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.

A lovely concept with great execution

On Friday night like a real granny and grandpa couple Josh and I went to the movies. Well, I wanted to go and I dragged Josh along, bribing him with  popcorn and slush puppies. We arrived just in time to miss both the movies we wanted to see... But on the plus side- that gave us time to eat :):):) 

While walking around, once again deciding/ arguing about what to eat we walk past "Joe's Easy Diner". I know it sounds corny but I am the biggest fan of a good burger and I'm pretty sure I was born in the wrong era... If you had to see me dance, I know you would agree...

 I'm trying to be healthy but I'll any excuse to cheat, it's not difficult to convince me, and let's be honest... Who can resist that fantastic '60s music?? The whole place is put together so well and fits its theme perfectly. I mean it felt so real I almost forgot I was in a mall and felt a tiny pang of disappointment when our waiter wasn't on roller skates.

Anyway we soon found out that they have a great movie and burger special, and after seeing their milkshakes(which come in the jugs they are made in and are more than big enough to share) I couldn't resist getting one too.

1 Jug = 2 Glasses plus a little extra to fight over

Our milkshake came first, and after great difficulty in choosing one of the very very many flavours we went with the waiters recommendation- Peanut Butter... I don't even know how to describe it using words, it was just so good. I mean it was so good I didn't put the glass down until it was empty and then I almost had to fight Josh for the last little bit in the jug. By far the creamiest milkshake I have had in all recent history.

Look how thick and creamy it is

Then came our burger... Our terrifyingly gigantic burger...

Biggest cheese burger I have ever attempted to eat

Our terrifyingly gigantic burger with a huge bowl of golden chunky fries. It was heaven!

The patties were juicy and delicious and cooked to absolute perfection, and there was a really tasty, possibly mustardy sauce on the burger. All the ingredients were fresh and the cheese even tasted cheesy (strange huh?). 

Juicy and delicious

To top it all of they have yellow mustard, like the real good old stuff, and Heinz ketchup. Mmmmm, and yes in this case it is definitely ketchup not tomato sauce.

Also, the cool drinks are bottomless!

Anyway I know I shouldn't be this excited about a 'fast food' restaurant, but I just love the concept of this place. It was such a great, vibey experience.

The wall says things like- If you can find a better diner eat there, If it doesn't make you proud don't serve it to the crowd and eat here once and you'll always return

From the friendly waiters, to the music, decorations and sayings on the walls, to the AMAZING milkshakes and burgers- it was an all round good experience and I will definitely be going back. I only wish it wasn't in the middle of a mall...

'How do you do that' caramel popcorn.

Ever since I was a kid I have wondered about certain foods...

 Back then it was things like how they get the icing inside the Twinkies, or the fortune in a fortune cookie. How do they keep melted chocolate melted, what exactly is that gooey stuff, how did powdered soup become powder and how the hell do you bake an ice cream cake with out it melting.

More recently the questions have been more along the lines of how did he make that fake caviar, how is the centre of that liquid, what is gellan gum, how do you make a foam stay foamy, and why is that so delicious. 

Some of these questions have since been answered... Some are still a mystery. Another one of those questions from when I was young, and until now actually (although now it's more of a question of whether they do it before of after cooking the popcorn) is how do they get the caramel on caramel popcorn? I have the googling machine at my finger tips but have never tried finding out until now. Turns out it's really easy, and dare I say mine tasted better than diddle daddles'.

Delicious Home-Made Caramel Popcorn

So I thought I would try doing a step by step on how to make this... If you don't feel like all the reading just click here to get the recipe, but either way you need to make this next movie night, or when you have guests over. It is to quote the younger generation "TOTES AMAZEBALLS"!

1. Buy popcorn- everything else should be in you pantry/fridge. You can make your own, but I am lazy and I love microwave popcorn. I bought the salted one because it's my favourite and salted caramel is the bomb!

2. Place popcorn in a bowl.In my case I place the popcorn in my Le Creuset bowl so you would think I'm cool. True story. Even if it is pretty much the only Le Creuset thing I own.

3. Place 1 cup of granulated sugar, 1/2 cup of butter and 1/2 a cup of water in a saucepan, and stir until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.

 

 4. Once the sugar has dissolved bring the mixture to a boil, and cook until it is a nice medium caramel colour, or soft ball if you have a sugar thermometer. 

5. While the caramel is cooking line a roasting tray with tin foil, and spray it well with spray and cook.

 6. Try not to get distracted by the other things in your kitchen as once the syrup starts caramelising it will go quickly.

 

7. Once the caramel is ready pour it over the popcorn and stir it well, you are trying to coat all of it in caramel.

 8. Now pour the popcorn into the prepared roasting dish, and spreading out and separate the corns. Be careful when doing this, the popcorn is still very hot. Allow the caramel popcorn to cool.

9. Make sure you don't put the pot back onto the stove plate which is still hot like I did. It's not very clever and burnt caramel is so difficult to clean.

