party food – My Whisk and I

Chicken Lollipops

May 25, 2024May 20, 2024by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

9 chicken drumsticks
700g potato, about 5 potatoes
45ml chives, chopped
10ml salt
15ml chicken spice
80g mozzarella cheese, grated
3 eggs
250ml breadcrumbs
sunflower oil for frying

Place the chicken in a large saucepan, cover with stock and cook until the meat falls off the bones. Separate the meat and bones but keep the bones. Set aside.
Cook the potato in salted water until soft and mash until smooth.
Add the chicken meat and potato to a mixing bowl and then add the chives, salt, chicken spice and mozzarella and mix until well blended.
Divide the mixture into 9 equal portions.
Scoop most of one portion (it is quite a big handful!) into your hand, place the end of the chicken bone into the centre with about two thirds of it sticking out, scoop up the rest of the portion of meat and potato and squeeze it together and around the bone with both hands until it sticks.
Place this shaped lollipop on a baking tray and proceed to shape the rest.
Now whisk the eggs together in a shallow bowl and place the breadcrumbs in another.
Dip each of the lollipops in the eggs and then cover with breadcrumbs. Set aside.
Warm the oil in a saucepan and fry the chicken lollipops until golden and crispy on the outside.

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Marshmallow Popcorn

February 27, 2024February 26, 2024by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

12 x 250ml popcorn (about one and a half bags of microwave popcorn)
salt (optional)
125ml butter
125ml brown sugar
220g marshmallows

Add the popcorn to a very large mixing bowl and sprinkle over some salt. Set aside.
Add the butter and sugar to a saucepan set over medium heat and stir until both the butter and sugar has melted completely.
Add the marshmallows and keep moving everything around until you have a thick, runny mixture.
Take off the heat and pour over the popcorn. Mix the popcorn until it is evenly covered in the marshmallow mixture.
Best eaten when slightly warm but almost as good at room temperature!

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Butter Candle Bread

December 30, 2023December 11, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

Prepare the butter candle the day before you intend to serve it:

80g salted butter
5 cloves garlic, minced
a small bunch of chives, finely chopped
1 small round bread
2 muffin paper cups
15cm length of cotton string

Place one paper cup in a muffin tin.
Take a second paper cup and make a small slit in the bottom.
Insert the string through the slit and pull about 2cm through to the bottom of the cup.
Place this second paper cup in the cup that is in the muffin pan.
Place a wooden dowel/chopstick across the paper cup and tie the string to it, so that you are creating a wick for your candle.

Melt the butter in the microwave, add the garlic and chives and stir together.
Pour the mixture into the prepared paper cup and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

Place a biscuit cutter, more or less the size of the muffin cup into the centre of the bread and hollow out the inside with your hands.
Keep the biscuit cutter in place and slice the rest of the bread into squares.
Remove the cutter and place the candle in the hollow.
Light the butter candle and wait for it to melt sufficiently to dip small pieces of bread into it.

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Quick Beef Sliders

November 19, 2023October 27, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

1 tray of small hamburger/hotdog rolls
horseradish
200g mozzarella cheese, sliced
300g roast beef, sliced
1 jar caramelised onions
150g gruyère cheese, grated
30ml butter, melted
2,5ml garlic flakes
30ml poppy seeds

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a roasting tin with aluminium foil.
Slice the rolls in half horizontally and remove the top section.
Place the bottom half of the rolls in the lined roasting tin. Pack the rolls tightly together, touching.
Spread some horseradish over the bottom halves.
Now lay the mozzarella slices on top.
Cover the mozzarella with an even layer (or two or three) of sliced beef.
Spread a layer of caramelised onion on top and sprinkle over the grated cheese.
Place the top half of the rolls on top.
Mix the melted butter and garlic flakes in a small bowl and brush the rolls.
Sprinkle over the poppy seeds and cover the roasting tin with aluminium foil.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes.
Serve the sliders warm.

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Mini Caprese Tomatoes

October 1, 2023September 9, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

12 cocktail tomatoes, about 3,5cm in diameter
150g tub of small bocconcini cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper
12 basil leaves

Trim a sliver off the base of each tomato so that it can sit on a plate.
Slice about 0,3 cm off the top of the tomato and scoop the pulp out with a teaspoon or back of a teaspoon.
Season the inside of the tomato with salt and pepper.
Slice the bocconcini in quarters and stuff a piece in each tomato.
Drizzle with olive oil and season again with salt and pepper.
Place a basil leaf on top of each tomato and serve.

