Je ne sais quoi

The Rule Of Three

These three components transform something ordinary into something really quite special. Each bite shares another dimension of flavour and texture, the chewy sour tang of the dried cranberries and the toasty crunch of the seeds go surprisingly well with the cool tang of feta and the mellow sweetness of roasted butternut squash.



All of these components are carried by warm cous cous.

Some chopped parsley adds a nice flash of green and pulls all the flavours together.










Make sure you toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry pan though, as they take on a whole new flavour and texture after a few minutes.







"Couscous - so nice, they named it twice" was the response at my table when served to friends, munching away.



Thank you Reyentte for coming up with this amazing combination, this will definitely be made again soon.

Macaroon Loaf

If you like coconut, you will love this dense fragrant loaf. When sliced and toasted it takes on a macaroon like chewy outer crust, laced with butter and a dusting of icing sugar, this one's a winner.

This is Bill Granger's Coconut Bread, just ever so slightly adapted ...

2 eggs
2 1/2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
200g desiccated/shredded coconut
1 cup castor sugar
56g melted butter
vanilla seeds/extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Whisk your eggs and milk with the vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon and add the sugar and coconut, stir to combine.
Add your wet mixture to your dry mixture and fold in gently, add melted butter and incorporate everything, trying to use as few stokes as possible.
Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake at 180 gas mark 4 for an hour, using a skewer to check after 55 minutes.

Choc Chip Biscotti

Biscotti, are an Italian biscuit almost, twice baked so perfect for dunking into coffee. Like a rusk but richer and sweeter and not necessarily to be eaten at breakfast, although I wouldn't say no...



So easy to make and they last for ages in an airtight container, you can chop and change the flavour, substituting the chocolate for dark or white chocolate or dried cranberries, adding almonds, hazelnuts or pistachios, whatever combinations you fancy or to suit what is in the cupboards. I'm using milk chocolate, chopped up into generous chunks. Chocolate cookies were the original request but I didn't want to veer too far off the track, so the chocolate stayed, but cookies these are certainly not.

Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour
1 cup castor sugar
4 Tbsp cold butter or margarine
3 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt and cinnamon
Vanilla seeds or extract



Preheat yer' oven to 180 or gas mark 5 and grease a large baking tray.
In a food processor (or by hand using a spoon and then a knife), combine your flour, salt baking powder and cinnamon. Add butter in chunks and process until it resembles breadcrumbs, at this point pour the mixture out into a large bowl. Stir in your chopped up chocolate chunks, followed by your egg mixture until a dough forms.
With floured hands, form your dough into two logs. Bake for around 30 minutes until golden and firm.
Cool biscotti for 5 or 10 minutes to minimise breakage and crumbs and slice diagonally into individual biscotti. Place back in the oven for a further 15 minutes, flipping them over once to ensure they are nice and dry.



Cool on their trays and transfer to a biscuit tin.
Y - U - M.

Jamming

When the bakery just seems too far and only warm jam donuts will do, these cakey baked versions will almost definitely hit the spot, I promise. Served warm, rolled in melted butter and cinnamon sugar ... Krispy Kreme who?




You will need:

200g Self Raising Flour 100g caster sugar
85ml Oil
125ml or 1/2 cup of milk
12tsp jam - raspberry/strawberry
1 large egg
vanilla extract

150g granulated sugar + 100g melted butter for coating





Beat your milk, oil and vanilla with the egg.
Stir and fold into your flour and sugar until just combined, trying not to overmix.
Spoon one tablespoon of mixture in to your greased muffin pan, followed by a generous teaspoon of jam.
Cover jam with another tablespoon or two of mixture until muffin hole is 3/4 full. Bake at 190 or Gas Mark 5 for 20 minutes.
Leave to cool in pans for 5 minutes ( so your jam doesn't leak through the bottom of muffins), then carefully roll each muffin in melted butter and then cinnamon sugar.


Now try and eat the whole thing without licking your lips!

Dip In

I am partial to a bit of a dunking now and again. Who isn’t?
Digestives, Rich Tea or HobNobs, nothing accompanies my cup of tea quite like a good old biscuit.


Being of English descent, McVities was once my sole provider when it came to baked plunging materials.
Oh, how things have changed…
Since stepping onto African soil my comprehension of a rusk has changed somewhat.
A rusk, in my naïve British mind was a biscuit for toddlers to gnaw on, a mere teething aid.

Although, Farley’s rusks are infact sometimes eaten by those over the age of two, rusks as us Brits know them, are nowhere near the phenomenon they seem to be over here in sunny South Africa.

Necessity, they say is the mother of invention and necessity, it seems is why the voortrekkers first devised the almighty rusk.



The Voortrekkers were Afrikaner pioneers that moved from the British Cape Colony to the interior of South Africa during the 1830’s and1840's. The ox-wagon and horse were their only means of transport and thus few provisions were taken along on lengthy journeys.
These nifty pioneers and explorers needed foods, which would not spoil on their voyages, and so they took dried rusks "beskuit” and biltong to munch on to sustain them. These humble twice-baked biscuits were yielded in a time of constraint and have advanced and evolved their way into every kitchen this side of Egypt. Bran Rusks, Health Rusks, Buttermilk Rusks, with or without seeds, fruit, nuts or aniseed, you name it - they’ve made it…

There is a rusk out there for everyone and although no rusk I have ever tried surpasses Reynette’s Zimbabwean Growwe Beskuits, I thought I would make a batch with some poppy seeds… rather apt, don’t you think?



700g butter (or margarine)
500ml buttermilk or maas
400g (500ml) sugar
4 eggs
1.5 kg self-raising flour
25ml baking powder
7ml salt
300g box All-Bran flakes
poppy seeds (substitute for or add raisins, seeds, muesli or nuts)



Melt butter and mix in a large bowl with buttermilk and sugar, beat in your eggs.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a separate - possibly even larger bowl, stir in bran flakes and poppy seeds.
Combine your dry ingredients and wet ingredients, stir well and make sure your mixture is fully combined.
Shape into balls and pack into two greased oven pans.


Bake in a preheated oven at 180 ° for 50 minutes or so. Turn out onto a drying rack to cool slightly and break open whilst still warm. Cut into smaller rusks when cool if you want smaller biscuits but make sure they are cool or else you will end up with a tin full of crumbs as they do fall apart when just baked.
Dry out in the oven overnight at its lowest temperature. Store in airtight containers or tins.

The only way to eat a rusk is dunked into a steaming hot cup of tea or coffee, so go on, put the kettle on won't ya?

Rocky Roads for a … bumpy path

The road to the Transkei is not a short one, nor is it an even one, for that matter.
Although I would like to tell a tale of panoramic views, laughter and licking of lips on our African road trip, I am perhaps more inclined to tell the truth in this case. The tale begins with an early morning frantic packing of the car, which was made no easier by certain sausage dogs refusing to believe that they were not invited and staging a sitting protest in the car, not ideal. Dachshunds out and humans in, we set out with Presley Bay in mind, only 500 kilometers to go…
As the sun started to rise, engulfed by menacing grey clouds, we exchanged comforting words of how the weather is always better in the Transkei.
When we eventually reached Mthatha for our last port of call at the supermarket and bottle store, our positive outlook was shattered as we dodged some colossal hailstones in a frantic bolt for the safety of the car.

They say when it rains, it pours and I can assure you, they weren’t lying. Windows were fogged, the windscreen wipers put up one hell of a fight and the car’s suspension was kissed goodbye to as we reached the end of man made road and continued our pilgrimage on gravel road.

So things were bad. Well, they weren’t good and our driver was experiencing a sense of humour failure of note. As thunder and lightning joined the party we were officially out of the frying pan and into the fire. Until, two things saved us. One of these things came in a tin, a tin which I had forgotten about until its persistent jabbing in my side led me to investigate this unruly bag which had escaped from its entourage of other luggage.

Our edible savior was in the form of a fresh batch of homemade snickers rocky roads, and save us they did. Our other rescuer sung to us and told us what to do. ‘Emancipate ourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds… ‘ He said, and so we did, bite by bite.

The recipe for our chocolate emancipation goes like this:

4 Snickers, chopped
1 cup Rice Krispies
150g Marshmallows, chopped into small chunks
150g Peanuts
400g Milk Chocolate
2 Tbsp Oil

Melt chocolate with oil in a large pot over a low heat, when melted - stir to combine and add all of your other ingredients to the pot. Mix until everything is coated and evenly combined spread onto a lined baking tray (I used 19x29cm).
Leave to set on the counter and cut into generous chunks.

The proof is in this pudding

Waste not, want not.



We will not waste four day-old croissant. How they came to be day-old for that matter I am not sure, for left overs are something of a rarity in this house altogether.
Nevertheless, I decided upon a delectable fate for my croissant, YMCA - yesterday's muck cooked again, as my mother so articulately put it, or leftovers revamped - which sounds an awful lot nicer, don't you reckon?

To revamp these sporadic leftovers, I opted for a banana and chocolate bread and butter pudding, and I am exceedingly glad I did. Truly scrumptious.
To revamp your sorry old croissant, you will need...

Butter for greasing your dish,
300ml milk
100ml double thick cream
2 eggs
25g castor sugar
100g chocolate, broken up into bits,
2 bananas, sliced
a splash of vanilla extract
50g pecan nuts

Break up your croissant into pieces and arrange in your buttered dish, dot your nuts, banana and chocolate amongst your croissant. In a bowl beat the cream, eggs, milk and sugar with vanilla and pour over your croissant and leave to soak for 15 minutes or so.
Don't panic if the cream mixture doesn't cover all the croissant and there are some bits poking through above the custard, this will make for a nice topping.
Bake in a preheated oven, at 180 or gas mark 4 for about 35 mins, covering with foil if the top starts to brown too much.

Corn Sweet Corn

After a day of rain in the kaap, Capetonians are inevitably whipping out the electric blankets and stocking up on wood. My entire house has simultaneously come down with what could easily pass for a rather suspicious case of the swine flu...


Chicken soup anyone?

Working on food shoots means lots of yummy left-overs and today I have a delicious roast chicken in the fridge begging to be transformed into my mothers chicken and sweetcorn soup.
Probably one of the simplest soups to make, my mum doesn't use potatoes in hers but we like our soup thick and creamy so I used two, diced up, added to the pot after sauteing the onions in a little olive oil.
I stripped the chicken and chucked all the bones and skin to a pot of cold water, an onion a bay leaf, carrots, celery and peppercorns and left it to simmer for the afternoon.
Once strained, I was left with a pot of golden stock which I added to my soft potatoes and onions. I then throw in one tin of creamed corn and one of normal corn, half of the roast chicken and some milk and blend. Season, add the rest of the chicken and season to taste.
Really good with fresh brioche...

What A Pickle

Ah Yes, Mrs. Balls, the famous South African Chutney we all know and love.

I challenge you to find a larder in SA deprived of this tangy peach resin.

Although, I would never wish such a barren larder upon anyone, I could not shake the urge to concoct my own sumptuous preserve.

By no means was I wishing for my homemade jar to take the place of my loyal Mrs. Balls Chutney but merely to sit next to it on the shelf, as a supplement, just in case.

After hours of pouring myself over numerous cookbooks, magazines and food blogs and much deliberation, I eventually fabricated a recipe.

The backbone of a recipe, which I can tweak, as and when I please, according to the season, my mood or the state of my kitchen cupboards and this is how it goes…

1kg Cooking Apples/ Courgettes/ Peaches diced

1kg Tomatoes, diced

500g Rasins or Sultanas

500g soft brown sugar

400ml White wine vinegar

500g Onions chopped

3 Chilies, chopped finely

Good pinch of Maldon Salt

A few glugs of good Balsamic vinegar

(If using Apples, I add a few Teaspoons of Mild Curry Powder)

For the Spice bag or Bouquet Garni – if you will

6 Cloves

2 Teaspoons Black/Mixed Peppercorns

2 Teaspoons Coriander seeds

2 Bay Leaves

Combine all the ingredients in your biggest pot and bring slowly to the boil then simmer for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally so as everything reduces nicely without sticking to the bottom!

When it is a nice thick consistency, leave it to cool slightly and decant into your sterilized jars and line your shelves with your homemade goodness. Now all you have to do is wait, a month or two, the longer the better to let all those flavours fuse.

Eat it with Relish!

Not So Cheesy After All

So, you want to make a cheesecake.

You are enticed by the luscious sweet tang of cream cheese and biscuit-y bite, but the thought of hauling yourself to the kitchen and following a recipe with the words ‘Bain-Marie’ in it make you immediately stop salivating, then fear not.

Frankly, I do not have time (or want to have time – for that matter) in my life for any kind of recipe, which involves running a bath for my food to sit in whilst in the oven. So, Thank You to the French for inventing the delicate heating process of ‘Mary’s Bath’, but no Thank You, all the same.

It is mid-summer in sunny SA and we are already baking, so there is absolutely, positively no room for any other source of heat and therefore this cheesecake shall be a well and truly oven-free recipe. So for those of you who are in Cape Town today at 32 Degrees – Hoorah!




To re-create this divine dessert you will need:

2 x Packs Cream Cheese
1 x Tin Condensed Milk
2 x Fresh Lemons
Splash of Vanilla Extract

1 x Pack Buttery Biscuits (Shortbread or even Digestive Biscuits will do!)
1 x Ginger Biscuits
Enough Melted Butter to mix with Biscuit crumbs – roughly 125g
Strawberries, sliced – to decorate


First, you want to bash your biscuits in question to smithereens and add your melted butter until your mixture resembles wet sand.
Line your spring-form cake tin with cling film so as to avoid impending panic attack when said cheesecake doesn’t oblige and neatly slip out of your tin, when ready.
Press your ‘wet sand’ into lined tin, spreading over the bottom and all up the sides, covering the entire inside of your tin, you can move your tin to the freezer now so it hardens up, after all - time waiting for cheesecake to freeze inevitably means time spent not eating cheesecake and this is not what we want, not one bit.

Meanwhile, blend your cream cheese in a big bowl until smooth and pour in condensed milk, lemon juice and vanilla, mixing all the time achieving a silky, smooth concoction.
Pour this pale emulsion into your biscuit lined tin and return to refrigerator.
Slice your strawberries as thinly as you can and arrange around the top of your cheesecake once it has fully set.




Now sit back and revel in the glory of your gorgeous gastronomy.

Oh So Peppy Pesto

I scream, you scream, he screams, we all scream for Pesto!

To this day, I am yet to meet an individual who does not like or even love this uncooked condiment.



Pesto (alla Genovese) translates directly to ‘crush’ in Italian and Genoa’s Basil version is the most popular amongst the Pesto’s. Consisting of the infamous combination of ingredients –Basil, Parmesan, Pine Nuts and some Garlic, Salt and Olive Oil thrown in for good measure. This sauce is enough to transform your sorry Spaghetti into gastronomy, with every moorish mouthful.



Pesto is extremely versatile, charitably accommodating all of your random ingredients and left overs, marrying them all together in holy matrimony ‘til death do them part, (or at least until hunger gets the best of you.)

I was first introduced to my trusty old friend Pesto, in the form of pesto pasta or Linguine to be more precise. I may have adapted this since – just a tad, varying pasta shapes using anything from Fusili to Orecchiette. Along with Sun-kissed Tomatoes, Lardons, (Pancetta, Bacon bits – whatever you chose to call those salty sweet Pork nuggets,) Artichokes or quite frankly, anything along the Italian antipasto kind of vibe.
A great, vibrant meal, which becomes outstanding with the addition of some shavings of Parmesan and some toasted Pine Kernels, it also keeps really well, which is ideal. Not suggesting that it keeps too well in my house but just incase it is not immediately demolished, rest assured, I know it will be just as yummy for lunch the next day.

This green gourmet you see below, is the way in which I like Pesto the most – Pesto Veggies. As we are all going ‘green’ these days, I felt it only right to conform.
So I use Sugar Snap Peas, Asparagus, Green Beans and Tender stem Broccoli – all lightly steamed. Adorned with Pesto, Parmesan and yes – you guessed it, Pine Nuts, this makes for a meal fit to make all your colleagues ‘green’ with envy when you whip it out at lunchtime.




Be sure not to let basil pesto’s popularity restrict your culinary escapades as Coriander, Mint and Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto are also equally spectacular and will bring your plate and your taste-buds straight back to life.

Try using Mint Pesto (home-made or shop bought,) as a generous dressing for your leftover rice, add some peas and courgettes, feta and maybe even some toasted seeds or nuts.
Coriander Pesto works amazingly well as a marinade for Chicken or Fish, but slicked over some noodles, Thai-style, with some crunchy Veg and toasted Cashews or even Coconut is pretty damn good.

When you have some spare time, (who does?) or cash, for that matter, try making your own ‘crush’. It is not difficult or time consuming, use a pestle and mortar or a food processor and basically bash/blitz the living daylights out of your ingredients and seal in airtight jars in the fridge.




As a marinade, meal or simply to give your ole’ sarnie a new lease of life – the moral of the story is, we all need some Pesto in our lives, so get involved.

So, today I was asked ‘what inspires me?’ Of course, the usual textbook answers sprang to mind – markets, magazines, my mum…

Then someone passed on a book to me, a book, which they said I might like - and this book or the author, rather conjures great inspiration indeed.



The book was none other than ‘Harvest Diaries’ the second organic cookbook slash memoir from Christine Stevens, English born Christine moved over to sunny SA and is running her own farm, makes her own wine and is basically self-sufficient and living the life.





I think being able to go out in to your back garden and choose whatever you want from your very own vegetable garden is definitely inspiring.



It definitely tastes better if you’ve grown it yourself because lets be honest, who has the time and infact dedication to do anything more than talk about, never mind grow your own herb or veggie garden.

Well, Christine Stevens does and I’m glad.