More Products I like.

Lots of exciting products in the shops. Especially at this time of the year. Makes cooking and preparing food even more interesting. Here are some of the ones I fancy:

1. Ortalli AGED Balsamic Vinegar. This is the first time that I've ever treated myself to a really top quality aged balsamic vinegar. Aged for 12 years, I'm looking forward to trying it.
2. Pakco  Mango Atchar adds pizzazz to any curry.
3. La Costeña Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce. Hmm, I feel a mexican meal coming on. Must learn to make Mole sauce.
4. Cupido chocolate cups. Little chocolate cups that you can use to fill with whatever your heart desires. I'm going to use them for Christmas Eve when I have the whole family round for dinner. Will certainly add some interest to the desert table. Watch this space. I have a great idea. Hope it works out.
5. Banditos  Pickled Jalapeno peppers. I actually always have a jar of these in the fridge. Great for quesadillas or on toasted sandwiches. Chuck a few into a pasta sauce.
6. Sally Williams, a South African brand of Nougat have brought out some delicious chocolate bars made with Belgian chocolate and nougat.
7. De Rustica , South African extra virgin olive oil. South Africa produces very high quality olive oil. Many different brands on the market.
8. All Gold, green fig preserve. Made in SA. Lovely with cheeses of all kinds and also amazing on pizza.

Homemade Salad Dressing

Making your own salad dressing is the easiest thing in the world. All you need to do is get the proportions right. The best thing about homemade dressing is that it contains no additives. Just pure ingredients.

When I make dressing I always work on a ratio of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil. The easiest way to do it is to use a measuring jug.

Pour in 100 ml of vinegar or lemon juice. Top up with 300 ml olive or canola oil so that it all sits at 400 ml. You can also do a combination of Olive and Canola oil.

Now add:

• 1 heaped teaspoon dijon mustard.
• 1 heaped teaspoon minced garlic.
• 1 teaspoon celery salt.
• 1 teaspoon dried herbs ( thyme, origanum or tarragon are all good)
• 1 teaspoon sugar.
• 1 teaspoon pepper.

whisk it all together and pour into a bottle with a lid, with the help of a funnel. I like to use a Grolsch beer bottle. You can keep it on the counter. You don't have to store it in the fridge. Always give it a couple of hours to allow the flavours to meld. If you like your dressing to have a creamy consistency you can add a tablespoon of mayonnaise.

When you use it just give it a good shake.

Nigella Roast Potatoes

This has nothing at all to do with Nigella Lawson. Nigella are tiny little black seeds used in Indian cuisine.

• peel the potatoes you are going to roast and parboil for six minutes.
• drain in a colander.
• place the colander onto a roasting/baking tray and drizzle with oil.

• sprinkle with the nigella seeds, salt/garlic salt and pepper.
• shake the colander around to distribute the oil, seeds and seasoning.
• tip onto the tray and roast in the oven at about 200°C until crispy.

Van Der Hum Roast Chicken

Van Der Hum is a South African liquor made from Brandy and flavoured with the essence of tangerines (called Naartjies in South Africa) and herbs. If you are not able to get Van Der Hum or any other tangerine liquor you can substitute with Triple Sec or Cointreau. Citrus works very well with chicken and also combines well with most herbs.

INGREDIENTS

for the gravy:

• 1½ onions chopped into large chunks.
• 4 small carrots peeled.
• 2 celery sticks about 10 cm long.
• 4 cloves of garlic.
• 1 cup chicken stock.
• ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice.
• ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice.
• zest of half a lemon.
• 6 peppercorns, crushed.
• approximately 12 sprigs of Thyme.
• ¼ cup Van Der Hum.
• ¼ cup cream.

for the rub:

• 1 teaspoon of paprika.
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper.
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger.
• pinch of black pepper.
• pinch of ground cloves.
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce.
• 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar.

METHOD

• Mix all the ingredients for the rub and massage well all over the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken all over with garlic salt.
• Put the other ingredients into a roasting pan and place a rack on the pan. Put the chicken on the rack.

• Roast for about an hour, depending on the size of the chicken, at 180°C.

• Keep the carrots, garlic cloves and the onions to one side to serve with the chicken and discard the celery sticks and thyme sprigs.
• Keep the chicken warm and covered in a separate dish and place the roasting pan on a hot plate.
• Reduce the gravy in the roasting pan for about 10 minutes.
• Add the Van der Hum and reduce down for about 10 minutes more.
• Add the cream and simmer until you get the desired consistency.

