Cooking fresh food and drinking divine Cape wines in Melkbosstrand Cape Town
We’re having a cold and rainy start to spring in Cape Town. No one is complaining though as we need every drop of rain we can get. As I always want to make soup when it rains I decided to make Tom Kha Gai from one of my favourite food blogs – She Simmers.
Looking for a recipe for our Brazilian datenight I came across Xinxim de Galinha (Brazilian Chicken Stew). How could I not make something with such a fabulous name ? This famous Brazilian chicken, shrimp and nut stew comes from Bahia – an Afro-Brazilian region.
It’s already August and I realized that I’ve only made a vindaloo and butter chicken this winter. Not that you cannot make a curry any time of the year but spicy food always seems nicer on a cold day. As it’s a chilly week in Cape Town it seemed like the perfect time for a Lamb Rogan Josh.
This black mussel and white wine dish is one of my favourite starters to make when we are having people over. It is very easy to prepare and the whole dish can be done under 90 minutes from scratch. As a starter this can easily serve 12 people if you add some bread. Obviously it can also be served as a mains, but be careful, it is very rich.
I re-watched the movie “Julie and Julia” on Netflix the other day and it inspired me to finally try a Julia Child recipe. Julia Child is famous for bringing French cuisine to America with her cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. As her famous Beef Bourguignon features in the movie I decided to try out this recipe.
As date night and Women’s Day were on the same day this year, I decided to make a three course meal for Tanya. The three meals consisted of sticky chicken wings, kudu sosaties and bread pudding.
I was thrilled to find Gochujang in my local Asian grocer recently. This fermented red chilli paste is made from chilli powder, glutinous rice, fermented soybean powder, barley malt powder and salt. It has a spicy, savory, sweet flavour and is an essential ingredient in various Korean dishes. I decided to use it in a spicy Korean marinade for pork belly.
I’ve been wanting to make ossobuco for ages but have not been able to source veal. Then I read that Anna del Conte uses pork when she can’t source veal in the UK. If the doyenne of Italian cooking says it’s OK who am I to argue.
I was unusually uninspired when it came to creating a menu for last week’s date night. I asked Adrienne what he wanted to eat and it took him 2 seconds to say “Eisbein”.
This dish almost seems Arabic instead of European with the use of sultanas and pine nuts. This is not surprising as Sicily was under Arab rule from 827 to 1061 and Sicilian cuisine was strongly influenced by the Arabs.