Paella Recipe

I was very spoilt this Christmas, and one of my gifts was a cherry red Le Creuset cast iron Buffet Casserole (yay!!) – perfect for Paellas! So what better reason does one need to prepare a deliciously fragrant – and not to mention healthy – seafood feast.

Paella

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

1 Pinch Saffron threads

80ml Sherry

2 Tbls Olive Oil

4 Spring Onions, chopped

3 Garlic cloves, sliced

4 Small or 1 large Sweet peppers

½ Chorizo sausage (about 15cm long), sliced

2 ½ Cups Arborio rice

500ml Chicken or vegetable stock

250g Squid, sliced or whole small tentacles

250g Small prawns, cleaned and de-shelled leaving the tail on

1 Smoked chicken fillet, sliced

1 Cup frozen peas

8 Langoustines, cleaned, with shell still on

Salt and pepper, for seasoning

Dried chilli flakes, for seasoning

Fresh coriander, for garnish

Fresh lemon wedges, for garnish

How to make it

Soak the Saffron in the sherry in a small pan, warm (but don’t boil) and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy based pan. Add the spring onions & sweet peppers and fry for 2 minutes.

Add the garlic and fry for another minute.

Add the chorizo and fry until the sausage edges become caramelised and the oil starts seeping out.

Scatter the rice over the bottom of the pan and fry for a few minutes, coating it well with the oil.

Add the chicken, squid, prawns, langoustines and peas, and toss everything together.

Heat the stock and pour over the rice mixture. Add the sherry and saffron mix.

Stir to mix everything together and bring to the boil. Once bubbling, turn down the heat to a simmer. Cook uncovered for 15 – 20 minutes, until the rice is tender. Do not stir at all.

Separate the rice and other ingredients lightly with a fork.

Season with salt, pepper and chilli flakes.

Serve scattered with fresh coriander and lemon wedges.

Tips

• This dish is perfect for using up leftovers. Use whatever you have in the fridge. Meats should be cooked when added, but seafood raw.
• You can spice it up with some smoked paprika.
• A crispy crust should form at the bottom of the pan – just keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t blacken.
• Have all your ingredients pre-prepped and sliced, once the cooking starts you won’t have time for chopping!

Valentine's Goodies

Spoil someone this Valentine’s Day

with sweet treats, salty snacks

and fluffy cakes.

for more information, visit

www.lekkerbek.co.za

or contact

Andanté

andante@lekkerbek.co.za

Wirie

wirie@lekkerbek.co.za

Mixed Berry & Sour Cream no-bake Cheese Cake

We served this cheese cake on Christmas Day, and it was the perfect accompaniment to a chilled lunch by the pool. Recipe from Food & Home Entertaining, December 2011, p55.

Mixed Berry & Sour Cream no-bake Cheese Cake

(Makes one tart)

Ingredients

Base

200g (2 cups) Shortbread biscuits

80ml (1/3 cup) Butter, soft

Filling

230g (1cup) Cream cheese

150g Castor sugar

20ml (2Tbls) Lemon juice

250ml (1 cup) Sour cream

20ml (4 tsp) Powder gelatin

125ml (1/2 cup) Cold water

125ml (1/2 cup) Blueberries

Berry Topping

250ml (1 cup) Berry juice

15ml (1 Tbls) Cornflour

15ml (1 Tbls) Water

15ml (1 Tbls) Sugar

100g Raspberries, puréed

How to make it

For the base, place the biscuits and butter into a food processor and process until combined.

Lightly grease a 15cm loose-bottom cake tin and press in the biscuit mixture to form a base. Set in the fridge for at least 40 minutes while you prepare the filling.

For the filling, mix the cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and sour cream together until combined.

Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and leave it for a few minutes. Place some warm water into a bigger bowl and place the bowl with the gelatin mixture into it to gently melt the gelatin. Whisk 15ml (1 Tbls) of the cream cheese mixture into the melted gelatin. Mix well and pour half over the biscuit crust.

Sprinkle over the blueberries and cover with the rest of the filling. Place in the fridge to set.

For the topping, mix all the ingredients together and heat gently until slightly thickened. Allow to cool completely.

It can be poured over the cake while it is still setting – just ensure that the top of the cheesecake is firm to the touch before adding the topping.

Place the cheese cake in the fridge to set overnight.

Serve topped with a selection of fresh berries and a dusting of icing sugar.

Enjoy!

PS. There are quite a few processes, so plan your steps before hand; also, you’ll need to prepare this cake the day before as it needs time to set.

New Years Wishes

The Leopard

One of the latest editions to the Parkhurst 4^th Avenue strip, The Leopard, occupies a bright airy corner shop opposite other new-comer Vovo Telo. Miss-matched tables, chairs and lamp shades almost make it feel like you’re sitting in someone’s home kitchen.

After 5 years out of the restaurant scene, Andrea Burgener’s newest venture has people talking. The menu is delightfully non-obvious and the offerings change regularly, so return visits are inevitable. They cook with local ingredients, fee range chickens, grass fed beef and fish from the SASSI green list – all around good ingredients are the order of the day.

The dishes are average Joburg restaurant prices, but the fact that it’s still BYO alcohol really makes for an affordable boozy lunch! The service is friendly although a little slow – but this is the kind of place to kick back and relax for a couple of hours to soak up the Jozi summer and relaxed atmosphere.

Open for breakfast and lunch every day, but only open for dinner on Wednesday and Friday. NOTE They don’t take credit cards – but there is an ATM right next door.

Festive Summer Recipes

Long gone are the days of slaving over a hot oven to produce the quintessential Roast Turkey. South Africans are embracing the summer festive season in by making chilled light dishes that can easily be prepared in advance.

Here are 3 easy recipes for lazy days spent around the pool with family and loved ones.

