Vlaamse karbonade/ Carbonnade a la flamande and stoemp(f)

Translation: A delicious beer and beef stew and mashed veggies from Belgium.

In preparation for my trip to Brussels next year, we delved into the wonders of Belgian cuisine... much to our satisfaction!

Making the Vlaamse Karbonade

Brown beef (1 kilo) and 2 slices of bacon in a dot a butter, fry 3 big onions (finely chopped), add 250g of small button mushrooms and add the meat back in with about 3 springs of fresh thyme and 2 bay leaves.

Add in a bottle (about 350ml) of beer to cover the above.

For the stove: If you need a bit more to cover the contents add 1.5 cups of stock to your dutch oven and simmer for 2-3 hours.

For a pressure cooker: add stock until the contents is just covered for half an hour. This is the meathod we used- pressure cookers are rather amazing!

Making the Stoemp(f)

Cook about 4 big potatoes and 6 medium carrots (all chopped) in water with 1 tspn salt (just covered) for 30 min until soft. Drain the veg and use the pot to fry a slice of bacon in a blob of butter with 2 finely chopped leeks. Once cooked, finely slice the bacon and put in back in the pot with the drained veggies. Mash well and add a bit of cream/stock/milk to make it a bit smoother.

Serve the Karbonade over the stoemp if you like. We enjoyed it with a 50% rye load from Pick n Pay. I give this meal a hearty 10/10!

smoked haddock onigiri with sweet and sour sauce

Hm, I love sushi rice... Today we had smoked haddock onigiri for lunch with a delicious sweet and sour sauce and a dollop of wasabi on the side.

This simple japanese recipe is easier to make than sushi because it doesn't have to be as neat. Basically it's a rice ball wrapped in a strip of nori and filled with a tasty something.

You simple make your sushi rice:

Place short grain white japanese rice and water in a 1:1.15 ratio on high heat until it boils.

Lower the heat for a further 8-10 minutes (for me it takes at least 15 min for the rice to soften - think I turn the heat down too low)

When the rice is cooked and all the water is absorbed, fan the sushi with a piece of cardboard or something like that, stirring it gently with a wooden/plastic spoon.

In the mean time, fry a haddock fillet plainly in a small square of butter.

If you have powdered wasabi, start mixing it with water and letting it heat up too.

Prepare a bowl of salty water to rinse you hands in before working with the rice.

Put your lefthand fingers at a 90degree angle with your palm and make an even layer of rice.

Select a small piece of the cooked fish and put it in the 'valley' area you created with your hand and the rice. Press it down as you close your hand and make the rice into a ball.

Once you are satisfied with the shape of your rice ball, wrap it with a strip of nori and make sure it's stuck down well all over.

If you want something different to plain soy sauce for dipping try this quick sweet and sour sauce:

Fry a small square of ginger and about 2 cloves of garlic (both finely chopped). Add about 40ml water, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 3 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons vinegar. Bring the sauce to the boil and sprinkle with corn flour to thicken it. I like it more runny than thick.

Serve your rice balls next to a dollop of that wasabi and your tasty dipping sauce.Yum!!!

Of course you can use basically any filling you like, even sweet and sour pork, teriyaki chicken or dumplings!

These can be stored in the fridge and are great for bento boxes or pick-nicks (fridging them settles the starch and makes the onigiri more firm).

sorbet adventure

I tried to make a berry sorbet... The recipe involved puree-ing berries with a dash of lemon juice and a swig of gin. I left out the gin and pulped up a granny smith apple (my favourite kind of apple) - to make the berries go a bit further -with a handful of blackberries and a double handful of strawberries. I added a squirt of lemon juice and then froze it.

It froze solid. So I defrosted it and then froze it partially, stirred it and froze it a bit more. It's very tasty indeed- yum! Although I realise now that the gin would have prevented the sorbet from freezing completely!

Beetroot couscous

I haven't posted something in a while... before I forget how I made that tasty beetroot salady couscous, I thought to mention it here.

