Cooking Demo Evening: Warm Leek and Zucchini salad with Sauce Vierge

It was my pleasure to host a cooking demonstration on this tuesday evening. The idea came about when a friend of mine asked if I had any “official” training and if I could point her in the direction of a course to take.

Unfortunately I could not help her there. All the food that I made has been as a result of simply diving in and getting my hands dirty in the kitchen. And finding that since I had been doing this for as long as I can could stand on a chair and reach the stove (it still boggles my mind that my somewhat astute and protective mother gave me free reign in the kitchen – she must have trusted me!) that I probably had accumulated a bit of experience. So the thought crossed my mind, that I should share this with others.

Since I was lucky enough to have an open-plan kitchen in my flat, with the stove in the counter I could demonstrate how to make some of the dishes that make a really delicious dinner, but which people are often too worried to make.

Then it came to me that what I would do is three dishes, as if we were having a dinner party.

I spoke a bit about how to put dishes and food together; I expounded my core notions that there should be balance in all dishes and across the courses. That there should be a combination of textures and tastes and that, most of all it should be made with love.

For the main meal I chose to demonstrate my tomato risotto, since risotto seems to hold an air of the formidable about it to those who have never tried it before. And indeed, it is a labour of love, but it is easy enough to do and to get the perfect texture when you have seen how! The recipe for the risotto is already up and you can find it here: http://gourmandays.blogspot.com/2010/03/tomato-risotto-finally-rrecipe.html

We ended with mishugina profiteroles, but that is a funny story for another post. 

To balance the meal, and since we have been experiencing the cooler weather that announces winter is on its way, I decided on a warm leak and zucchini (or baby marrow) salad with a sauce vierge as the starter. This salad is delicious with the leeks becoming sweet and the zucchini still crispy. The sauce vierge adds the spice, with capers for salt, finely chopped basil serving for a peppery flavour and a well ripened tomato for warmth and a finely chopped shallot to add a dash of zest. Serve over warm chiabbatta crostini and you have yourself a delicious starter.

It is also fairly easy to make and soon, with everyone having contributed to the slicing of the zucchini and a quick chat about wines and their flavours, we sat down with our warm salads accompanied by a glass of Sauvingnon blanc which adds a nicely fresh counterparts to the dish.

A lightly oaked chardonnay would work just as well though. Especially in the cooler climes as it adds something of a robustness.

Below is the recipe for the Leek and Zuccini salad

Use 1 leek per person

Use about 1.5 zucchini per person

1 slice of bread per person – thickly cut

Salt 

Black pepper

For the sauce vierge (enough dressing for four portions):

Half a largish shallot: finely cut or minced

1 ripe tomato – roughly cut into cubes

1 generous teaspoon capers

A handful of basil- finely chopped

¼ cup of your finest extra virgin olive oil

¼ lemon

Clean the leeks and cut them lengthways. Pop them in a heavy bottomed pan with a little bit of cooking olive oil. Allow them to sweat over a low heat until they look wilted and glossy. Remove. 

While the leeks are sweetly sweating, cut the zucchini lengthways about 5mm thick. Fry lightly in olive oil and add salt an pepper to taste.

In a seperate dish, put the tomato, shallot, capers and basil. Toss with a spoon. Add the olive oil and mix gently. 

Cut the ciabatta into cubes, and layer the leeks and zucchini on top, sharing them between the number of servings. 

Spoon over the sauce vierge. 

Because of the colour of the sauce vierge, this looks especially nice plated up on white plates.

A little Tuesday dinner at Bizerca Bistro

An odd name to choose for a restaurant, but the evening did turn out to be a little on the odd side, so I guess that that was fitting then.

I was delighted to be picked up for the evening even though my companion's driver was evidently off that night and because he stayed almost adjacent to the restaurant, was told that I was lucky to get a lift. None-the-less, I could live with this considering he was a fellow gourmand who had wooed me into giving him my number with rose water-flavoured promises of an eight course tasting menu at Cellars-Hohenort's Greenhouse.


