I imagine many of us make Quesadillas the same way: a bit of olive oil on a pan, a few torillas, some cheese and an assortment of veggies tucked deliciously inside. Our twist for the debut of "quesadillas in New Zealand" (mind you, this is a country lacking, by and large, in black beans) was to add a couple of Kiwi-style filling flares.
Kumera (white sweet potato), cubed and boiled until just soft, then fried with cumin, salt and pepper
Avocado, tomato and cucumber, treated with salt and vinegar
Raw onion (a NZ favorite) and tomatoes
My lovely hostess Hayley and her gentlemen Sam & Eben also made a wonderful chocolate log birthday cake. The recipe is brilliantly easy and low on the sugar-butter-oil quota. It's super fast to make, and, as Eben showed us, even a four-year-old can do it!
Chocolate Log
3 eggs
125 g (4 oz) sugar
Beat until thick.
Add:
2 tablespoon cocoa powder (unsweetened is best)
1 tablespoon boiling water
Mix.
Add:
75g (3 oz) flour, sifted with
1 tablespoon baking powder
Mix. Melt and add:
25 g (1 oz) butter
Line an 8x8" cooking pan with foil. Bake at 375*F for 10-12 minutes, until knife comes out clean. When cooked, turn into wax paper sifted with icing sugar. Spread with jam and roll right away while warm.
If it suits you, once the cake cools you add frosting to make it look like a proper log covered in bark. We just ate it straight up with the jam and it was delish, particularly because it had a singing candle on it.
