I miss my doggies!

From front to back - Sophia, Emmy, Roxy and Andy - waiting patiently for dinner! 

It's no secret that I am a cat person through and through. Dogs overwhelm me. They are so needy. Their love for their owners is borderline desperate. This usually leads to me feeling guilty and sad that I am not doing more for them and loving and petting them more. Okay, I'm not going to get into this now. 

That aside I fell in love with two dogs while I was in Norway. The family I worked for had two Labradors and they were just the sweetest, best behaved, gentle dogs. 

The blonde lab has serious hip trouble and it is important for her to keep slim. The black lab has had some serious digestive problems and tends to be under weight and has a low appetite. Now this was like red rag to a bull for me. Of course I was going to tackle their feeding myself. 







I fed them a combination of raw (sometimes lightly cooked) proteins in the form of minced beef, lamb, fish, chicken, lentils, quinoa or eggs. To that I added a carbohydrate of mostly rice but sometimes bread or potato. Then I added loads of raw veggies and herbs. 

When I started making their new meals, I would put all the ingredients in the blender with some hot water and blend it well and serve it them at 'blood' temperature. They loved it! 

I then gradually blended it less and less, as I wanted them to have to chew the crunchy veggies to help with gum and tooth health. 

The picture above, is how I ended up serving it them. Really chunky and they ate every morsel! 

Good friends of the family are a vet and his wife; to whom the two smaller dogs in the pictures belong. When they came to visit I fed their dogs on the same food and they were crazy about it too. The vet was really impressed with the blonde labs weight and the black lab was the first to her bowl and always ready for more. 

This diet is not scientifically researched, I simply used my gut feel and common sense. The dogs were happy and energetic with gleaming coats and sparkling eyes. So use it, don't use it - but I feel raw and fresh food has to beat prefabricated dry dog pellets.

Now if only I could get my cat to eat anything other than Royal Canine Exigent (the heroine of cat food).

The accidental dessert

I don't keep desserts or treats in the house as neither Adam nor I have a moderate bone in our bodies. But that sweet craving can sometimes just overwhelm me and I go rummaging through the cupboards to see what I can whip up quickly.

It usually ends up being something simple like half a cup of almonds with honey drizzled on them. But once I made up a quick dessert, which was so good that I now make it for guests.  

There have been many variations so far, but the recipe below is what I would consider to be number one. 

It is simply sliced bananas fried quickly with a bit of butter, honey, orange juice and zest. This is then served with Greek yogurt, sweetened and flavoured with vanilla. The dessert is topped-off with slivered almonds and some extra orange zest. 

In the picture above I didn't have yogurt, so I used vanilla ice-cream, which was also delicious but I still feel the yogurt is better.

Honeid banana, yogurt and almond dessert
Serves 4


2 cups of Greek yogurt
2 tsp of vanilla essence (or to taste)
4 Tbsp of castor sugar or sweetening of choice 

16 almond, cut into slivers 


4 small bananas (do not use over-ripe ones), slice about 1cm thick
2 Tbsp of butter
4 Tbsp of honey
Zest and juice of half an orange

Combine the yogurt ingredients and set aside until ready for use. 

Sliver your almonds and then toast them in a pan until they start to colour and smell roasted. Set aside. 

In the same pan, melt the butter and fry the banana for a minute or two. Then add the honey, juice and zest and fry for a further minute or two. The banana should still be firm-ish but getting soft on the outsides. 

Serve in pretty bowls layering the yogurt and banana and topping with the nuts and a little extra grated orange zest for colour. Eat immediately so that the banana is still warm when eating it. 

Home, ever so sweet, home!

Today's lunch was a variation on my raw pad Thai salad, click here for the link.

It has taken a full week, but today I finally feel like I'm home. I have been in this strange limbo space between worlds, identities, responsibilities, currencies, sides of the road, languages, friends, kitchens and beds! But now I've officially grounded; and am home. A space filled with my life - my identity.  

On Monday I started returning to a basic healthy, whole and mostly raw eating routine; and today my body has just been tingling with the joy of it all. I have tried as far as possible to stick to organic produce and avoided dairy, gluten and sugar. Along with this I have been nesting - spring cleaning, reorganizing and just making this space mine again. Today it just feels like it is all coming together. And I am feeling good. 

My gorgeous cat, Tara, chilling on my bed. Her sister was killed while I was away. So sad. 

Phiwe has been over joyed to have me back. She says the one-way conversations with Tara were getting a bit boring. I am just loving having fresh veggie juice made for me again and now even better with the organic veggies. 

