Annabel Langbein's Blog

Lunch with the girls

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Annabel Langbein

Friends and food – the perfect combination!

My philosophy has always been that leading a good life is about friendships, community and time around the table. That’s why I love this time of year. After the busy-ness of Christmas this is a great time to relax, re-energise and reflect – and get all my friends over for a meal. Friendships are such an important part of life – I don’t know where I’d be without my dear friends.

The key to stress-free entertaining is to choose a menu that will allow you to do most of the preparation in advance, leaving plenty of time to have fun with your friends. Don’t choose any recipes that are too demanding – keep it simple! If you need to, make lists so you know what needs to be done.

Simple recipes make entertaining easy

There are a couple of key things I do when I’m entertaining friends. Catering for different tastes can be tricky so I like to find out beforehand whether my guests have any allergies or things that they can’t – or won’t – eat. Because I like to use fresh, seasonal ingredients, I always make plenty of time for shopping so I can get my hands on whatever is in peak quality and condition. Laying the table with fresh flowers, candles and napkins sets the scene for people to relax and enjoy each other’s company.

Recently I organised a get together for a bunch of girlfriends – you might have read about it in the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly. We had a delicious meal of Crab Shooters, White Bean and Rocket Bruschetta, Duck and Mango Salad and Strawberry Custard Tarts from my new book Annabel Langbein Free Range in the City. I prepared it all in advance and assembled it at the last minute – it was so easy and made for a wonderful way to while away an afternoon.

I chose wine to suit each individual course. There can be a lot of snobbery and jargon about matching wines and food, but I’m a great believer in finding taste combinations you enjoy rather than playing by a lot of old rules. I just choose combinations that I like and that suit each other in terms of flavour and texture, so the wine enhances the meal. So a light salad meal, for example, should be matched with a ‘light’ wine like a pinot gris or a riesling. Here are the wines I chose to match the menu at my girlie lunch:

Strawberry Custard Tarts with Everwild Reserve Sparkling Cuvée Riche NV

White Bean and Rocket Bruschetta with Seppelt Salinger Pinot Noir Chardonnay 2006

• White Bean and Rocket Bruschetta with Seppelt Salinger Pinot Noir Chardonnay Vintage Release 2006
• Crab Shooters with 900 Grapes Chardonnay Marlborough 2011
• Duck and Mango Salad with 900 Grapes Pinot Noir Marlborough 2010
• Strawberry Custard Tarts with Everwild Reserve Sparkling Cuvée Riche NV

Remember, whites are always nicer chilled – but not so icy cold that you can’t taste the flavours. Make sure you also have plenty of chilled water for the table as well – you want to be a responsible host!

At the end of the day, people always love it when you cook for them, no matter what you make. It’s about getting everyone together and having some fun. Keep it simple and enjoy yourself – if you’re relaxed your guests will be too!

Posted in My kitchen, My musings | Tagged Annabel Langbein, blog, easy entertaining, food, friends, lunch, New Zealand, strawberries, strawberry tart, summer, The Free Range Cook, wine and food matching | Leave a comment

Happy companions

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Annabel Langbein

I kicked off my feminist-hippy period as a teenager, leaving school at 16 (University Entrance successfully passed – whew!) to move up to the Whanganui River with my longtime boyfriend and fellow idealist, Murray, and his friend, Thom. We lived in the then-decrepit meeting house on the old marae at Ranana, down on the banks of the Whanganui River. There was no electricity or running water, and all our meals (as well as all my preserving and baking) were cooked over a big open fire.

Grow It!

NZ Garden Dictionary

Out on the river flat, we three constructed a huge vegetable garden – about half a hectare – of all-organic produce, which fed not just ourselves, but much of the local community around us. I still have some of my library of books from that era of my life: Grow It! The Beginner’s Complete In-Harmony-With-Nature Small Farm Guide, my dad’s New Zealand Garden Dictionary and a little hardcover book on companion plants. These books remain a regular reference for my gardening all these years down the track.

Annabel Langbein blog companion planting beans potatoes

Beans and potatoes like each other's company

Annabel Langbein blog companion planting celery carrots

Happy bedfellows - celery and carrots

I love the way that nature has its own rules about which plants like being next to each other and which don’t. Some plant combinations seem obvious because the two harvests make such happy companions on the plate – tomatoes and basil, beans and corn, beans and potatoes, and leeks, carrots and celery. But then you find that beans don’t like being next to tomatoes. In fact, neither do most members of the cabbage family. Tomatoes hate fennel, but like asparagus (I love asparagus and fennel, so go figure), while potatoes are stunted by sunflowers, pumpkins and cucumbers. Peas don’t respond to onions and garlic; beetroot doesn’t like beans.

