Clothes hanging on the line on our balcony
24 July 2012
New Zealand: Overview of Absence I
I think the past 18 months can be best broken up into three segments:
New Zealand
We were kept busy most of the time toiling away in the winery. However, Hastings had an awesome farmer's market, and we also found great Indian, South-East Asian, and health food grocery stores.
Brown rice and various (frequently curried) lentil- and bean- based stews dominated many of our meals, usually supplemented by sauces I would make every week or two. These types of meals were great because they provided a lot of nutritional content and calories in forms that we could largely make ahead of time. You can tell that plate presentation was not a top priority!
We also discovered Maltobella (malted sorghum), which we often had for breakfast with stewed fruit.
We made about 20 gallons of Pinot Noir rosé during our stay as well, which was more than enough for the consumption of us and all of our coworkers. And, of course, we visited as many wineries as we could on our days off to do tastings, and bought a lot of local wine to enjoy as well. Favorite places we tasted include (Hawke's Bay) Te Mata and Ash Ridge, and (Martinborough) Ata Rangi, and Alana Estate.
Anyway, following is a smattering of food photos from that time:
First meal (at the hotel in Auckland): brown rice and tomato salad
Another first meal: Green Zebra Mussels with Garlic Butter and Craggy Range Chardonnay. The fish market was quite fun to visit.
The kiwis serve marshmallows with their coffee (often strawberry, and often in the shape of fish, dipped in chocolate--in which case they're called "chocolate fish"). It is a nice addition. Pictured is a "flat white".
And, to the winery:
Nori-wrapped sweet potatoes with chickpea curry, broccoli, pan-fried potatoes, broccoli
Tofu Thai-inspired curry
Golden kiwi: the custardy, soft-skinned cousin to the more commonly known (in the US) brown kiwi
Feijoas! A fruit that tastes minty and limey, kind of like a mojito. Everybody seems to have a feijoa tree, so when they're in season they always seemed to be in ample supply. To the side is one of our coworker's dinners (five sausages and a chicken breast!).
Roasted tomato sauce, veggies, potatoes, avocado...
Potato and white bean stew, with local Camembert-style cheese, tomato, basil
"Cheek peas" (as they were labelled at the store) with hull: curry with brown rice (typical lunch)
Rice noodles, tofu, veggies, fried egg (typical dinner)
Mashed potatoes, caramelized onion, tofu, zucchini
Kumara (the other great NZ produce--a flavorful sweet potato) curry and brown rice
"Tasty cheese" (NZ parlance for aged white cheddar), tomato coconut milk sauce with rice noodles and veges (NZ for vegetables)
The following two photos are from one of our favorite meals we had at a restaurant during our trip--at Black Barn, a nearby winery.
Roasted eggplant slices with tofu and ??, plus deglazed coconut cream sauce
Typical night stand:
Jordi, our Catalan friend, cooking us his speciality: seafood paella
The view we had to deal with every meal (also featuring the pinot rosé Jeremy and I made)
One of the paellas
One of the great things we learned about while in New Zealand: Heston Blumenthal's chocolate mousse (23:27 boiling water:chocolate... mix and whip). So, Jeremy chopped us a lot of chocolate while I tested the boundaries of that recipe.
Easter dinner with friends: snapper
And, the snapper with saffron béarnaise, stuffed zucchini blossoms, roasted butternut purée
The brown sugar pavlova Abby made for dessert (with whipped cream, golden kiwis, mandarins, and passion fruit)
Half a hoggett (one year older than a lamb) that our English coworker, Marcus, bought
Bringing the spirit of Mexico to New Zealand (a new experience for all of our coworkers, I think): Chiles Rellenos!
Yet another cool new fruit: tamarillos! Similar in flavor to gooseberries, but more luscious and not quite as acidic. About the size of roma tomatoes. Here they are, poached and peeled:
Tamarillos baked with sabayon.
These are fish Jeremy and I caught while visiting Abby's family on Waiheke, where her dad took us fishing (Jeremy got the red snapper on top, and I got the Kahawai on the bottom). We took them back to the house and lightly sautéed them.
We also got these wild mushrooms on the shore of Lake Taupo (directed by someone who knew how to ID them). They tasted kind of like cherries.
- New Zealand (first half of 2011) + sketches
- Oregon (second half of 2011) + sketches
- Iowa (2012) + sketches
New Zealand
We were kept busy most of the time toiling away in the winery. However, Hastings had an awesome farmer's market, and we also found great Indian, South-East Asian, and health food grocery stores.
Brown rice and various (frequently curried) lentil- and bean- based stews dominated many of our meals, usually supplemented by sauces I would make every week or two. These types of meals were great because they provided a lot of nutritional content and calories in forms that we could largely make ahead of time. You can tell that plate presentation was not a top priority!
We also discovered Maltobella (malted sorghum), which we often had for breakfast with stewed fruit.
We made about 20 gallons of Pinot Noir rosé during our stay as well, which was more than enough for the consumption of us and all of our coworkers. And, of course, we visited as many wineries as we could on our days off to do tastings, and bought a lot of local wine to enjoy as well. Favorite places we tasted include (Hawke's Bay) Te Mata and Ash Ridge, and (Martinborough) Ata Rangi, and Alana Estate.
Anyway, following is a smattering of food photos from that time:
- First snack upon arrival: instant coffee (little did we know how our feelings about it would change on this trip... for the better!), cashew clusters, rice cake. Then we went out for sushi.
First meal (at the hotel in Auckland): brown rice and tomato salad
Another first meal: Green Zebra Mussels with Garlic Butter and Craggy Range Chardonnay. The fish market was quite fun to visit.
