New Stove
Originally uploaded by bignoseduglyguy
For a whole host of reasons too boring to mention, it’s been a very long while since I posted here. However, prime amongst those reasons was the fact that our electric cooker had become absolutely horrid to cook on and sucked all the joy out of preparing meals and baking bread. With a thermostat more temperamental than a Hollywood starlet and a ceramic hob that had more cold spots than a polar bear’s bum, it was impossible to bake bread with predictable results. Likewise, saucepans were either stone cold or hotter than a solar flare.
So you can imagine how much pleasure I derived from dragging that old cooker out of the kitchen earlier this week in anticipation of the arrival of our new stove. Our house, like many in New Zealand, is predominantly powered by electricity but, like many rural properties, had an on-demand water heater that ran on bottled LPG, requiring a contractor to swap out the bottles on a regular basis. Our desire to be able to cook on gas meant we were happy to discover that the gas company’s mains supply actually reaches our street, a fact we gleaned when our neighbour got connected. We ordered our own connection (which also requires basic planning permission) and waited a few weeks for the supply to be run from the street to the house. Once it permission was confirmed, we went out and looked for the gas hob/fan assisted convector oven combination we have always wanted – and today it was installed and hooked up!
After the requisite clean-down and test, I decided that the very best way to christen the stove was to whip up a classic omelette with a little grated blue cheese. After three years of cooking on electric (not including fires at camp and camping stoves during power cuts), it was bliss to dash off an omelette in under three minutes and eat it in under half that! As British Gas used to say in their ’70s TV ads, ‘Cookability – that’s the beauty of gas’.
Filed under: News
After the Friday night rush at Dante’s, Kevin sent me a text offering free beer and a chat while they cleaned up and prepared dough for the next day. After the kitchen duties were over, Kevin offered me a free pizza if I made it myself, so I set to and, under his instruction, worked the dough into a nice late night snack.
While we were eating, we ended up talking about chef’s knives, as I had been rambling on about reading Anthony Bourdain’s description of essential kitchen tools in his great book, Kitchen Confidential. In the book, Bourdain suggests readers to replace the four or five kitchen knives they use with a single Global chef’s knife. I have long wanted one of Yoshikin’s knives in my kitchen but, costing the thick end of NZ$200, a Global knife has never a priority in the household budget. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t look for a next-best option.
While mooching around at the beach over the weekend, I had a wander through the local shops. In a New Year’s sale at a kitchenware shop, I spent some time looking at a selection of decent kitchen knives before settling on a Scanpan santuko knife. It is nicely balanced, easy on the eye and sharper than a sharp thing. This is just as well as the adults in the house have begun a 10 day ‘detox and cleanse’ regime today, so there’ll be much chopping of vegetables and slicing of fruits in the next week or so.
In the last few weeks, we have been investing some time and money in preparing for the summer to come. While our dining room has a lovely long dark wood table and six sturdy high backed chairs, last summer’s outdoor meals were eaten squashed around a small and flimsy plastic garden table with a mish-mash of chairs.
We recently discovered a great discount furniture store that sells slight seconds and bought a lovely mix of pieces from the Nullabor range. After much debate, we settled for a large square table, four canvas-slung chairs and two three seater benches. As a family of six who like company, this combination will cater for most of our needs – right up to seating ten for Sunday roast when our friends Stuart and Sarah visit fly in with their two kids next Easter.
Earlier today, to make sure that we don’t roast under the harsh UV rays, I installed a basic balanced cantilever frame to hold a square shade sail over the table area. Once I have the design refined and finalised, I plan to build a demountable frame that can be removed during the winter months.
A new barbecue would complete our deck makeover but, just as I settled down at the table with a cup of tea and a few catalogues, the sun disappeared and the wind picked up, so that’ll have to wait for another day.
Other than family and friends, British beers are amongst the few things I truly miss about living in England. Tonight I went along along to British beer tasting at Chris Carrad’s Wine Circle store in Huapai that was billed as ‘tour England for less than $3,000′.
The tasting was overseen by Albrecht, a 2nd generation brew master from Germany who has brewed all over the world. Over an hour and a half, Chris and Albrecht took the assembled group, including a few local brewers, through a tasting of twelve beers from Britain and Ireland, commenting on flavours, brewing techniques and the odd bit of social history. For the record, the beers were Badger’s Tanglefoot, Badger’s Golden Champion, IBS Hazy Days, Thwaites Bomber, Theakston’s Old Peculiar, O’Hanlon’s Port Stout, Wadsworth’s 6X, Fullers 1845, Fullers London Pride, Wytchwood Black Wytch, Mollings Celtic Ale and Belhave Twisted Thistle IPA.