The list of likes and dislikes is actually quite vast. Companion planting charts abound on the web, which makes it easy to ensure your plantings will thrive and not sulk. One I refer to a lot is Kings Plant Barn’s Companion Planting Chart. I often use Stumble Upon to find new, interesting garden sites. One of the recent finds I have enjoyed is Cove Rock Farm’s Herbal Planting Companion.

One of my favourite books

My little book, Companion Plants, was first published in 1966 as an A–Z of all things companionable. It is full of fascinating information about companion planting. Some of it I am not quite convinced about – apparently surrounding a vegetable garden with a wall of onions will protect it from rabbits. I have to say that given the rapacious appetites and incredibly prolific breeding habits of the rabbits down in Central Otago, I’m not game enough to put that theory to the test. Ted’s shotgun seems a much more reliable control (the results of which also find their way, very tastily, to the dinner table).

Tomatoes and basil - partners in the garden and on the plate

This year I am, however, going to try out one of Companion Plants’ recommendations for the stinging nettle that grows rampantly through my vege garden. I’m not keen on nettles growing anywhere I might sting myself inadvertently, but they are recommended to promote vitality in any plant they grow next to, especially tomatoes. However, these benefits can be conferred by a fermented extract instead. This is also recommended as deterrent for the black flies that are shortly going to cause real grief to my broad beans.

This fermented extract is as simple as picking nettles (gloves needed) and putting them in a container, then covering with water and leaving them to ferment outside for three weeks. Once three weeks has passed, the nettles will have fully broken down and your extract is ready to be sprayed onto plants – some for the tomatoes and some for the broad beans. What a useful weed!

One of the most useful areas of companion planting is the way some plants work to keep certain insects at bay. In Borneo, I was amazed to see huge hedges of lemongrass planted all around the longhouses – lemongrass is the source of citronella, a major mosquito repellent.

You will find in companion planting that either marigolds or nasturtiums will deter aphids. Onions will keep carrot fly at bay. The cabbage butterfly doesn’t like rosemary, sage, mint or thyme, and cut-leaf worms don’t like oak-leaf mulch. Alyssum attracts the hoover flies that eat aphids, and leaving big piles of leaf-mould untouched in parts of your garden attract ladybugs – surely one of the most useful garden insects.

For lots more gardening tips and advice, see my website. Happy planting!

Posted in My garden, My musings | Tagged Annabel Langbein, blog, companion planting, garden, gardening, harvest, planting, plants, recipe, recipes, summer, The Free Range Cook | 4 Comments

Let’s talk turkey

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Annabel Langbein

Just out of the oven

For years I’ve been disappointed by my turkey-cooking efforts because the bird has inevitably been dry and rather stringy. But then I discovered the magical, transforming effect of brining.

Brining takes me back to my school chemistry classes where we were drilled in osmosis. My daughter Rose can still quote from her Year 9 science classes: “osmosis is the process by which water is transported from a low concentration to a high concentration by a semi-permeable membrane”. Brining a turkey is osmosis in action, because the brine (low concentration) moves into the cells of the turkey (high concentration), making it juicy and moist. (Just a quick cooking-science lesson for you!)

Because of this, the turkey absorbs all the good parts of the brine – the salty-sweet flavour of the herbs and spices the brine is made with. Brining is my not-so-secret secret to cooking tender, moist meat without fail. Trust me, it makes a huge difference! I do it all the time now, with chicken, pork and duck as well as turkey. (When I brine duck, I replace the honey in the brine with marmalade and the herbs with a few whole star anise and some ginger root.)

Of course, at this time of year there’s never any room in the fridge. I get around this by brining my turkey in a large plastic bag left inside a chilly bin with ice all around it. If you are brining something small, like a chicken breast or a pork chop, you only need to brine it for an hour or so. With a turkey, I like to brine it overnight.

Our early Christmas lunch

More please!

Yesterday we tested this recipe using a free-range turkey from Croziers, then sat down to enjoy it as an early Christmas feast with the team. Served with new potatoes, fresh asparagus and broad beans and carrots from the garden, stuffing and a pan gravy, it was simply sublime.

Here are some of my top tips for cooking turkey:

The Brine recipe below makes enough to cover a size 4 turkey. Increase the quantities for a larger turkey – you need enough to fully submerge the bird.
Stuff the turkey just before cooking – stuffing it ahead of time allows bacteria to breed.
Spread a sliced onion around the bottom of a roasting dish and put the turkey on top – it forms the most amazing pan brownings.
Adding pear cider to the roasting dish infuses the meat with a lovely sweet flavour and helps keep it moist.
Pop the turkey giblets and liver in to roast as well. Once the turkey is cooked let them simmer with the juices from your vegetables or some chicken stock to make a nice gravy, then remove and discard.

Tender, Juicy Brined Turkey

Prep time 30 mins + standing
Cook time 2 hrs 45 mins
Serves 10

2 red or white onions, peeled and thickly sliced
size 4 turkey (4.5-5kg)
50g butter, softened
sprigs of tarragon or thyme
1 litre pear cider (I used Old Mout Pear Scrumpy Cider)
8-10 dried pear halves (optional)

Brine
1½ cups salt
¾ cup honey
9 springs rosemary
zest and juice of 3 lemons
18 bay leaves
3 tbsp black peppercorns
a large bunch thyme
9 cloves garlic, crushed
1.5 litres boiling water
4.5 litres cold water

Stuffing
2 onions
3 rashers bacon or pancetta, diced
50g butter
½ cup chopped dried pears
½ cup shelled pistachios or almonds
3 tbsp chopped thyme
3 tbsp chopped parsley
2 sage leaves, finely sliced
3 cups fresh soft breadcrumbs (chunky)
salt and pepper, to taste
3 eggs

Gravy
3 cups chicken stock (or use vegetable cooking water)
¼ cup cornflour
¼ cup cold water
salt and fine white pepper, to taste

Defrost turkey slowly in a chilly bin or the fridge for 24-48 hours. Tip out the juices and rinse well inside and out.

To make the Brine, place all ingredients except cold water in a large bowl and stir to dissolve. Mix in cold water.

Place turkey in a large clean plastic bag or busket. Pour in the brine, tie the top of the bag and place in the fridge or in a chilly bin surrounded by ice. Stand 12 hours or up to 24 hours. The following morning, take the turkey out of the brine and pat dry inside and out.

To make Stuffing, gently cook onions and bacon or pancetta in butter until softened (about 6-7 minutes). Remove from heat and add remaining stuffing ingredients except eggs. Mix to combine. Add eggs and stir through evenly. Stuff inside turkey cavity and truss turkey with string if desired.

Stuffing the turkey

Place sliced onions in a large roasting dish and place stuffed turkey on top. Rub softened butter over the top of the turkey. Scatter sprigs of tarragon or thyme into the baking tray with the dried pears, if using. Roast at 180C for 45 minutes. Pour cider into dish, reduce heat to 160C and cook for a further 2 hours or until juices run clear when turkey is speared in the thickest part of the thigh.

Voila!

Remove from oven, lift turkey out of roasting dish and turn upside down onto its breast in a shallow serving dish (this allows the juices to flow back into the breast meat). Cover with tin foil and a couple of clean teatowels and leave to rest while you make the gravy.

To make Gravy, discard onions and herbs and put pears with turkey ready to serve. Bring liquids in roasting pan to a simmer on the stovetop and add chicken stock or vegetable cooking water. Mix together cornflour and cold water and stir into simmering gravy to thicken. Season with lots of fine white pepper and salt to taste.

Posted in My kitchen | Tagged Annabel Langbein, blog, brine, Christmas, Christmas dinner, cooking, dinner, food, garden, harvest, holiday, New Zealand, recipe, recipes, The Free Range Cook, Turkey | 7 Comments

The early summer garden

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Annabel Langbein

Annabel Langbein blog early summer garden

My garden overlooking the lake

In the summer when I am down in Wanaka, I love getting up with the sun and wandering around my garden. There’s something incredibly still and soft about the land at this time of day – a hint of dew on the ground, everything looking so fresh and new.

Early morning in the garden

I get out my hose and do a bit of watering in the vege garden. I get to see what’s doing well and what needs a bit of attention and TLC before the day launches into its busy schedule. This year, the cucumbers have not taken kindly to being moved from the balmy confines of the hothouse to a few cold nights in the outdoors. It’s been such a late, cold spring here this year that the cherries, raspberries and apricots are running about a month behind – normally I can be picking juicy red cherries well before Christmas, but this year they won’t be ready for another few weeks.

Annabel Langbein Early Summer Garden blog

Early summer abundance

The garlic and chives, on the other hand, are fattening up nicely. We have planted three kinds of garlic – a pink French garlic, a curly-top garlic and some elephant garlic. It will be interesting to taste the difference between them. In Turkey earlier this year, I enjoyed a fresh garlic sauce made simply by puréeing peeled cloves of new seasons’ garlic with olive oil and some salt and pepper. The result is like a creamy mayonnaise in texture and a soft, sweet garlic taste – not too strong or biting. It’s wonderful with lamb and potatoes. For more tips on growing and cooking garlic and other alliums, see my website.

Coriander for the picking

The coriander is already wanting to bolt so I am going to cut it right back today and whizz up an Asian pesto. I always blanch the coriander by pouring boiling water over it in a sieve and rinsing it in cold water before puréeing it up with some garlic, ginger, lime zest, chillies and oil. Finally, I add a bit of salt and pepper and sometimes some peanuts or cashews. The pesto goes really well with any kind of noodle or Asian salad. For other ideas for growing and using herbs, see the gardening pages of my website.

Artichokes ready for harvest

Preserved Artichokes in Olive Oil

My big harvest of the week is going to be artichokes. I am going to cut them all right back so that, hopefully, they will come back with another good crop in the autumn. This year, I plan to preserve them in olive oil. The best way, I find, is to cook them slowly, covered in olive oil with a few cloves of garlic, some bay leaves and lemon. Once cooked and cooled, they keep happily in the fridge for months. My other favourite recipes for artichokes include Sicilian Artichokes, Potatoes and Olives or as part of a Mediterranean Summer Grill Plate.

Potatoes fresh from the earth

A cauliflower emerges

The first new potatoes (self-seeded from last year) are flowering and ready to pick. Gently boiled with a little salt and mint, and then tossed in the pot with new seasons’ garlic and butter, they can’t be beaten. I’m also hugely proud of my flawless cauliflowers. I’ll be using them in my Crisp Cauliflower & Cashew Salad.

It’s hard to feel anything but lucky when nature dishes up such wonderful harvests for us to enjoy.

Posted in My garden, My musings | Tagged Annabel Langbein, artichokes, blog, cauliflower, cookbook, cooking, coriander, food, fresh everyday, garden, garlic, harvest, New Zealand, planting, recipe, recipes, summer, The Free Range Cook, Wanaka | 2 Comments

Fresh ideas everyday

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Annabel Langbein

If you’re in New Zealand you might have noticed my face popping up on your TV screen this week. No, it’s not a new series of The Free Range Cook - that’ll be next year - but the latest installment of my Fresh Everyday campaign.

I’ve created this campaign to bring you recipe videos that demonstrate exactly how easy it is to put together fresh, delicious meals using some of my favourite products. Over the past few weeks I’ve worked with carefully selected partner Silver Fern Farms to shoot a series of videos especially designed for those “oh no” moments when you need to pull something spectacular out of your hat in less than an hour.

Say you get home from work late and you’ve got people coming over, or you’ve invited a friend around for an impromptu meal, or maybe you just feel like cooking something special for the family - it’s times like these that I pick up a great piece of meat at the supermarket or butcher on the way home, prepare it simply and serve it with lots of fresh seasonal vegetables. In spring or summer I might barbecue it and then toss it in a salad, whereas on colder days I’ll pop a quick roast in the oven and serve it with my favourite winter veges.

It really helps when the meat is already trimmed and cut to a size that suits four people, like Silver Fern Farms meat is, so there’s no messy mucking around - I can just pop it straight in the pan. I usually go for cuts like loin fillets, rumps or a boneless leg roast, all of which take only minutes to cook. I’ll quite often keep a pack in the back of the fridge “just in case” - because it’s vacuum packed it’ll keep fresh for up to three weeks.

Annabel Langbein Fresh Everyday Silver Fern Farms

Warm Greek Lamb Salad

I love the sweetness of 100% New Zealand lamb, so if you’re looking for an interesting way to kick-start the barbecue season, try my Warm Greek Lamb Salad. The summery Mediterranean flavours of red peppers, tomatoes, feta and a quick pesto dressing are the ideal foil for thinly-sliced barbecued lamb rumps in this simple salad that will take less than half an hour from go to whoa.

Annabel Langbein Fresh Everyday Silver Fern Farms Barbecue Venison Medallions

Barbecued Venison Medallions with Mango Snow Pea Salad

If you really want to make a wow impression for a special occasion - or no particular occasion at all - it’s nice to serve venison for a change. In my video for Barbecued Venison Medallions with Mango Snow Pea Salad you’ll see just how easy it is to cook venison to perfection. Barbecue venison medallions just like you would steaks, searing them for about three minutes each side over a medium-hot heat. The only thing you need to remember is not to overcook them - because venison is such a lean meat it’s best served medium rare or rare so it’s still lovely and juicy. I love this recipe because the Asian flavours of ginger, sesame and soy in the dressing perfectly balance the intensity of the venison, the sweetness of the mango and the crunch of the snow peas.

Roasted Lamb with Caper Aioli

One of my favourite meals to make in colder weather is a quick roast like my Lamb Roast with Caper Aioli. Yes - roasts aren’t just for Sundays, and they don’t have to take all afternoon to cook. I’ll quite often cook a boneless roast on a weeknight - the great thing is that you can pop it in the oven with a few vegetables then wander off and relax with a glass of wine while the oven does all the work. And everyone loves roasts - even the kids! This modern take on the traditional Kiwi roast lamb comes with honey-roasted vegetables and a cheat’s caper aioli that I make in a minute by stirring garlic, capers and lemon into good-quality commercial mayonnaise.

