"Ain't no sunshine when she's gone."

Following on from the title of my first blog, this blog's title comes from the Bill Wither's song 'Ain't No Sunshine' because I haven't shined upon my blog for awhile and also because the literal Sun here in New Zealand has been pretty reluctant to show itself over the last few weeks of "summer". It would appear that it has been over 2 months since my first and only blog post... I could offer a range of excuses (working a 50 hour week looking after Devil children/my boyfriend stopped commuting so I had less lonely time/it has been "summer" holidays) but instead here are some photos of what I've been up to while I've been neglecting my blog:

You can't beat Wellington on a good day!

Crafty Christmas Activities with the kids I'm looking after.

We were really lucky and saw dolphins, whales and baby Hammerhead sharks while out on the boat!

A kingfish, 4 kahawai and 1 of the 4 snapper we caught in the Coromandel. 

Kokoda/Poisson Cru made from the fresh fish - YUM!

I've also eaten some seriously amazing food! We hosted a BBQ at the end of last year, we told our friends to BYO their drinks and some meat and we provided the most AMAZING bruschetta in the world, some salads, and of course I baked! Here is a photo of the spread:

From left: strawberries and chocolate, a Caesar salad, a potato salad, a Greek (ish) salad, Tip Top bread for pigs in blankets, chocolate brownie and 2 kinds of cupcakes - elderflower and raspberry with an elderflower glaze, and American vanilla cupcakes (made with ZUCCHINI!) with vanilla buttercream frosting. 

And of course the very amazing and delicious bruschetta that my boyfriend made:

Both recipes came courtesy of Al Brown's latest cookbook 'Stoked', there was 'Tomato and Thyme Brushetta' and 'Grilled Eggplant with Basil, Lemon Olive Oil and Feta Bruschetta'. They were both amazing and gone in about 30mins and before most of the guests had even arrived...

It was a really good night and we were thrilled we got in a BBQ before the weather closed in for the next month (I wish I was joking). The next night we had my better half's family over for dinner and again Al Brown's book delivered a knock-out recipe, the most delicious marinated chicken nibbles in the world!

Komal's Wings
Step 1 - Marinate the chicken:

1kg chicken wings, halved (I used 1kg of chicken nibbles)
2 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp tumeric
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted in a dry pan and ground
2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted in a dry pan and ground
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh garlic
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
chilli powder to taste (I used a slightly heaped 1/2 teaspoon and they had a nice flavour with a little bit of a kick but it's up to you how much you use, if any)

Place the chicken wings in a large Snaplock plastic bag, add the remaining ingredients then use your hands to rub the marinade into the chicken. Seal the bag and refrigerate for 2-3 days.

Step 2 - Cook and Serve:

cooking oil for brushing
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c roughly chopped coriander leaves
juice of 2 lemons

Preheat the oven to 180*C or heat your BBQ to medium-high heat.
Brush the chicken wings with oil and roast or barbeque until cooked through. Taste and season if required with sea salt and black pepper. Toss the coriander leaves over and squeeze over the juice from the lemons to complete.

I very passionately HATE coriander, if I get a mouthful of fresh coriander I want to vomit and then pour hot chilli sauce all over my mouth to rid it of the vile taste! Apparently it's a genetic thing? Anyway, I find coriander is either something you love or hate so I served the chicken with the fresh coriander in a bowl beside it so people could sprinkle it over if they wanted, and I also served a bowl of lemon wedges in case people wanted extra lemon.

Serve with a lot of serviettes and I recommend you get in their quick because there definitely won't be any left for seconds!

This book rocks! Worth every cent so get your copy today! 

Continuing with this blog's aparent Al Brown infatuation: if you live in Auckland or you are there for a visit, go and check ou his new (ish) restaurant 'Depot' in the CBD. The food is to die for, and although it is quite pricey it is well worth the visit! It's open from 7am everyday serving Havana coffee and delicious treats - if you aren't too full, try the 'sugar pie' it's like Russian fudge, condensed milk and custard pie had a baby... SO GOOD!

In other news, I seem to be the creator of a seriously amazing chocolate brownie recipe... After getting seriously annoyed about all the 'cake brownie' out there, you know that dry spongey brownie that is really cake and makes you angrily question where the fudgey goodness is?! I decided enough was enough and I set about making my own recipe, I read a number of recipes and then I created a couple of different brownies from a mixture of some that looked promising, I tweaked and fiddled and eventually I totally nailed it! It's chocolatey, it's gooey, it's fudgey, it's super bad for you and a total sugar coma inducing treat! I recently made a few to take to a friend's engagement party:

To say it was a hit would be an understatement, I had strangers come up to tell me how amazing it was, I lost count of the number of people who requested the recipe, AND I GOT PROPOSED TO! I assume this girl was joking but she came rushing up and asked if she could marry me so I could make her brownie for the rest of her life... I politely declined and said I had a boyfriend, so she proceed to run over to him and tell him that he needed to propose to me right now. Cue awkward smiles. So I'm feeling pretty awesome about that and I am trying to make myself share the recipe, I'm not quite there yet but I promise that one day soon it will be on here! Thus far I've only given the recipe to my Mum and that was mostly because I just felt sorry for her. My mum is an AMAZING cook! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! But she is not a baker, in fact she once made a chocolate brownie and I am not kidding when I say we could have tiled a roof with it, when she threw it into the rubbish bin, it cracked the bottom of the bin! BAD brownie! REALLY bad brownie! But "my" recipe is not only amazing, it's also really easy to make and if she can make it, ANYONE can! 

So, now that I've written a blog long enough to make me feel a bit less guilty, it's time to sign off. But, keep reading my blog, stick with me even though I'm a terrible person and totally neglected my blog for over 2 months, because one day you shall be rewarded with my brownie recipe!

x Hungry Lab