Annie’s Cheese Ball

• 250 g pottle of traditional cream cheese (not the spreadable one)
• 1 tsp Worchester sauce
• 1 finely chopped onion
• 1 tbsp of parsley or chives
• 1 c grated cheese
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce
• ¼ tsp ground pepper
• Chopped walnuts to coat

Place all the ingredients except the chopped walnuts in a food processor and blend until smooth. Form into a ball (or two smaller ones) and coat with the nuts. Place in the fridge to firm up until required. Serve with crackers or as part of a cheese board.

• 600 g orange kumara, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 kg chicken pieces
• 1 leek, sliced
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 c chicken stock
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme

Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a large pan and brown the chicken in batches, and set them aside in the crock pot. With the remaining oil, sauté the leek and garlic in the pan until soft. Stir in the flour and then gradually pour in the stock, stirring until the sauce boils and thickens. Remove from the heat and pour over the chicken.

Add the kumara and thyme to the crock pot, season with salt and pepper and cook for 1 1/2 hours or until tender. Serve with steamed rice.