Ingredients

• 4 pork fillets

Marinade

• 300 ml sweet dark soy sauce
• 100 ml sweet sherry - Shaoxing wine
• 100 ml hoisen sauce
• 2 tbsp liquid honey
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 2 tsp chopped garlic

Syrup

• 100 g palm sugar
• 100ml water
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• chilli to taste

Simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until it becomes slightly thick and syrupy

Method

Place all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Add the pork fillet and massage the marinade into the pork ensuring all the meat is well covered.

Cover and refrigerate over night,

Place the pork on a rack over a tray in a pre-heated hot oven (200c) for about 6-8 minutes.

Remove and brush a coating of the marinade onto the pork and replace into the oven.

Repeat this process twice, meaning the pork is in the oven for a total of about 18-20 minutes.

Remove and cool to room temperature.

Brush with the syrup and set aside to dry a little before slicing thinly and serving.

Serving suggestions

-On rocket and blue cheese salad.

-In fried rice.

-In crusty baguette with bitter lettuce and fresh tomatoes.

-On a salsa of charred sweet corn and shallots in virgin olive oil.

From Every Day Kitchen by Natalie Oldfield
Photography by Todd Eyre

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 200 g piece of sponge
• 4 scoops passion fruit ice cream
• 1 cup lemon curd
• 4 egg whites
• ¾ cup sugar

Method

Cut sponge to fit bases of 4 round moulds or small souffl é dishes. Place a scoop of ice cream on top of sponge then pour over lemon curd and cover with more sponge.

Place in freezer overnight.

Preheat oven to 200°C.

With an electric beater, beat the egg whites until stiff. Pour in sugar and beat until smooth and glossy.

Use a knife to loosen the sponges from the moulds and place them on a baking tray.

Cover each sponge with meringue and bake for 6–8 minutes until meringue has set and is starting to lightly brown. Serve immediately.

Stephen Morris’s wine recommendations

Saint Clair (Block 9) 2010 Riesling. Just a light 9% alcohol and with 50 grams residual sugar per litre this is light and sweet but not cloying. It has preserved lemon and candied lemon rind flavours.

Isabel Noble Sauvage 2006. This pulls out all the stops. A funky ripe nose with passionfruit and lemon curd to the fore. A viscosity on that palate that coats the mouth. Full on richness.

Non alcoholic drinks:

The non drinkers could always make their favourite homemade lemonade as a match for this dessert. I’d suggest doubling up on the sweetener though – use honey and sugar, fresh lemon juice and soda.

From Every Day Kitchen by Natalie Oldfield
Photography by Todd Eyre

(Serves 6)

Ingredients

Pastry

• 2 cups standard fl our
• 100 g butter
• 2 egg yolks
• 30–40 ml cold water

Filling

• 400 g pumpkin, diced and roasted
• 500 g cottage cheese
• 15–20 sage leaves
• 1½ cups grated Parmesan
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp milk

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with non-stick paper.

Place fl our in a bowl, add butter and rub until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Add egg yolks and water and mix to a stiff dough. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Place pumpkin, cottage cheese, sage leaves and 1 cup of grated Parmesan in a bowl and very gently fold together. Season with salt and pepper.

Roll out pastry on a lightly fl oured surface to form a large circle 3 mm thick and transfer to baking tray.

Place pumpkin filling on pastry leaving a 3 cm edge. Fold edge over top of pumpkin mixture. Brush pastry with milk. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and bake for 30–40 minutes or until golden brown.

Stephen Morris’s wine recommendations

Autumn is in the air, and pumpkin, sage and pastry reinforce that for me. Chardonnay is where I head. Something with weight and savoury depth. Don’t chill these wines too much, just 30 minutes in the fridge is probably enough.

Delegat Reserve Hawkes Bay 2010 chardonnay – good butterscotch richness on the nose. Some toffee pudding weight even. They’ve used 45% new oak which shows up as a good firmness in the mouth. Good length on the palate.

Church Road have released a new range, between the entry level standards and the reserves; the McDonald series. The 2011 chardonnay has just 20% new oak so it is firmly framed but not woody. Lots of ripe peaches and with wild ferment weight and complexity. There is some butter and some toffee in the mouth too. Very good, warming chardonnay.

