This mouse is a blessing in the kitchen

By KATE FOREMAN

So now that you've bought all your ingredients online and had them delivered, what are you going to cook?

If you are anything like me you won't have the right cookbook on your shelf, so then it's a matter of ringing around friends, trying the library or a bookshop, or taking the easy way out. Make yourself a cup of coffee, sit down and click away on your computer mouse.

In looking at the options I really have to start with Jamie Oliver's site, because it's so inspiring and his recipes actually work.

There is loads to look at on the site including a lovely diary and a kids' club as well as a selection of Jamie's recipes.

The site www.epicurious.com, came highly recommended from a friend and it is well worth a visit.

This one has everything anyone wanting to cook needs. I liked the technique videos (this requires a RealPlayer plug-in) where you can learn how to fillet fish, make fresh pasta or even how to boil an egg.

Worth checking out is the cooking class, which is updated regularly and has archive files.

This gives moderately difficult recipes that are begging to be mastered and provides useful tips and ingredient breakdowns - for example the sort of coconut that should be bought for a particular curry.

If you are after something in a hurry try a search on the recipe file, which provides access to a database of 12,000 recipes.

A great site to learn all about meat is www.nzbeeflamb.co.nz where I found some useful recipes ranging from a basic burger mix to fresh ideas for summer barbecue's or winter casseroles.

The New Zealand Seafood industry's site is an equally good site that offers recipes for any sort of fish or shellfish, something that is often difficult to locate.

For a taste of real New Zealand check out www.culture.co.nz/recipes, where you will find the Modern Maori Cookbook online.

There you can browse through categories such as salads, desserts, soups and more but definitely check out the bread recipes - yum.

It is fascinating to see how versatile kumara can be and of course seafood features heavily.

If you like Allyson Gofton's style you might like her website, which has recipes, video demonstrations, competitions and shopping links.

If you find that you haven't enough gadgets in your kitchen there are some excellent local sites to choose from.

Starting with the site of the Epicurean Workshop in Newmarket, you will find there is an awesome range of cooking utensils available.

Also take a look at the classes offered. Booking online is recommended as classes fill quickly.

Another favourite site is the Milly's Kitchen site, which has great recipes and cool gadgets. Cake forks never looked as sexy as they do on this site.

If you are planning a visit to Taupo then you will definitely want to visit the Replete Café, in the meantime, you can visit the website. Here you can select from a huge variety of kitchen implements, check out the café menu and buy local art.

If you are after a specific recipe it is often simpler to enter the keywords into a search engine and take potluck.

I have had great success with this method, especially with some of my more obscure requests, often finding recipes that are not in the databases of the larger sites.

Often I will be missing a key ingredient, so I tend to keep searching until I find a recipe that suits.

For example, the recipes I found for Naan Bread are either yeast based or used baking soda as a rising agent, which is convenient as I'm forever running out of something.

Links:


Jamie Oliver's site

Epicurious

NZ Beef & Lamb

NZ Seafood industry

Modern Maori Cookbook

Allyson Gofton's site

Epicurean Workshop

Milly's Kitchen

Replete