Slices of Kiwi

Hello Everyone,

Its already been 15 days since we started fasting for the month of Ramadaan, I have been a bit neglectful of my blog for the past couple of weeks but things have been extremely hectic on my side. It seems time is really flying, very soon I will be preparing full swing for Eid. 

We usually have a selection of savouries during iftaar (which includes samoosas, pies, kebaabs etc) I decided to make something a little different last night, Nandos inspired burgers. They went down a treat served with some oven baked chips and a side salad. They were not exactly like the original but nevertheless tasted awesome! Give it a try:

SoK’s ‘Nandos’ Burgers

4 chicken fillets malleted

Make a paste with the following:

2 heap tbl mayo,

1 tsp dhana jeeroo,

1/2 tsp whole jeroo,

1 -1/2 tsp pounded green chillies,

1 tsp fresh garlic,

2 dessert spoons nandos garlic sauce,

1 dessert spoon nandos wild herb,

a spinkle or lemon pepper and

the juice of 1 lemon.

Smear the paste on the fillets and allow to marinate preferably overnight. 
Heat a non stick pan, drizzle sunflower oil allow the oil to ripple slightly and allow to cook on both sides

About 4 min on each side should do it.

Transfer to a tray and grill in a hot oven until the fillets are a delicous golden brown .

Butter portugese rolls. Layer with a piece of baby lettuce, some tomatoe, and cucumber slices. Top with the sizzling chicken fillet, a slice of cheese and a generous dollop of perinaise and a drop of tomatoe sauce. 

I assembled these a little early so before iftaar I popped them into the microwave for about 10 secs. 

*apologies for the poor pic quality- this pic was taken in a great rush

Here are some other Ramadaan Inspired Ideas:

Crumpets for sehri?

Or this BERRY SMOOTHIE (sans the cherry pits of course ? 

Hmmmmm, what about wholewheat pizzas as a starter for iftaar? 

And this cold weather calls for some spicy butter chicken for mains:

Followed by this TIRAMISU INSPIRED DESSERT: 

Hello everyone,

Today is the second day of the glorious month of Ramadan. Its been really amazing so far, below are some of the recipes I posted last year. If and when time admits I will try and blog some of my sehri and iftar meals. Hope everyone whose fasting has a fantastic, spiritual month. Send me some ideas on what you would like me to blog on during this month  

How about some strawberry and white chocolate muffins for Sehri?

Or a filling smoothie: 

How does chicken tramezzini sound for Iftaar? 

With a green dhania chutney dipping sauce: ?

These chicken tandoori skewers also make a lovely iftaar meal.

And finally dessert to end of: 

Hello Everybody,

There is less than a week left until the blessed month of Ramadhaan so I thought I would start this week on a sweet note. Next Monday will mark the first day of Ramadhaan, where Muslims around the world will be observing the fast from sunrise to sunset. I am looking forward to a month of spirituality and prayer after the excesses of the year its cathartic to have a month of spiritual and physical cleansing.

This recipe was conceived as a result of a slight kitchen mishap. I decided to bake an intense chocolate cake enrobed in a dark chocolate ganache for dessert. In my anticipation, I had prepared the ganache (made with Lindt nogal) while the cake was baking but when I removed the cake from the oven it was a bit of a disaster. The texture was very dry and the cake had not risen at all. I did not want to throw the cake away and still needed a dessert. Inspiration struck and this is what happened:

SoK’s Tiramisu Inspired Dessert:

1 medium chocolate cake (cut into about 1 inch slices)

2 cups strong black coffee

250ml fresh cream

1 tub plain cream cheese

1 tbl caster sugar

Dark Chocolate Ganache

Beat the fresh cream until stiff, fold in the sugar

Soften and beat the cream cheese and fold into the fresh cream.

