winosandfoodies

Food Writing

Sam  made a reference  to  this article   by Molly O'Niell  on food  writing.   I haven't had time to read it through completely but it  sounds interesting.  Certainly food for thought.

Pastries in Matakana

Driving back from the beach after the weekend we stopped off in Matakana  where we discovered the Matakana Patisserie . If I was thinner I'd have happily spent the entire afternoon in the sunny courtyard  eating  pastries.  They also make the best ciabatti bread I've tried in a long time.

Matakana Patisserie
70 Matakana Road
Matakana
09 422 9896

Hay Hay Its Donna Day #5 Roundup

Tami  has posted the round up  of the lastest Donna Hay  event.  Drop by and visit her blog for some great entries and cast your vote.  My post seemed to attract some rather unpleasant spam comments.  I hope no one else suffered similar comments.

Also the Donna Hay magazine kindly sent me some merchandise to give away as prizes which has either been lost in the post or stolen from my letterbox.  Hopefully I can track it down as I don't expect them to send a second package.

Arfi's Lemon Cake

I'm off to the beach  for the weekend.  Before I left I made Arfi's  Lemon Cake to take with us. Drop by her site for the recipe. It is delicious.

New Food Markets in Auckland

Newmarket Fresh
3 -  5 Gillies Ave
Newmarket
Phone 09 522 1341

In the past month two specialty food markets have opened in Auckland. The first to open was Nosh in Apirana Ave, Glen Innes and last week Newmarket Fresh opened in Gillies Ave Newmarket.   Both are worth a visit with Nosh having a more upmarket approach. This does not make it any better than Newmarket Fresh as they carry a similar range of New Zealand and imported products.

Nosh
133 - 135 Apirana Ave
Glen Innes
Phone 09 521 1115

Two Auckland Food Bloggers Meet

Last weekend I finally met Arfi. We've been swapping emails for some months now and at last we were able to coordinate a day to meet.  The day started out a bit grim with rain looming on the horizon. By the time we had driven a little over an hour out of the city the sun was shining and Arfi had set the outside table for  lunch.  Arfi and her family live on a few acres in a pretty part of South Auckland surrounded by rolling hills.   

We were treated to an Indonesian style meal of Chicken in peanut sauce served on perfect fluffy white rice  followed by a tangy jellied yoghurt with lychees.  I'd saved room for some of  Arfi's special chocolate truffles.  And I even found more room for the lemon cake she served with herb tea.

After lunch we collected flowers from the garden and took a walk through the orchard before going home with some home made tamarillo chutney and farm fresh eggs from Arfi's chickens. Which made a beautiful omelette for our dinner that evening.

Salmon Salad

Here's my favourite lunch time salad.

A layer of sliced telegraph cucumber
A few tiny squares of fetta cheese
A couple of slivers of smoked salmon
A few slices of red onion
A flutter of leaves of flat leaf parsley
A drizzle of olive and and a sprinkle of Maldon  salt

YUMMY

The Five Things to Eat Before You Die Meme

Last year I was tagged for the previous outing of this meme by Mona .  When you've just been diagnosed with cancer for the second time in 18 months the word "die" is not something you want to think about let alone consider which five foods you need to eat.  This time around I've been tagged  twice   and so in the interests of research by Melissa  I've decided I can cope with participating.

5 FOODS TO EAT BEFORE YOU DIE

Iberico jamon - Unbelievably this was part of my last meal in Santiago de Compostella  before visiting a doctor in Portugal the following day and being admitted to hospital for emergency life saving surgery.

Blue Manna Crabs   - caught at Busselton Beach, best eaten with family  and friends and served from a table covered with newspaper with just a touch of lemon juice and a sprinkle of salt.

Black Iranian Caviar  - I love caviar but have only had the cheaper versions.

Foie Gras -  Preferably prepared and served by friends who live in Gascony.  But I'll always order  it when it's on the menu.

My 87th Birthday Cake - I used to say I wanted to live until I'm 100 but I'll settle for 87.

I won't tag anyone but feel free to participate if you haven't already been tagged.

Donna's Savoury T***s

Somethings are so simple it is easy to mess them up.  My pastry puffed up into little pillows and I misread the baking time and didn't cook them for long enough.  They don't look as pretty as Tami's , the host of this months Hay Hay Its Donna Day, but they tasted fine.  I'll know better next time and leave them in the oven 10 minutes longer. 

Update: I've been getting some nasty spam email to this post so have altered the word in the title I think is attracting it.

