Sudafrikah

Vietnam is to Spring roll
China is to Dumpling
South Africa is to:

A. Biltong
B. Warthog paté
C. Simba Crisps – Mrs. Balls Chutney Flavour
D. Bobotie
E. All of the above

My recent journey to South Africa brought me face-to-face with a number of spectacular (male lion), humbling (Cape Town Township), unusual (game meat patés), breathtaking (Table Mountain), and mouth-watering (Malva Pudding) things.

There were certainly moments I questioned my sanity before tucking in – what the Kwa-Mibili lodge lacked in the food department they made up for in personable service and amazing game drives. However, RL and I made up for lost eating in Franschhoek and Cape Town. With both Asian, European and African food on hand, we were spoilt for choice.

Franschhoek brought RL and I face-to-face with our first bobotie, a South African dish consisting of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-based topping. Franschhoek, known as the “gourmet capital of South Africa” was high on my list of places to visit. The highlight was the restaurant Kalfi's - specifically the bobotie, the pineapple and fresh olive salad, and the Malva pudding (an apricot cake served with hot custard).

Kalfi’s is the spot in Franschhoek that you don’t read about in guide books nor gets recommended as one of the town’s “hotspots”. It’s the “Cheers” tavern – the local hangout where literally everybody knows your name. Case in point, on our first night there the owner was over at our table – talking to us about plans for his next vacation. The atmosphere was relaxed, the food perfect, and the wine local and cheap. For two travellers a long way from home, it couldn’t have been more ideal.

Now if Kalfi’s is like Cheers then neighbouring Reuben’s is meant to be The French Laundry, complete with hard to book tables, celebrity chef and cookbooks for sale. Highly recommended by friends and travel guides alike, we’d managed to score a reservation for our second night in Franschhoek.

In a word, poo. Reuben’s was overpriced and over hyped. Ta’boot the service was slow and staff were rude. I mean really, you want me to kiss your @ss just because you work at Reuben’s? No thanks franks, I’m not impressed.

Another highlight of our eats in Franschhoek was lunch at La Petite Ferme. It helped that we had just finished a half day wine tour and La Petite Ferme also doubles as a vineyard. RL was spoilt for choice with a number of game options finally deciding to go the ostrich steak route. Personally I think I chose the front runner with a fig and pork burger served with a beetroot chutney and crispy pancetta.

Off to Cape Town we went, borrowing from a recent New York Times article we found ourselves at Noordhoek's finest, the Foodbarn, soaking up the sunshine and being served lunch by the adorable Ben. At a cheap R190 ($19 or £13) we gobbled up 3 courses and a carafe of wine each. On my menu:

1. Spicy prawn “pastille” served atop curried lentil tian, finished with raita and cardamom oil
2. Veal “paillarde” minute fried, served with a butternut & pine nut risotto, finished with a creamy garlic sauce & drops of cinnamon oil
And the pièce de résistance …
3. Sliced Chocolate and almond biscuit Yule log, served with toffee & vanilla sauce, finished with homemade hazelnut ice cream (I really don’t get the whole Yule log thing in March, but it worked so I forgive)

Of course none of this fabulous food was African inspired so RL and I made a few extra excursions for our daily bobotie fix, most notably at the Africa Café. While touristy in nature (and intention) we were able to eat our way around the great continent – covering off about half a dozen African countries and sampling a host of interesting dishes such as:

1. Tapioca bread baked with cheese and yogurt (fried cheese bread, delicious)
2. Spinach and mealie meal patties
3. Botswana Seswaa Masala (a game curry)
4. Mozambican piri piri dip (oh the joy of watching RL take a whole hunka in his mouth in one fell swoop…this alone was worth the price of dinner)

With the credit crunch in full effect I won't be heading back to South Africa in the near future. Luckily with my friend google in hand I've managed to score some sweet Bobotie and Malva Pudding recipes. If Dana can't get to the Bobotie, let the Bobotie come to Dana.

