New Zealand

Tom and I collectively have had many friends who have visited and worked in New Zealand through the years. However, this meal celebrated the departure of two of our friends, Stacy and Nick, going off to this picturesque country to see what seeds they could sow. Luckily, they are both doing well there today and we were happy to send them off with a taste of what was to come.

New Zealand today is full of sheep and Lord of the Rings tourism. Of course there is much more to this prosperous land than hobbits, but seriously, it's hard not to think of Elijah Wood when looking at the landscape. Much like our Australian meal, we had to kind of make up vegetable dishes that we thought Kiwis might eat. It's not that they don't eat vegetables, but either they eat ingredients we cannot get in the U.S. or they do not have a concrete recipe for a dish without meat. We hope we did it justice.

iSnack 2.0 and New Zealand Cheddar with Rye Bread

Okay, you are probably wondering first of all about the name of iSnack 2.0. Well, my friend, Jodie (she's from Australia), gave me this gift the last time she visited the states and apparently, the iSnack 2.0 name caused quite a stir down under, mainly because it's silly. It is now called Cheesybite and it's like Vegemite except Americans are supposed to like it more. The thing that a lot of people can't get over about Vegemite and the like is that you are supposed to spread it super thin on bread, but we tend to lather it on too thickly. Like Australians, Kiwis also enjoy their yeasty spreads. Like most Americans, I am not totally sold, but I do think the iSnack tastes better than original Vegemite. We put this out with some lovely New Zealand cheddar and bread for an amuse bouche.



Broccoli and New Zealand Cheddar Salad

Alright, on with the sort of bullshit vegetable dish! It did turn out quite tasty and a nice, lighter side to go with all of the other heavy food. We also used the New Zealand cheddar again, because it is just so pleasant with everything. I would be proud to bring this along to any Midwestern picnic.

2lbs broccoli cut into bite sized florets

1 cup shredded new zealand cheddar or other white cheddar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup shaved almonds

1/4 cup golden raisins

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Blanche the broccoli for two minutes drain and allow to cool to room temperature.

2. In a large bowl mix everything together and serve.

Turnip and Rutabaga Gratin

Tom and I both love our root vegetables and rutabaga is one of those special winter treats that if you have not tried you should really get with it. Both rutabaga and turnips are super cheap, delicious and feed a lot of people, plus you can dress them up or down. It doesn't matter, they will still be enjoyable.

By the way, about 5 minutes after we took this picture, our lovely blue baking dish cracked off and there was gratin all over the place. Just one of those mishaps that seem to happen to us when a lot of people are over. Dinners aren't the same without some sort of crisis or broken cookware!

For the Bechamel:

2 cups milk

1 onion thinly sliced

1 tsp chopped sage

1 tsp chopped thyme

1 clove of garlic chopped

1/2 stick of butter

3 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

Salt to taste

1. In a saucepan heat the milk until it reaches a boil and then set it aside.

2. In another small saucepan melt the butter over low heat and stir in the flour. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture browns.

3. Pour in the heated milk slowly in batches and use a whisk to stir it together.

4. Add the herbs and cook until thickened. Season with salt and nutmeg.

For the vegetables:

1.5 lbs rutabaga cut into thin strips

1.5 lbs turnips also cut into thin strips

1 onion finely chopped

1 cup bread crumbs

Butter

Salt and pepper to taste.

1. Preheat the oven to 375 and butter a 2 quart casserole dish.

2. Boil the rutabagas in a large pot for two minutes and drain.

3. Saute the onion in a tablespoon of butter for five minutes and combine with all of the vegetables in a large bowl.

4. Season these with salt and pepper and pour them into the casserole.

5. Pour bechamel over the vegetables and cover everything with the breadcrumbs.

6. Bake 45 minutes or until the top is browned.

Mint Jelly for Lamb

When I was a kid, we were at a jelly store in Tennessee somewhere and I saw an apple mint jelly. I begged my parents to get in and proceeded to eat it on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Little did I know that this type of jelly had a higher purpose--meat sauce. I still hold to the fact that it is fabulous with peanut butter, but I guess it goes well with lamb, too.

1 cup mint leaves chopped

1/4 cup malt vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp corn starch

In a small pan, heat the vinegar and sugar over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the mint leaves, salt, and corn starch. Continue heating until slightly thickened. Allow to cool in the fridge for several hours and serve with the lamb.

Lamb Roast

We couldn't very well make a New Zealand meal without making a lamb roast. Much to my chagrin and disappointment, the lamb was made and enjoyed by all, well, everyone but Stacy and I. I wish I could enjoy lamb and I think it tastes just fine. It's just that for some reason when it hits my throat it makes me gag inexplicably. Stacy had a better excuse, she tried the lamb because she knew more was in her future when she moved, but she was in fact a vegetarian. I was still secretly happy that her reaction was the same as mine.

Now, please don't listen to me and my opinions on lamb, like I said, I wish I could enjoy it. This is a lovely lamb recipe and goes wonderful with the mint jelly. This picture seriously doesn't do it justice, but I think you can look at the runoff meat juices and decide for yourself.

Pavlova

At first when I saw the recipe for this back when we did Australia, I thought to myself "there is absolutely no way I am making that!". It looked hard, it looked time consuming...it looked amazing when it was done! New Zealand and Australia fight over this dessert and who came up with it first. Supposedly, it was named after a Russian dancer after she toured in both countries. Pavlova is meringue-like and is covered with whipped cream and fruit. It is somehow light and rich at the same time and it was absolutely devoured. I'm pretty happy with the results and I'm glad I had a second opportunity to make this. I hadn't made meringue since a high school cooking class and was surprised it actually set. Whew!

1/2 cup egg whites, at room temperature (about 4 eggs)
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
strawberries, green parts trimmed off, sliced
kiwis, skinned and sliced
Whatever other fruit you enjoy

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Whip the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt in a clean, dry bowl until it gets frothy. Next, add the sugar, cornstarch, vinegar and vanilla until it gets stiff, smooth and glossy (Note-if you have a stand mixer, this is easy and requires just patience, if it's a hand mixer-it may take awhile).
Take a piece of parchment paper and draw a 9 inch circle and place it pencil side down on a sheet pan.
Spoon the mixture into the middle of the circle you drew and place in the center of the oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat of the oven to 300 degrees and bake for another 45 minutes or so until it is light brown in color. Don't worry if it cracks a bit, it is supposed to do that.
Turn the oven off, but keep the pavlova in. Open the oven door and let the pavlova cool with the over to room temp (about 30 minutes of so).

Whip the cream and brown sugar together and put it on top of the pavlova. Decorate and finish with any fruit of your choosing.

Conclusion

I think this was the perfect way to send off our friends to the land of the Kiwis. Although we miss them so, we are happy to know that they are doing quite well and are enjoying their lives there now. Again, sorry for the delay on the post updating. Our New Year's resolution should obviously be keeping up with our dinners a little more diligently on this blog.

Next up, Thailand!

Australia

Australia is another of those countries where I tread lightly when approaching its cuisine, mainly because Amy and I have come to know a fair amount of Australians in our time. So, to all Australians we know, we hope we didn't screw up your cuisine, and if we did: sorry. For most American cooks Australia should not be too daunting of a country. Despite, being on the other end of the globe, the food is remarkably similar to what Amy and I grew up with in the midwest. This is probably because both our countries have a shared history of English colonization and large scale emigrations from Europe. Many ancestors of the Aussies, however, did not emigrate by choice, but were shipped to Australia as prisoners or debtors. The result of all this is a continent full of meat and potato eaters on the other side of the planet.

Our attempts at coming up with a quintessential Australian meal were a bit difficult. Of course there is a lot of amazing food in Australia, but it was hard to pin down what was specifically considered to be truly Australian and not just a good version of a foreign dish. This problem will undoubtedly come up again when we are planning for Canada, the U.S. and New Zealand. Our first thought for this meal was to get kangaroo or emu meat, but sadly the costs were sky high and the cuts available weren't very good. We then tried to go the purely seafood route, but realized that wasn't generally seen as strictly Aussie either. The meal we concluded on is an attempt at making several of the Aussie staple dishes as well as a few other dishes that are based on side items that I have eaten at the few Australian meals I've attended.

As we cooked, we made sure to play lots of Men at Work.

Vegemite and Australian Swiss with Toast

We were not able to find any vegemite here in Chicago. So we had to commit sacrilege and go with the British salty yeast extract spread, Marmite, as a substitute for Australia's classic vegemite sandwich. Nobody enjoyed the strange dark substance, but we Americans really have no history of spreading yeast extract on bread. Amy's friend Jodie tells us that a new vegemite is about to come out called cheesy-bite formulated for non yeast muncher palates that is blended with cheese product for a less strong taste.

1 jar vegemite (or marmite if you can't find it)
Cheese (we had an Australian Swiss)
Toasted bread

1. Toast the bread.
2. Cut the cheese...ha!
3. Open the vegemite and thinly spread on toast. Cheese is optional on the toast as well. I find everybody needed the cheese to get the yeasty taste out of their mouth. But maybe you'll enjoy it.
4. After a slice of toast each, we put this away because nobody liked it. If you do enjoy it, go ahead and keep eating it.

Potato Salad

This is one of those items, that while not a classic Australian staple, I am sure some Australians enjoy it. This particular version of potato salad is based on one I was served at an Australian embassy party when I was living in Hanoi. What made this salad different from our American standard was the inclusion of cheese and scallions and the exclusion of mayonnaise in favor of olive oil and mustard. I've been making my potato salads this way ever since.

3 lbs red potatoes
2 tsp English mustard powder mixed with 2 tbsps water
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2-2/3 cup olive oil
2 tbsp drained and capers
1 bunch parsley chopped
1 bunch scallions chopped
1/2 cup medium grated parmesan or sharp white cheddar
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Boil potatoes until you can pass a fork easily into the center of the potato. Be careful not to overboil them or else you'll get mashed potatoes. This can take practice.
2. Drain the potatoes and immediately run cold water over them. Give the potatoes 20 minutes to cool, and then cut them into 1 inch cubes.
3. Whisk mustard, oil, vinegar, capers, and parsley together in a large bowl. Add the potatoes, salt, parsley, scallions, and cheese to the bowl. Gently toss the ingredients to combine. Allow to sit until they come to room temperature and serve.

Southeast Asian Cole Slaw in a Macadamia Sauce

This was the least Australian of our dishes. Basically we needed to eat vegetables, and I could not find a typical 'Aussie' vegetable dish. So I got creative and came up with this recipe. The cabbage salad is typical of many Southeast Asian countries, and Australia has a very large Southeast Asian population. We substituted macadamia nuts for peanuts, because the macadamia is actually indigenous to Australia.

1 cup macadamia nuts
1 tablespoon ground coriander
3 tbsps soy sauce
1/2 cup coconut milk
3 tbsps honey
1 tsp chili paste
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 head cabbage thinly chopped
1/2 red onion thinly sliced
3 medium carrots scraped and grated
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 bunch cilantro chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350 f and cook the nuts 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
2. Combine nuts, honey, soy sauce, and coriander in a food processor and grind to a thick pulp.
3. Scrape the nut mixture into a saucepan and combine chili paste and coconut milk with ingredients.
4. Heat over medium flame until the mixture thickens into a thick sauce (about ten minutes). Set the sauce aside and allow to cool.
5. Now for the cabbage. In a large bowl combine the chopped cabbage with a bit of salt. Pound the mix with a masher to loosen the leaves and allow to sit for 10 minutes or until the cabbage softens.
6. Add carrots, onions, cilantro, vinegar, and sauce. Combine and serve at room at room temperature.

Shrimp on the Barbie

For many Americans, the mention of Australian cuisine elicits images of barbecued shrimp. This is probably the result of this very well made tourism video featuring Paul Hogan of Crocodile Dundee fame from the 1980's. At the end of the ad, Hogan puts an enormous shrimp onto the barbecue and invites you to 'come and say g'day' in Australia. Sadly, my shrimp weren't as large as Paul Hogan's, but lets face it we can't all be that awesome. The recipe itself, couldn't be easier.

1.5 lbs shrimp
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tbsps chopped ginger
Butter
Chopped garlic

1. Marinate the shrimp in the soy and ginger for 30 minutes
2. Skewer the shrimp and grill over high heat for about two minutes on each side. And remove.
3. Melt the butter and add the garlic. Serve the garlic sauce in small bowls on the side.


Meat Pie

The quintessential national dish of Australia: the meat pie. Ground beef seemed to be the agreed upon standard for this dish, but I'm still partial to filling my savory pastries with pork. Also, as you can tell by the picture, we still have no pie pans in the new apartment so we had to make do with a loaf tin. It still worked, and I'll be eating the leftovers of this savory log for the next several days.

For the Filling:

2 lbs ground beef dredged in 1/2 cup flour
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsps butter
2 medium yellow onions finely chopped
1 tsp English mustard powder
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp coriander seed (ground)
1 tsp pepper (ground)
4 cups stock (beef or chicken)
2 tsp vegemite (marmite in our case)

1. Heat butter in a large cast iron pan and add onions and garlic. Cook over medium high until translucent.
2. Add the beef and cook until well browned
3. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook over medium until the sauce forms a thick gravy (about 15 minutes).
4. Set the meat and sauce aside to cool.

For the Crust:

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup lard
1.5 tsp salt

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and mix until a large ball of dough forms.
2. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and kneed for five minutes. Wrap the mixture in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Remove the dough and cut off 2/3 of the mixture.
4. On a floured surface roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness and line a bread pan with the crust If it breaks as this happens fell free to smush it together, and tell nobody that anything bad happened.
5. Bake this bottom layer of crust for 15 minutes at 375 f in the oven until it is browned.
6. Roll out the remaining dough in a rough shape of the top of the pan also to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut two vent holes in the dough.
7. Trim the edges of the dough to fit the pan.
8. Fill the pan with the meat mixture and place the top piece over the mixture being sure to seal the edges.
9. Bake in the 375 f oven for another hour.
10. Allow 15 minutes to cool and serve with plenty of ketchup.

Anzac Biscuits (Cookies)

These are great old-timey cookies originally made in honor of Australia and New Zealand's overseas forces in the first World War. They are also incredibly easy to make. But the Anzac biscuits although simple in execution can easily become a tremendous failure. We learned this the hard way and had a trash can full of burnt cookie goo after our first try. So pay attention and you just might be able to make these truly amazing cookies.

1 cup oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup shredded coconut
1 cup butter
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsps boiling water
2 tbsps honey

1. Mix oats, flour, sugar, and coconut in a large bowl.
2. Melt butter and honey together in a small saucepan.
3. In a small cup dissolve baking soda into the water. Add this to the melted butter mixture and stir well.
4. Now add the butter mix to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix well with a spoon (not your hands because that butter stings!)
5. After it is well mixed place on baking sheets in two inch flattened balls. Leave lots of space between the cookies because they expand quite a bit.
6. Bake 12-15 in a 325 f oven.
7. Allow cookies 10 minutes to cool before removing them from baking sheets. This allows them to harden.
8. Eat cookies.

In Conclusion


The big winning items of the night were definitely the shrimp and the cookies. The meat pie proved to be a bit much with everything else on the table, but I'm fine with eating the rest at work this week. Everybody left with full bellies and Men at Work ringing in their heads. It was a surreal experience that Outback Steakhouse only wishes they could equal. We hope Paul Hogan would've been proud! Up next is Austria and Sausage making! Cheers, mates!