BANHOEK CHILLI OIL – ENOUGH SAID!

FOREVER! That's how long I wanted to buy Banhoek Chilli Oil, and low and behold, on our way back from Ballito at a quaint stop next to the highway, I actually discovered 2 bottles! Apologies to Yuppiechef - I really did mean to buy the oil, but I never got around to clicking the “check-out” button.....  Back home we couldn’t wait to try out our new Banhoek Chilli Oil.

After a long week of giving our souls to our daytime jobs, we were in dire need of some relaxation, and what better way than trying something new in the kitchen!  The hubster and I decided to make dinner using the Banhoek Chilli Oil. Being proactive, I went to their website and came across a recipe that looked delicious for this coldish Friday night in Centurion - Truffle Spaghetti. Done deal! This will be our Friday night dinner.

Inspecting the recipe at first, you might notice that it seems a bit “vegetarian-ary”.  A while back I did a fast, which mainly excluded all meat and all animal products from your diet. I learned a lot from this fast. Like, I REALLY, REALLY LOVE MEAT, no, seriously I LOVE MEAT and will forever LOVE MEAT and will FOREVER eat MEAT (and other animal products). 

The hubster and I are not rabbit feeders or mad at the world, so we modified the recipe. Why? 'Cause we can, of course! YAY! We added a little taste of meat, and you might ask what kind of meat? In the form of a little Peppa Pig – Prosciutto- of course. (Side note: If you are the parent of a 2-year-old, you will know that Peppa Pig is haunting you in your dreams currently because that is ALL your 2-year-old is watching.)

The recipe calls for a generous splash of the chilli oil, but we only added 3/4 of a tot. Be careful – we don’t want you to have ring sting tomorrow, now do we?!

The taste explosion in my mouth tonight was thanks to Banhoek Chilli Oil – ENOUGH SAID!

In hindsight, I told the hubster this dish needs something creamy, so next time we will be adding a few chunks of goat's cheese. If you feel bold throw in a couple of capers. I am convinced it will be exceptional.

Last thought: No offense to the vegetarians and vegans out there. I am very sad for your loss.

Free State Oxtail Potjie

 

There's a saying doing its rounds in South Africa stating:, "Wat is 'n vrou wat kan braai? Sy is kwaad" resulting from the typical behaviour of men at a South African braai who are drinking a lot of beer and just keeps on adding wood to the fire.  I would like to rectify this, "Wat is 'n vrou wat kan braai? Sy is 'n Vrystater"

Born and bred in the Free State with all the cattle and sheep farms surrounding us, we have a special love for meat. You can keep your "Meat free Mondays" or "Meat free May", thank you very much!

Winter is approaching and with the cooler weather we love to make our Bloemfontein Oxail Potjie.

The first time we made this potjie was about 12 years ago, in the middle of the winter in a very cold Bloemfontein. We drank alot of red wine and the pot were only ready at 11pm that evening. We froze our butts off in the cold Free Sate air that night, but we were younger and more interested in drinking wine.

Clearly from the pictures you can see, it was a party and only the wine mattered......

Now at almost 40 I must say, I am too old for that shit. So we start our oxtail pot really early so that it can be ready by 6pm. The wine still matters but we're unfortanetly to old to party -"like it's 1999" - because a hangover now lasts a week.

So here you go, the recipe for the Bloemfontein Oxtail potjie..... You're welcome ;)

1. Take fresh beef oxtail, (the quantity depends on the size of potjie that you are making, we usually use 12 oxtail pieces for our Size 3 potjie) dunk it in some flour and brown it on the stove in olive oil whilst you are frying celery, carrots, onion and garlic in your potjie.

2. Remove the celery mix and add your oxtails to the potjie and brown it in the potjie for another 5 minutes. Return the celery mix, add 2 cups of lamb stock and a cup of red wine, (and please don't use shitty red wine in food, if you won't drink it, we also don't want to eat it), simmer this for about 4 hours on a constant medium heat.

