It’s Almost Time to Bring the Patio Umbrellas out of Storage

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Basmati Rice, Blogging, Books, Books for Cooks, Cape Town, Chillies, Cooks, Eggs Soy sauce, Entertaining, Entertainment, farm fresh eggs, food and drink, Food Blogs, Food Writing, In Season, News, organic, Peanut oil, PhotographyLife, Prawns, recipes, Sesame oil, Spring, Spring onions, Travel, Writing

I wake an hour earlier than usual, to a light filled bedroom, not the usual overcast, dark days of the past few weeks. It’s going to be a sunny, breezy day, but temperature wise still cold enough to warrant warm clothing.

I cannot help but welcome the change in weather with open arms; I notice the lizard sprawled on the sunlit flagstones and wonder if it’s almost time to bring the patio umbrellas out of storage.

The afternoon cools dramatically and a chilly breeze blows in through the kitchen where I sip aromatic coffee while planning the evening meal. There will be three of us for supper and I want something that is quick to prepare yet feels like a special treat. I have some lovely fresh prawns, chillies, fresh coriander and farm fresh organic eggs, perfect for a dish of spicy prawn and scrambled eggs, dressed with soy and sesame infused sauce, served together with a bowl of basmati rice.

This is a delightful main course, simple yet full on flavour, perfect for a lunch or supper dish. It’s one I enjoy and so too the friends I have shared it with. To ring the changes I sometimes replace the prawns with firm fish, scallops or pork.

Spicy Prawn Scrambled Eggs Dressed with Soy & Sesame infused Sauce

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients

4 – 5 eggs

60 ml peanut or other vegetable oil

600 g prawns, peeled and cleaned

3-4 spring onions finely chopped with some of the green part included

Dried chilli flakes

Sprinkle of salt 

Sauce Dressing

80 ml light soy sauce

2 tsp. white sugar

4-6 drops sesame oil

80 ml water

Accompaniment

Basmati Rice

Garnish

Chopped green parts of spring onion

Method

While the rice is almost cooked start making the sauce. Put all the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to the boil then remove from the heat.

Break eggs in a bowl and whisk lightly for a few seconds, add the tiniest bit of salt and pepper. Season the prawns with chilli flakes. 

Heat a wok or a frying pan until almost smoking then add half the oil, leave to heat through for a few seconds then add the prawns and cook until almost done. Remove prawns and wipe wok with some paper towels. Put wok back on the heat, add the balance of the oil, add the egg mixture and stir fry until just beginning to set. At this point add the prawns and the chopped spring onions and gently toss together for a few more seconds to combine.

Remove from the heat and transfer the egg and prawns to a plate and pour over the warm sauce sprinkle over some chopped green parts of spring onion and serve with Basmati rice.

Note: when adding salt to season the ingredients prior to cooking, do so sparingly and  keep in mind the saltiness of the soy sauce in the dressing.

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.

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.

Food For a Crowd

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Appitizer, Books, Calzone, Cape Town, Cefs, Cooks, Entertaining, feta, food, Food Blogs, Life, News, Photography, Pizza, Proscuitto, recipes, spinach, Travel, Writing

Calzone can be filled with anything you have at hand making it perfect food for feeding a crowd, especially handy at this time of the year when we entertain a lot. It’s also easy to make but does require a little forward planning.

The flavourful marriage of spinach, rocket and prosciutto together with feta cheese is one of my favourite combinations.

Serves 8-10  as a starter or appetizer

or

Serves 6 as a main meal with salad

For the dough

500 g flour. I use 00 flour

200 g semolina, and a little extra for dusting

1 tablespoon activated instant dry yeast

10 ml sea salt

40 ml olive oil

400 ml water

For the filling

2 tablespoons olive oil

5 garlic cloves thinly sliced

300 g baby spinach

250 g rocket, small leaves are best

salt and pepper to taste

12-14 slices of prosciutto

Method

In a bowl combine the flour, semolina, yeast and 10 ml sea salt. Make a well in the centre, add olive oil and about 400ml water, stir to combine. Turn dough onto a clean work surface, knead until combined and smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with tea towel, and place in a warm place to prove until double in size. This will take about 45-50 minutes.

