Summer Berry Tarts

A couple of days before the end of 2014, it's been another busy year, with cooking and writing and having an article published with Taste magazine. And getting ready to write another one for NZ House & Garden, which will be published early next year.

Having realised three years ago that this ( foodie projects) is what i am passionate about doing, it would be amazing to spend all my spare time doing this. Unfortunately, "life" gets in the way, and my foodie plans, made with good intentions go out the window!

I envy people that make a career out of doing something they love, it will happen some day for me, of this I am sure, and don't they say ..... Good things come to those who wait .... I truly believe that.
I do feel blessed though, having my gorgeous family around me for support and encouragement, and my parents and three sisters on the other end of the phone and Skype for advice with food and life in general. Sometimes I do wonder how I cope without my extended family literally on the other side of the world! But with the love and support of my gorgeous kiwi husband and two rapidly growing children (13 & 9) I get through ok.

As I have been a little slack in keeping my blog up to date I felt that now I am relaxed and on holiday in sunny Ohope beach I can post a couple of entries, that have been waiting to be uploaded.

So I decided to end the year with a very easy summer berry tart, which is inspired by a recipe in Taste magazine in the autumn, I used ready made shortcrust pastry ( you can make your own but the emphasis here is easy)

2-3 sheets ready made shortcrust pastry tarts ( I used Edmonds sheet pastry )
500g mixed berries, raspberrys, blueberrys, strawberries, blackberries and cherries ( you can use late summer fruits, peaches, nectarines and even apples and pears
1 Tbls cornflour
1 squeeze of 1/2 a lemon
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 beaten egg
Raw sugar to sprinkle

Pre heat oven to 180
1.Taking each pastry sheet use a 20-22 cm cake tin and cut out a circle.
2. Halve the strawberries and place all the berries in a bowl, add the the other ingredients and mix well.
3.using a slotted spoon scoop the fruit and place in the middle of each circle, place the cherries on top of the fruit leaving the stalks on, try not to get too much of the syrup on the pastry and making sure you leave a 2-3 cm space around the pastry.
4. Gather the pastry in towards the fruit, encasing it, egg wash the tarts and sprinkle sugar.
5. Bake for 25-30 min or until golden

Serve warm or cool with thickened cream or mascarpone, a perfect summer treat.

Well with this easy summer treat, I wish you all a happy and relaxing summer holiday, keep reading and sharing my blog, and in the new year I have plans for a website so all the Instagram, blog and articles can be accessed in one place.

Happy new year!

Enjoy, Ashia .

Gifts from my kitchen

Well, it's been another busy year, I have neglected my blog :-( but still busy cooking and baking and writing.

I was asked again by NZ House & Garden to write another food feature for an issue early next year, so thrilled to be able to do this.

The photo shoot was a couple of weeks ago, and I headed off to Matakana where I met Bernadette Hogg, one of the food writer/ stylist whose work I have admired for many years. It was great to finally meet her, and see her collection of eclectic dishes, platters and props for the various food shoots she has worked on.

I was excited to be involved in the process, the photography was done by Manja Wachsmuth, who did an amazing job, again. We were thrilled with the result, which will be published in the April issue 2015. So watch out for it.

Christmas has been and gone and the run up to it has been busy, as usual, as we prepare for the end of the year and summer holidays. I decided again to do some baked gifts for the children's teachers and some friends.

A lovely shortbread which is so easy to bake, and so traditionally Christmassy. It's one that my mother in law makes, simple with a bit of Christmas sparkle.

Broccoli & Beetroot tart

One evening last week, I was struggling with time ( story of my life!) and wanted a quick simple dish, with ingredients in my fridge/freezer.
I had been in a dr's waiting room and saw this recipe in a women's magazine, a quick and simple weekday meal, you can substitute with other vegetables if you want.


A can of beetroot (drained and dried well)
2 sheets of frozen puff pastry
1 small head of broccoli cut into florets
2 eggs
1/4/ cup sour cream
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 Tbl flaked almonds

1. Pre heat oven to 200c, light grease a 20x30cm  slice tin
2. Join pastry sheets together, overlapping, creating a seam. Using a sharp knife score a 1cm edge around the pan, bake for 8-10 min and lightly golden
3. Reduce the oven to 180, blanch the broccoli in boiling water and drain and dry.
4. Whisk the eggs, parmesan and sour cream in a jug and season well, pour over the pastry.
5. Top with broccoli and beetroot and bake for 15-20 min until just set, sprinkle with almonds and serve, you can have this warm or cold.

