Differences in New Zealand and American Foodstuffs.

Oh yes let us start with dairy.

DAIRY

Things that are dairy or meat product related here taste very different due to the "Free Farming" they do in New Zealand. It is much like the "free range" you hear so much about although there is no legal definition for "free range".

You can see the meaning of "free farmed" when you drive around here. The animals are free to roam nice size chunks of land and have shade trees with which to keep cool in the heat of the summer. The taste is less sweet because they are fed grass instead of a corn based food as they are fed in many places in the US. Don't get me wrong I don't dislike the taste of either it just needs to be expressed that the taste is not the same.

The photograph above shows some triple chocolate ice cream, topped with heavy cream and then chocolate sauce.

MEATS

Meat is different in much the same way. Beef has a very different flavour than it does in the steaks at home. This time I'm afraid I really am not certain how to explain the taste. The best I think I can offer as an explanation is that it's again less sweet. 

SODA And OTHER

Okay same deal back home in the USA we use corn syrup to sweeten things like soft drinks. Here plain sugar is used which makes the drinks you think you know and love very different! Personally I like both kinds for different reasons. It's important to note when reading my blog that the things posted here are based on my experiences and tastes. Not everything I say means you will feel the same way.

Update on what we have been up to!

We again went out do dinner at an old favourite from last year LONESTAR. 

I did a review on this place in my first entry. 

These are photos from last year.

We also caught a movie the other day. Anyone else see RED?

It's a fantastic movie. It's funny and the action was really good as well. 

Check it out!

Uh.. I feel like I had more to say here...

Thank you for reading as always!

-Ginn

Mini party burgers! (Recipe & How To)

Sorry I did not post yesterday I had planned to post pumpkin pie photos but it got eaten too fast... 

I hope this makes up for it.

Pretty photo>>

<< More true to colour

This is what we are going to make today.

It's my mini burgers with special onion sauce.

You can always make them big burgers if you wanted to.

If you want to make these here is what you need other then ground beef.

If you have onion powder please use that instead of onion salt. 

Also if you do not have this green onion dip I will explain how to make it at home below.

2-3 tablespoons of beef stock powder

1 teaspoon each of garlic and onion powder

1 whole container of the green onion dip

Measurements are for one pound of meat, if you want to make more you can double this.

Take your stock, garlic, and onion powders and place them in a mixing bowl with your raw meat. Knead the spices into the meat until well mixed, make into little balls then flatten to make a 2 1/2 to 3 inch patty about 1/4 of an inch thick. Set them aside.

Now make your sauce. I will explain 2 ways of doing this one with the green onion dip and one without.

1.If you do not have green onion sour cream based dip where you are please buy a thing of plain sour cream and one small onion (of any kind) dice the onion fine and place it into the dip. If you are not a fan of that much onion please feel free to only use half or none of the onion. Also add a teaspoon of onion powder to the sour cream and stir well. At this point you will need the ketchup. how much you add is up to your taste. Add about a tablespoon at a time until you feel the mix has enough. 

2. If you do have sour cream based green onion dip just add the ketchup and garlic power to that mix and you are done.

Let's cook the burgers now!

Before you start this get a large baking sheet lined with paper towels to soak the grease. Place the cooked burgers on this and let rest before serving.

Please make sure you are using a non stick pan this will make your life much easier!

Set your burner to half way and put some vegetable oil in your pan. Once that is hot start adding your burgers into the non stick pan in batches. Leave them be for a 2-3 minutes until you can see the browning coming up the sides of the meat. Once you see this flip them over and cook for about the same on the other side until they "spring" back when you poke them with your spatula. They should come out looking perfect and not burnt!

Please do not be tempted to turn the heat way up and cook them faster all that will get you is a burned outside!

Let them rest for a few minutes so the extra grease drips off onto the paper towels and you're not left with all of it on your shirt. You can at this point just pour the sauce over them and serve or pair them with some type of bread. Heck if you really want to go the distance take a bunch of these put them in your casserole dish cover them with mashed potatoes and you have a special shepherd's pie.

However you decide to enjoy them, I hope yours are perfect <3

Thank you for reading -Ginn

Drinks of New Zealand!

As you may have guessed this time it's all about just a few of the crazy awesome drinks found here in New Zealand.

This set here is a NZ energy drink called V as you can see it comes in many flavours. My personal tastes I prefer monster but I do like these!

You can take a hint from the fact that this is empty that I like it. I'm so sorry I just could not wait to drink it.

It's a powerade drink the special flavour of the NZ rugby team the "All Blacks"

This is a soda called L&P more info here.

I really can't describe how this one tastes other then yum.

 

Okay I lied its not all about the drinks.

This is Butter chicken from a place down the street called the Curry Pot.

They are very hard to order from 2 of the numbers on the home delivery menu do not work and the third reaches a man who does not speak much English but the food is AMAZING the sauce is so thick and creamy it was well worth the price paid for it and the long process to order.

First the soda it's frank's blood orange soda. Very tangy and has a heck of a bite I love this soda.

