Farewell To Summer …..

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Autumn, Blogging News, Books, Books for Cooks, Bread, Food Blogs, Food styling, Food writer, Foods in season, Fruit, Life, Mayonnaise, nuts and seeds, organic, Photography, recipe, stews, Travel, Vegetables, Writing

In Season For March

With the month of March comes the dancing in of autumn, the days are cooling and the mornings are noticeably darker. It is time to welcome back stews and other autumnal treats.

Apples continue to be in season and make wonderful warm desserts or can simply be cut into quarters, sautéed in butter until softened and slightly caramelized, to serve with roast pork or with game birds such as pheasant. The classic Waldorf salad becomes one of my favourite light lunches or side dishes at this time of the year; all the ingredients required to make it of which apple is just one component, are of course in season, providing a perfect end result.

Enjoy the last of the blackberries; and spoil your family with this easy tart. Blind bake a short crust pastry case and when cooled fill with following mixture. For the filling you will need seeds from 1 vanilla pod, 250 ml Mascarpone, and 100 ml pouring cream, 2 tablespoons sugar, 40 ml Vin Santo. Whip all the ingredients together until nice and shiny. Fill the cooked and cooled pastry case with the mixture and top with blackberries. Drizzle over the top with a little blackberry jam, gently heated and thinned with a little water or Vin Santo, cooled before drizzling over the tart.

Capsicums are at their peak from summer to autumn, make the most of them while in season. I love them simply roasted then sprinkled with herbs, salt and olive oil and eaten with sourdough or ciabatta bread; wonderful served either hot or cold and goes well with lamb, chicken, or grilled beef.

Eggplant with its alluring shinny purple black skin is a wonderful carrier of flavours and as such can completely transform a dish. Dusted with flour, fried and layered with a freshly made tomato sauce, basil leaves, parmesan and buffalo mozzarella, then baked, provides an unctuous simple dish to serve either as a starter or a main meal together with some bread; I usually choose a sourdough loaf.

Tomatoes; picking them fresh from my garden, still warm from the sun, served on toasted bruschetta or sourdough, sprinkled with salt flakes and drizzled with peppery olive oil is another one of my favourite light lunches.

Super markets although convenient, I have to say don’t sell the bright flavoured tomatoes I am seeking. Instead and sadly to say, I find the tomatoes they offer to be lacklustre, hard and rather devoid of flavour. If you want great tomatoes, seek out the organic growers at your nearest farmers market, or try growing your own, it is a lot of fun and extremely rewarding.

Also in Season:

Fruit

Apples, avocado, bananas, berries, figs, grapes, lemons, limes, melon, nectarines, oranges, papaya, passion fruit, peaches, pears, plums, raspberries

Vegetables

Asian greens, beans, capsicum, celery, chillies, cucumber, eggplant, fennel, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, onions, peas, potatoes, pumpkin, shallots, silver beet, squash, sweet corn, sweet potato, tomatoes, zucchini

Other

Almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, Olives

Classical Waldorf Salad

This is an iconic and classical recipe and one with a long pedigree. For best results use the tender stalks from the inner part of the celery

Ingredients

75 g walnuts toasted and a few extra to garnish

2 red apples

Juice of 1 lemon

3 tender celery stalks, finely sliced

1 radicchio leaves torn into bite size pieces

2 Witlof leaves separated

200 g red seedless grapes

1 cup parsley leaves, use flat leaf parsley

Mayonnaise

2 egg yolks

1 tbsp. red wine or chardonnay vinegar

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

130 ml olive oil

25 ml walnut oil

Lemon juice to taste

Makes about 200ml

Garnish

A few leaves from the heart of the celery

A few extra walnuts toasted

Method

To make the mayonnaise: place the egg yolks, vinegar and mustard in a food processor and process for a few seconds. Combine the two oils and with motor running add the oils in a thin steady stream. The mixture should come together in a nice thick emulsion. Add lemon juice, to taste and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Cut the apple into julienne (small strips) place in a bowl and combine with half the lemon juice. Add walnuts, celery, radicchio, witlof, grapes and parsley. Add 2 tablespoons mayonnaise and remaining lemon juice. Toss to combine and season to taste. Scatter with a few celery leaves from the heart of the celery and a few extra walnuts and serve.