 

Enjoy!

 

Till next time

 

Ashia

Coffee and Walnut cake

This very simple, gorgeous recipe was given to me by a friend in the UK, you can bake it in a 20 cm tin like I did or alternatively you can divide it into smaller tins (they have to have upright sides) and they ill take less time in the oven 12-15 min, make sure they spring back when touched and the skewer comes out clean.

175g Salted butter
175g Golden caster sugar
3 Eggs beaten
175g Self raising Flour
1Tsp baking powder
100g chopped walnuts
2 Tbls cooled strong coffee
Butter Icing/Frosting and walnuts to decorate

1. Preheat oven to 180
2. Grease and line 2 (20 cm) cake tins or smaller tins if you prefer
3. Beat butter and sugar until  pale & fluffy, gradually whisk in the eggs one by one until blended, add the coffee making sure it all come together
4. Sift in flour and baking powder and fold the mixture with the walnuts
5. Bake for 20-25 min, or until cooked

Leave to cool, sandwich with coffee flavoured butter icing 200g butter, 400g icing sugar and 2 tbls strong coffee. Decorate with walnuts....divine. Thanks Susan hart for the lovely recipe.

 

Enjoy!

 

Till next time

 

Ashia

Adam's 13th birthday

Well another year has passed, it's been another busy one. As always, deciding to make yet another birthday cake, more challenging as they get older, but this time with help from Adam.
He chose the colour and designed the cake.
I started with making my no fail chocolate cake, works every time, it's moist and keeps well. I made two 23cm cakes.
I then made butter cream to sandwich and crumb coat the two cakes. I usually ice with buttercream but this time Adam wanted fondant. ( He has a bit of a sweet tooth!)
He chose the colour, but I couldn't find it in any of the cake shops, so I ended up using white fondant and colouring it with gel colour. It was perfect. We then cut out strips and spots out of black fondant and using edible glue stuck them on the cake.

The result was great!

Enjoy!

Till next time, hopefully sooner than this post.

Ashia

Easy, mild lamb curry with fragrant basmati rice

 It has been a long winter, I have found that people hibernate in New Zealand, so you don't entertain or see friends very much. Kiwis are very 'outdoor' people and I don't just mean that in the sporting sense, but also entertaining and eating outside. Its so easy to fire up the barbie and throw a salad together, and enjoy dinner al fresco. However, in the colder months everyone stays indoors  and I think this recipe is perfect for the cold weather, comforting and wholesome, with a little spice to warm you up!

 An easy, mild Lamb curry, this is a superb dish for those in the family that don't or cant eat hot and spicy food. My children don't really like the hot stuff! So this is ideal, they are not great meat eaters either, so this curry is lovely as the meat is quite tender (depending on which method you use to cook it).  I cooked this in a slow cooker but you can use the oven or on the stove top.

700g boneless lamb shoulder (fat removed) roughly diced into bite size pieces
2-3 tbl Oil (your preference)
1.5 Tsp Ground cumin
1.5  Tsp Ground coriander
1 Tsp Tumeric powder
3-4 Cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
Tip -:  If you have an Indian food suppliers that you can get to , they have ready made , fresh garlic paste and garlic & ginger paste that is kept in the fridge, fantastic if you use these ingredients all the time.  If you are using this, add 2 heaped teaspoons.
2-3 medium sized onions, finely sliced
150-200 mls of Chicken or beef stock (depending on how much sauce you want.
1/2 -1tsp chilli flakes (optional)
200mls of fresh cream
Salt & pepper to taste
Fresh coriander to garnish

1. Add oil to a large lidded casserole dish or a heavy based saucepan (if using the stove top) add onions and cook until pale and slightly golden, add the lamb and cook until browned.
2. Add the spices and chilli, and the ginger and garlic.  Add the cream and stock, bring it to the boil and then immediately  on a very low heat, simmer for about 1 hour.
3. If using the oven (preheated to around 150) cook the steps 1 & 2 in a large frying pan or wok and then transfer to a casserole dish, cooking for an hour or until the lamb is tender.
4. My favourite way is using the slow cooker, then you know you are getting beautiful, tender meat that melts in your mouth, again, steps 1 & 2 on the stove top in a large frying pan (hold the cream) which you can add  10-15 min before serving.

For the Basmati rice -; See an earlier blog entry for recipe, add 1/2 tsp of whole cumin when you add the water, and then  chopped coriander to garnish.

 

Enjoy!

 

Till next time

 

Ashia

Indian rice pudding with flaky puris

This is a gorgeous version of rice pudding, I have memories of eating this when I was growing up, we had it mainly at religious festivals, or in the month of Ramadan.
When I crave something sweet that reminds me of home, this is my go to reciepe, it is easy and tastes divine with little hot puris.


Rice pudding (kheeraj)

1Tbl butter/ghee
2 pints milk
2pints water
½ mug rice (Basmati)
1 small tin condensed milk
¼ cup raisons or sultanas
1 small tin nestle cream or fresh cream (optional)

Wash and soak rice for an hour so before you start
Put milk, water and rice in a large saucepan with the butter
Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat, cook until all the liquid has evaporated.
Once cooked take off the heat and blend with a hand blender
Add the tin of condensed milk and return to the heat, giving it a good mix.
Add raisins and then cream if desired.

To make the puris…
1 mug plain flour
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tbl oil
Oil to shallow fry

Mix the dry ingredients with the oil
Make a dough using cold water, adding slowly until the dough is soft.
Divide into ? roll into small balls
Roll out in to 10cm diameter rounds
Heat oil in a small deep saucepan and fry the puris in small batches until they are all cooked, put in a plate with some kitchen towel so it soaks up the excess oil.

Serve the Kheeraj and puris together.

 

Enjoy!

 

Till next time

 

Ashia

Spicy, Savoury potato bhajis

These savoury treats are great for any gathering. We tend to make them more during the month of Ramadan ( which is now) to eat as a starter before the main meal. This is tradition, every family has its own way of doing things. But savoury treats are more common in Muslim families during Ramadan. After a day of fasting, you have some delicious treats to look forward to.

I use the same batter mix for both these savoury treats.

Batter -:
8 Tbls of gram flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt,
Water to mix
Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, add water slowly and until, the consistency is should be like pancake batter, not too thick, just enough to coat the potato


For the mashed potato bhajis
Boil and mash 2-3 potatoes with 1/2 tsp salt, drain
Add 1/4 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp vinegar
Mash all together and make into small balls.

Heat some oil in a small wok, coat the balls in the batter and fry until golden.

For the sliced potato bhajis, peel and slice 2-3 potatoes lengthways, slicing them quite thin. Using the same batter mix, coat each slice and fry until golden.

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia

A Classic Victoria Sponge

This is a gorgeous easy sponge recipe that a friend gave me and it  takes minutes to make. I baked this over the long weekend to take to a friend we were visiting who has just had a new baby.   I am in baking mode at the moment so bear with me, the next few posts will be some quick and easy Indian savoury bites, onion bhajis and the like, so watch this space.

For this very lovely sponge, I used two 20 cm cake tins.

For each sponge -;

1 Cup Plain Flour
3/4 Cups of Castor sugar
3 Eggs
3 Tbl melted butter
2 Tbl milk
2 Tsp baking powder

Raspberry Jam
Fresh whipped cream

1. Place the flour, eggs, sugar, butter and milk into an electric mixing bowel and beat on high for 3-4 min

2. Add the baking powder and beat on a low setting just to combine

3.  P our into  a greased and lined 20 cm tin  and bake in a pre heated oven @ 190 c for  25-30 min or until the cake springs back when lightly touched.

4. leave in the tin for 5 min and then turn out on a wire rack to cool.

When both cakes are cold, spread the jam and then the whipped cream and sandwich together, dust with icing sugar and you are done!

