I had never heard of smoked eggs until today. I knew about marbled eggs of various kinds and tea eggs, coffee eggs and one thousand year old eggs but not smoked eggs. We went out to the Agricultural and Pastoral Show on the Taieri Plains and there was a chap in a stockmans coat, sporting a leather hat with a pile of small lime green cardboard egg cartons in front of him. He was from the Manuka Smoked Egg Company in Lawrence - Central Otago

He looked as though should be out with a sheep dog and some sheep, not selling eggs in a little tent. I was curious so I ambled over trying not to look nearly as interested as I was. Isaac and Kit headed over to pat the small Fresian calf that was close by and I inspected the eggs.

This was what I saw when I opened the egg carton.

These smoky black, brown and gold eggs with the most amazing aroma wafting out of the egg carton. They were slightly sticky to the touch with smoke residue coming off on my fingers when I touched them. They’ve been smoked over Manuka wood chips, which is really commonly used for smoking salmon, eel, bacon and game here. It gives a rich sweet flavour like nothing else.

I assumed that being smoked the eggs would be cooked but they are in fact raw eggs that have been cold smoked. When I researched a little online I could not find any other results for cold smoked eggs where the egg remains raw after smoking  and ready to be cooked. So they seem quite unusual in that respect.

I thought rather than put them in something that would hide the flavour of the eggs they would be better included in a salad where they could be the star of the show.

This is what I came up with to taste test the eggs.

Just a simple mixed salad with a dollop of aioli on the side. We tried it with a vinaigrette as well, but the creamier dressing was better.

The eggs were reminiscent of bacon! They had a soft smoky savoury taste, and they were really quite stunning in flavour. If you know anyone with a smoker try to tempt them into experimenting with it with some smoked eggs, they were excellent.

I was surprised to see the eggs not coloured at all by the smoking process. They looked the same as an ordinary hard boiled egg sitting in a salad. But the taste was far from ordinary. If you can get hold of these give them a try, surprising and wonderful.

I also wanted to share with you some pictures from the outing. The New Zealand Agricultural and Pastoral shows are something of a tradition here. New Zealand is a country that has always had a strong farming and agricultural community. Many of our primary exports are agriculturally based.

This is such a typical NZ scene

A sheep dog working the sheep, very smart dogs that respond to the merest hint of a whistle, commands or gestures, and the sheep of course scattering everywhere but where they should be going.

The shows are a way for our farmers to show off their prize winning animals, the bakers to bake their pikelets, scones and fruitcakes and the gardeners to gather up an abundance of vegetables and gain the red ribbon for first prize if they are lucky.

Spinners, knitters and weavers usually have a spot out of the sun to show their painstaking and intricate creations. Selling soft bags of wool and fleeces ready to be carded alongside yarns hand spun in all the hues you can imagine.

A Kune Kune, a Silky hen, an Alpaca and a team of ponies. That little Alpaca belongs to Flagstaff Alpacas, they make alpaca yarn in a variety of plys and colour-ways.

It’s a day for the equestrians to groom their horses till they shine, plait their manes and tails and either show their ponies and horses in the ring or put them through their paces for the show jumping.

There are also often massive displays of both vintage and modern machinery, side shows, craft stalls and animals of all varieties, not just sheep, cattle and horses. All manner of local crafters are usually present as well with their stalls dangling with all kinds of wares.

How about this Steam Traction Engine? An amazing piece of machinery and still working as it did when it was first assembled. There was a tiny one too, but this large one was really impressive.

One of Isaac’s favourite parts of the day was watching a science demonstrator make raspberry ice-cream instantly with liquid nitrogen. It was good too! Fresh raspberries and fresh cream.

It’s a slice of real New Zealand, and I just love it. There is nothing better than sitting in the sun on a picnic rug with voices over a loud speaker saying things no one is listening to, drinking a cold drink and eating home-made  bacon and egg pie with a side of magic ice-cream made with liquid nitrogen.

I’ve had enough sugar this week. Although I love to bake and have something sweet in the pantry to have with my evening cup of tea, after all the chocolate in the past week or so I just need some uncluttered and healthy food.

This is a very simple recipe, but one that is flavourful and healthy. The colours in the salad are just beautiful on their own. If it’s not fresh beetroot season where you are, you can use canned beetroot chunks or small whole baby beet if you wish. Sometimes I make this with the fennel, sometimes without, but either way it’s a bright spot on your plate.

We have beetroot growing in the garden at the moment, but they are barely more than a few red speckled leaves and struggling a little. The lovely beets that are in this recipe came from our local farmers market.

Roasting your beetroot tends to give them a richer flavour.

Beetroot, Fennel & Orange Salad

• 4 medium sized beetroot - cooked - you can either roast in the oven until tender or boil in a large pan until they are tender when skewered
• 2 Oranges - sliced
• Fennel - three baby fennel bulbs sliced julienne

Your beets should be cold for the salad

Slice your beets into chunks, oranges into segments and julienne your fennel

Combine gently and drizzle Orange vinaigrette over the top

Orange Vinaigrette

• Juice of one orange
• 1/4 cup of olive oil (can be omitted)
• 3 Tblspns balsamic vinegar
• snipped chives and fennel leaves
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the dressing ingredients in a jar with a screw top lid. Shake well to combine.

This Thai influenced salad is a vegetarian variation on yam dtaeng gwa, Cucumber and Prawn salad.

Lisa’s Kitchen and Tinned Tomatoes host a monthly blogging event called No Croutons Required where a vegetarian salad or soup is submitted. My oldest child Leah is a vegetarian so I am always on the lookout for vegetarian recipes and variations for her.

I really needed some salads this week after making all those Lamingtons and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to create something. This month the theme for No Croutons Required is Thai, one of my absolute favourite cuisines with it’s exotic flavours and bright colours.

I’m lucky enough to have in my cookbook library the most beautiful book, Thai food by David Thompson. It’s touted as the most comprehensive book on Thai recipes and culinary skills. It’s even covered in gorgeous Thai pink silk. The recipes are amazing and I just love to cook with it and from it. Some of the ingredients can be hard to source, but many are readily available and he offers substitutions for some of the more difficult to find items.

This is an adaptation of one of his recipes.

Cucumber & Papaya Thai Salad

Salad

• 1/2 a small papaya chopped
• 3/4  of a small cucumber thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 3 red shallots sliced
• handful of mixed coriander and mint leaves

Dressing

• one garlic clove peeled
• good pinch of salt
• pinch of white sugar
• 2 birds eye chillies
• 1 1/2 Tblspns lime juice
• 2 tspns water

In a mortar and pestle add and crush to a smooth paste in the following order, salt, garlic, chillies, sugar, lime juice and water.

If you are scared of chillies you could reduce the amount in the dressing to your taste and de-seed them.

If you have access to Mangosteens I would definitely add some segments to this. Unfortunately there are none available here.

The dressing should be sour, hot and salty

Toss the salad ingredients and dress.

This salad was so elegant and simple. Fresh and cleansing to the palate. I’m making it again tomorrow I enjoyed it so much.

At the supermarket today almost right next to each other I saw these beautiful little heirloom tomatoes and in the cheese refrigerator close by, some crumbled feta cheese. Greek Salad ….they whispered to me.

I just could not resist the tomatoes; they looked like little baby watermelon. They were only the size of cherry tomatoes.

Greek salad has been one of my favourite summer salads for a long time. Those of us in the southern hemisphere are in the middle of summer at the moment, so there is fresh produce in abundance in the stores and salads are just right for the hot days.

I was also sure my regular readers would be thinking our family lives on a diet of sugar and butter in various forms, so I thought I’d best give you a slightly different dish to create a more balanced impression.

This is my very simple version of a nice chunky Greek salad. So easy it’s hardly even a recipe!

Greek Salad

• 2 large red tomatoes
• 1 small punnet of cherry or small heirloom tomatoes
• 1 cucumber
• 1 cup of Kalamata olives
• 1 cup of crumbled Feta Cheese
• 1 red onion chopped

Simple Lemon dressing

• Juice of one lemon
• 1/4 cup good Olive oil
• pinch of sugar
• salt and pepper

Chop all your ingredients, I like to leave mine chunky and pit the olives. Crumble your feta cheese over.

Place your dressing ingredients in a jar together, screw on the lid, give it a good shake and pour over your salad - gently toss to coat and serve.  I like lemon so I tend to use a lot, feel free to reduce the lemon juice to roughly 2-3 Tblspns if you prefer.

This salad does not benefit from sitting around. Many people like to add some salad greens as well, red pepper is another common addition.

Kahl Orexh! (that’s Greek for “have a nice meal” - or perhaps “where is my toothbrush?” - I’m not really sure)

If you live in the southern hemisphere like me, then this salad is a perfect Christmas addition to a summer Christmas meal. All those beautiful red and green colours all wrapped up in a tasty salad. It’s made with Israeli couscous - which is quite large compared to Moroccan style couscous.

The first time I ate Israeli couscous I wasn’t that sure that I liked it. We had it hot as a side dish. I am still not that sure that I like it that much hot, but I simply love it in salads. This salad is so simple and adaptable you will want to keep a package of Israeli couscous in your pantry just for this. You will usually find it in the international section at the supermarket or speciality food stores.

Plus you get the bonus of having everyone look at it slightly sideways and asking .. what is that? Kit likes to tell people they are frog eggs, I tend to tell people it’s a kind of tiny pasta since I’m sensible and a bit boring like that. Of course once they have had that first mouthful they are hooked.

Lemon and Paprika Couscous Salad

• 1 250 gram package of Israeli couscous (8.8 oz I think)
• 1  lemon - juiced.
• 1/4 cup of good olive oil
• 6 inch piece of cucumber diced
• 1 red pepper (capsicum) diced
• 1 green onion finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove finely crushed ( optional)
• 1 tspn of smoked paprika
• 2 Tblspns of fresh flat leaf parsley ( if you do not have fresh - just omit)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cook your couscous as for pasta in boiling water. Test after about 7 minutes, it should still be slightly al dente. Squeeze one of the grains between your fingers to test if done. Drain in a colander and run cold water over the top to stop the cooking and then set aside while you get on with the rest of the salad.

Place all your other ingredients except the Paprika in a medium sized bowl and add your couscous on the top, stir to mix well then sprinkle your paprika on top and stir again - taste for seasoning.

I often find myself putting in a little more lemon - but then again I like lemon. Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving to give the flavours a chance to meld.

Two other nice optional additions to the salad are corn kernels and chopped olives.

Just a quick post today, since I have to finish up the Christmas shopping, two more days till Santa comes down the chimney. Tomorrow I think I might make the big guy in the red suit some biscochitos - I happen to know on good authority that he’s pretty fond of them.