A few of my favourite things

The latest from NZ House & Garden magazine If this email is not displayed correctly, [click here]( to view an online version. [NZ House & Garden]( Hi {NAME}, In the course of my job I see a swag of products. Today I want to tell you about a few things I’ve discovered over the past 12 months that have earned a permanent place in my kitchen – call it my Best of the Best list for Small Bites 2019. If you’re in the market for something new this year, it could come in handy. 1. Airfryer. My Philips Avance XXL model is like having another oven, only quicker. It gets used nearly every day, for roasting, baking, reheating and low-fat frying. I wouldn’t be without it (from appliance stores). 2. NexTrend garlic twister. Easy to use, easy to clean and hardly any waste. My old-style crushers are now redundant (from millys.co.nz). 3. Epicurean Kitchen Series board. Hands down the best chopping board I’ve ever owned. Mine is well over 15 years old and still looking good. Pricey but worth it (from millys.co.nz). 4. Cuisipro box grater. Sharp enough to deal to palm sugar. Everything else is just a breeze. I love the ginger grater on this, too (from chefscomplements.co.nz). 5. Oxo Good Grips egg beater. A worthy replacement for my trusty Swift Whip. A bonus is that it comes apart for cleaning (from kitchenware shops). Food-wise, the yummiest products I came across last year were Pic’s boysenberry jelly (from picspeanutbutter.com), Nibblish strawberry and mango fruit snacks (from supermarkets), Pause for Tea’s canned sparkling Spearmint & Oolong tea (from timmysmith.co.nz), Jealous Sweets sugar-free Love Bears jelly sweets (from ballantynes.co.nz), Donovans chocolate drops (from supermarkets) and Valrhona crunchy pearls (from sabato.co.nz). And if that makes it look like I’ve got a shocking sweet tooth, let me attempt to balance things by mentioning another favourite: Proper Crisps kumara chips. The Nelson company has just brought out a new flavour – find out more on the Small Bites page of this month’s issue. Sally Butters Food Editor I'm loving Ortiz sardinesI didn’t think I liked anchovies until I tried the Ortiz variety. Same goes now for sardines. This Spanish brand, imported by Sabato, is a premium artisan product – sustainably fished and hand-processed. There are four plump and creamy sardines in olive oil per can. Apparently you can “put them down” – the cans, that is – like a good wine and they will improve with time. I doubt I could wait to find out. Best way ever to get your omega-3s! $11.90 per 140g. [Buy now]( Lithographie plates I wish I had an excuse to buy this floral plate set from Old Mill Road by American designer Rosanna – four gorgeous porcelain plates (15cm diameter) in a gift box. Each one has a different variation of the rose design in black. The plates are slightly organic in shape (not perfectly round) and are gold edged. They need to be hand-washed but that would only be a pleasure. $69 a set. [Buy now]( From the files Corn, Prawn & Chorizo Fritters Fast, fried and can be made from just about anything – three reasons why fritters are so fabulous. Once you’ve made a few I bet you’ll be whipping them up without a recipe and making your own variations. Meantime this one, with Asian overtones, is perfect for when you need a tasty wee fritter that’s smart enough to serve on a party platter. [Get the recipe]( Slow-roasted Tomato & Mozzarella Open Sandwiches This recipe is a riff on the classic Caprese salad – a stupidly simple combination that becomes sublime when you use the best ingredients, particularly sun-ripened tomatoes and creamy, tender mozzarella. For a completely different but also utterly delicious sandwich, don’t miss Sachie Nomura’s cute Egg & Chive Sandwich Balls in this month’s issue. [Get the recipe]( On my bookstand On my bookstand Kombucha & Co By Felicity Evans (Murdoch Books, $32.99) Kombucha, Kefir & Natural Sodas By Nina Lausecker and Sebastian Landaeus (Smith Street Books, $35) Two books on the same subject. Which one to choose? Both are very good for anyone keen on brewing their own gut-friendly drinks, so it may just come down to recipe choice. Kombucha & Co (hereafter K1) covers kefir, kombucha, jun, kvass, tepache, ginger bugs and mead, while Kombucha, Kefir & Natural Sodas (hereafter K2) has all these plus cider, vinegar and some less common drinks such as rejuvelac and amazake. K1 is a bit more in-depth but then it covers fewer topics than K2. Both books are very well set out for easy reference, although K2 is stronger visually. K1 was written by an Australian fermentation guru; K2 by two French brewers with their own brand. Both books have delicious sounding flavour variations for most of the basic recipes. K1 has handy troubleshooting guides. Also note that K1 is a new edition of the book previously published as Probiotic Drinks at Home. I learnt about making fermented drinks by going to demos and classes – you can’t beat local knowledge and actually seeing the processes. Both these books will be really useful for reassurance, inspiration for flavourings and, if I’m feeling brave, some new bubbly brews. [Unsubscribe]( [Advertise]( | [Contact](mailto:editor@nzhouseandgarden.co.nz) | © Copyright 2019 NZ House & Garden, a division of Stuff Limited (Magazines). Freephone NZ - 0800 113 446. Cider Building, 4 Williamson Avenue, Grey Lynn, Auckland, New Zealand