Stop! collaborate and listen

Rice, rice baby (din na na na na na na).  We're officially into the last month of winter.  It should be bitterly cold all the time, with the only culinary thoughts breaking through being those of casseroles and hearty stews .  Not colourful salads and BBQs.  However, global warming seems to be intent on throwing off the weather books and doing its own thing.  Which suits me fine 'cause I'm all for warmer climes and the foods that go with (not that I don't love a good, warming, rich stew too, especially with dumplings, or stuffing, or yorkshires...). 

We had a party on Saturday, a 180th birthday party (combining the festivities for granddad, mum and brother).  Held at Ngongotaha, on a gloriously sunny Saturday (in the middle of winter).  Sure, once the sun went down it was cool, but certainly not freezing (though brother and boyfriend may dispute this, seeing as they were the ones actually standing outside AT the BBQ).  Throwing off the shackles of winter cookery we had a BBQ (in case you hadn't picked up on that), complete with sauteed calamari and deliciously light and fresh rice noodle salad.  Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, winter! 

The noodle salad (made with rice vermicelli, or glass noodles) was amazing, a creation of my sister-in-law Ness.  Really tasty, easy to make, and incredibly colourful, which in winter is a nice change.  We get so much variety in summer, it was great to see some summery colour back on the plates.  KB and I liked it so much that we made it again on Sunday night, to go with our duck.  So, without further ado, rice is back with a brand new invention...

50 g rice vermicelli (about half a packet)

2 carrots, sliced real thin, into wee matchsticks

1 capsicum (colourful, so red, yellow or orange)

1 red onion

good handful of each mint and coriander

1/4 cup lime/lemon juice

1 - 2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

salt and pepper

1. Cook noodles by pouring boiling water over them and stiring around in a bowl for a minute or so.  Drain and set aside (I stirred through a little sesame oil, to help break them up a bit and stop it sticking in a clump). 
2. Stir through veges and herbs. 
3. Mix together the lime, fish and chilli sauces.  Stir through the salad. 
4. Season with salt and pepper and serve.  Really good with fish, calamari or prawns too. 

maimai wonderland

Winter means different things to different people.  To some it means grey hibernation for a few months; for others it signals a season of skiing, apres-ski aperitifs and powdery goodness; to a number it means shooting.  Duck shooting, to be specific.  Now, I'm not a duck shooter - no one in their right mind would let me loose with a gun (not that I'm unwilling to learn how to use one, one day), but I am a friend of food.  So whilst to most of the lads duck shooting equals whisky, cold mornings and talking sh*t with the boys, to me it screams DUCK FOR DINNER!

A friend of ours, James, does duck shooting, hence the duck in the freezer.  Neither of us had ever cooked with duck before (to be honest, I've probably only eaten it once or twice, and usually in a red curry), but knew that it was a red meat, more like cooking a fillet of steak than a chicken breast.  KB marinated the pieces in red wine, soy and honey, with ginger, garlic and possibly some sesame oil.  Oh, and wholegrain mustard, that was key.  Really wicked tang.  Once he was ready to cook it the breasts were seared quickly in the pan, then transferred to an oven dish, to bake (not for too long though, you want it tender, not dried out). 

The duck was served on a bed of mashed kumara and carrot, alongside caramalised onions and stir-fried red cabbage.  On top was a dollop of beetroot and horseradish relish.  Combine in a bowl 2 tbsp horseradish, 2 tbsp balsamic, a glug of olive oil and 4 beetroot, grated.  Nom nom nom.  Give these a whirl - and if duck ain't in your purview, or you just don't fancy it, grab some beef, lamb or rabbit. 

PS: Entree was crayfish, hence the photo below...