Lamb Chops

It is true.
I've never cooked lamb before because I dislike it.
But my husband loves it and I decided to treat him.
I found some lamb chops at the supermarket and after years of resistance bought them.
It helped that I had beautiful green asparagus to serve as a side dish.

At home I simply cooked the lamb on a griddle pan with a bit of olive oil and a sprinkle of dried herbs. Only a few minutes per side since my husband likes his meat medium.

I even made myself a few chops but decided to have mine well done ;-)

While the lamb was cooking I made a mushroom sauce and sautéed the asparagus with salt and the juice of half a lemon. My mouth waters just thinking about asparagus... but back to the lamb.
It was a success! The husband loved it and I smothered mine with enough mushroom sauce to obscure the fact that I was eating lamb. Win win.

Hope you have a great week - my new kitchen is arriving tomorrow!!

Spicy Sausage Pasta Sauce

Last week I made dinner ahead of time, something I never do.
A spicy sausage pasta in a tomato based sauce.
I added a lot of chili and peppadews.
Not sure why, guess the red colours seemed appealing at the time.
It was quite a treat to just heat the sauce up and not have to bother with cooking anything except the pasta. Easy peasy. And it tasted good too ;-)

Finely slice and dice one onion and one clove of garlic. Heat up a tablespoon olive and add the onion and garlic to the pan, sauté a few minutes on medium heat until the onion becomes translucent. Slice up two pork sausages (or similar sausage) and add to the pan. Cook for a few minutes until the sausage gets a nice colour - not too long since you'll be adding the sausage to the sauce later to cook through. Remove from pan but leave the onion and garlic behind. Add a tin of whole tomatoes and let it simmer for 5 minutes in the pan. Season with salt, pepper and a teaspoon of sugar. Finely slice a red chili (with or without seeds) and a few peppadews and add to the sauce. Also add a dash of balsamic vinegar. Smash the tomatoes with your wooden spoon and add the sausage pieces back to the pan. Now let it all simmer away for 10 minutes or so - you might need to add some liquid if your sauce reduces too much. The sauce is ready when the tomatoes are very soft and the pork is cooked through. Add to the pasta of your choice and mix well. Should be enough to serve two hungry people - not really for kids though unless they like chillies.

Bobotie

Funny how when you mention you are from South Africa and the discussion turns to food someone always asks about bobotie. It is a traditional South African dish which is basically a type of meatloaf infused with spices. I must admit that this was only the second time in my life that I ever made it... the last time was in 1993 which is a lifetime ago!

My mom is visiting and my husband got it into his head that he wanted something traditional so bobotie it was. Luckily my mom has made it quite a few times before so I had some assistance in the kitchen.

It is really not that hard to make and after browsing around I found a simple recipe on Nigella's site which my mom agreed is pretty much her standard way of making it. Remember to add some turmeric to your rice for a nice yellow colour and serve it with a big salad.

Here is a link to the recipe (which serves 6) and here is my adapted version which serves 3 - 4 persons:

Ingredients:
500 grams minced beef
½ onion (diced)
15 ml cooking oil
10 ml butter
15 ml curry powder
5 ml salt
15 ml peach chutney (or apricot)
15 ml apricot jam (smooth)
15 ml worcestershire sauce
5 ml turmeric
15 ml malt vinegar
1 handful raisins
2 eggs
190 ml milk
1 slice brown bread
1 pinch of salt
3 bay leaves

Method

Put bread into bowl with milk and leave to soak. Heat oil and butter in large pan and fry onions. When onions are soft add curry powder, salt, chutney, Worcester sauce, jam, turmeric and vinegar. Mix well.
Drain bread, saving milk. Add bread, raisins and meat to pan. Cook over low heat until meat looses its pinkness. Remove from heat and add 1 well beaten egg. Mix well then spoon into greased ovenproof dish and level the top.
Beat remaining egg into the reserve milk, add turmeric and salt, mix well. Pour over meat mixture and place bay leaf on the top. Bake uncovered in 180C for approximately 1 hour or until set (nicely browned). Serve with yellow rice, banana, coconut & chutney.

Meatballs!

The kids seem to really like Ikea meatballs so I decided to try and make some at home.
Of course I don't have their recipe and I have no clue what their special trick is to make them so appealing to kids (and grownups)...

But hey, I like experimenting and I was happy with the results.
Unfortunately the kids immediately pointed out that it was not Ikea meatballs they were eating. Heidi at least managed to eat all the meatballs on her plate and that is always a good sign!

You know I'm terrible at giving exact measurements but here is roughly what I did - my suggestion is to play with whatever ingredients you have.

Ingredients:
250 gram pork minced meat
1 egg
dash of salt
1/4 cup meat stock
1 tablespoon melted butter, slightly cooled
1/2 white onion - grated finely
breadcrumbs - I used japanese breadcrumbs because I had them on hand. I think I used about 1 cup, maybe less.

Method:
Mix everything together in a big bowl.
Add more breadcrumbs if your mixture consistency is too runny - you need to be able to roll a little ball in the palm of your hand and it should keep its shape.
Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Place meatballs in a lightly greased ovenproof dish and bake for about 30 minutes.
You might want to turn up the heat at the end to give it a bit of colour.
Serve with pretty much anything!

Steak, Salad and Potatoes

Sometimes the only thing that will satisfy your hunger is red meat.

(well, unless you are a vegetarian then I totally understand if you disagree with me!)

Last night's dinner was just that.

Steak, onion, salad and a baked potato.

Satisfying indeed.

Kids Food #16 - Sausages and Pasta Monsters

I try to be creative and fun when cooking for the kids.
I really try.
Usually I fail because I am in a rush.
But sometimes I succeed.