• Add a knob of butter and simmer for about 10 minutes stirring all the time.
• Joint the chicken and serve, with the gravy in a separate bowl or boat.

Kitchen Burns

You know that moment when you get distracted and you reach out and grab a burning hot dish or lid, or you get to close to the element in the oven and burn your hand, then you scream hold your hand under the cold running water or get some ice or a pack of frozen peas from the freezer. Next day you have a great big blister on your hand.

I've found a product that is absolutely amazing. My sister Christina gave it to me to try. It's called  Phenergan. It's a cream for treatment of minor burns and skin allergies. I burnt myself really badly the other day and I even had to take pain killers it was so painful. I applied the cream to the whole area on my hand and the next day there was absolutely no sign of a burn. Normally I would have had very bad blisters and scarring.

The Best Curry of Your Life ???

I'm always trawling the internet looking for new and interesting recipes. I think I found this curry when I googles "the best curry". It's a recipe from April Bloomfield's  cookbook "A Girl And Her Pig".

I've been wanting to make it for months now and as my son is away on yet another camp, this time for Maths, I decided to give it a go, as Ron and I love curry and Andy doesn't. It was the name that really got me and because of that I decided to follow the recipe EXACTLY. That is not my usual style as I always give recipes my own personal touch and even though I was itching to add some coconut cream and red lentils, I decided not to and see whether this is indeed the "best curry of my life". The only thing I did do was half all the ingredients as I was cooking a smaller quantity. I also used beef rather than lamb as I find lamb too fatty, although I do love lamb curry. Gotta watch the cholesterol levels.

My opinion? This is a very interesting curry, certainly fusion as it is neither one nor the other. It is basically an Indian curry but has aspects of other cuisines such as Thai (kaffir lime leaves) and Persian (citrus peel). But it works. This is indeed a delicious curry and Ron and I really enjoyed it. I will make it again, next time with lamb which I'm sure will add depth to the flavours. The citrus peel is quite strong and it's that which gives it it's uniqueness. I can certainly recommend it as a very successful recipe. The best curry of my life? No not really. I've had better, but certainly one of the best.

We had it with brown basmati rice and some roti's left over from the vegetable curry from the night before. Mrs Balls Chutney, South Africa's famous and much loved chutney and Pakco Hot Mixed Vegetable Pickles (atchar) completed the meal.

INGREDIENTS

• ½ tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted
• ½ tablespoon fenugreek seeds, toasted
• 5 cloves
• 1 star anise
• 2 cardamom pods
• 2 kaffir lime leaves
• ½ tablespoon red chilli flakes
• 1 pinch of grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 cup thinly sliced onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• small cinnamon stick
• ¼ cup finely grated ginger root
• 1½ cups of tinned chopped tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon salt
• coriander stems- about 1 tablespoon chopped
• coriander leaves - about a handful also chopped
• Orange peel, pith removed, a 6cm strip
• Lemon peel, pith remove, a 6cm strip
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup of pineapple juice. Regular commercial from a box is fine.
• 500 g cubed beef.

METHOD

• combine all the spices and dry toast them in a pan on medium heat. When you can smell the fragrance of the spices, transfer them to a spice grinder or clean coffee grinder, and grind to a fine powder.

• Heat a large Dutch oven or other heavy oven proof pot over medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil just begins to smoke, add the onion and cook until it is a light brown. Now add the garlic slices and continue cooking until the onions are dark brown and the garlic a pale caramel. This takes about 10/15 mins.

• Add the ground spice mixture as well as the cinnamon stick and ginger and continue to stir and cook for about 3 minutes.
• Stir in the tomatoes and salt. Keep stirring until the mixture is quite dry and most of the liquid has evaporated. About 15 minutes.
• Stir in the coriander stems, citrus peel and all the juice. (lemon, orange and pineapple).
• Remove from the heat and set to one side.
• Preheat oven to 180°C
• Season the meat with salt and pepper.
• In a large pan brown the pieces of meat in a little oil. Do not put them all in at once otherwise they will just boil in their juices. In order to brown them the pan must be quite hot and they must have room so that all the moisture can evaporate and doesn't just stay in the pan and cause the meat to boil rather than brown.
• Transfer the meat as it browns to the pot and when it is all done, mix around until the meat is well coated with the curry sauce.

