Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

In  this post  you can find the recipe for the feijoa zest syrup, and from it I took about one tsp of sezt for the  feijoa zest meringues . The leftover syrup (full of zest) was about 350 ml, and I decided to use it to make a little jelly with agar agar. I added a level tsp of agar agar and brought it back to the boil. The I poured it into a jelly mould and waited. It tasted great and was quite a visual treat, with all the zest floating in jelly!  Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Kawakawa meringues If you like to forage in the New Zealand bush you may be familiar with  kawakawa , and know that it was used in traditional  Māori  medicine. Also, the leaves make a great tea! But you can also use the leaves instead of vanilla to flavour desserts: they have a distinctive taste which is good for biscuits, meringues and custard puddings (like  Crème brûlée) . It has a peppery flavour and it works! For the meringues and biscuits I started with the Italian meringue, which is made by adding hot sugar syrup to the beaten egg white. Actually, the Italian meringue doesn't need to be cooked as the hot sugar syrup already 'cooks' the eggs, and it is often used as the base for many desserts. But yes, it can also be used for making hard meringues. The so called French meringue is mostly used in New Zealand (egg whites and sugar, rather than hot sugar syrup), and it is easier to make, but to get the kawakawa into the meringues you need a hot syrup! ...

In  this post  I mentioned using feijoa zest, I have use them before for  this cordial , but I wanted to experiment more. Feijoa zest is bitter, that kind of bitter that makes you think that in large doses could be poison (possibly, anyone knows?) just like apricot kernels or fern fronds, but in small amounts, and occasionally, they feel safe (and I am still alive!). And they were good, possibly not as good as my favourite  passion fruit meringues , but still good!  First I put into a pot the zest of about 20 feijoas (you don't need all these, but there is another recipes coming out of this!) with 500 ml of water and 100 g of sugar, and I made a thin syrup. Then I drained about a tsp of zest and set it aside for the meringues. With the rest I made agar agar jelly (the next post). For the meringues I used 3 eggs white at room temperature and 150 g of sugar (normal white sugar). Once the egg whites and sugar were well beaten and stiff I added the zest...

Feijoa is one of those fruits that really symbolize Kiwiana for me, and in particular the joy of sharing produce in New Zealand. There is always someone ready to share feijoas in New Zealand, and this to me is like sharing joy: no matter how little fruit my plans produce in a way or another a bucket of feijoas alway reach my kitchen from another garden.  Feijoa smoothie: for 4 smoothies I used about 10-12 feijoas and some natural apple juice: so delicious and full of vitamins! Photos and Recipe by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

You can see them in the deli department of all the supermarkets, little red peppers stuffed with feta, and they are not cheap! But mostly, if you have a big party they go too quickly! But for a fraction of the deli price you can buy a couple of jars of sweet pickled peppers and a block of creamy feta, and then you just need a few herbs from the garden, and a little milk to thin down the feta. And a bit of patience! Cut the feta (goat or cow) and place in a bowl, then with a fork start to mix it, adding some milk until you have a paste as thick as Greek yogurt. If you cannot find feta cheese, or for a milder flavor, use cream cheese. Chop some herbs like basil, dill, chives and/or parsley (or what you have fresh in the garden). You can use just one herb or a mixture of herbs. Or you can use an already flavoured feta, or dried spices like black pepper and cumin seeds (a combo that I particularly like with cream cheese).  Mix the herbs with the feta mixture. In th...

The best thing about these fritters is that chestnut flour is naturally sweet, so no sugar is needed. Also these are vegan and gluten free, all you need is chestnut flour, water, sultana (optional) and some oil for frying. You can find the recipe  here . Photos and Recipe by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

I really like the  mochi cakes , the Japanese glutinous rice blocks that are traditionally found in the traditional New Year soup ( zoni ). Mochi is usually grilled before going into the soup, but I don't have a grill for it, and tend to just boil it into it for a little. I love it. My family less so. And they don't like the idea of mochi in any our miso soups. So I tried to pan-fry it, thinking that they like everything fried, and guess what? Fried mochi is a new favourite! Now I add a block of pan-fried mochi in almost every Japanese meal I make (that is, while my mochi stock last: it is not so easy to find it in New Zealand!).  In my (short) experience one of the best ways is to pan-fry mochi is with something that will also give it a bit of flavour, like capsicums. These are the little capsicums from my garden, small but tasty! Heat the oil in the frying pan, add slices of capsicum and mochi, turn everything a few times (I like to turn the mochi blocks on all six side...