I'll be good at Rugby this week! (Week 43 - New Zealand)

Baking has strong roots in New Zealand, so more biscuits were cooked, or in this instance burnt. I made some Anzac biscuits and overcooked them a little. They flew everywhere when bitten into, and had that slight burnt sugar taste; so not a great hit. But the shortbreads were, they were lovely, light and crumbly. I also got some lamb, in time honoured tradition and made sure it was New Zealand lamb, some lovely lamb which I made the stew with oranges with. My mums old recipe book said a lamb stew with oranges, but I found this recipe on the web and used this one instead. It was very tasty, served with greens. The weather has been awful and we all needed some comfort food!

Cooked with score (out of 100):

Anzac……………………………………………………………86

Kiwi Crisps……………………………………………………76

Lamb with orange stew………………………………..86

 

Anzac Biscuit

100g butter

3 tbsp golden syrup

¼ cup boiling water

1 ½ tsp baking soda

100g flour

150g sugar

100g rolled oats

75g desiccated coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Gently heat the butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan until the butter melts. Pour the boiling water into a cup and dissolve the soda.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, rolled oats and coconut together in a large bowl. Add the soda and water to the saucepan of hot butter and syrup and immediately pour the foaming mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly.
3. Cover two baking trays with baking paper, or wipe with butter and dust with flour. Place heaped teaspoonfuls of the mixture on the prepared trays, leaving room for spreading. Bake at 180ºC for 15-20 minutes until the biscuits have melted flat and baked to a rich brown.
4. Remove from the oven and leave the biscuits to harden for a few minutes before lifting with a spatula. Place in a single layer on a rack to finish cooling. Makes about 3 dozen.
   Source: Lyndie Pillar
    

Kiwi Crisps

Makes about 24

4 oz butter

6 oz flour

2 tbsp condensed milk

4 oz dark chocolate (in small pieces)

1 tsp baking powder

2 oz sugar

1. Cream the butter and the sugar. Add the sifted flour with the baking powder alternately with the condensed milk.
2. Add the chocolate. Shape the mixture into small balls; place them on an oven tray, flatten the tops and bake in a moderate oven for 15-20 minutes.
    

Lamb Cutlets

Lamb cutlets simmered in juice of 2 oranges, the liquid them made into sauce with 1 orange rind, 1/5 pint water, 1 tbsp flour.

 

Lamb, olive and orange stew

1kg boneless lamb leg, diced

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

3 onions, peeled and sliced

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 x 5cm piece cinnamon

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 orange

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

100g unpitted olives – a mixture of green and black

 

Cooking method:

1. Cut the lamb into 2cm thick slices and mix with the thyme, rosemary and garlic and leave to marinate for an hour.
2. Heat up a heavy based pot and add a tablespoon olive oil. Caramelise the onions, cumin, coriander seeds and cinnamon over medium heat.
3. Add 2 strips of orange peel (no pith) and its juice, then cook until the liquid has evaporated.
4. Remove the onion mixture from the pot and put back on the heat.
5. Add another tablespoon of olive oil and add the lamb then cook until browned all over.
6. Return the onion mixture to the pot, along with the carrots, soy sauce, sweet potato (which breaks up as it cooks and thickens the sauce), olives and enough water to cover by 1cm.
7. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook with a lid on for 90 minutes – either in the oven at 170˚C or on a very low heat on the hob.
8. After an hour, take the lid off the pot and cook until the sauce has thickened, around another 30 – 40 minutes.
9. If it isn’t as thick as you’d like you can mix a tablespoon of flour into ¼ cup cold water to a paste and then stir it into the stew making sure you don’t create any lumps. Taste for seasoning.

Source: Peter Gordon

 

The place...

New Zealand is known for its natural beauty. It was one of the last countries to be discovered and some of the world’s oldest tress, called kauris, still grows here. It is famous for growing apples and pears, which it exports, along with wool and leather.

Reputed to be skilled cake makers; a New Zealand tea is something very special. They have their own version of Anzac biscuits, using wholemeal flour as well as coconut and chopped nuts.

CUISINE

With more than 14,000 kilometres of coastline, New Zealand is home to some amazing seafood. Marlborough green-lipped mussels are world-famous and also known for their health benefits, which include arthritis relief. Bluff oysters are among the finest in the world. Grown slowly in the cold and clean waters of Foveaux Strait, when in-season the oysters are distributed throughout New Zealand. Whitebait is another New Zealand delicacy. 

New Zealand lamb is held in high esteem throughout the world and is one of the country’s top export meats.  Best enjoyed flavoured with rosemary and plenty of seasonal veggies No trip to New Zealand is complete without a delicious hangi. Hangi means earth oven, and is a traditional Maori method of cooking food is using heated rocks buried in a pit oven, called a hangi, hangi meaning ‘aerth oven’. Fish and Chips is a favourite. Freshly caught snapper, terakihi and hoki are the most common types of fish used, which is then battered and deep-fried. Scallops and squid rings are also often included.

New Zealanders have a real sweet tooth, and are passionate about good ice cream. Hokey pokey – creamy vanilla ice cream strewn with pieces of honeycomb – is the nation’s favourite.  New Zealanders also love their Pavlova. A meringue-type dessert that’s topped with cream and fresh fruit, Pavlova is a permanent fixture at many family Christmases. For something a bit healthier, you can’t go past the delicious kiwifruit – small and furry and green on the inside, best eaten by scooping the sweet, juicy flesh out of the middle.