Earl grey bread & butter pudding

This is the first recipe I have posted in which tea features as an ingredient, and by no means will it be the last.  When last year I posted my recipe for Chai, I also introduced my passion for loose leaf tea.  This passion is such that I see tea having the potential to be [...]

Liver & bacon

Choosing to cook liver for this months lamb theme evoked considerable surprise.  This is due in part to my almost vegetarian diet, but more due to the mere fact that I had chosen to cook offal.  The more surprise reactions I was to elicit, the more I began to feel as though cooking offal was [...]

Seeded bread rolls

I have recently developed a sort of fascination for bread.  Several things about it pique my interest, not the least of which is eating it hot out of the oven generously smeared with salted butter.

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Pumpkin soup

Soup is synonymous with winter.  It is the culinary embodiment of dark, wintry nights spent indoors curled up with a good book in front of the fire.  It is the ultimate comfort food, especially when served with warm crusty bread spread generously with salted butter.

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Soups, stews and breads

Like music, food is a powerful thing.  It can stir and rouse an audience and be so perfectly satisfying.  It need not be complicated, and in fact more often than not it is the dishes which are deceptively simple which elicit the most pleasure.  Soups, stews and breads, all in their own ways, do just [...]

Sultana lover’s sultana cake

If Florentines are airs and graces, then Sultana cake is deception and trickery!  Its name, so hopelessly dull and uninspiring, precedes its awkward, speckled exterior to make for a cake which, were first impressions always true, would easily be overlooked.  The truth however is that sultana cake is quite the antithesis.  Zesty orange and lemon

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Tomato, red wine & raisin pasta

I can attribute my new found appreciation for the melding of savoury and sweet to this recipe.  Had I happened upon it myself, the chances of me actually going out of my way to cook it would be slim-to-none, this due to my (late) aversion to savoury dishes spiked with sweet.  So thankfully I was [...]

Autumn, Central Otago and the team meet at last!

Monday the 17th May was a day nervously and excitedly anticipated by everyone in the Our Kitchen team.  Due to the fact that we are spread over 2 sites (one in the South island, the other in the North) the team had yet to meet face-to-face, even after a year and a half of working [...]

Florentines

I have read conflicting stories which suggest that Florentines were, as the name suggests, first made in Florence, and others which recount a tale whereby their invention took place in the kitchen of King Louis XIV’s to present to a party of Italian guests to his palace at Versailles.

Fennel risotto

If I was to be honest I would say that my heart is in Asia, so picking Italy as my spiritual home is not an obvious choice, though nor is it completely left field.  My experience of Italy is limited.  In fact I have only been there once, over 10 years ago now, when I [...]

Raspberry brownie

Should you be on the hunt for the ultimate brownie, there is little doubt that your search will reveal a plethora of recipes all vying for the attention of the inspired cook.  What makes this particular recipe stand out from the bunch however is the addition of raspberries, which, like little red jewels, provide a [...]

Blue cheese and pinenut meatloaf

I am not a huge meat eater, however when deciding which recipes to cook from our Fisher & Paykel cookbook this recipe was the first to catch my attention.  I think it was the lure of the pinenuts and blue cheese that did it for me – a combination which proves hard to resist!  Equally [...]

North African lamb shanks

With the finish of daylight saving, the soft afternoon light fades more quickly from the sky and the autumn leaves fast turn all shades of orange, yellow and brown.  Fires are lit, curtains are drawn and the cooler weather inspires bowls of steaming soup, tasty stews and hearty comfort food.  These shanks are just that.  [...]

Italian easter pie

Chocolate and sweet treats are synonymous with Easter, so much so that savoury food seems to very much take a back seat when one thinks of the types of food eaten to celebrate this religious festival.  This little realisation inspired me to learn about the savoury foods, unique to other countries and cultures outside of [...]

Hot cross buns

Inspired to cook a particular dish, I like to consult multiple recipes, mixing and matching ingredients and methods until I arrive at my own version of the recipe in question.  This recipe for Hot Cross Buns is no exception.  It is based on one that was given to me by Simone, a friend and fellow [...]