Lightly dip the cake into the coffee and layer in a square dish

Top with half the cream mixture

Drizzle with the ganache

Layer again with the cake and end of with the remaining cream

Combine 1 tbl Milo and 1 tsp NoMu cocoa

Dust liberally over the dessert and refrigerate for about 1 hour

Notes:

I added only 1 tbl of sugar to the cream and cream cheese, because I didn’t want a very sweet dessert (also the cake was quite sweet). You may add less or more according to taste

For the Ganache:

1 slab Lindt 70%

½ slab Lindt 85%

¾ cup fresh cream

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler

Slowly stir in the cream

Refrigerate until set

Hello everybody,

I love blogging and sharing all my culinary adventures with my readers. There are times however when I get so caught up in new and exciting recipes like the salad paninis, pizzas and pastas I forget to go back to where it all began. Today I am going old school and sharing a lamb curry recipe.

This weather is perfect for delicious, spicy curries. Cooking it conjures up so many memories of learning to cook from my gran because every Indian home must have aloo gost* on the menu at least once a week Now, my version is not exactly old school tarkari* I have SoK’ed the version of my gran’s traditional lamb curry. This version has a thick gravy and a bit of a luxe factor in the form of saffron and the Greek yogurt. It takes a bit of time to prepare but goes relatively quick if all your preparations (slicing of onion, tomatoes etc) are done before hand.

The intense flavour and heat and rich colour makes this serious comfort food. Give it a try:

SoK’s Lamb Curry:

Preparation before hand:

500g leg mutton. (Cut, cleaned and set aside).

1 large onion (finely sliced)

2 large tomatoes grated

4 potatoes cut in half (or 2 potatoes cut into quarters if they really big). Fry on low heat until they are just about to change colour. Set aside.

Marinate the meat in the following:

½ cup thick Greek yogurt

1 large tbl red ginger garlic masala

1 tsp salt

1 tsp fine red chillies

½ tsp course chillies

½ tsp arad (turmeric powder)

1 tsp dhana jeeroo (cumin and coriander poweder)

1 pinch saffron

1 tbl tomato puree

1 tsp vinegar

The juice of one lemon

Allow the meat to marinate for an hour (or longer)

Method:

In a pot Add 1 large tbl of ghee, the onions, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 tsp whole jeeroo seeds.

Sauté the onion and spices on medium heat.

Allow the onions to get golden brown, add in the meat making sure all the marinade is scrapped into the pot

Add a little bit of water to ensure the meat doesn’t burn or stick to the bottom of the pot

Once the meat has cooked about half way through add the grated tomatoes and 2 whole green chillies, give it a stir and taste/adjust the seasoning.

Lower the heat and allow the curry to simmer gently for about half an hour, check regularly and add splashes of water if needed.

Add the fried potatoes and allow the curry to simmer for another 30min or until the potatoes are softened. Again at this step keep checking that the curry doesn’t catch or burn out by adding a little water at a time, this is not a watery curry so don’t overdo it.

Before serving sprinkle a pinch of garam masala and finely chopped green dhania (coriander).

Serve on a bed of steamed basmati rice and accompanied by salad (kachoomer)

Notes:

Pre -marination of the meat is not a very traditional way to cook curry but I feel it softens and flavours the meat nicely.

My measurements of the spices make quite a hot curry, you may use less or more according to preference.

I have only made this method (with great success) using mutton (or rather lamb I don’t think the meat we eat is mutton.

*gujarati terms for curry

Hello Everyone,

A weekend is not complete without an awesome breakfast and this weekend is extra special because my son and I are celebrating our birthdays.  Yay! I finally mastered the art of making omelettes and having a good quality non-stick pan makes this really easy. I chose to make a cheesy vegetarian filling but the versatality of this dish means you can fill it with anything that suits your tastes. This also makes a lovely light lunch. 

Have a great weekend all! 

