Fun with Food: making Baklava

We have a group of friends who get together over the winter months for potluck, MKR-type dinners (without the competition). This past weekend, the theme was Eastern Mediterranean, and immediately, Tall and I started discussing baklava.

Our local Turkish takeaway does amazing meals, and Tall thinks their baklava is especially tasty. I don’t like baklava (it’s the honey), but naturally, I was up for the challenge.

This is a dessert that looks much more complicated than it actually is. The fiddliest bit is brushing each sheet of filo pastry with melted butter without tearing it; once you get into the swing of the layering, it takes no time at all. It isn’t a cheap dish to make in New Zealand, given the price of pistachios (I paid $3.79/70g on special, which is why I used a combination – the walnuts were about half that!)

This recipe is my interpretation of a few recipes found online, and from the amount left (or not left!), I’d say it was pretty successful.

Baklava – makes 25-30 pieces

375g filo pastry
100g butter, melted
380g nuts – I used around 250g pistachios, 130g walnuts, but you can use any combination you like
2-3t cinnamon

Syrup
1c water
1c sugar
1t vanilla essence
1/2c liquid honey
coarsely chopped zest of 1 orange & 1 lemon

Chop the nuts in a food processor until they reach a breadcrumb-like consistency. Combine with cinnamon and set aside.

Preheat oven to 170degC. Grease a 23cm x 33cm baking dish.

Cut the filo sheets to fit the size of your dish – the packet I used simply needed to be cut in half.

Take one sheet and brush with melted butter; place another sheet of pastry on top and brush with butter again. Repeat until you have layered 8 sheets of pastry, ensuring you have buttered the top of the eighth sheet.

Place the stack into the dish and sprinkle evenly with around 3T of the nut mixture.

Top with 2 sheets of layered and buttered pastry, and repeat until you have used the last of the nut mixture. Top with a stack of 6-8 sheets of pastry (as for the bottom).

Using a sharp knife, cut the baklava into quarters, vertically, before cutting on the diagonal to form distinct baklava “diamonds”.

Bake for 50 minutes, until golden brown.

Meanwhile, stir the syrup ingredients together over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, until reduced to a thick syrup.

Pour over the baklava as soon as it comes out of the oven; leave to cool in the dish. Don’t cover it, otherwise it will go soggy.

~~~~~~~~~
Fun with Food
Please copy and paste the button below and include it in your foodie post!
By clicking on the link below, you’ll be taken to an external page, where you can enter your link and see who else is linking up. Please take the time to visit them, too!

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

Stuck On You *WINNER*

Congratulations to

***Rachel***

who said her favourite theme was the dinosaurs.

I will be in touch with you shortly to arrange delivery of your prize!

Tales of Travel: the NZ series

I have been fortunate enough to have explored a fair chunk of New Zealand during my lifetime, and there are very few areas I am yet to see.

Until I was about eight years old, we often camped in Te Anau, until my parents built a small crib in a little village in Central Otago. From that moment, every school holiday (both my parents were primary school teachers) was spent in Central, with summers by the lake, and winters hunkering down inside with the pot belly stove roaring.

One summer, a then-boyfriend, his parents and I travelled by campervan from Dunedin – almost the bottom of the south – to Te Kao – almost the top of the north. We visited Cape Reinga, and on the return to the South Island, we decided we should complete our trip with a visit to Bluff.

Tall’s family are from South Taranaki, so I have spent much time in that part of the country. The summer I was pregnant with Pickle, we went road tripping around the South Island, visiting new and vaguely-remembered spots; exactly a year ago, we took our last just-the-three-of-us holiday to the Catlins.

I have been from one end of the country to the other…almost – I am yet to visit Stewart Island. However, these little feet of mine are forever itchy, so I’m sure I’ll get there one day.

I’m going to relive some of the adventures I/we have had in this beautiful little country, so bear with me as I delve deep into my memory banks, and come up with some shockingly-embarrassing photos from the past!

It’s Party Time: a Stuck on You *GIVEAWAY*

In less than three weeks, my baby is going to turn one.

It’s hard to believe that this time last year, I was waddling about, almost 35 weeks pregnant – and now, I’m planning a first birthday party!

Perfect timing, then, that Stuck on You have just launched their new Party collection.

They’ve got everything you could possibly need to create the perfect party – I especially love the look of the address labels and the range of invitations and thank you cards. I also like that there are some designs that could be used for a baby shower, high tea or any other more grown-up occasion.

To celebrate the launch of this gorgeous new range, Stuck on You have offered one of you the chance to win a $25 gift voucher to spend as you wish – yay!

Simply leave a comment on this post telling me which of the new party themes you would pick for your next party.

A winner will be drawn at random on Wednesday 12th June 2013, 4pm (NZ time). Competition open to New Zealand residents only.

If you’re on Facebook, you might like to ‘like’ Stuck on You – keeping up with any special offers and sneaky deals they might have coming up.

Fun with Food: Nut Pulao

The perfect accompaniment to Chicken in Green Masala Sauce is a classic nut pulao.

This is a dish that is delicious on its own, but combined with the chicken curry – wow! It takes about the same amount of time to prepare and cook; they are two very easy dishes to prepare side-by-side, yet present beautifully and appear much more complex than they actually are!

Nut Pulao – serves 4-6

1-2T vegetable oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 large carrot, coarsely grated
225g basmati rice, soaked for 30 minutes
1t cumin seeds
2t ground coriander
2t black mustard seeds
4 green cardamom pods
450ml vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
3/4c unsalted cashew nuts
salt and black pepper

Heat the oil in a wok and fry the onion, garlic and carrot for four minutes.

Drain the rice and add to the wok with the cumin, coriander, mustard seeds and cardamom. Cook for two minutes.

Pour in the vegetable stock; add the bay leaf and season well.

Bring to the boil, lower the heat right down, cover and simmer very gently for 12 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat – don’t lift the lid! – and stand for a further five minutes. Check that the rice is cooked – there will be small steam holes on the surface of the rice if it is done – and discard the bay leaf and the cardamom pods (which will have risen to the surface).

With a metal slotted spoon, stir in the cashew nuts and check the seasoning before serving.