This was my lunch yesterday. Rocket, microgreens, sprouts, steamed broccoli, shaved carrot, red pepper, tomoto, pickled ginger and a handful of raw almonds. I dressed the salad with lemon juice, zest, olive oil, the juice from pickled ginger, garlic, salt and pepper.

I bought a box of microgreens from Woolies and I have used them in three salads so far as garnish. They are fiendishly expensive but they look so great and I eat with my eyes too.

Phiwe is happy to have me back in the kitchen too!
She loves veggies and almost all of the crazy things I cook.

  

 This was lunch on Monday. I had done a big shop of organic bean, seeds, nuts and pulsars at Komati foods down the road. I soaked and cooked up some black beans, to which I added only salt, pepper a dash of olive oil and then fresh chopped onion. I served that warm with a side salad very similar to the salad I mentioned above. The beans were amazing. I had two more helpings after this. 

Woolies has started selling potted herbs! I immediately bought a whole lot to plant in the garden but also put a few in the kitchen. I think they add such a homely touch to the decor. 

And now I'm off to have dinner at The Dog's Bollocks, which I haven't tried yet! A great week so far! 

My last days in France

Kathy and I at the Antibes market - photo taken by my dad. Nice to see a pic with me in it for a change. 

Its been more than a month since I've last posted a blog! When I look back now, it feels like a crazy kaleidoscopic blur. Three weeks of bone crunchingly hard work, a few wild nights to celebrate the end of the charter, my Dad and step Mom coming to France, followed by loads of family gatherings and tourist activities; then jumping on a plane to come home after 4 months and 10 days! 

Coming home felt totally surreal too and has been a week of reveling in my husband, home, garden, cat, friends, family and Cape Town. Talk about sensory overload. 

Today, is the first day in like six weeks where I have been able to sit at my laptop and just take time to reply to mails, look through my photos and start thinking about what comes next. Deep breathe... there is so much to do and catch up on now and I feel like I just need a few more days to get my bearings. 

I also have so much I still haven't shared with you. So today I'm just going to stay in the past a bit longer and share a lovely mornings adventure in Antibes with my Dad, step Mom and brother. 

Kathy got conned by a charming Frenchman into buying a few kilos of olives and tapendades -  which to our amazement we managed to finish in a few days! The sundried tomato paste was unbelievable! 

I am going to miss the fantastic quality and flavour of the berries and tomatoes... 

Dirk took us to his favorite Creperies in Antibes. It was my first French crepe and I am so regretting not having one sooner. It was totally different to any crepe I've had in South Africa. Crispy and light and the filling I choose, Provencal, was divine! 

My Dad ended up making friends with the Chef and the two of them were clowning around for the rest of the meal. In case you don't recognise it, that's an egg shell on his nose! 

My crepe filled with cheese, an egg in the middle, grilled peppers, aubergine and fresh basil. Soooooo good. 

Roller coasters and lemon zest

Storm clouds gathering over Antibes

I am back in France after packing up the island house, then finishing up in the Oslo house, getting back to France, catching up with people and then resting, resting, resting… and no cooking. Tomorrow I start on a three week job on a yacht; getting my camera out or spending time writing is not really going to happen. I still have quite a few photos and recipes from Norway which I want to share and if I get the time, I will. 

Dusk over the Oslo Fjord

But today I want to share the simplest thing. I have never really thought to share it before as I had never realised that so few people know about it or use it.
 
I love using lemon zest in my cooking. It was only until my boss commented on how much lemon zest I use that I finally realised how uncommon it is. 

In my teaching I have had to demonstrate how to use it many times. Most people think of lemon peel as bitter. And it is. That is why lemon zest is called zest and not peel. The white part is the bitter part. So if you grate, zest or cut off the zest you need to avoid getting through to the white part. Even then you should taste it before you add it to food, as sometimes (but not often) even the zest can be bitter.

The zest has a totally different aroma to the juice. It is not sour but it has a wonderfully lemony aroma. Just smell it and you will understand. This adds an amazing flavour to so many dishes. Dressings, marinades, rice dishes, pasta sauces, desserts, vegetarian dishes and meat dishes alike. I just love it. Oh yes, and the same applies to oranges and often limes (they can sometimes be bitter).

I often have more lemons with all their zest removed than I have need for their juice in my fridge.
If this is a new concept for you. First, you need a good sharp grater or zester. You need the small side of the grater; the one that still looks like a cheese grater but is at least half the size. Not the one that turns everything to powder or pulp. It must be sharp. In the picture above, I have a lemon zester.