The kiwis serve marshmallows with their coffee (often strawberry, and often in the shape of fish, dipped in chocolate--in which case they're called "chocolate fish"). It is a nice addition. Pictured is a "flat white".
And, to the winery:
Nori-wrapped sweet potatoes with chickpea curry, broccoli, pan-fried potatoes, broccoli
Tofu Thai-inspired curry
Golden kiwi: the custardy, soft-skinned cousin to the more commonly known (in the US) brown kiwi
Feijoas! A fruit that tastes minty and limey, kind of like a mojito. Everybody seems to have a feijoa tree, so when they're in season they always seemed to be in ample supply. To the side is one of our coworker's dinners (five sausages and a chicken breast!).
Roasted tomato sauce, veggies, potatoes, avocado...
Potato and white bean stew, with local Camembert-style cheese, tomato, basil
"Cheek peas" (as they were labelled at the store) with hull: curry with brown rice (typical lunch)
Rice noodles, tofu, veggies, fried egg (typical dinner)
Mashed potatoes, caramelized onion, tofu, zucchini
Kumara (the other great NZ produce--a flavorful sweet potato) curry and brown rice
"Tasty cheese" (NZ parlance for aged white cheddar), tomato coconut milk sauce with rice noodles and veges (NZ for vegetables)
The following two photos are from one of our favorite meals we had at a restaurant during our trip--at Black Barn, a nearby winery.
- Passion fruit tart and sorbet
- Gelato (Cassis, Strawberry, and lemon, I think?)
Roasted eggplant slices with tofu and ??, plus deglazed coconut cream sauce
Typical night stand:
- instant coffee, matcha, hot water kettle, mochi, Whittaker's chocolate
- Also featured: a feijoa spritzer I concocted (Fresh feijoa, reduced pinot noir juice, soda water)
Jordi, our Catalan friend, cooking us his speciality: seafood paella
The view we had to deal with every meal (also featuring the pinot rosé Jeremy and I made)
One of the paellas
One of the great things we learned about while in New Zealand: Heston Blumenthal's chocolate mousse (23:27 boiling water:chocolate... mix and whip). So, Jeremy chopped us a lot of chocolate while I tested the boundaries of that recipe.
Easter dinner with friends: snapper
And, the snapper with saffron béarnaise, stuffed zucchini blossoms, roasted butternut purée
The brown sugar pavlova Abby made for dessert (with whipped cream, golden kiwis, mandarins, and passion fruit)
Half a hoggett (one year older than a lamb) that our English coworker, Marcus, bought
Bringing the spirit of Mexico to New Zealand (a new experience for all of our coworkers, I think): Chiles Rellenos!
- Roasted poblanos and anaheims, peeled/seeded, stuffed with tasty cheese, then battered and fried
- Brown rice with tomatoes and vegetables
- Slow-cooked spicy black beans
- Guacamole
- Salsa verde and pico de gaillo
- Sour cream, lettuce
Yet another cool new fruit: tamarillos! Similar in flavor to gooseberries, but more luscious and not quite as acidic. About the size of roma tomatoes. Here they are, poached and peeled:
Tamarillos baked with sabayon.
These are fish Jeremy and I caught while visiting Abby's family on Waiheke, where her dad took us fishing (Jeremy got the red snapper on top, and I got the Kahawai on the bottom). We took them back to the house and lightly sautéed them.
We also got these wild mushrooms on the shore of Lake Taupo (directed by someone who knew how to ID them). They tasted kind of like cherries.
Another Boerenjongens Cocktail
Advocaat (which is a thick custard liqueur out of the Netherlands), Cachaça, & Boerenjongens (spiced, Courvoisier-soaked golden raisins we made a year ago): all blended with ice to make a slushy
Garden Ratatouille and Pesto Mashed Potatoes
Farmers' market baby eggplant
Stenback garden tomatoes, squash, onions, peppers
Freshly dug potatoes with basic garden pesto, buttermilk, butter
Stenback garden tomatoes, squash, onions, peppers
Freshly dug potatoes with basic garden pesto, buttermilk, butter
17 July 2012
1st Anniversary Dinner
We celebrated a year of marriage together.
Here is what we ate.
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Here is what we ate.
- Cake: Layered dacquoise, chocolate / toasted almond genoise, chocolate Italian buttercream, and coconut cream ganache. Plus pandan macarons.
We decided to start the day with the cake I made for the wedding, so I could plan another dessert if it no longer tasted good.
The verdict? Thanks to my Mom's amazing wrapping skills, the cake had no trace of defective aroma, and it may have tasted even better than at the wedding!
- Aperitif: Roy Classique (Cachaça, Borenjongens Liqueur, a shake of Angostora bitters, and Borenjongens as garnish)
We made the Borenjongens (basically golden raisins soaked in Courvoisier with a little sugar and cinnamon) a few months before our wedding last year. They have been getting better and better sitting over the past year, and made for an outstanding cocktail which we will definitely be revisiting in the future.
You can see our prep list under the cocktail.
You can see our prep list under the cocktail.
- Crustacean Course: Chili-marinated wild prawns in garden collard slaw with saffron vinaigrette
- Bivalve Course: Scallops served with negimiso brown rice
- Fish Course: Wahoo with garden beet and potato gnocchi, beans, baby eggplant, and candied tomato in red curry pesto
- Wine: Ken Wright's 2010 Pinot Blanc (an excellent pairing)
- Cheese: Reichert's Dairy Air washed rind cheese: Robiolina di Reba
So, that's the gist of our main meal, though we had many other wonderful snackies and wines (including a bottle of the 1988 Domaine Michel Cab Sauv we got for the wedding).
Forthcoming: what I haven't posted for the past year and a half.
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