian slaw which is just finely chopped lettuce (or cabbage), grated carrot, chopped spring onions and coriander, some chopped toasted peanuts and sesame seeds with a dressing of lime juice, fish sauce, red chillies and brown sugar.

Perfection.

The other two dishes comprised the lunch I have just stuffed my face with. Taking advantage of a non-hungover weekend day I felt like cooking lunch so made Peri Peri prawns and Thai fish cakes with aioli and tomato chilli dip.

The prawn recipe came from my Red Hot! book and is extremely easy. The recipe takes its name from the Piri Piri chillies that the recipe originally used. I used our Takanotsumes which worked well.

The effort involved in de-shelling and cleaning the prawns is totally worth it.

• 2 fresh red chillies, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• Juice of 1/2 a lime
• 2 Tb olive oil
• 20 prawns (but you will want so many more)
• Salt and pepper

De-shell and de-vein the prawns, leaving the tails on.

Make the marinade by combining the chilli, paprika, coriander, garlic, lime juice and olive oil in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour over the prawns and coat well. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes (mixing a couple of times).

Fry the prawns for a couple of minutes until just cooked. Alternatively, skewer them and do them on the barbie.

Serve with an aioli - the cheat's method being: mix a couple of tablespoons of good mayo, half a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and a small clove of crushed garlic. Voilà.

The Thai fishcakes are a recipe I made up. I have seen enough episodes of Come Dine With Me to know what people generally put in them (and to last me a lifetime) so I threw a few things together. Although taking cooking advice from that show is any interesting notion - there is always at least one of the whinging poms that dislikes everything. Luckily for me, the whinging pom in this house loved these.

They were actually initially going to be crab cakes but apparently PAK'nSAVE (who knew the correct spelling had so many capital letters - seems to match their ads that yell at you) doesn't believe in stocking crab in any form so smoked fish it was.

You could use any type of fish - and could use raw, however I love smoked fish and knew the canned stuff was very tasty and so easy. It also means the cakes won't take long to cook as you don't have to worry about cooking raw fish - and you can taste test the mixture before cooking it if you are squeamish about eating raw fish (which, if you know me and my love of eating raw mince and bacon, know that would not be a problem).

• 300g canned smoked fish (the big Sealord can is the best - 300g is about 2/3 of the can)
• 3/4 c panko breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 2 fresh red chillies, finely chopped
• 2 fresh green chillies, finely chopped
• 1 Tb fresh minced ginger
• Handful of coriander, finely chopped
• 1 spring onion, finely chopped
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 Tb fish sauce 
• 2 Tb mayonnaise
• Salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything in a bowl and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Shape into small cakes and fry on a medium high heat for a couple of minutes on each side. A lot of people roll the cakes in either breadcrumbs or flour before frying but I prefer them just as they are.

Once golden brown drain on paper towels and serve with tomato chilli dip and garnish with spring onion greens.

To make the dip you need:

• 2 tsp butter
• 1/4 brown onion, finely chopped
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• 1/3 c water
• 1 tsp malt vinegar
• 1 Tb chopped coriander
• 2 fresh red chillies, finely chopped
• 1 Tb lime juice
• 1 Tb fish sauce
• Salt and pepper to season

Melt the butter in a saucepan and sauté the onion, garlic and tomatoes for about 5 minutes until the onion is tender.

Add the water, vinegar, coriander, chillies, lime juice and fish sauce and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes and add salt and pepper to taste.

Blend with a stick blender and serve hot or cold.

So Sunday lunch turned out to be pretty awesome. Just for good measure, I also flash fried some whole green chillies in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. Mams did this for me once as she loved them in Spain which is how they serve them and they make a great accompaniment to a meal or tapas dish.

Fry on a high heat for about 2 minutes
The skins will blister and pop - beware!

The perfect accompaniment would be a large cold glass of Pinot Gris.

Christmas Huevos Rancheros

Knowing the other eight or so meals we would be eating on Christmas Day would be classic Kiwi Christmas BBQ fare, I decided our breakfast at home would be something a little different.

In fact this breakfast was not just not-Kiwi but was kinda a round the globe mash-up. This certainly was not a traditional Mexican Huevos Rancheros, but more of what it has now become - baked eggs in a tomato sauce which turned into more of an Italian sauce which I ended up serving with Turkish bread.

My loathing of crowds and Christmas grocery shopping saw me at the supermarket at 8.00am on the 22nd to get everything I needed. Thankfully nothing too fresh was needed for this meal but it meant I had to get bread that could be heated on the day and was not bakery fresh and that left me with some Turkish bread that you keep in the fridge and heat for 10 minutes before serving and it worked a treat.

This is an extremely easy brunch to make as you can make the sauce in advance and then just add and cook the eggs when you need to. You can also make it as mild or spicy as you like and add anything you want - meat (or not), onions, garlic and whatever herbs and spices you have at home.

Our Christmas breakfast compagno Jo is not too keen on anything too spicy so this is just a nice medium heat - enough that you can definitely taste it but not too hot that you need to rush for the milk - which was lucky considering mimosas were the drink of the morning.

I was up bright and early checking if Santa had been (he had not) so got the sauce on early so that it could cook for about an hour and a half to really get some good flavour going.

The recipe serves four (which was perfect for Christmas breakfast for three plus my Boxing Day leftover breakfast).

2 cloves garlic, chopped very finely
Half a red onion, sliced thinly
Half a yellow capsicum, diced
4 rashers middle bacon, chopped
3 spicy sausages, sliced
2 cans tomatoes (I used chopped in puree)
Hot sauce to taste (I used about a couple of teaspoons of our Habanero hot sauce)
1 cup chicken stock
Punnet of cherry/grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 Tb smoked paprika
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried rosemary
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Fry the onion and garlic in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil for a couple of minutes, being careful not to brown them too much.

Add the capsicum and bacon and stir for a couple of minutes.

Add the sliced sausages (which I had precooked and let cool before slicing) and cherry tomatoes and fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the canned tomatoes, paprika, herbs, some hot sauce if required and some salt and pepper.

Simmer at a very low heat for about an hour and a half. When it is almost done preheat the oven to 200°C.

Towards the end of the cooking I realised the sauce needed some more liquid so added half a cup of chicken stock and let it simmer down and then added the other half and simmered for the last 20 minutes or so with the frying pan lid on to keep the liquid in.

Once you are happy with the texture, flavour and seasoning of the sauce, transfer it to an oven proof serving dish.

Make six wells for the eggs. Carefully break the eggs into the wells and place in the oven for about 10 minutes until the eggs are cooked.

I also heated the bread for those 10 minutes in the bottom of the oven.

Served the eggs with a sprinkling of fresh coriander and the warm bread and butter.

The sauce was herby, a bit spicy, meaty and extremely tasty and made a great start to a very merry Christmas filled with family, food, friends and a wine or two!

The sauce is also amazing as leftovers. I just fried an egg the next day and plonked it on top of the warmed sauce, some more fresh coriander and leftover bread. Heavenly.

Fried sweet chilli chicken

I have a confession to make. On Saturday mornings I love nothing more than to sit for two and a half hours and watch the Come Dine With Me omnibus. There, I said it.

Elliot pretends he doesn't care for it, but when the snarky commentary guy burns someone right and good I hear a snicker or two and sometimes even get a couch companion.

I watch it also to snicker and mostly to mock what is mainly atrocious cooking skills and recipes (and don't even get me started on how many people cook with cats on their benches).

I did however get inspiration from one of the most fussy and annoying people to ever be on that show (you know, the "I don't like seafood, I can't eat white sauces, I hate cheese, I'm not a dessert eater" type). She won too. Maybe it was the Moet she plied everyone with.

Said fussy eater did like two things. Chillies and chicken. She made a sweet chilli sauce and added it to fried chicken atop a salad for her starter.

With homemade sweet chilli sauce in the fridge (recipe here http://sunsetchillies.blogspot.co.nz/2013/05/rice-paper-rolls-with-sweet-chilli-sauce.html) and chicken of some description on the menu planner for tonight, I thought a take on this dish would go down well.

It was easy really - crumb strips of chicken in panko breadcrumbs, fry in some vege oil, mix into a couple of tablespoons of the sweet chilli sauce (watered down slightly so it coats the chicken better) and some toasted sesame seeds.

Just a wee tip from me to you - toast sesame seeds by putting them in a dry frying pan over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, tossing occasionally so they don't burn. They are ready when are shiny and slightly brown and fragrant.

I eat a lot of sesame seeds so this many won't last long. However, I am still going on a 1 kg bag of sesame seeds from Moore Wilson's in Wellington that I bought over three years ago. Yes, I moved them intercity with me. And no, I don't believe in expiration dates.

I added the chilli-coated chicken to a wholemeal wrap with some cos lettuce from the garden, some red onion and tomato, a dollop of lime-infused lite sour cream and some torn coriander on top.

You could also have it with some rice or some stir-fried Asian greens or serve as finger food or just as a big bowl of fried chicken spicy goodness.

Yummy. And easy.

If you don't think you'll make homemade chilli sauce though, maybe this recipe isn't for you. Don't use supermarket sweet chilli sauce. You know my feelings about it. We've been through this.

In other news, the deck garden is flourishing. Elliot added some carrots, shallots and mesculin to the mix and nothing has died from the drop in temperature. The lemon and lime trees are going strong and I have been using the lettuce everyday.

