Creamy Shiitake and Courgette Pasta

Wow, what a weekend. The weather was fantastic and we were surrounded by fabulous people, food, music, wine and venues. Oh my word, the venue we were at on Sunday, Casa Labia in St. James, is something completely extraordinary. We had a table for 20 booked in the ballroom and all dressed appropriately. The food was lovely and the company exceptional. If you are looking for a very special venue for a gathering, you would do well to consider this place.

But too much of a good thing can also leave one pretty drained and Monday seems very dull after the frivolities of the weekend, which is why I felt perfectly justified having a slightly extravagant lunch today. It certainly has brighten up my day as only creamy pasta dishes can.

It was also made a little more exciting as I go to use one of my new kitchen tools, an antique veggie slicer which is still razor sharp and slices wafer thin!

Creamy shiitake and courgette pasta

Serves 4 conservative portions (i.e. two people in my house)

250g of your favourite pasta, cooked and drained

15g pack of dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in ½ a cup of hot water for ½ an hour

1 Tbsp of oil

1 medium onion, cut in half and sliced thinly to form half onion rings

2 cloves of garlic, sliced

½ a punnet of courgettes, julienned or cut into ribbons

125ml of cream

Salt and pepper to taste

While your pasta is cooking, gently fry the onions and garlic on medium heat until they become translucent but don’t brown. Add the mushrooms (and the water they soaked in), courgettes, cream salt and pepper and allow them to simmer lightly until the courgettes are just cooked. They should still be bright green in colour.

Serve over pasta and with parmesan if you like.

Coffee, Ice Cream and Caramel Fudge Sauce.

Phew… what a day! I spent the entire day with my housekeeper spring cleaning our kitchen so I could find space for all the treasures I got from my Mom yesterday. It was serious manual labour but now my kitchen looks so tidy and organised I can just stand there and stare at it with admiration. In between all this I baked a loaf of bread from various left over things in my grocery cupboard – rye flour, cake flour, crushed wheat, seed mix and coconut. Phiwe and I had that for lunch straight out the oven with lashings of cold salted butter.

I think I might still write a post about some of the treasures in my now pristine kitchen… some seriously special stuff there, with some great stories attached.

In the afternoon Phiwe and I were pretty exhausted, not having sat down once the whole day. I decided to spoil us with a little pick me up. I brewed some strong Origin coffee, scooped up some vanilla ice cream drizzled it with So!Go caramel fudge sauce and then poured some of the coffee around the ice cream. We gratefully scooped up the heavenly concoction, and smiled – ready for the final wave of our spring clean.

This would be a great hassle free dessert after a weekend meal. That sauce is such a great thing to have in the cupboard for a last minute, easy dessert. It would be great in pancakes, in a cake, on cup cakes and on ice cream. Try it, it will make you happy.

A very good day

My parents have let our old family house in Stellenbosch and have moved to Betty’s Bay. They are getting in a new tenant soon so they have decided to spring clean, renovate and also to pack up a lot of our personal family stuff. Before my mother was going to pack up the kitchen stuff I asked if I could quickly pop by and see if there were a few things I could use in my kitchen. Well, my quick pop through ended up being the best part of a very good day.

I arrived to a house under siege – boxes, painters, handy men and chaos but my mother and step dad in with their usual charm showed me around and told me all the plans they had and what was going to be done. They also had a little gift for me from their recent travels of a packet of Beaver Creek, estate reserve 2010 coffee and a piece of sheep’s milk pecorino from Ovis Angelica. Since I had brought with me a jar of Chaloner’s olive and chilli preserve and guava jam, I offered to pop out and get some more cheese and bread for lunch.

My parents then advised me to stop in at Mellisa’s just up the road for some more cheese and then to go to a new bakery they had heard a lot about, called De Oude Bank Bakkerij (fabulous review by Whale Cottage). So I mozied off up Dorp Street on the most heavenly of winters days. I bought two of my old favourite cheese from Dalewood and Klein River as well as some little florentines for dessert.

