By the end of today we have cleared and planted 1/6th of the drive and it feels like a milestone. I work by myself – listening to the National programme, which is quite weird in this quiet landscape when the only other noise is the swallows playing in the pine trees. Phil finished his Polytech work just after 4 so it was rather nice how much quicker and the personal satisfaction there is when you have two working , Lesley who travelled on the Turkish tour 2 years ago and lives on the big Cluden Station came down the drive today and out the car window said she had never seen me look like this !!! Is that good or bad ????
I took the pottle of roasted pumpkin from the fridge that I had left over when I made the pumpkin lasagne a few nights ago. Sheryl Wright ( from Number 7 Restaurant in Dunedin ) did text me and say she was going to make the lasagne but, how do you cook the pumpkin. Oops….. some how I deleted that instruction .so… After peeling and dicing a whole pumpkin ,place the pieces in a large baking dish, throw in a few garlic cloves in their skin, (squeeze the flesh out when cooked ) Season with flaky sea salt and ground black pepper and a handful of rosemary leaves. Drizzle liberally with olive oil . Bake at 200 C for 30 minutes . I used half the pumpkin pieces for my lasagne, put the other half in a pottle in the fridge, which i’m now using for my soup . This tastes far superior than just boiling the pumkin.
Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Roasted pumpkin pieces from about half a pumpkin. 1 onion , finely diced, 2 cloves garlic crushed, 1 chili, sliced 500 mils chicken stock, the remainder 2/3rds can coconut cream (I used it to make the noodle pancakes on day 1) 2 tablespoons chopped coriander
In a good sized saucepan, sauté the diced onion and garlic in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, add the sliced chilli and the pottle of diced pumpkin ( approx 500 g along with a peeled diced potato (helps to thicken your soup). Stir through and heat before adding the chicken stock. Cook for 10 minutes . Puree soup with a bar wand or transfer to a food processor and puree until smooth. Return to your saucepan. Add the coconut milk. ( or milk ) You may have to add more water to ensure you have a ‘soup’ consistency. (It shouldn’t be like pureed baby vegetables ) Bring to the boil before adding the chopped coriander just before serving.
I heated up a couple of left over cheese muffins to accompany our soup . Half the soup was enough for us for lunch – a big bowl each.
I took the 20 minute drive to the supermarket in Cromwell to mainly get more vegetables. But we had run out of dish washing liquid, washing powder and baking powder. It was surprising how I managed to fill my trolley and still forgot fresh garlic. so much for my list.
I had intended to make chicken Tajine for dinner and needed chicken thighs but Free range was not available so breasts had to do .
This is one of my favourite recipes and I used to make it more often when all our children lived at home as teenagers . It has wonderful north African flavours and I serve it with couscous mixed with vegetables .
Chicken Tajine
1 kg chicken thigh meat or chicken breasts
1 t salt
½ t black pepper
½ t turmeric
1 t cinnamon
1 t cumin
1 large onion, finely chopped
100 g whole almonds, toasted
1 c orange juice
1 c water
grated rind of 1 lemon
150 g pitted prunes
2 T honey
1 T sesame seeds, toaste
Heat oil in a heavy frying pan and panfry chicken until golden. Transfer to bowl.
Sauté onion. Add salt, pepper, turmeric, cinnamon and cumin.
Grind half the almonds – add to pan plus orange juice, water, lemon rind, prunes, remaining whole almonds and honey.
Slice the chicken and return the chicken to the pan. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve with vegetable caponata and harissa . Just before serving sprinkle toasted sesame seeds.
Vegetable Couscous
1 red onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 – 4 c vegetable selection – e.g diced Pumpkin , Carrots , peas, edamame beans, broad beans
2 c couscous
2 – 3 c heated chicken stock
Heat oil in a frying pan and sauté onion and garlic. Add vegetables, place a lid on and sweat on low heat with the lid on until just cooked. Season with salt and pepper.
Couscous – Place couscous in a bowl. Pour over hot stock to just cover the couscous. Let stand 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and fold through vegetables.
Transfer to platter or individual bowls . Spoon over Chicken Tajine, sprinkle with sesame seeds to serve with harissa as an acoompaniment.
Optional extra – add toasted pine nuts and chickpeas.
I cooked a chicken breast each and halved the recipe. But it would easily serve 4-5 people .
Central Otago weather is pretty stunning. Autumn is evident now. There is some cool fog around in the mornings until the sun comes up then it miraculously disappears and magically turns into a cloudless sunny day. The sun is lower in the sky now so the house becomes incredibly hot during the day and the stored heat in the concrete floors makes the evening temperatures warm and far too comfortable .
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