Mt Egmont Recipes

Minted Pea Dip

(Suzy Costello)

500g (3 1/2 cups) frozen minted peas

1 tsp Maldon sea salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil

1/4 cup chopped mint

In a pot of boiling water blanch peas then refresh.

Transfer peas to food processor and process for 30 sec until mushy but not smooth.

Add seasoning and with processor running pour oil slowly through feed tube.

Remove pea puree to a bowl and stir in mint.

Taste for seasoning and serve warm or cold.

Beetroot, feta and wasabi dip

(Fiona Clendon)

1 medium beetroot, trimmed (about 250g)

1 clove garlic, peeled

1 Tbs olive oil

½ cup diced feta

2 Tbs plain yoghurt

½ tsp wasabi or horseradish

1 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Take a large piece of foil and place beetroot and garlic on top. Drizzle the olive oil on top and fold the foil to fully enclose the contents like a parcel. Place on an oven tray and roast for an hour or until the beetroot can be pierced with a skewer. Set aside to cool completely.

Peel the beetroot and discard the skin. Put in a food processor with the garlic and remaining ingredients and whizz, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary, until a smooth puree forms. Taste and season with salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Serve immediately or cover and store in the fridge for up to three days.

Mike’s Fish, Spinach & Kumara Bake

(Lydia cooking Jillian Wiggins' recipe)

1 kg kumara

125g spinach leaves

700-800g white fish fillets like Dory or Terakihi, fresh or frozen ( e.g Sealord frozen fish fillets work well)

3cm piece of fresh grated ginger, or more to taste. Tip-peel ginger easily using a teaspoon (Ray McVinnie Tip)

1 can lite coconut crème or coconut milk

Note: the quantities can be adjusted to suit the number of diners, without affecting the recipe. Add more or less.

Scrub the kumara but do not peel. Slice into 12ml rounds and boil in salted water for five minutes and drain.

Arrange the kumara in the bottom of a shallow over-proof dish and place the fresh spinach on top. Lay the fish fillets on the spinach and scatter over the grated ginger.

Bring the coconut crème to the boil and pour over the fish. Season with salt and fresh black pepper to taste. Cover with foil for first 15 mins, and bake at 180C for 20-30 minutues depending on the thickness of the fillets. Spoon over some of the coconut crème during cooking. Delicious served with crusty bread.

Nadia Lim's Sesame Fish

(Michelle Bolger)

1 cup Japanese brown rice

1 ½ cups water

Pinch salt

1 tsp sesame oil

1 Tbs fish or soy sauce

1 Tbs oil (eg peanut, canola, soy)

300g fish fillets

2-3 baby bok choi, halved lengthways

100g round green beans, ends trimmed

3 Tbs pickled ginger, roughly chopped, reserve juice

1 Tbs oil (eg peanut, canola, soy)

2 Tbs soy sauce

1 Tbs brown sugar

3-4 Tbs garlic chives

¼ cup tamari almonds

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Line a shallow roasting dish with baking paper.

Combine all the rice ingredients in a pot and bring to the boil. As soon as it boils, cover with a tight-fitting lid and reduce to lowest heat to cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave to steam, still covered, for a further 8 minutes. Do not lift the lid at any time during cooking.
Mix sesame oil, fish or soy sauce together. Pat fish fillets dry and remove any remaining scales or bones. Place fish into prepared roasting dish and drizzle sesame oil over.
Toss bok choi, beans, pickled ginger (including juice), oil, soy sauce and brown sugar together and scatter around the fish.
When rice is steaming, bake fish and vegetables for 8-10 minutes, or until fish is cooked and vegetables are just tender.

To serve, spoon some rice onto plates and serve fish and vegetables on the side. Garnish with garlic chives, tamari almonds and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Dairy-free, gluten-free.

Prep time: 10 minutes. Cook time: 25 minutes

Saffron Fish Bisque

(Sue Allman)

Saffron Fish Bisque (known in the Jones family as ‘Fish soup without the fish’ )

We love this soup! Anyone who tries it ALWAYS asks for the recipe! A friend made it as a meal for our family when Theo was born in 2003 and we’ve been making it ever since. It has evolved over time as all good recipes do and I started to replace the fish with canned beans, hence the name. I’ve included the beans in the recipe as that’s how we usually make it, add the fish for a special occasion. Most ingredients are kitchen staples, the most important thing is the wine, it doesn’t taste nearly as good without it! Better still make it the day before to give the flavours time to develop. As for the saffron, I’ve never used it so don’t feel you need to go to the expense of buying any. That said, I suppose it should really be called ‘Saffron Fish Bisque - without the fish or the saffron’ but that’s just getting complicated .

Ingredients

2 TBS Olive oil

2 onions – diced

2 leeks – washed and sliced

6 cloves garlic – crushed

6-8 thread saffron – lightly crushed

½ tsp medium curry powder

1/8 tsp chilli powder

¼ tsp cumin

1 TBS sugar

2 cans of tomatoes - chopped

2 cans of beans – cannellini, borlotti or mixed beans work well

Grated zest of 1 lemon

3 carrots – peeled and diced

1 stalk celery - diced

¼ cup Arborio rice

200ml dry white wine

1.5 litres of stock

One fish fillet per person

Method

Heat oil, add onions, garlic and leeks and saute until limp

Add spices, tomatoes and juice, beans, lemon rind, rice and sugar

Add carrots and celery and once softened add the wine.

Cook on low for half an hour then add 1.5 litres of stock and simmer for an hour.

If using fish, pan fry one small terakihi fillet per person in butter and oil. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and serve on top of the soup once it has been served into bowls.

Garnish with parsley and serve with crusty bread.

Chocolate Mousse cake

(Suzy Costello)

1. Oven 165C and grease a round 24cm springform tin and line the base with baking paper

2. Place 200g dark chocolate and 125g butter into a bowl that fits snuggly over a pot of simmering water. Stir till just melted. Cool

3. Separate 7 eggs. into 2 large bowls

4. Whisk egg whites with pinch of salt till frothy then add 1/4 cup of castor sugar gradually till soft peaks form

5.. Whisk yolks and 3/4cup of castor sugar till pale and thick then gradually add chocolate mixture

6. Fold egg whites into choc mixture

7. Pour 3/4 mixture into tin and bake for approx 35mins or till cake springs back when you prod it.

8. Remove cake from oven,cool and then pour in uncooked batter.

9. Serve immediately or next day