Risotto & Dessert

It time for a break from Chinese food for dinner. Hence on Friday night, I decided to cook mushroom and pancetta risotto for dinner served with the baby carrot that I had bought earlier from the farmer's market.

Since risotto is something that does not need much preparations, I decided to make dessert to go with the dinner. My partner suggested to make some steam puddings. Therefore, it's my responsibility to find a recipe of steam puddings. I was searching high and low for the steam puddings recipe through the Cuisine Magazine that my partner had collected since May 2006. After spending an hour looking through all the magazine, I managed to find 2 puddings recipes which were coconut bread pudding with fresh pineapple & mango puree, and date & ginger stickies.

Between the two recipes, the bread pudding is a steam pudding and meanwhile the date & ginger pudding needs to be baked. My partner preferred to have date & ginger stickies this time. Hence I am off to the nearby supermarket to buy the ingredients needed.

Preparation of the pudding was very easy and takes about 20 - 30 minutes only. Then you just bake it in the preheated oven for another 15 - 25 minutes. And it's ready to be served. I served the pudding with some berries coulis which provides some sourness taste to compliment the sweet pudding. The pudding turns out to be a very delicious and not very sweet to my liking.

Date & Ginger Stickies (Recipe from Cuisine Magazine)

Serves: 12

Ingredients:

60g butter, plus extra for the tin

200g dates, chopped into small pieces

3/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cups boiling water

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup golden syrup

2 eggs

1 teaspoon banilla essence

1 1/3 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

50g crystallised ginger, finely chopped

Methods:

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degree Celcius fanbake.

2. Butter 12 small muffin tins with a little extra butter.

3. Put the butter, dates, baking soda and water in a large bowl.

4. Soak this mixture for a couple of minutes. The mix in the sugar and golden syrup.

5. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla then fold in the sifted flour and baking powder.

6. Mix in the ginger.

7. Pour the mixtures into the muffin tins to about 2/3 full.

8. Bake for about 15 - 25 minutes or until the cakes feel firm in the center.

9. To check whether the cakes is fully cooked or not, insert in a skewer in the center and if it comes out clean, it means it's fully cooked.

10. To serve warm, heat up the puddings in the microwave for 20 seconds.

Hungarian Twister - Kürtős kalács

Farmer's Market is a place where I am being introduces to different types of food and vegetables that are available in Auckland apart from the supermarkets.

One of it that I recently discovered is the Hungarian Twister during my last visit at Kumue Farmer's Market which was being held once a month at Kumue showgrounds. Since last Sunday was quite a fine day, we proceeded to Clevedon Farmer's Market through the country road that we discovered recently.

In the Clevedon Farmer's Market, the same Hungarian Twister stall that I saw in Kumue Farmer's Market. And of course, I am there to buy the Hungarian Twister again. Because the queue was long that day, I am able to take photos of how a Hungarian Twister is being made.

Hungarian twister which is also known as "Kürtős kalács" is originated from Transylvania, which is also famous as Hungary's oldest pastry.

Kürtős kalács consists of a thin yeast pastry ribbon that are being wrapped around a wooden cylindrical.

Then it is being lightly spread with some olive oil.

In order to ensure that the sugar are on the pastry while it is being rolled on the sugar plate.

Then it is being send to the chimney cake oven, where the pastry are being baked to perfection. As the baking is being done, each wooden cylindrical are being rolled to ensure every part of the pastry is getting the similar amount of heat.

After the pastry is being well baked, it will be rolled on the different types of flavours (almond, chocolate, walnut, cinnamon, fairy sprinkle and etc). And in my case, I had chosen walnut for that day. Once it is rolled, the pastry is being knocked down from the wooden cylindrical.

Therefore, my Kürtős kalács  is ready now.

I like to eat Kürtős kalács  because it has a very light pastry texture and crispy crust as a result of the caramelised sugar on the pastry surface. Also, it is a much better option to choose as compared to donuts or churros as it is being baked and not deep fried.

Casa Del Gelato, Ponsonby

It's almost winter here in Auckland, and it's always nice to have gelato/ ice cream. This is because it will not melt as easily as during the summer.

I have been wanting to have waffle since early of the year but never have the chance till recently. It was after our dinner at Gion, Ponsonby that we decided to have a cup of gelato to share.

Casa Del Gelato was (and still) having the promotion of waffle and a scoop of gelato at a very reasonable price. Therefore, we decided to take up this promotion as I had been wanting to eat waffle.

