Cheese, Zucchini & Pinenut Scones

Last weekend I decided that it was time to tackle the overgrown grass surrounding my veggie plot (which I think has some tomatoes growing in it) but upon getting the grass strimmer out of the shed I discovered I had no cord left- time for the Sunday afternoon dash to the DIY store.

On my way back home I got lost. Honestly it wasn’t on purpose to get out of the grass cutting I was genuinely lost in Mt Roskhill or somewhere. After about 20mins of going around in manic circles I found myself on familiar territory, albeit not where I had been heading to begin with but I could work with it.

Hot, bothered and slightly irritable I turned the car towards home and spied something which always lightens my heart-a café I hadn’t visited before. The car promptly got dumped and in I limped in for a much needed flat white and a scone. I was so frazzled I forgot to take pictures and I can’t even remember what the café was called. It did however have some divine scones-cheese, zucchini and pinenut.

So after some grass mowing and strimming I relaxed in the kitchen by attempting to recreate the scones from the café.

So tell me, do you grow your own vegetables and do you think they are worth the hassle?

Cheese, Zucchini and Pinenut Scones

Ingredients

This recipe is for approx. 9-12 scones depending on size of cutter.

·         3 cups plain flour

·         1 ½ Tbsp. baking powder

·         ¼ Tsp. salt

·         50g butter

·         2 small zucchini, grated

·         2 Tbsp. pinenuts, toasted

·         50g cheese, grated

1.   Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2.   Grate the zucchini and squeeze to remove excess water. Set aside.

3.   Toast the pinenuts in the oven for about 5mins. Keeping a close eye so that they don’t burn. Set aside to cool.

4.   Add the flour, baking powder and salt to a food processor and pulse to combine, or you can do this by hand with a big bowl and a wooden spoon.

5.   Add the butter, roughly cut into cubes, and process until you get fine breadcrumbs. If doing this by hand-rub the butter in until you have a consistency of fine breadcrumbs.

6.   Add the drained zucchini, cooled pinenuts and half of the grated cheese.

Pulse the food processor to combine.

7.   Tip the contents of the food processor into a large bowl and create a well in the centre. Add the milk.

8.   Mix in the milk using a cutting action, which will create large lumps of scone mixture as it comes together.

9.   Use your hands to gently gather the dough together and knead to create a smooth ball. DO NOT OVERWORK THE DOUGH.

10. The dough should be soft but not sticky. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to about ½ inch thickness. Cut out shapes.

11. Place on a greased baking tray and brush the tops with a little egg wash (equal parts egg and milk whisked together) and top with the remaining cheese.

12.  Bake for about 20mins.

Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

Everyone agrees that Clevedon is full of Poms. I’ve heard conflicting information as to why. Some suggest it’s the wetter than average Auckland climate reminding them of home, others that it has something to do with horses and hunting, although there aren’t any foxes in New Zealand so who knows what they are hunting.

One thing is for sure, I love Clevedon and I too am a pom!

The wet climate and huge hills put me off moving there but I do like to go of a weekend, buy some veggies at the Farmers market then swank around in the village coffee in hand.

Now I think about it this practice probably makes me closer to being a Jafa than a pom but either way we had a lovely day out in Clevedon last Sunday.

The market is just outside the village and wonderfully chilled out with music playing in the background as people browse for vegetables, chilli sauce, fresh pasta and of course the famous buffalo mozzarella.

After stocking up on the vegetables for the week we headed straight to the brownie stand. I make a pretty mean brownie and Mr K often says I only buy other peoples brownies to say they are not as good as mine. NOT TRUE! I do buy other peoples brownies but its research, I want the ultimate brownie and if someone has a better brownie I want to know about it. I’ve so far found two which are better than or at least as good as mine-Auckland Domestic Airport and Clevedon market. The range at Clevedon is fantastic and the value of 4 for $10 unbeatable.

After stocking up with the brownies we head into the village to grab a coffee and enjoy our spoils.

So tell me, what is your signature dish and do you try others just to make sure yours is still better?

Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

(or if you want ones just as good J head to Clevedon Market)

Ingredients

Makes about 20, depending on how big you cut them

·         200g Dark Chocolate (I use Whittaker’s 62% Dark Cacao)

·         200g unsalted butter

·         5 eggs

·         2 cups of caster sugar

·         1 tsp. vanilla extract

·         1 1/3 cups plain flour

·         1 tsp. baking powder

·         ½ cup cocoa powder

·         ½ cup raspberry jam

·          

1.   Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl. I use the microwave for this. I just do it one minute at a time and it usually takes three minutes but you need to keep a careful eye on it or you’ll ruin it. Otherwise you can do this in a bowl over simmering water (about 15mins). Once melted set aside to cool slightly.

2.   Gently whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla in another bowl. Don’t put too much air in this.

3.   Thoroughly mix the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.

4.   Sieve (a must here because of the cocoa) the flour, baking powder and cocoa on top then gently fold this in. Don’t over work it but make sure there are no lumps of flour remaining.

5.   Pour this into a tin, which is already lined and greased (or I use a silicone tray to save all this hassle). 24 x 24cm.

6.   Dollop the raspberry jam over the top. Swirl the jam through the mixture with a wooden skewer.

7.   Bake in the oven for about 35mins at 160°C. The top should have formed a crust and an inserted skewer comes out with some moist crumbs still attached.

8.   Let the cake cool in the tin (very important or else you end up with half the cake still in the tin).

9.   Now just slice and serve with fresh berries and yoghurt.

It keeps for a few days and actually seems to get better with age!

You could make this orange chocolate cake by changing the raspberry jam for marmalade.

Taro Milk Tea @J's Tea

 

I  first discovered the joy of Pearl Milk Tea in Brunei when doing a crazy walk across town to a market in tropical Borneo jungle heat. Mr K. and I stumbled under an awing for some shade and ended up sucking giant starchy pearls up an over sized straw. It was heaven.

Since then I have obsessed over it and a few months back we discovered J's Tea in Dominion road.
It's a good stop on our weekend Urban hikes and is seriously refreshing.
Although it is so busy that twice we have had to give up on trying to get a seat and get take out.

After a few visits I noticed that quite a few of the customers were drinking a purple milky drink which I was sure was the Taro Milk Tea so next time I ordered the Taro Milk Tea with Pearls and it was divine. Since then Mr K. has had this every time.

Usually once I have discovered something new and yummy I set about finding a recipe and making my own version. I had already acquired the starchy balls that make the pearls months ago when I was concentrating on making my own pearl milk tea so now I have to find out how to make the taro flavour.

A few streets from where we live there is a predominately Pacific Islander neighbourhood where the gardens are planted with taro. Mr. K. has become fascinated with taro now so mentioned to a friend at work that he'd like to grow some in the garden. The friend promptly dug up her garden and provided him with a dozen plants which I sowed in the veggie plot at the weekend.

Not sure whether these will ever make it to the Pearl Milk Tea but with J's within walking distance it won't matter.

Waitangi Day Coffee

With today being a public holiday I was faced with a problem-the public holiday surcharge!
As far as I am concerned there is no price you can put on a good coffee and cake but Mr. K hates it and has started to refuse to go to any place with public holiday surcharges.
So today I was faced with the dilemma of either going to the Hardware cafe our regular haunt in Titrangi which I knew didn't have a surcharge or take a chance on a new place. Mr. K. can be a reluctant cafe dweller at times since he thinks if he does it too often he will turn into a Jafa but holiday's are an exception. Holiday's make cafe going okay in Mr. K's eyes so I took the opportunity of the long weekend to drag Mr. K to Onehunga in search of a new cafe.

The first cafe on my list was closed for the holiday so we headed up Onehunga Mall in search of an alternative. We past a few good options but headed right to the top of the hill to Brick by Brick.

It was serving Allpress coffee which is always a good start and seemed clean and friendly. The cake selection wasn't huge but I had a blueberry muffin and Mr. K. had an almond croissant with our flat whites.
Unfortunately the coffee was awful. Usually Allpress is consistently good but this was too string and burnt. Turns out a bad barista can ruin even an Allpress. The muffin was good but nothing has touched the blueberry muffin from Napier.
Mr. K complained that the croissant had been over blasted in the microwave.
What a shame but it was a cute place, which seemed to have a Japanese twist. There were lovely looking stuffed tofu pockets and home-made Teriyaki sauce for sale. Next time I'll skip the coffee and go for something else I think.