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Tomato Relish

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Tomato relish is what you make in February when the garden has produced more tomatoes than any household can eat, and it’s what sits on the shelf until the following summer getting steadily better. It’s on the cheese sandwich, next to the sausages, and in the mince pie.

Makes about 5 × 350 ml jars. Two days, but only about an hour of actual work.

Salt the tomatoes overnight

This is the step that separates good relish from a watery one, and it’s why the recipe takes two days.

Tomatoes are more than 90% water. Layer them with the onions and salt, leave them overnight, and a surprising amount of liquid draws out — you’ll pour off a cup or more. That’s water you would otherwise have to boil away, and boiling it away means an hour of extra cooking that dulls the flavour and darkens the colour.

Don’t rinse after draining. The salt that’s left is part of the seasoning.

The vinegar and sugar aren’t just flavour

They’re the preservation. Relish keeps a year in a cupboard because the combination of acidity and sugar concentration makes it inhospitable to spoilage organisms.

Which means: don’t reduce the sugar or the vinegar to taste. You can adjust spices freely, but the vinegar-to-sugar-to-fruit ratio is doing a food safety job. A “healthier” low-sugar relish needs to live in the fridge and be eaten within a month.

Malt vinegar is the traditional New Zealand choice and gives the familiar flavour. Cider vinegar is milder and fruitier. White vinegar is sharpest and keeps the colour brightest.

How you know it’s set

Drag a wooden spoon across the base of the pan. If it leaves a channel that holds for a couple of seconds before the relish flows back, it’s done. If liquid rushes straight in, keep going.

It also thickens noticeably as it cools, so stop slightly before it looks right rather than after. Over-reduced relish goes claggy and dark.

Expect 45 minutes to an hour of simmering after the initial boil.

Sterilise the jars properly

Wash them in hot soapy water, rinse, then dry them in a 120°C oven for 15 minutes. Boil the lids separately for 5 minutes — oven heat can perish the seals.

Fill the jars while both the relish and the jars are hot. Hot relish into a cold jar can crack it; cold relish into a hot jar won’t form a proper seal. Fill to within 1 cm of the top, wipe the rim, and seal immediately. You should hear the lids pop as they cool.

Leave it a month

This is the hardest instruction to follow. Fresh relish tastes sharp and the spices sit separately from each other. A month in the cupboard and it rounds out completely — the vinegar softens, the spices marry, the whole thing settles.

It’s noticeably better at three months than at three days. Make it in February and open it at Easter.

Frequently asked questions

Why salt the tomatoes overnight?

To draw out water. Tomatoes are over 90% water, and salting overnight removes a cup or more that you would otherwise have to boil away. Less boiling means better colour and fresher flavour.

How long does homemade tomato relish keep?

A year in a cool dark cupboard, sealed. Once opened, keep it in the fridge and use within two months.

Can I reduce the sugar?

Not if you want it shelf stable. The sugar and vinegar together are what preserve it. A reduced-sugar version has to live in the fridge and be eaten within a month.

Which vinegar is best?

Malt vinegar for the traditional New Zealand flavour. Cider vinegar is milder and fruitier; white vinegar is sharpest and keeps the brightest colour.

How do I know when relish is ready?

Drag a spoon across the base of the pan. If the channel holds for a couple of seconds before filling in, it’s done. It thickens further as it cools, so err on the side of slightly loose.

Do I need to peel the tomatoes?

No. The skins soften completely over an hour of simmering and they carry flavour and pectin. Peeling is a lot of work for no gain here.

Can I use green tomatoes?

Yes — that’s a green tomato relish, and it’s the classic use for the end-of-season fruit that never ripened. Same method, and it’s firmer and tangier. Add an extra 1/4 cup sugar.

Why does my relish taste harsh?

It’s too young. Fresh relish is sharp and the spices sit apart. Give it a month in the cupboard and it rounds out completely.

How do I sterilise jars?

Wash in hot soapy water, rinse, then dry in a 120°C oven for 15 minutes. Boil the lids separately — oven heat can damage the seals. Fill hot relish into hot jars.

Variations

  • Green tomato relish — use green, unripened tomatoes and add 1/4 cup extra sugar. Firmer, tangier, and the traditional way to use the end of the crop.
  • Smoky — 1 Tbsp smoked paprika with the other spices.
  • Chilli tomato — two fresh red chillies, finely chopped, with the onions.
  • Tomato and apple — replace 500 g of the tomatoes with peeled diced apple for a sweeter, thicker relish.
  • No curry powder — leave it out for a plainer relish that lets the tomato through. Less traditional, and some people prefer it.

Beef Stroganoff

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Stroganoff has a reputation as a slow winter braise, which is odd, because the original is a fast pan dish — thin strips of good steak seared hard and finished in a sour cream sauce. Thirty minutes, start to plate.

The two things that go wrong are both avoidable: tough beef and a split sauce.

Serves 4.

Use steak, not stewing beef

This is the decision that determines everything else.

Stroganoff cooks in minutes, and a cut that needs hours to tenderise will simply be tough at the end of it. Rump or sirloin, sliced thinly across the grain, is what you want. Scotch fillet works and is a luxury. Blade, chuck, gravy beef and anything labelled “casserole steak” will not work in a thirty-minute dish, no matter how thinly you slice it.

If stewing beef is what you have, that’s a different recipe — brown it, add the stock, and braise for two hours before the sour cream goes anywhere near it.

Slice across the grain, about 5 mm thick. Ten minutes in the freezer firms the steak up and makes thin slicing much easier.

Sear hard, and take it out

The pan needs to be properly hot and the beef needs to go in dry and in two batches. Crowd the pan and the beef releases moisture, the temperature drops, and it stews grey instead of browning.

Sear it for about a minute a side, then lift it out onto a plate. It should still be pink in the middle. It goes back in at the very end, for thirty seconds, just to warm through. Leaving it in the pan while the sauce builds is what makes stroganoff beef tough — it’s not the cut at that point, it’s the extra eight minutes.

The sour cream will split if you boil it

Sour cream is a low-fat dairy product with a lot of protein in it, and protein curdles at a rolling boil. Split sauce isn’t dangerous and it still tastes fine, but it looks grainy and unpleasant.

Two precautions. Take the pan off the heat before the sour cream goes in, and temper it — stir a couple of spoonfuls of the hot pan sauce into the sour cream in a bowl first, then add the loosened mixture back to the pan. It takes twenty seconds and it works.

After that, keep the pan below a simmer. If it needs reheating, do it gently.

Mushrooms need their own space

Mushrooms are about 90% water and they release all of it. Added to a busy pan they boil in their own liquid and go slimy.

Cook them on their own, over a high heat, undisturbed for the first two minutes so they colour, and only then start stirring. You’re looking for genuine browning, not just softening.

Paprika and mustard

Sweet paprika and Dijon are what make it stroganoff rather than beef in cream sauce. Paprika brings colour and a mild warmth; the mustard cuts the dairy. Neither should be identifiable in the finished dish — if you can taste mustard, you’ve used too much.

Smoked paprika is a different flavour altogether and pulls the dish toward Spanish. Good, but not stroganoff.

Frequently asked questions

What cut of beef is best for stroganoff?

Rump or sirloin, sliced thinly across the grain. Stroganoff cooks in minutes, so it needs a tender cut — stewing beef, chuck or blade will still be tough at the end and belongs in a two-hour braise instead.

Why is my stroganoff beef tough?

Usually it stayed in the pan while the sauce was made. Sear it for a minute a side, take it out, and return it for the last 30 seconds only. The cut matters too — see above.

Why did my sour cream split?

It boiled. Take the pan off the heat first, temper the sour cream by stirring a little hot sauce into it before adding it back, and keep the finished sauce below a simmer.

Can I use cream instead of sour cream?

Yes, and it’s more stable and won’t split, but you lose the tang that defines the dish. Crème fraîche is the better substitute — it has the acidity and it holds up to heat far better.

Can I make stroganoff in a slow cooker?

Not with steak. If you want a slow cooker version, use chuck or blade, cook it 6 hours on low, and stir the sour cream in at the very end off the heat. It’s a good dish, but it isn’t this one.

Why are my mushrooms watery?

They were crowded or stirred too early. Cook them separately over high heat and leave them alone for the first two minutes so they brown instead of steam.

What do you serve with beef stroganoff?

Egg noodles are traditional. Rice and mashed potato both work — you want something to take the sauce.

Can I make it ahead?

It’s best fresh. If you must, make the sauce base ahead and add the seared beef and sour cream when reheating gently.

Variations

  • Mushroom stroganoff — leave the beef out and double the mushrooms, using a mix of button and portobello. Vegetable stock instead of beef.
  • Chicken stroganoff — thigh fillets cut into strips, cooked through rather than left pink.
  • Brandy — a splash into the pan after the onions, cooked off before the flour goes in.
  • Pickle — a tablespoon of chopped gherkin stirred through at the end, which is closer to the original Russian version.

Thai Green Curry

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Most homemade green curry is coconut milk with curry paste stirred through it. It’s fine. It also tastes flat and slightly one-note, and the gap between that and a good green curry comes down to two things — one technique, one balance.

Serves 4, about 30 minutes.

Crack the coconut cream first

This is the step almost every home version skips, and it’s the difference.

Take the thick cream from the top of an unshaken can of coconut milk and fry it in a hot pan on its own for three or four minutes. It will bubble, then separate — you’ll see clear oil pooling out of the white solids. That’s “cracking”, and it’s what Thai cooks do first.

Then fry the paste in that separated oil for two minutes. The paste is full of aromatics — lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime, shrimp paste — that are fat-soluble, meaning they only release their flavour into oil, not water. Stirring paste into liquid coconut milk barely wakes it up. Frying it in cracked coconut oil transforms it.

You’ll smell the difference from across the kitchen. That’s the whole trick.

Bought paste is fine — buy a good one

Making green curry paste from scratch means sourcing fresh galangal, kaffir lime leaves, coriander root and shrimp paste, and pounding them. It’s worth doing once. It’s not worth doing on a Tuesday.

A good bought paste beats a mediocre homemade one. Look for brands where the ingredient list starts with actual aromatics rather than water and thickener — the Thai imported brands in the Asian aisle are generally much better and much cheaper than the supermarket-brand jars.

Use more than the jar says. Most jars suggest two tablespoons for four people; three or four is closer to right for a New Zealand palate expecting flavour.

