The Confident Cook
Slow-Cooked Rosemary Shanks
I can remember when lamb shanks became fashionable. Prue Barton put them on her menu at Vinnies in the very early years of the restaurant and charged $3.95 for one and $5.95 for two. Those were the days! In this recipe the lamb shanks are slowly simmered with rosemary, red wine, onions and orange zest until the meat literally falls from the bone Serve with a garlicky potato puree or your favourite mashed vegetable.
Smoked Chicken with Leeks
This is a perfect dish for preparing ahead as a main luncheon course, served with crusty bread and wine, or as part of a buffet-style meal. Leeks are braised, allow to cool and the smothered with a tangy mixture of smoked chicken, baby spinach leaves and sautéed sweet red peppers. The pine nuts and raisins give the dish interesting texture.
Smoked Fish Salad
Putting one large platter on the table is the perfect way to entertain friends for lunch at our beach house. This hearty salad uses a great New Zealand summer staple, smoked fish. I was inspired to cook it one weekend when I found some wild summer asparagus in the Matakana market, and I added beautiful fresh organic eggs (from a farmer in the market who claims to be able to tell me which of her free-range chickens laid each egg), small chunks of roasted new potato, some wild rocket leaves and red onion, all tossed with a...
Smoked Salmon with Potato and Thyme Cakes
These tiny cakes topped with salmon are superb little taste treats to serve at parties or before dinner. If you wish to make this into a terrific entrée, simply increase each cake about 8cm in diameter and top with two slices of smoked salmon.
Soba and Seared Tuna Salad
Soba noodles are usually served cold and they benefit from this slightly spiced soy sauce dressing. When I went to Japan I was intrigued by the range of textures in that cuisine that I was unfamiliar with. Multicoloured seaweed with its superb crunchy texture contrasts with the slippery noodles, the crisp cucumber and the fresh tuna. You will find the Japanese ingredients in a specialty Japanese store or even in a good supermarket.
