WIN tickets to the Winter Winedown 2014

We are giving away 2 x Double tickets 

to our lovely readers!

(4^th or 5^th of July 2014)

Simply send an email with your contact details, where you live and your favourite wine to andante@lekkerbek.co.za

* Winners will be chosen at random. * Prize does not include transport to the event. *

* Entries close 22 June *

Warm up in Jozi this winter at WineStyle’s 4th Winter Winedown.

The “Winter Winedown” is a wine party, not a wine trade show. It’s a celebration of food and wine and for people who appreciate good wine, and most of all who like to have fun. The event is unlike a traditional wine show, and encourages guests and exhibitors to engage, unwind, eat, drink and pick up a few wine tips in the process. Guests also get an opportunity to purchase these wines, at a special Winedown price.

The “Winter Winedown”, is being hosted at the stunningly beautiful, Tintswalo Waterfall hotel in Kyalami, This small intimate hotel offers unparalleled cuisine, exceptional luxury and typical Tintswalo service standards.

A ticket gets you entrance and a tasting glass, to roam around and taste for free, buy wine by the glass or bottle, order some delicious platters, picnic style tapas and find a spot on the lawn or by one of the roaring fireplaces and relax with friends and family for the day.  

•        Venue: Tintswalo Waterfall – Kyalami, Midrand, Gauteng

•        Date: 4^th & 5^th of July 2014  (Friday 5.30-10pm & Saturday 12-7 pm)

•        Tickets: R120.00 per person attending, including a glass

         (Tickets available at Webtickets and at the door.)

For more info, visit www.wine-style.co.za

Rooibos Hot Toddy

With winter well and properly underway we are craving something warm and comforting – and something that will help sooth runny noses and stuffy chests. A boozy Hot Toddy with a South African twist is just the answer!

We are off to the (freezing) Underberg for the long weekend, and I'm thinking Hot Toddy will be on the menu :)

Rooibos Hot Toddy

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 Tbls Whiskey

4 or 6 slices ginger (R2 coin size)

1 Tbls lemon zest

1 Cup water

1 Rooibos tea bag

1 Tbls honey (or more if you like it sweeter)

1 Tbls lemon juice

How to make it

Divide the lemon zest and ginger between two glasses. Top with Whiskey (1 Tbls per glass) and allow to infuse while you prepare the tea.

Bring the water and tea bag to the boil.

Once it’s boiling, remove the teabag and add the honey. Stir until the honey has melted.

Pour the hot tea into the whiskey and add the fresh lemon juice (1/2 of each per glass).

Serve hot.

Great gift for dad - The Van Ryn's brandy collection

It's so difficult to buy gifts for men, but one thing that always goes down a treat is a good bottle of brandy. If you are lucky enough to live in the Western Cape you can spoil your dad with this limited-edition ensemble of the entire award-winning Van Ryn's Collection Reserve range.

The gift pack contains 200 ml bottles of each of the 10-, 12-, 15- and 20-year-old prestige brandies. The 12-, 15- and 20-year-olds are made in the traditional cognac-style, 
while the 10-year-old is one of South Africa's few vintage brandies.

It is only available from the Van Ryn's Distillery near Stellenbosch and sells for R1 110. 

(The offer is available during June only, as long as stock lasts.) 

For more info on Van Ryn’s visit 

www.facebook.com/vanryns or www.vanryns.co.za or call (021) 881 3875. 

Sweet Potato and Leek Soup with Honey Bacon

Winter has arrived! What better way to spend chilly evenings than over a steaming bowl of soup? Recipe from the Sunday Times, slightly adapted by us.

Sweet Potato and Leek Soup with Honey Bacon

Ingredients

3 sweet potatoes, washed

6 leeks washed, outer layer removed and cut in half lengthways

Olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

1L vegetable stock

125 ml cream or full cream milk

250g streaky bacon

1 Tbsp honey

5 ml chilli flakes

Black pepper and salt to taste

How to make it

Pre-heat oven to 180°C.

Prick the skins of the sweet potatoes, rub with oil and place on a baking tray.

Bake until soft – approximately 45 to 60 minutes depending on the size of the sweet potatoes.

Place washed and sliced leeks on a baking tray, drizzle with 15ml of the oil and bake in the same oven for 15 minutes until just tender and crisping at the edges.

When the sweet potatoes are soft and cool enough to handle, remove the skins and chop roughly.

Roughly the cooked leeks, keeping some aside for garnish.

Heat a glug of olive oil in a deep pot, fry onion until translucent and add garlic for 1 minute.

Add the sweet potatoes and leeks, pour in stock and bring to the boil.

Remove from the heat and blend till smooth.

Place bacon on a baking tray and grill until crisp, remove from the oven and drain excess fat.

Drizzle bacon with the honey and sprinkle with chilli flakes.

Return to oven for about 10 minutes and allow bacon to caramelize.

To serve:

Reheat the blended soup and add the cream or milk, *You might want to add some more hot vegetable stock because it is quite thick.