Sophisticated Trailer Park Treats

Bless my flatmate and the fact that she doesn’t cook. Over the past two years I’ve managed to take over our small kitchen without a peep of a complaint from her. As a result you can now find my cooking gear stuffed into every nook and cranny of my kitchen.

Due to the small size I’ve had to improvise. Non-perishable foods often sit in the space behind my living room couch waiting to be rotated into the game. A sneak peak in my wardrobe might also discover cake pans lined up like toy soldiers next to handbags.


This week I must have been reaching maximum saturation because when I opened my 1 cupboard (yes, only 1) I nearly got a shiner from a jar of peanut butter ricocheting onto me. It's not surprising really, it's like Kirstie Alley (post Jenny Craig) and a wet suit, at somepoint - somethings going to give.

The peanut butter incident was the catalyst for me to clear out some of the items in my cupboard that have been just taking up space and not getting any love for quite a few months now.

First and foremost to the chopping block was a large bag of jumbo marshmallows I’d smuggled into the UK in preparation for Thanksgiving - thinking (incorrectly) that I might make those sickly sweet yams covered in marshmallows. Having opted for a more savoury approach I still had the bag sitting unopened. Now I know that marshmallows have a shelf span of about 145 years, but still - I was imagining a much more sensible item I might be able to replace it with.

Somewhat limited for time and options, I decided on quintessential Americana – Rice Crispy Treats. This 1980's 'snap, crackle, pop' snack was to be found at every school bake sale and birthday party. They were eaten after games of ‘capture the flag,’ at cast parties, and after too many hours outside on the ‘slip 'n slide’. They require no effort, no skill in the kitchen, and cost basically nothing to make.


If I was going to make something so simple and W.T. then I knew I was going to have to gussy it up a bit, kinda like finding a Mercedes at the Trailer Park.

Pretty tasty in the end, I added dried sour cherries and toasted coconut to the rice crispy treats and then drizzeled the whole lot with artisinal dark chocolate.

Rice Crispy Treats with Cherries, Coconut, & Chocolate

50 grams (1/2 stick) butter
1 large package marshmallows
7 cups of rice crispies
1/2 cup dried sour cherries (optional)
1/2 cup dried sweetened coconut - toasted (optional)
3 oz dark chocolate (melted for drizzling)


1. Melt butter in large microwave safe bowl

2. Add marshmallows and coat with butter, place back in microwave for another 90 seconds - stir until melted and mixed completely

3. Add rice crispies, cherries, dried coconut

4. Place in a 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan and press down


5. Drizzle with melted dark chocolate

All things Sacred

I love my neighbourhood in London. It’s a 45 second walk from the Piccadilly line, has a Waitrose grocery store 5 minutes away, and Upper Street with all of it’s cute boutiques, fun bars and restaurants is just a short walk down the Holloway Road.

However, it can’t be denied that my immediate neighbourhood is slightly dodgy. My building is surrounding on one side by a counsel estate and another by the borough of Islington’s refuse and recycling centre. Spattered nearby is a “Tennessee Fried Chicken”, an assortment of kebab shops, and an exorbitant amount of stores selling Tupperware, mops and stale candy (together).

The fairly recent influx of a Tesco Express has been a nice touch for picking up the basic grocery essentials. However, the neighbourhood still has a ways to go to change it’s ghetto-fied image.

There are a number of retail spaces in my flat complex that they’ve been trying to fill in the 2 years I’ve lived here. To start I think most retailers weren’t as impressed with the neighbourhood as the property owners had hoped. That combined with our current economic situation (in the gutter) meant that it was going to be a while before anything opened up in the retail space in my building.

I’m going to make a wager that they’ve negotiated some sort of free rent for the first few months, but regardless - a new café has just opened in my building. And like the name “Sacred” it really is a gift from above.

Sacred Café has an outpost on Carnaby Street and as soon as I walked in it was love at first sight.