• Cover the pot and put it in the oven for about 1½ hours. It should now be ready to serve.



Cape Town International

My son Andrew is mad about airplanes and flying. And I mean obsessed. He can spend hours playing on his flight simulator and his idea of a good time is watching the airplanes take off and land at the airport. He can identify any plane even if its way off in the distance and he can't wait until he's in grade 11 so that he can do his job shadow project with South African Airways. He plans to be an airline pilot someday.

My husband Ron's work takes him away from home all the time and he often has to fly home from Johannesburg after a tour. On these occasions it has become standard procedure that we go to the airport a couple of hours early so that we can have dinner at the Ocean Basket at the Cape Town International Airport and watch the planes take off and land. The CTIA is a world class, modern airport, the second busiest in SA after the OR Tambo airport, Johannesburg.












The Ocean Basket is a South African seafood restaurant chain. They have branches in most shopping malls across South Africa as well as at the +V&A Waterfront . The menu is big and there is a good variety of seafood and fish such as prawns, calamari and mussels, as well as kingklip South Africa's most sought after fish, and hake. They serve large platters for groups as well as single dish combinations such as Prawns and Fish or Prawns and Calamari if you like variety. All served with chips and/or savoury rice and/or salad and the ubiquitous butternut and spinach. The prices are very reasonable. Really good value for money. Meals are served in skillets. Garlic, Chilli and Tartare Sauce are always on the table, as well as bread and butter. This is not haute cuisine, but good solid food that fills the gap. I've never really had a bad meal at the Ocean Basket. My one gripe is that they use margarine instead of butter for their garlic butter sauce and the last time we went the bread was a bit dry and looked as though it had been sliced and left out too long. They have a sushi menu as well which is very popular. Good, reasonably priced wine list.

CALAMARI WITH SAVOURY RICE AND VEG

FISH AND PRAWNS WITH CHIPS

La Cuccina

There's a beautiful place near Cape Town called Hout Bay where I grew up, and we had our restaurant, the Red Sails Inn.

My younger sister and mother still live there so I often have occasion to visit, which I did last week. And even though I was going through a kind of detox where I had cut out all alcohol and coffee, and was only eating fruit and vegetables, I was persuaded by my mother to go out to La Cuccina for lunch.

Turns out it's the perfect place to eat out if you are detoxing, because not only do they have a buffet style lunch, but they even have a special detox tea, which I tried and loved.

The cleansing detox tea has burdock root, lemongrass, lemon balm and fennel. It's for cleansing and aiding digestion. There was enough in the pot for 3 cups and they very kindly gave me honey instead of sugar.

The lunch buffet had loads of vegetable options. I settled for some curried aubergine & chickpea, a bean salad and some fancy coleslaw with sprouts. All delicious. I felt very virtuous. Of course they also have all sorts of other options such as fish done in a few different ways, chicken and lamb. Quiches and various different rice, potato and couscous dishes. Huge variety. You pay by weight.

What I like about La Cuccina is that they have a lovely deli with all sorts of interesting products to buy and take away and you can also order picnics and custom made cakes. We had one for my niece Cleo's birthday the other day. Her favourite chocolate mousse cake. Layers of delicious sponge glued together with yummy chocolate mousse and smothered all around with the same. Fabulous. 

Delux Risotto

Until he tried this Risotto my son wouldn't eat rice. He found it boring and uninspiring. Now he begs me to make this Risotto all the time. Only make this if you have the time to stand over the pot, as it needs, like a young child, your constant supervision. This recipe is for about 4 people.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Cup Arborio rice. This is a short grained rice from Italy, especially for Risotto.
• 1 Glass white wine. I use Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc but any good white wine will do. Only use wine you would drink but it doesn't have to be expensive.
• 2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock.
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil.
• 1 Onion finely chopped.
• 1 Red bell pepper, finely chopped.
• 2 Large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 250 gm mushrooms, sliced. I used a combination of Shiitake and Portabellini. I find button mushrooms rather tasteless for Risotto.
• Third of a cup of Thyme leaves stripped from their sprigs. 
• Third of a cup of Parmesan Cheese.
• salt and black pepper

METHOD

• Bring the stock to the boil and then switch off the heat and keep close to the pot you are using for the Risotto.
• In a pot, fry the onions until pale and translucent.Add the pepper and fry for a further 4 minutes. Now add the mushrooms and garlic and cook for a further 4 minutes or so.
• Add the rice to the pot and stir around until they get a translucent glow.
• Pour in the glass of wine, and keeping the plate on a medium heat keep stirring until all the wine is absorbed.

