A Christmas treat – Spiced Cinnamon Shortbread

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baking, Cape Town, Chefs & Cooks, Christmas Biscuits, Christmas Gifts, Clifton Kitchen - Cooking thorugh the seasons, food blog, Food Writing, recipe, shortbread, Spices

The flavour and fragrance of this shortbread is just so ‘Christmassy’ and I love to have tins of it in the pantry; some pieces beautifully packed for little home-made gifts and some for sharing with friends who pop in over the festive season. What’s more it is very easy to make. 

Serves 8

Ingredients

2 cups cake flour

¼ cup caster sugar

2 tbsp. corn flour

¼ tsp. cinnamon powder

A pinch of Allspice powder

Pinch of salt

250g unsalted butter, slightly softened

Extra caster sugar for sprinkling once baked

Preheat the oven to 160°C.

Method

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and process until the ingredients are combined and just coming together. It is important to not over-process. If you don’t have a food processor, work the mixture lightly with your hands until combined.

Press the mixture as evenly as possible into a 20cm round pie dish and smooth the top. Using a fork, prick the dough evenly all over.

Place the shortbread in a preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes or until it turns a light golden brown.

Remove from the oven and slice into serving portions then sprinkle with some caster sugar while still hot. Leave to cool before serving.

spice options

ground star anise; ground dried ginger; ground cardamom, ground cloves

Food With Friends – a festive occasion

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apples, asparagus, blue cheese, Chefs, Cook Books, Cooking Through The Seasons, Cooks, eggs, feta cheese, food and drink, Food Blogs, Food Writing, garden salad, Lifestyle, olives, paoched eggs, potatoes, Prawns, red onion, roses champain, salad leaves, Spices, steamed rice, tarts, Tomato sauce, tomatoes, Vegetarian, vinaigrette

December brought with it the usual joy of sharing meals and enjoying quality time with family and friends. Keeping things simple yet festive was as always high on my list of priorities; these are some of my favourites dishes served this season.

For Christmas day

Prawns in spicy tomato sauce, served with steamed rice and a garden salad

Under the sway of the palms

Asparagus, red onion and blue cheese tart

Simple but fabulous warm Potato slices and olives, tossed together in an anchovy and garlic vinaigrette served with slivers of tuna and topped with a poached egg.

Ancient & Noble Fruits are In Season

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Blogs, Books, Cape Town, Chefs, Cook Books, Cooks, figs, food, Food Writing, Fruit and vegetables, Grapes, Herbs, In Season, Life, Photography, Sardines, Spices, Travel, travel Writing, Veal

In Season for February

Delicate and sweetly sensual, the fig is now in season; its arrival is one of the great pleasures of the long hot summer. Figs and grapes are considered to be ancient noble fruits. Most of the varieties grown locally in most gardens including my own, are the common green skinned variety, but there are also purple skinned varieties.

Once ripened the fig is extremely perishable and best consumed straight away or stored at the most for two to three days in the fridge.

Figs make a great salad when teamed with rocket leaves, torn basil and buffalo mozzarella, drizzled with a little aged balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. They also make wonderful accompaniments to many cheeses, poultry, and cured pork. They are also beautiful served as a dessert.

But today I am using the noble fruit in a beautiful salad.

Salad of Fig, Manchego Cheese & Walnuts, served with a Grape Dressing

Serves 6

Ingredients

110 g walnuts lightly roasted

100 g rocket

6 figs torn into chunks

120 g Manchego cheese, shaved

Dressing

½ tablespoons honey

1½ tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar

2 shallots finely chopped

80 ml walnut or olive oil

200 g red or black grapes cut in half

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Method

For the dressing; whisk the honey, vinegar, chopped shallots and oil in a bowl to combine, then add the grapes and season to taste.

To assemble; toss the figs, rocket and walnuts together, then divide among the plates, and drizzle with the grape dressing, then scatter the Manchego cheese shavings over the top of each salad.

Also in season:

Fruits:

Avocado, bananas, Blackberries, figs, grapes, guavas, kiwifruit, lychees, mangoes, honeydew melons, rock melons, nectarines, oranges, passion fruit, peaches, plums, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries, watermelon

Vegetables:

Beans, Borlotti beans, butter beans, capsicum, celery, chillies, cucumbers, eggplant, fennel, leeks, lettuce, okra, onions, peas, radishes, squash, sweet corn, tomatoes, zucchini

Herbs & Spices:

Basil, Chervil, Rocket,  Tarragon, Young ginger,

Fish & Meat:

Calamari, Sardines, Veal

Restocking the Pantry & Home-made Mustard to make

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Cape Town, cloves, Cook Books, cooking, Food Blogs, Food Writing, Herbs, Home made mustards. Mustard, honey, horseradish, Lifestyle, Mustard seeds, News, Photography, recipes, Spices, tarragon, Travel

On my schedule for today is the annual pantry clean-up; a laborious but necessary task which entails removing everything in stock, washing down shelves, inspecting expiry dates, repackaging and relabeling and then drawing up a list of goods to be replaced.

