Summer Entertaining

How fitting that it's one of the most gorgeous summer days today... Possibly it's more noticeable because it's that time of summer when you realize that the days are getting a little cooler and you'd better appreciate every sunny, wind-free day you've got!

This brought me to the thought of outdoor entertaining, something I personally think I've got down to a fine art. I can honestly say that I am at my happiest when I've got a glass of chilled white wine in my hand and I am sitting around a huge table with friends and family eating in a relaxed, alfresco style. Forget courses, just bring everything out at once, sharing across the table from platters.

I have a few 'old faithfuls' when it comes to easy entertaining. This post will have to be a little bit of a series of blog posts, as it includes four great recipes: a quiche, a gallete (shared on the previous post), a classic bunt-style cake and a easy seasonal salad.

Mushroom, asparagus and mince Quiche
(8-10 portions)

Pastry:
155g butter
280g cake flour
45ml water

Ingredients:
45 ml olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
200g tomato paste
10 ml cumin powder
500g lean beef mince
250g white button mushrooms
250g brown mushrooms
1 tin whole tomatoes
a bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
salt and black pepper
3 eggs
300 ml full cream milk
fine greens beans or asparagus

Method:
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.

Place the flour and the cold butter in a food processors and buzz until it looks like bread crumbs. Add the water and continue until it all comes together.

Wrap the dough in cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface and line a buttered 30cm cake tin.

Place the tart case in the fridge to rest for 20 minutes.

Prick it with a fork and bake it blind for 10 minutes. Remove the wax paper and bake for a further 10 minutes, until golden brown.

For the filling:

In a big pot, saute the onions and the garlic until translucent.

Add the tomato paste and the cumin and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Add the mince and brown mushrooms and cook until the mince is cooked through.

Add the parsley and the tinned tomatoes, turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add salt and pepper, taste and adjust seasoning, if needed.

Fill the crust with the mince filling and arrange the asparagus and raw button mushrooms on top.

Mix the eggs and the milk, season and pour this over the top of the quiche.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown and set.

Allow to cool before serving.

Garnish with fresh parsley leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.

Roast butternut, pumpkin seeds and feta Salad

This is such a classic combo, you can't really go wrong with feta and butternut, ever.

This salad doesn't require so much of a recipe as just the right proportions. So for 8-10 people, roast 1 large butternut in the oven until soft and sweet.

I usually use 3 rounds of feta cheese, crumbled or cut in blocks and a handful of pumpkin seeds. A tip, and trust me on this one, toast the pumpkin seeds in a pan just until they begin to pop and allow them to cool, this will make all the difference!

For the dressing, I drizzle the salad with good quality olive oil just before serving and then the secret ingredient is balsamic reduction, this is now available at most supermarkets.

Season well with black pepper and salt and you're good to go!

Baby potato salad with watercress and radishes

Okay, it's official, Spring is here. This is a beautiful salad for a garden lunch and is prefect for this time of the year. It's still hearty, but has a lovely Summer freshness and crisp.

I love potato salad and love trying new and different ingredients in them... It all started when I visited Dublin and went to Cornucopia, this gorgeous little vegetarian cafe that serves good 'honest' food. You could immediately tell by the ques of vastly diverse people waiting to be seated every lunch time that there was something special about their food. I didn't quite get that term 'honest food' until I visited Cornucopia... One of their acclaimed dishes from their daily buffet menu is their potato salad with hazelnuts and home made garlic mayonnaise. Amazing! A serious surprise to me and it's taken me down the slippery slope of adding nuts and seeds to most things...be it an open sandwich or a simple green salad. 

 

So apart from Cornucopia's salad, next on my list of amazing potato salads is this one. A simple vinaigrette of red wine vinegar, whole grain mustard and good quality olive oil drizzled over warm potatoes. Oh and garlic, did I forget the garlic? ...I used the pink skinned potatoes for something a little different and added some radishes for a fresh crunch.

 

 

Ingredients:

(makes 4-5 portions)

 

16 baby potatoes

5 radishes

a bunch of watercress

1 punnet of sugar snap peas

a handful of frozen peas (optional)

salt and black pepper, to taste

a handful of fresh basil leaves

 

Dressing:

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

6 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp whole grain mustard

1 garlic clove, finely chopped 

salt and black pepper

 

Method:

 

Firstly, half fill a pot with water and wash the potatoes.

Add a pinch of salt to the water and put the potatoes in the pot. Bring them to the boil.

Make the vinaigrette by adding all the ingredients into an empty jam jar or bottle and give it a good shake.

When the potatoes are soft drain them and cut them in half. Drizzle the dressing over them while they are still hot. They'll absorb the delicious flavours.

Allow them to cool. Blanch the peas by pouring boiling water over them and allowing them to stand for 5 minutes or so. Drain them.