The balance: salty, sweet, sour

Thai food is built on balancing those three, and a curry that tastes “not quite right” is nearly always out on one of them.

  • Salty comes from fish sauce, not salt. Two tablespoons for this quantity.
  • Sweet comes from palm sugar, or brown sugar at a pinch. One tablespoon. It isn’t there to make the curry sweet — it rounds the salt and the chilli.
  • Sour comes from lime juice, added off the heat at the end. Cooked lime juice goes bitter and dull.

Taste at the end and adjust. Too flat, add fish sauce. Too sharp, add sugar. Too heavy, add lime.

Don’t boil it once the coconut milk is in

A hard boil splits coconut milk into grainy solids and oil. Once the rest of the can goes in, keep it at a bare simmer.

What to do about the hard-to-find things

Fresh galangal and kaffir lime leaves are in Asian grocers in the main centres and nowhere else in New Zealand. If you can’t get them:

  • Galangal — no good substitute. Ginger is not the same thing but is better than nothing. A decent bought paste already contains galangal, which is another argument for using one.
  • Kaffir lime leaves — the frozen ones from an Asian grocer are excellent and keep for a year. Otherwise a strip of lime zest gets you part of the way.
  • Thai basil — regular basil is a reasonable stand-in; it’s sweeter and less aniseedy.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my green curry taste flat?

The paste wasn’t fried. Curry paste aromatics are fat-soluble, so stirring the paste into coconut milk barely releases them. Crack the coconut cream first and fry the paste in the separated oil for two minutes.

What does “cracking” coconut cream mean?

Frying the thick cream from the top of the can until it separates into white solids and clear oil, usually 3–4 minutes. That oil is what you fry the paste in.

Should I make my own curry paste?

A good bought paste beats a mediocre homemade one, and the imported Thai brands in the Asian aisle are usually far better than supermarket-brand jars. Make your own once for interest, not on a weeknight.

How much curry paste should I use?

More than the jar suggests. Three to four tablespoons for four people, against the two most jars recommend.

Why did my coconut milk go grainy?

It boiled. Once the thin coconut milk is in, keep the curry at a bare simmer — a hard boil splits it into solids and oil.

When do I add the lime juice?

Off the heat, at the very end. Cooked lime juice turns bitter and loses its brightness.

What can I use instead of galangal or kaffir lime leaves?

There’s no real substitute for galangal — ginger is different but better than nothing. Frozen kaffir lime leaves from an Asian grocer keep for a year and are worth buying. A good bought paste contains both already.

Can I make it vegetarian?

Yes — tofu or chickpeas instead of chicken, and soy sauce or a vegetarian fish sauce substitute. Check the paste, as most contain shrimp paste.

Can I freeze it?

Yes, three months, though the coconut milk can separate slightly on thawing. Reheat gently and stir.

Variations

  • Prawn — raw prawns added in the last 3 minutes.
  • Beef — thinly sliced rump, added at the end and cooked for 2 minutes only.
  • Vegetarian — tofu, chickpeas or roasted kūmara; check the paste for shrimp.
  • Red curry — the same method with red curry paste, which is milder and sweeter than most people expect.
  • Extra vegetables — Thai eggplant, bamboo shoots, or baby corn are all traditional.

Hot Cross Buns

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Hot cross buns from a supermarket are fine. Hot cross buns out of your own oven, still too hot to butter, are one of the genuinely worthwhile pieces of home baking — and the only real cost is patience, because an enriched dough takes longer to rise than people expect.

Makes 12, about 3 hours, of which maybe 30 minutes is work.

Enriched dough rises slowly — plan for it

This dough has butter, egg, sugar and milk in it. All four slow the yeast down: fat coats the flour and gets in the way of gluten development, and sugar competes with the yeast for water.

So a recipe that says “1 hour until doubled” is describing a warm kitchen in a warm country. In a New Zealand house in February you may need 90 minutes; in a cold one, two hours. Judge by the dough, not the clock — it should be genuinely doubled and the poke test should spring back slowly and only partway.

Under-proved is the single commonest reason home hot cross buns come out dense.

The cross is flour and water, not icing

A lot of home versions pipe icing on after baking. That’s a different thing — sweet, soft, and it slides off.

The traditional cross is a paste of plain flour and water, piped on before baking. It’s tasteless by design, sets firm in the oven, and gives you the matte pale stripe that reads as a hot cross bun. About 1/2 cup of flour to 5 tablespoons of water gives a pipeable paste; you want it like thick toothpaste, not runny.

Snip the corner off a sandwich bag if you don’t have a piping bag.

Glaze them the moment they come out

The shine comes from a sugar syrup brushed on while the buns are still very hot, so it soaks in slightly and dries to a tacky gloss.

Two tablespoons of sugar dissolved in two tablespoons of boiling water is enough for twelve. Apricot jam warmed with a splash of water is the more traditional option and gives a deeper shine.

Do it straight out of the oven. Wait five minutes and it just sits on top wetly.

Soak the fruit

Same reasoning as the date scones. Dry sultanas pull moisture out of the crumb around them and can scorch on the surface.

Ten minutes in hot black tea, or hot water, then drained well. Tea is better — it adds a faint tannic background that suits the spice.

The spice mix

Mixed spice is the New Zealand supermarket standard and it works. If you want to be more deliberate: 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp mixed spice, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/4 tsp ground cloves for this quantity. Cloves are the one to be careful with — a little reads as Easter, more reads as a dental surgery.

Orange zest is not traditional in every version and improves all of them.

Frequently asked questions

Why are my hot cross buns dense?

Under-proved, almost always. Enriched dough with butter, egg and sugar rises much more slowly than plain bread dough — allow 1 1/2 to 2 hours for the first rise, and judge by whether it’s genuinely doubled rather than by the clock.

What is the cross made of?

A paste of plain flour and water, piped on before baking. It’s deliberately tasteless and sets firm. Icing piped on afterwards is a different, softer thing and tends to slide off.

When do I glaze them?

Immediately as they come out of the oven, while they’re very hot. The syrup soaks in slightly and dries to a gloss. Wait even five minutes and it just sits on top.

Why soak the dried fruit?

Dry fruit draws moisture out of the crumb around it and scorches on the surface. Ten minutes in hot tea fixes both, and the tea adds a faint tannic note that suits the spice.

Can I make the dough the night before?

Yes, and it improves the flavour. Do the first rise in the fridge overnight, then shape and do the second rise at room temperature in the morning, allowing extra time.

Can I freeze hot cross buns?

Yes, baked and cooled, for three months. Refresh from frozen in a 180°C oven for 8 minutes, or split and toast them.

What can I use instead of sultanas?

Currants, raisins, mixed peel, chopped dried apricots, or chocolate chips (added at the end, unsoaked). Chocolate hot cross buns are not traditional and are extremely popular.

Why did my crosses spread out?

The paste was too runny. It should be like thick toothpaste — pipeable but holding its shape.

Variations

  • Chocolate chip — replace the fruit with 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips, added at the kneading stage and not soaked.
  • Apple and cinnamon — 1 cup finely diced dried apple with the sultanas, and double the cinnamon.
  • Fruitless — leave the fruit out entirely for a plain spiced bun, which children often prefer.
  • Mixed peel — 1/2 cup mixed peel with the sultanas, which is the more traditional British version.
  • Cranberry and orange — dried cranberries and double the orange zest.

Cupcakes

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Cupcakes are a small butter cake and they go wrong in predictable ways — domed and cracked, sunken in the middle, or peeling away from the case. All three are fixable and none of them is about the recipe.

Makes 12. About 40 minutes including the icing.

Fill the cases two-thirds, no more

The commonest mistake and the easiest to fix.

Fill a case to the brim and the batter has nowhere to go but up and over. You get a mushroom top that spills onto the tray, a cupcake that’s impossible to ice flat, and cases that peel away because the overflow has stuck to the tin.

Two-thirds full. It looks like too little. It rises to exactly level with the top of the case, which is what you want for icing, and it gives you twelve even cupcakes instead of nine large ones and three sad ones.

An ice cream scoop makes them uniform. So does a jug and a bit of care.

Room temperature butter and eggs

Butter creams properly only in a narrow temperature window — around 18–20°C, cool but yielding to a finger. Straight from the fridge it won’t hold air; melted or greasy it won’t either, and the batter splits.

Cold eggs added to creamed butter cause it to curdle, because the fat seizes on contact. A split batter bakes into a dense, slightly greasy cupcake. Take the eggs out with the butter, an hour before you start, and add them one at a time.

If it does split, a tablespoon of the flour beaten in usually brings it back.

Don’t overmix once the flour is in

Beating the butter and sugar wants three or four minutes — you’re deliberately whipping air in, and that air is a good part of the rise.

Once the flour goes in, stop as soon as it disappears. Every extra turn develops gluten, and gluten in a cake means a tough, chewy, tunnelled crumb. This is the difference between light and rubbery.

Fold the last of it by hand rather than trusting the mixer to know when to stop.

Why they dome, sink, or peel

Domed and cracked — oven too hot. The outside sets before the middle has finished rising, so the middle bursts through. Drop to 170°C.

Sunken in the middle — underbaked, too much raising agent, or the oven door was opened in the first fifteen minutes. Check with a skewer rather than the clock.

Cases peeling away — usually overfilled batter sticking to the tin, or cupcakes left to cool in the tin so steam condensed between the case and the cake. Get them onto a rack after five minutes.

Buttercream: the ratio, and the one that isn’t gritty

Two parts icing sugar to one part butter, by weight. So 250 g butter to 500 g icing sugar ices twelve cupcakes generously.

Two things make buttercream unpleasant, and both are avoidable. Sift the icing sugar — unsifted lumps never dissolve and you get grittiness. And beat it for far longer than feels necessary, five minutes at least, adding a tablespoon or two of milk. Properly beaten buttercream is pale, almost white, and noticeably lighter than the beige paste most people stop at.

A pinch of salt cuts the sweetness considerably and almost no recipe includes it.

Frequently asked questions

How full should I fill cupcake cases?

Two-thirds. It looks like too little and it’s correct — they rise to level with the top of the case, which is what you want for icing. Overfilled cases spill over and peel away.

Why did my cupcakes dome and crack?

The oven was too hot. The outside set before the middle finished rising, so the middle burst through. Bake at 170°C rather than 180°C.

Why did my cupcakes sink in the middle?

Underbaked, too much baking powder, or the oven door was opened in the first fifteen minutes. Check with a skewer rather than the stated time.

Why did the paper cases peel away?

