Celebrating 2 years

Since I’ve last posted we’ve visited the Indian capital of South Africa. Durban. We had a total blast, trying everything from shwarama’s, to bunny chows and of course the infamous curry.

A bunny chow - it's a quater loaf of bread with curry.

The curry was absolutely divine! It wasn’t hot at all, but it was so flavourful. I have to try and make this at home!

Infamous curry

My husband and I also celebrated our wedding anniversary. I can’t believe it has been 2 years! So to celebrate our day I made one of my husband’s favourites. Scones, and tea. It was delicious, not many things can top freshly baked scones.

Scones

Sift together: 2 Cups plain flour, 1 tablespoon of Baking powder, 2.5ml of Salt.
Add 4 Tablespoons of butter to the dry ingredients and rub it together until all the flour is covered in butter and looks like bread crumbs.
Mix together 1 egg, 250ml of milk and 15ml of sugar. Add this mixture to the flour and butter mix.
Now here is the trick. Don’t mess with the mixture to much, fold the mixture just until it is mixed.

You can now either roll the mixture out 2cm thick and cut out nice shapes, or you can be lazy like me. I scoop out little balls and gently press it down until it is 2cm thick. I like doing this, it makes the scones look more rustic when it is cooked. You can brush the scones with a bit of egg to help it bake to a golden brown colour.

Now place the scones onto a prepared pan and bake in a 220 degrees Celsius oven for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy fresh with some jams, cream, cheese or fresh fruit. You can really do whatever you like, just make sure you enjoy a cup of tea with it.

Have a great day every one!

Chicken Pie

I tried making my grandmother’s chicken pie, it did not taste like my gran’s pie. I'm sure she is hiding a secret ingredient from me… :)

Anyways, it still tasted good, and there wasn’t much left over. I think it was a success. The recipe isn’t creamy or rich, it’s actually very refreshing. Here’s what I did:

Note to self, next time remember to take the picture before calling people to the meal.

Chicken Pie

Ingredients

4 rashers Streaky bacon cut or scissored into small bits
4 Chicken breast fillets
1 tablespoon Plain flour
1 Teaspoon Dried Thyme
1 Tablespoon Butter
2 cups Chicken stock
375g Puff pastry (ready rolled)

Method

1. Cook the chicken and thyme in the chicken stock, uncovered. When it is cooked, take it out and set aside to cool down. Cut the cooked flesh into smaller pieces.
2. Let the juices reduce, and cook the bacon pieces in this reduction.
3. Add the flour and chicken pieces, let the sauce thicken.
4. Spoon into a prepared oven dish.
5. Press the meat down, to make an even flat surface.
6. Cover with the puff pastry, and brush the pastry with melted butter.
7. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for about 20min or until the pastry is golden brown.

This dish can be prepared the night before and baked the next day. Perfect for those family gatherings when you never seem to have enough time.

Enjoy!

PS: You could also put some ready made pastry as a crust, it will absorb all the lovely juices.

Green Bean Stew

Another stew… I told you it cold in Cape Town! This is my husband’s favourite, I’m sure there are people out there with better recipe’s, mostly ‘cause I made it without any reference of what should go into it. 

Green Beans are a good source of Folic, vitamin B, C and iron. The best of all? It’s really low in calories. So this is my original healthy and tasty recipe.

Green Bean Stew

Ingredients:

800g Green Beans (cleaned and roughly chopped)

300g of Beef goulash

1 large onion roughly chopped

1 cup of chicken stock

1 teaspoon of lemon juice (it helps to keep the green beans, green)

1 teaspoon of Olive oil

2 teaspoons of Bistro (Gravy powder)

Salt and pepper

Method:

Firstly brown the onion and meat in the olive oil.

Add the stock and lemon juice stir well.

Add the green beans, and leave to simmer for about 20 minutes.

Lastly add the gravy powder, salt and pepper.

Stir well and let some of the juices cook away.

I love this stew, especially with brown rice. It’s a hearty and healthy winter meal. I hope you try it out and enjoy it as much as I do!!

Waterblommetjie stew

It feels like forever since my last post. It must be the weather in Cape Town keeping me from doing anything other than watching movies under a cosy blanket. This winter has been really cold and stormy. Weather like this calls for hearty stews, and believe me I’ve made a few.

The first one I want to share with you is a traditional Capetonian stew, Waterblommetjie stew. This is also known as Cape pond weed, the fresh flowers produced has been used for centuries to heal wounds, soothe sunburn and sprains by the San people. These flowers also make a delicious stew. 

 

Each family has their own tips and tricks for the best stew, and ours are no different. First start of by properly cleaning the flowers. I usually let it soak in warm salt water for 30 minutes before I rinse and make sure all the flowers are clean. Now we can start cooking.

Waterblommetjie stew

Waterblommetjie Stew

Ingredients:

• 500g Fresh Waterblommetjies
• 250g Pork Rashers cut in pieces
• 1 large onion cut into chunks
• 1 Lemon
• 2 tablespoons of Vinegar
• 250ml Chicken Stock
• 1 teaspoon of gravy powder

Method:

1.      Start by browning the onion and pork in a large casserole.

2.      When the meat is nice and golden add the chicken stock.

3.      Add the juice of one lemon and 2 tablespoons of Vinegar, stir well.

4.      Add the Cleaned waterblommetjies.

5.      Put the lid on and let it simmer away for about 15 minutes.

6.      Now remove the lid and let some of the juices evaporate.

7.      Add 1 teaspoon of gravy powder and mix well.

8.      Cook for another 5 minutes on high.

9.      Add salt and pepper to taste.

You can also add some potato to your stew.

I hope you will try this recipe. Serve with rice and enjoy!