Toss all the other ingredients together and garnish the salad with freshly torn basil leaves.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Panzanella Salad

The reason I love this salad is that it's simple to make and it consists of some of my favourite ingredients... Fresh buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes, capers, red onion - how can theses delicious flavours not create something awe-inspiring together!

I thought I'd share the story of my first taste of buffalo mozzarella, the real thing. When I was living in Dublin, working long night shifts in a French bakery, I lived with a young Italian woman (I thought that was the best way to describe her). She was everything you'd expect an Italian woman to be, confident, matter- of-fact and a lover of food, of course. So every now and again when our busy schedules would coincide and we'd bump into one another (quite literally) in our tiny kitchenette and I would subtly ask her all sorts of questions about authentic Italian cooking.
So, when she heard that I hadn't ever eaten real buffalo mozzarella (the kind that pulls apart in layers and is good enough to eat on it's own with only course salt and black pepper) she couldn't believe it.

Her parents were due to arrive for a visit in the week to follow, so she asked them to bring a mozzarella cheese all the way from Italy! To this day, I am not exactly sure of the long journey it travelled to our little kitchen, but I do know that it involved a train journey and a flight. Sure enough, they arrived proudly with a huge  mozzarella ball gently floating in it's brind packaged in a polystyrene box! And to say it was the most delicious mozzarella, and that I have since not tasted anything close to the delicate flavour and soft texture of that very cheese, wouldn't be an exaggeration.

My mother introduced me to Panzanella salad. It was after one of her European holidays that she came back raving about this simple and delicious salad. This is my version and is  probably a little more modern and not quite so authentic. I make chunky croutons from slightly stale ciabatta which is so addictive! What doesn't get eaten while making the salad gets used in it, so make double the quantity needed, trust me on this one. Enjoy!

Panzanella Salad

(Makes 4-6 portions)

2 big buffalo mozzarella balls, torn
1 red pepper, roasted, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp capers/caper berries
1 red onion, thinly sliced
300g tomatoes (plum, vine, rosa)
1/3 loaf of crusty, stale bread
1/4 cup good quality olive oil
salt and black pepper
a bunch of basil leaves
6-8 anchovies (optional)
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

Method:

Break the bread into bite sized chunks, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven until golden and crispy.
Toss all the ingredients together, keeping everything chunky.
Make a simply vinaigrette by whisking the red wine vinegar into half of the olive oil. Drizzle this over everything and toss the salad.
Garnish with fresh torn basil leaves and the finely chopped red pepper.

Grapefruit

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 bitter sweet deliciousness, it's such a fond memory, but thinking about it now I realise 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 made the cut and many years passed without me giving them much notice.

Then, a few months ago, a Taiwanese friend of mine invited my husband and I over for a traditional meal prepared by his mother who was visiting at the time. I was flattered that she wanted to teach me a traditional (with a South Africa twist) version of a rice flour tray-cake. So there I was, learning a little about Asian-style baking, a real first for me. For one, a small bowl was used for measurements, which generally seemed less precise and a lot more about 'feel'.

When we had all eaten more than our fare share and were waiting for the cake to cool, his mom disappeared into the kitchen and came back bearing gifts - a yellowish grapefruit and spiky dragon fruit! I had only seen dragon fruit in Indonesia at the road side stalls but was never brave enough to buy one. She told us that she had grown the tree herself from a fruit many years ago. We all sat around the dining room table sipping cup after cup of jasmine tea and nibbling on the most delicious grapefruit and dragon fruit chunks. The grapefruit was a variety that I hadn't tasted before with a more yellow peel and a light pink coloured flesh, just beautiful.

It's as if my appetite for grapefruit has been reawakened and I have since come up with some adventurous recipes using them.
Here are two inspirational ideas if you share my sentiments about the very under appreciated grapefruit.

   
Firstly, I made a beautiful salad with locally smoked salmon trout, grapefruit segments, radishes and radicchio, using grapefruit juice in my vinaigrette. Another idea is when roasting beetroot in the oven, add some slices of grapefruit to sweeten and caramelise in the pan with the beetroot, add some blanched baby leeks and you've got a delicious veggie side dish. 

Enjoy!

Pomegranates in Winter

I simply can’t let this winter go by without featuring one of my favourite fruits in season this time of the year, the pomegranate. I first fell in love with the crisp flavour and beautiful colour of pomegranate seeds while travelling in India. Along the roadsides men would sell freshly squeezed fruit juice blended to order. Cut plastic bottles containing the fruit, lined the stalls and among them were always handfuls of pomegranate seeds, which was my obvious choice. The fruit was often liquidized with manual aluminum juicers, something we only find in antique shops, yet the whole livelihood of an extended family was reliant on this one juicer and a steady supply of fresh fruit. The juice was then strained through a sieve and served with a smile in a rinsed reused plastic cup, Indian-style.