There was a big walk going on in Cape Town central that held up the traffic and which seemed to complicate parking arrangements. These were eventually reached after circumventing the venue, via Heerengracht Traffic circle... and then through the Adderly street circle because we couldn't get around the first, driving through a police barrier (kindly moved aside by a bergie) and then reversing 100 m down Hans Strijdom Avenue (happily not busy because I assume that the barrier that we had driven through, had now been replaced by an official. I fear that this was something of an oddity for my companion, who is a Joburger and who assumes that one always parks at a venue and not near it.

But, the bistro was just down the road and my heels, high but sensible (as a seasoned Capetionian, I am accustomed to find the first available parking within 500m and then walking to my destination)  were up for the little stroll down to Tilbugh square, where we found ourselves at Bizerca.

The  restaurant is elegant and we were lavishly welcomed by the host in French as we were swept inside and taken to our table.

Starters and mains were chalked on blackboards but we were given the seasonal menu as well. The asparagus with prawns and hollandaise sauce immediately caught my attention. I was in for a treat I thought smugly.

The wine selection is excellent, though don't expect a sauvignon blanc or a wooded chardonnay by the glass.

None the less, the waiter waxed lyrical about the hollandiase sauce pairing with the viognier, which was slightly more on the melted butter side and less on the sauce side and not all together that tasty. And then there were little cubes of tart tomato which I snobbishly ignored and left on my plate. The viognier which the waiter recommended was excellent and a beautiful honey colour, but not with the starter where it became overly acidic. The unwooded chardonnay, whcih was more acidic at first might have mellowed out and proved better at pulling the dish through, especially with the tomato. (Which might have been nice if they were boiled in cream. I can't really comment on the prawns in the dish since they were hardly there.

My companion's veal tongue looked very interesting, but I wasn't sure if it was beyond the boundries of politesse to ask for a taste. He was definitely enjoying it so I didn't want to interrupt.

The courses were well paced and there was a great deal of chit-chat and laughing, as we talked of travel and art and, well, food like old friends.

The main course however was superb! The beef bourguignon was delicious and the malbec which we had with it complemented it superbly! The beef was tender and the little mushrooms, onions, carrots and potatoes that attended the beef were all cooked to perfection. I have to say that I could not leave any of it behind. I did briefly consider mopping up the sauce with a bit of bread but then my companion did that for me.

And how could I deny him the pleasure of tasting that delicious sauce?

Dessert was a surprise as the berry panacotta trifle came in a martini glass. Quite pleasantly it came with an aside of berry sorbet that had a shot of vodka at the bottom of the glass.

Refreshing. I always like a bit of a digestif – in fact I had been craving a vodka martini the whole evening because I had just signed a contract and as everybody knows, a vodka martini is the only way to celebrate. But I fear that the vodka perhaps did me in. Oh who am I kidding? When I mix white and red wine, even with food, I'm a cheap date and I was having a very entertaining time.

That said, the espresso was excellent. Though it does mean that I am still up at 1am writing this post.

Mr Vidulich, you will be pleased to know that after all, that you were indeed right in your estimation and that I would still give the place a 6 out of 10.

 A little harsh, I know, but mostly becuase of the aircon that was suddenly set to artic blast at around 10:30. And that we were constantly asked which dish we had ordered. So service could do with a bit of a dusting up.

No lingering there then, unless you went to go and peruse the cellar, which was slightly warmer than the 14 degrees it should have been but a more comfortable temperature than the restaurant itself, like that of a sunning room in fact, in comparison to the rest of the restaurant. I could have happily sat down and opened one of the expensive bottles of wine (a bottle of boujoulais and the Russell-Hamilton pinot noir caught my eye) and enjoyed it in there. Indeed both the location and temperature were conducive to being a little on the mischievous side - except the walls were glass and the wine would have cost a fortune if we had been caught at it!