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Mini Cinnamon Swirls

September 24, 2023September 6, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

500ml self-raising flour
30ml flour
30ml caster sugar
150g butter, cubed
125ml milk
1 egg
10ml vanilla
125ml brown sugar
5ml ground cinnamon
25g butter, cubed
20g butter, melted

Glaze:
375ml icing sugar, sifted
15ml boiling water

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and spray a 24-hole mini-muffin tin with cooking spray.
Add the self-raising and regular flours, caster sugar and butter to a food processor and process to fine crumbs.
Tip the mixture into a mixing bowl.
Add the milk, egg and vanilla to a jug and whisk together.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to combine. The dough will be very sticky. Set aside.
Add the brown sugar and cinnamon to a bowl and stir to mix.
Add the 25g butter and rub it into the sugar with your fingers.
Flour a work surface and divide the dough in half.
Roll out to 35cm x 20cm rectangle.
Sprinkle half the sugar and butter mixture evenly over the surface and roll it into a long, tight log.
Trim the edges neatly and then cut the log in to 1,5cm slices.
Place each slice in a hole in the muffin tin.
Melt the 20g butter and brush it on to the swirls.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
Remove and cool on a cooling rack.

For the glaze:
Add the icing sugar to a small bowl and pour in 15ml of boiling water.
Mix together and drizzle over the swirls.
Stand the cookies for 20 minutes to set, before serving.

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Tortilla-Pizza Snack

September 10, 2023August 30, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

I am listing the ingredients and the method but the quantities are loose and depends on how many people you will feed.

tortilla wraps
marinara or any other tomato-based pasta sauce
salami or pepperoni
mozzarella cheese
fresh basil leaves
a hard cheese like parmesan

Preheat your oven to 190℃.
Once the cheese has melted (about 15 minutes) the tortilla snack is ready to serve.

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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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Prawn Croquettes / Hollandse Kroketten

June 18, 2023June 12, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
500g prawns, cleaned
375ml mashed potato
125ml grated cheddar cheese
2 eggs
about 500ml panko breadcrumbs
vegetable oil to fry

Place a saucepan over medium-high heat, add a splash of cooking oil and the onion and cook until soft.
Add the garlic and stir-fry for one minute.
Add the prawns and cook until pink – about 3 minutes.
Spoon the mixture into a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped.
Add the mashed potato and cheddar and pulse until the mixture is evenly incorporated.
Season with salt.
Beat the eggs together in a shallow bowl.
Add the breadcrumbs to another shallow bowl.
Scoop 30ml of the prawn mixture into you hands and shape it into a log.
Dit into the egg and then roll to cover in the breadcrumbs.
Refrigerate the shaped croquettes for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Heat the vegetable oil and fry in batches for 3-4 minutes.
Serve warm with a tartar sauce on the side.

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Pap and Wors Canapés

June 17, 2023June 11, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
100g mature cheddar, grated
15ml salt
120g maize meal
30g butter
200g panko breadcrumbs
1 egg
vegetable oil for frying
cooked boerewors, sliced into 3 cm lengths

Place a frying pan on medium-high heat, add a splash of oil and cook the onion and garlic until soft. Set aside.
Pour 750ml water into a saucepan and add the salt. Wait for the water to come to a boil.
Add the maize meal slowly while whisking. Keep whisking until smooth.
Turn down the heat and cook until you have a stiff consistency.
Add the onion, garlic, grated cheddar and butter to the pap and stir through.
Cover with a lid and set aside to cool.
Add the breadcrumbs to a shallow dish.
Add the egg to another shallow dish and beat.
Scoop 15ml of the pap mixture into your hands and roll it into a ball. Keep going until you have no pap mixture left.
Roll each ball in the breadcrumbs, then dip into the egg and roll in the breadcrumbs again.
Heat the vegetable oil and fry the pap balls until golden.
Skewer a pap ball, then a piece of boerewors and another pap ball onto a wooden cocktail skewer.
Serve the pap and wors skewers with a chakalaka sauce on the side.