Catering for a crowd

Spaghetti Bolognaise:
When catering for a crowd and having no idea what time the troops will arrive (teens and race teams seem to be unpredictable like that) it helps to have a meal that isn't fiddly and can stand on the stove until needed. I'm terrible at following recipes when it comes to these things but I'll share how this one looked (it was polished off in one sitting so I think they approved :) )



4 onions, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, crushed / chopped
1.5kg Lean beef mince
1kg tomatoes (I had a massive jar of canned tomatoes from the garden but any canned tomatoes will do)
3 pots of tomato paste (this isn't a science!)
1kg carrots, grated
5ml each Thyme, Rosemary, parsley, basil, origanum (I used some of these fresh from the garden - increasing quantity for fresh herbs accordingly...)
10ml sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
15ml Worcester Sauce
20ml olive oil

Heat oil in a BIG pot and gently fry onions and garlic. Once softened add mince and stir until browned through. Add all the other ingredients - turn down to low once heated through and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve over spaghetti - the kids love grated cheddar on top but I prefer some parmegano or pecorino for a bit more adult flavour.

I cooked up a kilo of spaghetti for this quantity - I did it in one go but should really have divided it in two batches even though I have pots that are big enough...

This fed 10 adults and 2 sixteen year olds with one single solitary portion making its' way into a tupperware for my lunch today (I had to hide it or I probably would have had to think of another lunch to make...!)

When life Sends you Lemons...

Easy peasy recipe today although it's so easy I'm not sure it counts as a recipe!

I found these gorgeous Grolsch Beer bottles on their way to a bin in a house that doesn't recycle (I know, right?!?!?) and rescued them... It's taken a couple of weeks but i've managed to make something that's perfect for them - Lemon Cordial. The recipes I have say it will keep for a year but with the sixteen year old in my house I'll be lucky if it lasts until next month!

Basically dissolve sugar in freshly squeezed lemon juice (at a ratio of about 1-1.2kg sugar per litre of juice) by warming it gently until the sugar is disolved. I haven't done much experimentation here but the research i did suggested that the mixture shouldn't reach the boil. In reality the sugar disolved by the time the juice was body temperature - which is when I stopped heating it and bottled in sterile bottles. You can water bath preserve if you're pedantic but I really don't think this is necessary. Having left the cordial for a couple of hours I've decided that next time I am going to strain it before bottling - this version has separated with quite a lot of scummy lemon cells on top... Yes, I can be a silly, annoying perfectionist some days!

The sixteen-year-old did a taste test (tot of syrup and fill the glass with cold water) and gave it a massive thumbs up (in teenager that's a grunt and gulp and then pouring another for those of you who haven't got a teenager in your life...)

Onion Marmalade Recipe

Perfectly sticky and sweet onion marmalade

This is a seriously frustrating post since I tested (and retested and retested) and played around with Onion Marmalade recipe ideas a while ago and then promptly lost the notes in a house move. Just thinking about it has made me feel all worked up :(




Unfortunately it was too long ago to remember what worked best so today I've pretty much started from scratch.

The epic fails were recipes I found online all of which turned out to be more like caramelized onion than anything of a preserve... I eventually resorted to going with what I know about making actual jam and marmalade and got the result I was after (after burning a batch of course!) 

Caramelized Onion (FAIL)

Right recipe but burned and overcooked (EPIC FAIL)

Onion Marmalade

• 1kg onions (it makes no difference what kind of onions you use - I've tried yellow, brown and red onions and they were all very similar)
• Lug of Olive oil for frying
• 1 kg Brown Sugar 
• 1/2 cup brown vinegar (again, not essential which type of vinegar you use. Balsamic works pretty amazingly too but you end up with a much sweeter marmalade rather than the slightly tangy version with spirit vinegar)
• 15ml Lemon Juice (this is for pectin rather than flavour)
• 5ml Sea Salt

Thinly slice onions and fry gently (not brown) in olive oil to soften. This is probably the most important step in the process as once you add the other ingredients the onion won't cook any softer. Once the onions are soft, add sugar, vinegar, lemon juice and salt. Allow the the sugar to dissolve slowly over low heat and then bring to a fast boil. Boil until the mixture turns dark and sticky. I've bottled the marmalade as I would any other jam or preserve - seal in hot, sterilized jars and it will keep for ages (I'm not going to commit to a timeline here but will suffice to say I've just finished a jar form a year ago and it was perfect - pity I had to reinvent the recipe too!)

Serving suggestions:

Serve on top of brie cheese on homemade burgers

Amazing on crackers with pretty much any kind of cheese (strong cheeses are my favourite with the sweetness of the marmalade)

It's been a while....

Matilda

So much has happened since my last post and it gets to a point where I feel so overwhelmed about posting I procrastinate indefinitely :( 

Anyway I'll  just pretend that my last post was yesterday and be normal!

I added a new member to the farmyard a week ago - she's wiggled her way into our lives and hearts in record time (think girls and puppies and you'll get the idea!) The only relationship that isn't going to work out is that between Matilda (or Piggity as my mom insist on calling her so as to avoid naming her and dealing with the consequences surrounding the naming of a 'farm' animal.......)






The other thing I've done is ban boring salads. Now by boring salads I mean a typical greek salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, etc.). The consequences of this decision have been entertaining :) We've gone from a teenage lad who had to be persuaded to eat fresh greens to one who, if left unsupervised to dish up, cleans the salad platter before anyone else can get a look in...

