Do Christmas desserts and treats have to be loaded with calories or are there some which are relatively fat free and healthy but still delicious?

I had a chat about this recently with Julie Biuso, food editor of Taste Magazine and author of recently published “Sweet Feast”. It’s packed full of tempting desserts and baking, many of which first appeared in Taste Magazine.

This book has been luring me into the kitchen to try out lots of new recipes for the festive season. The evidence is already starting to show on my hips!

Julie likes to eat healthy and local. Six months ago she began raising chickens in her urban garden so she now has her own supply of free range eggs. She also grows many of her own fruit and vegetables.

She pointed out that quite a few of the recipes in Sweet Feast are relatively healthy. And when you bake them from scratch, unlike commercially produced products, you are in control of what you put into them.

“I do use sugar and white flour but there is some balance. In many of these I have added fruit so lots of antioxidants. And I have used heaps of nuts which are very nutritious and rolled oats to add a bit of goodness.”

Julie’s exotic fruit salad is fat free and would suit any weight watcher. For this a medley of chilled summer fruits (watermelon, peaches, plums, grapes, pineapple and cherries) is tossed gently with some muscatel vinegar and vanilla sugar. I would serve it with a scoopful of a fruity sorbet.

There is also a rhubarb, vanilla and ginger fool which is light and tangy with far fewer calories than a conventional fool made with cream and custard.

Her ricotta hot cakes are on my menu for Christmas brunch. Protein filled and light and fluffy they should sustain us until the main event later in the day. Drizzled with pure maple syrup, and served with strawberries, bananas and yoghurt they’re not too decadent.
“The ricotta should have a fresh milk flavour, slightly sweet, and be white coloured,” advised Julie

I made them on the weekend and they were easy to do but quite delicate so I had to turn them carefully to cook the other side.
So what’s on the menu for Christmas dessert in the Biuso family?
“It would have to be something with meringues,” she said.
Sugar laden they may be, but she has reduced the calories by two thirds by putting dollops of thick Greek yoghurt on top and instead of whipped cream and strews it with raspberries

“It might be hard to believe.” she says “But the yoghurt turns this pavlova into a luxurious velvety treat, and tastes sensational.”
Any Greek yoghurt will do but she especially likes the De Winkel Greek yoghurt which is flavoured with a little honey.

This one will be our Christmas dessert this year Pavlova is back in fashion. And to avoid piling on too much more weight in the weeks leading up to Christmas here are a few more of my resolutions:

Look rather than cook: There’s many a foodie out there like me who loves curling up on the couch with a stack of recipe books. Looking at pictures, and imaging how they would taste can be just as much fun as actually getting out in the kitchen and making them. Engaging in this kind of fantasy is absolutely calorie free.

Out of sight out of mind: Once made, hide your Christmas baking at the back of a kitchen cupboard. If you leave it within reach it’s more likely to disappear fast.

Little rather than big: If you do some pre-christmas entertaining serve small portions. Your guests (or you) may not be able to resist going back for seconds or third helpings, but at least you will have tried to prevent gluttony!

Share them around: Parcel some up to give away. There’s bound to be workmates or friends who don’t get round to much cooking themselves who would greatly appreciate a taste of your try outs.

Ricotta hotcakes with strawberries and maple syrup

This recipe is reprinted with kind permission from:
Sweet Feast
by Julie Biuso, photography by Aaron McLean
Publishing by New Holland Publishers (NZ) Ltd
RRP $45

Ready in 30 minutes | makes 24
Try these for a festive brunch – the lightness of fluffy ricotta hotcakes, strawberries and maple syrup makes them memorable.
4 large (size 7) free-range eggs
200g ricotta
pinch of salt
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
5 level Tbsp standard flour
2 Tbsp caster sugar
250g strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 Tbsp icing sugar
sliced banana, maple syrup, cream or yoghurt, to serve

1 Separate eggs, putting whites in a grease-free bowl. Put egg yolks in a large bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth and liquid. Beat in ricotta, salt and lemon zest. Pour in melted butter, then work in flour.
2 Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form, then beat in caster sugar and continue beating for 2–3 minutes until glossy. Using a large spoon, mix 1 large spoonful of whipped egg whites into the ricotta mixture, then carefully fold in the rest.
3 Heat a lightly buttered non-stick frying pan over gentle heat, or preheat a lightly greased barbecue hot plate. Working in batches, drop spoonfuls of batter onto hot pan or hot plate, making hotcakes about 6cm in diameter. Cook for 1–2 minutes, until golden, then flip and cook the other side. Transfer to a cooling rack as they are done, and cover with a clean tea towel.
4 Mix strawberries with icing sugar. Serve the hotcakes with strawberries, banana, maple syrup and cream or yoghurt.