For the Omelettes:

2 large eggs

1 tbl water

salt and pepper

Whisk eggs and water till frothy, season lightly

For the filling:

Saute mushrooms and peppers in garlic butter

Season with salt and fresh black pepper

Crumble in some feta

Heat a non-stick pan

Add 1tbl of olive oil, swirl around so the entire pan gets coated in the oil

Spoon the eggs mixture into the pan and swirl around

When the omelette starts bubbling around the edges spoon the vege mixture in

Top with some gouda

Fold the omelette and serve

Hello Everyone,

I was on a quest for a while to make perfectly battered fish. A few months ago we went on holiday to Cape Town and it was an amazing experience. The people, the scenery and oh my gosh the food! I totally understand why CT is foodie haven and why so many of the food24 bloggers hail from the Mother city. Our trip eventually led us to the famous Snookies for battered snoek and chips. A simple meal but so delicious. I don’t often cook fish at home, because I tend to over season and over cook the fish and it tastes nothing like fish we have when eating out. The first time I tried my hand at battered fish it was a bit of a disaster, the batter was too thin and I was left with a soggy mess.

A lot of the recipes I Googled used beer which for religious reasons I could not use; I originally replaced the beer with water which led to the above mentioned failure. On my second attempt I decided to replace the beer with soda water and voila success at last! I used this recipe from Ninas blog for inspiration with a few tweaks of my own:

Battered Fish and Chips:

2 hake fillets cut into serving pieces

*1 ½ cups cake flour

*1 tsp baking powder

*1tsp salt

*1tsp white pepper

*½ tsp turmeric

*1 egg

1 can soda water

Lightly season the fish with salt, pepper and fresh lemon juice

Mix all the ingredients marked * together

Squirt some lemon juice into the mixture and make a batter with the soda water

The batter should be thick enough to coat the fish without dripping of, if you feel the batter too thick add a few drops of water to thin out

Fry in very hot oil until crisp and golden

Keep warm in a low oven while you fry the rest of the fish

Serve with chips and mayo

For the Spicy Slap Chips

Combine 1 tsp salt, 1tsp chilli powder and a good splash of vinegar in a bowl

Toss the hot chips in this mixture and serve. 

Hello everyone,

There is nothing better then a warm comforting dessert on a winters afternoon with a steaming cup of hot coffee. I am in love with the combination of apples and cinnamon at the moment and after numerous trips to the bakery in Pick n Pay I decided to try my hand at apple crumble. For the pastry I used a- biscuit type dough that I use when making custard slices (I will post that recipe later). I also used fresh apples instead of the tinned variety. The result was gorgeous and so moreish. Perfect comfort food….

So whats your favourite winter dessert?

Apple Crumble

250g butter or margarine

½ cup granulated sugar

1tsp ground cinnamon

1tsp pure vanilla extract

3 eggs

+- 2 ½ cups cake flour

Beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Gradually add the eggs.

Add the cinnamon and vanilla.

Very slowly add the cake flour 1 cup at a time until you have a soft biscuit dough like consistency (the dough should be soft but also manageable enough to roll out).

Refrigerate the dough for about 30min

For the filling

6 large Granny Smith apples cored and sliced (immerse in cold water to prevent discolouration.)

100g butter

1 cup brown sugar

1tsp mixed spice

1tbl cinnamon

Saute the apples in the butter.

Add the sugar and spices and allow to cook until the apples are softened and the slightly caramelized.

To Assemble:

Divide the dough into 2

Roll out one half to fit a pie dish or a spring- form pan
Spoon the apple filling on the dough

Grate the other half of the dough onto the filling

Bake at 180 degrees until golden for about 30-40min

*Savour the delicious aromas in you kitchen

Serve warm slices of apple crumble with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream, custard or whipped cream. 

Hello everybody,

After my last rendezvous into the world of smoothies I was keen to try another flavour combination with winter seasonal fruits. Smoothies are also a fun way to get my little one to increase his consumption of fruits. I settled on the combination of pineapples and sweet honeydew melons, a bit unusual but so refreshing on the palate. My husband insisted on adding a scoop of ice cream to his serving, you may add some if you want to make your smoothie extra indulgent. You can also jazz this smoothie up a bit by adding coconut milk morphing it into pina colada smoothie to brighten up those dreary winter mornings

Melon and Pine Smoothies:

½ Honeydew melon peeled and sliced  

1 medium sized pineapple peeled, cored and cut into pieces

1 cup vanilla yougurt or vanilla ice cream or 1 cup coconut milk

1 orange

1 tsp ground almonds

Combine all ingredients in the jug of the smoothie maker. Squeeze the orange juice over an blend till smooth.

