The Cocktail a.k.a "The Pink Drink"?

What is it about the cocktail that makes you believe that you're far away on holiday? No responsibilities and not a care in the world. I suspect the answer lies somewhere between their exotic mien and their overly intoxicating nature. They are deliciously alcoholic and often very fruity if not just sweet.

However, in deciding upon a welcome drink for our daughter's upcoming 21st birthday dinner, I have come to realise that they're not very masculine. When I say masculine, I mean the typically mans man kind that makes you think of oil rigs and civil engineering feats of the most dramatic kind like a Carling Black Label advert with men glistening with sweat after a hard day's work who's thirst can only be quenched by, you guessed it, a Carling Black Label. In fact, most cocktails are, I dare say, quite "girly"! Pink, umbrellas, stylish glassware and fruity. So when my daughter asked me what type of cocktail we'd be serving for the men, I was left befuddled. Steelworks! We both declared, enthusiastically, that surely counts as a cocktail and it's really manly. The name says it all. But..... this would leave all the ladies decidedly weak in the knees and the men feeling, well, manly. A Steelworks has a couple of drops of bitters, whilst your average Cosmopolitan/Watermelon Cooler/Mojito/Sangria is a true cocktail brimming with flowery, fruity notes laced with lashings of alcohol.

So, while contemplating this and ranting to you, I quietly sit listening to the birds and sipping my own cocktail concoction/sudo white sangria!

Ingredients (whatever I could find in the kitchen)

750ml Zonnebloem Chardonnay

50ml Sky Vodka

1 cinnamon stick

5 strawberries (pulverised with an immersion blender)

1 Mandarin (sliced)

1 apple (sliced and cut into stars)

1 handful of mint leaves (slightly bruised by rolling between my two hands)

100ml simple syrup (100ml water + 100ml xylitol)

Loads of ice

Combine and .....

Enjoy!!

P.S. I've googled several recipes, nothing is exciting me yet or screaming "I'm a Man"! I'll have to play in the kitchen, do lots of sampling and will get back to you with a result!

Good Old Desserts!

Sometimes you've just got to stick to the tried and tested to keep everyone happy. This fridge cheesecake is a recipe I received from my amazing Aunty Debbie who has always been an inspiration to me. She shares this recipe freely so I have no doubt she won't have a problem with me doing the same.

Aunty Debbie's Cheesecake!

Ingredients

100g packet of tennis biscuits
40g butter (melted)

1 can condensed milk
Juice of 1 lemon (rind too if you wish)
2 x 250g tubs cream cheese
6 x gelatine leaves or 12,5ml gelatine powder
50ml water
1 x 250ml fresh cream (whipped)

Method

1. Crush tennis biscuits and combine with melted butter. Press into a springform baking tin and refrigerate until needed.
2. Mix condensed milk and lemon juice until thickened. Whisk in cheese. Use gelatine leaves as per package instructions or dissolve gelatine powder in 50ml of water over a pot of simmering water, cool slightly and add to cheese mixture. Fold in whipped cream and spoon into the prepared baking pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Topping!

You choose! Mixed berries, a layer of fresh cream, macerated strawberries (pictured above), granadilla/passionfruit pulp...... anything goes!!!

Enjoy!

Look Ahead!

.....nothing so liberalizes a man and expands the kindly instincts that nature put in him as travel and contact with many kinds of people. Mark Twain

Now would be a good time to start planning for those mid-year school holidays. Booking a trip at the last minute doesn't always yield the perfect holiday you envisioned.

Kids are welcome too!

We typically spend our winter school holidays at the KZN coast, beautiful weather for lazy days at the beach - one of the many joys living in South Africa. We almost always travel as a family and sometimes with extended family so we're always looking for activities and adventures to suit us all. My husband and children love the water and being outdoors and I love food so I'll do anything as long as there's a promise of something amazing to eat.

