Nourishing Mums

WORDS VICKI RAVLICH-HORAN | RECIPES SHARON MACINTYRE | IMAGES BRYDIE THOMPSON

Sharon MacIntyre says she can remember coming to see River Ridge East Birth Centre before it opened. That was for her job interview nearly 20 years ago.

Two decades on, Sharon is still content in her kitchen at River Ridge where she is the on-site cook, creating hearty, delicious and nourishing homecooked meals for the new parents staying with their newborn baby. Over the 20 years, that equates to more than 500,000 meals served to hungry mums and dads according to River Ridge’s CEO Vanessa Shirlow. Vanessa says River Ridge’s resident chef is a real point of difference for the birth centre and is a key part of their ethos of providing extra care for women and their families at this special time. Anyone who has had a baby will remember just how hungry you can get in that first couple of weeks, and they pride themselves on delivering tasty, energy-giving and comforting food to support parents in the initial 48 hours, so they can just concentrate on bonding with, and learning about, their new baby, as well as getting some muchneeded rest!

A keen baker and cook, Sharon is in her element at River Ridge. I hear the freshly baked scones for morning tea are a real treat along with the everpopular lasagne and pot pies. Making Sharon’s job even easier is the wonderful fresh organic produce delivered twice a week directly to her kitchen from Earth Stewards. The gorgeous micro greens make for a wonderful mini salad and garnish while adding an extra dash of nutrition to the plates. “I never really know what I am going to get,” says Sharon, “but it’s seasonal, super fresh, and I always find a way to use it all.” Home cooked food is a wonderful way to show someone you care, so we asked Sharon to share a couple of her most requested recipes that you can make, either for your family or for someone who may be in need of a little love and attention.

riverridgeeastbc.co.nz

Individual Serve Chicken Pot Pies

Always popular at River Ridge, a pot pie screams comfort food.

500–600g chicken thigh, diced 1 leek, finely sliced 3 cloves of garlic 2 celery stalks, diced 1 large carrot, diced 2 medium potatoes, diced 1 head of broccoli, diced 2 tbsp cornflour 2½ cups chicken stock 1½ cups cream salt and pepper to taste 2 to 3 sheets of flaky pastry Egg/milk to brush pastry

Heat oven to 200°C.

In a large fry pan sauté the leeks, carrots, potato, celery and garlic in oil until the potatoes and carrots are tender. Remove from the pan. Add more oil if needed and fry chicken until just cooked through. Remove from the heat and add cornflour to coat the chicken in the pan. Stir cream and chicken stock into the chicken mixture.

Add the cooked vegetables and broccoli back into the pan and simmer gently, stirring until the mixture thickens and broccoli is cooked.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Cut pastry to the size of your chosen ramekins. Place the pastry discs on a paper lined oven tray. Brush with egg and bake until golden brown (10–15 mins). When chicken is ready, divide mixture into ramekins (4–6 depending on size) and top with hot pastry topper.

Lactation Slice

Full of good fats, seeds and nuts these treats are a perfect pick me up for breast feeding mums. Although I hear the midwives at River Ridge are also partial to these tasty morsels too!

250g butter, melted 1 tin condensed milk 250g biscuit crumbs (Superwine biscuits) 2 cups rolled oats ½ cup pumpkin seeds ½ cup sunflower seeds 1 cup cranberries 1 cup dates, diced 1 cup apricots, diced 1 cup walnuts 1 cup sliced almonds 1 cup coconut 200g dark chocolate chunks

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix butter and condensed milk together and add it to the dry ingredients and combine well.

Press mixture into a paper lined baking tray and allow to set in fridge. Alternatively, the mixture can be made into balls and rolled in coconut or dipped in chocolate. Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

Whether you’re brunching, lunching or baking, our nutritious and delicious free-range eggs are a kitchen essential.

Our happy hens are free to roam on the luscious and fertile land of our family farms in Whangarei and Rotorua, producing what we believe are the tastiest eggs you can get. Pick up one of our pretty packs at a supermarket near you.

Roast Vegetable Stack

6 large tortilla wraps 500g pumpkin and/or kūmara 250g fresh spinach 200g mushrooms, sliced 1 large courgette, sliced 2 red capsicums ¼ cup tomato pasta sauce 50g butter 3 tbsp flour 1 tsp vegetable stock powder 2½ cups milk 1 & ½ cups grated cheese

Start by preparing your vegetable components. Roast the pumpkin/kūmara, then mash.

Steam spinach with a little salt and pepper, then squeeze out the excess moisture.

Lightly fry the courgette until just tender.

Sauté the mushrooms.

Chargrill capsicums, de-seed and remove skin, then cut into quarters.

MAKE THE CHEESE SAUCE.

Melt butter over medium heat. Whisk flour and vegetable stock powder into butter until smooth. Pour milk into the butter mixture and whisk until the sauce thickens, then add 1 cup of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

TO ASSEMBLE

Place a wrap on the bottom of a 25 cm spring form cake tin. Spread the first wrap with mashed pumpkin/kūmara, then top with a couple of spoonfuls of cheese sauce and another wrap. Repeat this pattern with a wrap between each layer: courgettes + cheese sauce, capsicums + pasta sauce, spinach + cheese sauce, mushrooms + cheese sauce then top the final wrap with the last of the cheese sauce and sprinkle over the remaining grated cheese.

Bake in the oven at 180°C until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to rest for 5–10 minutes before opening the tin. Slice and serve.