Sweet New Years Bubbles

Add some pizzazz to your New Years bubbly by placing a Huletts Sugar Cube 

soaked in a few drops of bitters at the base of a champagne glass. 

Top with your favourite Champagne or MCC and garnish

with pomegranate rubies - cheers!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Festive recipe: Steamed Christmas Cake

Steamed Christmas Cake
Makes one cake, serves 8 - 10

Ingredients
125 g dried cranberries
150 g chopped dried figs
75 g mixed citrus peel
60 ml Brandy
125 g (1/2 cup) soft butter
60 g (6 Tbls) Canderel Crunch with Sucralose
2 XL eggs
Rind of one lemon
1 T fresh lemon juice
125 g (1 cup) fresh bread crumbs
75 g self raising flour
3 t mixed spice powder
50 g diced almonds
¼ cup apricot jam to glaze
Vanilla ice cream or custard to serve.

How to make it
Combine the cranberries, figs, citrus peel and Brandy, marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Chop the marinated fruit (with the brandy sauce) into tiny pieces.
Beat together the butter and Canderel Crunch until light and fluffy.
Before adding the eggs, add 1 teaspoon of the self raising flour to the butter and sugar mixture and beat well to avoid curdling.
Add one egg at a time, beating well.
In a large bowl, combine the butter mixture, marinated fruit, lemon rind, lemon juice, bread crumbs, flour, mixed spice and almonds. Mix well.
Trace the outline and inside circle of a bunt cake tin onto wax paper. Cut out the rounds.
Grease the bunt tin very well and scoop in the cake mix. Gently flattening the mixture.
Cover the cake mix with the wax paper and flatten it down onto the cake surface.
Cover the entire tin with extra strong tinfoil, tucking overlapping foil underneath. Tie baking string around the lip of the tin to secure the foil and create a kind of steam oven.
Place the bunt tin in a large pot. Add water to the pot until it reaches half way up the cake tin.
Bring to the boil and gently simmer for 2 hours, checking every half hour that there is still enough water, and if not, add boiling water.
After two hours carefully remove the cake from the boiling water and partially remove the foil to insert a skewer to check if the cake is ready. If it is cooked through, replace the foil cover and return the cake to the water (turning off the heat) and allow to cool in the water bath for a few hours.
Once cooled, store it in your refrigerator (in the cake tin) for up to 2 months.
When you are ready to serve, steam the cake in the same manner as above for half an hour to heat through.
Melt the apricot jam in the microwave for a few seconds and brush over the hot cake.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or custard.

Festive recipe: Spiced Butter with Sweet Potatoes

Spiced Butter with Sweet Potatoes
Serves 4

Ingredients

For the sweet potatoes:
1 kg orange flesh sweet potatoes

Spiced butter:
8 T (120ml) salted butter
2 t Canderel Crunch with Sucralose
2 t nutmeg powder
1 t cinnamon powder
1 t chilli powder

How to make it

For the sweet potatoes:
Bake or boil the sweet potatoes until soft.

Spiced butter:
Melt the butter in a pan.
Add the Canderel and spices, mix well and cook for a few minutes for flavours to infuse.

To serve: Cut or tear the hot sweet potatoes open and drizzle with hot melted spiced butter. Serve immediately.

Festive recipe: Spiced Dukkah with Duck Fat Potatoes

Spiced Dukkah with Duck Fat Potatoes
Serves 8 as a side (makes 1 ½ cups Dukkah)

Ingredients

For the Dukkah:
½ cup almonds, chopped
½ cup mixed seeds (sunflower, sesame, pumpkin and flax work well)
½ T coriander seeds
½ T black pepper corns
½ T cumin seeds
½ t Canderel Crunch with Sucralose
1 t Salt
½ t chilli flakes

For the potatoes:
2 kg large roasting potatoes
2 T corn flour
¾ cup duck fat
Salt

How to make it

For the Dukkah:
In a hot pan, toast the almonds till golden. Set aside to cool.
In the same pan, toast the seeds until they start to pop and become golden. Set aside to cool.
Toast the coriander, black pepper and cumin until fragrant. Set aside to cool.
TIP: It is very important that all the ingredients are cool, otherwise the moisture will cause it to become a paste instead of a dukkah.
In a pestle and mortar, roughly crush the coriander, pepper and cumin mix.
In a food processor, combine the almonds and seeds and blend until roughly chopped (only a few seconds).
Add the coriander mix, Canderel, salt and chilli flakes and blend for another few seconds until it reaches the desired consistency.
Store in an airtight container until needed.

