+64 (9) 4118248 / 022 492 4017 info@vineyardcottages.co.nz

Spring Time Chicken and Mint Salad

by | Sep 28, 2020 | Elle Armon-Jones, recipes, Vegetable Garden, Vineyard Cottges

Orange Sour Cream Cake

Chicken and Mint Salad

 

I’ve got a garden full of mint which for some people is a curse, but for us, it is definitely a blessing. I love fresh mint tea, we use mint in all our water bottles for events, mint syrups, mint in hot chocolate, mint in cooking, you name it, if I can use it, I do. There is also always a roast chicken cooked in the house once a week. When there are a number of mouths to feed around the table and sandwiches that need filling, cooked chicken is quick and easy. Nothing gets wasted. The bones are made into stock with any vegetable peelings and the animals get all the stock scraps once it is cooked. In fact I think Archie’s favourite thing in the world is a carrot from the stock pot! This is a great throw together salad where you can add and take away any flavours you want apart from the mint and chicken. If you have tahini in the fridge it’s the perfect dressing.

 Ingredients.

    • 200g Roast chicken
    • 1/2 cup washed mint finally chopped
    • 1/2 cup chopped parsley
    • 1 cup chopped cucumber
    • 1 cup shredded lettuce
    • 2 raddishes finely sliced
    • 1 spring onion finely chopped
    • handful toasted nuts or seeds – I love toasted hazlenuts and pumpkin seeds. 

Wash all the fresh salad ingredients, dry and add to your salad bowl. Top with the chicken and toasted nuts and seeds. Mix with Tahini dressing.

If you want to go one step further with this add it to a pita pocket as an easy chicken salad lunch. 

Tahini dressing is one of these really easy sauces you can add onto anything. There are varying ways of making a tahini sauce but mine is simply

  • 1–2 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup tahini past
  • 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup cold water, more if needed
  • 1 cup fresh chopped parsley leaves

Blitz it all together in a blender or pestle and mortar. Will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge. 

 

Orange Sour Cream Cake

Orange Sour Cream Cake

by | Jul 7, 2020 | Elle Armon-Jones, Local Producers, recipes, Vineyard Cottges

Orange Sour Cream Cake

Orange Sour Cream Cake

 

With theglut of oranges we have at VC during the winter, finding the right recipes and not just making marmalade is vital. Our oranges are wonderfully sour, so perfect for desserts, juice and marinades. The dehydrator is full of finely sliced fruit which has crisped up and is a delicious snack or addition to a dish. This sour cream cake is dense and decadent. We added some rosemary flowers for additional aroma.

Of course you could try this with lemons, lime and grapefruit too. Finish off with a great dollop of yoghurt for a pud or afternoon tea. 

 

Ingredients.

  • 125g softened butter
  • 2tsp grated orange rind
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup standard flour (or substitute gluten free plain flour)
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • sugar for the tin
  • grease for the tin

    Preheat the oven to 160 C.

    Throughly grease the tin. We used a bundt tin sprayed with bake oil and sprinkled with sugar. 

    Beat the butter, rinds, sugar and eggs together until light and fluffy. 

    Sift together the flour and baking powder and fold into the egg mix, alternating with the sour cream.

    Make sure it is mixed together evenly all the way through but be delicate.

    Pour into the tin

    Bake for 45 mins or until the cake springs back when lightly touched. 

    Leave to cool for at least 10 mins before turning onto a rack. 

    Lock Down at Vineyard Cottages

    Lock Down at Vineyard Cottages

    by | Apr 1, 2020 | Elle Armon-Jones, recipes, Uncategorized, Vineyard Cottges

    If anyone had said to me on Jan 1st this year that New Zealand would be on lock down by 26th March, I would have laughed and then maybe thought very differently about buying a minibus for our tour company.

    I’ll be the first to admit I have struggled massively with the enormous change of life that has happened over the past two months. The Big Foody Food Tours started to see it towards the end of February when guests started cancelling their tours but there was no way to realise by the beginning of March every single tour would be cancelled until October. After seven days of feeling increasingly sorry for myself (I celebrated my 40th with a glass of champagne and went to bed early in a right old huff) it was time to pull the big girl pants on and look to the future.

    It’s hard to feel claustrophobic when we’re surrounded by glorious settings as we are here at VC. It’s a bit weird having the gate closed and suppliers beeping to get into the driveway. Our lovely postie Keith has taken to driving up the lane and depositing boxes over the fence knowing the dogs will bark to let me know he’s here

    We’re trying to make the best of the situation getting the jobs done that we would normally do over the winter and keeping everyone who is here upbeat. There are 7 of us here at the moment. Team France is wood chopping, cottage sanding, wood shed building and generally being brilliant. Team USA and I are doing marketing and social media planning all while gazing into a very cloudy crystal ball. Team UK (aka my parents – now here for the foreseeable future while the UK is in shut down) have appointed themselves head gardener and chief dead-header and are keeping themselves well and truely occupied.

    The nets came off the vines last week and the birds and bees are just loving all the sweet grapes. Autumn leaves are brightening the place up, filling it with rustic colours and without all the road noise the birdsong is just delightful. A couple of cottages have had their fires on already. We don’t usually say yes until May, but it’s all about comfort at the moment and I’ve put mine on in the office.

    I’ve got time to bake, which I never usually do, so there won’t be any weight loss as we’re about to start testing some new cookie recipes for the cottages – pumpkin spiced oat and apple cookies anyone? In amongst our marketing Brittany is on cocktail duty creating some refreshing and warming beverages to see us through the autumn months. We’ll of course be posting the recipes after thorough research! ‘hic’

    Stay well, stay safe and we look forward to seeing you soon

    Elle

    Chicken Meatball Soup

    Chicken Meatball Soup

    by | Aug 16, 2019 | recipes, Vineyard Cottges, Winter Stays

    Chicken Meatball Soup

     

    Winter is nearly over here at Vineyard Cottages and while it’s been very very mild, on the chilly nights a good soup always warms the cockles. The DDH and I have managed to bypass the ghastly bugs that have flattened some members of our team and while I’m a firm believer in the Hakanoa Ginger, honey and lemon syrup to ward off all ailments in life, a bowl of this soup will do the trick too.

    As we end up with a lot of chicken frames and stock bits throughout the week, I throw them into the freezer and have a big boil up once or twice a month. The resulting stock gets portioned into freezer and fridge containers for use over the next week, but soup is always the first meal made from them.

    Our lemon trees are groaning with fruit and using preserved lemons and fresh lemons in this recipe gives it a real citrus kick. Also hot on the ingredients list are nutmeg and parsnips, both of which I think are fabulous friends for chicken.

     

    For Two

    Ingredients.

    4 plump boneless and skinless chicken thighs (about 300g)

    1 onion

    3 cloves of garlic

    1 egg

    1 cup spinach

    1/8 preserved lemon rind washed

    1/2 cup bread crumbs

    1tsp dried oregano

    Salt and pepper

    Juice one lemon

    Bunch of herbs (I had parsley, chives, thyme and garlic chives)

    In a food processor blitz together in the following order:

    Onion, Garlic, Chicken, Lemon, Spinach, Egg, Breadcrumbs, Oregano, Herbs, Juice of one lemon and Salt and pepper

    The mixture will be spongy and soft. If it’s gummy and thick add 1/4 cup of chicken stock slowly until the consistency is more mousse like than dough like.

    With wet hands form walnut sized meatballs and cool for 15 minutes min in the fridge.

    Bring 1 litre of good quality chicken stock to a boil and reduce to a gentle simmer. Gently poach the meatballs until thoroughly cooked through. They should not break apart if you cook them slowly. A vigorous boil and they will disintegrate faster than a soft toy given to one of my dogs. Add what even vegetables / noodle / pasta you fancy to the broth to bulk out but its surprisingly filling by itself. We had lots left over for lunch the next day.

       

      Cranberry and Maple Syrup Flapjacks

      Cranberry and Maple Syrup Flapjacks

      by | Jul 11, 2019 | Flapjacks, recipes

      Cranberry and Maple Syrup Flapjacks

       

      A team favourite here at Vineyard Cottages are the cranberry and maple syrup flapjacks. Easy to whip up a batch and keep for the week. At VC they disappear in minutes! 

      If you take the base recipe, you can add whatever dried fruit and nuts you like, but I love the tartness of cranberries and the rich maple syrup is a real treat.

      Please don’t even think about using quick oats. The result is a complete disaster and the compiled sticky glue you end up with is not at all pleasant!

      If you want to be really decadent, you can dip them into dark or white chocolate! Go on – you know you want to.

       

      Preheat the oven to 180

      250g Rolled Oats (Not Quick Oats)

      125g Butter

      125g Brown Sugar

      2 Tbsp Maple Syrup

      100g cranberries

      • Line a 15cm baking sheet with parchment paper
      • Gently over a low heat melt the butter and brown sugar
      • When is all combined and the sugar has melted add the maple syrup
      • Mix in the oats and cranberries
      • Place the mixture on the baking sheet and make sure the mixture is even otherwise you will get burnt areas.
      • Cook for 15 / 20 mins or until golden brown. Watch it – it will burn quickly. 
      • Leave to cool before turning out onto a board.
      • Cut with a very sharp knife.