Showing posts with label New Zealand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Zealand. Show all posts

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Kumara and Celery Soup








This is such a classic NZ soup, everybody seems to know how to make this one: You just need some kumara (I used the red ones, peeled). Cook about 2 large kumara with 3 or 4 celery sticks (with leaves, most Kiwis do not add the leaves here, but celery leaves have lots of flavour and they are perfect for soup) in a litre of light vegetable stock. When the celery and kumara are soft blend well and serve. 


Serves 4.


Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©
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Saturday, February 11, 2012

Kumara dip





Kumara, the New Zealand sweet potato, is a very Kiwi winter staple. There are different types of kumara, but the most common are the gold/yellow/orange ones, and the red ones. The reds look prettier, but if you peel them inside they are white, while the orange ones are still colourful under their skins.




Kumara are sweet and they mush and blend so well that I used them a lot when I was making baby food, years ago. The kids have progressed from baby food now, but I haven't stopped blending kumara: I am just adding more seasonings to it now :-).



Kumara dip




I used the orange kumara here, peeled. This is not a recipe as such, you can add what you like to your blend. Peel and boil the kumara, or roast them for more flavour. Blend with a couple of garlic cloves (peeled), salt and pepper, olive oil, lemon juice, and a fevourite spice (some examples are smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, or a mixture of all of the above if you like). Serve as a dip or with a plate of meze.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©
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Monday, December 19, 2011

Roasted New Zealand Yams







Sometimes I am really happy to be a vegetarian: it means that I don't have to try wild specialties like huhu grubs. Not that many New Zealaders would either, you can't buy them in shops (I think) and you have to forage for them in the bush (they eat rotten wood) or go to special wild food festivals like the Hokitika Wild Food Festival. But I found a better, and vegetable alternative, with New Zealand yams.




Yam are much bigger than huhu grubs, and I got the red and the apricot colour varieties, I thought that they looked really pretty. After boiling them the colours had faded, a lot, and the look was... well, like in the photo above. I left them on the kitchen bench and went to get the kids from school. As soon as they arrived home the went" "Huhu grubs????". No, they have never eaten them, but they saw them and know what they look like. They giggled a lot, they said that yams really looked like gigantic huhu grubs.




Just boiled they didn't appeal to me, so I roasted them with olive oil, smoked garlic, smoked salt, coriander seeds and a few chili flakes, and they went down a treat. In this household my husband is the only one that has ever eaten huhu grubs, I asked him if the flavour was similar to these yams, he said: "No, these  taste much better!"

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

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Sunday, October 2, 2011



Something nice for Vegan MoFo: images from the October SF Waitakere event:
Making a Vegan Chocolate Cake!


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Sunday, September 25, 2011

Italian-NZ Vegan Casserole


Italian tomatoes and NZ Vegemite... Is it fusion? 





Well, the pot is French too... :-)! I chopped some vegetables (agria potatoes,
carrot, onion, celery -with leaves-) added one fresh yellow chili and some Italian parsley, then sauteed everything with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Then I added one can of Italian cherry tomatoes, one can of Italian chick peas, some water from rinsing both cans, and a little (very little) Vegemite. Simmer simmer simmer, until the potatoes start to mush and the carrots are soft. Then add salt to taste, and serve.





Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

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Friday, September 23, 2011

Feijoa and lemon zest cordial







Krzyszof gave us a bag full of Feijoa. With mine, and the one Carolyn gave us, we have been eating them everyday, and using them for smoothies. But because the feijoa season is short I though of freezing some for winter, to make smoothies when we don't have so much fresh fruit. To freeze them it is better to peel them and cut them into two, so that they can blend better.


But before peeling them I wanted to keep some zest. I wanted to make a liqueur, and then the kids complained: they cannot drink alcohol! "Mamma, can you make a cordial please?".




I collected the zest from 12 large feijoa (wash them well first), added the zest of half a lemon, placed everything in a pot with 500 ml of water and 100 g of sugar. Boiled the lot for 5 minutes (to dissolve the sugar), then covered with a lid and let it rest overnight. In the morning I strained the 'syrup' and bottled it.




Now the kids have their cordial (a real treat, as I don't usually have sugary cordials in the house) in a fancy bottle. Just need to add a finger of it in a full glass of water and enjoy: delicate, refreshing, and with a note of exotic fruit :-).



Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©







I am entering this recipe for Sweet New Zealand April 2012
hosted by Frances of the Bake Club


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