Some locations barely have a kitchen, so time spent in my home kitchen preparing food, which can be packed into containers and assembled in various ways to become meals over the weekend, ensure we don’t go without the gourmet delights requisite to a good holiday.
Breakfasts, which I take or leave day-to-day because they happen too early, become very much a thing on holiday when we can relax over our coffee and eggs. Toast becomes more than just butter and jam — how about a pile of seasonal fruit, stewed to a jammy consistency (in advance, of course), on a slice of toasted sourdough, or in a bowl with granola with yoghurt? For something savoury, a generous spoonful of rich chilli mince on toast feels crib appropriate.
Back to that chilli beef, dinner is done served in bowls with steamed rice (packets of Tilda in the kitchenette microwave are totally acceptable) and/or go Tex-Mex for lunch or dinner with corn chips, grated cheese, guacamole, sour cream, wedges of lime and coriander.
Playing tourist in my own backyard recently with family from Northland, we had lunch at Cardrona Distillery where the food (and whisky) is always exceptional. The restaurant was recently awarded a hat in the Cuisine Good Food Awards and chef Jack Foster is not resting on his laurels, ensuring his menu showcases the best New Zealand produce alongside the distillery’s premium spirits.
Jack’s miso shortcrust pastry forms the melt-in-your-mouth shell of a tart with fillings that change seasonally. On this visit whipped ricotta was piled with snowpeas in a whisky vinaigrette and a walnut crumb. Goat’s cheese, confit beetroot and hazelnuts were enjoyed previously.
The tart shells can be made in advance, keep well in an airtight container and bring a little bit of fancy to a getaway or picnic, filled onsite with market bounty or from containers of something prepared earlier.
I am using Jack’s recipes for the shortcrust pastry and ricotta filling, topping mine with slow roasted garden tomatoes. Also on Jack’s menu, the Poaka maple dry cured bacon buttie matched with The Ried single malt vodka bloody mary has given me another good idea for a holiday breakfast ... must pack vodka ...
Beef chilli
For breakfast, lunch or dinner, chilli beef is versatility plus. It’s rich and savoury and can be made mild or fiery hot. Serve Tex-Mex style in bowls with rice, a side of cornbread or in tacos. Make nachos, pile on to baked potatoes with cheese and/or sour cream, on to toast, or envelop in pastry for a mince pie. Keep slabs of this in the freezer for emergency meals.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
1kg minced beef
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 red capsicum, deseeded and chopped
2-3 long red chillies, deseeded and chopped
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp salt
½-1 tsp chilli powder, according to heat preference
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
500g passata
330ml beer (IPA is good)
400g can kidney beans, drained
Method
Heat 1 Tbsp of the oil in a large saucepan and fry mince over a high heat in 2-3 batches, breaking up mince as it browns.
Wipe out the pan, add the second Tbsp oil and fry onion, garlic, capsicum and chillies over a medium heat until onion is soft.
Add the mince back to the pan and stir in cumin, paprika, oregano, salt and chilli powder and cook, stirring for 5 minutes.
Stir in Worcestershire sauce, passata and beer. Bring to the boil and simmer over a very low heat with the lid ajar for 75 minutes, stirring occasionally until a rich, thick stew.
Add kidney beans and simmer a further 15 minutes to incorporate.
Serve with a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of coriander with steamed rice, sour cream, guacamole, grated cheese and corn chips for crunch.
Fridge jam
Some would call this mix stewed fruit. I prefer fridge jam because I use it as much as a jam as I do an accompaniment for cake (or baked into a cake), and with cheese or on cereal for breakfast.
It’s forgiving because it doesn’t need to set like a jam and, because it doesn’t need to keep, is a lot lower in sugar. I have used apricots, nectarines, peaches and greengages for this mix. The next one will deal with the variety of plums that are about to drop. Come winter, I always appreciate having packaged some up for the freezer.
Makes About 3 cups
Ingredients
1½kg stonefruit
⅓ cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
½ vanilla bean pod
½ tsp ground cardamom
Method
1 Slice the fruit into a saucepan, removing all the stones.
2 Mix the sugar through the fruit and leave to sit for 10 minutes for the fruit to release some of their juices.
3 Add the lemon juice, vanilla pod (sliced open and seeds scraped into the pan), and cardamom and simmer over a medium heat for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally, mashing the fruit as it starts to break down, producing thick, jammy juices. I like to keep some of the fruit quite chunky.
4 Pour into glass jars or containers, covering and leaving to cool before storing in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.
Miso shortcrust pastry tarts
This is Cardrona Distillery chef Jack Foster’s melt-in-your-mouth, umami-packed shortcrust pastry recipe which I am making fuss-free using a muffin pan for small tart shells that keep well. Let your imagination and palate go wild with fillings using seasonal produce such as garden tomatoes. I cannot go past these tarts when visiting the restaurant and never fail to get a "wow" out of anyone who tries them.
Makes 8 small tarts
Ingredients
25g black sesame seeds
125g flour
100g cold butter, diced
50g miso paste
Method
Blitz sesame seeds in a spice grinder or use a pestle and mortar until fine.
Put into a large bowl with the flour and butter and rub the butter into the flour until it resembles wet sand. Add the miso paste and mix until a dough forms. Place in an airtight container and chill overnight.
Cut the dough into eight even pieces and roll each into a ball. While still cool, gently roll each ball into a circle about 3mm-5mm thick. Carefully press into eight holes of a muffin pan and return to the fridge for 1 hour.
Heat the oven to 165°C fan bake. Remove muffin pan from the fridge, trim excess pastry (if the pastry has gone over the rim, don’t worry if not) and prick the bases with a fork. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool 10 minutes, then remove from tins while still warm.
Once completely cool, store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Whipped ricotta filling
200g ricotta
30ml olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon
Flaky salt, to taste
Method
Blitz all ingredients together until smooth, adjusting seasoning with flaky salt. Return to the fridge to firm up before using.
Walnut crumb
1 egg white
Pinch flaky salt
100g walnuts
Method
Heat the oven to 160°C fan bake. Beat the egg white and salt to stiff peaks.
Add the walnuts and coat evenly. Spread on to a lined oven tray and roast in the oven for about 12 minutes, until golden and crisp. Cool completely then finely grate or crush for serving.
Slow roasted tomatoes
200g tomatoes, sliced in half
½ tsp flaky salt
½ tsp sugar
2 thyme sprigs
Method
Heat the oven to 150°C fan bake. Place tomatoes, cut side up, on a lined baking tray and sprinkle with salt, sugar and thyme. Roast in the oven for 30-60 minutes (depending on size of tomatoes) until slightly shrivelled.
Tart assembly
Fill each tart shell with whipped ricotta and top with slow roasted tomatoes, a pile of walnut crumb and herbs and edible flowers.