The herbs have been delicious in slow cooker beef, lamb and chicken dishes and easily jazz up a meal by just adding some finely chopped at the last minute (added some to the instant gravy last night to go on top of steak and roast potatoes). Chives always come in handy too.

The fish are well (well, four out of five ain't bad). The only original fishie from Sunset Road (aptly named Sunny) died last week but the other four have not taken the loss too hard and even finally got names (Rocky, Apollo, Fanty and Glenn - best fish name ever).

They now have a nice clear tank thanks to a UV filter which got rid of the algae and Elliot is great at cleaning the glass and the gravel every week or so.

It is also not too far away from chilli season two. We will soon work out what we want to grow and suss the seeds and then start the propagating and growing cycle all over again. Fun and spicy times ahead.

Rosemary skewered lamb koftas

My oh-so-creative-and-overly-loaded-with-rosemary Mams brought round some huge stalks of rosemary that she had dried to use as skewers on the barbie. The smell instantly filled the kitchen and I was excited. Lamb was the first thought and in her infinite wisdom, Mams suggested lamb mince may be cheaper and koftas could be the go.

Good ol Pak n Save had lamb mince on special so koftas it was. While being a kofta virgin, I had seen enough Masterchef and My Kitchen Rules episodes where the kofta is done to death to know what to basically put in them. Plus being someone who uses recipes more as a guide than a bible, I figured I could wing it (the tricky thing about mince mixtures is you can't taste as you add or season without frying a bit off and trying it so it really is a bit of a guessing game).

The first thing I did was strip most of the rosemary leaves from the stalks (leaving a few at the top - mainly for aesthetics). While I prepared the kofta mixture, I soaked the stalks in cold water so they wouldn't burn on the BBQ. I found a vase which was the perfect height so soaked them in that.

For the kofta mixture I used:

• About 350g lamb mince
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped (parsley is one herb I am not growing so very stubbornly had to buy a bunch from the supermarket - it was a tad limp and sad but did the trick)

Now there are many variations to koftas - some add breadcrumbs, some onion, some egg. I really don't think they need onion or breadcrumbs - was dreading them turning out more like rissoles (can't write that without smiling thinking about The Castle). And all the ingredients bound well enough together without needing egg.

There is only one way to mix stuff into mince - your hands. Once thoroughly mixed, place a patty type disc in your hand and then shape around the skewer. Should make about four skewers with two koftas on each - perfect for two people. Brush a little bit of oil on them to stop them sticking to the barbie.

Elliot then stepped in and BBQed them to absolute perfection along with a Marconi pepper (just cos it needed using).

I was ill-prepared for the rest of this meal so just teamed it with a salad, the charred pepper, hummus and a wrap on the side (pita would probably have been better - but you've gotta make do) and a raita type sauce thing except had no plain yoghurt so mixed lite sour cream with lemon juice, grated cucumber, chives and salt and pepper.

The lamb was sensational. The smell of rosemary on the BBQ was divine and all in all a recipe I will definitely make again!

Oh and if you haven't seen The Castle - make it happen. You will never hear the word rissoles again without smiling.

Family, food and photos

Well, as predicted, week one back at work has been manic. The week outside work has been just as busy with whanau here from Wellington and Dunedin which means family gatherings. That also for me means cooking and hosting which I love. With my two sisters, brother-in-law, two nephews and Mams here I was looking forward to putting on a feast for Sunday lunch.

I had to make something kiwi and filling for the boys which was bacon and egg pie and something a little fancier for the sophisticated ladies of the family, and an absolute fav - asparagus roulade.

This is a recipe from Alison and Simon Holst's Meals Without Meat cookbook which Mams first made years and years ago and I instantly fell in love with.

I made it yesterday which was perfect as needed this morning for the pie (and other goodies). It is a good and impressive vegetarian dish for a dinner party but can be fiddley and time consuming. Definitely worth a try though.

Ingredients

Roulade:

• 50g butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3 tb tomato paste
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup grated tasty cheese

Filling:

• 1 (about 400g) can asparagus spears
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

Method

• Melt the butter in a pan. Stir in the flour until it bubbles.
• Add the milk gradually, stirring continuously, until the sauce boils and thickens.
• Stir in the tomato paste and bring to the boil again. Remove from heat.
• Separate the eggs and add the yolks to the hot sauce and stir quickly to combine. Stir in the grated cheese.
• Beat in the egg whiles until the soft peaks form (thank God Elliot was here as I only had a hand beater). Fold into the cheese mixture.

It's a bizarre goopy and stringy mixture

• Pour the mixture onto a baking paper lined sponge roll tin (about 20cm x 30cm).
• Bake at 200°C for about 12 minutes until puffed and golden brown (it is cooked when the centre springs back after being lightly pressed).
• Remove from the oven and turn out onto a rack covered with a tea towel. Carefully remove the baking paper.