3. After four hours and copious amounts of red wine (well, copious is a relative description depending on your age, HA HA), add a packet of rich oxtail soup and a cup of coca-cola.  Simmer for another 3 hours.  In the last hour add baby potatoes (halved) and simmer for the last hour.

4. Serve with rice and some spring onion as garnish and ENJOY!

Jy gaan jou vingers af lek - you can thank me later ;)

This is NOT how life should be - Pasta

It's basically 2 years since my last post... yes, yes I know.... to gain attraction and popularity you should post frequently! But hey! I am a Professional in a global company, I've got two small girls, Corona came and fucked us over and work is hectic! Oh! And I'm an awesome wife to my just-as-awesome-husband.

It is Wednesday, I've started my day very early with a lot of important Viber messages from my colleagues in Singapore, and I have accomplished a lot today. What will we do tonight to wind down...? Braai? That is the South African way of relieving stress, but I am "gatvol"(fed up) for a braai (barbeque) so I decided that we should start a fire (it is winter in South Africa - well the last bit of it anyway) and we should make pasta. I am in the mood for something different, or like my sister Ilze will call it - "volksvreemd" (something unknown to our culture). I google, why? Because "they" say Google is your best friend.  But alas, I don't find anything that intrigues me, so I reckon, lets combine some of my favourite ingredients and see how it pans out!

So here goes............

Prosciutto Halloumi and Green Fig Preserve Pasta

Below you will find the pictures of this AMAZING delicious dish!................ and it is super easy.

Cut the Halloumi into squares and fry it in olive oil until golden brown

Take the Prosciuttos and fry it in olive oil until crispy

Cook the Penne Pasta until al-dente

Heat olive oil together with a small pinch of butter (to prevent the oil from burning) and fresh garlic, a hint of ginger and fresh lime until the garlic seems………….. well, cooked? LOL.

Combine all of the above and dress with quartered figs on top!

Voila! You have an amazing dinner – pair it with Tokara’s 2018 Shiraz and you’ve got yourself a gourmet dinner which would’ve almost break the bank in a “fancy-smancy” Italian restaurant.

Life is short! In the past month I have lost 3 friends, due to Covid. Young (well relatively young) individuals who was somebody’s – somebody. A void that can never be filled again, an energy which is forever lost, simply put, a life that can never be replaced. So, be grateful, live your life proudly, accept each new day as a new opportunity to love fiercely and appreciate deeply.

I leave you with this (and delicious pasta if you try out my recipe 😊)

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars” Kahlil Gibran

Be blessed, be healthy and be safe!

 

Jan Braai’s lekker braai

What is needed:

1kg Deboned Lamb Rib

2 Lemons

30ml salt

30ml pepper

1 red onion

Small tub of feta

1 pack of sun dried tomatoes

30ml capers

Butchers string

0.5 cup of white wine

0.5 cup of lamb / mutton stock

Clamp / hinged grill

Now kids, the reason you follow a recipe is because it gives you a set of instructions to succeed at dish that is new to you.

We did not read the recipe and things started going south almost immediately.

I really struggled to get my hands on some deboned lamb ribs. Apparently, it is not something widely available. Finally the good people at Pick and Pay Southdowns were willing to debone some lamb ribs for me.

Now, if you read Jan Braai’s recipe, the very first instruction is – phone the butcher and order deboned lamb ribs. So from step two onwards I read more carefully.

You start by laying out the lamb rib seasoning the lamb rib with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

Then you spread the sun dried tomatoes, capers, feta and onions as evenly as possible on the rib.

The cut I got was a bit thick and it was hard to roll so I had to trim some of the meat in order to make a better roll. (Maybe an Amsterdam rolling professional could help here?)

Ensuring the filling stays nice and firm, roll the lamb rib into a tube and tie securely with some butcher’s rope. Butcher’s rope was another item I couldn’t easily find, luckily, the kind people from the PnP butchery saved me again here. They were kind enough to give me some when I asked nicely!