Since it chilly out there, we went into the indoor seating and took some photos while waiting for the waffle and gelato to be served.

Ta da! To my surprise, the waffle and gelato combo had arrived in less than 5 minutes. AND I am dissapointed!

I am actually expecting a freshly made waffle instead of frozen type waffle that was being warmed up before serving. Hence I am dissapointed!

However, thinking at the bright side, it's good to have a mini ones since it's already late at night.

The gelato from Casa Del Gelato is always good. And I had chosen the hazelnut gelato to go with the waffle was the hazelnut flavour.

Though I am dissapointed with the waffle, I still enjoyed the yummy gelato!

Casa Del Gelato
288 Ponsonby Road
Ponsonby
Auckland City

Phone: 09 378 8457

Bistro 222

It was a fine Saturday afternoon, and it's time to look for a place for cigar and coffee for my partner.

As we walk along Ponsonby Road, there's plenty of cafe and bar around that were opened. However,in order to smoke, an outdoor area is required. Therefore, we ended up with Bistro 222, which provides an outdoor area for smoking with two comfortable leather sofa as well.

While my partner smokes his cigar, I had Earl Grey tea with Bistro 222 house specialty tiramisu. This tiramisu tasted so good whereby the cake was so light and yummy. Besides, it wasn't very sweet too. Lucky I made the right choice.

Bistro 222

222 Ponsonby Road,

Ponsonby, Auckland

Phone: 09 361 3222

Website: http://www.bistro222.co.nz/

Easter Sunday

What will you think of when you think of Easter? Easter bunny or Easter egg? Well, to me it's both of it.

Easter Sunday, which usually falls in the month of April, is widely celebrated by the Christians around the world. I am not a Christian, hence I actually surf the net to get the meaning of Easter. Easter day is the day Christians remember Jesus rising from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. During this celebration, Easter eggs decorations is a common motif in the western countries and customs such as egg hunting and Easter bunny is also available.

Yesterday, we were visited by an Easter bunny from one of the church nearby our house. They are inviting the kids to participate in the Easter activities provided in their church during the Easter Sunday.

In the western countries, usually you will be able to see Easter bunnies and Easter eggs widely available at any supermarket or dairies from end February onwards. All the Easter eggs and bunnies usually comes in a form of hollow chocolate formation of egg or bunnies in different varieties of chocolate flavours and brands. However, there are also some other ones such as the bunny shaped marshmallow/ soft jelly being sold.

As my partner's family are Christians and they are also celebrating Easter day. Therefore, he bought two Easter chocolate bunny for his two nieces. Our first option was to buy the Cadbury Easter chick chocolate, however later we found the Kinder with surprise bunny. Hence my partner bought two Kinder with surprise bunny for both his nieces. As for ourselves, we bought the Lindt dark chocolate bunny.

We will be passing the Kinder with surprise bunny to both my partner's nieces tonight. Hopefully they will like it.

Happy Easter Day!

Pocky Chocolate

Radiation is now a big concern in Japan after the nuclear reactor meltdown in Fukushima. There are a lot of people worrying about contamination of radiation for food in Japan. I am sure the sales for all food from Japan will be dropping.

However, I had earlier on bought Pocky chocolate from the Japan Mart here. One good thing about buying Japanese or Korean food is that, when compared dollar to dollar with Malaysia, it's so much cheaper and affordable. Even certain products, after conversion from NZD to Malaysian Ringgit it is still cheaper. Therefore it's one of the luxury here to be able to get Japanese food at a reasonable price.

This Pocky that I had bought it's a little different as compared to the normal Pocky which chocolate coating. This Pocky is coated with thick layer of chocolate and praline. Therefore, when eating it, it may taste like you are having Nutella on the biscuit. There are still many others varieties available. Will try it out one by one. It comes in a snack pack inside, whereby three sticks of Pocky are being packed in a little bag. There is a total of 4 packs in a box.

It's always nice to pair dessert with a glass of wine. Hence on one particular night, my partner and myself shared a 3pcs Pocky little pack together with a glass of Akarua Pinot Noir. It's definately not enough to share for the both of us. I was quite tempted to have another packet myself, but discipline myself not to. Anyway, it's always good to indulge one in awhile. Of course, not to overdo it as well.

Cheers!

The Foodstore, Auckland

Early this year, a new restaurant was opened at the Market Square, Viaduct Habour. It's called The Foodstore. It had already making a big buzz among all the foodies.  

Besides, if you are staying in New Zealand, you will be able to watch their chefs cooking show, The Foodstore Chefs, on FoodTV at 7.30pm every Monday.

The Foodstore Chefs featured are:-

Wylie Dean

"At the tender age of 19, and with no formal training, Wylie Dean was so talented that he found himself as head chef of one of New Zealand's best restaurants...Cibo. Taking off on a culinary journey, he landed in L.A. and quickly became chef to the stars. Then, wanting to break out on his own, he headed to Melbourne. After opening numerous restaurants there, he has now decided to return home to lead the new wave in Kiwi cuisine." (Picture and description quoted from http://www.foodtv.co.nz/)

Mark Southon

"After training at many michelin star restaurants in Europe, Mark Southon embarked on his culinary tour down under. The 29 year old landed a prestigious position at Vue de Monde - Australia's top restaurant for the past two years running. He then fell in love with our shores and has continued his illustrious career with Simon Wright at The French Café." (Picture and description quoted from www.foodtv.co.nz)

Sarah Primrose

"Only 22, and already Sarah Primrose is making a name for herself as a star of the culinary world. After winning many prestigious competitions both here and overseas, Sarah was named as the young chef ambassador for the world. In just a few short years, Sarah's cooking abilities have seen her working at top establishments, including Pear Tree in Kerikeri, and The French Café." (Picture and description quoted from www.foodtv.co.nz)

Each of The Foodstore chefs carries their own unique number at their uniform. Their numbers are "00" for Wylie, and "26" for Mark and "88" for Sarah. Besides, The Foodstore provides an open kitchen concept, whereby you will be able to get up close and personal with the chefs as they prepare the food.

Having been watching their shows on Food TV for a few months and passed by their restaurant for a few time, I am yet to try out their food. Until one night, we decided to have coffee and dessert at The Foodstore.

There's 3 of us in total and we ordered each of us a cup of coffee with two main desserts to share.

During our visit on that night, I saw both Mark and Wylie were at the restaurant.

Classic kiwi pavlova with fresh fruit, passionfruit curd and vanilla yogurt (picture at the top) and old-fashioned apple pie with Bergamot ice cream & plum puree (picture at the bottom) were the two desserts that we had ordered.

Both of the desserts were great and delicious. Among the two, I prefered the apple pie more compared to the other. Yummy!

Having a good experience from The Foodstore, we will definately be back one day to try out the main dishes.

The Foodstore

Market Square,

Viaduct Habour,

Auckland, New Zealand

Phone: 09 377 0125

Website: http://thefoodstore.tv/

Macaron & Champagne

One of the things that I enjoyed most with my partner are desserts and champagne. My partner is the one who introduces me to champagne back in the year of 2008. I remembered the first ever champagne that we had together was the Moet & Chandon rose champagne.

Last Friday, my partner came home with a surprise for me. It was a box of 5 macaron by Ma Cherie French Pastries which he bought from Farro Fresh Food in North Shore. Since macaron can't be kept for too long, we decided to have the macaron and a bottle of champagne on that night itself.

Macaron is one of the most popular French confectioneries which made with egg whites, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder and food colouring.

In the box of macaron that my partner gotten, there's 5 different flavours in it which consists of:-

• Orange - Enjoy the blessing of the sun. Rich refreshing flavour and cheerful colour
• Strawberry - Cute vivid red colour, with a fresh spring breeze scent.
• Green Tea - A flavour from Asia, with a rich relaxing aroma.
• Citrus - Refreshing flavour and delightful colour.
• Cherry - Elegant taste with a fascinating scent. Ma Cherie uses only pure fruit puree.

Of all the flavours above, I managed to taste strawberry, green tea and citrus. Of all the three flavours that I had tasted so far, I personally enjoy the flavours of citrus most among all. (Perhaps I'm am bias as I am a person who loves anything that has lemon flavours in it)

And as mentioned earlier, we enjoyed it with a bottle of champagne, which was the Billecart Salmon Champagne - Brut Rose.

Of all the rose champagne that I had so far, this rose champagne colour is very different as compared to the rest. Usually rose champagne comes with a slight pinkish colour, however for Billecart Salmon Brut Rose Champagne, you wouldn't notice the pinkish colour if you didn't observe it properly. There's still a very minimal of pinkish colour but mostly yellowish as you can see from the photo.

It is always an enjoyment to pair a glass of champagne with some desserts. I enjoyed it more with the companion of my partner.

Ma Cherie French Pastries

http://www.macherie.co.nz/