The interior is cool, with religious icons, interesting black and white portraits, and some curious kitsch (a monkey on a surfboard?) splattering their walls. They carry a basic brunch menu like free range scrambled eggs, spring onion and feta cheese on wholemeal toast or a paté of the day with toast and caramelised red onion chutney. They also bake some of their pastries, and on that first visit I decided to sit in with my coffee instead of taking it away – just so I could spend 15 minutes in the sweet scented bliss of butter and sugar coming out of their kitchen.

With the credit crunch in full effect it will be hard to justify the Sacred jaunts when my own stocked kitchen is literally next door – but it’s fantastic as a treat or when friends come visit. Plus it’s such a great addition to the neighbourhood.

With its cool vibe and friendly wait staff it’s just the love that this forgotten spot on Holloway Road needs.

Thinking Like a Man

Sometimes I think I’m a man. Scratch that (no, not THAT)…

…sometimes I think like a man.

For all of my painted toes, glossy lips, love of lacy dresses and high heels I can’t escape the fact that while I may not pee standing up (except for a small number of public restrooms in China) I do have a few male tendencies:

1. Abhorring neediness in the opposite sex
It’s scary and wrong. If you need someone that bad, call your mother, not me.

2. Independence
I need mine like an addict.

3. Freaking out at the mention of commitment (or babies)*
Gulp. If I smell it then I’ll smell ya later.

4. Thinking excessive amounts of emoticons are stupid:
Riddling every sentence with them, come on - be a grown up.

In homage to that little bit of me that requires ‘alone time’ and ‘let’s not talk about feelings time’ I’ve created a male dominated menu for my Sunday Supper.

Chilli
Before you even judge the fact that the recipe calls for ground turkey over ground beef remember that even big strong manly men need to watch their saturated fat intake.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
500 g (just over 1lb) lean ground turkey
¼teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon chili flakes
½ teaspoon garlic powder
3 small bay leaves
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 400 gram (about 28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes
3 ½ cups chicken stock
100 grams (about 3.5 ounces) tomato puree
3 400 gram (about 15-ounce) cans small white beans, rinsed, drained – I used a mixture of cannellini and flageolet
2 cups diced courgette (zucchini)
Chopped fresh cilantro
Light sour cream /crème fraiche
Store bought (good) guacamole

Preparation
- Heat oil in large pot over medium heat
- Add onions and garlic; sauté until translucent, about 10 minutes
- Add oregano and cumin
- Increase heat to medium-high
- Add turkey; stir until no longer pink, breaking up with back of spoon
- Stir in cayenne pepper, chili flakes, garlic powder, bay leaves, cocoa powder, salt and cinnamon
- Add crushed tomatoes
- Mix in stock and tomato paste
- Bring to boil
- Reduce heat; simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally
- Meanwhile: blanch courgette (can be as simple as placing the courgette with 1 tablespoon water in a microwave on high for 90-120 seconds)
- Add beans to chili and simmer until flavors blend, 5 minutes
- Add courgette, simmer for 5 more minutes
- Discard bay leaves
- If possible make a day ahead so flavours have time to settle
- Rewarm over medium-low heat and serve with fresh cilantro, sour cream or crème fraiche, and guacamole

Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
Filled with a chocolate peanut butter fudge these cookies are rich and sinfully delicious. They're also simple to make - and like two desserts in one.

*For any trauma this comment causes my mother, apologies in advance.

Christmukah Miracles

There's always a lot of talk of Christmas miracles. There are dozens of famous films, books, and made-for-tv-movies dedicated to the subject. I know that I'm in desperate need of a personal Christmas miracle myself. While Adam Sandler sings of "8 Crazy Nights", for me, December will have had 31 by the time it wraps up at midnight tomorrow night.

With 18 nights out in a row before flying back to the US to visit friends and family, I followed this up with the past week and a half of family/friends/latkes fried in oil, nightly drinking, tortes, paté and excessive amounts of chocolate.

When I fly back to London next week, I'm resigned to my luggage being overweight with all of Santa's goodies, but what I'm really hoping for is that I'm not over the weight limit.