I usually do an herb and spice inspection every 3-6 months. Ground spices tend to lose their nutritional value and fragrance after about 3 months. Whole spices may last up to a year, some slightly more depending on where you purchase them from. It is obviously best to by spices from outlets which have a fast turnover that way you are more assured of the freshness of the product. The same goes for dried herbs; they will lose their fragrance and start to smell like old tea after 3 months.

A few packets of mustard seeds are not far from the expiry date, so they will be turned into some mustard, some for the kitchen and some for friends. So there is even more to do than planned.

With a good job done I am now hungry. Lunch is simple but delicious, a seasonal affair. Blanched tender stem broccoli and green beans, refreshed under cold water, drained and tossed into simple vinaigrette of garlic, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, olive oil, seasoned with sea salt flakes and black pepper. Add to this some crumbled crispy bacon, goats milk feta, pitted olives and voila! – Lunch is served.

This basic mustard recipe is reliable and may be varied by adding differ herbs and spices to produce different flavoured mustards. Quantities are very important, weigh and measure every ingredient exactly.

Basic Mustard & Variations

Ingredients

50 g white or brown mustard seed

30 g black mustard seed

50 g light brown sugar

5 ml salt

5 ml turmeric

60 ml finely chopped fresh herbs, or 5 ml dried herbs

200 ml grape vinegar

Method

Place all the dry ingredients, and the herbs in a blender, blend until fine. Slowly add the vinegar, about a tablespoon at a time and continue blending until you have a coarse paste. Let the mixture stand for about 10 minutes to thicken.

Place the mixture into sterilized jars and seal. Label jars accordingly.

Keep the mustard in a cool dark place for about 2 weeks to allow the flavours to develop.

Variations

This recipe lends itself to endless variations. You can flavour the mustard with any of the following ingredients.

Clove mustard: add the tip of a knife of ground cloves

Chilli & garlic mustard: add 1 dried chilli crumbled, and 1 clove of crushed garlic

Horseradish mustard: depending on how hot you want your mustard, add ½ teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of grated horseradish

Tarragon mustard: add 60ml finely chopped tarragon and a touch of ground cloves

Honey mustard: use 50ml honey in place of the brown sugar referred to in the recipe.

Christmas Temptation

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Buttery biscuits, chocolate, Christmas Biscuits, Cocoa, Cook Books, currents, Festive season, food blog, Food Writing, lemon zest, Life, News, Photography, raisins, recipes, Spices, travel Writing, Vanilla essence

Buttery Christmas Biscuits

It’s a nice quiet day and a perfect time to quickly put a batch of cookie dough together which I will keep in the freezer to ensure that fresh cookies are always available when friends pop in over the next few days. It’s a nice, simple recipe which can be embellished simply by adding nuts, currents, raisins, cocoa, bits of chocolate, essence, lemon rind and spices. And of course it stores well in the freezer.

As it is the festive season it is also nice to wrap the biscuits in either cellophane paper tied with a pretty bow, or packed into a pretty box and hand them out as little Christmas gifts.

Ingredients

250 g butter

125 g icing sugar

1 egg

350 g plain whole flour

Method

Cut the butter into small pieces, place in a food processor together with all the other ingredients. Process until the dough comes together in a ball around the blade.

Roll the dough into a long sausage shape, wrap in baking paper and refrigerate for 2 hours. Once the dough has chilled, cut the dough into thin slices. Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C for 6-8 minutes.

Remove biscuits from oven and cool on wire rack, then store in an airtight biscuit tin.

Note: when adding essence, cocoa or spice, add together with all the ingredients prior to processing.

To add nuts, chocolate, zest, raisins or currants; do this by gently kneading the ingredients into the dough prior to rolling into a sausage shape.

Mushroom & Aubergine Galette Served With a Crisp Salad

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Aabergine, Cheese, Chefs, eggs, Entertainment, food and drink, Food Blogs, free range, Galette, Herbs, Lifestyle, Mushroom, organic, Produce, puff pastry, recipe, S.A. Food Blogs, Salads, Spices, Yoghurt

Everyone that I have served this Galette to has requested the recipe. What I like is that I can prep everything ahead of time and when ready to bake, quickly assemble the Galette in a bout 5-10 minutes and pop it into the oven for about 40 minutes, leaving me free to enjoy the company of my guests for most of the evening. As a side dish I toss together some baby gem lettuce, onion, chopped tomato, and sprinkle over some olive oil and splash with some vinegar then season with salt and pepper. It’s a perfect evening meal.

I use frozen puff pastry for this Galette; it is one of my handy stock items, I always have a few rolls in the deep freeze.

Serves 4 as a light meal

Ingredients

Ready-made puff pastry

250 g mixed mushrooms, thickly sliced

350 g Aubergines cut into small dice

2 tablespoons oil

1 onion finely diced

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

½ tsp. ground cumin

½ tsp. ground cayenne

½ tsp. paprika

1 log soft goats cheese (120gm approximately)

110 g thick Greek yoghurt

50 g Gruyere cheese, coarsely grated

1 tablespoon each fresh thyme, oregano leaves, roughly chopped

Small handful of parsley roughly chopped

2 eggs lightly beaten

Finely grated rind of 1 lemon

30 g butter

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Method

Heat the oven to 180∘C

Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface, to about 3mm thick and into a round shape of about 30 cm diameter, it does not need to be perfect. Place pastry on an oven tray lined with baking paper and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes to rest.

Heat a large frying pan on the stove and ‘dry fry’ the mushrooms for about 10 minutes, this method adds flavour and evaporates the excess moisture,  cook until lightly golden, season with salt and pepper, sauté for a few more minutes till all the moisture is cooked off. Set aside in a bowl.

Dry fry the aubergines for about 10 minutes, season with salt and pepper add some of the oil and cook for a further 10 minutes; remove and add to the bowl with the mushrooms.

In the same pan add the balance of the oil, add the onions and sauté until translucent and slightly golden, add the garlic and dry spices and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add to the mushrooms and aubergines. Mix in the soft goats’ cheese, yoghurt, herbs, lemon rind, egg and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread the mixture in an even layer over the pastry, leaving a 3cm border.

Melt the butter, remove from the heat and add the lemon juice. Drizzle over the mixture and sprinkle with the gruyere cheese. Fold in the pastry edges, pleating as you go.

Bake at 180∘C for about 40 minutes, the pastry should be crisp and golden

Aromatic Warmth & Heady Fragrance ….. the inspiring notes for todays menu

Tags

Bobotie, Carrots, corriander, Crab meat, cumin, fish, ginger, Onion seeds, salmon, Seasoning, Spices, spinach, Turmeric

It’s a clear bright sky today; the wild almond which towers over the entrance to the Clifton House is breaking out with blossoms, soon they will fall to the ground like snowflakes; the wonderful fragrance of cardamom coffee wafting from the kitchen pricks the senses. I fancy something fragrant and mildly spicy for dinner.

The pantry store cupboard holds a store of heady scents and warm colours, I find just what I need for the Fish Bobotie which I will serve with a warm salad of carrot, spinach tossed together with a cumin, lemon and garlic dressing. I pick fresh curry leaves from the little tree in the herb garden and add a few Kaffir lime leaves to the bundle. The curry leaves provide a mild aromatic warmth to the Bobotie which I feel the dish just cant do without. The kaffir lime leaves are optional.

Aromatic Fish Bobotie served with Carrot, Spinach and cumin salad with toasted black onion seeds

Deliciously fragrant and mildly spicy, a good dish for entertaining friends.

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 cans of skinless and boneless pink salmon ( drained mass 270 g)

1 can crab meat (drained mass 113 g)

2 slices of bread

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ tsp. ground cumin

½ tsp. ground coriander

½ ground cayenne pepper

Thumb size piece of ginger peeled and finely chopped

1 onion peeled and finely diced

1 cup of cream

1 tsp. turmeric powder

2 large eggs

Salt

Black pepper

6-8 curry leaves

4 kaffir lime leaves finely sliced (optional)

Method

Set the oven temperature to 180C

Drain the cans of salmon and crab meat and place in a bowl.

In a separate bowl tear the bread into chunks and cover with the cup of milk, leave to soak.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan, add the cumin, coriander, cayenne and sauté for a few seconds, add the chopped ginger, sauté for a few more seconds then add the chopped onion. Sauté until the onion is tender and soft. Add to the bowl with the fish and crab and mix through. Squeeze the bread reserving the milk for later; add the bread to the mixture in the bowl. Mix all thoroughly but gently together and place in a buttered oven proof dish.

Add 1 cup of the cream to the reserved milk in which the bread was soaking, add the turmeric, the eggs, beat together lightly and season with salt and pepper. Pour this custard liquid over the fish mixture. Add some curry leaves pushing them gently down on top of the custard. Add a sprinkling of the finely sliced Kaffir lime leaves.

Place in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until the custard is set and is a nice golden colour.

For the warm salad

Carrot Spinach and cumin salad with toasted black onion seeds

The secret to this salad is good quality organic carrots and spinach and lightly pan roasting the onion seeds

Ingredients

500g cooked carrots

250g baby spinach washed, blanched and squeezed dry

½ tsp. ground cumin

2 garlic cloves peeled and roughly chopped

½ tsp. sea salt

Juice of half a lemon

1/3 tsp. castor sugar

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tsp. pan roasted black onion seeds

Method

Slice the cooked carrots into long strips, about 3-4 strips per carrot. Place into a salad bowl, together with the spinach, layering as you go.

Pound the cumin, garlic, and salt in a mortar and pestle. Mix in the lemon juice, sugar and olive oil until well amalgamated.

Pour the dressing over the carrot and spinach and sprinkle with the roasted black onion seeds.