Ethnic Sunday 'New Zealand'

Every month, typically on the first Sunday, we have what we call "Ethnic Sunday". We pick different countries each month so we can try different foods we typically would never have any other regular Sunday. This month we had preselected New Zealand. Now this may not seem wild or adventurous, but we've had several months of different tasting foods. Last month was Jewish and the month before was Mongolian (which we discovered traditional Mongolian food doesn't really have any vegetable recipes considering they really didn't eat or grow any). Anyway, back to New Zealand...

Now, my older brother served an LDS mission in New Zealand for two years and admittedly we have all tried a few recipes here and there from New Zealand. But, we had never had a meal based off of all recipes from New Zealand. Most of what we had tried before was cookies with golden syrup or pani-po-po (rolls drenched in a coconut milk syrup and oh so delicious).

Going off of our assignments this month we each tackled different parts of the meal. This month our assignments were as follows:

Mom & Dad: Meat and Potatoes (this never changes)
Me: Dessert
Becca: Vegetable
Jon: Rolls and Salad

So, we each found traditional recipes for our assignments.

Mom & Dad: Meat
New Zealand Lamb Ribs
Lemon, Honey & Rosemary Lamb Ribs Recipe

Ingredients
 Lamb Ribs
Marinade:
1/4 c. oil
2 Tbs lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 Tbs tomato paste
2 sticks fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped
1/4 c. fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/2 c. fresh mint leaves, chopped
1 Tbs. honey
1 tsp. paprika
Zest of 2 lemons
Pinch chili flakes
To Serve:
Chopped fresh parsley
Sesame seeds

Method 

Lamb

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a small bowl to combine. Place the lamb ribs in a resealable bag or plastic container and add the marinade, mixing well to coat then cover. Leave to marinate for at least an hour or overnight in the fridge.

Remove the ribs from the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking and season. Preheat a barbecue grill or frying pan to a medium-high heat. Add the ribs and cook until browned and crunchy on all sides – around 15-20 minutes. If you have single ribs they will only take about 10-15 minutes.

To serve

Arrange on a platter and sprinkle with fresh parsley and sesame seeds.

Recipe found here.

For those who don't like lamb (because we have eaten lamb before and some of my family just doesn't like it) Mom and Dad prepared an Apple & Pork Chop Bake as well. Since it called for root vegetables, we used potatoes and carrots.

Apple & Pork Chop Bake
Ingredients

2 cups root vegetables - potato, carrot and parsnip

2 large pork shoulder chops or 4 pork loin chops

2 apples

1 cup apple juice

Salt and pepper

  

Method

Cover the chops with the apple juice in a plastic bag and marinate for a couple of hours if possible.
Preheat oven to 170^oC.
Layer the bottom of the roasting dish with a single layer of cut vegetables and apple (cut into small chunks/rings).
If using shoulder chops, cut them in half (chops of 2 halves!).
Layer the chops atop the vegetables.
Pour over the apple juice marinade.
Put a couple of the apple rings on top of the chops.
Season it all with salt and pepper.
Cook for around 1/2 to 3/4 hour until pork is cooked - time will depend on the type of oven and thickness of chops.
Recipe found here.


Becca Vegetables:

Maple Candied Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients

4 lbs sweet potatoes

2/3 c. packed brown sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

¼ c. butter, cubed

¼ c. maple syrup

 
Directions
Place the sweet potatoes in a Dutch oven and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook for 30-45 minutes or until potatoes can be easily pierced with the tip of a sharp knife.
When cool enough to handle, peel potatoes and cut into wedges. Place in an ungreased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; sprinkle over potatoes. Dot with butter; drizzle with syrup.
Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly, basting with sauce occasionally. Yield: 12-14 serving
Recipe found here.


Jon Rolls & Salad:
Chickpea & Tahini Salad
Ingredients


400 g canned chick-peas, rinsed, drained
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 tomatoes, seeds removed, chopped
2 tablespoons coriander leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons mint leaves, chopped
3 tablespoons tahini
1 garlic clove, crushed
60 ml lemon juice 2 tablespoons water

Directions

Place chickpeas, onion, tomato, coriander, and mint in a bowl. In a separate bowl, which tahini, garlic, lemon juice and whisk until you have a loose dressing. Toss salad with dressing.

Recipe found here.

Rolls with Lemon Zest

Ingredients

1 cup milk (110 degrees F.)
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature and lightly beaten
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups bread flour*
3 teaspoons instant yeast

Zest of 1 lemon

1 Tbs Lemon juice
Egg Glaze (see recipe below), optional

Shaping Rolls: After dough has rested, shape the dough as desired (see Types of Rolls below). Shape pieces of dough into balls and place in two greased 8-inch cake pans or large baking pan. The easiest way to get rolls the same size, is to weight the dough:

• For 16 small rolls - weigh dough into 2-ounce pieces.
• For 13 large rolls - weigh dough into 3-ounce pieces.

As you roll the dough balls, keep the rest of the dough balls covered with plastic wrap so they don't dry out. After shaping, place the dough balls, evenly spaced, onto the prepared greased pan; let rise using

Makes approximately 13 to 16 rolls (depending on size).

  

Egg Glaze:
1 egg white, beaten
1 tablespoon water

In a small bowl, combine (whisk together) egg white and water. Just before baking, brush the top of the rolls with the Egg Glaze.

Convection Oven - Preheat convection oven to 350 degrees F. Bake in a convection oven approximately 15 to 20 minutes until they are a light golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Regular Oven - Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake in a regular oven approximately 20 to 25 minutes in a regular oven or until they are a light golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Natalie Dessert:

I made dessert. Now, I didn't have any golden syrup. And I didn't want to spend an armful buying fresh berries when berry season is over. So, I found a great New Zealand Tea Scone. These are much like a shortbread recipe and are very scrumptious. Most in New Zealand, and Britain, eat scones with tea or coffee. My family doesn't consume either. But, since it's the consistency of a shortbread, I added frozen raspberries (I picked them from my sisters home a few months back) and white chocolate chips. I then added a dollop of cool-whip (we consume cool-whip because my son has a dairy allergy).

New Zealand Tea Scone

Ingredients

2 c flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/3 c brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
5 T butter, cold, cut in chunks
1 c evaporated fat-free milk
1 pkg. white chocolate chips
1 t vanilla
1 heaping cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Directions

In a mixing bowl, measure the dry ingredients; whisk together to combine. For cinnamon scones, add the cinnamon to the dry ingredients.  Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the flour until mixture looks like coarse meal or crumbs.*Now, I got bored with this method and finally pulled out my awesome Ninja blender and just pulsated the mixture. Turned out perfect! Then, pour in the vanilla and evaporated milk. Fold everything together just to incorporate; do not over work the dough.  Gently fold in white chocolate chips.  Take care not to mash or bruise the raspberries because they will bleed and color dough. Using an ice cream scoop, place the dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or silpat sheet (I love mine!).  Bake in preheated 400° oven for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.

A variation of the recipe can be found here. 

Consensus of the meal: Everyone loved it!! Of course this traditional New Zealand meal wasn't too different from a normal meal we share each Sunday. The difference was little things here and there, like apples with the pork chops and lemon zest in the rolls. The salad was definitely a new flavor, and we all did like it!! It was like a pasta salad with tomatoes, except with chickpeas and not pasta. Also, the lamb was delicious! My dad added cedar wood to infuse with flavor as he grilled and it added a nice smoke flavor to the meat. The sweet potatoes were different, but I admittedly don't like sweet potatoes. Those who do, however, thought they were good, but different with raisins in them. The dessert was delicious as well. I was glad I added a dollop of cool-whip on top to add a little more creaminess to offset the sweetness I added with white chocolate chips and raspberries. All in all, another great Sunday dinner around the Thorne table!