Here are some quick recipes which will allow them to spend most of the afternoon slothfully sipping a glass of wine and still turn out some sumptuous treats for other slack Mummies and their offspring.

Christmas Mini Mincemeat Pies
First the ingredients ( This does involve a drive to the supermarket )

1 packet of Edmond’s short sweet pastry ( which consists of 4 sheets layered between blue plastic)
1 jar of Anathoth Berry Fruit Mince ( Don’t even think about buying your own, it’s instantly delicious)

Leave the pastry sheets to defrost very briefly so they are pliable. Prise them apart and lay each one out on its little blue sheet when cutting out.This will save cleaning the bench afterwards.

For the mince tarts : Use a fluted cutter to cut pastry circles which will fit into greased mini muffin tins. There will be enough for 24.

Fill each one with a generous teaspoon of Anathoth Berry Fruit Mince.

Cut out some little star shapes to sit on top of the pies.

Bake the mince pies in a 200 C degree oven for about 12 minutes ( check after 10, you don’t want burnt edges)
Once out of the oven sieve generously with icng sugar.
And they’re done.

For the Cookies:
Use Christmassy cutters ( stars, trees bells and angels) to cut shapes out of the rest of the pastry sheets. Lay these onto an oven tray lined with baking paper and bake for about 10 minutes at 200 degrees C until a light golden brown. Kids will happily help with this but it’s less of an effort if you do it yourself and pop them in front of the TV or send them outside.

Other Mummies would lovingly decorate these cookies with icing and add some festive sprinkles. But Slack Mummies would never get round to this. In any case too much icing might send all the kids into a sugar rush and then they’d have to chase after them.

The slackiest of the slack Mummies might be tempted to simply open a packet of chips for afternoon tea but I suspect this would not go down too well. When all’s said and done Slack Mummies do have some style and a residual hostessing instinct.

They will probably leave the dishes in the sink till later while they sneak off to their computers to have some personal time out to write their blog at

http://slackmummyclub.com/

I’ve been an admirer of his since watching the Food Truck episodes where he worked hard to persuade lovers of greasy takeaway food to eat healthier options.

Michael bounces in and soon makes it clear this will not be that kind of day.

“This is not the Food Truck,” he says “At Molten (his award winning Mt Eden bistro where he is the owner and head chef) we do use sugar, fat and salt”

I heave a sigh of relief. I already have the recipes for his curly wurlies, corn dogs, tofu dumplings and pork chopsticks from the Food Truck show. I’m ready for some delicious special occasion food, where calories don’t count.

Michael introduces the first recipe: Potato Tart with pickled fennel, green apple, sheep’s feta and wild rocket. He unpacks each part of the recipe step by step but then turns it upside down. The tart now becomes a tarte tatin.

The whole idea of this is to encourage us to bring our own creativity to his recipes, and not to be afraid to change the elements around.

Michael suggests we make our own puff pastry.

“It’s fun. It only takes 3 days! He makes a 20 kg block at a time which will keep in the freezer.” I do wonder if the difference in taste between the homemade and shop bought puff pastry would be worth such a big effort.

In this recipe I especially like the pickled fennel (marinated in wine vinegar, sugar and star anise) and the almond salt for which whole almonds are pounded in a mortar and pestle with sea salt into a coarse mixture.

We get a generous taste of the completed dish. All the individual parts: the flaky pastry, the mellow potatoes, the sour sweet pickled fennel and the crunchy salty almonds come together into a scrumptious few mouthfuls.

