Vegan Nashi Tart, and going to a party where most of the food was vegetarian

I love nashi pears, pity that the season is short... mostly I eat them raw, cut into thin slices, but since I had quite a few I wanted to make a quick tart. This is too easy! I just used one sheet of ready rolled vegetarian puff pastry, then I peeled and cut 2 big nashi pears and placed the slices on top. I finished everything with a dusting of icing sugar and placed the tart in the oven until the edges of the tart were puffy and golden. As a final touch I sprayed the tart with some grappa spray. Nashi are good for cooking and baking because they keep their shape and don't become brown! This I will make again, it was even better than an apple tart, which is saying a lot (for me!).

A cameo note: a few days ago we went to Sophie's engagement party, and soon as I got in I noticed that most of the food was vegetarian! There were just a few fish dishes, but for the rest Sophie had asked for a mainly vegetarian party, even if the vegetarians present could have been counted on the fingers of one hand. She said that she went to too many parties where most of the food was not suitable for vegetarians, and she wanted something different this time (she doesn't eat meat herself). Of course I could not photograph everything, here are just a few snippets (including Nick's lovely potato fritters) but there was so much wonderful food that for once I ate a lot, but mostly, I ate a variety of different things! 
Thank you to Sophie's family who hosted the party, and congratulations and all the best to Sophie and Brendon.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

PS

Kiwi bloggers watch this space: next week I will have a wonderful give away for you!

I like green: Palak (and celery) Paneer, and I made some Chapati too!

The original recipe (which was for a silver beet, not spinach, paneer) is here, but I changed a few things, like adding celery, and more spices. Fist sauté with 2 tbsp of vegetable oil or ghee 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and 1 tsp turmeric. Then add a couple of roughly chopped shallots, a good pinch of salt and finally 500 g chopped frozen spinach (defrosted at room temperature) and three celery stalks, with leaves. Add a little water too, about a cup, and simmer for 20 minutes. Then add 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp freshly grated ginger, and salt to taste. In the meantime cut a block of paneer and sauté until lightly golden on the borders (Vegan use tofu). Blend the spinach with an immersion blender, then add the paneer. This is my very favorite Indian dish! 

Ah, and I made chapati too, the edges are not very smooth, but I was in a hurry!

I used 1 cup wholemeal flour, mixed with 2 tbsp vegetable oil and then enough water to make a thick dough. I made 4 chapati with it (see the step by step here) and to cook them I used my Italian cotte, the iron hot plates that I use to make crescentine. They worked perfectly well and I could cook two at the time.

And now for some more green: a walk to Fairy Falls in Waitakere, a good track suitable to most people as it is not too difficult and only 45 minutes walk. I am not sure if this track will be closing soon because of the Kauri dieback that is killing our beautiful trees, at the moment we need to brush our shoes well, and spray them with the spray bottles provided at the entrance of the track (many tracks have this), but this provisions may not be enough. I'll keep my finger crossed for the trees, and if some tracks will need to close, well, it is for the best, and at least I will have my photos to look at.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Shrikhand cupcakes, or Shrikhand muffins? And what is the difference between a cupcake and a muffin?

Back from yesterday's post, where I made Shrikhand, and I told you that I had this saffron/cardamom/yogurt/honey juice left over (yes, it tasted like all of these things!) and I could not discard it. So why not use it for some cupcakes??? 

I used the basic Vanilla Cupcakes' recipe form Party Food for Girls, like in this recipe, but I didn't need to use any vanilla, nor lemon zest as I had my bright yellow saffrony/cardamomy juice (and of course I didn't add the Pinoli, although they would be good too)!!! I soaked a good handful of sultana in it and made the cupcakes batter. Another variation was that instead of milk I used natural yogurt. I added the sultana and Shrikhand juice at the very end. I managed to fill up 12 medium and 12 tiny cupcake cases, choosing yellow, orange and just a few lime green paper cases, to keep my cupcakes/muffins "solar looking". To husband and kids these tasted even better than the Shrikhand :-). They are very soft and fragrant and perfect for breakfast!

Now, the original recipe is for cupcakes, but I wonder if these, being totally undecorated, should be called muffins instead. What is the difference between a muffin and a cupcake, in your opinion?

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Shrikhand

I got the idea from Zero in Cucina, recipe here, so thank you Chiarina-ina :-). 

Chiarina's version called for some yogurt, mushed cardamom seeds and saffron (I used a sachet of Italian saffron) and she adds a little icing sugar just before serving. I did it a bit differently, I added a tbsp of bush honey to mine. I use Cyclop yogurt, thick and creamy. Put everything in a gauze or fine cotton cloth and let it drip for a night (I did it for a bit more). It tastes delicious and quite... citrusy!! In fact it is difficult to guess the ingredients, everybody said lemon!! I liked it like it was, but the rest of the family added some maple syrup to it (I guess that it was a bit too... sour for their taste).

After straining the yogurt I had all this saffron 'juice' left. OK, it is not that much, but still, not something that I would want to discard! So tomorrow I will show you what I did with it!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Pretend Prawn Cocktails (i.e. celery cocktails!)

Prawn cocktail is something I remember from the 80's when I was living in London, but I don't eat prawns, of course :-). But I eat celery, and when you cut celery stalks they have that 'c' shape a little like prawns.

I also remember very well from working in a coffee shop in Oxford St where we made lots of prawn cocktails that the sauce was a simple mixture of mayonnaise and tomato ketchup! So I mixed my celery with that.

I remember the cocktails in glasses, on slices of bread, or even in melons (yuk, not for me) but I think avocado works well here: just cut, remove the stone and sprinkle with lemon juice. And then fill with the celery mixture and top with freshly ground black pepper. This is so basic that I wasn't even sure if it was worth publishing, and yet sometimes the most simple things are the ones that some readers appreciate, especially when they are so quick, easy, and don't even require cooking. What do you think?

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Pinoli Cupcakes

I heard about Pinoli a while ago, and since all the pine nuts that I used to get in NZ just didn't seem to taste right, I decided to try the new NZ home grown variety. My Italian readers will notice the name (pinoli means pine nuts in Italian) and yes, it is quite typical here to give a product a 'brand' name like this. Do we ever do it with English names in Italy? I can't think of any at the moment, but let me know if you do!


But back to Pinoli (the brand). The nuts are fresh and quite big and long, and once toasted they smell and taste good, so I was very happy to buy them (yes I bought them, this is not an ad.). The price is reasonable, they may look expensive to those who are not used to buy pine nuts, but so they should be: they are not cheaper in Italy either and you need a lot of pine cones to get a few nuts out!

I mostly use them for pesto and savory dishes, but they are great for sweet stuff too (btw, did you see this Japanese dish with pine nuts??) and since I am a cupcake fanatic I though of sprinkling a few over one of my favorite recipes, the Vanilla cupcakes basic recipe from Party Food for Girls (but this time I used lemon zest instead of vanilla)




Pinoli Cupcakes

Ingredients

120 g butter

3 eggs

130 g sugar

1/2 tsp lemon zest

200 g self-rising flour

60 ml milk

A few Pinoli pine nuts to sprinkle on top

Makes 12 cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Line a 12-muffin tray with cupcakes paper cups.

Melt the butter in a jug, either in the microwave or in the oven (while the oven is warming up for the cupcakes). Place the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk, using an electric beater, until the mixture looks light and pale yellow in colour. Slowly add the melted butter and the lemon zest. Keep beating at a low speed now; add half of the flour followed by half of the milk. Add the rest of the flour and milk and keep beating making sure that there are no lumps. Divide the mixture between the 12-cupcake cases and sprinkle a few pinoli pine nuts on top.

Bake for about 18-20 minutes, until golden brown at the top. You can also check by inserting a toothpick into the cupcakes: if it comes out clean the cupcakes are ready. Remove the cupcakes from the tin and let them cool down. The Pinoli don't need to be toasted before baking: they will toast while baking, and the cupcakes will smell delicious!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Be Fair, help us!