Soak up the sun

In 2014, at the suggestion of a passionate, shark-loving family member, we ventured to the Western Cape. If you know anything about the weather in that part of South Africa, you'd expect cold, wet weather at this time of year. Surprisingly, we enjoyed the most wonderful weather. A light jacket for morning walks on the beach sufficed and we ended spending lots of time in the heated swimming pool on the premises of the house we rented.

Seals, seals, seals......

The purpose of our visit was a bucket list item, shark cage diving in Gansbaai - top international spot for any shark related activity as it has a very high population of Great Whites. Gansbaai is located in the Overberg Region of the Western Cape. The clear, blue waters during our South African winter offer ideal conditions for experiencing these magnificent creatures up close and personally.

The majestic Southern Right!

The gentle motion of the boat as it rhythmically followed the ocean's swell did not bode well for all aboard, prophylactics are advised. Nothing can prepare you for the sight of a giant, barnacled Southern Right whale slowly sidling up to the side of your boat allowing you to experience its sheer gloriousness in living colour or the tiny, rocky island covered from end to end with seals watching us go by, their mates playfully frolicking in the water.

You don't feel the cold when you enter the water. You're filled with trepidation and expectation and can think of nothing else but what lurks below. The voices ahead guide your movements, take a breath and push yourself down, hook your feet into the bars so you don't float up. Then it happens, the shadow grows clearer and the eyes become visible and suddenly you're face to face. A grimaced face with beady eyes, I'm not sure they know we're there. You're tempted to stretch out a hand and feel what looks like a silky surface of a most graceful creature. Then another one. Before you know it, the boat is surrounded and all you can do is gasp with bewilderment and awe. 

Glorious!!!

Even sitting on the boat's deck is an experience. The mountains in the distance that you're supposed to focus on to ease your unhappy belly, the blue swells rising and falling all around you and the sharks, inquisitive I presume, swimming at the surface allowing us to take in the wonder they are.

Eat!

When you're done doing what you do when your tummy has been at sea and you get out of your wetsuit, you can make your way to the local Spar shopping centre in Gansbaai to the Fish Barrel for the most amazing fish and chips you'll get on that side of the bay. Perfectly battered, deep fried hake fillets, smothered in salt and vinegar (I doubt whether they grill), wrapped in butcher's paper - nothing but good old fashioned fish and chips. The shop does not have any decor or ambience to speak of, just friendly employees flipping the fish and preparing our favourite meal of the holiday. A beer tasting would also hit the spot, so travel to Stanford up the road to Birkenhead Brewery for a good pub meal and a pint or two - you are on holiday after all!

With so much to see and do a week was not enough!

Always travel & eat well!!!

P.S. Best time for shark cage diving in Gansbaai, South Africa is between June and September

Marine Dynamics (www.sharkwatchsa.co.za) - dive@sharkwatchsa.co.za

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!!!   

Outside Inspiration

Tonight's green beans are inspired by the most delicious version I ate at The Local Grill in Parktown North on Friday night. Bright green, crunchy and beautifully flavoured.

This evening's version:

Steam your trimmed green beans in a bamboo steamer until just starting to soften, plunge into a bowl of ice blocks and water to stop the cooking and retain the bright green colour. Allow to drain before adding to a frying pan and sautéing in a little olive oil and crushed clove of garlic (or two, depending on your preference). Salt and pepper to taste. I sprinkled some toasted sesame seeds to add another dimension of crunch.

This was simple enough to somewhat replicate, albeit not identical. Another element of my particular dish, the Pork belly roll with curried quince sauce and poached apple, I fear I will not be as adept at. The curried quince sauce was a combination of flavours that both taunted and mesmerised me. I couldn't figure out what all the ingredients were but I didn't care, not at that moment at least. Now, however, I need to have it again and without a trip to a restaurant. I'm desperate to experience the joyful experience of that little mountain of heaven.

To Google I will go as I start my search. I've just remembered that Prickly Pears and Pomegranates has several recipes using quince but alas, non curried. This will at least give me some insight into the preparation of the fruit that I must admit has not graced my kitchen before. 

Wish me luck!