Baked Veggie Pots Recipe - for the longest night of the year

Today is the shortest day and the longest night in the Southern Hemisphere, and we’ll be celebrating the turn towards spring with comfort food, watching a movie, under a duvet J

Why not try this warm and comforting dish tonight? Perfect as a starter or accompaniment to your main meal.

Baked Veggie Pots

Serves 6 – 8 (depending on the size of the dish you bake it in)

You will need

1 Tbls cooking oil

30g butter

1 onion, chopped

2 eggplants, diced

250g mushrooms, diced

1 red pepper, chopped (optional)

1 bay leaf

1 tsp garlic, chopped (optional)

½ cup chicken stock

¼ cup dry white wine (or increase your chicken stock)

2 Tbls sour cream

1 Tbls flour or white onion soup powder

1 tsp fresh oregano or ½ dried oregano

1 tsp fresh thyme of ½ dried thyme

1 Tbls dried chilli flakes (optional)

½ cup grated parmesan

150g mozzarella (or any other cheese) for the topping

How to make it

Heat the butter and oil in a heavy bottomed pan.

Gently fry the onion, eggplants, peppers, mushrooms and garlic in this order until they are nearly cooked.

Stir in the flour or onion soup powder. Add the stock, wine, bay leaf, herbs and chilli.

Simmer until the liquid is almost evaporated.

Add the sour cream. (Add some plain cream for an even creamier version.)

Simmer until thickened.

Add the parmesan.

Season to taste.

Dish into ramekins for a starter or bigger ovenproof bowls as side dish.

Top with grated mozzarella and bake in a pre-heated oven under the grill for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Tip:

-          The beauty of this veggie pot is that you can practically use any veggies and cheese you have in your fridge.

-          For a healthier option, substitute the cream with yogurt.

Real Coffee

The husband and I have just returned from a wonderful road-trip travelling through Slovenia, Italy and Croatia, and what I miss most today are the wonderful espressos. Lazily sipping on an espresso on the promenade doing a spot of people watching was one of our favourite things J

 The promenade in Split, Croatia

 Thick & strong in Mestre, Italy

 Predjama castle, Slovenia

Croissants with Bacon and Green Figs

Spoil Dad on Father’s Day with something sweet and salty that is quick and easy - even the kids can help!

Croissants with Bacon and Green Figs

Serves 4

You would need

4 Croissants, cut in half

3 eggs beaten with dash of salt and pepper

Knob of butter

250 g bacon of your choice

4 Preserved Green Figs

½ cup of grated mature cheddar cheese

How to

Dip sliced croissants into beaten egg on both sides.

Heat butter in pan and fry until crisp and golden.

Fry bacon to crispy in another pan.

Place fried croissants on a plate, sprinkle with cheddar cheese, top with bacon and sliced figs.

Drizzle a bit of the fig preserve syrup over, add a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice or coffee,

and serve him in bed.

Tip: if you don’t have green figs replace it with banana fried in honey and butter.

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Cooking with Reza Mahammad

Reza Mahammad is the bubbly London-born-Indian-chef that can be seen all over South African television at the moment (currently showing is a cooking show that he shot in SA called Reza's African Kitchen). My dear friend Louise and I attended a Le Creuset cooking demonstration at the PnP Good Food Studio presented by Reza – and what fun!

Upon arrival we were treated to bubbly and tasters of two of the recipes from his new cookbook, spinach koftas in tomato sauce (which I later helped him roll into balls on stage J) and sweet potato and goat’s cheese samosas (recipe below). In person Reza is just as quirky and talkative as he appears on television. Not only is he passionate about cooking (especially about spices) he is also very knowledgeable when it comes to ingredients, cooking methods and also the little back stories behind dishes and spices.

Using recipes from his book (Reza’s Indian Spice), Reza buzzed around the kitchen whipping up spinach koftas, jeweled rice, a beansprout salad with grilled asparagus & coconut and a chicken curry in cashew sauce – all cooked and served in fabulous Le Creuset cookware. We only got a tiny taster of each of the dishes (he could have done with more ingredients and more time) but the flavours were amazing! Initially I bought his book because it just looks so beautiful, but now I can’t wait to get cooking.

Next step: plan a trip to India… J

We had these as an appetiser before the demonstration and they were delicious! 