I struggled to find the bakery but finally, almost by accident, I found it tucked in the back of a set of quaint shops. It was like a little hidden treasure, bustling with people in the know and wafting with the smells of freshly baked bread and the best intentions. I had just come to buy bread but the food on the tables scattered around the café looked so enticing, I was very sad that I had to leave without being able to sit and enjoy this haven. I bought two massive loaves of dark rye and something called rustica (like ciabatta with bigger holes in the dough, as well as four bread sticks filled with chunks of dark chocolate, all wrapped in a butcher paper and tied with red twine. 10 out of 10 for atmosphere, friendliness and presentation.

I rushed home and set up a rustic lunch upstairs on an old wooden kist on the floor as every other table and space was packed up with boxes and clutter. A friend of the family had also spontaneously popped in and the five of us plus our old cat who has suddenly gained about 2kgs (I think all the neighbours have been feeding her independently) sat in a pool of winter sun and enjoyed this simple feast.

The bread was light, crusty and chewy, the cheeses were all the things an excellent gruyere and camembert should be, but the sheep’s milk pecorino was something new for me and therefor special. It was very young and soft so it had a lovely creamy texture whilst still having the strong flavour and acidity which will turn into crystals with age. The cheese paired beautifully with the olive and chilli preserve (which is sweet, savory and spicy all at the same time) and the guava jam (which has something of a likeness to quince paste but is far more fruity and floral in flavour)

The mini florentines and bread sticks with chocolate were sensational. Simple goodness.

It was now time to pillage the kitchen. I left with way more than I had bargained for, but still only a 20^th of what was there… oh my word my mother had collected a lot of kitchen stuff. I am so looking forward to cooking, baking and plating my next meals… where I am going to put everything is another story all together!

Bite sized maple syrup crumpets

Recently I got a lovely big bottle of Great Northern grade A amber Maple Syrup and have been dying to use it, aside from slurping up a few teaspoons on the side. Naturally my first thoughts ran to pancakes or crumpets but I had also been dreaming about basting a pork roast or doing some sticky ribs with it. Anyway, the crumpets won this morning.

My granny often used to make us crumpets. I remember the butter and honey running off the hot crumpets all over our hands as we ate them. When I started to make them myself I experimented with making little bite sized crumpets so that you could top them and pop them into your mouth before the topping slid off. The American way of making big crumpets, stacking them and eating them with a knife and fork somehow never appealed to me. Not sure why…

Since my granny is no longer with us, I improvised a recipe which was really easy but not as good as my grannies. I think I am going to have to call my mother and see if she remembers the recipe. It could also be that my granny had this antique crumpet pan made out of heavy black iron and looked like it was transported here by ox wagon… perhaps that was what made the difference…

Crumpets

Makes about 40 bite sized crumpets

2 ½ cups of flour

4 Tbsp of castor sugar (I used 6 Tbsp of maple syrup)
2 large eggs
2 tsp (10ml) of melted butter
1 cup (250ml) of milk
2 ½ tsp of baking powder (make sure it has not expired)

½ tsp of vanilla essence (optional)
½ tsp of salt

Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Beat the eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla essence in a separate bowl. Whisk the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. Stir well to form a smooth batter. Leave the mixture for 30 minutes.

Fry the crumpets on medium heat in a greased pan. I found a table spoon of the mixture dropped into the hot pan was enough to make one bite sized crumpet. With a spatula carefully flip each crumpet once it starts to bubble evenly all over. Adjust the temperature of the stove if they are browning too quickly.

Serve them with maple syrup or butter and honey. Some people like nutella or jam.

Express butter chicken

One of the most popular recipes I have cooked has to be my almond yoghurt chicken curry. I think the recipe has been used by friends, family, colleagues, domestics, the families they work for and my blog readers all over the world. It is easy, quick and ridiculously tasty. But after having cooked and trained this for many years now I was looking for a something new yet similarly quick, easy and tasty but with a completely different flavour. I think I may just have found that recipe.

It is a version of Butter Chicken or Chicken Makhani, I have however simplified this as much as possible. I just made it for lunch and the whole recipe took me 15 minutes and I was developing it as I went using what I had read online as the basis.

Now I just feel guilty as Adam can’t share it with me. May have to whip up a second batch with paneer for him.

