6-8 Lamb shanks
1 cup red wine
1 cup lamb or beef stock
1 cups chopped tomatoes
2 bay leaves
Pinch celery seeds
4 Tablespoons cornmeal
Handful dried mushrooms
1 onion chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
½ leek, chopped
2 cups mushrooms
Salt and pepper

In a Dutch oven sear you shanks.  Season them well before and ensure they are well browned on all sides.  It is also good to do this in two batches.  Remove the shanks and add ½ the wine to deglaze the pan.  Add your chopped vegetables and turn down the heat.  Stir in the bay leaves and celery seeds after 5 minutes.  Add remaining red wine and stir until evaporated.
Add the stock, dried mushrooms and tomatoes and stir in the cornmeal before returning the shanks.

Put the lid on and place in the oven for 2 &1/2 hours at 150C.  At this stage stir in the fresh mushrooms and check the seasoning.  Return to the oven for another hour.

A few months ago I bought some gorgeous buffalo milk Labneh at the Matakana Market.  Unfortunately it’s a long drive for me to get some more so I decided to try ,my hand at making some.  I bought this great strainer stand, intended for making jellies from The Scullery on Victoria St in Hamilton which was perfect for this simple cheese.

In fact it’s so simple I feel like a fraud telling you the recipe because you simply add 1/2 tspn salt (I use Himalayan rock salt) to 500g of thick natural yoghurt.  Stir well and tip into the strainer.  Allow to stand in a cool place for 24 hours with a jug to catch the whey.

Roll the now thick yoghurt/cheese into balls, roll in herbs (or I used Zaatar) and store in a jar of extra virgin olive oil.  For some extra flavour I added a sprig of rosemary and a garlic clove.  I’m so chuffed with this batch I intend to splash out and buy some buffalo yoghurt for my next batch.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of pumpkin
• ½ an onion finely diced
• ½ cup walnuts
• ½ cup mascarpone, crème friache or cream cheese
• Herbs (rosemary, thyme)
• 2 cloves garlic
• Olive oil
• Baby spinach
• Fetta
• Fettuccini or pasta of your choice

Method

Dice pumpkin into small cubes drizzle with olive oil herbs and salt and pepper. Roast until tender.
When the pumpkin is cooked bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook your pasta
While the pasta is cooking saute onion, garlic and walnuts in a little olive oil.  When onions are soft add on your mascarpone & baby spinach.  Mix through cooked pumpkin & feta and finally the cooked pasta with a little of the cooking water.
Serve immediately.

As I sit writing this a large pot of chicken bones are simmering away on my stove and I have oats soaking in natural yoghurt to make my Healthy Kitchen muesli.  Once a month I take a break from teaching, cooking, researching and writing to become a student.  I’m doing a year long course with Healthy Kitchen to learn more about traditional foods and great nutrition.

Deb from Healthy Kitchen has a lot of information to impart and some of it is quite challenging.  So having a class once a month gives us a chance to digest the info, read the notes and try some of the recipes before we are introduced to even more information at the next class.

Last Friday we were learning about the importance of controlling blood sugar levels and inflammation in the body.  The complexities of GI (Glysemic Index) and labelling were discussed.  Hopefully now with a better understanding of GI and GL (Glysemic Load) I can avoid the urge for a Nana nap or chocolate at 3 O’clock.

So a fabulous muesli recipe was first up so we start our days off well.  Next it was bone broths, stocks and how to make our own stock powders.

Deborah says bone broths should be a very regular thing in your diet and “heal the body from the inside out.”  Broths are high in minerals that reduce gut inflammation and strengthen the gut wall meaning you can absorb the nutrients from your food better.

Then a revelation for me, a pasta addict; fermented pasta using whey with the egg yolks and flour to make a fresh dough that is then left for 24 or 48 hours.  This beautiful silky dough is then rolled like regular fresh pasta.  We turned it into dumplings served in our beautiful broth for a delicious end to the class.
We also made beautiful macaroons and banana chocolate muffins.

As the studious student I am chicken broth is on the go and tomorrow it will be a beautiful beef broth from some beautiful organic beef bones I bought.  With winter settling in I am sure we won’t find it hard to add broths into our diet.

If you are interested in learning more about Healthy Kitchen’s classes including Deborah’s online school launching in June please go to www.healthykitchen.co.nz.

Infortunately we made a slight mistake in our Autumn 2012 edition of Nourish and forgot to add the amount of sugar in the ingredients for this beautiful recipe.  Sorry about that!  So here it as it should be, enjoy.

4 poached pears, cut in half
Ready-made flaky pastry ( I used Paneton which is available from good food stores like Dante’s Fine Foods and Trader Jack’s)
50g soft butter
1/4 cup sugar
½ cup ground almonds
1 tspn vanilla extract
2 egg yolks

To make the frangipane beat the butter and sugar together before adding the egg yolks and vanilla, then fold in the ground almonds.  Cut a rectangle of pastry out and lay this on a lined oven tray.  With a knife score a 1cm boarder around the pastry.  With a fork prick the area inside the border with a fork before spreading this with the frangipane mixture.  Place the pears face down on the frangipane and bake in a pre heated 180C oven for 20-25 minutes.

Poached Pears

Poaching pears is very easy and the results are an elegant dessert, perfect for autumn dining.  You can poach them in a simple sugar syrup flavoured with cinnamon, vanilla or star anise or you can add wine to the syrup to add another dimension.  Serve them warm with ice cream or cold with a little vanilla mascarpone.  Or create a wonderful tart with them.

