Romanesco, Trout, Leek & Champagne Risotto

We just love all the interesting fruit and veggies making appearances at our local markets – like Romanesco!

Romanesco with its Christmas Tree like florets 

It looks really funky with its spiky florets and bright green colour, but it’s much less scary to cook with than it looks. Basically a cross between Broccoli and Cauliflower, Romanesco is nuttier and creamier in flavour than Broccoli. It’s perfect raw as crudités or steamed – but never cooked to a pulp!

We made this divine risotto – the colours are just gorgeous!

Romanesco, Trout, Leek & Champagne Risotto

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 Cup Leeks, thinly sliced

2 Tbls Butter

1 Tbls Garlic, chopped

300g Arborio Rice

½ Cup Champagne (or sparkling wine or white wine)

4 Cups Vegetable Stock

250g Smoked Trout, flaked

½ Cup Yogurt

2 Cups Romanesco, cut into individual florets and steamed until just tender

Salt flakes and Cracked Black Pepper

How to make it

In a heavy based pan fry the leeks in butter until soft and translucent. Add garlic and fry for another minute.

Add Arborio rice, cook and stir until translucent.

Add Champagne and cook rice until the liquid has been absorbed.

Start adding the hot vegetable stock about 1 ½ cups at a time, allowing all the liquid to be absorbed before adding more – stirring almost constantly.

Once the rice is soft but still has some bite to it it’s ready – taste often. It takes about 20 – 25 minutes.

Season well with salt & pepper.

Add the trout, yogurt & Romanecso, stir in gently and cover with a lid. Turn off the heat and leave for about 5 minutes for the trout and Romanesco to heat through.

Serve as is or topped with more smoked trout.

Tips

• Prepare your vegetable stock in a pot next the one you are cooking the rice in and keep it on the verge of boiling during your cooking process.
• Don’t leave the pot unattended, you need to stir constantly and make sure it doesn’t burn or dry out.
• If you are going to use store bought vegetable stock we recommend Numo or Ina Parman’s.

Good Food Studio - French Cooking Class

We just love going to cooking classes, and to our delight many studios are popping up all over Joburg! Pick ‘n Pay recently opened their flagship store on William Nicol, and if you haven’t been there do yourself a favour! The fiancé nearly died when he saw the cheese section J

The Good Food Studio is located on the upper level of PnP on Nicol, and boasts one of the most impressive kitchens I’ve ever seen. The venue is well decorated and professionally run – so these cooking classes really are a pleasure.

We opted for the 3 hour French Cooking Class and we made a French Onion Soup, Dauphinois Potatoes, Chicken in a white wine sauce with black olives, flambéed pearl onions and green beans with toasted almonds. For desert we were taught the art of the French pancake by making Crepes Suzette. French cooking is delightful – packed with butter, cream, booze and fire theatrics!

As far as the cooking class goes you really can’t ask for a better venue – open, clean and professional. They also make it really easy by prepping most of the ingredients for you – so you won’t be wasting time grating garlic. We also picked up quite a few good tips from Chef Nikki. The food was delicious, and I’m sure we’ll be recreating some of the dishes at home. The only critique is that we don’t mind sharing a cooking station, but would prefer to make our own individual dishes. 

All and all we really enjoyed the experience and would love to go back for some more classes (we’re thinking Bread Making…) They also have great kids options and even classes for Bachelors.

Click here for more info (classes cost between R300 – R400) There is also a studio in Cape Town.

You cook in pairs

French Onion Soup with Gruyère Croutons 

Chef Nikki demonstrating 

Ingredients for the main & Pearl Onions blanching 

Wiets flambéing the Pearl Onions in Brandy

Main course

 Central island where you taste your creations

 VERY impressive kitchen

Jamie Oliver's La Trattoria menu - drool worthy!

You know that your friends know you well when they start bringing you menus from fab restaurants abroad – either to make you jealous or to inspire you J Hannes and Melissa were in London recently and brought back a copy of Jamie Oliver’s La Trattoria menu. I just love the look of it, not to mention the actual dishes! In true Jamie style the offerings are simple with a focus on great fresh produce, nothing too fancy and sans the pretentious descriptors. If I could pick something off the menu today it would have to be the Risotto of English strawberries with basil, parmesan and Belazu balsamic – sounds delish!

Thanks for the thoughtful token – I think you guys may have inspired a new collecting hobby, and if I can’t ‘take away’ a copy of all the menus that we sample I’ll be sure to take photos of them J

PS The fiancé and I were so inspired this weekend that we baked our own Focaccia style breads – SO DELICIOUS! Will definitely be doing it again!