In the meantime sauté the garlic in olive oil in a pan over medium heat for about 2 minutes, add spinach and rocket and cook until wilted, about 1-2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 250C.

Prepare the base

You will need an oven tray measuring 40 x 25cm. Scatter a base of oven tray with semolina. Roll two thirds of the dough slightly larger than the baking tray (45 x 30 cm) and place the dough on the tray.

Arrange wilted greens over the dough, leaving a 3cm boarder. Scatter with basil, feta and prosciutto, fold in border, moisten the border with egg wash and set aside. Roll out remaining dough to 40cm x 25cm, place over prepared base and press edges together to seal. Cover loosely with a tea towel and leave in a warm place until dough has risen slightly, about 25-30 minutes. Cut slits in top, place in oven and bake until golden brown (10-15) minutes.

Cut into serving portions and serve either with a salad or as an appetizer

Eat, Taste, Shop & Experience the best produce and flavours in season

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bnlogging news, Books, Cape Town, Chefs, Cooks, Food Blogs, Frut and Vegetables, Goats cheese, Herbs, Life, Organic markets, Photography, recipes, Seasonal food, Seasonal shopping, Travel, Writing

Eat, taste, shop and experience the best produce and flavours now in season.

Produce In Season for November

Goats’ cheeses are particularly good at this time of the year due to the lushness of the pastures and good green grass and forage in their diet; as a consequence their milk takes on an extra sweetness in flavour. The goats also kid during this time resulting in milk with higher and richer buttermilk content.

I love to serve fresh chèvre seasoned with flowering herbs, nasturtium and other edible organic flowers, drizzled with good olive oil, a sprinkling of salt flakes and a grind of pepper and some good country bread. Delicious!

Mangoes are readily available too and will be great until the end of summer. Look for unblemished fruit with no black spots. When ripe you should be able to smell the sweetness through the skin, they should feel soft but not mushy and still have some firmness.

In my kitchen herb garden, Basil, one of my favourite herbs and so evocative of summer is looking great. One of the nicest things to do with a fresh bunch of Basil is to make pesto, crushed in a mortar and pestle with pine nuts, add some grated parmesan, then drizzle in extra virgin olive oil and sometimes when serving with pasta, I do what they do in Genoa and add a little bit of butter. The pesto mixed with a little of the salty cooking water of the pasta, then tossed together with the drained pasta, is superb.

when you have an abundance of fresh Basil, it can be chopped up and covered with olive oil, it keeps remarkably well this way and is handy for use in cooking and for flavouring and is certainly better this way than using the dried option.

At the organic markets you can find lovely white asparagus, it has a beautiful delicate flavour and has long been considered a delicacy of Europe. It is the same species as the green, just grown without sunlight.  I love to serve white asparagus with poached eggs topped with a gremolata of sourdough breadcrumbs, garlic, flat leaf parsley and some lemon zest.

Also in season are:

Fruit

Asian greens, avocados, bananas, berries, cherries gooseberries, grapefruit, lychees, melons, passion fruit, papaya, pineapple oranges, strawberries

Vegetables / herbs

Artichokes, beans, carrots, celery, chervil, chillies, cilantro, cucumbers, fennel, garlic, lettuce, onions, oregano, parsley peas, potatoes, radishes, rocket, sage, silver beet spinach, sweet corn, tomatoes, tarragon, Thyme, zucchini flowers

Gifts of Pulses & Grains

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Blogging, Books, Cape Town, Cook Books, Festive season, Food Blogs, Food Gifts, Gifts, Grains, Life, News, Photography, Pulses, recipes, Salad dressings, Salads, Travel, Writing

The festive season is as usual a busy time for entertaining. For my friends and family it tends to be a busy time too, so giving them a foodie gift is always a welcome treat. These three lovely salads presented in beautiful dishes are I think lovely gifts that anyone would be happy to receive.

