BEVS

So tonight, I shall try Coronation chicken with what is left of the chicken I jointed . Most often it works out more cost effective to joint a whole bird than to buy 'parts' .

I have some frozen berries left from our bushes & there are some oranges so will make a sorta almond, orange and berry tart.

BEVS

--- correction---

Due to the stress of the day re. scumbag neighbour retaliation ploy which failed + official paperwork to go with that etc. , himself suggested he did the 40 minute round trip and has gone to get fetch us a Chinese takeaway. One of those $12 jobs from the mall foodcourt where you cram lots into one container.

I won't say no to that.

bakedbean

Just reminds me of a funny post in the Malaysia section, someone who had just arrived in the country, and went to the supermarket, bought a bag marked Whole chicken....and that is precisely what they got . Made me laugh anyway.

I ate out tonight....some kind of Chinese fish dish with ginger and soy sauce and rice and greens....nice

BEVS

all the chicken ? Minus the feathers I assume.

I ditched the coronation part of the coronation chicken . It turned out 'orrible.

Ended up with cold chicken , rice and salad.

bakedbean

Yep something like that

bourbon-biscuit

We had a slightly adapted version of Whittingstall's Chachouka recipe tonight - with my home baked (in breadmaker) super crusty seed bread cut into wodges and slathered with butter- was delish and we eat it heaps this time of year when red peppers are a $1. It's a dish of wilted peppers flavoured with smoked paprika and baked in the oven with eggs in - bloody marvelous with some real crusty bread but you must have butter with it. We had lemon self saucing pudding with greek yog after (I didn't make the yog today) - a lovely quick dinner as I was out most of the day.

bakedbean

Claypot Chicken

bourbon-biscuit

Last night I forgot it was pancake day and made an adapted version of jamie oliver's autumn minestrone. I like JO's cooking but I find it is too often very expensive so I adapt his recipes. Even his save with jamie recipes can be pricey in NZ because different things tend to be cheap/ expensive. We only have this this time of year because the veg is seasonal so it's a dish that tastes amazing but fairly cheap - particularly when I had my own garden full of veg, sob! Anyway, the minestrone - one of my many adapted for nz and a small purse recipes:

Sweat red onion, celey, diced carrot, a finely diced fennel bulb, a heaped teaspoon of mild smoked paprika (JO uses bacon, in the UK I used cheap smoked salmon scraps), 5-6 finely sliced garlic cloves, and heaps of basil stalks (luckily for me my chum grows heaps of basil and this time of year she brings it round by the boot load but try your local veg store) in olive oil (don't skimp on the olive oil) until nice and translucent - 15-20mins. Then add a huge glass of red wine (cos I don't drink much, preferring my calories baked, I keep red wine frozen by glass full for cooing with), two tins of chopped toms and a couple of diced courgettes (yay to friend's massive garden again) and simmer for 15. Usually I have some spinach or chard in the garden but I haven't got that going yet so I used two blobs of frozen spinach instead - add to pot along with two tins of well rinsed borlotti beans, about a cup and a half of bashed up pasta (wholemeal is nicest in this recipe) and enough stock to make it look like soup. JO says use ham, chicken or veg stock. I only use Marigold bouliion, which I source from pakn'save in another town - I can't bear to wreck decent home cooking with stock with msg, hydrolised palm fat, etc. I also add a decent cup of frozen peas. Let simmer till pasta cooked and it's ready. JO says serve with parmesan, which we did in the Uk but here the parmesan goes melty and stringy and is no good, or you buy the imported stuff at $12 a wodge - no thanks. Had it with fresh bread still warm from breadmaker. Delicious!

scrubbedexpat094

I did remind everyone

bourbon-biscuit

We had pancakes recently for a birthday breakie, so I'm happy to have skipped them, especially as my kids don't seem to have noticed!

bourbon-biscuit

I forgot to mention tossing in all the torn basil leaves before serving.

bearskin

isn't Parmesan one of those protected type cheeses - so that it is only made in the correct way, from registered makers? If so, i don't see any option but to buy 'the imported stuff'? Anything else is just a rip-off - would be why it doesn't work the way the real thing would?

bearskin

I was going to shallow fry some fish in a pan, but have been told we don't have those 'panko' breadcrumbs that the kids and I really like. So, am going to make a dish that involves stir frying up some strips of beef, then adding something like green beans, or capsicum, then some bits of pumpkin that has been pre-cooked (roasted is best), and finally heaps of herbs like coriander and basil and doused with soy sauce. Served heaped on rice. I like it, but the kids will probably have something simpler.

bourbon-biscuit

Yep, every now and then I see some of the import stuff reduced and buy it, but other than that I don't bother. I'd like to think the home grown parmesan is rubbish for the reasons you mention, but as that doesn't explain why the cheddar is dire or the blue is hopeless or the 'brie' is woeful, I think it might just be crapness.

Hebe

Roasted beetroot salad with a poached egg and salmon - I'm limited to a couple of frying pans I brought in my luggage, a baking sheet and my thermomix!