Easy Beef Curry

This is a delicious beef curry. Easy to make and as good as any Indian restaurant.

INGREDIENTS

800 g lean beef, cut into small cubes
2 medium onions finely chopped
2 tablespoons crushed garlic
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
1/3 cup cooking oil
2 bay leaves
1 ±6cm cinnamon stick
4 green cardamom pods
2 green chillies chopped up finely
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 cup tomato passata
1½ teaspoons salt
½ cup coriander leaves finely chopped
¼ cup red lentils

METHOD

• fry onions until translucent. About 10 mins
• Add garlic and ginger and stir around. Fry for another minute.
• Add the bay leaves, cinnamon stick and cardamom pods and fry for a further 2 minutes.
• Now add all the powdered spices and stir until the onions are coated and your kitchen is filled with the wonderful aroma of the spices. About 2 minutes.
• Add the tomato passata and a cup of water and bring to boiling point.
• Turn the heat down to low and cover.
• Simmer for about an hour at least.
• Remove the lid after an hour and add the lentils. These will thicken the sauce. Simmer for 15 mins.
• Add half the coriander leaves and the rest as a garnish when you serve.

Serve with poppadums and rice or roti's, chutney and mango atchar.

Serves 4

Moroccan Tagine with Persian Style Jeweled Rice

One doesn't need to have a real Tagine to produce a really tasty Moroccan stew. If you have the time you can use a normal pot on the stove or a casserole in the oven. I used a pressure cooker for this one and it was superb. I wandered over to the middle east for the rice dish which went so well with it.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE TAGINE

800 gm beef (or lamb)
2 med onions very finely chopped
5 large cloves of garlic finely chopped
½ teaspoon powdered ginger
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon sesame oil
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup canola oil
1 large cinnamon stick
small handful of coriander leaves, chopped
1 cup dried apricots, cut in half
3 tablespoons honey
1 litre beef stock
toasted almond flakes and sesame seeds for garnish
chopped coriander and parsley for garnish

METHOD

Fry the onions in a pressure cooker with some of the oil. Add spices and sesame oil. Brown the meat with the rest of the oil in a separate pan and then add to the onion and spices. Add the garlic, half the apricots, honey and coriander leaves and stock. Cook under pressure for 45 mins.

When pressure is released, remove lid, add the rest of the apricots and cook down to reduce the liquid, until thick.

Serve garnished with the toasted almond flakes and sesame seeds. Sprinkle with coriander and parsley.

INGREDIENTS FOR PERSIAN STYLE JEWELLED RICE

1 cup Basmati rice
1 orange
1 large carrot cut into Julienne strips of about 6cm long
2 tablespoons dried cranberries soaked in water for 30 mins
2 tablespoons raisins soaked in water for 30 mins
2 tablespoons flaked almonds-toasted
2 tablespoons chopped pistachio nuts
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
seeds of 10 cardamom pods crushed
10 g butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper
½ teaspoon turmeric
chopped mint and pomegranate seeds (if available) to garnish.

METHOD

• Cook the rice. Drain and place in a serving dish in a warm oven. 
• Clean the orange well and cut the skin (without the pith).
• Cut the skin of the orange into matchsticks. Place in a pot with enough water to cover, bring to the boil and cook for 3 mins. Drain and rinse.
• Saute the carrots for about 5 mins in the oil and butter. Add the sugar and orange peel and cook for a further minute. Add the turmeric, nuts, fruit (after draining) and spices. Season with salt and pepper, mix well together and set aside
• Remove rice from oven.
• Separate a quarter of the carrot and orange mixture and set aside. Mix the rest into the rice. Garnish the dish with the remainder and sprinkle with the mint and pomegranate seeds.
• Serve immediately. If you are not serving it immediately, keep the garnish to one side and only garnish just before serving.

Recipes adjusted from Diana Henry's book Crazy Water Pickled Lemon

Jam Omelette

This is great for breakfast or a healthy dessert. It was on the menu of our restaurant, The Red Sails Inn in Hout Bay. When I was a child I thought the idea of a sweet omelette gross, but once I tried it I got hooked. You can use any jam that you have available. I prefer smooth apricot.

INGREDIENTS

2 large eggs
2 tablespoons cream or milk.
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Jam. Just as much as you want.
cinnamon for dusting

• Beat the eggs together with the cream/milk and the sugar and vanilla.
• Heat some butter in a pan and make an omelette in the usual way
• When it's still soft but nearly ready to flip over onto the plate, add the jam. As the jam starts to heat up from the omelette it oozes out the sides. 
• dust with cinnamon and serve

South African Pickled Fish

This is one of our specialties. In Cape Town it is especially popular around Easter time. You can use any fish as long as it's a white fish. Fish such as Tuna and Swordfish don't really work so well for this dish.

INGREDIENTS

1 kg filleted fish. I generally use hake. Cut into smallish portions.
oil for frying
flour for coating fish
3 large onions- sliced.
6 cloves of garlic - crushed.
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger.
1 red chilli - chopped
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
5 cloves
10 peppercorns
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoons turmeric
1 tablespoon masala powder
110 ml sugar
1 cup white grape vinegar
½ cup water
1 teaspoon cornflour

METHOD

• season fish and coat in flour. Fry in oil until cooked through. Place to one side on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil.
• slice the onions and fry for about 3 mins. 
• add the garlic, ginger, chillies and mustard seeds and saute for a minute or 2.
• add the spices and combine with the onions. Now add the sugar, water and vinegar and bring to the boil. 
• simmer for about 5 minutes. Onions should still be a little crunchy.
• mix the cornflour with a little cold water and add, just to thicken slightly.
• layer the fish in a glass or ceramic dish. I normally use a corning-ware dish. Don't use a plastic dish as the spices will discolor it.
• cover each layer of fish with some sauce and then pour the rest of the sauce over the top.
• once cool, refridgerate. Allow to sit in the fridge for about 24 hours before eating to allow the flavours to meld. 
• should keep quite long in the fridge. About a week. Not that it would last that long in my house. Should be eaten cold.

Homemade Vanilla Almond Ice Cream with Caramel Ripple

This is one of the most delicious ice creams I've ever made. Ever.

INGREDIENTS

2 Cups full cream milk
1 Cup cream
170 gm caster sugar
2 X-Large egg yolks
1 X-Large egg
3 Vanilla Beans
2 Tablespoons Amaretto liquor

For the ripple:

200 g butter
400 g treacle sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cream

METHOD

• Combine the milk and cream in a pot. Split the vanilla beans and scrape out the seeds. Put the seeds as well as the beans into the pot with the milk and cream. Heat to 75° C. Remove from heat and leave to cool and for the vanilla to infuse. 
• Blend eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Strain the milk/cream mixture to remove pods. Seeds should remain.
• Temper the egg/sugar mixture with some of the milk mixture and then combine.
• Add the Amaretto and mix thoroughly.
• When cool, cover and store in the fridge for at least 12 hours before churning.

For the caramel ripple, melt the butter in a pot. add the sugar, vanilla and cream until the sugar is dissolved and all is well mixed. Simmer for 5 minutes. When cool the consistency should be thick but still pour able.

Once the ice cream has been churned place half into the container you will use to store it in the freezer and pour the caramel on in a swirly motion. Swoosh it around a bit. Place the rest of the ice cream in and some more caramel and swoosh some more. Place into the freezer until the ice cream has set and is firm but still creamy. This is sooooooooooo yummy. Next time I'm going to toast some almond flakes and add them to the mix.