A bee in my bonnet

 Last Wednesday we went on yet another lovely trip to the Earth Fair Market in Tokai. For those of you who haven't been yet, live in Cape Town and love food, you should definitely pop in there sometime. The vibe is wonderful, the food is fantastic and the craft beer is always cold and flowing, plus it's a great excuse for a midweek drink or two or three ;) 

Aside from the obvious, beautiful handmade cheeses, breads and cold meats, there is a huge variety of things to eat there and take home, and even some beautiful jewelry. There's a guy who makes the most delicious snoek pate (must try!!) and the lady at the German food stall makes the most beautiful (and tasty-obviously) macaroons. There is a guy who makes spring rolls that are to die for, my favourites are the Thai hake and sesame chicken. Now don't forget the pizzas, they taste just as good as they look and smell, and if you are not in the mood for a pizza you will not regret taking some of their bases home for your own pizzas later on in the week. If I'm not mistaken, they have gluten free ones too. This is all not including the most amazing homemade pies, and organic dried fruit and nuts. Have you ever eaten dried pineapple??? I hadn't, and it's now one of my favourite snacks... and yes, I have already eaten dinner and I am now drooling again. Of course we can't forget dessert (my favourite meal of the day) so on we move to the ice cream guy, and I'm pretty sure I don't even need to explain this one. A scoop of white chocolate and a scoop of hazelnut and you basically have heaven in a sugar cone.

 Anyway... enough dreaming about last week and back to the point. For the first time ever I arrived on time and the Portuguese guy who normally feeds me my Prego rolls had some "rissoles" on his table. Rissoles?? I had no idea what they were but I was informed that they are prawns or chicken in peri peri and béchamel sauce wrapped in choux pastry, crumbed and deep fried. Sounds pretty good right?? So of course I got one to try. I went back to our table and shared it with Josh... I mean what was I thinking??? After realising how good it was I ran straight back for more, but obviously I wasn't the only one who thought they were amazing because he was all sold out. 

Ever since then I have had such a bee in my bonnet about recreating them, so today I put on my apron and did just that.

Chicken Rissoles

 They turned out really well, but I would be lying if I didn't admit that they were quite a mission. I thought I'd just quickly whip up a snack, but they are super time consuming to make. So just a word of warning, don't try and make these if you are under time pressure. However if you have a little time a feel like spending it in the kitchen they are definitely worth trying. 
Another warning, when cooked these might just be one of the hottest substances known to man. I know it's so tempting to eat one immediately (I really do as I now have a nice blister on my lip) but give them a few minutes to cool down first.

Here's my recipe for Chicken Rissoles.

You can also try make these with prawns, the prawn ones at the market were AMAZING I just couldn't get my hands on any today.

Happy cooking, have a great week, and don't forget to take a break and visit the market on Wednesday.