Food Finder Interview

Here's an interview I recently did with Trudi from NZ Food Finder. She has come up with the brilliant idea of creating a space where you can list your own favourite cafés, food producers and share that local knowledge...

http://nzfoodfinder.com/2015/10/21/local-foodie-qa-deborah-hide-bayne-coromandel-town/

The first broad beans are ready!

The first broad beans are ready in the garden, and we are looking forward to a great summer of eating freshly-picked food. It’s the perfect time to plant a few tomato plants or a tray of salad greens if you haven’t got green fingers, or a whole garden of produce if you have. I am planting lettuce, tomatoes, sweetcorn, eggplant, capsicums, beans, zuchini and cucumbers.

But let’s get back to broad beans…

I love the tenderness of the early ones; the skins aren’t too thick and they cook in just a few minutes…The first meal was couscous, fresh mint, spring onions and broad beans served warm with some salmon on the side. Delicious!

And the next recipe using broad beans? A bit of research has given me some great ideas:

> Cook pasta and add asparagus, peas and broad beans for the last few minutes of cooking. Drain, stir in some cream, a squeeze of lemon and fresh tarragon.

> Make pesto. Use 330g of cooked broad beans, fry off 2 cloves garlic & 3 anchovy fillets, then blitz up with 25g parmesan and a squeeze of lemon juice.

> Make quesadillas. Put a soft tortilla in a lightly-oiled hot frying pan, and add some grated cheese. Once the cheese has melted, add slivers of cooked steak, cooked broad beans, jalapenos and tomato on half only. Heat through, fold the tortilla in half and flip it over to cook on the other side. Cut into wedges and serve.

Some good in our ‘hood

On a recent trip to Auckland we went to a café that has been on my list to visit for some time… not only because of their great food, but also their great attitude. 

Crave Café is in Kingsland and their tagline, some good in the ‘hood really sums up their philosophy: all their profits go back to the community and they run the business as a collective.

I really loved:

·                                           > the funky interior

·                                          

                 > the wonderful sounding menu

·               > last but not least, the delicious food!

Check them out at cravecafe.co.nz