~~~~~~~~~
Fun with Food
Please copy and paste the button below and include it in your foodie post!
By clicking on the link below, you’ll be taken to an external page, where you can enter your link and see who else is linking up. Please take the time to visit them, too!

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

Forty Days of Yoga

Done. Just like that.

40 days. Every day – or night – on the mat, stretching and flexing, contorting myself into poses I thought my body would have forgotten.

The first few days were hard, physically, but I was amazed at how quickly my body remembered each pose, and how fluidly I seemed to move beyond my initial comfort zone.

It wasn’t always easy, getting on the mat every day. Some days, I was tired and I just did not want to be there. I wanted to pour a glass of wine and snuggle on the couch with my husband, watching mindless television and eating chocolate.

But I did it. Even if those sessions were shorter or gentler, I did it. The important thing for me was to still get on the mat, to do what I felt I needed, and to not beat myself up if my practise wasn’t very strong.

Some days, I was champing at the bit for my babies to go to bed so I could get on the mat. Those were the sessions that were the most energetic, the strongest and the most focussed. The sessions where I knew I could push myself just a little further.

Now that my 40 days are over, I’m having a few days off. I don’t think I’ll go for another 40 days in a row without a break, but I will continue to make getting onto my mat a regular part of my week. I feel too good to not carry on – mentally and physically. I’m regaining the tone I lost from my arms and legs, and I just feel stronger.

I’d like to do five days a week if I can, which gives me the flexibility to have a glass of wine or blob on the couch or just do something else if I feel like it. But I will keep up a home practise, because I have loved it more than I thought possible.

(If you’re on Instagram, you can see my yoga journey in pictures here)

Fun with Food: Chicken in Green Masala Sauce

I’ve mentioned previously that my Curry recipe book was the best £2.00 I spent when we were living in England. The pages are spotted with spices and splashes of sauce, and it is the most prized cookbook in my collection. Whenever I make a curry, my husband always asks, “Is this from the book?”, and my answer is, inevitably, always “Yes.”

This chicken curry is beautiful, and really simple to make. It is slightly sweet and slightly salty, with the merest hint of spice.

The original recipe calls for chicken breasts, but I prefer chicken thighs, which work just as well, and also for sultanas as a garnish. I can’t stand sultanas (they are grapes that just couldn’t be bothered, in my opinion), so I omit them, and the dish is still delicious. Feel free to adjust the amount of fresh chilli for your own heat preferences – I use one if my babies are going to be eating this, which gives a hint of spice, but isn’t the overriding flavour.

Chicken in Green Masala Sauce – serves 4

1 green apple, peeled, cored and cubed
3T fresh coriander leaves
2T fresh mint leaves
2/3c natural yoghurt
3T ricotta cheese or fromage frais
2 fresh green chillies, seeded and chopped
1 bunch spring onions, chopped
1t salt
1t sugar
1t crushed garlic
1t fresh ginger, grated
1T vegetable oil
225-300g chicken breast or thighs, skinned and cubed
1T fresh coriander leaves, for garnish
(25g sultanas, for garnish)

Place the first 11 ingredients into a food processor, and process for one minute. Scrape around the sides of the bowl and process for a few seconds more.

Heat the oil in a wok; pour in the processed mixture and cook gently over a low heat for two minutes.

Add the chicken pieces and stir well. Cook over a medium-low heat for 15 minutes, until the chicken is fully cooked.

Serve over basmati rice or a nut pulao (recipe to come!); garnish with extra coriander and sultanas, if using.

~~~~~~~~~
Recipe: Curry – Mridula Baljekar

~~~~~~~~~
Fun with Food
Please copy and paste the button below and include it in your foodie post!
By clicking on the link below, you’ll be taken to an external page, where you can enter your link and see who else is linking up. Please take the time to visit them, too!

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…