Add salt and black pepper to taste.

Chop reserved leeks and bacon in to spoon size bits, dish hot soup into preheated soup bowls and garnish with bacon and leeks.

Serve with hot crusty bread.

McDonald's “Tastes of the World” burgers to celebrate the Soccer World Cup

This week I attended the launch of the ‘Tastes of the World’ burger range from McDonald's – what better way to kick off the week? :) Inspired by three countries (South Africa, Brazil and Mexico), the burgers are the perfect nod to the upcoming 2014 FIFA Soccer World Cup^TM. We even got to build our own versions of the three burgers.

The Mexican burger (so happy they put this one back on the menu!) is drenched in jalapeno sauce and spicy hot sauce, whereas the all new Brazilian chicken burger is a mouth-watering affair of chilli lime sauce. The South African burger offers eclectic flavours of chakalaka sauce, and a boerewors flavoured patty. I think the stand-out favourite was the South African burger, but I just know that when the golden arches are calling you in the middle of the night, the spicy Mexican burger will go down a treat this winter!

Eating, tasting and building burgers at McDonald's Craighall.

The South African burger, a crowd favourite

www.mcdonalds.co.za

Mediterranean Beef Burgers with Caramelised Red Onion

It’s national Burger Day! Why not celebrate by making your own burgers at home 

– less fatty and much tastier.

Mediterranean Beef Burgers with Caramelised Red Onion

Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients

For the patties

1 kg topside mince or lean mince

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

3 large eggs

15 ml dry mustard

5 ml ground coriander

10 ml braai seasoning

3 garlic cloves, chopped

30 ml parsley, chopped

15 ml Worcester Sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste

For the caramalised onion

4 red onions

4 large rosa tomatoes

Balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

Brown treacle sugar

To serve

Fresh rocket

Parmesan shavings

Portuguese bread rolls

Thick cut French fries

How to make it

For the patties

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly – use your hands.

Lightly grease hands with oil and roll the mince into tennis ball sized rounds.

Flatten to create a patti.

Make a little indentation in the middle – so that they don’t shrink too much when cooking.

Place on lightly oiled tray and cover with clingwrap.

You can cook them in a lightly oiled pan, on the flat grill or over the fire.

PS: Don’t over cook; they must be soft to the touch not stiff and hard!

For the caramalised onion

Pr-heat the oven to 180°C.

Slice tomatoes – about ½ cm thick and place on an oiled baking tray.

Slice onions and arrange on top of tomatoes.

Season with salt and black pepper, sprinkle with brown sugar (about 4 Tbls) and drizzle with balsamic and olive oil.

Roast – tossing every now and then – until slightly sticky and caramelized (about 45 minutes.

Build your yummy burger

Portuguese Roll – toasted it tastes even better!

Top with Caramelized Onion and Tomato.

Top with beef patti.

Top with fresh rocket.

Top with Parmesan shavings.

Serve with hot French fries.

Mexican Winter Salad

During the colder months we don’t really feel like eating big cold salads, but still crave something fresh. This winter salad is packed with Mexican flavours and is filling enough to serve as a main.

Mexican Winter Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the chilli & garlic oil

1 Tbls chopped garlic

2 Tbls chopped green chillies (remove seeds if you don’t want it hot)

¼ cup olive oil

Salt

For the sour cream dressing

1 tub (250ml) sour cream (room temperature)

½ cup spring onions (green only), finely sliced

Salt & Black pepper

For the salad

1 can corn kernels

1 can red kidney beans

220g rainbow slaw (a mix of grated and julienned purple cabbage, carrots, beetroot, celery and lettuce) you can buy it ready made from Woolworths

1 cup grated mature cheddar

½ cup coriander leaves

Grilled chicken fillets or beef strips for serving.

How to make it

For the chilli & garlic oil

Combine the chillies, garlic and olive oil. Season well with salt. Set aside.

For the sour cream dressing

Beat the sour cream until it becomes very soft and a little bit runny (if it’s too stiff, add some milk.)

Fold in the sliced spring onion and season well with salt and black pepper.

Set aside.

For the salad

Drain the corn and beans.

In a big salad bowl or serving platter, gently toss all the salad ingredients together.

Serving

Just before serving, grill the chicken fillets or beef and serve all the elements separately so that people can build their own salads.

Tips

-          Serve it with some more chopped fresh chillies if you like it spicier.

-          For a skinnier version, omit the cheese and substitute the sour cream with yogurt.

Huletts Koeksister Competition

Koeksisters are the ultimate South African sweet treat! Crispy, gooey and syrupy, no tea party is complete without them.

Have you tasted an amazing koeksister recently? Nominate a baker for an opportunity to be crowned the ‘Koeksister Champion 2014’ and you can stand a chance to win a trip to the ‘Innibos Festival’ to the value of R5000.00!

All you need to do is sms the word ‘koeksister’ and where you purchased it from to 32113, or visit www.hulettskoeksister.co.za for more details. PS. Include as much detail as possible to make sure the team can allocate your nomination to the correct koeksister supplier or baker. (Entries close 30 May)

Read more about Koeksisters here.

