I decided to make a bolognese sauce with some handmade pasta for date night. Probably not something Tim Noakes will be proud of, but there are only a few things better than homemade pasta and a good pasta sauce.
Category: Main Ingredients
One of Belgium’s classic dishes is Moules Frites – mussels steamed in a white wine sauce with fries. Adrienne makes a great mussel potjie in a garlic cream sauce, so the challenge was on to see whether I could make a mussel dish that would measure up.
I have always wanted to make a proper Mexican mole sauce (a rich blend of chillies, spices, and chocolate). Alas I could not source the proper Mexican chillies you need for this dish in SA so never made it.
Then I came across a company called Mexican Imports SA in Plettenberg Bay that imports all kinds of goodies from Mexico. As luck would have it I had friends going to Plett that weekend and they were kind enough to bring me back some Ancho and Guajillo chillies.
To celebrate the month of October I decided to have a German date night. German cuisine is renowned for their Wurst (sausages), Kartofelln (potatoes) and Sauerkraut (sour cabbage).
I thought I would try my hand at charcuterie and start with something simple like bacon. I got a book from a friend of mine called Charcuterie – The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing, written by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. In this book the necessary steps in making homemade bacon are clearly explained.
As a starter for my date night gourmet burgers, I decided to make some chicken, pesto and coconut cream pies.
Comfort food was in order for this week’s date night and nothing says comfort more than slow cooked Cajun Seafood Gumbo.
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My date night dish last week was inspired by a meal I had at Arugula Bistro & Bread. I decided to change it a little bit and make Cider Pork Ribs with a Jalapeño and Pistachio sauce.
I wanted to redeem myself after overcooking the beef fillet at the girls’ lunch in June, so I decided to make Beef Wellington for date night. Keeping in line with the English theme, I made Haddock Fish Cakes for a starter and Lemon Posset for dessert.