Read more about La Trattoria here.

Biltong!

Winter in South Africa is a highlight on the culinary calendar because of one thing: Biltong and Venison. Hunting trips are common during the colder months, and along with them loads of venison (often MANY kilograms of it) and inevitably Biltong {dried cured meat}.

The youngest member of the family, Arné, brought back an Impala from a Bow and Arrow hunting trip, and true to LekkerBek style the cooking (and curing) commenced. We were treated to a massive Leg of Impala that Wirie baked for a couple of hours – just delicious!

Most of the meat was turned into Biltong and Dry Wors – quite different to the Beef variety as it contains much less fat and also has a ‘wilder’ flavour.

If you have leftover biltong, this recipe is a great way to make a tasty paté.

 

Biltong Paté

Ingredients

120g very dry Biltong, chopped very finely

250g Button Mushrooms, sliced

60g Mayonnaise

50g plain Cream Cheese

¼ Medium Onion, Chopped

Salt and Pepper

How to make it

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz until well mixed and as smooth as you like it.

Serve with bread or Melba toast and beer.

Tips

• If your biltong isn’t very salty or spiced, add salt and pepper to taste once the ingredients have been blitzed.
• Experiment with flavoured cream cheese (like biltong flavour) for different variations.

Masterchef Australia

Ok, so initially we thought the Australian Masterchef wasn’t worth watching – too much dramatic editing, stressful pauses and not to mention the hideously corny title soundtrack! Slowly but surely we started watching a few episodes a week, and now we are seriously addicted, setting our PRV to record every episode! The ultimate show so far was when the contestants had to recreate some of Heston Blumenthal’s signature dishes AND serve them to him – I can’t imagine that level of stress! Heston is one of the most amazing contemporary chefs in the world, and we think he is super awesome because he has roots in South Africa and he often uses South African ingredients like Rooi Bos and Biltong J

Much to our surprise the show’s focus really is on the food and cooking and not so much the politics and ‘characters’ as we expected. It’s interesting to see how many people have been inspired to hit the kitchen by this show, and in my mind, anything that inspires cooking whilst entertaining is sure fire winner!

We will be sure to watch a third season from the very beginning if they ever decide to make one!

 

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Old Fashioned Pea & Ham Soup

On a cold winters night all you need is a bowl of hot soup to keep you warm! This pea & Ham soup is so nutritious, you won't want for more.

Ps: This soup needs to be made a day in advance, so don't get home from work and try and rustle up this soup, it is cooked in the old fashioned way - patiently and gently. The quickest route is in a pressure cooker.

Old Fashioned Pea & Ham Soup

Ingredients

500 g dried peas

1 Smoked Hock

2 Big Potatoes

4 Celery Sticks

5 Leeks

2 Onions

Butter

Salt and Pepper

How to make it

Soak the peas overnight - drain them and rinse with cold water until the water is clear.

Chop the onions and celery.

Peel the potatoes and chop into little blocks.

Heat your pot and add a lump of butter.

Lightly fry the chopped onions, then the leeks and then the  celery - fry until almost soft.

Add potatoes, drained peas, the whole Hock on the bone, 3 liters of water - salt and black pepper.

Gently boil for about 2 hours until the meat is soft- add more water if needed.

(NOTE: If you are using a pressure cooker, bring to pressure for about 10 minutes. Switch off - and go to work or do your shopping. When you come back open the pressure cooker and everything will be soft and ready - we much prefer that, you really don't have 2 hours to watch a pot!)

When the meat and peas are soft, you are ready to go.

Remove the meat from the pot - let it cool and them remove fatty bits for your dogs.

Chop the rest of the meat off the bone in small chunks and keep separate.

Liquidize the rest of the soup until it becomes a lovely smooth texture.

Re-heat and add more water if you don't like it thick.

Test your seasoning and add more salt and pepper.

Add chopped smoked hock and stir through whilst heating - just heat, do not boil.

Serve with herbed croutons, garlic bread or fresh brown bread.

Garnish with fresh green peas or just croutons.

Tips

• You can buy croutons, or make your own - it is as easy as pie. (Heat oven to 180 degrees. Take sliced bread, white or brown. Slice of crusts, and cube. Put bread in flat oven pan - grind salt over, sprinkle with dried parsley or any dried herb you fancy. Drizzle with olive or cooking oil and bake. Toss every now and then. Keep your eye on the oven - one moment they are white the next moment they are black! Takes about 10 minutes. When the cubes are golden brown - remove and serve with your soup. Can be made in advance, and kept in airtight container.)
• Pea Soup freezes very well. Freeze small containers for another chilly night.
• Smoked Hock we normally find at Seemans’s, or ask your butcher. You can also use the Smoked Pork Steaks.

