Taste-and-Treats on the West Coast

I love Iced Tea but don't want to buy the commercial stuff that is full of sugar. So I make my own..  at a fraction of the price and a whole lot healthier as well. In fact I make and drink about 2 to 3 liters a day as when it is not so hot I don't really like to drink water and also if the hunger pangs hit  before another meal is due..  this is the perfect alternative to circumvent the fridge !   HOW TO: In a BIG jug add 4 tea bags Rooibos and 1 teabag Mint Tea 3 to 5 slices of fresh ginger 1 table spoon of Advantage ( aspartame free sweetener) juice of 2 lemons Add boiling water and let the tea bags sit until the tea has gone cold and then store in fridge.  If its cold and raining :):)  its also delicious  when you drink it hot !

On Sunday I had family for lunch and decided to make something I had not made before and it turned out amazing. Weather was still yukkie in Stellenbosch ( where on earth is the sun????!!) I had some pork fillet and some bacon  in the fridge and bought a pkt of thin not so fatty beef sausage. First went to pick some strongish branches of rosemary , took the leaves off, leaving just the top ones on. Then scraped the bark and cut the end to a point .... making the perfect kebab sticks. Alternating bacon, sausage and pork fillet the threaded the kebabs.   Into a baking dish a gluck of olive oil and a good sprinkle of Ina Paarman's Rosemary & Olive spice all over the meat. Oven at 180 deg C for about 30 minutes. Turn the Kebabs over halfway through. I had made earlier on some polenta the following way:   2 cups water 1 cup milk 1 cup polenta Heat the water/ milk mix and add the cup of polenta. Stir the same way you would be doing the local "pap". When it has...

Clearing out the deep freeze I found a 1/4 pkt Woolies prawns. It was one of those days when I really did not feel like cooking as Tony was up in East London. So I made this Fritata with my new Creusier frying pan  :) ( so chuffed with it !!!) and it goes like this: For 1 person "on diet" Defrost prawns ( quantity "as you like it") Chop a small handful parsley Grated rind of 1 lemon 1/2 tsp chilli flakes 2 eggs heat oven to 180 deg C In a very hot frying pan (metal handles!) quickly fry prawns with parsley, lemon rind and chilli. Beat the eggs and stir underneath the prawns ( distribute prawns evenly) Frying pan with goodies into the oven and leave to bake and puff up for about 3 minutes. Take out and eat before the whole thing collapses with a big green mixed salad. Note that if you make this for more people it obviously needs to spend more time in the oven :):)

Its that time of the year again..  My  green fig tree is laden with fruit. Unfortunately its not one of those kid of figs that have the juice inside, no its a fig purely created for making preserves. So here I go again. My first batch is 4kg which should make lots of nice pressies for family and friends. What will be different this year is that thanks to Pink the figs that turned brownish last year when cooked.. this year they have turned out in their natural glorious GREEN ! The magic potion she remembered from her gran was Vitrioel  which my man from the chemist told me is Copper Sulphate (reminding me of when your hair used to turn green in the swimming pool) 2 kg firm, ripe green figs ( leave the short stem on) 2 tbsp slaked lime 3.5 ltr cold water 2.5kg sugar 1 stick cinnamon lemon juice of about 3 to 4 large lemons (I left the pips in for a bit of pectin) Knife tip of copper sulphate to add during the boiling in order to keep the fig colour green Cut a cross ...

For some reason I have not really ever used Ricotta before. I came across this recipe of baked Ricotta and as its very low in fat, decided it would make the perfect lunch. As I do a lot of times.. I read a recipe and then do "my own thing" w r t flavours. Hence I am not giving exact measurements here..  just guidelines. In a bowl  I crumbled the Ricotta and added the following: 2 tbsp chopped chives 1 tbsp Woolies Italien herb mix 1 tbsp tamarind paste dash of olive oil Salt & pepper Slightly oil a ramekin and push the Ricotta mixture into it. Bake at 180 deg C for 25 minutes. Arrange your favourite salad ingredients on a plate, carefully turn out the baked Ricotta ( ooops mine crumbled a bit) and lightly season salad and Ricotta with Olive oil and  good balsamic. I really liked the taste of the Ricotta together with a salad and will definitely do it again. I guess one can even become more creative as to the herbs and spices one is using when mixing the Ricotta....