Otherwise you can cut the zest off the sides of the lemon, avoiding the white pith. Then chop or slice it. A little goes a long way, so don’t overdo it. Smell and taste it before adding it to food. Then taste the sauce or food after, so you can begin to understand how it affects the flavour. (You should do that with all spices and herbs. Don’t trust the recipe, trust your senses)

And a final note; cooking and eating is personal. I just love lemon zest. Other people love chilli, or sweetness, or salt. There is no right or wrong, it’s just you. Taste, experiment and trust your own palate. 

Fruit, veggies and herbs are the new flowers!

I was browsing through my photos the other day and noticed that I had taken quite a few photos of the fruit and veggie baskets and herb pots around the house. There isn't really a designated drawer for fruit and veggies in the kitchen here, other than in the fridge. So, I have been arranging them in a way that looks appealing in the collection of lovely bowls and baskets they have. 

I think it looks pretty good. In fact it looks great! I think I am going to invest in some seriously good looking bowls and baskets when I get home. And pots for herbs. And buy loads of fresh herb plants and have those around the house instead of pot plants. And now I'm getting really excited! I can almost smell home... only one and half months to go. 

Don't you think these are so much nicer than a wilting box of herbs in the fridge? 

Even this little guy in the corner by the sink looks great!

A lunch I just loved cooking!

Yesterday my boss was being interviewed for one of Norway’s leading papers by one of Norway’s leading writers and journalists. So naturally I put quite a bit of effort into the lunch menu. As you know, I like to keep things simple and honest and yesterday's menu just unfolded from me with such ease and enjoyment. I just loved cooking it. 


I made a fresh pressed juice of fennel, cucumber, lime, apple, mint and melon as a welcome drink and crudites with home-made hummus to snack on while they got themselves set up for the interview. 

The photographer bonding with Sophia, the sweetest black Labrador I've ever met. 

Lisbet aka Mrs. Herb doing her thing.

 Asian style salmon salad
Serves 6 – 8 starter portions

600g of best quality sashimi grade salmon (we used salma salmon which is fantastic) 
12 green asparagus spears, ends trimmed 
Juice from one and half limes 
4 Tbsp of soya sauce (or to taste) 
1 Tbsp of the juice from the pickled ginger
2 tsp of fish sacue
1 - 2 tsp of wasabi or horse radish
30g of coriander, roughly chopped
30g of mint, roughly chopped
30g of wild rocket, roughly chopped
6 Tbsp of pickled sushi ginger, roughly chopped
60ml of sesame oil
30ml of olive oil
Black and white sesame seeds for garnish (Renée Voltaire Japanese mix)

In order to make this dish you need to plan ahead and do all the preparations accordingly. Then it will be easy to serve and enjoy with your guests.

Freeze your salmon in order to make it easier to cut. You may need to let it to thaw a bit if it is frozen too hard. Cut it into very thin slices and lay these slightly overlapping on a platter and allow this to defrost completely.

Cover the asparagus spears with boiling water from the kettle for 5 minutes, then drain and rinse with cold water, setting them aside for later. Drizzle them with a little olive oil and some salt to taste. 

Mix up the dressing ingredients – the lime juice, soya, wasabi, fish sacue and ginger juice (check the flavours and adjust where necessary) and set aside for later. 

Wash, drain and roughly chop up the herbs. Add the chopped ginger and set aside for later. 

When you are ready to serve, heat the sesame and olive oil until smoking hot. Drizzle the hot oil over the salmon, pour over the dressing. Arrange the asparagus spears and pile the herbs over the top. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve immediately. 

The main course consisted of - rare pan seared beef fillet with caramelized onion and red wine sauce; new potatoes with herb butter; cooked beetroot in a garlic yogurt dressing; lentil salad with chopped peppers, red onion, fennel and apple with a white balsamic, honey and olive oil dressing. 

For dessert I opted for a simple fruit salad of carefully chosen fruit. The flavors, colors and textures must compliment each other. I chose mango, kiwi, segmented orange, raspberries and blueberries. I served this with my favorite cheese cake sauce.

Cheese cake sauce

Makes about two cups

400g of Philadelphia cream cheese (at room temperature)

1/2 a cup of castor sugar (or to taste)

1 tsp of vanilla essence

2 tsp of grated lemon zest (just the yellow part, non of the white)

6 Tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl with an electric cake mixer until smooth. Add a little water if it's too thick. Set aside until ready for use.  

The meal ended with a cheese board. The cheeses were mature Parmesan, Comte and Gorgonzola. Served with spelt seed crackers, fig jam and mango chutney. The fruits I chose to serve with this were grapes, raspberries and blueberries.

I pretty good meal I think.