Chicken Breasts Marsala

I'm always looking for new ways to prepare chicken breasts. The skinless/boneless kind. They are so versatile and because they don't have any skin or bone aren't "fiddly" as my husband likes to say. Cooking for a fussy eater is always a challenge. However, because they are white meat they tend to become dry if overcooked, and for that reason I prefer to do this recipe with the whole breast, rather than cutting them into schnitzels.

INGREDIENTS

½ onion - finely chopped
1 small fennel bulb - diced
¼ red pepper - diced
250 g button mushrooms - sliced
1 cup dry white wine
½ cup marsala wine
1 cup chicken stock
80 ml thick cream. (I also like to use creme fraiche)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley.
4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts.

METHOD

fry the onion, fennel and red pepper until soft.
add the mushrooms and fry for a few minutes until soft.
pour in the wine and marsala and reduce to a couple of tablespoons.
pour in the chicken stock and simmer on a low heat.

In another pan, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.
On med heat fry the chicken breasts (seasoned with salt & pepper) for 3 minutes each side.

Transfer the chicken and juices to the pan with the sauce. Add the cream and continue to simmer for 5 minutes, stirring to combine the cream with the sauce.

Stir in the parsley and serve with pasta of your choice.

Sevruga at the Waterfront

My son and I both have a passion for sushi and dim sum. Every once in a while, mostly after he has completed exams, I take him for a "special sushi lunch". It's our special time together. This December we decided to go to Sevruga at the V&A Waterfront, one of our favourite sushi restaurants.

We were met at the door by two lovely young ladies, Aurora and Phillipa.

The service was good. Attentive, but not so that you felt stifled. The sun-dried tomato bread is delicious. So easy to just eat the whole basket.

Great wine list with a lot of choice. I settled for a glass of Pierre Jourdan Tranquille. A dry yet fruity wine with a pink tinge. Ice cold. Perfect for a hot afternoon.

We ordered 3 different kinds of dim sum. Served in bamboo steamers. Har Gau. Plump translucent dumplings stuffed with duck with honey and ginger. Deep fried wontons with beef, coriander and ginger. Pot stickers, my favourite. Crunchy yet soft. With lamb and XO sauce. The sauce that they serve with the dim sum is a combination of asian flavours and an absolute winner. I would love to get that recipe.  All were delicious and disappeared very fast.

We ordered a mixed sushi platter. All sushi is half price during the day at Sevruga and their sister restaurant Beluga. A great selection of very fresh, well prepared sushi. Salmon and Tuna tempura rolls, Salmon Roses, Salmon Nigiri, Tuna crunch rolls. Everything was delicious.

Best Little Pizza Place in Cape Town

I love this restaurant. Breugels. And it's not just that it's 3 minutes ride from my home. Totally unassuming, family orientated little place and if conversation dries up you can always keep yourself occupied drawing on the paper tablecloths with big fat wax crayons. Not only for the children. Their pizza's are the best I've ever eaten. Anywhere in the world. The base is thin and crusty and the ingredients are fresh and juicy. Like most pizza joints, crushed garlic, chilli and parmesan cheese are served on the side. Their menu also includes pasta, salads and a few wraps.

The pizzas are all named after famous artists. They are quite happy to give you a half and half. In fact, they encourage it. My favourite is ½ Chagall (basic margarita with blue cheese, pear and fresh rocket) and ½ da Vinci (basic margarita with mushrooms, bacon and fresh avo).

My son's favourite combo is ½ da Vinci and ½ Botticelli (basic margarita with brie cheese, bacon and peppadews

Ron just has da Vinci straight.

And to end it off? South Africa's favourite desert.

Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce.

Cheesecake with caramel and chocolate drizzle

I don't bake a lot but when I find a recipe I like I get really excited. This cheesecake recipe is really 1st class. It's from Elize Bauer's site, Simply Recipes and I can't believe how simple it is to make. The directions are easy to follow and the result is outstanding. I made it for Christmas Eve and everyone loved it. I topped it with caramel and drizzled it with chocolate ganache. Because it was a festive occasion, I topped it with a fresh rose sprinkled with silver powder and dusted the whole cake with more silver powder. Went a bit overboard I think with the silver dust. It wasn't quite as high as the one in Simply Recipes, but that's because I used a big tin. I think it's actually better if you're making a desert to have smaller slices. I can really recommend this recipe.

Seared Tuna Salad

If you like your tuna raw then this is the salad for you. Perfect for low carb eating with a taste of Asia. This salad is inspired by a similar one that I always have when I go to JB Rivers at Cavendish Square, an up market shopping mall in the suburb of Claremont in Cape Town. Their sushi is very good but this salad is amazing. Especially in summer with a glass of crisp white wine.

INGREDIENTS for one

1 piece fresh Tuna. (about 150g per person)
a few pieces pickled ginger - chopped up
¼ fresh avocado - diced
cucumber - sliced
fresh salad leaves. (lettuce, rocket, watercress,etc.)
carrot, shaved.
spring onion, chopped.
red bell pepper, diced

DRESSING for one.

2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 cloves garlic crushed
salt and black pepper

mix all the salad ingredients together in a bowl.
Mix all the dressing ingredients together and use as much as you like.

arrange in a dome on a large plate.

Sear the tuna on a very hot pan or griddle. 40 seconds on each side is enough.
Allow it to cool and then, using a very sharp knife, slice into thin slices and arrange over the salad.
Garnish with chopped, pickled ginger and toasted sesame seeds.

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.