Now place the lamb in a potjie (pot) for a 90 minutes. (Another surprise since I apparently did not read the recipe thoroughly). Now, I had to explain to the head chef why we will behind with 90 minutes. So kids, if you want to avoid the head chef rolling her eyes at you – read the recipe before starting.

So now, quickly get your potjie ready put in white wine and lamb stock. 90 minutes or so in a potjie will make the lamb meat very soft but keep it juicy.

After 90 minutes, remove the lamb and cut it into nice equal size pieces. Since the lamb slices can be hard to handle it helps if you place them in a hinged grill.

On hot coals braai the lamb slices until they are a nice golden brown and the fat is nice and crispy. It would take +- 10 minus to complete.

For a side dish, these barbequed sweet potatoes in a cilantro vinaigrette comes highly, highly recommended.

The result? A soft succulent lamb paired with the smoky sweet potatoes. It is an absolute winner.

Lessons learned for the day? Read the recipe through at least once before starting. Even it is just a quick look see. It will help you to avoid surprises later on the recipe. And, if you told your wife – “yeah sure, I read the thing, now leave me alone,” then you absolutely have to read the damn thing.

Recipe is from the book Jan Braai Shisanyama. 

Mantou and Singapore Chilli Crab

And… we are back with a new blog entry. After the birth of our daughter we took a small hiatus (four years) but we are back!

At the start of every year my wife travels to Singapore for business meetings at their headquarters and it is company tradition – first night in Singapore it is Chilli Crab for dinner. This year she brought a kit back from Singapore and on Saturday night for the first time ever I got to experience Chilli Crab.

Well… not Chilli Crab. The recipe calls for a 1.2 kilogram live Sri Lanka crab, and around these parts, Sri Lanka crab (crab in general) is hard to find. So instead of crab we settled on prawns for a number of reasons. Biggest reasons – I do not have to kill a gigantic pissed off crab.

To accompany the Chilli Prawns we made Mantou. Also known as Chinese steamed buns, they are sweet, light and fluffy. Perfect for soaking up the chilli sauce.

Cleaning the prawns and getting them ready for the chilli sauce

Making the chilli sauce is easy since the kit provides you with everything you need - You can get this kit only in Singapore or Australia - darn, sorry fellow South Africans :( .

The tricky part is getting the Mantou perfect.....

To make the buns you need:

·         300 g all- purpose flour.

·         2 tablespoons sugar.

·         1.5 teaspoon instant yeast.

·         150 ml water.

·         Pinch of salt.

To get started with the buns, heat some water to +- 35 degrees and then melt the sugar in the water and mix in the yeast. Let the concoction stand for five minutes. 

During the waiting period you will see foam on the water. It is carbon dioxide being released as the yeast feeds on the sugar.

Next, the flour. Since we do not have all-purpose flour we took cake flour and added two extra tablespoons (more info on substituting all-purpose flour with cake flour).

Put the salt and flour in a bowl and then slowly add the water / yeast mixture. Stir the mixture while you slowly add the water.

Knead the dough until it is a nice soft and smooth consistency.

Now let the dough rest until it has doubled twice in size (more or less an hour). To see if the dough is ready, lightly touch the side of the dough. If your fingertip indentation remains, the dough is ready. For more information on testing the dough, see this post from Red Star Yeast.

Keep dusting the dough and knead the dough again until it is smooth. All the air must be punched out of the dough to ensure the dough is as smooth as possible, I repeat ALL OF THE AIR must be punched out, this might even be therapeutic if you are angry. Once again Red Star Yeast has a good post on this.

Helping mommy and daddy

Now roll the dough in a log and cut log in slices about 2 centimeters wide.

Using a steamer, steam the dough slices until they become fluffy which takes around 5 minutes in a microwave. Note to self: Don't wait until the day you want to make these buns to find a bamboo steamer, because Murphy will make sure that you won't find a bamboo steamer in any store in Centurion. So we used a plastic steamer, next time I will rather plan ahead and get us the bamboo steamer. 

For a final optional steps, you can deep fry the buns until they are nice and golden on the outside.

Now for the last step - eat the chilli prawns! Soak up the sauce with those delicious fried buns!

What a fantastic way for me to finally share some Singapore culture with my wife. Maybe someday I will be blessed enough to experience the real thing...

Yes we are still alive and cooking...

Well almost!

Since our last blog entry a lot of good shit and bad shit happened.  We got married, hoorah! We had a miscarriage :( that was pretty shitty and changed the direction of our life quite a bit. I changed jobs, I got pregnant again and now we have a beautiful little girl called Femke (she is already 17 months old)

 

 



Femke kept us busy! She has been sick a lot and me and the hubby really struggle to keep things afloat without a support system.
We bought our dream house and moved in on July 1st.  True to Femke's reputation she fell ill the Sunday thereafter and what we planned to be a lazy Sunday with red wine, good food and a afternoon snooze in front of the fireplace turned out into a trip to the ER and a night in hospital :(

Okay so we had a very bumpy start to this new chapter in our life, but this will not stop us.  We are back and will try out new recipes again (especially after Femke's tonsillectomy on the 19th of July) and blog about it, in the meantime, try out one of Woolworth's DIY indian meals. 

 

We love the Butter Chicken with poppadum's and naan bread, it is quick and easy to make and perfect for a cold winters evening.  Pairing it with a glass of Kanonkop Kadette Pinotage is a must!!

Review: Moyo Fountains Valley

Review: Moyo Fountains Valley

 

Image source.

 

Normal criteria to judge restaurants by are quality of food, the class of service and atmosphere. For Moyo I have to introduce another category – your ass. 

After sitting at Moyo for just half an hour you will be acutely aware of your ass and how much it hurts. Although the chairs have a rustic charm to them, they are uncomfortable as hell and your ass will be begging for mercy.

During this first half hour you will also get thirsty since waiters at Moyo is seriously a scare resource.

If you do manage to get a waiter and order something, the waiter will return 10 minutes later only to inform you that they don’t have that item in stock. That goes for the wine and food. 

Eventually we got so fed up with the waiter returning to tell us they don’t have stock that we asked him to find out what they do have and then we will order that. 

 

The restaurant looks stunning. Too bad the food is just average.

Image source.

We finally struck gold and ordered something they do have. Luckily the food wasn’t as shit as the service. However, that’s all I can say for it though.  Average at best. 

There are so many negative things to mention about Moyo in Fountains Valley which is really unfortunate. The Moyo in Melrose Arch are for many people the definitive measuring stick you use to measure other restaurants with. 

I assume that Moyo had an ‘off’ evening and that most of the time they must be on the ball. How else would they have survived this long? 

So maybe it is worth your time and money to go there. I would definitely not go back there. The amount they charge for the food and the service you get...not worth it.





I can summarise the experience with this:

MOYO = FAIL :(

Finding new restaurants in your area with Foursquare

Finding new restaurants in your area with Foursquare

 

Looking for something new to do on a Friday evening? Use Foursquare to help you find what is going on around you.

 

Foursquare is a social network that lets you connect with people around you based on what they have been doing. Foursquare is available on Windows Phone, Android, iPhone and Blackberry. Whenever you visit a restaurant or a club, open the Foursquare app and check in to the place. Your check in will help Foursquare determine what the popular spots in your neighborhood are. Based on the number of check ins and likes a place receive, Foursquare can rank the popularity.

 

Image source.

Business owners can take advantage of this by publishing their specials on Foursquare. When somebody is looking for a place to eat or something to do, Foursquare will display a list of specials that is available close to them.

