I'm tired today.  We stayed up too late watching the Olympics the past few nights and then stayed up later to try to see the meteor shower last night.  It's made for a long day!

Today was New Zealand day.  We had New Zealand meatloaf, green bean and asparagus salad, and Pavlova layer cake with fruit for dessert.  Pavlova cake is basically the national dish of New Zealand and is named after Anna Pavlova, a famous ballerina.  You can read about the history here.



The Verdict:
We all liked the flavor of the meatloaf.  It had a strong curry smell, but the taste was just right! Two of us liked the vegetables and we all enjoyed different parts of the dessert!  Overall, I'd say that I'd make them all again.  The cake was difficult to cut and super sweet, but the berries were a great balancing agent.

I'm going to list the recipes in the order that I prepared them since timing-wise, everything was ready at almost the exact same time.  I started the meatloaf while the meringue was cooling, made the diary-free whipped cream while the meatloaf was cooking, and blanched the veggies/made the dressing during the last 10 minutes of the meatloaf cook time.



Layered Pavlova (recipe based on one from 196 Flavors)


Ingredients

10 eggs
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup caster sugar
4 tsp cornstarch
4 TBSP white vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 TBSP sugar
Fruit - we used blueberries, golden kiwis, raspberries, and strawberries
dairy-free whipping cream (see recipe below)

Preparation

In advance, refrigerate your mixing bowl for about 30 minutes.  Separate the egg whites and allow to warm up to room temperature.  You can discard your yolks or save them for scrambled eggs or another recipe.

Preheat oven to 250 F

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt on medium. 


 Once they start to fluff a bit, begin slowly adding sugars, cornstarch, vinegar, and the vanilla extract.  Beat until stiff peaks form. The meringue should be shiny and firm.  This will take longer than you think.  It took about 7 minutes of mixing on medium-high before it began to peak.


Prepare a piece of parchment paper the size of your baking sheet. Draw a rough 7-8 inch circle on the parchment paper, then place it on the baking sheet upside down. Do the same for a 2nd baking sheet.

 
You can either spoon out the meringue or use a pastry bag to pipe it into the circle on the baking sheet.  Divide the meringue in half and put one half on each baking sheet.  Smooth out the sides and create a small well on the top of one.




Bake for 2 hours.

Turn off the oven and leave the meringues inside until they have cooled completely.



Spread about half of the whipped cream on the non-welled meringue with a spatula or a pastry bag.
Then carefully stack the welled meringue on top.  Spread the rest of the whipped cream in the well and along the top of the meringue.  Place sliced fruit pieces on top of cake.




Dairy-Free Whipping Cream
Place
two cans of full fat coconut milk (I use Thai Kitchen) in the fridge for several hours prior to use.  Open the cans and scoop out the cream portion (not the liquid) into a mixing bowl.  An alternative is to turn the cans upside down and pour out the liquid first before scooping out the cream.  Both ways work. 


Add 1 TBSP of vanilla extract and sugar to taste (I used about 4 TBSP). Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to whip the cream until it is fluffy.  




New Zealand Meatloaf (original recipe from Food.com)

(note: Our meatloaf wasn't 100% done, so I put it back in the oven for another 5 minutes.  Some of the sausage areas were still a little under cooked, but we zapped our slices in the microwave to ensure that everything was completely safe to eat.  I would suggest baking for another 10 minutes or upping the cooking temp to 375F.)

Ingredients
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 medium onions, sliced
3 slices of bacon
1 egg
12 cup milk
3 slices bread, crusts removed
12 cup fresh parsley, chopped
12 cup carrot, grated
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp cumin powder
2 TBSP ketchup
2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 lbs ground beef1 1/2 lbs ground sausage

Sauce
34 cup water
34 cup ketchup
2 TBSP honey
2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
2 TBSP white wine vinegar
14 cup brown sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F

Fry bacon in oil and crumble.

In a bowl mix all of the meatloaf ingredients thoroughly. Place into loaf pan and bake for 30 minutes. I would suggest that you put a baking sheet on a rack under the meatloaf to catch any grease that drips.


While waiting for the meatloaf to cook, mix the sauce ingredients in a saucepan over low heat until blended

Remove meatloaf from oven and pour off excess fat. Pour sauce over and replace in oven another 30 minutes. Our meatloaf wasn't 100% done, so I put it back in for another 5 minutes.  Some of the sausage areas were still a little under cooked, but we zapped our slices in the microwave to ensure that everything was completely safe to eat.  I would suggest baking for another 10 minutes or upping the cooking temp to 375.



Asparagus and Green Bean Salad with Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette - I found the idea for this on vegetables.co.nz. I couldn't find broad beans/fava beans anywhere so just used green beans and asparagus. It called for a lime vinaigrette so I used this recipe from Our Best Bites.


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