Hot chocolate cups

I've made this one a couple of times. It's really nice to do if you're having the girls over for some tea... Who says no to chocolate anyway?? :D

300ml self-raising flour
150ml castor sugar
100ml cocoa powder
1ml salt
1 egg
125ml milk
50g butter, melted
3ml vanilla extract or 5ml vanilla essence
90ml soft brown sugar
250ml boiling water

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C and grease 4x 250-275ml ovenproof cups or ramekins with butter, margarine or nonstick food spray. 
Sift flour, sugar, half the cocoa powder and salt together.
Make a well in the mixture
Lightly whisk together the egg, milk, butter and vanilla essence and pour the mixture into the well. Beat slowly to make a smooth, thick batter. 
Spoon the batter into cups or ramekins, spreading the mixture evenly over the batter in the 4 containers. 
Divide the boiling water among the containers, pouring it slowly on top of the batter until the containers are three-quarters full. 
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until well risen and firm to the touch.
Serve with ice cream if desired.

Lamb curry

I am a HUGE curry fan. Not the "out of the packet" kind, the real thing. This recipe is really GOOOOOD.

1 Large onion, sliced into rings
1 sprig fresh curry leaves
iol
15ml garlic and ginger paste
60ml mixed masala
2ml turmeric
2 medium sized tomatoes
1kg leg of lamb or shoulder, diced
salt
4-5 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Fry the onions and curry leaves in a little heated oil until the onion is soft and lightly browned.
Add the garlic and ginger paste, masala and turmeric and mix well. Add the tomatoes and braise them for about 5 minutes or until fragrant.
Add the mat and season with salt.
Cover the saucepan, reduce the heat and simmer until the meat is nearly tender.
Add the potatoes and a little warm water and simmer until the potatoes are soft. Add more water if necessary.
Add the coriander leaves at the end of the cooking time.
Serve with rice and sambals such as chopped onion and tomato

Serves 6

It's really good. Serve with sliced banana and chutney.

Pasta carbonara

This is a great recipe. If you're an Alfredo fan, you'd love this!

500g pasta (Spaghetti, fettuccine, tagliatelle or your favourite pasta)
45ml olive oil
4 spring onions, chopped
3-4 mushrooms, thinly sliced
150g bacon, chopped (or pancetta)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2-3 eggs
350ml fresh cream
125ml grated Parmesan cheese (or more if you'd like)

Cook the pasta according to the packed instructions.
Drains and set aside.
 Heat the oil in a large saucepan and saute the spring onions and mushrooms for about a minute.
Add the bacon and stir-fry for another 3-5 minutes or until crisp. 
Remove the saucepan from the heat.
Add the pasta to the onion and bacon mixture in the saucepan and return it to the heat to keep warm. 
Season with salt and pepper to taste and remove from the heat.
Whisk together the eggs, cream and half the cheese until the mixture is creamy and pour it over the pasta.
The heat from the pasta will cook the eggs and heat the sauce.
Return the pan to the heat for about one minute. Serve immediately with the remaining cheese.

Serves 4

Easy but delicious Oxtail

My friend Gillian suggested I post my oxtail recipe. There's really not much to it so enjoy...

2kg Oxtail
Knorr Oxtail soup/beef and onion soup
Potatoes (optional)
Carrots (optional)

Place oxtail in an oven dish.
Mix Oxtail soup with 600ml water.
Pour over oxtail.
Cover with foil and bake for 4 hours at 180°C.
Should one packet of oxtail not be enough to cover the meat, use a second packet.
Check the meat after 2 hours, then hourly making sure there is enough liquid.

Meat will fall off the bone! It's a definite win for guests - once again thinking you've done loads of work but having Knorr do it for you!

Lamb shank

I love making lamb when guests come over. Everyone wants this recipe and NO ONE believes how easy it is. This specific recipe is my own adaption from many other recipes. I personally try lamb at every restaurant I eat at that offers it, and I must say, I like mine better (",)  

The correct thing would be to coat the meat with flour (flavoured with salt and pepper), and pan-fry both sides to seal the meat but to be honest, I don't even do that anymore. I  just place the raw meat in a dish and it personally doesn't change a thing for me. And not doing it saves dishes and time.

