Tag Archives: tomato

Oct3

“viskoekies en tamatiesmoor” – dressed up for a night at the opera

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Open fish cake lasagna + tomato and gherkin relish – I grew up with fish pasta made with tinned pilchards for Saturday lunch so when Babs invited me for lunch this Saturday past – I knew what was on the menu. I asked my mom to wait for me to get to her place – I grabbed my copy of You can with Fish by Tamsin Snyman and rushed over to her house all inspired. I wanted to show her something different …for all too often we get caught up in the routine, making the recipes we know in the same way we have always made them.

We decided to try Tamsin’s fish cakes (love her use of potatoes in the dish) but replaced the tuna with pilchards – and as I am always prone to do… I added lots of fresh herbs, extra lemon and a Dhanya and Chillie sauce I discovered. We served it with a lasagna sheet and a tomato and gherkin relish. The gherkin gives it that beautiful tanginess and just complements the dish in an extraordinary way. It is kind of like “Viskoekies en tamatie-smoor” just dressed up and off to see the opening night of Verdi’s famous opera, La Traviata… and so, so simple.

Try it. I promise you it will make your heart sing!

10 Famous Italian Operas

1. Aida, by GiuseppeVerdi
2. Cavalleria Rusticana, by Pietro Mascagni
3. Il Barbiere de Siviglia, by Gioachino Rossini
4. La Gioconda, by Amilcare Ponchielli
5. La traviata, by Giuseppe Verdi
6. L’elisir d’amore, by Gaetano Donizetti
7. Madama Butterfly, by Giacomo Puccini
8. Nabucco, by Giuseppe Verdi
9. Norma, by Vincenzo Bellini
10. Pagliacci, by Ruggero Leoncavallo

Opera info from yusypovych.com

Serves: 4 starter portions
Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time: 30 min

Ingredients

For fish cakes
1 ½ Medium potatoes
½ Tin sardines + tomato sauce [210g]
1 Egg
1T Bread crumbs [my mom uses all the crumbs from the bottom of her rusks packets – very good idea mom!]
2T Fresh parsley – chopped
1T Fresh coriander – chopped
½ t Chillie flakes – optional
1/2 T Dhanya and chillie sauce (i discovered this last week in the shop – it adds a lovely zing to this particular dish)
1 Spring onions – chopped
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Sunflower oil for frying

For lasagna sheets
4 Lasagna sheets – one sheet per person

For tomato and gherkin relish
½ Onion – chopped
1T Olive oil
250g Small rosa tomatoes
200g Dill gherkins – chopped finely
1T Dhanya and chillie sauce
2ml Salt (or to taste)

Method
1. For potatoes – peel potatoes and boil till soft. Drain well and mash. Set aside.
2. For fish cakes – mix all the ingredients for the fish cakes and the mashed potatoes together. In a non-stick pan add some oil and fry the little patties until golden brown on both sides.
3. For relish – fry the onion in pan till the onion is soft and translucent. Add the tomatoes and close the lid for about 8-10 minutes. The tomatoes will burst open, bringing a splash of flavour. Add the gherkins and the salt and mix together. Cook for another minute or two.
4. For the lasagna sheets – boil with salt as per the instructions on the packet.
5. To assemble – Put some of the Dhanya and chillie sauce at the bottom of the plate, place or arrange the lasagna pasta sheet on top of the sauce then place the fish cakes on top of your lasagna pasta sheet adding the relish to top off this awesome, but so easy little dish.

Jun27

tomato pasta sauce + 10 variations to spice it up

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I made a tomato pasta sauce with well-renowned and fabulous Nina Timm at her home earlier today. What an honour and absolute delight to meet and spend a day with this amazing woman! Yip, she is the wonder behind the much followed www.my-easy-cooking.com blog. We laughed, we cooked and shared so many stories from our past and talked about the thrills of living in today…. I will be chatting to her tomorrow on her RSG radio broadcast between 9 and 10 am and share what we did today. I am so inspired and so alive … Nina I thank you for one of the best days of my life and to cooking up many more memories in the future!

Back to the sauce … I am a freakishly mad about tomatoes. So obviously my most favourite pasta sauce is a tomato-based sauce … made from fresh, ripe, juicy tomatoes that brim with flavour. I read about this method to make tomato sauce a few years ago in a magazine – unfortunately I cannot remember or find the magazine between the thousands of foodie magazines lying around in my house – please try this, it is definitely the most delicious tomato sauce you will ever taste!!

Serves: 6
Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

900g Rosa tomatoes
200ml Olive oil – good quality (I know this sounds a lot but the tomatoes burst open to combine with the olive oil, garlic and basil – and creates the most amazing sauce )
8 Garlic cloves – peeled but kept in whole segments
Handful fresh Basil
Salt and black pepper
150 – 200g Fresh parmesan cheese – shaved with potato peeler
500g Penne pasta (or spaghetti)

Method

1. Add the olive oil to a large pan / pot and add the garlic and about one handful of torn basil leaves. Heat the oil very slowly on low-medium – we want to infuse the oil with the garlic and basil. Infuse for about 5 minutes – please don’t burn the garlic.
2. Add all the tomatoes, turn up the heat to medium high and cook for +- 20 minutes without the saucepan lid.
3. You will see the tomatoes will start to burst open and infuse with the olive oil.
4. Season generously with salt and freshly grounded black pepper. Please be sure to taste when you season!
5. Just before serving, add the rest of the basil and sprinkle generously with shaved parmesan
6. You can use the sauce just as is or see the 10 variations below you can add at the end for an interesting twist.

10 Variations you can add to the tomato sauce + remember always sprinkle generously with shaved parmesan!

1) Cut chorizo sausages in slices and add – this makes it a rich and spicy dish.
2) Bacon (+ chilies optional) – everyone loves bacon! Adding a somewhat smoky flavour to your pasta.
3) Meatballs – you can make this on Sunday and just add in the week to your pasta dish.
4) Lots of fresh chopped chilies – simple, yet always deliciously and one of my favourites.
5) Capers + olives + anchovies + chilies – my absolute favourite!
6) Any seafood – prawns, calamari, fish, mussels – add them to the tomato based sauce at the end of the cooking process – let it simmer through for 5 minutes – taste for seasoning again after you have added any seafood.
7) Fresh herbs (basil, parsley) and lots of rocket – mix it with the sauce – yum.
8) Roasted vegetables + olives + capers + crumbled feta – these produce lovely Mediterranean tastes.
9) Artichokes, creamy feta cheese + sprinkle of dry oregano (use the oregano very sparingly).
10) Fresh slices of buffalo mozzarella + sprinkled with smoked Maldon salt .

lifeisazoobiscuit.com

Jun10

tomato + onion + basil + puff pastry = easy + hearty tomato tart

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I just LOVE tomatoes – and I need no inspiration to cook with these amazing and nutritional gifts from nature’s wonderful garden. This is probably the easiest and most delicious tomato tart you will ever taste – simple, hearty, sweet and sour and such a rich taste when combined with the caramalised onions!
Serve this with a side serving of rocket salad + balsamic dressing!

Preparation time: 10 min
Baking time: 25 min
Serves: 6

Ingredients
1 ½ Big onion – thinly sliced
2 T Olive oil
Pinch of salt
500g Rosa tomatoes
1 Roll puff pastry
30 – 40 g Parmesan cheese grated
1 handful of shredded fresh basil leaves
Salt
Pepper
To serve
Parmesan shavings
Handful of basil leaves – shredded

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 200°C.
2. In a pan – on medium heat – caramalise the onions for about 10 minutes until golden brown.
3. Take a +- 37cm by 25cm pan (+- the same size as the puff pastry) put the tomatoes in the pan. Sprinkle with olive oil and roll around till each tomato is lightly coated in oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and a bit of black pepper.
4. Take the caramalised onion and scoop these over the tomatoes.
5. Sprinkle the grated parmesan and a hand full of shredded basil over the tomatoes.
6. Take the whole piece of pastry and cover the tomatoes. Don’t press it down or anything. I you want you can tuck the sides in.
7. Bake for 25 minutes or till pastry is a lovely golden colour.
8. Turn over on a big dish (so the tomatoes are on top) and sprinkle some shredded fresh basil and parmesan shavings.
9. Cut into pieces and serve with your green rocket salad….

Remember to never forget the “pomme d’amour”!

Jun6

tomato trivia … 10 fun facts to feast on …

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image source: gardentherapy.ca

The Plump Thing With a Navel
The name comes from the Aztec “xitomatl”, which means “plump thing with a navel.”

The Love Apple
In the French language, tomato is called “pomme d’amour”, or “love apple,” because the heart-shaped fruit was originally thought of as an aphrodisiac.

The Wolf Peach
The scientific term for the common tomato is lycopersicon lycopersicum, which mean “wolf peach.”

The Poison
Tomatoes were once thought to be poisonous, and it was only in the 16th century when the popularity of tomatoes rose. In 1820, the state of New York even passed a law banning their consumption! The truth was finally revealed on September 26, 1830, when Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson consumed an entire bag of tomatoes before a shocked crowd on the steps of the courthouse in Salem, New York. And … he never died!

The “Latest Craze”
In 1842 farm journals were declaring the tomato as the “latest craze.”

The Space Tomatoes
In 1984 12.5 million tomato seeds (Rutgers California Supreme), were sent into space where they circled the earth for 6 years aboard a satellite, until the crew of the Columbia retrieved them. Back on earth they were distributed to more than 3 million school children, 64,000 teachers and others around the world. When planted, no significant differences were found between them and their terrestrial counterparts. Although there were no worrisome mutations, there were however, casualties. Dear Nasa, wrote one participant, My name is Matt. I am in grade 2. I really enjoy growing my plants. Here are my results. My earth seed did not grow. My space seed grew but it fell off my desk. It died.

The Colour
Tomatoes can be yellow, pink, purple, black and even white, as well as red.

The Health
Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant, and have been found to be good for the heart and effective against prostate, lung and stomach cancer.

The Cooking vs Fresh
An ounce of cooked tomato contains double the amount of vitamin C, as well as almost 20 percent higher beta-carotene, as compared to the equivalent sample of fresh tomato. The jelly-like substance around the seeds contains the highest concentration of vitamin C.

The Universal Tomato Language
Afrikaans: tamatie
Danish: tomat
Dutch: tomaat
English: tomato
French: tomate
German: tomate
Indonesian: tomat
Icelandic: tómatar
Portugese: tomate
Romanian: de tomate
Spanish: tomate
Swedish: tomat

Sources: didyouknow.org; telegraph.co.uk; strange-facts.info; ehow.com; google translate

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.

May3

maple syrup + mielie fritters + new york

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Whilst wrapped-up under the duvet on a public holiday with a glass of red wine and watching a dvd, I was wondering what I felt like to eat. Jade de Waal’s twitter came through with a recipe for mielie fritters (Jade is an extraordinary wonderful woman that is currently in the Top 13 in Masterchef SA). That little tweet took me back to my moms’ “mielie brood” (mealie bread) that we used to gobble down with lots of golden syrup. My mind then next teleported me to the place where I had fallen in love with Maple syrup … New York…! Oh my word, how I love maple syrup! That amazingly, beautiful, golden sticky, earthy, sweet syrup stole my heart (as did New York…). At that moment I knew I wanted Jade’s Mielie Fritters with my maple syrup!! I really love mixing sweet and savoury and immediately started cooking. To say the least – it was YUMMY and the chopped spring onion complimented the Maple syrup in such a profoundly earthy way!

Just a little snippet about Maple Syrup…
In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in the spring. Maple trees can be tapped by boring holes into their trunks and collecting the exuded sap. The sap is processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup.

So here is Jade’s recipe – she serves it with a green avocado salsa and/or sweet chilli sauce – delish! You can also watch her cook the fritters on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tZih27ytV0)

The recipe makes about 6 medium fitters
Fritters
1 cup (250ml) cake flour
1 teaspoon (5ml) baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 egg
1 spring onion, finely chopped
½ cup (125ml) corn kernels in brine, drained
Olive oil, for frying
Salsa
Small handful coriander, roughly chopped
1 avo, peeled and diced
½ chilli, finely chopped, optional
Juice of 1 lime or lemon, optional
Salt and pepper, to taste
Sweet chilli sauce, to dunk, optional

Mix all the ingredients for the fritter in a bowl. At first the batter will look dry, but keep mixing until the ingredients come together. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium frying pan. Turn down to medium so the oil is not too hot, otherwise the outside of the fritter will burn whilst the inside is still raw. Spoon a tablespoon scoop of the batter in the oil, frying about 2-3 at a time for 2 minutes on each side or until brown.

Meanwhile chop and mix the ingredients for the salsa in a bowl. Test the first fritter by cutting in half to make sure they’re cooking through. When all fritters are done, spoon the salsa over to serve perhaps with the sweet chilli sauce on the side to dunk the fritters in or … as I did smother the fritters with golden maple syrup.

Bon appétit!