The peppadews growing at Fairview self-seeds and we find ourselves in a constant supply of these deliciously piquant little peppers. The green shaped ones will all turn red at some stage – I quite like the look of a combination of green and red in one jar. I use it in omelets, pasta dishes, in salad and stuffed with cream cheese it makes a lovely snack served with an ice-cold beer. When we lived in Shoal Lake in Canada, I had a Ukranian neighbour (Baba Stech) who taught me a thing or two about pickling, but a word of special thanks have to go to David Elston who got the plants from us, but took the pickling process to the next level. I gladly share my recipe with you:
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Category: Food and Feast
Lavender at Fairview Homestead
Because of the huge Australian Flowering Gum tree at the front of our property, the soil in those formal beds is dry and poor. That is why we have planted the hedges of Soutbos. We find that lavender can also cope with the soil and an added bonus is that it gives off the most amazing scent as you walk through the path toward the front door. There is such a lot to do with lavender flowers: I love making small posies using lavender and roses; I also tie small bunches on a ribbon and hang it in the wardrobes or I tie it around the bath taps and it gives off its perfume as the hot water runs over it. Ten sprigs of lavender in about 500 gram of castor sugar gives you a delicious lavender sugar (I sprinkle it on French Toast which I then serve with bacon, garnished with a lavender flower) I also would like to share a recipe for Lavender Jelly:
Pickled fish / Kerrievis
In the Western Cape, we eat kerrievis during Easter. If you are not as lucky as I am to be married to a fisherman and to have two sons and a son-in-law not too shabby with a fishing rod either, then hake from your fishmonger will have to do. Over the years I have tried many traditional recipes, but I promise you that we have now honed it down to the best.
Drink summer
Both Desmond and I grew up with mothers who made Ginger beer and Grenadilla cordial as a summer cool drink. The drink was only allowed to brew to make it fizzy and non-alcoholic (although I do remember becoming quite tipsy once because I scoffed down the delicious swollen raisins that I was supposed to discard!)
Desmond’s mother often made Grenadilla Cordial and looking at our harvest this year the guests will be treated to Grenadilla cordial in a big way:
For every 2 cups of Grenadilla pulp, you add the juice of 3 oranges and 1 lemon. Heat 3 cups of water and dissolve 2 cups of sugar to make a thin syrup. You then add the fruit to the syrup and bottle it. It is very good diluted with soda water and ice. And a shot of Vodka and a mint leave will turn it into a summer Cocktail!
Slow-Roasted Tomato Soup
I’m huddled in front of the fireplace on a very cold and rainy June evening and the sound of the crackling fire and the hum of my laptop are the only sounds in the house. The rain has finally stopped. This is the perfect time for a quick blog post before the busy week starts, I think. And what better way to bring a little colour and cheer into this grey day than write about tomato soup and share these beautiful pictures with you…
I never quite got tomato soup until I started roasting the tomato’s, and my life was changed really. Now I’m hooked. In my catering company the napolitana sauce is one of the basic sauces we use almost daily, so there’s nothing as easy as diluting that intense deep red sauce into the quickest and cheekiest dinner for my husband and I, served with home-made Ciabatta croutons, what could be better?
I’m quite passionate when it comes to soups and as I’ve mentioned in one of my previous posts, the fact that soup makes the cut as a main-meal in my books, was something my husband had to grow use to. Soups are one of those dishes you just need to try, throw yourself into it with abandon and gain the confidence you need to make them following simply your nose and your taste buds. Once you’re there, the options are endless! When I think of soups, I think of a dear friend of mine who would ask me the same question over and over, “how much stock or water do I add?”. The answer was always the same,”…I don’t know, about 1 liter, you need to taste it and see”. It comes down to feel and getting the seasoning and thickness just right, so there is a little skill in making a good soup, I must admit.
Roast Tomato Soup
(Makes 8-10 portions)
Ingredients:
1 onions, roughly chopped
2 tins whole, peeled tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tbsp tomato paste
4-6 whole organic tomato’s
roasted vine tomato’s for garnish (optional)
2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tsp brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
fresh basil/parsley/sage to serve
1 liter vegetable stock
Ciabatta bread
1/4 cup good quality olive oil (for croutons)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Cut all the tomatoes in quarters, place them in a roasting tray and drizzle them sparingly with olive oil.
Season with salt and black pepper.
Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.
In a large pot, slowly saute the onions and the garlic until soft and translucent.
Add the soft, roasted tomatoes and the tinned tomatoes.
Add about 750ml of vegetable stock to the pot and bring to the boil. Turn the neat down and simmer for 20 minutes.
Blend the soup with hand held blender until smooth and add the sugar.
Taste the soup and dilute with the remaining stock, if needed. Adjust the seasoning.
To make the croutons: Tear the bread into chunky, bite-sized pieces. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast until they are golden brown and crispy.
Serve this soup with croutons, fresh herbs and a drizzle of good quality olive oil.
Canadian Buttermilk Pancakes (Guest blogger is our daughter Nelleke Elston)
Does the world really need another pancake recipe, is a good question to ask at this stage… I thought I’d share my story of how I became known as the ‘pancake-asaurus’ in our family. Yes, that was one of those little family words that we took the liberty of making up based on the amount of fluffy Canadian pancakes I could pack away, leaving my bigger brothers in the dust at age three. As I’ve mentioned on my blog before, my childhood was filled with vibrant adventures with my family that took us from living in a desert country on the West Coast of Africa to a small village in Canada where my father worked as a doctor. If there’s one thing that the Canadians added to our quirky array of culinary favourites it is breakfast pancakes with maple syrup and bacon. To this day when we have family gatherings it usually involves my father (who’s specialties include this, and cooking fish to absolute perfection) to don my mother’s apron and get his hands dirty
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First impressions: Food Presentation
My daughter is a food stylist and opened my eyes to the importance of food presentation. We eat with our eyes before we taste with our mouths…
Broad Beans and Green Beans
We have just harvested the first beans of the season. I just have to share our daughter’s memories of harvesting beans with you:
Long before I knew I would make a career of my passion for food, my childhood summers were marked by warm evenings congregated around the kitchen table, top- and tailing beans. In winter, my brothers and I were asked to squeezed one liter of orange juice per day as part of our daily chores and together with the bean harvest, these were the rhythms that marked the seasons of my childhood. As long as I can remember my father has been a keen vegetable gardener. He fought the odds in the harsh Namibian climate by building an elaborate shaded frame over his vegetable garden; and during one short summer spent in Canada, filled our basement with the sweetest sweet corn and buttery new potatoes. My mother has had to become very creative with my father’s harvests, be it spinach, broad beans or rhubarb there is always more than needed! She’s had to come up with a number of ways to preserve and capture the deliciousness for another day or season and this broad bean and garlic spread is just one of those recipes.
It is grapefruit time
It is grapefruit time again and when my guest told me how much she enjoyed her grapefruit starter (a take on Bircher Muesli served with grapefruit) I remembered how my daughter loved her grapefruit. As she remembers: ‘ When I was a little girl my mother would give me half a grapefruit sprinkled with sugar, each segment delicately cut loose for me to eat it more easily. I still remember that bittersweet deliciousness, it’s such a fond memory, but thinking about it now I realize it was quite unusual for me to be eating, not to mention enjoying grapefruit at that age! Somewhere along the line, probably when I started doing my own shopping and choosing what to fill my fruit bowl with, grapefruit didn’t quite make the cut and many years passed without me giving them much notice.’
Cooking demonstration exchange : Dolmathes for Bobotie…
I think I should offer cooking class exchanges officially on my website! I was delighted when Dani, who lives in London, but is of Greek descent, offered to teach me how to make dolmathes using the new leaves from our vine. Last year I exchanged recipes with an Ukrainian guest and in December we had guests from Mumbai who demonstrated and cooked us a traditional Indian meal. What fun! Not only do they learn something about South Africa food, but they get an opportunity to have a home cooked meal and we get an opportunity to eat something exotic.
I never realised that Dolmades are cooked in a tomato sauce (either in the oven or on hob over very low setting) Dani showed me how to use two plates as weight to ensure that the Dolmades remain covered in this delicious, buttery tomato sauce.