Woolworths Living Wall

We just love this initiative by Woolies! Visit this site (www.woolworthslivingwall.co.za), choose a Strawberry, Spinach, Basil or Tomato seedling and plant it on the virtual garden wall. Woolworths will match the virtual plant contributions by donating real life plants to South African Schools with premaculture food gardens. It’s fun, easy and free – do it!

Mexican Fresh

We get very excited when a restaurant opens that offers something different to the usual take out fare, and Mexican Fresh is exactly that. The general perception around Mexican food is that it is very spicy and often oily, but this new fast food venture is putting Mexican cuisine on the South African map as flavoursome and healthy.

The concept is simple, you can choose from STYLES & FILLINGS. Burrito, Crunchy Taco, Soft Taco, Fajita, Nachos and Quesadilla filled/topped with Grilled Veg, Chicken, Beef or Prawn.

It’s more of a fast food outlet than a restaurant, but there is ample seating to enjoy your meal there, with the added bonus that the Fajita is served in a hot steel pan! Even though the food isn’t very spicy, they supply you with a selection of chilli sauces to turn up the heat should you wish. The service is also very friendly and attentive – pity it’s on such a busy road.

A very enjoyable meal indeed – we will definitely be back to try some new combinations.

Visit www.mexicanfresh.co.za for more info.

Basil Mania

We are so chuffed with our little basil plants! We started from seeds, and now have juvenile plants almost 10 cm high - we just can’t wait to use those fragrant leaves in some of our dishes!

The progress of our basil plants so far…

  

Here is a simple and quick recipe using fresh basil:

Torn Basil Salad

Fresh Basil Leaves (a handful)

Fresh Baby tomatoes (a handful)

Black or green olives (to your taste)

Olive Oil (optional)

Balsamic Vinegar (optional)

Salt & Pepper

Tear the baby tomatoes, basil leaves and pitted olives into bite size pieces. Toss lightly. Season with salt, pepper, olive oil & balsamic vinegar to taste

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Andanté’s Birthday Spoils

I was TOTALLY spoilt on my birthday last week – the family got together for a feast of anti-pasti platters, steamed Artichokes, Fillet with a wild mushroom sauce and dark chocolate truffles, SUPER DELICIOUS! And to top it all off, an amazing bottle of 1982 (yes, it’s my age) Meerlust Cabernet Sauvignon…

Not only was I treated to freshly baked chocolate muffins in bed (J) and the best dinner ever, but I also received two of the coolest gifts!

Check out my Chocolate Cook Book by Willie Harcourt-Cooze (can’t wait to try the recipes) complete with 2 blocks of 100% Cacao – watch this space as the experiments begin!

And my pink, yes PINK chef’s knife – awesomeness it is!

Thanks to my wonderful family for making my day so super special – and knowing exactly how to make me feel like a princess!

xxx

24 September is National Braai Day!

Braai (or Barbeque) is a South African pastime, and it’s almost certainly something most of us do at least once a week. Braai4Heritage is a concept encouraging South Africans to gather in good spirits around a fire on 24 September – and we don’t think it’s going to take much convincing!

  

Here are just some of the delicious braais we’ve had:

Happy Braaing!! 

Thai Green Curry

In just 2 weeks, Andanté will be bouncing around South East Asia on a culinary adventure, and just to whet our pallets (and inspiration) we made this Thai Green Chicken Curry...

A green curry is a creamy and fragrant dish. There are many ways to make it, and this is our version – very saucy with crunchy fresh vegetables.

Thai Green Chicken Curry

(Serves 6)

30 minutes  prep

30 minutes cooking

Ingredients

5 Chicken Fillets

4 Tbls Green Curry Paste

2 Cans Coconut Milk

2 Tbls Garlic, chopped

2 Tbls Ginger, grated

1 Chilli, copped

Grated rind of 1 Lime (or 2 Kaffir Lime Leaves, torn)

Juice of ½ a Lime

Lemon Grass, 10cm stalk, sliced in half and bashed to release the flavour.

