About a month ago, Chef and Steward had announced a Fresh Basket Challenge in which participants had to go grocery shopping without a list or a recipe in mind, and go according to what they find in the supermarket. Kind of like creating a spontaneous recipe based on what fresh products are available. I took on the challenge for a couple of days, and went shopping without predetermined lists in mind. The first day I went for savoury: Mediterranean Focaccia Bread with Fresh Halloumi, and for the second day I chose sweet: Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes with Hints of Rosemary, which was then featured on Foodista. I was thrilled to learn that I had won Chef and Steward's challenge and was to receive A Basket of Fresh Golden Kiwis from Zespri as my prize :)) How wonderful it is to win!
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| 2 hats, 2 tshirts, 2 Kiwi to go boxes, 1 water bottle, magnets and Special Kiwi Spoons that make scooping kiwis so much easier! |
A few days later, I receive my Zespri prize, and they explain to me that they have sent me a sampler of their Golden Kiwis and another of their Green Kiwis. I had never had Golden Kiwis before! Can you believe it? Well it's true, so I was super excited to try them! Boy, do those Kiwis taste good?! They are sweet and touch on a honey flavour, with hints of lemon and Mango! There is no other way I can put it! It was a symphony playing all my palate's favourite notes, which together created an adagio from an orchestra of flavours!
I had also come to know that these amazing fruits are super good for you, they have anti oxident, anti aging, anti cancerous properties among the many vitamins and nutrients! (visit Zespri's website and learn more about these fabulous fruits, and many recipes for using them in desserts, drinks, smoothies...)
There it was right in front of me, when I had - for a while now - been looking for a new flavour to inspire me. I was inspired! The looks of it, from the perspective of food prep, was amazing. Your brain processes Kiwis are green, but you see the brown seeds and the look of Kiwi in gold, is yet another dimension for presentation. The flavours of this fruit are already layered, you get hints of many different flavours, a fact that will only add depth and layering to any preparation! I was truly inspired and will definitely be using these more often! PS, next to Golden Kiwis, they kind of fell off the table, but not to underestimate Zespri's Green Kiwis, they were delicious, in fact the best Green Kiwis I have tasted so far! From now, on I choose Zespri. Try them, you will know what I mean...
I had thought of many recipes where I would use Golden Kiwis and have tried many that I have loved, but the winner recipe for my family and friends was the breakfast option. They all thought it was fresh, delicious and a fabulous way to start the day! Therefore I am posting this breakfast recipe for you to try at home, and am telling you it was super Delicious, and looked great too :))
Menu of the 3 way Kiwi Breakfast
Buttermilk Pancake Rings
Golden Kiwi whipped cream cheese with Grated white Chocolate
Duo of Kiwi Salsa
Maple Glazed Kiwi BonBons!
(Serve with Coffee or tea and a glass of minted fresh Kiwi Juice)
Pancakes are great, and they are all time winners with most people. You are guaranteed to win some hearts and heavy clouds of compliments when serving pancakes. The secret to super gorge pancakes is dry frying in a cast iron skillet or or griddle. They will look awesome and will have a uniform golden brown look on both sides. There is nothing worse, in my opinion, than greasy pancakes! Dry fried pancakes are so delicious, I can munch on them plain all day! Having got the right texture and consistency of the pancakes, why not change a little bit in presentation? Go for rings stacked in a tower instead of the same old look. Change is good and eye catching, so please the eyes of your guests with these mini pancake towers.
For my breakfast, I already had a handful of flavours to work with, so I did not want any one flavour to overwhelm the others, I wasnted them to mesh together. Therefore, I did not want to over stress the strawberry wafers, and so I had placed them just on top of each tower. But you can alternate a layer of pancake then a layer of strawberry wafer, then a layer of pancake and so on...
To Make Butter Milk Pancakes
You Need
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 cup buttermilk (or soured milk if not available)
2 tbsp flavourless vegetable oil
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt & sugar. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the oil, beaten egg, and buttermilk and mix well. Add the buttermilk mixture to the well you have created in the centre of the flour mixture then stir to combine. Stir just until combined, the mixture should be relatively lumpy.
Heat a cast iron skillet or griddle, when hot, add 1 tbsp of batter and shape into a full circle. When the batter bubbles on top and is browned on the bottom, turn and cook on the other side till golden brown.
TIP If you have heat proof cooking rings then place them on the skillet and pour the batter in them, this way you can get uniformly shaped and sized pancake rings.
Once a pancake is cooked, brush lightly with softened butter, set aside.
Whipped Sweetened cream cheese, goes very well on the side of pancakes (or slathered on top). Since this is a Trio of Kiwis prep, I have folded finely chopped golden Kiwis into the whipped cream cheese. Since I was at it, I have also added some finely grated white chocolate to the mix, and to tie it all to the Kiwi Salsa and the Strawberry wafers, I have also added mint Chifonade, and a strawberry wafer to garnish. If you carefully scoop out the flesh from the kiwi skin, you will have a small container to place this delicious golden Kiwi whipped cream cheese in, for presentation. This whipped cream cheese, also makes a perfect filling for cheesecake or fruit tarts! So instead of the classic cream filling, you can use this one instead and infuse any flavours in the same way as I have done the Kiwis. Here is how I made it...
You Need
250g Mascarpone cheese, softened
1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted
1 Golden Kiwi, finely chopped
3 tbsp finely grated white chocolate
Place the cream cheese and icing sugar in the bowl of the stand mixer, and mix on low, till combined. Raise the speed to high and whip for 1 minute. Fold in the chopped Kiwi and grated white chocolate, then pour the mixture into the Kiwi skin, top with chopped kiwi pieces, white chocolate shavings, mint chifonade, a strawberry wafer and cookie wafer as in picture.
Place these kiwi cups standing on a plate for your guests to pick.
The Kiwi Salsa, is kind of like a fruit salad made out of Kiwis. It was delish! You can have this in the afternoon on its own, or you can serve it with this breakfast menu. If you or one of your guests wants to go for a lighter and fresher version of the breakfast then you can choose to top your pancake rings with this salsa instead of the heartier cream cheese side. The addition of the mint makes it very refreshing and kind of like a palate cleanser after breakfast. This salsa is an excellent treat however way you look at it.Duo of Kiwi Salsa
You Need
3 of each Golden and Green Kiwis, finely chopped
Juice of 2 Green Kiwis and 1 Golden Kiwi, passed through a sieve to get rid of the pulp.
6 mint Leaves, Chiffonade
Place all in a large bowl, and mix to combine. Transfer portions into mini glasses and place them on a tray for your guests to pick.
As for the Kiwi BonBons, scoop out Kiwis using a melon baller, and brush them with maple syrup. Place these next to the pancake towers for your guests to pick.
And there you have it Zespri's Golden & Green Kiwis in a variety of ways, each one of which is a treat on its own, and when put together make an ultimate super fresh breakfast :) Make sure to try it this weekend ;)
Check this link for making fruit wafers
I have found my new flavour, How about you, have you come across a new flavour that inspired you? please share with us, don't shy away, leave a comment :))