For a fab recipe to try at home, click here. 

YUM! (via here)

Roasted Tomato Soup with Ricotta Fritters

There aren’t many things as satisfying as a steaming bowl of soup on a cold evening… until you add cheese, then it becomes the most satisfying thing ever! Put this meal together in 30 minutes – it’s much easier than it seems.

Roasted Tomato Soup with Ricotta Fritters

Serves 4 as a main, or 6 – 8 as a starter

Ingredients

For the tomato soup

1kg ripe Roma tomatoes

700g mixed exotic tomatoes

6 whole garlic cloves, peeled

1 large red chilli, quartered (remove seeds if you prefer it less spicy)

Maldon salt

Black pepper

Olive oil

1 Tbls sugar

½ cup fresh basil leaves

For the Ricotta fritters

2 cups Ricotta

1 cup bread crumbs

3 large eggs

3 Tbls fresh basil, finely chopped

Salt

Black pepper

Olive oil

Fresh basil and crusty bread for serving.

How to make it

For the tomato soup

Pre-heat the oven to 220°C.

Quarter the large Roma tomatoes, halve the medium exotic tomatoes and keep the small tomatoes whole.

Arrange all the tomatoes on a deep baking tray and add the garlic and chilli.

Season well with salt & black pepper and drizzle liberally with olive oil.

Bake on the middle rack for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and give all the ingredients a toss to make sure nothing is sticking too much.

Sprinkle with sugar and return to the oven for another 5 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Using a stick blender or liquidizer, process the tomatoes (along with all the pan juices) until smooth and liquid, adding a glug of olive oil while you are liquidizing.

Add the basil leaves and blitz until all the ingredients are well combined and liquid.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the Ricotta fritters

Make these while the tomatoes are roasting.

Crumble and soften the ricotta with a fork.

Add the lightly beaten eggs, bread crumbs and basil. Mix well.

Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Shape into rounds (a lightly packed ¼ cup or golf ball size) and flatten to form fritters.

Set aside until needed.

Finishing off

Start heating the tomato soup over a low heat.

Meanwhile, heat a glug of olive oil in a heavy based pan and fry the ricotta fritters in batches until golden brown. About 3 minutes a side.

Spoon the hot soup into serving bowls and float 3 – 5 ricotta fritters on top.

Garnish with fresh basil and serve with crusty bread.

Serve hot.

Tips

• If you prefer a super smooth soup, you can cool the tomatoes after they have been roasted and remove the seeds and skins. But this is really time consuming and not necessary.
• If you do have a bit more time, try making your own Ricotta: Bring 4 L milk to the boil. As soon as it starts bubbling remove from the heat and add 4 – 6 Tbls fresh lemon juice. Stir until the curds separate from the whey. Strain the solids from the liquid through a cheese cloth and hang the cheese (still in the cheese cloth) to drip out the last liquid for about 30 minutes. And voila, you’ve made ricotta!

White Lunch at Roots

Last weekend we spent a delightful afternoon at Roots Restaurant in the Cradle of Humankind, celebrating Wiets’ uncle’s 69^th birthday. We are big fans of Roots at Forum Homini, so much so that we got married there two years ago and I’ve blogged about it here and here. All the guests were dressed in white and the warm autumn weather allowed us to spend time soaking up the sun whilst sipping champagne. Beautiful venue, AMAZING food and great company made for an unforgettable lunch. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

We got married here two years ago :) 

(I was wearing the same shoes!)

Opera singer and live painting as entertainment.

Watermelon sorbet. Creative bread basket. Mini macaroon, honeycomb & coffee beans.

Duck liver parfait & mushroom velouté.

Scallops with squid ink, pickled cabbage, roasted cucumber, apple pureé and caviar. 

Served with Jordan Riesling 2013.

Smoked Silver kob (kabeljou), butter poached lobster, fried foie gras, macadamia nuts & pears. 

Served with Secateurs Chenin Blanc 2013.

Brothers & sisters.

Duck breast, duck cannelloni, smoked cocoa bean pureé, tomato jelly, orange & leeks. 

Served with Cederberg Merlot Shiraz 2010.

Fillet, short rib, braised fennel, watercress velouté & cauliflower pureé. 

Served with Springfield Wholeberry 2012.

 

 Wild berry crumble, berry & nut salad, Cassis ice cream, hazelnut & rose mousse. 

Served with Simonsig Gewurztraminer 2013.

Cheese plate. Tanglewood, Junior & Kilimanjaro, herb bread, raisin chutney. 

Gruyère & goats cheese. 

Served with De Krans Cape Ruby NV.

The birthday cake

The white party

If you want to die and go to foodie heaven, do yourself a favour and pay Roots a visit. 

And if you want to make it even more special, spend the night at the Forum Homini Hotel 

– the rooms are just fabulous!

www.forumhomini.com

www.forumhomini.com/rootsrestaurant