Slow Food Waitakere, in association with Oxfam New Zealand, presents:

SLOW FOOD WAITAKERE FAIR TRADE COFFEE BREAK

Slow Food Waitakere is hosting a Coffee Break, as part of Oxfam's Biggest Coffee Break during Fair Trade Fortnight and it would e great if you could come along!

Expect great food including fair trade coffee, tea, chocolate and bananas

(I think that I'll make cupcakes... any suggestions?)

Julia from All Good Bananas will be joining us!

So lets get together to taste the Fair Trade difference and fundraise for Oxfam's work towards a fairer, safer, more sustainable world.

When: Sunday 13 May at 3pm

Where: 5a Gane Lane, Te Ataty Peninsula

RSVP Anutosh0610@gmail.com or 834 9909

If you are in Auckland please come along :-).

Cost

$15 Slow Food Members

$20 Non Members

All Money raised will go to OXFAM

Vegan "Cape-pops", and a vegan pie too...

Almost cake-pops because they look like cake-pops, but they are not made from cake! In fact these are Cape Gooseberries (therefore I am calling them Cape-pops :-)), dipped in dark chocolate. I left some plain, while I rolled the others in shredded coconut, ground pistachio nuts, and plum powder (my new discovery, I talked about it already in here). I let them set first at room temperature and then, because it was a warm day, in the fridge.

I am entering this recipe for Sweet New Zealand #9 (April 2012) hosted by Frances of the Bake Club

But I am not finished yet...

I had melted far too much chocolate for the Cape gooseberries, so I made a pie which, I must say, came out better than I had anticipated. But sometimes new discoveries are born out of chance, or leftovers!

I had a few sheets of filo pastry left, I placed them into a 23 cm pie dish lined with baking paper, leaving the corners to spill out. I peeled and cut four pears and placed the slices over the pastry, then drizzled the lot with Frangelico liqueur. I added the melted dark chocolate and closed the four corners of pastry over the filling. I wetted the top pastry with water and I added the rest of the coconut/pistachio stuff on top too (why waste it!). I baked the pie until the pastry was golden, and then I sprinkled a little icing sugar on top (this was the only sugar needed). I pie was perfect! Bittersweet and with an amazing texture, the chocolate had 'melted' into the pear slices... I will need to work on this and make it again, on purpose, and with more filo pastry, but I wanted to share it with you now because to me this was the perfect Vegan pie!!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Easter Monday = Easter Show, and guess tomorrow's recipe

We got some tickets for the Easter Show, I don't really take many photos when I go there, but my readers overseas may like to see some Polynesian dancing. I am going to start hula classes too, although I think that I will wear a different outfit :-).

And then there are the rides, for the kids, not me (scaaaaaryyyyy!) and even find scary those clowns with the mouth open... I probably going to dream them tonight... brrr!

But I have created my now edible show piece, a bit of all the visual things I saw today, and made it fun! Can you guess what is it? Recipe tomorrow!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

All I want for Easter is to save the Maui dolphins

I think that I will skip the chocolate egg post this Easter, I have posted enough Easter treats anyway, but I would love you to take a minute to read this, or a few minutes to watch this video.

NZ's tiny indigenous Maui's dolphin is on the brink of extinction. Maui's dolphins are the worlds smallest marine dolphin species – and the rarest. This month the Department of Conservation revealed that only around fifty five of these small dolphins exist. I repeat, only 55! And fishing nets are the number one threat. NIWA (National Institute for Water & Atmospheric Research) estimates that 110-150 Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins were killed in fishing nets each year between 2000 and 2006, that is a lot of dolphins! Unless substantial action is taken very soon, we will lose them forever. 

If you like to learn more about the Dolphin Mayday please go to the NZ Greenpeace page and read this article Maui's Dolphin Mayday | GREENPEACE New Zealand

The New Zealand Government has proposed some interim action but it is not enough - if you are in New Zealand please sign this message to Primary Industries Minister David Carter now urging stronger action. We have until April 11 to sign the petition. And if you are in other countries you can sing the petition here, and here, spread the word, and even write to our NZ Minister of Tourism (who is also our Prime Minister) to let him know what you think (the email address is in the video).


