Tuesday 31 July 2012

Flame grilled!

I've been meaning to post this recipe for a couple of weeks, and believe me when I say it is delicious! Hubby got an amazing cookbook form his bother for his birthday last year, "Ruben Kook, Terug na Toentertyd", it winded up every now and then when I browse for new recipes, and we decided to give this particular one a try.
Adapted from one of Ruben Riffel's recipes...

You'll need some time on your hands to prepare all the separate parts, but it is definitely worth all the effort!
So here we go:

Flame grilled lamb ribs, with a herb crust.  Served with eggplant   
puree and a roasted garlic, sage and red wine gravy on mashed Sandveld potatoes




Herb Crust
1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs 
(TIP: Freeze a few loaves of bread beforehand, 
then grate it for the crumbs)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, rosemary and thyme leaves, chopped
1 tbs whole grain mustard
1 tbs grated Parmesan cheese

Mix all the ingredients


Rub the ribs with olive oil and season with salt, then place them on a plate and cover with the herb mixture, rubbing it onto all the sides.  Leave to rest.

In the meantime light your fire! South African Style!

While your fire is on the go, start to prepare the gravy.

You'll need
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
8 sage leaves
1 cup good quality red wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 tbs apricot preserve
1 tbs unsalted butter

Boil the garlic gloves for 5 minutes in salt water until tender. Place it in a saucepan, fry it on low heat until golden brown.  Toss the sage leaves into the pan fry until leaves are crisp.
Remove the sage and garlic from the saucepan, add the red wine, chicken stock and apricot preserve.  Let the liquid boil until half of the original portion is left, then chuck in the butter.


While the gravy is simmering away, peel a few potatoes, place in a pot with water and salt to boil until soft.

Eggplant Puree

1 eggplant
1 tbs olive oil
1/4 Greek yogurt
salt and blackPEPPER

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  Cut the eggplant in half, then cut a zigzag pattern into the white flesh.  Rub the cuts with olive oil and salt.  Place on a grill pan.  Roast for 5-10min
Remove from the oven, spoon the flesh from the peel.  Add the eggplant pulp with the yogurt into a bowl and blend with a handheld blender.  Flavour with more salt and blackPEPPER.

By this time your ribs should have been roasted to perfection on the fire, for specific time schedule, give hubby a call!  What a fabulous braaier he is!

Mash the potatoes with a dash of milk and a dollop butter.

To Serve 

Place a spoonful of mash onto the plate, spoon over the gravy.  Place the ribs on top of the potatoes, with the eggplant puree on the side, finish the plate with crisp sage leaves and golden brown garlic cloves...








Thursday 19 July 2012

Life through bubbles



If it is not filled with beauty like this, pop it and search for a better view!

Wednesday 18 July 2012

One for the mommy's


Finger Paint

1/2 cup cornflour
3 tbs sugar

1/2 tsp salt
2 cups water


Add all the ingredients into a frying pan, stir on low heat
until mixture becomes thick.

Scoop into small containers, add food colouring to your desire,
mix, leave to cool!
Apply to fingers of all sizes,
paint away!

I am sure this is a antique?
Wish we still had prices like this!




Tuesday 17 July 2012

Ever tried these?

Roasted Persimmons with Cinnamon Meringues
Serves 4

You'll need:

4 Persimmons 
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Vanilla sugar for dusting


Cinnamon Meringues
3 egg whites
(room temperature)
pinch cream of tartar 
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Vanilla ice cream



When the Persimmons are roasted, they develop a delicate flavour
and soft, smooth texture.  The meringues gives a crunchy texture, with a warm, rich flavour.  Not to mention the icy ice cream, the vanilla complements the dessert wonderfully.

Prepare the meringues
Preheat the oven to 120 degrees.  Beat the egg whites until foamy,  add the cream of tartar beat until soft peaks form.  Add the sugar in small portions while you beat the mixture until stiff peaks form.  Add the vanilla and cinnamon. 
Use a icing tube to squirt the mixture onto a prepared baking sheet in forms resembling nests.  Bake for 1 hour.  Turn the oven off and leave the meringues for another hour.

Prepare the roasted Persimmons

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.  Slice the Persimmons in half, don't remove the leaves.  Place on a baking tray, squeeze the halved lemon juice over, dust with vanilla sugar, bake for 25min until soft but still firm.

Serve the warm fruit in the meringue nests with ice cream!



Delicious on a freezing winter evening!
Original recipe: marmalade & moerkoffie by
Bernadette Le Roux & Marianne Palmer









Wednesday 11 July 2012

A Special Handmade Gift


I've decided to make machine covers for my dearest mother as a 50th birthday present, it is something functional, handmade and I knew she would absolutely LOVE it!



To follow is a easy DIY tutorial, showing you 
how to make a flower similar to the ones I've made.




ENJOY!

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Homemade Luxury




Recipe

500g Rye Flour
500g White Bread Flour
10ml Salt
15ml Yellow Sugar
1 1/2 packet Instant Yeast
250ml Milk
400ml lukewarm water

Prepare two bread baking tins (we chose a rectangular and a circular tin) with spray&cook, line it with wax paper and spray again.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Combine the milk and 250ml of the lukewarm water, pour into the flour mixture.  Stir until a dough forms.  Pour the rest of the water into the bowl, if dough seems to dry.

Knead the dough for 10 minutes place back into the bowl,cover and leave in a warm place to rise for 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Knead the dough, divide into two equal parts.
Shape into bread, place in prepared tins.
Leave to rise another 20 minutes, bake for 1 hour or until done.

Serve with halved cherry tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and fresh picked basil! 



Monday 9 July 2012

Daddy's Birthday



We decided to hit the beach for hubby's birthday the other day.
I'll be optimistic and say it was a mild 15 degrees (middle of the winter South Africa).
We ordered pizza, packed the picnic essentials and enjoyed a few hours on a secluded beach! Total bliss.  YAY!

Thursday 5 July 2012

The Table is set






Menu

Starter
Wild Mushroom Soup

Main
Indian Lamb Curry with Sandveld Potatoes & Rice
Side
Banana, Coconut & Chutney

Dessert
Brandy tart hearts, with homemade vanilla semifreddo,
 brandy infused sauce & Maraschino cherries

Treat
Coffee & Milktart Fudge





Wednesday 4 July 2012

Wild Mushrooms - 50th Birthday Starter



My lovely mother turned 50 on 1 July.  We feel incredibly blessed to have her in our lives!  She is our dearest friend, my inspiration, the person to light up each day!
Hope the next 50 will be as adventures as the first!

We arranged a sit down dinner for a few of their friends on our front porch.

Our starter was a tweaked Jamie Oliver recipe, 'the real mushroom soup', it was mind blowing delicious and super easy to conjure up!
Our wild mushrooms originated from Nouvelle.
Their farm is situated in the Hemel & Aarde valley, Western Cape.

We were so much inspired by all the wonderful fungi that we've decided to explore the abundance of mushrooms growing wild on our farm, with a book to guide us we will soon be spotting the edible ones!  Let's hope all of this goes as planned! LOL

Be sure to check in over the next week or so for more party essentials!