I peeled a bunch of bright, cooked beetroot and cooked about the same amount of wholewheat couscous and a sprinkle of salt. I mixed that together with a swig of flaxseed oil (olive oil will do fine too), a generous sprinkle of dukkah, a roughly chopped spring onion and three small dried chillies. I then served the dark pink mixture topped with a big blob of bulgarian yoghurt -yum!

Angle Fish and Green Beans

The most exciting meal I made this week was a simple dish that took 25 min for preparation and cooking time (I somehow only cooked twice this week!).

The advantage of having a microwave oven that allows for grilling and convection cooking is that it also has wonderful setting which make perfectly cooked fish. The disadvantage however is that it makes me rather brainless- I don't think I would do well cooking fish in a pan :/ Anyway, with our lovely Defy DMO 332, you simply pop in the fish, set the weight and then START. It usually takes about 20 minutes to do just over half a kilo of fish. Because we hadn't had Angel Fish in a while, I seasoned it lightly with garlic, salt and olive oil to make sure that we could still taste the fish.

In South Africa, well, at least in Cape Town, Angel Fish can be bought at Pick 'n Pay for R29,99/kilo at the fresh fish section in season (from about August). For me this is a quite a bargain as I prefer the tastier, firmer fishes that the flaky ones, like Hake, which also seems to be more expensive.

Angelfish are also called "Brama brama" and the "Atlantic Pomfret". They live at depths of up to 1km and measure between 40 - 100cm. The fish are usually flat and have a distinctive taste, but aren't too fishy. They don't look anything like the small, stripy Angelfish you may have in mind:

Image from : http://www.wwfsassi.co.za (a good source of information for supporting safe, sustainable fishing)

The 400g green beans needed about 5 min of steaming. Next I fried a bit of garlic, about 2,5cm thinly peeled and sliced ginger with a touch of sesame seed oil and a little more vegetable oil. I'm not sure how much flavour that teaspoon of peanut oil I added made a difference, but anyway. I then fried the beans in this and added a sprinkling of soy sauce. If I'm adding soy sauce I never add salt, since it's rather unnecessary and I hate over-salted dishes.

If you can get them both ready at the same time, they make a wonderful (and wonderfully healthy) pair.

Chilli Harvest!

Even though it's winter, our 4 small chilli bushes have been working overtime to produce some wonderfully spicy treats!

Miso Soup

My husband and I made some Miso soup for supper and although it wasn't truly authentic, it was truly delicious!

We fried 3 leeks, 500g brown mushrooms and a touch of garlic and then added in
2 tbspn of chicken stock powder dissolved in 1.5L of water. We struggled to find dashi stock in our area of the world, so chicken stock had to do. We simmered this for about 10 min before stiring in about 2 tbspn of Mitoku Hatcho Miso paste (which lasts a long time btw!).

Just before serving (once off the heat) we added some chopped fresh coriander, half a sheet of torn nori, diced spring onions and if we had had tofu, we would have added it at this point.

Hatcho miso had many apparent health benefits, whcih you can read more about here:
http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/network/english/newsletter/japan_guide_06.html

Tuna Wraps with a Japanese Vinaigrette

For supper today, we got the tortillas out the fridge and ate them cold with tuna and a Japanese viniagrette. I would suggest warming the tortillas on the stove in a dry pan before eating them once cold - or else they go brittle and a bit bready.

This is how I made the Japanese viniagrette:

3 tbspn canola oil

2 tbspn vinegar

1 tbspn sesame seed oil

1 tbspn soy sauce

1 tspn lemon juice

pinch of suagr

sesame seeds (we didn't have these so I improvised with spring onion).

