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Sugar Bean Soup

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Sugar Bean Soup
Sugar Bean Soup

500g brown sugar beans
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large/2 medium carrots, finely diced
2 leeks, finely sliced
500g beef, 1,5 – 2cm cubes
2 litres beef stock
45ml Worcestershire sauce

Soak the beans in a bowl filled with cold water for a minimum of 6 hours.
Rinse the beans and add them to a pressure cooker with enough water to cover them by 3cm. Cook for 45 minutes. (If you are cooking them in a saucepan – simmer gently for 1 – 2 hours until soft when pressed between your fingers). DO NOT ADD SALT OR ANY OTHER FLAVOURANTS AT THIS STAGE!
Place another large saucepan on a medium heat and add a splash of vegetable oil.
Add the onion, garlic, carrots and leeks and gently cook until the onion is soft and translucent.
Add the beef, season well with salt and pepper and stir-fry for 5 minutes.
Pour in the beef stock and Worcestershire sauce and bring to the boil.
Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 1 hour.
Drain the beans, mash them roughly and add to the beef mixture.
Simmer the soup for 30 minutes while keeping a hawk’s eye on it as it will burn easily at this stage. Stir often and regulate the temperature.
Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning.
Serve steaming hot with a fresh crusty bread.

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Poached Beef Fillet with Chimichurri Sauce

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Poached Beef Fillet with Chimichurri Sauce
Poached Beef Fillet with Chimichurri Sauce

This is an easy recipe that deliver fork-tender fillet and melts in your mouth…

Chimichurri Sauce:
60ml parsley
60ml chives
30ml thyme leaves
1 clove of garlic
2,5ml salt
125ml olive oil
45ml apple cider vinegar

1 whole beef fillet, trimmed
about 4 litres beef stock

For the Chimichurri Sauce:
Place the parsley, chives, thyme, garlic and salt on a chopping board and chop together until very fine.
Add the herb-mixture to a small bowl and pour in the olive oil and vinegar.
Stir together until the salt has dissolved.
Cover and set aside at room temperature so that the flavours can develop.

Put a cast iron pan over high heat and wait for it to warm up.
Pat the fillet dry and season generously with salt and pepper.
Now sear the fillet in the hot pan, on both sides. If the meat sticks to the pan when you want to turn it, it simply means it hasn’t caramelised enough. Be patient and wait until it comes loose easily and then turn it.
Place the browned fillet in a large saucepan and pour in enough stock to cover it by at least 3 cm.
Bring the stock to the boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for one hour. Do not cover the saucepan and check the liquid every now and then – top up the stock so that the fillet stays submerged.
Turn off the heat and now place a lid on the saucepan. Rest the fillet in the stock for one hour.
Remove the meat from the saucepan and pat it dry with a clean tea towel.
Slice in to 0,5cm thick slices and arrange on a serving plate.
Serve the fillet with the Chimichurri sauce.

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Pizza Toast

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Pizza Toast
Pizza Toast

4 – 8 slices of sourdough bread
250ml marinara/pizza sauce
500ml grated mozzarella cheese
salami
dried oregano
fresh basil leaves

Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Arrange the sourdough slices on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and toast in the oven.
Turn on the grill of your oven.
Spoon some marinara sauce on each slice of toast, followed by 60ml of grated mozzarella and a few slices of salami.
Sprinkle some dried oregano over and place under the grill until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Remove from the oven, top with fresh basil leaves and serve immediately.

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Chocolate Pudding Cake

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Chocolate Pudding Cake
Chocolate Pudding Cake

190ml flour
60ml cocoa powder, sifted
80ml granulated sugar
1,2ml salt
10ml baking powder
1 egg
55g butter, melted
80ml milk
5ml vanilla
80g chocolate, chopped
125ml pecan nuts, chopped
80ml granulated sugar
80ml brown sugar
80ml cocoa powder, sifted
375ml strong coffee

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and spray a 20cm x 20cm baking tin with cooking spray.
Add the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt and baking powder to a mixing bowl and stir together with a whisk.
Add the egg, melted butter, milk and vanilla to a jug and whisk together.
Pour the wet ingredients in to the dry ingredients.
Add the chopped chocolate and nuts and stir to mix.
Spoon the batter in to the prepared baking tin.
Add the 80ml granulated and brown sugar and the cocoa powder, to a bowl and mix.
Sprinkle the mixture over the cake batter.
Pour the coffee over and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
Serve the chocolate pudding cake with cream or ice cream.

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Jan’s Balsamic Toffee Tomatoes

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Jan’s Balsamic Toffee Tomatoes
Jan’s Balsamic Toffee Tomatoes

This recipe is not mine to give out as it belongs to the South African chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen BUT you should make these for your next drinks party …. delicious just got so much better!

These tomatoes are incredibly tasty and the balsamic toffee perfectly balances with the toasty sesame brittle on which it sits. Easy and quick to make EXCEPT on a rainy day! The moisture in the air prevents the toffee from “sitting” on the tomato…

You can find this recipe in Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen’s book The French Affair (Struik; 2013) (p. 19).