Either overflowing batter stuck to the tin, or they cooled in the tin and steam condensed between the case and the cake. Move them to a rack after five minutes.

Why is my batter curdled?

Cold eggs added to creamed butter. The fat seizes on contact. Use room temperature eggs and add them one at a time. A tablespoon of the flour beaten in usually rescues a split batter.

What’s the ratio for buttercream?

Two parts icing sugar to one part butter, by weight — 250 g butter to 500 g icing sugar ices twelve cupcakes generously.

Why is my buttercream gritty?

The icing sugar wasn’t sifted. Lumps in icing sugar don’t dissolve in an uncooked icing. Sift it every time.

Why is my buttercream yellow and heavy?

It wasn’t beaten long enough. Five full minutes after all the sugar is in, with a splash of milk, turns it pale and light. Most people stop at two.

Can I make cupcakes ahead?

Bake them up to two days ahead and keep them airtight, unfrosted. Iced cupcakes are best on the day. Unfrosted they freeze for three months.

Can I use this batter for a cake?

Yes — a 20 cm round tin at 170°C for about 35 minutes.

Variations

  • Chocolate — replace 1/4 cup of the flour with cocoa, and add 2 Tbsp cocoa to the buttercream.
  • Lemon — the zest of two lemons in the batter, and lemon juice in place of the milk in the icing.
  • Funfetti — 1/3 cup sprinkles folded in at the end. Non-negotiable for a child’s birthday.
  • Cream cheese icing — swap the buttercream for cream cheese icing, which suits a carrot or banana version.
  • Filled — cut a small cone from the top of each cooled cupcake, spoon in jam or lemon honey, and replace the lid before icing.

Cottage Pie

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Cottage pie is the dish most people cook from memory rather than from a recipe, and the memory usually includes a layer of grey liquid seeping up through the mash. That’s one problem with one cause, and it’s fixed before the mash ever goes on.

Serves 6, about an hour and twenty minutes.

Cottage pie or shepherd’s pie?

Cottage pie is beef. Shepherd’s pie is lamb. That’s the whole distinction, and it’s not arbitrary — shepherds keep sheep.

Cottage pie is the older name, going back to the late 1700s when potato became cheap enough to be a peasant staple; shepherd’s pie appears about a century later. In New Zealand the two names get used more or less interchangeably, which is why plenty of people are confused, but if you want to be right about it: beef is cottage, lamb is shepherd’s.

Everything below works for either. Use lamb mince and it becomes a shepherd’s pie.

Reduce the filling, properly

This is the whole game. A mince filling straight off the stove is far wetter than it looks, and the mash floats on it, cracks, and lets liquid up through.

The filling should be thick enough to hold a spoon track for a second or two before closing — the same test as the mince and cheese pie. That means simmering it uncovered for 25 minutes, not 10, and being patient while it looks like nothing is happening. It’ll reduce quite suddenly in the last five minutes.

Let it cool for ten minutes before the mash goes on, too. Hot filling steams the underside of the potato and makes it gluey.

Mash that sits on top instead of sinking

Three things.

Keep it dry. Drain the potatoes well and let them steam in the colander for two minutes. Wet mash is heavy mash, and heavy mash sinks.

Don’t make it too soft. This isn’t mash for a plate — it needs to be stiff enough to spread without slumping. Use less milk than you would normally, and use butter for the richness instead.

Spoon it on in blobs around the edge first, then work inward and join them up. Dumping it in the middle and pushing outward drives it down into the filling.

The forked top

Rake the surface with a fork before it goes in the oven. It isn’t decoration — the ridges are thin, they dry out first, and they brown into crisp peaks while the mash underneath stays soft. A flat top browns evenly and gives you none of that contrast.

A scatter of grated cheese over the top is not traditional and is very common in New Zealand anyway. It’s good. Do it if you want it.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between cottage pie and shepherd’s pie?

Cottage pie is made with beef, shepherd’s pie with lamb. That’s the only difference — shepherds keep sheep. Cottage pie is the older term; shepherd’s pie appears about a hundred years later.

Why is my cottage pie watery?

The filling wasn’t reduced enough. Simmer it uncovered until a spoon dragged through the pan leaves a track that holds for a second. Most recipes underestimate how long this takes — allow 25 minutes.

Why does my mash sink into the filling?

Either the mash was too soft, or it was spooned into the middle and pushed outward. Make a stiffer mash with less milk, and spoon it on around the edge first, working inward.

What potatoes are best for the mash?

Floury ones — Agria or Ilam Hardy. They mash light and dry. Waxy potatoes go gluey when mashed, which is the opposite of what you want here.

Can I make cottage pie ahead?

Yes, and it’s better for it. Assemble it completely, cool, and refrigerate for up to two days. Bake from cold, allowing an extra 15 minutes.

Can I freeze it?

Yes, assembled and unbaked, for three months. Bake from frozen at 180°C for about 1 1/4 hours, covered for the first 45 minutes.

Do I have to put cheese on top?

No, and it isn’t traditional. It’s very common in New Zealand and it’s good, so do as you like.

Can I use lamb mince?

Yes, and then it’s a shepherd’s pie. Everything else in the recipe stays the same.

