Julie Biuso says - Heaps going on this week - take a peek!

Heaps going on this week - take a peek! You can feel the season changing from winter to early spring, even though it is not reflected in the temperature just yet. It's more that winter has bored your socks off with all the rain, cold snaps and grey days – and snow for some – and you're ready for spring sunshine. Ring a bell?  This week I've featured a fab bean & chorizo stew that's great for chillier nights, because there are still some to come – and check out flageolet beans! Whoof! Slim, pale green and creamy, and nutty to taste. And, I've included a couple of great ideas for fish. We are hung up on buying fish already filleted in this country, but at $29-45.00 a kilo, fish fillets are costly. This week I cooked a small whole fish which was enough to feed 2-3 people and it cost $7.00. Go figure. Easy to cook too. Get bashing some aromatics in a mortar and you'll have a super tasty and healthy, easy meal.  We've had some good changes here on Waiheke over the past few weeks with our local bakery Ringawera back in business after a fire, the opening of a new supermarket and the relocation of Waiheke's beloved Te Matuku oyster shop in the supermarket complex at Ostend. Te Matuku's new shop is gorgeous – spacious, fresh & gleaming, and loaded with spanking fresh fish, oysters, clams and a great range of smoked products. If you are on Waiheke come and say hi on Sunday and try their famed oysters. The French Café in Auckland (just won Cuisine Magazine's Restaurant of the Year) uses them, along with award-winning Clooney and The Depot restaurants. I'll be at Te Matuku cooking up a storm between 11.00-1.00pm.   And get cooking! There's plenty of easy and tempting mid-week meals here on Shared Kitchen.  Just scoot down to the side bar on the Home page and press Recently Posted and they'll all pop up. Cheerio for now