Città at home: what we’re cooking right now
Lately, we’ve been channelling our inner-chefs and spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Cooking and baking provide a creative, mindful outlet… and a delicious end-result! There’s something special about filling your kitchen with the smell of comforting dishes and freshly baked goodies. We asked five of our team members to share their favourite recipes.
Marketing Executive & Stylist: Billie Pounder
Who are you isolating with & where?
My boyfriend and I decided our flat without any outdoor space in Kingsland, Auckland would have been a little too snug for isolation, so we packed up and have been isolating at his Dad’s house in Westmere with him.
What’s your favourite thing to bake right now?
I have been baking and cooking more than ever during lockdown, working my way through my cookbook collection. My favourite things I’ve baked so far would have to be a blackberry cake by The Caker, and the most insane chocolate chip cookies using Chelsea Winter’s recipe. Both went down a treat… and disappeared very quickly!
What do you love about it?
I love that both recipes were fairly easy and used ingredients that most households would have handy. I’m so much more likely to bake if I don’t have to go to the supermarket first—especially in isolation.
The Caker recipes are my go-to for cakes because they’re easy to make and the flavours are unique and exciting—which always seems to impress whoever you’re baking for. This blackberry cake was so easy, and the result was moist and so, so, good. You could easily substitute the blackberries for any other berry, and it would be equally as yum.
I love baking cookies in general—I do it just so I can eat the cookie dough. This chocolate chip cookie recipe by Chelsea Winter made the best cookies I’ve ever made. My special tip is to use a block of Whittaker’s dark chocolate all chopped up into chunks (rather than chocolate chips). I also put the rolled cookie dough balls into the fridge for about 15 minutes before sticking in the oven so that they don’t spread out so thin when baking. The cookies got eaten so quickly they didn’t even make it off the cooling rack!
The Caker’s blackberry cake recipe can be found here & Chelsea Winter’s chocolate chip cookie recipe can be found here.
National Visual Merchandiser: Federica Contardi
Who are you isolating with & where?
I am isolating with my partner Davide and my sister Silvia in our home in One Tree Hill, Auckland. We live very close to Cornwall Park and it’s so good to have such a beautiful park near our house where we can enjoy daily walks in nature.
What’s your favourite thing to cook right now?
I love baking and making my favourite recipes—the ones I know by heart and always make me happy when I eat them. If I have to narrow it down to one dish, my favourite would be fresh handmade pasta served in a tomato and basil sauce.
What do you love about it?
When you eat handmade pasta, it just tastes better! Preparing pasta is an art and the person who is making it for you is clearly demonstrating their love! I love the feeling of eating a good handmade dish. It reminds me of when I was a kid and my grandma used to make fresh pasta for the whole family every weekend. I would help her make the gnocchi and that’s how I learned.
Click here for Federica’s ricotta & truffle oil gnocchi recipe.
Sales Manager, College St Wellington: Nikki Shearer
Who are you isolating with & where?
I'm isolating at my family home in Lower Hutt. I’m with my husband Craig, daughter Jamie (who works for Flight Centre and came home to isolate), son Ben, and sister-in-law Glenys who recently relocated from Wanaka. In addition, we have four dogs and one bengal cat. It’s a very full house with four working from home!
What’s your favourite thing to cook right now?
I’ve been having a play in the kitchen and making all sorts… Asian pancakes with dipping sauce, chilli cornbread and pissaladière—a pizza recipe the doesn’t require yeast.
What do you love about it?
My mum made pissaladière back in the 70s, topped with Watties tomato sauce, fresh tomatoes, diced onions and cheese. I continued the tradition with my kids and now my daughter Jordan makes it for her children. Our toppings have got more elaborate over the years, but the beauty of this dish is you are only limited by your imagination. It’s so simple and a great way to utilise what you have on hand.
Click here for Nikki’s pissaladière recipe.
IT/Warehouse Assistant: Prabhjot (Dimpy) Kaur
Who are you isolating with & where?
My partner and I are isolating together in South Auckland.
What’s your favourite thing to cook right now?
Lately, I have been enjoying making Indian desserts and gram flour ladoo is one of my favourites.
What do you love about it?
Gram flour ladoo is an Indian sweet made from a mixture of gram (chickpea) flour, sugar and clarified butter that is shaped into a ball. It is very easy to cook and requires very few ingredients.
Click here for Dimpy’s gram flour ladoo recipe.
Head of Planning: Terry Millar
Who are you isolating with & where?
I’m isolating at home in Karaka with my husband Mike, son Charlie (8 years), doggie fur-child Tess (1 year), and stray cat “Mr Meowsalot” (who is actually a girl). Our “neigh”-bours are racehorses on one side, and a rotation of moo-cows on the other side. Also in our bubble (but keeping two-metres apart), we have three 70+ year olds on the North Shore that we check on. We have been using the small local stores for all our grocery needs—and haven’t been to the supermarket once!
What’s your favourite thing to cook right now?
There have been some delicious creations oozing out of me and the kitchen! A recent favourite was creamy mustard chicken and leek spaghetti with a salad of roasted pumpkin bites, walnuts, and stuffed bell peppers. I also did Asian-style ginger pork balls served on rice with a salad of cucumber, cabbage, chilli and toasted sesame seeds. For the sauce, I used soy, rice wine vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, and crushed garlic—so good! The Anzac theme has continued in our bubble with Charlie serving crumbled homemade Anzac biscuits over vanilla bean ice-cream.
What do you love about it?
It’s great having that extra bit of time to prep meals rather than arriving home around 7.30pm to quickly whip up something. I tend to “wing it” in the kitchen, rather than following a recipe—a picture or a hankering for certain flavours gets me going.
Gram Flour Ladoo Photo courtesy of Vlad Kutepov
Creamy Mustard Chicken Photo courtesy of Alex Motoc
