Review: Lychee Cafe in Wellington, New Zealand

I recently discovered Lychee Cafe through a friend who claimed the vegetarian menu was interesting and delicious. Personally, I love meat. I eat animals from the rooter to the tooter (although not always at one go). 

I’ve sworn against eating out with vegetarians after a few rather unpleasant veggie restaurants I’ve sampled in the greater Wellington region, and though skeptical I’d enjoy a purely vegetarian meal, I went along with my good friend and we turned to the cafe for dinner. I figure time spent with good company is never a disappointment even if the meal is. I was pleasantly surprised when they rolled out the pan-fried dumplings for our entree. The skin was perfect, the veggies inside were finely chopped and seasoned Asian greens and not the usual array of cabbage, shredded carrot, or worse, a Watties frozen mixed bag of western veggies crammed into store-bought wonton skins (shudder). The dumplings came with a sweet soy and garlic dipping sauce. It was the outstanding dish of the night. 

A few days later, when I had another craving for Chinese food (this time for the specialties with meat), I dragged my husband with me to dinner. Having lived in Asia for many years, my husband knew a few items on the menu and was able to practice his Mandarin with the staff. It was an outstanding meal with the Peking beef rolls (Chinese sesame flatbread with sliced braised beef, scallions and hoisin sauce rolled into what looks like an Asian burrito) and Taiwanese-style beef noodle soup the stars of the evening. The beef they use is perfect: fatty, tendons and some gristle attached for a nice bounce when chewed. It never ceases to amaze me why some people complain about having a little fat and gristle with their meat. If cooked properly, these things add wonderful flavor and texture. We had one rather forgettable dish, the three cups chicken, but we ate everything else with gusto. They have Tsingtao Beer (yay), a limited wine list and a nice selection of Chinese teas. The tea list is very good if you enjoy this kind of stuff.

I recommend going for a casual meal and introduction to Taiwanese cuisine in Wellington. The owners are from Taiwan, I hear, and the staff are very friendly and provide great suggestions if you're one of the uninitiated in this regional style of Chinese cooking.

Shanghai-style Chao Nian Gao (Sauteed Sticky Rice Cakes)

Shanghai-style Sauteed Rice Cakes

Happy Year of the Snake!

I fully expect everyone to be gorging themselves on Chinese food until they're a heaping, lifeless mass on the sofa sipping cautiously on whiskey rocks while the sound of clacking mahjong tiles and the cacophony of elderly Chinese grandmothers gossiping in the background ebb and flow.

If the above doesn't sound very realistic in your household this lunar holiday season, you can at the very least sample one of the delicious dishes that is integral to the feast of any self-respecting Chinese household.

Ingredients

500 grams rice cakes (frozen or dried, soak for 2-3 hours in tap water in a large bowl)
5 whole leaves napa cabbage (aka Chinese cabbage or celery cabbage), sliced into slivers
100 grams pork tenderloin with a little bit of fat, sliced into slivers
6 dried shitake mushrooms (reconstituted in hot water, save the water!), slivers
50 grams pickled cabbage (canned, Ma Ling brand), finely chopped
1 inch fresh ginger, very thin slivers
50 grams bamboo shoots, very thin slivers
1 tsp finely ground white pepper
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp Xiaoxing rice wine
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/4-1/2 cup beef stock
2 tbsp vegetable or peanut oil (make sure it's an oil that can stand high, high heat...grapeseed and canola should do fine)

While the rice cakes are soaking in a bowl of tap water, start prepping your other ingredients. I'm sure after reading the ingredients list, you picked up the recurring theme of tiny or thin slivers.
* Cooking Tip 101: When you cut or slice things into similar sizes, they cook at the same rate and thus you end up eliminating having to cook things separately and at varying amounts of times.

Then put...

1 tsp finely ground white pepper
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp Xiaoxing rice wine
1 tbsp cornstarch
Liquid from reconstituted mushrooms

...together in a small bowl until the cornstarch has been mixed thoroughly. Add a few teaspoons of this mixture with the slivered pork and marinate for a few minutes.

Drain the rice cakes in a colander, which should now be somewhat bendable (but still breakable so don't apply too much pressure). Set all prepped items aside and heat oil on HIGH in wok.

