a culinary miscellany

Hello all, and a very happy new year! We've just had a lovely 2 weeks wherein my Mum and Dad came and visited us from Yorkshire! They had good weather, and we ate and drank like it was christmas. Now I'm a little sad, they have gone away, and my stomach is looking forward to a week of light, vegetarian food to recover!

Meanwhile, here are some highlights from the last few days:

1: The confit of duck (see previous post) cooked up beautifully!

All I can say is: I must do it again soon; very succulent, very moreish, and probably shortening my life by a day or 2. But as long as it shortens the far end of it, I'm happy with that.

2: Kamakura is a restaurant in Russell, and, although it is a lovely place, we have omitted to go there for nearly 2 years. I can't think why. We took the foot ferry from Paihia, a brief journey guaranteed to make the meal feel like a holiday. The weather was sublime, and the sunset dramatic.

And the food was even better than I remembered; I had a salad of soft-shell crab with asian greens and sesame dressing,

followed by a remarkable shoulder of lamb slow-cooked in duck fat.

And lo! It was even better than the confit of duck! I have to try this at home. Everyone's meal was of an equally good calibre, and we will definitely be back.

3:. We took Mum and Dad to Auckland to stay overnight and than take them to the airport today. This involved a lengthy and lovely lunch at the Crystal Harbour chinese restaurant on the viaduct. Every lunchtime they do Yum Cha, and it was really good, and, as usual, we ordered too much. The evening saw us at Kermadec, also on the viaduct and the meal there was brilliant; The seared tataki yellowfin tuna was just right, and the pork belly was excellent, too.

Mum and dad had a really lovely salmon tartare, and the grilled snapper that LW had and the grilled bluenose cod Dad had were sensational.

And so, back home, where, for want of something a little simpler, LW picked some of the corn-cobs from the veggie garden. Steamed, buttered and salted it was definitely the sweetest corn we've ever had. Even raw it was superb.