Express Butter Chicken

Serves 4

1 Tbsp of oil

1 medium onion, very finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 Tbsp of ginger, minced

2 Tbsp of butter

1 Tsp of ground cumin

1 Tsp of ground coriander

1 Tsp of garum masala

1 Tsp of ground paprika

½ Tsp of chilli powder (or to taste)

½ Tsp of black pepper, finely ground (or to taste)

4 skinless free range chicken breasts, cut into small cubes (replace with paneer if desired)

115g of tomato paste

125ml of cream

125ml of yoghurt

1 Tsp of salt (or to taste)

On medium high heat, fry the onion in the oil until translucent but not browning. Add the spices and the butter and fry for a few minutes. Add the chicken cubes and fry for a few minutes until the chicken is almost cooked through. Add the tomato paste and cream and fry on medium heat for a further few minutes. Once the chicken has just cooked through add the salt and yoghurt and combine well.

Serve with fresh coriander, steamed rice, roti and or sambals. Can keep in the fridge for two days or will freeze beautifully.

Veggie Mac n Cheese

Macaroni cheese is one of those comfort food meals which when made well is hard not to love. Sticky, creamy, cheesy pasta baked until golden and crispy. Heaven, but if you make it yourself and know exactly what goes into that sublime stickiness, you would clutch your chest in anticipation for the cardiac arrest to come. 

This is a dish which should be eaten with the due respect given to dishes you will only grant yourself very occasionally. As for feeding it to children as a fail safe meal... this really is the wrong flavor profile to get your kids accustomed to.

A while ago Adam told me about a pasta dish his granny used to make for them as kids. I was very intrigued as this seemed to be a 'healthier' alternative to Mac n Cheese, with all the sticky, creamy and cheesy notes but still full of veggies, fiber and nutritional value. A great way to disguise veggies for fussy kids as well as a comfort food meal for adults as well.

Veggie Mac n Cheese

Serves 4 – 6

250g macaroni, cooked and drained

1 cup of chopped butternut, carrots and cabbage (or any other yellow, orange or white veggies)
½ an onion, chopped
¼ tsp of mild curry powder
Salt to taste
3 Tbsp of white flour

3 Tbsp of oil

300ml of milk

2 tsp of a dijon mustard

1 cup of a grated strong tasting melting cheese

½ tsp of salt

½ a cup of grated cheese

Get your pasta cooking and lightly steam the veggies putting the hardest veggies in first and the softest ones in last.

Drain the pasta and set aside until you are ready to use it. Puree the veggies with the curry powder and salt. If they are not runny enough add some water to thin the mixture. It should be the texture of a thick butternut soup.

Heat the oil and flour in a medium sized pan or pot. Allow it to fry for a few minutes while stirring the paste with a whisk. Remove it from the heat and add half the milk. Stir this with your whisk until the paste and milk have combined, then add the rest of the milk. Return this to the heat and stir it with your whisk slowly while waiting for the sauce to thicken. Take the sauce of the heat and add the mustard, cheese and salt and stir to combine.

Combine the pasta, veg puree and cheese sauce. You can serve this directly onto plates and top with the remaining cheese or place this into a casserole dish and top with the remaining cheese. Bake under the grill just before serving until the pasta has heated through and the cheese is bubbling and golden on the top.

Rosemary and red wine sauce

This sauce is sooooo good you just have to try it. It will blow you and any guests you might grace with it away. Add it a grilled fillet, lamb, steak, chicken, hell I've had guests pour it on bread and eat it just like that!

I had some left over in the fridge and added it to a mushroom risotto I was making... oh my word.

Enough said - my day is manic!

Rosemary and red wine sauce

Makes about 300ml of sauce.

½ bottle (375ml) of red wine (the better the wine the better the sauce, but nice cheap and cheerful wine is just fine)

A sprig of fresh rosemary (about 30 large leaves) roughly chopped

1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped (optional)

1 tsp of salt

2 Tbsp of sugar

2 tsp of a good mild mustard

A healthy grind of black pepper

250ml of cream

Poor the wine into a sauce pan and simmer until it has reduce to about a ¼ of it’s original volume, you want it start thickening a little.

While the wine is reducing add the garlic, rosemary, salt, sugar, mustard and black pepper.

When the sauce has thickened slightly and has reduce enough, add the cream.

You can also add your strained meat drippings to the red wine sauce and reduce it a bit further before adding the cream for a delicious savoury twang.

This sauce compliments lamb and beef especially but is also great with chicken, pork or with roast veggies or added to a risotto.