Oil should glisten. Toss the pork in and it should sizzle and splatter. The pork should cook through almost immediately. Then, add the...

5 whole leaves napa cabbage (aka Chinese cabbage or celery cabbage), sliced into slivers
100 grams pork tenderloin with a little bit of fat, sliced into slivers
6 dried shitake mushrooms (reconstituted in hot water, save the water!), slivers
50 grams pickled cabbage (canned, Ma Ling brand), finely chopped
1 inch fresh ginger, very thin slivers
50 grams bamboo shoots, very thin slivers

...to the pork in the wok. Toss, stir, make sure it doesn't burn on the high HIGH heat.

Lastly, add the rice cakes and stir frequently. Add the beef broth and watch it sizzle some more while you stir-fry like master Chinese grandmother!

Once the sauce thickens, the rice cakes should soften and have a sticky/chewy consistency; turn off the heat and plate the dish.

I like to garnish with fried shallots, but others have put chopped spring onions or chopped coriander. Garnish to your own taste.

Xing nian quai le, and happy eating!

Hint:
Rice cakes can be found at most Asian grocers, but in Wellington, I found the best frozen rice cakes at the Korean shop Haere Mai, in the deep freezer. The pickled cabbage and the bamboo shoots are sold at Yans and a new grocer on Tennyson Road called Asiana.

Auckland vs. Wellington Restaurants/Food - Who is the Winner?

Auckland. Hands down.

Unsatisfying Places to Eat in Wellington Part 1

I hate it when expectations at a dining establishment aren't met in even the most basic fashion.

It's a gorgeous day in Wellington without a cloud in the sky, the wind a playful tease, waves lapping thirstily against the shores. Our neighbor suggested The Chocolate Fish Cafe during a drunken night over too many bottles of especially good wine in our home, and although I always have my doubts when it comes to restaurant suggestions from people who have prohibitive diets that are purely based on preferences and not medical needs, I gave this one the benefit of a doubt. 

Should I have stuck to my gut instincts and not listened? Hell. Yes.

The view from this cafe is not lost on me. With the ocean only a few steps away and Hataitai and Melrose hills in the close distance, it's a beautiful and cheery place to take the kids, with lots of toys and 3-wheel trikes, a mini playground with a large grass lawn to run about while the adults drink their coffees and eat in peace for a few minutes before the crying and kiddie whinging start up again.

I enjoyed the atmosphere, especially with the sun beating down on the full scene like a young Kiwi pastoral landscape gone wild.

None of this gets the cafe off the hook, though. 

I read through the menu, excited by the seafood sandwiches and limited scope of food. Usually, that means a place knows how to do a few things really well. I ordered a scallop sandwich for $17 and my partner ordered a crayfish sandwich for $20.

What I got was two pieces of "italian" bread (Why the asterisks? I don't know, ask the staff. Perhaps it's not really Italian, but only 30%?), with 8 scallops, a small handful of baby spinach leaves, a runny and bland garlic aioli and a lemon wedge. 

The scallops were under-seasoned, the aioli was just a runny mayo without a hint of garlic flavor, and the bread tasted stale. The only thing that didn't make me chuck my plate off the edge of the balcony we sat upon were the scallops. They were fresh, plump and juicy.

My partner's crayfish sandwich was only slightly better, with plump pieces of crayfish blended into a soft omelette with butter and parsley. Still, the bread just wasn't the right conduit for this sandwich, making it look as insipid and limp as it tasted.

The crayfish and scallops were the stars of the meal by far, but it's kind of hard to fuck up fresh seafood, try as they might, and $37 for 8 scallops and a few pieces of crayfish is not really worth it. By the amount of traffic and business this place gets, I'm surprised they haven't upped their ante. I also wonder if parenthood make taste buds go into remission? I hope not or else we're never having kids.

Update!

It's been a while since my last post; I've been quite busy at my new gig. I'm surrounded by foodies-cooking-chefs-recipes-all-day-every-day and haven't had much time to write much about my own kitchen. Most days I come home late and exhausted, having tasted so many things during the day that my palate is as weary as the rest of me.