The second recipe “Barbecued Lamb on Le Puy Lentil Puree with Garlic Aioli, Pickled Red Cabbage and Hazelnut Beignets” is more complicated but under Michael’s expert guidance it looks quite manageable. As he proceeds he keeps firing instructions and hints at us. I scribble down copious notes about the best way to marinade the lamb, how to make different kinds of emulsions the easy way in a blender, and not adding cabbage too early when you pickle it or it will turn into a mush.

We taste the finished dish which has been decoratively arranged. Everyone makes appreciative noises.

Writing a cookbook, doing the Food Truck series and running his restaurant keeps Michael incredibly busy. He credits his Dutch upbringing, which installed in him a strong work ethic, for his ability to keep doing it all.

In “The Molten Cookbook” he has included a recipe for oliebollen (Dutch doughnuts) which translates as oily balls. Dutch cooks would be astounded at how he has transformed their traditional New Year’s dish into an epicurean delight through the addition of little cubes of blackberry jellies, salted caramel and soft cream.

As he speaks I take a quick peek at the recipe book. It’s classy. There are over 70 recipes, for cocktails, nibbles, starters, mains and desserts. The coloured food photographs are very creatively styled . The black and white photographs taken inside the restaurant capture the timeless, elegant mood of a fine dining establishment.

Over the last few years, as life has got busier, recipe books have been filled with dishes that can be put together in a flash. It’s a refreshing change to see a chef who writes very creative recipes that are somewhat more complex and time consuming. Judging by the food we tasted I can say that cooking from this recipe book will be worth the extra effort for a special dinner.

This was the first cooking workshop I have attended at the Melting Pot Cooking Theatre. Michael was affable, informative and entertaining, and encouraged participation. I learnt a lot. At the end of the workshop I went home clutching an autographed copy of his book (which was included in the price of the workshop) keen to try out more of his recipes.

To find out more about the workshops on offer at the Melting Pot Cooking Theatre go to

http://www.noshfoodmarket.com/melting-pot

Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/A-Cooking-Workshop-at-Nosh-with-Michael-Van-de-Elzen/tabid/423/articleID/230634/Default.aspx#ixzz1fWpUVT2i

I’ve been an admirer of his since watching the Food Truck episodes where he worked hard to persuade lovers of greasy takeaway food to eat healthier options.

Michael bounces in and soon makes it clear this will not be that kind of day.

“This is not the Food Truck,” he says “At Molten (his award winning Mt Eden bistro where he is the owner and head chef) we do use sugar, fat and salt”

I heave a sigh of relief. I already have the recipes for his curly wurlies, corn dogs, tofu dumplings and pork chopsticks from the Food Truck show. I’m ready for some delicious special occasion food, where calories don’t count.

Michael introduces the first recipe: Potato Tart with pickled fennel, green apple, sheep’s feta and wild rocket. He unpacks each part of the recipe step by step but then turns it upside down. The tart now becomes a tarte tatin.

The whole idea of this is to encourage us to bring our own creativity to his recipes, and not to be afraid to change the elements around.

Michael suggests we make our own puff pastry.

“It’s fun. It only takes 3 days! He makes a 20 kg block at a time which will keep in the freezer.” I do wonder if the difference in taste between the homemade and shop bought puff pastry would be worth such a big effort.

In this recipe I especially like the pickled fennel (marinated in wine vinegar, sugar and star anise) and the almond salt for which whole almonds are pounded in a mortar and pestle with sea salt into a coarse mixture.

We get a generous taste of the completed dish. All the individual parts: the flaky pastry, the mellow potatoes, the sour sweet pickled fennel and the crunchy salty almonds come together into a scrumptious few mouthfuls.

The second recipe “Barbecued Lamb on Le Puy Lentil Puree with Garlic Aioli, Pickled Red Cabbage and Hazelnut Beignets” is more complicated but under Michael’s expert guidance it looks quite manageable. As he proceeds he keeps firing instructions and hints at us. I scribble down copious notes about the best way to marinade the lamb, how to make different kinds of emulsions the easy way in a blender, and not adding cabbage too early when you pickle it or it will turn into a mush.

We taste the finished dish which has been decoratively arranged. Everyone makes appreciative noises.

Writing a cookbook, doing the Food Truck series and running his restaurant keeps Michael incredibly busy. He credits his Dutch upbringing, which installed in him a strong work ethic, for his ability to keep doing it all.

In “The Molten Cookbook” he has included a recipe for oliebollen (Dutch doughnuts) which translates as oily balls. Dutch cooks would be astounded at how he has transformed their traditional New Year’s dish into an epicurean delight through the addition of little cubes of blackberry jellies, salted caramel and soft cream.

As he speaks I take a quick peek at the recipe book. It’s classy. There are over 70 recipes, for cocktails, nibbles, starters, mains and desserts. The coloured food photographs are very creatively styled . The black and white photographs taken inside the restaurant capture the timeless, elegant mood of a fine dining establishment.

Over the last few years, as life has got busier, recipe books have been filled with dishes that can be put together in a flash. It’s a refreshing change to see a chef who writes very creative recipes that are somewhat more complex and time consuming. Judging by the food we tasted I can say that cooking from this recipe book will be worth the extra effort for a special dinner.

This was the first cooking workshop I have attended at the Melting Pot Cooking Theatre. Michael was affable, informative and entertaining, and encouraged participation. I learnt a lot. At the end of the workshop I went home clutching an autographed copy of his book (which was included in the price of the workshop) keen to try out more of his recipes.

To find out more about the workshops on offer at the Melting Pot Cooking Theatre go to

http://www.noshfoodmarket.com/melting-pot

Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/A-Cooking-Workshop-at-Nosh-with-Michael-Van-de-Elzen/tabid/423/articleID/230634/Default.aspx#ixzz1fWoPlqp4

My quest for the best Christmas cake to bake this year is over. The winning recipe was for a Whiskey cake which is effortless, moist, fruity and not too expensive.

Up until last week there were three in the running. The first: Dame Alison Holst’s Pineapple Christmas cake which she says has been baked and enjoyed by thousands of kiwis for over 30 years.Another of her evergreen recipes, it will continue to last the distance. But perhaps it was time for a change.

While browsing in Milly’s Kitchen on Ponsonby Rd and admiring their great selection of Christmassy bakeware, I spotted a second recipe which looked promising. It lay in the bottom of a square cake box made from kahikatea wood by a kiwi family business:The Wooden Cake Box Company.

Mary- Jane from Milly’s explained how this box takes the hassle out of making a Christmas cake:

“The natural timber insulates the cake as it bakes so it doesn’t need to be wrapped in layers of paper like a metal tin. You simply line the sides and bottom with baking paper and the result will be a moist, rich fruit cake.

And afterwards there’s no need to wash it, a quick brush to remove any crumbs is all that is needed.”

The Wooden Cake Box Company Christmas cake recipe looked like a winner. The ingredients were yummy: brown sugar, golden syrup, spices, chopped almonds, brandy and lots of fruit.

I did notice that the recipe contained curry powder. A curry flavoured Christmas cake did sound unusual. But I was persuaded that the curry taste is not discernable.

“It just adds a subtle warmth and richness to the cake.Don’t
leave it out,” was Mary-Jane’s advice.” It would not taste as good without it.”

At Milly’s they have baked dozens of cakes in these wooden cake boxes using this recipe and it has proved to be a failsafe method.

As we got talking, Mary- Jane divulged that she makes a Whiskey cake at home and generously promised to send me the recipe. Once her email arrived I knew that this would be the one.

Like the other two cakes it is easy to make: no need to soak the dried fruit beforehand, or cream the butter and sugar. You simply boil, simmer and stir. But what set this cake recipe apart was that it contained loads of ginger and apricots which are two of my favourite ingredients.

I used one of the wooden cake boxes to bake it. Before putting it in the oven I made a decorative pattern with almonds on the top so I wouldn’t need to bother to ice it. The batter was dense enough to prevent them from sinking. After baking I brushed a little more brandy over the top.

It’s a light fruitcake which I think is perfect for summer weather. It did need to be cut carefully with a sharp knife. I served small slices of it with tiny glasses of ice cold home- made limoncello. It went down so well that there’s not much left! I will make another.
Christmas cakes are the kind of cakes you can be creative with. You can exchange the white sugar for brown, or add a little cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice (or even curry?!)

Next time I bake this cake, instead of a pattern of almonds I’d like to try another easy topping from Delia Smith which she created for people who don’t like the extra sweetness of icing. For this brush the cake with a glaze made by heating a heaped tablespoon of apricot jam and two tablespoons of brandy. Make a pattern of toasted pecans, Brazil nuts and walnut halves over the top of the cake. Then glaze again.

To keep the cake moist I’ll wrap it in glad wrap before storing it in an airtight tin. Hopefully we’ll be able to resist further temptation so it will last the distance until Christmas day.

WHISKEY CAKE

Thanks to Mary-Jane from Milly’s Kitchen shop

https://www.millyskitchen.co.nz/

for this great recipe

In a saucepan: ½ lb butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1+¼ lb mixed fruit (I used sultanas/
raisins/apricots)
1 pkt ginger (finely chopped)
* (I put apricots and ginger in food processor to chop)

Bring to the boil and simmer a few
minutes
Take off stove and add 1 tsp baking
soda and let cool about ½ hour.
Beat 2 eggs well and add to mixture.
Stir in 2 cups sifted flour, and add
1 tsp each vanilla/lemon and almond
essence
2 tblsp. Whiskey (I used brandy)

Mix and put in 8” square tin lined with
Baking paper.

Cook at 300F for about 1 ½ hours,
dependant on oven, check after
1 hour.

By contrast Auckland airport looked clean and inviting. Around me, a cheerful babble of different languages from rugby fans chasing their next match in Wellington.

On board it was obvious who Air New Zealnd was supporting .The All Blacks starred in the emergency video. At snack time quirky little black aeroplane lollies, rugby ball shaped chocolate biscuits, and barbecue chips were handed around. Each disposable coffee cup featured a fact file and a pic of an All Black.A silver fern was emblazoned on the smart black cover of the Kia Ora inflight magazine.

On arrival I was whisked away to Elements café in Lyall Bay by a couple of Wellingtonians who share my love for casual but good food. Only a stone’s throw away from the airport and a short hop from town, Elements Café is located in a historic site which once housed the library, post office and butchery. The service was relaxed but professional. For breakfast I chose the ricotta hotcakes with mascarpone and poached pear which were creamy and fluffy .The generous dollop of sinfully rich mascarpone was nicely offset by the not too sweet pears.

The Wellingtonians settled for toasted coconut bread, grilled banana and blueberry mascarpone, their current favourite. Washed down with some steaming hot coffee we felt revived and ready to go.

The chilly Wellington weather made walking around the city uninviting so in the afternoon we headed for Miramar’s Roxy Theatre. This started out as the Capitol Theatre in 1928, but has had a complete make-over so is now earthquake proof. Only the art deco façade has been retained. The interior was lovingly rebuilt in deco style including a very cool hand painted ceiling.

As I entered I almost felt as if I had stepped into a theatrical stage set. Perhaps not surprising as the renovation was masterminded by some very creative people from the film and hospitality industries including some from the Weta Workshop.

We were tempted to linger for a few hours at the café restaurant or the cocktail lounge but wanted to catch a documentary about Bill Cunningham. This 80 year old spends his days weaving in and out of the New York traffic on a bicycle in a death defying manner. Armed with his battered Nikon camera he shoots street fashion for his weekly New York Times column. Unassuming, but incredibly talented he has a knack of catching the moment and brilliantly predicting what the new fashion trends will be. If you love fashion it’s a movie not to be missed.

Afterwards it was only a hop skip and jump from the Roxy to La Boca Loca, This local landmark with its bright blue and orange exterior is easily spotted. Inside Vintage American movie posters and original artworks by local artist Jake Yokum decorate the walls.

We catch up with Lucas and his partner Marianne who own it. After working for some years at Weta Digital, Lucas became homesick for his favourite Mexican food in the Napa Valley in California and thought of starting his own Mexican restaurant in Wellington. La Boca Loca is his dream turned into reality.

Lucas and Marianne are passionate about creating fresh, healthy and authentic Mexican food from scratch. Their Mexican chef Christopher Martinez turns out dozens of fresh tortillas each day on a miniscule hand operated press using specially imported masa harina. Where possible other ingredients such as the wide variety of chillies used in Mexican cooking are sourced locally.

