Sustenance

View Nutella and banana parcels – match made in heaven. on Instagram.

This is one of those incredibly easy recipes and is always a winner with friends and family. You can’t go wrong with chocolate right?

Ingredients:

• 1 roll of frozen puff pastry (save yourself a lot of time by buying the ready made stuff and thaw it in the fridge)
• 1 cup of Nutella
• 2 bananas
• 1 egg

Caramel:

• 75g castor sugar
• 2Tbs cold water

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 220 C
2. Thaw the frozen puff pastry in the fridge - check the pack for detail.
3. Once thawed, dust a working surface with a bit of flour and roll out in a square
4. You have two options here, depending on how you want to present the final dessert - either in a log or if you want to be more cheffy, make individual parcels (like a samosa)
   • For the log - Nothing too fancy, just spread the Nutella on the puff pastry and top with slices of banana. Beat the egg and brush the sides of the square with the egg (this helps to ‘glue’ the log together). Carefully roll the pastry lengthwise (otherwise it gets too thick) into the shape of a log. Using a fork, press the edges together to seal. Finally brush the log with the rest of your egg so it goes golden brown when cooked. (approx 30-40 mins)
   • For the samosa (or samoosa as we like to call it) - cut the pastry into approx 10cm squares (you should be able to get around 12+ squares out of a roll of pastry). Dollop (or pipe) some Nutella in the one corner. Top with sliced banana and top with another dollop of Nutella. Brush the sides of the square with the egg and fold the one corner of the pastry over the Nutella & banana to form a triangle. Using a fork, press edges together to seal. Finally brush the triangles with the rest of your egg so it goes golden brown when cooked. (approx 15 mins)
5. To make the caramel, take the smallest pan you, have add the castor sugar and the water and heat to a boil. Just as it starts to change to a light golden colour take it off the heat and pour the caramel out on a baking tray lined with wax paper to cool. Don’t take your eye off the sugar as it starts to boil as it will burn very quickly and you’ll have to start over. The sugar is also extremely hot, so be careful not to touch it. Once cooled down, break into shards.
6. To serve, cut your log into desired lengths and place on your plate. If you really want to show off you could use a small sieve and dust the tops with some icing sugar and then drizzle it with melted chocolate. Add a scoop or two of ice cream and place some caramel shards in the ice cream. Slice up some cape gooseberries (or strawberries) and perhaps top with a sprig of mint or some finely sliced basil.
7. This dish goes well with a cup of espresso to finish

I’m a huge fan of Heston Blumenthal’s food, oft for the shear entertainment factor as for the ability to recreate his recipes at home. Imagine my delight then when I stumbled on Heston Blumenthal at Home at the local Exclusive Books store. The How to cook like Heston TV series also had us glued to the television on Thursday evenings.

Hands up if you’ve ever wanted to perfect the art of poaching an egg or making melt in your mouth steak. Then this cookbook is for you.

Fast forward to today, a cold wintery and misty day in Johannesburg. Real comfort food weather.
I already had a roast leg of lamb in my mind, but wanted to try something different. Perhaps not the recipe as such, but the cooking method. So I paged through Heston’s book and found his roast leg of lamb with anchovy, garlic and rosemary recipe.

At first most people may think anchovies with lamb? Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. The anchovies don’t bring a fishiness to the lamb, but rather a nice salty depth to the overall dish.

Unfortunately for me, I used up all our anchovies about two weeks ago when I made an anchovy butter for our pasta. I opted to replace the anchovies with some smoked streaky bacon. Also something that brings a smoky saltiness to the dish.

So on with the details.

Notes before you begin

• The recipe serves 4 hungry people
• You will need a meat thermometer
• Cooking time: 4 hours + 30 mins for resting
• Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1.8 –2.2kg whole leg of lamb
• sea salt
• 3 tbsp groundnut oil
• 12 anchovies, sliced in half lengthways - I substituted this with 6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled, halved and de-germed
• fresh rosemary (4 sprigs)
• 400ml milk (semi-skimmed / 2%)

For the sauce

• 100ml dry white wine
• 500g lamb or chicken stock
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 80 degrees Celsius. Yes, this is right, low and slow.
2. Season the lamb with salt. Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan over a high heat. When the oil is smoking hot, sear the lamb until golden brown on all sides. Remove from the pan and place in a roasting tray.
3. Blanch the garlic in 100ml milk four times, using fresh 100ml milk each time.
4. Cut the blanched garlic into slivers.
5. Using a sharp knife, cut slits in the surface of the lamb at regular intervals. Use a small spoon to enlarge the holes and stuff them with the anchovies (or bacon), garlic and the rosemary.
6. Place the lamb in the oven for approximately 3-4 hours until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 55 degrees Celsius.
7. When cooked, remove the lamb from the oven, wrap it in foil and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.
8. While the meat is resting, make the sauce. Place the roasting tray over a medium-high heat. Add the wine and use a spatula to scrape all the delicious bits from the bottom of the pan. Allow the liquid to reduce by half. Add the chicken stock and mustard and reduce to a sauce consistency.
9. Strain and pour into a warm jug to serve with the lamb.

Tips for carving the lamb
Grip the knob of bone that juts out of the meat with your left hand (reverse if left-handed). Keeping the joint flat on the board, rounded side upwards, cut into the meat from the top downwards, until the knife meets bone, in slices of whatever thickness you prefer, all the way along the top of the meat. Then, while still gripping the bone, run the knife horizontally across the meat, just above the bone, separating the slices. Turn over and repeat on the other side.

This method of cutting across the grain actually makes the meat seem more tender as you’re biting into the grain as opposed to across the grain which will be more chewier and tougher.

Heston explains it best by comparing it to chopping a log of wood. Trying to chop the log horizontally will be all near impossible. However, standing the log vertically and chopping into the top following the grain, the log will split more easily and naturally.

Re-post of the recipe that appeared on Aquilaonline, my other blog.

View Zucchini or otherwise courgette lasagne on Instagram.

Ingredients

• 500g lean beef mince
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 onion
• 1 tsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 can tomato and onion mix
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 3 medium courgette
• 2 cups mozzarella or cheddar cheese, shredded

Bechamel sauce (makes about double than what is required)

• 60g butter
• 1/3 cup plain flour
• 4 1/2 cups milk
• 75g parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• good pinch ground nutmeg

Method
In a medium sauce pan, brown meat and season with salt. When cooked drain in colander to remove any fat. Add olive oil to the pan and saute garlic and onions about 2 minutes. Return the meat to the pan, add tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer on low for at least 30-40 minutes, covered. Do not add extra water, the sauce should be thick.

Meanwhile, slice courgette into thin slices. I used a cheese slicer that had the perfect thickness. Lightly salt and set aside or 10 minutes. Courgette has a lot of water when cooked, salting it takes out a lot of moisture. After 10 minutes, blot excess moisture with a paper towel.

On a griddle pan, grill the courgette on each side, until cooked, about 2 minutes per side. Place on paper towels to soak any excess moisture.

Preheat oven to 180° Celsius.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until foaming. Add flour. Cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes or until bubbling. Remove from heat. Slowly add milk, whisking constantly, until mixture is smooth. Return to heat. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 10 to 12 minutes or until sauce comes to the boil, thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat. Stir in parmesan, salt and nutmeg.

In a medium casserole dish spread some sauce on the bottom and layer the courgette to cover. Then place some of the white sauce mixture, then top with the mozzarella/cheddar cheese and repeat the process until all your ingredients are used up. Top with sauce and mozzarella/cheddar.

Bake 45 minutes. Let it stand about 5 - 10 minutes before serving.

The inspiration for this meal came from a Pick n Pay Fresh Living booklet titled “Dinner time: 7 Quick & easy family meals for under R350″, the mayonnaise recipe was found via Epicurious. These are delicious and really simple fishcakes, with a great flavour. Our two year old loved them!

Ingredients:

Fishcakes

• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 3 cans (170g each) light meat tuna chunks in salt water
• 2 tsp fish spice / fish rub
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
• 2 extra-large eggs, beaten
• Cake flour, for dusting
• Canola oil for frying

Mayonnaise

• 1 tsp grated lemon rind
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• Dash cayenne pepper

Method:

Fishcakes

1. Mix all the fishcake ingredients together in a medium bowl
2. Shape 1/4 cupfuls of the mixture into patties
3. Dust with the flour just before frying
4. Heat a generous glug if oil in a pan
5. Fry fishcakes for 1-2 minutes per side or until golden
6. Drain on paper towel
7. Serve with fresh coriander, a fresh salad (we had ripe mango on a bed of mixed baby salad leaves), chips, and the mayonnaise

Mayonnaise

1. Whisk together all mayonnaise ingredients in a small bowl until smooth

Tonight we had absolutely no idea what to make for dinner. We’ve had our fair share of fish, chicken and vegetarian the last few days and I was craving some read meat.

The problem of course is that it was getting late (food shopping after 6pm) and I wasn’t feeling like building a braai or smoking out the house by grilling meat in the oven.

Then I remembered a quick and easy method for a balsamic reduction, which would go nicely with some pan fried rosemary lamb chops.

A quick meal in 15 minutes.

Ingredients

• 6 lamb chops
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion peeled and chopped
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon butter

Method

1. Sprinkle rosemary, salt and pepper over lamb chops.
2. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat and cook lamb chops for about 3 1/2 minutes on each side (medium rare).
3. Remove lamb and set aside to rest. Add onion to pan and sautee until slightly browned.
4. Add the balsamic vinegar and chicken stock.
5. Allow mixture to cook until reduced by half, this takes about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add butter.
6. Pour sauce over lamb and serve with some seasonal veggies and couscous.

This seemed to be a roaring success. Our 18-month old son even grabbed some of the balsamic reduction off my plate by the handfulls and helped himself to a chop too.

Of course I complety forgot to take a pic of the end result. I hope the one of the uncooked chops, is not too gnarly for some folk. I may have to do this again soon.

I had a craving for some ginger biscuits this morning and while Victoire popped out, I decided to rustle up a quick batch of these ginger tea-time treats.

Ingredients

• 100g softened butter
• 250g caster sugar
• 250g self-raising flour
• 1 large egg
• 1tsp ground ginger

Method
Preheat your oven to 150 degrees C.

Cream the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Sift in the flour and ginger.

Mix well to bind it all together and form into small balls, about a tablespoon of the mix. This is a fairly dry mix so don’t be alarmed when it’s not too sticky.

Place the balls on a baking sheet (about 15 per tray). The balls flatten out in the cooking process, so space them well apart.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes till lightly browned. They will come out slightly soft to the touch, but will harden when cooling on a wire rack.

Serving suggestion
I did mention that these were a tea-time treat, so get that big pot of tea going, because once you’ve had one of these you’ll be dunking them by the handfulls.

Nothing quite beats the winter chill like a good lasagna or lasagne if you feel like saying it in Italian.

Growing up my mom always made “green” lasagna, leaves of spinach lasagna with a rich bolognese and béchamel (white) sauce. It was only years later that we found out lasagna also came in a non-green version. Hmm…I think my parents wanted to make sure we got some extra vegetables in. That said, when there wasn’t a lot of meat in the house, I remember my mom adding more grated carrot and other veggies into the dish to “bulk” up the dish.

Either way it was super yum.

Fast forward to today, a cold and blustery winters day in Johannesburg. The only thing that could satisfy a hungry family - a hot and hearty meal. Lasagna fit the bill perfectly. I also like to make lasagna, mac-and-cheese, bobotie etc. in bulk so I doubled up the recipe below. Except for the mince, for which I bulked up with extra veggies. This yielded about 3 freezer tins of lasagna, each tin enough to feed a family of four.

Ingredients for the bolognese sauce

• 350g minced beef
• approx 10 sheets of spinach lasagna
• 80g tomato paste
• 100g grated cheddar cheese / or parmigiano if you prefer
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 onion
• 500ml beef stock
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 tablespoons butter
• salt and pepper (to taste)

Ingredients for the béchamel sauce

• 1lt milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 50grams flour
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• nutmeg (to taste)

Method for bolognese sauce
Melt the butter in a pan and add the finely chopped celery, carrot and onion. Fry for about 5 minutes. Add the mince and cook till browned. Add the cup of wine and cook till evaporated. Add the tomato paste and stock. Cook uncovered on a medium heat for 40 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Method for béchamel sauce
About 20 minutes into the cooking time of your bolognese sauce, start making your béchamel sauce. There are few steps, but you have to take this part easy to make sure you don’t burn the milk.

Heat up the milk in a pan - the hot milk combines better with the flour and minimises lumps forming.

In another pan, melt the butter. Stir in the flour and make sure all of it combines with the butter. Now add about 2-3 ladles of hot milk at a time to the flour mixture. Whisk rapidly. Keep on adding ladles of milk and whisking. The sauce should be nice and thick. Take off the heat before it boils and add salt and pepper to taste.

Building your lasagna
Spread a ladle of béchamel on the bottom of the foil tin or a buttered ovenproof dish. Add leaves of spinach lasagna to cover the tin, taking care not to overlap too much. Cover the sheets with a layer of bolognese, followed by béchamel and some grated cheese. Continue to build up your dish alternating the layers of lasagna, filling and cheese. You should end up with a top layer of cheese.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 degrees C.

Your dish should be golden brown on top and the pasta cooked through. Serve with a side salad and a glass of wine in front of a fire.

There are a few flavours I will always associate with my childhood, and my Mom’s home made mint sauce served with a roast leg of lamb is one of them. Nothing beats that tangy, sweet and minty flavour! For me, the only way to serve roast lamb is with a mint sauce, and the stuff you buy at the shops cannot compare to this recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup grape vinegar
• 1/2 bottle (50 ml) dried mint
• 1/2 cup apricot jam

Method:

1. Add the sugar and vinegar to a small pot
2. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar over a medium heat
3. Add the mint and boil gently for about 5 minutes
4. Scoop in the apricot jam, stir to combine and boil gently again for about 5 minutes
5. Adjust to taste by adding more vinegar if too sweet
6. Bottle, cool and refrigerate

The consistency should be pretty runny, however if you prefer a more jam-my consistency you can boil the sauce for longer at Step 4. You could also add chopped fresh mint with the dried mint to the sugar and vinegar mixture in Step 3.

I received this play dough recipe as part of an end of year gift exchange in Arnan’s music class at Be Sharp Beetles last year. It turned out to be a great play dough recipe - I used it both to make a Christmas gift for my nephew and in the party buckets, with a cute plastic cookie cutter, for Arnan’s first birthday party - and the dough was a hit with all who received it. The jelly (American jello) gives the play dough a great spongy texture, as well as colour and scent. It is entirely edible, if a bit salty, so it’s kid-safe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup warm water
• 80g jelly (any flavour)

Method:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a medium pot
2. Stir over low to medium heat until the mixture thickens and clumps together into a ball, pulling away from the sides of the pot
3. Turn the dough out onto a clean surface dusted with flour
4. Allow it to cool for a minute
5. When the dough is cool enough to touch knead it for a few minutes to ensure enough elasticity is built up
6. Let the dough cool completely before storing in an air-tight container

General Playdough Tips:

• If you want to alter the colour, or enhance the colour, add some food colouring
• Glitter or fine, brightly coloured craft sand adds nice texture, and using a contrasting colour can really make the play dough fun
• If the dough begins to dry out you can knead a bit of water into it again
• If it gets soggy you can reheat the play dough to evaporate the extra water

Roasted vegetable tart (left) & Cheese and herb muffins (right)

I have a new “go to” recipe for a savoury option for tea! These muffins are moist, full of flavour and super easy. What a pleasure. I made them for my birthday tea party last weekend, but they could also be a wonderful accompaniment to a hot soup on the suddenly cold winter days we’re having. The recipe has been adapted from the “Cook and Enjoy” (”Kook en Geniet”) recipe book.

Ingredients:

• 500 ml (2 cups) cake flour
• 20 ml (4 tsp) baking powder
• 2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) salt
• 2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) cayenne pepper (or a little less if you prefer less of a “bite”)
• 500 ml - 750 ml (2 - 3 cups) grated cheese
• handful fresh chopped herbs, such as thyme, origanum, chives, rosemary, parsley
• sprinkle dried mixed herbs (optional)
• 250 ml (1 cup) milk
• 120 ml (8 Tbsp) + “a bit” melted butter
• 1 egg, well beaten

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C and grease a muffin pan with 12 large hollows
2. Sift together the dry ingredients
3. Add the cheese and herbs to the dry ingredients
4. Blend the milk, butter and egg
5. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients. Do not stir, but mix by folding in the liquid until the flour is just moistened. The mixture will look lumpy
6. Drop uniform spoonfuls of the dough into the muffin pan hollows and bake for 10 - 15 minutes (I usually bake for 20 minutes, but insert a skewer to check for done-ness at 15 minutes)