Easter Pavlova

Easter came as a wonderful time for culinary indulgences. After mass, we started off the morning with a traditional Dutch dish called an uitsmuiter. This is basically an egg on top of a good piece of ham, like gypsy ham on top of a white roll. On the side you have cut up tomato and pickles like picked gherkins, piccalilli, and pickled onions all with a good seasoning of salt and white pepper.

Then I had lunch with friends, which was a delightful spread of greens, a roast chicken and a roast lamb!

But dessert was my department and I made sure not to disappoint. I made, most appropriately because of all the eggs it uses, I thought, a Pavlova. I’d never been very good with meringues, but, as it turns out, the trick is to let them dry out in the oven. Getting the ratio of sugar to egg-whites is also pretty important. Too much sugar and you’re sure to end up with a chewy mess! Baking is always a little more of a science than cooking. Sure you can do it to feel, but then you’d better make sure that you feel more towards accurate measurements rather than not!

Lastly, it also helps to have a clean stainless steel bowl since this will make sure that the egg-whites stiffen.

Anyway, the recipe that I used was great and I’ll repeat it here now. Be warned though, this takes time. Four hours all together!



What you need is:
8 egg-whites
440 g of caster sugar
2 cups whipping cream
Fruit of your choice. Berries work well or any other combination of tropical fruit, I used mango, litchis, banana and granadilla pulp. I wouldn’t have minded a bit of papaya in there too! Cut these up into fruit-salad sized pieces and I let them wallow in 3 tablespoons of white dessert wine.

Heat the oven to 140 degrees Celsius. Make sure that the rack is in the middle of the oven.

With your egg-whites in the stainless steel bowl, froth the eggs with the hand-beater on low. Once the whites are frothy, put the mixer on high speed and beat until the egg-whites form stiff peaks.

Now start adding the sugar, a little at a time, all the while beating the egg-whites with the beater on a high speed, making sure that the sugar dissolves each time. Eventually the mixture will get very stiff.

On a baking tray that is covered with wax wrap (the non-stick side up) and bake for 1 hour. Then turn the oven off and leave the meringue in the oven for another 3 hours to dry out.

Whip up the cream and spread over the top of the meringue just before you’re about to serve. Top with the fruit or fruit salad and then with the granadilla pulp.





 I served mine with a Môreson Brut sparkling wine. The dry taste complimented the granadilla and tropical fruits and balanced off the sweetness of the meringue beautifully. And well, the bubbles just complimented the lashings of cream and the general fun sense of extravagance and indulgence that eating such a decadent dessert brings!

Tomato Risotto - Finally, The Recipe

After much raving about the tomato risotto, and many promises about bringing you the recipe soon, here it is.

30 g butter
1 small onion, finely sliced
1 large garlic clove
Salt
Black pepper
1 ½ cups of Arborio rice
¾ cup white wine
+/- 750 ml home-made chicken stock.
250 g baby tomatoes
A drizzle of olive oil
A can of chopped plum tomatoes
½ cup cream
Medium bunch of basil leaves

Cut up the baby tomatoes into quarters and liberally season with salt and black pepper. Drizzle over the olive oil and roast under the grill till the tomatoes are caramelised and a little charred on the edges.

Melt the butter in a heavy –based pan. On a medium heat,  add the onion, salt  and pepper and the garlic. Gently sauté, allowing the garlic to flavour the oil and the onion to turn sweet and translucent.  Add the rice and stir, allowing it to be covered with the butter. I like to turn up the heat a bit here and then throw the wine over. Stir until it evapourates.
A soup ladle or two at a time, add the stock. (I will save my rantings about the taste-value that comes from making stock yourself rather than using the cubes diluted in water- I’ll do a post on how to make chicken or vegetable stock)
Stir until each addition of stock has been absorbed.  Repeat until the rice is al dente.  Allow the moisture to evapourate a little and then add the can of chopped tomatoes.  Then toss through the baby tomatoes.
Stir through the cream and then tear the up the bunch of basil leaves and stir them through too.

Serve with a green side salad with a light vinaigrette.  Also lovely with some pancetta or black forest ham on the side.  Otherwise it makes a lovely vegetarian meal.
I had mine with the Lourensford Shiraz rosé which complimented the tomato flavours very well.

Tomato Risotto - The food that should be reserved for lovers!

