Previously I described growing Pekepeke-kiore, the NZ native Lion’s mane mushroom. In this post I share how I cooked this unusual (to me) mushroom, making Lion’s Mane ‘Crab Cakes’. Mushrooms in general have great nutritional benefits. Since my post last week I have heard exciting news from Mushrooms by the Sea to say that they have just got confirmation that their unique cultivation technique has allowed them to produce both Erinacines & Hericenones (the same two dynamic bioactive … [Read more...]
Spinach & Ricotta Gnocchi Recipe
I thought that gnocchi was always made with potato so, when I saw it, of course I had to try this Spinach & Ricotta Gnocchi recipe. It was good timing as the spinach in my garden was going rampant so I had an ample supply that needed using. 250g Spinach 200g Ricotta cheese 50g finely grated Parmesan cheese 1 egg 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp finely grated nutmeg About 1 cup plain flour + extra for dusting Wash the spinach, remove the stalks and roughly chop the leaves. Place the leaves … [Read more...]
Homemade Potato Gnocchi Recipe
I'm looking forward to the new potatoes coming soon in my garden but meantime I tried making Homemade Potato Gnocchi which is a great comfort food but you can make it healthy too by adding lots of greens and herbs to your tomato sauce. This recipe uses floury potatoes such as Agria. ~800 g floury potatoes 1 egg ¾ teaspoon salt 150 g flour Place whole potatoes on an oven tray and bake at 200C for about 1 hour (depending on the size of potatoes) until very tender . Cut potatoes in … [Read more...]
Roasted Cauliflower & Romesco Sauce
I have a freezer full of cauliflower because they always seem to come at once in the garden no matter how I space out the planting times. But this is a good thing because there is always a good supply when I am inspired to make something using them. They are so versatile and can be used as the feature of a meat-free meal. This recipe comes from Jamie Oliver, although I've made a few changes based on the ingredients I had available. You can of course roast and skin your own capsicums/red peppers … [Read more...]
Homemade Dubonnet Recipe
Dubonnet is one of those somewhat old-fashioned drinks that I heard about when I was first old enough to drink but never really made it to my glass. Queen Elizabeth's favourite drink was reportedly a Gin & Dubonnet (and the Queen Mother's as well). What is Dubonnet? It is a sweet, fruity, aromatic wine-based aperitif with a thick, almost syrupy texture, that is a blend of fortified wine, herbs, and spices. It is similar-ish to sweet vermouth (and perhaps campari): a touch sweet, a little … [Read more...]
Homemade Ginger Liqueur Recipe
I have recently been making a range of different fruit liqueurs with my homemade neutral spirits and fruit from my garden. Whilst not a fruit, I definitely couldn't go past trying a homemade Ginger Liqueur recipe when harvesting my ginger this year. This recipe certainly has a good level of gingery spiciness but the vanilla and orange, along with the brandy, add complexity and mellowness to the flavour. It is very definitely more-ish. 100g fresh ginger root 1 vanilla bean 1 cup … [Read more...]
Distilled Liquorice Liqueur (Ouzo) Recipe
Earlier this year I made Homemade Pastis (Liquorice Liqueur) where I infused the spices into vodka and added a simple syrup. This tastes divine (although a bit sweet for my taste) but was a somewhat cloudy and coloured liqueur. I decided to make a distilled version of this to attempt to get closer to an authentic ouzo - and was delighted with the result: a clear and flavourful spirit that isn't too sweet. Unfortunately it still doesn't have the signature white cloudiness when water is … [Read more...]
Orange Liqueur Recipe
Over the past several weeks I've shared my forays into combining seasonal fruit from the garden with my efforts at making my own alcohol. This time it was using oranges. I've previously made a Homemade Grand Marnier recipe that infused oranges into brandy so this time I decided to try infusing the oranges into neutral spirit first and then distilling it to produce a clear spirit (or so I thought). 6 oranges 1L neutral spirit (vodka or preferably for more flavour using 'eau de vie' spirit … [Read more...]
Lime Gin and Lime-cello
Over the past several weeks I've shared my forays into combining seasonal fruit from the garden with my efforts at making my own alcohol. This time it was using limes. Lime Gin In my first attempt I sliced 9 limes and added them to a litre of my favourite citrus spice gin and left it to infuse for a month. The result was a bit cloudy and it was quite bitter (from using the pith of the limes). This wouldn't be to everyone's taste, but I actually quite like the result especially with an … [Read more...]
Feijoa Gin Recipe
As you will have seen in earlier posts, now that I am making my own alcohol (see Making Alcohol: 3 Ways) I decided that it would be fun to try making some different fruit liqueurs. I have previously made Feijoa Vodka by macerating the feijoas in the vodka for several months. This time I added gin botanicals to the macerating feijoas, however the result was a rather unappetising brown colour. So the time had come for me to experiment with distilling after maceration which would give a clear … [Read more...]
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