Queensland Travels

We saved the best till last.  Montrachet  on Given Terrace in Brisbane was our favourite meal by far.  From the decor to the  waiter you  could have been in Paris, everything was so French.  On  the last day of our trip we spent a long lunch here with our friends R & S before checking in for our flight home. We've all be raving about it ever since.  Here's what I ordered for lunch.
Foie Gras de Canard à la Compote de Poire
Duck foie gras served with fresh pear compote and toasted baguette
Bouillabaisse
Reef fish, Queensland scallops, fresh green prawns and Moreton Bay bugs served in a rich seafood broth with aioli and garlic French toast
Touree De L’Aubier
(Normandy, France) This is a washed rind cows’ milk cheese,surface ripened and also known as the “woodcutter’s cheese”. It has a distinctive thin layer of spruce bark surrounding the outer rim. and a soft texture which is surprisingly mild, sweet and creamy with just a hint of pine. washing, mouldy cellars and farmyards.

Back in Auckland and it is cold and raining the warm Brisbane weather is now just a memory.  Our holiday started in the best possible way with a room upgrade at  Rydges on Southbank .  We  didn't spend much time in our extra large room but when we did we would sit on the balcony and enjoy the  spectacular city and river views.  Little Stanley Street became our kitchen away from home as there were plenty of eating choices.

The Satay Hut  was our favourite and we dined there more than once.

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While in Brisbane I phoned the The Old Foodie  from a bar and it happened to be across the road from her apartment so she joined us for a drink.  We spent the afternoon chatting with Janet and enjoyed  more views of the river from her gorgeous apartment.  Knowing how much I love great cheese she served the first of my many Roquefort experiences on this trip.  We even cut the cheese with a special cheese knife Janet purchased in Roquefort. There is a silly  reason that doesn't allow it to be sold in New Zealand.   I purchased it several times and for anyone interested it sells for $95 a kilo. Around $18 will get you a decent serve for 4 - 6 people. Depends how greedy you are!

On to Noosa  via  Maleny  and the Glass House Mountains  and 5 days of beaches, sunsets, wine, food and friends.

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...and here's where we dined in Noosa....

Season  -  we were so tired after the drive we popped in here for a quick meal on our first night after Jules  said it was her favourite  Noosa restaurant.  The  BBQ prawns, spiced tomato risotto, preserved lemon and chili was just enough after a long day.

Berardos  - an enjoyable meal spoilt only by the waiter who had no idea how to wait. He interrupted our friends story by saying "I must tell you the specials, they are much more important than all this talk". I had a simple Scotch fillet with mushrooms and red wine sauce here as the rest of the table had chosen all the interesting dishes and we all tried to eat something different. My dessert of Quince and pistachio halva made up for having the ordinary main.

HUMiD  - we all agreed this was our best meal in Noosa.  Our only complaint is the restaurant is very noisy despite it being small with only 12 tables.  I had the Crispy skin confit of duck, roasted pumpkin puree, caramelised beetroot with balsamic glaze. And for dessert  Sticky date and chocolate pudding served with butterscotch sauce and Gippsland double cream. Gorgeous and so rich I couldn't eat it all.

At the apartment we lunched on the patio with  supplies from the Eumundi Markets .

Saturday and back down to Brisbane for drinks and a quick steak at the famous Breakfast Creek Hotel  before heading out to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre to see Hugh star in  The Boy From Oz.   There was some discussion with friends later about the way the song  I Still Call Australia Home  was presented. Did it border on nationalism  or was it  patriotism?   I loved the way it was presented with the choir and flag.

Finally we spent our last few days with our very good friends R & S on the Gold Coast.  Excellent weather and we did mostly picnic lunches and dinners at home.  No trip to the Gold Coast is complete without driving over the border into New South Wales and a drink at the Byron Bay Beach Hotel.   We stopped off there after a visit to the pretty town of Bangalow  and lunch at Utopia .  I'd drive there again just for the mussels....and I was so hungry after the drive I forgot to take a photo.  But heres a photo of the bread and dips.....

....and the rocky road

A couple of  other little finds were La Riviera Patisserie in Noosaville

and Absynthe Bakery  in Surfers Paradise

Back home and I'm sure my clothes have shrunk in the wash.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day #5

Doesn't this tart look yummy? Will yours look as good as this?  This is the savoury tart made by Tami   our host of Hay Hay Its Donna Day #5.  Check out Tami's    post for the details and get your entry in by 15th September.

Missed You

I'm back home and wearing an extra sweater. It is so much cooler in Auckland.  Thank you to everyone who left messages while I was away.  We had a great time with lots of fine wine, excellent food and catching up with good friends.  I'll be posting a few of my foodie adventures as soon as I've unpacked and organised myself.

Love

This beautiful cushion was a  gift from Madame Shawshank.

Happy Spring

The first of Spring daffodils from my friend Nathalie's garden.  Down in New Zealand and Australia today is the first day of Spring.   This week I'm in Noosa  enjoying sunshine, wine, food and music .