Serve and enjoy!

Pineapple Fruit Facts:

A pineapple can also be a fun way to enjoy your Vitamin C for the day. Just one cup of this nutritious fruit contains almost a complete day’s requirement of both Vitamin C and Manganese. These natural health energizers may help boost your immune system, soothe an irritable digestive tract, and fight off colds.

Pineapples also contain many enzymes that assist your digestion. Pineapple nutrition gurus point out that one of these enzymes, Bromelain, is valued for its anti-inflammatory ability. If you have sore joints you will be doing a good deed for your body by adding pineapple to your diet. This enzyme will work to reverse the inflammation that is bothering you.

Info from www.smoothie-handbook.com

Hello everyone,

One thing I have to have in my fridge is a jar of hummus. I love the taste, texture and versatility of this Mediterranean dip. Recently I have not been having the best of luck with the bought variety so decided to make my own hummus. It’s actually quite easy to do especially of you using tinned chickpeas and the best part is that you can experiment and come up with different flavours. I made a roasted garlic flavoured variation. So give it a try and let me know what your fridge staple is?

Roasted Garlic Hummus

1 head of roasted garlic

1 tin good quality chickpeas (drained and washed)

2-3tbl tanini paste

Salt and pepper

Fresh squeezed lemon juice

To roast the garlic slice off the top of a head of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, encase in aluminium foil and roast in a hot oven for 45min to an hour

Separate the cloves squeeze the pulpy bits out and combine with the chickpeas

Process until smooth.

Stir in the tahini paste (add more or less according to preference)

Season with salt, fresh black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice

Store in sterilised bottles and use as needed.

Notes:

Roast 4 or 5 heads of garlic. Squeeze the pulp, top with olive oil and store in the fridge.

It can be used on toast, with prawns, in marinades etc

Hummus can be used in 

Falafel

Tremmezinis

Hello everybody,

I hope all is warm and toasty in blogland. Apologies for the sabbatical but after the big move we were internetless and kept getting messed around by Telkom Hellkom. So it been almost 4 months of no blogging but I have been keeping busy in my kitchen and taking plenty of pics so I can share all my kitchen endevours with my dear readers.

While I was gone it seems winter has crept up on us and morning are such a brrr affair. Winter days call for comforting food and drink so the other day I decided to bake some Chelsea Buns. It was my first attempt and I simply adapted the usual yeast dough I use for pizza if you dont have the time simply buy the dough from your local supermarket. I declare this recipe a sucess on account of the wonderful scent of dough and cinnamon baking and off course the yum factor(esepcially at breakfast time). So go ahead give it a try

Chelsea Buns

For the dough:

3 cups cake flour

1 packet instant yeast

1 egg

1 dessertspoon caster sugar

½ tsp mixed spice

1 tsp salt

500 ml Warm milk

Mix the dry ingredients together

Add the beaten egg

Gradually add the milk until you have a soft dough

Knead well with well oiled hands

Allow the dough to rise until doubled in size

For the filling:

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cup mixed sultanas and raisins

100g softened butter

1 tbl cinnamon

lemon peel (optional)

For the sugar glaze

Mix 1 cup icing sugar with a few drops of water until your icing is spreadable.

Roll out the dough into a large rectangle

Mix together the softened butter and cinnamon

Brush with the softened butter

Sprinkle the sugar, raisins and sultanas evenly

I sprinkle a little extra cinnamon at this stage

Roll up like a swissroll

Place cut side up on a greased oven tray, place the buns about 1 cm apart from each other

Cover the tray with a tea cloth and allow the buns to raise until doubled in size (DONT SKIP THIS STEP)

Bake in a hot oven (set at 180 degrees) until golden brown (this should take about 20 min)

Allow to cool slightly before drizzling the glaze over

Enjoy