Category Archives: Recipes

November 15, 2020

Mandarin Panna cotta with Poached Mandarin

Mandarins are looking great this time of the year and this recipe is perfect for a casual dinner party and can be made completely in advance with only the plating required to serve it up. This means less time in the kitchen and more time socializing with your friends. For a brief video of me making the dish head over to my Instagram page www.instagram.com/macleanfraser/ and to get more info on citrus fruit, when they’re in season and industry news head to www.citrus.co.nz/ or check out their Instagram and Facebook pages www.instagram.com/lovenzcitrus/ www.facebook.com/LoveNZCitrus/

Mandarin Panna cotta with Poached Mandarin

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Panna cotta

375ml Cream

50ml milk

1 1/2 leaves Gelatin

4 drops Vanilla essence

2 Mandarin skins

Poached Mandarin

2 Mandarins

125g Sugar

100ml Water

Method:

For the Panna cotta:

Soak the gelatin leaves in some cold water for 10mins or until they’ve softened. While your gelatin is soaking peel all your mandarins making sure to keep all the skins and separate all the mandarin segments and keep separate. Put the cream, milks, sugar, vanilla essence and 2 mandarin skins into a medium sized pot and heat on the stove over a moderate heat. Once the cream mix starts to bubble at the edges turn the heat off, remove the pot from the heat and leave to infuse for 15mins. Squeeze the water out of the gelatin and add this to the still hot cream mix and stir so that the gelatin is dissolved. Pass the mix through a fine sieve into a bowl to remove the mandarin skins. You can place the bowl over ice to cool the mix down to room temp quickly or since this is a small amount you can just pout the mix into 4 small molds or ramekins and place in the fridge to set. This will take at least a couple of hours and if fine to do a day or two in advance.

For the Poached Mandarins:

Place the sugar, water and remaining 2 mandarin skins into a pot and heat over a moderate heat on the stove until it starts to boil. Let it boil for one minute and then add all the mandarin segments and remove from the heat. Once it has cooled a little transfer to a container. This can be done quite a while in advance and will last in the fridge for up to 5 days.

To Serve:

Chill down some bowls or plates that you will be serving the panna cotta on in the fridge or at least make sure they’re not warm or they will melt the panna cotta. Get a bowl of hot water (hot tap water hot enough) and dip the panna cottas in the hot water for 5-10 seconds (making sure not to get any water over the sides into the panna cotta) in order to release it from the sides of the molds. With your finger push the edge of the panna cotta a little to release it from the sides and create a bubble. Carefully tip the panna cotta out onto your plates. Serve with the poached mandarin and drizzle with some of the syrup. Garnish as you like.

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November 8, 2020

Tangelo Almond Cakes with White Chocolate and Pistachio

Now it may sound weird but this recipe uses the whole fruit so no wastage, which I really like. The trick here is to make sure that your cakes are completely cool before you ice them otherwise the chocolate will just melt and fall off the side! For a brief video of me making the dish head over to my Instagram page and to get more info on citrus fruit, when they’re in season and industry news head to https://www.citrus.co.nz/

Tangelo Almond Cakes with White Chocolate and Pistachio

Makes 18 mini cakes

Ingredients:

Tangelo Cakes

4 Tangelos

250g Ground Almonds

300g Sugar

2tsp Baking Powder

7 Eggs

50g Pistachios

White Chocolate Ganache

300g White Chocolate

100ml Cream

50g Pistachios

Method:

For the Tangelo Almond Cakes:

