Roast Vegetable Tarts

Hello everyone!

So I got creative yesterday and made these tarts up off the top of my head- they turned out really well so I decided I'd share the recipe. This makes six tarts.

Ingredients

• 1/2 a pumpkin (or if you haven't got any, you can use squash instead)
• 3 medium carrots
• 2 zucchini
• 1 eggplant
• 1 onion
• 20 or so broad beans
• 1 1/2 tbsp dried sage
• 2 sheets of puff pastry
• 2 tbsp cream cheese
• 1 tbsp sour cream
• 3 tbsp aioli*
• salt and pepper
• tsp crushed garlic
• tsp onion marmalade (optional)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190C
2. Chop up the vegetables into small chunks ready for roasting
3. Put in a roasting tray and toss with some oil and salt and pepper
4. Roast for 25-30mins, tossing once, until soft but not too soft. Add the sage once cooked
5. Defrost 2 sheets of puff pastry
6. Cut off one third of each sheet and join the two pieces together so you end up with three bits roughly the same size
7. Halve each piece so you have six pieces
8. Score a rectangle in the middle of each piece leaving about 1 1/2 cm border around the edge
9. In a bowl mix together the cream cheese, sour cream, aioli, garlic, onion marmalade and some pepper
10. Spread cheese mixture over the scored area of the pastry and top with roasted vegetables, staying within the border. You can pile the veggies quite high because the pastry rises quite a lot
11. Turn the oven up to 200C and cook for 12mins, until golden brown.
12. Serve with steamed veggies or have on its own for lunch

Yum!

*Aioli is garlic mayonnaise

The Folks Arrived and We Watched Rugby and Ate Lemon and Chocolate Cupcakes

Hello!

So my parents got here at about midnight on Friday and after eight months away it was great to see them! We spent most of Saturday just catching up and chilling out before heading to Auckland for the game. We went to the Cloakroom in Mt Eden village for food and drinks and to watch the France v Tonga game and had a fab time- there was a really good atmosphere and the game was awesome. Go Tonga!!

Then we walked over to Eden Park for the England v Scotland game. Our seats were right up in the gods but the view was still good and we were in and amongst a good crowd- lots of singing and joking and generally having a good time with fans from all different nations. I love Rugby fans :)

The game itself was a bit of a let down tbh, and I felt for Scotland when they didn't win (and don't think England deserved it) but both teams could have played a hell of a lot better. We still had a brilliant time though and my parents were over the moon to be there.

On Sunday we drove down to Hamilton for the Wales v Fiji game which was AMAZING! My dad is welsh and he had on his official supporters shirt and was wearing it with pride. Our seats were fantastic, we were in the front row, just behind the posts and so close to the action. I think Wales are looking really, really good- they have Ireland in the quarter finals and if they make it through I think they have a real chance of going all the way.

Yesterday we went into Auckland to Queen's Wharf and the Cloud to try some of the amazing NZ food and wine they have on offer there (which was yummy!) and to do a bit of site seeing. Today the folks have headed up to the Bay of Islands for a few days whilst I stay here and work but on Friday we're off on the next leg.

In celebration of their coming, I made these cupcakes on Friday and they were rather scrummy-

Lemon and Chocolate Cupcakes

For the Cupcakes

• 225g self-raising flour
• 175g caster sugar
• zest 2 lemons
• 3 eggs
• 100g natural yogurt
• 175g butter, melted and cooled

1. Heat oven to 180C and line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake or muffin cases.
2. Mix the flour, sugar and lemon zest together in a large bowl.
3. Beat the eggs into the yogurt, then add to the dry ingredients with the melted butter.
4. Mix together then divide between the cake cases
5. Bake for 20-22 mins until a skewer poked in comes out clean

For the Icing

• 100g butter, softened
• 200g sifted icing sugar
• juice of 1 lemon
• 3 drops yellow food colouring
• 4 tbsp grated dark chocolate

1. Beat the butter until smooth
2. Gradually mix in the icing sugar
3. Add the lemon juice, food colouring and 2 tbsp of the chocolate
4. Ice the cupcakes (when cooled) and sprinkle the remaining chocolate over the top

These cupcakes were really soft and spongey and stayed that way for a few days afterwards.

