500ml flour 15ml sugar 7,5ml baking powder 2,5ml bicarbonate of soda 2,5ml salt 250ml buttermilk 1 egg 62ml vegetable oil 200g mature cheddar cheese, grated 150g biltong, sliced and chopped
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a 22cm x 12cm loaf tin with baking paper. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt to a large mixing bowl and whisk together. Add the buttermilk, egg and vegetable oil to a jug and whisk together. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir with a spatula until you can’t see any dry flour. Add the cheddar and biltong and stir really well so that the ingredients are distributed evenly. Spoon into the prepared loaf tin and level out the top. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes. Cool the bread in the baking tin for 15 minutes. Remove from the tin and cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing.
700g – 1kg small potatoes 45ml olive oil 60ml mayonnaise 60ml wholegrain mustard 30ml honey 5ml white wine vinegar
Preheat your oven to 200℃ and spray an oven tray with cooking spray. Cook the potatoes until just done, but fully cooked. Add the mayonnaise, wholegrain mustard, honey and white wine vinegar to a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside. Smash each potato down with a flat-bottom coffee mug and place them in the oven tray. Drizzle the olive oil over and season with salt. Spoon half the honey-mustard dressing on to the potatoes. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Flip the potatoes over, spoon the rest of the dressing over and bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Meatballs: 1 kg beef mince 100g panko breadcrumbs 3 cloves of garlic, minced 1 onion, finely chopped 5ml ground cumin 10ml salt 1 egg 150ml olive oil
Hummus: 1 x 400g can chickpeas 60ml smooth peanut butter 2 cloves of garlic, minced 30ml lemon juice 2,5ml salt
Green paste: 75g kale, white stalks removed 75g baby spinach 75ml olive oil
100g salted peanuts
For the meatballs: Add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix through with your hands. Shape into 50 meatballs and place them evenly spaced on an oiled baking tray. Refrigerate for one hour.
For the hummus: Add all the ingredients to a bowl and blitz with an emersion blender until smooth.
For the green paste: Blanche the kale and spinach in a saucepan of boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water until cooled down. Squeeze out the liquid and place in a small bowl. Blitz with an immersion blender until you have a paste.
Preheat your oven to 220℃. Remove the meatballs from the refrigerator and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, giving it a turn/shake half-way through baking time. Spoon the green paste into the hummus and mix through. Spread the green hummus on a serving platter, arrange the meatballs on top and sprinkle with the peanuts. Serve with a salad and crusty bread.
A perfect meal to put together with leftover roast lamb. This recipe yields 6 individual pot pies.
30ml vegetable oil 1 onion, chopped 2 carrots, cut into small cubes 2 cloves of garlic, minced 30ml flour 5ml smoked paprika 500ml lamb stock 30ml tomato paste 30ml Worcestershire sauce 2 potatoes, peeled and cut in to small cubes 600-700g leftover roast lamb, chopped 30ml finely chopped rosemary 1 sheet puff pastry egg wash: 1 egg yolk + 15ml cold water, whisked together
Preheat your oven to 200℃. Place a large saucepan over medium-high heat and pour in the oil. Add the onion and carrot and cook until the onion is soft. Add the garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour and paprika over and stir-fry for another minute. Add the stock slowly and a little at a time while stirring constantly. Now add the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, potato, lamb and rosemary. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 – 15 minutes until the vegetables are done. (Add some water if needed) Taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Spoon the lamb mixture into 6 individual ovenproof ramekins. Lay the puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface, turn a ramekin over on it and cut 6 rounds from the pastry. Place the pastry discs on the lamb filling and press the edges to seal. Brush with egg wash and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Serve the pot pies piping hot.
For the hazelnut topping: Place the hazelnuts in a pestle and mortar and grind it to a coarse texture. If you don’t have a pestle and mortar you may chop the nuts with a knife but make sure that you have a good mix of fine and coarse texture. Add the parmesan cheese, olive oil, sesame oil, red wine vinegar and salt and stir through. Set aside.
For the goat’s cheese topping: Break up the cheese into a small bowl, add the cream and mix through to loosen the cheese slightly. Set aside.
For the green sauce: Blanche the kale and spinach in a saucepan of boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and run under cold water until cool. Add to a bowl with the basil and olive oil and blitz to a paste/sauce with an immersion blender. Set aside.
Pour the stock into a saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring it to a simmer. Place a large, wide saucepan on medium-high heat and add the butter and oil. Wait for the butter to melt and add the onion. Cook until translucent. Add the garlic and stir-fry for one minute. Now add the rice and stir to coat for 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and wait for it to evaporate. Add about 125ml of stock (two soup ladles) to the risotto, stir it around until most of the liquid has been absorbed and then add some stock again. Keep going – adding stock, stirring until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the parmesan cheese. Add the kale mixture to the risotto and stir until the risotto is bright green. Spoon the risotto on to serving plates and top with some hazelnut mixture and a generous dollop of goat’s cheese.