As such, one major consequence of my current role (*cue the violins*) is that I am starting to eat out in Wellington more. With new professional foodie friends in tow, I'm treated to dinners, given suggestions and introduced to a lot more people working in the local restaurant scene.

The only way to keep track of it all is to journal it here. So, for the one or two of you who still keep track of my posts, I hope this new direction won't bore the hell out of you.

A.S.

Easter Dinner 2012

Butterflied leg of lamb with persillade, roasted herbed-mustard baby carrots and rutabaga mash. The taste of fall and Easter in one meal. Now, on to the chocolate eggs.

Early Summer BBQ

Nothing tastes as good as a porterhouse steak straight off the grill with simple salads made from the season's best ingredients.

This entire dinner took me 30 minutes to create, with about an additional 15 minutes grill time.

We paired the steak with a red ale.

It's summertime!


Porterhouse Steak

extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
2 porterhouse or NY sirloin strips

Season generously. Marinate at room temperature for 15-30 minutes and then toss on BBQ over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes each side for medium-rare. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Tomato and Cucumber Salad

3 tbsp minced red onion
1/2 English cucumber, large dice
1 container of grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Toss all ingredients together and serve chilled.

Easy Potato Salad

1 kg of new potatoes, scrubbed and boiled until soft
1 large green onion, minced fine with white and green parts
2 tbsp red onion, minced
4 tbsp thinly sliced basil leaves
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp relish
2-3 tbsp fresh mayonnaise
sea salt
fine ground white pepper

Cut potatoes into bite-sized pieces and toss all ingredients together in bowl until well coated. Season with salt and pepper. If you don't have relish, you could easily substitute in a chutney or sweet pickle to give it another dimension.

Grilled Lemon Asparagus

Juice from 1/2 lemon
Extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Coat asparagus in olive oil and seasonings and let marinate for 15 minutes prior to grilling. Grill until soft.

Homemade Garlic Bread

One french loaf or sourdough loaf
Butter, soft
2 large garlic cloves, finely minced
Garlic powder
sea salt
fine white pepper
1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, minced
Parmesan cheese, grated (optional)

Mix butter with fresh garlic and salt. Apply generous helping of butter onto bread slice lengthwise. Season with white pepper and garlic powder. Sprinkle parmesan cheese (if adding) and place butter side down on grill to get a nice char. Turn over and warm other half. Top with fresh parsley and serve.

Pizza = Vegetable (another absurdity from Congress)

I love the USA. I really do.

But this type of crap really makes me sad. We throw common sense and children's health out the window simply to make some money.

This is a photo of the typical school lunch in an American public school. I'm not quite sure what that gunky white sauce is in the photo, but I assume it's ranch dressing. You tell me whether anything on this plate should be considered a vegetable.

Peking Duck Tacos

Don't lecture me about tacos, man.

I lived in California for most of my life so I KNOW the taco. It has been one of my favorite things to eat since grade school. Mexican tacos are delicious little hand-pressed corn tortillas with some nicely spiced, grilled meat with some pico de gallo and/or chopped onions. Most of the time, splashed with a little Tapatio to heat things up.

Californian-style tacos can be made with corn or flour tortillas; they can house Korean bulgolgi and kimchee or 5-spice chicken with sweet daikon and carrot pickles or even summer succotash.

Basically, a taco can be anything you want it to be. Here's my latest creation:

Peking Duck Tacos

tortilla:

1 cup of ap flour, 1/2 cup cold water, 1/3 cup pork lard, 1 tsp of fine sea salt. mix salt and flour together, then add lard and mix with fingers until flour looks crumbly. add water, but not all at once. sometimes i need more water to get the dough to the right consistency, and sometimes i need less. do it with 2-3 tbsp each time and mix dough until it becomes tacky and still sticks to your fingers, but not mushy and wet, and you can form a ball with it. place in bowl and rest under either plastic or wet towel at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.

duck breast:

take 2 breasts and score the skin diagonally across a few times making sure not to slice into the lean meat. trim off excess fat and chop into large pieces. season breasts with 1 tbsp of fresh 5 spice powder and a generous amount of fine sea salt and white pepper on both sides, making sure to rub into the skin well. set aside breasts.

five spice powder:

2 cinnamon sticks, 4 star anise, 5 cloves, a little under 1 tbsp fennel seeds, and a little under 1 tbsp sichuan peppercorns. toasted, ground and then sifted through.

duck chicharrones:

using the chopped fat and skin, toss into frying pan on medium-low heat. should start sizzling and rendering right away. once the crackling is golden brown to medium brown (depending on how crispy you like them). then take crackling out of pan and put on paper towels to drain oil. toss in bowl with a dash of 5 spice powder, salt and white pepper. set aside.

hoisin-lime sauce:

1 tbsp of minced garlic, 1 tbsp of minced ginger, juice from 3 large limes, 1/2 bottle of hoisin sauce, salt and 2 tbsp of vegetable oil. saute garlic and ginger in oil on medium heat until fragrant and add hoisin sauce, stirring constantly to prevent the sauce from burning. turn off heat and stir in lime juice. add salt to taste. blend sauce in blender until smooth. if there are any lumps, pass through a fine mesh sieve.

cooking duck breasts:

to get a medium rare and well rendered breast, put both breasts skin side down on medium heat in frying pan. render off fat while cooking for 5-6 minutes on that side. add 2 star anise and 2 cinnamon sticks to oil. flip breasts over and give it another 2 minutes on medium heat and finish in 300 degree oven for 5 minutes. throw away star anise and cinnamon. take duck out of oven and rest the breast on counter for 10 minutes.

red cabbage saute:

1/4 small red cabbage. chiffonade cabbage and saute in 1 tbsp of duck fat from rendering of breasts. add 1 tbsp of rice wine vinegar and salt to taste. set aside.

accompaniments:

pluck some good cilantro stems and leaves from bunch. you'll need about 5-8 good stalks. wash, dry and trim 2 scallions. chiffonade scallions into 2-3 inch in length. slice 1/4 of english cucumbers into thin rounds, using a mandolin preferably to get thin and even slices.

cooking tortillas:

take dough out and work on floured bench until it has a smooth and elastic consistency. making into a ball and smash down a bit. cut into 8 pieces. make each piece into ball and flatten before using rolling pin to roll out into flat tortilla. flour and set aside. using low-medium heat and nonstick pan, toast tortillas on both sides until you see golden brown spots form. you might get some air bubbles, but that's ok. you can pop with with a knife or by pressing down on them. when done, the tortilla should be pliable and soft while looking toasted and have nice golden brown spots all over. don't over cook or tortilla will get flaky and crackly.

assembly:

slice into duck breast against the grain, and then rough chop. the inside should be warm and pink. spoon some cabbage over tortilla, then duck, then cucumber, add some cilantro leaves and stems, then add some of the hoisin-lime sauce over the taco and eat. should make about 8. chicharrones can be served on side or sprinkled on top of taco.

Beer-Battered Fish Tacos

When I lived in San Diego, there was a place at the end of the avenue leading to Ocean Beach called South Beach Bar & Grille that many people claim to have the best fish tacos north of the border. I remember my first taco there with perfectly fried, tender and juicy pollock filets, the crispy beer batter countered with a tangy/garlicky crema sauce and some pico de gallo and cilantro leaves.


Flash forward a few more years and I live on a large island surrounded by beautiful blue cod, snapper and tarakihi. The only things missing are some good handmade corn tortillas (where are the neighborhood abuelas when you need 'em?!) and Mexican crema, but I'm making due with some ready-made flour tortillas and fresh sour cream.

Fish and Batter Ingredients

1-1/2 lbs blue cod filets, picked over for bones
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp finely ground white pepper

1 cup tempura flour or (1 cup of AP flour with 1 tbsp cornstarch)
200ml of very cold cerveza or light beer
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp finely ground white pepper

Slaw Ingredients

1/4 head of thinly sliced red cabbage
1/2 cup white vinegar
3 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
zest of one lemon or lime
3 tbsp mayonnaise

Pico de Gallo Ingredients

1 finely chopped tomato
3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro stems and leaves
1/4 finely chopped white onion
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 finely minced chili pepper with seeds and membranes removed

Extras

Sour cream
1 finely chopped scallion
Extra cilantro leaves and stems

6-8 flour or corn tortillas

Directions

1. Wash and paper towel dry the fish filets. Cut into 1"x4" pieces. Salt and pepper the fish and set aside in fridge for 20 minutes.

