Freshly baked rolls in the Kalahari

Well it's not a secret that we love to travel to South Africa and are especially fond of the Kalahari.

While travelling the Kalahari Transfrontier Park we always look forward to enjoy roosterkoek, small rolls baked on a braai (Afrikaans for "barbecue" or "grill").

Always a highlight while staying at the Nossob Rest Camp, where you were able to order the Roosterkoek at reception and they were then delivered to your chalet (still warm and so yummy!!!)

We always loved to eat them with Cheese and Jam.

But, why not try to bake our own roosterkoek!

So I prepared a dough around noon, to give it enough time to prove.

The hardest thing was to defend the dough against the birds and Squirrels in the camp.

In the evening we build a fire.

I think it's not too hard to wait for the right time, having such a great view and enjoying a G&T for Sundwoner (that photo was taken at Mata Mata, where we baked the roosterkoek once again).

After the flames were gone it was time to place the small rolls, that I had formed in the meantime, on the braai grid.

At first I was still a bit sceptical if we would be able to have freshly baked bread with our salad that evening, but after 15-20 Minutes I was really happy with the result.

For all those who would lke to try it as well ( you dont have to be in South Africa for that, but I am sure the atmosphere improves the taste.....) here is the recipe:

Well a kind of a recipe, as I can not even really tell you the exact quantities, we were on holiday and did not have a scale and measuring cup....
But, it's working noneteless.

I had a 1kg bag of flour and it made about 7-8 roosterkoek for 3 times. 
I used one of the big coffee mugs in the accomodation to measure the luke warm water.

I made a bread dough using 

bread flour (about 300-350g, try to devide the 1kg of flour into three equal parts) 
instant yeast (one sachet)
salt (1 teaspoon)
oil (1 tablespoon)
sugar (1 teaspoon) 
one mug of warm water.

The dough should not be too dry (they get too firm) or too wet (they stick to the grid).

Let the dough prove for a couple of hours, form the rolls (the diameter of a tennis ball and about 2cm thick), thoroughly dust them with flour and place them on the grid. 
Do not grease the grid, but make sure that the rolls are thoroughly dusted with flour.

It took me a few times to find the right hight for the grid. The first time the grid was too high, so I lowered it later to make the nice golden and crisp.

If you are not sure if they are ready take one and cut it open.

They needed between 15 to 20 minutes. Keep turning them regularly the whole time.

When I made them at Mata Mata I nearly burned them, as a Lion was visiting the waterhole while they were on the grid, lol.....

Zucchini/ Courgettes and Feta Cake

About a couple of years ago I found a cookbook by Sophie Dudemaine “Sweet and Savoury Loaves” and really loved the concept.

Easy prepared cakes looking good and tasting even better…..

Here I found a cake made with Zucchini and adapted the recipe a bit to my liking.

Ingredients:

150g flour

1 sachet or 2 tbsp baking powder

3 eggs

80ml oil

125ml milk

½ tsp salt

½ freshly ground pepper

100g grated Cheese (a mature cheese would be great fro that, something like a Gruyere)

200g Feta Cheese, cut into cubes

1-2 Zucchini, cut into cubes

Method:

Thoroughly mix the flour with baking powder, eggs, oil, milk, salt and pepper.

Add the grated cheese, Feta and Zucchini.

Mix everything until well combined.

Use a non-greased loaf form.

Preheat the oven on 180°C and bake the cake for 45 minutes, until crispy brown and golden.

Cheese and Onion Muffins

This is a recipe that is always a hit....
Easy to prepare and very versatile.
Add some crispy fried bacon or chopped olives, or...
Just use your imagination!

Ingredients for a 12 Muffin tin

190g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ tsp salt
3 tablespoons onion, chopped
¼ teaspoon garlic, chopped
125 g of cheese, grated
60 ml of oil (corn oil or sunflower oil)
300 g butter milk
50 g cheese, grated, for sprinkling
fat for the form

Preheat the oven to 180 ° C. Grease the muffin tin.

Mix the dry ingredients – means the flour, baking powder, salt, onions, garlic and cheese - mix thoroughly.

Whisk the egg. Add the oil and buttermilk and mix well. Finally add the dry ingredients and gently fold in until they are moist.

Then fill the dough into the wells of the tin and sprinkle each muffin with some grated cheese.

Put in the hot oven and bake on middle rack for about 20-25 minutes.

Veggie Wrap with Mango Salsa and Tofu

I love wraps, but most of my recipes have either chicken or beef as main ingredient.
This time I was looking for a tasty vegetarian option..

Ingredients

4 Wraps
1 large zucchini
4 large mushrooms
1 carrot
sour cream
shredded cheese
baby spinach
salt and pepper

250g Tofu
1 lime
200ml Soy Sauce
1 teaspoon sugar

Ingredients for the Mango Salsa

1 ripe, but firm mango
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
40g finely chopped red onion
80g diced red and red bell pepper
1 tablespoon chopped coriander
1 teaspoon (or to taste) chopped chilli
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation of the Salsa:

Cut flesh of the mango into small cubes, sweet peppers into somewhat smaller dices, chop coriander, finely chop onions and chop the chilli very fine.

Blend oil and fruit juice together before combining with other ingredients.

You should let the salsa sit for at least five minutes before tasting to see if you need to adjust the seasoning, for example by adding more lime juice, coriander, chilli or salt. If possible prepare the salsa at least an hour, or as much as a day or two, before serving, to allow the flavours to fully blend.

Marinade the Tofu:

Cut the Tofu in stripes and place in a box with a lid (liquid proof).
Mix the soy sauce, lime juice and sugar and pour over the Tofu.
Try to shake the mixture as often as possible to cover the Tofu completely with the marinade.
Let the Tofu marinade overnight.

Preparation of the Wraps:

Drain the Tofu and fry it in a pan with some butter until brown and crispy. Set aside.
Finely chop the zucchini, carrot and mushrooms, fry all ingredients together in a pan ( they should not be too tender), season with salt and pepper.
Warm the wraps a bit, spread with sour cream, place the baby spinach on top of the cream and sprinkle with shredded cheese.
Evenly place the vegetables mixture and Mango salsa on top and finish with the Tofu.

Roll up and enjoy!!

Gnocchi with a basic Tomato Sauce

I love Gnocchi, but I really hate that hard and rather tasteless stuff you find in the shelves of supermarkets.
So I thought it would be a good idea to simply make my own, the ones I am making are not as good looking as their professionally produced counterparts, a bit more rustic maybe...
But they are fluffy and tasty and (I think) easy to prepare.
I usually love them with a basic Tomato Sauce and Parmesan.
But you can serve them with all different kinds of sauces or just with melted butter, sage and Parmesan. Yummy!



Ingredients for 2-3 persons (depending how hungry you are...)

For the Gnocchi
500 g floury potatoes
1 egg yolk
200g flour
salt
nutmeg
pepper

For the Sauce
500 g tomato puree
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
15g of butter
1 – 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar
salt
pepper
oregano


Method

Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Finely chop the onion and garlic, fry them until tender and golden.
Add the Tomato puree, season with salt, pepper, sugar and oregano.
Cover the saucepan with a lid and let the sauce simmer for about 10-15 minutes.

Peel potatoes and boil in plenty of salted water until tender. Drain and press through a potato ricer while still hot.
Allow the steam approx. 10 min to escape.
Then add the egg yolk, salt, pepper and nutmeg and gradually knead flour into the mixture until a dough is elastic (the amount of flour can vary depending how moist the potatoes are, so do not add all of the flour right from the beginning).
Form a roll on a floured surface and cut into 2 cm wide pieces.
Heat plenty of salted water in a large pot, add the Gnocchi and cook until they float to the top.
This happens quite quickly.
Use a skimmer to remove the Gnocchi from the water, serve with the Tomato Sauce and sprinkle with grated Parmesan.

Caramalized Onion, Tomato and Feta Tartlets

I really love those small Tartlets.
An easy made dinner, served with a salad and a nice glass of wine....
Perfect for summer evenings.




Ingredients for 2 servings

4 tartlet baking forms
ready made puff pastry
150g Crème fraiche or sour cream (without herbs! )
100g grated cheese (prefer a mild cheese, the Feta is usually already quite salty! )
2 large eggs
salt, pepper

1 tablespoon of butter
2 medium red onions, halved and very thinly sliced
1-2 teaspoons of brown sugar
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
3 small tomatoes
100g Feta cheese

Method

Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onions.
Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes or until golden, be careful they should not be too dark.
Add sugar and half of the thyme.
Stir again until everything is mix well and set aside.

Line the tartlet baking forms with the puff pastry.
Mix the Crème fraiche with the eggs, the grated cheese, season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Preheat the oven at 200°C.

