Portugese Custard Tarts

I stumbled across this recipe on Curious Kai and as soon as I saw the pictures, I started drooling!   We were heading out to a friends for dinner and I knew that Terri was cooking Paella, given that Portugal is at least in the vicinity of Spain, I though that was good enough reason to break out the pastry.

As I followed the receipe to the letter, I will just provide this link rather than type it out again!  My tarts do not look quite as lovely as the ones pictured on Curious Kai but they did taste great!

Wellington on a Plate: Finc!

I love Finc!  Their Wellington on a Plate lunch special for $25 included two courses and a glass of local organic wine - bargain!

I couldn't go past choosing the pork on pork option: pork dumplings to start followed by the pork belly main... what can I say, I'm a pig!  Soooo delicious though!

The Dumplings were definitely the winner with their tasty dipping sauce (wish I'd paid more attention to the menu in order to tell you about what was in it...).

The pork belly was just a tiny wee bit dry however very tasty and not overly rich which can be a problem sometimes with pork belly.  The greens were perfectly cooked and extremely tasty!

A lovely lunch, thanks Finc!

Wellington on a Plate: Pop-up Restaurant

You know your week is going to be good when it is kicked off by scoring tickets to a two-night only Wellington on a Plate festival event!  A pop-up restaurant in the heart of the city with the menu designed by Rex Morgan of Citron fame, no-less.

Rex Morgan's Citron restaurant won more awards than you can shake a stick at and is still mourned by Wellingtonians after closing down last year.  These days Rex can be found at Boulcott St Bistro, another Wellington favourite but on Sunday and Monday night he was found in the old Rialto building, doing his thing for a few lucky punters, including me!

The ground floor of the old Rialto building has lately been used as a showroom for the stalled Watermark apartment development but was transformed for the festival event.  White table cloths, candles and dozens of bunches of spring flowers set the scene for a fabulous dinner with service which would be expected of any fine-dining restaurant. 

The meal started with a tasting platter which produced a reverential hush punctuated with exclamations of "have you tried the...", "OMG that ... is to die for!", "mmmmmm, so gooood".  The highlight for me was the Venison carpaccio with horseradish cream... my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

For my main I had Roasted Groper with Marlborough mussels, clams and green pea stew.  Another winner, nothing beats Groper and the peas were just barely cooked making them so sweet and juicy.  In fact the broth from the pea stew, which looked to be about 80% butter, was so delicious that my friend asked for spoons so that we could get at every last drop!  Across the table the beef was just as popular.

I hate to gush but it just keeps on coming!  The dessert of Mojo coffee brulee and Whittakers chocolate mousse had me wanting to pick up my plate and lick it clean and still the goodness kept coming with complimentary Mojo coffee and Whittakers chocolate square!

All of this for the bargain basement price of $29!  Although we did get through a few bottles of Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc and finished the evening with a palate cleansing bottle of bubbles which was also fantastic... unfortunately checking the label was beyond me by then.

Thanks for a memorable evening Rex Morgan and Wellington on a Plate!  And thanks to Lee for getting the tickets!

Daring Cooks August Challenge: The World of Pierogi!

The August 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by LizG of Bits n’ Bites and Anula of Anula’s Kitchen. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make pierogi from scratch and an optional challenge to provide one filling that best represents their locale.

Is there really anything better in the world than dumplings?!  Different forms of these delightful deliciousness come to us from all over the world; in NZ we are lucky to be part of a very multi-cultural society but with all the interesting culinary choices that brings, I had never heard of Peirogi!  I loved making these because they are something that I probably wouldn't have attempted at home by myself but would definitely order in a restaurant, and I was surprised at how easy they were - if just a little bit fiddly!

I used this basic recipe for the dough.  I learnt quickly that I had to be sure I had the dough rolled as thinly as possible to avoid a soggy, doughy finished product.

Dough Recipe

2 to 2 1/2 cups (300 to 375 g) all-purpose (plain) flour

1 large egg

1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt

About 1 cup (250 ml) lukewarm water

Place 2 cups flour in a large bowl or on a work surface and make a well in the center. Break the egg into it, add the salt and a little lukewarm at a time.  Bring the dough together, kneading well and adding more flour or water as necessary. Cover the dough with a bowl or towel. You’re aiming for soft dough. Let it rest 20 minutes.

I made a sweet and a savoury filling, with the savoury winning the contest hands down. 

 

Pumpkin, Leek and Sage Pierogi Filling

Roasted pumpkin - mashed

1 leek

1/2 red onion
Parmigiano-Reggiano (parmesan cheese)

Small handful of fresh sage leaves

50g butter

I sauteed the chopped leek in butter for around 45 minutes, by this time is had reduced to around a third of the original amount and was quite caramelised and sweet.  Mix in finely chopped onion and sage along with the mashed pumpkin, parmesan and season well with salt and pepper.  I should note that I had about 1.5-2 cups of mashed pumpkin which was a good amount to go with the whole leek I'd cooked, but I ended up with about 4 times the amount of filling that I needed!  Allow filling to cool before use.

To assemble the Pierogi, on a floured work surface, roll the dough out thinly (1/8” or about 3 millimeters) cut with a 2-inch (5 cm) round or glass.  Spoon a portion (teaspoon will be the best) of the filling into the middle of each circle. Fold dough in half and pinch edges together with a fork.

Bring a large, low saucepan of salted water to boil.  Drop in the pierogi, only a single layer in the pan at a time.  Return to the boil and reduce heat.  When the pierogi rise to the surface, continue to simmer a few minutes more ( usually about 5 minutes).

The cooked Pierogi are now ready to eat however I lightly fried these in olive oil before serving - yum!

Apple, Stem Ginger and Chocolate Pierogi

1 apple

2 pieces stem ginger

1T honey

Dark chocolate

For my sweet Pierogi I cooked up some finely chopped apple and stem ginger with honey and then added a little bit of dark chocolate before I sealed the Pierogi.  I used Whittakers Dark Ghana chocolate which is made locally and is fantastic.  I served these with a runny custard.