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Foodtown Magazine
EDITORIAL
It’s about this time of the year when we realise how things are shaping up in terms of making the changes we’d committed to on New Year’s Eve. The determination to achieve all those resolutions can quickly dissipate once we are back in the thick of handling the pressures and routine of everyday life.
We had an amazing year in 2011, celebrating our 10th birthday with a fabulous giveaway bonanza, including a Suzuki Splash won by lucky reader Elaine Elmer-English (pictured with Suzuki dealer Sam Coley and Food business development manager Trudy Parsons-Smith). We also chalked up record circulation figures and published our biggest issue ever (the bumper 242 page Christmas issue), so we could have started 2012 with the smug feeling of “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it”.
But, as you may have noticed, we have greeted the New Year with a change of masthead, to reflect the transition from Foodtown to Countdown supermarkets. Everything else about the magazine is the same – we are still committed to delivering recipes that make everyday living easier. One new addition this issue is welcoming New Zealand’s first Masterchef, Brett McGregor, on board as a contributor. Brett shares his secrets for capturing the distinctive, zingy tastes of Moroccan cuisine (page 48).
We have some great suggestions for easing into 2012 – invite friends around for a long lunch (page 14), indulge in some classic French recipes (page 66) and make the most of the season’s bounty with our easy guide to making jams and relish (page 104).
And you can start the school year the right way with Sophie Gray’s useful suggestions for packing a nutritious school lunch box that your kids will love to eat, without blowing the budget (page 78).
Plus, after our rather soggy early summer, we’ve got the perfect antidote – a return trip to Vanuatu for two staying for four nights at the exclusive Mangoes Resort (see competition details opposite). We also have an amazing reader offer from Harvey World Travel for those of you who decide you want a tropical interlude, no matter what (page 5).
So here’s to a very positive start to 2012. I hope you enjoy this issue!
Sarah Beresford
Editor
Rustic Baked Fruit Tart
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
2 sheets puff pastry
250g mascarpone
2 tablespoons icing sugar
½ teaspoon lemon zest
3-4 nectarines
2-3 plums
2 red-skinned apples
4-5 strawberries, hulled and quartered
¼ cup honey-flavoured maple syrup
Icing sugar to dust
Preheat the oven to 195ºC. Whisk together the egg yolk and milk to make an egg wash. Join the 2 sheets of pastry together and seal the seam by brushing it with the egg wash.
Line a 23cm fluted, shallow tart tin with the pastry and trim the edges. Chill the tart base for 5 minutes.
Combine the mascarpone, icing sugar and lemon zest and spread the mixture over the chilled pastry base.
Cut the flesh of the nectarines and plums off the stones and cut them into even slices. Quarter and core the apples and cut them into even-sized slices.
Arrange the fruit slices in a circular pattern, starting with the nectarines, then the plums, followed by the apple slices and strawberry quarters.
Brush the fruit all over with half the maple syrup, glaze the pastry with the egg wash and bake the tart for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven until the pastry is golden and the fruit is tender and caramelised.
Glaze the fruit with the remaining syrup and dust with icing sugar to serve.
Serves 6.
