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Chicken a la king – a classic

April 23, 2012 in Chicken

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This Classic dish is as retro as they come. I don’t eat it often but every now and then it consumes my mind until I just have to prepare this steaming pot of comfort. In my opinion, chicken a la king is a underated dish, it takes quite a bit of time to make a really good one and when you do, it’s rather rewarding. I love how it takes me back to my childhood – eating Chicken la la king was a certainty at family gatherings and school camps. Believe it or not, it was a delight to eat every time, not only because I a was a full-on oinker(still am) but I appreciated how different it tasted from one cook(mom, granny and aunty) to the next. I for one, intend on keeping this classic on a pedestal for many years to come…Classic Chicken a la king
serves 6
1 medium free range chicken
2 sticks(with leaves) celery, roughly chopped
5 bay leaves
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 t dried thyme
3 cups prepared chicken stock
50 g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 small green pepper, finely chopped
250 g button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 C dry white wine
50 ml( 3 T plus 1 t) cake flour
1 C reserved chicken stock(from cooking liquid)
250 ml cream
1 C frozen petit pois ( baby peas)
Salt and pepper

Place the chicken, herbs, celery and stock in a large pot, cover and simmer gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until chicken falls off the bone.
Remove chicken from the stock, allow to cool. Remove all meat from the bones and tear into bite size pieces.
Strain the stock and set aside.
Heat the butter and saute the onion and green pepper until soft.Add the mushrooms and fry until almost cooked. Now add the wine and allow to reduce slightly. Add the flour and stir in the cup of reserved stock and cream. Bring to the boil, then simmer uncovered until thickened.
Add the peas and chicken pieces and allow to heat through (Add more reserved stock if too thick).
Season with freshly ground salt and pepper and serve with fluffy white rice or pasta.

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Honey and soy pork stir fry

April 3, 2012 in Asian flavours, Meat

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I don’t know about you, but this week I’m feeling and witnessing alot of negative energy that I do not enjoy nor entertain. So in the spirit of keeping things light and not taking yourself too seriously, I give you my pork stir fry recipe. It is a winner, winner, piggy dinner! xx

Honey and soy pork Stir fry
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: +- 12 minutes

500 g pork loin or neck cut into thick strips
1 T garlic and ginger paste
1 chilli, chopped(if you don’t want it too hot, take seeds
out)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 T oyster sauce

2 T cooking oil
1 onion, sliced
1 cup julienned carrots
1 cup brocolli florets or mangetout
6 baby corns, halved lengthways
100 g pak choy (chinese cabbage), baby spinach or sliced cabbage
2 t corn flour

200g chinese egg noodles, cooked until aldente and refreshed
in cold water
3 T sesame seeds, toasted in a dry pan
handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Combine the paste, chilli, honey, soy and oyster sauce
together. Add the pork strips and allow to marinate for 15 minutes at room
temperature.

Heat the oil in a wok and brown the pork strips(keep the
marinade aside for the sauce) in portions then remove from the wok.

Add more oil if necessary and fry the onion, carrots,
broccoli and corn for about 3- 4 minutes. Add pak choy and allow it to wilt
then add the pork strips back to the wok and fry for another 2 minutes or so.

Mix the corn flour and left over marinade together and
slowly add around the sides of the wok stirring all the while until the mixture
heats through. The stir fry should look nice and glossy.

Lastly toss through the cooked egg noodles, sesame seeds and
coriander. Keep on the heat until heated through.

Serve immediately!

TIPS:
For a variation, replace pork with chicken breasts or prawns.
I love using pork neck for this recipe, so succulent and tender.
Add bean sprouts and peanuts for extra texture and flavour.

