Author: Karen Claassen

Hi and welcome to my blog! My name is Karen and I love cooking simple, uncomplicated, flavourful food. My cooking is inspired by seasonal ingredients, punchy flavours, an awareness of sustainability and of course by the likes and dislikes of my family and friends that sit around my table as well as you, the virtual guests around my table! I am a chef, recipe developer and food stylist and generate my own content. I am also completely addicted to recipe books, of which I have an extremely large collection but the essence of my food is about celebrating life and all the fabulousness that we can add by creating good food. Thank you for reading my blog. Please keep on giving me feedback and may your kitchen, as mine, be filled with joy and the best tasting food!
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Brown Rice Salad

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Brown Rice Salad
Brown Rice Salad

250g cooked brown rice (I use a store bought sachet)
400g broccoli flowers, ends trimmed
190ml cranberries
4 spring onions, sliced
125ml slivered almonds
100g goats cheese

Dressing:
45ml olive oil
60ml fresh orange juice
finely grated rind of one orange
15ml apple cider vinegar
2,5ml ground ginger
15ml honey

Add the brown rice to a mixing bowl and set aside.
Cook the broccoli until just tender, rinse under cold running water and drain well. Add it to the rice.
Place the cranberries in a bowl and pour boiling water over. Stand for 5 minutes and drain well.
Add the cranberries and sliced spring onions to the rice.
Toast the almonds in a dry pan over medium heat and add to the rice.
Crumble the goats cheese into the rice and mix all ingredients together.

Add the olive oil, orange juice, rind, vinegar, ginger and honey to a small bowl and whisk together until amalgamated.
Pour the dressing over the salad and give it another good mix through before serving.

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2-minute Salad

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2-minute Salad

2 packets instant noodles, cooked without the spices
300g coleslaw mix
2 hands full of cashew nuts
1 hand full of sesame seeds

Dressing:
125ml olive oil
60ml honey
60ml red wine vinegar
30ml soy sauce
2 packets of instant noodle spice

Add the cooked noodles, coleslaw mix, cashews and sesame seeds to a mixing bowl and set aside.
Add the olive oil, honey, red wine vinegar, soy sauce and noodle spice to a small saucepan and place it over a medium heat until it starts too bubble.
Pour the hot dressing over the noodle mixture and mix through.
Place the salad in the refrigerator to cool completely.
Serve cold.

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Brie and Caramelised Apple Galette

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Brie and Caramelised Apple Galette
Brie and Caramelised Apple Galette

1 sheet puff pastry
2 x 125g brie cheese (or camembert)
2 apples, sliced into 0.5c slices
45ml honey
45ml butter, melted
thyme

Preheat your oven to 200℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Lay the puff pastry on the baking sheet and cut it to an oval shape.
Place the cheese in the middle of the pastry – cut it smaller so that it sits snuggly together.
Add the honey and butter to a small bowl and whisk together.
Lay a layer of apple slices over the cheese and brush with the honey glaze. Repeat the apple and glaze layers.
Fold the pastry up and over the edges of the cheese and apple – pinch it to get it to stay up and around the filling – it will collapse during baking so it need not be neat.
Bake the galette in the oven for 25 minutes.
Top with fresh thyme and serve.

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Pampoenkoekie Tray Bake

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Pampoenkoekie Tray Bake

250g flour
10ml baking powder
60ml brown sugar
5ml ground cinnamon
5ml salt
200g cooked pumpkin, mashed
125ml milk
2 eggs

Caramel sauce:
200g sugar
100g butter, diced
125ml cream

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a 20cm x 20cm baking tray with baking paper. Set aside.
Add the flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon and salt to a mixing bowl.
Add the mashed pumpkin, milk and eggs to another mixing bowl and whisk together.
Pour the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined and there are no more dry ingredients that you can see.
Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.

For the caramel sauce:
Add the sugar and butter to a small saucepan set over medium-high heat.
DO NOT STIR – swirl the mixture around in the saucepan but avoid the temptation to stir, until the sugar and butter has melted. Keep swirling every now and then until you have a deep caramel colour.
Add the cream and whisk vigorously, allowing the sauce to bubble for 1 minute.
Pour the caramel sauce over the tray bake and serve.

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Jalapēno Cornbread with Honey Glaze

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Jalapēno Cornbread with Honey Glaze
Jalapēno Cornbread with Honey Glaze

250ml flour
250ml cornmeal/maize meal
60ml sugar
15ml baking powder
2,5ml salt
250ml buttermilk
60g butter, melted
2 eggs
250ml corn kernels
3-4 pickled jalapeno peppers, chopped
125ml grated cheddar cheese

Honey Glaze:
60ml honey
grated zest of 1 lemon
30ml lemon juice

For the cornbread:
Preheat your oven to 190℃ and line a medium loaf tin with baking paper. Set aside.
Add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt to a mixing bowl and stir to mix.
Pour the buttermilk, melted butter and eggs into another bowl and whisk together.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Add the corn kernels, peppers and cheese and mix to distribute evenly.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and spread it out evenly.
Bake in the oven for 35 minutes.

For the Honey Glaze:
Add the honey, lemon zest and juice to a bowl and whisk together.

Remove the cornbread from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes.
Remove the bread from the loaf tin and peel away the baking paper.
Drizzle the glaze over the bread and serve warm.

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Middle-Eastern Citrus Salad

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Middle-Eastern Citrus Salad

This recipe is adapted from Ottolenghi’s according to the availability of certain ingredients.

Coconut topping:
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
10g fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1,2ml ground turmeric
5ml fennel seed, crushed in a pestle and mortar
5ml coriander seeds, crushed in a pestle and mortar
45ml olive oil
10ml brown sugar
60g dried coconut flakes
a pinch of salt

Salad:
2 grapefruits
2 oranges
half a cucumber, halved lengthwise and finely sliced
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
5ml fish sauce
15ml lemon juice
7,5ml brown sugar
45ml olive oil
2 baby gem lettuce, cored, leaves separated

For the coconut topping:
Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, fennel seeds, coriander seeds and olive oil to the small bowl of a food processor and blitz , scraping down the sides a few times, until you have a coarse paste.
Add this paste to a non-stick pan set over medium-high heat.
Add 45ml water and the brown sugar and cook for 4 minutes, stirring often.
Add the coconut flakes and a pinch of salt.
Cook for another 15 minutes stirring continuously.
Transfer the mixture to a baking sheet, spread it out and allow to cool. Set aside.

For the salad:
Top and tail the citrus and cut away the skin and pith. Cut between the membranes to release the segments.
Drain the segments over a bowl (in a sieve) and reserve 45ml of the juice.
Add the chilli, garlic, coriander, fish sauce, lemon juice, sugar, 30ml oil and 45ml citrus juice to a small bowl and whisk together.
Pour half of this dressing into a mixing bowl and add the cucumber, onion, grapefruit and orange. Mix together.
Arrange the lettuce leaves, cup side up, on a large platter.
Drizzle the remaining 15ml olive oil over and top evenly with the citrus mixture.
Drizzle the rest of the dressing over the salad.
Sprinkle the coconut topping over the salad and serve.

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Baked rice with walnut, olive and pomegranate salsa

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Baked rice with walnut, olive and pomegranate salsa
Baked rice with walnut, olive and pomegranate salsa

400g basmati rice
50g butter, melted
800ml boiling water
40g + 10g mint leaves, chopped
150g feta, crumbled

Salsa:
40g green olives, pitted and roughly chopped
90g pomegranate seeds
50g walnut halves, roasted and roughly chopped
45ml olive oil
15ml honey
1 clove of garlic, minced

Turn your oven to its highest setting.
Add the rice to an oven dish that measures about 20cm x 30cm.
Sprinkle 2ml salt over the rice and add a few grindings of black pepper.
Drizzle the melted butter over the rice and pour the boiling water into the pan.
Sprinkle the 40g mint leaves over.
Cover the dish with aluminium foil and bake for 25 minutes.

Add all the salsa ingredients to a bowl and mix together. Put aside.

Remove the rice from the oven and sprinkle the feta over.
Stir the remaining 10g mint leaves through the salsa and spoon the salsa evenly over the rice.
Serve warm as a side dish or as a main.

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Russian Honey Cake

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Russian Honey Cake

Burnt honey:
190ml honey
63ml water

Cake:
63ml burnt honey
190ml honey
280ml granulated sugar
200g butter, cubed
6 eggs
12,5ml baking powder
3,7ml salt
5ml ground cinnamon
940ml flour

Honey-cream:
125ml burnt honey
360g tin of caramel treat
2,5ml salt
600ml whipping cream

Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Cut 11 pieces of baking paper to the size of a large baking sheet and trace a 22cm circle onto each. Set aside.

For the burnt honey:
Pour the honey into a small saucepan and place it over high heat. Turn the heat down to medium when it start to bubble.
Cook until it becomes an amber colour – about 3 minutes.
Take the honey from the heat and add the water – stand back as it will sputter!
Whisk together once it stops bubbling.
Pour the burnt honey into a measuring jug and set aside to cool.

For the cake:
Pour the burnt honey, honey, sugar and butter into a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water.
Stir until the butter has melted and then whisk by hand to combine.
Add the eggs one at a time while whisking continuously, still over the simmering water.
Add the baking powder, salt and cinnamon and whisk together for 30 seconds.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Sift the flour into the mixture in 3-4 batches, whisking after each addition until the batter is smooth. (You may use an electric hand-held whisk)
Scoop a heaped 125ml measuring cup of the batter onto the baking paper circle and spread it out evenly with a spatula.
Bake each layer/disc for 7 minutes until it is a dark caramel colour.
Place the baked discs on a flat surface to cool completely.

For the honey-cream:
Add 125ml burnt honey, the caramel treat and salt into a mixing bowl and whisk by hand to combine.
Add 190ml cream, a little at a time, while whisking.
Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Pour the remaining 410ml cream into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat to medium soft peaks.
Add the honey and caramel mixture and beat to medium stiff peaks.

Assembly:
Assemble the cake on your serving plate so that you don’t have to move it later on.
Place the first cake disc on the plate and scoop a generous amount of the honey-cream on top. Spread out evenly not worrying that it will crawl down the sides.
Keep going until all the cake discs have been stacked.
cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining honey-cream and smooth it out.
Place the cake in the refrigerator for a minimum of 8 hours.

If you would like to, blitz up a selection of salted nuts and cover the sides and top of the cake with it before slicing to serve.

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Lemon Chicken Orzo

by Karen Claassen1 Comment on Lemon Chicken Orzo
Lemon Chicken Orzo

5ml salt
2,5ml black pepper
5ml turmeric
5ml smoked paprika

8 skinless chicken breasts
30ml olive oil

1 onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
5ml Dijon mustard
125ml white wine
250ml orzo
500ml chicken stock
grated zest of one lemon
30ml lemon juice
2,5ml salt
15ml oregano, chopped
15ml parsley, chopped
190ml feta cheese, crumbed
lemon slices

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and spray a 26cm oven dish with cooking spray.
Add the salt, pepper, turmeric and smoked paprika to a small bowl and mix together.
Season the chicken with the spice mix.
Place a non-stick pan over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and then the chicken and cook until browned on both sides.
Remove the chicken and set aside.
Keep the pan on the heat but reduce the heat to medium.
Add the onion and garlic and cook for two minutes.
Add the mustard and wine and scrape up any brown bits from the pan. Reduce by half.
Pour the liquid into the prepared oven dish.
Add the orzo, chicken stock, lemon zest, lemon juice and crumbed feta and stir to mix.
Now lay the chicken pieces on the orzo and push them in slightly.
Bake in the oven for 35 minutes.
Remove and scatter over the oregano and parsley and garnish with lemon slices.
Serve warm.

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Honeyed quince

by Karen Claassen1 Comment on Honeyed quince
Honeyed quince

60ml sugar
500ml water
4 cloves
2 star anise
4 quinces
half a lemon
60ml honey

Pour the sugar and water into a smallish saucepan and place it over a high heat.
Stir until the sugar has dissolved and bring the liquid to the boil.
Add the cloves and star anise.
Peel and halve the quinces and rub them with the lemon to stop them browning.
Lower the quince into the poaching liquid and allow to simmer until they are soft enough to pierce easily. This should take around 25 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line an oven dish with baking paper.
Lift the quince out of the poaching liquid and arrange them on the oven dish.
Pour 150ml of the poaching liquid into a bowl and mix in the honey.
Pour this over the quince and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Serve the quince with their cooking juices.