250g spaghetti 45ml olive oil 3 cloves of garlic, minced 1 spring onion, finely sliced 2 tins of shredded tuna, drained 1 lemon, zest and juice 125ml sour cream 30ml capers, roughly chopped 30ml chopped parsley 15ml chopped chives parmesan cheese
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta and keep it in the pot too stay warm. Place a large pan over medium heat, add the oil and wait for it to heat up. Add the garlic and spring onion and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Now add the tuna, lemon zest and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Pour in the cream and cook for 1 minute. Add the spaghetti, capers, parsley and chives and stir until the spaghetti is well coated in the sauce. Grate over a generous amount of parmesan cheese and stir through. Now grate over some more parmesan, stir again and serve.
This is true French bistro style – a delicious warm bacon and egg salad!! Serves two.
30ml olive oil 200g smoked bacon, diced 1 clove of garlic, minced 2 slices sourdough bread, cubed four handfuls of frisée salad leaves half an onion, sliced into rings 15ml vinegar 2/4 eggs
Dressing: half an onion, very finely diced 15ml red wine vinegar 15ml Dijon mustard 45ml olive oil
Place a large frying pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil and bacon to it. Cook until the bacon is crisp. Scoop the bacon out but leave as much of the rendered fat in the pan. Add the garlic and cubed sourdough and toss in the bacon fat. Turn the heat to low and fry for about 5 minutes, until golden and crisp. Remove from the pan.
For the dressing: Add the diced onion, vinegar, mustard and 15ml cold water to a small bowl and whisk together. Gradually add the olive oil, whisking all the time until you have a thick dressing. Taste the dressing and season with salt.
Now, add the bacon, croutons, sliced onion and salad leaves to a mixing bowl. Drizzle half of the dressing over and toss together. Pile the salad onto 2 plates.
Bring a saucepan of water to a gentle boil and add the 15ml vinegar. Crack the eggs into small bowls and gently lower into the water. Poach the eggs for 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on top of the salad. Drizzle the leftover dressing over the egg and salad and serve immediately.
8 – 16 pork sausages 15ml + 45ml vegetable oil 1 large onion, sliced 3 leeks, washed and sliced 2 cloves of garlic, minced 45ml flour 500ml beef stock 1,2ml salt black pepper
Place a large saucepan/pan over medium-high heat and pour in the vegetable oil. Add the sausages and cook until browned. Turn them every now and then to get an even golden colour. Cook for 10 minutes or so. Remove the sausages from the pan and lower the heat to medium. Add the onion and leek and cook for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute. Spread the onion and leek out in the pan and sprinkle the flour over. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes to cook out the flour. Add 60ml of the stock to the pan and stir. Add another 60ml, keep stirring and wait for it to become more saucy. Slowly drizzle in the rest of the stock while stirring – if you pour it all in at once the sauce will be lumpy. Simmer the gravy until it thickens. It won’t look as thick as you will want it to be but it will thicken more, later on. Add the salt and a few grindings of black pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Place the sausages back in the pan and heat through on a low heat for between 5 and 10 minutes. Serve the sausages on potato mash and slosh it with the gravy.
9 eggs, hardboiled 250g small pasta/macaroni 190ml mayonnaise 25ml wholegrain mustard 15ml lemon juice 1 clove of garlic, minced 5ml salt 2,5ml smoked paprika 1 small red onion, finely chopped 2 spring onions, finely sliced
Cook the pasta according to packet instructions. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water until cool. Peel the eggs and quarter them. Separate the whites and yolks in two bowls. Chop up the whites and set aside. Set a sieve over a bowl, add the yolks and push them through with the sieve with a wooden spoon. Add the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, salt and paprika to the bowl and mix through. Add the cooled pasta to the bowl and stir through to coat the pasta with the dressing. Now add the chopped egg whites, red onion and spring onion and mix through. Serve the pasta as a main or as the perfect side for a picnic, braai or bbq.
1 onion, chopped 2 cloves of garlic, minced 5ml salt 15ml ground ginger 15ml curry powder 15ml turmeric 15ml sumac 15ml sugar 30ml lemon juice 2kg stewing lamb 2 x 400g tins of coconut milk 750ml + 250ml vegetable stock 5 carrots, peeled and cubed 5 potatoes, peeled and cubed
Place a large saucepan over medium-high heat and pour in enough oil to cover the base. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the garlic, salt, ginger, curry powder, turmeric, sumac, sugar and lemon juice and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the lamb and stir to cover the meat in the spices. Pour 1 can of coconut milk and 750ml stock into the saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for an hour. Add the carrots and potato and pour in the 250ml stock. Simmer for another hour. Now add the last can of coconut milk and crusty some of the potato against the sides of the saucepan to thicken the sauce. Cook for 5 minutes and serve on steamed rice.
My Whisk and I 