Springs fruit- Granadilla Tartlets

Before I went to Silwood I must say there were a lot of things I had never tried. Not because I was fussy, but because for some reason we never ate those things in our house when I was growing up. I could probably spend quite a while writing a long list of all those things, but that would be rather boring to do, and to read. 

One of the things I had never eaten was a granadilla (I didn't even know that a grandillla and a passionfruit were the same thing *BLUSH*). I have however grown a lot, and am now in love with these delicious little fruits, so ofcourse I was delighted to see them coming back into season.

There are many ways you can eat this delightful fruit. Aside from just cutting it in half and eating it with a spoon, it makes the most beautiful cakes, cordials, mousses, tartlets, yogurts, jams and jellies. It really is a beautifully versatile fruit that can be added to almost anything. It's also incredibly good for you as it is a great source of antioxidants, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium and calcium.

After coming home with a whole lot of them that were left over from a shoot I spent a little time trying to figure out how I could add them to my cupcakes. The obvious answer was a curd. So off I went on my little mission of making a delicious granadilla curd. 

 

Granadilla Curd

Well the curd didn't make it anywhere near my cupcakes, because it was just too delicious! I did however manage to make some beautiful little tartlets...

Not only is this maybe one of the easiest desserts I have ever made, it's possibly also one of the nicest. Beautifully rich creamy curd, and short crispy pastry. Add a dollop of chantilly cream or maybe even a little ice-cream and there you have it - Granadilla flavoured heaven. 

Beautiful, easy and delicious Granadilla Curd Tartlets :)

Click here to find both my GRANADILLA CURD AND TARTLET RECIPES.

Happy cooking :)

A little town called Greyton

In the last 2 insanely busy weeks I have unfortunately had to put updating my blog on the back burner, but have no fear for I am back and after a beautiful weekend away with Josh feeling very inspired.

Obviously going away entails a lot of junk food and hopefully a braai or two, or so we planned, however due to road closures and terrible weather we arrived very late on our first night. So... no braai. We did however get the most beautiful gift basket from the owners of the farm we were staying on. Packed with a beautiful loaf of homemade bread (which became dinner), a jar of honey (we assume they produce on their farm), a local bottle of wine, some Nescafe cappuccinos and a little box of Lindor chocolates.

The beautiful gift basket we arrived to

After a long windy night, and after checking that my car hadn’t blown away, Josh and I got ready to explore Greyton. Could it be any more beautiful here?? It’s only Saturday morning and I’m already sad that I’m going to have to leave.

Beautiful views on surrounding farms

There’s beautiful little market on a Saturday, but we arrived 2 hours early so we did a little drive around the town and look what we found...

Me and the GIANT pumpkin

This has to be one on the biggest pumpkins ever, and yes it is real. More on this will definitely follow. 

Of course seeing such huge food only made me very excited for things to come and when the market finally opened we immediately found the pancake guy. I can’t believe I forgot to take a photo of him but try imagine- he stands there with about 8 gas burners in front of him all with a pan and there is always a pancake in each pan, and he never burns any, he just stands there flipping them. It’s pretty awesome to watch. Of course they taste amazing too. I mean who doesn’t want a cinnamon and sugar pancake on a Saturday morning??

I also managed to find a delicious lemon, rosemary, feta and almond pesto, and some really good biltong.

Yummy delicious biltong

Of course we couldn’t miss the rugby so after a lovely nap (which we needed after stuffing our faces), we were back in town at the Vanilla Cafe to watch the rugby. What a beautiful little spot.It’s owner run and so welcoming and friendly, with the most beautiful eclectic decor and an iron fireplace which made for the perfect shelter from the weather. The beer also flows very freely. So this made for a wonderful evening of victory (our boys did us so proud) and socialising with the locals.

The Vanilla Cafe

Wanting to try a little of their menu we decided to take ourselves and our hangovers back there for breakfast, on our way home the following morning. The place was even lovelier during the day, and everything on their menu looks delicious. I had a full English breakfast and a latte of course. It was absolutely delicious and the perfect way to end off our little weekend trip. I can’t wait to go back and try some more.

Full english- go away hangover breakfasting vibe!

Lattes and Milkshakes this weekend. YUM!

Unfortunately now I’m back in reality, but I’m already dreaming of when I get to go back to that beautiful little town...

Sadly I have no new recipes this week, but if you CLICK HERE you will be transported to my recipe archive.

Happy Monday, and Keep warm.

All fingers crossed for summer!

Feeling inspired by the beautiful weather we had this weekend, the avocados that are finally coming back into season and the fact that I don’t eat nearly enough fish, I came up with this beautiful recipe. 

Sesame Crusted Trout with Spicy Avo Salsa

It’s really light, fresh and summery, so I may be jumping the gun a little, but there can be no harm in hoping can there?? Besides, if this weekend was anything to go by, we may just be getting lucky. It’s also really quick and easy to make so it’s perfect for those days when you arrive home after work exhausted and starving.

If you are feeling adventurous you can also add a cubed pineapple or , when they are in season, mango to it. That is one of my favourite things to eat with any fish, and it’s especially nice with grilled prawns.

Lastly in case you hadn’t noticed- unlike pretty much every recipe I’ve ever shared it’s really quite healthy. All the fats are good fats and it’s fish, full of omega what what and all that stuff.

I used trout to make mine, not only is it very much cheaper, but it’s also a lot less fishy than salmon, and in a lot of ways I prefer it. You can however use salmon if you wish, or even tuna, or any other firm fish for that matter.

Click here to find this delicious recipe on my recipe page:

Quick and delicious sesame crusted trout with avocado salsa

  Happy cooking and healthy eating :)

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.