In my kitchen with... Stefan Kelly-Zander of Rüdi's Bakehouse

Stefan of Rudi's Bakehouse in Whangamata. Photo / Supplied

The beginning of the pandemic was the catalyst for husband-and-wife duo, Stefan and Fern Kelly-Zander, to take a new direction in life.

When Stefan's work as a photographer in the UK dried up it nudged him further towards his passion of baking, a course on which he'd already completed in London. He took a job at a local artisan bakery and honed his craft.

The pair then moved their young family to New Zealand and used their experience of lockdowns and knowledge of business challenges to set up their microbakery business, Rudi's Bakehouse, based in Whangamatā.

All of Rudi's products are handcrafted in small batches in their kitchen and each day they have a limited selection of sourdough bread and pastry items available – which has recently expanded to a summer pop-up. From Thursday to Sunday until the end of March, you can pop in and grab artisan pastries, sourdough breads and great brews from boutique Auckland roaster Eighthirty.

Rudi's summer pop up: Cinema Lane, 708 Port Rd, Whangamatā. Website: rudis.nz

My kitchen at home is... We've recently done a full renovation on our new home here in Whangamatā. It's a pretty compact place but we're really happy with our new kitchen. It's very functional and is open plan with our indoor and outdoor living spaces.

The changes I would make to turn it into a dream kitchen is... a second oven, a 900mm gas hob and a bigger fridge.

What you'll always find in my fridge is... It'd be rare to open our fridge and not find the following: milk, eggs, natural unsweetened yoghurt, a selection of cheeses, seasonal veges, an assortment of hot sauces, hazy IPAs and chardonnay.

Some of my pantry staples are... tea (PG Tips, picked up the habit during my 13 years living in the UK and now I can't start the day without a good brew!), Rüdi's sourdough breads (that one's pretty obvious), peanut butter for morning toast (our family goes through kilos of the stuff), pasta and rice (for those last-minute dinner plans), a selection of crackers for the kids (can't leave home without them), soy and fish sauces, and chilli flakes.

My favourite ingredient to cook with is... fresh herbs, they really lift the simplest of meals. At this time of year coriander is a wonderful addition to brighten summer dishes.

The kind of dishes I most love to make are... I love a good tray bake - seasonal veges cooked together with meat of choice, good olive oil and fresh herbs. Great in winter but also transfers to summer - cooked in a cast iron pan on the barbecue.

My go-to meal in a hurry is... a grilled cheese toasted sandwich (using Rüdi's sourdough of course!), fried rice, or pasta.

If friends stop by unexpectedly, I serve up... If it's to accompany a drink, a cheese platter with what we have at that time in the fridge, together with sourdough bread (my wife spent four years living in France and good bread is eaten with cheese, rather than crackers - I'm more than onboard with it). If it's for a meal, pasta. I can make a mean pasta [dish] with pretty much any random ingredients found in the fridge and pantry.

My choice of drink is... I love beer and my favourite brew at the moment is a good hazy IPA. Behemoth Brain Smiles in particular are very good.

Something unexpected I make from scratch is... It appears that making laminated pastry (ie croissant flaky pastry) is rather rare around here! Even sourcing the butter sheets has been quite challenging.

I cook at home... the majority of the time, having a young family. However, my mother-in-law lives nearby, and so during our highest peak season (Christmas-NY period) she'd often cook for us and we'd eat there as a family. So kind!

My favourite place to eat right now is... Having a young family we don't get to eat out often, but fish and chips from Sea & Salt Takeaways (probably the best F&Cs in the country) and eaten at the beach is always a treat. Really can't beat it.

A kitchen gadget everyone should own is... a cast-iron casserole pan e.g. a Le Creuset. You can boil, make stews, fry, bake - and it's perfect for making sourdough loaves at home.

My food philosophy is... to bake and make from scratch using seasonal and local produce where possible.

Click here for Stefan's Nana's gluten-free 4C slice (Chocolate, Chocolate, Coconut, Crumble) recipe.