For the potatoes:
Peel the potatoes and cut them into large chunks.
Boil the potatoes in salted water until just soft.
Drain and allow to cool slightly and dry completely.
Place potatoes in a large container with a lid and add the corn flour. Cover the container and shake the potatoes around to cover with corn flour and break slightly (the more torn edges, the crispier they will fry.)
Pre-heat oven to 200°C.
Scoop the duck fat into a large baking tray and heat in the oven for 20 minutes (before adding the potatoes).
Once the fat is extremely hot, carefully scoop in the potato pieces and toss around to cover with fat – be very careful, as the fat is very hot.
Bake for 20 – 30 minutes, tossing every now and then, until golden and crispy.
Drain on paper towels and season with salt.

Serve hot with the spiced dukkah.

Festive recipe: Champagne Jellies

It’s celebration time!

This time of year (albeit insanely busy for us) is addictively festive. These little Champagne Jellies are an impressive (and dead easy) skinny dessert you can make a day or two in advance.

Champagne Jellies
Serves 4

Ingredients
4 leaves gelatin
360 ml Champagne, Method Cap Classique or Dry Sparkling Wine
2 t Canderel Crunch with Stevia
Fresh berries (blue berries and raspberries work well) and pomegranate rubies

How to make it
Soak the gelatin leaves in cold water for about 5 minutes until soft.
Over a water bath of simmering water, gently heat 180ml of the Champagne and the Canderel.
Squeeze the water from the gelatin leaves and add to the Champagne mix. Stir until dissolved and remove from the heat.
Add the remaining 180ml Champagne.
Add some berries to 4 Champagne glasses (about a tablespoon per glass).
Divide the Champagne mix between the glasses, allowing the berries to settle.
Refrigerate overnight to set.
Remove from the fridge about 20 minutes before serving.

Enjoy with friends and family ;)

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

The LekkerBek office is covered in red ribbon and glitter! 

Hoe cute are these custom pamper gifts? It’s a tin apple filled with goodies from The Body Shop surrounded by delicious chocolates in a hand made wire beaded basket. Love it! 

Visit www.lekkerbek.co.za for more festive gift ideas.

Posole Rojo

We adapted this traditional chunky Mexican soup from the Thug Kitchen cookbook, and although all the recipes in the book are vegan, we’ve added some beef for our meet-eating family, but it will be equally delicious without it.

This soupy spicy one-pot-meal is fantastic served with a whole array of crispy fresh accompaniments topped with a squeeze of zesty lime juice.

Posole Rojo
Serves 4

Ingredients
6 large dried chilies
1 ½ cups warm water
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 T cocoa powder (unsweetened)
2 red onions, chopped
1 T vegetable oil
350 – 400 g beef or pork mince (or tempeh for a veggie version)
1 T dried oregano
3 tsp cumin powder
1 cup carrot, cubes
1 cup cauliflower florets, cut into bite-sized pieces
Soy sauce
1 can red kidney beans (or hominy)
5 cups good vegetable stock
Salt

For serving
Fresh limes
Shredded cabbage
Sliced spring onion
Fresh coriander
Baby radish wedges

Optional: Tortilla crisps

Method

In a deep heavy based pot (the same one you’ll be using for the rest of the recipe) toast the dried chilies for 3 – 5 minutes until they become fragrant and bendy (don’t burn them) and remove the stems. Soak the chilies in the warm water for 20 minutes. Roughly chop them once finished soaking and reserve the water. TIP: Remove the seeds at this point if you want it less spicy.

Combine the garlic cloves, cocoa powder, chopped chilies and soaking water in a food processor or chopper and process until fine with no remaining chunks.

Fry the onion in the oil for about 3 minutes then add the mince to brown.

Add the oregano and cumin and fry for a minute or two.

Add the carrot and cauliflower and a splash of soy. Stir to combine all the ingredients.

Add the vegetable stock and chili sauce you made earlier and bring to the boil.

Turn down the heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

Season to taste with salt.

Serve hot with all the fresh accompaniments.

The Swartland Revolution

The husband and I spent the most fabulous weekend sipping wine, open air dining and talking all things viticulture in the little town of Riebeek Kasteel, tucked away in the Swartland Winelands. 

The 500 tickets for this year's Revolution were sold out in 2 minutes! So one can say that the festival has garnered somewhat of a cult following. The aim of the weekend is to showcase wines from the Swartland region and talk all things wine during the 3 'seminars' - well organised but still casual in approach. (Read about the tastings in more detail in this article by Tim James: WineMag) 

More about the Swartland Revolution:
www.theswartlandrevolution.com

Here are my highlights in pictures: 

Designer G&T's on the lawn of the Royal Hotel.

Our first tasting with Pax Mahle from Wind Gap in California. 

Dinner under the stars.

Hangover burgers and coffee.

We tasted some devine (and one-of-a-kind) wines at 9 in the morning!

Craft beer and snack break.

The last tasting hosted by John Platter (who specially came out of retirement for this event).

Picnic (and loads more wine) on the lawn.

LekekrBek Festive Gifts

Visit 

www.lekkerbek.co.za

for our delicious range 

of Festive Gifts.

Coffee Granita

Joburg has been hit by a heatwave, and what better way to cool down than with a frozen coffee?

Coffee Granita

Serves 6 – 8 

Ingredients
2 cups (500 ml) strong black coffee or espresso, freshly brewed
½ cup Huletts brown sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
Fresh whipping cream, cold
Huletts castor sugar
Instant coffee for garnish

Method
Dissolve the sugar in the coffee, stirring well. Add the Vanilla extract.
Pour into a large flat bowl and place in the freezer. Check on it every hour or so, and once ice crystals start to form use a fork to break them up by stirring it gently. Continue this process until it is completely frozen.
Once the granita is ready, whip the cream and sweeten to taste with castor sugar.
Scoop the coffee ice crystals into serving glasses, top with a dollop of whipped cream, sprinkle over some instant coffee and serve immediately.

Busveld Dreaming

We spent a magical week in the Madikwe Game Reserve. Going on fresh morning game drives, sipping chilled white wine and G&T's in the heat of the day, taking afternoon naps, watching the super-moon rise, chatting by fire light... an amazing weekend with family. 

Take me back!

#soulfood

Mushroom Sosati Recipe

Happy heritage day! In South Africa today is also fondly known as ‘Braai Day’ (or bbq day), and these mushroom kebabs (or sosatis) are the perfect vegetarian braai option or a delicious side to any grilled meat.

Mushroom Sosatis

Serves 4 as a side

Ingredients

8 sosati sticks

± 400g mixed mushrooms (shitake, big brown, portabelinni etc)

100g butter

1 T garlic, crushed

Pinch of salt

1 cup (chopped & loosely packed) mixed herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley, fennel etc)

Truffle oil for serving

Method

Soak the sosati sticks in water for at least 10 minutes (to prevent them from burning on the while cooking).

Cut the large mushrooms into halves or quarters so that all the mushrooms are more or less the same size.

String the mushrooms onto the soaked sosati sticks.

Heat your griddle pan or get your fire ready.

Melt the butter in a pot. Add the garlic and salt and fry for a minute. Add the herbs and fry for another minute.

Place the sosoatis on the grill or fire and brush with the melted herb butter while cooking, turning regularly.

Once the mushrooms are cooked (soft and juicy), serve immediately drizzled with truffle oil.

Tip: The mushrooms shrink quite a bit during cooking, so 2 kebabs per person won’t be too much.

A jar in a jar

How fabulous are these 'Jar in a Jar' jars from Consol? Basically it keeps everything you want separate, together. With two jars of different sizes fitting one inside the other, it makes for the perfect picnic dish container or even a space saving way of storing things. 

Think meals at the office, school lunches, trips to the beach, snacks on the run, and even as storage for stationery, crafting materials, as well as baking essentials.

The larger 1L jars are retailing from R42.90 while the smaller 500ml option is priced from R32.90.

The Jar in a Jar is available at The Consol Shop Woodmead and Stellenbosch, as well as through various leading retailers. For more information, visit the website www.consol.co.za, or go to Facebook (Consol Glass) or Twitter (Consol_Glass), or mail sales@consol.co.za. 

