food for friends – My Whisk and I

Porky Belly Cubes

May 26, 2024May 21, 2024by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

1 kg pork belly, skin removed and cut into 5cm cubes
2 cloves of garlic, minced
5ml red chilli flakes
60ml soy sauce
60ml apple cider vinegar
30ml brown sugar
15ml sesame oil
1,2ml salt
15ml sesame seeds
15ml chives, finely chopped

Add the garlic, chilli flakes, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, sesame oil and salt to a large mixing bowl and whisk together.
Add the pork belly cubes, mix to coat and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for an hour.
Preheat your oven to 190℃ and line an oven tray with baking paper.
Arrange the cubed meat on the prepared tray, spacing the meat evenly.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Turn each of the cubes over and place it back in the oven for another 30 minutes – do take cake not to burn the meat – place a sheet of aluminium foil over the baking tray if it is brown enough.
Remove the pork from the oven and sprinkle over the sesame seeds and chives.

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Crispy Potato Cakes with Smoked Chicken and Grapes

January 21, 2024January 20, 2024by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

500g potatoes, peeled, cooked and mashed
60g butter, melted
1 egg yolk

Topping:
15ml horseradish
60ml mayonnaise
60ml sour cream
5ml finely grated lemon rind
300g smoked chicken, sliced
1 small bunch of chives, chopped
red grapes, halved
cucumber strips

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a baking sheet with aluminium foil. Spray the foil with cooking spray and set aside.
Add the mashed potato, butter and egg yolk to a mixing bowl and stir together.
Season with salt and pepper and mix again.
Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions.
Roll each portion into a ball and flatten it to a 7cm diameter disc.
Place the potato cakes on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake in the oven for 17 minutes, very gently flip them over and bake for another 17 minutes until golden.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Topping:
Add the horseradish, mayo, sour cream, lemon rind, chopped chives and a pinch of salt to a bowl and mix together.

Place the potato cakes on a serving platter.
Scoop some of the topping on the cakes and add some of the sliced chicken.
Add some more of the horseradish mixture and top with grapes and cucumber strips.

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Dressed-Up Butternut Soup

September 17, 2023September 1, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

This recipe yields enough soup for 6 people.

olive oil
3 medium butternuts
800g butternut, cut into 1,5cm chunks
1 onion, chopped
1 apple, peeled and chopped
2 x 400g tins of coconut milk
250ml vegetable stock
10ml curry powder
5ml ground ginger
small flowers and herbs to garnish

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a baking sheet with alluminium foil.
Peel and half the butternuts.
Cut a 7cm x 3cm rectangle of butternut from each halved veg.
Place a pan on medium-high heat and add a splash of oil to it.
Brown the butternut on its 6 flat sides and place on the prepared baking sheet.
Arrange the butternut chunks alongside, drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkling of salt.
Roast in the oven until just cooked. (about 15 minutes but check it by inserting a toothpick)
Place a large saucepan on medium heat, add some olive oil and the onion and cook until soft.
Add the cubed butternut, apple, curry powder and ginger and stir-fry for a minute or two.
Pour in one of the tins of coconut milk as well as the stock.
Bring the soup to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
Insert an immersion blender into the saucepan and blitz until completely smooth.
Pour in the other tin of coconut milk and bring the soup back to a gentle simmer for another 10 minutes.
Taste the soup and season with salt and white pepper.

Ladle the soup into soup bowls and place a roasted butternut triangle in the centre of each soup bowl.
Decorate the top surface of the butternut with small flowers and herbs to serve.

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Baked Burrata

August 18, 2023August 2, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

250ml passata sauce, store bought
200g pickled sweet peppers, in olive oil
2 burrata cheese

Preheat your oven to 200℃.
Pour the passata sauce and peppers into a small ovenproof dish.
Place the cheese in the sauce and pour over the olive oil from the sweet peppers.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
Serve the burrata and sauce with crostini or fresh, crusty bread as a delicious warm starter.

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Biltong Borrelbrood

June 20, 2023June 16, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

1 sourdough bread
200g cheese spread
100g butter
4 cloves of garlic, minced
80ml parsley, chopped
200g biltong, sliced

Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Place the bread on a wooden board and place a wooden spoon on either side of it, in its length.
Slice the bread on the diagonal, into 1,5cm thick slices WITHOUT slicing through – the wooden spoons should prevent this.
Now turn the bread and slice again so that you are left with squares that are attached at the bottom.
Place the sliced bread on a large piece of aluminium foil and then onto a baking sheet. Set aside.
Add the cheese spread, butter and garlic to a small saucepan and set it over a medium-low heat.
Stir every now and then until the mixture has melted and is amalgamated.
Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley.
Spoon generous amounts of the cheese mixture in between the sliced bread.
Push the biltong slices between the bread squares and cover with the aluminium foil.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Serve immediately as a casual starter.

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Pull-Apart Tortilla Wraps

May 14, 2023May 3, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 sweet peppers, diced
600g minced beef
30ml tomato purée
30ml Worcestershire sauce
3 large tomatoes, diced
3 spring onions, sliced
60ml coriander, chopped
10 large tortilla wraps
150g + 150g cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and spray a 22cm loose-bottom cake tin with cooking spray.
Place a saucepan on medium-high heat and add a dash of vegetable oil.
Add the onion and cook until translucent.
Add the garlic and sweet pepper and cook while stirring occasionally until the peppers are softened.
Add the minced beef, tomato purée and Worcestershire sauce, season with salt and pepper and turn up the heat.
Break the mince up with the back of a wooden spoon and cook until there is no liquid left.

