The Adlington Post

On my Far North road trip: just out of Waipapakauri on 90 Mile Beach I found a recently killed pheasant by the side of the road. Back at camp Te Araroa tramper Tyler shared some preparation techniques, then a couple of days later at Ahirapa camp Grahame helped me eat my find. See the video at: https://youtu.be/R7h72JOTnEo

A recent dumpster dive netted a 350grm tub of (still chilled) chicken livers. A while ago while trash trawling I found a well-used copy of Leah W. Leonard's 1951 book of "Jewish Cookery" - on p. 301 is the recipie for molded chicken liver ( a firm favourite with my Jewish friends): "Combine broiled chicken livers, hard cooked eggs and greben. Run through food chopper, season to taste with salt, pepper, celery salt or garlic salt, add chicken or goose fat, or salad oil. Use as a canape spread.Top with tiny bits of pimento or green pepper, minced parsley or water cress, or stuffed olive.
Or press into a well-greased mold. Unmold on shredded greens and garnish." OR on p. 382 Leah gives the recipie for "Chopped Liver and Peanut Butter"!: "Two parts chopped liver to 1 part peanut butter makes a delicious spread".

On my way up to Waipu last week I spotted a dead male pheasant at the side of the road. I stopped and went back to check him out - altho he was stiff, he had not been dead long, as he smelled fresh. The body was intact, tho his neck was broken. In the kitchen I gutted the bird, removed the tail feathers to give away, then poured boiling water over the bird as I plucked it - this way the feathers come out easily. My experience with pheasant is that the flesh can be a bit tough, so I mashed up 6 kiwi fruit & squeezed the juice out of a large grapefruit to make a marinade. I filled the body cavity with the mixture, placed the bird into a plastic bag & poured the rest of the mix in on top. This I placed in the refridgerator & left for four days. To roast the bird I placed it into a baking dish with some oil (still filled with fruit), covered the dish, & cooked it slowly for 80 minutes at 160-170 F. The juices and the rest of the marinade made a delicious gravy. The mea...

My buddy Laurie & I enjoyed a meal of crispy-skin duck on a bed of rice at Tai Ping Supermarket last week - this Saturday 22 Sept Tai Ping is holding an Asian Food Festival - stalls, classes, good food!!

The New World supermarket here in Brown's Bay is now selling 1/2 pig's heads for $3. Roasted (unbasted) for an hour and a half @ 180C makes for delicious crackling! I have been looking at some brawn recipies which use boiled pig's heads - coming up folks.  See my youtube video on how to make this roast: .....and my food blog for further cooking adventures: http://sexybachelor.blogspot.co.nz/

Everything from my local fruit & vege shop comes wrapped in plastic & in these black trays. For those who get bugged by this kind of thing there is an annual competition for the best & worst packaging in NZ. Here is the link at "Good Magazine" - I get a weekly email from them updating environmental/food/green issues. www.good.net.nz/blog/siobhan-leathley/unpackit-awards

My freganing buddy Laurie arrived for lunch the other day with her contribution - 3 bags of pita bread she found at the back of a local store. We fried some diced lamb pieces (from the supermarket pet food section @ $2.50 a kg) and added raw onion, mayonnaise, mustard, & tomato....delicious!

My roast dinners aren't bad, & everyone enjoys the dark gravy I make, but truely crispy roast potatoes have always eluded me - until I found a recipie by Delia Smith. This method uses fat/dripping drained from previous roasts & bacon breakfasts - this makes the potatoes even more flavoursome. * there are two essentials: the potatoes need to be par-boiled, & the fat needs to be really hot..... - Wash the potatoes cut into pieces [say twice the size of a walnut], & simmer for 8 minutes, drain well. - Put the lid back onto the pot & give the potatoes a good shake. This will roughen the edges, making them floury & crispier. The small broken bits will go extra crunchy! - Meanwhile, preheat a sturdy roasting pan with 50g [2 oz] dripping per 500g [lb] potatoes to 220C/425F. If the roast is still cooking, move it to a lower shelf. If done, remove it from the oven & cover - relaxing the meat will allow the juices to soak back into the joint. - Turn on a st...

The friendly folks from Col's Pies at Browns Bay market on Sunday. These pork pies are delicious, but get in quick, as they sell out fast! Col is a traditionally-trained English butcher, so he knows his stuff, & these pies are the real deal. Are they as good as Melton-Mowbrays? - try for yourself! www.colslarder.com I ate mine with some "Karengo & Tamarillo Chutney" [seaweed & tree tomato], made by Pacific Harvest here on the North Shore. www.pacificharvest.co.nz For more on food see www.pavlovasdog.webs.com For my cooking videos see www.youtube.com/martinadlington

On Sunday I met Penny Millen from "Naturallynz" who sells a very popular line of healthy dog food - www.naturallynz.com

Check out my latest video - a packet of noodle soup combined with fresh seaweed from the beach & herbs & spices to make a delicious & nutritious meal.... For more on food see www.pavlovasdog.webs.com For my cooking videos see www.youtube.com/martinadlington

The other day in the city I bought some salmon bellies [$4.00 a kilo!], & someone generously gave me a fresh schnapper on Friday [thanks Kerry!]. I scaled & filleted the schnapper & marinated some of it with the salmon overnight in a mixture of 1 teaspoon each of salt & raw sugar, with the juice of a lemon, & some dill. On Saturday afternoon I set the smoker up in the back garden, with 3 handfulls of manuka sawdust inside. I laid the fish along with some fresh asparagus stalks onto tinfoil, put this on the grill inside the smoker, poured half a cup of meths into the burner - lit the meths, & placed the burner under the smoker. The meths took about 10 minutes to burn out, I then turned the fish, added more sawdust, refilled the burner & let it burn out then sit for a while. The result was delicious! - eaten with refried beans & watercress salad. The meths is a bit messy, so I have bought a small LPG cannister for my camping stove to us...

My new "Sexy Bachelor Cooking Show & Survival Guide" is on the web....activites, updates will be posted to the blog: www.sexybachelor.blogspot.com as well as the new website: www.sexybachelor.webs.com - where there will soon be recipies as well Videos of the show will be on my youtube channel: www.youtube.com/martinadlington The first two programmes are uploaded & can be found on the links below: "How to Cut up a Chicken" "Home-made Beer - the Micro-brewery"

Last night I on my evening trash patrol I found these packets of bacon, still chilled in the skip behind the local supermarket. Date expired 29th September - bacon butties are on me!!

My tomato plant on Labour Day 2008 - almost 6 foot tall & still growing!! Over 60 flowers with five tomatoes so far. Planted in a plastic bucket I got from the trash. See more of my food adventures at www.pavlovasdog.weebly.com