Monday, November 19, 2012

Pickled Jalapeños Recipe


Fresh Jalapeños are just divine. If you are lucky enough to find them at your local grocer, here are a few ways to use them:

- Liquidise them with some garlic, olive oil and vinegar to make a sauce.
- Chop them finely to make a salsa.
- Cook them, stuff them with cheese and wrap them in bacon before firing them on the braai.
- Pickle them (whole or sliced).

This is the recipe I used for pickling: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/04/pickled-peppers/

Can’t wait to try the first batch in a week! 

PS Remember to wear gloves when handling the peppers! 


Thursday, November 15, 2012

Chilli Cheese Beer Bread

There are few things as delicious as warm home-baked bread slathered in butter. One of our best-selling festive gifts this year is a Chilli Cheese Beer Bread Mix – all you need to do is add Parmesan cheese and oil – voilà, a spicy, flavousome bread in a few minutes. It couldn't be easier.

Beer Bread Mix
with recipe
without bread pan
R55.00
with bread pan
R125.00

for more gift ideas. 


Tuesday, November 13, 2012

White Fruit Cake Recipe

This recipe originates from a grandmother called Nana in the USA
-  we just gave it an SA tweak. It is gorgeous as a dessert cake with preserves, aged cheese and a glass of Calitzdorp Muskadel (you can order it from us) on the side.

Nana’s White Fruit Cake

Ingredients
338g Soft butter
4 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
6 Egg whites, beaten to stiff peaks
6 Egg yolks
½ cup Klipdrift Brandy (or brandy essence for a non-alcoholic option)
2 tsp baking powder
450g Nuts (we used almonds and pecans)
800g Fruit – not the traditional fruit mix. We used red cherries, green cherries, cranberries and giant raisins.
(You can also add glace pineapple or whatever fruit you prefer.)

Method
Pre-heat your oven to 160°C.
Combine nuts and fruit and sprinkle over a ¼ cup of the flour,
working it through with your hands. (This helps the fruit not to sink to the bottom of the cake.)
Sift together the rest of the flour and baking powder.
Cream butter and sugar and add the egg yolks little by little.
Add flour and brandy.
Fold in the fruit and nuts.
Fold in the beaten egg whites.
Pour mixture into a greased cake tin with baking paper on the bottom.
Bake for about 1 ½ hours or until set and golden brown.
If it gets brown at the top before the cake is solid, place a sheet of baking paper over the cake.
Let it cool a bit and then sprinkle a ¼ cup of brandy over the cake.
Wrap in tinfoil or clingwrap and let it stand. You can add some more brandy if you wish before serving.

It is good if it matures a bit, but can be eaten within a day or two.

******

PS.
If you’re pressed for time this festive season,
let us bake a 1kg White Christmas Cake for you!
R220.00
(including festive wrapping)

Contact andante@lekkerbek.co.za


Monday, November 12, 2012

We've joined Foodspotting





I had these fantastic Crumbed Olives wrapped in Goats Cheese at Rocket in Parkhurst.

I’ve joined the world of smart phones and am now on Foodspotting! “Foodspotting is a visual guide to good food and where to find it. Instead of reviewing restaurants, you can recommend great dishes and see what others recommend wherever you go.”

It’s an amazing tool that allows you to access images and ratings of dishes in the area you wish to dine (or your close proximity according to your GPS coordinates – so smart!). Recent, unedited and unbiased opinions of single menu items – we’ve ordered a few gems by using this app!

To see what we’ve been dining on, click here, or follow me: Andanté-LekkerBek (www.foodspotting.com).

Happy Foodspotting!


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Black Horse Brewery and Restaurant



The husband and I spent a wonderful weekend meandering around Magaliesburg and happened upon The Black Horse Brewery and Restaurant. Nestled in the Magalies mountains, the terraced restaurant serves up hearty dishes like the enormous Goliath Burger, hand cut potato chips, delicious New Zealand green-lipped mussels, sticky Hickory smoked ribs and a variety of interesting pizzas.

The on-site brewery offers tasters of their beers before you order (they even make REAL ginger beer), and after we chose our favourites we spent the afternoon sipping ice cold beer under the trees enjoying the stable-themed setting.

The perfect boozy lunch spot www.blackhorse.co.za. Not a cheap lunch, but certainly worth it as the portions are big, the beers bigger and the atmosphere super relaxed (animals and children roam freely :)

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Scary Food

Halloween isn't a South African tradition, but I just adore all the spooky treats, black & orange décor, outrageous costumes and themed parties celebrated on the 31st.

Martha Stewart has some fabulous Halloween themed recipes and ideas, 
here are some of my favourites:

Spiderweb Eggs (recipe via here)


Shrunken Heads in Cider (recipe via here)


Bat Wings (recipe via here)


Monster Fingers and Pimento Cheese Paws (recipe via here)


Pickled Brains (recipe via here)


The history of why Halloween is celebrated is actually quite interesting...
read more about it here. 

Happy Halloween! 

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Wear ORANGE on the 25th to show your support



Take a stand and unite to end violence against women.

An initiative by the United Nations, the 25th of every month is ORANGE DAY.
Wear something ORANGE this THURSDAY the 25th - and show your support 
for the fight against the abuse of women and children.

LekkerBek is a female run and operated business, and we think this is a wonderful project … just imagine if all the women in the world (and their supportive male counterparts for that matter!) wore orange on the same day?

What a statement!

For more info, visit:


How amazing is this orange dress made entirely from fruit and vegetables? 
By Korean artist Sung Yeonju (via here and here)


Thursday, October 11, 2012

World Egg Day (Best Leftovers Breakfast Recipe)


Eggs are amazingly versatile - featuring in dishes from breakfast to dinner, from sweet to savoury. They can be eaten (or drunk) cooked, raw, hot or cold. Not to mention their high protein content and health benefits (providing you consume more of the white than the yolk).

This breakfast served in a pan is perfect for large groups of people and never fails to impress! The best thing about it is that you can literally add anything you have in the fridge – the best way to use up all your leftovers.


Best Leftovers Breakfast
Serves 6


Ingredients
400g Potatoes, skinned and cubed
400g Tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
250g Bacon, chunks
200g Beef Cocktail Sausages
1 Yellow Pepper, sliced
1 Onion, diced
1 Garlic Clove, minced
2 Tbls Tomato Paste
125ml Vegetable Stock
1 tsp Basil, dried
1 tsp Chilli Flakes or Paprika
1 Tbls Sugar
Salt & Pepper
200g Mini Tomatoes
40g Grated Cheddar
6 XL Eggs
Chives for garnish

How to make it
Boil or fry Potato cubes until almost soft, set aside.
Fry Bacon and Sausages until just browned but not cooked, set aside.
Fry Onion, Garlic and Yellow Pepper until soft.
Add chopped Tomatoes, Tomato paste and Stock.
Season with Dried Basil, Chilli, Sugar, Salt & Pepper.
Pre-heat oven to 180ºC.
Add potatoes, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Add Bacon & Sausages.
Spoon mixture into a shallow large greased pan. (It has to be oven proof.)
Top with grated cheese.
Place Mini Tomatoes on top.
Make 6 little holes, and break an egg into each.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes (or until the eggs are to your liking).
Garnish with chopped chives.

Serve with toast or a crispy French loaf to mop up all the juices!


Tips
  • Use the tomato & potato mix as a base for the dish, and add whatever else you have or feel like.
  • Drizzle the eggs with some olive oil so that they don’t dry out in the oven.
  • Add veggies like Mange Tout and Green Beans for some crunch.
  • Break eggs into a cup before adding it to the dish – you’ll avoid biting into an egg shell or spoiling everything with one rotten egg.


Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Consol’s new ‘Grip & Go’ bottles


It’s true, everything does taste better in glass. These nifty new 500ml bottles from Consol feature an easy grip silicone sleeve and a curvy shape that makes sipping your favourite drink a breeze.

We love the fact that glass has the ability to naturally preserve true flavour, and that it keeps its contents colder and fresher for longer. Glass packaging is also inert and free of contaminants so it’s safe and healthy for the user and the environment. Plus, they come in a range of funky colours J.

Get them from Consol from R21.50. (email sales@consol.co.za for supplier details)


Thursday, October 4, 2012

Sassy Spice Shakers

How cute are these spice shakers for your table?

Four Seasons

 
Animal Parade



Available from I Love Stuff: