Paw paw and avocado salad

I have neglected my blog, and feel awful for not posting.  It's been  a busy summer with lots of picnics and trips to some amazing beaches.  We are a real beachy family, the kids are water babies, and love spending time together, just chilling!  This summer,  in New  Zealand has been fabulous, but sometimes when it's very hot, you just don't feel like cooking.  Salads are a great way to enjoy fresh ingredients and are quick and easy to prepare.


This gorgeous salad, adapted from Annabel Langein, is a lovely fresh sensation of textures and tastes.  It requires paw paw, which I love, brings back memories of my childhood in Malawi, where it was abundant.  But if you don't have it or you don't like it you can replace it with mangoes.

250 g Halloumi Cheese
1 Paw paw
2 Avocados
Fresh fancy lettuce
oil ( to fry the halloumi)

For the dressing
Squeeze of lime juice
Olive oil
salt & pepper
1/4 tsp sugar

1. Cut the halloumi into 1-2 cm squares, heat the oil in a frying pan and quickly cook until golden, drain.
2. Peel the paw paw and take the black seeds out, again cut into 2 cm chunks, peel and cut the avocado, i diced it but you can slice it if you want.
3. Toss in a large bowl with the lettuce leaves.

You can dress it with the above ingredients, or you can use my chilli  and coriander dressing  (which is on the blog)  it  has a slight kick  to it and gives it a lovely flavour. 

Really simple using fresh ingredients, perfect with bbq meat, or as part of a picnic.

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia.

 

Zara's Birthday Party

Zara had wanted a butterfly birthday cake, so that is what she got! I love baking but Icing is not my forte. I would love to learn some new techniques, but in the meantime I found this amazing blog by a Canadian woman. Its called Sweetapolita! fabulous! Some great ideas, I got the 3 tone colour idea from her blog. I really enjoyed baking and icing Zara's  cake, it wasn't exactly how I had planned it, but Zara was  happy with it, and that was fine by me. I think sometimes as parents we try too hard, to make everything perfect, but actually, it really doesn't matter, as long as everyone is happy.

I had a  "sweets" table with the Birthday cake, some gorgeous meringues, some lovely cupcakes and gorgeous little red velvet and creme cheese cupcakes courtesy of Victoria Irons (thanks Tori)! The girls enjoyed ice cream and marshmallows as well!

What a fabulous day to have a party outside!  I had booked a surprise face painting artist, so the girls all had butterflies.  Just lovely!

                                                         Gorgeous Cup cakes

The cakes!

Great day had by all, and one very happy 8 year old!

Enjoy!

Till next Time!

Ashia

Pistachio and Cardamom Chocolate Puds

We dont have a huge tradition of Indian Desserts in our family. We have a small number of family favourites.  My sister Nish  makes this gorgeous chocolate mousse, which I have adapted to include a cardamom flavour. You would'nt normally think of putting chocolate and cardamom together, but this  works and then with a topping of mascarpone and pistachios, these are little chocolate gems!

300 ml Fresh cream
200g Dark chocolate ( I have used milk as I ran out of dark) coarsely  chopped up
2-3 cardomum pods (or powder if you dont have pods - I would use about a 1/4 tsp or less depending on how fragrant you want it)
Pinch of cinnamon
2 Egg yolks
200g  Mascarpone ( save a small amount  for a dallop on top for decorating)
Slivers of pistachios for sprinkling

You can replace with cinnamon or nutmeg and sprinkle with orange zest (especially over christmas)

1. Gently heat the cream in a saucepan over  low heat, when it starts simmering, remove it from the heat  and the chocolate, whisk until it has all melted

2. I f you are using the cardamom pods, crush them open and grind the black seeds, add them to cream and chocolate mixture and then the cinnamon.

3. Separate the egg yolks and whisk them into the mixture and then add the mascarpone, divide between 4-6 glasses, Decorate with a dollop of cream and pistachios.
 I used traditional Turkish tea glasses that I bought when we were in Olu deniz in Turkey to drink my apple tea out of.  You can use shot glasses too.  Place in the fridge for 6 hours.

Divine!

Enjoy!

Till Next time.

Ashia

 

 

 

Strawberry Bundt Cakes with Lemon Drizzle

So my last strawberry inspired recipe, I promise! These are gorgeously moist, perfect to take as part of your picnic or as thank you for a favour. Food makes a great present, as people appreciate the time and effort you have put in to say thanks, or get well or well done.

These are great with blueberries too or raspberries.

100g Butter (soft at room temp)
3/4 Cup Caster Sugar
11/4 Cups Plain Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp salt
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Buttermilk
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 Cup strawberries chopped and tossed in a little sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180 c. Beat the butter and sugar until light and pale. Add the eggs on at a time beating well between each.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt and add to the mixture along with the butter milk and lemon zest ( I ran out of lemons so put a few drops of lemon juice -from Lemon Fresh NZ made in a handy pkt I store in the fridge)
3. Beat slowly until just combined, don't over beat the mixture or you will have heavy cakes.
4. Fold in the strawberries and divide the mixture between your bundt tins, I used 6 , 1 cup capacity tins, you only fill 3/4 of the way. If you are using smaller tins you will get 8 cakes.
5. place on a baking tray and bake for 18-20 min turning the tray  half way though for even cooking.
6. Leave in the tins for 5 min before turning out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Lemon Drizzle

1 Cup Icing sugar
2-3 Tsp Lemon Juice
Strawberries for garnish if desired.

Stir through enough lemon juice into icing sugar to make a thick smooth icing. Place a sheet of baking paper under the wire rack (to avoid a sticky mess) Spoon the icing onto the centre and let it drizzle down the sides. The sweetness of the strawberries and the tang of the lemon is a perfect combination. Yum!

Enjoy!

Till next time.

Ashia

Semi-freddo with Strawberries

This was a firm family favourite back in the UK.  When ever there was a family get together, and there were many, it was always requested as one of the desserts I took along.

So this is it, my semi freddo adapted from good old Jamie Oliver.

55g Sugar
4 Large free range eggs, separated
500 ml Fresh cream
Salt
1-2 Tsp vanilla essence or 1 vanilla pod

This is a very quick recipe, you need three mixing bowls as everything gets whisked separately and then combined in a large bowl.  I use a  large rectangular earthenware dish (I purchased 12 years ago from Temuka Pottery) which I then place covered with clingfilm in the freezer until it is ready to be eaten.

1. Whisk the vanilla, sugar and egg yolks in the largest bowl until pale

2. In a second bowl, whisk the cream until soft peaks form (it is important that you don't over whip it, it will ruin everything and you will have to start over)

3. In a third bowl whisk the egg whites with the salt until stiff, this means when you pull the egg whites into different directions they will stay  like it.

4. At this point you can add any flavouring you choose or leave it plain. I stirred a little freshly made strawberry jam through and then decorated with strawberries. Its quite rich so doesn't need too much with it, some fresh summer berries would suffice.

5. Add the cream and the egg whites to the egg mixture and  quickly scoop it all up into your desired container, and freeze until you are ready to eat. Give it at least 6-8 hrs.

You can decorate it with praline, or roasted nuts, or toffee & caramel, or just drizzle with your favourite chocolate sauce!

Perfect for those summer BBQ's.

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia

Strawberry Jam

Jam is a great way to preserve the taste of summer, and then you can use it in different aspects of cooking and baking.

This strawberry jam has to be the simplest way to preserve your summer strawberries.

1 kg Strawberries (rinsed and hulled)
1 kg Jam setting sugar (you can now buy this in most supermarkets)
10g Butter
That's it!!

1. Crush the strawberries roughly with a potato masher, you can use a blender, but I like the chunky bits of strawberry.

2. Place the strawberries and sugar in a large heavy based pot.

3. Heat the mixture over a low heat until the sugar is dissolved, but do not boil.

4. Add the butter and increase the heat bringing it to a bubbling boil (you cant stir it down)

5. Boil for 4 min only. Remove any foam from the top and then test for set.

6. To test, place a spoon full on a cold plate, wait a few seconds and then run a line through the middle if it wrinkles it is ready

7. Bottle in pre sterilised jars

For bottling and sterilising please refer to my Tamarillo chutney recipe on my blog.

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia

Strawberry Fields

I love summer... and I love strawberries, in fact I love all berries. But  blueberries, raspberries and strawberries are my favourite . They are so versatile, you can cook them, bake them, freeze them and use them in all sorts of lovely summer recipes.

We decided to go strawberry picking at the weekend, it reminded me of summer back in England and Wimbledon and strawberries and cream (I know what you are going to say....what summer in England!) We have been known to have some lovely summers there....and strawberry picking was one of the things I loved doing with my family.

We headed to Kumeu and it was a gorgeous sunny afternoon, and I had strawberry jam in mind amongst other things, so off we went with our buckets, although a little late in the season, the strawberries were still sweet and juicy!

We ate and picked, savouring the warm juicy flavour of summer, until we had picked 3kg!  I think this should be enough for strawberry jam and a whole lot more besides!  We ended the afternoon with divine fresh strawberry ice cream made at the farm.  So back home I had already decided what I would be making with my strawberries, so the next few blog entries will be dedicated to the 3 kg's of the juicy berries, starting with my strawberry jam.

Enjoy!

Till the next strawberry blog!

Ashia