Single Clove Garlic - Cool New Ingredient For Me

I've just discovered this ingredient. Solo, or single clove garlic.

Never seen or heard of it before. When you peel off the outer membrane, the whole bulb is actually one clove. It has grooves running down so looks like it should have cloves. BUT IT DOESN'T!! Makes prepping garlic a whole lot easier. I used it last night with roast chicken and it roasted well and I was able to incorporate the soft garlic into my gravy. I'd be interested to know if anyone else has anything to say. Have you used it? Do you think it is as flavourful as regular garlic? The one in the front is without it's skin/membrane.

Zucchini - Large- Stuffed With Spicy Ground Beef

Usually the Zucchini I buy are about 10cm high. They had these humungous things at the grocery store at a really good price so I thought I'd try them out. Vegetable Marrows are pretty tasteless at the best of times so I decided to stuff them with something spicy.

When my neighbour left 18 months ago she gave me some stuff from her pantry and although I've used up most of it I had this packet of Taco Salsa and some Burrito Seasoning. So I decided to use them up to create a Mexican feel.

INGREDIENTS

2 large zucchini

1 onion

4 cloves garlic

1 green bell pepper

½ packet Burrito seasoning

1 packet Taco Salsa 

450 gm minced beef or whatever you prefer.

grated cheese. (I used White Cheddar)                                

1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce.

METHOD

- Cut zucchini in half lengthwise after cutting off the ends.
Scoop out the seeds and discard.
- Scoop out the flesh until you have a nice boat shape,  keeping some of the flesh to chop into the filling and save the rest for another day (soup perhaps)
 - Brush with olive oil and bake for about 20 minutes at 180°C.

In a frying pan saute the onions until soft along with the green bell pepper.

Add the meat and fry for about 3 mins.
Add the spices, taco sauce and garlic and mix well together.
Put on a low heat and simmer with the lid on for about 30
 minutes.

Allow the mince mixture to cool.

Fill the marrows and bake in a 180° C oven for about 40 mins.
Top with cheese and give them another 10 minutes in the oven to melt the cheese.

Serve with sour cream and guacamole.

Linguini With A Spicy Tomato Sauce With Calamari

This sauce is sort of a combination of Puttanesca and Arrabbiata.

INGREDIENTS

Sauce

1 can diced tomato

1 diced onion

5 cloves garlic

6 anchovies chopped

2 tablespoons capers

12 green olives, pitted and chopped

1 teaspoon chilli flakes

1 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste (quite a few salty ingredients, so be cautious)

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

a handful of fresh basil, chopped

grated Parmesan cheese

CALAMARI

THIS IS IMPORTANT
The Secret to Beautifully Tender Calamari

Clean and trim the calamari, removing all the inedible bits.

Place in a bowl.

Sprinkle over a tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

Massage well into all the calamari and then cover with just enough water.

Leave for 20 minutes or more, not less, and then rinse well to remove the baking soda.

Place in a colander to drain.

COATING FOR THE CALAMARI

1 teaspoon za'atar spice
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried origano
2 teaspoons celery salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 tablespoons cake flour

mix all of the above together well in a large bowl.

Put all the pieces of calamari in the bowl and toss around until all are coated in the spice and flour mixture.

Pan fry in olive oil and butter for about 2 minutes. Keep warm in the oven.


SAUCE

Fry the onion in a pan until translucent. Add the garlic and the can of diced tomatoes and simmer for about 30 mins.

Add the chopped olives, capers, anchovies, chilli flakes, salt, pepper and sugar. Simmer for another 20 minutes to allow to thicken.

Cook the pasta and add to the sauce. Mix the pasta with the sauce. Add the basil and parmesan cheese just before serving with the calamari on top.

Buon Appetito!!

Chicken And Mushroom Pie with Phyllo Pastry

This is a family favourite. I normally use a cake tin.

I feel by using Phyllo Pastry instead of regular Puff or Short Pastry it's not so heavy and maybe has less carbs. (I hope)

INGREDIENTS

400 gm button mushrooms, sliced.
4 chicken breasts, pan fried or poached, and chopped or shredded.
1½ medium onions, diced.
1 large carrot, diced finely
4 cloves of garlic, chopped.
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons dried thyme
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
a pinch of dried rosemary
20 gm butter
16 gm flour
1 cup chicken stock
1½ cups milk or cream with gravy granules dissolved
1 can green beans, or the equivalent in fresh green beans, cooked.
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

 METHOD

Fry the onion and carrot in a deep pan until soft.
Add the mushroom, garlic, bay leaves, rosemary and thyme.