Add whatever veggies you prefer. Below is what I normally use. But if you want to prepare just the meat, then using just the above as is will work just fine and still come out amazingly. the meat somehow alters the soup to a rich sauce! It's yummy!

INGREDIENTS:

4 Lamb shanks - whole or cut up, depending on your preference. It's always good to have                                            pieces if there are kids

2 packets Knorr Cream of Tomato soup - I also use Oxtail, Brown Onion or Beef and Onion                                                                                              soup. All  work equally well.

1 large onion - cut however you prefer

250g Patipans - left whole

250g Zucchini - cut in half

4 Carrots - cut to preference

250ml wine - I use Rose or Sweet Red - (optional)

METHOD:

Place the meat in an oven dish. 

Mix 500ml water with each packet of Knorr soup. Pour over the meat. (600ml if you not using wine)

Place onions over meat. 

Pour over wine.

Cover with foil and bake for 1.5 hours at 180°C. Check the meat after one hour and the liquid levels. Add water if necessary. 

Place the rest of the veggies. 

Continue to bake for another 30 - 45 minutes. 

Meat will be falling off the bone.

Serve over rice or mash. There will be enough sauce at the bottom of the pan. 

No extra spices needed. Just that. It's that easy. Really good when having lots of people over. Minimal work with results that make it seem like you've been slaving for hours.

Best beef patties

I don't know if it's just me, but burger patties are getting thinner and thinner with less and less real meat in them. Thanks to this recipe, you don't ever have to worry again. It's really good, juicy and it's a much better alternative than all the soy substitutes out there.

500g minced beef
1 onion, chopped
1 slice of white bread, crumbed (I just use the fine side of a grater)
1 egg
salt and pepper
pinch of dried thyme

In addition to the recipe my mom always adds:
Steak and Chop spice
Tablespoon of chutney

Mix all the ingredients together lights with a fork.
Roll mixture between two layers of waxed paper to desired thickness
Cut into circles. 
This recipe makes about 12 patties of 10 cm diameter, 2 cm thick. 

I'd just roll it into a ball and press down or use Tupperware's Burger maker holders... Either way.
I'd go as far as coating with Steers burger sauce and for a braai with friends, nothing better than a juicy man-sized burger!

Chicken Curry

I found this recipe done by Robertsons Spice. Really good and super easy. Pictures to follow soon!!

15 Chicken thighs - skin removed and deboned
125 ml flavoured flour (125 ml flour with salt and pepper added)
60 ml oil
2 onions, chopped in rings
5 ml ginger
5 ml turmeric
5 ml cumin
5 ml curry paste
2 tomatoes, quartered
250 ml chicken stock

Cut the chicken pieces in half. 
Sprinkle the chicken the flour.
Heat half the oil in a saucepan and brown the chicken pieces.
Remove and set aside.
Heat the rest of the oil and fry the onion, spices and curry paste for about 7 minutes or until the onion softens and the spices really start to smell nice.
Put the chicken back in the pan. 
Add the tomatoes and stock and simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until thick. 
Add more liquids should it be necessary. 
Serve over rice.

Oxtail pie

I'm always keen on trying new recipes that look goooood. And as I've said before, i'm quite the critic. This one I've made twice and, although it's extremely rich in flavour and quite expensive, it is totally worth the hard work involved. Should you not eat oxtail, you could always use lamb shank. Get the butcher to cut it up for you so you can work with smaller pieces. They should currently cost about the same per kg. I got this recipe from a magazine years ago. I almost NEVER follow a recipe exactly.



