Most recently she has created photographs for her own cookbook, Kai: Food Stories & Recipes from my Family Table, which showcases her love of food and family.
The winner of the Pink Lady International Food Photographer of the Year Award in 2021 and the New Zealand Food Photographer of the Year in 2022 loves her job as a commercial food stylist, photographer and recipe developer as well as being a mum of three children.
"No two days are the same and I work with a good amount of creative intuition, creating detail-rich photographs with an etheral sense of mood and depth that captivates the senses," Lowe said.
She considers her life of "kai" to be "heart-based".
"Kai has always been an integral part of my life and heart, and creating this book is just an extension of this."
Lowe, who started out in interior architecture and ran a flax business, hopes that through the book food becomes more than just sustenance, also becoming an experience.
"A flavour memory for another day, or a food story to reminisce about. A reason to gather, to give, to support and to awhi. A life of kai."
They were written during the lockdown of 2020, although the book had been in the making for 20 or so years. Inspired by the struggles raised by the pandemic around food scarcity and waste, panic buying and the shortage of overseas products, many became more creative with their meals, more frugal and figured out ways to improvise.
"This, of course, was how many of our grandparents lived with they were young, and I had a renewed sense of appreciation not just for the ways of old, but for the values that they instilled in us, simply by their doing."
She recommends having a full pantry as it means having as little food waste as possible, using what she has on hand and being able to improvise with what is in season and available.
Lowe has divided her book into sections based on the pantry, bread, breakfasts, huawhenua (vegetables) and kaimoana, mains, cold desserts and warm puddings and baking and sweet treats.
The book
Images and text from Kai: Food Stories & Recipes from my Family Table by Christall Lowe. Bateman Books, RRP $59.99.
Roast pumpkin & couscous salad
This beautiful bowl of goodness is the perfect side dish, or it can be a lunch in itself. Full of sweet, buttery roasted pumpkin, complemented with fresh mint, zesty lemon and salty feta, with a good boost of protein, it’s moreish and sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
Serves 4 as a side
Ingredients
800g pumpkin, peeled and diced into approx. 2cm cubes
2 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
200g pearl couscous
1 can (400g) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
½ cup chopped mint, plus extra leaves to garnish
2 cups mesclun salad leaves
100g feta cheese, crumbled
zest and juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper
Method
Heat oven to 180degC.
Place the diced pumpkin on a baking tray with sides or a roasting dish.
Drizzle with the olive oil, and cook for 25-30 minutes, turning once or twice during cooking.
While the pumpkin is roasting, cook the couscous according to the packet instructions. Once cooked, transfer to a serving dish.
When the pumpkin is cooked, add all of the remaining ingredients to the salad dish, season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine.
Serve topped with extra mint and a drizzle of olive oil.
Horopito roast lamb with orange & mint sauce
To me, a roast lamb is the epitome of a family roast dinner. Sunday dinners at my parents’ and grandparents’ meant the aroma of a roast lamb or hogget, which always came with rich gravy made from the pan drippings.
There was nothing quite like the succulent, tasty roast vegetables that were cooked in with the lamb, either. Heaven forbid if there was ever a pale roast potato! Here I’ve created a very simple orange and mint sauce to accompany the lamb, and the flavour is out of this world. It’s the perfect accompaniment, and so incredibly easy to make using homemade or store-bought marmalade.
Serves 8
Ingredients
2kg leg of lamb
1 bulb garlic, plus 4 cloves
1 tsp dried horopito, or 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
zest of 1 orange
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
Vegetables, to roast with the lamb
For the orange and mint sauce
½cup orange marmalade
2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
½ tsp cracked black pepper
water to thin, if necessary
Method
Remove the lamb from the fridge one hour before cooking, to allow it to come up to room temperature.
Heat the oven to 180degC.
Slice the whole bulb of garlic in half, crossways, and peel the other 4 cloves. Roughly chop half of the rosemary leaves, if using.
Crush the peeled garlic, and place in a bowl with the dried horopito or chopped rosemary, orange zest and olive oil, then mix together.
Season the lamb with sea salt and pepper, then rub the marinade all over the meat.
Place lamb in a large roasting pan along with the halved garlic bulbs, and any prepared vegetables that you’d like to roast at the same time (optional).
Add the remaining rosemary sprigs, and drizzle over a good glug of olive oil.
Cook the lamb for 1 hour 20 minutes if you like it rarer and pink, or 2 hours if you prefer it more well done.
General cooking times for roasting a leg of lamb are (per 500g):
• Rare 20–25 minutes.
• Medium 25–30 minutes.
• Well done 30–35 minutes.
When the lamb is cooked to your liking, remove from the oven and leave to rest for around 15 minutes before carving.
While the lamb is cooking you can make the orange and mint sauce. Mix all of the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl until well combined.
Serve the lamb with roast vegetables, orange and mint sauce, and some seasonal greens.
Roast vegetables
Peel and cut the vegetables (e.g. potatoes, kumara, carrots, yams, pumpkin) into chunks of a similar size, not too small.
Scatter the vegetables in the bottom of the roasting pan around the lamb.
Turn the vegetables often during cooking, so that they are cooked evenly and absorb all the goodness of the drippings from the meat.
If you are cooking the lamb so that it’s well done, you may need to remove the vegetables earlier so that they don’t overcook. Just keep an eye on them after the 1 hour and 20 minute mark.
If cooking the lamb so that it’s rare, or medium rare, while the lamb is resting, you can increase the heat of the oven to 200degC and cook the vegetables further to give them a little extra colour, if needed.
You can make a gravy with the pan drippings. You will need to spoon off any excess fat that accumulates in the pan before making the gravy.
Any roast meat gravy
The brownings that form in the bottom of the roasting dish when you roast any meat are absolutely laden with flavour. They make a great base for a pan gravy, which is so flavoursome you’ll never reach for a gravy packet again. I like to use the water from any vegetables I’m cooking to go with the roast, such as sweetcorn or beans, to make this gravy.
Ingredients
Roast-meat brownings, including any herbs or garlic that may have been cooking in with the roast
2 Tbsp plain flour
2 cups water, stock or water from cooking vegetables
salt and pepper
Method
Keep the delicious roast-meat drippings and about 1 tablespoon of the fat, spooning off any excess fat.
Place the roasting dish on the stovetop over a medium heat, add flour and stir until combined. It should become like a paste.
Add quarter of a cup of water or stock and stir to combine, scraping the tasty meat residue and ensuring the mixture doesn’t burn.
Slowly add the rest of the water or stock and stir until well combined. If you add the liquid too quickly it may not combine with the flour mixture properly and become lumpy.
Bring the mixture to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 3 minutes, stirring often.
If the gravy has large chunks or things like herbs or garlic skin, put it through a sieve into a jug or bowl, using the back of the spoon to push through all the juices. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Herby coated roast potatoes
Ingredients
Use kumara or pumpkin for this recipe if you prefer.
6 large roasting potatoes, peeled or washed; or the equivalent in kumara or pumpkin
⅓ cup plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
neutral oil for cooking, e.g canola oil
Method
Heat oven to 180degC. Drizzle oil into a roasting dish or oven tray with sides.
Chop potatoes into cubes.
Put potatoes into a container with a lid, mix together the flour, salt, pepper and rosemary in a cup, and add to the container. Pop the lid on and shake to fully coat the potatoes.
Put potatoes into the prepared dish and drizzle more oil over the top. Be generous with the oil, give it a good slosh — you want crispy roasties!
Roast for 45 minutes or until golden, turning twice during this time.
Cook’s note: You can also add the potatoes to the tray that is roasting meat, such as the roast lamb, to really enhance the flavour and crunchiness of the potatoes — yum!!
Blueberry cherry cheesecake
This indulgent no-bake cheesecake with the mouthwatering zing of citrus in the buttery, crumbly base will leave you wanting just one more bite. It is so good, in fact, that my grandad declared it the best cheesecake he’s ever had! The cherries are an optional extra, and highly recommended if in season. However, this cheesecake is still incredible, even without the cherry on top!
Serves 12-15
Ingredients
For the base
250g plain wine biscuits
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans, etc.)
finely grated zest of 1 large lemon (or 2 small)
125g melted butter
2 cups (250g) blueberries, fresh or frozen
2 Tbsp lemon juice
¼ cup caster sugar
¾ cup water
1 Tbsp cornflour mixed with ¼ cup cold water
water to thin, if needed
handful fresh cherries, optional
For the filling
1 cup (250g) cream cheese, softened
2 cups (500g) mascarpone
⅓ cup icing sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp finely grated lemon zest
1 cup (250ml) cream
Prepare a 24cm springform pan by greasing the sides and lining the base with non-stick baking paper.
Crush the wine biscuits and nuts until they resemble fine crumbs, either in a food processor, blender, Nutribullet (a third at a time) or by putting in a plastic bag and crushing with a rolling pin.
Put crumb mixture into a bowl with lemon zest, pour over the melted butter, and mix until combined.
Press the crumb mixture into the base of the pan firmly and evenly, using the back of a spoon.
Put 1 cup (125g) blueberries, plus the lemon juice, caster sugar and water into a medium saucepan, and stir over a medium heat until thickened and a deep purple colour, about 5 minutes.
Add the cornflour and water mixture and stir over a medium heat until combined and translucent.
Pour into a bowl and put into the fridge to cool.
In a large mixing bowl, use an electric beater to mix the cream cheese, mascarpone, icing sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest until smooth, taking care not to overmix.
In a separate bowl, whip the cream with an electric beater until stiff peaks form (do not overmix).
Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until just combined. Swirl half of the cooled blueberry sauce through the cheesecake mixture, stirring loosely.
Spread the cheesecake filling evenly over the crumb base.
Cover with cling film or tinfoil and refrigerate for 5-6 hours, or overnight.
When the cheesecake is firm and ready to serve, mix the remaining blueberry sauce mixture with the remaining cup of blueberries, and add extra water if the mixture is too thick.
Spread over the top of the cheesecake, pop the cherries on top, if using, and chill for a further 30 minutes before carefully removing from the springform pan.
Remove baking paper, and transfer to a serving plate.
Keep the cheesecake refrigerated until ready to serve.
