Michelle's world of food

How many hours does it take for an engineer to hang a Roman blind? Four. One to make a trip down to the local mega hardware store to buy a stud finder. It can't just be any stud finder, it must have the right technology, design and price. Browsing, testing and dialogues with the store manager all takes time. And while we are there, why not have a look around. One never know what else one may need, like a ride on mower for example. Now, this is one essential item that every household must have, so says the engineer! An hour later and a few hundred dollars poorer, we are back home again trying to finish what we have started. Now where were we? Yes, the Roman blind. It takes another hour to decide if the blind should line up with the ceiling or the window. Does the ceiling and window not align, did you say? Don't be ridiculous, of course they don't. They should, you say? Now you are just being silly. The third to get the level tool from the shed, mark and mount each bracket ca...

This has been a fantastic year for our vegetable garden. In fact, we have got vegetables coming out of our ears! We have an abundant harvest of lettuces, cucumbers and tomatoes. This is actually the first time we managed to successfully grow cucumbers. I cannot wait to cook up ideas for our apple and lebanese cucumbers! According to my husband, cucumbers are best eaten raw, peeled, cut into wedges and sprinkled with a little sea salt. They taste refreshing and surprisingly pleasant, but for the less conventional like me, a salad made up of cucumbers, tomatoes and pasta sounds more to my liking. This salad is all made up of fresh vegetables from our garden and if you look at the picture carefully, you can see our lebanese cucumbers in the background. Summer garden salad with pesto Ingredients: 80 gm Uncooked pasta (spiral, penne or seashell) 1 Apple cucumber and 1 Lebanese cucumber (or any cucumber that is available, about 300 gm) 3-4 small Tomatoes (about 150 gm) A h...

We had an awesome weekend doing a wine trail in Martinborough on our push bikes with some good friends. Great way to see the Wairarapa. Called in at Scotty's to buy some beautiful meat and had a blast cooking them on the barbecue. I thought we could never get through the pile of food, but the boys gobbled up the very last morsel. Good one, Scotty! What has this to do with sausage rolls? Meat and summer. Sausage roll is a must have at every party and picnic. It's not exactly caviar but it never pretends to be. Sausage rolls are unassuming and down to earth but can be easily jazzed up with just a few ingredients. Home made sausage rolls Ingredients: 1/4 Onion 12 Sausages* 1/4 cup Parsley 1 clove Garlic 2 sheets Flaky puff pastry Chili flakes to sprinkle Fennel seeds to sprinkle Sesame seeds to sprinkle 1 Egg Steps: 1. Turn oven on to 220 degrees celsius. 2. Chopped onion and garlic finely. 3. Chop parsley roughly. 4. Beat egg lightly with a fork...

There is a really neat legend about the humble origins of the Guinness beer. The Guinness beer is the brain child of Arthur Guinness. Back in the 1700s when medical science was in still in its infancy, people were getting illnesses and diseases just with drinking water. Ironically, they started turning to alcohol, mainly Gin which proved to be safer than their drinking water. Disheartened by the destitute caused by Gin which had plagued the city of Dublin, Arthur Guinness decided to brew a drink that not only the Irish would enjoy but will be nutritional to them. The beverage is none other than what is known today as the Guinness beer. It is supposed to be so full of nutrition that it is more like a meal! I had my first Guinness stew in an Irish pub; where else? And I absolutely fell in love with the rich, creamy texture and flavours the stew had to offer. Many years later, an Irish friend handed me a recipe for the stew and as with any good cook, I made changes to suit my taste. H...

Today, we will take a stroll down China Town just before Chinese New Year. Imagine a long wide street bustling with hawkers peddling their sumptuous goodies, shoppers picking up last minute bargains and little kids playing catch amongst the crowd. One can never miss that stall selling sweet peanut puffs. So what is it? Sweet peanut puff is a bite size snack made of pastry filled with sugary chopped peanuts and sesame seeds. You can almost guarantee each household will have a good stocking of this treat during Chinese New Year. If you like peanuts, this is not to be missed. It is great as a snack, for high tea or dessert. In fact, I'm taking some to a picnic tomorrow! Sweet Peanut Puffs Ingredients: Pastry: 1 ¾  cup All purpose flour 1/3 cup Peanut oil * 1/3 cup water 2 Egg yolks Filling: 150 g Unsalted roasted peanuts 100 g Castor sugar 25 g Toasted sesame seeds ¼ tsp salt Oil for deep frying * If you can't get peanut oil, use any cooking oi...

I like rice. Rice is a common commodity among different cultures. Italians have their arborio rice, Chinese have their jasmine rice, Indians have their basmati rice;  and there is the long grain rice, medium grain rice and short grain rice. The list goes on. But sometimes rice can be rather boring, like white bread where you yearn for a wee bit of variety. Which is why I supposed you have whole grain, mixed grain, soy, linseed and my favorite, fruit and cinnamon bread. This is one simple way you can jazz up your rice. It is meant to be an accompaniment to other dishes but if you so feel like, simply throw in some frozen mixed vegetables and you have a vegetarian fried rice! Egg and Ginger Fried Rice Ingredients: 2 Cups cooked rice 2 Eggs 1 tbsp Crushed ginger 2 tsp Light soya sauce 1 tbsp cooking oil Steps: 1. Beat eggs lightly with a fork in a bowl. Add soya sauce to egg. 2. Heat oil in a frying pan. 3. Add rice and give it a quick stir. Add crushed ginger and...