1 ½ Cup Baby Marrow, sliced

1 ½ Cup Butternut, diced

½ Cup Patty Pans, sliced

½ Cup Sugar Snap Peas or Mange Tout

2 Tbls Fish Sauce

1 Tbls Palm Sugar (or Brown Sugar)

1 Tbls Salt

1 Tbls Dry Vegetable Stock (we like Ina Parman’s)

Vegetable Oil for frying

How to make it

Slice Chicken (1.5 – 2cm thick) and marinade in 2 Tbls Green Curry paste.

Fry Garlic, Ginger, Lime Rind, Lemon Grass, Chilli and remaining Green Curry Paste  for about 2 minutes until wonderfully fragrant.

Add Coconut Milk, Fish Sauce, Lime Juice, Sugar, Salt, dry Vegetable Stock and Butternut.

Bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat and add the chicken pieces. Poach for about 15 minutes.

Add Baby Marrows, Patty pans and Peas and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

Remove the big hard pieces of Lemongrass.

** Leave curry to rest for 5 minutes before serving – the flavours are much better when slightly cooled.

Serve with Jasmine or Basmati rice.

Garnish with fresh Coriander and Lime wedges.

Tips

• You’ll be able to buy all the ingredients at your local supermarket, but there are quite a few Asian specialty shops in Johannesburg that are well worth a visit (we like the one at the Wedge Shopping Centre on Rivonia Road).
• For a lower fat version, use 1 part Coconut Milk and 1 part Evaporated Milk.
• You can make a seafood version by using Prawns instead of Chicken – but add the prawns 10 minutes before the end of cooking.
• Add more chillies for more bite, or leave them out for less.

Bosses Day - 16 October

Show your boss he/she is worth his/her weight in gold with these decadent Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes, topped with Whispers and sprinkled with Gold Dust...

Caramel Chocolate Cupcake

R25.00

Includes packaging

Excludes Delivery

Minimum order of 6 applies

For orders or more info

wirie@lekkerbek.co.za

El Bulli 'research laboratory' recipes to be published on-line

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Ferran Adrià shocked the culinary world earlier this year by announcing the closure of his world renowned restaurant El Buli. Fortunately he won’t stop educating and informing his fans. He plans to publish a daily online recipe from his new research foundation, using the kitchens of El Bulli as a laboratory. We’ll have to wait until 2014, but at least inspiration is guaranteed!

Read the full article here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/sep/09/ferran-adria-recipes-internet

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Grab a free breakfast at Primi Piatti

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and until the end of this week you can use this voucher to get R30.00 off any breakfast at Primi Piatti restaurants across SA!

It’s really easy, just follow this link: http://www.primipiattibreakfast.co.za

We ♥ Chillies!

Spring has sprung in Johannesburg and we are getting our hands dirty in the garden. We’ve planted seeds and seedlings in every open patch of soil and pot we could find – basil, rocket (our own seeds from last season!), coriander, egg plant, red onions, baby marrow, tomatoes, lettuce and more. We just can’t wait to cook from our spring garden! But for now we have to be patient…

Last year we had a very successful chilli crop (we planted African Bird’s Eye Chilli) – it worked so well (and tasted so good!) we’re going to plant them again this year.

  

From seeds to beautiful plump fruits! 

Some Chilli tips:

-          Chillies freeze exceptionally well. Pick them when ripe, pop them in a container and leave in the freezer until needed. Slice them from frozen; this helps them keep their shape.

-          Dry your chillies in the sun. You can then use them whole, crushed or powdered. Store in an air tight container once dried.

-          When working with fresh chillies, rub some oil over your hands – this helps lessen the burn to your skin.

-          Remember to wash your hands after chopping chillies!

-          Remove the seeds if you want the chilli flavour with less heat.

- Chop some chillies roughly and drop in a bolltle olive oil – after a week you’ll have delicious olive oil with a slight chilli flavour.