The first weekend of December was spent in the Christmas Markets of beautiful Vienna with the wonderful IS, KS, & VF. The tickets had been booked since the summer with the sole purpose of soaking up some of the festive holiday cheer. Quite literally the only plans for the weekend were to 'eat, drink and be merry.' And that's what we did, with gusto and aplomb. I'd like to report that the deliciouso list of food below was not all eaten by me - but shared amongst the four of us...not that that necessarily makes things much better. After a weekend of 'eating, drinking, and being merry', I still forced myself up to head to the gym at 5 am before work that following Monday morning.

Our first night at a local Keller:
Bratwurst mit Kartoffelsalat (roast sausage with potato salad)
Wiener Schnitzel mit Bratkartoffeln (turkey cutlet vienna style with roast potatoes)
Sauerkraut
Weinschorle (wine spritzer)

At our first Weihnachtsmarkt:
Mohnkuchen (poppy seed cake)
Krapfen or Berliner (doughnut concoction)

At our second Weihnachtsmarkt:
Kaesekrainer (sausage with cheese)

At the Cafe Demel:
Apfelstrudel (apple strudel)
Wiener Melange (Viennese cappuccino)
Kleiner Brauner (espresso with whipped cream)

At the Schoenbrunn:
Lauch und Speckfleckerl (pasta with leeks and bacon)
Kartoffelpuffer (potato pancakes) mit Apfelmus (with apple sauce)
Nuernberger Rostbratwuerste mit Bratkartoffeln (little sausages)
Kaiserschmarrn mit Pflaumenmus (fried dough with plum sauce)

Since I've been back in the States I'm probably thrown back my body weight in Christmas cookies, Harpoon Winter Warmer, red meat, and cheese. The only real saving grace? I've also been force feeding workouts into my system every 2-3 days and with only 24 hours to go - I might even get that Miracle after all.

Celebrating Thanksgiving with the 'other' family

More than my friends, more than my family - the people I spend the most time with (for better or for worse) is my team at work. So, when the opportunity came up to celebrate Thanksgiving with them - it felt appropriate. There probably was less drama then if I'd actually been back in the States, Rugby and X-Factor replaced Football and American Idol, and while I'd orchestrated a menu that ticked all of the traditional boxes - it was my first Thanksgiving with home-made veggie samosas.

Hosted by AA & SC – I even had my fill of quirky 'relatives'. AK & AZ covered off the 'cousins' that you get on with really well, enjoy spending time with, but just don't get to see as often as you'd like. AA & YL, one the auntie and one the sister - both looking for just a little bit more gossip, EL - the brother to tease, and of course - no family dinner would be complete with out the 'crazy uncle' - the one that is just a little bit inappropriate - yep, that would be ZC..

Trick or Treat?

This week London seemed to skip over fall (there was snow and freezing temperatures) and land flat on her ass into winter. Never one to get her favourite season shortened by crap weather – I baked up some Pumpkin Cookies with Penuche frosting.

These little gems were simple to make and easy on the palate (4 different people thinking they tasted like mini carrot cakes). Funny how something orange and smelling of cinnamon can do that for some people? All of this aside, they were - without a doubt - the ugliest looking baked good ever.

I reduced the amount of flour in the recipe which resulted in a super duper moist cake-like cookie. However, the Penuche frosting was so rich that while initially holding its own like a little cookie yarmulke, by the time I transported them on the tube to eagerly awaiting friends – they’d become little blobs of goo. Luckily the smell was so enticing that everyone dove right in and snatched them up anyway – even managing to eat 4 or 5 at a time. There were certainly a few jokey comments of what they looked like, and I won't deny it – they did. I'm just happy no one was turned off by their appearance because really there would only have been one thing left to do. Eat them myself of course.

With the recipe I used, I reduced the flour by ½ cup but would recommend only doing so by ¼ cup. Also, be careful with the frosting – I ended up adding a ridiculous amount of sugar trying to get the consistency right (which might be necessary in order to get it to spreading consistency). Luckily the cookies aren’t too sweet so they make a nice pairing with the frosting.