by Sarah Graham
May 14, 2012 in Lazy Weekend Food, One Pot Meals, Soups, Vegetarian
When a meal is as exquisite in its simplicity as this, I see no need for convoluted introductions. It’s glorious roast tomato soup at it’s proudest, and I wish you bon appetit. Read the rest of this entry →
by Sarah Graham
May 7, 2012 in Lazy Weekend Food, Speedy Suppers, Vegetarian
Mushrooms on toast. For Sunday lunch. Even I think that sounds rather underwhelming. I’m a big roast something with all the trimmings kind of girl on the weekend. But not in this case. No, this was love at first bite and honest to goodness-ly delicious. The charming little poshrooms (as Rob likes to call them) on their bed of herbed ricotta and perched atop golden ciabatta made a very handsome lunch. And could just as easily be fed to friends as a before-dinner snack. Read the rest of this entry →
by Sarah Graham
April 25, 2012 in Salads, Speedy Suppers
We spent part of our honeymoon in Paris, almost entirely for the duck. We found one restaurant, Scossa (see, I still remember over 5 years later) who made such incredible duck that we went back and ordered it three times in one week. So you see, I like my duck. 
It’s not often that we find it in the average South African supermarket, so I was quacking happy to see some up for grabs the other day (I know). And this was not just any duck, but ‘happy, free-range duck. Double yay. Read the rest of this entry →
by Sarah Graham
April 23, 2012 in Fish and Seafood, One Pot Meals, Speedy Suppers
I’ve not posted for almost two weeks because we were having a very pleasant interlude at the Seaside. At the seaside. Such a simple phrase and yet one that for some reason conjures up all manner of delightful images of old English-style fish and chips and ‘bathing suits’ and piping hot sweet tea and cardigan-ness, oh and scones of course. And that makes you want to use words like higgledy-piggledy and lovely and such. Lovely is one of my very favourite adjectives. It’s charming and sweet and so wonderfully British.
Well anyway, thank goodness that, in this case, the Britishness ends right there and we were taking our seaside holiday at our good old South African seaside – where Sophie could bask merrily in her very sunny, seaside-y paradise with her cute cousins and her bucket and spade.
And speaking of fish and chips, and my seemingly endless quest to discover new and interesting ways to cook with fish, spurred on my Robert’s frequent nose-upturning at most home-cooked options, I thought I’d go for a twist on another old favoruite with this Chowder-Style Fish Pie. He gave it an 8/10. Capital.
Preparation time 10 minutes | Cooking time 20 minutes
Serves 4
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
4 cups diced and peeled sweet potatoes
2 Tb olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups chopped leeks
1 tsp dried thyme and 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup stock (chicken, fish or vegetable)
1 Tb lemon juice
4 hake fillets (or fish of your choice, salmon, haddock or kingklip would also work well)
1/2 tin whole kernel sweetcorn, drained
Salt and Pepper to taste
WHAT TO DO
1. Cook the sweet potatoes in a large pot of salted boiling water.
2. In a large pan, heat the olive oil and fry the onion for 2-3 minutes until translucent. Add the leeks, thyme and garlic and fry for a further 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the stock, lemon juice and fish and simmer for about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat, ‘flake’ the fish with a fork, pour the mixture into an ovenproof dish, stir through the sweetcorn, and check for seasoning.
4. Mash your potatoes, adding a little butter and cheese if you like, and spoon over the fish mixture. Just before you are ready to eat, place the fish pie into the oven and grill for 3-5 minutes until the potato topping is golden brown.
4. Serve with minted peas: Stir 1TB chopped fresh mint through 1 Cup cooked and drained peas, add a drizzle of lemon juice and a dollop of mascarpone or creme fraiche.
by Sarah Graham
April 11, 2012 in Baked & Beautiful, Desserts
Bizarrely (for some), I am not the biggest Easter egg fan, perhaps because of my general indifference towards chocolate. So that was never the exciting part of Easter weekend for me. It was more about the reason for the season, the roast lamb, and whatever came next. Put chocolate in the form of a tart though, and we find ourselves having a whole different conversation. And so it was that after our stuffed roast leg of lamb and creamy pea and mint risotto on Sunday – along with Robert’s not to be forgotten slow-roasted rosemary potatoes, this (gorgeously autumnal) little tart is what we enjoyed with a scoop of home made honey and toasted pecan nut ice cream (recipe to follow soon).
As renowned French chef Raymond Blanc so eloquently puts it, great food is about ‘Love, butter and good ingredients’ and I like to think of this as just that, all rolled into one. Read the rest of this entry →
by Sarah Graham
April 3, 2012 in Chicken, Food from Far Away, One Pot Meals, Soups, Speedy Suppers
Winter she’s a-coming, I can smell it, I can hear it, and I can feel it. The air has that little chilly edge to it, the trees are gracefully dropping their leaves, the light has a different quality about it. And besides the poetry of it all, it means soup weather, cosiness, fluffy socks, boots and more steaming mugs of tea than usual. And a whole lot more than that. I for one am not going to be found complaining
And speaking of soups, I thought this was a good place to kick off when it comes to fighting the chill. There is a plethora of quick and easy Thai chicken and noodle soup recipes out there. This is my version, delivering as much bang for your buck, prettiness and punch as it can muster in just 10 minutes (cooking time). Read the rest of this entry →
by Sarah Graham
March 28, 2012 in Baked & Beautiful, Desserts, Lazy Weekend Food
Hello fair friends. It’s been a while. I hope you’ve been happily munching away on yummy bits and bobs like Smoked Salmon Tapas or Speedy Asian Beef Salad in my absence? I’ve been busy foraging for fresh fruit and veg, and having a Tarting old time. There’s something very special about cooking or baking with seasonal ingredients. In days gone by this was just the norm, now it seems to be very much a luxury. One that I try to indulge as often as time and money will allow. Read the rest of this entry →
by Sarah Graham
March 21, 2012 in Fish and Seafood, Lazy Weekend Food, Speedy Suppers, Uncategorized
This left us smiling all over our faces last weekend. I mean, it’s not revolutionary, but it very obviously has all the ingredients for blow-you-away if you think about smoked salmon, creamy horse-radish, avocado, home made pesto and toasty pittas. And somehow it just tasted THAT much more amazing because it was enjoyed against the backdrop of a sunny Saturday (did you know that Joburg comes close to the top of the list of most sunshine days in the world?) and that tapas-style eating-with-your-hands story just can’t be beaten somehow. Happy making food at its best. Read the rest of this entry →
by Sarah Graham
March 16, 2012 in Desserts, Lazy Weekend Food, Speedy Suppers, Vegetarian
Fruit poached in wine and spices is just that, and yet it’s so much more. It always tastes like some kind of miracle the way the juices of the fruit ooze out so willingly and complement the sugared syrup of the wine and piquancy of the spices. It’s poetry to me. It’s also one of my favorite default desserts – you can poach figs, berries, pears, apples – the list is almost endless, and it’s the epitome of low maintenance. In this case it’s nectarines that take centre stage for an enchanting little post-dinner treat. Read the rest of this entry →
by Sarah Graham
March 11, 2012 in Baked & Beautiful, Lazy Weekend Food, Vegetarian
If your idea of kitchen gold dust is the coveted combination of simple, quick and easy, with minimum washing up, then this is that. So simple in fact, that my sister-in-law Justy who visited from Zimbabwe recently, knows the recipe off by heart. So when we were lazing about on Sunday, and she suggested we give it a bash, my heart was immediately singing when I heard that it only has 4 main ingredients. Who doesn’t want to spend Sunday evening in a happy haze of bread-baking smells? Read the rest of this entry →