Apart from using Foursquare as a means to find things to do, you can also play it like a game. Each check in you do rewards you with points. The number of points you get for a check in differs for each check in, for example, if you check into a place you have never been before you get 5 points. There are a whole bunch of different reward modifiers and each time you check in it is a kick to see what you are rewarded with.

The points that you win are tallied together and compared to your friends and you are ranked against them on a leaderboard.

Immediately when you talk about sharing your location with other people it raises some concerns regarding your privacy. Can other people use it to stalk you? Luckily they have a block user function that will block undesirable people from seeing your location.

Now that you have blocked all your previous ex-boyfriends, let’s get back to the fun. If you are the person to check into a place the most in a two month period, you will become the mayor of that place. Have fun trying to steal your friends’ mayorships.

On your quest to become the ultimate mayor you will also unlock different badges. There are badges for people that like to try different restaurants, there are badges for people that like the great outdoors and then there are a few badges for people that like to do weird things – like find a store that sells vinyl records or check into a library after 11 o’clock at night.

Foursquare is a fun way to make mundane travels around a bit more exiting.

 

Review: Wine and cheese tasting at Fairview Wine Estate

Review: Wine and cheese tasting at Fairview Wine Estate

Note: for today’s post I am taking over from my fiancé that is ill in bed. It’s her birthday but she is too sick to do the planned review of our visit to Fairview wine estate in the Western Cape. Any vet worth his salt will tell me it will be quicker and easier just to put her down.

During my life I have eaten some cheeses made at Fairview, so it was nice to finally be at the place where the magic happens. ‘Magic’, being the act of letting sour milk rot until fungus grows all over it. I wonder, who was the bright spark that had the idea to let milk rot up to the point that it becomes a solid block and then eat it?

That said, my fiancé and I, like most people, love cheese. Gouda, Feta, Brie, Camembert, Cream Cheese, etc. All the stuff Weight Watchers say you have to stay away from. Fairview produces a whole line of artisanal* cheeses at their cheesery**.

Located close to the idyllic town of Paarl in the Western Cape, Fairview is a dream come true for people coming from Mordor (Gauteng). Lush green fields and vineyards set a dramatic contrast to the Gauteng landscape of burning cars and police officers soliciting bribes from the people burning in the cars.

Driving into Fairview you are greeted by their iconic goat castle. A tall tower structure that only goats have the dexterity to climb. Cows will just fall off and roll into the parking lot.

Lounge in the wine tasting area.

 

Walk past the tower and into the wine tasting area. The wine tasting area is divided into two tasting areas – the casual tasting area and the exclusive tasting area. We headed straight for the exclusive area since you not only get to taste wine, but every wine is paired with a cheese that compliments the wine’s flavour. As a palate cleanser, you are served Ciabatta bread with olive oil produced locally at Fairview.

The waiters serving you are very knowledgeable in not only the wine making techniques used on the farm but also the cheese making process. Question them about anything regarding wine tasting and they will be able to tell you. Skin contact, maturing, oak barrel aging versus something something, honestly, thinking back, I can’t remember much. I assume the wine tasting was a great success.

Oak barrels used to age wine, next to the wine tasting area.

 

Stumbling out of Fairview I reflected how great it is to be in South Africa. The natural beauty, the people and the food makes this one of the greatest countries in the world.

*New word I just learned.

**Another new word I just learned. In fact, not even MS Word spell check knows what a cheesery is.

Restaurant review: Doppio Zero Southdowns

Restaurant review: Doppio Zero Southdowns

Doppio Zero at the Southdowns mall in Centurion recreates the atmosphere of a European Coffee Shop. (No, not Amsterdam Coffee Shop).

When you step through the doors at Doppio, you are greeted with the scent of freshly baked bread and cookies. Doppio Zero has their own bakery, which delivers freshly baked Artisan goods every day.

Ideal for a first date, I invited a girl that I have only spoken to on the Internet to join me for a drink at Doppio. The friendly and warm atmosphere at Doppio is perfect to put two nervous people at ease. Also, eye witnesses should I go missing.