2. Make the pico de gallo and slaw by combining all ingredients and putting in fridge to chill

3. When you are ready to cook the fish, pour about 4 inches of canola or sunflower seed oil into a deep-lipped frying pan and turn the heat on medium. Next, combine the batter ingredients, but do not overmix. It is perfectly fine to have lumps in the batter. When the oil reaches about 300F degrees, dip the fish pieces into the batter and evenly coat. Let the excess batter drip away before putting the fish piece into the oil. Do not fry more than 2-3 pieces at a time or else the oil's temperature will drop too quickly. When the batter fries to a golden brown, remove the fish and drain on plate topped with paper towels. You may keep them warm in an oven at 150F degrees.

4. Warm your tortillas either in the oven or on the stove top with a large frying pan set on med-low heat. Remove and place in tortilla warmer or envelope the tortillas in a folded and clean dish rag to prevent it from drying out.

5. Once ready to serve, combine the fish with slaw, top with pico de gallo and accompanying ingredients to your liking. I also love mine with a little bit of Tapatio or Vietnamese hot sauce for extra punch.

Chow Chow (Picalilli Relish) Recipe

The origins of chow chow are rather obtuse. Some say the Brits brought this relish back from India, based on the sweet chutneys that accompanied the cuisine. Others say it's just a version of gherkin pickling that arose out of the need to keep vegetables in an edible state during the brutally cold and wet winters. Britons even call it by another name: picalilli relish.

Whatever the case may be, chow chow eventually found its way to North America, where it gained popularity in the South, and based on an ungodly amount of green tomatoes. I researched recipes from Britain all the way west to Canada and down through Louisiana, and this is my personal, international version of chow chow (or picalilli, however you want to call it).

The American Saveur's Chow Chow Recipe

1/4 large head of cabbage (not napa or savoy)
1 lbs of green tomatoes
1 yellow bell pepper
2 small yellow onions
1/4 cauliflower head

4 cups of apple cider vinegar
3 cups of white sugar

1 tbsp ground turmeric
3 heaping tbsp of dry yellow mustard powder (Colemans is best)
4 heaping tbsp of AP flour
1 tsp of cornstarch
3/4 cup water

Finely chop all vegetables and mix together. Set aside.

Pour vinegar and sugar into large, non-reactive pot on medium heat until sugar is melted and vinegar is warm. Pour chopped vegetables into pot and turn up heat on high until vegetables boil. Turn down heat to low, and simmer for 45 minutes.

Mix dried spices, flour, cornstarch and water together to form a paste. At the 45 minute mark, pour the spice mixture and stir until it is well-combined. Turn up heat to med-high and stir for 10 minutes until mixture thickens. Turn off heat, set aside.

Using some sterilized jars, scoop batches of chow chow into each container and sterilize in hot water bath. Set aside, and refrigerate when containers are cool to the touch.

Makes enough relish for 3-5 large pickle jars or 6-7 jam/preserve jars. Serve as condiment to sausages, hot dogs, burgers, sandwiches, cheese plates or breakfast items.

Cream Scones

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick), frozen
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 large egg


Heat the oven to 450°F/225C and arrange a rack in the middle. Sift the flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and break up any lumps with whisk.

Grate the frozen butter through the large holes on a box grater; add to the flour mixture and toss until well combined. Whisk the heavy cream and the egg in a small bowl. Pour this mixture into the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until the dough just comes together.

Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a circle. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough to about 1/2-inch thickness. Dip a 2-1/2-inch biscuit cutter in some extra flour, tap off the excess, and stamp out as many scones as possible. Repeat until you have a total of 12 scones.

Place the scones at least 1/2 inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops of the scones with cream. Bake until they are puffed and the tops are golden and getting brown around the edges, about 10 to 12 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with your favorite jam and butter or with some clotted cream.

Pho (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

In San Francisco, getting a delicious bowl of pho wasn't really that difficult. There was usually a nice little Vietnamese pho restaurant hidden away in an avenue or at a strip mall in the 'burbs. You could get a large bowl of pho dac biet or pho tai or any other variety for a fairly low price of $7-$9, and fall easily into a pho-induced afternoon coma after slurping past the halfway point of one of these bowls of beefy goodness.