Tahini balls

I will be the first to admit that this recipe caused a bit of a stir! It evoked some strong reactions from our willing testers, the majority of whom, thinking they were being offered chocolate truffles, were taken by surprise, discovering their intense sesame flavour and nutty texture. Testers’ opinions were very much

Beetroot, broccoli and quinoa salad

Quinoa is one of those wonder foods.  Not only it is very high in protein (12 -18%), it is also lauded for containing a balanced set of amino acids, making it a uniquely complete protein source.  Originating in the Andean region of South America, quinoa is a very versatile grain and can be found [...]

Savoury muffins

These muffins are from our Fisher & Paykel Cookbook. They are studded with pinenuts and olives and flavoured with fresh herbs, and when you bite into them gooey mozzarella cheese oozes from their centre.

Orange and almond slice

Zesty and beautifully textured, this slice is not for the faint-hearted as it contains a whole pulped orange, pith, zest and all!  What I find most appealing about this slice recipe is that it is quick and easy to make and contains only wholefoods as ingredients.  I often make it on a Sunday afternoon, cutting [...]

Fisher & Paykel MasterChef launch

MasterChef premieres tonight here in New Zealand and to celebrate, last night, Fisher & Paykel hosted an event for retailers, media representatives and executive staff members. The event was held on set in the MasterChef studio.

Lunchboxes

There is little doubt that organising and making lunch can be low on the list of priorities in the chaos that often reigns on a weekday morning. Many people struggle to fit in breakfast, let alone even contemplate what might pass as their midday meal.

Mint pesto

This pesto can be used for a multitude of things. As a dip, tossed through roasted vegetables, on a sandwich, or drizzled over eggplant ravioli, the recipe for which I will post in the next couple of days. The fresh, zesty mint provides the perfect contrast to the rich and creamy flavours of the ravioli.

Eggplant Ravioli

Admittedly, making ravioli requires time, and a considerable amount of it at that. Don’t let this put you off. The process is not only rewarding, but meditative as well. Working the pasta through each of the settings on your pasta machine until it is silky smooth allows plenty of time for reflection and soul-searching,

Fresh egg pasta

There is no substitute for freshly made pasta. None. The store bought stuff just doesn’t stack up. It is thick and rubbery, where the stuff you’ve kneaded and lovingly rolled to perfection, is soft and light. It is like silk, the other stiff like linen.

Panforte

Writing my Christmas posts has prompted me to think about what it is that makes Christmas so special for me.  I am not at all religious, nor am I much of a traditionalist, however every Christmas Eve I slip into the back of the local church just as midnight mass begins.  There is something about [...]

Tomato and rocket tarts

As a designer I am sensitive to aesthetics, to the way in which the objects and things around me look and feel.  Whether I am designing a product or serving dinner to my flatmates, the way things look are important to me.  Without consciously thinking about it, these tomato tarts became little canvases.  Their colours [...]

Rocket pesto

Pesto is very versatile both in its uses and in the ingredients with which it is made.  The inspiration for this rocket pesto came when I was pondering what I could use to provide a splash of colour and a burst of flavour to my little tomato tarts.  And the combination of the [...]

Almond drops

The 1st December marks a very special day in Auckland’s Christmas calendar.  On this auspicious evening every year just as dusk turns to dark in one of our central city streets, a row of houses light up with the spirit of Christmas.  Draped in curtains of Christmas lights these houses are transformed and it is [...]

Tangelo marmalade

You may remember that I gave an introduction to the fruit trees which grow next door to us, and to the generous offer made by our friendly neighbours to help ourselves to their fruit.  This recipe is one which makes the most of the winter/spring bounty produced by their tangelo tree.  I am partial to [...]

Lynne Pope’s bread

I have a cookbook, the blank kind in which you write recipes you’ve stumbled upon which are too good to pass by.  My cookbook is old, its cover is beginning to come loose and its spine is cracked and in need of repair.  Fingerprints track their way through its browning pages, hinting at the recipes [...]

Torta extra vergine

Like me, my Mum has an old exercise book in which she writes, in her beautiful calligraphic script, the recipes she finds which are too good to pass by.  It has a brightly striped cover and ruled pages which are covered in black ink and spatterings of olive oil and cake batter which, like little [...]