• Make the filling while the roulade cooks. Drain the asparagus liquid into a pan. Chop the asparagus and press gently to remove more liquid.
• Boil the asparagus liquid and chopped garlic down to 1 tablespoon and stir into the asparagus.
• Fold together the asparagus, cream cheese, parsley and a bit of black pepper.
• Spread the filling evenly over the room-temperature roulade, leaving one long side uncovered.

• Holding the tea towel, roll the roulade starting with the side nearest to you and finishing with the uncovered side.
• Wrap the roll in Gladwrap (have this cut and sitting ready to use) and refrigerate (up to 24 hours).

• When needed use a serrated knife to slice into 2cm-ish pieces.
• You can serve it warm by heating in the microwave but I LOVE it cold.

The bacon and egg pie I made doesn't really need a recipe. I am a firm believer in a bacon and egg pie being pastry, bacon and egg. No tomato. No chutney. No onion . And most certainly no mixed veges!

I used bought pre-rolled pastry and lined a greased dish, chopped some cheap bacon up roughly and sprinkled it over the pastry, top with 6-8 eggs depending on the size of the dish, prick the yolks once so they run slightly, season and top with another sheet of pastry. Prick some holes in it and brush the top with milk. Bake at 200°C for 40 minutes. Yum Yum. Serve with tomato sauce out of a squeezy tomato.

My other culinary achievement today was chocolate eclairs. I have never made choux pastry before but I found it rather easy (getting it into the piping bag was another story) and they turned out really well (they were dry and crusty on the outside and golden brown). For the first time in my life I had issues with chocolate icing being too runny but all in all they were a success and all who had enjoyed.

I used the trusty Edmonds recipe. The indication that it makes 30 7cm ones is far from accurate and I wanted to make bigger ones so the recipe made about 10 of the size I wanted.

Ingredients

• 100g butter
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup flour
• 3 eggs
• whipped cream

Icing

• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1 tb cocoa
• 1/4 tsp softened butter
• 3 tb water approximately

Method

• Combine butter and water in a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil.
• Remove from heat and quickly add flour. Beat with a wooden spoon until mixture leaves the side of the pan.
• Allow to cool for 5 minutes then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg, until mixture is glossy (after 2 eggs get the boyfriend to do it or your arm will fall off).
• Pipe the mixture into lengths the size you want onto a tray lined with baking paper.
• Bake at 200°C for 30 minutes or until they are puffy and golden, then lower heat to 120°C and continue to bake for 15 minutes. Cool thoroughly.
• Cut eclairs in half and fill with whipped cream and top with chocolate icing (sift the cocoa and icing sugar into a bowl, add the butter, add sufficient water to make it spreadable consistency).
• Devour.

So the bacon and egg pie, asparagus roulade, chocolate eclairs, along with a a few other bits and bobs including a salad with homegrown red onion and tomatoes (and of course chipotle mayo which went down a treat) equalled a feast fit for, well, the Dally/Brooks/Elliott/O'Callaghan clan.

The highlight of my day (apart from Mams pushing Elliot into the mowen grass and leaf pile during the backyard soccer game) was my gorgeous nephews Caelan and Ayrton agreeing to eat half a Thai chilli each. As far as the hot hot chillies go these are far from up there, but don't get me wrong these little beauties pack quite the punch (I ate one yesterday and they were rather hot - not as hot as the half a Wildfire Elliot and Hunt ate each and well, seemed a tad in pain) and certainly burns the mouth for a while, especially when you are 11 and 8 and do not eat spicy food. They were brave (well, by brave I mean will do anything for $2) and a few glasses of ice cold soft drink and a Fruju later, not much damage was done.

All smiles before..

Caelan's second glass of sparkling duet with ice

Frujus, and I can't help notice the smiles have gone

They did recover enough to have a game of darts
Caelan "The Millionaire" Elliot
versus
Ayrton "Flippin Whippin" darts champion of the world

In the final news of the weekend, I bought myself a new camera and am looking forward to being able to take much better photos of my chilli and foodie adventures.

A couple of point and shoot ones below which were really Elliot and I just playing around, before I get used to all the functions and start getting all arty on it (for those of you who have seen my art skills - especially those employed during Pictionary - I know you are excited).

Our view

Marigolds we plant to attract bees and ladybugs to eat the aphids

Moneymaker tomatoes

Still to ripen Thai chillies

Random Jamaican pepper (we think) 

Habanero

Bhut Jolokia

Fatalii

Jamaican Red Hot

Oh, and just an update on the happenings on Sunset Road - fish are great and growing well, the tank getting smelly and pooey - but that's how it is meant to be apparently (full aquaponics update to come), chillies are growing MENTALLY well and I am scared just looking at them, the rest of the garden is loving the sun we have had and all growing well, and the light box is back housing the germinated seeds which are germinating really well - rates far better than the Kings seeds we used previously.