I too thought about keeping Treehouse a secret — to selfishly protect table availability and my ability to surprise and delight guests I invite out for dinner — but it’s my job to share good things with good people who like to ensure their ever-decreasing dining-out-dollars are well spent.
Executive chef Al Wilson and head chef Ricardo Le Roux make a creative team in the Treehouse kitchen, building a menu that made me say "that’s what I’ve been looking for" on my first read earlier this year. They combine high-quality, carefully sourced ingredients in approachable style to deliver refined, textural dishes without the formality and high prices associated with this calibre of cooking. Silky Otago coastline paua dumplings for $20. Crispy venison and pork belly croquettes for $19. Kingfish, which I love to see on a menu, is here, served as a generous ceviche with nori crackers for $24. Daily specials, including a bruschetta where the chefs have fun with ever-changing toppings, keep things fresh and interesting for the regular clientele.
Sommelier Oscar Goy is also having fun with the drinks menu, which encourages people to pop in for a cocktail or a very decent glass of wine — also at fair prices — from his old-world and new-world contacts with lots of different varieties and styles. Put yourself in Oscar’s hands for the perfect drop to suit the occasion. Trust the chef on the menu, which comes at a friendly $49 per person, and go for the $30 wine pairing to try a selection.
Next time you are in Wānaka, seek out this hidden wine bar in Anderson Heights and revel in the fact that you are part of the club. At home be inspired by the Treehouse chefs and elevate everyday ingredients by thinking about the texture of your dishes. Simply adding a layer of crunch will take your meals up a notch — especially in winter when dishes tend to be softer stews and braises.
Kumara chips
I make kumara and kale chips for healthier snacks and garnishes, so while in crunch mode I thought I would remind you of how easy they are to make. Perking up winter food as much as the people eating them, they store well in airtight containers.
1. Cut skinny red kumara into thin slices, using a good sharp knife, a mandolin or a potato peeler.
2. Rub each slice with olive oil and lay on a baking paper lined oven trays, ensuring slices are not overlapping.
3. Bake in a 120°C fanbake oven for about 45 minutes until crisp.
4. Sprinkle with salt flakes once cooked and leave to cool completely.
Orange cake
This is chef Ricardo’s grandmother’s recipe and is one of the first cakes he remembers eating, referring to it simply as orange cake. It’s a rich, moist cake that’s a cinch to make. Ricardo was playing around in the Treehouse kitchen and wondered what would happen if he spread the batter thin on a baking tray to create more of a cookie for the top of a chocolate pudding et voila almond, coconut orange crisps. The recipe has been a hit in my home – as a cake, sprinkled with icing sugar to serve with coffee and as ‘crisps’ with ice cream as an easy, yet impressive dessert. They’re also great for scooping up chocolate mousse — that chocolate/orange thing.
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
150g butter
3 eggs
200g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
135g almond meal
55g desiccated coconut
Zest of 1 orange
Method
1. Heat oven to 160°C fanbake and grease and line a 20cm cake tin
2. Melt the butter and set aside to cool slightly.
3. Add the cooled butter to the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract and beat until creamy.
4. Stir in the almond meal, coconut and orange zest.
5. Spoon into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40 minutes. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, before turning out on to a cake rack to cool completely before slicing.
To make cookies: Spread the mixture at least ½ cm thick on to 2 baking paper lined oven trays and bake 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Snap into shards to serve with ice cream or other soft desserts.
Kale chips
Makes 80g
1. Heat oven to 160°C fanbake.
2. Pull kale leaves from the stalks of 150g kale and tear into pieces. Wash and dry thoroughly.
3. Place on a baking-paper-lined oven tray. Rub with olive oil and toss through salt flakes.
4. Bake for 7 minutes until crispy. They will brown slightly around the edges but ensure they don’t brown too much.
5. Cool before eating. They are best eaten on the day of making but will stay crispy for a day or two in an airtight container.
Curry tuiles
A dish of Remarkable mushrooms from the autumn menu perfectly showcased the chefs’ skill in creating textural plates of food. Ricardo, who has moved to Wānaka from Auckland where "it is always green and raining" was enjoying the changing colours of autumn and was inspired to put these colours into a dish — the browns of the mushrooms, red romesco sauce, orange pumpkin puree and a creamy cashew cheese. To top off the mix of soft, silky, chewy textures, crispy curry tuiles mimicked falling leaves and added crunch and another layer of flavour.
I have adapted this recipe from Ricardo’s to make a very savoury tuile that I find no end of uses for. They bring the missing crunch factor to vegetable and salad dishes and are nice to snack on as they are. Spread them wafer thin on to the baking trays for snappy garnishes, or spread them a bit thicker, making them cracker-like to serve with cheese. They keep well in an airtight container.
Serves 10-20 as a garnish
Ingredients
1 egg white
50g butter, melted and cooled
50g flour
1 Tbsp icing sugar
½ tsp curry powder
½ tsp garam masala
½ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt
Method
1. Whisk egg white until foamy then whisk in butter, followed by flour, icing sugar, curry, garam masala, ground turmeric and salt. Let stand for 30 minutes.
2. Heat oven to 160°C fanbake. Spread mixture very, very thinly on to baking paper lined oven trays and bake for 7 minutes or until dry and crispy.
3. Cool and break into shards to serve.