10. Store the popcorn in a airtight container or serve immediately (ours didn't last long at all).

YUM!

Caramel Popcorn = 1 x HAPPY Josh

 11. This makes a really cool little gift. All you need is a good way to package/present it. My very clever friend made these awesome origami boxes.

Packaged prettily this make a great little gift.

 So there you have it my first little step by step for you! Hope this makes the cooking easier, and I hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to leave a comment and tell my your thoughts, especially if you've tried any of my recipes. I would love to hear what you think- good or bad :)

Happy Messing.

Happiness in a mug

Every month Lisa and I develop a set of recipes for her monthly mailer. Some months it's very difficult to come up with a good theme and some months the idea just arrives. Last month was one of those amazing months where the idea was just so obvious...

It's flippen cold in Cape Town, and I don't know about anyone else, but when it's cold I find myself drinking copious amounts of tea and/or coffee to keep my hands and my tummy warm. The only problem is that it's has been cold for what feels like years now and I am so over tea. Besides that what am I supposed to do when we go out? Wine is cold and so is beer. Therefore the solution to last months mailer was just obvious... Warm Winter Drinks.

I made gluhwein, mulled cider (it's like gluhwein but made with cider... Sounds grosse but tastes incredible), clemengold and rooibos tea, and my new favourite hot drink in the world -White chocolate and hazelnut hot chocolate.

Hazelnut and White Chocolate Hot Chocolate

I have made this so many times since our shoot, and it just tastes better and better every time. Even Lisa who has more of a savory tooth than a sweet tooth had to admit it- we created something amazing. 

Just incase the super sweet super hot chocolate isn't enough, there is another really yummy thing I have just recently discovered... Choc-kits. I don't know why I have never eaten them before, but they are seriously amazing. I see them as the love child of a Nutticrust and a Romany cream (I think that perfectly describes how good they are). 

Dunking choc-kits into this white chocolate hot chocolate is guaranteed to make you warm and happy from the inside out, and for those sugar sensitive ones like me, maybe a little hyper too!

 Hazelnut and White Chocolate Hot Chocolate

A craving satisfied - Quick and Easy Beef Pitas

For a while now, every time Josh and I are out and about and trying to decide what we want to grab to eat, I keep thinking of a shawarma, or any kind of filled pita for that matter. 

For a little while we had an awesome little Greek place around the corner which made amazing pitas, but then one day he was gone... Since then the only place I know to grab that kind of food are those really dodgy looking places you find in the corner of a mall, and though I might really want a shawarma- I don't really fancy food poisoning.

Yesterday however, Josh suggested just making them... I mean duh!! Why didn't I just think of that. 

Super quick and unbelievably easy beef pita

As much as I wanted to do it all properly with a yummy roast leg of lamb- which is definitely on the agenda for the weekend- I didn't feel like spending forever in the kitchen. So I came up with a very quick and easy substitute. I used Rib eye steak because not everyone in the household eats lamb, but this would be amazing with lamb steak or chops too!

Here it is, my recipe for  Super Quick and Easy Beef Pitas.

Happy cooking and Happy mess making!

A Tea Time Treat

After walking into Woolworths the other day and seeing some beautiful looking, obviously imported plums, I was reminded of my amazing recipe for a plum and almond cake.

Clearly I was unable to control myself, or wait for plums to come back into season. I had to buy them and bake it- immediately! It is one of my absolute favourites and it's just so easy to bake, I have no regrets!

Plum and Almond Cake

 Give it a try the next time you have people over for tea, your guests will love you, and in turn- you will love me for sharing this one, it's just that good!

The best part is that it can be made with any stone fruit, not just plums, or even apples or pears (I have made it with pears before and it may even have been better than with plums-just caramelize them in a sauce pan with some sugar before adding them to the cake). It's easy as pie, or should I say easy as Plum and almond cake :)
 

 Here it is... Enjoy! 

Plum and Almond Cake

Josh's Best

Anyone who knows Josh, will know that he is an absolute spoiled brat when it comes to food. I am totally the one to blame for this.. When I met him, his idea of a delicious meal was a margarita pizza or cheese toast- not that there's anything wrong with this, but his diet was boring to say the least. He also said "I don't eat that" to almost every vegetable or slightly healthy thing he was offered. 

Now a days, I'd be very happy if he would just go for a simple meal like that, but I am so lucky to have found some one to share my passion with. He is always willing to try new things with me, and is my biggest critic. If I manage to get a thumbs up from him for anything I know I have done well. 

The first time I made this recipe I just threw some ingredients I had in my fridge together and aside from a few "next time you should" comments it has become the biggest hit. The last time I cooked it, his statement after eating two whole really really man sized portions and picking more out the pot was, "when I die, I want this to be the last meal I ever eat" - Biggest compliment I have ever received!! 

Josh's Favourite Creamy Pesto Pasta

So here it it Josh's 'I want this the day I die' creamy pesto pasta :)

Enjoy it everyone- Guten Appetit :)