Lentil Dhal with Roasted Garlic

The evenings are still a little chilly and this makes us want curl up with a warming bowl of curry. This recipe is from the ‘Best ever Indian Cookbook’ that we bought in Udaipur, India during our trip last year. A perfect spicy vegetarian main meal or as part of a curry table.

Lentil Dhal with Roasted Garlic
Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients
2 whole garlic houses
Vegetable oil
3 T ghee or butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 fresh green chillies, chopped
1 T fresh ginger, grated
1 cup mixed lentils (or red lentils)
4 cups water
1 t cumin powder
1 t coriander powder
1 can chopped tomatoes
½ T sugar
Salt and ground black pepper
Fresh lemon juice
Fresh coriander leaves
Dried garlic slices

Method
Pre heat oven to 120°C.
Break the garlic houses into individual cloves, leaving he skins on.
Place on a baking tray and drizzle with vegetable oil.
Bake until soft (about 15 minutes), remove and once cool, puree.
Heat the ghee in a deep heavy based pot.
Fry the onion, ginger and chillies over a low heat for about 10 minutes until soft and golden.
Stir in the lentils. Add the water, bring to the boil and simmer for 50 – 60 minutes – stirring occasionally - until the lentils are soft and it looks like a thick soup. (add more water if you need to)
Stir in the garlic puree, cumin and coriander. Cook for another 10 – 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the chopped tomatoes and sugar and cook through.
Season with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Serve hot garnished with fresh coriander and dried garlic.

Quaker Oats Heaps of Fruit

When I came back from our fabulous European holiday I was surprised with this delightful box of Quaker Oats products. Now, in our house sleeping in is more important than breakfast, so we're always looking for a quick meal option - and that's exactly what Quaker Oats offers! 

The packaging is very innovative; basically you empty the contents into a bowl, use the same sachet the oats was in to measure and pour the water or milk, cook it in the microwave for 2 minutes and voila - breakfast is served. Pour, Press, Ping ;)

I really liked that there was 'heaps of fruit' in each serving (the banana and strawberry flavour is my favourite), and that it serves up a perfect portion of creamy porridge in just 2 minutes.

Check out this funny Suzelle video where she tries Quaker Oats:

For more info, visit:

Quaker Facebook Page

Official Quaker Website

KitchenAid in Golden Nectar

Drool! Isn't this new colour from KitchenAid just gorgeous? 

In my ideal world I would have a KitchenAid in every colour :)

For more info click here or here.

Undinian Mussels with Sedgwick’s Original Old Brown

Spring was fleeting in Joburg and we've been hit by a cold front. So out come the booties, coats and winter recipes - like this one! Old Brown is synonymous with 'warming', so I think this easy recipe is just the perfect comfort food for tonight.

Undinian Mussels
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 kg mussels, beards removed and cleaned
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
15 ml finely chopped garlic
30 ml olive oil
30 ml garam masala or curry powder
180 ml Sedgwick’s Original Old Brown
250 ml cream
Fresh limes and fresh coriander leaves to serve

Method
Make sure the mussels are clean. Use a big, heavy based saucepan with a lid. Fry the celery, onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft and translucent.
Add the garam masala and stir through. Place the mussels in the saucepan with the Sedgwick’s Original Old Brown. Close the lid and leave for 7-8 minutes, shaking the saucepan intermittently.
Remove the lid and discard any mussels that did not open. Add the cream and heat through. Serve the mussels with fresh limes, coriander and crunchy farm bread.

Happy Spring Day!

Happy Spring Day! 

We'll be brightening some lucky offices with tasty treats today :) 

The new Le Creuset Halo Kettle

Aren't these just too gorgeous? The black one is my personal favourite ;)

We have the Cherry Zen Kettle, and just love it - especially with all the power failures SA has been experiencing, it's really handy to be able to boil water on the gas stove! And it's so pretty it always has pride of place in the kitchen. 

Click here for more info on the new Halo Kettle range. 

Spicy Crushed Peas, Steak & Egg

A quick and healthy mid-week meal.

