Let Them Eat Cake...

I managed to have a birthday come and go without a cake this year and to be honest I feel a little devastated to admit that... I'm not sure this has happened before and I'm pretty certain it shouldn't happen again!

Anyway, to make up for it I made my 'effort' cake yesterday afternoon to go with tea for a special friend :)

Dark Chocolate Tray Cake

500ml Flour

500ml Sugar

pinch of Salt

5ml Bicarbonate of Soda

125g butter (or margarine if you're not a purist)

250ml water

125ml Oil

125ml Cocoa Powder

2 Eggs (I choose big ones from my hens)

125ml buttermilk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius and grease a large baking tray.

Sift flour, sugar, salt and bicarb into a bowl. Well, that's what the recipe I got says... In reality there's absolutely nothing wrong with dumping the ingredients in a bowl and using a whisk to mix them up whilst adding a little air.

Put the butter, water, oil and cocoa in a microwaveable jug and heat through (basically so the butter melts and they can be mixed). 

While this cools slightly beat the eggs and buttermilk. Now add wet ingredients to dry and mix without killing them! (that's 'Lauren' for "fold in gently")

Pour into the prepared tray and bake for 25minutes. This time is a guideline only - which means you should start testing after 25 min... yesterday's cake took closer to 35minutes before my skewer came out clean. Don't panic, just give it another few minutes at a time!

Cool and ice in the tray.

Mind-blowing chocolate Icing

75g butter

30ml cocoa powder

45ml buttermilk

5ml vanilla essence

375ml icing sugar

Melt butter and then add all the other ingredients and mix until there re no lumps. The original recipe had elaborate instructions but I'm of the view that things should be kept simple unless it's absolutely necessary to make them complicated and in this case it definitely doesn't need to be complicated!

Pour over the partially (or completely) cooled cake.

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!

Gourmet Burger Night!

I'm no big fan of the burger. There, I said it... And now I have to take it back and say I'm the world's biggest little fan of the right burgers! I'll include the recipe just because I'd love everyone to see just how easy it is to make burgers from scratch and you'll be in love too...












Burger Patty Recipe

• 500g lean mince (Sirloin steak put through a mincer is your very best option but if you haven't got one of these woolworth's lean mince is delish)
• Handful parsley, finely chopped
• An onion finely chopped and cooked over a low heat until soft and sweet
• Egg
• Bread crumbs
• Salt and pepper

Mix the ingredients excluding bread crumbs in a large bowl. Add bread crumbs until you have a firm consistency. Weigh off your burgers (small = good in this case!) the size you'd like them and shape into patties. I have a mould that's the right size but I find making a ball and squashing it with my hands is way more fun. Place on a greased tray and put into the fridge for at least an hour to set.


Cook in a marinade of your choice. To serve, lightly toast your buns in an oiled pan, then use a layer of salad leaves under the patty. We love the combination of brie and my homemade onion marmalade with rocket leaves. Give it a try - there's no limit to the toppings you can add!

Summer Refreshment

After a long day of running around (the type that make me wish I had a normal day job...) there's not much better than a sugar-free rock shandy :) No so eco-friendly I'm afraid as I have to admit I buy little cans of lemonade and soda... I send them to recycling to justify myself! 


It's so simple as tastes and looks great: equal parts lemonade and soda water, add a couple of ice blocks and then add a dash of bitters... voila! You have a yummy and refreshing drink that makes you feel like it's ok to put your feet up 

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!!

Foodie Girl's Night-in

It's been ages since the girls have gotten together without the lads - it's funny how we go through stages! Needless to say we drank far too much (really good, I mean amazing) wine and I did a little experimental recipe which was divine (if I may say so myself!)

For starters I made a very simple salad - it's actually my absolute favorite recipe at the moment...
- Cos lettuce
- Iceberg lettuce
- Toasted pine nuts
- Parmegano Shavings
- Greek Dressing
I make up individual bowls for each person (I way prefer this presentation to a bowl on the table) - mixing the leaves and dressing then sprinkling pine nuts and then finally parmegano shavings - VOILA! you have a wow salad in minutes!

Mains:

I have to admit I went big here (blush!) Homemade pasta and a fresh Coriander, basil and chili pesto. The pasta is something I've developed a bit of a reputation for - fresh pasta is just so good it makes me wish I was Italian! I've shared the recipe previously here. I underestimated just how much the airconditioner dried out the air and by the time I tried to put the sheets through the cutter they were far to dry and sort of started to crumble - not quite the angel's hair I'd planned :( I improvised a little and cut the sheets with a knife and it turned into a bit of tagliateli

Coriander, Basil and Chili Pesto
- big bag of fresh coriander from woolies
- 30g basil leaves
- pine nuts
- Chili to taste (I used one)
- Olive oil

Blitz the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Add olive oil a bit at a time to get the right consistency. The key with any pesto is to allow it to stand for an hour or two to develop flavour before  using it.

We've just bought an espresso machine (the kind that actually requires you to read the whole manual!) so for desert we had cappuccino's, dark chocolate and maybe a very special bottle of Rupert and Rothschild red vino :)