 

Mixed Bean Salad

Ingredients

1 can, (100g) cooked butter beans

1 can, (100g) cooked red kidney bean

1 can, (100g) cooked haricot beans

100 g fresh French beans cut into 2.5cm lengths

6 spring onions chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Salad dressing, about 4-5 tablespoons

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Method

Drain the cans of beans and place in a bowl.

Cook the French beans in salted boiling water for about 7 minutes, drain and place in the bowl with the beans. Mix in the onions and the salad dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix through and sprinkle with parsley

French Dressing

Ingredients

175 ml olive oil

4 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 garlic clove crushed

1 tsp. honey

Salt and pepper

Method

Put all the ingredients in a screw top jar, add seasoning to taste. Shake well to emulsify.

Gift Presentation

Look for beautiful bowls or other interesting suitable containers. Fill the bowls with freshly prepared salads and wrap careful in clear cellophane. Tie with a beautiful bow. Type or write the recipe on to some lovely paper, roll up and attach to the gift.

 

Flageolet Vinaigrette

Ingredients

2 cans, 225g cooked flageolet beans

6 tablespoons French dressing

1 red pepper core and seeds removed, chopped

4 spring onions, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh herbs chopped: mint, parsley and thyme

2 celery sticks, about 18cm long cut into thin slices

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Drain the beans and place in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, the salad dressing, toss thoroughly and season to taste.

Transfer to the dish in which you intend to present your foodie gift.

Gift Presentation as above, together with the recipe.

 

Aduki Bean Salad

 

Ingredients

2 cans, (225g) cooked aduki beans

6 tablespoons Ginger salad dressing

6 spring onions, chopped

4 tomatoes, skinned and chopped

3 celery sticks, about 18cm long, finely sliced

2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped

Seasoning to taste (take into account the soy sauce in the dressing)

Method

Drain the beans and place in a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and the salad dressing, toss well and season to taste.

For the ginger dressing.

Ingredients

175 ml olive oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

3 cm piece ginger peeled and finely chopped

Place all the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well to emulsify.

Gift presentation: as above together with the recipe.

Food Gifts For Christmas–Delicious Strawberry & Blueberry Jam

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Blogging, Book, Christmas, Cooks, Food Blogs, Food Gifts, Gifts, Jam making, New, Preserves, preserving, recipes, Strawberry Jam, Travel, Writing

I think homemade jams are lovely gifts and they can be made just that extra bit special by including a little ceramic jar in which to serve the jam, together with the recipe. You could also include a teaspoon, or jam spoon. I like including unusual spoons.

Makes about 750ml

Easy Strawberry & Blueberry Jam

Ingredients

1.5 kg fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled

3 cups castor sugar or jam sugar

2 tablespoons orange-flavoured liqueur

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

1 tsp. cold butter

Method

Rinse the strawberries under cold running water, then drain and hull. Cut the strawberries in half or quarters, leave the small strawberries whole. Place the strawberries and blueberries in a deep, heavy-bottomed pot and toss them together with the sugar and orange-flavoured liqueur.

Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. Add the apple and continue to keep the mixture at a rolling boil, stirring occasionally, and skim and discard any foam that rises to the top, until the jam reaches 105C on a sugar thermometer. This should take 25 to 35 minutes. At this point the jam should have thickened quite nicely, add the cold butter, stir through and remove from the heat. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature and then store covered in the refrigerator. It will keep refrigerated for at least 2 weeks. To keep the jam longer, pack and seal in canning jars according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Gift presentation

Place a pretty pot on top of the lid of the jam, place these two items in the middle of a square of cellophane paper, pull all the corners together at the top and tie with a bow. Hand write or type up the recipe, roll up and tie with a complementary bow or decoration of your choice.

Note:

• The pectin in the apple helps with the setting of the Jam. You can also replace the castor sugar with Jam sugar which already includes the necessary pectin.
• Don’t fret too much about removing every last scrap of foam that forms during the cooking process, this will disappear altogether with the addition of the cold butter at the end

Don’t for get this food gift idea posted  previously  the gift of home made Mayonnaise