Spicy Crushed Peas, Steak & Egg
Serves 2

Ingredients
400g steak of your choice (we used beef fillet)
2 cups frozen baby peas
2 large free range eggs
Olive oil
2 fresh green chillies, sliced (remove the seeds for a less spicy version)
2 t fresh garlic, chopped
Salt & black pepper
Optional: Crispy fried onion and bacon bits

Method
Grill the meat to your liking, cover with foil and allow to rest.
Meanwhile, bring the peas to the boil. Once they are soft but still bright green and firm (boil them for about 3 minutes), remove from the heat and drain.
Fry two eggs to your liking (soft works best for this recipe).
While the eggs are cooking, heat a splash of olive oil in a pan, add the chillies and garlic and fry for a minute or two. Add the cooked peas and toss through. Roughly crush the peas with a potato masher and season well with salt and pepper.
Plate the dish by piling the hot peas on a plate, topping it with the rested steak and then with an egg. Season well with salt and black pepper.

TIP: Add some crispy fried onion and crispy bacon bits for extra indulgence.

Spring Day Gifts from LekkerBek

Visit www.lekkerbek.co.za for 

Spring Day gift ideas,

or email andante@lekkerbek.co.za

for personalised options.

Mexican Style filled Avocado

If you’re not quite ready for full blown leafy salads, 

kick spring off with this fresh and spicy filled avo.

Mexican Style filled Avocado
Serves 2 as a side, one as a main

Ingredients
1 large ripe avocado
½ cup mature cheddar, finely diced
½ cup mini rosa tomatoes, sliced
¼ cup red onion, finely diced
¼ cup fresh coriander, chopped
1 green chilli, chopped (remove seeds for a less spicy version)
Juice of one fresh lime
1 T olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Method
Combine all the ingredients (except the avo) and season well with salt & pepper.
Cut the avocado in half, remove the pip and spoon in the mixture.

Serve half as a side to good steak or the whole avo as a main.

Grapefruit, Papaya, Strawberry & Lime Smoothie

Spring is bursting to come into bloom on Joburg, you can just feel it in the air! A sunny weekend is being predicted so we think this smoothie is the perfect way to celebrate warmer weather - while getting a vitamin boost to boot ;)

Grapefruit, Papaya, Strawberry & Lime Smoothie
Serves 1

Ingredients
½ papaya
150g strawberries
Juice of 1 pink grapefruit
Juice of ½ lime

Method
Blend together… chill (or serve on ice) and enjoy.

Europe in the summer = Love

We are back from the most fantastic summer holiday in Europe! After a few visa issues (grrrr), we finally arrived in Amsterdam - albeit 3 days late... Anyhoo, we hit the ground running and did whirlwind museum visits, beer stops, Genever tastings and even a picnic on the lawn at the Rijksmuseum. 

We spent most of our vacation in Spain, and we absolutely loved it! When can we go again?? We stayed in Barcelona for 5 nights where we walked (and jogged!) the streets until after midnight, drank too much sangria, learnt how to cook a traditional seafood paella, became obsessed with Jamón ibérico (and green olives, and white anchovies, and gazpacho...), gazed at Gaudi and fell in love again as the sun set over the magical (musical) fountains. 

We then traveled down south and road-tripped in the Andalusian province. Here we had the best tapas, discovered Tinto verano, drank too much beer, cooked fabulous meals in our little kitchen with local produce, spent hours in the pool and on the beach (it was 42°C!!), wandered through the Alhambra and got a bit of Mediterranean colour on our skins ;)

We ended off our trip with a few days in Versailles and Paris... magical as always! 

Here are a few of our Instagram foodie highlights. 

Herring in Amsterdam (slippery, yet satisfying)

'Kleine biertjies' in Amsterdam

One of the best meals we had in Spain! At the Mercado de Santa Caterina, on high chairs, sipping ice cold white wine. Fantastic ingredients directly from the market; simply and perfectly prepared. 

Sangria on the beach

Jamón!!

Our Spanish picnics mostly consisted of Jamón (and some other cold cuts like Chorizo), manchego cheese, green olives, white anchovies and a fresh bread. 

Green olives stuffed with pimentos wrapped in white anchovies - yum!

Ice cold cervezas.

Tinto Verano (red wine with a dash of lightly sparkling orange soda and a lemon wedge)

- the perfect poolside drink! 

Beer and Tinto Verano stops are a necessity in 42°C heat! 

Moules frites in Paris.

We went all gourmet for our last French picnic; Foie gras, caviar, salmon pate, jamón, baguette, cheese, fresh peaches, radishes, tomatoes and rocket. 

Now to start planning our next adventure.... :)