Image source.

The ambience did its job and soon, with wine in hand, we were chatting like we have known it each other for years. We quickly decided that we will upgrade this date from ‘Drinks’ to ‘Dinner and Drinks’. Doppio’s menu offers Mediterranean dishes with a South African twist. They have a lot mouth-watering dishes including one of my favourites – Gnocchi. Much like a pasta dish, Gnocchi is made from potato dumplings and served with a pasta sauce you desire.

Image source.

The breakfast menu at Doppio Zero is something special with many unique dishes that you don’t normally find on a breakfast menu making Doppio a lovely place to go for breakfast.

Hey, speaking of menus, Doppio Zero why do you put you menus on your website as pdf files? Not only do I have to wait for the menu to download, the menus are not searchable. If you want to make one change to the menu you have to redo the pdf and upload the file again. If you had the menu in HTML you could make the change quickly without a lot of hassle. Do yourself and us a favour by uploading your menus in good ’ol HTML.

According to your website, you don't have pizza.

That said, Doppio is an enjoyable upmarket and relaxed place for breakfast, lunch or dinner. How did my dinner date go?

As of now, my date is now my fiancé.

 

 

 

Review: Dinner @ Capeesh! Capeesh?

REVIEW: DINNER @ CAPEESH!

Let me start with a little story first, before reviewing this awesome restaurant.  I've been a patron of this restaurant since 2010.  So when me and the fiance started dating I decided on sharing this experience with him. 

 

I clearly remember it being May 2012, a Tuesday night, just before we were to go away for the weekend to Parys, I asked him to dinner at this nice Italian restaurant. And it being "Half price Pasta Evening" was just an extra bonus!

 

We were busy having a lovely dinner, chatting away about our past (we were both married before), the present (how lucky we were to have met each other) and the future! What a shock it was on my poor digestion when this handsome man across the table form me told me that he liked me BUT that he was not in love with me! Oh my goodness, I wanted to choke on the delicious piece of steak in my mouth, but decided to rather finish the whole bottle of wine in front of me!

 

But let me tell you this, that Friday evening after that terrible Tuesday, we were in Parys and with the fire going and the red wine flowing, this man watched me with longing eyes while I was preparing our pasta.  And it gave me quite a kick to tease him with soft kisses and to quote myself my reaction was: "You won't get lucky tonight Hun, because you're not in love with me"!

 

And as a matter of fact he lied to himself and me that Tuesday night, the handsome bugger, because today we are planning our wedding!!!!  And every time he looks into my eyes I can see and feel the love!

 

Okay now on to the review.

 

Capeesh is a family orientated Italian restaurant (it being in the same family for some decades) situated in Brooklyn, Pretoria, South Africa. 

 

The ambiance is relaxed, romantic and upper class.

 

The quality of service and dishes is of a high standard. From the carne dishes (beef), pizza, pasta right through to the pesce dishes (fish) you can expect a delightful, tasty and innovative range to choose from off their menu.

 

They also won the Platinum award for wine list of the year 2011.  A wide range of wines are always available at this restaurant, from Vrede and Lust to Rupert and Rothschild (I can vouch that you don't get these wines easily at any restaurant)

 

 

And the best thing about this restaurant for us: It is not a cheesy franchise, it is unique and you're always treated like family! A nice personal touch!

 

Do yourself a favour, doesn't matter if you're a local or a tourist coming to South Africa, go and have a meal at this restaurant! You won't be disappointed.

 

 



Substitute Ingredients for some hard to find ingredients

Substitute Ingredients for some hard to find ingredients

My fiancé and I like to try out recipes from exotic cultures from all around the world. As a consequence we often run into ingredients that aren’t readily available from the shops close by.

So we compiled a list of some of the harder to find ingredients and what you can use as a substitute if you can find them.

 

Fenugreek

Fenugreek is often used in Indian dishes. Recipes might call for either Fenugreek seeds or Fenugreek leaves.

