House full of blokes

Fabulous rich slow cooked beef shank (traditionally veal). This is a rich, hearty stew - topped with gemolata and best served with risotto and red wine. Great winter food.  Ingredients 1 thick slice of beef shank per person (this recipe works well for 4-6 people - adjust amounts for more or less) 1/4 cup plain flour Salt & pepper to taste 3 tablespoons olive oil 25 grams butter 1 onion finely chopped 2 cloves garlic crushed 4 carrots sliced  2 sticks celery sliced 1 tablespoon fresh chopped marjoram 1/2 cup dry white wine 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1 400gram can chopped tomatoes in juice 1 teaspoon sugar 3 tablespoons flat leaf parsley  Zest of a lemon ( 1 or 2 strips of peel and the rest grated) Method Place flour in a bowl with salt and pepper. Lightly coat meat in flour.  Heat pan and add oil and butter - put pan on a high heat and brown meat on all sides remove meat from the pan and put to one side.  Turn pan to a low heat add on

The senior bloke and I met with friends for a quiet drink yesterday afternoon that ended up being a big night out, pizza at the bar and even karaoke.  We didn't make it home til past midnight. Today has therefore been a bit slow and sluggish and being the middle of winter a traditional, warming soup was definitely the order of the day.  This soup is made with a bacon hock and loads of winter vegetables.  It reminds me of my mother in-laws veggie soup - hence the name. Ingredients A bacon hock 1 onion finely chopped 5 carrots grated 4 parsnips peeled and grated 1/2 swede peeled and grated 1/4 medium pumpkin peeled and grated 1/4 bunch celery chopped to a fine dice 1 cup pearl barley 1 litre vegetable stock (or 4 cups water and 4 teaspoons vegetable stock powder) Salt White pepper Freshly ground black pepper to serve Method Place the bacon hock in a very large pot with 3 litres of water and bring to the boil. Add all the vegetables and barley and simmer for an hour or two - you want

My lovely boys love flavours from all around the world.  As I am supporting them to learn to cook they want to replicate some of their favourite dishes - these aren't always things that are already part of my repertoire and it takes a bit of research to find recipes that are simple enough to do with beginner cooks and that contain ingredients that are available in small town NZ.  I figure if I can get them here they are probably available in every other conceivable corner of the world. The dumplings we ended up with were fragrant and delicious with great texture contrasts in the tasty parcel.  These were simple to make - although took a wee while to assemble and steam (a larger bamboo steamer is on my wish list the next time I'm in a town with an Asian grocery store).  We will definitely be making them again and I can see quite a few variations to try - including different cooking methods and dipping sauces. We chose to serve these in a chicken broth with ginger, carrot

Butter chicken is a favourite curry - it is usually reasonably mild, but rich in flavour. This is a straight forward recipe for making butter chicken from scratch for a quick, delicious family meal.  Lummox number two made this for our dinner last night for his Thursday cooking slot - it was fabulous! Ingredients For the curry for 4 people 500g chicken thigh 2 cloves garlic 1 inch piece ginger 1 1/2 tsp turmeric  1/4 tsp nutmeg 2 tsp cumin 1 tsp garam masala Chili to your taste. We used one medium dried chili - but you could use fresh, chili flakes or chili powder for the amount of heat you like.  140g pot tomato paste 1 small pot natural unsweetened yoghurt 1 onion finely chopped 50g butter 1 cup fresh cream Large handful chopped fresh coriander For raita to serve with the curry 20cm piece cucumber Large handful fresh mint finely chopped 1 small pot natural unsweetened yoghurt Salt & pepper to season Method Chop the chicken

My youngest loves sport and plays anything going with anyone who's keen. Basketball is the latest passion and the Boston Celtics the team he's taken a shine to. So a basketball cake was the order of the day.  The cake is a chocolate cafe cake with butter cream icing. The large clover is store bought icing that can be rolled flat. The lettering and small clover are white chocolate. 

I tried a product sample at the supermarket of a Spanish spicy bean soup.  I liked it so I bought a pouch to feed 2-4 people for lunch. The senior bloke at my house polished it off all by himself and I felt a little ripped off.  I looked at a couple of recipes on line and thought about the flavour profile and decided I could do it better myself.  This is the result.  I've made this soup about 4 times now and the family love it.  The recipe can be tinkered with a bit by omitting the chorizo or by including red capsicum with the other vegetables (expensive here in the winter). This is a rich, spicy, delicious soup. The beans and vegies make it a hearty meal. I love it with the addition of chorizo - but it's great as a vegetarian meal too. Ingredients 2 sticks celery chopped into small dice Medium red onion finely chopped 2 carrots chopped into small dice   200 grams chorizo chopped into small pieces (optional) 1-2 cloves garlic crushed 1 teaspoon pimenton