Pistachio-Crusted Lamb with Beetroot Confit

But the dish that had the film crew in the loudest raptures when we were shooting these videos was my Pistachio-Crusted Lamb Loin Fillets with Beetroot Confit. Beetroot is such an under-rated vegetable, but the touch of five-spice powder in this quick grated beetroot side dish brings it alive and marries beautifully with the nutty pistachio crust and the sweetness of the lamb. Give it a whirl at your next dinner party - you won’t be disappointed.

Annabel Langbein Fresh Everyday Silver Fern Farms Competition

Win a prize pack worth $500

Obviously you can watch these videos and enjoy these recipes wherever you live in the world - there’s something for every season! But if you live in New Zealand you can also win great prizes by visiting the Fresh Everyday pages of my website. Click here to win a $500 prize pack including a Scanpan Frypan, a Silver Fern Farms apron and Silver Fern Farms lamb and venison. Or click here to win a copy of my new book Annabel Langbein Free Range in the City, which has just been published in Australia and New Zealand, just by answering a simple question about one of my Fresh Everyday videos. We’ll be posting new questions between now and 23 November, so keep checking back for more chances to win. Happy cooking!

Posted in My kitchen | Tagged Annabel Langbein, barbecue, blog, cooking, cooking videos, dinner, easy, food, fresh everyday, garden, lamb, meat, New Zealand, recipe, recipe videos, recipes, roast, salad, Silver Fern Farms, The Free Range Cook, venison, videos | Comments Off

A French toast

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Annabel Langbein

Annabel Langbein The Free Range Cook Paris Launch Sept 2011

The French edition of The Free Range Cook

Annabel Langbein Free Range in the City Paris launch residence

My book on show at the ambassador's residence

Paris has been basking in the most glorious Indian summer – clear blue skies, hot without being too hot and not a breath of wind. It could not have been more perfect for the launch of my cookbook Annabel au Naturel (the French version of The Free Range Cook) at the New Zealand Ambassador’s wonderful residence.

Annabel Langbein Free Range in the City Paris launch

With Isabelle Jeuge-Maynart and ambassador Rosemary Banks

Annabel Langbein Free Range in the City Paris launch Larousse

Chatting with the team from Larousse

Taking a cookbook to the home of cuisine, France, is for me the ultimate achievement, and I feel very lucky to be working with esteemed publishers Larousse. I’ll never forget the day, some five years ago, when Larousse’s president/director general Isabelle Jeuge-Maynart and her colleague Ghislaine Stora sought out my little stand at the London Book Fair. It was the start of a wonderful relationship and I was very grateful for Isabelle’s kind words as she introduced my new book at the launch.

Speaking from the heart - in French!

With Damiano Malchiodi from Cuisine TV

The New Zealand Ambassador in France, Rosemary Banks, also gave a speech to welcome everyone to the event, after which I braved up to give my speech in French. This was quite challenge – especially in front of more than 100 journalists, booksellers and friends! But somehow doing this really seemed to engage the guests and before I knew it I was conducting all my interviews in French. Oh la la – they understood me!

My dear friend Daniele Dulpeuch with cookbook author Fouzia Rachdi

John Wallace with Anna-Alix Koffi

Following the speeches, everyone had an opportunity to nibble on a selection of dishes from the book and enjoy a glass or two of New Zealand wine. For many of the French guests, it was the first time they had tasted a New World wine and they were more than impressed by the quality.

Thanks to NZ Trade & Enterprise's Augusta Severino (left) and Nicolas Pessus, and my media team Anna-Alix Koffi and Kassy Hayden (right)

The back-to-nature messages of my TV series and book seem to have hit a chord here in France. Here, as I think is happening everywhere in the western world, people are craving a simpler, less cluttered existence. As I said in my speech: “Leonardo da Vinci put it best when he said, ‘Simplicity is the ultimate refinement’.”

Posted in My books, My travels | Tagged Annabel au Naturel, Annabel Langbein, book launch, cookbook, cuisine, food, France, French, Larousse, New Zealand, Paris, party, recipes, The Free Range Cook | 6 Comments

A Taste of New Zealand’s best

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Annabel Langbein

Annabel Langbein blog Taste of New Zealand

The Taste of New Zealand front row

One of the things I enjoy most about eating out is the chance to sample really creative food made by other cooks and chefs. I love it when someone puts together an idea that works that I had never imagined or tasted before. The quest for innovation in cooking drives most chefs, and that’s what makes foodie events like the upcoming Taste of New Zealand festival so interesting. Here, in a single venue at Auckland’s Victoria Park, you get the chance to taste dishes from some of the top restaurants in Auckland and from further afield – without having to fork out a main-course price tag.

