Taste-and-Treats on the West Coast

Yes I know...  its been 3 months of silence... ! so very sorry !  Now I have moved home back to Hout Bay and am ready to tackle the world of blogging once more in a big way ! Also joined SureSlim again and even better am going 3 times a week to water arobics ! so 2011 will definitely be the year of health and happiness ! So looking forward to Sunday at the food bloggers conference in Monkey Valley which is really just around the corner from me. Seeing that these coming weeks / months will be more on the skinny food side here is an amazing recipe for a dressing that i found and tried out: Tapenade Dressing This super-easy dressing will make even the most boring of lettuces taste amazing, but it would also be great on arugula, spinach, for just about any salad green.  Garnish with toasted pine nuts, tomatoes, and feta cheese or hard boiled eggs ( for the protein)  for a more substantial salad.  Grilled or marinated vegetables would most certainly be a...

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...