Red wine poached Pears
4 Pears, peeled and cored ( I used Beurre Bosc)
2 cups red wine
Cinnamon quill
½ cup sugar
Peel of ½ a lemon

Heat all the ingredients in a medium put except the pears until the sugar has dissolved.  Add the pears, poaching them for around 10 minutes or until they are tender (this will depend on how ripe the pears were to begin with).  When cooked turn off the heat and allow the pears to cool in the poaching liquid.
Before serving the poached pears, remove them from the liquid and return this to the heat.  Reduce the liquid by half to create a wonderful sauce to pour over your dessert.

Elderflower Poached Pears
4 Pears, peeled and cored ( I used Beurre Bosc)
1 cup Elderflower cordial
1 cup water
Cinnamon quill
1/4 cup sugar
Peel of ½ a lemon

Follow the same instructions as above.

This recipe is from the very gorgeous book, Little and Friday, by Kim Evans.

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
125g unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup caster sugar
2 eggs
3 cups mashed banana
1 tsp baking soda
4 tbsp hot milk
1 cup walnuts

To assemble
½ cup Caramel
¼ cup mascarpone
1 recipe Cream Cheese Icing
chopped walnuts or banana chips, to decorate

Makes 12 small cakes or one 23cm double-layer cake

1. Preheat oven to 160ºC. Grease two 6-holeTexasmuffin trays or two 23cm cake tins and line the bottom and sides with baking paper cut to fit exactly.

2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.

3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter on a low speed until light and creamy.

4. Slowly add sugar and continue to beat on low speed until light in colour and fluffy.

5. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, and making sure to incorporate each egg before adding the next. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. With the mixer on low speed add the banana.

6. Dissolve baking soda in hot milk.

7. Fold flour mixture and milk into the banana mixture in three equal measures. Lastly, fold in walnuts.

8. Divide mixture evenly between prepared cake tins and bake for 20–25 minutes for small cakes or 45 minutes for large cakes, or until the tops spring back when touched lightly and

a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle.

9. Let cakes cool completely in tins before turning out.

10. If making small cakes, carefully cut them in half horizontally. To assemble the cakes, spread Caramel over bottom layer, then spread a thin layer of mascarpone over the top. Place second cake layer on top. Spread with a thick layer of Cream Cheese Icing. Drizzle with extra Caramel and decorate with walnuts or banana chips.

Kitchen Note

Place in an airtight container and store in a cool place (not the refrigerator) for up to three days. The banana flavour gets better with age at room temperature.

Caramel
 2 cups caster sugar
600ml cream

Makes 3 cups

1. Place sugar in a small saucepan and just cover with water to achieve a wet sand consistency.

2. Bring to the boil but do not stir. Using a wet pastry brush, clean down sides of saucepan to remove any stray sugar crystals.

3. Continue to boil until the sugar turns amber. At this point, quickly remove from heat.

4. In a small saucepan, heat cream to boiling point. Gradually add this to caramelised sugar, stirring constantly to achieve a smooth consistency. This may take a while but it will eventually combine.

Kitchen Notes
Timing is paramount with Caramel. Both the cream and the sugar need to be really hot when they are combined.

Cream Cheese Icing
Makes 3½ cups

125g unsalted butter, softened and cubed
500g cream cheese, cubed
1 cup icing sugar, sifted

1. Thoroughly cream butter in an electric mixer on high speed, continuously scraping down sides of bowl.

2. Soften cream cheese by squeezing through your fingers and add to butter. Continue beating on high until there are no lumps, scraping down sides of bowl frequently.

3. Turn mixer to slow speed and add sifted icing sugar. When icing sugar is fully integrated, turn up speed and beat until mixture is smooth. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Reproduced with permission from Treats from Little and Friday by Kim Evans.  Published by Penguin Group NZ. RRP $44.99. Copyright © Kim Evans, 2012.

In a speech to the East Otago Federation of Women’s Institutes, Professor Helen Leach, of the Archaeology Department of the University of Otago in New Zealand, stated that the first published use of the name Anzac in a recipe was in an advertisement in the 7th edition of St Andrew’s Cookery Book (Dunedin, 1915). This was a cake, not a biscuit, and there were no mixing instructions. A recipe for “Anzac Biscuits” appeared in the War Chest Cookery Book (Sydney, 1917) but was for a different biscuit altogether. The same publication included a prototype of today’s Anzac biscuit, called Rolled Oats Biscuits. The combination of the name Anzac and the recipe now associated with it first appeared in the 9th edition of St Andrew’s Cookery Book (Dunedin, 1921) under the name “Anzac Crispies”. Subsequent editions renamed this “Anzac Biscuits” and Australian cookery books followed suit. Professor Leach also said that further research might reveal earlier references to the name and recipe in Australia or New Zealand. (Source Wikapedia)

My ANZAC biscuits are made with lots of oats, coconut, butter and golden syrup but they aren’t the dry crispy type.  These were are favourite in the cafe and especially of my husbands.  To his delight the staff would often package up the broken or burnt ones for him, in fact I began to wonder if they were purposely breaking them for him

2 cups rolled oats
2 cups coconut
2 cups flour
1/2 cup rasins
3/4 cup of other dried fruit (apricots, canberries, figs..)
1/2 cups sliced almonds
1 cup brown sugar
285g butter
2/3 cup golden syrup
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 Tablespoons boiling water

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients together.  Melt the butter and golden syrup together untill just boiling. While the butter is melting dissolve the baking soda and water together.  Stir the dissolved baking soda into the hot butter and golden syrup mixture which should bubble up giving you the hokey pokey effect.  Mix this in with the dry ingredients.

Roll spoonfuls onto lined baking trays leaving plenty of room between each biscuit as they will spread.  Bake at 180C for 10-15 minutes (until golden).  Cool on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container.