Coffee! We love it, like it or hate it, but so many of us need it and truly enjoy it. It is our wake up call, our reason to get out of bed, or maybe, it just plain tastes good. We make dates with friends to sit and linger over a cuppa joe, and reminisce, tell stories or share secrets. Maybe this happens at a café or in some dear friend’s kitchen. We lend its flavour to all sorts or concoctions: ice cream (my personal favourite), tiramisu (my other personal favourite), and even some savoury dishes like a good Mexican Mole, Red-eye gravy a or slow cooked beef dish. There isn’t much in my opinion that a bit of java can’t spruce up!

This photo was taken during the first snow of our first winter at the Hilltop, and published in the newspaper, with the title "Iced Coffee?"


Some of my earliest memories are of making coffee…seriously! My mother was NOT a morning person, and this was back in the good old percolator days! (Right, Avon? Feeling ‘Perky’?) As soon as I could reach the kitchen counter, I was in charge of making the percolator coffee before my mom got up. Fill the pot, exactly one scoop of Edward’s into the fiddly (and not kid-friendly) stem and basket contraption and brew! (I won’t get into the other dysfunctionalties of my family here, but children making coffee was a trend!)

In the 70’s, as a college student, I became a fan of the filter, or Melita style drip coffee from the new local coffee roasters that were turning up all over the West Coast. It started a life-time addiction with the flavour of good coffee, not just the caffeine hit I needed every morning. It started (I think, IMHO) with Peet’s in Berkely and then Starbuck’s in Seattle, selling mostly mail-order fine roasted beans. While Peet’s expanded its roasting business, Starbuck’s started doing the ‘fancy’ milky Italian espresso coffees and took the world by storm.

I’ve been extremely fortunate to have travelled a lot, especially in tropical regions (well, you wouldn’t want to scuba dive in Norway would you?) So, I’ve been to coffee plantations in Costa Rica (and drank some great coffee there), had it served French Press style in resorts in Indonesia, had it served with evaporated milk, or straight, in Caribbean Islands (Honduras with milk, Cuba – straight shot), and straight with a bit of cardamom in Egypt. And, although not tropical, I loved my experience with coffees in Italy!!!

So, thinking this would be just a short photo essay about coffee, I can see my passion and knowledge taking this post by the horns! Please bear with me, while I share my experience, knowledge and passion about this delicious, addictive, cherished beverage with you!

This is our beloved coffee beast! Luigi approved when he visited!

Luigi, always the great Italian, helped with coffees during his stay! (Please, excuse the bad hair day!)

Different countries vary on their interpretations of most recipes, coffee included. I am coming at you with a New Zealand interpretation. This is how we do it here. Comments accepted – jeers not!

Unusually, while NZ stems from a heritage of tea drinkers, coffee is a true passion here. Coffee done properly, that is. No offense, but we just don't do the Grande, half-caf, half-fat, in-a-paper-cup-unless-otherwise-specified coffees here. We treat coffee like steak! You want it hot, I will make it extra hot. You want trim/skinny/no-fat milk, no problem! You'd like it in a take-away cup? I'll hide my grimace, but politely ask "How many sugars?" I'll even do decaf, but not halfway!

All espresso coffees (hopefully!) start with freshly ground, freshly roasted coffee beans. Like grapes for wine, beans vary from region to region, climate to climate and soil to soil. Then, what the roaster does with them varies, from light roast to dark roasts, and then the blends vary. We have an excellent roaster here in Christchurch – C4. They import beans from all around the world and roast and blend them here. We like their blends and style, plus we like the fact that they are consistent in their roasting. This week’s beans should taste the same as last week’s batch. We use Krank Blend for our espressos. On average, we go through about 2 pounds of beans a day – in summer up to 6, in winter, way less.

All espresso drinks start with a base of espresso. With us, it is a 30 ml shot (basically a shot glass size) of espresso, ‘extracted’ out of the machine. In NZ, 30 ml is considered a double shot. Many cafes, particularly in Australia, do ‘single’ shots or 15 ml pours. Now, we grind our beans fresh for each coffee, as this is important to the taste. It is also important that the ‘barista’, or the espresso specialist, keep an eye on the ‘pour’. There is an important balance between the grind and the extraction, or rate of flow as the hot water is passed through the ground coffee. After the coffee is ground, it is ‘dosed’ into the basket by filling the basket and gently levelling off the coffee with the side of your hand or finger (that’s why my right hand always smells like coffee!). The grounds are then compressed or ‘tamped’.

