Christmas Eve Dinner 2012

It has been a while since I posted any of my cooking, so I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you what our family was feasting on Christmas Eve.  For many years now, Christmas Eve to me has meant cooking up a wonderful feast for my family and spend hours enjoying it with a couple of glasses of wine, and this year was no exception.  With careful planning in advance I made it easy and straightforward, and everything was a hit with everyone's tummy.  Enjoy :)

Entree

	Smoked Salmon Terrine and Baked Camembert The smoked salmon was served with capers and thinly sliced apple.
	Garlic Bread This was served with the Baked Le Rustique Camembert, the strong garlic flavour goes very well with the cheese.

Acompanied Wine: Pegasus Bay Bel Canto (Dry Riesling) 2010.  This is a newly released dry Riesling which I find matching very well with seafood and cheese, it just takes off the oiliness of the fatty salmon and the creaminess Camembert, leaving your palette nice and refresh.

Main

	Roasted Duck Butterflied, de-boned and cherry and pinot noir marinated (for 2 days) duck that was then gently simmer in the marinate in a pot in low heat.  For th finish touch, the duck was then grill in the oven (to crispy up the skin).
	Side Dishes The duck was accompanied with creamy mashed potatoes, caramalised onions and carrots, garlic butter asparagus, fresh cherries and duck jus.

Acompanied Wine: Rockburn Pinot Noir 2010.  The pinot noir from Rockburn has always been my favourite, although the 2010 vintage is delicious, but I find the 2007 and 2008 much better.  It is quite a fruity pinot noir and goes very well with the duck.

Dessert

	Praline Souffle Served with chilled Creme Anglaise.  I made my praline with macadamia nuts and it was delicious.
	Pavalova Served with fresh whipped cream, strawberries and blueberries.  Christmas in NZ will not be the same without one of this :)

Acompanied Wine: Alana Estate L'Aperitif 2007.  This is a slightly sweet Riesling, not your traditionally late harvest Riesling and it accompanies very well with the sweet Pavalova and nutty praline.

If you would like any of the recipes that is not on my site, keep an eye out for my future blogs :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE AND I HOPE EVERYONE HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!

Affogato

Now that summer has finally arrived in NZ (sorry for those in the Northern Hemisphere), it is time for my all time favourite Italian desert: Affogato.  It is so simple that it'll be a crime not to go and make it right now! Affogato in Italian means "drowned", basically you just drown the ice cream or gelato with a shot of hot espresso. Some people like to make this with a shot of liqueur like Amaretto or my personal favourite Baileys, and obviously this is the"big kids version". Yes I know what you're thinking, what can go wrong with the combination of ice cream, coffee and liqueur :D

To be honest, I love eating Affogato even on a cold wintery night...while sitting very close to the heater or a fire place of course! I know not everyone has a fire place at home or have the luxury to crank up the heater in the middle of winter to enjoy a tasty late-night treat, but oh boy, this is so worth it!

Fear you may not sleep afterwards, then why not use decaffeinated coffee? It is fun to try out different flavours of ice cream, you may be very surprised by how some weird combinations works like a charm, for example: mint chocolate chips ice cream with espresso - weird huh! But I assure you, if you love mint like I do, this combination is the great union of strong flavours! With this recipe, you never have to slave hours in the kitchen to make a WOW ending for your dinner parties!

Affogato

2 generous scoops of ice cream 1 shot of espresso 1 shot of liqueur (optional)

Place the ice cream in a cup. Add espresso (and liqueur if you choose to). Done! Now eat it before the ice cream melts!

Enjoy :)

Chocolate Boutique - Parnell

The delicious Italian Denso!
Served with whipped cream 

Chocolate Boutique is a well hidden treasure on 1/323 Parnell Road, Parnell, Auckland and specialises in...CHOCOLATE!  From hand-made chocolate to chocolate drinks and desserts, ice cream and lollies, you won't be disappointed here.  I thoroughly enjoy having my 'guilty pleasures' here after a meal in Parnell with their traditional Italian Denso - which is basically a thick melted dark chocolate drink with cream, oh it's heavenly!  The smooth warm rich dark chocolate contrasting the cool light whipped cream, it is so good that words cannot describe how good it is.  For the adventurous type, they do the chocolate drink with chilli and it's really lovely to have in the winter times.  If dark chocolate or chilli isn't your thing, worry not, they have a wide range of other chocolate drinks available as well as sundaes for a hot summer day, so why not try them all, no all at once of course ;)

The shop is surprisingly small and the layout just doesn't make sense resulting in big queues and chaos in the shop, reasons why I dislike sitting inside - unfortunately outdoor area isn't as pleasant on a cold and/or raining day.  NOTE, do not go have a hot chocolate first thing in the morning, had a couple of very bad experiences as they weren't prepared, instead of refusing the order they ended up making very bad chocolate Italian denso...other than that, every other times when I had their chocolate, it has been delicious and I ensure you the chocolate is worth every minute of your waiting time!

From the left: Hazelnut Chocolate; Lemoncello Cup; Bailey Cone

I have never left this shop empty handed, taking home with me a couple of my little bro's favourite chocolates; hazelnut chocolate, lemoncello cup and bailey cone.  There is a huge variety of hand-made chocolates on offer and you need to be lucky to get this delightful lemoncello cup, as it is an all time favourite and their supply is limited! These little chocolate treats are really great gifts for special occasions and especially with Christmas coming soon!

For a lazy afternoon indulgence, there is no option other then their cake, LOVE their chocolate mud cake, moist and dense on the inside with not overly sweetened chocolate icing served with fresh whipped cream - it is heavenly!    Be sure to try out their Tiramisu as well, equally delicious.  Coffee with a piece of chocolate cake, what else would you need on a sunny lazy afternoon?

So if you're in Parnell next time, be sure to check out this little chocolate shop and I'm all your guilty pleasures will be satisfied and be left wanting for more! :D

OVERALL

FOOD: Good

PRICE: Moderate

SERVICE: Good and can be improved

ATMOSPHERE: Cosy with limited seating

Summary: A great place to fulfill you guilty pleasures, but do take-out unless you're lucky enough to find seats.

Delicious Tiramisu with fresh cream

Ooh La La - St Tropez Restaurant

I am very sad to say that my all time favourite French restaurant in Auckland has closed :( but Jean Christophe is now the head chef of the Orbit Restaurant at the top of Auckland Sky Tower so all are not lost there.  St Tropez was opened for 12 years and I've been their loyal customer for 6 of those 12 years, so now I have to venture to the Orbit to sample their latest and I am super excited about it :) though to be honest, I won't be going as often just because Orbit isn't as home-y and cosy as St Tropez was.

It was back in 2007 when I was first introduced to St Tropez, to celebrate the successful defense of a PhD Oral Exam from my laboratory.  As a large group, many quality things attracted us to choose the restaurant.  St. Tropez was in Parnell, Auckland.  It was an affordable cuisine with BYO, friendly staffs and AMAZING French food to die for!  My favourite part of the restaurant was their menu, which changed frenquently and meant I always get a pleasant surprise when I haven't been for a while, or alternatively find my favourite dish is not longer on the menu, but they always replace it with something equally delicious!

Their menu was short and concise, each dish is followed with detailed descriptions what will be on your plate - which is crucial as not all of us are equally familiar with the French Cuisine or read French..  I love when a menu includes their own native language, I get to learn French and eat delicious food - Bonus!  They use to share their delightful recipes on their website, since their closure, I'll share their amazing "Apple Tarte Tatin".

Without babbling on further, here is a trip down memory lane for me with a selection of dishes I sampled back in January 2012 before I went to Europe to sample the real French food, Enjoy!

	Poisson Cru Salad of Marinate White Fish in Coconut Cream, Coriander, Ginger
	Charcuterie Peppercon Chicken Liver Pate, Pork Rillettes, Red Onion Confit, Toasted Brioche
	Filet de Boeuf Eye Fillet with pate, red wine jus, vegetables and potatoes
	Porc Pork Medallions wrapped in bacon with Parmesan, chablis cream sauce, white haricots beans
	Apple Tart Tatin Upside down apple tarte served with vanilla ice cream and creme fraiche (my all time favourite!)
	Creme Brulee French pot of cream with caramlised coating served with vanilla ice cream