Anna's Mothers Day Lunch

I followed my own advice and cooked bits of the menu for Mothers Day Lunch. This was slightly more complicated as I cooked most of the meal at my place, but then took it round to Mum's for the meal as my house is not suitable for guests at the moment.

I cooked the soup, the pork, the noodle pancakes, the Asian greens, and the poached nashi pears.

The soup was good and quick and easy. The soba noodle salad did not seem to add anything to the soup and I wouldn't do that again, but would do the soup again.

The Pork was good even if it did take quite a bit of time. The pancakes were dry and disappointing, but the Asian greens went well with the pork and were nice.

I was going to do the pudding, but ran out of time, so just poached the pears and had them with ice cream. They were good and I thought an improvement on Nashi Pears which I'm not that great a fan of.

Autumn lunches...

This is based on an item I saw on Stuff or the Herald a few months ago, sounded awesome, so I veganised it, but it works really well with a firm white fish too as I tried the same thing with fish for Dave. Sumac can be purchased from Mediterranean shops, possibly even Moore Wilsons, I got mine from a Lebanese supply shop that's now closed. :o(
This is really simple and is great for those wonderful warm spring / autumn days.
Sumac crust tofu serves 2 big - 4 light
1 pack firm tofu (the stuff I got from the market had 4 4inch square tofu blocks and I used 2.) 1/4 cup flour ( cornmeal can be used)
1/4 cup sumac (dried red berries ground into the nommiest powder)
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch ground pepper (I used white)
Olive oil.

Mix the dry stuff together and put on to a plate. cut / break your tofu into nice portion sized bits, mine was already segmented so used the natural breaks. place tofu onto the sumac mix and leave each side to soak up the yummy sumac goodness. turn on your stove, heat your pan quite hot (have stove on highest setting and a cast iron frypan is best). Add splash of oil, heat the oil, drop temperature to midrange. then place in the tofu. leave to sizzle for about 2 - 3 minutes, then turn over. Drop temp to 20% and leave gently heating through for about 5 - 10 minutes. I served this with a salad of roquette / arugula, lettuce, tomato (all from my garden), capsicums / bell peppers and half a jalapeño chilli. Dressing was garlic mustard based vinaigrette. Fresh baked bread topped it all off. To make it look pretty, I cut the tofu on an angle and out the slices fancily on the plate.

This would also go well with beans and steamed potatoes (urenika would look pretty cool).

To drink, a glass of vegan rose wine, if being fancy.

Mother's Day Menu idea

This week I have decided to put in a complete menu. It is from a book I was given about New Zealand fresh Markets called Dinner in a Basket by Judith Cullen. This book is split into months and talks about a different market in NZ for each month and then has a menu inspired by the visit to that month’s market in that month. So this is May’s menu from the Avondale Market in Auckland.
This is a weekend menu as the pork is a long slow cook one. I suggest that you might want to just do bits of the menu, or if you are keen you could do the entire thing for Mother’s Day.

Menu

Spicy Zucchini Soup, served with Soba Noodle Salad
Spicy Diced Pork in Wonton Cones
Slow Baked Pork Belly Slices with Orange and Soy
Zucchini and Noodle Pancakes
Roasted Cauliflower and Asian Greens with a Warm Spicy Dressing
Steamed Coconut Puddings with Nashi Pears in Kaffir Lime and Palm Sugar Syrup

(each recipe serves 4—6 people)

Spicy Zucchini Soup served with Soba Noodle Salad
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 stem fresh lemon grass, sliced (outer stems removed)
1 onion, sliced
1 kilo zucchini, chopped
1 leek, sliced
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 small fresh red chilli, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce
½ teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
½ can coconut milk — 1 cup
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced


In a large saucepan heat the oil. Add the onion, leek, chilli, ginger; garlic, lime leaves, and lemon grass. Sauté for 4—5 minutes or until the onion is cooked and soft.
Add the zucchini and cook For a Further 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients except coriander and simmer until the zucchini is tender.
Add the chopped coriander.
Purée in batches and return to the saucepan. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
To serve: ladle the zucchini soup into warm bowls and top Soba Noodle Salad (see above) and a sprinkling of chopped coriander.

Soba Noodle Salad
150 grams soba noodles
2 teaspoons fresh mint, finely chopped
½ red onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 spring onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 tablespoon kecap manis
1 red pepper, halved, de-seeded and thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup coriander leaves, chopped

Cook the noodles in boiling salted water for 4—5 minutes or until tender.
Refresh in cold water. Drain.
In a bowl combine the noodles with the remaining ingredients.
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover and leave for 30 minutes.

Spicy Diced Pork in Wonton Cones
1 kilo shoulder pork
¼ cup peanut oil
½ cup sea salt
1 fresh chill!, de-seeded and finely sliced
3 cm piece of fresh ginger
½ cup oyster sauce
300 grams fresh green beans, thinly sliced
¼ cup soy sauce
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 cup peanuts, roasted and coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 cup spring onions, thinly sliced
handful fresh coriander, chopped

Place the pork, ginger and sea salt in a large saucepan. Add enough cold water to cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the pork is just cooked
Drain the pork and refresh under cold water-. Cut the excess far from the pork and discard. Slice the meat into small pieces.
Combine the chilli, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil and caster sugar.
Hear a large frying pan on high and add 1—2 tablespoons of peanut oil.
Pile in the pork. Stir fry until the pork is browned.
Add the sliced beans, celery, spring onions and peanuts then the oyster sauce mixture.
Mix to combine and heat through. Transfer to a bowl. Toss through chopped coriander.
Serve pork in Wonton Cones (see following) or in iceberg lettuce cups.

Slow Baked Pork Belly Slices with Orange and Soy
1 kilo pork belly, cut into 10-12 thick strips
2.5 cm piece of ginger thinly sliced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 ½ cups beef stock
2 fresh chillies (red or green), de-seeded and finely chopped
½ cup soy sauce
1 disk of palm sugar or 2 tablespoons brown sugar
¼ cup mirin (sweet rice vinegar)
1 cinnamon stick
juice and zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoons coriander, chopped

In a large frying pan heat the oil and sear the pork strips on each side, in batches, until brown.
Return all the strips to the pan and cover with water. Simmer for 20 minutes. Drain the poaching liquid.
Add the stock, soy sauce, mirin, orange juice and zest, ginger, garlic, chillies, sugar and cinnamon. If necessary add enough water to cover pork.
Bring to the boil. Cover and gently simmer for 1 ½ hours.
Transfer the pork strips to a baking dish.
Boil the stock uncovered for 20 minutes or until thick and syrupy.
Just before serving grill the pork strips on each side until they start to crisp.
To serve: place pork slices on Zucchini and Noodle Pancakes with the reduced stock drizzled over the top.
Sprinkle with chopped coriander.

Wonton Cones
11 cm metal cones (come in a pack of six for creamed horns)
20 wonton wrappers
vegetable oil for frying

Wrap Wonton wrappers round the metal cones. Seal the edges a little t: Trim the tops.
Heat a small frying pan with 1 cm of oil. Shallow’ fry the cones in small batches. Turn to cook them evenly;
Drain on paper towels, Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers.
To serve: fill with the pork mixture and serve immediately.

Zucchini and Noodle Pancake
80 grams vermicelli noodles
2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped
½ cup coconut mi/k
4 egg whites
½ cup rice flour
vegetable oil
2 zucchini, grated and squeezed to remove moisture
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Soak noodles in boiling water fin 5 minutes. I)rain.
In a medium sized bowl combine coconut milk and rice flour.
Add the drained noodles, grated zucchini and coriander.
Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks, and gently fold into the noodle and zucchini mixture
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Heat ½ cm of oil in a frying pan. Cook a large spoon full of mixture until lightly golden on both sides Repent. Keep warm.
Serve topped with Slow Baked Pork Belly Slices with Orange and Soy

Roasted Cauliflower and Asian Greens with a warm spicy dressing
1 cauliflower, cut into florets with stalks removed
1 teaspoon paprika
4 tablespoons peanut oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
500 grams bok choy or a mixture of Asian greens (washed)
juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin

Place the cauliflower in a baking dish. Drizzle with ½ the peanut oil and cover with tin foil. Roast for 30 minutes at 200C until the cauliflower is tender.
Wash the Asian greens thoroughly
In a large Frying pan lightly Fry the ground coriander, cumin and paprika until fragrant. Add the remainder of the peanut oil and garlic. Cook very gently until the garlic is golden.
Pile the wet bok choy or Asian greens in pan with lemon juice. Toss until wilted. Add the cauliflower and heat through.
Serve sprinkled with chopped coriander.

Steamed Coconut Puddings with Nashi Pears in Kaffir Lime and Palm Sugar Syrup
175 grams unsalted butter
1 ½ cups self raising flour
¾ cup caster sugar
½ cup fresh coconut, grated (or ¼ cup dried shredded coconut)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
¼ cup coconut milk
3 eggs


Grease and line the bottoms of 8 x 125 ml ramekins. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, whisk in the vanilla then the eggs one at a time.
Fold in the flour, grated coconut and coconut milk.
Spoon the mixture into the ramekins. Place the ramekins in a baking dish.
Pour in enough hot water to come halfway up the side of the ramekins.
Cover the baking dish with tinfoil. Bake at 180 deg C for 30-35 minutes, until the puddings are well risen and firm to the touch.

Anna's Version of Choriz and Agria potato Spanish Tortilla

I made this for a quick lunch on Saturday. I added a bit more potatoe and used 2 fresh Island Bay Butcher fresh Chorizo sausages which I cooked first in the same pan. As I had added a couple more bits I also increased the egg. I probably didn't add enough parmesan as I couldn't tell that there was any in there. However it was a very good quick recipe that worked well. Dane enjoyed this one a lot more than the last one.

Catherine's version of Aubergine, ginger and potato salad ...

I made this for Sarah the other night so it was a joint effort. I'm not keen on aubergines so substituted zucchini. I also added a seeded red chilli to the coriander pesto and found a lot of seasoning was required to make it tasty.

I quite liked the salad with zucchini. I used much less oil than the recipe said as the zucchini didn't soak it in as much. If I was making it again I would fry the potatoes first so that they crisp than add the zucchini and the end. I would also use cashews instead of peanuts in the pesto. The chilli worked well so I'd do that again and would probably also add more lime juice too.

Agria & chorizo Spanish tortilla

Serves 2 for lunch (may need to up quantity or sides for dinner)

2 Tbsp oil
1 small agria potato, parboiled and thinly sliced
3-4 thin slices chorizo
3 free range eggs
1 Tbsp grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
Salad greens and relish to serve

1. Preheat over to 160 degrees C. Heat oil in an ovenproof 20cm omelet pan on medium heat.
2. Layer the potato and chorizo in the hot pan then allow to brown slightly. Chorizo slices can be left whole or chopped.
3. Meanwhile whisk the eggs and cheese together and season with salt and pepper. Pour the egg into the pan and leave on the heat for 1 minute to seal the bottom of the tortilla. Remove from the stove and bake in preheated oven until the egg has just set (about 5 minutes).
4. Serve hot or cold with salad greens and relish.

From Taste magazine.

Anna's Version of Aubergine, Ginger and Potato Salad with Coriander Pesto

This recipe didn't seem to work as well as I had hoped. The eggplant soaked up all the oil and didn't release it for the potatoes to cook in. I thought it tasted OK, but Dane tried it and wouldn't eat it all. I think it was just too oily and a bit tasteless

Aubergine, Ginger and Potato Salad with Coriander Pesto

This is a Listener recipe from the 14th of March. There are another couple of recipes on the link below as well.
http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3592/columnists/12948/purple_prose.html

Aubergine, Ginger and Potato Salad with Coriander Pesto

SALAD
2 aubergines
2 large potatoes
2 red onions
2 cloves garlic
160ml olive oil
3cm piece of fresh root ginger, grated
handful of basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Slice the aubergines in half lengthways, then cut each half into 1cm-thick slices.

Peel the potatoes, then chop them into 3cm cubes. Place the cubes in a saucepan of well-salted water, then bring to the boil and cook for about 10 minutes. Drain, then allow the potatoes to cool.

Slice the onions in half, then cut into thin slices. Chop the garlic finely. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the aubergine slices and cook until soft. Add the garlic, onion and ginger, and cook for about 3 minutes.

Wait until the ginger is intriguingly fragrant before adding the potatoes. Keep the heat high, as you want the potatoes to fry in hot oil rather than stew in cold oil.

Shred the basil leaves, stir them in and season lightly with salt and pepper. Serve with the coriander pesto drizzled over the aubergines.

CORIANDER PESTO
2 cups of coriander leaves
½ cup of toasted peanuts
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp grated fresh root ginger
olive oil
juice of 1 lime
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Blend the coriander, peanuts, garlic and ginger in a food processor until smooth. Add enough olive oil to produce a thick sauce, then add the lime juice. Season with salt and pepper. Keep the sauce refrigerated until required. Pour a thin layer of oil over the top of the pesto to keep it fresh.
Serves 4.

Anna's Version of Buttered Quinoa with Spicy Black Beans

Wow! this tastes even better than it looked like it would taste. Even though it takes a bit of prep work with the soaking of the beans, the actual work to put the dish together is really easy. I'll make this again. Hopefully it also reheats well for lunch tomorrow.

Buttered Quinoa with Spicy Black Beans

This is either a weekend meal, or needs prep work on the weekend to get the beans done.

Buttered quinoa:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
100g butter
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Spicy Black Beans
1 cup black turtle beans
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp chilli powder
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 red onion, finely diced
1 red pepper, seeds removed, finely diced
1 cup sweetcorn (fresh or frozen)
1 cups vegetable or chicken stock
400g can peeled tomatoes, chopped
juice of 2 limes
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

1. Rinse the quinoa for 2 minutes to remove natural bitter coating.
2. Bring stock to the boil in a saucepan. Stir in quinoa and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, or until translucent and the liquid is absorbed. Stir in the butter so that it melts. Season with salt and pepper.

Spicy Black Beans
1. Soak the beans overnight in cold water. Next day, drain the beans and place in a saucepan. Cover with fresh cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 1 hour until beans are tender. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pan. Add spicces, garlic and onion and cook gently for 10 minutes to soften the onion. Add vegetables, stock and tomatoes and bring to the boil then simmer for 15 minutes. Add the beans to reheat.
3. Stir in lime juice and coriander. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 6

From More Simple Cafe Food - Secrets of the Cafe Kitchen by Julie Le Clerc

Anna's Version of Egg Tortilla Soup

I used the following for my Adobo powder

3 tablespoons Kosher salt (Used Marlborough Sea Salt)
1 tablespoon White pepper (I used ground as I didn't have white corns)
1 tablespoon Cumin seeds
1 tablespoons Garlic powder

Combine the salt, pepper, and cumin seeds in a dry skillet and cook over medium heat until the spices are lightly toasted and fragrant, about 3 min. Transfer the mixture to a bowl to cool. Combine the roasted spice mixture and garlic powder in a spice mill and grind to a fine powder.

I also used a Poblano pepper as they didn't have Anaheim ones at Moore Wilsons and from what I could find on the Internet the Anaheim is the wusses version of the Poblano. I also couldn't find the Queso Blanco - not that I looked particularly hard. I had meant to get some feta as that seems to be kind of similar but forgot so just used Mainland Mild. I didn't add the rice as I felt 2 carbohydrates were enough.

Even with the Poblano pepper this dish was very mild, possibly 'cause the cheese wasn't a salty one I should have added a bit more salt. Not sure what the deep frying of the pasta does for it, seems to keep it a bit more solid. I'll have the left overs for lunch tomorrow and add a bit more salt.

Apologies for my great slackness but better late right...

This recipe is from a NYTimes article   - For Dinner (and Fast), the Taste of Home

Adobo powder is a seasoned salt - use a mix of salt, ground pepper, oregano and cumin.  (although there seem to be a complete multitude of recipes.

Egg Tortilla Soup (Sopa de Tortilla de Huevos)

Adapted from Gladys Puglla-Jimenez

Time: 25 minutes

Vegetable oil

1/2 cup small, dry tubular or shell-shaped pasta, such as penne or conchiglie, optional

4 scallions, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon salt, or as needed

1 teaspoon adobo powder

2 large all-purpose potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice

1 2-ounce piece of queso blanco, grated

1 large Anaheim pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup whole milk, or as needed

1/3 cup cooked white rice, optional.

1. If desired, place 1/2 inch vegetable oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. When oil is hot, add pasta and fry until lightly browned. Remove immediately and drain on paper towels. Set aside pan with oil in it.

2. Place a medium (5- to 6-quart) soup pot over medium-low heat, and add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Add scallions and sauté until softened, about 30 seconds. Add salt, adobo powder, potatoes, queso blanco and fried pasta, if using. Add just enough water to cover. Cover and simmer until potatoes and pasta are tender, about 15 minutes.

3. While soup is cooking, place a small skillet over medium heat, and add 1 tablespoon oil. Add Anaheim pepper and sauté until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs and cook until firm, another 1 to 2 minutes. Remove omelet from pan and cut into 1-inch-wide slices.

4. When potatoes are tender, add milk, omelet slices and, if desired, rice, to pot. Simmer gently until reheated, and serve hot.

Yield: 4 servings.

Anna's Version of Asian deli noodles

I decided that this seemed like an easy enough dish to do for lunch as I had rice noodles. So I put together the whole lot of the sauce at home and put it in a jar, then bought the uncooked noodles, sauce, and some chopped up veges to work. At work I put boiling water over the noodles for a while and drained. Then just added some of the sauce (no measuring, and not sure on the amount of the noodles). The peanuts that I bought for adding as the garnish ended up being a bit stale and made it a bit disappointing. However I found it quite a strong flavour (particularly garlicky - so could depend on what sort of garlic used) , and the noodles and sauce kept well in the fridge for the next days lunch too.

Very good and will probably do again.