Sharing Lockdown Day 9

I don’t know if you are like me, but I am starting to question myself which day it is – was it day 8,9 or 10 ? of the lockdown

I have added grams to the bread recipe – sorry came straight from Mark and I didn’t notice there wasn’t a weight measurement . I presume you wouldn’t possibly think it was in Kilo’s – Certainly not enough flour in NZ to feed your whole neighbourhood at once .

I know this lockdown is encouraging so many people to cook, bake and make jam, jellies and chutneys. We are actually very lucky it is Autumn and there is an abundance of fruit and vegetables .

I am getting lots of photos, texts and and messages of what people are making. I know my friend Lynda has run out of freezer space. Her vegetable garden near Queenstown has been outstanding – maybe it was the gardener!! I wish we were there neighbours .

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I thought I would share with you the love going into meals from my children. Hannah’s hummus, her flat mates amazing crumpets, Matthews one pan pizza and Richards sliders . Coming from a foodie family we are always sending photos of our meals but its also about being economical , making use of what’s in season and putting your nose in some of those cook books I know you all have.

Friday lunch incorporated our lovely bread with tomatoes. This Quintessential Italian salad called ‘Panzanella’ uses two easy and the most beautiful ingredients that we would never be without – Bread and Tomatoes.

Panzanella Salad

In a small saucepan sauté 2 cloves garlic, 4 anchovy fillets in 1/4 cup oilve oil. Simmer for 8- 10 minutes until the anchovies and garlic have softened. Toast about 60 grams of your bread then cut into cubes .Or bake cubes in the oven.. Add the toasted bread to the hot oil – toss around until coated.

In a serving bowl mix together: 250 grams of cherry tomatoes chopped into quarters , grated zest and juice of a lemon ,1 teaspoon capers , a few stems of chopped parsley , 1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes . Season.

Before serving add the bread and tomato mixture together. Toss – I added our left over chicken pieces from the night before as well. This is pretty delicious. Remember i’m only serving two

Friday being Friday means work groups can still socialise and it was so nice to see Phil and his team on line with a glass of wine talking about their week in these trying circumstances .

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So Friday wasn’t about Fish and Chips and any way living in the country this doesn’t work . (Well it does when I cook and and can drive into Harbourfish) It was good old sausages – the best from the Princess St Butchery. Served with potatoes that I simply boiled in salted water, tossed in a little extra Virgin Olive oil and a crushed garlic clove and barbecued along side the sausages.

Roasted Pear and Blue Cheese Salad

A bag of baby Spinach leaves, 1/2 cup roasted pine nuts , 150 grams blue cheese diced , 4 pears that I had quartered and baked off with a 2-3 tablespoons olive oil and a tablespoon of quince jelly. Mix together with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the juice of a lemon . Season

The pears were from the tree at the vineyard and a bIt hard. I usually just roast them tossed in little oil but add a tablespoon of Quince jelly. I will be doing that again as they were delicious. Keep an eye on those precious pine nuts . I burnt my first lot .

Note: there are 4 items i could not do without

1. Olive Oil – I use Cobram Extra Virgin Olive Oil for everything except if I’m shallow frying when I prefer grape seed. I have my special NZ Extra Virgin Olive oil – mainly from my cousins Barry and Heather for Salads.

2. Salt – when I say season I mean a sprinkling of flaky sea salt and a good grinding of black pepper . I use NZ flaky sea salt from Marlborough . If I’m seasoning vegetables to be boiled i.e. potatoes then its fine to use iodised salt. By the way food needs seasoning!!!

3. Lemons – luckily we came up with big bowl from our lemon trees in Dunedin , but they are getting down.

4. Garlic – this is fresh garlic . It’s in season now and beautiful , Invest in a good Zyliss garlic crusher, you don’t need to peel the garlic, they are the best. I DON’T mean garlic out of a jar, this is nasty stuff and will give you bad breath plus destroy your cooking .

Two weekend days to look forward to . I hope you all have a plan and yet enjoy your surroundings .

XXx Jude