In Wellington, it's a completely different story. First, there are less than a handful of restaurants that actually serve pho. Then, you usually get bland broth with chewy, overcooked beef slices or beef meatballs. I have yet to encounter tendons, tripe, flank steak or even rare steak in a bowl of pho in Wellington. COME ON! What's a bowl of pho without any of that?

So, in desperation, I decided to make pho at home...for the first time EVER. I figured if I paid $10-$12 a bowl at a Wellington restaurant for a very mediocre and bland bowl, I could just as well buy the spices and bones, and simmer on my own to find a good broth base and add to it my favorite ingredients.

This recipe did not disappoint. Tomorrow, I'm off to the butcher's for offal and tendons!

Pho (Based on Into the Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen's recipe)

BROTH
3 small onions, halved, do not remove skin
2 medium sized nubs of ginger, halved lengthwise, do not remove skin
2.5-3 kg or 5-6 lbs of good beef bones, preferably leg and knuckle
1 kg of beef flank, with fat and sinew
6 quarts of water
1 package of Pho Spices [2 cinnamon sticks, 1 tbl coriander seeds, 1 tbl fennel seeds, 6 whole star anise, 2 cardamom pods, 6 whole cloves - in mesh bag]
3 tablespoons rock salt (halve if using regular table salt)
1/2 cup fish sauce
2 large chunks of yellow rock sugar (about 3 oz)

NOODLES AND ETC.
Rice noodles (dried or fresh)
Sliced flank from broth
Handful of cilantro, thai basil and green onions, sliced on the diagonal
1 lime, cut into wedges
1 large jalapeno pepper, sliced
1 big handful of mung bean sprouts
Hoisin sauce
Sriracha hot sauce

Heat oven to broil. Coat onion and ginger halves with vegetable oil and place on cookie tray. Put in oven for 10 minutes and turn to broil for another 5. There should be a nice char that forms on the onions.

Boil water in 2 large pots, one with 6 quarts of water in a soup pot (with about 4-5 inches of space at the top) and the other in a large pot (no need to measure water). Parboil bones and flank meat in unmeasured pot first for 5 minutes, dump water out and place bones into the pot with 6 quarts of simmering water on medium-low. Remove scum that floats to the top.

Add fish sauce, rock sugar, ginger and onions. Remove any additional scum and fat that rise to the top. Simmer for 2 hours.

Add spice pack after 2 hours. Keep simmering for another 3-4 hours. Keep skimming the scum! You'll be amazed at how much scum you'll skim during the entire process.

Cook rice noodles by placing dry noodles in a large bowl. Cover with boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Make sure to stir the noodles to prevent sticking.

Prepare cilantro, basil, bean sprouts, lime wedges and jalapeno slices on plate. Squeeze some sriracha and hoisin sauce in a ramekin. Once noodles are ready, place them with a few ladle-fulls of broth in a soup bowl. Slice the flank steak against the grain and place them with a few scallion pieces in the bowl. Enjoy!

EDIT
Here are a few tips for a better broth:
- After letting your bones and broth simmer all day, refrigerate and scrape off the fat from the top of your pot. Your broth will be less fatty.
- Keep skimming scum as much as you can. You'll have a beautifully clear, amber broth if you first do the parboil and then do as much skimming as you can.
- Add as much fish sauce and salt to your broth as you see fit. Even if it feels like it's a lot, it's probably not as much as you'd get in a restaurant.

Cardamom-Almond Biscotti

I don't usually get pastries or cakes when I have my coffee/tea, but I just love a crunchy and light biscotti. It's the perfect pick-me-up in the afternoon, and sometimes, right before bed.

This is your basic biscotti recipe, but I decided to add cardamom and whole almonds because I love the floral taste and the extra crunch of whole nuts.




3-1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups sugar
10 tablespoons (1-1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 cup whole almonds, toasted or blanched

Preheat oven to 350F/177C. Slide rack onto center rung.

In medium bowl, sift together salt, flour and baking powder. In large bowl, mix together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and cardamom. Slowly mix in dry ingredients (about a cup or two at a time) until thoroughly blended. Add almonds.