You can substitute Fenugreek seeds with mustard seeds or fennel seed.

A tablespoon of Fenugreek leaves can be substituted with fresh chopped celery leaves or chopped watercress leaves.

Some chefs says that fenugreek, if not available, can be left out altogether.

 

Kashmiri

Kashmiri chili powder is a medium / mildly hot with a lot of flavour. It is also used to colour dishes. It has a taste that is a lot like paprika but is a bit hotter.

It is recommended you use paprika and cayenne pepper as a substitute for Kashmiri. Paprika will add the colour while cayenne will add some heat.

 

Asafoetida / Asafetida

Asafoetida is a spice typical found in Indian cuisine. It functions as a flavor enhancer and is used in condiments, pickles and curries. It has a strong onion-garlic flavour.

To substitute Asafoetida, use garlic powder or onion powder.

 

Potato flour

Potato flour is used in gluten-free baking. Potato flour has the ability to absorb a lot of liquid and therefor make a good thickener of soups, stews, etc.

Potato flour can be replaced by using an equal amount of bread flour or AP flour.

 

5 spice

Often used in Chinese dishes, 5 spice usually consists of a mixture of star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper and fennel seeds.

You can make your own 5 spice by mixing  

·        2 teaspoons of Szechuan peppercorns (which naturally leads to the Szechuan peppercorn substitute)

·        8 ground star anise

·        Half teaspoon of ground cloves

·        1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

·        1 tablespoon of ground fennel seeds

 

Szechuan peppercorn

Found in Asian Cuisine, Szechuan pepper is not as hot as chillies with a slight lemon taste.

If you can’t find Szechuan peppercorn, use freshly ground black peppercorns.

 

All spice

Also known as Jamaican Pepper is often used in Caribbean cuisine.

All spice can be substituted with cloves.

 

Bok Choy

Also known as Chinese Cabbage, Bok Choy is found in soups, stir fries, appetizers and main dishes.

Substitute Bok Choy with normal cabbage or spinach.

 

Cilantro

Every now and again, I run into a recipe calling for cilantro. Cilantro is just another name for coriander.

 

Sake wine

Sake wine is a Japanese wine made from rice.

Sake can be substituted with white wine or Shaoxing wine.

What is a substitute for Shaoxing wine? Fuck knows. It is getting late and this article is getting too long now.

Camembert and Cranberry Fillet

Camembert and Cranberry Fillet

For my company's year-end lunch we went to one of those Medieval restaurants where you have to eat potatoes and fish balls with your hands. You don't get napkins and if your fingers get dirty you HAVE to ask the person next to you to lick your fingers. Fuck, what an ordeal.

I needed something to balance this out or Friday would be nothing but a big suck-fest. Luckily my fiance (or m'lady in shining armor) rescued me from my Medieval nightmare. She bought the best beef fillet she could find along with some Camembert Cheese and Cranberry sauce.

Ingredients:
Beef Fillet (size = depending on how shitty your lunch was)
Camembert Cheese
Woolworths Cranberry sauce with crushed berries
Crushed Garlic
Salt flakes
Olive Oil
Red Wine
Balsamic
Sugar
A Spring of Parsley
A Small Spring of Thyme
A Small Spring of Rosemary
A Spring of Coriander
Onions

Prepare the beef fillet by rubbing some olive oil, crushed garlic and salt flakes on the meat. Let it stand for a while.

After the fillet stood for a while, cut slits into the side of the fillet to create a cavity in the side of the fillet. Fill the cavity with Camembert Cheese and finely chopped parsley, thyme, rosemary and coriander. To ensure that the filling don't spill out when you cook it, tie some string around the fillet or if you don't have string, you can use toothpicks to keep the fillet together.

Put the fillet aside for time being, it is now time for the Cranberry sauce with Red Wine.

Heat some olive oil in a pan. Fry the onions until translucent and soft. Stir two teaspoons of sugar into the onions. The sugar will caramelize the onions.

