S2
20-30g butter
30ml white wine vinegar
15ml brown sugar
1 pear, quartered and cored
60ml walnuts
30g rocket
6 slices of creamy blue cheese
Melt the butter along with the vinegar and sugar in a frying pan. Add the pear and walnut and cook till the pear gets soft, about 5 minutes.
Place the rocket on a plate, top with pear and walnuts, finish with the cheese and drizzle with olive oil.
drink: l'ormarins sauvignon blanc 2006
Not sure how authentic this dish is as i couldnt find a complete recipe, so had to guess a few things. However, it worked out very nice.
S4
600g chopped pork spare ribs
15ml vegetable oil
15ml brown sugar
30ml fish sauce
5ml paprika powder
1 garlic, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
100g of small Rosa tomatoes
250ml water
s&p
Melt the sugar in oil in a pot for a couple of minutes. Turn up the heat to max and saute the pork in batches, just to get the color right. After all the meat is sealed, throw it back in the pot. Add the shallot and garlic and cook for about a minute before adding the water and fish sauce. Season to taste and let it simmer till the sauce is reduced to 1/3, about 45 minutes.Serve with jasmine rice and the tomatoes. Garnish with chopped garlic chives and some of the sauce.
drink: st.george beer
S4
700g spaghetti
200g bacon
3 big cloves of garlic, chopped
70ml capers, drained
80g rocket, roughly chopped
1 large red chili, thinly sliced
1oml of lemon zest
45ml lemon juice
250ml grated Parmesan
black pepper
olive oil
Cook the pasta in a large pot with lots of salt. Meanwhile fry the bacon till crisp.
Saute the capers and the garlic for about 2 minutes on medium heat in about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chili, zest and lemon juice and stir for one min, then take the pan of the heat.
Drain the pasta once its done and toss with the garlic mix. Then add the rocket and Parmesan.
Serve with bacon strewn on top along with black paper and some extra Parmesan.
drink: hartenberg merlot, 2003
S4
400g pasta
150ml cream
150ml Parmesan, grated
125ml basil, roughly chopped
15-25ml lemon juice
10ml lemon zest
pepper
Bring a big pot with water to the boil, add a lot of salt.
Cook the pasta according to the packets intructions. Drain and throw back into the pot and stir in the other ingridients, toss well. Serve with some extra grated Parmesan on top.
drink: water
S2
2x200-250g kingklip fillets or other firm white fish
600g medium sized potatoes, sliced thinly lengthwise
1 onion, sliced
1 teaspoon chili flakes
3 plum tomatoes, deseeded and cut into thin wedges
zest of one lemon
olive oil
s&p
knob of butter
Preheat the oven to 220c.
Spread baking paper on a baking tray and toss the potato on it. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Cook for about 35-40 minutes or until golden and crisp.
When 15 min or so remains on the potato, heat a saute or frying pan with 15ml oil.
Mix the onion and chili flakes in the pan and cook for three min. Meanwhile, season the fillets with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes each side over medium heat. Once done, remove from heat but keep warm. Add the tomatoes and lemon zest to the pan and turn up the heat. Cook for 4 minutes, season to taste and add the butter just before serving.
drink: a nice chenin blanc or a light pinotage
S4
150g white chocolate
500ml pouring cream
45ml hot water
10ml gelatine powder
250ml blueberries, fresh or frozen
Dissolve the gelatine in the water. Melt the chocolate in a saucepan along with the cream. Then pour in the gelatine and let it cook for one min.
Take of the heat, transfer to a bowl and place in a ice bath to cool.
Stir in the berries and portion the mix into glasses.
Chill for 2 hours.
drink: single espresso
Due to a small emergency the beef got a tad to medium, should be medium rare for this dish.
S4
500g rump steak
400g rice noodles
500ml chicken stock or deli bought chicken stock
1 rec chili, deseeded and chopped
2 scallions, chopped
15ml grated ginger
7,5ml five spice powder
5ml chili powder
45ml vegetable oil
Cook the noodles according to instructions.
Combine the stock, chili and ginger in a pot and bring to the boil, then turn down and keep warm.
Mix the five spice powder and chili powder in the oil. Toss the beed in the mix.
Fry the beef over high heat for about 3 min each side.
Portion the noodles into bowls, slice up the beef and place on the plates and scatter the onions over the dish. Finish with pouring the stock around the dish.
drink: black label
S4
3 slices of nice white bread, torn into pieces
100g rockets
100-150g mozzarella, torn
4 plum tomatoes, sliced
30g tapenade
12 basil leaves
60ml olive oil
30ml red wine vinegar
Preheat the oven to 225c. Toss the bread with 30ml of the olive oil and cook it in the oven for 8-10 min or till crusty and golden.
Place the rocket, tomatoes, mozzarella and bread on four plates. Top with the tapenade and basil leaves. Drizzle with the dressing.
drink: nothing
S4
400-500g penne
15 slices of prosciutto (about 150g)
150g rocket
30ml olive oil
30ml balsam vinegar
s&p
Start by turning on the grill in the oven.
Cook pasta according to instructions. When its about 3 min to go on the pasta, put the prosciutto on a baking tray under the grill , remove when the pasta is drained and returned to the pot.
Toss the rocket, oil and vinegar with the pasta in the pan, season to taste.
Serve with the prosciutto on top and a side salad of tomato, cucumber and chopped onion drizzled with olive oil.
drink: water
Since i haven't updated in a while, i thought id do it with a massive dish, so here it comes.
S2
beef:
1 400-500g rump steak
1 orange, zest and juice
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp Dijon
3 crushed garlic cloves
salt to season
chicken:
4 chicken thighs, deboned
2 tsp tomato paste
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp mustard powder
salad:
1 lebanese cucumber or 1/2 a normal cucumber
1/2 red onion, sliced
250g canned corn, drained
250g red kidney beans, drained
3 plum tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
1 small red chili, deseeded and chopped
dressing:
30ml olive oil
30ml white wine vinegar
10 leaves of fresh mint
2 cloves of garlic
Score the beef and combine the marinade, season and drop the beef into the marinade.
Combine the paste for the chicken and dress it.
In a blender, mix the dressing well.
Fry the chicken 7 minutes on each side, when you flip the chicken add the beef into another pan and fry for 3 min each side for medium rare, let the beef rest for a minute or two while the chicken gets ready.
In a bowl, combine the salad and dress it with the mint dressing.
Divide the rump in two, serve with 2 chicken thighs each with some extra mint leaves as garnish.
drink: peroni
S4
800g potatoes
160g plain flour
15ml sea salt
15ml chopped basil
15ml chopped parsley
1 large egg, beaten
60ml olive oil
50g butter
salsa:
6 plum tomatoes
1 red onion
1 spring onion, chopped
juice of one lime, or to taste
15ml olive oil
some nice dosage of bushmans fire or other hot chili sauce
15ml chopped coriander
15ml chopped basil
s&p
Set oven to 180c. Bake the potatos without oil for 1 hour or until easily pierced with a skewer. remove and let cool for 10 min. Then peel and mash. Wait for it to cool.
Mix the flour and salt into the potatoes, then add basil and parsley. Follow by adding the egg half upon half until the dough is smooth. DO NOT USE ALL THE EGG IF IT IS NOT NEEDED.
Put a pan with water on the stove, salt when boiling. Get a bowl with iced water ready.
Then roll the dough into 6-8 balls, then roll it out into sausages about 30cm long. Cut the dough into 3-4 cm long bits.
Cook in batches for about 3 min, or until the gnocchi float to the surface. remove from the pan, chill in iced water for 1 min then dry on kitchen paper.
Score the tomatoes on the top then settle in a pan with boiling water for 45 sec, remove and put in cold water for 30 sec. Then remove the skin, slice open and remove the seeds. Chop the tomatoes and mix with the other salsa ingredients and place in a serving bowl.
Once the salsa is done, heat a saute pan till hot. Add 30ml olive oil and 25g butter. Saute the gnocchi in batches until golden (about 3-4 min) then serve while hot on a bed of salsa with some extra basil.
drink: black label
Just making a quick post to explain the absence of new posts in the last week.
We are moving back overseas in a month and on Friday the shipping company was here to pick up all our stuff. Which means that we've been eating out for the whole week as we have tried to pack up.
Above you can see my kitchen being dismantled. It's gonna be so weird having to cook without my own stuff, we have some borrowed pots and pans to use until we leave, but all my special tools are now stuck somewhere in a customs storage.
Anyways, i'll get back cooking on Monday, gnocchi's with tomato salsa i think is on the menu.
Ciao.