Lucas suggested we start with some nibbles, some olives and guacamole with corn chips for dipping followed by one of his favourite entrees: the sopa de tortilla This turned out to be a spicy soup of tomatoes, roasted chilies, tortilla pieces, feta and sour cream. It was a very tasty and not an overly large helping, enough to tickle our tastebuds.

We followed with Tacos Machata, two corn tortillas filled with chilli marinated fish and melted cheese served with a freshly made salsa alongside. The corn tortillas bore little comparison to the supermarket version which can taste like cardboard .They were deliciously moist and chewy.

We had room for dessert so treated ourselves to a scoop of locally handmade Waddington’s ice-cream. It had been an enjoyable light meal. Dining at La Boca Loca gave me a first taste of authentic Mexican restaurant food. I plan to go back to taste more from their menu.

On the return home the RWC tourists who I’d parted company with after my earlier flight were back in droves at Wellington airport watching a group of Cook Island performers dancing to a Pacifica beat on a makeshift stage.

Apart from watching the rugby, where had they been in Wellington? They’d certainly been thin on the ground in the suburbs. I suspect that before and after watching each game they had not strayed from the CBD bars and cafes.

If they could be persuaded to be a little more adventurous and to take a short journey to some of the suburbs they’d have a richer experience and catch more of the local flavour. There’s still time!

On the Amalfi coast in Italy where limoncello originated it is traditionally served ice cold in little pottery cups or glasses as an after dinner drink. It can be served like this or mixed into a cocktail. It’s also delicious dribbled over ice-cream and fruit or in a trifle, or sorbet.

I bought my first bottle of limoncello last summer and used some of it in a special Christmas dessert. The zingy but sweet lemon flavour proved to be irresistible and soon the bottle was empty.

So when Aldo Di-Cesare from the Art of Produce in Grey Lynn who is an enthusiastic limoncello imbiber and always keeps some in his freezer offered to teach me how to make limoncello at home I took him up on his offer. He is originally from the South of Italy and this is his family recipe. Many Italian families make their own limoncello at home. Had I realized how easy it is to make I might well have done it sooner

There are only four ingredients: lemon peel, vodka, sugar and water. And as it doesn’t contain any additives or preservatives like some brands of commercially produced limoncello it’s purer.

However it takes 80 days before the lemon peel has fully imparted its flavour to the vodka. If you make it now it will be ready in time for summer sipping and desserts.

The origins of limoncello are shrouded in history. Some believe that the first bottle of limoncello came from a monastery where the monks sipped it between saying their prayers. To this day many monasteries still produce it.

Others think fishermen were the first to use it as an invigorating early morning drink. But it was not officially registered with a trademark until 1988 by Massimo Canale. From that time on it has become a very popular drink in Southern Italy and is also being exported worldwide.

Aldo’s instructions are to grate the lemon peel but as the home grown lemons I used were knobbly I found it easier to pare them with a small vegetable knife, taking care not to include the white pith which would have made the limoncello bitter.

The lemons were free but vodka is pricey so for my first attempt at limoncello I halved the recipe. While it matures I have stored it in a dark cupboard and will give it an occasional shake. When it is done it will be decanted into smaller bottles and one will go in the freezer.

ALDO’S LIMONCELLO

Ingredients:

15 lemons
1500 ml of vodka
8 cups of sugar
Water

Method:

First wash 15 large lemons. Then grate the zest (Do not use the juice and when doing the zest you do not use any of the white pith.)

Dissolve 4 cups of sugar in 5 cups of warm water.

Stir until the sugar dissolves.

Now mix the zest and the syrup with 750 ml of the best vodka you can afford (42 degrees zero is perfect.)

Pour into a large sterilized jar with a lid. Glass is good.

Leave with the lid on for 40 days. This will prevent the alcohol from evaporating.

After 40 days add another 750 ml of vodka. Again dissolve four cups of sugar in five cups of warm water and add to the jar and seal. Leave for another 40 days. Then strain the mixture slowly through muslin or a coffee filter and bottle your limoncello. You should finish up with 5x 750 ml bottles. Close them with screw caps.