This weekend saw me making one of my favourite Italian dishes, the Risotto. Hmm, how do I describe the risotto? It is one of those dishes that when you taste it, it is heaven in your mouth and so completely satisfying and infused with such delectable flavour that it makes you immediately well disposed to all those around you. It is a moment to savour, it is a moment you could fall in love! No wonder the Italians are such a passionate people!

Being  at my happiest when I’m cooking for others  I have often wanted to implement a tactical turn to my dinner parties. That is that each person that I invite must also invite someone that I don’t know. Preferably with the view of meeting ‘the one’.  Yes, I could be cooking and sharing with someone I don’t turn out to like, but on the other hand I could be cooking for someone I do, and what’s more, I’d be in my element as the gracious host and elegant chef. Ok, sometimes I’m not gracious nor elegant (throwing out, along with a teeny tiny temper tantrum, lumpy cheese sauce for a fondu, because it wasn’t perfect, springs to mind. A friend insisted on saving the sauce and it actually wasn’t all that bad in the end! ) Either way it guarantees an evening of entertainment!

 One of my regular flavours is a mushroom risotto. I’d heard horror stories about risotto, hours of stirring and well nothing but a(nother) lumpy mass resulting. But this is a dish which, luckily I have perfected and therefore like to indulge my guests, and...well none of them have been gracious enough to bring a nice looking man, as yet unknown to me, to dinner.

But back to the mushroom risotto- a delicious dish that is diffused with delicate morels.  But if you are pedantic about having the diverse woody and nutty tastes that various mushroom types can bring to the dish, then being out-of-pocket is not one of the times that you can make this dish in its entirety. Also, I like to use a fairly good oak barrel –rested chardonnay. While it need not be a wildly expensive one, which would just be sacrilege to throw into the pot, rather than enjoy direct from the glass, a goodish one is still important since the flavours of the wine ultimately add to the flavour of the dish.

It was Saturday evening and not having had anything particular planned, but longing for a bit of company, I decided to invite some friends around for dinner.  But what to make?

It being Autumn, that awkward, but also very exciting time of year when the days are hot, but the evenings cool, I decided on something for dinner that would pay homage to the two seasons that it lies between and settled on a tomato risotto. This Risotto I also make with a less heavy wine, one that has a little more zest to it and is a little more refreshing with a slight summer sweetness (tropical fruit) to it. This along with the tomato and a light side salad of a variety of lettuce greens, tossed lightly in raspberry vinegar and olive oil (don’t forget a pinch of salt and black pepper), is testament to the summer. The cream, which I’m sure the Italians would feel is a culinary profanity in the summer, and also because a risotto has a naturally creamy texture, is a taste and preparation of the winter to come.  You can also serve this with a few slices of prosciutto (or black forest ham) on the side to complete the dish.

Valentine's Day Cupcakes

You don't need to be romantically involved to enjoy these. You don't even need to have Valentine's day as an excuse to make them. I love baking over the weekends because I have more time to play around with decorating. It's like having your own edible canvass to work on. This Sunday just happens to be Valentines Day and there is nothing nicer than having a sweet treat to present to your sweetheart. But like I said, if you're not attached this is no reason that your romantic sensibilities shouldn't take over when you decorate these, and I can tell you that I feel similar heart-racing, giddy and indulgent sensations to being in love everytime I bite into one of these little cupids.

I have chosen royal icing, which is traditionally used on gingerbread or Christmas biscuits, because it has a decadent texture and richness. It also comes out glamorously glossy and makes the cupcakes look especially exciting!

Makes a dozen cupcakes

175g butter
1 cup castor sugar
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla essence
2 cups self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder

Royal Icing
1 egg white
+/- 1 cup icing sugar

To make the cupcakes simply smooth the butter and the sugar together. When smooth and soft beat in the eggs. Add the vanilla essence. Fold in one cup of sifted flour and at a time. Mix together whipping in plenty of air. Heat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Fill the cupcake holders in a cupcake tray and bake for approximately 20 minutes, turning the tray round half way through baking so that each of the cupcakes rise equally.

Allow to cool.

To make the icing place the egg white in a bowl and slowly mix in the icing sugar (make sure that it is separated and smooth) until the icing gets thick. Colour with food colouring of your choice- red or pink for Valentine's fun. Ice the cakes and decorate with by piping on your decoration or pattern.

These make a delightful desert for picnic lunches and are easy to pack. Or simply make a cup of tea and indulge alone or with the one you love on the couch!

Weekend Treats: Baby tomato, basil and mozzarella tartlets

The Spanish, in fact many, mediterranean countries will not let you have a drink without a little something      on the side to absorb the alcohol-                    How civilised!  
And in that country (Spain) where the sun goes down after ten in summer and where dinner doesn't officially happen before 9pm, "a little something" is all to well appreciated at the beginning of the evening. But having to make a tapas (as evening snacks are called in Spain or pintxos in Basque Country - pronounced 'pinchos'), should not take a great deal of time. After all, who wants to be slaving away when what you should really be doing is indulging in a cold cerveza (a beer - usually a draft-  in Spanish, which come standard at 250ml) or a glass of white wine and the balmy evening.


These little tomato, basil and mozzarella tartlets take just minutes to prepare and are full of punchy flavour!
Here's what you'll need:
Makes 20



One packet of puff pastry
Olive oil
20 mini Italian tomatoes
20 basil leaves
50 grams (about) grated mozzarella cheese


Roll out the puff pastry so that it is about a quarter bigger in size. Then cut into squares (four strips down and five across). Brush each square with olive oil. Place a basil leaf on each, top with a good pinch of mozzarella cheese (grate more if you run out) and then a mini tomato cut into halves. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place on a greased baking tray and cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown at 180 degrees celsius.

Serve with drinks!  

Mid-week Baking

I always find that by Wednesday or Thursday, the weekend looks dauntingly far away. The notion of having time to yourself or for having any kind of indulgence seems impossible. How often don't we start the week with a new resolution that we will "be good" exercise and lay off the sweets and cakes until the weekend. Not a bad resolution; but only in theory. By mid-week "Arg! it's only Wednesday!" takes on a panic all of it's own. So here is a solution, take some time out to do a bit of mid-week baking. I love baking, not only because of the goddies that it produces, but because it can be a quiet, cathartic and creative moment in the mists of a busy week.

And if you suffer horribly from guilt for breaking your "diet" mid-week, don't.
These banana, raisin and peacan muffins contain no butter, are fruity and have low-gi oats and have no sugar in them. They also only take a few minutes to make... a few precious minutes to yourself after work or in the evening.  What I also like about these is that they also make a great breakfast muffin. So have it on a Thursday or Friday morning with your morning coffee and it will lift your spirits with promises of the weekend to come.


For the muffins you'll need:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup pecan nuts, chopped
1/4 cup raisons

2 eggs
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup oil
1 cup yoghurt


Sift the flour and add all the dry ingredients together. Wisk the eggs, honey and oil together in a separate bowl. Create a well in the dry ingredients and add the egg mixture. Mix together. Add the yoghurt and mix again.  Spoon the mixture into cupcake holders in a cupcake tin.
Sprinkle some oats on the top.


Bake for 25 minutes on 180 degrees celsius.

Enjoy!

Glorious Butternut

About five or six years ago, I remember being at a friend's house and watching the BBC food channel on DSTV. I cannot tell you exactly which program it was, but I will never forget this: The presenter said that she had come across a vegetable, quite unknown to her and quite wonderful to her.  And so she introduced the butternut.


Indeed I couldn't help but laugh- for us in South Africa, the butternut was a staple veg from when we were children. But she was right about one thing, though, and that is that the humble butternut is wonderful. It is a fantastically diverse vegetable and from its bright orange colour, rich in beta carotene. Butternut is also slightly starchy and can be roasted, boiled, made into soups, is wonderful in stews and curries and on top of all that marries well with traditional Italian flavours (basil, garlic and tomato) so that it becomes a great filling for pasta and an even nicer sauce. Sage is another herb that compliments butternut. Try it roasted with olive oil and rosemary to accompany any roast: lamb, beef or chicken. Another fantastic way to cook butternut is to cut it in half, remove the seeds and fill it with feta or any crumbly cheese (try ricotta with rosemary and generous sprinklings of salt and black pepper and a couple of lashings of olive oil) wrap each half in foil and place skin-side next to the coals. Because the butternut is not whole and heat escapes through the side that has no skin, this can take quite a while so don't wait till the coals are too cold, but bear in mind to make sure that it doesn't burn either. Howerver, if the skin gets blistered (and it's protected buy the foil) this is not a problem. No coals? Just pop them in the oven for 30-45 mins or until tender. Serve with a green salad or baby spinach leaves tossed in a vinaigrette with baby tomato halves.