Grating Pretty

There are many reasons why I love my fiancé… And one of them has to be his impeccable taste when it comes to kitchen appliances. I was spoilt with this stunning Eva Solo Grating Bucket – so pretty there is no need to hide it in your cupboard when guests arrive!

Not only is it fabulous to look at but super practical too. No more veggie juices running all over your kitchen top or bits of grated cheese sticking to everything. It even serves as a bowl for a freshly grated mixed salad!

For more inspiring Danish design, visit http://www.evasolo.com

PS I want EVERYTHING on their site! 

Father's Day Feast

What better way to celebrate our amazing Dads than with a Sunday Roast? The fiancé and I treated our parentals to a three course meal, starting off with Duck Liver Mousse served with sweet and sour cherries (recipe below). We just love kitchen gadgets, and one of our newest additions is a cook’s syringe that we filled with a rosemary and garlic sauce and injected into a Lamb Roast – sublime! Dessert was a yogurt Panna Cotta with citrus jelly, the perfect subtly sweet end to a great meal.

Cheers to our fantastic Fathers!

Best Roast Lamb ever! 

After-lunch Cognac

Duck Liver Mousse with Sweet & Sour Cherries

 Feast!

Yogurt Panna Cotta (before we added the citrus jelly)

Duck Liver Mousse with Sweet & Sour Cherries

Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients

500g Duck Livers (cleaned and trimmed)

6 Tbls Butter

1 Shallot, finely chopped

3 Tbls Sherry

½ tsp Salt

¼ tsp White Pepper

125ml Thick or Double Cream

1 Can pitted Sweet Cherries

250ml White Wine Vinegar

1 Cup Sugar

4 Cloves

1 Cinnamon Stick

5 Black Peppercorns

2 Star Anise

How to make it

Duck Liver Mousse

Sauté shallot in 1Tbls butter over a low heat until soft. Remove from pan and set aside.

Melt another Tbls butter in the same pan and sear Duck Livers over a high heat, about 90 seconds on each side (they must still be pink on the inside).

Add the Sherry and flambé.

Combine the Duck Livers and Shallot in a food processor and puree until smooth.

Tip mixture into a sieve and gently press the mixture through with the back of a wooden spoon. Scrape the bottom of the sieve and add to the bowl.

Soften 4 Tbls of butter and add to the mix. Season with the salt and pepper, set aside to cool.

Whip the cream until it forms peaks and fold into the liver mixture.

Cover tightly with cling film (to prevent discolouration) and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve with cherries and Melba toast.

Sweet & Sour Cherries

Drain cherries but reserve water and set aside.

Add cherry juice, vinegar and spices to a pan and bring to the boil.

Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Allow to cool.

Combine Cherries, liquid and spices in a jar and refrigerate until needed (this should preferably be done a week in advance for optimal flavour, but a minimum of 5 hours will do)

Vaal River Team Building with North-West University

Last week we hosted a delightful team building day for the Faculty of Economic & Management Sciences from the University of the North West.

Although the winter weather on the Vaal River didn’t exactly ‘play nice’, we warmed up around wood burning fires sipping on Gluhwein and hot coffee. The morning kicked off with tummy fillers like mini Feta & Spinach Frittatas, Bacon & Cheddar Pitas and Meringues. After settling in, the team participated in a Sushi rolling demonstration, and we have to say that they made sushi like pros!

The rest of the afternoon was filled with Soup, Chicken Curry and Rose Martinis, and the bad weather even cleared up enough for our guests to meander around the property and spend some time by the outside fire. After wrapping up their day with a river cruise, we are sure that all our guests went home with full tummies and loads of new ideas for the kitchen.

Thanks to all of you for a wonderful day - you guys were a great group!

 

 

A LekkerBek Wedding

So where do LekkerBekke host an intimate wedding party where the focus is on superb food and carefully selected wines?

Roots Restaurant at Forum Homini Boutique Hotel in the Cradle of Humankind. 

We were treated to one of the most memorable meals I have ever eaten at Roots a few weeks ago. The menu included Salmon & Apple Tartar, Melon & Cucumber Soup, Smoked Foie Gras, Duck Bobotie and Beetroot Sous Vide Fillet – it was so good that we decided to host our wedding there in 2012.

Roots has won numerous awards over the past few years, including being in the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurants in South Africa for the fourth year running.

We can’t wait to treat our guests (and ourselves J) to an extraordinary culinary experience!

Cheers!

Nothing like planning a wedding with a bottle of bubbly :) 

WOW food!

The Venue