FRANCESCA RUDKIN: Movies

My Cousin Rachel, starring Sam Claflin, Rachel Weisz, Holliday Grainger

Francesca’s verdict: 3 out of 5

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11879208

 

Transformers: The Last Knight, starring Mark Wahlberg, Sir. Anthony Hopkins, Josh Duhamel, 

Francesca’s verdict: 2 out of 5

 

NICI WICKES: Food

Nici has a recipe for a spinach and hazelnut soup which is gorgeous and wintery and yummy.   The roasted hazelnuts pair wonderfully with the spinach and they, like spinach, are high in iron.

You can find audio and tips on our page and for more inspiration visit  http://www.niciwickes.com/  or her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/#!/niciwickes

 

CAMERON DOUGLAS: Wine

Wine of the week: Merlot

Budget: Mission Estate Hawkes Bay $15.95

Happy to spend a little more: Craggy Range Te Kahu Merlot $24.99

Keen to impress my friends and spend a lot more: Villa Maria Reserve $49.99

For more of Cameron’s wine and beverage reviews go to: http://camerondouglasms.blogspot.co.nz/

 

RUUD KLEINPASTE: Gardening

Shallots are also planting now! And with the price of shallots, it makes sense to grow your own.

Get the small shallot bulbs and plant them – just like you do garlic

Not too deep in friable soil – some fertiliser or heaps of compost in the top layers of the soil, and cover with ground sheep dags (KINPAC)

 

The very bestest and cleverest variety of shallot is: The Egyptian Walking Onion.

 

It’s a variety that grows a bunch of fat, juicy shallots just above the ground in a matter of 6 months’ time.

But during the growing season (around October) it starts to produce stems with – what looks like – new flower heads.

But they’re not! They will become bunches of “top-set bulbils” as they ripen. These little bulbils look just like miniature onions and these are easy to harvest in January and store well until early June for planting the next crop

If you leave them on the field, they’ll flop over and create new plants next to the old plant… hence the term “walking onion” – they move everywhere

 

Here’s a great tip to jazz up spring salads: cut a few of the very immature, soft and green bulbil growths and chop these through your salad: very mild garlic/spring onion flavour in salad.

 

This incredibly versatile Egyptian walking onion needs well-drained soil, with organic matter

Plant the bulbils just above the ground

Keep moist –but not overly moist, because that encourages rotting.

Harvest when the shallots are fully formed in January

Dry them in the SHADE (not in the sun!) and keep those small bulbils on the stems for next season.

 

MIKE YARDLEY: Travel

Roaming Australia's West Kimberley - For more insights on venturing into West Kimberley, Mike's article is on the website  [www.newstalkzb.co.nz/lifestyle]www.newstalkzb.co.nz/lifestyle

CATHERINE RAYNES: Books

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn, HarperCollins $35

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy, Penguin $38

 

ANDREW DICKENS: Music

Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie's first ever duo album, simply titled Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie - Andrew's verdict: 7/10

Sounds like a mid level Fleetwood Mac album, strangely enough, but without Stevie Nicks.  That proves that the Mac are the sum of all their parts.  Buckingham’s quirkiness and McVie’s lyricism seem to battle with each other but there’s a Southern Californian Gothic darkness amongst all twitches and croons that is pure Mac.  Pretty good but not essential!