Filed under: Celebrations don't need serious motivations, I want to eat dinner now!, Lunch, Piece of mind, Tomatoes | Tags: eating in res, expeditions involving food, irene kim, picnic, res food, surprise food
During orientation at university it was compulsory for all first years in my hostel to eat the meals created by the catering company – yes, en masse. After that one week I had had my fill of Res food for life, instead I took over our fridge in the room I share… our fridge featuring salad leaves, steam-in-the-bag butternut, sprouts, goats cheese, the occasional smoked salmon and cherry tomatoes for Africa, and chickpeas, tuna, balsamic, olive oil and onions in the koskas (food cupboard). I am quite proud of holding my record for a neat two terms without needing to swipe my student card to stand in the food queue. I admit missing out on the social aspect of eating downstairs, thus my peers do sometimes witness my crazy concoctions while we chat away.
Here, documented in surreal photos, is one of the expeditions Irene and I made (all the way to the coolest grocery store) with the purpose of attempting one of those idyllic-baguette-and-brie-pique-nique-along-the-Seine vibes, except with cars flowing past us in the street instead, in mind. It was seriously magnificent, and I cannot wait until our next teddy-bear expedition, maybe a picnic in the mountain next time. It took us no time to get together, if you consider the satisfaction thereof. I challenge students to shy away from the gruel downstairs for a while and try this.
This calls for a join-the-club-t-shirt- your turn! How to go about it:
Step 1: Call someone you love or haven’t seen in a while and tell him/her you are going on an secret mission together.
Step 2: Run (well, if you have the luxury of a car or scooter… reconsider running) and go to your nearest cool grocery store and buy the essentials: good, fresh bread (baguette, ciabatta, farm loaf is good), good cheese (think brie, camembert, goats -, cottage cheese, or whatever you like), olive oil and balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, rocket/salad leaves, some salmon, pate or ready-grilled chicken strips if you have the cash and source, avo, ect.
Step 3: Run home and get together a chopping board, three knives, one for cutting and two for spreading, as well as a dishcloth
Step 4: Meet the person at your favourite spot, or alternatively in your room at res for an unforgettable meal, some catching up and a good laugh. Worth the running, isn’t it?
Filed under: Babelas food, Breakfast (at Tiffany's...), Eggs | Tags: 5 minute recipe, babelas cure, breakfast, closet snare, flapjacks, moreira project, nigella's flapjacks
With the rhythms of the Moreira Project and Closet Snare live at Assembly still echoing fondly in my head from last night, I woke up this morning and felt an intense desire for two things: serious hot chocolate (see Chocolate Concoction for Churros) and flapjacks. As flapjacks are synonymous with the domestic goddess’s image, I paged through Nigella’s guide and found a flippen fantastic flapjack recipe. It takes 5 minutes to mix and 5 to cook. Thus making it the ultimate pick-up, no matter what your state of being is at the moment…
For about 12 fat flapjacks:
Two cups (500ml) flour
1 Tablespoon (15ml) bicarbonate of soda
1 Teaspoon (5ml) of sugar
A pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups (325ml) milk
30g Butter
2 eggs
To serve, your choice of what you feel like, here are a few suggestions:
Honey/syrup
Cream/full cream bulgarian yoghurt
Bacon/parma ham
Cheese of sorts
Banana/fig/raspberries/strawberries/peaches/blueberries
To start:
Step 1: Put on some music (the CD that you bought last night at the concert…).
Step 2: Melt the butter. Measure all the ingredients into a blender. Whiz until all the ingredients are incorporated.
Step 3: Get a medium sized pan out (non stick if you have). Spray with non-stick baking spray or alternatively melt a teaspoon butter, but the pan must be on a medium to low heat (don’t turn the temperature too high, otherwise you’ll have nicely blackened flapjacks instead of beautiful golden ones).
Step 4: With your hand, feel just above the surface of the pan if it is heated. Spoon a big dessertspoon full of the mixture into the pan, let it ooze into its freeform and continue until you have three. When you see bubbles slowly emerging on the surface of the flapjacks, and the bottom becoming slightly loose from the pan, flip each one over sperately with an egg lifter. The surface should be remeniniscent of a golden caramelised colour. Continue for about 30 seconds on that side. When finished, wrap in a bowl with a clean tea towel. Continue until the batter is finished. Don’t hesitate to try some with butter and syrup before you actually sit down and eat… life is too short and you never know what could happen with it in the meantime, especially with siblings/lovers floating around with a hungry look on their faces …
On the photo:
A dincum stack of friday-night-recovery flapjacks for breakfast with:
Bottom: fresh figs
Middle: banana
Top: crispy fried bacon
All over: full cream bulgarian yog
hurt and honey
Where: eaten in bed
*This recipe has been loosely adapted from Nigella Lawson’s How to be a domestic goddess, Chatto and Windus.
Filed under: Dress-uppers, Sauces, You say Tomatoes | Tags: free state food, krummelpap, tamatie smoor
+ Onion
This is a very Afrikaans, very versatile, very very good sauce that my father (being from the Free State) always makes with krummelpap (mealiemeal). Oh, but you can have it with sausages and mash, with grilled fish and with sandwiches! Just thinking about it honestly makes my mouth water. We cannot imagine krummelpap or our collection of home recipes without it.
To become part of this legend you need:
Two cans of chopped tomatoes
1 onion
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
How to go about it:
Step 1: Peel and cut the onion in rings.
Step 2: Put the butter and oil in a medium pan and let the butter melt over a low heat. Add the onion and sweat slowly for 8 minutes.
Step 3: Add the tomatoes and let it simmer for 15 minutes, the longer it goes on a very gentle heat, the more intense the flavour will be. Have fun!
Filed under: Apples of the Earth | Tags: hungarian smoked paprika, jansen's temptations, potatoes
+ cream + paprika
The name says it all. Whoever Jansen was, he knew the way to everybody’s heart. My mother was introduced to this dish by my father’s mother and since then it has been a firm family favourite. Whenever we dream about what we want to eat that evening – Jansen’s Temptations takes us very softly to cloud nine. The secret to get there? Use real smoked Hungarian paprika, which you will definitely find at a good deli. You can add proper Hungarian salami, too.
To tempt 4 people you need:
8 big potatoes
500ml single cream
3 heaped teaspoons smoked Hungarian paprika
To start:
Step 1: Put the oven on 180 °C. Wash and peel the spuds. Place the peeled potatoes directly into another bowl and cover with water to prevent them from going oxidising and going brown. This is the toughest part of the entire dish!.
Step 2: Slice the potatoes lengthways (1/2 cm thick). In an ovenproof dish, start layering the slices, slightly overlapping them. Sprinkle half a teaspoon of paprika over each layer. Do this with all the potatoes. Ideally, you should get about three to four layers of potatoes.
Step 3: Oh, this is the fun part – pour the cream over the potatoes gently so that they are completely submerged.
Step 4: Sprinkle a last teaspoon paprika generously on top of the dish, cover with foil and pop it in the oven for one hour (the time will vary according to the potatoes you use, so start checking at 45 minutes). Check if it is ready by inserting a knife into the layers. If it slides in and out effortlessly, your dish is ready.
If you use salami, add a layer iinbetween every layer of potatoes, ending with potatoes.
+ pumpkin + some mystery
This year, while on a music-high in Grahamstown attending the Jazz Festival, I came across this dish while mozying through the Village Green (a huge open market). My friend pointed out that even though it does look mysterious and a bit sketch, it just tastes oh-so good! I came home after the fest and just had to make it, which was a whole lot of fun, as you can see…
For one trip (make some more by just doubling the quantities):
180g mince
½ small Pumpkin
One carrot
½ an onion
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon paprika
One leaf of a lemon tree (if you have any)
½ a chili (keep the seeds if you like it real hot, otherwise lose the seeds)
One garlic clove
One cm of ginger
Olive oil
One can chopped tomatoes
One teaspoon White grape vinegar
One handful grated mozzarella and one handful grated Cheddar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
How to start:
Step 1: Put your favourite music on, be it jazz, trance, classical, any tune goes. Prepare a pot with some water and a pinch of salt, and bring to the boil.
Step 2: Cut up the onion, carrot and pumpkin separately. Chop the garlic, chili and ginger finely. Heat a large pan/pot on the stove, add some olive oil, and add the carrots and onion. Let it cook gently for 5 minutes, then add the garlic, chili and ginger add gently cook for a further 5 minutes.
Step 3: Add the pumpkin to the boiling water (alternatively, you can steam it to make it even more nutritional) and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Step 4: Turn up the heat of the onions and add the mince, frying it a bit. Add the spices and vinegar and stir for a minute, then add the tomatoes. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Check the pumpkin. Meanwhile, while the mince develops some personality, grate the cheeses and relax.
Step 6: When the mince looks ready, taste and correct the seasoning. Spoon the pumpkin to the bottom of a bowl, and then add the mince, piping hot. Sprinkle over the cheese. Now eat!
Filed under: Uncategorized
A dish born ultimately from what we had in our fridge - take a bit of this and that and WHAM! You have lunch. There is no fault in getting your inspiration from whatever you may have. Thus, you are also more than welcome to make it your own, with whatever you happen to have in the fridge, but the trick is just to keep in mind what you feel like having and not making it to complicated.
For 2 people you need:
Two skinless chicken breasts
100g noodles
Two handfuls Rosa tomatoes, cut in half
Handful sugar snap peas
One corn/mealie, cooked and corn removed from cob (alternatively use ½ cup drained tinned corn)
Half a pineapple, roughly cut into squares
To make the dressing:
2T Soya sauce
2T olive oil, plus an extra 4T to fry the chicken
2T Sesame seed oil
1T Honey
Juice of half a lemon
Half a chilli, chopped finely
A few sprigs of mint, chopped
Sesame seeds
How to make the magic happen:
Take out the plate you would like to serve it in. Take out a two pots and fill with water to cook the corn and the noodles separately. While the water comes to the boil, take out a pan and heat it up, pour in a few tablespoons of olive oil and fry the chicken breasts over a medium to low heat, for about 8-10 minutes. To check if it is done, insert your knife in the middle, hold for 10 seconds and if you take it out, the tip should be hot to the touch of your lip. Place the corn in the boiling water and cook for 10 minutes. The noodles should cook for about 1-2 minutes, depending on the instructions on the packet. Drain the noodles and transfer to your serving plate. With you hands, tear the chicken into chunks and top it onto the noodles, follow with the peas, tomato, corn, pineapple, and then mix up everything for the dressing and toss into the salad. Serve immediately or refrigerate until you are ready. It is a great salad, not to fussy take to school/work in a lunchbox!
Filed under: Maroccan Meal
Every Moroccan family had to have a lamb slaughtered in celebration of Eid el Kebir, which coincided with New Year’s in 2007. The sheep were transported by any means possible; it was quite a sight to see – countless sheep were balanced by skilled drivers on scooters making their way through the buzzing streets of Marrakech. We celebrated New Year in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco that year. Now, a year later, I tried the tagine (a dish cooked in an earthenware pot with a conical lid), in memory of the one of the best New Years I have ever had. It is not difficult at all, it just needs time to cook softly so that it falls of the bone. I have always wanted to write a recipe of a dish that your can put in the oven in the oven before you go to work, and then take it out when you arrive at home. Why not make up an occasion to celebrate and have some friends/family over for a quick dinner after work? To Aid and New Year!
For 4-10 people, depending on your choice of cut
2 garlic cloves
3 onions
½ t ground cumin
½ t ground coriander
½ t ground tumeric
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground ginger
1 t ground black pepper or freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves
2 cardamom pods
A pinch saffron (enough just to pick up between your two fingers)
1 shoulder of lamb (enough for 5) or one leg (enough for 10)
1 cup olive oil
2 cups water
1 cup big juicy raisins
4 T honey
½ cup toasted flaked almonds, to serve
Chunky bread, such as ciabatta of baguettes (French loaves), to serve
Take out a casserole/potjie/ovenproof dish with a lid and preheat the oven to 100 degrees Celsuis. Mix up all the spices and the garlic in a portal and mestle or alternatively crush the garlic by chopping it finely and then adding a little salt and with one side of your knife, working it into a paste. Add two tablespoons of water and work everything into a paste. Set it aside and chop your onions roughly into squares. Rub the paste all over the lamb. Place the onions, then the lamb in the dish and add the oil and water, stir a bit, cover and place in the oven. Forget about it until you arrive home and you can smell it. This is slow food, and I recommend you let the ingredients become friends for a good 7-9 hours. When you are 10 minutes away from serving, mix in the honey and raisins and let it rest in the oven, turned off, while you make a salad (try the Moroccan Salad), lay the table, and pour yourself a glass of wine. Serve with rustic bread to mop up the juices. And eat with your hands.
*If you want to have the real deal – try making it on an open fire, just let it cook slowly for the day on glowing coals. I tried it with the dish once. It is beautiful. Of all the dishes I have experimented with, my family dubbed it as one of the most delicious by far. And it made me realize – food is not difficult! The secret is – it just takes time.
Caroline solely ran a guesthouse for an Englishman for 4 years. She even entertained guests and cooked for them, while having to run the budget as well. This is her totally original recipe, with which had guests from all over the world coming back for more.
Her secret ingredients for 12 big muffins
2 cups orange juice
3 ½ cups Cake flour
1 T Baking powder
1 cup sugar
2 Eggs
½ cup fruit cake mix
All you need to do is:
First turn on the oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Take out a muffin pan and grease it well with butter inside, or spray with baking spray. Whisk the orange juice, eggs and sugar together in a medium bowl. Next sift the baking powder and flour into another smaller bowl. Using a metal spoon, fold in the dry ingredients you have sifted into the liquid mixture. Check so that everything is mixed evenly, and then fold in the fruit cake mix. Spoon the mixture so that it fills about ¾ of each hole in the pan. Pop it in the oven, start checking at 25 minutes, if the point of the knife comes out wet when you insert it in the middle of one muffin, let it go for another 5 minutes. That’s it! Have it just like that, or with some honey and butter, jam and cheese…
500g icing sugar
1 tin (385g) condensed milk
390g desiccated coconut
5ml peppermint essence and 3 drops green food colouring
or
5ml vanilla essence and 3 drops pink food colouring
Place the icing sugar, the condensed milk (taste it first, just for the fun of it!) and coconut in a bowl and mix well. At first it may seem a bit dry, but work those arms and mix and mix so that when you take a bit of the mixture between your fingers and squeeze it, it holds. Divide the mixture and place one half into a tin of about grease paper-lined 20×20x5cm and press it down evenly in a layer of white. Mix the chosen essence and food colouring with the remaining ingredients, I out in some medical gloves (whack, I know, but I felt I’ll leave the green/pink stained hands for another operation, because food colouring is quite hard to wash of) and used my hands, working it through with my fingers. Press the coloured mixture onto the white layer, place it in the fridge for 1 hour until it is firm. Now turn it out of the tin (the grease paper makes this loads easier) and cut it in squares, I got about 25 out of this batch, but it really depends on how big you want to go. It would make even the sweetest tooth go on a sugar high after just one square.
Only beans? This must be too boring! Aha! You would be surprised…that is the secret. This simple dish inspired by the film, the Malaga Beanfield War, and it shouts (or sprouts): power food. You could go to battle with this soup…I love it. If you use different kinds of beans it just adds that extra: mmmm-factor… Serve it with tortillas, made the way my sister, Olivia, demonstrates in the pics.
How to gear yourself for feeding 4 people:
One onion
½ chilli (or more if you like it hot)
2 garlic cloves
4 more-or-less 8 cm sticks celery
One bay leaf
4 mixed cans of any beans of you feel like, for example chickpeas, cannellini beans, butter beans, red kidney beans, lentils…
2T extra-virgin olive oil
500ml home made veggie stock
At the end, to garnish:
One fresh red tomato
One small handful coriander leaves
A few gratings Parmeggiano cheese
More ideas to garnish:
Sour cream or crème fraiche
Lime juice
Avo slices
(Stick to 2/3 garnishes, it’s your choice which)
4 Tortillas, to serve
How to start training:
Chop the onion into chunks of roughly 1cm and the celery sticks in chunks about ½ cm thick. With a generous hand, add the olive oil to a medium-sized deep pan or casserole dish and put it on a medium heat. When the oil it ready and heated, about 30 seconds, add your onions and let go of the celery in as well. Turn down the heat to a low flame. Using a wooden spoon, stir the onions and celery a bit in the oil and let it cook gently for 7 minutes, also stirring occasionally. The aim is not to let it burn much, rather go for soft and melting onions and celery. Meanwhile, peel the garlic cloves by cutting off a very small piece at the end and the crushing it lightly with the side of your knife, so that the skin comes loose. Grate the garlic finely, and then chop the chilli! If you like things hot – use the seeds as well, if you like it mellows – scrape out the seeds. Dice it quite fine, because munching on a chunk of chilli is not so romantic. Add the garlic and chilli to your pan and let it cook for another 2 minutes, while you drain the beans of all its juices. This done, add your beans and stock and let in cook for 20 minutes in a medium heat. Don’t forget about it – it still needs love whilst bubbling away, so stir every now-and-then. You can dice the tomato, slice the avo, or chop the coriander and grate the parmeggiano so long, depending on what you chose. Get a pan ready for the tortillas. When the soup is done, turn it off and start by slicing the tortillas in triangles (as shown), heat up a non stick pan and go for it! Garnish and serve. Good stuff.
