Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

This is easy even if it looks complex. I made a stock using some dried shitake mushrooms, some seaweed (kombu strips, a softer type that can be eaten in salad) and some carrots. But (check this out) I cooked the veggies in three separate pots with just a little water, then I kept the veggies and kombu aside, I mixed the three 'broths' and added some white miso paste. This was my soup. The carrots were cut like flowers, and then arranged with some seaweed 'leaves'. I mixed the remaining carrots and kombu with the mushrooms and pass them quickly in a frying pan with a little soy sauce, lemon juice, and sesame seeds. No oil. I used the same pan, but added a little sesame oil and a little vegetable oil, to quickly cook some broccolini and bok choy (both from my garden) and added more soy sauce and lemon juice. For the rest... the rice was just plain, to be served with umeboshi plums, plus I had some ready made Japanese pickles (takuan, pickled daikon) and so...

I made this a while ago but I didn't find the time to post it. I know that zucchini are not in season now, but many of you live in the Northern Hemisphere, so you may appreciate the idea. FYI I didn't buy Champagne especially to make this :-), I just had some leftover, and I didn't want to waste it. Sauté the zucchini and a shallot with one tbsp of olive oil and a pinch of salt for a few minutes, then add the champagne (I had just over a glass). Don't add water, between the champagne and the water from the zucchini you should have enough! Keep cooking and stir often until all liquid has absorbed and the zucchini are soft (about 20 minutes). Adjust with salt and pepper and finish with some fresh chopped parsley. I really liked it, and now I know what I will do if I ever get some leftover champagne again. Or any other bubbly :-). Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

In my garden This has to be one of the easiest curries ever, and one of the first I learned to make (alongside Dahl and Palak Paneer ). The kids love it, they love all curries, especially if they have paneer. Matar Paneer Paneer and Pea Curry 1 onion 1 garlic clove 1 tbsp vegetable oil half tsp each of Garam Masala, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric, paprika, salt 1 bay leaf 800 ml can of tomatoes half a tsp of freshly ground ginger 1 cup frozen peas 1 block paneer cheese half a cup of cream (optional) fresh coriander to end Chop the onion and garlic. Heat the oil in a pan and sizzle the Garam Masala, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric, paprika, salt and bay leaf for a few seconds. Add the garlic and onion and sizzle until the onion start to colour. Add the tomatoes and ginger and simmer for 20 minutes, then blend everything with an immersion blender. Add the peas and after 10 minutes the paneer, cubed. Simmer for 5-10 more minutes, then finish with the cream (optional...

These images are of the afternoon baking with my daughter, we made jam ring biscuits with strawberry jam, and with the left-over pastry Arantxa cut her own biscuits.  She really likes little details :-). Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Well, my husband, who doesn't particularly like brussels, approved of this one: you can't even see the sprouts :-) !! I used some ready made puff pastry as a base and arranged some brussels previously cooked this way  (click link). I added about half a cup of grated edam cheese, and then mixed 3 eggs with one cup of vegetable stock and poured it on top (no cream, vegetable stock works well if you like to cut the calories just a little :-). Bake at 180°C for about 30 minutes and serve. Really really yum! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

About myself I could say that I love broccoli, I like cauliflower, and I eat brussels sprouts. Do you like them? I think that I buy them about once a year, I did plant them once but I wasn't very successful: they opened up like little cabbages (maybe it is not cold enough in Auckland) and they attracted lots of bugs. And nobody in the family is exactly 'crazy' about them. My husband saw my shopping bag and said 'Brussels???'. He wasn't looking forward to dinner. The kids didn't even remember the taste, since we eat them so rarely, but they hear horrible tales about them from other kids: nobody is supposed to like them. But I love variety, and if I cook the brussels slowly in veggie stock, and maybe with other vegetables, I think that they can be interesting. I put them in vegetables soups, like minestrone, and they don't seem bitter then. This time, instead, I wanted to cook them with other brassica, so a made a big brussels/cauli/broccoli mix....

I tend to use white wine for risotto, and no more than a glass, so this is a bit different. I had half a bottle of nice Otago Pinot Noir to finish, a real leftover which couldn't really be drunk. And I saw  this recipe  by  Tamara , the queen of risotto! Tamara told me that as long as the wine didn't taste vinegary, I could use it, and so I did, maybe a little differently from her, but using the same pot, Le Creuset, which is great for making risotto. Because the risotto was going to be red(dish) I also used a red onion (I alway use white for risotto, and brown if I cannot find white onions), and a big chunk of salted butter. Risotto tastes good if you start with some good fat, sorry! The butter in NZ is quite fat and tasty, and salted!  First sauté the onion, then add the rice (about 400 g of Arborio, it was for 4 people) and sauté the rice too: it has to be hot before you add the liquid!  I put the wine in, didn't measure, possibly 300 ml or so, I...

Some of you may remember that I showed you my banana plant a few weeks ago. Well, there are green bananas now, I read somewhere that it is good to cut the flower off, and wrap the bananas with blue plastic. I did just so, thinking that it is getting cold here, and maybe I won't get any bananas... and then I thought of, at least, eating the flower! I looked in all my books but I could not find a recipe, and yet I remembered eating banana flower salad ages ago, somewhere in Asia... I checked on the net, I found a few recipes, and the one that I most liked was this one . Of course I did a few variations, according to my taste. Banana Flower Salad Ingredients 1 banana flower Juice of 2 lemons 1 clove of garlic 1 fresh chili 2 tsp sugar 1 tsp salt A few leaves of Vietnamese mint A few leaves of coriander 1 large potato, peeled and cubed First juice the lemons and keep the juice at hand. Start peeling the flower, removing all the purple and pink petals, and the flowers that you will fin...

A  Nikau  palm leaf fell on my rhubarb plant, the hazards of living in the bush. I rescued what I could, the rhubarb plant will regrow, for sure, but I had a few stalks to use, quickly. I cut some of the stalks and cooked them quicly with very little water and one tbsp of sugar. In the meantime I got some sweet short crust pastry out of the freezer (this is very convenient when I have to make something sweet in a hurry) and I cut it with cookie cutters. I lined the back of my cupcake trays (regular and mini cupcakes) with cupcake cups, and placed the 'biscuits' on top.  This way, when the pastry bakes it takes the shape of a small pastry container. Let the pastry cool down, then gently lift it out of the paper cups, reverse the same paper cups, and place the pastry inside, ready to be filled. To make the meringue topping I used the syrup from the rhubarb (I added one more tbsp of sugar and boiled it down a bit). Pour the hot syrup, slowly, over the whippe...

1 ripe mango, 1 large banana (or 2 small ones), 500 ml pineapple juice, blend everything and then serve with a slice of papaya. Serves 4. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Any vegetable is good, but I used a few dried shitake mushrooms (2 or 3 per person), bok choy, and carrots. Soak the mushrooms, cut the bok choy in big chunks, and the carrots into fat strips. In a pan or wok heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil with 1 tsp of sesame oil. Add the mushrooms (keep the water aside for later), sizzle for a few minutes, then add the carrots, and after 2 minutes the bok choy (first the white stalks, then the green leaves). Add the cashews (about 2-3- tbsp) and stir. Mix the mushroom's soaking water with 2 tbsp of soy sauce (gluten free soy sauce if following a gluten free diet), 1 tsp of corn flour and half tsp of grated ginger. Add to the vegetables and stir until the sauce thickens. Serve immediately with rice or noodles. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©