Hope you enjoy!

Helen xx

I'm on count down!

Only two and a bit more days to go!

My parents are flying over from the UK to spend just under two weeks over here in New Zealand. They arrive earlier Saturday morning, then we're off to see England v Scotland that night at Eden Park. Then Sunday we're going to the Wales v Fiji game in Hamilton- then I expect they will want to sleep for most of the next day because they are going to be exhausted!

Next week they will be heading up to the Bay of Islands whilst I stay here and work, but on Friday the school holiday starts and I'm FREE!! We're driving down to Wellington via Taupo for the Quarter Final in Wellington on Sunday, then coming back up to Auckland via Nelson and Rotorua. They fly back home again on the Thursday and on the Friday I'm going on a roadtrip around the East Cape of the North Island. Hopefully the weather is nice :)

I am soooo much in need of a holiday right now, it's not even funny. But not long to go now, yay!

Helen x

Salmon and Spinach Stir Fry

Morning!

The vegetable garden is overflowing with spinach at the moment so I've had to use it quite a lot recently, and this is what I decided to make last night. The family were very enthusiastic about it, so here is the recipe for you guys-

Ingredients

• 400-500g salmon fillet, skinned and pin-boned
• 1 courgette
• 4-5 sticks of celery
• 15-20 green beans
• 1 onion
• 150g brocolli
• bunch of spinach, rinsed and chopped(As I use fresh I just cut about 25 leaves(?))
• Udon noodles (or whichever noodles you prefer)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 tsp garlic
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp mirin (japanese rice wine)

1. Marinate the salmon in the mirin, sesame oil and soy sauce in a oven ready dish (don't worry if you don't have time for this, you cook it in the sauce and add it to the stir fry anyway so it isn't essential)
2. Chop up the vegetables into thin strips, ready for frying
3. Heat oven to 180C and cook salmon for 15 mins
4. Whilst salmon is cooking heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok, add the onions and celery and garlic
5. Add the beans, courgette and brocolli
6. Add the spinach and stir and cover until wilted
7. Stir in the udon noodles (or cooked noodles if using a different type)
8. Take salmon from the oven and flake into pieces with a fork
9. Add to the wok and stir so sauce covers everything
10. Serve with extra soy sauce and sweet chilli if you like :)

Hope you enjoy!

Helen x

Random ramble

No posts over the weekend this time- I couldn't get within ten feet of the laptop. Not bringing mine with me was a mistake, I think, though it does weigh a ton and probably wouldn't have survived the journey over here. I just miss being able to email and go on facebook or read JAFF whenever I want to, rather than only when no-one else is around. Oh well, nevermind.

Went to the park this weekend with Pipi (two year old chocolate labrador) and the neighbours dog Libby (four year old black lab) on Saturday with the girls- the weather was amazing and it was nice chilling out in the sunshine whilst Pipi and Libby had a run around. Then we watched the All Blacks beat France in the RWC, though our viewing was interrupted when the cat, Molly, caught a baby rabbit and brought it in the house! I managed to save it, though, and safely put it back in the garden before going back to the game :)

I was disappointed last night when Scotland lost, and I have to admit I found it pretty annoying when the person I was watching it with decided to support Argentina just because she knew I wanted Scotland to win. Argh, that is a total pet hate of mine. I never do it, and I would never purposely support the team playing against the All Blacks just to annoy any nearby Kiwis. It's just mean.

Had to be up at 5.30am this morning to take the girls to school so I'm pretty tired, though it looks like it is going to be another beautiful day. My parents are coming on Friday/Saturday- will be strange to see them here, I think. Hopefully we manage to have a good time whilst they're here, though to be honest I'm not holding my breath.