All were worth tasting but the Twisted Thistle, O’Hanlon’s Port Stout and Fullers 1845 all made a particular impression, as did the Brakespear bottle conditioned organic beer I bought on the off-chance to enjoy afterwards. My rudimentary tasting notes, such as they are, are on Flickr here with notes to help decypher the scrawl.
Seeing as Tuesday is the only night I get away from Dante’s, I decided to knock-up a roast for two. Inspired by Buzz’s recent post, Sunday Roast, I rushed to a little French deli in Mt Albert called Pyrenees. They have a good selection of French produce and the best Baguette’s I’ve tasted in NZ, pictured above. Whilst there I saw this lovely piece of Lamb ready seasoned with fresh rosemary. I myself also agree with Buzz, that meat especially lamb should never be shadowed with excessive seasoning.
On the return journey home, I think to myself ‘What would be a good wine to accompany this dish’. Luckily enough, we live in a area known as vineyard heaven surrounded by some of NZ’S best wineries. One of my favourites is Coopers Creek. So after way too many tastings, we leave with a 2004 Merlot/Cabernet Franc recommended to us.
Roast Lamb Noisette with Buttered Cabbage, Roast Potatoes and Garlic.
500g of Lamb noisette all-ready seasoned. (unstuffed)
4 Medium floury potatoes peeled.
As much garlic as possible.
1\2 a Cabbage with the leaves removed and wash.
A good lug of olive oil.
A nice Knob of unsalted butter.
Flaky sea salt. The best you can get. Well worth it.
Freshly ground black pepper.
Set your oven to 200 c, and two large pan’s of salted water to the boil with the lid’s on. In the mean time, cut your peeled potatoes into large bite size pieces. Now remove all the garlic from it’s bulb, leaving the garlic cloves with the skin on, and set aside. By now you should have two pan’s of boiling water, add your potatoes. Now grab a medium sized black skillet or frying pan and sear the lamb on all sides without burning the rosemary. Once seared, lightly smear the lamb with olive oil and season with the sea salt and a little fresh black pepper, and place into a good sized roasting pan, and into the oven for 20 Min’s for medium. Keep an eye on the potatoes. Using a small sharp knife check your potatoes. Don’t over cook’em, when done drain and cover with olive oil and sea salt and place into the oven next to your lamb, along with all the garlic. Now add you cabbage to the second pot of boiling water and reduce the heat to a very lite simmer with lid off. Once the 20 Min’s is up remover the lamb from the oven and let sit for 10 Min’s in a warm place. Check your potatoes, garlic and cabbage. When ready drain your cabbage and add a knob of butter. Slice up the lamb. Now serve with the roast potatoes and garlic. Along with the cut baguette and your choice of wine.
Filed under: News
A typical Friday night at Dante’s Pizzeria is madder than an Italian with soggy meatballs. So given that a staff member decides to ring in sick, followed shortly by your backup chef who manages to slice his hand within 5 minutes of arrival, you now understand the mammoth battle that awaits. So armed with my pizza paddle in one hand, a pizza ball in the other, I start to wade through the Friday night trade. About two hours before closing time and dreaming of that cold Heineken that awaits, I hear this cheeky comment, as I look up I’m greeted by my mate Buzz, happy as always . “You alright mate”. Buzz, am I glad to see you. Within minutes I set Buzz to work taking orders, washing up, as well as saucing and dressing pizza’s.
Well what can I say. Buzz mate, ya saved me bacon.
Filed under: News
Clockwise from top left: Now That’s What I Call Music CD cake; Chocolate Spots And Measels cake; Pastel Flowers cake; Mad About Mermaids cake; Cake Instead Of A Kayak cake; Sphinx cake.
There was a birthday in our house today and, along with the cards and presents, this always means one of Wendy’s cakes. Since coming to New Zealand, where the hallowed traditions of morning and afternoon tea are still observed, Wendy has been baking pretty much every day. Muffins, snacks, fairy cakes, pikelets, you name it, she’s baked it – but it is her birthday cakes that we’ve come to adore.
These usually require a fair bit of sneaking about, secret baking sessions and general excitement in their construction. Each time a cake is made, Wendy always tries to pick a theme that is individual to that person – a kayak for me (although I’d actually wanted a real one!); a sphinx for our budding Egyptologist; a CD for the music-mad teenager. Each cake is something special for us to remember and are often talked about months later, with a fond memory and a lick of the lips.
