Restaurant Review: Hippopotamus

My wonderful husband surprised me with a night at the Museum Hotel and dinner at Hippo. It was spectacular. We had visited twice before but it had been a couple of years between visits. In fact, our last visit was the night we got engaged so it was quite the blast from the past!

We started with a cocktail in the bar before we were seated. There was a small but well formed cocktail list and we enjoyed ours. 

Shortly after being seated the sommelier pushed a champagne trolley to our table and asked if we'd like some champagne or a champagne cocktail. We went for the champagne cocktail, which he made in front of us and was delicious. 

Our orders were taken and bread was offered shortly after that. I had a nice walnut roll. My entree was the special of the day, a 46 degree salmon that was meltingly lovely. My husband had the pork shoulder which was wrapped in filo pastry. He seemed to enjoy it too.

My main was the fillet of beef which came with braised short rib and a very tender braised beef cheek. It was yummy but very rich, I only managed half before sending it to my husband. He had the venison which was served with beetroot and was exceptional, definitely the dish of the night. We also ordered a side of truffled chips but we didn't eat many as the mains were enough. 

We asked the sommelier to choose our wines to match each dish and he did an excellent job. He explained each wine before pouring and each one worked beautifully with each course. We didn't have pudding as were too full.

This is not an everyday place (unless you can afford it!) but perfect for those extra special occasions. We look forward to coming back in another few years.

Bircher Muesli

Bircher Muesli: I was inspired by this recipe by My Little Gourmet. 

Ingredients

• 2 cups/150g quick oats
• 1¾ cups/420ml milk
• ¼ cup/60ml apple juice
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 apple, cored and grated with the peel
• 1-2 tablespoons honey
• 1½ cups/375g plain yogurt (I used The Collective's pouring honey yogurt) 
• 1/4 cup of coconut
• 1 peeled orange, chopped into small pieces
• Prunes/raisins/sultanas to taste

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, let sit over night. Enjoy. 

Easy peasy, healthy and delicious. This recipe is enough for 4 - 6 servings. 

Chilli Con Carne

Chilli Con Carne - a recipe by taste.com.au but modified by me

Ingredients:

1 - 1.5kg of chuck steak or any kind of casserole steak

Olive oil

2 brown onions, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

2 chipotle chillis in sauce, diced (optional, you can use regular chilli or chilli powder)

1 can of tomatoes (I like Indian flavour)

1 can of black beans with jalepeno (optional)

Chop and brown the meat in olive oil. Place into slow cooker and turn slow cooker onto high.

Add onion and garlic into same pan you browned the beef in. Reduce saucepan heat to medium/low.

Add chipotle (if using)

Add cumin, paprika, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce to the onions and garlic. Allow to cook until thick and sticky, about 5 minutes. Add to slow cooker.

In the same pan add the canned tomatoes, and raise the heat to medium/high. Allow tomatoes to bubble, and scrape all the yummy charred bits off the bottom of the pan.

Add the can of black beans (if using) and heat through.

Add to the slow cooker, give everything a good mix around and leave to cook.

Cooking times: 4 hours on high, 8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on 150 degrees celcius if cooking in the oven. 

Slow Cooked Moroccan Lamb Casserole

Slow Cooked Moroccan Lamb Casserole Recipe - a recipe by me

• 1kg lamb suitable for casserole/slow cooking, chopped into large chunks
• 1 large onion roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 10 - 15 pitted dried dates
• 2 tablespoons Moroccan spice mix
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• Slug of red wine, approximately 1/2 cup
• Salt
• Pepper
• Sweet potato or potato (optional) cut into chunks

1. Chop the lamb into large chunks. Place into large freezer bag or bowl ready to marinate.
2. Chop onion, garlic, dates, potatoes (if using) and add to the bag or bowl with the lamb.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of your favourite Moroccan spice mix, plus salt and pepper to taste to the bag and massage into the lamb and other ingredients.
4. Add the can of tomatoes and wine to the bag/bowl, mix and set aside to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius.
6. Once the ingredients have marinated for a suitable length of time, transfer into a dutch oven.
7. Cook for 3 hours but check the lamb every hour or so and give it a stir. The lamb should be falling apart when it is ready and the sauce should be thick.
8. Serve with couscous, I like Israeli couscous. 

A beautiful curry courtesy of my friend Tanya

My beautiful friend Tanya, who is vegan, made this delicious curry for me when we were in Melbourne. I absolutely loved it! She was kind enough to share it with me so I decided to try and recreate it at home today, minus the kale as the supermarket didn't have any... and then Wellington was hit by a massive earthquake and we had to stay off the roads so all plans of going to Moore Wilson's were dashed. Silverbeet took the place of kale.

Sweet Potato and Kale Curry

Ingredients:

2 medium-large sweet potatoes, cubed
1 red bell pepper, chopped
4-6 cups fresh kale leaves (cut off the woody stems, use the leaves)
2 tbs coconut oil - or any oil, or nuttlex butter
2 cans of coconut cream + optional, 1 can of coconut milk (add the coconut milk if you like it more 'saucy' (nice with rice)
1 tbs onion powder (I used a finely chopped red onion in place of the onion powder as I didn't have any)
2- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger (I increased this to 2 tablespoons or so)
2 tbs red curry paste (you can use any really - green or yellow)
1 tsp sea salt (optional as curry paste has salt already)
1/2 tsp pepper (optional)

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a frying pan. Add the garlic, onion powder, ginger, curry paste salt, and pepper. Fry for a couple minutes until the spices are softened and fragrant. 

Slowly add the coconut cream and the sweet potato cubes. Cook for about 5-10 minutes or until potatoes are soft, but not mushy!
Add the bell pepper and saute for another 5 minutes, or until the peppers have softened. If you need to, add the can of coconut milk.

Reduce heat. Add the Kale leaves and cover until the leaves have wilted. Uncover and stir, mixing the kale in.
Serve over jasmine rice or brown rice or just as is.

A delicious (and budget friendly!) Shiraz

Cheap but extremely cheerful Aussie Shiraz! Fruity and spicy. Goes well with red meats, full flavoured dishes and not too bad on its own! 

Purchased (on special) at New World Thorndon, $11.99

Our no take-away's challenge and 2 budget friendly, make ahead recipes

In the interests of saving money to fund our house deposit we have decided to go take away free. For the foreseeable future anyway. It's getting me into a new routine of doing the shopping on Friday nights after work, cooking up a storm over the weekend and being well prepared for the week ahead. Friday night we were both super tired so it was mushroom soup and toast. Saturday night I did my favourite Thai chicken with fragrant rice recipe. Yum yum. Now, onto some make ahead recipes.

It helps that our budget also dictates that we don't go out over the weekend so there's plenty of time to cook! Right now I have 2 meals simmering away in my kitchen. Slow cooked beef, red wine and mushroom and chili con carne with a cornbread topping (a Simon and Alison Holst recipe) in the slow cooker. Both will do us 2 meals (dinners) and are easily freezable. Plus they're economical, healthy, easy and most importantly - tasty!

Beef, red wine and mushroom casserole - a recipe by me.

Chuck/stewing steak (I used 1 kg) cut into chunks
1 onion, diced
Button mushrooms (as many as you have on hand)
A slug of red wine
A few sprigs of thyme
Tomato paste (2 tbsp)
Worcester Sauce (2 tbsp)
1 can of tomatoes (I used Watties roast garlic and onion)
2 cloves garlic (left whole)
1 can cannelini beans, drained
Salt and pepper to taste
Frozen peas (add once cooked)

Chuck the beef (pun intended), onion, mushrooms, thyme and garlic into a casserole dish (LOVE love love my cast iron dutch oven!) In a mixing jug/bowl mix all wet ingredients together. Add the drained cannelini beans. Pour over the beef. You can, of course, brown the beef and onions before putting them in the casserole dish. But I'm lazy and I don't think it affects the taste too much. Season to taste. Place in a 150 degree Celsius oven for 3 or 4 hours. When nearly ready to serve add the frozen peas, let cook for a few minutes. Serve on something yummy like roast kumera or mash.

Slow cooker chili con carne with cornbread topping (an Alison and Simon Holst recipe I've tweaked)

Chili

1 onion, diced
Chipotle chillis in adobe sauce (I use 2 chillis chopped plus a few tsp of the sauce but I like it hot)
Garlic, 2 cloves, chopped
Minced beef, 500gm
Worcester sauce, a few glugs
Tomato paste, 2 tbsp
Salt and pepper
1 can chili beans (I use hot)

Spray slow cooker with a bit of cooking spray. Turn to high and put lid on to preheat.
In a frying pan brown the onion, garlic and chili in a dash of oil. When browned add to the slow cooker. In the same frying pan brown the mince, worcester sauce and tomato paste. When browned add salt and pepper and add to the slow cooker. Add the can of chili beans. Mix about. Put lid on and make the cornbread topping.

Cornbread topping (I have halved the recipe to fit into my smaller sized slow cooker)

1/2 onion, diced
25gm butter, softened
1/2 can corn kernels (with liquid)
1/2 C polenta / cornmeal
1/2 C milk
1/2 C self raising flour
1/2 C grated tasty cheese (I also add a bit of parmesan)
Salt and pepper

Add the ingredients in the order listed into a mixing bowl, mix well and spoon over the mince mixture. Sprinkle with a bit of paprika if you'd like a bit of colour on top.

Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Don't lift the lid or the cornbread topping will get soggy from the moisture in the lid pooling on it!

I find the chili is often best the next day. When I store the chili I remove the cornbread topping as it gets a bit soggy if left in the fridge for a day or two.