Something Warm & Comforting to Soothe a Sad Moment

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Basil, Blogging News, Books, Cape Town, Cape Town Cooks, Chefs, Cooks, Easy Meals, Food Blogs, Life, Mozzarella, News, Pancetta, Photography, Quick meals, recipes, Rocket, Sandwiches, Travel, Writing

The noticeable absence of summer weather, and the overcast and wintery conditions of the day somehow suite the sadness I feel inside. Friends are in the process of a bitter divorce and another has departed this planet.

So with all this unwanted gloomy news I head for the kitchen, I want something to soothe the soul, it will not be the usual savoir faire, but instead I think I will have a warm oozy Mozzarella Pancetta Sandwich.

Mozzarella Pancetta Sandwiches

Serves 2

Ingredients

4 slices of good quality bread; sour dough or ciabata

Butter

1/2 tsp. Lemon zest

A squeeze of lemon juice

100g Buffalo mozzarella or bocconcini

4–6 Basil leaves, torn

4-6 rocket leaves, tossed in olive oil

8 slices Pancetta

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Cook the pancetta until crispy either in a pan or under the grill, then set aside on kitchen paper to drain.

Slice the mozzarella into about  1 cm discs and marinate for a few minutes with the lemon zest, lemon juice, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Butter each slice of bread. Place 2 of the slices, butter side down on top of a chopping board and divide the marinated mozzarella between them. Add the torn basil leaves, rocket, salt and pepper to taste and the crispy pancetta. Top with the other slice of bread, butter side facing up and gently fry the sandwiches in a heavy based frying pan over a moderate heat until they are golden on both sides. Remove and slice into fingers and serve

A delicious soupçon at the end of a meal

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Blogging News, Books, Cape Town Cooks, Chefs, Christmas, Crème de menthe, Entertaining, Entertainment, Food Blogs, Food Writing, home made chocolates, Life, Peppermint creams, Photography, recipes, Travel, truffles, Writing

Sometimes instead of dessert I will instead serve these beautiful peppermint creams at the end of a meal with either coffee, tea or a night cap of choice. You can of course make a dessert as well, it is entirely up to you. I love these easy to make peppermint creams as do my friends who have enjoyed them often. Served displayed on a beautiful platter, makes them the best treat imagined.

Peppermint Creams

Ingredients

Makes about 40

125 g unsalted butter

75 g icing sugar, sifted

15-20 ml crème de menthe

500 g dark chocolate finely chopped, ( good quality, 60-70% cocoa solids)

Method

Place butter in a bowl and beat with electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy which should take about 4-5 minutes. Beat in one third of the icing sugar and half the crème de menthe, beat well to combine. Add half of remaining icing sugar and remaining crème de menthe, and beat well to combine, and then beat in the last of the  remaining icing sugar. Refrigerate for about 30-40 minutes or until the mixture is a workable consistency. Take heaped teaspoons of mixture and form into mounds and place the mounds  on a tray lined with baking paper. Freeze until firm but not frozen solid, about 15 minutes should do it.

Melt chocolate in heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Dip the creamed mounds one at a time into the melted chocolate, shake off excess, and then gently roll in cocoa. Place the peppermint creams on tray lined with baking paper and refrigerate until firm. This should take about 40 minutes. Store the peppermint creams in fridge in an airtight container.

What’s In Season For October

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Blogging, Blogging News, Books, Chefs, Clifton Kitchen, Cooks, food, food and drink, food blog, Fruit, Life, organic, Organic foods, Organic markets, Photography, recipes, Seasonal food, Travel, Vegetables, Writing

Walking around the organic market on Saturday was so tempting and thought provoking, I could have bought so many lovely things but there is only so much one can eat before what you buy starts to spoil.

Spring and summer can be seen everywhere in the wonderful selection of fruit and vegetables on display. Beautiful fresh broad beans piled high on shelves, super fresh, bright pale green, and sweet tasting. When selecting broad beans I like to choose the smaller ones with pods that are heavy for their size and unblemished. Although their season is brief, they can be frozen as raw beans quite successfully. But why bother, just enjoy them for the short time in which they are available. I sometimes enjoy serving them raw, tossed with flakes of good quality salt, extra virgin olive oil and a few shavings of pecorino. Nice with a glass of wine served as a little appetizer just before dinner.