Variations

  • Shepherd’s pie — lamb mince instead of beef, and rosemary instead of thyme.
  • Kūmara top — half kūmara, half potato in the mash. Slightly sweet, and it browns beautifully.
  • Extra vegetables — a diced parsnip or swede with the carrot, or a handful of mushrooms with the mince.
  • Red wine — replace half the stock with red wine and simmer five minutes longer.
  • Cheesy leek mash — soften a sliced leek in butter and fold it through the mash with the cheese.

Slow Cooker Lamb Shanks

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Lamb shanks are the argument for owning a slow cooker. They’re one of the cheapest cuts on the shelf, they’re impossible to overcook by the low-and-slow method, and after eight hours the meat gives way at the touch of a fork.

There is one step most slow cooker shank recipes leave out, and it’s the one that separates a good result from a great one. It’s at the end, not the beginning.

This serves 4 and takes about 8 hours on low.

Brown them first. Yes, really.

Every slow cooker recipe says this and plenty of people skip it. With shanks, skipping it costs you more than usual.

A slow cooker runs wet and never gets above about 95°C, which is well below the temperature at which meat browns. Nothing in the pot will develop that flavour later — whatever colour you put in is what you get out. Ten minutes in a hot pan gives you a deeply browned crust that dissolves into the sauce over eight hours, and it’s most of the difference between shanks that taste rich and shanks that taste boiled.

Brown the flour-dusted shanks hard on all sides, then deglaze the pan with the wine and scrape everything into the cooker. The stuck-on bits are the point.

The step everyone misses: reduce the sauce

At the end of eight hours you’ll have tender shanks sitting in a large quantity of thin, pale liquid. A slow cooker traps every bit of steam, so nothing evaporates and nothing concentrates. Serve it as-is and the sauce tastes watery no matter how good the shanks are.

Lift the shanks out, pour the liquid into a saucepan, and boil it hard for 8–10 minutes until it’s reduced by about half and coats the back of a spoon. That’s it. Ten minutes, one extra pot, and it turns the dish around completely.

If you want it thicker still, whisk in a teaspoon of cornflour slaked in cold water once it’s reduced.

Red wine, or not

A cup of red wine gives depth and acidity that cuts the fattiness of the lamb. Any dry red will do — this is not the place for anything you’d be sad to cook with. A New Zealand pinot noir or a syrah both work well.

Without wine, use an extra cup of beef stock plus a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. You need the acidity from somewhere; stock alone makes a flat, heavy sauce.

How many shanks

One large shank per person is generous, and two smaller ones per person is not unusual for big eaters. Four shanks of about 400 g each is the right amount for this quantity of liquid — crowd in more and they won’t sit in the sauce properly.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to brown lamb shanks before slow cooking?

It makes a real difference. A slow cooker never gets hot enough to brown anything, so whatever colour and flavour you don’t build in the pan, you never get. Ten minutes of hard browning is the single highest-return step in the recipe.

Why is my slow cooker sauce watery?

Because nothing evaporates in a sealed slow cooker. Lift the shanks out at the end, strain the liquid into a saucepan and boil it hard for 8–10 minutes to reduce it by half. Almost every slow cooker recipe skips this and it’s why the sauce disappoints.

How long do lamb shanks take in a slow cooker?

8 hours on low, or 5 on high. Low is better — the collagen breaks down more gently and the meat holds together on the bone instead of shredding into the sauce.

Can I cook lamb shanks from frozen?

Not safely in a slow cooker. The meat spends too long in the temperature range where bacteria multiply. Thaw them fully in the fridge first.

What can I use instead of red wine?

An extra cup of beef stock with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. You need acidity from somewhere, or the sauce ends up flat and heavy against the fatty lamb.

How many lamb shanks per person?

One large shank each is generous. If they’re small — under 350 g — allow two for a big appetite.

What do I serve with them?

Mashed potato is the standard, and it’s standard because it’s right — you want something to catch the sauce. Creamy polenta, kūmara mash, or soft white beans all work.

Can I make them ahead?

Yes, and they improve overnight. Cook, cool, refrigerate in the sauce, then reheat gently. Reduce the sauce on the day you serve rather than the day you cook.

Variations

  • Rosemary and anchovy — two anchovy fillets melted into the vegetables. Nobody will taste anchovy; everybody will notice the depth.
  • Moroccan — swap the wine for stock, add 1 tsp each of cumin, coriander and cinnamon, and finish with chopped coriander and preserved lemon.
  • Tomato and olive — add a tin of chopped tomatoes and a handful of kalamata olives in the last hour.
  • Mint — a tablespoon of mint sauce stirred into the reduced sauce at the end, which is the very Kiwi version.

Shortbread

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Shortbread is four ingredients and no leavening, no eggs and no liquid, which means there’s nothing to hide behind. It’s also almost impossible to get badly wrong once you understand the two things that make it short rather than hard.

This makes 24 pieces in about 50 minutes, and it keeps for three weeks in a tin, which is why it’s a Christmas biscuit.

The 3-2-1 ratio

Three parts flour, two parts butter, one part sugar, by weight. Every good shortbread recipe is a variation on it, and if you remember the ratio you never need the recipe again — 300 g flour, 200 g butter, 100 g sugar makes a standard batch.

That’s a lot of butter relative to flour, and it’s the point. “Short” in baking means high fat, low gluten development. The fat coats the flour particles and physically stops them linking into gluten strands, which is what gives shortbread its crumble instead of chew.