• Now, pour in a ladle of the warm stock and when that is absorbed, pour on another ladle.
• Continue in this way, stirring continuously, until you have used up all the stock and the rice is cooked. It should be firm, yet of a creamy consistency. If it needs more liquid, you can add some more stock or water. 

• Now add the thyme and stir to incorporate.
• Add the Parmesan and stir some more.

SERVE IMMEDIATELY. OR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

TexMex Cape Town Style

My friend Margot received a recipe for Texan style chilli from a family member living in Texas, and decided to invite some of her friends round for a mexican feast. Sue volunteered to make the starter which was her special baked nachos, and I was asked to make Chilli Chocolate Sauce for the Ice Cream dessert.

For her Nachos Sue layered nacho chips with mozzarella and cheddar cheese, salsa and and sour cream. She then scooped out a whole large avo all over the top. Not guacamole. She topped that with lots of chopped coriander/cilantro and more cheese. She popped it in the oven, and when the cheese had become all gooey we all tucked in. Sue makes this often, if she has friends round for drinks or as an informal starter before a barbecue. It's a winner.

BEFORE THE OVEN

AFTER THE OVEN

My chilli chocolate sauce was a great success. This is how I made it:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 HEAPED TABLESPOONS COCOA POWDER
• 2 HEAPED TABLESPOONS SUGAR
• 130 GM DARK CHOCOLATE - broken up into small pieces.
• 1 TEASPOON VANILLA ESSENCE
• 1 TABLESPOON CORNFLOUR DISSOLVED IN A LITTLE WATER.
• ½ TEASPOON CAYENNE PEPPER or to taste.

METHOD

• Place 3 cups of boiling water in a pot on the stove.
• Add the cocoa powder and sugar and whisk together until completely dissolved.
•  Add the vanilla essence and the chocolate block by block until melted, whisking all the while. The stove should be on a medium heat.
• Add the cayenne pepper and mix well. It takes a while to incorporate so don't add more until it's simmered for about 10 mins and then taste it.
• Add cornflour to thicken. If you want it thicker add more cornflour, but always dissolve in water so as not to form lumps.

The Texan chilli was fabulous but sadly I wasn't able to get the recipe. It's a family secret.

Tapas Idea - Mediterranean Salad

This is a great salad to serve with tapas. The ingredients are artechoke hearts, quartered, sautéed slices of brown mushrooms, roasted pepper strips and black olives pitted and halved in equal quantities, and 2 spring onions chopped up. Add to that 2 minced garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 Tablespoons of fresh thyme leaves. A dash of balsamic vinegar is a nice touch. Salt and black pepper. Mix well, leave for at least 24 hours covered in the fridge before you serve so that it can marinate in the dressing and the flavours can develop. It will also take the edge off the raw garlic.

Vegetable Curry

Whenever I make a curry I consult Camellia Panjabi's book 50 Great Curries of India . She gives a really good introduction to curries, describing the various ingredients, what they are used for and some great photo's as well. There is a large variety of different curries, from meat & poultry, to fish and vegetable, as well as the various side dishes used in Indian cuisine. Her curries are authentic and I've never been disappointed in any of the recipes.

A while back, I invested in a spice grinder, which has made making curries an absolute joy. Now, instead of buying ground cumin or coriander, I buy the seeds and grind them myself. The smell of the various seeds as they are being ground is sublime. The flavour of freshly ground spices is so much more intense than that of powders that have been hanging around for who knows how long. I have a much better understanding and knowledge of the different spices since I started to grind my own.

There is a spice shop near me where I buy all my spices. I've come to know all sorts of spices such as fenugreek seeds with their savoury aroma and methi leaves. Also nigella seeds and mace (the lacy outer shell of the nutmeg). And the tart yet earthy taste of Tamarind. And Asafoetida. Also known as Hing. Great if you're cooking with beans as it helps prevent flatulence.But keep it at a distance as the smell is quite unpleasant (the asafoetida, not the flatulence  hehe). You only need to add a very small amount. Did you know that Nigella Lawson was named after her father whose name was Nigel, and the fact that there's a spice with her name is just coincidence? One of life's happy accidents. Nigella seeds, by the way are fantastic on potatoes.

