Three of my Favourite Ingredients

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avocado, Cape Town Chef Cooks, Chillies, Clifton Kitchen - Cooking thorugh the seasons, food and drink, food and travel writing, Food Blogs, Food Writing, healthy food, Healthy Meals, ingredients, Kate Abbott, Lifestyle, Light meals, Olive oil, Photography, Poached egg, recipes, smoked salmon

I love Avocado, smoked salmon and eggs, and in this recipe I have combined them to produce a dish that is full of fantastic flavour. It is healthy and easy to prepare and is one of my favourite meals for lunch or brunch.

Ingredients

Toasted wholegrain brown bread

A few slivers of smoked salmon

A few slices of avocado

A soft boiled or poached egg

Lemon juice

Olive oil chilli dressing

Black pepper

Sea salt flakes

Method

Cut the toast in half and place the toast on a plate; drape over a few slivers of smoked salmon followed by a few slivers of avocado. Place the poached egg on the plate next to the smoked salmon and avocado.

Sprinkle over some lemon juice and dress with the chilli dressing and some black pepper. Season the egg with a little salt.

For the chilli dressing

Ingredients

2 medium hot chillies

Juice from one lime

Pinch of salt

Pinch of sugar

Olive oil

Method

Place the chillies, lime juice, salt, and sugar in a container and blitz with a hand held blender until you have a rough mixture. Stir in some olive oil and serve.

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Chopped Egg & Onion with Lemon Thyme

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Cape Town, Chefs & Cooks, Chopped Egg & Onion, Clifton Kitchen - Cooking thorugh the seasons, Food Blogs, Food Writing, Kate Abbott, Lemon Thyme, Lifestyle, Light Lunch, Light meals, Mayonnaise, Mustard, onions, Photography, South African Food Blogs, Spring onions, Wholegrain mustard

This recipe is lovely to serve as a starter or a light lunch. As simple as the ingredients may sound, the end result is high in flavour; delicious served sprinkled with chopped parsley, onion rings, and piled on toast, or used as sandwich filling. I love it just on a bed of crisp lettuce leaves.

 

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

8 hardboiled eggs, shelled and finely chopped – or if you prefer coarsely chopped

6 spring onions or 1 small onion, very finely chopped

A sprig of finely chopped fresh lemon thyme – about a ¼ of a tsp. once chopped

4 tablespoons good quality mayonnaise or sufficient mayonnaise to bind the mixture together

1 tsp. French whole grain mustard

Fresh parsley finely chopped to garnish or fold into the mixture

Method

Place the chopped egg and onion in a bowl and season well with salt and black pepper

Mix the mayonnaise and mustard together, then add to the chopped eggs and onions and combine all ingredients together. Chill for 15-30 minutes to allow the flavours to develop

Serve with a garnish of parsley

Options:

You could replace the Lemon Thyme with Dill or Tarragon

You could also add some fresh cooked and flaked crab or steamed, shelled and roughly diced prawns to the mixture which will take it to a whole new level.

Linger a Little Longer with Fresh Ricotta & Spinach Crêpes

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Books, Cape Town, Cape Town Cooks, Chefs, Cooks, Crêpes, Food Blogs, Light meals, News, Photography, recipes, Ricotta, spinach, starter, Travel, Writing

The spinach in my garden is still producing new leaves, just the thing I want for what I am planning. The spinach together with the gorgeous fresh ricotta, herbs and seasoning, will make a rather nice filling for some posh crêpes

Fresh Ricotta & Spinach Crêpes

Serves 4 as a main meal or 8 as a starter

Crêpe batter

500 ml milk

170 g plain flour

4 eggs

100 g butter

Filling

1½ tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic finely chopped

400 g baby spinach

200 g ricotta

60 g parmesan cheese finely grated, a bit extra for scattering

1 tsp. finely chopped fresh thyme leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Prepare the batter: I find a food processor works well for this purpose. Put milk, flour, eggs and a pinch of salt in a food processor, mix until well combined.

In an 18cm non-stick pan, heat about 5 g of butter over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, place 2 tablespoons of the batter in the middle of the pan, swirling to spread batter thinly and evenly. Cook crêpe until just set which should take about 1 ½ minutes, turn and cook the other side for about 30 seconds or until golden brown. Transfer crêpe to a plate and repeat the process with the rest of the batter. You should end up with about 20 crêpes.

For the filling: heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over high heat, add garlic and sauté for a few seconds then add the spinach, and a pinch of salt, stir until the spinach has wilted. Transfer spinach to a bowl, leave to cool slightly then add the ricotta, parmesan, thyme, season to taste. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200C

Working one crêpes at a time, fill with 2 tablespoons of ricotta and spinach filling. Fold crêpes in half, then in half again to form a cone shape. Place the crepe on a paper lined oven tray and repeat the process with the remaining crêpes and filling. Bake until heated through and the edges start to crisp; this should take about 10-15 minutes.

Serve scattered with parmesan and an accompaniment of well seasoned and finely diced ripe tomatoes tossed in olive oil.

Lunch was Devine – Panini Topped with Chicken Bacon Lettuce & Aioli

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Bacon, Cape Town, Chefs, chicken, Clifton Kitchen, Food Blogs, Guests, Lettuce, Light meals, Quick meals, S.A. Food Blogs, Tomatoes. Aioli

It is always nice when the unexpected visit melds into an unplanned moment resulting in a divine lunch for two.

This particular recipe is a classic and makes a good, light but satisfying meal. The added bonus is that it can be made and assembled in no time at all.

Serves 2

Ingredients

Some cold chicken, a couple of pieces

2 Panini or whatever bread is at hand

2 rasher of grilled bacon per person

2 tomatoes thickly sliced and  lightly pan fried in the bacon juices

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Balsamic vinegar

Some lettuce washed and shredded or some fresh watercress

Aioli or mayonnaise

Method

Roughly shred the chicken flesh. Cut the Panini in half. Put the shredded chicken on the bread, add the warm bacon rashers, the roast tomatoes and season. Drizzle with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar, top with the lettuce and a dollop of aioli or mayonnaise on top. Place on a plate with the top half of the Panini placed at an angle on the bottom piece.