Kiwi Christmas

 

Well, this year ( our 2nd in NZ) we decided to have a quiet kiwi Christmas camping. as it's summer in the southern hemisphere and our long summer holidays.  The big family get together was last year (our first Christmas back for about 9 years) with the whole Singer clan.( My husband's)  A big Christmas meal with all the trimmings.

This year we pared it right down, there is only so much you can take with you when you are camping. With a bbq and some creativity we ate really well.

It was important to us to take the children camping, for them to experience a different style of holiday. They have travelled all over the world, staying at fabulous hotels and villas in France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Dubai, USA and the UK, over the past few years.

The children made lots of friends at the camp and just played, making up games and just being kids, they loved it!
We spent the days, reading, walking, swimming and playing board games, precious family time. Priceless!

I decided on keeping it really simple on Christmas day, BBQ butterfly lamb with honey glazed carrots and pan fried potatoes, and mini pavlovas to finish off. Perfect!

Butterfly Lamb
500-750 g (butterflied)
Juice of 1 lemon
Good sprinkling of salt & pepper
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tbl honey
Olive oil, mix it all together
Marinate the lamb with the mixture, and leave refrigerated for a few hours or overnight.
Wrap in a double layer of foil like a parcel and cook on the BBQ for about 40 min, let it rest for 10 min and carve.

The meat was so beautiful and tender. I served it with pan fried potatoes, I par boiled 6 potatoes and cut them into wedges, and then shallow fried them in a little oil. For the carrots, I boiled them for 5-7 min and then drained them, added a tsp of honey and put them back on the heat for a couple of min. You can serve with gravy, ( I forgot to bring some, so served it with tamarillo chutney instead!)
For the mini pavs ( store bought) with some whipped cream and fresh strawberries and blueberries. Perfect camping Christmas lunch.

Enjoy!

Happy holidays, until next year.

Ashia

Gifts from my kitchen

I love giving foodie gifts anytime, whether it is birthdays, religious festivals or weddings. I grew up with food gifts being exchanged at weddings and celebrations. Food celebrates all aspects of life.

People appreciate that you take the time and effort into creating something for them, I love giving, I enjoy the appreciation I get from friends and family when I gift them something that I made.

I decided way back in July that I would make a whole load of my special tamarillo chutney and bottle it to give away in the year. I also set aside a dozen bottles to give away as gifts to those special people who spend everyday teaching and nurturing our children. So I have been busy the last couple of days packaging my gifts and also baking some Christmas shortbread stars. This is my mother in laws shortbread recipe and is so easy to bake, thanks Wendy.

For the shortbread stars

250 g Butter
3/4 Cup icing sugar
1/2 Cup cornflour
2 Cups plain flour
1/4 tsp salt

1. Cream butter and sugar until pale

2. Add cornflour and plain flour and salt, knead well and place in the refrigerator to chill

3. Using half the dough roll out and use a cookie cutter of your choice and cut out the biscuits.

4. Place on baking trays and bake for 20 min in a preheated oven (160)

5. Cool and dust with icing sugar.

Well I hope you have enjoyed reading my blogs so far, I have loved writing them. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I am hoping to blog while we are camping over Christmas.

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia

Christmassy Jam Tarts

My mum's jam tarts are the best!, I have memories of eating these when I was growing up in Malawi. They are a perfect alternative to Christmas pudding (if you are not a fan) or just as another dessert over the festive season. They are great as a hot pudding or cold, they keep well for a week in an airtight container.
They make great lunch box treats too.  I have made these using plum jam but, mum always used strawberry, you can use anything you want.

For the base

450g Plain Flour
4 Tbls Self Raising Flour
225g Butter softened
120g Sugar
2 eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla essence

1. Mix the butter and sugar together until pale

2. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat, then add the flours and mix into a soft dough, kneed a little until it is all combined.

3. Roll 3/4 of the dough into a  greased baking tray of your choice, a 25-30 cm tray works well.

4. Spread the jam of your choice on to the dough.

5. Using the remaining dough, roll out into a rectangle and with a sharp knife cut 2 cm wide long strips and lay them over the tart in a cris cross design, covering the whole tray.

6. Place in a pre heated oven @ 180 for 30-35 min, until golden, may need a little more depending on your oven setting.

Cut into slices and dust with icing sugar and serve with cream or ice cream.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas

Till next time

Ashia

Paneer Curry

Paneer Curry

A lovely aromatic, flavoursome curry.  Made with Paneer which is an Indian cottage cheese, this one  has a tomato and onion base, but I also make a paneer and pea curry which is also divine. I had some friends over for dinner on Friday night  and I cooked  two curries, a meat option and a vegetarian one, it went down a treat.

2 Onions (finely sliced)
1 small peice of ginger grated
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tsp Kitchen King Masala (a blend of aromatic spices availble in any Indian supermerket)
1 Tsp Kasoori methi (optional)
1 Tsp Coriander Powder
1 Sliced Green peppar
1 Tbl Tomato Ketchup
I block of Paneer cheese
1 large serving spoon of oil
1 tin chopped tomato
1 Cup milk
Salt to taste
Chopped fresh coriander to garnish


1. Heat oil in a large wok or lidded frying pan, add sliced onions and fry until soft and transluscent

2.  Add the tin of tomatoes and cook for 6-8 min, then take it off the hear and using a hand blender, blend it to a paste.

3. Return to heat and cook for a further 6-8 min, and then add milk and the sliced  green peppar and all the spices, cook for a further 10 min on a medium heat.

4. Chop up the paneer block into small bite size cubes and add to the curry, cook for a further 10 min.

Serve with Rice or Roti.

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia