Mint Dining - Fresh, local and very tasty!

Mint Dining Room New Blog

2012-01-23T01:32:00.001-08:00

http://www.mintdining.co.nz/chefs-blog.html

Our significant other blog. Follow the restaurant day to day, season to season.
Congratulations to Scotty, he married Katie on Saturday. The last month or so leading up to the wedding saw less work on the book than usual.(As one woul expect)
When Scotty returns from his honeymoon we will be back into it with avengeance.

Tomato Chilli Jam

2012-01-11T21:15:00.000-08:00

I was offered a quantity of yellow tomatoes today, so I thought I will make jam, blog the recipe and document the progress. The chillis were from our own garden. Enjoy making it. Grant.

Yellow Nelson Tomato and Chilli Jam.

Step A

400g ripe yellow tomatoes
4 red chillis 10g garlic cloves peeled
10g ginger

100g chopped Yellow tomatoes

20ml Thai fish sauce
300g castor sugar
90ml (6 tbsp plus 2 tsp) White wine vinegar

50 ml Savignon Blanc

Step A- Put the yellow tomatoes, all of the chillis, garlic, ginger and fish sauce in a blender or a food processor and blend to a fine puree.

Then add the purèe, sugar wine and vinegar in heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to the boil slowly, stirring constantly.Skim any froth t

hat may develop on the surface.

Cut remaining tomatoes into a rough dice

Reduce heat to a simme

r and add diced tomatoes.

Simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring from time to time to lift anything settling on the bottom, continue till the jam begins to thicken.Pour into sterilised jars and seal.

Some more rain

2012-01-07T22:39:00.000-08:00

So, some more rain.

We must have had enough by now!

Sunshine, that's what summer is all about. BUT there is a but, I cant sit inside writing up recipe after recipe if there is sun.

What a cracking New Years Eve we had, not an empty seat in the house. Here are a few pictures of the dishes we served.

Baked snapper, smoked eel, cream fraiche froth, crayfish jus

Amuse bouche waiting to go out.Chocolate mousse, hazelnut galette and cherries.

2011-12-28T20:18:00.000-08:00

2011-12-27T14:07:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We have had a nice break and are back to work feeling all fresh. New Years menu this year;

New Years Eve Dinner menu 2011

Salmon tartar and vodka cured gravedlax, served with lime scented tomato gazpacho.

Salad caprese with caper and raisin puree, fresh basil and sherry dressing.
Wine recommendation Kina Beach Rose '10

Smoked rabbit and mushroom terrine, shot of game broth and pear and date chutney.
Wine recommendation Kina Beach Chardonnay '08

Strawberry vanilla and champagne sorbet.

Either
Fillet of venison wrapped in prosciutto, kumara and sage crumble, and mushroom mousaka.
Wine recommendation Kina Beach Pinot Noir '08
or
Baked snapper fillet (catch permitting) warm smoked eel and potato salad, creme fraiche froth and crayfish jus.
Wine recommendation Kina Beach Sauvignon Blanc '11

Iced lemon and basil gratin, with summer fruit salsa and saffron syrup

Hazelnut gallette, macerated cherries and bitter chocolate mousse
Recommendation Lustau Pedro Ximenez San Emelio Sherry

Santa's Special delivery

2011-12-18T17:49:00.000-08:00

'Tis that time of year again, and today is about making Gingerbread Houses. This is something of a tradition for my fiancé Katie, and it's becoming something I look forward to helping with each Christmas - more-so now that we've been able to source pure icing sugar. That's the suspicious looking delivery in the photo, pure uncut icing sugar. The issue with regular icing sugar is that it'd got 5% starch (tapioca usually), which is to keep the icing soft. This can be good for biscuits and cakes but for 'gluing' together gingerbread houses it's just not strong enough.

The pure icing sugar is mixed with egg white and lemon juice to make a paste which will dry hastily when exposed to air. Use sandwich bags to keep the icing air-tight until you're ready to construct.

Ginger Bread

200g of butter
100g of Dark Brown sugar
125ml of Golden syrup or Molasses

450g of Self raising Flour
1tsp of ground ginger
1tsp of ground cinnamon
half tsp of ground cloves

Cream butter and brown sugar until smooth and light them thoroughly mix through the Golden syrup. A good cake mixer will make light work of this. Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl and add to the wet mixure in thirds, mixing thoroughly. You will probably have to mix the last third of the dry ingredients by hand. Add a few tablespoons of water if needed Wrap dough in glad wrap and refrigerate for 90 mins. Cut into the shapes for your GB House design and bake for 10 -15 mins at 180c, section sizes will dictate you cooking times. Cool well on a rack before assembling.

I'll post some photo's of our completed houses later this week.

Wet days.

2011-12-08T00:27:00.000-08:00

What a lot of rain we had over the last few days.

It washed away the chance of us putting up the gate last Sunday, so we can start on our garden.

We picked the first of our pea shoots tonight, they we amazing.So fresh!

We re-shot the sugar cured salmon pictures, with Scotties new camera and took some shots of sorbets.

Here is the recipe for one of them.

Lemon and Thyme Sorbet

INGREDIENTS

1.4 lt Water

500g Castor Sugar

100g Liquid Glucose

300g Lemon Juice (freshly squeezed)

8 sprigs Thyme

In a large pan mix the water, sugar, and liquid glucose.

Bring the mix to the boil, and simmer for around 5 minutes.

Add the lemon juice and thyme stalks( Pizza thyme is best for this recipe)

Cover the pan with a lid or cling film and turn off the heat.

Allow the thyme to infuse without boiling, like making tea

Leave to cool, and churn in an icecream machine.

Happy Birthday!

2011-12-01T15:36:00.002-08:00

Mint Dining Room passed a milestone on the 1st of December, 2 years since it all began.
Thanks to everyone that has dined with us over that time.

Katie baked a cake and it was delicious. Those lucky enough to be here on the night got to try some.

The pictures that started the whole idea.

2011-11-29T17:31:00.000-08:00

So a lot of hard work has been done on this book up until now. We have loads of pictures, a few stories, and a lot of recipes to show for it.

We are heading into the busy season not only for our restaurant, but for Scotty, who is soon to be wed.

So apologies if the posts have been less frequent than they could have been.

While writing a post yesterday it occurred to me that the first pictures we took weren't even on the blog. So I have decided to put them up.

Bit of background, Katie and I asked Scotty to help us with a professional entry into the New Zealand Hospitality Awards Of Excellence.

(We needed to defend our title of serving the best Lamb dish in New Zealand.)

We worked well together, tasted some wine, and had an idea......... (Turned out to be this blog.)

Here are the original pictures.

Mint Dining Room

2011-11-29T00:58:00.000-08:00

Another week further into it.

2011-11-28T20:28:00.000-08:00

What a week it's been. We went all the way up the Wangapeka......too far. We cruised through the Motueka Valley, down Neudorf road over the hill past Woolston Estate to Kina Beach Vineyard. Then through Mapua, to McCashins Brewery (a quick impromptu tasting Later) we then cruised back home.

It was a fun day, we drove through downed trees, off road, and then we met an angry river! Im sure Scotty will put some pictures of our adventure up soon, and you can see the fun we had.

Until then try to make these cookies.

They are my favourite, just the right blend of Chewy and Crunchy.

American Choc Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cup Plain Flour

1 tsp Bicarb Soda

1 tsp Salt

1 cup Soft Unsalted Butter

3/4 cup Granulated Sugar

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

2 Eggs

2 cup Chocolate Pistoles

1 cup Chopped Nuts (I use hazelnuts, and walnuts Uncle Joes in Marlborough do an excellent hazelnut meal which is great for baking.)

Sieve the flour baking soda, salt and flour.

In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar.

Add vanilla, then the eggs one at a time.

Add the sieved flour mixture, chocolate and nuts.

Mix until it just forms a dough.

Over mixing will make the biscuits too firm.

Roll into a sausage, and cool in the fridge. Cut the bisciuts into discs about a centimetre thick. Bake at 160 degrees for 9-11 minutes.

They will feel slightly soft in the middle and begin to brown on the edges.

Don't over bake them or they will loose their chewy texture.

I always eat at least one while they are still hot.

The next big thing. Location shoots.

2011-11-13T22:12:00.001-08:00

So today we had a productive shoot, we chatted and decided to head out next Monday into the wilderness!

Well kind of, we are doing a wirl-wind tour of some local producers.

Starting at Wangapeka Dairy we will shoot our way to Mapua where we will meet Monica Mead, aka Braugal to discuss things hop related.

So if anyone has any suggestions as to where we need to visit along the way we are all ears!

Please leave comments if you have any suggestions.

We will try to visit as many places as we can.

blur of a week

2011-11-07T16:31:00.000-08:00

What a challenge we had last week, but even after Airline blunders, missing lamb and savoy shortages, we made it!

So no trophy this year, but we had a great trip to Christchurch, and caught up with family, and enjoyed the awards.

Came back, and nearly was bumped off our flight......the one I needed to be on to cook the dinner for the NZ food writers guild. But after a bit of protesting, threatening to sue and the threat of me litterally exploding in the middle of the airport, I flew back on time.

Katie and wee Brodie had to wait for another flight.

The dinner went very well. Big thanks to Bill and the team at the Rutherford for their help,

and Wangapeka Prime Lamb for finding the missing lamb(Through no fault of their own, or mine), and Lamb and Beef New Zealand for sponsoring the dinner( and asking me to cook it!).

And now we get to enjoy the first normal week in some time.

Aaaaaah

So back into book writing mode.

Mean as Beans

2011-11-06T15:36:00.000-08:00

A week of catching up last week and more of the same this week as business gets busy, but first some very helpful comments to address... thanks to all who contributed, some great idea's and also some suggestions which we'd considered already but helps validate our vision of the project.

Someone asked about what we cooked at home - so far most of what we've shown here in the blog has been Grant's highly refined gastronomy; I, on the other hand lean towards something a lot more rustic and hearty.

Rustic and hearty I say? Nothing could be more so than baked beans - I owe much of this recipe to a chef buddy Matty. He'd use cheffy ingredients like pancetta and not use the canned goods I have below, But my version is simpler, faster and a third of the price to make, fulfilling one of the requirements of my food stylings - thrifty.

Scotty's Mean-as Beans

a glug of Olive oil
tsp of cumin seeds
1/2 tsp of fennel seeds (optional)

- get these started in a large frying pan on a medium-low heat, just sizzling and toasting

While that's doing it's thing dice up the following ingredients - not too finely, nice chunks.
150g of smokey bacon (I use Pestals, if you go to their butchery in Stoke you can buy bacon ends which are cheap-as, a little too smoky for some dishes -but perfect here and also a less fatty cut)
1 red onion
2-4 garlic cloves
1 green capsican

- raise the heat of the pan to medium-hot and add the bacon first to get some colour on it, shortly followed by everything else. Toss contents of pan around keeping what you can off the floor, bench and cooktop.

While that does it's thing get out
a 440g can of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp of tomato paste
a good sprinkle of dried oregano

- add to the pan, stir through and turn down to a simmer. I will often dice up some fresh tomato and add this as well, don't worry about skin and seeds - rustic styles here. The three types of tomato bring different elements to the pallet, richness, sweetness, acidity and freshness.

Drain and wash
a 440g can of cannellini beans

- add to the pan and heat through

At this point I add some roughly chopped herbs. Usually basil or flat leaved parsley, but sometimes a shred some fresh spinach from the garden. You could add chilli earlier in the process but I just throw a dollop of Kaitaia Fire in it and a good amount of salt and pepper - stir through and serve up.

Back into it.

2011-10-31T18:11:00.000-07:00

Well, young Scotty has been away for a week or so in Aussie land. Not the place I would want to be when we knocked them out of the world cup... anyhow.

We had a great brainstorming session, we shortlisted many suppliers we know and like.

Had a trial run at assembling some ingredients pictures to accompany the recipes, and then thought......NO, we need more!

So we will also travel to some places and show where the ingredients come from.

I have been drafting intro's for the recipes, and ingredients.

I was amazed how easy it came out.......but how it wasn't reading the way I was trying to write it. DOH!

Still, a couple of glasses of Nelson Sauvignon Blanc and it flowed so much easier.

Wierd. I put it down to letting the ingredients talk for themselves, and the bigger the glass, the better they spoke.

So Blackenbrook, I thank you for the intro to the cured salmon, and the goats cheese mousse!

Opinions please

2011-10-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

So its help me time, can I please have a bit of feedback.

What makes a perfect cookbook?

Apart from the restaurants recipe content, what would everyone like to see?

Suggestions please?

Perhaps......

Our favourite food, things we like to make at home etc?

Bits around Nelson, the markets, fishing boats, orchards etc?

Something completely different?

Everyones feedback is welcome!

Petit Fours + More

2011-10-09T23:54:00.000-07:00

A big photo shoot this week as I'm off across the ditch later this week and will leave Grant and Katie to write up some recipes in my absence.

Below we have a Chocolate trio, Crème Brûlée (edit), a Strawberry *something*, Fudge and Turkish Delight, Sugared Olives (ah-huh), and Goats cheese mousse.

Salmon, Salad & Sunshine

2011-10-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

This week we all got a bit more sunshine, I found time to tended to my vege patch thanks to daylight savings and there being no more week night pool matches to be sidetracked with. Meanwhile Grant found his way to sunny Blenheim give a cooking demonstration, and we both received a little extra exposure thanks to the Nelson Mail this week... [link]

Yes, now you've had a good laugh here's this weeks dishes. The first is a classic tomato, basil and mozzarella salad. No doubt you've seen this before but just look at the quality of this locally sourced cheese!
The second is currently on the menu at the Mint Dining room, it's a sugar cured salmon with green apple cannelloni and a sour cream soufflé. The salmon is amazing and we've documented the curing process for the book, it is something you can do quite easily and the results are far better than store brought products.

The big bake off

2011-09-27T15:36:00.000-07:00

So, embarrassing video posted....Thanks Scotty!

We had a lot of fun baking up a storm the other day, we have 'proved' (bakery humour) the recipes to be successful.

Bit of a mission scaling them down from restaurant sized to home cook size.

But we have now completed a whole section of our 'book'......... well my content anyway, still needs Scotty's magic.

Bit of background, Katie and I asked Scotty to help us with a professional entry into the New Zealand Hospitality Awards Of Excellence.

(We needed to defend our title of serving the best Lamb dish in New Zealand.)

We worked well together, tasted some wine, and had an idea......... (Turned out to be this blog.)

By the way, we are finalists, serving one of the top 4 Beef dishes, as well as Lamb dishes in New Zealand! So thanks Scotty!

Awards 4th November 2011, keep you posted.

I see Bread - I see Bread - I see Bread.

2011-09-25T22:17:00.000-07:00

About time for another blog entry, this one took longer than expected but as my schedule clears and now that I've worked through some of the video encoding issues I'm pleased to bring you our first video entry. In it Grant will show you how to make a beautiful Irish Soda Bread.

First the recipe (as Grants commentary may be a little askew...)
250 grams of Plain Flour
250 grams of Wholemeal Flour
1 tsp of Baking Soda
1 tsp of Salt
30 grams of Buter
300 ml of Buttermilk

Method:

So, to recap...
Place dry ingredients in mixing bowl then rub in butter.
Add the buttermilk and mix until still slightly crumbly.
Knead for 3 minutes on a clean bench.
Shape into a flattened disc and score the top.
Bake on a flat tray at 180 degrees (C) for about 30 minutes - it should be crusty on outside and sound hollow when tapped.

Here are a few images from our afternoon of bread baking - Cristini, Sour Dough rolls, Gluten free loaf, and Mint Dining Room's signature bread rolls.

Lemon Panna Cotta, Buttermilk Gelato and Coffee ramblings.

2011-09-12T22:47:00.000-07:00

First things first - and all good things start with a coffee.

Right... chapter one....

Where would be the logical place to start?

Agreed. - Dessert!

Local Mandarins when in season are simply unbeatable. The skins peel themselves and the flesh is deliciously sweet. Due to their abundance in these months they're either very cheap - or free if you have a healthy tree near by. Here is a tried and true Panna Cotta recipe with a Mandarin twist.

2 Gelatine leaves (pre soaked)
250ml of fresh cream
250ml of milk
100gm sugar
15ml Limoncello (a lemon liqueur)
1tsp of Lemon zest

Method:
Heat cream, milk, sugar and Limoncello to almost a boil, then allow to simmer for 30 seconds.
Remove from heat, skim any skin that forms and add the gelatine. Gently mix until you reach a silky smooth consistency. Cool the mixture in an ice bath for about 20 minutes before transferring into individual moulds. Allow to set in a refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Serve with Buttermilk Gelato...

900ml of Buttermilk
250gm of Sugar
1 Lemon (juice only)
500ml Water

Heat sugar, lemon and water in a saucepan. Simmer for 3 mins and allow to cool.
Mix in the buttermilk and churn in an Icecream machine.

Now for the mandarins... actually I'll get Grant to finish this off in the comments below. I'm far too hungry now!

Well, first blog. - What are we doing here?

2011-09-07T23:29:00.000-07:00

Hi.

I'm Scotty, I'm a graphic designer and a photographer. I've known Grant since we played soccer for Stoke suburbs - under 11's I think. We'd fight over who'd play goalie as neither of us have ever been strong runners.

We do share another interest which is loosely founded on the avoidance of incentive cardiovascular activity - I'm talking about good food. Grant is the head Chef of The Mint Dining Room here in Nelson. He and his wife Katie own and operate this fine establishment and have gathered a collection of accolades and awards. Both have vast expertise in culinary arts and food service.

And I like to eat.

I've recently(-ish) graduated a Bachelor of Media Arts and started my own design firm. Having dabbled working in pro kitchens from time to time, and the aforementioned interest in food has led me to combine this with my photography.

I've learnt that it pays to have a passion project to work on - something you can do your own way, and that's what I hope to achieve here with this book.

We'd like you (yes you reading this) to join us as we attempt to make a foodie book, give us your ideas, comments, feedback, suggestions. Any and all participation is welcome. We may not know what we're doing... it's an experiment, but lets see how it goes!

[.....how hard can it be? - I wish you hadn't said that]

An idea we had

2011-09-07T23:04:00.000-07:00

While chatting one day, Scott of Aeon Design, and Grant and Katie of Mint Dining Room decided to write a cook book. We haven't written one before, and thought we would write a Blog about the fun and games we encounter along the way. I mean how hard can it be......