Boil the Tangelos whole in a big pot of water for 1.5 to 2hrs until they are very soft. Remove from the water and throw the water out. While the fruit is still warm, blend the whole cooked Tangelos in a food processor until completely pureed. Using a ladle or spoon, push the mix through a sieve to remove any bits of seeds but make sure that you get about 90% of the mix through the sieve. If it’s too hard then you may need to blend the fruit longer. Finely chop up the pistachios (you can chop the 100g together and just keep half aside for later). In a large mixing bowl (or cake mixer) whisk the sugar and the eggs together until they eggs have changed colour and become pale and thick and the sugar has dissolved. Whisk in the Tangelo puree and then fold in 50g of pistachios, the baking powder and the ground almonds. Pre heat your oven to 165C and grease your muffin tins or small metal moulds you will be using with cooking spray or some melted butter. Pour the cake mix in ¾ to the top and bake for 20mins until the centre is cooked and the outside is a nice golden brown. Remove the cakes from the oven and while they are still warm run a small knife round the outside and tap gently to release the cakes from the moulds and place on a cake rack to cool down completely ready for icing. 

For the White Chocolate Ganache:

Place the white chocolate and the cream in a metal bowl. Find a pot that is slightly smaller than your metal bowl and fill it ¼ full with water and place on the stove on a low to moderate heat. Place the bowl of chocolate and cream on top of the pot and stir it every now and again letting it warm up until the chocolate has melted. While the chocolate ganache is still warm drizzle it over the now cooled down Tangelo and Almond cakes and sprinkle with the remaining chopped up pistachio.  

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November 2, 2020

Citrus Marinated Chicken with Citrus, Goji Berry and Herb Cous Cous

This recipe is nice and simple and most of it can be prepared in advance. With the chicken you can use any cut you like such as thighs, breasts or the whole leg. The freshness of the citrus goes wonderfully with the roast chicken and you could change up the recipe a bit by waiting for the chicken to cool before shredding it and combining it with the cous cous for a salad at your next BBQ. For a brief video of me making the dish head over to my Instagram page and to get more info on citrus fruit, when they’re in season and industry news head to https://www.citrus.co.nz/

Citrus Marinated Chicken with Citrus, Goji Berry and Herb Cous Cous

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 Chicken legs (or Breasts)

Salt and Pepper

Citrus Marinade

300g Citrus fruit (eg Tangelos, Oranges, Mandarins)

4Cl Garlic

4 Sprigs Rosemary

12Tbs Cooking Oil

4Tbs Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Citrus, Goji Berry and Herb Cous Cous

250g Cous Cous

1C Boiling Water

2Tbs Olive Oil

30g Sunflower Seeds

30g Goji Berries

4Tbs Parsley, chopped

12 Mint leaves, ripped up

Salt and Pepper

Method:

For the Chicken and Citrus Marinade:

Peel or zest the citrus fruit, keep the flesh to one side and with a knife cut the peel into strips along with any zest. Slice the garlic and combine with the chicken, oil, rosemary and seasoning in a bowl. Cover and leave for at least 4hrs or overnight.

For Cous Cous:

Remove any seeds from the citrus fruit and cut into small chunks. In a metal bowl or pot place the uncooked cous cous and then pour on the boiling water and the olive oil. Cover with glad wrap and leave for 5mins for the cous cous to absorb all the water. Chop up the goji berries. Using a fork break up the cous cous and then add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

To Serve:

Remove the chicken from the marinade and season the chicken. Place on a roasting tray and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C until the skin is nice and crispy and when the juices run clear when a knife is inserted into the thickest part and the internal temperature has reached 75C.

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October 28, 2020

Lemon Curd Crumble Muffins

This is taking the humble muffin and kicks it up a notch using some fresh NZ lemons. This recipe uses both the zest and juice of the lemons so nothing is wasted, you’d be surprised how much great flavour you can get out of the zest. The lemon curd recipe makes about twice the amount of curd that you’ll need for the muffins so you can keep the rest in an air tight container in the fridge and use for whatever you like. For a brief video of me making the dish head over to my Instagram page and to get more info on citrus fruit, when they’re in season and industry news head to https://www.citrus.co.nz/

Lemon Curd Crumble Muffins

Makes at least 12

Ingredients:

Lemon curd

135ml lemon juice (6 lemons)