I remember the first such event I attended in Seattle more than 20 years ago for the opening night of the International Culinary Professionals conference. It was set in the aquarium, with about 30 different restaurants and a dozen or more wineries each offering a taste of one or two of their signature dishes. I still have the little recipe book that came from that night. Afterwards, I found myself coming home to try exciting new dishes like pea guacamole and fresh oyster bloody marys. Inspirational exchanges like this promote a better way of cooking to all of us, for our eyes are opened to new flavours and combinations.

Annabel Langbein blog Taste of New Zealand bus

Taking Taste to the streets of Auckland

That’s why I’m really excited to be the ‘face’ of this year’s Taste of New Zealand festival, and join with thousands of foodies and our most talented chefs and produce suppliers in this celebration of our country’s best food and beverages. It’s my first experience of being on the inside of such an event and while I’m still getting used to the idea of seeing my face on the back of buses around town, so far it’s shaping up to be a blast.

Annabel Langbein Blog Free Range in the City Cover

I'm launching my new book at Taste of NZ

For me, the highlight will be launching my new book, Free Range in the City (New Zealanders can click here to download some free sample recipes), at the VIP opening night of Taste of New Zealand on Wednesday 19 October. I’m also really looking forward to being a guest at the Ladies Who Lunch event on Thursday 20 October, and I’ll be doing a live cooking demonstration in the Fisher & Paykel Chefs Kitchen at 12.30pm on Friday 21 October. I’ll be at the Waiwera Chefs Table from 3pm-3.45pm that Friday afternoon, and from 2pm-2.45pm on Saturday 22 October, and around these times I’ll be at the Fisher & Paykel Ironside stand doing book signings.

Annabel Langbein Blog Taste of New Zealand Urban Grilla

Grilla marketing

Food is a brilliant conduit for drawing people together to enjoy each other’s company. I’m guessing Taste of New Zealand is going to be like one great big foodie party. There’s even a fun Urban Grilla competition where you can send in a photo of yourself dining streetside and win a $3500 Taste package.

Annabel Langbein Blog Taste of New Zealand Cloud

The Cloud

And if you can’t wait until October to experience the real Taste of New Zealand at Victoria Park, you can get a sneak preview right now at Taste at the Cloud. Open from 10am until 6pm every day between now and 23 October, this mini-festival offers a snapshot of New Zealand’s best food and wine in the rather cool Cloud down on Queens Wharf on the Auckland waterfront. It’s great to show the world there’s more to New Zealand than rugby!

Posted in My books, My musings, My travels | Tagged Annabel Langbein, blog, book, book launch, chef, cook, cookbook, festival, Free Range in the City, launch, new blog, New Zealand, restaurant, restaurants, show, signing, Taste, Taste of New Zealand, The Free Range Cook, where to eat | 1 Comment

Tastes of Turkey

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Annabel Langbein

Agean idyll

: A dream holiday

Sitting here in the gloomy grey rain of an Auckland winter, it’s hard to imagine that just a couple of weeks ago I was frolicking in the clearest blue waters of the Aegean, having one of the best holidays of my life. Ten amazing days with my computer and blackberry turned off (what a luxury that is!), swimming in the clearest waters, surrounded by a deep and rich culture, warm, friendly people, amazing produce, interesting cuisine and a group of great friends. In my book it just does not get any better.

Annabel Langbein Blog Sailing in Turkey Ruins

Ancient ruins at Knidos

: The remains of an old amphitheatre

I had never been to Turkey before and hadn’t had the time to do any research. All I knew was that we were to meet some friends in Istanbul for a few days and then fly south together to Bodrum to meet other friends on their boat for a week of cruising the Turkish Aegean. Istanbul itself was a mega eatahon and adventure – an amazing city at the crossroads of East and West. But that’s another story. For now I am still warm with memories of the clearest blue seas and skies, honey and almonds, string cheese and sheep curd and feta, hundreds of kinds of olives, hillsides of purple bouganvillea, ancient ruins and laughter, so much laughter in the company of wonderful friends.

Annabel Langbein blog sailing in Turkey bartering for fish

Trading fish for beers with the local fishermen

: Bartering for towels over Turkish tea

Cruising the Turkish coast you can be sure that something new or unexpected can and usually will happen every day. Whether it’s being able to trade beers for fresh fish from the local fishermen, barter for provisions at the weekly market or on the wharf, or be served cups of Turkish tea at the butchers or the towel shop. Whether you’re discovering amazing untramelled ruins such as those in the remote and beautiful Knidos, or swimming in the waters where Cleopatra imported sand from the Sahara so she could cavort with Mark Anthony, it’s all one big wonderful adventure.