Thank you and Happy Easter to all. 

Inspirational pins for Easter

From Party Food for Girls, eggs colored with natural vegetable dyes,

recipe by Alessandra Zecchini (in the April Dante Newsletter), photo by

Shaun Cato-Symonds

Alessi-mania, a serious talk about eggs, and breadsticks instead of soldiers

Iced animal biscuits for Ester

Bunnies? Fondant and marzipan, or sushi?

Natural: quail and chicken eggs are beautiful enough as they are, and for an interesting touch,
eggs decorated by the children with Italian prehistoric patterns

Wow, a full Easter page without Chocolate! What do you think?

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

White and Red Party Table

Arantxa just had her birthday party, a few days before her actually birthday, which will fall during the Easter Holidays. The theme colours were white and red, very effective. Of course there were a lot of cupcakes, decorated either with white royal icing or whipped cream. Red details were cherries, homemade sugar roses, or paper red flags. Plus meringues!

The main cake was a plain vanilla cake decorated with cream and shredded coconut and topped with coconut balls (red candles were added later). There was another smaller cake filled with cream and jam and topped with icing sugar just in case one of the kids didn't like coconut. Pizza, popcorns and tortilla chips and dips were also served.

Drinks were kept chilled in a drink bucket, and we made ice cubes with white and red flowers.

Vol au vents filled with feta and herb cream and tomatoes, and white camembert with more red tomatoes and crackers

Photos and Recipes  by Alessandra Zecchini ©

On books, magazines, and Polenta like my Grandmother used to make

Today I received an email from my publisher congratulating Arantxa and me for having our book  Party Food for Girls included in the Storylines Notable Books List for 2012, (the only cookbook to be included in the non-fiction category). Beattie's book blog has already reported the news, and you can read about the other books that have been selected directly on the Storyline website, The Storyline Notable Non-fiction is awarded for "authoritative, well-designed informational books accessible to children and young adults".

And if you have young children (0 to 5) check out the current issue of Little Treasures Magazine for my food feature Café at Home, with some yummy restaurant-like vegetarian meals for children.

Meanwhile at home is starting to feel like Autumn, and colder evenings are perfect for polenta. Usually I make soft polenta, I always preferred the soft type that you spoon into a plate and cover with a thick wild mushroom sauce or a stew, but memories are coming back of the type of polenta my Grandmother used to make in the North of Veneto: it was dense and stirred with a thick wooden stick in a gigantic pot over a wood fire, and then she pour the hot golden mass on a big wooden tray where it set hard in no time. She kept the polenta in the drawer of the kitchen table so you could get a slice at any time, and attached to the wooden tray there was a piece of string used to slice the polenta, so you didn't even need a knife.

Of course I attached a string to my chopping board: I wanted to do the same as Grandma, and I hope that you will like the idea too. Serve the slices with your favorite casserole, or top with cheese and let it melt, and when the polenta is cold just grill the slices or fry them, or cut them really thin and use them instead of pasta for a gluten free lasagna. Or you can also make these polenta chips.

Photos and Recipes  by Alessandra Zecchini ©

A Second Life

On Saturday 31st March the Dante Alighieri Society of Auckland hosted the monthly coffee morning, and this month's speaker was our former president Prof. Alan Poletti. Alan officially launched his book, A Second Life - Aprica to salvation in Switzerland 1943, just published in English (an Italian edition is on the way) to gathering of Dante members and friends. The books tells the story of an adventurous 1943 event: over 200 Jews were guided across the mountains to Switzerland from internment in the Valtellina, thereby cheating the gas chambers of Auschwitz. 

The books tells the story of the over 200 Jews who were guided across the mountains from Italy to Switzerland.

Alan Poletti presenting the book

Alan's Italan grandfather came from Villa di Tirano, a small comune right on the Swiss border. He first heard mention of this mass flight in the year 2000. A dozen years later after research in several national archives, much reading, much climbing of possible paths, help from many local people and much help from Vera Neufeld,  the book is published. Vera at the age of nine, was one of those who found safety in Switzerland over those mountains.

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©