Divid the dough in half, and roll each one into thick logs that are about 2-1/2 inches (5 cm) in diameter. Place parchment or baking paper on top of cookie sheet and place both logs on paper. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. The logs will have flattened a bit during baking, and will look like a loaf of ciabatta bread.

Remove from oven and let cool for about 15-20 minutes. Slice into loaves using sharp, serrated knife at an angle, making each biscotti at least 1 inch (2 cm) wide. Put biscotti back onto cookie sheet, on their sides, and bake on each side for another 5-8 minutes. They should be pretty hard when you pull them out of the oven the final time.

Let cool and enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee.

Beef Cheeks Stew

This is a simple dish, made in the style of a "daube," a traditional French stew. Instead of herbes de provence, I used only thyme, building flavor by adding a light sweet/sour element at the end.












1/2 kg of beef cheeks, cut into large chunks
2 slices of bacon, cut into short strips
1 tbsp olive oil
1 parsnip, cut into large bite-sized chunks
1 carrot, cut into large bite-sized chunks
1 onion, cut into large chunks
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup of dry red wine
1 cup of beef or vegetable stock

8-10 brown mushrooms, cleaned and cut into halves
1 shallot, sliced thinly
2 tbsp of rice wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp butter

Using a medium pot set on medium heat, saute the garlic, onion and bacon until onions are cooked down. Toss in carrots and parsnips and saute for another 5 minutes. Set vegetables aside in a bowl. Using the oil in the pot, put beef cheeks, thyme and tomato paste in pot and brown on medium high heat. Add the wine and make sure the browned bits are scraped off into the wine as it lends flavor to the stew. Put the vegetables back into pot and add stock. Turn heat down to the lowest setting and simmer for 2 hours.

In small saute pan, melt butter until sizzling and then add the shallot. Fry until golden brown and add sugar and half of the vinegar. Add mushrooms and the other half of the vinegar and saute until mushrooms are half cooked. Pour contents of the saute pan into the pot with beef. Cook together for another 30-45 minutes.

The cheeks will be tender and you'll have an amazing sauce for which you can eat with good crusty french bread, mashed potatoes, rice or pasta.

Crepes

Here's the secret: Crepes are really easy to make if you have a blender and a teflon pan.

I used Alton Brown's crepe recipe of 2 eggs, 3/4 cup whole milk, 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup water, 3 tbsp of melted butter.

For savory crepes, I add 1/4 tsp of salt to the batter mix. If I'm in the mood for sweet, I add 1 tsp of vanilla essence and 2-1/2 tbsp of sugar.

Either way, you want to incorporate all of these ingredients into a blender and blend smooth for about 10-15 seconds. Any more, and the wheat gluten in the flour will make your crepes have the texture of rubber floor mats.

The key is to let your batter rest in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes. This way, the bubbles release and the gluten relaxes.

On medium or medium low heat, put some butter in the pan and wait until it starts to sizzle. Pour a little less than 1/4 cup of batter into the pan and swirl it around so there's an even coating on the bottom.

Carefully lift one of the edges (I like to use my fingers), and flip to other side depending on how well you like your crepes. You might like them browner or crisper. You might like them more on the pliable and soft side.

This will make about 16 8" crepes. Fill them to your heart's content. I stuffed my savory ones with mushrooms and garlic, and the sweet ones with bananas, cream cheese and honey.

Chicken and Dumpling Pot Pie

I had some leftover chicken and dumplings so I spooned the stew into a 6-muffin baking tray, in equal portions. I then crumpled some phyllo pastry on top, sprayed some butter on top, baked in the oven at 150C for about 15 minutes and served with some salad. It made for a nice, comforting meal for 2.

Basic Chicken Stock

I'm not knocking the pre-made stuff or bouillon cubes at all. They're great when you're in a pinch for broth and don't have half a day to watch over a simmering vat of bones, all the while skimming every few minutes to get rid of the nasty froth that rises from the bowels of an animal to the top of your pot.

I do recommend making a good homemade stock once in a while to familiarize yourself with the taste of an old fashioned broth made from a chicken, bones-skin-meat-fat and all. It's pure heaven.