Lower temp to #1 and with the lid on, leave for about 10 minutes, until the mushrooms are cooked.

Create a well in the centre of the vegetables. Melt the butter on med heat, add the flour and create a roux.

Cook for a few minutes and then add the stock and milk.  Mix the vegetables with the sauce created by the roux, stock and milk.

Raise the heat, and when it starts to bubble, remove from the heat. If it's too thick, add some more milk or water, but it should be quite thick to keep the pie's shape.

Add the black pepper.

Mix well.

Add the shredded chicken, chopped parsley and green beans. Mix well. Leave to cool.

Line cake tin with 4 leaves of phyllo pastry brushed with olive oil. Fill with the chicken mixture. Fold over the excess pastry. Scrunch up another olive oil drenched sheet of phyllo pastry and place on top.  Sprinkle with celery salt and smoked paprika. Dot with butter.

Bake for 40mins at 180° C

Sauerkraut with Debrizina Sausages

My whole family love this dish. A reminder of our Swiss and Northern European roots.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup chopped/diced bacon
2 medium onions - diced
1 pack, jar or tin of sauerkraut
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and grated.
3 cloves garlic - thinly sliced
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 heaped teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cup wine, apple or grape juice
2 heaped desert spoons brown sugar (the sticky kind)
4 large juniper berries, or if they're small, about 10
3 bay leaves
black pepper, ground.
 3 large potatoes cut into quarters, and boiled separately.
1 pack of Debrizina sausages.

METHOD

Fry the bacon and onions until the onions are soft.
Add the sauerkraut, apple, garlic, stock, wine/juice, mustard, sugar, juniper berries, bay leaves and black pepper.
Cook on a medium heat until it starts to bubble and then simmer with a lid on for about an hour.
Add the sausages and the boiled potatoes.
Sprinkle potatoes with celery salt.
Replace lid and simmer for another 30 minutes at least.

This is the sort of meal that can bubble away until you're ready to eat it, so an extra hour until the football match is over is absolutely fine.

bon appetit!!
  

Andy's Sushi Bar

OMG!!! What more can I say. Sea Point, 315 Main Road. Andy learnt his skills from the best I believe. Willoughby's Restaurant at the V&A Waterfront. So good.

                                                                                     

    

You say Eggplant I say Brinjal

When I made a trip to my local Food Lovers Market the other day I was amazed at the sheer quantity of Aubergines for sale. And the ridiculous price. 8 for R10. Thats the equivalent of US$0.75 for 8 medium size Eggplant.

So I bought 8, brought them home and pondered on what to do with them.

Fortunately once cooked, brinjals, as they are called here in South Africa, freeze well.

There was also a special on red and green bell peppers. So the obvious choice had to be Ratatouille.

I bought some courgettes (Zucchini), and along with onions, garlic, fresh basil leaves from my garden, some dry rosemary, some tomatoes that needed to be used and a can of tomatoes I was all set. Normally I would use tomato puree, but I didn't have any, and I'd bought quite a few cheap cans of tomatoes from Foodies.

Now that I'd sorted out what I would do with half the Eggplant, I decided to try something I'd never made before, but had tasted once and really loved.

BABA GHANOUSH.

This is a middle eastern eggplant dip.

I found a really great recipe on Chowhound.com and changed it slightly as I nearly always do.

This is the recipe I used:

4 medium sized Eggplant
¼ cup tahini
3 cloves garlic
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika




- cut Eggplants in half, brush with olive oil and roast in a 180°C oven, for about an hour, until tender when a knife is inserted.

 - allow to cool and then scoop out the flesh and mix with all the other ingredients.

- blitz together with an immersion blender or in a food processor until you are happy with the consistency. Should be creamy and silky. If too thick you can add more olive oil.

It's fantastic on toast. Very tasty.

If you serve it as a dip, in a bowl, you can decorate it with chopped nuts, ground cumin and sesame seeds, black pepper, some paprika and a drizzle of olive or sesame oil. And some chopped coriander leaves.

This recipe makes a lot, so I've frozen quite a bit in separate containers.