Last night I made a vegetable curry. Although I got the basic recipe from Camellia's book I adapted it a bit. This is a Hindu Goan curry. Goa is a very interesting part of India because it was occupied by Portugal for about 450 years and this has obviously had an influence on it's culture and cuisine.

This is quite a lot of curry. Enough for 4 people, or even 5. Ron and I had it last night with brown basmati rice and tonight we will have it with roti's. It will probably taste even better tonight as the flavours have had a chance to meld. Curries are always better the next day.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Onions
• 4 Tablespoons oil
• 1 Cup grated coconut - this must be either fresh coconut or else the dried coconut you buy for curries. Don't use the desiccated coconut they sell for baking cakes.
• 3 Dried red chillies. If you want it really hot you may add more to your taste. The original recipe said 6.
• 2 Tablespoons coriander seeds.
• 4 cloves
• 10 peppercorns
• 5 cm piece of cinnamon stick.
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• third of a teaspoon asafoetida
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 blade of mace
• About 500 gm of Vegetables. I used zucchini, green beans, sweet potato, brown mushrooms, red pepper, aubergine and frozen peas which I put in right at the end. I also added a can each of chickpeas and Borlotti beans.
• Coriander leaves.
• 1 Tablespoon lemon or lime juice.

METHOD

• Slice one of the onions. Finely dice the other one.
• Put one tablespoon of the oil into a frying pan, and saute the coconut until it's light brown. Do not turn the heat up too high and keep watching it, otherwise it will burn. This takes about 3 minutes. Set aside in a dish.
• Using the same pan, saute the red chillies and coriander seeds for a couple of minutes. Then add the cloves, peppercorns and cinnamon and stir for another couple of minutes. Add to the coconut.
• Blend together the sliced onion, coconut and spices you've just pan roasted together with a cup of water until you have a paste.
• Heat the rest of the oil in a pot or large pan big enough to hold the curry and add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida and turmeric powder.After about a minute, add the bay leaf and the chopped onion and fry on a lowish heat with the lid on until the onion is light brown. 
• Add the spice paste and the mace and fry for about 10 mins stirring every once in a while. Pour in 2 cups of water and mix well.
• Now you can add the vegetables, bearing in mind that different vegetable vary as to how long they need to cook for. Carrots can go in first and peas right at the end. Also, do you like your green beans soft or crunchy? If you are using canned beans and chickpeas, you can put those in 10 minutes before serving as they are already cooked and just need to heat up in the pot/pan.
• Cook uncovered for as long as it takes for all the vegetables to be cooked. 
• Now you can add the coriander leaves and lemon/lime juice.

Serve with Basmati rice.

Marsala vs Masala

Just in case you are one of those who doesn't know the difference.

Marsala is a sweet Italian desert wine used in sauces such as Chicken Marsala and also in Tiramisu.

Masala is a mix of spices used in Indian cuisine.

I Burnt the Cake

I wanted to KICK myself. I was so excited to get this new, really good recipe for carrot cake. My son was coming home from a hike and my husband from a tour and as they both love carrot cake, I thought I would surprise them. Not a chance. Even burnt it tastes divine though. Fortunately the burnt taste didn't permeate the whole cake. I didn't even bother with the cream cheese icing. I've had compliments for a BURNT CAKE. Of course teenage boys are not too particular so I shouldn't get too excited.

Anyway, as soon as the cake is eaten I will be baking another one. And this time I will be a bit more careful not to leave it in too long. And I will also post the recipe.

Re-cycle and re-use

Since I started re-cycling a few years ago, my rubbish has been reduced to a fraction of it's former "glory". All my glass and paper now goes to re-cycling, and all the #1,2 and 5 plastic. Where possible I try to re-use little glass jars for storing spices and dried herbs etc.

The re-cycling depot that I take my stuff to gets my support because they employ mentally challenged young adults to do the sorting. They also have a shop where they sell second hand books and bric a brac. Today I found some really nice things in the shop and it all cost me only R80.00/US$8.00. The little wooden box I'm going to use to store playing cards, and I just love the little olive bowl with a separate compartment for pips. The plates are pretty and always useful. So, one persons junk is another ones treasure. I would urge everyone to re-cycle as much as possible and try and buy second hand as much as possible as well. Reducing your carbon footprint is what it's all about. Some really useful ways to reduce your carbon footprint can be found here