Mayan Tortillas

For supper today we had Mayan themed tortillas from scratch. Mayans used to use a farming system called "Three Sisters", in which they plant beans, squash and maize together. The beans climb up the maize stalks and provide nitrogen to the soil while the squash prevents the growth of weeds and it's leaves act as a compost and it's hairs are uninviting to insects. When beans and maize is eaten together, they compliment each other nutritionally.*

I made the tortillas first. They can be frozen in plastic for a couple of weeks, so I made a double batch. These are plain flour tortillas (kind of like wraps) as it is very difficult to find lime soaked flour, the kind used to make Nachos in South Africa. Below is what you would do for a single batch, which should make 8:

Tortillas

Sift 2 c cake flour with tsp salt and 1.5 tsp baking powder. Mix in 3/4c lukewarm milk, 2 tsp vegetable oil and knead. Let it rest for about 15 minutes before dividing into 8 balls. The resting is important as it prevents the dough from stretching together again, as far as I understand. Then fry these, once rolled out as thinly as possible, on a high heat in a dry pan and flip over when they start blistering.

My double batch only made about 13 tortillas, but they were ok to use (not too thick, brittle or crispy). I also ad-libbed a bit by adding some dried oregano, thyme, Chipotle Tabasco, cayenne pepper and a dash of sesame seed oil to the mixture for extra flavour.

Topping

For the topping, cut up an avocado and pour a bit of lemon juice over it.

Next scoop out the fleshy insides of a well-cooked gem squash.

Defrost some frozen mielies/corn.

If you have some sour cream and/or refried black beans at hand, those will go nicely.

For extra spice, finely chop up a Habernero. I grow some in my garden, and one was enough for 4 tortillas!

This was a very filling and tasty and healthy meal! We already had the beans, and the vegetables where easy to prepare!

If you're interested in Mayan cuisine, here's a good place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_cuisine

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(agriculture)

Black Bean and Gammon Soup

Origional recipe: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/black_bean_soup/

Adaption:

2 cups dry black beans soaked and drained makes 4/5 cups of soaked beans.

*Buy black beans at a Spice Emporium or Wellness Warehouse (it's cheaper at the Wellness Warehouse)

450g gammon

1 large yellow onion, chopped fine

1 medium sweet potato, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (can substitute 2 large carrots)

1/2 carrot, chopped fine

4 medium garlic cloves, minced

1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 teaspoon chile powder

2 bay leaves

4 cups chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp molasses

3 to 4 Tbsp lime juice (can substitute lemon juice)

For garnishing:

Chopped fresh cilantro

Sour cream

Avocado, peeled and chopped

Method

Fry onion and gammon in your pressure cooker.

Add all other ingredients except lemon juice and toppings. Cook for 30 minutes.

Serve with lemon juice and garnishes.

Plum salad, pineapple salad

Pineapple Salad

Mix well together in a bowl:
1 chopped&cubed pineapple
1 very spicy, fresh and juicy red chilli, VERY finely chopped
A handful of peppermint leaves

If you like, you can add the saucy chilli juice on the chopping board left after chopping over the top.

The Times has this tasty PLUM SALAD idea... Yes, savoury plums! try it!
http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Lifestyle/Article.aspx?id=936333

Ingredients:
2 red plums
2 yellow plums
1 pillow pack mixed salad greens
Handful of sunflower and pumpkin seeds
Small wedge of blue cheese, crumbled
Parmesan shavings

Dressing:
Handful of parsley, chopped
50ml olive oil
Salt and pepper
30ml red wine vinegar
5ml honey

Method:
# On a serving plate arrange all salad ingredients except the Parmesan.
# Sprinkle over the shavings of cheese.
# Mix all the dressing ingredients and drizzle over salad just before serving.

Easy Flapjack-Crumpets

2 cups plain flour
* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* 3 teaspoons baking powder
* 3 eggs
* 1 cup milk
* 30 g melted butter

Direction
Mix everything, leaving butter for last.
Grease a flat bottomed frying pan or griddle.
Drop or pour small amounts of batter onto griddle.
Turn and cook other side when bubbles break on surface of crumpet.
Heat should be medium to get a deep, even golden colour.
Serve warm with butter and jam sandwiched together. "
OR WITH CREAM!! I had this for lunch today. It was very satisfying..and tasty! I only used a 1/2 cup of sugar though. They were sweet enough to eat plain like that. yumm. I'd like to make these with black berries in the batter!!!