Now stir in the Cranberry sauce and a dash of red wine. Cook for 5 minutes while stirring continuously.

Add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, turn down the heat and let it simmer for 10 - 15 minutes. If the sauce gets to thick, you can add some water to dilute the sauce.

While the sauce is simmering you can start cooking the steaks. Cook them which ever way you prefer your steak - Charcoal, medium or bloody as hell.

Once the steak and the sauce is done, it's time to dish up! Pour some of the Cranberry sauce over your steaks and enjoy with a side dish of your choice. You can go for rice, mash or a nice salad.

 

Friday - rescued!

Quiz on Red Wine

For everybody that loves wine, there is a Wine Quiz posted on www.food24.com.

The quiz is rather hard and will test your wine knowledge to the full.

Date Night Dish Gone...Right

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Herby Potatoes and Feta and Avo Salad

Pan fried baby potatoes with mushrooms and fresh herbs

Me and soon to be hubby (YAY) make time for date nights every week.  This is usually when we try out new recipes, have sushi or make a concoction of our own.  It was Thursday night and date night and the fiancee decided to surprise me with a dish (and a beautiful orchid - now isn't that sweet - and no that doesn't make him a wussy just a man with taste).

 

I was in charge of the side dishes and decided on pan fried mushrooms and baby potatoes covered with herbs fresh from our own herb garden and a nice crisp summer salad.

 

The Chicken Cordon Bleu:

Ingredients:

4 deboned and skinless chicken breast fillets

Gypsy ham

Fairview feta cheese

Calamata olives

Olive oil

Italian herbs

Salt and pepper

 

Prepare the chicken by slicing the breast thinly down the middle, be cautious not to cut it through completely.

Insert the Gypsy ham, Fairview Feta Cheese and Calamata olives into the cavity you just created.

Bind the chicken together with some rope or toothpicks if you can't find that rope staring you right in the eye.

Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the Italian herbs.

Place the chicken pieces in the oiled pan and fry on low heat for about 40 minutes or until done, turning continuously.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

 

This is date night, so don't get carried away with all the smooching and foreplay that you totally forget about the chicken (luckily we remembered in time).  Rather set the timer for in case things get too hot in the kitchen.

 

Pan fried potatoes and mushrooms with fresh herbs:

Ingredients:

Baby potatoes (as many as you like)

Small button mushrooms

Garlic

Flat leave parsley

Sprigs of Rosemary

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

 

Pre-cook the baby potatoes until they are soft.

Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the potatoes, mushrooms, garlic and some of the herbs to the pan.

Stir often until mushrooms are golden brown.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

 

The Feta and Avo Salad:

Here you can let the artistic juices flow..... come on, go wild.

This was a nice salad as a side dish. (If I were to serve just salad I would have been more bold and make it as kinky as I can be). 

 

We highly recommend the KWV Shiraz to go with the dish.

 

Go ahead, do a date night, experiment with some new flavours and get jiggy with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magical Muratie

A Rainy Sunday Afternoon at Muratie Wine Farm

Unique.  That is the first thought that comes to mind when you enter this small wine farm a few kilometres away from Delheim Wine farm.

When you enter this farms tasting room your eyes meet so many interesting features, that for a little while you almost forget that you are actually here to taste some wine.  From the dog that just lays in front of the entrance to the interesting paintings and vintage wine press.  This was definitely a feast on the eyes!  See for yourself.

We sat down near the fire place and the web covered window, tasting some of the most exquisite wines and ports.

If you are lucky you can get some of it in a booze shop, but overall they are rare.  We enjoyed it so much at Muratie that we spent almost whole of the afternoon there getting totally sloshed.  That was fun.  Luckily there weren't any pork chops (a.k.a. traffic cops) on our way home.

The service was very good and this wine farm is a MUST see for anyone who deems themselves a wine connoisseur.

for more information see www.muratie.co.za