1. The Grille by Eichardt's Pork Belly Pitas 

This Pork Belly Pitas recipe is straight from the mind of The Grille's Head Chef, Oliver Xie. All of the ingredients can be easily found in your kitchen cupboard or local supermarket.

Ingredients:

500g pork belly

1 cup soy sauce

1 whole red chilli

2 star anise

1 bay leaf

400g water

2 garlic cloves

1 bunch of fresh coriander

2 fresh green chilli

100g caster sugar

Method:

• Cut pork belly in to 8 pieces
• Place pork belly into a large pot with everything except the coriander and green chilli
• Leave the pot on slow heat to cook for 3 hours (during this time you can go for a walk or watch a movie!)
• Take out the belly and use a large spoon to smash it or separate the meat – it’s very tender and the belly should resemble pulled pork
• Place the smashed pork belly back in with the cooked liquid mix
• Chop the coriander and green chilli and mix it into the pork
• Toast pita bread and fill each pocket with a generous scoop of pork

For more recipes from The Grille, visit their website here. 

2. Fishbone Blue Cod with Crazy Water

The trick to this dish is having all your ingredients prepped and ready to go. The dish will come together in about 5 minutes, talk about fast food. Serve with some Israeli couscous and steamed green beans like we do at Fishbone.

Ingredients:

4 x 180g portions of Blue Cod

A good slug of olive oil

20 cherry tomatoes, mix some colours if you wish, halved

20 Kalamata olives, stoned

8 basil leaves

4 cloves garlic, sliced

A two finger pinch of dried chilli flakes or to taste

1 tbsp red miso paste

½ cup hot water water

125g Butter, chilled at cut into cubes.

Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

• Dissolve the miso paste in the ½ cup of hot water.
• Take a large pan and place it on the heat. Gently warm the olive oil and add the garlic and cherry tomatoes and the miso water.
• Turn the heat up until it is boiling furiously and with a fork start breaking apart the tomatoes, reducing the liquid at the same time and in essence creating a sauce.
• Meanwhile, in a separate pan cook your fish. Blue cod cooks really fast so make sure you have everything else ready, including the table set!
• Once you’ve turned the blue cod over, adding the butter, to the miso and tomatoes, a bit at a time, swirling the pan to emulsify the butter into the sauce. Once all the butter is added (you don’t need to use the full amount if you don’t want to) add the olives and basil. Check for seasoning.
• Place the fish on a plate and evenly distribute the sauce. 

To find out more about Fishbone Queenstown, visit their website here. 

3. No5 Church Lane Sourdough Pancakes 

No5 Church Lane's Head Chef, Trent Watson, is keeping busy during the COVID-19 lockdown by testing out some new dishes and keeping his lovely wife, Bianca, well fed (while she captures these images). The first recipe he has shared are these savoury Sourdough Pancakes, a take on a classic breakfast dish with the options to make it vegan.

 Ingredients:

50g sourdough starter

100g flour

100g milk – soy if vegan

2 eggs – omit if vegan 

25g melted butter – coconut oil if vegan

5g salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

Note: recommend using egg rings or pastry cutters 

Method:

• In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients (except for the sourdough starter) until the pancake batter resembles a runny texture. 
• Add starter to mixture and leave too prove for 1 hour (until it doubles) 
• Heat a pan with a minimal amount of oil 
• Once the pan is warm, pour the mixture into egg rings or pastry cutters filling them about up about 2/3  
• Cook the pancakes until it starts to bubble in the middle then remove the rings and flip
• Cook for another 2-3 minutes until cooked through
• To serve, stack the pancakes 2 – 3 high and top with wilted baby spinach, rice paper bacon (or prosciutto for your carnivores) and top with poached eggs or cherry tomatoes.

To discover more of No5 Church Lane's recipes, visit their website here. 

4. Taco Medic Spiced Prawn Taco Bowl with Coriander Lime Sauce (Gluten Free)

Ingredients:

Frozen Prawns 

Red and/or Green Cabbage 

Capsicum 

Cherry Tomatoes 

Red Onion

Lime (or Lemon) 

Coriander 

Mayonnaise 

Spice Rub: 

1 TBLS Smoke Paprika 

1 TBLS Dried Coriander

1 TBLS Dried Chili Flakes

1 TSP Garlic Powder 

1 TSP Salt

Pinch Cracked Black Pepper 

Method:

• See video. For more of your favourite Taco Medic recipes visit their Facebook page here. 

5. Miss Lucy's Halloumi Macaroni & Cheese

The temperature has been dropping while we've been in lockdown over the last few weeks - it truly feels like autumn in Queenstown. Here's the perfect comfort food recipe with a twist thanks to the team at Miss Lucy's. 

Ingredients: 

45g Butter 

45g Flour

500ml Blue Milk

200ml Water

500g Shredded Edam Cheese 

20g Parmesan

2 Teaspoons Smoked Paprika

1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard

1 Teaspoon Onion Powder

1 Teaspoon Salt

3 Cups Dry Macaroni

200g Halloumi, medium diced 

Topping

1/2 Cup Panko Breadcrumbs (or substitute for white fine crumbs) 

1/4 Teaspoon Paprika 

1g Sage leaves, fresh chopped

1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder 

1/4 Teaspoon salt

Method: 

Macaroni 

• In a pot, combine 2L water and 20g of salt. Bring to a boil. 
• Cook macaroni until el dente, around 8-10 minutes.
• Drain and toss in olive Oil. 