spicy cocnut chicken sauce

melt a block of coconut cream in a pot,
add crushed ginger, garlic, chilli/ frechly chopped stuff
before the cream burns, add about 1 cup of milk and 2 cups water
2 tspns of cumin
1 tspn ginger
1tspn chicken stock
add 4 chopped chicken breasts
and 1 tin chickpeas
and a broccoli chopped
1 tspn salt
2 tspn nutty wheat to thicken
if you want added spiciness, add extra powdered ginger and chilli or cayene pepper :)

let it simmer for about 10 min or until the chicken is cooked.
serve on lentil brown rice!

bacon and spinach pasta

Pastas are also quick and easy! I cooked some macaroni and then fried the topping...
I fried a chopped onion with some chilli paste, garlic and bacon (you don't really need to add extra oil because bacon is so fatty), 2 choppped tomatoes and a pimento pepper. I added a teaspoon of paprika and some frozen spinach from a bag. One that had fried for about 10/15 minutes, I added it to the pasta and it was delious!

butternut couscous salad

Because couscous is so quick to make, I've been making quite a few meals with it lately.

For this salad, I roasted an onion, large yellow pepper and a butternut (all sliced) with some olive oil on 180'C for an hour. Once the couscous was cooked, I added the vegtables and then some fresh basil leaves from the garden. It was very simple, but very tasty.

red pepper and tomatoe cous cous

(Serves 3)
Fry half a red onion with a bit of fresh basil, a tspn of chilli paste and some baby tomatoes (careful not to pop them) and a big red pepper.
Add this to the cous cous (250g raw) once both look cooked and then mix it all together.
Add some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and top with crumbed feta and fresh basil.
For extra flavour, some garlic, cumin and coriander would go well frying with the tomatoes. To add bulk, add a can of chickpeas or kidney beans.

Ginger Juice Syrup

Today I made ginger juice syrup with left over stumps of ginger that are hard to peel (you don't NEED to peel them for this). Wash them and then add them and equal amounts of water and sugar. Dissolve this over the heat in a saucepan. At a half-sticky/half-watery consistency, remove this from the heat and add to water to make a tasty 'juice-concentrate'.

If you want to make real syrup to use on flapjacks and whatnot, bring it to a gentle boil until sticky. Hmmm. I think this is the best use for this. You get the most out of the taste.

leaves or You could use this sugar-water in a saucepan idea for any flavourings you like... try adding mint, lemon juice... or both. Or pineapple sage.

Sesame Pita Bread

Pita bread, as it is know in Southern Africa, is a flat wheat bread of Mediterranean origin with a pocket into which one can put various delicious fillings. It's very tasty! Pita can also be healthy as one can substitute the flour for whole wheat flour!


Upon seeing the price of pita bread in the shops, I suddenly decided it might be cheaper to make my own. I thought it should be fairly easy since there are so few ingredients.. I found a great recipe at www.thefreshloaf.com. For me, a great recipe is one that's quite easy to follow and apply. The recipe helpfully explains why each of the ingredients is important and how they work together.

The amount of preparation is huge (a LOT of waiting and waiting), but results are pleasing and well worth it. This was my first time making any sort of bread and it came out well even though I deviated from the recipe a bit.
To make it extra tasty and extra browned, I thought sesame seed oil would be a good substitute for normal/olive oil and treacle (sugar) for normal sugar. I think these ingredients where a bit heavy because some of my breads where just flat (with no pockets). But they were GOLDEN and slightly sweet. They also had that lovely extra Mediterranean taste...HMMMM!

I say that because tahini, one of the main ingredients for humus, is a sesame seed paste (which I also tried to make but didn't quite succeed). And they're always putting sesame seeds into Mediterranean salads and so on. Anyway, although my pita's were a bit heavy, they tasted fine!

Another reason why some of my breads might've come out flat is because I might've made them too thin before I put them in the oven. The thicker ones seemed to rise easier. So, I'd say er on the side of thickness.


AND... washing up is so easy! I used one bowl for mixing and a large cutting board on which I rolled, kneaded and let my delicious dough rise. The pan you turn upside-down and it hardly gets any dirt on it.