: A meal crafted from market provisions

: The world’s smallest galley

Every day our skipper Ihran would moor in a new bay, sometimes near a small village or town, sometimes quite remotely. Some nights we would cook on the boat with our market provisions, others we would go ashore in the dingy and eat at a local cantina. With 10 people on board, cooking and cleaning up in the world’s smallest galley was a bit of a mission but great fun and my favourite way to cook – give me really fresh produce, a few pantry supplies and good company and I’m as happy as a clam. We always aimed to eat at least one meal a day off the boat to ease the pressure on supplies. At Karacasogut, the bay of honey water, we arrived in time for swims and an explore of the small town, stopping to find a sign offering fresh strawberry margaritas - something new for Turkey. The strawberries were picked to order from the paddock across the road. We ended up having a wonderful dinner here - the restaurant is so new that it does not yet have a name, but you will find it a couple of blocks back off the beach with a big metal chimney (they also do great pizzas during the day).

: A mezze feast

Annabel Langbein blog sailing and eating in Turkey tomato salad

Tomato salad with walnuts, olives, feta and oregano

Among the most exciting things to eat in Turkey are the mezze. Turkish mezze offer an impressive array beyond the standard hummus, taramasalata, baba ghanoush and yoghurt and cucumber dips we know so well. There are lovely vegetable stews, pastes of peppers and beans, cooked seaweed dishes, artichoke dishes, plates of octopus or squid salad – sometimes up to 20 different mezze will be on offer in a restaurant. You will find you really won’t want anything else afterwards. Choose some mezze and they will come with bread. Raki is the preferred drink but Turkish tea is safer if you don’t want to nod off to sleep for the afternoon. On the boat it was so easy to make a tomato salad of one kind or another, served up with fresh bread – so easy and so good.

Annabel Langbein blog sailing and eating in Turkey breakfast

Turkish breakfast fixings

: Everyone has their own recipe for menemen

Turkish breakfasts offer a fantatsic array of fresh and dried fruit, yoghurt (the best in the world), breads, jams and honey along with cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese and olives. Their other breakfast specialty, which I fell in love with, is a terrific dish called menemen. Every restaurant serves it and it’s always just a little bit different. Menemen one of Turkey’s national dishes in a very low-key kind of way - famous for being something every man knows how to cook before he is married. It’s such an easy, good thing to make and every household has their own version depending on the ratio of onions or tomatoes or eggs.

Annabel Langbein blog Turkey newspaper clipping menemen

Hitting the headlines with my menemen

You simply heat some oil and gently fry lots of diced onions and some Turkish or Hungarian peppers (lightly hot but not like chillies) without browning. Then add chunks of peeled tomatoes (Turkish cooks always peel their tomatoes like we might peel an orange) and let them cook down so you have a nice sauce. Give it a good season and then whisk in some eggs, stirring them so they cook like a scramble through the tomato and onion mixture. That’s it. I guess you could add dill or parsley or more chilli or chorizo, but they don’t and it’s just delicious! My mother used to make us something very similar without the peppers, which she called tomato wiggle, and my Colombian friend Andres, who was with us, says in Colombia a similar dish is called huevos pericos – but there they use more egg. Such were my accolades for this dish that in Marmaris I actually made the national media with a press conference of about eight jourmalists and two TV channels!

Annabel Langbein Blog Sailing Food Turkey

Memories are made of this

Looking back now through these photos from Turkey it all feels like a dream. Good holidays are like that though – if life was like this on an everyday basis, well it just wouldn’t seem so special, would it? Give me another month or two of that life and I might be able to let you know! At this point I would quite like to be teleported back (without the pain of having to go on Turkish airlines – it’s not until you travel on another airline that you realise just how good our own airline Air New Zealand really is…)

Posted in My travels | Tagged Annabel Langbein, blog, easy, food, holiday, New Zealand, recipe, recipes, sailing, The Free Range Cook, travel, Turkey, Turkish | 2 Comments

Introducing Fresh Everyday

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Annabel Langbein

It’s so much easier to cook a dish when you’ve seen it being made. Ideally, of course, this will be from the comfort of a kitchen stool, glass of wine in hand while you watch the cook at work and wait to eat whatever delicious concoction he or she is creating!

But the next best thing is a video, which is why I’ve launched my new Fresh Everyday campaign, featuring videos showing you how to make delicious, easy recipes using some of my favourite products. The first television ads in the series are screening on New Zealand television this week, but here’s a sneak preview:

Fresh Everyday is all about the shortcuts, tricks and products that make it easy to cook fresh meals for your family and friends every day. So here’s my first tip: If you haven’t got time to make your own stock, using a good-quality shop-bought fresh stock gives your meals a real flavour boost. Start with really good ingredients and it’s hard to go wrong!

Annabel Langbein Fresh Everyday Essential Cuisine Prize

$350 worth of goodies to win!

To celebrate the launch of Fresh Everyday we’re giving away a boxed set of two of my favourite Furi cooking knives, plus a delicious selection of Essential Cuisine pestos, stocks and jus, together worth $350! You don’t even have to buy anything (although you do have to live in New Zealand) - simply click here to enter!

