Tag: dinner inspo

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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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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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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.

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Tartiflette

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Tartiflette
Tartiflette

1kg potatoes
200g bacon, diced
30g butter
2 onions, thinly sliced
125ml dry white wine
125ml cream
450g soft rind cheese of your choice, I used Camembert, traditionally Reblochon is used

Peel the potatoes and slice them into 1cm thick rounds.
Add the potato to a large saucepan and pour in enough cold water to cover. Season the water with salt and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until the rounds are just tender – about 25minutes.
Drain the potato rounds and return to the saucepan. Set aside.
Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Place a saucepan on medium-high heat and add the bacon.
Lower the heat once the fat renders, add the butter and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the onions, season with salt and pepper and cook until soft and translucent.
Add the wine and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Add the potato rounds and mix through.
Pour the cream over and mix again.
Spoon the mixture into an ovenproof dish.
Slice the cheese into halves, horizontally and arrange on top, cut-side down.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes – the cheese should be melted, bubbling and golden brown on top.
Serve immediately.

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Beef Stroganoff Pie

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Beef Stroganoff Pie
Beef Stroganoff Pie

1kg beef, cut into 2cm cubes
30ml flour
45ml vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
10ml smoked paprika
30ml tomato paste
15ml wholegrain mustard
250ml beef stock
300g brown mushrooms, sliced
80ml + 80ml sour cream
1,2kg potatoes, peeled and quartered
50g butter, cubed

Add the cubed beef to a bowl and sprinkle over the flour.
Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat.
Place a saucepan over medium-high heat and pour in the oil.
Cook the beef in 3 batches, for 5-6 minutes or until browned all over.
Spoon the beef into a bowl and keep on the side.
Add the onion to the saucepan and cook until translucent.
Add the garlic and paprika and stir-fry for one minute.
Add the tomato paste, mustard and stock and bring to the boil.
Return the beef to the saucepan, reduce the heat to low and cover with a lid.
Simmer the beef for one hour, stirring every now and then.
Preheat your oven to 200℃.
Remove the lid, add the mushrooms and simmer without a lid for 30 minutes more.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in 80ml sour cream.
Spoon the mixture into an ovenproof casserole dish.
Cook the potato until very soft, drain and return to its saucepan.
Add the remaining 80ml sour cream and half of the cubed butter and mash together.
Season the mashed potato with salt and pepper.
Spoon the potato on the beef and spread it evenly to cover the beef.
Dot with the remaining butter and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Stand the pie for 10 minutes before serving.

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Dressed up Corn on the Cob

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Dressed up Corn on the Cob
Dressed up Corn on the Cob

Cook the corn to your liking and then simply dress it up in one of two ways. Both the recipes are enough for 6 – 8 corn on the cob.

Spicy Mexican Corn:
125ml mayonnaise
10ml + 10ml smoked paprika
5ml chilli flakes
5ml salt
125ml grated parmesan cheese
2 lemons

Add the mayonnaise and 10ml smoked paprika to a small bowl and mix through. Set aside.
Add the other 10ml smoked paprika, chilli flakes and salt to another bowl and mix together.
Brush the cooked corn with the mayonnaise mixture, sprinkle over the spice rub and roll the corn in the grated parmesan.
Cut the lemons into quarters and serve with the corn.

Herbed Corn:
60ml parsley, tightly packed
60ml coriander, tightly packed
60ml garlic chives
30ml grated lemon rind
80g grated parmesan cheese
60ml butter, cubed

Chop the parsley, coriander, chives and grated lemon rind together until very fine and spoon into a shallow dish.
Add the grated parmesan to another shallow dish.
Melt the butter and brush it all over the cooked corn.
Roll the corn in the herbs and then in the parmesan.
Serve immediately.

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Chorizo and Paprika Quiche

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Chorizo and Paprika Quiche
Chorizo and Paprika Quiche

200g chorizo, casing removed and sliced
45ml butter
2 leeks, cleaned and sliced in discs
2 onions, sliced
1 x 400g frozen puff pastry
4 eggs
125g sour cream
50g parmesan cheese, grated
15ml flour
5ml smoked paprika

Preheat your oven to 200℃ and spray a 22cm diameter loose-bottom pie tin with baking spray.
Place a pan on medium-high heat and add the butter.
Add the chorizo, leeks and onion and cook for 15 minutes.
Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll the pastry into a 25cm diameter disc.
Line the prepared pie tin (base and sides) with the pastry and prick the base all over with the tines of a fork.
Line the pastry case with baking paper and dry beans/rice and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the beans and paper and bake the shell for another 8 minutes.
Remove from the oven and lower the temperature to 180℃.
Add the eggs, sour cream, parmesan, flour and paprika to a mixing bowl and whisk together until smooth.
Spoon the chorizo mixture into the pastry shell and spread it evenly over the base.
Pour the egg mixture over and bake the quiche for 40 minutes.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Tomato and Basil Risotto

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Tomato and Basil Risotto
Tomato and Basil Risotto

1 litre vegetable stock
30ml olive oil
30ml butter
1 onion, finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 x 400g cans of chopped tomato
45ml tomato puree
125ml white wine
250ml arborio rice
45ml grated parmesan cheese and more for serving
125ml basil leaves, finely chopped

Pour the stock in a small saucepan and heat it over a medium-low heat until just barely simmering.
Place a wide, heavy-bottomed pan on medium heat and add the olive oil and butter.
Add the onion and cook for about 8 minutes, until soft and translucent.
Add the garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute.
Add the two cans of tomato and the tomato puree and cook for 15 minutes, until the mixture looks concentrated.
Add the white wine and cook for another 10 minutes or so to allow most of the moisture to evaporate.
Pour in the rice and stir to coat in the tomato mixture.
Add two ladles of stock to the saucepan while simmering. Adjust the heat accordingly and stir continuously.
Once the mixture starts to look dry again, add another two ladles of stock.
Keep going, repeating the process, until the rice is el dente.
Turn off the heat and add the parmesan cheese and basil. Stir through.
Serve the risotto immediately with extra parmesan to grate over.