Rooibos Punch

(Makes 4L)

Ingredients

1 L Rooibos Tea

1 L Ginger Ale

1 L Orange Juice

500 ml Soda Water

500 ml Lemon Vodka or Pimms or Cane

Mint for garnish.

Lemons for garnish.

How to make it

Prepare Rooibos Tea and allow to cool.

Combine all the ingredients in a large punch bowl.

Add crushed ice.

Garnish with Mint & Lemon slices.

Blue Cheese, Ricotta and Baby Marrow Terrine

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

2T Lemon juice

½t Salt

Black pepper

3T Extra virgin olive oil

3 – 6 Baby marrows (depending on their size)

200g Creamy blue cheese

250g Ricotta cheese

How to make it

Slice the baby marrows lengthwise as thinly as possible (a peeler works well for this). Lay flat in a tray.

Whisk together the lemon juice, zest, salt and good grinding of black pepper to create a marinade.

Pour over the sliced baby marrows and marinate for at least 1 hour, turning the slices occasionally so they all get a good dose of marinade.

Line a loaf tin with cling wrap, with a generous overhang. (It helps if you drizzle the plastic with a bit of olive oil for handling)

Line the cling wrap with marinated baby marrow strips, overlapping a bit and with an overhang to fold over.

Combine blue cheese and ricotta.

Spoon into baby marrow lined tin, fold over the baby marrows, then the cling wrap and press down firmly.

Refrigerate at least 1 hour before unmoulding.

Serve with seeded bread or biscuits as part of lunch, or cheese course.

 Duck Liver Terrine

 Serves 6-8

 Ingredients

 500g Duck Livers, cleaned and trimmed

 500g Pork Belly, chopped or minced

 250g Chicken Mince

 25g Bread Crumbs

 125ml Chicken Stock

 250g Streaky Bacon

 2T Fresh Thyme

 1T Fresh Oregano

 1T Dried Coriander

 1t Dried Nutmeg

 80ml Brandy

 2T Butter

 1 Small Sweet Onion, finely chopped

 2T Garlic, crushed

 2T Olive Oil

 4 – 6 Bay Leaves

 2 tsp each Coarse Salt & Cracked Black Pepper

 How to make it

 Heat a heavy based pan and melt 1 Tbls Butter until it starts to bubble. Add Duck 

 livers and fry on each side for no more than a minute, until just browned. Remove from 

 pan and chop into chunky pieces.

 In the same pan melt another Tbls Butter and add ¾ of the onion, fry on a low heat 

 for about 5 minutes. Add 2 Tbls Garlic and fry for another minute. Set aside.

 Pre-heat your oven to 180°C.

 Place the bay leaves at the bottom of an oiled terrine tin, layer bacon diagonally 

 across to form the outside of the terrine.

 Mix all the remaining ingredients (including the cooked duck livers and onion) well.

 Press the mixture firmly into the terrine mold. Once all the mix has been used, cover 

 with a lid (or foil) and bake for about 80 minutes – until firm to the touch and slightly 

 shrunken.

 Place weights on top of the terrine to compress the ingredients slightly.

 Refrigerate and serve chilled with spiced cherries.

*The terrine recipes are from a book on Terrines by Fiona Smith, the punch is our own.

Growing our own Oyster Mushrooms

The fiancé recently turned 30 and was given a ‘Grow your own Oyster Mushrooms’ kit by our good friends Elke and Erol. I’ve always had a slight obsession with mushrooms, so I was thrilled when he unwrapped this particular gift.

The mushroom spawn comes neatly packaged in a box with clear instructions – open, cover, water and wait. After about two weeks the plastic covering the window over the front of the box started bulging and we knew the mushies were soon to appear – and they literally ‘popped up like mushrooms’ overnight! Within a couple of days we had a flourishing ‘branch’ of beautiful Oyster Mushrooms.

Wiets neatly cut them off their roots and simply fried them up in butter and garlic – delish! There really is something rewarding about growing and cooking something yourself, especially if it tastes that good J

For more info on the Mushroom Growing Kits visit; www.mushroomfactory.co.za. PS. This makes a great gift for anyone that likes to cook.

Our oyster Mushroom harvest

The neat box the kit is packaged in

My Favourite Things

We attended the second FoodWineDesign Fair at Hyde Park this past weekend. Presented by Sanlam and Artlogic, the fair showcases some of South Africa’s best local producers – from jewelry and furniture to cheese, chocolate and mushrooms. 

The event takes place on the roof-top – some seating areas are in the tent and others in a park style setting outside. With live entertainment, delicious tasters from all the foodie stalls and eye candy provided by designers live GOET and Tinsel, the fair is heaven to those who like all the finer (tastier and prettier) things in life.

I’ll definitely be there again next year! 

PS Spending hours sipping wine with the girls on a piece of fake grass is summer bliss ;)

Justin Bonello cooks… for friends

Last week we attended the launch of local celebrity cook Justin Bonello’s latest offering ‘Justin Bonello cooks… for friends.’ Wine flowed freely and guests were treated to dishes inspired by recipes from his book – the ‘Yin & Yan Gazpacho’ is delicious!

The book (like Justin) is casual, unpretentious and local. Easy to follow recipes with inspired twists, I just can’t wait to get cooking! Justin answered a few questions about the book and his food philosophy and I think this phrase summed it up perfectly; “Food should be accessible.”

The evening was topped off with Justin’s ‘Chocolate Vodka’ and we left there with a warm feeling indeed.

His book is available at Exclusive Books country wide, and retails for about R270.00 – a great gift for foodies! 

Festive Table with GOLDCREST

Check out our latest Festive recipes using GOLDCREST products – 

and yes, all the dishes were made using ingredients that come from cans! 

Click here for the pics and recipes on Joburg.co.za.