For the salsa:
Add the diced tomato, spring onions and coriander to a bowl.
Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

To assemble:
Lay the tortilla wraps on a chopping board and trim the left and right edges so that they are square.
Spoon some of the mince mixture on the curved edge closest to you.
Spoon some salsa on the mince and scatter with grated cheese.
Roll the tortilla into a fairly tight cylinder.
Repeat with the other ingredients.

Slice each tortilla roll into 3 equal rolls.
Pack the rolls cut side up, in the cake tin. Start on the outer edges and work towards the centre.
Sprinkle the remaining 150g cheese over the rolls.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Remove the outer ring of the cake tin and serve immediately.

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Cream-Cheese-Board

October 3, 2022October 2, 2022by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

This cheeseboard is a brilliant way of entertaining friends and family with the absolute minimum effort! The cream cheese is used as a base and smeared onto a wooden serving board and then topped with crunchy, punchy bits and bobs. One 250g tub of cream cheese should provide you with enough to feed 4 people as a snack with cocktails or even as a nibble before a meal.

250g tub of cream cheese (I used a chive flavoured cheese)
red onion, finely chopped
chives, chopped (garlic chives are especially good)
fried onion bits (mine was store bought but feel free to make them yourself)
pomegranate seeds
lemon zest
honey for drizzling over
edible flower to make everything look pretty

Smear the cream cheese onto a wooden serving board.
Sprinkle over the onion, chives, fried onion, pomegranate seeds and lemon zest.
Drizzle a small amount of honey over and finish off with a few pretty edible flowers.
Serve with crackers and cocktails.

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Crispy Prawn Canapés

June 16, 2022June 13, 2022by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

500g prawns, shelled and deveined – keep the tail ends on
2 eggs, lightly beaten
83ml flour
250ml popped rice (rice crispies)
vegetable oil for frying

Clean and dry the prawns.
Add the eggs to a shallow dish and beat together.
Add the flour and popped rice to a second and third bowl.
Heat the oil in a saucepan to about 170℃.
Now dredge each prawn in flour, then egg and finally in the popped rice.
Fry the prawn in the oil for 2-3 minutes.
Serve with a dipping sauce, as a canapé.

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Greek Calamari Pita

December 15, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

These calamari filled pita breads are the perfect casual weekend food for entertaining friends and family!! Serve them with a crisp, cold chardonnay and kick back Greek style!!

Lemon-Yoghurt Sauce:
125ml yoghurt
1 clove garlic, minced
5ml dijon mustard
45ml lemon juice
a handful of basil leaves, torn

1 kg calamari rings, washed and dried
45ml sunflower oil
1 lemon
salt and pepper

about 2 cos lettuce, shredded

Pita Bread – If you want to bake your own fresh pita bread you can go to the SEARCH goggle on this block to find the recipe

For the Sauce:
Add all the ingredients to a small bowl and mix well.
Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to infuse at room temperature.

Place a heavy-bottom pan over high heat and wait 2-3 minutes for the pan to get hot.
Turn the heat down slightly, more high than medium-high, add the oil to the pan and then the calamari rings.
Stir the calamari around for 2 minutes, NO MORE!, and immediately remove the pan from the heat.
Squeeze the lemon onto the calamari while it is still sizzling and season generously with salt and pepper.

Hold the pita bread upright (on the seam) and make an incision about a third of its circumference.
Lightly push two fingers in and wiggle them around to separate and open the inside of the bread, so that you have a large pocket.
Scoop a spoonful of the lemon sauce into the cavity and smear it around with the back of the spoon.
Place a thin layer of the shredded lettuce on the bottom of the pocket, then a layer of calamari and then a layer of the sauce.
Push all of this down with the back of the spoon so that you will have enough space for a repeat of layers.

Serve the calamari pitas with the leftover sauce on the side.

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Butter Chicken

July 9, 2021June 25, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

This recipe, as the name suggests, is loaded with butter, as it was originally intended! This is no low-calorie, adapted butter chicken but the true, real, original dish!

125ml yoghurt
1 tin chopped tomato
15ml Garam massala
5ml chilli flakes
5ml mustard powder
5ml ground cumin
5ml ground coriander
5ml salt
5ml turmeric
15ml sugar
15ml lemon juice
9 skinless chicken breasts

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
125ml cream
125g butter, cubed
fresh coriander leaves

For the marinade:
Add the yoghurt, tomato, garam masala, chilli, mustard, cumin, coriander, salt, turmeric, sugar and lemon juice to a blender and blitz together.
Pour the marinade in to a large mixing bowl.
Cut the chicken breasts into cubes of 2cm X 2cm and add it to the marinade.
Stir the mixture through so that the chicken pieces are completely covered in the marinade.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside (in the refrigerator if your kitchen is warm) to marinate for at least one hour.

Pour some vegetable oil in to a large saucepan and add the onion and garlic.
Cook over a low heat until the onion is very soft.
Add the chicken pieces and marinade to the onion mixture and bring to a simmer.
Cook the chicken for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the cream and the cubed butter and stir until the butter has melted completely.
Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
Serve the butter chicken with rice and naan bread.