Why the cornflour

Swapping a portion of the plain flour for cornflour is the single easiest improvement to make. Cornflour contains no gluten-forming protein at all, so it dilutes the flour’s capacity to toughen. The result is noticeably more tender and it melts rather than snaps.

Rice flour does the same job and adds a faint sandiness that some people prefer — it’s the traditional Scottish addition. Either works. Straight plain flour makes a harder, more biscuity shortbread.

Don’t overwork it, and don’t let it get warm

Cream the butter and sugar only until just combined — pale and fluffy is what you want for a cake, not for this. Beating air in gives you a puffed, cakey shortbread.

Then bring the flour in with as few turns as possible, and stop the moment it comes together. If the dough is warm and greasy by the time you’ve finished, chill it for twenty minutes before shaping.

Bake it low, and take it out pale

This is where most shortbread goes wrong. It should be baked at 150°C for a long time, and it should come out pale gold at the edges and barely coloured in the middle.

Shortbread that’s golden brown all over has gone too far — the butter has browned and the texture has tightened. It will still taste fine. It just won’t be short.

It also comes out of the oven soft and firms as it cools, so don’t judge it in the tin. Cut it while it’s still warm, because cold shortbread shatters under a knife.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my shortbread hard instead of crumbly?

Two usual causes. The dough was overworked, which develops gluten, or it was baked too hot and too long. Shortbread should bake low at 150°C and come out pale, not golden brown.

What is the 3-2-1 ratio for shortbread?

Three parts flour, two parts butter, one part sugar, by weight — so 300 g, 200 g, 100 g. Every classic shortbread is built on it.

Why put cornflour in shortbread?

Cornflour has no gluten-forming protein, so replacing some of the plain flour with it makes the biscuit more tender. Rice flour does the same and adds a slight sandiness, which is the traditional Scottish version.

Can I use salted butter?

Yes, and leave out the added pinch of salt. Some people prefer it — a little salt against that much butter is no bad thing.

Why prick it with a fork?

It lets steam escape so the shortbread stays flat and dense rather than puffing up in patches. Prick right through to the base of the tin.

Why cut it warm?

Shortbread is fragile when cold and will crack unpredictably under a knife. Cut it 10 minutes out of the oven while it’s still soft, then let the pieces cool in place.

How long does shortbread keep?

Three weeks in an airtight tin at room temperature, which is why it’s a Christmas biscuit. Don’t refrigerate it — it goes hard.

Can I freeze the dough?

Yes. Wrap and freeze for up to three months, then thaw in the fridge before pressing into the tin. Baked shortbread also freezes well.

Variations

  • Lemon — the zest of two lemons with the sugar.
  • Chocolate-dipped — dip one end of each cooled finger in melted dark chocolate.
  • Rosemary and sea salt — 1 Tbsp finely chopped rosemary in the dough, flaky salt on top. Very good with cheese.
  • Ginger — 2 tsp ground ginger and 1/3 cup finely chopped crystallised ginger.
  • Petticoat tails — press into a round tin, score into wedges before baking, and cut along the score lines while warm.

French Toast

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French toast fails in two directions and most people only ever encounter one of them: soggy in the middle, or dry and eggy like a fried omelette on bread. Both come down to the same two decisions — what bread, and how hot the pan.

Serves 4, about 20 minutes.

The bread matters more than the custard

Fresh soft sandwich bread is the wrong choice, and it’s what most people reach for. It has no structure, so it collapses in the custard and turns to mush in the pan.

You want thick slices — 2 to 3 cm — of bread that’s a day or two old. Stale bread is drier, so it absorbs the custard properly instead of falling apart in it, and it holds its shape while it cooks.

Brioche is the best of it if you’re buying for the job — enriched, sturdy, and it goes gloriously custardy in the middle. A good white sourdough or a Vienna loaf both work well. Sliced supermarket sandwich bread will do at a pinch if it’s a day old and you soak it briefly, but it’s the weakest option.

The soak: long enough, not too long

The custard has to get into the middle of the slice, not just wet the outside. But leave it too long and the bread disintegrates.

About 30 seconds a side for thick brioche, 15 for thinner bread. Press it down gently so the custard reaches the centre, then lift it and let the excess drip off before it goes in the pan. Dripping custard hits the pan and scrambles into unappealing bits of cooked egg around the edges.

Squeeze the slice lightly between your fingers — it should feel heavy and saturated but still hold together.

Low and slow, not hot and fast

This is the fix for the soggy middle, and it’s counterintuitive.

A hot pan browns the outside in ninety seconds while the custard inside is still liquid. You get colour and a raw centre. Medium-low heat, 3 to 4 minutes a side, gives the egg time to set all the way through while the outside browns gently.

If your french toast is browning fast and still wet inside, the pan is too hot. Turn it down and be patient.

Butter, not oil — the browned butter is a good part of the flavour. Add fresh butter for each batch, since it burns over several rounds.

Get the custard ratio right

Too much egg and it tastes like a savoury omelette. Too much milk and it never sets.

One egg to a quarter cup of milk is the working ratio, with a spoonful of sugar and vanilla. Cream in place of some of the milk makes it richer and is worth doing if you have it.

A pinch of salt matters more than you’d think — without it the sweetness sits flat.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my french toast soggy in the middle?

The pan was too hot. It browned the outside before the custard inside had time to set. Cook it over medium-low heat for 3–4 minutes a side.

What bread is best for french toast?

Thick slices of day-old brioche. Sourdough and Vienna both work well. Fresh soft sandwich bread is the worst option — it collapses in the custard.

How long should you soak the bread?

About 30 seconds a side for thick brioche, 15 for thinner slices. It should feel saturated but still hold together. Let the excess drip off before it hits the pan.

Why does my french toast taste eggy?

Too much egg relative to milk. Stick to one egg per quarter cup of milk, and don’t skip the sugar, vanilla and salt — they’re what stop it reading as savoury.

Can I use stale bread?

You should. Day-old bread absorbs the custard properly instead of falling apart in it. If your bread is fresh, dry the slices in a 150°C oven for 5 minutes first.

Can I make french toast ahead?

It’s best straight from the pan, but it holds for 20 minutes on a rack in a 100°C oven. You can also make the custard the night before.

Butter or oil?

Butter. The browned butter is a large part of the flavour. Add fresh butter for each batch so it doesn’t burn.

Can I make it dairy free?

Yes — any plant milk works in the custard, and oil or a dairy-free spread in the pan. Coconut milk is particularly good with the cinnamon.

Variations

  • Savoury — leave out the sugar, vanilla and cinnamon, add salt and pepper, and serve with bacon and a fried egg.
  • Baked french toast — assemble soaked slices in a dish the night before and bake at 180°C for 35 minutes. Better for a crowd.
  • Stuffed — sandwich two slices with cream cheese and jam before soaking.
  • Orange and cardamom — the zest of an orange and 1/2 tsp ground cardamom in the custard.
  • Coconut — coconut milk in the custard, and press the soaked slices into desiccated coconut before frying.

Cheese Scones

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Search for a cheese scone recipe and you’ll get a lot of small, polite, English ones. A New Zealand cheese scone is a different object — bigger, taller, considerably cheesier, and eaten split and buttered while it’s still too hot to hold comfortably. Morning tea, cafe cabinet, school gala, funeral. It has a job to do.

This makes 12 large scones in about 30 minutes, and the two things that decide whether they rise tall or come out flat are both about restraint.

Cold butter, and barely touch it

Scones rise because cold butter melts in the oven and leaves steam pockets behind. Warm butter blends into the flour and you get a dense, cakey scone instead.

So: butter straight from the fridge, rubbed in only until the mixture looks like rough breadcrumbs with visible flecks of butter still in it. Not fine, not sandy. Flecks.

Then, once the milk goes in, mix as little as you can get away with. A shaggy, slightly untidy dough is a good sign. Every extra turn develops gluten and gluten makes scones tough. If your scones come out heavy, this is nearly always why.

Don’t twist the cutter

Push the cutter straight down and lift it straight out. Twisting seals the cut edge and the scone rises lopsided or not at all. If you don’t have a cutter, cut the dough into squares with a knife — no rounding, no re-rolling, and the scraps problem disappears.

Cheese in it and cheese on it

Two cups of grated tasty cheese goes into the dough, and another half cup goes on top before baking. The topping is not decoration. It melts down over the sides and crisps against the tray, which gives you the browned, slightly chewy cheese crust that separates a good cheese scone from a plain scone with cheese in it.

Use tasty or a sharp cheddar. Mild cheese vanishes. Colby is what a lot of people have in the fridge and it will do, but it’s noticeably blander.

The mustard and cayenne

A half teaspoon of mustard powder and a pinch of cayenne won’t make the scones taste of mustard or of chilli. They sharpen the cheese — the same reason both turn up in a cauliflower cheese or a Welsh rarebit. Leave them out and the scones taste flatter, and you won’t be able to say why.

Frequently asked questions

Why are my cheese scones flat and heavy?

Almost always overmixing, or butter that wasn’t cold enough. Mix only until the dough just comes together — it should look rough and shaggy, not smooth. Also check your baking powder is fresh; it loses strength after about six months open.

Why did they rise lopsided?

You twisted the cutter. Push straight down and lift straight up.

What cheese is best for cheese scones?

A tasty or sharp cheddar. It needs enough flavour to survive 15 minutes at 220°C. Mild cheese and colby both work but taste noticeably plainer.

Can I make cheese scones without baking powder?

Use self-raising flour and leave the baking powder out, though you’ll get a slightly lower rise. Three cups of self-raising flour replaces the flour and baking powder here.

Can I use buttermilk?

Yes, and they’ll be marginally lighter and slightly tangy. Use the same quantity and add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda along with the baking powder.

Can I freeze them?

Yes, baked and cooled, for up to three months. Refresh from frozen in a 180°C oven for 8 minutes — far better than microwaving, which makes them rubbery.

Why put cheese on top as well as inside?

The cheese on top melts down the sides and crisps against the tray. That browned cheese crust is most of what people mean when they say a cheese scone is good.

Variations

  • Cheese and bacon — add 3 rashers, cooked and chopped, with the cheese.
  • Cheese and chive — 3 tablespoons of finely snipped chives.
  • Cheese and jalapeño — 2 tablespoons of finely chopped pickled jalapeños, drained well.
  • Cheese and Marmite — spread a thin layer of Marmite on each scone before the cheese topping goes on. Divisive, and very good.