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Chicken curry like mom used to make

March 28, 2012 in Chicken, Curries and casseroles

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Chicken curry like mom used to make
Print
Recipe type: Main
Author: Carey Erasmus
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Total time: 50 mins
Serves: 6
The cooler weather makes me think of my mom cooking big pots of stew, bredie and particulary, chicken curry. I used to get a bit agro when the whole house including my hair and school uniform would smell of curry, but when it came down to eating dinner – I had nothing but smiles and second helpings. Now I don’t quite know how my mom makes hers, but I know it had a lovely sweet taste to it, I think her special ingredient is chutney. So this is my interpretation of how I think she makes it. Haha! I must say this version is delicious, but there is still nothing like mom’s cooking…
Ingredients
  • 1 packet Free range chicken legs and thighs
  • 2 large onion, chopped
  • 2 T cooking oil
  • 3 T garlic and ginger paste
  • 2 large tomatoes,seeds removed and finely chopped or grated
  • 3 T medium curry powder
  • 1 T tumeric
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 1/2 cups hot chicken stock
  • 2 -3 T hot fruit chutney
  • 1 T vinegar
  • 6 potatoes, peeled and quartered
  • sugar to taste
  • Salt to taste
Instructions
  1. In a large pot, brown the chicken pieces in the hot oil, then set aside.
  2. Saute the onion and paste together until softened, add the tomatoes and cook for a further 2 minutes.
  3. Add the spices and fry for 1 minute to release the flavours, add the stock, chutney and vinegar. Bring to the boil.
  4. Add the chicken and potatoes, cover and simmer until chicken is tender and potatoes are cooked through (+- 30 – 40 minutes).
  5. Add sugar and salt to taste.
  6. Thicken with some flour paste if needed.
  7. Serve with fluffy basmati rice and raita.
  8. TIP: To “freshen” the curry up a bit, add some fresh coriander at the end.
2.1.7
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Mid-week indulgence: Easy choc pots with mint crisp crumble

March 27, 2012 in desserts, Sweet treats

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Two of my favourite chocolates have to be Lindt Mint intense
and good old Peppermint crisp. Peppermint crisp, in particular, is
my ultimate. If I cannot find my weekly(sometimes daily) bar in stores I start having a little panic
attack!

So, to illustrate my love for all things “chocolatey” and “mintalicious”,
I give you my quick and easy choc pots! These are great for dinner parties. Serve
in cute shot glasses or espresso cups and top each choc pot with a dollop of
whipped cream and finish off with crumbled peppermint crisp. And if you’re not
in the mood to whip cream for the topping, serve as is with the peppermint crisp
crumble. You don’t need an excuse to make these, I tell myself that I deserve a treat every now and then and so should you!

Here’s how:
Fills 6 shot glasses or espresso cups

100g Lindt Mint intense Dark chocolate or Cadbury’s Bournville(dark)
mint chocolate, broken into blocks
125 ml cream
1 egg yolk
2 peppermint crisp bars, blitzed in the food processor until crumbly

Place the chocolate and cream in a small saucepan. Heat gently until all the
chocolate is melted(no need for a double boiler).
Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolk until well
combined and velvety.
Pour into glasses and pop in the fridge. Allow to set for at
least 45 minutes.
Top with crumble. Enjoy!

TIPS:
These can be frozen and make a lush icecream.
Can keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Try different combinations: white chocolate, chilli chocolate, plain dark choc topped with shortbread and lavender crumble….

C xx

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Roasted butternut and sage risotto with crispy bacon

March 13, 2012 in Uncategorized

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Roasted butternut and sage risotto with crispy bacon
For a vegetarian option, replace bacon with some crumbled creamy blue cheese, nom nom!
Serves: 4

500 g butternut cubes
6 sage leaves
olive oil
Salt and pepper
250 g streaky bacon
3 T (45 ml) butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 c (250 ml) arborio rice
1 L vegetable stock
3 T (45 ml) grated parmesan
2 T (30 ml) butter
12 sage leaves

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius
Place butternut and sage leaves onto a baking tray, drizzle with oil and season.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Blitz butternut in a food processor until smooth.
Grill the bacon on both sides until crispy. Set aside.
Heat the butter and saute the onion and garlic until soft and fragrant.
Add the rice and stir until well coated in melted butter.
Over moderate heat, add stock slowly, 1 ladleful at a time until stock has absorbed each time.
When all the stock has been absorbed and rice is cooked (+- 12-15 minutes), add the butternut puree and parmesan cheese, mix well. Season to taste.
For crispy sage garnish, heat the butter until bubbling, add sage and fry for +- 2 minutes or until crispy.
Roughly chop the bacon.
Serve butternut risotto with crispy bacon, sage and some grated parmesan.
Optional, drizzle with a little parmesan infused olive oil.

TIP: reserve some roasted butternut for garnishing

 

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Roasted butternut and sage risotto with crispy bacon

March 13, 2012 in Pasta, Uncategorized, vegetables

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Butternut and sage risotto with crispy bacon
Print
Recipe type: Main
Author: Carey Erasmus
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 45 mins
Total time: 55 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 500 g butternut cubes
  • 6 sage leaves
  • olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 250 g streaky bacon
  • 3 T (45 ml) butter
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1 c (250 ml) arborio rice
  • 1 L vegetable stock
  • 45 ml grated parmesan
  • 2 T (30 ml) butter
  • 12 sage leaves
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius
  2. Place butternut and sage leaves onto a baking tray, drizzle with oil and season.
  3. Bake for 30 minutes.
  4. Blitz butternut in a food processor until smooth.
  5. Grill the bacon on both sides until crispy. Set aside.
  6. Heat the butter and saute the onion and garlic until soft and fragrant.
  7. Add the rice and stir until well coated in melted butter.
  8. Over moderate heat, add stock slowly, 1 ladleful at a time until stock has absorbed each time.
  9. When all the stock has been absorbed and rice is cooked (+- 12-15 minutes), add the butternut puree and parmesan cheese, mix well. Season to taste.
  10. For crispy sage garnish, heat the butter until bubbling, add sage and fry for +- 2 minutes or until crispy.
  11. Roughly chop the bacon.
  12. Serve butternut risotto with crispy bacon, sage and some grated parmesan.
  13. Optional, drizzle with a little parmesan infused olive oil.
2.1.7

 

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“Blogiversary” blueberry and lemon muffins

March 8, 2012 in Baking, Sweet treats

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Today, 2 years ago, I ventured into the exciting world of blogging on Food24. It feels like I have my own little family on this blogasphere with the likes of the food24 team, old bloggers, new bloggers and of course my regular readers. Words cannot express how much all of you inspire me. I learn somehting new everyday. Thank you all for your support throughout the years. P.s. Those of you that want to subscribe(or resubscribe) to my blog or follow me on twitter, see my side bar!

I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that I don’t have a huge sweet tooth, but every now and then I get a craving for something that is sweet but also tart. Walking past all the gorgeous punnets of bluberries at PnP, I couldn’t help but think how divine they’ll be in a soft and spongy muffin with a lemony kick. So I rushed home with bluberries in hand like it was the Olympic torch and started baking muffins for dinner – yes, you read right, dinner. Mwahahahaha! These muffins came out just as I imagined which resulted in me doing a happy dance in the kitchen(Come on, we’ve all done that!). To make them even more luxuriant, I whipped up some a cottage cheese icing and drizzled some over the muffins. Drooling? It’s amazing how much joy breaking open a freshly baked blueberry muffin can bring, I love how the berries burst and become all gooey. Enough babbling, here’s the recipe. xx
Blueberry and lemon muffins
makes 9 large or 12 standard

125 ml (1/2 c) vegetable oil
125 ml (1/2 c) sugar
2 eggs
1 small tub (+ – 175 ml) plain yoghurt
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
500 ml (2 c) cake flour
2.5 ml (1/2 t) bicarb
15 ml ( 1 T) baking powder
pinch of salt
125 g fresh bluberries

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius(conventional) or 180(convection).
Beat the oil and sugar together. Add the eggs and beat until light and creamy.
Stir in the yoghurt, juice and zest.
Sift dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add the berries and coat well with the flour mixture(this allows them to be more evenly dispersed into the mixture).
Fold the dry mixture into the egg mixture until well combined. Try not to over mix.
Spoon into a well greased muffin tin (fill them just over 3/4 full)
Bake for 15 – 20 minutes.
Best served slightly warm.
Lasts up to 5 days in an airtight container.
TIP: you can use thawed frozen berries.

For the icing (optional):
85 g butter, softened
500 ml icing sugar
+- 100 ml smooth cottage cheese
2 ml vanilla essence
15 ml lemon zest

Beat the softened butter and sugar together, add the cottage cheese bit by bit beating all the while until it’s reached the consistency you desire. Stir in the essence and zest.

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Spinach, roasted butternut and feta pie

March 4, 2012 in Meatless meals, Pies, vegetables

4 Comments »

This scrumptious vegetarian pie is super satisfying as a meal on its own. Yummy veggie goodness all wrapped up in light and crispy phyllo pastry. For your  “not so meatless days”, enjoy with a salad of cos, crispy bacon and parmesan.

Spinach, roasted butternut and feta pie:
500 g butternut cubes
olive oil
15 ml (1 T) butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
150 g baby spinach, chopped
10 ml ( 2 t) cake flour
200 g feta cheese, crumbled
ground nutmeg  and cinnamon to taste
salt and pepper to taste

5-6 sheets of phyllo pastry
olive oil
sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
Place the butternut in a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes or until tender and slightly charred. Mash the butternut.
Turn the oven temperature down to 180°C.
In a large frying pan, heat the butter and sauté the onion until translucent and glossy, add the spinach and continue cooking until wilted. Add the garlic and heat through for a few more seconds, remove from the heat and stir in the flour.  Set aside and allow to cool.
In a mixing bowl, gently combine the mashed butternut with the onion and spinach mixture. Add the feta, spices and season with salt and pepper.
Brush each sheet of phyllo with olive oil and lay them one on top of another in a greased tart dish.
Spoon the mixture in the centre.  Pull up the sides of the pastry and scrunch together in the centre. Brush with more oil to moisten. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds.
Pop in the oven for 25 -30 minutes.
Enjoy!

C xx

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Lemon, rocket and parmesan spaghetti

February 15, 2012 in Meatless meals, Pasta, Uncategorized

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 If there is one ingredient that I could not live without, it would be fresh lemons. Not a day goes by that I don’t use them one way or another in my food or beverages. I find it quite funny when I look back in my archives and find that most of my recipes have lemon squeezed (excuse the pun) into them somehow. Other “must-haves” has to be olive oil, pasta, parmesan cheese and fresh herbs.  I would say these 5 ingredients are the foundation, if not the piece de resistance to 90% of my dishes.

Since it’s the month of loooooove, I think it is only fitting to showcase a simple dish that I make often. Not only does it involve the 2nd love of my life, lemon,  but also my other four “staples” - nothing more or less. This bowl of pasta epitomizes this blog and my love for simple, uncomplicated flavours.

Now for a bit cheese…To the no.1 love of my life, J, thanks for supporting me and my love for food, thanks for never moaning that I smell like a take away shop after a shoot or teaching a class- when I know I do, thanks for all those much needed cups of tea and for putting up with my tantrums in the kitchen. Most of all, thank you for being my partner in eating, best friend and the most awesome husband ever.
Lemony Spaghetti
Delicious hot, cold or room temperature. It truly just hits the spot. We enjoy this as a meal on it’s own as well as a side dish with some grilled fish or chicken, gorgeous.

Serves 2

250 g spaghetti boiled until aldente
3 T Extra virgin or parmesan infused olive oil
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
A handful of wild rocket (or basil)
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan or pecorino cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Toss the cooked pasta with the above ingredients and season to taste. Serve with extra parmesan.

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Easy cool food: Roasted butternut and Parma ham salad

January 25, 2012 in salads

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We’ve been eating alot of salads over the last few weeks. With this hot weather we’ve been having, the last thing you feel like is a rich meal. I find myself craving things like crunchy iceberg lettuce with caesar dressing,  room temperature spaghetti with grassy olive oil and fresh lemon or another big love of my life, crispy Cos with parmesan shavings and toasted pinenuts. I could easily not eat meat during these hot months but I do have to keep the hubby happy and throw in some “vleis” every now and then.

This roasted butternut and Parma ham salad is one of our all time favourites at home. Sweet roasted butternut, salty parma ham, creamy Danish-style feta and nutty parmesan all enjoyed tossed with Cos.
Serves: 2-4

500 g cubed butternut
2 cloves garlic, chopped and a drizzle of olive oil
12 slices of Parma ham, prosciutto or presunto
2 sticks of danish-style feta, crumbled
Parmesan shavings
1 Cos lettuce, roughly torn up
To serve: Parmesan infused olive oil and balsamic reduction

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius.
Place the butternut onto a baking tray with the garlic and a drizzle of olive oil. Season and roast for +- 30 minutes.
When the cooked butternut has cooled to room temperature, arrange onto a platter with the remaining ingredients. Drizzle with infused olive and reduction when ready to serve.

Enjoy the rest of your week peeps and keep cool ;-)
C xx