In 2012 we were blessed with our first baby, a beautiful boy we named Mahea. I was fortunate enough to work for Fisher & Paykel at the time as an industrial designer and I’d taken maternity leave to stay at home and bond with my wee babe. 6 months after he was born the design team asked if I would take on a bit of work managing the food blog that we had begun. I loved the work and it was great connecting with people again and best of all I could do it all from home while our little boy slept.
Fast forward another 6 months and I decided to make the leap from being an industrial designer to being a food writer, stylist and photographer. The rest is history really but I am so incredibly blessed to have worked with some wonderful people doing wonderful things since I began this journey. The recipe below is one I wrote while doing a stint working with the team at Cuisine Magazine. I wrote a regular feature for the magazine for 3 years and the recipe below was one of the last I did before I finished. It was one of three recipes I wrote using locally grown or produced food. This one includes Juno Gin which is made right here in New Plymouth by a passionate and very talented husband and wife team.
It is a wonderful combination of textures and flavours and makes for a seriously impressive dessert.
Citrus Salad with Gin Syrup and Brandy Snaps
Serves 6
900g Greek yoghurt
55g butter
80g brown sugar
40g flour
½ teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed + 3 oranges
½ grapefruit juice, freshly squeezed + 2 grapefruit
2 limes
3 tablespoons golden caster sugar
3 tablespoons Juno Gin
Mint leaves for garnish
The day before serving this dish place a sieve over a bowl or jug (I used my large Pyrex jug) and line with muslin or cheesecloth and spoon in the yoghurt. Pick up the corners of the fabric and twist together to close. Put a small plate on top and place into the refrigerator overnight. Overnight the yoghurt will thicken and take on the consistency of sour cream. It is now called Labne. Tip out of the muslin/cheesecloth and store in the refrigerator in an airtight container until ready to use. Either discard the whey or pour into a glass jar and refrigerate for use in cooking.
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Put the butter and sugar into a saucepan and melt, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat, set aside to let cool somewhat before stirring in the flour, spices and a pinch of salt. Using a teaspoon spoon out onto the baking tray, leaving plenty of space for them to spread. Bake for 8 minutes or until bubbly and golden. Keep an eye on them as they will burn quickly. Remove from the oven, cool then blitz in a food processor to form rough crumbs. Store in an airtight container.
Pour the orange and grapefruit juice into a saucepan, add the sugar, bring to the boil then simmer for approximately 15 minutes or until it starts to become syrupy. Leave to cool, stir in the gin then pour into a bowl. Using a pairing knife remove the skin and all the white pith from the citrus fruit. Starting with one of the oranges and working over the bowl containing the syrup (so you can catch the juices) cut down one side of a segment separating the membrane from the fruit. Cut down the other side then gently pull the segment away and place into the bowl. Repeat with the remaining orange segments before working your way through the rest of the fruit. Gently mix to coat all the fruit in the syrup and leave for at least 2 hours or as long as overnight before serving. To serve spread a tablespoon of the Labne onto a small plate, top with the citrus salad and syrup and then the brandy snaps. Garnish with small mint leaves or shredded mint.