From Every Day Kitchen by Natalie Oldfield
Photography by Todd Eyre

(Serves 4–6)

Ingredients

• 6 duck legs
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 onions, peeled and chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 2 whole heads garlic
• 8 sprigs fresh thyme
• 4 cups water
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• pinch of baking soda
• 2 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp flour
• 4 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tbsp sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 150°C.

Remove any excess fat from duck legs. Heat oil over medium heat in a large frying pan.

Brown duck legs skin-side down for 10–15 minutes or until skin is very golden. Turn over and cook for the same amount of time.

In a large roasting pan, place onion, carrot, parsnip, garlic and thyme. Place duck legs on top of vegetables.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the rest of the ingredients. Pour mixture over vegetables and duck and cover with baking paper. Place lid on top of roasting pan. Cook for 1 hour.

Remove baking paper and lid and cook for a further 30 minutes. Serve with your favourite greens.

Stephen Morris’s wine recommendations

Crowded House 2010 Pinot Noir. A blend / selection of Nelson, Marlborough & Central Otago fruit. Warm damson plums on the nose. Lots of bright fruit. Tight acid and warm black fruits on the palate. Great value pinot noir.

Black Estate Omihi 2010 Pinot Noir. From Waipara. Very black fruit (auto-suggestion from the name?) and cherried nose. Nice wood element with cloves, cinnamon, all spice and nutmeg all chiming in. A cleansing gentle finish that means another sip is never far away. Very smart.

This is thick, warming, full of goodness, and just happens to taste amazing. Start the recipe a day ahead for best results.

Ingredients

Stock

• 1 bacon hock weighing about 1 kg
• 2 carrots, peeled and quartered
• 2 stalks celery, cut into thick chunks
• Handful parsley stalks (reserve parsley for soup)
• 12 peppercorns
• 1 large onion, peeled and quartered

Soup

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 large leeks, trimmed, halved and sliced
• 900g desiree potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp thyme leaves
• 3 Tbsp finely chopped parsley
• 2 tsp salt

Method

1 Make the stock first. Put bacon hock in a deep container or saucepan and cover with cold water. Soak for 2 hours, drain and rinse. Return it to a clean saucepan and add remaining ingredients. Cover with 2.5 litres cold water, bring to the boil, then cook gently, at a simmer, for 2 hours.

2 Strain stock into a large bowl. Set aside bacon hock and stock but discard vegetables. Cool stock quickly, then cover and refrigerate. Once cold, skim off fat, then run through a fine sieve. Remove all meat from bacon bone while warm, chop coarsely and transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate.

3 To make the soup, put oil in large stockpot, add leeks, then put potatoes on top. Add 1 Tbsp water and set pan over a medium heat. As soon as pan is warming up and cooking has started, cover it with a lid, lower heat and cook very gently for 20 minutes until leeks have softened down.

4 Add 1 litre bacon stock and thyme, bring to a gentle boil, then lower heat and cook very gently 45-50 minutes, until very tender. Cool soup for 10 minutes, then puree half of the solid part of the soup in a food processor with the chopped parsley, then return it to soup pot. Swirl in reserved bacon meat. Taste soup for seasoning. Add salt a little at a time, swirling it in and letting it settle for a few minutes before swirling it again and tasting. Serve soup piping hot.

Ingredients

• 29g (1/4 cup) Szechwan peppercorns
• 50g (1/2 cup) flaky sea salt 
• ½ tsp dried chilli flakes

Method

Into a small heavy-based frypan place peppercorns, salt and chilli. Place over a medium heat and stir constantly till salt turns off-white and pepper begins to crackle.

Remove from heat and transfer to a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and grind to a rough texture.

Sieve to remove peppercorn husks and grind again to a fine texture.

Store in an airtight container away from direct sunlight for up to one month.

Ingredients

400g (4) large kiwifruit (peeled and each kiwifruit cut horizontally into 3 or 4 slices)

45ml (3 Tbsp) extra virgin olive oil (manzanillo variety or a similar soft smooth flavoured oil)

1-2 tsp roasted Szechwan pepper-salt

Method

Place kiwifruit slices onto a serving plate or lay out into 4 individual serving dishes.

Drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil and then sprinkle with roasted Szechwan pepper salt.

John Hawkesby’s wine recommendation

Bubbles
Eden Sparkling

Ingredients

• 20 green-lipped mussels (scrubbed and debearded)
• 250ml (1 cup) Sauvignon Blanc
• 30ml (2 Tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
• 30 ml (2 Tbsp) tomato chilli jam
• 3g (3 Tbsp) karengo fronds (lightly toasted)

Method

Into a heavy-based saucepan place Sauvignon Blanc aiming for 1cm depth and bring to the boil.

Add mussels, place lid on saucepan and cook for 5-10 minutes or until all mussels are open.  Some mussels may open before others so remove them as they open.

Strain poaching liquid and reserve the liquid.

Open mussels and discard the empty shell.

Detach mussel from second half, remove tongue and discard, brush mussel with oil and return to shell.

Place tomato chilli jam in a bowl and add 1Tbsp poaching liquid and combine.

Spoon ¼ tsp Tomato Chilli Jam mixture onto each mussel and sprinkle with karengo fronds. 

Serve.

John Hawkesby’s wine recommendation

Sauvignon Blanc
Babich Headwaters Organic 2011

Riesling
Ostler Lakeside 2011

Fresh mozzarella is sold in brine. It is white in colour and comes in a large ball. If you cannot obtain fresh mozzarella, use the more readily available yellow mozzarella version.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes|
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 500 grams small Swiss brown or button mushrooms
• a knob of butter
• 1 tsp minced fresh garlic
• 3 sheets ready-rolled puff pastry
• 1 egg, beaten or 2 tblsp milk
• 100-150 grams sliced fresh mozzarella cheese
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary sprigs

Method

1. Finely slice mushrooms and cook in butter with the garlic until lightly browned and no juices remain. Season and cool.

2. Roll 2 puff pastry sheets into a 30 x 22cm rectangle. Trim the edges and place on a paper-lined or greased baking tray. Brush a 3cm strip around the edge of the rectangle with egg wash or milk.

3. Cut a further sheet of pastry into 3cm wide strips and place these on top of the egg-washed edges to form the sides of the tart. Brush with egg wash to glaze.

4. Scatter over the mushrooms with fresh mozzarella cheese. Garnish with rosemary.

5. Fan bake at 200ºC for 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden and well-risen and the cheese is melted. Serve with salad and crusty bread.

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 100 grams butter
• ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
• 4-5 tablespoon ice-cold water

Filling

• ½ cup ricotta cheese
• 1-2 ham steaks, diced
• 100 grams feta cheese, diced
• 250 grams figs
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• 1 tablespoon chopped thyme
• honey to drizzle
• beaten egg or milk to glaze

Method

Preheat the oven to 200ºC.  Grease a 21cm pie dish.

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl.  Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Add the parmesan cheese.

Using a knife, stir in sufficient water until the pastry begins to form large clumps.  When a small portion is gathered in the hand and pressed together it should stay together.

Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead lightly to bring together.  Wrap in greaseproof paper or plastic wrap and rest for 30 minutes in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

On a lightly floured board, roll out the pastry to a 30cm circle.  Place the pastry in the prepared pie dish.  Spread the ricotta cheese over pastry on the bottom of the dish.  Scatter over the ham, feta cheese and figs.  Sprinkle over the mozzarella cheese and thyme.  Fold the rim of the pastry roughly over the fig mixture, some of the filling will still be showing.  Brush the pastry lightly with beaten egg or milk to glaze.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until golden. 

Drizzle over the honey…..

Food processor method

Put the flour, salt and butter into a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.

Pulse in sufficient water, until the mixture forms small moist balls of dough.  Press a small amount of the dough balls together and if they form a mass sufficient water has been added.

Turn out onto a lightly floured bench and bring together.  There is no need to knead pastry made in the food processor as this will have been done sufficiently by the processor.  Wrap and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.