Tag Archives: garlic

Aug7

hot olives + baguette and the #hot-and-happening

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Hot Olives – A few weeks ago I was on a business trip in the bustling metropolis of Johannesburg, Guateng. The City of Gold has plenty of interesting foodie places well worth seeking out…Some colleagues and I ended up in a very interesting restaurant that serves both gossip and glitter to the well-heeled of Parkhurst and surrounds. We ordered a few small starters to share and one of them was hot olives with baguette. Never in my life would I have thought of heating olives in olive oil – isn’t that kind of like smuggling sand in the desert? Well, just so you know, this little starter tapas was so delicious. Heating the olives gives this stone fruit an undeniably new dimension. Dipping the fresh baked bread into the fragrant hot oil just seems to forge with the olives… leaving a most tantalizing taste….wash this down with some chilled wine and you could swear that you were sipping wines with the gods of ancient Greece!

It is just one of those really simple dishes you can make on the run or when guests come knocking unannounced…simple yet oh so sophisticatedly #hot-and-happening.

Serves: One bowl of tapas
Preparation Time: 5 min
Cooking Time: 7 min

Ingredients

150 ml Virgin olive oil
1t Fresh rosemary (not chopped)
1t Parsley – roughly chopped
2 Red chillies chopped (I like it hot but you can leave the chillie out of the recipe if you are not fond of the fiery stuff)
1 Garlic clove – finely sliced
200g Kalamata olives
1 Spring onion – chop the stalks and leaves
1 Fresh baguette

Method

1. Heat the olive oil, rosemary, chillies, parsely and garlic slowly in a pan for a 5 minutes minutes. Just to infuse the flavours with the oil.
2. Add the olives and heat through for about 2 minutes.
3. Add the spring onion at the end, give it a good stir + serve with baguette.

May31

20 minutes + salmon + asian broth = healthy hot winter warmer

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I am by nature a foodie and as foodies go, we all have our foodie idols … One of my foodie idols is Chef Peter Tempelhoff – not only is he a great chef but also not too shabby on the eye – oh, who am I kidding everyone … he is hot! And if you come to my office you will see an A3 poster of him hanging next to my desk … but to my utter dismay two of my wonderful colleagues Johann and Pieter gave Chef Tempelhoff a mustache and a tattoo 🙂 … Anyway, two weeks ago I attended the Table of Peace and Unity lunch on the slopes of our wonderful Table Mountain and Peter Tempelhoff was one of the chefs responsible for the starter [miso sesame cured salmon and ginger prawn spring roll with soja jalapeno dressing]. I don’t know if it was the dish or perhaps him walking past that inspired me to do something hot with salmon. So later in the week I visited my Chinese supermarket for some ingredients and over the weekend made this really delicious, salmon in a hot and sour Asian broth. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! It’s so easy … so tasty and so fresh … and cheers to the hot chef who inspired me to make this dish!

Serves 4
Preparation and cooking time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients
150g x 4 Skinless salmon steaks
Salt and black pepper
Oil for frying
For broth
1L Chicken stock (I use stock cubes for this – that’s what they do in Asia :-))
2-3 Green chillies (…if you like things a little hotter, spice it up with one more … but not too many as it will overpower your dish )
+-20cm piece of lemongrass – crushed with the back of your knife and cut into pieces (if you cannot find it but you do stay in Cape Town – contact me, I have a huge bush in my garden!)
1 Garlic clove – finely sliced
1 Thumb size piece of fresh ginger – finely sliced
¼ Cup of soya sauce
4ml Sesame oil – just under a teaspoon (be very careful that you don’t overdo the sesame oil)
Juice of 2 limes (small) or 1 lemon
2 Spring onions – chopped diagonally into thin slices
Handful of fresh coriander – roughly shredded by hand
Bean sprouts to garnish and to add some crunch

Method
In a saucepan or pot add all the ingredients for the broth – except the spring onions, coriander and bean sprouts. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5-10 minutes allowing all the flavours to infuse.
In a griddle pan heat the oil and fry the salmon until brown on both sides – +-2 minutes on each side should do. The salmon must still be rare inside – but you must be able to flake it with a fork. Season with salt and pepper.
To serve:
Pour some of the broth through a sieve into a 4 bowls, add some spring onion and coriander. Put the salmon in the middle of the bowls and add some bean sprouts to garnish. I love fresh ginger so I always add the ginger I used for the broth in my bowl.

Tuck in and enjoy!

May17

malay infused seafood soup

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This is my all-time favourite winter soup recipe. It lies very close to my heart for two reasons – I was introduced to this recipe by my wonderful chef friend, Louis Verwey (the recipe was very different then and I developed it as I went along into what it is today) and secondly this recipe took me through to the Top 50 of Masterchef SA and earned three overwhelming and resounding yes’s from judges Andrew, Bennie and Pete. My Masterchef journey was an incredible experience, it was an amazing roller coaster ride of emotions, nerves and sheer excitement but the best part was meeting all the fantastic people who all share a common passion – cooking! This adventure re-ignited in me the fire and a burning desire to learn and share in the fun, frivolity and sheer pleasure that comes with cooking and everything culinary. I am very proud to have made it into the Top 35 only to be booted out on the potato challenge. Needless to say I have not cooked or peeled a potato again – but that is a story for another day…enough about me…back to this exquisite soup …

