You are browsing the archive for Sous Chef.




Avatar of Sous Chef

by Sous Chef

In My Mother’s Kitchen – September

18 September 2012 in In My Kitchen, Sous Chef, Sous Chef South Africa

22 Comments »

Tags: , , , ,

Well here I am in England, the weather is holding, sort of, the sun has shone but the wind has been very cold. I thought it would be fun to do an IMK entry from my mother’s kitchen.

In my mother’s kitchen is….

Now I’m a Bovril girl, on Facebook we have ongoing debates about the merits of both these institutions, I even saw in the supermarket that they have limited edition Gold Marmite and extra strong flavour versions. I would have bought me a limited edition had there been one by Bovril…Oi Bovril catch a wake up!

In my mother’s kitchen are…

Herbs,  British salad cress (one of my favourite things) and what is called living lettuce, you snip off the leaves and add to your more basic lettuce to pretty up your salad.

In my mother’s kitchen is….

I actually did a double-take when I opened the fridge door, who buys this stuff?….well, clearly my mother! After I’d sung a snatch of Monty Python’s Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam…Wonderful Spam song! I hurriedly closed the door and hoped I wouldn’t have to eat it. No such luck, it was served for lunch with salad the next day, I very gingerly tried a piece and it wasn’t bad…smeared with some Branston pickle! You can take the pom out of England…..

In my mother’s kitchen is…

This lovely old brass ships clock that my father poudly stole liberated from somewhere, it keeps very good time.

In my mother’s kitchen is…

My parents live in a rural environment and there are many immigrants from Poland who work the fields, hence the local supermarkets stock quite a lot of products from their country. No idea what mum is going to do with this shredded celeriac and she’s got 2 jars? Any suggestions are welcomed, just don’t tell me it goes well with Spam! :)

In my mother’s kitchen are….

Pears, lots of em, the tree in their garden is loaded and the branches are simply sagging with the abundance.

In my mother’s kitchen are…

These gorgeous olives, which I buy from Lidl every time I visit, 65p a jar is an absolute bargain, wish I could find them in South Africa. I’m on my second jar already!

In my mother’s kitchen is….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mum!

Now the final pic is nothing to do with my mother’s kitchen but we visited a little market at the weekend and I was very amused by the sign on the Norfolk Royals……..don’t mess with those spuds!

To view other blogger’s happening in their kitchens go to Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial who started this fun initiative.

 

Avatar of Sous Chef

by Sous Chef

In My Kitchen – August

8 August 2012 in In My Kitchen, Sous Chef

20 Comments »

Tags: , , , ,

In my kitchen….

…is this jar of hundred & thousands, now I know you are all thinking what a strange women, why would anyone have such a huge jar? My daughter used to go out with a pig farmer and a biscuit factory gives their broken biscuits to local farmers. Sometimes the biscuits were almost perfect, they often didn’t make it to the poor little piggies and sometimes there were unexpected goodies like a sack of hundreds and thousands! Sow there, now you know !

In my kitchen….

…is fellow blogger Jane-Anne Hobbs new book Scrumptious which I was very fortunate to win through the Sunday Times. It’s a lovely book, full of scrummy recipes and fabulous photographs to drool over. Jane-Anne styled all the food herself, read about it here on her blog Scrumptious.

Now I was pouring over it yesterday when one picture caught my eye, there was something very familiar about it.

When I was in England visiting my parents last year I saw a couple of old forks and thought they would be nice for styling, mum said I could have them and mentioned that they were from a set that she was given when we lived in Norway back in the fifties. It transpires that Jane-Anne’s Norwegian grandmother used to give her children pieces of silver cutlery for each birthday and Christmas, and that spoon in the pic is her mom’s. What a coincidence, there is no doubt in my mind….. that book was destined to end up in my grubby paws!

In my kitchen…

…are two gifts I received when I was in Cape Town for the Food Bloggers Indaba recently, one is from our favourite Italian mama Jan Tripeppi, I love the little utensils hanging from the ribbon, such attention to detail.

The other is from another blogging pal Usha Singh, she went to the trouble to make 130 packets of spices to go into the goodie bags at the Indaba, how thoughtful is that?

Finally in my kitchen…

…were these cake pops that I attempted at a workshop at Just Boutique last week, it was a fun evening out, but I think I shall stick to sprinkling hundred and thousands over cupcakes! :)

So what’s in your kitchen? to see what other food bloggers around the world are up to, go to Celia’s blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.

Avatar of Sous Chef

by Sous Chef

Economical Pickled Pork, so easy!

7 May 2012 in Cheap and cheerful, Easy to prepare, Sous Chef

26 Comments »

Tags: , , , ,

 

My goodness it’s been all go in our house for the last two weeks, what with the hen’s party and the wonderful wedding on Saturday it’s no wonder that the whole family flaked out after lunch yesterday. Everyone loves a wedding right? so here’s a peek……

The beautiful bride and her father

Himself with our daughter Gilly

Anyway, back to food. I have never cooked pickled pork before, I noticed it was on special at R29.99 a kilo and I asked the butcher how you cook it. “You boil it” he said shortly and walked away….okey dokey then!  Food Lover’s Market might like to remind their staff that the customers pay their salaries. Anyhoo, despite his attitude, I bought one and immediately referred to Lynn Bedford Hall and her book Food with Flair for guidance.