Aldo keeps one in the freezer. It’s nicest served straight from there. The liquid should be golden and clear and it should have a tangy lemony flavour. From the freezer it should be a syrupy liquid. If it crystallizes, which can happen, use a little less warm water next time.

Watching cheesemaster Neil Willman, whose aim is to make the fastest cheese in Australasia, beating his own record of making a mozzarella cheese in less than 60 seconds.
The all day sessions at the new Loaf and Weston Milling Baking Theatre on how to make scones, ciabatta, sausage rolls and their hilarious biscuit tower competition.
The growing number of International Foods on offer such as Russian dumplings, Sri Lankan Teas, spicy food from the Malaysian kitchen, and Pomegranate sauce from Azerbaijan.
Seeing just how many exhibitors were using words like Fair Trade, sustainable, organic, free range, locally grown, and SPCA ticks as part of their marketing strategy.
Only complaint: The lack of seating. It’s tiring to eat and drink on the run all day.

After several years at the food show I have also found it is all too easy to overindulge. It’s more pleasurable to be discerning and to take the time to look around and chat to the exhibitors before trying.

I set a limit on how much I spend. My focus each year is to collect the ingredients for a special dinner so I can share some of the foods I enjoyed tasting with family or friends.With such a wide range of foods on offer it’s always a challenge to narrow it down to one meal. Here’s my menu for this year’s dinner.

The entrée: Southern Littleneck Clams Marinier

At the Southern Clams Stall I watched how quick and easy these were to prepare. I liked the fact that these littleneck clams are only found in New Zealand and are harvested sustainably by body dredging in Otago Coastal waters.

At home I added some grated ginger, chopped tomato and peppers to the original recipe. And for a skinnier version I omitted the cream. The salty seawater juices made seasoning unnecessary. I served steaming bowls of clams with crusty bread to soak up the juices.

The Main: Silver Fern Mediterranean Lamb Rumps

After sampling some juicy char grilled Silver Fern Lamb this was my choice for dinner. A rump is a sleek, lean cut of meat so not too many calories!

I cooked their recipe for Mediterranean lamb with flavours of cumin, coriander, mint, coriander, orange and honey. And served it with a garlicky potato mash and some lightly wilted spinach greens.

A good match for this dish was an Ostler “Blue House Vines “Pinot Noir 2010 from the Waitaki Valley which has a thymey herby flavour.

The Dessert: Elderflower cheesecake

I chose Kate Addis’s signature dessert which she often serves at home when entertaining. A key ingredient is her Cuisine Artisan Award winning Elderflower cordial which she developed from a closely guarded family recipe confided to her on a visit to Dorset.

Cheesecakes with an unbaked crust were a signature sixties dessert, and are now making a retro comeback. The rich creamy filling in this one is infused with the floral elderberry fragrance and as a finishing touch more of the sweet cordial is dribbled over the top.

It’s easy to make, but needs time in the fridge as it tastes nicest well chilled. I served it with a mixed berry coulis. Its startling colour and sharp refreshing flavour contrasted well with the creamy cheesecake filling.

Here are the recipes:

Clams Marinièr

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1.5-2 kg Southern Clams

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

½ cup of fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 bay leaf (optional)

½ cup of dry wine

1 tablespoon of butter

freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup of cream

Scrub the clams thoroughly and place in a large saucepan with onion, garlic, three-quarters of the parsley, and the bay leaf. Add wine and 1 Tbsp of butter, and then grind a little black pepper on top. Cover tightly and steam until the clams open. Remove the clams to a warm serving dish. Strain clam liquid and add extra pepper to taste. Add cream and the rest of the parsley. Reheat the clam sauce but do not boil. Pour the sauce over the clams and serve immediately as they are, or on bed of rice or pasta. Clams being naturally salty there is no need to add salt.

Mediterranean Lamb:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

400g Silver Fern Farms Lamb Rumps

Marinade:

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp ground cumin

2 Tbsp chopped mint

2 Tbsp chopped coriander

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp runny honey

1/2 orange, zest and juice

Place the marinade ingredients into a bowl and whisk to combine.