Serves 6
Preparation and cooking time: +- 45 minutes

Ingredients
For the stock:
1 celery stick, chopped (with the leaves)
1 onion, cut in half (I keep the skin on – I only peel the onion if I want to make a clear stock)
1 carrot, chopped (…again keep the skin on – didn’t we learn that all the nutritional value lies in the skin?)
5 black pepper corns
2 cardamom pods
1 clove of garlic cut in half
1 small bunch of parsley
350g white fish – I use small whole hakes which I cut into chunks
800ml water
1 clove garlic, finely grated
Seafood:
24 mussels in ½ shell
400 g kingklip (or any other firm white fish), cut into cubes of +- 2.5cm x 2.5cm
12 de-veined prawns with shells – I love to keep heads on – if you do take the heads off, don’t discard these….add them to your stock
Other ingredients:
30g butter
45 ml flour
10 ml masala (I mix my own from the following ground ingredients: 15 ml turmeric, 15ml cumin, 10 ml coriander, 10 ml fennel, 15 ml hot “curry powder” this you can get from your local spice shop or supermarket)
30 ml tomato paste
1 ½ chicken stock cube, crumbled
2 large tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
Juice of ½ small lemon
For the gremolata:
30 ml chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, finely grated
Zest of one lemon
One big squeeze of lemon juice
30 ml olive oil

Method
1. Prepare your stock by adding the first 9 ingredients in a pot and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Take the mussels and place them in a sieve and then put it in the stock to cook for 2 minutes. I do this to infuse the juices in the stock (and to defrost if still frozen). Take out and leave aside.
3. Repeat the same process with the prawns – leave to simmer for about 3-4 minutes in the stock. Take out and set aside
4. Take the stock and strain through a very fine sieve. Set aside. (You can discard the stock ingredients but it does make for a very nutritious and fishy treat for my two canine children!)
5. Add the finely grated garlic to this stock.
6. Now, melt the butter in a pot. Add the flour to make a roux. Stir for about 2-3 minutes. Then add the tomato paste and masala. Stir well.
7. Add the warm stock – ladle by ladle – whisking briskly to make sure it does not form lumps. Once you have added the stock, bring it up to simmer – you will see that it has now thickened.
8. Add the stock cube and the chopped tomatoes. Cook for about 5 minutes. Stir well.
9. Now add the raw fish and let it simmer for +-3 minutes, then add the prawns and mussels.
10. Add the lemon juice and stir lightly – be careful not to break the fish! Season for taste by adding salt and pepper, lemon juice.
11. Simmer for a 5-10 minutes.
12. Lastly, mix the last 4 ingredients together to make the gremolata and set aside
13. To serve – in the bottom of a soup bowl put a dollop of the gremolata. Take the prawns out of the soup and place 2 prawns on each plate, add 3 or more pieces of fish. Strain the fish soup through a sieve and pour in the bowl around the fish and prawns. Add 3-4 mussels on top.
14. Garnish with a few drops of gremolata on top.
15. Serve immediately.

Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy.

Apr17

the simplicity of mince meat + chillies + basil . a thai match made in heaven

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When I arrived at home on Friday night there was a huge red gift on my kitchen table from my loving husband. It was a huge, huge bag of red chillies – do you perhaps think he wanted to tell me something? Anyway, seeing these beautiful chillies took me back to Thailand – and my dear friend Pierre (kitchenbabble.com) in Bangkok. In 2010 I was privileged enough to spend a week in Bangkok where we shared the most wonderful times preparing all sorts of Thai dishes and specialities … but back to the chillies … chillies can be found in nearly every Thai dish or element of Thai cuisine – and rightfully so. I left Bangkok with the most fantastic memories and loads of recipes … but this one – Pierre’s Grapua Moo Sub is my ultimate favourite. Its easy to make and soooo tasty! Just so you know though … I added a bit of lemon juice and black pepper to the dish. Its heaven when that yellow of the egg breaks and spills over the cooked mince and rice. This recipe serves 3-4 people.

500g extra lean mince meat
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
8 cloves of garlic – finely crushed – I love grating my garlic on the smallest side of the grater
2 teaspoons of fish sauce – I tend to use more – taste and see what your palette says
3 – 4 red chillies – chopped -I don’t take the seeds out – I do like things hot
nice big pinch of freshly grounded black pepper
big squeeze of lemon juice
huge handful of fresh basil leaves – please be generous
3-4 eggs (1 egg per person)
cooked basmati rice or if you prefer normal rice

Heat your oil add your mince and loosen the meat with your fork – brown your mince in the pan.
It must be loose, fine and brown. Fry slowly till the meat is cooked. Now all you do is add the garlic, fish sauce, chillies and pepper. Stir it and let it cook for a few minutes. Add the lemon juice, taste and correct the seasoning with salt (I prefer fish sauce) and pepper. Poach or fry the eggs( if you fry your eggs make sure that these are sunny-side up and soft).

To serve:
Add the fresh basil to the mince. Scoop some rice into a bowl. Then add some mince to the rice. Top the dish with a soft poached or fried egg – season you egg with salt to taste. Enjoy!