125g sugar

125g butter – cubed

3 egg yolks

2 whole eggs

Crumble topping

40g flour

20g ground almonds

35g sugar

35g butter, cubed

1tsp lemon zest

Muffin mix

4C flour

2C sugar

8 teaspoons baking powder

3tsp lemon zest

1tsp vanilla essence

200g melted butter

500 ml milk

2 eggs

Method:

For the Lemon curd:

Zest the lemons using a fine grater or micro plane and set to one side. Mix together the lemon juice, sugar and eggs in a bowl and set over a pot half full of water over a low heat on the stove. Add half the butter and cook until mixture begins to thicken using a whisk to stir the mix occasionally, then add the remaining butter and continue cooking. When the lemon curd is nice and thick remove it from heat and cool in the fridge.

For the Crumble topping:

Combine all dry ingredients and rub in butter with your fingers until it’s sandy. 

For the Muffin mix:

Melt the butter and whisk with the eggs and milk. Combine all the dry ingredients and make a well in the centre and then gently fold/stir in the wet ingredients until just combined. Don’t over mix as this will make your muffins tough. Pre heat your oven to 165C. Spoon half the muffin mix into your greased or lined muffin tin and then place a teaspoon of cold lemon curd in the centre. Top with the remaining muffin mix and then spoon the crumble topping evenly over the muffins. Bake for 18-22mins depending on your oven and the size of your muffins, the bigger the muffins the longer they will take however if you make 12-13 jumbo size muffins with this recipe they will take closer to 22mins to bake. 

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October 19, 2020

Pan fried fish w Orange Avocado Salad, Citrus herb crumb

It’s Spring now apparently so along with some brief fine spells of weather we have some beautiful citrus fruit in season. So when the weather allows head outside and fire up the bbq. This recipe is fresh and achievable and can be mostly prepared in advance with the cooking all done on the bbq if you like. For a brief video of me making the dish head over to my Instagram page and to get more info on citrus fruit, when they’re in season and industry news head to https://www.citrus.co.nz/

Pan Fried Fish w Orange Avocado Salad, Asparagus, Citrus Herb Crumb

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4pc Fish fillets (600g approx)

4 handfuls asparagus (300g approx)

Salt and Pepper

Citrus Herb Crumb

2 Bread rolls (stale ones are the best!)

Zest of 2 Oranges

6Tbs Olive Oil

2-3Tbs Orange Juice

50g Whole Almonds

1/4 Red Onion (fine dice)

2 Small handfuls Rocket (25g approx)

Salt and Pepper

Orange Avocado Salad

2-4 Oranges (zested and segmented, keeping all the juice)

1 Avocado (chunky dice)

6 Cherry Tomatoes (halved)

1/4 Red Onion (fine dice)

4 Small handfuls Rocket (50g approx)

Salt and Pepper

Orange Dressing

Juice of 2 oranges (use the cores left over from making the salad segments)

4Tbs Olive Oil

Method:

For the Citrus Herb Crumb:

Rip up the bread rolls into small chunks. Combine all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until everything is well combined and everything is chopped up into a coarse crumb, don’t make it too fine you want to see all the bits. Spread out onto an oven tray and bake at 150C for 15mins taking it out half way through and give it a stir so it cooks evenly. Cool and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

For the Orange Avocado Salad:

Zest the oranges using a zester (keep the zest for the crumb) and remove the skin ensuring to cut away all the white pith as this is bitter and we don’t want to use it. Segment the oranges and squeeze the remaining orange core into a bowl to collect the juice to use for the dressing. Combine all the salad ingredients except the rocket as well as all the dressing ingredients in a bowl together. When ready to serve toss through the rocket at the last minute so it stays fresh and doesn’t wilt.

To Serve:

Drizzle the asparagus with a little cooking oil and season with some salt and pepper and grill on the bbq until tender. Do the same with the fish fillets and either grill on the grill plate of the bbq or in a fry pan over medium to high heat, cooking time will depend on the thickness of the fish but a good guide for most fish fillets is about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked all the way through but try not to over cook the fish or it can go dry. Toss the rocket through the salad and build up all the ingredients on plates and serve with some aioli if you like.