Having eaten this wonderful Thai inspired salad last Saturday at the Stellenbosch Slow Food Market, I went and got all the ingredients this morning and made a similar salad for lunch today. I read this recipe first at the  Rawlicious recipe book. Its a whole bunch of grating here..  but definitely worthwhile the effort The quantities  given here is enough to invite 4  people for a lekka lunch :) 2 c red cabbage grated 2 c green cabbage grated 2 c carrots grated 2 c courgettes grated 1 med red onion (chopped) 4 spring onions sliced 1 c loosely packed coriander handful cashews handful roasted nu-seeds 2 Tbsp sesame seeds (should have been black ones, but didn't have) Thai Salad Dressing  The following goes into your blender: 1 red pepper 1 c olive oil ( I used 1/2 cup) 1 heaped tsp chilli flakes Juice of 1 lemon 3 tbsp rice vinegar 3 tbsp tamarind paste 3 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp honey ( I used Advantage artificial sweetener) 3 garlic cloves 3 cm fresh ginger 1...

Am not sure the exact way to translate a Flammkuechli,  which is a sort of very thin  pizza covered traditionally with creme fraiche, bacon and onions. Its the typical pub type of food in Southern Germany and the Alsace (where I originate from ). I have seen them done here at the Stellenbosch Saturday food market in a slightly different way with rocket and Parma ham which is also delicious..  If you have a pizza tray on your Weber it is also perfect for a quick snack when doing a braai 250 g flour 3 Tsp Canola oil 150 ml water Salt   200 g Crème fraîche 150 ml  Sour Crème   Sprinkle of Nutmeg 150 g Bacon sliced into small pieces 450 g  thinnly sliced Onions Some chopped chives Baking paper Heat oven to 250 deg C Mix flour, oil, water and salt to a smooth dough ( must not be sticky) and roll out to the size of your baking tray not thicker than 2mm. ( you will get about 3  out of the amount of mix) Line the baking tray...

Its nearly been a week this going on hopefully the very last strict no cheat diet. It was easy, yes really easy. No hunger at all ( guess cause my brain is in the right place :) . They say that the first 4 weeks is the hardest of re-adjustments. Well ...  I am trying to make it as attractive as I possibly can by having lots of choices and different flavours and this seems to be the key to success. Last night I a lot of different vegies, layed them out in my bamboo steamer ( also added some cucumber which is a "free" vegie and I absolutely adore as a cooked one especially sprinkled with some fresh Dill). Total weight of all these vegies in the pic below was 150 g. Then I seared 150 g of  salmon smeared with a bit of crushed ginger  and covered with roasted sesame seeds and lemon juice. Added a few preserved chilli and lemon pieces and chucked in for good measure some fresh peas ( just for colour). And you know what??????  It tased devine ! Steamed vegie...

Tandy's challenge this week are cookies.:)  Seeing that I am not baking at the moment, I still wanted to post some of my dearest childhood memories. I grew up just outside Basel /Switzerland. The 2 months before Christmas was always a hectic baking time at our home. My granny went into overdrive to bake the traditional Swiss Christmas cookies in ginormous quantities. I have rewritten 3 of her most famous  recipes for this first posting and will do another 3 next time. I sourced the photographs of the internet.  Basler Leckerli (Basel cookies) These are the very famous bisquits which are sold all year round in Basel  here first the original recipe:)     Ingredients for two medium size baking sheets: 450 g honey 300 g sugar 1½ tbs  cinnamon 1 pinch of clove powder ½ tsp of nutmeg 100 g  chopped candied orange peel 100 g  chopped candied lemon peel 200 g  ground almonds Grind skin of one lemon 2 t...