Roasted Tomato and Feta Salad

Today's salad to go with a mid winter braai for mom's birthday - as usual there are many people at this table!


I've got a very simple yet impressively tasty recipe:


Cos and Iceberg Lettuce (I find the mix is way nicer than a single leaf choice)
Rosa Tomatoes
Feta
Pine Nuts (Toasted in a nonstick pan - but don't let them burn or they'll turn bitter)

Cut the lettuce in manageable chunks and spread on a salad platter (not a bowl as this salad doesn't want to be tossed!) Toast the pine nuts in a pan (if the oven is on for something else you can roast them instead). Set aside in a bowl. Put a little olive oil in the pan and toss in the tomatoes - roast them until they're soft but not squishy (experiment with what you like here). Add the feta and stir in to melt a bit. Pour this gooey yumminess over the leaves, sprinkle with pine nuts and dress vinaigrette just before serving. 

Vinaigrette Recipe

50ml vinegar (you can use pretty much any vinegar but the better the vinegar, the better your dressing!)
150ml Olive oil 
1tsp sugar
Fresh parsley (or any herb of your prefeerence)
White pepper
Salt

Mix all the ingredients in a glass jar and allow to stand for an hour for the flavours to develop. Super simple. Super yummy!

Jamie Oliver's Lamb Rack Recipe

This is a recipe straight off Jamie Oliver's website... I didn't cut and paste so don't hold me responsible if the wording isn't exactly the same - anyway, as you probably know I'm terrible at following recipes to a T and love to add a bit of a story! This is an amazing meal for entertaining as everything is in one roasting dish in the oven and it tastes so yummy. You can prep up to the point of roasting and then chuck it in the oven when your guests arrive - there's zero mess and timing is taken care of.


Rack of Lamb


10 Potatoes (I've done it with big potatoes, baby potatoes, sweet potatoes and Mediterranean potatoes and they were all delicious!!)
1 handful cherry tomatoes
6 bone rack of lamb
1 handful kalamata olives
1 small handful garlic cloves (I've forgotten this once or twice and you won't notice the difference!)
 Sea Salt and Black Pepper
a few sprigs of rosemary
olive oil


Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (I have no idea how to do a superscript in blogger!!)
Boil the potatoes in salted water (I've used leftover potatoes a few times - baby ones)
Sear the lamb in a little olive oil to seal and brown - this is imperative! You will thank me when you eat it... Crush the potatoes into the lamb juices and fry a little. Mix in the (pitted) olives, cherry tomatoes, rosemary and seasoning. Transfer into a roasting dish and place the lamb on top. Roast in preheated oven for 40min. Allow to stand for a few minutes before cutting into portions and serving. Jamie says it serves 4 but I'd say you need at least 2 bones per person. I make this size serving for two and there's one portion left over for lunch.

Christmas was good ;)

For the first year ever I didn't celebrate Christmas as such... Sacrilege you might say but wait! When there are no kids in the house and your man is jewish no one really expects an elaborate Christmas. We spent christmas eve at Spier Wine Estate (said Man thought he'd surprise me with a couple of nights as a treat - and what a treat it was!!) Christmas day was a very early start (like 5am hotel departure!) to get to the Breede River to spend the day with my family... Ok, so this was the most 'christmassy' part - my mom had every conceivable meat option and some crackers.

Once back in Cape Town we launched into a few days of frantic admin and SHOPPING! These were the memorable items we bought as "Christmas gifts to ourselves":

Esspresso Machine :) I think I'm in love...

The AMAZING Chef's knife

What a pleasure eating in has become!!

Perfect Fudge

So after many tests, I found the perfect fudge recipe. There are others with much simpler ingredient lists and instructions but the extra time and effort are well worth the effort here! I gave the simpler recipes a fair shot (tried them each twice) but the results were at best very average. Nigella Lawson’s recipe from “How to be a domestic goddess” didn’t work at all… Very simple recipe with very disappointing results. Here’s one that worked perfectly again and again:

900g Sugar

300ml Milk

30ml Golden syrup

100g Margarine

397g can Condensed Milk

5ml Vanilla Essence

1. Dissolve the sugar in the milk over low heat (the best results I got were from a batch where I put the milk and sugar in a pot over low heat and went to shower whilst it melted. It took about 20min for the sugar to fully dissolve. This is a little excessive but as I said, this happened to be the very best batch of very many batches!
2. Add syrup and margarine. Bring to the boil and boil for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the condensed milk and bring to the boil again. I found that if I stopped stirring for too long the bottom got brown really fast. This fortunately stirred back into the mixture ok but is obviously something to watch! Boil until soft-ball stage which is 118^oC on the sugar thermometer.
4. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla essence (I never ever stick to the recipe amount when it comes to vanilla – the vanilla essence we get at pick ‘n pay isn’t very good I’m afraid so I add more)
5. Beat this mixture until it begins to set. Pour into a greased baking tin. If you beat it for too long you have trouble getting it from the pot into the tin… try to move the fudge from the pot to the tin as fast as possible and don’t fiddle with it once it’s in the tin – it makes it look yucky and messy!
6. Cut the fudge before it sets too hard. Store in an airtight container – it will last as long as the boys in the house can’t find it!