Can I repeat myself and do another chutney post?  Why, yes I can!  I'm a little embarrassed to say that other than brewing my own ciders (posts coming up soon-ish) chutneys are the most interesting thing I've been making at home lately.  It's just too hot for anything but salads & grilled meats when it comes to dinner time appetites around here.  Seriously, we're averaging over 30 degrees in the evenings after work in the sun-trap we currently call home!

I don't have enough space to grow courgettes of my own around here, in fact the only edibles are in pots as we don't really have much access to big patches of dirt, possibly to do with living on the side of a hill.  While i'm having success with one jalapeno (which i'm planning on smoking & turning into chipotle) and my tomatoes have been going great guns, a courgette plant is a bit big.

I guess due to the quality of summer we've been having anybody else who is growing them has been inundated, and for some reason they all decided to give me a sample at once.  So with about a kilo of things ranging from small marrows to large courgettes it seemed logical to turn them into something that might last a little longer before going bad.

Now it may not come as much of a surprise for anyone who knows me, but the grow your own, kinda hippie lifestyle led by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall holds massive appeal.  If I can find a way to buy a bigger patch of ground somewhere and run a few sheep & goats of my own sometime in the future i'd be stoked.  As a fan of most of the River Cottage series I knew there was a good chance that one of the regulars - Pam the Jam - would have a tasty way of dealing with the over abundance of courgette, and I wasn't wrong.

Courgette Chutney - by Pam the Jam

Now, because i'm just difficult, I did things a little bit differently:

• I only salted the courgettes for the amount of time it took me to do everything else.
• I doubled the amount of red chilli
• I added coriander leaves
• I used cumin seed (2 T)
• I didn't bother to make a paste with the onion, garlic, ginger & chilli
• I dry toasted the spices, ground them & then added to the above four ingredients once they'd sweated down
• I used half the oil
• I used a mixture of palm sugar & castor sugar, as I didn't have any demerara

My changes weren't a negative however, the end result is incredibly delicious.  Thus far I've been mostly consuming it in sandwiches with cheese - but I think it will go really well in burgers too.  I've tried it as a condiment to chicken hot-dogs and that was pretty good, but I suspect it will shine the most when used to smooth out & deepen the flavours of a lamb curry.  

I've got a recipe for such a thing hanging around somewhere, so if the weather cools down enough to make curry seem like a good option I'll give it a whirl and see how I get on.  But for now, i'm happy to report that this is yet another super easy recipe that gives you a product better than anything on your average supermarket shelf.

If there's a lesson you should take from this posting it is make chutney, don't buy chutney.  This was the first time i'd made one, and it was super easy and the results were amazing.  I've had it on venison burgers, toast, sausages, in sandwiches and mixed with potatoes.  Its yummy any which way, but the simplest way to enjoy it is on a cracker with a nice cheddar.

The recipe comes from Al Brown by way of Cuisine's website:  http://cuisine.co.nz/cuisine.nsf/recipes/brinjal-kasundi

Of course, I had to make some changes, partly because I didn't have near enough Eggplant, but also just because I couldn't help myself.

So, I had only 600gm of Eggplant, so reduced everything down to about a 60% recipe.  But I didn't think there was any need to use that much oil so dropped the volume right back to a 1/3 of a cup or less.  The bigger changes was what I used for the sugars.  Instead of just using only plain old castor sugar, for my 60% recipe I went with 1/3c castor sugar, 1/3c runny honey & 1/3c treacle.

It was so good that i've now decided that as well as doing DIY cheese & DIY cider, i'll do DIY chutneys as well so have a courgette one on the go right now!

I think its basically without question now that Kazu is my favourite place to go out for dinner in Wellington.  You don't get a bigger greeting anywhere, and the food is always ranging from good to amazing.  I also like that even with a fairly large menu they'll still throw a special or two on from time to time.  So even though i've tried almost everything once (and oftimes tried it twice) its always nice to have something new a try.

Takoyaki is very high up on my favourite types of Japanese food, i'm trying to find a place to buy a pan so I can start making my own, but in the meantime i'm still trying them any which way I can find them.  So it was with interest that I noticed the latest special which was Akashi - Takoyaki with a soy based broth to pour over the top.

The Takoyaki themselves were the standard variety, which Kazu usually serve with mayo, yakitori sauce & bonito flakes.  The broth was light, not especially salty but packed with umami flavour.  It was hard to know the best way to eat this dish, I love the crunchy exterior from fresh Takoyaki and obviously the broth was going to soften that.  But even when we left a piece or two to soak for a while it didn't really soak up too much of the broth.