Place the Silver Fern Farms Lamb Rumps in a non-metallic dish. Pour over the marinade. Cover. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Remove lamb from marinade and place in a roasting dish. Roast meat for 15-25 minutes depending on desired rareness. Rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Elderflower and Lime Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 packet of wine biscuits or digestives

90 gm of butter

300 gm of full fat cream cheese

icing sugar to taste

160 ml of cream lightly whipped

1 lime

7 tablespoons of Addmore Elderberry Cordial, plus extra for drizzling

Method:

Crush the wine biscuits or digestives. Melt the butter and add the crushed biscuits to the melted butter.

Press mixture firmly into an 8 “round tin with a lift up base.

Place the cream cheese, icing sugar, zest and juice of lime in a food processor and mix.

Then slowly add the cream and Addmore Elderflower Cordial. Spread this mixture on the biscuit base.

Refrigerate until required.

At serving dribble extra Addmore Elderflower Cordial over the top.

Inbetween customers Barry O’Neill and Earl Rigden who run it were happy to chat. Both have had years of experience in marketing fresh produce. Earl started in the family business, a Fruit and Veggie shed in Victoria St market several decades ago. Later it was shifted to Halsey St and from there to Crummer Road.

Their main business is to supply local restaurants and cafes with high quality fruit and veggies but they have also opened their doors to the public. Earl likes people to come in off the street to share his love of good food and wine.

I found it fascinating browsing around and picking and choosing from the dozens of
crates neatly stacked against the walls in the open warehouse space and the two adjoining cool rooms.

A large range of salad ingredients such as microgreens (watercress, endive and rocket) , radicchio, baby cos lettuces and fennel, and brightly coloured edible flowers caught my eye.

Much of the produce is locally grown. The eggs are supplied by an organic farm.

“The New Zealand grown limes are excellent enthused Barry.” However they will become very expensive during the World Cup when people will need them to mix with their drinks so enjoy them now,” he suggests.

Where the produce is not in season they will import. Strawberries are flown in at present
from the USA but the local variety should be ripening soon.

The large amount of basil they need to fulfill their orders is sourced from a plantation in Fiji. Crisp little green beans and snowpeas are flown in from Zimbabwe for restaurants such as the French Café.

If asked for advice, Barry and Earl will readily share their own recipes. So what should I do with the miniature pumpkins?
“Stuff them with ricotta or risotto and then bake them. They won’t collapse because this variety has thick skins.” they suggested.

As I checked out the baby fennel Earl told me he shaves this finely, adds rocket, shaved parmesan and truss tomatoes to make a salad which he dresses with a vinaigrette made with olive oil, white balsamic and mustard.

I would have passed by two of the world’s ugliest vegetables: bulbous gnarled pale celeriac roots and lumpy Jerusalem artichokes had it not been for Barry’s encouraging cooking tips.

He suggested using celeriac to make a flavoursome stock, to boil it and grate it for a mash, or to use it raw in a traditional French remoulade in which grated celeriac is tossed into a mustardy mayonnaise.

Barry and Earl are both parsnip fans .Perhaps the time has finally come to get over my childhood dislike of this vegetable and try it the way they suggest: finely shaved, deep-fried in a frying pan with a good quantity of olive oil, and then drained on tissue paper to remove the excess oil.

I came out of the Art of Produce with a bunch of fresh vegetables and a dozen quail eggs.
Home in time to cook a late lunch, I cut the lid off a miniature pumpkin and scooped out the seeds. Impatient to get it into the oven I snipped open a sachet of organic Pitango pumpkin, leek and spinach risotto and filled the hollow. Then I put the lid back on and baked it until the flesh was tender (about 40 minutes in a moderate oven).Before serving I dribbled a little extra fruity olive oil over the filling. It made a tasty, substantial winter lunch. For dinner I’m planning to use the artichokes in Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem Artichoke and goat’s cheese souffle.

If you like to wheel a supermarket trolley around, need to have your veggies wrapped in plastic bags or are hoping to find a carpark this place is not for you. But for foodies who are after quality and variety, and would appreciate staff who love to share their passion for fresh produce The Art of Produce is well worth a visit.The reasonable wholesale prices are an added incentive.

Check the opening hours before you set off on your journey.