The young food photographer and recipe developer, who lives in Taupo, sees food as art and joining food with photography makes the perfect pair.
Food, its preparation and enjoyment, has always been part of Moore’s life. She has vague memories as a young child of rubbing butter into flour alongside twin sister Brooke (now a chef) and fondly remembers her mother’s carrot cake, made for special occasions, scones on the weekend and lemon tart for pudding.
Moore’s favourite hobby was to borrow cookbooks from the library, photocopy recipes, then type them out, put them in a file, never to be glanced at again.
She has a book full of drawings of food and would run elections among her family for what cake she would cook that weekend.
"This was all before the age of 10 — and from there the passion grew."
When she got a cellphone at high school and discovered Instagram, a whole new world opened up, allowing her to share photos of the random things she made under the name That Green Olive.
It soon grew beyond her circle of friends and family to a much wider audience and she was sought out by brands sending her product to post.
At 15, Moore started her first food business, the gourmet, allergen-friendly range Top That! Meal Toppers.
She went on to compete in a school-aged national business competition, travelled to Asia on educational trips and learned about business.
But after getting burnt out, she decided to close the business and concentrate on That Green Olive.
"This book is a milestone in my business journey. To be able to share these recipes with you in this way is a dream come true."
Included in the book are a list of her favourite ingredients like beer — she loves the savoury, earthy flavours it can lend to a dish — tamarind, miso, harissa and fenugreek.
The recipes include savoury things to eat with your hands, pies and pizzas, vegetables, pasta and grains and sweet things to eat with your hands and with a spoon.
THE BOOK
That Green Olive, Olivia Moore, Penguin, RRP$50
Mum’s chocolate chilli
This is one of those classic Mum-style recipes; and one of the first things I remember eating. The cocoa powder adds a depth and richness (think Mexican mole sauce). Mum always uses good ol’ tomato sauce, but it’s fine to go with passata or tomato puree if you’d rather. Classic!
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
400g beef mince
¾ tsp dried oregano
¾ tsp ground cumin
¾ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp ground chilli
½ tsp ground cayenne pepper
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp ground turmeric
¼ tsp ground cardamom
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
180ml (¾ cup) tomato sauce (yes, the squeezy stuff; alternatively use passata or tomato purée)
250ml (1 cup) good-quality beef stock
400g can kidney beans
2 tsp golden syrup
Method
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until beginning to brown.
Add the beef mince and break up with a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6-7 minutes, until browned.
Add the spices and cook for a further 2 minutes, until fragrant.
Stir through the cocoa powder and tomato sauce until well combined, then pour in the beef stock.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the beans, stir well and cook for another 15 minutes, until thick. Remove from the heat and stir through the golden syrup and a generous season of black pepper.
Serve hot. We always serve the chilli over corn chips, topped with guacamole, sour cream and grated cheese.
Enjoy yours however you wish!
Baked feta with tamarillo, blackberry and red wine
A riff on my childhood favourite tamarillos sprinkled with sugar, this dish pairs the two in a slightly more sophisticated fashion. This is delicious slathered over bread with a glass of wine in the afternoon (or, as I’ve done, gobbled up for dinner).
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
200g tamarillo flesh (from 2-3 tamarillos), roughly chopped
100g blackberries
75g brown sugar, plus 2 tsp extra
3 Tbsp water
3 Tbsp red wine
1½ Tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp salt
Olive oil, to drizzle
Fresh thyme leaves, to garnish
Lemon zest, to garnish
Method
Place the tamarillo flesh, blackberries, first measure of brown sugar and water in a saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened.
Remove from the heat and stir through the wine, lemon juice and salt.
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan bake.
Lightly grease a 1-litre-capacity baking dish. Pour in the tamarillo sauce, and nestle the block of feta in the centre. Drizzle generously with oil, season with black pepper and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven.
Set your oven to 200°C grill, and move the rack near the top. Evenly sprinkle the remaining brown sugar over the feta and return to the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the sugar is nicely browned and caramelised.
Scatter over the thyme leaves and lemon zest, and serve hot with plenty of bread.
Plum, miso and caramelised white chocolate skillet cookie
Grab a spoon and dig right into this! There is no better way to enjoy a skillet cookie than fresh out of the oven, straight out of the pan. Miso transforms into something magical when paired with sweetness, and the caramelised white chocolate adds a certain special nuttiness.
Serves 6–8
Ingredients
100g butter
100g brown sugar
75g white sugar
25g miso
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
175g plain white flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
150g (about 3) Black Doris plums,
stones removed, flesh roughly chopped
200g caramelised white chocolate (see below)
Miso fudge sauce
75g sugar
2 Tbsp water
25g butter
15g miso
Method
Preheat the oven to 150°C fan bake. Grease a 26cm cast-iron skillet.
Put the butter, sugars, miso and vanilla extract in a large bowl, and cream for 3 minutes, until light and creamy.
Add the egg and beat just to incorporate.
In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients together.
Add to the butter mixture and stir only until a dough is formed, then fold through the plums and half of the caramelised white chocolate.
Transfer the dough to the prepared skillet, gently press into the edges and smooth the top.
Sprinkle half the remaining caramelised white chocolate on top, and reserve the rest for garnish.
Bake for 20–25 minutes, until golden brown yet slightly fudgey in the centre.
Meanwhile, make the miso fudge sauce. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Cook, whisking, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the butter and miso. Allow the butter to melt, and whisk well until no lumps of miso remain. Bring to a bubble, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer gently, whisking, for 1–2 minutes, until thickened. Remove from the heat.
Once the skillet cookie has finished baking, remove from the oven and pour over the miso fudge sauce.
Sprinkle over the reserved caramelised white chocolate, then dig in while piping hot! Leftovers are great sliced into wedges and served as a cookie pie.
Caramelised white chocolate
Makes 200g
Ingredients
200g white chocolate buttons (or chopped white chocolate)
Method
Preheat the oven to 110°C fan bake.
Place the chocolate in a very clean metal oven tray or ceramic dish and roast for 1 hour, stirring and spreading out every 15 minutes. This is to ensure the chocolate roasts evenly and doesn’t burn on the bottom — don’t worry if it gets a bit gritty; it will become smoother as you stir.
Transfer to a plastic container and put in the fridge to set. It should set within 20 minutes. Once set, enjoy as you would any chocolate — chopped into squares, shaved over desserts or used in my plum and caramelised white chocolate skillet cookie recipe with miso fudge sauce.
Store in an airtight container in a cool spot for up to 3 months.
NOTES
After roasting for an hour, if your chocolate is still quite gritty, transfer to a food processor and process until smooth — you want to do this while the chocolate is still melted.