Pomegranates are native to the Iranian Plateau and North Indian Himalayas but they are now cultivated in various parts of the world from the Mediterranean, to the East and even in South Africa. There are many varieties with different coloured arils (seed castings) ranging from deep red to a subtle light pink with flavours ranging from sweet to sour depending on the ripeness.

My other fond memory of ruby red pomegranates is from Neil Island, the so-called fruit basket of the Andaman Islands. With limited Hindi words, and lots of smiles we befriended a man selling fruit from a stall pulled behind his bicycle. Every day he would cycle to the town centre, a buzzing concrete slab of vendors, where he’d sit cross legged in his mobile stall selling locally grown star fruit, mango’s and pomegranates to the passing locals and tourists.

I like to use pomegranate pips more as a garnish and add them without hesitation to any dish I think needs a little crunch and freshness this time of year, which seems to be more often than not – be it winter salads, cheese platters or desserts.

Quinoa, Herb and Pomegranate Seed Salad
Serves 4

Dressing:
Juice and zest of 1 orange
2 tbsp good quality extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar

Ingredients:
300g quinoa
½ vegetable stock cube
75g pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 pomegranate, seeds removed
20g mint, chopped (a small handful)
20g coriander, chopped (a small handful)

Method:
Cook the quinoa by boiling three times the volume of water to quinoa, adding the ½ stock cube to the water. Once the water comes to the boil, place a lid on the pot and simmer on a low heat for approximately 10 minutes or until all the water has cooked away and the quinoa is light and fluffy.
Allow the quinoa to cool.
Meanwhile, make the dressing by adding all the ingredients into an empty glass jar and giving it a good shake. Once all the ingredients are combined pour this over the quinoa.
Toss the roasted pine nuts, the pomegranate seeds and the fresh herbs into the salad.
Season the salad with salt and pepper, to taste and serve as an accompaniment to lamb chops or a Middle Eastern-style dish.

Lemony Ricotta Cheese Cake with Pomegranate PipsServes 6

Ingredients:
100g biscuits (Marie biscuits or Tennis biscuits)
1/3 cup butter, melted
3 cups ricotta cheese
½ cup cream
¾ cup castor sugar
2 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp cake flour
3 extra large eggs
Juice and zest of 1 large lemon
1 pomegranate, seeds/arils removed

Method:
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
Blend the biscuits to fine crumbs in a food processor.
Mix the melted butter with the crumbs.
Press mixture into a greased 20cm spring form cake tin and refrigerate while you make the cheese cake filling.
Beat the ricotta cheese, the cream, castor sugar, flour, corn flour and eggs together until they are smooth.
Stir in the lemon juice and the zest.
Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for one hour. Increase the temperature to 180 degrees Celsius and bake for a further 10 minutes until set and golden brown.
Allow the cake to cool in the tin, remove and refrigerate overnight.
Serve cold sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and mint leaves.
Optionally drizzle the cake with pomegranate syrup found in most delicatessens.

Summer Salads

I am so easily inspired to cook at this time of the year. All I need is to walk through the markets and breathe in the sweet, distinctly summer smells of peaches, watermelon, mango’s. The first thing that comes to mind is the many delicious salads recipes I’ve collected and created over the years. Also, I also can’t resist making brightly coloured stir fries and clear broths like the ones I tasted in Malaysia – healthy, light summer food.

Summer to me is a season of simple dishes, of reusing leftovers and creating something delicious out of what you have in your fridge or if you’re lucky, your garden! It’s a time when we should enjoy the outdoors and cooking should be kept simple and fun involving the whole family!

I recently visited my parents in George, what a pleasure harvesting a basin of rhubarb and little tart nectarines from the garden – stewed with brown sugar and a vanilla pod for ten minutes, this makes the most delicious breakfast compote! I love the challenge of using what’s fresh and the luxury of walking into the garden to pick a handful of herbs for my sauce bubbling on the stove.

Using fruit in savoury dishes is nothing new to us South Africans, with our love for chutneys and atchars stemming from the Malays. These are two faithful recipes that have stuck with me since the watermelon salad trend hit our shores. Feel free to change the ratio’s slightly to suit your taste. Rope in the kids, get chopping and enjoy the taste of summer!


Watermelon, Rocket and Feta Salad
(Serves 6)

Ingredients:
¼ ripe watermelon
60g or two handfuls of rocket leaves
6 sprigs of mint
½ tub of plain feta cheese
Handful of toasted pumpkin seeds
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:
Cut the watermelon into bight sized blocks and remove as many of the seeds as possible.
Toast the pumpkin seeds and set aside to cool.
Wash the rocket and the mint leaves.
Cut the feta cheese into cubes.
Toss all the salad ingredients together.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste
Sprinkle the seeds on top of the salad.
Lastly, chop the mint leaves or simply break them off the stem and leave them whole.
To serve, drizzle a balsamic reduction and a light olive oil over the salad.



