Learning to love liver (not really)

I like to think I am a total omnivore. As a food writer I think it is important that I am not squeamish about any food, and that I don't have any food prejudices. That I'm willing to give any food a go. 

And that's something I pretty much stick to. Weird exotic meat - no problem. Peacock? Done it. Sheep testicles? Yep. Baby Bambi? Bring it on. Insects? No problem. I would, I believe, give anything a try at least once. But offal. As much as I have tried, I have found it impossible to enjoy kidneys and livers. 

I know I'm not alone here. I love the idea of them - high in iron and vitamin A, rich and meaty, usually cooked in a delicious combo of butter and wine. But something about the texture, paired with that very strong, iron-y, intense animal flavour... I just can't do it.

Except I can eat pate and terrine. Liver, when it's not quite so liver-ish, and when combined with other ingredients, I find I can handle and actually, enjoy. This is good news for my omnivore reputation. 

Here I present my favorite summer terrine; the basis of many a weekend summer lunch, and a lovely thing to nibble on with a glass of wine pre-dinner. Terrine is really just a flash French meatloaf, and it is completely delicious. I am using sausages here instead of mincing my own meats, just because it's easier. Obviously the better your sausages, the better the flavour of the finished terrine. Italian ones with fennel seeds, or Toulouse sausages, make good choices. If you have any brandy you could add a splash of that, too. Next up, pate (a complete revelation!)

Niki's chicken and pork terrine 

450g chicken mince 

400g (about 4) pork sausages (I used Branco's continental pork) 

1 clove garlic, finely chopped 

1 spring onion, finely chopped 

1 rasher shoulder bacon, chopped in small pieces 

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped 

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped 

2 tablespoons shelled pistachio nuts 

1/4 cup white wine 

180g chicken livers 

salt and freshly ground white pepper 

Preheat the oven to 160C. Squeeze the insides out of the sausages into a large bowl. Add all the other ingredients, except chicken livers. Mix together well with your hands (easiest) or a fork if you are feeling squeamish. 

Put the chicken livers into a blender or processor and whiz into a smooth slurry. (This is the grossest bit, but worth it for the flavour it adds). Add this into the meat mixture, season and mix it all together well. 

Put the mixture into a loaf tin and smooth the top. Put inside a roasting dish and fill the roasting dish with water so it comes about halfway up the sides of the loaf tin. 

Cook in the oven for 1 1/4 hours. Check it by inserting a knife or skewer; it's cooked when the juices run clear. It may need another 15 minutes or so. 

Cool the terrine in the loaf tin, then cover with a layer of plastic wrap and a layer of foil. Put something heavy on top of the terrine (I use another loaf tin loaded with cans of food) and leave it in the fridge overnight. This presses it down and gives it that lovely terrine-ish texture. Serve sliced, with a tasty relish, crusty bread and a salad. A glass of wine goes well, too. 

This terrine keeps for several days in the fridge, and freezes well too. Slice it up or freeze it whole. 

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Pasta mia - how to make your own pasta

Still feeling Italian.... really, it was only a matter of time before I got my fingers in some pasta dough.

I haven't made much pasta in the past few months, mostly because I've been cutting right back on the wheat. But it's the holidays, and I've been pretty much off the FODMAPs wagon, and I truly hate the thought of never having pasta. So it seemed like a good time.

Every time I make fresh pasta I go into raptures about how good it is, and why don't I make all my own pasta, etc etc. Of course on a lazy holiday day, making your own pasta seems like the easiest thing in the world. Try me again on a busy work night.

It is pretty magical, though, in the same way cake, or cheese, or quince paste are magical: you start with something quite unpromising and end up with something that's completely changed in nature and quite delicious.

For those of you who've never made your own pasta, here's a step-by step. You start with a pile of flour, a bit of salt and some eggs. I used about 1 1/2 cups plain flour here, and 2 smallish eggs.

You mix it up a bit (carefully, to avoid rivers of egg breaking over the flour banks and running all over the bench). There's nothing stopping you doing this bit in a large bowl, if you want to. Gradually incorporate the flour and egg together into a bit of a dough.

It will look a bit gnarly for a while, and you will think "Oh my god, this is not working, what a waste of egg, I'd better add some water," or things like that. But trust me, it works out in the end. Before you know it, you'll have a shaggy-looking dough. Now it's time to knead. Just do what comes naturally, turning and pushing the dough, and it will gradually become smooth and springy and lovely. (This was about as much of a workout as I've had all holidays. I wonder if it was negated by the wine I was also drinking at the time?) Before long you will have a ball of something that springs back when you press it, and you can imagine rolling out into a thin sheet.

This is the stage at which proper Italian mamas with large biceps would roll the dough out by hand, using long thin wooden rolling pins, until they have the world's most gorgeous silky pasta. Then they use their army of grandchildren to make individual pieces of fusilli or orichiette or whatever. This is the stage where I bust out the pasta machine.

This still requires some manual labour (turning the handle) and it takes a wee bit of time as you feed the bits of dough (cut up your ball into manageable pieces) through, gradually setting the rollers closer together and making the pasta thinner and thinner. This is the stage when you start to feel like a complete domestic goddess and start exclaiming in loud, faux Italian to your husband while he's trying to watch the cricket.

I'm always amazed with how much pasta I end up with. This dough really ended up making enough tagliatelle (or is it fettucine? I'm never quite sure) for four comfortably. I often make pappardelle, which I cut up by hand since my machine only has two cutting settings.

I usually scatter the pasta over a board and spread it out so it can dry a little bit and doesn't stick together. Proper Italian cooks hang their pasta on racks. If anyone has a suggestion for what I could use as an impromptu pasta-hanging rack, I'm all ears. Apart from the clothes-drying rack (which trust me, I have thought about).

You can dry this pasta out a bit and keep it for a few days in the fridge. Or you can cook it straight away. Fresh pasta only takes a couple of minutes to cook, so do everything else for your dish first and have a pot of water boiling and ready to go about three minutes before you want to eat. Give it lots of room to move around and a bit of salt.

It's a terrible shame to overcook it when you've gone to all this effort, so give it two minutes, test a bit and be ready to whip it off the heat and drain straight away.

I could eat fresh pasta with olive oil, salt and pepper. But in the interests of marital relations I went to a tiny bit more effort with this pasta. I tossed a little garlic and chilli in a pan, then added some lovely little cherry tomatoes and a few prawns. Toss, toss toss, get the prawns colored, add a couple of handfuls of rocket. Chuck the pasta in, gently toss it all together, add olive oil, salt and pepper and basil leaves and eat, pronto!

Then eat the leftover pasta the next day with a chopped tomato, a chopped chilli, a bunch of basil and a bit (maybe a lot) of grated parmesan. Mmmmmmmolto bene.

The Beach House Cookbook.... it's back!

The first recipe book I ever did was something called the Beach House Cook Book. It was pretty successful, in the context of recipe books in NZ (not Alison Holst territory, but pretty respectable). Beach houses, plus recipes... what's not to like? It sold out everywhere, but was never reprinted. 


Until now..... 


The publisher, Chanel, have re-worked Beach House into a new version. It's essentially all the recipes from Beach House, minus the houses. It's called Bach & Beach House. 


I have a limited number (50 copies) available for sale, so if you're one of the people who's emailed me in the past few years asking where you can get this book, here's your chance. It's yours for the bargain price of just $20... OR if you want an extra-special deal, buy Beach House plus Eating In for just $35. 



Click here to buy, and enjoy! 

Rock and (eggplant) roll

I've come over all Italian in the last few days. I think it started when we saw the movie "The Salt of Life" at Matakana cinema. It didn't really have anything to do with food, except for one small scene in which the characters ate Melazane alla Parmigiana (Eggplant Parmigiana) and for the next few days my mind was fermenting thoughts of eggplant. As luck would have it they are right in season, and cost just $1.50 each at Nosh at the moment. So it's been eggplant central here.

I did make a parmigiana and it certainly was delicious, but to be honest I found it a teeny bit of a cheese overload. So I need to have a think about that and work on it - I think maybe some spinach and other vegetable goodies might tone it down a bit.

In the meantime I've been having fun with eggplant rolls (involtini, if you want to be Italian about it) and these I really do love. These ones below are not really strictly Italian at all, being stuffed with feta, cream cheese and parmesan spiked with lemon and chilli. That just happened to be what I had in the fridge. In Puglia, according to Claudia Roden's The Food of Italy, they simply grill the slices of eggplant and roll them around a bit of mozarella and a basil leaf, then bake until the cheese melts. This sounds divine, so next time I make mozzarella I am going to be all over that.









I don't really have a recipe for these.... it is the holidays, after all. I may write one if anyone really thinks they need it (post a comment and let me know). Just mix the cheeses with a fork until you're happy with the combo, add chilli and lemon zest at will and away you go. I've baked the slices of eggplant in the oven, keeping an eye on them because it doesn't take long to go from deliciously brown to hopelessly charred. Roll away and top with a quick fresh tomato sauce (shallots, garlic, chopped ripe tomatoes, red wine, sugar, salt). Scatter over some basil leaves if you like. A platter of these with a lovely green vege salad and some crusty bread makes a fab lunch, which is exactly what I did with my friend Gertrud on Wednesday. These are also quite delicious served cold, as a starter, which is how we had the leftovers last night.

Thoughts, people? Let me know if you try these and what you think!

PS - can I just say how much I am loving my new wireless keyboard for the iPad! Thank you, Sandy McNeur! xxx

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Become a vegivore!

I love it when I discover a new word. Recently I learned an excellent one which I plan to try and popularise far and wide. I especially love it because it describes me, and lots of people I know: Vegivore.

What’s a vegivore? It’s not someone who eats solely vegetables, and it’s not a vegetarian. The term – which seems to have originated in the USA – means someone who passionately loves vegetables, and gives them a starring role in their meals. A recent New York Times article entitled “Why Vegetables are the New Meat” describes it thus:

“For the vegivore, a vegetable can occupy the centre of the plate, with meat adding flavour or functioning as a condiment.”

The same article details how top New York chefs are going crazy for vegetables in their menus, and this is reflected in booming turnovers as customers respond positively.

I was so thrilled to see this, because for some time now making vegetablesequally as important as meat has been my approach to cooking, and also to the recipes we feature in Healthy Food Guide magazine. This is not yet, I believe, a focus for all chefs and food writers. But I reckon that’s going to change, especially if we vegivores demand it.

Being a vegivore doesn’t mean changing what you eat. You can still enjoy all manner of delicious meat. It just means changing your focus. Maybe have a couple of meat-free meals a week; or use less meat and more vegetables thancalled for in the recipe you’re using. Think of the vegetables first when you’re planning your meal, rather than basing your meals around the protein component. Spring’s here, so this becomes much easier and cheaper to do.Cover half your plate with a delicious toss of blanched asparagus, courgette ribbons, green beans and rocket leaves with a little olive oil and shaved parmesan and serve alongside a piece of fish or steak. Roast cherry tomatoes, capsicums and courgettes and toss through crispy roasted potatoes and baby spinach leaves to serve with grilled chicken. Mash peas and canned white beans together with garlic, mint and olive oil for a vibrant green alternative to mashed potato. There are only so many ways you can cook a piece of meat, but vegetables have endless possibilities – they’re super inspiring for keen cooks.

The same philosophy applies when we’re eating out. I challenge the chefs of New Zealand to follow your NYC counterparts. Start making vegetables central to your dishes rather than a small add-on to the main event, or a token side dish. I bet the punters will love it, if you give them the chance.

Rugby world cup final match report

Wow..... home sweet home after about 4 hours sleep.... but what a night!

I thought you might like a bit of a match report today.

Sandy says this was the most important day in our history... I'm not sure about that, but I think it was certainly a once in a lifetime experience. An awesome day and night.







We started the night in Ponsonby; our day had been spent mooching around filling in time really, waiting for game time! Sandy's friend Dave offered us his empty apartment in Herne Bay to stay in; it was really quite palatial and a brilliant base for our big weekend in the city, so we were really lucky. Much better than driving home after the game like we have been doing.

We had an early dinner at Prego, where everyone was wearing black and All Blacks attire, and the place was packed with game-goers. Everyone (including us) was wearing silver ferns on their faces, and quite a few others had the same T-shirt as I was wearing (Keep Calm, Piri's On). The mood was excited and filled with anticipation.






We left Prego around 7 to join the fan trail from there to the ground. We thought the fan trail was amazing last week, but this was even more incredible. There were thousands and thousands of people walking along towards Eden Park along Great North Road and down Bond St; every single person wearing fan gear. People were dressed up in crazy outfits; there was a Star Wars storm trooper with a "welcome to the dark side" banner; there were people in sheep outfits; people with light-up silver ferns on their heads; farmers and full rugby gear and bucket heads and flags, flags, flags. It's hard to describe the mood - it was so joyful and excited; everyone anticipating a great event and feeling pride and support for their team. All along the trail there was entertainment - buskers and bands and stilt-walkers and kapa haka groups. Fantastic.





We got to the ground about half an hour before kick-off and found our seats - at the other end of the stadium from the other games; in the corner. We had a pretty good view. Beside me were a couple of Scotsmen, one in a kilt. Behind us were a couple of Irish guys - one kept offering us nips of whiskey from a hip flask he'd managed to get in, because he could see how nervous we were! (We declined). They were good company throughout the game though; especially the Irish dudes. They were frustrated at the kiwi fans for not yelling and singing more, but I think everyone was just too tense. They had some interesting little made-up songs; one went something like "Oh Corey Jane, you're the love of my life, Corey Jane, I'd let you f*** my wife, oh Corey Jane...." etc.

I can honestly say I did not enjoy the game at all; except for about 5 minutes - when we scored our try, and the last 2 minutes. The rest of the time I was soooo nervous - I felt like I do when I have to make a speech... just a huge knot in my stomach. Especially as Sandy was extremely tense as well, and I was thinking about how devastated he would be if we lost.... the Scottish guy next to me asked Sandy how his leg was at half time, because I'd been gripping it so hard with my fingers. We were yelling like crazy, but then in the second half the crowd went really quiet, when it looked like maybe we might lose. The thought of that was so terrible. And France looked really good. The French fans were going crazy, too. But in the end, after what seemed like a super-fast 40 minutes, it was all over. Then everyone went absolutely nuts. Everyone hugged everyone; I hugged and kissed complete strangers all around us; Sandy cried. It was extremely emotional, a mixture of joy and relief. Our Irish friend said to me "You guys are going to have such a good night!" and made the universal hip-thrusting shagging movement!






No-one left the stadium until all the presentations were over, and the ABs had been around the field and acknowledged the crowd, and we all went crazy again and again; when Richie was being interviewed; when Ted was being interviewed; when Brad Thorne came down to our end of the field and shed a tear.

We walked the fan trail back, all the way to the bottom of town. The crowd was ecstatic; everyone was mates. Spontaneous singing and chanting and hakas breaking out. The further we got along the trail, the more people we saw, and the more people who hadn't been at the ground, but who'd been partying in town. Cars were driving up and down bedecked with flags and tooting and hollering. Queen Street was a sight; I don't know how many people there were but from one end to another it was just covered in bodies, people of all ages and stages and colours and nationalities. It was crazy.

Little moments stand out like little snapshots: French fans getting spontaneous hugs and good wishes from ABs fans; a guy coming out of the toilet at the ground holding a rubber chicken and saying "I found a cock in the toilets!"; two ladies in nun costumes with signs saying "We abstained for the game"; a middle aged lady sitting astride a police motorbike getting her picture taken, then jumping off guiltily and confessing to the cop who hadn't seen her, who just laughed it off cheerfully.

All I wanted, I'd said before the game, if we won, was a glass of really good champagne. Every bar everywhere had queues to get into it, but we decided to head towards the viaduct and take our chances; we figured if all else failed we'd just go home. But we lucked out by walking all the way to the end of Princes wharf, where we found a little bar that had no queues, and lots of friendly revelers. We ordered two glasses of French champagne and sat down, with a huge amount of relief after about two hours of walking. That champagne tasted amazing! And the nice waitstaff even gave us a free refill.






We eventually started the long walk back to Herne Bay about 3am. There were no free taxis anywhere so we were resigned to dragging our exhausted bodies home up the hill, but thankfully a lovely taxi driver stopped for us on Wellesley St. We had the feeling the partying was going to go on for many more hours in town.

So tired today, and my feet are very sore, but very very happy and proud for our country. It's only a game but it means so much to so many people, and I think this is so good for us.

Everything is 'victory' today. Sandy's wearing his victory shirt, we had our victory breakfast, then our victory drive home. I will need my victory nap soon.




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Spring scallop salad with lemon ginger dressing

This is a pretty light salad with some zingy flavours. We had it as it is for dinner tonight, because it's Friday and this was about all the cooking I could cope with. We'd also already eaten quite a bit of smoked salmon with crackers, etc. I think this would be a nice starter for a special dinner. Or to make it more substantial, you could add some carbs in the form of sautéed potato slices.

Serves 2

2 cups baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup mungbean sprouts
8 asparagus spears, blanched and cooled under cold water
1/2 avocado, roughly diced

Dressing:
2cm piece ginger, finely chopped
Zest, finely chopped, and juice of 1 medium lemon
2 tablespoons avocado oil
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

12 scallops, roe on
1 spring onion, halved lengthwise and sliced into chunks

1 kaffir lime leaf, thinly sliced, to garnish (optional)

Combine spinach, sprouts and asparagus in a large bowl and mix well. Combine dressing ingredients in a jug and mix well to combine.

Heat a little avocado oil in a pan over a medium high heat. Add spring onions and scallops and cook for 1-2 minutes, turning scallops. Meanwhile, dress the salad and toss well.

Remove scallops from heat. Divide dressed salad between 2 plates. Add avocado chunks. Divide scallops between plates and garnish with kaffir lime leaves if you have them.



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