Gastronom(nomnom)y

Ommggggg s’mores caramel corn

Yay!!!

This is a potato and fried pea pattie. So, so great! I have no words.

Riverwalk Tandoori

NACHOS PIZZA!

Made with:

Mexican Mozzarella (or use Gouda), Mozzarella, Beans Mix, Picco de Gallo, Red Onion, Jalapenos and Sour Cream & Gaucamole on top.

Pico de Gallo:
Chop 3 jalapenos, 5 plum tomatoes and a small red onion into a very small dice. (Leave seeds in your jalapenos for a hotter pico). Adjust amount of jalapenos to your preferred temperature. Next, chop up a nice-sized bunch of coriander. I use the stems in the bean mix. Place all of these ingredients together in a bowl and give it a good stir. Squeeze in the juice of half a lime, taste. Add salt, if needed.

Guacamole:
Start with buttery-soft avocados. Halve them lengthwise and remove the pits. Next, with a spoon scrape the “meat” out onto a large plate. Next, with the bottom of a clean cup (or with a fork) mash the avocados, making sure to leave it relatively chunky. Add just a couple of shakes of salt to taste. Next, add a generous helping of Pico de Gallo. Fold together. Lastly squeeze the juice of half of a lime over the top. Give it one last stir.

Beans:
Everyone does beans different. I cook around 2 cans of mexican chilli beans over medium-low heat with cumin seeds (dry roasted and ground), thai red chilli, fresh jalapenos and preserved green peppers. I also use chopped coriander stems, paprika and black pepper, and a can of diced tomatoes. I stir until it’s all broken down. Then, I blend it. And add chopped coriander leaves.

Nachos pizza:
Make a base. Spread pizza sauce on base. Put dollops of bean mix and spread. Cherry tomatoes. Red onion. 2 different kinds of cheese. Bung it in a 400 F over. When it’s ready, put a generous helping of Pico de Gallo on it, and generous dollops of gaucamole and sour cream

Kiah’s Lemon Syrup Cake

• ½ cup (75g) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
• 1 ½ cup (240g) icing (confectioner’s) sugar, sifted
• 1 cup (120g) almond meal (ground almonds)
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind
• 6 eggwhites
• 180g butter, melted

lemon sour cream

• 1 cup (240g) sour cream
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon icing (confectioner’s) sugar, sifted

candied lemon slices

• 1 ½ cup (330g) caster (superfine) sugar
• ⅔ cups (160ml) water
• 4 lemons, thinly sliced

  Preheat oven to 180ºC (355ºF). Place the flour, icing sugar, almond meal and lemon rind in a bowl and mix well to combine. Add the eggwhite and butter and mix well to combine. Pour into a lightly greased 25cm-round cake tin lined with non-stick baking paper. Bake for 25–30 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate.

    To make the lemon sour cream, combine the sour cream, lemon juice and sugar and set aside.

    To make the candied lemon slices, place the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the lemon and bring to the boil. Cook for 12–15 minutes or until the syrup has thickened and the lemons are translucent. Pour the syrup over the cake and top with the lemon. I did this for around an hour, ladling syrup over the cake again and again, to really let it soak through and make a syrupy crust. I also found I had far too much syrup. Allow to cool and serve with the lemon sour cream.

Serves 2, for a week.

Carrot & Raisin (or Carrot & Cranberry) Cake

Ingredients

Cakes:

• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tbsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups olive oil or grapeseed oil
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups shelled walnuts, chopped (more whole or chopped for topping)
• 1 1/2 cups raisins or cranberries
• 2 cups of finely grated carrots
• 1 cup of drained crushed pineapple

Frosting:

• 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
• 2 1/2 cups of confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 9 inch cake pans. Cut out rounds of wax paper and place at bottoms of cake pans. Butter the top of the wax paper rounds.

2 Sift dry ingredients into a bowl. Add oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat well. Fold in chopped walnuts, dried fruit (raisins or cranberries), carrots and pineapple.

3 Pour batter into pans. Set on the middle rack of oven and bake for 45-50 minutes (shift positions of cakes front-to-back if necessary about halfway through), until edges have pulled away from sides and a toothpick or sharp knife tip inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a cake rack.

4 To prepare frosting, cream together the cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl. Slowly sift in the confectioners sugar and beat until mixture is free of lumps. Stir in vanilla and lemon juice.

5 Once cakes have cooled, frost. If you want, pile them on top of each other, sandwich style, with a layer of frosting in between. Sprinkle top with chopped walnuts or arrange walnut halves in a crown around the top. I overdid it with walnuts… so a small slice is pretty much a totally nutritious, full meal!

The spread at Mother’s Day! Clockwise from top left: Tandoori Chicken Salad, Cucumber and Green Chilli Raita & Sweet Potato, Fetta, Olive and Organic Homegrown Rocket Salad.

Cucumber and Green Chilli Raita

This raita complements everything and is SO DELICIOUS.

5 dl (2 cups) liquid unsweetened plain yogurt
2 fresh scallions
1-2 fresh green chilies
1 thumb-sized ginger root
1 garlic clove
1 cucumber
juice of 1 lemon
salt
cumin seeds
black pepper corns

Peel the cucumber and remove seeds with a spoon.

Pour the yoghurt into a bowl and coarsely grate the cucumber.

Purée ginger and garlic and mix in. Chop the chili and scallions. Reserve some for the decor and mix the rest in. They will provide crunchiness.

Heat cumin seeds in a dry saucepan until they smoke, then reduce to a powder with the peppercorns and salt. Add to the raita.

Leave at least one hour in the fridge before serving so that the flavors combine. This is an extraordinary accompaniment with a curry or tandoor-roasted meats. It provides an explosion of freshness - ginger, garlic, scallions, peppers on a soft, liquid yogurt-cucumber base. Always a success!

DAVID LEBOVITZ - Chocolate Sobet.

This sorbet is dreamy. You have no idea how friggin dreamy it is.

2 1/4 cups (555 ml) water
1 cup (200 g) sugar
3/4 cup (75 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
6 ounces (170 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large saucepan (yes, you must use a large one or it will bubble over. Trust me.), whisk together 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) of the water with the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Let it boil, continuing to whisk, for 45 seconds.

Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until it’s melted, then stir in the vanilla extract and the remaining 3/4 cup (180 ml) water. Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend for 15 seconds. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If the mixture has become too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.