60 ml cake flour
salt and freshly ground black pepper (I use white)
2kg oxtail, cut into pieces at the joints
100 ml oil
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
1 stalk of celery, chopped
200 g smoked bacon, chopped
250 ml dry red wine This isn't set in stone. Use Rose/sweet Red should you want to drink the rest
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
4 sprigs fresh parsley
2 bay leaves If i cant find fresh, i put all of the dry versions of the following in a teabag that i've opened and washed. i then sew it closed. I'm sure you can use other things like coffee filters etc.
750 ml beef stock
80 ml tomato paste
1 x recipe sour-cream or hot water pastry (see below)
1 packet pitted prunes (optional - I personally didn't use it and prefer not to)
1 egg yolk, whisked

Mix the flour, salt and pepper in a plastic bag. Add the oxtail pieces and shake well to coat them with the flour mixture.
Heat 80 ml of the oil in a large pan and brown the oxtail in batches. Set aside.
Heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan or pressure cooker and stir-fry the garlic, onion, carrots, celery and bacon until lightly browned.
Add the wine and simmer uncovered to reduce the wine by half.
Tie the herbs and bay leaves together with a piece of string and add to the vegetable mixture.
Add the stock, tomato paste and oxtail, stirring well to mix. Cover and cook for 3 hours. (90 minutes in the pressure cooker) or until meat falls off the bone. I personally put it in the oven, covered with foil at 180°C and baked for 4 hours
Remove the bouquet garni and leave the meat to cool.
Grease a large ovenproof dish. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and use to line only the base of the greased dish.
Skim the fat from the meat and remove the bones.
Add the prunes to the meat mixture and spoon it into the pastry-lined dish.
Cut out another pieces of pastry to cover the filling, place on top and brush with egg yolk. Chill for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C. Bake the pie for 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 180°C and bake for another 20 minutes or until the crust is crisp and golden.

Serves 8.

Removing the bones is optional. Some people like to eat off the bones, (I personally do) so depending on who you're catering for.
Pierce a hole in the pastry with a skewer to allow the steam to escape while the pie is baking or the pastry will become soggy instead of deliciously flaky and crisp.

Buttermilk Rusks

I know that quite a lot of people like Ouma's Rusks. I personally don't at all! This recipe my mom got from her gran. Once again, it's the best I've ever tasted - to the point where I don't eat rusks at all unless it's my moms. It is hard work so be warned but it's so worth it! Be careful of those extra kg's though, it's that good!

2.5kg self rising flour
12ml salt
10ml baking powder
3 eggs
500ml sugar
500ml oil or margarine
1.5L buttermilk

Sift the flour. Add the salt and baking powder
In a seperate bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, oil/marg and buttermilk.
Add the liquid to the flour mix. Knead well.
Grease tins well and make dough into balls and pack them firmly togehter.
Let it rise for 1 hour. 
Bake in the oven at 180°C for 45minutes.
Let it cool and break apart in pieces.
Place back in the oven to dry at 200°C.

Home made chutney

We normally get together as a family and work together, then split what we get out.
This generation has lost the drive to make their own jam and chutney. It's just easier to buy it. Not nothing compares to home-made. Once again, it's quite a lot of work, but preserved correctly, you could have enough for the family for years and it definitely tastes way better.

5kg yellow peaches
1.3kg onion
1.5L brown vinegar
30ml salt
2.7kg sugar
7ml cloves
10ml red pepper
10ml ginger
10ml all spice
12ml curry
7ml coriander

Remove fruit from pips.
Finely chop all peach and onion. (A processor will help - doing it by hand will be terrible and take too long)
Put in a huge pot (this specific recipe is big enough for a 50L pot - you can cook smaller amounts by dividing recipe)
Cook for 2 - 2.5hours before bottling and labeling.

You can add more or less red pepper based on how hot you'd like your chutney

- Batch from 2011 preserved and stored at the back of my cupboard (",).

Asparagus Tuna Tart

Although I'm honestly not an asparagus fan, I have had this before and most people LOVE it. It is slightly pricey. But worth every penny

Crust: 
750ml flour
1ml salt
50ml milk
10ml baking powder
200ml sunflower oil

Sift dry ingredients together. Add oil and milk. Make a dough. Line a 35 x 25cm dish.

Filling:
1x 200g tuna (drained and flaked)
1x Tin asparagus, drained and chopped
250g bacon, chopped and fried.
1 onion, chopped and fried
200ml white sauce (see below)
375ml grated cheese (of choice but i'd use Cheddar/Gouda)
3 eggs

Combine tuna, asparagus, fried onion and bacon.  
Add cheese.
Beat eggs and add to above mixture. 
Add white sauce. 
Pour onto crust. 
Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for one hour. 
Serve hot.

Basic white sauce:
100g of butter/margarine
salt & pepper
flour
milk, about a 1L
large saucepan
a whisk

Put a large saucepan on a medium heat and melt the butter.
When the butter has melted, start chucking in some flour, little bits at a time while whisking.  This mixture will burn easily, so I normally take it off the heat every now and then, basically heating it up and then mixing in more flour off the heat.
Continue with this process until it becomes a paste like this.

Cook the paste for a bit, just be careful to not burn it, if it burns your sauce is ruined.  We have to cook it a little bit in order to get the sauce to not taste all floury though. Continue with the on and off heat  method and you should be fine, a minute or two will do.  Now start adding milk, little bits at a time (I suggest you do this off heat too). Add about 100 ml of milk at a time, mix it in properly, and then put the pan back on heat.  You will notice the sauce will thicken as it cooks. Continue this for a while, until you have the consistency you want.  Leave it to simmer on low heat for a couple of minutes to cook off any floury taste that may still be there.  Season with salt and pepper (use white pepper if you do not want black flecks in your white sauce).

Swiss Roll

This is a really handy recipe to have if you'd like to serve cake without the long bake. It's easy, it's quick and it goes down well with most.

250ml sugar
5ml baking powder
4 eggs, separated
250ml flour
60ml cold water
Smooth apricot jam
Castor sugar for the top

Beat the sugar and egg yolks one by one.
Add water.
Add the flour and baking powder.
Beat the egg white to hard-point (it's when you remove the whisk and the egg white stands at a point without flopping over).
Mix in the egg white.
Line a flat pan with lunch/wax wrap.
Pour into the pan.
Bake for 10 minutes at 190°C.
Throw out onto a damp cloth.
Remove the wax paper. Spread on apricot jam over the top.
Use the cloth to roll the Swiss Roll into a circle.
Sprinkle with castor sugar. Serve

Alternatives to apricot jam: (1 hour process just for filling - good for fancier occasions)

Mocha butter cream

100ml castor sugar
125ml water
3 egg-yolks
225ml butter or margarine
30ml coffee powder
2.5ml cocoa
5ml brandy
2.5ml vanilla essence

Place the castor sugar and water in a small pot and cook over a med heat, stirring until melted. Bring to the boil and allow to boil gently for 5 minutes until the syrup becomes thick and reduced by half.
Place the egg-yolks in a bowl and beat to a pale yellow with an electric mixer. Add coffee powder, coca, brandy and vanilla essence. Pout in the hot syrup in a very thin stream, beating continuously until the mixture resembles a thick pale mousse. Cool to room temperature.
Dice the butter or margarine into small pieces and leave to stand at room temperature for at least 10 minutes for the margarine and a little longer for the butter to soften. Beat the butter or margarine into the egg mixture bit by bit, beating well after each addition. Continue in this manner until a smooth light emulsion is obtained. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Unroll the cake and spread with butter cream.

Garnish with:
Dark chocolate melted or chocolate leaves
Almonds, toasted
Cherries

Impossible Tart

This is any lazy bakers dream. You throw everything together, bake and it forms it's own crust, filling and sweet top covering all on it's own. It's really good!!!

4 eggs
125g soft margarine
10ml vanilla essence
500ml milk
200ml sugar
250ml coconut (Optional - i personally don't like coconut (",) )
125ml flour

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and beat together.
Bake in the oven at 180°C for 75 minutes

Moist Banana Bread - the best yet

Every year my mom bakes loaves and loaves of banana bread as people flood to take them off her hands. This recipe is by far the best banana bread I've ever tasted. I wouldn't say that lightly as I find myself to be quite the critic. This recipe is awesome! I would suggest that people who generally don't like banana bread taste this one first before making their final decision on the matter.

125g margarine

250ml sugar

5ml vanilla essence

2 eggs

4 bananas, mashed

500ml flour

5ml baking powder

5ml bicarbonate of soda

125ml boiling water

165ml chopped walnuts (optional) - I personally don't use it

Cream margarine and sugar together. 

Add vanilla essence, well beaten eggs and mashed bananas. Beat together. 

Add sifted flour and baking-powder, then the soda dissolved in hot water. 

Mix well. 

Add the chopped nuts. 

Pour into a well greased 23cm loaf pan and take at 180°C for 45 minutes - 1 hour. 

What really makes this banana bread the best ever, is using over ripe bananas. Not pitch black, but already starting to caramelize slightly. Border line throw aways...

This banana bread also freezes amazingly. Just remove and allow to defrost naturally. 

Perfect pumpkin fritters

Always popular and a very typical accompaniment to a meal of roast lamb, pork or poultry, bobotie or curry. This recipe ensures a neat, round and crispy pumpkin fritters. When not served with meat, it can be welcomed as a sweet treat after the meal, served with a generous sprinkling of cinnamon sugar and syrup.

Needed:
250ml pumpkin, cooked until dry and well drained
2 eggs
250ml cake flour
15ml sugarpinch salt
1ml cinnamon
7.5ml baking powder
sunflower oil for frying
cinnamon sugar (10ml cinnamon mixed with 125ml sugar)

Mash the pumpkin and eggs well and add the flour, sugar, salt cinnamon and baking powder. Mix until evenly blended. The batter should be moderately firm and the consistency depends on the moisture content of the pumpkin - if necessary, add a little flour.

Pour oil to a depth of 50mm into a saucepan and heat to moderately hot. Drop tablespoonful of the mixture neatly into the oil and fry until golden brown on all sides, turning occasionally. do not fry until too dark, for the flavour and appearance will be impaired. Adjust the temperature of the oil as necessary.

Lift out with a draining spoon and drain on absorbent paper.Arrange on a serving platter and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon sugar. 

Cover loosely with foil and keep warm in a cool oven until ready to serve (preferably no longer than 20 minutes)


Makes 12-16 fritters
Can be frozen and used later
Enlarging: as many as needed

For an optional sauce over the fritters:

Syrup:
500ml sugar
250ml water125ml milk30ml butter or margarinePinch of salt10ml  maizenapinch cinnamon (optional)


Heat all ingredients (except maizena) together in a pot until it boilsMix maizena with a little water and add to boiling mixture.Pour over the fritters just before serving

Flop free pancakes

I make these often. It doesn't need to stand before being used (even though the recipe suggests letting it stand for 30 minutes) and is much better than the other recipes I've tried. It is richer than a standard batter.

Needed:
250ml milk            or            400ml milk
3 eggs                                  2 eggs

200ml flour
2ml baking powder
2ml salt
30ml melted butter/margarine
oil to coat pan to cook pancakes

Beat eggs and milk together. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add half of the egg and milk mixture. Mix till smooth. add the rest of the egg and milk mix. Add the melted butter. Mix well

Heat pan over med-high heat.
Coat the bottom of the pan (even if it's non-stick) with oil. Once heated, remove excess oil. Pour in batter, tilting pan to cover the base evenly. Adjust the amount or consistency of the batter and the heat of the pan to cook perfect pancakes.

When bubbles appear and the batter starts to set, loosen the pancake carefully with a spatula and turn over once it is golden underneath.

Coat with cinnamon and sugar mix.

Batter makes 8-10 pan
cakes
Refrigerate the batter for up to 24 hours
Refrigerate the pancakes for up to 2 days.
Prepare no more than 4x recipe at a time to mi comfortably.