Cheese Sauce 

• Melt butter in medium pot. 
• Whisk in flour until combined. 
• Add milk and water, heat slowly until thickened. Cook out for 10 minutes on low. 
• Add cheeses and all spices, mustard, salt pepper. Whisk until combined. 
• Take off heat and blitz with immersion (hand) blender. 

Halloumi

• Heat in a pan with a small layer of oil on medium. 
• Pan fry halloumi until all sides a golden brown. 
• Toss macaroni, cheese sauce and halloumi. 

Topping

• Toss all ingredients together in a bowl.
• Spread on baking sheet and toast in 120 degree celsius oven, stirring every 5 minutes, for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. 
• Let cool to room temperature. 
• Pulse for 1 second, 5 times, in a food processor. 

To find out more about Miss Lucy's Queenstown, visit their website here. 

6. No5 Church Lane Cherry Blossom Chia Pots

Cherry blossom chia with cherry coconut yoghurt and pear compote. No5 Church Lane's head chef Trent has shared a simple three-layer overnight chia pudding recipe for everyone to try out at home during lockdown. The best part about this morning dish is that the fruit / flavour can be substituted depending on preferences and whats in season. 

Ingredients:

50g chia seeds

100g cherry bloom syrup (or any other flavoured syrup)

100g water

200g coconut yoghurt

100g cherry jam (or any other flavour)

100g pears

50g caster sugar

25g water

Method:

Chia Layer

• Soak the chia in 100g of water and syrup
• Mix well to make sure you’ve gotten the clumps out of the corners
• Cover and place in the fridge for 24 hours 

Yoghurt Layer

• Microwave jam in a microwave safe dish for 20-30 seconds (to soften, making it easier to mix) 
• Mix jam in with coconut yoghurt

Pear Compote

• Finely dice the pear 
• In a pot, put 25g water and sugar and bring too a boil (too make a syrup) 
• Add pears to boiling water mixture and cook till soft on low heat 
• Assemble on a glass in repeating layers

For more No5 Church Lane recipes, visit their website here. 

7. The Boat Shed Cafe & Bistro Baked Grape Sponge Cake

With grape season here, The Boat Shed Cafe & Bistro's chef Ed has been experimenting with grapes from his porch resulting in this beautiful Baked Grape Sponge Cake. Ed adapted this recipe to work with most fruit (including canned) and with variety of ingredients (or substitutes) that you’ll probably have at home. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Ingredients:

250g butter

200g caster (or normal) sugar

4 eggs

225g self raising flour

Vanilla paste or essence

2 tbsp Olive (or other) oil

100ml milk (or other substitute)

1/2 tsp salt

2 bunches of grapes (sub any other if you have some in your garden, or canned fruit if not)

Jam - if you’ve got some... just to brush ontop afterward.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Method:

• Cream butter and sugar. Keep the mixer going…. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add sifted flour and salt until mixed.⠀⠀⠀
• Add milk, vanilla and oil in this order then softly fold in fruit.⠀⠀⠀
• Spread evenly in a lined cake tin, topping with your grapes.
• Bake at 170C for around 15-20 mins (depending on your oven) or until cooked - then glaze with jam thinned down with a little hot water.

The Boat Shed Cafe & Bistro team have been sharing some of their other favourite recipes on their Facebook page, check them out here. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

8. Vudu Cafe & Larder and Bespoke Kitchen Raspberry, Lemon and Coconut Truffles (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

For those of you missing your GF, DF treats, the team at Vudu Cafe & Larder and Bespoke Kitchen have put together a miniature PDF recipe book of some of their favourite easy treats. They've shared their Gluten Free, Dairy Free Raspberry, Lemon and Coconut Truffles below. 

Ingredients:

1½ cups unsweetened shredded coconut

1 cup ground almonds

4 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

2 tbsp honey zest 

Juice of 1 lemon

½ cup freeze dried raspberries

¼ tsp vanilla paste

Pinch of salt

Desiccated coconut for decoration

Method:

• Place all ingredients in a food processor and blitz until combined.
• Divide into 30 g balls and roll in desiccated coconut.
• Place in fridge for several hours to set before serving.

Download the Vudu Cafe & Larder and Bespoke Kitchen Recipe book here. 

9. Gibbston Valley Winery Chef Anthony’s Beetroot Chutney

Gibbston Valley Winery's Head Chef Anthony Gradiska has shared his Beetroot Chutney recipe.

Being able to make chutneys, relishes and pickles is a pretty good trick to have up your sleeve. It’s an easy way to bring a relatively bland or boring dish to life. It gives you that hit of sweetness, spice and acidity that might be missing.

Gibbston Valley Winery use this recipe alongside their chicken liver parfait. It helps cut through the richness and also compliments the salty, crispy chicken wings that they serve with it.

Ingredients:

1.25kg of beetroot, cooked, peeled and finely chopped

250g raisins

2 onions finely diced

1tbsp salt

1tbsp allspice

4 whole black pepper corns

150g brown sugar

500ml white vinegar (any vinegar will do really)

Method: 

• Firstly, prepare the beetroot.
• While the beetroot is cooking, get the other ingredients ready. Add them all to a saucepan and bring to the boil, then reduce to a low heat. Be sure to stir regularly so it doesn’t catch on the bottom. As soon as you have the cooked beets peeled and chopped, add those in too. Continue cooking until you have a nice, thick finished chutney. This should take about two hours (ish).
• Anthony recommends adding a generous rosemary sprig into at the start, but if you’re not a rosemary fan, you could leave it as the standard recipe.
• This make roughly two litres, so you could store in sterilised mason jars (will last for ages), or alternatively in containers in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Follow Gibbston Valley Winery's Facebook page here for more great recipes, or visit their website to find out more about the restaurant and winery here.