Being on "The Diet" :)   here is another snack that is low low fat and high in protein... |Very simple roasted Pumkin Seeds How to : Heat a heave bottom frying pan , chuck in the pumkin seeds,  turn them over and over until they are nicely roasted. Don't just let them sit or they will burn.. Once they are roasted add quite a bit of cinnamon and let the flavour grow while the seeds are very hot still. Take off the stove, cool down and then add Salt and either Xyletol or in my case I use Advantage which is also Aspertame free. Eating pumkin seeds is also brilliant to preven pancreatic cancer I am told...

When downloading some pics just now to do a skinny snack recipe, I found I still had my favourite potato salad on here. I guess I cannot let it go to waste..  so today I'll post the salad and the skinny snack tomorrow.. I normally find potato salads very stodgy if it is just made with potatoes and mayonnaise..  I do however love potatoes and have made "my" version of this salad  since the year dot ...... its light and fresh and NOT stodgy :) Ingredients: Woolies Mediteranean potatoes about 1 kg not too soft boiled and cut into slices. They must still be a bit warm when you make the salad English cucumber -  1/2 of a big one very finely sliced 2 red onions finely sliced 6 hard boiled eggs  in 1/4 chives chopped If  too lazy to do home-made mayonnaise, use Hellmans and mix with a gluck of olive oil, white balsamic, 1 tbsp Dijon mustard, juice of 1 lemon plus salt & pepper. Mix all together and do not put into fridge before...

See...!  it does not always have to be  potato chips  or tacos...:) These little gems are delicious and certainly satisfy the graving for a spice snack  in between... . 1 400g tin of chickpeas 1 Tbsp olive oil FOR THE MOROCCAN SPICE MIX : 2 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1/2 tsp chili powder 1/2 tsp sweet paprika 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground allspice 1/4 tsp ground ginger 1/8 tsp smoked paprika 1/2 tsp sugar Preheat oven to 180C.   Drain the chickpeas into a colander and rinse well with cold water until no more foam appears. Let beans drain for 5-10 minutes, then pat dry with a cloth or paper towel if they still look wet. While the chickpeas drain, make the spice mix. (The recipe makes far more than you need, but you can store it in an airtight container for other uses.) Toss beans with olive oil and seasonings and lay out on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast for about 45 minutes stirring every 15 min...

I've been wanting to post this recipe for a long time now. Never having had a chance to make it I don't have a photo..  and seeing that I am about to embark of this more healthy sort of life style, I won't be making semi fredo for a while :) Semi fredo is a sort of a creamy dessert that is frozen and can be adapted to whatever flavour or shape you can imagine. The basis always remains the same as in Plain Vanilla :) This particular one stems from my Swiss/French granny and is a perfect dinner party boozy, delectable piece of culinairy heaven ! Ingredient: 6 large eggs 200 g dark chocolate 200 g ground hazelnuts 1 cup castor sugar 1 Tbsp Nomu Vanilla paste 2 bakkies cream 2 tots of Kirsch or Brandy or Rum Separate the eggs Grate the chocolate on a coarse grater Add the ground hazelnuts, vanilla paste and Kirsch and let this mix rest in fridge for about 30 minutes  for the flavours to intermingle. Beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. B...

All my life I considered myself as a reasonably good cook. Having been brought up with French and Swiss style of cooking, it obviously always included lots of the "good things" like cream, wine, butter etc etc.. you get the picture I am sure. However I have finally come to the  conclusion that cooking in my old style does not lend itself to "growing old gracefully" if ones genes are not made that way...  and contrary to 20 years ago.. now the pounds just keep piling on, even with the smallest dicretion. Therefore I have decided  on the need to toe the line so to speak and after signing up today with SureSlim :) I will for the next 7 months ( this is how long it will take I am told to have a body I am supposed to have) cook and invent ways of preparing food that is still as tasty as before BUT without all the goodies I used before.  I hope that with this way of preparing food on a day to day basis and blooging on it, it will maybe  inspire some people out there...