I joint of pickled pork, in this case a shank that was just over 1.2 kgs

1/2 onion sliced

1/2 carrot sliced

1 stalk of celery chopped

2 or 3 bay leaves

1/2 tsp black peppercorns

2 or 3 bay leaves

You can add some parsley if you like

Before you do anything you have to soak the meat overnight in water in a cool place.

Soak the joint overnight in a cool place

The next morning, drain the water off.

Place the joint in a pan and cover with water and all the remaining ingredients.

The joint about to be cooked

Bring to the boil and then turn down to a simmer and let it cook for an hour and 30 minutes.

The glaze

2 TBSP apricot jam

2 TBSP brown sugar

1 TBSP thick soy sauce

Combine all the above ingredients in a small saucepan and heat gently, stirring until it all dissolves.

Leave the meat to cool, remove skin and baste with the glaze and pop into the oven or under the grill to brown, keep an eye on it and baste every couple of minutes until you achieve a nice colour.

Similar to gammon, this meat is good with salads and baked potatoes.

Pickled Pork Shank

The piece I cooked served 4.

 

Avatar of Sous Chef

by Sous Chef

Mozambican Prawns with Fried Rice

22 April 2012 in Chinese, Easy to prepare, Sous Chef, Sous Chef South Africa

22 Comments »

Tags: , , , ,

We don’t eat out very often, Himself maintains restaurant food upsets his stomach, I think it’s more the prices that upset him myself, that and the fact that he struggles to part with his dosh! *rolls eyes*

So I feel nothing about treating ourselves like we did today, to our credit we did invite our daughter Gilly to join us for lunch.

I was in Spar the other day and noticed this sauce/marinade that I hadn’t seen before and knowing I had some crustaceans languishing  in the freezer I decided to try it. I am so glad, because it was just the right amount of spice, it enhanced the flavour of the prawns without overpowering them. A lovely lunch washed down with a bottle of Sunday Sparkles on a sunny afternoon :)

The Prawns

1 kg headless cut and deveined prawns

1/2 bottle of Ruy’s Prawn and Crayfish Marinade

Butterfly the prawns and place flesh side down in the marinade and leave for a few hours.

Heat a thick based frying pan or use your  skottel, just get it to a really hot temperature. DO NOT ADD ANY OIL.

Add the prawns (straight from the marinade)  in a clockwise position so you know which to turn first, don’t try to cook all the prawns at once, do them in batches.  Make sure you have a warmed dish to put them into.

It does depend on size but I cooked these for a minute on each side.

Fried Rice

2 eggs beaten

2 cups cold cooked rice

1/2 onion thinly sliced

3 cups of various vegetables, I used red pepper, mushrooms, sliced green sprouts, carrots, cooked frozen peas and corn.

Chinese seasoning

2 TBS soy sauce

2 or 3 spring onion chopped

Oil

Fry the beaten eggs in a pan (like an omelette) and set aside, when cool cut into little squares.

Next stir fry the veggies that take the longest to cook, like the onions and pepper for a minute then add the remainder and the Chinese spice. don’t overcook them, another minute should be fine.

Add the rice and the egg and heat through, finally add the soy sauce.

Disclaimer: I have not been remunerated in any form by the manufacturers of Ruy’s Marinade, I simply saw it and bought it.

 

 

Avatar of Sous Chef

by Sous Chef

Bun & Butter Pudding

9 April 2012 in Desserts, Easy to prepare, Sous Chef

32 Comments »

Tags: , , , ,

So there went Easter, Friday we enjoyed a nice long lunch at a friends house, Saturday we just pottered around and on Sunday our children and our dudes (grandsons) came for lunch. I kept the lunch simple as both my son and daughter-in-law are on Weigh Less, so it was spit roasted chickens, salad and crispy roast potatoes….I know, I should have boiled some new potatoes but heck, I’m not on a diet! :)

I made this easy and delicious hot cross bun and butter pudding for pud  served with my homemade vanilla ice cream, listen,  the dieters could have said “no thanks” you know!   If you have some hot cross buns lingering then this recipe is perfect for using them up, otherwise you could use regular current buns or Chelsea buns. The result is an unpretentious pud with a lovely soft underbelly and a crispy top, such a nice combination.

I don’t know about you but I’ve a penchant for buns…… both edible and watchable!

Bun & Butter Pudding

8 hot cross buns

butter ( I forgot to measure how much I used….I was generous)

1 TBS raisins

1 TBS sultanas

1/2 tsp mixed spice

1 2cm knob of preserved ginger chopped

1/2 cup toasted nuts

425ml milk

50ml cream (optional)

3 large eggs

1 TSP sugar plus an extra 1 TSP

1 tsp vanilla essence

Heat your oven to 180 degrees.

Grease or spray your container, mine measures 300 x 240mms.

Cut the buns in half and butter each half, then cut each half diagonally across so you get triangles.

Layer in your dish, sprinkle over the all spice, raisins, sultanas, nuts and ginger.

In a good sized bowl beat the eggs and the sugar until pale and fluffy, like this…

In a thick bottomed pan heat the milk and cream to almost boiling.

Pour the warmed milk into the egg mix and beat to combine.

Pour the mix over the buns and sprinkle with the remaining TSP of sugar.

Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes.

Serve warm with ice cream or cream, serves 8.

 

 

 

I

Switch to our mobile site