When eaten the effect was quite different to the usual, instead of the creamy & tangy combo of the sauces the creaminess of the interior of the Takoyaki was more prevalent, the broth essentially adding a light seasoning.  Perhaps with more octopus or other flavourings this would work really well but, though I still liked this dish, it wasn't as good as their normal variety.

But, change is as good as a holiday I suppose, and ordering both Akashi & the usual Takoyaki does let you sneak an extra serving onto the table with no valid complaints from your dining companions!

I've had to include the question mark as there was some confusion amongst us as to what type of wings we had actually received when they arrived at our table.

One menu had BBQ Wings listed, another had Spicy Wings.  I was hoping for the Spicy Wings as I remembered having something almost cajun spiced here one time a while ago which was really tasty.  The trouble is these were a little bit BBQ tasting and spicy at the same time, so who really knows what we received.

The wings were cooked very well, with a nice crispy skin and juicy tender meat inside.  The sauce - whether spicy or BBQ was sticky and tangy and just salty enough to encourage a thirst for beer.  The only thing I thought was a bit pointless was the presentation on top of mesclun.  Other people might want things fancied up a bit, but when i'm ordering wings all I really want is chicken, vegetables just get in the way.

Still, its not hard to recommend them - and now that it's summer Mac's really does have one of the best locations for a mid-afternoon beverage, have the wings and make it four or five.

I was pretty excited when I noticed that an offshoot from TJ Katsu & Udon had opened on Featherston St within close proximity to where I work.  Not that there's a shortage fo decent sushi around, but ever since Kita-Q had closed down i'd been pining for some fresh Takoyaki & Donburi for my lunches, so huzzah!  Both are available, as is a pretty decent selection of sushi - though I imagine they'll have a hard time tearing away people from their favourite place, the market has become very crowded in Wellington now.

Obviously, I was drawn to the Takoyaki, which is kept on the counter in a bain-marie type warmer that unfortunately doesn't do a great job of keeping it warm.  It wasn't especially cheap either, but did come with the three more common garnishes though it could have had a few more bonito flakes to make me really happy.

Still, Takoyaki within 5 minutes walk of the office is alright in my book - let's hope they get enough customers to stick around!

I referred to this recipe http://rasamalaysia.com/beef-rendang-recipe-rendang-daging/2/ to get a good idea of the spices and herbs that were needed, but adapted it to what I had available in the local supermarket and the equipment at hand.  The biggest disadvantage I had was no food processor or mortar & pestle available to make the spice paste.

It worked reasonably well, though I ended up with quite a lot of liquid and it wasn't very thick at all so I reduced the sauce over high heat until it was nice and thick.  The smell as this cooked was just incredible, I knew well before I tasted it that I had the spice & herb mixture just about perfect.

Ingredients:

• 400 grams chuck beef cut into large cubes
• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
• 3 star anise
• 3 cardamom pods
• 1 stick of lemongrass bashed up
• 1 can of lite coconut cream
• 1 can of water
• 2 tablespoons of tamarind pulp juice
• 2 teaspoons palm sugar
• 2 limes zested & juiced
• salt
• 2 shallots very finely chopped
• 1 small onion very finely chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic very finely chopped
• 2 inch stick of ginger very finely chopped
• 12 dried chillis, soaked and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup very finely chopped coriander stalks

Method:

• First make the paste by very finely chopping the last six ingredients and mixing them together.  If you have a blender or mortar & pestle available you will be able to bash it up together into a proper paste.
• Heat a pan or wok over a medium heat, and turn the slow-cooker onto low.
• Add the coconut cream, water, tamarind juice, palm sugar, lime zest & juice to the slow cooker along with the spices.
• Add the spice paste to your pan & wok and begin to fry on a medium heat.  Cube the beef while the spice paste cooks.
• After the paste has browned add it to the slow-cooker and then brown the meat in batches, transferring to the slow cooker when done.
• Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours, adjust the seasoning & sweetness with salt & palm sugar as necessary at the end.  At times skim the oil that rises to the surface off.
• If the sauce has not reduced by the time the meat is very tender, remove the meat and then add the remainder of the slow-cooker contents to a wok or saucepan and then reduce over high heat until very thick.
• Return the meat to the sauce & serve with roti & a simple salad dressed with lime juice.

Its made up primarily from birds-eye chillis which may explain things, and has a lower vinegar content than many of the others i've had of late.  Still it's hard to say it was anything other than good but not great.  As you can see I knew ahead of time that this was going to be hot so had a wimpy half of my usual portion size.

And lastly, good news on the wings front - you can now buy packs of free range wings rather than having to go the supermarket and get a tray of some of the poorer quality chicken.  Moore Wilson's stocks these and you get about 6 wings worth of nibbles for around $6 I think, so reasonable value.