This recipe is one that I used frequently when I was managing a café with a daily lunch buffet. This salad was never served without raving reviews from the customers - the salty pork sausages and the sweet nectarines taste magical together!


Plum and Pork Sausage Salad
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:
4 nectarines
1 head of fennel, finely sliced
2 small butter lettuce heads
½ cucumber, peeled and sliced
8 pork sausages, cooked and diagonally sliced
50 ml extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic reduction, to drizzle
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:
· Cut the nectarines into wedges, discarding the pip.
· Wash your lettuce leaves well and pat dry.
· Fry the pork sausages in a hot pan until cooked and set them aside to cool.
· Arrange the plums, fennel, greens, and the cucumber on a platter and top with the sausages.
· Season with salt and milled black pepper. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, just before serving.

Beetroot Salads

My earliest childhood memory of beetroot is seeing the creamy pink, ring gelatine moulds that brought life to the tressle tables at the church bazaar. At four, I remember being captivated by this intensely pink vegetable and liking it instinctively. Many years have past and my love of beetroot hasn’t waned, so much so that I dreamt up this lentil and caramelised beetroot recipe as the starter on my wedding menu.

Bright pink beetroot pancakes, rich beetroot and chocolate cake… The colour and flavour of beetroot adds playfulness to any dish. It can be prepared in a variety of ways, making it enjoyable to experiment with. Apart from that, this sweet-tasting root is rich in folic acid and potassium, as well as having detoxifying properties. If you buy beetroot with the leaves on, chop them roughly and add them to your salad; they are as rich in iron and vitamin C as spinach leaves.

Here are two innovative beetroot salad recipes that are sure to give any lunch or dinner party that wow- factor.
Enjoy!

Lentil and Caramelised Beetroot Salad with crème fraiche dressing
(Makes 4 portions)

Ingredients:
2 cups of uncooked green/brown lentils
2 tbsp olive oil
4-6 beetroots
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
250 ml crème fraiche
1 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Pinch of salt and ground black pepper
150-200g mixed lettuce leaves
Small bunch dill leaves/chives

Method:

Wash the beetroot well under running water. Bring salted water to the boil in a pot, add the beetroot and boil until they are tender. Drain and allow them to cool. Gently peel the outer skin off with your hands and slice the beetroots into wedges.
Cover the lentils with water in a small pot. Add a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, adding water to cover the lentils, as needed. Boil until soft, and then drain. While hot, drizzle with 2 tbsp of olive oil and season with salt and ground black pepper.
To make the syrup, carefully melt the brown sugar on a medium heat. Add the balsamic vinegar and the spices. Toss the beetroot wedges in the syrup on a low heat until the beetroots are coated and sticky. Remove from the heat and allow them to cool in the syrup.
Wash the leaves and toss them in a light olive oil. Finely chop the dill or the chives and mix this and the lemon juice into the crème fraiche.
To assemble the salad, place a bed of lentil on each plate. Drizzle the remaining balsamic reduction over the lentils. Arrange the beetroots and lettuce leaves on top with dollops of crème fraiche to serve.

Variations: Serve this salad with flaked, hot smoked salmon as a dinner starter or add orange segments for a fresh summer lunch.

For an absolute treat: peel the beets and chop them in quarters. Toss them in extra-virgin olive oil, a drizzle of runny honey and a dash of good quality balsamic vinegar with a few sprigs of thyme. Slowly roast the beetroot for 20-30 minutes on 180 degrees Celsius or until soft and caramelized. The result is smokey, sweet beetroot wedges to use in a salad or serve as a side dish

Beetroot ‘Carpaccio’ with seasonal greens
(Makes 4-6 salad portions)

Ingredients:

4-6 medium sized beetroots
60 ml olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp basil pesto
Salt and milled black pepper
150-200 g mixed greens
Basil leaves for garnish
Onion sprouts

Method:

Boil the beetroot until tender but not soft, firm enough to thinly slice.
Allow them to cool and peel the outer skin off with your hands.
Thinly slice them on a mandolin or with a sharp knife and lay out on a plate.
To make the marinade, combine the vinegar, the olive oil and the pesto with a pinch of salt and ground black pepper.
Drizzle the marinade over the beetroot, cover and allow to infuse for a few hours in the fridge.
To serve, lay the beetroot out slightly overlapping on a plate and make a small salad in the middle. Drizzle the left over marinade over as a dressing.
Garnish with basil leaves and sprouts.