By the time Christmas rolls around, everyone is itching to hang up their aprons and get out of town to make the most of the summer holidays.
There is that magical week nestled between Christmas and New Year when you feel you don't have to be anywhere in particular and can just chill out, soaking up all that sunshine.
Food, at this time of year, should be just as relaxed and uncomplicated and a good bruschetta certainly has its charms.
Crusty bread, drizzled with olive oil and toasted, rubbed with garlic and piled high with buffalo mozzarella, broad beans and herb oil.
So simple, yet utterly delicious! Summer, of course, inevitably means barbecues get a bit of a workout at some point.
Sidestep the burnt bangers with an offering of lamb and beetroot sliders with garlic, mint and yoghurt.
Strawberries, warm from a roadside stall, are about as good as life gets.
If any survive the trip home, put them to good use on top of a couple of tartlets filled with vanilla bean mascarpone and gently dust with icing sugar.
Happy holidays!
Bruschetta of buffalo mozzarella,broad beans and herb oil
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 cups broad beans
½ tsp sea salt
1 cup Italian parsley, picked
1 cup mint, picked
2 large slices of rustic bread, preferably at least 1 day old, thickly sliced
80ml extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 cup baby rocket
120g ball fresh buffalo mozzarella, drained and sliced into 6 pieces
Method
Preheat oven to 200degC. Bring a small pot of water to the boil and blanch broad beans for 30 seconds before draining and refreshing in cold water. Drain and reserve for later use. Place salt in a mortar with parsley and mint and grind to a paste. Add 1 clove of garlic and grind it into the herbs before adding 60ml of extra virgin olive oil and muddle with the pestle until oil and herbs are combined. Place to one side until ready to use.
Place bread on a baking tray, drizzle with remaining olive oil and toast in the oven until lightly coloured around the edges. Remove from oven and rub well with remaining clove of garlic. Place toast on a plate, top with rocket, mozzarella and broad beans and generously spoon over the herb oil. Serve immediately.
Lamb and beetroot sliders with garlic mint and yoghurt
Serves 8 (2 sliders each)
Ingredients
40g unsalted butter
120ml olive oil
2 brown onions, finely chopped
7 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ tsp dried mild chilli flakes
½ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp nutmeg, optional
700g lamb mince
4-5 small beetroot, grated
2 tsp sea salt
1½ tsp ground black pepper
100ml cream
2 large free-range eggs, beaten
1 cup dried breadcrumbs
80g grated Parmesan
1 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 cup mint, finely chopped
400g natural unsweetened yoghurt
sea salt and pepper
slider buns (see recipe)
200g quality mayonnaise
1 red onion finely sliced
salad greens, optional
chipotle sauce, optional
Method
Heat butter and 30ml of olive oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Add onion and 5 cloves of the crushed garlic and cook without colour for 10 minutes or until soft. Add spices and cook for a further minute before removing from heat and transferring into a large bowl.
Allow to cool completely before adding mince, grated beetroot, salt, pepper, cream, eggs, breadcrumbs, 50g Parmesan, parsley and half of the mint. Mix well together and form into golfball-sized meat patties. Place patties on a tray lined with baking paper and refrigerate for at least two hours to allow them to firm up. Mix the last of the crushed garlic and mint into the yoghurt until combined. Season yoghurt to taste with a little salt and pepper and reserve for later use.
Cook the lamb patties on a medium-hot flat BBQ grill plate in remaining olive oil until nicely coloured on both sides and just cooked. Remove patties from heat, place to one side and keep warm. Split slider buns in half horizontally and toast either on the BBQ plate or in a hot oven to warm them up. Spread a little mayonnaise on each half of the buns. Place salad greens and red onions on the bottom of each bun. Top with a lamb patty, a spoon of minted yoghurt and a squirt of chipotle sauce if using. Place the slider bun lids on top and serve immediately.
Definitely worth the effort!
The best slider buns
Ingredients
800gm plain pastry flour
550ml lukewarm water
10gm dried yeast
10gm salt
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 Tbsp dried rosemary 100ml olive oil
Method
Place flour, water, yeast, salt, garlic, rosemary and 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a mixer. Mix on low speed for 25 minutes using a dough hook. Turn mixer on to high speed for 30 to 60 seconds, being careful not to overload the machine. Hold on to the mixer as you do this, as it will probably jump around a bit. Turn down the power when you sense the machine straining. Turn out the dough into a large mixing bowl, greased with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot for 1 hours or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 230degC. Tip the proved dough on to a bench and divide into 80g pieces. Roll dough into balls and place on a tray lined with baking paper. Brush with a little olive oil and place in a warm place to prove for a further 15 to 20 minutes. Place bread in oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush with remaining olive oil.
Best eaten on the same day but buns can be revived the day after or from the freezer if need be by splashing with a little water and placing in a hot oven for 5 to 6 minutes .
Strawberry tartlets with vanilla bean mascarpone
Makes 12 tartlets
Ingredients
12 10cm blind-baked sweet pastry cases (see below)
1 recipe vanilla bean mascarpone (see below)
4 punnets fresh strawberries, hulledicing sugar to dust
Sweet short crust pastry cases
Sweet short crust pastry cases
Makes 12 10cm tart cases
175g unsalted butter, room temperature
75g icing sugar
2 free-range egg yolks
250g plain flour
1 Tbsp cold water
Vanilla bean mascarpone
500g mascarpone
zest of 1 lemon
4 Tbsp icing sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
500ml cream, lightly whipped
Method
Sweet short crust pastry cases
Mix all ingredients together until well combined. Knead lightly, roll into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or overnight. Preheat oven to 180degC.
Unwrap pastry, slice thinly and press into 12 10cm fluted tart tins with removable bases. Ensure pastry is evenly and thinly spread, about 2mm thick. Remove excess pastry from around edges. Refrigerate pastry cases for 10 minutes before lining with a sheet of baking paper. Fill with baking beans and blind bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool before removing paper and beans. Remove tart cases from tins when ready to use
Tip: Scrunch up, then unscrunch baking paper before placing over tart cases, to make lining the pastry bases easier.
Vanilla bean mascarpone
Place mascarpone, lemon zest, icing sugar and vanilla bean seeds into a bowl and mix together with a wooden spoon. Fold in lightly whipped cream until just combined.
Dip a dessertspoon into hot water and place 2 spoonfuls of vanilla mascarpone into each pastry tartlet case. Slice strawberries in half lengthways then arrange around the edge of the tartlets, before filling the middle, cut side facing outwards. Lightly dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.
• Bevan and Monique Smith own Riverstone Kitchen, supreme winner of the Cuisine NZ Restaurant of the Year 2010 and first-equal best casual dining (regional) in 2011.
He is also author of Riverstone Kitchen: recipe's from a chef's garden and Riverstone Kitchen Simple.
Situated on SH1 in North Otago, just south of the Waitaki bridge, they are open Thursday-Monday, 9am-5pm, and also from 6pm Thursday to Sunday, but closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