One of the things we bought now that we have a bigger kitchen and room to store things was a slow cooker.  I've never really used one before, so even though its coming into summer and i'm not likely to use it much any time I do i'll share what i've done.  Hopefully you'll have some feedback that you can give to help me get good enough to cook up plenty of hearty fare next winter.

I have no idea where this recipe comes from, I may have adapted it from somewhere else or just cooked it up in my own brain - but its simple and easy to do with the slow cooker.  I love pearl barley in broths and vegetable soups, and its even better in something incredibly rich and deeply flavoured like this stew - the beef cheek was ok, but i'd use shin next time I cook this as it has a bit more of the gelatinous connective tissue that adds a nice smoothness to the liquid.

Ingredients:

• 1 beef cheek, or substitue with beef shin or other chunk of stewing meat enough for 2 people.
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled & whole
• 8 whole button mushrooms, cleaned & whole
• 6 pickling onions, peeled & whole
• 1 large carrot, peeled & chopped to a similar size as the mushroom & onion
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 teaspoons worcester sauce
• 1 teaspoon of hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon of tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon of brown sauce (HP Sauce)
• 2 big handfuls of pearl barley
• oil for browning
• salt & pepper

Method:

• Prep veg and trim any excess sinew / silverskin & fat from the beef
• Heat a heavy bottomed pan, I use cast-iron & turn slow-cooker onto medium
• Mix all the liquids except the wine and add to slow-cooker while the pan continues to heat
• Season the meat with salt & pepper and rub in oil then brown on all sides in the pan
• Move the meat to the slow-cooker then brown the vegetables in the same pan
• Move the vegetables to the slow-cooker then add the wine to the pan and scrap all the sediment, add this to the slow-cooker
• Put the lid on and leave to cook on low for 6-8 hours, adding the Pearl Barley about an hour before the end

Now, i'm not usually great at cooking desserts, but the great thing about frozen desserts is you can make them when you feel motivated and then just whip them out of the fridge days or even weeks later when the occasion deserves it.

I really liked this episode of Good Eats because it was a lesson in making something I rarely make - I even got carried away and bought an ice cream maker because I spotted it for sale at Briscoes while I was buying a giant pot for cheesemaking.

Though I had an ice cream maker I decided to go with the Key Lime Sorbet, but due to the absence of that ingredient where I live had to adapt it somewhat.  Lime preserve was switched to a Lime Marmalade, I used regular Limes instead of Key Limes and switched some Bundaberg Lime Soda & extra water for the Lime Seltzer.

Its all pretty easy from here on in, basically melt the marmalade & dissolve the sugar in the liquids, add some zest a pinch of salt and all you really need to do after that is cool it, and churn it.

And then this is where the wheels fell off a little bit for me.  It turns out that my freezer only gets down to about -10 degrees, but the ice cream maker's bowl needs to freeze down to -15 for 8 hours or more to be really effective.  I was expecting it to get quite thick while it was churning but it was still very liquid after more than half an hour.

So, with nothing else to do I put it in the freezer in a container and then gave it a big shake a couple of times as it froze. In the end i suppose this is much closer to a granita than a sorbet due to the size of the ice crystals, but either way it was really delicious.  It packed such a powerful lime flavour that even a small amount was incredibly refreshing - if only i'd had some tequila to go with it!

We seem to have a lot of companies making hot sauce in my beautiful land these days, but to memory Kaitaia Fire has been around for longer than most.  Back in the long long ago, the only one you could get was Tabasco, and i'm sure Kaitaia Fire was the first that popped up to challenge that dominance.

This was my first time making wings in the oven at my new place, and the good news is that it can crank the heat nicely to get the skin nice and crispy.  I think I fluked it actually as the flesh was still super tender & juicy, and that's without doing Alton Brown's steam & then roast method too.

Having said that, perhaps it was an omen that smoke began to emanate from the oven & our fire alarms went off.  I didn't read the bottle, but that might have just increased the fear!  You see, Kaitaia Fire appears to be the first of these hot sauces where Chillis are the predominant ingredient.  First up on the label, Chillis (55%)!  Everything else leads with vinegar or water, so this may well explain just how hot this hot sauce was.

Still, despite the almost blistering sensation you sometimes get on your lips the adrenaline helped me burst on through and actually it was super tasty, this is one of my favourites so far.  The first thing that hits you is the heat, the vinegar is a lot more subtle than others i've tried.  The chilli flavour is right at the forefront as well, its almost a little sweet, but doesn't really have the smokiness of others that I have tried.

All up, this was delicious and i'm sad to have had to finish the bottle, but I needed to clear some room for a shipment of new sauces winging their way to me!