The tin foil holds some garlic naan bread.

The first box is rice. (derp you all most likely knew that) The second box is filled with creamy amazing butter chicken tika. The chicken is super moist and has no hard gristly bits it is also smothered in spices it's just amazing. 

It rained pretty good here today, so I'm happy.

That's all I have for you today. 

-Ginn

Beef Stroganoff + Home cooking photos!

Recipe time!
This one is for Beef Stroganoff. It's my uncle George's recipe something I remember having for years and years now I recently made it here in New Zealand for my boyfriend. He seems to like it fine since he had 2 bowls of it in one sitting. *giggle* I will warn you this recipe is set up in New Zealand measurements but the instructions are the same.


Ingredients:

1/2 Kilo Round Steak, thinly sliced
1/4 Kilo Button Mushrooms, sliced
Half of a medium-sized brown onion, chopped
250 ml sour cream
65 mil flour
250 ml beef broth (or red wine) (I used beef stock)

Butter for mushrooms
Vegetable oil for onion and steak
Ketchup

The trick to getting thin slices from the round steak is to partially freeze it and then cut. It's best if the slices are 2-3 mm; thinner than that is not better.  The best you can get without freezing is about 5 mm.

So, start by slicing the mushrooms, chopping the onion, and slicing the steak.

Dredge the steak in the flour so the slices are coated.

Saute the mushrooms in butter and set aside in a bowl
Saute the onion in vegetable oil and set aside in a bowl
Saute the steak until the redness is gone.  The flour, oil and steak juices make a roux
Add the liquid and mix thoroughly, scraping up and mixing in any bits that stuck to the bottom of the pan.   Add a spoonful or so of Ketchup at this point, mix again, and reduce for a minute or tow.
Now turn to low heat and add the onions, mushrooms and sour cream.  Mix and heat but do not allow it to boil.   This step takes less than a minute.
Serve immediately with rice pilaf


-- George

Good World Takeaway & More!

Good World

Fish and Chip shop.

They have a lot more the fish and chips but they have (from all the places here I have tried) the best fish and chips around Hamilton East. They also have a vast selection of Chinese style food and wok tossed noodles.

They have desserts and fried crispy shrimp wraps that are also very yummy. 

Hamilton eateries revealed!

So once again I find myself in New Zealand visiting my boyfriend.
I realise that there are still no good reliable places to get reviews and ideas on where to get anything to eat. The best and most reliable way to get information like that is always to ask the people who live here. Thankfully at least in New Zealand most everyone speaks English (Queen's English) as the main language. I have decided to post photographs and reviews on the places I/we have eaten or been to. This will include shops, places to eat, spots to catch a movie and more.


I have been here for about 5 days now so I have 2 reviews to post already.


The first of these is a bit on the expensive side but well worth the splurge for a special date.
Smith and Mckenzie [chophouse]
Is a fantastic steakhouse here in hamilton. Also the only place I have found in the city that serves prime rib, the dish I ordered. It's a 500g huge prime rib of beef. 
They do have a website http://www.smithandmckenzie.co.nz/ and they recommend calling ahead to reserve a cut of the prime rib if you plan to have that meal 24 hours in advance. I did not do this and got the very last one. I chose the garlic jus sauce which has a bit of red wine in it, just enough to add depth but not to make it taste like wine with a side of meat. It came with lovely herb roasted potatoes which I thought needed salt but hey I personally always want more salt so decide that for yourself. We got a side of mushrooms and split the whole meal. At the end we ordered the special dessert which was a trio of Icecream flavours. After dinner mint, Dark chocolate, Strawberry. I know the flavours sound kinda plain but they were really amazing deep rich flavour. (I do not have photos of the dessert I'm sorry for that.)

The second place I have to review is a "Tex Mex" place that I went to many times my last trip LONESTAR. Website:http://lonestar.co.nz/
Let's set the record here people. Many of the so called "Tex Mex" dishes they server are NOT authentic. They are asian style made with hoisin sauce. 
However that does not mean the food here is bad! I have liked everything I have gotten there the "Redneck ribs" are a pork rib slab with a hoisin glaze. They have something called a LoneStar Loaf which is a home baked white bread loaf served with garlic butter. (To be honest this bread is some of the best I have ever had)  There are some gems here that are pretty authentic and are 100% yummy! The "Prawn Star" is a huge shrimp dish that is covered in a spicy chunky sauce that reminds me of home back in the states. It's served with basmati rice instead of Mexican fried rice but I like rice of any colour. 
Now let's get to the bit you read all this for shall we?
DESSERT here they have a lovely selection of  "Pudding" (They use the word pudding instead of dessert here.)
Banoffe pie which is an english pie. The pie here is a rich caramel with some bananas and whip cream sliding down on each side of the slice. 
The other dessert I have ordered there many times it's the signature New Zealand dessert Pavlova. At LoneStar "Kiwi Pavlova" It's a meringue-based dessert with whip cream and a dip of ice cream. To cut all the loads upon loads of sweet they have tart sauces made from fresh fruit. In this photo passion fruit and raspberry.