I’d love to hear what you think about the recipes I’ve posted so far on the Fresh Everyday site - Tweet me using the following #hashtags and I’ll give a signed copy of Annabel Langbein The Free Range Cook to one lucky Tweeter.

Asparagus, Spinach and Lemon Risotto

Chicken Laksa

Chicken Laksa - this Malaysian coconut noodle soup is a firm favourite in my household and easier than you think! The crunchy salad garnish offsets the creamy soup perfectly and a dash of lime revives tired taste buds. Tell me what you think on #FEDlaksa

Asparagus, Spinach and Lemon Risotto - a great vegetarian dish (use beans when asparagus is out of season), or serve with grilled chicken or fish on the side. Tell me what you think on #FEDrisotto

Barbecued Lamb with Rosemary Chilli Sauce

Tuscan Beef Ragu

Barbecued Lamb with Rosemary Chilli Sauce - delicious on the barbecue or just as good cooked in a heavy-based pan in the wintertime. Tell me what you think on #FEDlamb

Tuscan Beef Ragu - one of those hearty, rustic dishes you crave in the depths of winter. Make on the stovetop, in the oven or in a slow-cooker. Tell me what you think on #FEDragu

Veal Saltimbocca

Steak with Green Peppercorn Sauce

Steak with Green Peppercorn Sauce - a grown-up dinner for a romantic occasion or dinner party. Just 30 minutes from go to woah! Tell me what you think on #FEDsteak

Veal Saltimbocca - my twist on a classic. White wine and veal stock add depth to the mushroom sauce on these tender veal rolls. Tell me what you think on #FEDveal

Posted in My kitchen | Tagged Annabel Langbein, asparagus, asparagus risotto, barbecue, barbecued lamb, beef, beef ragu, blog, chicken, chicken laska, cooking, dinner, easy, Essential Cuisine, food, fresh, fresh everyday, laksa, lamb, lemon, meals, New Zealand, pepper steak, ragu, risotto, saltimbocca, steak, The Free Range Cook, veal, veal saltimbocca | 4 Comments

Launching in London

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Annabel Langbein

Annabel Langbein blog London launch of The Free Range Cook

With the BBC's Alison Finch and Psychologies editor Louise Chunn

Annabel Langbein Blog with Belinda Brown at the launch of The Free Range Cook at NZ House London

With Deputy High Commissioner for New Zealand, Belinda Brown

It was such a buzz to launch my book Annabel Langbein The Free Range Cook in London last week!

The weather gods were kind to us and we enjoyed 360 degree views of this amazing city from the Penthouse Terrace of New Zealand House in Haymarket. Thanks so much to the New Zealand High Commission for making this fabulous venue available to us so we could showcase New Zealand creativity and produce to the world.

Annabel Langbein blog launch of The Free Range Cook in London

NZ Trade Commissioner for UK & Ireland, Sam Lewis

Annabel Langbein blog London launch The Free Range Cook book

With Claire Byrom-Jones from Air New Zealand

More than 120 guests nibbled gorgeous canapes made from recipes in the book, including yummy New Zealand lamb racks and venison supplied by Silver Fern Farms. These were paired with delicious wines from Trinity Hills.

The guest list included dignitories such as Deputy High Commissioner for New Zealand Belinda Brown, as well as media, bloggers and our friends and supporters from Octopus Publishing, UKTV Good Food, New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand.

The book is being published in the UK by Octopus for release today (6 June), and also available on amazon.co.uk. To coincide with the launch, the accompanying television series will be screened on UKTV Good Food from 6pm on Wednesday 8 June.

Annabel Langbein blog launch The Free Range Cook in London

Chermoula Chicken served as canapes

The Vanilla Plum Cake recipe makes dainty mini cupcakes

The very best part was having such a fun party in that way Kiwis really know how to and are so famous for, with a generous sense of warmth and hospitality that’s at the heart of what Annabel Langbein The Free Range Cook is all about. Gorgeous food, delicious wines and great fun were had by all!

And now as I navigate the rush and bustle of Istanbul’s 17 million people, there can be no doubt that ours is the new lucky country. There are just so many people out here in the world, with so much pressure and poverty and so little personal space in these mega cities. And while it is incredibly stimulating it’s also quite relentless – there’s no sense of ever being able to slow down or escape.

It makes me feel so lucky to be a New Zealander!

Posted in My books | Tagged Annabel Langbein, blog, book launch, launch, London, New Zealand, recipe, recipes, The Free Range Cook, UK, wine | 3 Comments

Lunch with the girls

Happy companions

Let’s talk turkey

The early summer garden

Fresh ideas everyday

A French toast

A Taste of New Zealand’s best

Tastes of Turkey

Introducing Fresh Everyday

Launching in London

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