One important note: ALWAYS use free-range/organic chicken. I have found the flavor to be more profound than the run-of-the-mill, supermarket variety.

Basic Chicken Stock

1 bouquet garni (roll up a couple stems of thyme, a bay leaf, a few parsley stems inside a couple flat pieces of light green leek leaves and tie tightly with kitchen twine)
1 chicken, around 3-4 lbs and free-range/organic
water
1 carrot, big dice
1 leek or 2 celery stalks, big dice
1 onion, quartered
sea salt

You'll need your biggest stock pot so bring out the big guns. Rinse the chicken, making sure all errant feathers have been plucked and any giblets are removed from the cavity. Place chicken in pot and cover with water, with at least 2 inches of water above the chicken. Place on stove on high heat until water starts boiling. Once the water boils, turn heat to medium and start skimming. The skimming will take roughly 15-20 minutes to remove ALL impurities and for an extremely clear broth. Make sure your water is not at rolling boil, but at a gentle simmer/boil with small bubbles rising to top to carry the impurities to the surface.

Once skimmed, add bouquet garni and vegetables and cover. Cook for 30 minutes. Remove the chicken and let it cool while your stock is bubbling away. Remove meat from bones to be used later in other recipes. Return bones back to pot to simmer for another 2-3 hours with vegetables and herbs.

Add salt to taste and turn off heat. Remove all solid contents from broth, and trash the bones and bouquet. You can either throw the vegetables away or puree them and make a hearty/creamy soup later with the pieces.

You should have an exceptionally clear and nicely concentrated chicken stock. Freeze if not using right away.

Chicken and Dumplings

It's a blustery Easter Sunday in Wellington. Gale force winds, slightly wet, and totally cloudy. Our cat Pushkin spent the day next to the window, twisted in a pretzel, looking up occasionally to see if there's anything going on outside except for leaves swishing about with the raindrops.

I fashioned some chicken and dumplings from scratch, making my own chicken stock from a whole stewing hen since there's very little else to do today except listen to Nick Cave, write and eat. Most retail outlets are closed and the weather hasn't cooperated at all for outdoor activities.

The dumplings were light and fluffy, and it's really good with homemade broth as the base. I'm using the leftovers tonight to make a pot pie, covering the creamy stew with a phyllo pastry "crown."

Chicken and Dumpling Recipe

Stew Base:
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
4 cups of chicken stock (see homemade chicken stock recipe)
1/2 tsp dried mixed Italian herbs
1 cooked chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces
3 tbsp finely chopped green onions
1/2 large carrot, chopped into bite-sized coins or half coins
1 large leek, white part only, cut into bite-sized coins
sea salt
fine white pepper

Dumplings:
5 tbsp of polenta
6 tbsp of all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp cold unsalted butter, small dice
1/4 cup whole milk
1 egg
2 tbsp minced flat-leaf parsley

Make the stew first. Make roux with melted butter, dried spices and flour on low-medium heat. Using a metal whisk, stir constantly until flour and butter bubble and cook to a golden brown. Gently pour in your chicken stock, one cup at a time as you keep whisking to make the sauce smooth. Boil gently until sauce is thick like pancake syrup. Add chicken and vegetables, including the green onions, and stir until mixed through. Salt and pepper to your taste, although make sure your stew isn't too salty as you'll be adding the dumplings later and can adjust the salt to taste at the end. Turn heat to low and simmer (very little bubbles) while you make the dumplings.

Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl. Throw the butter pieces into the dry mix and incorporate loosely. It should look somewhat chunky. In separate bowl, whisk egg, milk and parsley together until blended thoroughly and pour into dry mixture, stirring until you get a wet dough. Using a soup spoon, make rounded dumplings and drop into stew. Cook until dumplings are done, about 15-20 minutes. You can check by cutting one of the dumplings in half. If the middle looks like a corn muffin, it's done. Taste and add salt or pepper if desired.

Spoon a few dumplings, chicken and vegetables into a bowl and serve hot. It's delicious with a simple arugula salad with vinaigrette or crusty french bread on the side.

Leek, Potato, Bacon, Feta Pie

It is exactly what it sounds like, with tons of butter and phyllo pastry.