I’m not sure if this drink does any good in a medicinal way but it certainly makes me *feel* better when I’ve got a cold, especially if someone else makes it for me.
I think it’s partly good for the feeling of being looked after (thanks Thomas!). So if you have anyone with winter colds in your household this recipe is for you. Make them feel loved.
Lemon, Ginger and Honey Drink
- Juice of 1 and 1/2 lemons
- 1 tsp of honey
- 1 tsp of grated ginger root
Add all ingredients to a cup of boiled water.
Warning: I like my lemon drink tart so you may need to reduce the lemon or add more honey!
Also, if you’re feeling adventurous you can add 1/2 tsp of crushed garlic. It’s surprisingly good
I remember the first time I had haloumi. I was astonished that something so delicious could exist without me ever hearing about it before. It was at Moyses, one of my favourite restaurants of all time.
For a while I was intimated by the idea of frying cheese but it’s so good I just had to try. It turns out it’s actually rather easy.
You just need to heat olive oil in a non-stick frying pan until it reaches a high temperature. Add your haloumi (cut 7mm thick). Fry each side until golden brown (about 20 secs per side). Then eat. It is so worth it. Fried cheese!
Enjoy,
Kim
Now is the time, Now is the season. It is the fresh scallop time of year.
For our first scallop dish we made a fettucine, aioli and dill pasta. We made it the easy way, just added a bit of “Cotterill and Rouse” aioli and dill sauce (4 tablespoons) to the pasta before serving.
The scallops were fried lightly in oil and a little bit of butter.
It took about 10 minutes and worked really well, the light sauce was a nice highlight without being so strong that it overwhelmed the subtle scallop flavours.
Scallops are still expensive though. This meal cost $7 per person (7 scallops each).
A vegetarian hash stack is a great Sunday brunch idea, especially when you’re trying to find the middle ground between fruit salad and a full on heart attack producing traditional big breakfast.
Hash Stack
Ingredients (per person)
Layer the ingredients, trail a line of pesto and aioli sauce across the stack. Serve with avocado pieces on the side.
Simple, Yum.
Enjoy, Kim.
Sunday Brunch with Friends
A friend of ours just had knee surgery and is not out and about as much as he normally is. Today in Wellington it was perfect winter brunch weather.
So, when you can’t take your friend to brunch take brunch to your friend!
The first course was:
Fruit Salad
I just love those plastic Tiki salad servers.
We served it with my favourite yoghurt. Yoplait Greek Style Honey yoghurt.
Scrambled Eggs
Then it was time for the rich and satisfying scrambled eggs with spring onions. I always get Thomas to cook this because he makes it perfectly. I’ve included his instructions below.
The weird thing about scrambled eggs is how frequently they are done badly when it’s really very easy to do them well (hint: the key ingredients are butter and enough time).
Here’s how I cook them when I want them be really good.
Ingredients
- Two eggs per person
- 1 tbsp of milk per person
- One spring onion per person (or so)
- Two tablespoons of butter per person (one for eggs, one for bread)
- 1-2 pieces of ciabatta bread per person
- Some grated parmesan
- Salt and pepper grinder
Method
1. Put the serving plates in the oven at a low temp to warm up.
2. Prepare everything in advance so the final assembly can proceed smoothly – slice the bread, grate the parmesan, clean and chop the spring onions.
3. Break the eggs into a bowl and add the milk. Whisk until well mixed with a uniform colour.
4. Put a frying pan on to a low heat.
5. Add the butter and wait for it to melt.
6. Add the egg mixture.
7. Immediately add the chopped spring onions.
8. Use a wooden spoon to gently stir the eggs frequently but not constantly. The secret is to cook them slowly enough. If they’re sticking to the bottom of the pan or the cooked bits look sort of foamy it probably means the heat is too high.
9. Toast the ciabatta. Put the completed pieces in the oven with the plates to keep them warm.
10. Keep stirring. It does take a while if you’re doing it slowly enough.
11. Butter the toast, top with the cooked eggs and serve. People can add their own parmesan and salt/pepper to taste.
Other Variants
- Replace the spring onions with some lemon thyme (just awesomely good even writing this makes me wish I had some for tomorrow).
- Serve with salsa.
I’ve eaten a lot of chillies. I’ve done the foolish “let’s see how many raw chillies we can eat” stunt and suffered through the pain (tears rolling down my cheeks) and enjoyed the high.
One thing I’ve never done before is snort one. Last night I somehow got some chilli up my nose. It was amazingly painful. Take eating a hot chilli and times it by 10.
My nose felt like it was burning off, the pain burnt its way up my sinus pathways and gave me a pounding headache. I spent 10 minutes in a cold shower trying to cool it off! (Yes, I know water doesn’t help with chilli but I was beyond thinking).
A workmate later suggested I should have tried snorting milk to fix it. :-)
So, in case you’ve ever considered it, Don’t. SAY NO to snorting chili!
I’m cooking dinner with a friend next week. The theme for the evening is purple. Has anyone got any yummy purple dish/food suggestions?
Starter, main, salad and dessert suggestions welcome!
Help?
I shall report back towards the end of next week.
This salad has a strong, tart taste and the chili adds extra lip tingling enjoyment.
It’s good as a side-salad.
It’s good as a main
I just added a little canned tuna to bulk it out.
Guess what I’m having for lunch tomorrow?
Bean salad recipe
- 1T olive oil
- 2T salted capers
- 1 can cannellini beans
- 3T lemon juice
- 1/2 C chopped Italian parsley
- 1 large red chilli, seeded and chopped
- 1 tomato, roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- sea salt and cracked black pepper
Put it all in a bowl, toss well and let sit at least an hour before serving.
Thanks to my friend Jackie for this recipe.
Enjoy!
Kim.
One of my favourite non-gourmet snacks are baked bean and cheese sandwiches. I know a lot of you are cringing but sometimes a baked bean and cheese sandwich is just the right thing to eat! Honest!
I cringe when I hear about people eating peanut butter and jam/jelly sandwiches. What’s with that? I fail to understand how anyone can think that tastes good.
What are your favourite non-gourmet snacks? The grosser the better :-)
Cheers,
Kim
This is a treat I picked up while living in Australia. Apparently it’s a common procedure for eating Tim Tams.
Take your Tim Tam and bite off opposite corners, dip into a cup of tea and suck through it until you get a yummy burst of chocolate/tea. Now quickly eat the Tim Tam before it collapses into your tea cup.
It’s yummy, I can no longer eat Tim Tams any other way.
Enjoy,
Kim.