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Gnocchi-Noodle Mushrooms

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Gnocchi-Noodle Mushrooms
Gnocchi-Noodle Mushrooms

Not quite gnocchi but also not quite noodle…. You will need a clean wine or beer bottle to shape the noodles into a mushroom shape. The top must be clean and dry.

400g potato, peeled and cubed
120g cornflour (or potato flour)
5ml salt
80ml chives, very finely chopped
30ml butter
200g mushrooms, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
45ml salad onion, finely chopped
15ml thyme leaves

Cook the potato in salted water until very soft.
Drain, add the potato back into the hot saucepan and place over a medium-high heat. Stir around for a minute or two until the potato is dry and there are no trace of water.
Take off the heat and mash to a fine texture.
Add the cornflour, salt and chives and mix through.
Knead/squeesh the ingredients together until it forms a dough. If you REALLY can’t bring it together, add a few drops of water and knead again.
Scoop up about 15ml of the dough and squeeze/roll into a ball shape.
Press the dough balls into the top of a dry wine bottle and carefully lift it off. Put aside and continue shaping the rest of the dough.
Fill a saucepan with water, bring to the boil and then turn it down to a simmer.
Add the gnocchi to the water and simmer for 4 minutes – they will float once they are done.
Remove and drain. Set aside.
Add the butter to a pan set over medium-high heat.
Add the mushroom, onion and salad onion and cook for about 5 minutes.
Scatter in the thyme leaves and add the gnocchi-noodles.
Reduce the heat to medium and stir-fry for 3 minutes until the noodles are warmed through.
Serve immediately.

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Naked Milk Tart

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Naked Milk Tart
Naked Milk Tart

This is a crustless milk tart, easy to put together and produces one large (38cm x 26cm) or two medium (28cm x 20cm) tarts.

6 eggs
375ml sugar
90g butter, melted
375ml flour
7,5ml baking powder
a pinch of salt
1,5litres of milk
15ml vanilla
ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and spray a 38cm x 26cm ceramic dish with cooking spray.
Add the eggs and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
Mix on medium-high speed for 2 minutes.
Turn the mixer to a low speed and drizzle in the melted butter.
Turn off the mixer.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl and turn the mixer back on to a low speed until the ingredients are incorporated.
Add the vanilla to the milk and drizzle the milk in to the batter with the engine running.
Scrape the batter into the prepared ceramic dish.
Bake in the oven for 1 hour.
Take the milk tart from the oven and immediately sift over some ground cinnamon.
Set aside for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
Keep refrigerated.

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Feta-Filled Flatbreads

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Feta-Filled Flatbreads
Feta-Filled Flatbreads

200g self-raising flour
170g greek yoghurt
Filling:
50g baby spinach
50g feta cheese, crumbed
30ml cream cheese, room temperature
1 clove of garlic, minced
a few grindings of black pepper
40ml frozen peas, defrosted
a handful of mint leaves, chopped

Add the flour and yoghurt to a mixing bowl and bring together.
Knead the dough by hand for 5 minutes – you want a soft, bouncy dough. (Add more flour if you have to, but the dough becomes less sticky as you knead it).
Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
Place the spinach in a bowl and pour boiling water over. Stand for 1 minutes, drain and squeeze the spinach as dry as you can get it, in a tea towel.
Chop it up and add it to a bowl.
Add the feta, cream cheese, garlic, pepper, peas and mint and mix together.
Unwrap the dough and divide it into 4 equal portions.
Make a ball from each portion and then press it into a circle with your fingers.
Spoon a tablespoon full of filling in the centre and then bring in the edges and seal by squeezing it together.
Turn the filled disc over and flatten out with your fingers until about 1,5cm thick.
Set aside and repeat the process with the rest of the dough and filling.
Place a non-stick pan on medium-low heat and add a small knob of butter.
Place the flatbreads in the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes PER SIDE.
Serve warm.

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Thick Chicken Soup

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Thick Chicken Soup
Thick Chicken Soup

If you need to speed things up in the kitchen you may make this soup with store-bought stock and rotisserie chicken.

45ml olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
a small bunch of salad onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1l chicken stock
2 eggs
60ml fresh lemon juice
375ml cooked rice
500ml cooked chicken breast, shredded

Place a saucepan on medium-high heat and add the oil, onion and salad onion.
Cook until the onion is soft and translucent.
Add the garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute.
Pour in the chicken stock and season with salt and pepper.
Bring the mixture to the boil, turn down the heat and leave to simmer.
Add the eggs, lemon juice and 60ml of the rice to a blender.
Blend until smooth.
Keep the blender running and slowly pour in 250ml of the hot stock.
Now pour this mixture into the stock mixture in the saucepan while stirring.
Add the rest of the rice and the shredded chicken.
Simmer the soup for 10 minutes, on a low heat (do not let it boil) until thick.
Spoon into bowls and serve immediately.