 

Enjoy

 

Till next time

 

Ashia

Taste Magazine

I am so excited about having another food feature published! This time in Taste magazine, the June issue is out now in the shops.

It's so great to see my family recipes in print, my parents are so proud to see them as well, and I am sending a couple of copies home to the UK for them to have.

Wouldn't it be great to get my book published? I have so many family recipes handed down to me that I would include in my book, so that everyone can enjoy them, and I can have them in print for my children to cherish and cook when they get older.

Watch this space, but for now I am thrilled to have been a part of Taste.

Enjoy reading it!

Till next time

Ashia

Celebration Cake

One of my friends asked me if I would bake a cake for her daughter's 18th birthday.  Initially I was a little hesitant as, although I love baking (& cooking) I really hadn't delved into baking and decorating celebration cakes for other people.

She had a design in mind and wanted a vanilla sponge cake.  So I started by baking 3 vanilla sponges, a lovely fool proof sponge that is also the one I used, for my next blog entry of a classic Victoria sponge.

 

The next step was mixing the 3 tones of pink, I did veer slightly away from the picture below, instead of 4 rows of roses I stuck with 3 and the tone of my pink was slightly different . I used a butter cream icing and used 1.5 kg of icing sugar!

I started with  crumb coating the cake with plain icing and then used the darker pink at the bottom and then lighter in the middle and then ending with an even lighter tone on the top of the cake.

 

I must say the result was fabulous, it looked very pretty, and she was thrilled!

 

One gorgeous rosette cake fit for any celebration, this time an 18th birthday.

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia

My favourite, spicy scrambled eggs

Its been a busy few weeks, hence the lack of posts.  I have been working away in the background, just finished the writing and photography for the article to be published in June for Taste magazine so look out for that in the shops soon!

With the children back at school this week, I get few minutes of breathing space.... I love  school holidays with my children, but they are all encompassing, and life revolves around them, so writing or doing anything for myself is put on the back burner.

Having just finished writing my blurb for the article, it got me thinking to my days growing up in Malawi. We used to be picked up from school at lunchtime and brought home for a hot tasty lunch, and then dropped off for the afternoon session.

Lunches would be light, but always cooked, and served with roti.  I cant ever remember eating a sandwich for lunch until we moved to the UK!

This is one of those simple lunches we used to have.  Perfect for an easy evening meal during the week.

You will need 1-2 onions finely sliced ( you can also add spring onions)
Butter/ghee or oil
2 eggs per person (in this case 8)
1/2 Tsp salt
1/2 Tsp Chilli powder
1/4 Tsp Cumin
1/4 Tsp coriander powder
1/4 Tsp Garam Masala
pepper to taste
Splash  of milk
handful of chopped coriander

Heat oil in a saucepan with a lid, add sliced onions, and cook until soft and  very slightly coloured, meanwhile whisk eggs with all the spices and milk and coriander and add to the onions, keep stirring on a low- medium heat until the eggs start to scramble, put the lid on for 5-7 min until the eggs are cooked, careful not to catch the bottom of the pan.

Serve with hot rotis!

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia

Spiced Okra and Egg Curry

So last night was one of those evenings, when, my husband was working late, and eating out,  the children had to be fed early as Adam had a basketball game at 7pm. I didn't want to eat burgers, which is what I had made for them.

I fancied a vegetarian curry, so this lovely off the cuff recipe came about, it looks and tastes divine.  I make this okra curry that my mum always cooks, but I wanted to add something to it for a different, texture and flavour, okra can be a little bitter.

I bought Rick Stein's India (cookbook) when I was in the UK visiting family in July last year. (12 quid from Tescos!!)  And I have been drooling over his series on TV, he showed a simple egg curry, so I got inspired and decided to create this dish.

150 -200 g Okra cut into chunks (you can get frozen packets from Indian supermarkets)
1/2 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 small red onion, finely diced
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tsp green chilli and coriander mix ( the recipe for this is earlier in the blog)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 -1 tsp red chilli powder (optional)
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander powder
salt & pepper
3 hard boiled eggs
oil

1. Heat 1 tbl  oil in a saucepan, add the onions and cook until pale golden, add garlic and salt, cook for a further 1-2 min
2. Add the tomato and the rest of the spices and cook on a low heat for 5-7 min
3. Meanwhile, add about 1 tbl oil into a frying pan and fry the okra until, slightly brown, remove and set aside. Peel and cut the eggs length ways in half, set aside.
4. Add the okra to the tomato mixture and cook on a low - med heat for about 5 min, then gently add the boiled eggs, coating with the tomato mixture, heat through for a further 5 min, serve with roti.
Simple, easy, delicious!