And that is a very long story so I think I'll leave off here.

Helen x

Coconut Crusted Lime Chicken

Another recipe for you today. I have a little book where I write down recipes I want to use again and I'm slowly sharing them with you guys.

Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

• Zest and juice of 2 limes
• 2 tsp garam masala or curry powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 50g dessicated coconut
• 10 chicken drumsticks

1. Heat oven to 200C
2. Score the skin of the chicken
3. Mix all the ingredients together and coat the chicken
4. Cook on a rack above a baking tray for 30mins (maybe longer, depends on your oven etc)

I served this with potato wedges and curried cabbage which uses up any left over spice mix from the chicken. Simply chop up about half a cabbage, cook it in chicken stock, drain, add a little cream and the spice mix and serve.

Helen x

Wielding an Axe is Strangely Therapeutic

No, I'm not an axe-murderer- just thought I'd cover that before anyone gets the wrong idea...

We have a wood burning stove to heat the house and I have to chop kindling. Today, though, for some reason I decided that I would have a go at properly chopping wood; turns out I'm pretty good at it. And hell is it fun! Swinging the axe over my shoulder, smacking into big blocks of wood, spliting them in half with one hit- amazing! Oddly satisfying too. And very good stress relief. I shall remember that little fact in future whenever I feel like I'm about to lose my cool.

Here's hoping I don't accidently chop my foot off or something equally annoying!

My Talented Friends

Morning!

Some shameless, if not self-promotion, friend promotion from me today.

My friend Adam is the bass player in a four piece band from Coventry called Arabella. The band got together whilst at university, and Adam now works in the Music department there so that's where they still record and produce all their music.

Their band website is- http://www.arabellamusic.co.uk/

Their Myspace page is- www.myspace.com/arabellamusicuk

And this is the video for their song, No Easy Way, produced and directed by another friend, Paul Rook, who did film at Lincoln university.

See what I mean about friend-promotion? :P

Slow Cooked Beef Stroganoff

I absolutely hate cooked mushrooms, with a passion. I cannot eat them without feeling ill so this meal is always interesting for me, but the family love it so I've got the recipe for you guys. This makes enough for about 5 people.

Ingredients

• 4 Beef schnitzels
• 300g mushrooms
• 1 large onion
• 4-5 large gherkins
• 2 handfuls of peas
• 1 1/2 cups beef stock
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 tbsp mustard
• sour cream/plain yogurt

1. Cut the beef into strips and season with pepper
2. Chop up the onion, mushrooms and gherkin and put into the slow cooker with the beef
3. Mix together the wine, stock and flour and add to the slow cook and stir all together
4. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4
5. When cooked, stir in the mustard and add in about 3 large dollops (sorry, not very precise!) of either sour cream or yogurt
6. Season with salt and pepper and serve with pasta or rice

Hope you enjoy!

xx

Jane Austen Marathon

Morning all!

I've just finished reading the complete works of Jane Austen- back to front. As in I started with her last publish book and finished with her first. No idea why I did it that way, I just felt like it.

I've read Pride and Prejudice about 10 times since I first picked it up as a teenager, but the other books I'd only read the once so I really enjoyed going back to them. I was surprised by how easy to read they are- I remember finding them much more difficult when I was 13/14, whereas this time around I was breezing through them in 1-3 days.

My favourite is still Persuasion, there is just something about Anne Elliot that I love and Frederick Wentworth is I think my favourite JA hero. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Northhanger Abbey though- I think I was too young to appreciate all the humour in it the first time round! Henry Tilney has hopped a few places up my list of JA heroes :)

My least favourite was probably Sense and Sensibility, if only because I cannot stand Edward and Elinor's commitment to him really irritates me- but that's just my opinion.

I'm reading Jane Eyre again now, and the contrast between Bronte and Austen is rather marked- there is really just something about JA that I love. She has such a light touch :)

xx