Tarakihi with white wine and capers

This is another of Simone’s recipes.  It is one of many in a collection given to her by her dad Les.  I don’t think I’ve mentioned Les before so I shall introduce him.  I met him for the first time only a week ago while he was up from the South Island staying with Simone.  [...]

Broad bean and rocket salad

As this month’s theme is spring and local produce I thought I would make the most of what I have in my garden, and that of my neighbours too.  We have a very long drive way over which hang the branches of a pretty apple tree, and next to that just out of reach, a [...]

Our Kitchen on Design Sponge!!!

This post heralds a very exciting moment for us in the history of Our Kitchen. We made it onto Design Sponge! For those of you not familiar with Design Sponge, it is a website dedicated to home and product design which in 2008 was declared a “Martha Stewart Living for the Millennials” (NY Times).

Ginger loaf

This deliciously dense, spicy ginger loaf recipe was given to us by Jon who is our personal IT go-to-guy, or so we like to think.  Like Pete, Jon also makes great coffee and somehow or other, every morning without fail, I am lucky to be on the receiving end of one of his delicious coffees.  [...]

Twitter, Facebook and the social media revolution!

We’ve done it.  We’ve taken that all-important first step into the dizzyingly prolific world of social media and made our first ever Tweet.  Whilst we would have liked our first Tweet to be profound and meaningful (as all good firsts should be), in reality it was more of an icebreaker, a taste-tester, an initiation into [...]

Spring flowers

I want to let these images speak for themselves so today’s post is going to be short.  It seems as though this year there are blossoms everywhere.  I’m not sure if it is because the weather patterns we experienced over winter were especially blossom inducing or if it is just that the older I get [...]

Office favourites

The notion of sharing was a theme which wove its way through our blog naming sessions, ultimately inspiring the name upon which we settled; Our Kitchen. It is an inclusive term. It is our kitchen, and it is your kitchen. Not only do we want to share our recipes, thoughts and knowledge

Beef, tomato, olive and rosemary pies

A good pie is one of those guilty pleasures; light, buttery pastry with a tasty (typically) beef, chicken or vegetable based filling. On the other hand, a bad pie of questionable origins (tales of luke-warm pies from tepid pie warmers spring to mind) can put you off ever eating pies again.

Chocolate dipped hokey pokey

The thought of homemade Hokey Pokey for me conjures up memories of science class where, armed with Bunsen burners, brown sugar, sticky golden syrup and baking soda, a class full of excited 14 year olds experience the wonder of chemistry in the kitchen. And what better way to end

Broad beans and the approach of spring.

This post is a little different.  I am not posting a recipe (though I may allude to several) instead I am blogging about my garden.  I live in a stately home on a quarter acre section and needless to say my 4 flatmates and I are the envy of all of our friends.  As the [...]

Chocolate, cranberry and cinnamon biscuits

I’ll be the first to admit that I have developed an annoying habit.  I blame it on my Mum.  Her health conscious ways have rubbed off on me, spawning little habits and behaviours such as the one in question.  This particular habit sees me performing cosmetic surgery of sorts on recipes whose sugar and fat [...]

Chai tea

I am an avid tea drinker.  Not of powdered leftovers packaged into tea bags masquerading as tea.  Oh no – only tea of the lose-leaf variety can be found on the shelves of my kitchen! It is the ritual of tea-making that I find so compelling.  Selecting the tea, warming the pot, steeping the leaves, [...]

Orange chocolate cake

This recipe is one which is close to my heart. It forms part of one of my earliest and fondest memories. I was 5 and my two younger brothers, Tim and Nick, were packed into the backseat of the family car heading south on holiday with Mum. Having just started school, I [...]

Chicken cashew curry

When we decided that we would launch the blog with celebrations as the theme, I knew immediately that I would share this recipe. It is one which reminds me of happy times, of friends and family squeezed around the kitchen table celebrating an achievement, a birthday, or just good company. It is a [...]

Garam masala

Garam masala is a mixture of spices found commonly in Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi cuisine. The ingredients that make up Garam masala vary from country to country and region to region. Don’t be tempted to cut corners by buying Garam masala from the supermarket. Take the time to make it from scratch