New Zealand’s cookery ‘it girl’ publishes stunning new book

Everyday Delicious

Chelsea Winter

Chelsea Winter burst onto our screens with MasterChef  in 2012 and she has stayed close to New Zealanders’ hearts ever since. That explains why her first book, At My Table, has been on the bestseller lists for weeks and weeks and weeks. Seems we can’t get enough of its tasty and hearty recipes.

Now comes Chelsea’s beautiful new book Everyday Delicious,  packed with her hallmark relaxed, accessible style of Kiwi cooking and focussing  on meals that are easy to whip up. And as with all Chelsea’s recipes, they are absolutely delicious. It’s a lively and fast-paced book which will appeal to any cook. All her recipes use accessible ingredients, are suitable for all levels of cooking ability and are real crowd pleasers.

Since winning MasterChef New Zealand’s third season, Chelsea Winter has developed a huge following through her facebook page facebook.com/ChelseaWinterDelicious and her website chelseawinter.co.nz. She is the Woman’s Day food writer.

She is passionate about creating straightforward, home-style recipes that are simple to prepare, yet look great and taste fantastic. To Chelsea, food is a way of bringing people and families together. In her view, time shared relaxing around the dinner table with loved ones is simply invaluable.

Chelsea grew up on farms in Hamilton and Kumeu. She’s also the ultimate beach baby, having spent her childhood summers between Great Barrier Island, Raglan and Mount Maunganui. Her favourite piece of advice? Don’t be afraid of a little pure New Zealand butter — it makes the world a better place.

Random House - $49.99



Here's a sample of her hallmark relaxed, accessible style of Kiwi cooking 

Chelsea’s
Thai green chicken curry

Serves: 4

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

You’ll impress the pants off your diners (and yourself) with this little knockout, which I’ve created using ingredients that are easy to find. The main thing with Thai food is getting a nice balance of hot (chillies), salty (fish sauce), sweet (sugar) and sour (lime juice). I’ve put measurements in there as a guide, but it’s up to you how much of each you put in; have a play until you’re happy with the way it tastes because there are no hard and fast rules.

Big green chillies are usually milder than red chillies. Watch out for small red chillies — they can really pack a wallop and may blow your head off. If you hate spicy food, just use 1 green chilli and you can scrape out the seeds and membrane as well for even less heat.

Curry paste

2 tbsp Thai green curry paste

3 cloves garlic

2 shallots, roughly chopped (or ½ large onion)

1 bunch fresh coriander including stalks and roots, washed and chopped

1 tbsp lemongrass paste or
1 stalk fresh lemongrass, finely minced (optional)

3 tsp ground cumin

3 big green chillies, tops cut off

400ml coconut cream

Curry

peanut or grapeseed oil for cooking

500ml reduced-salt chicken stock

1 kaffir lime leaf (or zest of
2 limes)

800g boneless chicken thighs, cut into large chunks

vegetables of your choice (green beans, cherry tomatoes, snowpeas, baby corn, bamboo shoots, spinach, mushrooms)

1 tbsp palm or brown sugar

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp fish sauce

big handful fresh Thai or regular basil leaves

cooked rice to serve

loads of fresh coriander leaves, chopped peanuts and sliced red or green chillies to garnish (optional)

Mix the curry paste, garlic, shallots or onion, coriander, lemongrass if using, cumin and chillies with ½ cup of the coconut cream in a food processor or with a mortar and pestle, or stick blender, to make a smooth thick paste. Alternatively, just chop or mince the ingredients until they become as ‘mushy’ as possible.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the curry paste mixture and cook for 4–5 minutes to release the aromas, stirring continuously (you should see little beads of oil coming to the top). Add the stock, kaffir lime leaf or zest, and the remaining coconut cream and simmer gently for around 10 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer for another 15 minutes until just cooked through and the sauce has reduced and thickened. Add the vegetables and simmer for a few more minutes until just tender. Add the palm or brown sugar, lime juice and fish sauce. Stir to combine and taste — then add more sour, sweet or salty to taste. Lastly, stir through the basil leaves.

Serve with rice and garnish with coriander, peanuts and chillies.

Recipe extracted from Everyday Delicious by Chelsea Winter, Photography by Tamara West, published by Random House, RRP: $49.99