Generously place the onion mixture over pastry.
Top with thinly sliced tomatoes and crumbled feta.
Now pour in the egg mixture.
In the end sprinkle with remaining thyme leaves.

Place the forms in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until nicely golden brown.

Et voilà

Asparagus Egg Salad

Well it's Easter Weekend and the weather is briliant.
So I was in need for a nice spring-like dinner with eggs.....
This Asparagus Egg Salad is very easy to prepare and delicious with some baguette and a nicely chilled White Wine.



Ingredients for 2

500g Asparagus
4 boiled eggs
3 tablespoons of chopped chives
1-2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
a dash of white balsamic vinegar
salt
freshly ground pepper

Method

Peel and boil the Asparagus in salted water until tender.
Ususally it needs 20 minutes for the stems.
I only add the tips a little later so that they just simmer for about 10- 15 minutes.
Roughly chopp the boiled eggs.
Mix the drained Asparagus carefully with the eggs, some olive oil, the white balsamic vinegar and the chopped chives.
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Well we will have our Salad with homemade Focaccia Bread and a South African White Wine...

Happy Easter!

Spring is in the air...

....a sure sign.... you are able to buy those delicious Asparagus everywhere.
I am always looking forward to that time of the year.
It means that winter has finally come to an end!



One of my favourite recipe

Asparagus Tartlets

Easy to made and yummy :-D

Ingredients for 2 servings

4 tartlet baking forms
ready made puff pastry
300g Crème fraiche or sour creme (without herbs! )
80g grated cheese
20g grated Parmesan
salt, pepper
2 eggs
12 pieces of Asparagus

Method

Line the tartlet baking forms with the puff pastry.
Mix the Crème fraiche with the eggs, the grated cheese, season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Preheat the oven at 200°C.
Cook the Asparagus for 5 minutes in salted water.
Use the tips of the Asparagus ( I use the rest for a salad the next day ....)

Fill the baking form with the mixture, place three tips of the Asparagus on top of each.
Place the forms in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy warm or cold!

Beetroot Carpaccio with Walnuts and Feta

This recipe was quite a surprise.
A surprise of the very pleasant kind...



Ingredients for 2 servings:

200g cooked beetroot
200g feta cheese
1 tablespoon chopped walnuts
1/2 red chilli (thinly sliced in stripes)
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
1 teaspoon chopped thyme
20g lamb's lettuce
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon honey

Vinaigrette

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon walnut oil
1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon acacia honey
1/2 teaspoon mustard
1/2 lemon
Salt
Pepper

Method

Cut the cooked and peeled beets into paper-thin slices, season with salt and pepper and lay on plates.
Place the well rinsed lamb’s lettuce in the middle.

To prepare the vinaigrette, mix vinegar with mustard and honey. Then add the juice of half a lemon, walnut and olive oil with peeled and diced garlic. Season the vinaigrette with salt and pepper and whisk well. Drizzle over the beets. And add some chopped walnuts.

Then cut the feta into slices and lay in a baking dish. Drizzle honey and oil over the cheese and sprinkle with thinly sliced strips of chili, rosemary and thyme.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes at 180 ° C.

Now place the warm feta on top of the lamb’s lettuce and beetroot. Add a splash of olive oil and some freshly ground pepper.

Enjoy with some crisp bread.

Vegetable Curry with Pineapple and Cashew Nuts

We are trying to avoid eating meat during the week. We are no vegetarians, but think that meat once a week is enough.
Therefore we are always looking for new recipes and stumbled over this just recently.
We love curry, we love vegetables, nuts and pineapples so we thought we'd give it a try.
It's really easy to prepare...

Ingredients for 4 persons:

1 onion
1 piece ginger (about 10 g)
0.5 cauliflower (500 g)
2 carrots (200 g)
100 g green beans
1 green chilli
200 g red lentils
4 small waxy potatoes (about 200g)
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons mild curry powder
300 ml vegetable stock
300 ml coconut milk
100 g cashew nuts
1 baby pineapple (400 g)
100g peas (frozen)
6 stalks coriander
Salt
Pepper

Method:

Peel the onion and ginger and chop finely.
Wash and cut the cauliflower into florets.
Peel and cut the carrots into 5 mm thick slices.
Wash the beans and halve diagonally.
Cut the chilli in half lengthways, remove seeds and cut into thin strips.
Rinse lentils and drain them in a sieve.
Peel potatoes and cut into 5 mm thick slices.
Put the oil in a large saucepan. Add onions, ginger, chilli and red lentils and sauté briefly over medium heat.
Then add carrots, potatoes, cauliflower and beans and sauté 3-4 minutes while stirring.
Add curry powder and mix.
Pour in vegetable stock and coconut milk, bring to a boil and simmer the curry open 15-20 minutes on medium heat.
Meanwhile, fry the cashews in a pan without oil until golden brown, place on a plate, let cool slightly and chop coarsely.
Peel the pineapple into quarters, cut out the stalk and cut the flesh into 1 cm thick slices.
Add pineapple, cashews and peas to the curry, stir in and simmer for another 5 minutes. Wash coriander, shake dry and chop coarsely.
The vegetable curry with salt and pepper and sprinkle with coriander.

From the oven: Tomatoes, Feta, Rosemary and Olive Oil

This title nearly says it all.
A very simple yet tasty weekday recipe.





Ingredients:

1 Person

5-6 cocktail tomatoes
100 g Feta cheese
1-2 tablespoons of good olive oil
1 twig of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Cut the tomatoes in half. Crumble the feta with your hands. Put altogether in a small overproof dish ( I use Tapas bowls), sprinkle generously with olive oil, black pepper and chopped rosemary. If you use salt, be careful the Feta is already quite salty.
Preheat the oven on 200°C and place the dish in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the tomatoes and Feta are soft.

Enjoy still warm with a piece of baguette.

Quesadillas with Guacamole

One of my weekday quick to prepare favourites ...

Quesadillas with Guacamole

Ingredients:

For the Quesadillas

8 small soft Tortillas

For the Filling

200g grated cheese
200g crumbled feta cheese
1 finely chopped yellow or red bell pepper
3 finely chopped spring onions
some chopped coriander leaves

For the Quacamole

2 ripe avocados
1/2 red chili
2 spring onions
salt
lemon juice

Method:

Mix all the ingredients for the filling.
Cover one of the Tortillas with a couple of tablespoons of the filling and place a second one on top.
Repeat that with all tortillas.

Either fry the Tortillas without extra added fat in a teflon-coated pan for a short time, until the outer side is crispy and slightly brown and the cheese in the inside is melted. For even better results use a contact grill.

For the Guacamole...
Place all the ingredients in a food processor until everything is prefectly blended.

Serve together with the still warm Quesadillas and some sour creme.

Apple Focaccia

This is an easy to prepare and tasty recipe.
At first I thought: Sweet Focaccia?!....
But no, it's not sweet and the fresh Oregano adds that certain something.

Ingredients:

250 g flour
dry yeast
salt
5 tablespoons of olive oil
1-2 tart apples
3 tablespoons lemon juice
180g chanterelles or porcini or button mushroom
2 red onions (about 150g)
100g grated mature sheep's or cow's milk cheese
40g butter
salt
pepper
3-4 stalks fresh oregano

Method:

Mix the flour with 100ml water and the dried yeast. Add some salt and olive oil. Knead dough until smooth . Cover and let rise in a warm place, until the dough has doubled its volume.
Cut the apple into quarters and remove seeds. Divide it then into 12 equal pieces and sprinkle with lemon juice. Now cut the onions in half and split into 1/2- 1 cm pieces. Grade the cheese.
Heat the butter in a pan. Fry mushrooms and onions short on high heat, season with salt and pepper.
Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 40x30 cm .Place it on a baking tray and cover evenly with apple, onion and mushrooms.Sprinkle with cheese.
Preheat the oven, and bake on the lowest rail at 240 degrees Celsius (gas 4-5) for 10-15.
Remove from oven and sprinkle with plucked off oregano leaves.
Season with salt and pepper.

Ready!

Avocado Pesto

Well you might have discovered by now that I just lurve pasta....
Tonight we had Spaghetti with an Avocado Pesto.
This is definitely something different, to have a pesto with no nuts ...

Ingredients

1 under-ripe avocado
1 ripe avocado
15g fresh basil, roughly chopped
1 tbsp of lemon juice
1 garlic clove,roughly chopped
1/2 red chilli,deseeded and very finely chopped
6 tbsp of olive oil
60g fresh Parmesan, grated, plus shavings to serve
salt and pepper

Method

Halve and stone the avocado, scoop out the flesh and put into food processor.
Add lemon juice,chopped basil, chopped garlic and olive oil and pulse briefly to make a rough-textured pesto-like sauce.
Stir in the finely chopped red chilli and grated Parmesan, season with salt and pepper and serve with Spaghetti.