Just had to share the recipe J

Sweet potato and goat's cheese samosas (with Indo-Italian pesto)

(from is book Reza’s Indian Spice)

Makes about 24

You will need

1 tsp cumin seeds, plus 1–2 tbsp more, to sprinkle
400g sweet potato, diced small
salt
200g soft goat’s cheese, chopped
3 spring onions, chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
1 whole red chilli, deseeded if you like, finely chopped
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 garlic cloves, crushed
125g unsalted butter
270g filo pastry
rock salt, to sprinkle

How to make it

Unlike most samosas, these aren’t fried. This both makes them healthier and somehow intensifies the flavour of the filling. Cinnamon is fabulous with sweet potato. I serve these with a peppery watercress dip – a kind of Indo-Italian pesto – with coriander and lemon (once, by accident, I used orange instead and it was great, so try it). If you grow nasturtiums, use the leaves instead of watercress; it tastes unbelievable. These are smart enough to serve with drinks.

Place the 1 tsp cumin seeds in a dry frying pan and toast until golden and fragrant. Remove to a mortar and crush with a pestle. Put the sweet potato in a pan, cover with water and add salt. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for six to eight minutes until tender. Drain and cool. Place in a bowl and mix with the cheese, spring onions, coriander, chilli, chilli flakes, crushed cumin, cinnamon and garlic. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Melt the butter. Lay a sheet of filo on a work surface and brush with butter. Place a second sheet on top to fit over the first. Brush this with butter too. Cut into strips about 5cm wide. Spoon 1 heaped tsp of filling into one corner. Fold the right corner of the strip over to the left side to create a triangle. Continue to fold the triangle along the
strip to the end, cutting off surplus pastry. Repeat to use up all the pastry and filling. Brush liberally with butter and sprinkle with cumin seeds and rock salt. Bake for 12–15 minutes, until golden.

Serve it with

Indo-Italian pesto

You will need

20g each watercress, rocket and coriander stalks

2 garlic cloves

2 whole green chillies

70g parmesan, grated

50g pine nuts

Finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon and juice of 1 ½

200ml olive oil

How to make it

Put all the ingredients except the oil into the bowl of a food processor. Start the processor. And pour the oil in slowly, until everything is smooth. Add salt to taste and serve as a dipping sauce with the samosas.

Spicy Chicken, Portabellini and Noodle Soup

A quick and easy supper when everybody is late and hungry.

Spicy Chicken, Portabellini and Noodle Soup

Serves 4

You will need

1 ready roasted chicken, chop the white meat into bite size pieces. (Save the rest of the chicken can be used for chicken mayo sandwiches)

1 Liter chicken stock

1 Tbls ginger, chopped

1 Tbls tamarind paste

2 red chillies, chopped (remove seeds for less heat)

1 stick lemongrass, chopped finely

125g portabellini mushrooms, diced into bite-sized pieces. (Or any other mushrooms.)

5 spring onions, chopped

Handful of mange tout

125g noodles

Fresh coriander

How to make it

Place the chicken stock, ginger, garlic, tamarind, spring onions and chilli in a pot.

Bring to the boil with the lid on, add the mushrooms, peas and then the noodles.

Simmer for a few minutes until the noodles are cooked.

Add cooked chopped chicken – heat through.

Add more water if needed.

Salt and pepper to taste, serve garnished with fresh coriander.

The Winter Sculpture Fair at Nirox

May is one of the most beautiful months in Gauteng – bright sunny days, leaves bursting with autumn colours and crisp mornings. As Jozi residents find themselves becoming aware of the impending 3 months of winter, more and more outdoor events seem to be springing up during this time, and one of them was the Winter Sculpture Fair at Nirox.

A 45 minute drive from Joburg, Nirox has to be one of my favourite venues. Tucked away in the hills of the Cradle of Humankind, this stunning sprawling venue is dotted with ponds, rolling lawns and creative energy. Nirox is a private foundation that offers residency to artists as well as exhibition spaces for their work.

This year MasterCard teamed up with Artlogic and selected Franschhoek restaurants and wine farms to host a weekend of art and culinary experiences. The concept is just wonderful – you buy a fantastic glass of wine and a small plate of beautifully presented gourmet delicacies, find a spot on the grass or at one of the tables and soak up the autumn rays while indulging in Franschhoek’s finest.

Luckily the husband and I arrived quite early so we could sample some of the food on offer. We snacked on mini Kobe Beef burgers from Breaside, Pickled tongue with caramelised onions and Curried fish cakes in a clam, sweet corn and vanilla velouté (surprising favourite) from Fyndraai Restaurant and some fantastic wines and bubbly from Moreson. Unfortunately I think the organizers underestimated the amount of people that were willing to drive some distance for a day out of the city… by 13:30 all the food was sold out and so was most of the wine. I have to say that I would have been super disappointed if I had paid R100.00 entrance fee only to find ‘Sold Out’ signs everywhere.

Something else that I think the organizers should consider is to create an ‘Adults only’ space… I’m sorry, but I have no desire to look at other people’s children picking their noses and sticking their dirty little fingers in a R60.00 plate of well composed duck boboti or screaming their heads off while I’m trying to enjoy a tiny bite of salmon or knocking my precious South African MCC out of my hand because they’re playing touchers. Honestly.

If they decide to host the event again next year we would probably go again… But this time we’ll go really early, secure a spot far away from the crèche and take our own picnic blankets – then I could spend an entire day there.

Read more about Nirox here and about the Winter Sculpture Fair here. 

Beef Madras with Chickpeas and Edamame Beans

There aren’t many things that warm you up like a spicy Indian curry! This one-pot beef curry is perfect for evenings holed up under a blanket at home.

Beef Madras with Chickpeas and Edamame Beans

Serves 4

You will need

1kg stewing beef or chuck steak, cut into bite sized pieces

2 Tbls flour

Salt & pepper

2 Tbls vegetable oil

1 Tbls mustard seeds

1 large onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

4cm piece ginger, grated

3 tsp garam masala

1tsp turmeric powder

1 Tbls ground coriander

1 Tbls ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

3 tsp chilli powder

1 Tbls beef stock powder

Boiling water

1 can chickpeas

½ cup edamame beans, shelled or peas (optional)

125ml cream or plain yogurt

Basmati rice & chopped chillies for serving

How to make it

Toss the beef pieces in the flour seasoned with salt and pepper.

Heat 1Tbls oil in a heavy based pot (or your pressure cooker) and brown the meat on all sides. Remove from the pot and set aside.

Add more oil to the pot and fry the onions for 2 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and fry for another minute.

Add all the dry spices and fry with the onion mix until fragrant. (Add more oil if needed.)

Return the meat to the pot, sprinkle with the stock powder and cover with boiling water.

Cover with a lid and simmer gently until the meat is tender (this can take up to 1 ½ hours)

*If you have a pressure cooker, bring it to the boil and let it cook under pressure for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to stand covered for another 15 minutes.

Before serving, add the cream (or yogurt), chickpeas and edamame beans, and cook for another 20 minutes.

Serve garnished with fresh chillies and steamed Basmati rice.

Tips

-          Naan bread is also a great side to this dish.

-          To add even more dimension to this meal, serve it with a side of chopped tomato & onion, and a yogurt & cucumber mix.

Mother's Day Gifts from LekkerBek

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of our delicious gifts or treat her to the perfect hamper from our range.

Click here for Mother's Day gift ideas. 

Inverroche - South African Fynbos Gin

Just over a month ago the entire family trekked down to Stillbaai in the Southern Cape to attend my brother Arné’s wedding. Stillbaai is a popular vacation town that positively buzzes during peak seasons. Luckily we missed the crowds and spent 3 relaxing days on deserted beaches in the company of close friends and family.

The husband and I decided to do some exploring and came across one of Stillbaai’s hidden gems. Micro-distillery Inverroche; makers of small-batch artisan fynbos gin. We’ve done beer, wine, champagne and even olive oil tastings, but never gin. Although we adore an ice cold G&T during the summer months, we never considered the complexities the flavour of gin can hold, and certainly never drink it on its own!

We were welcomed by Lorna Scott who passionately explained the pot distilling process to us. Unlike making traditional gin (which is made from hardy ingredients like cassia bark and juniper berries), Inverroche adds softer local fynbos to the mix. Through a steaming process, the spirit vapors extract aromatic oils and aromas from the fynbos which imparts the unique flavour into the gin. This family-run business has a very ‘green’ approach to their gin making – the distillery is built from locally collected limestone, it’s naturally ventilated so there is no need for air-conditioning, they use local fynbos, burn alien wood to fire up the copper pot still and their water is pumped from underground by their own windmill. They also make bricks from materials left over after the distilling process. Ingenious indeed!

Inverroche creates three types of gin: Verdant {Fresh & Floral}, Amber {Rich & Aromatic} and Classic {Crisp & Complex}. We had the pleasure of tasting all three; neat, with tonic and (my favourite) with the zest of a citrus fruit. The one lesson I took home after this tasting was to only use the zest of the citrus fruit and not an entire slice of it. The zest contains oils (like the gin) and therefore doesn’t destroy the flavour, unlike the white pith in a slice of lemon/lime/grapefruit that is bitter and hinders the flavour instead of enhancing it.

We also tasted some of their delicious rum, and are looking forward to future projects – Champagne perhaps?

At this stage you can only buy Inverroche Gin directly from the farm or at a handful of suppliers, but check their website for online sales and distributers. Alternatively you can experience a taste of Inverroche at one of the Sothern Sun hotels that are using it in their cocktails.

Needless to say, we came back to Joburg with one of each J

Visit www.inverroche.co.za or their Facebook page.