Sweet Sunday Nights

For some reason Sunday nights beg for something sweet and delicious. I'm not sure if its that last tip of the hat to the weekend, the end of all things wonderful before entering the week filled with the mundane. As a child, cinnamon pancakes were a staple in our house on a Sunday evening and I know many of my childhood friends would bake cakes on a Sunday after lunch for afternoon tea. It may be something cultural that has wound its way down in our DNA, from where, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to accurately pinpoint.

We quite enjoy the odd cinnamon pancake-filled Sunday night but we're not quite as loyal to the tradition. Danish pastry is by far my favourite of all time so I've decided, after a very long time, to attempt custard danish pastries to mark the end of this weekend. I started the pastry a few days ago, which you can based on several recipes I've researched. I used the Nigella Lawson recipe for the danish pastry from the "How to be a Domestic Goddess" book. Nigella has a way of making the complicated simple.

I have, cooling on the table cooling next to me, six custard danish pastries which may or may not be delicious. They don't look too bad. A cappuccino is what this weekend send-off calls for.

Scrape vanilla seeds from pod

Mix eggs yolks & sugar 

Add cornflour and mix until light

After adding hot milk & thickening, sieve

Fold into 3rds and roll again

Roll pastry to 50cm x 50cm square

Watch the magic!

Refer to "How to be a Domestic Goddess" for the pastry recipe and use your favourite custard recipe with the addition of some cornflour (a.k.a Maizena) to thicken it to get your Sunday night danish fix.

Enjoy!

There's Black Truffle in them thar Mpumalanga!!!!

I must admit that the news of the black truffle in Mpumalanga has got my tastebuds all a flutter. The news yesterday left me dreaming, all night, of all kinds of delicious and delectable fungi of the variety not common to our local supermarkets and veggie shops. To have been successfully grown on South African soil almost makes it feel like something we should all be eating, more attainable, more normal and for the people. Not this luxurious indulgence reserved for the rich and famous, dressed in tweed and foraging for truffles with their genius pigs in faraway forests. Though I have no doubt that the price per gram is not likely to change.

I feel like Cameron Anderson should be knighted or given whatever honour it is local royals from Mpumalanga give for his foresight, bravery and damn ingenuity!!! 

In honour of this feat, tonight's dinner is dedicated to the black truffle. I pay homage in this very tiny way, with a little drizzle (of not quite the same thing) black truffle "flavoured" oil.

Pork Fillet with Roast Tomatoes, Broccoli and Chickpeas

Mixed Tomatoes ready for roasting!

Roasted mixed tomatoes

Mixed tomatoes (cut according to size)
Garlic cut into slivers
Smoked chilli flakes (to taste)
Salt & pepper
Two pinches of french tarragon
Place everything in a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil before placing in an oven preheated to 220 degrees celcius for 25 minutes.

Pork Fillet
Rub the fillets with olive oil and season with salt & pepper to taste. Seal all sides at high temperature in an oven-proof pan before placing in the same oven for 20 minutes.

Broccoli & Chickpeas

Lightly sauté steamed broccoli in olive oil flavoured with garlic (single smashed whole clove which has just been warmed in olive oil). Add a can of chickpeas and season.

This simple, light summer meal is elevated to something special by drizzling with a few drops of black truffle flavoured oil over the finished dish.

Hopefully we'll all be able to benefit from Mr Anderson's endeavours in the near future and may our South African Black Truffles not succumb to the same fate as our calamari which never finds its way to South African plates.

Eat Well!!!