My favourite handy food is Avocado, high in natural healthy oil content, protein, minerals and vitamins. Many varieties are available throughout the year, but the Hass is currently at its peak. It has a yellow creamy flesh and a nutty subtle flavour. I enjoy avocado cut into squares, dressed with finely diced chilli, lime juice, coriander leaves and a good splash of fish sauce. Sometimes I add a little crab or cooked chicken. On other occasions I dress avocado with mirin, pickled ginger, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and a few drops of toasted sesame oil. Delicious!

Also in season are:

Fruit:

Pineapples, strawberries, cumquats, grapefruit, lemons, mangoes, oranges, papaya

Vegetables:

artichokes, Asian greens, asparagus, broccoli, capsicum, cucumbers, garlic, lettuce, onions, peas, silver beat, spinach

Something Simple & Delicious; for either dessert or afternoon tea.

Tags

Apple & PoppySeed Tart, baking, Blogging News, Books, Cape Town, Clifton Kitchen, Desserts, Food Blogs, High Tea, Life, Pastry, Photography, recipes, Travel, Writing

I love serving beautiful things for afternoon tea or desserts and when ever I travel I always visit the afternoon tea display to see and absorb what the various places choose to offer their guests. This particular recipe has been used over and over again at the  Clifton Kitchen, served either as a high tea offering or as a dessert to compliment the end of a meal.   The added bonus of this recipe is that it is of course very easy to make.

Apple & Poppy Seed Tart

Serves 8-10 slices

Ingredients

2 packs of frozen puff pastry (400 g)

1 egg yolk for glazing

2 egg yolks

50 g sugar

250 g crème fraîche

100 g poppy seeds

1 tablespoon cornflour

500 g crisp apples ( I use granny smith)

2 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoon seedless raisins, soaked in 2 tablespoons brandy

Icing sugar for dusting

Method

Set the oven to 200C

When the two rolls of pastry have thawed a little, brush each one with a little water, place on top of each other and roll out to a rectangle measuring approximately 25 x 40cm. Cut a 3cm strip off each edge.

Brush the edge of the pastry rectangle with water and press the strips that you cut off onto the edge to form a border. Brush pastry with egg yolk and dock (prick) the pastry with a fork and bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Beat together the 2 egg yolks and the sugar until creamy then stir in the crème fraîche , poppy seeds, and cornflour.

Peel, core and dice the apples and sprinkle with lemon juice.

Spread the poppy seed crème fraîche mixture on the baked pastry, scatter with the diced apple and raisins, place in the oven and bake at 200C for a further 15 minutes.

To serve dust with icing sugar

Seed, Date & Raisin Loaf

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baking, Blogging News, Books, Bread, Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve, dates, Food Blogs, health breads, honey, Life, raisins, recipes, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, Travel, Writing

My trip to the Cederberg mountains  and Bushmanskloof Wilderness Reserve was wonderful. Everywhere you looked there were carpets, and carpets of the most beautiful display of wild flowers, the rock formation of the mountains were equally breath taking (see pictures below recipe).  And today is Sunday, the weather has closed in once again and it is pouring with rain, so I am heading for the kitchen to make bread and to try out a new chicken liver pate idea as well as start the oxtail for tomorrow evenings dinner menu.

The bread is dead easy to make, is also wonderfully healthy and stays fresh for a week if it lasts that long. It also makes excellent toast.

You will need two bowls in which to place dry ingredients A and the wet ingredients B. you will also need a 1 litre capacity bread tin rubbed with butter and dusted with flour.

Set oven temperature to 180C

Ingredients A

250g whole wheat flour

100g oats

75 g shelled sunflower seeds

50 g All bran flakes

50 g seedless raisins finely chopped

50 g sesame seeds

50 g wheat germ

50 g cornflower

50 g dates, pips removed and finely chopped

Ingredients B

500 ml Bulgarian yoghurt

3 tablespoons sunflower or olive oil

3 tablespoons honey

1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp. sea salt

2 tablespoons molasses

Method

Mix all the ingredients listed under A together and in a separate bowl all the ingredients listed under B. Add part B to part A and mix through well. Put the mixture into the bread tin and sprinkle the top with a little sunflower and sesame seeds.

Place the bread into the oven set to 180C and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 150C and bake for a further 1/12 hours. Remove from oven and leave to cool in the tin before turning out.

This loaf cuts best when using a seated knife.

 

Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve