Peperoni Alla Piemontese

Baked Roasted Capsicums 

Intro 

This a second antipasto dish using capsicums and anchovies ... perfect with crusty bread and wine and quite different to Peperoni con Alici a Capperi. 

Recipe 

Cut capsicums of all colours (red, yellow, orange or green) in quarters lengthwise. Remove seeds. Arrange into a flat baking dish and into each piece place:

• 2 or 3 thin slices of garlic
• 2 small sections of sliced tomato
• 1/2 a fillet of anchovy,
• 2 dessertspoons of olive oil
• a sprinkling of sea salt

Cook in a moderate oven for 20-30 mins max - don't overcook. They should still be al dente. Serve cold. 

Roasted capsicums with anchovies

Intro

One of my favourite ways of socialising is sitting around a picnic table on the back lawn with sea as a backdrop, a glass of wine, a bunch of old friends and yummy things to eat. A couple of gorgeous cheeses, salty nuts, a firm pear, smoked salmon or chicken, garlicky olives and roasted red peppers all seem to me to be the food of the Gods. Horowhenua is a strong horticultural area and we are blessed to be able to buy gorgeous, picked daily, vegetables direct from the grower ... including stunning red peppers at the right time of year. My kids eat them like apples! I make a couple of antipasto dishes including Peperoni Alla Piemontese. This recipe consists of chargrilled red peppers (capsicums) rolled up with anchovies and capers - gorgeous combination. 

Recipe

• 6 large glossy red peppers (bell peppers or capsicums)
• garlic
• olive oil
• anchovies
• capers
• 1 lemon

Grill the red peppers until the skins are blackened (or roast over a naked gas flame ie a BBQ). Stick them in a closed paper bag and leave for 15 minutes to steam. The blackened skin will peel off quite easily with a vegetable knife. Marinate for 15 minutes in olive oil, a splash of lemon, a crushed clove of garlic. 

Cut each pepper into 6 or 8 length-wise strips (depending on the size of the peppers). Place a chopped anchovy fillet and a few capers on each slice then roll up into a small sausage and arrange into a shallow dish. Pour the marinade over and garnish with a tiny sprinkling of parsley, or grated lemon rind, a grinding of black pepper or a few fresh thyme leaves. Serve with bread to sop up the lovely oil.

Tapenade

Intro

Another gorgeous recipe from my friend Kate, just perfect as part of an anti-pasto platter .... have I said before how my favourite way of entertaining is over wine or gin and nibbly things around a picnic table? You can half the recipe if the bowl of your food processor is small but I have to do it in these quantities to get it whizzing around properly. 

Recipe

Blend together in a food processor:

• 3 cups stoned black olives
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 2/3rds cup pine nuts
• 450g anchovies
• 1 fresh red chilli
• 1 cup parsley
• 1 cup olive oil

Store in fridge - keeps for up to a week. Caution: this is very yummy but eating too much of it in one setting might do funny things to your tummy.

Cashew Nut Fudge

Intro

Ilove fudge, just love it but the perfect fudge is a rare thing. I hate sugary, grainy fudge and I don't like it when its too hard either. I like it creamy but with a 'bite' to it. One summer I got a book out of the library, a whole book of fudge recipes, and I cooked my way through many of them. This is the best recipe from the book - really yummy and the perfect texture. I usually double the recipe so I can use up the whole tin of condensed milk. Several times in the last 20 years things have been a bit tight financially - especially around Christmas time - and thats when this recipe has come very handy as its a great Christmas present when wrapped in cellophane and the cashew nuts make it a bit posher than normal. 

Recipe

Combine the following into a large heavy saucepan:

• 450g sugar
• 150 ml sweetened condensed milk (can you get this outside of NZ?)
• 150ml milk
• 100g butter

Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved, stirring constantly. Bring to the boil and boil until mixture reaches 115 degrees celcius, stirring occasionally. It will catch really easily but don't panic if wee flecks of brown start appearing - its a warning to watch it like a hawk coz its on the edge of being done. Remove from the heat, add a few drops of vanilla, then beat until the mixture leaves a trail on itself. Quickly stir in 50g cashew nuts. Pour the fudge into a lightly oiled 18cm square tin. Mark into squares as it begins to set. When completely cold and set turn the fudge out and cut into the marked squares.

Lemon Honey

Intro 

An oldie but a goodie from the Edmonds Cookery Book. This is a Kiwi classic that every home-leaver, new bride and divorcee is given a copy of ... in fact I don't think I've ever met a home without a copy tucked into a drawer somewhere. 
Lemon honey is a key component of a slice I 'invented' while trying to replicate a lemon slice from The White House, a ski lodge I stayed in at Ohakune in the late 80s. I never did get it right but my slice is pretty good. Everyone grows lemons in Levin - except me - so whenever I get given too many to use quickly I make this. 

Recipe

Place together in a bowl:

• 500g sugar
• 125g butter
• finely grated rind and strained juice of 4 lemons
• 4 eggs

Place bowl in microwave and zap for 30 seconds then stir or whisk, 30 seconds then stir or whisk and so on until it gets nice and thick. It might take 5 minutes. (You are meant to do this in a double boiler but I can never be bothered). Pour into hot jars and cover when cold. Store in fridge. Use on Vogel's toast (my favourite), as a tartlet or pie filling or in Lemon Coconut slice.

Mulled Wine

Intro

Back in the day, pre-children, I used to take pottery classes. Rosalie Blake was the tutor and while I was never particularly good I really enjoyed those Thursday nights. It may well have had something to do with the mulled wine. We used to make a crockpot of this each class and sip away while we potted. I'm pretty sure we always got onto the clay ..... 

Recipe

Combine together in a crockpot and stir until dissolved:

• 1 cup sugar (I think demerara sugar was especially good)
• One and half cups boiling water

Add:

• 1 cinnamon stick
• 6 cloves
• 4 cups red wine
• a quarter cup of brandy
• 1 thinly sliced lemon (we used grapefruit sometimes and it was surprisingly good)

Cover with lid and simmer on low for 3 or 4 hours or 1-2 hours on high. Do not boil.

Chocolate Trufffles

Intro

Divinely disgustingly rich and rummy - another one of Fran's recipes. 

Recipe

Soak together for 10 minutes:

• 2 tablespoons chopped raisins
• 2 tablespoons rum

Melt:

• 150g good chocolate (darkish but not bitter)

Mix in:

• 1 lightly beaten egg yolk
• 25g soft butter
• a half cup icing sugar
• the soaked raisins (from above)

Rest in the fridge for 30 minutes then roll into small balls. Set in fridge for a bit, then dip in chocolate and and roll in coconut:

• 150g melted chocolate
• 1 cup coconut.