The Weta Cave and Cafe Polo, Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand

Precioussss...... my precioussssIt's hard to think about New Zealand without remembering the dramatic scenery from The Lord of the Rings. And whilst downtown Wellington is perfectly compact and flat for the tourist on foot, you will need wheels to take in the more dramatic ocean views and ascend the steep hills around the city.The Plate-mobileEnter the Plate-mobile. After completing the

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Estonian Eurovision Party

Image
Yes. I've got a whopping three email requests during the last week from people across the world who have accepted a task to provide some Estonian food for the Eurovision party this weekend. Instead of writing individual responses to all three of them, I've decided to suggest some dishes in a blog post. So here's a selection of Estonian appetizers and fingerfood that would be easy to recreate elsewhere in the world, as well as couple of salads. Devilled eggs, Estonian style : Small ham rolls with garlicky cheese filling (finely grated cheese, crushed garlic, some mayonnaise to bind). You could cut them diagonally into half, if you wish: Pork liver paté canapés (form shop-bought pork paté into small balls and then roll them in grated cheese): Estonian soda bread : Oven-baked chips with caraway : Estonian oatcakes : You could always make a large bowl of potato salad (sorry, I haven't blogged about it, but it's not so different from what's known as "Russian ...
Read more

Meatless Monday: Chickpea and Tomato Soup with Pimentón

Image
I needed to look up some Portuguese recipes for a friend last weekend and obviously I turned to the very helpful Leite's Culinaria website. I did find the recipes I was looking for, plus a lot more. One of them was this simple, yet delicious soup recipe, originally from Tamasin Day-Lewis's book "Supper for a Song: Creative Comfort Food for the Resourceful Cook" . I've adapted the recipe a little to suit our tastes, and we'll be definitely making this again. Puréeing some of the chickpeas/garbanzos to thicken the soup was a neat idea, and you can add more or less pimentón (aka smoked paprika) depending on the freshness and strength of your paprika powder. While it's filling, it's also gluten-free and vegan, so perfect recipe for a Meatless Monday . Chickpea and Tomato Soup with Smoked Paprika ( Kikerherne-tomatisupp, kergelt suitsune ) Serves four 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 red onion, finely chopped 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 celery sticks,...
Read more

Saffron Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Image
Another cake I made for my dear K's mother's birthday party last weekend * was this saffron carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. A recipe is from the Swedish Arla site ( Saffran- och morotskaka ) and although I was a bit heavy-handed with saffron (we've got loads at home, and it's not easy to measure out half a gram when our scales only recognise 2 g increments!), the cake was a success. Moist and bright-coloured, with a wee bit tangy frosting. * We only attended the Saturday party and were surprised to find out that the most famous Estonian composer - probably the only Estonian composer most of you have ever heard of (who also happens to be a classmate of K's mum) - made a surprise appearance at the party on Sunday. If we had only known that before, I would have turned up on Sunday as well :) Anybody wants to guess who was eating my cakes? The hint I'm giving you is that K's mum turned 72. Saffron Carrot Cake ( Safrani-porgandikook toorjuustuglasuur...
Read more