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May 9, 2019

Massaman Goat Curry Pie

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Shooting goats was the way many of us first graduated from hunting small to larger game and this recipe in my opinion transforms the humble goat into something pretty special. This recipe uses all of the animal which I think is really important, if we’re taking a life we should give it the respect it deserves and try to not waste any of it. You can use any part of the goat for the pie, even the prime cuts if you like however if you do you won’t need to cook it as long. For this dish I have used the back leg meat (could use neck or shoulder too) for the pie and I’ve taken to the goat with a hacksaw to make racks but you could always just go the quicker route and take the back steaks off the bone, just make sure you cook them pink so they don’t dry out. Oh and if you’re taking a meat animal, as always the younger nannies will taste the best.

goat 

Massaman Goat Curry Pie
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Tomato Salsa
  1. 4 Tomatoes, large
  2. 1/4 Red onion
  3. 1/2C Pineapple
  4. 1/2C Cucumber
  5. Mint, finely sliced/chopped
  6. 1tsp Lime juice (to taste)
  7. 1tsp Fish sauce (to taste)
Massaman Goat Curry Pie
  1. 650g Goat leg, trimmed and diced
  2. 1x 425ml Tin coconut cream
  3. 2 tablespoons Massaman curry paste
  4. 1 cup chicken stock
  5. 1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts
  6. 2 medium potatoes, peeled, medium dice
  7. 1 cinnamon stick
  8. 2 bay leaves
  9. 5 cardamom pods
  10. 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  11. 1 tablespoon tamarind
  12. 1 tablespoon fish sauce
Plus
  1. 1 packet puff pastry sheets
  2. 1 egg, whisked with 1Tbs milk
  3. 2Tbs butter, melted
Tomato Salsa Method
  1. Take the seeds out of the tomatoes and the cucumbers but you can leave the cucumber skin on. Small dice the tomato, pineapple and cucumber but finely dice the onion (as fine as you can). Combine all the ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Massaman Goat Curry Pie Method
  1. In small batches, sear the diced meat in a hot pan with a little oil until it is nicely browned and put to one side. In a pot large enough to fit all your ingredients, fry the spice paste until it becomes fragrant, add the meat and all the other ingredients (except the puff pastry, egg and butter). Simmer on a low heat on the stove or covered in a baking dish in the oven set to 160C for about 2hrs or until meat is nice and tender. You can add more tamarind and fish sauce or sugar to taste. Cool. Once the mix is cold you can use to fill your pies. I like to make individual pies, how many pies you get out of the mix will depend on how big or small you would like them but this amount should get you about 10 or so medium sized pies or one really big one. Grease your pie moulds with some melted butter, cut circles of puff pastry large enough to fill your mould right to the edges, push the pastry into the moulds and prick the base with a fork to stop it from puffing up at the bottom. Fill your pies with the cold goat curry mix, brush the edges of the pastry with your whisked egg, cut out circles of pastry for your lids and crimp the pie lid on with a fork. Trim the overhanging edges with a knife and brush the top with your egg mix. Bake at 180C until the pastry is cooked and golden brown, (about 12-15mins depending on the size of your pies and the oven). Leave to cool just enough to handle and remove from the moulds. You can make these pies ahead of time and reheat them in the oven on a low heat. Serve with some tomato and pineapple salsa. Here I have served the pies with some salsa, jus and grilled goat rack garnished with picked coriander.
MacLean Fraser http://macleanfraser.com/
 

 

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December 12, 2018

Grilled Venison heart with Caper butter

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Heart is a highly underrated piece of meat that I would guess most people leave behind. It is unlike any other offal and less like liver or kidney and much more like a fine textured steak. If we’re going to respect and make the most of our kills we should try and take as much as we can and if you have the chance I recommend bringing home the heart and giving it a try next time.

Venison Heart - Copy

Grilled Venison heart with Caper butter
Serves 2
This recipe uses one Venison heart (see How to: Venison Heart butchery) and serves 2 as a main or 4 as a starter.
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Caper butter
  1. 250g salted butter, room temperature
  2. 1cl Garlic
  3. 1Tbs Capers
  4. 1tsp Mustard
  5. 1 Gherkin
  6. 1tsp Tarragon
  7. Pinch pepper
To Serve
  1. Salt and pepper
  2. Cooking oil
  3. Watercress or other salad leaves
  4. Salad dressing
For the Caper butter
  1. Roughly chop your garlic, capers, gherkin and tarragon. Combine all your ingredients into a food processor and mix until everything is well combined, you want the ingredients to be well incorporated and the last thing you want is to bite down on a massive chunk of raw garlic. You will want to serve the butter at room temperature so it is nice and soft but can keep in the fridge or the freezer for a few weeks. If you want to get a bit flash, when the butter is soft you can roll it up in glad wrap and set it in the fridge and once cold you can cut into nice round slices.
To Serve
  1. Place the trimmed up heart on a plate. Drizzle it with a little cooking oil and season on both sides with salt and pepper. Grill on the BBQ over a high heat the same as you would a steak. It will need about 3 minutes on each side depending on the thickness of your heart for medium rare. Heart, as it is a very lean mean is best served medium rare and no more than medium otherwise it will start to dry out. Once it is cooked rest it somewhere warm for at least 4 minutes so that the juices can set. Cut the grilled heart into slices and serve with the caper butter and some watercress tossed in salad dressing or a little olive oil and lemon juice if preferred.
MacLean Fraser http://macleanfraser.com/

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December 12, 2018

How to: Venison Heart butchery

hunters kitchen spread

 

Heart is a highly underrated piece of meat that I would guess most people leave behind. It is unlike any other offal and less like liver or kidney and much more like a fine textured steak. If we’re going to respect and make the most of our kills we should try and take as much as we can and if you have the chance I recommend bringing home the heart and giving it a try next time.

 

You will need:

1 large Venison heart

A tray to place you meat in as you prepare it

A bowl for your unusable off cuts

A good sized chopping board with a wet towel underneath to stop it moving

A sharp boning knife and steel

 

Step 1:

Place a wet towel under a chopping board so it won’t move around on you and grab a very sharp fine knife. Pat the heart dry with a towel and place on your board.

part 1 - Copy 

Step 2:

Remove all the fat and membrane from the outside of the heart making sure you cut away as little meat as possible.

part 2 - Copy

Step 3:

There are two sides to the heart each with two openings. Place your knife inside the opening and cut through both sides so you end up with the smaller side taken off.

part 3 - Copy

Step 4:

Place your knife in the other opening and cut through one side in order to butterfly open the larger half

part 4

Step 5:

Using your knife remove the membrane and any sinew from the inside of the heart.

part 5

 Step 6:

Trim up the heart and cut the larger of the two pieces in half if desired.

part 6 - Copy

 

 

 

 

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July 19, 2018

Tahr Olives with Mushroom sauce

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This dish is a take on Beef Olives, which many of us would have had as kids. Don’t ask me why they’re called olives as they contain no actual olives. For this recipe I have used leg meat but any cut can be used here really as it going to be slow cooked. I would recommend saving your back steaks for a different recipe but if you do use a prime cut then you won’t have to cook it for as long in order for it to be tender.

 Tahr Olives

Tahr Olives with Mushroom sauce
Serves 4
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Stuffing
  1. 150g Minced beef (or other meat of your choosing)
  2. 1Tbs Onion (finely diced)
  3. 1cl Garlic (crushed)
  4. 1tsp Dried mixed herbs
  5. 1 egg
  6. 20g (3 heaped Tbs) Breadcrumbs
  7. 1 rasher Streaky bacon (or ½ middle or shoulder bacon)
  8. Good pinch salt and pepper
Tahr Olives
  1. 600g Tahr
  2. 12 or so Toothpicks
  3. 3Tbs Flour for dusting
Mushroom Sauce
  1. 100g (6 large) Button mushrooms
  2. 2cl Garlic
  3. 60g (1/2) sliced onion
  4. 1 knob Butter
  5. 1tsp Cooking oil
  6. 500ml beef stock (or water and 1 stock cube)
  7. Salt and pepper to taste
For the stuffing
  1. Whisk up your egg until the white and yolk and mixed together well. Finely dice or mince the bacon. Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl and set to one side.
For the Tahr Olives
  1. Trim up your Tahr removing any sinew and silver skin. Cut into large slices about 1-2cm thick and using a heavy blunt instrument gently bash out to about 1/2cm thick as if you were making Schnitzel. Lay out your Thar on your chopping board and then using your hands shape the stuffing into sausage shapes big enough to fill each piece of Thar. To make the olives place the stuffing at one end of the meat and then roll up the meat around the stuffing and secure with a toothpick. Dust each roll in flour and set to one side while you get your sauce ready.
For the Mushroom sauce
  1. Slice up your mushrooms, slice the onions and finely dice or crush the garlic. Heat a fry pan over a moderate to high heat with 1tsp of cooking oil. When hot fry your Tahr giving it a nice browning on each side and then transferring to a casserole dish. Add a knob of butter to the pan and fry the mushrooms, onions and garlic until nicely browned then add to the casserole dish with the Tahr. Place the pan back on the heat and add about ¼ of the stock to the pan and using a wooden spoon scrape all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan as this will give you some good flavour. Add the hot stock from the pan along with the remaining stock to the casserole dish. Cover with a lid of tin foil and cook at 160C for about 1hour 45minutes of until the meat is tender. If the sauce is not thick enough you can always drain it off and thicken it with cornflour if needed. Season to taste then pour over the olives and serve with some buttery mashed potatoes.
MacLean Fraser http://macleanfraser.com/
 

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June 5, 2018

BBQ Wild Pork Ribs

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When summer is well under way this recipe is perfect to pull out for the BBQ. To get prepared ahead of time you can make the BBQ sauce and the dry rub beforehand and even go so far so pre-cooking the ribs. Once you’ve got everything ready you’re free to enjoy some beers and just throw the ribs on the BBQ and baste with the sauce once you’re ready to serve. Don’t worry if the sun isn’t shining though, you can still make this in the oven and if you don’t have time to go running round the hills then this recipe will work just fine with ribs from the supermarket.

BBQ Ribs

BBQ Wild Pork Ribs
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Dry Rub
  1. 2Tbs Smoked Paprika
  2. 2Tbs Cumin, ground
  3. 1Tbs Fennel, ground
  4. 2Tbs Onion Powder
  5. 1Tbs Salt
  6. 1tsp Pepper, ground
BBQ Sauce Marinade
  1. 1/4C Tomato Sauce
  2. 1/4C Sweet Chilli Sauce
  3. 2Tbs Golden Syrup
  4. 3Tbs Red Wine Vinegar
  5. 1Tbs Soy Sauce
  6. 1Tbs Worchester Sauce
  7. 1tsp Kaitaia Fire (or Tabasco)
  8. 1/4C Apple Juice
For the Dry Rub
  1. Mix together the dry rub ingredients and rub all over your ribs. Wrap up in baking paper then tin foil and bake at 165C for 1hr 15mins until tender. Make sure there is a good seal on the foil so that the ribs retain all their moisture and don’t go dry.
For the BBQ Sauce
  1. Combine all the ingredients in a pot and simmer over a low heat until reduced by about 1/3 and nice and syrupy.
To Serve
  1. Once the ribs are cooked brush them with the sauce and either grill on the BBQ or roast in a hot oven. Turn and brush with the sauce until they are nicely glazed, sticky and browned.
MacLean Fraser http://macleanfraser.com/
 

 

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