Freshly ground coffee, just dosed

Coffee basket being tamped

Again, getting the combination of the fineness of the grind and the right amount of compaction, determines the flow rate of the hot water through the coffee. And, just to make things more exciting, believe it or not, the grind can and will change with the weather (humidity), the fullness of the grinders hopper (weight) and the age of the beans. A good barista is constantly monitoring the 'drip' of the extraction and changing the fineness of the grind and the weight of the tamping to suit. The right combination results in the 30 ml of espresso coming through the machine in 20 – 25 seconds. It shouldn’t gush and it shouldn’t drip – it’s what the Italian’s call a ‘mouse tail’. The surface of the extracted coffee is covered by a thin, bubbly, rusty colored layer called the 'crema'. The crema can tell you a lot about the quality of the extraction. Little balck dots = over extracted and it will taste bitter. Pale consistant color = under extracted and it will taste less complex and rich. "Tiger strips rippling through it" = perfect!

Two Flat Whites, in the making! Notice the 'Tiger Stripes' on the crema!

There! Your first coffee! A Short Black in NZ (not to be confused with a Tall Black, which is a basketball player), a Doppio (for double) in Italian or usually just an ‘espresso’ in North America.

A Short Black, in a demi-tasse cup

Now, if we ‘mark’ the short black with a little dollop of steamed milk, we now have a ‘Macchiato’, the Italian word for marked!

A Macchiato

If instead, we had extracted our 30 ml of coffee onto a small cup of hot water, being careful to let the coffee run down the back of the cup to obtain the best ‘crema’, we would have a long black (long, due to the added water, or the Italian, 'Lungo'. If, depending on who you talk to, you serve this in a larger cup with more water, or serve it with a jug of hot water on the side, you now have an Americano!

One Hot & Steamy Long Black (not to be confused with an All Black, a rugby player!)

Now, for the milky drinks. Again, we start with our double shot of espresso, this time in the bottom of a small cup and another in a slightly larger cup. Using the steam wand on the coffee machine, we steam some milk, always a bit more than we need. This takes (a lot of) practice. We are aiming to get the milk a frothy, but with very small bubbles and a glossy texture, not dissimilar to enamel paint! At the Hilltop, we steam the milk until the side of the milk jug it too hot to touch, but some cafes do use a thermometer. As the steam wand goes into the cool milk we try to develop a swirling action in the jug and gently ‘stretch’ the milk, lowering the jug as the steam expands the milk.

Once the milk reaches a good temp, turn off the wand and immediately wipe it to avoid having the remaining milk ‘cook’ on to the wand. For the Flat White (not to be confused with an All White, a player on the NZ national men's soccer team), and Latte, we are going to ‘surf’ our milk, by gently swirling it in the jug. This helps keep the airy, frothy milk from separately or rising above the steamed milk underneath. Now, we pour the milk, and when the cup is about half full, gently start shaking or wiggling the spout of the jug. This encourages the frothier milk on the top to pour out, and if you are lucky, creates an impressive pattern! Maybe a cherry, a heart, a flower, or the national symbol of New Zealand, the Silver Fern (which can and should be confused with our women's netball team, the Silver Ferns) So, both of these coffees have the same ‘structure’, they are just in different size cups. The smaller, Flat White and larger Latte, are both 30 mls of espresso topped with about 80% steamed milk and the top layer being ‘flat’ froth. Flat Whites do not seem to be found outside of NZ/Australia, but are probably beginning to turn up in Europe as our ‘baristas’ from down under travel. The Latte, another word for 'Caffe au ‘lait', or coffee with milk, seems to be pretty universal. In NZ, many people serve or offer their Lattes in a glass. I like mine this way, because then I can see the ‘structure’.

Latte in a glass, with good structure and a 'silver fern' on top!

A Flat White with a Flower (or Rosetta Pattern)

Cappuccino, anyone!? We start with our 30 ml of espresso in the larger cup and steam our milk much the same way, but ‘stretching’ it a bit further. I usually give the jug a ‘thunk’ or two on the counter top to make the bubbles more consistent. Again, different baristas will have different styles, but I use a spoon to ‘pull’ some of the frothy milk off the top of the jug until the cup is about two thirds full. I let the jug rest for a moment (usually while I am extracting for the next coffee order). By now the milk has separated with the steamed, more liquidy milk on the bottom. I now use my spoon to hold back the froth and let the steamed milk ‘float up’ the frothy stuff, forming a nice domed top (as opposed the the ‘flat’ flat whites and lattes). So, the structure of the cappuccino is 30 mls or pretty much one third coffee, 1/3 froth (poured second but it winds up being the top layer) and one third steamed milk. Now, would you like chocolate or cinnamon on top? Cappuccino’s are the only coffee that is typically served with chocolate or cinnamon on top. Unlike the descriptive names of the other coffees, ‘cappuccino’ is a reference to the Capuchin monks, who wear light brown, hooded robes with their pale faces showing through. In Italy, Cappuccinos are ONLY sipped in the morning, with the other types of coffee being favoured in the afternoon.

A Cappuccino with chocolate on top. Notice the 'brown hood with the pale face poking through', just like a Capuchin Monk!

And, lastly, another popular drink is the cappuccino-hot chocolate hybrid, the Mochaccino! The ‘mocha’ is made exactly the same as the cappuccino, but instead of steaming milk, we add chocolate to the milk and make a frothy hot chocolate to top off the coffee. Yum!

A Cappuccino and Mochaccino Ready to Roll!

There are lots of other great, but possibly less traditional ‘Italian Espresso’, additions we can make. We have vanilla, caramel and hazelnut syrups that we offer as an addition to our coffees. We can also add peppermint to hot chocolate. Then, of course there are the Caribbean (Rum and Tia Maria) and Irish (Irish whiskey and Bailey’s Irish Cream) Coffees. And, of course there are the non- coffee drinks, like Hot Chocolate, Chai (a spicy tea based drink made with steamed milk, steamers, traditional teas, green teas, infusions.... Ooops! I'm rambling!

The Austerity Army Goes Tropo, or Mini-Mango Cakes from the Hilltop Winter Kitchen

It is cold and wet this morning. It has been raining hard for three solid days. Today, it is supposed to ease, but get cold and turn to snow! Winter is truly upon us in the Hilltop Kitchen!

Snow is good, though. The way our wonky New Zealand weather works, a snowstorm is usually followed by a sunny high, which is often followed by Australian tourists who have never seen snow, children who want to make snowmen and people coming in from the cold to admire the snowy view. So, while today will be quiet, the next few days could be good for business.

Our Austerity Campaign is in full swing, and so far, so good. My bills are decreasing, the waste is decreasing and the freezers are starting to give up their previously paid for treasures. Mind you, we are not in trouble, we are just being pro-active. Last winter, we didn't feel the GFC so much. Overseas visitors already had their vacations booked, so they were committed to travelling regardless of the economy. New Zealand and Australian trevellers that hadn't booked anything were staying closer to home and that was good for us. But, this year, May has been all-time quiet. One of our sales reps today said that he has lost 28% of his client base. YIKES! So, we are being pro-active and our small army of austerity soldiers is marching forward!!!

My first task this morning was to make fresh scones. We always have a sweet muffin (chocolate, today) and a savory scone. So, this morning I made a batch of Cheese Scones -- Yummy! They came out light and fluffy!


The choices in the deli are, happily, turning over at an acceptable rate now that I have restricted the number of choices and the quantities available. But, last weekend, we did have to chuck out the better part of both a Carrot Cake and a Tennis Cake. I decided then that we needed to limit the cakes to small, individual cakes, and only have 3 or 4 portions available at any time. We have enough spare time to make additional batches, as needed. We are no longer doing bulk, and that is the mind-set change that seems hard to make.

A few weeks ago, I found some limes in the chill room that The Man bought on special, hoping I'd make a Key Lime Pie. Well, we were still busy-ish then, I wasn't spending any time in the kitchen and those limes never got juiced! So, last week, I got busy juicing as the limes were approaching "use 'em or lose 'em" stage.

After I juiced the limes, I poured the juice into ice-cube tray and froze them. The following day, I popped the cubes into a sealed plastic container and left them in the freezer. We now have 1Tblsp free-flow portions of fresh lime juice at our disposal!

Now, while The Man is the great shopper (he knows the price of everything and can spot a deal at a hundred paces), several months ago I purchased a huge, commercial size can of mangoes for NZ$2.17. Very cheap, very good purchase, right? Well, not if it just sits on the shelf all summer!!! Ironically, I randomly pulled out one of our many baking cookbooks (no offense, AR!) and the first mango recipe I found was for Mini-Mango Cakes with Lime Syrup!!! So, today is the day that I am going to give this a whirl!

In the meantime, for those of you craving an update on Project Bread (referring to blog posts last December), at this point I did get an order for Home-made Raisin Toast and our Home-made Multi-seed loaf toast! Projct Bread has actually been a complete success!!!

Back to the Mini-Mango Cakes. I opened the huge can and portioned the mangoes into several smaller freezable portions, using one portion to line the muffin tin with mango slices.

I creamed the butter and sugar, added in the eggs. I was about to fold in the flour, and ground almonds. Ooops! Crikey! 2 Tblsp of Coconut Milk?! I don't have any coconut milk on hand, and even if I did, I wouldn't want to open a whole can for 2 Tbsp. Yikes! I'll bet if I mix a few pinches of finely grated coconut (which we also have for the Anzac Cookies we make) with 2 Tbsp of pouring cream and let it infuse for a bit, it'll be fine. That done, I gently folded everything together and topped the mango slices.

It was at this stage, I got excited. This recipe only calls for 1/2 cup of flour and it also calls for 2 Tbsp of ground almond. This is secret recipe code for "This would be a perfect recipe to make Gluten Free!" Next time, I will sub 1/2 cup of GF flour, and I bet they turn out just fine! Wow! That means I can cover my GF people and my regular cake people with one small batch of mini cakes! Score one for the Austerity Army!

Into the oven and about 25 minutes later, the little cakes came out of the oven looking great. While they were, baking I prepared the Lime Syrup. Now the recipe said to mix 1/2 cup of water with a half of a cup of sugar and 2 Tbsp of lime juice. But, I had this huge can of mango syrup in front of me, so I put about 1/2 of a cup of the mango syrup, a little sugar and the 2 lime juice ice cubes into a sauce pan, simmered it until it had reduced a bit and set it aside.

I pierced the mini-cakes with a toothpick, as the recipe called for and then drizzled each cake with a few spoonfuls of the syrup. We let them rest for 5 minutes. I then turned them out and they looked good, but the fruit looked slightly brown. The Man was concerned. Hmmm... just a symptom of cooked fruit or.... Yuck! Tinny pan taste! Dang! I had considered lining the muffin tin, but the recipe didn't say to so...

Remedial steps are definately in order as the rest of the cake is fantastic! Line muffin tin with baking paper (only 3 spots, as one cake is not longer with us, having given itself to research).
Now, line baking paper with mango slices.

Then, I popped the tray in the oven for about 10 minutes until the fruit was 'baked'. I let the tray cool for a few mintues, then gently replaced the new mango for the old. They looked great.

We had a few lunch orders come through: 2 Mussel Chowders and 2 Fish & Chips (you saw both of those last post). We also had 2 Steak Sandwiches (Mmm, with smoked paprika mayo!)

And, Loaded Potatoes Skins with Chilli, Cheese and Sour Cream!

After lunch, as we were cleaning up and getting ready to close, one last couple braved the hail and came in for a beer and......

a Cappucino and Mini-Mango Cake with Lime Syrup. I barely needed to wash the plate!

Today was a good day, a very good day really. As my regular readers know, this Winter I am working in the Hilltop kitchen two days a week while the main chef has his days off. Our other chef has gone back to visit his family in the Czech Republic during our winter months.
Things have slowed right down. There are a few tourists around, mostly Australians, but it has been QUIET! Last week, on my two days in the kitchen, I think I can count the number of plates I made on one hand. YIKES, that’s not only slow and boring, it’s a bit scary, business-wise.
So, we have started a major austerity program. Absolutely NO purchases for anything that is not entirely essential. We will endeavour to use existing stock and inventory, as we do seem to have a surplus of a number of things (our fault - we have not been double-checking the requests for orders). We have also cut our part-timers hours down to, uh, zero! (Sorry, Sue & Donna, but if you still want a job in November, we've got to make some cuts now)We just don’t need their help at the moment and certainly can’t afford to pay them if we don’t need them. So, with the help of The Extremely Supportive Man, it is my job to get the bills, the inventory and the wages under control. I can do it, I must do it and I WILL do it.
The good news is that in a few weeks, things will pick up slightly as the northern hemisphere school holidays (AKA summer vacation) start and the ski slopes open down here. We are just in that cruddy period in between.

So, this past summer we regularly offered a Pear, Walnut and Blue Cheese Salad with a Balsamic Vinaigrette. The taste combination is amazing and it sold well. In past seasons, we have done various twists on this including a Pear, Walnut, and Blue Cheese Pizza! The home-made pizza base is spread with caramelised onion jam and a bit of blue cheese, warmed in the oven and then topped with mixed greens tossed with the sliced fresh pears, toasted walnuts, a bit more blue cheese and the dressing. It sounds weird but the pizza base is almost like the crouton of the salad. Between the wet and dry crunch of the pears and walnuts and the sweet of the pear and onions against the saltiness and tang of the blue cheese and tartness of the vinegar, it is amazing in the mouth. But, alas, salad weather is behind us and we have left-over pears and blue cheese.

Today the deli is looking a little empty, but so little has been turning over, I am not sure what to make. There are only two pieces of Bacon and Egg Pie left, one of our ever-present staples, but I did not allow the bacon order to go through earlier in the week (already flexing administrative muscles), so we will have to come up with something else. Hmmm, we have about 10 pears left and about a pound of blue cheese very close to its best by. For some reason, we have 3 containers (Uggghhh! How does this happen!!!) of caramelised onion jam. Can you put pears in a quiche??? Why not? Why not at least give it a try. I can either throw away the blue cheese and pears in a week or I can throw away the blue cheese and pears in a pastry shell, if it doesn’t work…
I toasted some walnut pieces…



I sliced up two pears. I sliced them fairly thin so they would ‘poach’ while the pie was baking.

I gently mixed together about 10 eggs and ¾ of a cup of full cream…



So, I blind-baked the pastry with some black beans and baking paper…

When the pie crust was done, I spread a nice layer of the caramelised onion jam on the bottom.


Then I layered the pears and poured in a little of the egg mixture and topped it with some crumbled blue cheese and walnuts…

Another layer of pears, more blue cheese, walnuts and eggy mix… I topped it off with six nice slices of pear (this will make six portions) and some more blue cheese.

Close up...

I baked it at 180 C (about 350 F) for about 45 minutes – until the centre looked set and no longer ‘jiggly’.
Then, I had to wait impatiently for it to be cool enough to slice.

Then we had customers! Hungry customers!!! Not a massive rush and nothing I couldn’t cope with but people were paying for food and paying for me to cook it!!! We did two Steak & Kidney Pies and one Chicken Pot Pie (low priced items, but good to see the deli turning over).

Then, Fish & Chips and a Bacon Cheese Burger (Note to self -- don't take pics with heat lamps on -- sorry gentle readers!)

Some Nachos.


Another Bacon Cheeseburger along with a Gourmet Lamb-burger (with grilled haloumi and minted aioli) for a very nice American couple.



And, just as we started to clean-up, I cut the quiche. OMG – a party in my mouth! No, a full on festival of flavour! Wow! I have seriously impressed myself! So, I put the new quiche in the deli as a couple, our last customers of the day walked in.

He had our signature Green-lipped Mussel Chowder (Gotta love the Home-made Honey Whole Wheat soup rolls from AR!)

and she had (drum roll)

Pear, Walnut and Blue Cheese Quiche!!!

Yes! We can do this, we must do this and we WILL do this!

A Labour (Intensive) of Love, or Mother's Day Specials for the Menu!

We just got back from a terrific holiday in Australia, with our batteries re-charged and the taste of some great dining experiences still on our palates. Over many relaxed conversations and great meals, we renewed our vows to ‘up our game’ and not ‘lose the plot’ during the upcoming slow winter doldrums.

Knowing we were returning to work the Thursday before Mother’s Day weekend, we took this as our first ’challenge’. Now that Winter is setting in, mid-week is slow, serving some coffees and cakes mid-morning leading into a, hopefully but not always, reasonable lunch period and then quickly fading away by 2:30 ish. But, the weekends can be quite good, especially if the sun is shining and there is a good reason to have a lunch outing, like Mother’s Day. I hate to say it, but bills are looming, and we need this weekend to be good, I mean, GOOD!

We ate heaps of seafood while we were in Australia, but one restaurant we went to just had the most tantalizing sounding hand-made ravioli on the menu. After polishing off my Avocado and Shrimp starter, the spinach and feta ravioli dressed with a creamy Napolitano sauce arrived. Even The Man, who clearly steers away from vegetarian dishes and was completely engrossed in his crayfish, enjoyed the few bites I shared with him.

Now, like New Zealand, Australia is home to a lot of Greek immigrants from tough times in the past. We kept tripping upon restaurants that were ‘seafood’ but also had a Greek or heavily Mediterranean theme. One of our first meals was in Brisbane at the lovely South Bank complex overlooking the river. It was a Greek seafood restaurant, and we started with a sampler platter that had calamari, prawns (shrimp), oysters as well as spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie), Taramasalata, and grilled Haloumi cheese. It was yummy, but it reminded me that I had not made Spanakopita in a long time, and that mine is MUCH better!

The Friendly Emu at Currumbin Wildlife Park near Brisbane

One of Many Lazy 'Roos

Awww! They are SO Cute!

A Pair of Rainbow Lorikeets Shared our Breakfast Each Morning!


So, fast forward, many lorikeets, kangaroos, koalas and emus later, our flight touches down in Christchurch, an hour late, at 12:30 AM. After baggage and car collection and the hour drive, we arrive home at 2:20 AM. We try to zonk, but it’s not easy. Anyway, the following day The Man heads to the Hilltop in the morning to see what stock needs to be replenished, and I try to get caught up on paperwork and keep the taxman and some of our creditors happy (and, naturally, see what’s been happening on AR while I’ve been gone!!!) The Man heads back to town for supplies (forgetting his wallet, which creates some ‘issues’), bails Bessie out of the fantastic Top Notch Kennel and, as discussed, returns with one pumpkin, one kilo (2.2 lbs) of feta cheese, some fresh sage, a package of frozen spinach, and package of phyllo pastry.

So, the first night back from the holiday, we whip out the ‘Typi de Pasta’ machine complete with its ‘pasta bike’ and crank out the ravioli dough. Meanwhile, I’ve roasted some pumpkin, gently melded in some ricotta that was languishing in the fridge and added some of the fresh sage.

Pumpkin, Sage & Ricotta Ravioli Filling

Pasta Dough, Ready to Roll!


I also drained the defrosted spinach thoroughly, added a few of Flo and Myrtle’s best laid eggs, a good handful of crumbled feta and likewise some finely shredded parmesan. I gave both the pumpkin mix and the spinach mix a healthy grating of nutmeg (my personal favourite spice).

Then, we went into assembly mode! The Man cranked the pasta, while I guided it (or at least tried to) into the chute. With practice, we got better and by the end, we had some lovely textured, very thin, pasta sheets to make our ravioli with. I cut and filled.

Cranking Out the Ravioli Sheeets

The Man trimmed and fluted the edges with the “Pasta Bike”. I think they look lovely!

Spinach & Feta Ravioli and Pumpkin & Sage Ravioli


The following day, I had Hilltop Chef Vojta (Voy-ta) make a simple but lovely sauce for the ravioli. He sweated an onion and some garlic, added an array of Italian herbs (oregano, thyme, basil, etc) and a can of tomatoes. Mr. Whizzy (the immersion blender) jumped in and did his bit. We added a dash of cream and adjusted the acidity with a wee dash of sugar.

So, Friday, I am home early from work to make the Spanakopita. I sweat the onion and get the excess moisture out of the spinach, add the parmesan, and realize that I’ve left the feta at the Hilltop. Oh well.

Saturday morning, I take my started filling up and get stuck into the baking room, where Vojta is making Chicken Pot Pies. We have a lovely chat. I do not have children, but I am protective of this boy like he is mine, and I am delighted that he is so eager to chat and share with me. No, I didn't know Petr had a potential girl-friend. He is going to a fitness class every week with another one of our staff. He likes Jamie's Tiramisu recipe better than Gordon's...

Somewhat nervously, I open the phyllo pastry, spread it on a cutting board and cover it with a damp tea towel. Having done this so many times, I can tell you, Phyllo varies and must be handled with care. It IS finicky!!! I melt some butter in a heavy soup bowl (the heaviness of the bowl will ensure that the butter remains liquid throughout my activities).

Okay! One sheet down, brush with butter, fold lengthwise, brush with butter again.. Another sheet overlapping, brush with butter and fold again! (Is the rest of the phyllo covered with the damp towel? Even though it seems like you spend more time covering and uncovering the phyllo, it helps.) So, that’s two sheets folded or four layers. Since I am actually going to fold these into triangular packets, the two sheets that are now four layers will be more like 8 layers by the time they are folded, and that’s enough. When I make this traditional style in a baking dish, I usually do 8 layers on the bottom and four folded sheets (or 8 layers) on the top.

Now, I’ll brush the bottom ¾ of the phyllo with butter. Plop a generous amount of the spinach mix onto the phyllo, and shape into a triangle. Now, gently, but firmly, fold the phyllo over the spinach, flag-style to make a ‘snug’ parcel. Brush the outside of the parcel with butter and set onto the baking dish. Go again! I got 10 parcels out of this recipe.

Filling at Top of lengthwise Sheet, ready to fold!

First fold, creating a triangle


Pop them in the oven at 350 F or 180 C, until the pastry is golden, maybe 15 minutes. We’ll serve these with a simple Greek salad (toms, cukes, onion, olives, and a drizzle of lemon juice and olive oil).

Gosh, They Look Good!


So, this weekend our specials included Spanakopita Parcels with a Greek Salad, a Duet of Ravioli topped with a creamy Napolitano Sauce, a Glass of ‘Bubbles’ (Sparkling wine) at a very reduced price, and for desert, Tiramisu!

Bon Apetit! And Happy Mother’s Day!

Winter in the Hilltop Kitchen, or Salmon and Cream Cheese Quiche, Rainbow Vegetable Strudel and Caribbean Pumpkin Soup

At our café, I am usually the ‘barista’ or person running the espresso machine. In Summer, when it is really busy, no matter how much I wash my hands, at the end of the day, my hands always smell of coffee, not that I mind! I can think of worse things! Today they smell good, but not of coffee!

Well, now we are slipping into Autumn, and Winter will be here very soon. The ‘littlies’ Easter/Fall school break is over and things have slowed right down. Chef Luke leaves for the Czech Republic tomorrow (ash clouds permitting) where he will hide from the Antipodean Winter and visit with friends and family that he has not seen in a few years. Chef Vojta will still be here (he took his Czech holiday last winter). Well, we’ve decided that Vojta’s days off will be mid-week, and I will be the covering chef on those days!

This was the first week, and all went well. We didn’t have heaps of ala carte orders, so it was relatively stress free. This was good, because I am still figuring out where everything is kept and working through the best ways to do things so everything comes up ready at the same time.

Another goal or challenge for me in the kitchen this winter is to try to lessen wastage and make sure the recipes we’ve developed haven’t drifted off course. It’s a bit like the whispering game where one person whispers a phrase to another and so on, and in the end, the final phrase is nothing like what was started with! That happens with recipes, too, overtime!

So, the first thing I notice is that we are NOT turning-over the smoked salmon very quickly (and a lot of it has been being wasted) and we have a container of cream cheese that needs to be used. We used to make a Smoked Salmon Quiche regularly, but have drifted away from it. So, I blind baked a savoury pastry crust, lined it with some sautéed green onion (that were close to expiry, as well), added some smoked salmon and cream cheese and a bit of spinach for colour and bulk. I lightly beat 9 eggs with some dried dill and poured it in. A bit more salmon and cream cheese, and into the oven. About an hour later, it came out looking beautiful. I left it to cool and set, and cut it into 6 portions. We sold three within an hour and a half!

Assembling the Smoked Salmon Quiche

Smoked Salmon Quiche -- Just out of the Oven

Vojta had asked me to make the Vegetarian Mediterranean Summer Tart that is a staple in our deli. Well, I wanted to use up some of the other veggies so I decided to make a strudel instead! While the quiche base was blind-baking I had cut up a pumpkin and put it in the oven to roast along with some kumara/sweet potato (I also noticed we have LOTS of kumara). I also caramelized some onions, sautéed some diced onions, grilled some zucchini, and later found a bag of roasted red peppers we bought in that had been forgotten. When the pumpkin was cool, I peeled it and cubed about ¾ of it and added it to the sautéed onions

Roasted Pumpkin for Soup & Strudel

Wanting to get the Caribbean Pumpkin Soup done before lunch service got into full-swing, I added a litre (4 Cups) of vegetable stock and let it simmer for a bit. I then added a can of coconut cream, a good dash of cayenne and some ground ginger. Mr. Whizzy then jumped in and did his bit. It was a bit thick, so I thinned it with some water. Delicious! (Vegetarian and Gluten-Free, to boot!) We will serve it with a small dollop our sour cream on top and a dash of parsely for color.

This is what makes it 'Caribbean'!

Mr. Whizzy on the job!

Next up, it was time to assemble the Rainbow Vegetable Strudel. We use commercial flaky pastry, but you can buy smaller quantities in the frozen section (or make your own!) I laid out the pastry, and knowing it would go in the oven seam-side down, I built my layers top to bottom. I started with the kumara, since it is the firmest. I then added a generous amount of feta cheese. Thinking about colour, I next went for sun-dried tomatoes and then grilled zucchini. Oh, and there’s a bit of boiled parsnip in there, too (it was lurking in the back of the chiller!)! Then came the balance of the pumpkin, which I had sliced, and the caramelized onions. I had wanted the onions to be the bottom layer, but that’s when I found the char-grilled red peppers, so they went in last and wound up on the bottom. Now, these are the veggies that I had on hand, and tastes that I thought would combine well. There are no hard, fast rules for this beast! What veggies do you have? What is in season? What tastes do you like? I would avoid overly wet items, like tomatoes -- that's why I used sun-dried. Go for color -- it looks great and is healthy. You could also add bacon or ham, even left-over roast chicken!

The 'Top Layers' - Kumara, Feta and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Then, Zucchini, Pumpkin, Onions and Finally, Char-Grilled Peppers!

I cut the left side of the pastry, allowing for a generous over-lap. I dampened the bits that would overlap and secured them together, trying to ‘snug-up’ the strudel and make it a tight roll. I fold the ends like an envelope. The Man offered to cut some pretty pastry ‘leaves’ for the top, and Donna reminded us to cut some vents. I egg-washed the strudel, then added some dill to the egg, in an effort to ‘paint’ the leaves green. It kinda worked.

All Rolled Up and Ready to Bake

Into the oven for maybe an hour, or at least until the pastry was golden, as everything inside is already cooked. I might add that the strudel and numerous trays of 50 muffins that Donna was preparing for a meeting group tomorrow morning had the oven a bit crowded during the lunch service we did have. Fortunately, we weren’t busier!

I was a patient as possible, waiting for the strudel to cool and firm up so I could slice and take pics. It was still a teensy bit warm, but I couldn’t wait any longer! The juices ran a bit, but hopefully the bottom won’t get soggy. It looks great and I can tell you that the little bits that slipped onto the cutting board were awesome! It will chill overnight and go on display in the deli tomorrow. We decided we won’t warm it in the micro-wave, just the oven, so the pastry re-crisps and is nice an flaky!

Just Out of the Oven!


YUM!!!

Personal Note: We are going away next Tueasday, for about 10 days. So, I may not be able to follow up on comments and I won't be updating my blog or hangin' out on the recipe exchange. But, with recharged batteries, I can promis more Flo & Myrtle, Winter in the Hilltop Kitchen, an Update to Project Bread, and probably something about the state of food in Northern New South Wales and Queensland, Australia!