Dinner Divas

In the elimination round of the first six episodes in which two different bloggers compete against each other per episode, bloggers cook a family meal according to what their own interpretation of a family may be. Having had weeks to prepare for the day, they now face the most challenging task of all: cooking their unique meals in the hope that the judges will see the messages that they share with their readers in their menus, recipes, blog description and of course, their food. They have to present their “blogs on a plate”.

In this round the judges do not know who they are voting for. If some judges know some bloggers, they may be able to glean who’s cooking from the blogger-images on the dining wall, but nobody knows for sure which meal is cooked by which blogger. In this round the judges’ names are also withheld from the bloggers, quite nerve wracking for the brave bloggers as they just-about know every foodie in the Universe!

Also in this round, the judges have the right to vote both bloggers, none of them or one of them through to the semi finals. The bloggers are aware that they can view the unedited footage of the discussion about their own meals if they feel they can benefit from the comments or if they are just plain curious .  After this elimination round the remaining bloggers meet face-to-face with the judges (and in some cases even challenge them about their opinions!) in the semi-final and final rounds. The remaining bloggers are also aware that they can ask for copies of the original score sheets as a point system becomes the way from which the winner is determined after this round.

So …. even though this is not purely a cooking competition and the judges do take into consideration the way the recipes are written and the blogs are described, what kind of produce  is being used, the cost implications of the meal and last but not least, how the food is presented, with every episode being shot, the food cooked is  (literally) on everybody’s lips.

Episode 2 was no exception. Sue Green (Sous Chef) has worked with us before and kindly brought with some homemade treats with her all the way from KZN for the appreciative crew. Tami Magnin’s (Rumtumtiggs) juicy-crispy chicken was attacked with gusto and Sue’s cupcakes brought some welcome silence to the set as everybody was quietly going to a lemon-heaven on them. So we thought to share those two recipes with you.

To read Tami’s own blog description and get  all her recipes, click here. And if you want to see what Sue has to say about her blog and recipes, click here. Here you will also find some cooking videos we did with Sue when we all fell in love with her quirkiness and honest, down-to-earn way of dealing with life, food and blogging (probably in that order).

And all we have to say is: Thank you for the time together and we are sad to see you go, Tami but happy that you will be back in the semi-finals, Sue! Looking forward to having fun and some belly laughs again with you!

Tami’s Homemade KFC-style Baked Chicken

This is food-blogger Tami Magnin’s recipe exactly as she wrote and cooked it on episode 2 (20 October 2012). Click here to visit her pretty blog for more of her own budget-beating recipes.

• 7 cups Cornflakes cereal (crushed to 1 3/4 cups)
• 1 Nulaid egg
• 1 cup fat-free milk or buttermilk
• 1 cup Sasko Cake Flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp chicken grill spice
• 2 tsp mixed herbs
• 3 pounds chicken pieces, (without or with skin) rinsed and dried
• 3 Tbsp margarine or butter, melted

Place crushed CORN FLAKES cereal in shallow dish or pan and set aside.

In medium mixing bowl, beat egg and milk slightly. Add flour, chicken spice, mixed herbs, salt and pepper, and mix until smooth. Dip chicken in the batter and coat with cereal. Place in a shallow baking pan coated with cooking spray or foil lined and drizzle with margarine.

Bake at 210° C for about 1 hour or until chicken is tender, no longer pink and juices run clear. Do not cover pan or turn chicken while baking.

Serve with my BBQ Dipping Sauce and potato wedges.

Sue’s Lemon Cupcakes

This is food-blogger Sue Green’s recipe exactly as she wrote and cooked it on episode 2 (20 October 2012). Click here to visit her delightful blog for more budget beating recipes.

• 1½ cups (375 ml) Sasko Cake Flour
• 1 cup (250 ml) sugar
• 2 tsp (10 ml) baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 125 g softened butter
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup (125 ml) of milk
• 1½ Tbsp (22.5 ml) fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 175 ºC and grease a muffin tray, or use paper muffin cases.

Place all the ingredients in a bowl – yes, that’s right, all of them! Beat for 3 minutes on high. Spoon the mixture into the muffin tray or cases and bake for 25 minutes or until risen and golden brown.

For the icing you need ½ cup (125 ml) icing sugar and 1 Tbsp (15 ml) fresh lemon juice. Sift the icing sugar into and bowl and mix in the fresh lemon juice.

Now my icing skills leave a lot to be desired, so I just drizzle zig-zag lines over the cakes … works for me! If you want to ice them completely then you need to make more icing, or you can use a heavier butter or cream cheese icing, as you wish.

Makes 12 muffin-sized cupcakes.

Chef’s hint:  As soon as you’ve taken the cakes out of the oven, allow to cool by placing them onto cooling racks. If you leave them in the muffin tins to cool the paper cases tend to come away from the sides of the cake.

Above recipes published with permission from Sue and Tami .