Intro Vicki Ravlich-Horan, Recipes Wayne Good, Images Ashlee DeCaires
I am sitting in Wayne Good’s kitchen chatting travel and food at a gorgeous table he has in his barn he knows I am coveting. As we chat, Wayne is cooking a few of his favourite dishes. He is in his element!
This year marks 30 years of Wayne inviting people into his home and sharing with them recipes and food he knows they will love. It all started in 1996 with three Christmas cooking classes. Then after a trip to Thailand the following year he shared some of the recipes and flavours he had enjoyed on holiday.
“The key,” Wayne tells me, “is I never do anything too complicated.”
It’s clearly a successful recipe because guests travel from all over the North Island to Wayne’s classes, from Taupō and Taranaki to Auckland and Tauranga. Three decades on Wayne says it is now “generational, with not just the same people coming back, but their children and even now their grandchildren.”
This, Wayne confesses with a huge smile, “is so rewarding and what keeps me enjoying it.”
The classes have changed a little of late. They are smaller and more intimate, with just 12 guests. There are also some hands-on workshops offered, where you can learn to make pasta or Portuguese custard tarts.
The Christmas classes remain the most popular, selling out every year. They are also Wayne’s favourite. “I love Christmas,” he admits. But after burning out and ending up in bed on Christmas day a few years ago, Wayne starts these earlier in the season now and doesn’t do as many.
Keen to enjoy a morning or afternoon with Wayne? Make sure you follow him on his social channels (@ArkandaLiving) or sign up to his newsletter at arkanda.co.nz
Pâté au Champignon et Amande
I don’t specifically set out to cook vegan/dairy-free dishes; however, I have been making this for years, as it is very easy and very delicious, and works well for people with specific dietary requirements.
1 cup blanched almonds
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
150 g brown mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary and parsley)
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup dry Madeira or Marsala (available at Vetro)
Heat your oven to 180°C and place the almonds into an oven dish. Lightly roast the almonds until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion. Sauté until clear. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes, before adding the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms are starting to collapse. Finally add the Madeira/Marsala and the herbs. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Place the almonds into a food processor and process until they look like breadcrumbs. Add the mushroom mixture and continue to process to a smooth paste. Season to taste. Place into a serving bowl and put into the fridge to set. Serve with crostini, baguette or whatever.
Poulet au Vinaigre – Chicken with Vinegar
I love this dish from France (my second home). As with most good French home cooking, it is full of delicious flavours and simple to prepare. Perfect for a winter meal.
½ cup flour
8 pieces of chicken (I like to use thigh and leg on the bone)
50 g butter
1 onion, diced
1 shallot, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 tbsp tomato paste
400 ml white wine
200 ml red wine vinegar
500 ml chicken stock
2 tbsp chopped tarragon
1 tbsp chopped thyme
400 ml cream
salt and pepper to taste
Turn your oven onto 175°C fan.
Season the flour with salt and pepper and toss the chicken pieces in the flour.
Heat a large pan, suitable for oven cooking, with the butter, and brown the chicken on all sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add the onion and shallot to the pan juices and gently sauté until clear, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and continue cooking, before adding firstly the white wine, then the vinegar and finally the chicken stock. Bring to the boil and allow to reduce by half.
Place the chicken back into the pan along with the chopped herbs. Cover and place into the oven. Cook for about 40 minutes, or until the chicken is completely cooked.
Remove the chicken from the sauce and keep warm. Add the cream to the sauce and place onto a high heat. Boil hard until the sauce reduces and thickens. Check seasoning. Place the chicken back into the delicious sauce and serve with lots of creamy mashed potatoes and a green vegetable.
Tarte Tatin with Calvados Cream
This is one of my favourite deserts, which I have been making forever. I’m lucky to have a proper copper tarte tatin pan, which I purchased from E. Dehillerin in Paris. This store opened in the 1800s and I would say it has changed very little. This was also Julia Child’s favourite kitchen shop in Paris. It is a must visit for any foodie visiting Paris. If you don’t have a proper tin, a good cast iron frypan will suffice.
1 roll Paneton Butter Flaky Pastry (I purchase from Vetro. Although some supermarkets sell Paneton Flaky Pastry, it tends to be the non-butter variety, which isn’t, in my opinion, as good)
flour for dusting
100 g caster sugar
60 g cubed butter, plus extra melted butter for brushing
600 g apples (Granny Smith is best), peeled, cored and cut into quarters
175 ml cream
½ tbsp icing sugar
1 tbsp Calvados
Preheat your oven to 200°C fan.
Open the pastry, and on a lightly floured board, roll out slightly, so you can cut a circle slightly larger than your pan.
Place your tarte tatin dish or frypan over a medium heat. Pour in the sugar and cook until lightly brown and starts to smoke very slightly. DO NOT STIR.
Remove from the heat and add the butter. Now you can stir until combined. Arrange your apple in the pan and brush the apple with melted butter.
Carefully place the pastry on top of the apple, tucking the edges. Prick all over with a fork and place in the oven. Cook for about 20–25 minutes or until the pastry is risen and golden.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto your serving plate.
To make the Calvados cream, beat the cream with the icing sugar until it starts to form stiff peaks. Gently stir in the Calvados and serve with the tarte tatin.