 

Enjoy!

 

Till next time

 

Ashia

Chicken Cakes with ginger & green & red chilli

I made these gorgeous easy chicken cakes, one day last week, when I was pressed for time ( running around for after school activities with the children) it had been a particularly busy day, and I always like to plan ahead. I usually take some sort of meat out of the freezer, either that morning or the night before and then decide what I will be cooking, or think about it during the day, and get stuck in when we get home. Usually with my daughter at the dining table doing her homework.

I had some chicken mince out, and decided to make these delicious, juicy little patties. I served this with a green salad and a tomato and avocado salad and some skin on chunky home made chips.

500g chicken mince ( or use  chicken breast and pulse in a food processor)
1 tsp garlic & ginger mix (I buy a ready made mix from one of the Indian shops and it keeps well in the fridge for a few weeks)
1tsp green chilli & coriander mix ( I use this a lot in my cooking)
1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
You can always add more if you wish
Juice of 1 lemon
50g breadcrumbs
1 tsp fish sauce
2 -3 small potatoes boiled and mashed

1. Pre heat oven to 200 c/ 180 fan

2. In a bowl, add the chicken, ginger & garlic and all the other ingredients, mixing well, you can add a little more bread crumbs to make the texture less wet

3.Mash the boiled potatoes and add to the mixture, combine well and season with salt and pepper. Shape into small patties (approx. 18-20).

4. Place on an oiled baking tray, brush with oil and bake for 10-15 min on each side until golden

Serve as a main meal with chunky homemade chips, aioli or sweet chilli sauce, or make them into bite size pieces  and serve them as appetisers at a dinner party.

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia

International Food Festival

My daughter's primary school had an International Food Festival a week or so ago.  They had tried it has a fund raiser last year and it was a real success, so this year I decided to be a part of it. 

I was involved in the Indian family stall. I made two large vegetarian curries, Peas and Paneer and my dad's basmati rice.  There was also a Pea and Potato curry, a chicken curry from Fiji and a Lamb curry. And we were giving roti and samosas, on the plate as an extra.

I made my dad's rice ( recipe is on the blog, one of the first entries) and I used the Paneer recipe on my blog but also  added peas, which gave it a wonderful flavour.

It was a gorgeous evening, there was Thai, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Iranian, Arabic, Danish, Indian and good old Kiwi. There was entertainment in forms of traditional dance, a bagpipe band, the swimming pool was open and a dessert stand and an ice cream kiosk, plus much more.  It was a great way to fund raise and everyone there had a fabulous time.

 

The curries were all gone, and our stand was really busy, it was a great buzz, and I will definitely get involved next year, the school raised a lot of funds and everyone had a great time!

Enjoy!

Till next time.

Ashia

Zara's 9th Birthday

Birthday time again, they come around pretty quickly, you blink and a year has gone by!  I love baking my children's birthday cakes, but as most parents, I struggle to think of ideas for cakes as the children get older.  This year Zara had already decided she wanted a cake like Adam's. ( The one he had for his 12th birthday)
So I though yes great idea, but lets do a girly version. The result was great! A  three layer chocolate cake with  lilac rosette butter icing  with lollies on top.

I started  by baking my no fail chocolate cake x3. ( check the recipe earlier in the blog)  A great cake for birthdays as it is lovely and moist.  We started by icing the layers together and then applying a crumb coat.

 

Icing cakes is always fun with my kids as they always want to lick the bowl !

 

 

The result!

 

I also baked little cup cakes and pastel coloured meringue kisses and some popcorn and fruit, a great party at the beach.

 

 

 

With her big brother Adam

 

 

 

With mum

 

Cutting the cake :-)  Happy days!

 

Enjoy!

 

Till next time

 

Ashia