Cooking fresh food and drinking divine Cape wines in Melkbosstrand Cape Town
“Kook en Geniet” is the most successful South African cookbook ever published. First published in 1951 and over a million copies later, this is the cookbook to use if you are looking for authentic South African recipes. Adrienne received a copy as a gift a while ago and decided to make lamb sosaties.
We’ve had a beautiful springbok loin in the freezer for a while now, just begging to be cooked. I could not decide on just one sauce to make for it, so ended up making four. My choices were a blackberry, chocolate, gin and juniper and whiskey cream sauce.
Here in South Africa we tend to be creatures of habit when it comes to making curry. Chicken, lamb and beef are usually the meat of choice, whether we are making an Indian or a traditional South African curry.
As goat curry is a very popular dish in India, we decided to make a curry with some of the springbok that we have in our freezer. Now I know that springbok meat and goat meat are not the same thing, but finding goat meat in South Africa is a bit of a challenge. To take the fusion food thing a bit further we decided to make a potjie (a traditional South Africa dish cooked in a cast iron pot over an open fire).
I’ve been doing the chicken, mango and pasta potjie and various versions of it for quite a while, but never documented the recipe. So here goes. It is a very simple potjie that can be done in 2 hours’ time. It is delicious, but definitely not a banting option.
Sosatie (pl sosaties) is a traditional South African dish of meat (usually lamb or mutton) cooked on skewers. The term derives from sate (“skewered meat”) and saus (spicy sauce). It is of Cape Malay origin, used in Afrikaans, the primary language of the Cape Malays, and the word has gained greater circulation in South Africa. Marinated, cubed meat (usually lamb) is skewered and braaied (barbecued) shish-kebab style. Sosatie recipes vary, but commonly the ingredients can include cubes of lamb, beef, chicken, dried apricots, red onions and mixed peppers. Source: Wikipedia
I think most South Africans will agree that sosaties are an essential ingredient for any traditional South African braai. I decided to make four types of different sosaties using different marinades and different meats for date night.
As a starter for my date night gourmet burgers, I decided to make some chicken, pesto and coconut cream pies.
We had the family over for lunch on Sunday and as my dad loves a good lamb curry, I decided on an Indian menu with the curry made in a potjie over the coals for a South African twist.
Decided to make an old favourite of mine for date night with a little bit of a twist.
Café de Paris butter was first served in the 1940s at the Café de Paris restaurant in Geneva. There are many different variations but the key ingredients are usually citrus, herbs, curry powder and anchovies – not a combination that sounds very compatible but this flavoured butter is delicious.