These little monsters are lots of fun for the kids.
But beware, your children might end up playing with the food instead of eating it.

My husband saw this idea on the internet ages ago and finally we got around to making it for the girls.

Basically all you need is some sausages, cut into bite size pieces.
Then take spaghetti pasta and stick it through the raw sausages.
You can use as many pieces as you like.
Place in a large pot of boiling water and cook for about 12 - 15 minutes.
Serve up with or without pasta sauce and any other vegetables you manage to get your kids to eat :-)

Kids Food #10 - Mince and Potatoes

This is kind of a variation of a shepherds pie...  except deconstructed.

I basically used an onion, 200gram lean beef mince, a peeled and diced tomato, two peeled and finely chopped carrots, a can of corn and about 200gram potatoes.

Start with the potatoes, peel them and slice into bite sized squares.
Add to a pot of boiling water - it should take about 15 minutes at most to cook through.
Brown the mince and onion, add the carrots, add the tomato, add the corn and let it cook through. I also added a dash of worcester sauce and a squirt of tomato ketchup.
Let it simmer away while the potatoes cook.

Once the potatoes are done, remove from the heat, drain and set aside.
Now dish up the mince on a plate and add the potatoes to the side.
Serve to hungry kids!

Kids Food #8 - Pasta Bolognese

You better make sure you have a more than a few wipes nearby once you feed this to your kids. Well, that is if they are one year old and likes eating with their hands...

Stella loves food. It is a pleasure watching her devour everything you put in front of her.
As long as she can use her hands, she is happy. It also gets very, very, very messy.

I like this recipe because I used the frozen pasta sauce which I made last week.
Clever, right?

Simply dice a carrot or two and saute it in a tablespoon of vegetable oil.
At the same time, add 200 gram pasta to boiling water and cook as per the instructions. In my case it takes on average 13 minutes for the penne pasta which I like to use.
Now add some lean beef mince meat to the carrots and brown it.
Feel free to season as you like. I made this for my kids and did not actually use any salt.
Pour in the defrosted tomato based pasta sauce and let it simmer for a bit.
Remove from the heat when everything is cooked through.
If you time it well then your meaty sauce should be ready at the same time as the pasta.
Drain the pasta and then mix with the meaty sauce.
Let it cool slightly before serving to soon to be covered in pasta sauce kids.

Kids Food #4 - Shepherds Pie

I do like a good Shepherds Pie.
It is simple, filling and makes me think of home.

Kids love it too.

I adapted this version to be more child friendly by limiting the seasoning quite a bit, and just simplifying the whole thing.

Both of my children pretty much finished their plates and that my friends is a very good sign.

Start by boiling 300 gram finely chopped potatoes, while it boils you can cook the mince.
Sautee half a finely diced onion in a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add some diced carrot and sautee for a couple of minutes. Now add about 250 gram beef minced meat. Brown the mince for a few minutes and then add a dash of worcester sauce and a dash of tomato ketchup. Add a handful of frozen peas just before the mince is completely cooked.

Remember to check the potatoes - you want them soft enough to smash but not completely falling apart. Once the mince is cooked through, set aside and serve up with smashed potatoes.

I mixed it all together for the kids since that is how they prefer it.
Serve to happy and hungry kids!

Beef Mince Curry and Rice - South African Style

Mince curry and rice is a dish that I grew up on.

Now, this is not a curry in the Asian style. No, this is true South African 'cuisine'.

I must admit that I do not remember all the ingredients of this dish, so as usual I kind of winged it a little.

In a nutshell I sauteed an onion and crushed garlic in vegetable oil and added a tablespoon of curry powder. Then throw in the beef mince (500gram) and saute until it becomes nice and brown. Add some chopped tomatoes, chopped potatoes and then a can of carrots and peas.The next step is to add a cup of hot water and stir it all together until it forms a bit of a sauce. Season to your liking. Let it simmer gently for 10 to 20 minutes.

Make the rice while the curry simmers away. My preference is always for basmati rice, and that takes about 18 minutes to make. Add some turmeric or curry powder to the water in which you cook the rice if you want to give it a bit of colour.

Serve the curry with chutney, sliced bananas and a side salad.

And there you have it, my quick and improvised South African curry and rice.

Barbecue!

I will not let this bad weather stop my fun.

We have a Weber and it had to be used today.

A lunch time barbecue on a Sunday. Yes? Yes!

My husband piled the charcoal into the Weber and before you know it I could smell that barbecue smoky aroma.

I made pap (a very South African traditional porridge served with a tomato based sauce), a salad, braai broodjies (yet another traditional barbecue staple a.k.a. tosti's but made on the Weber) and in less than an hour we had meat on the grill.

I cut open an avocado which turned out to be perfect and as I sliced the juicy red tomatoes I felt gloriously happy.

Summer might be hiding from us but at least it didn't rain while we barbecued!

Here is a Braai broodjies recipe :)

Ingredients:
White or Brown Bread - 2 slices per tosti
Margarine
Sliced Tomatoes
Sliced Onion
Cheese (sliced cheese is more convenient but any cheese that melts easily will do!)
Kitchen string or toothpicks

Method:
Spread the margarine on both sides of the sliced bread.
Layer some cheese, onion and tomatoes on the bread.
Feel free to add some sauces too like mayo or chutney.
Place another slice of bread on top and tie together with some kitchen string (to ensure it doesn't fall apart when flipping over on the grill). If, like me, you can't find your kitchen string then just use some toothpicks to hold them together... not ideal but it works.
Finally, place the braai broodjies last on the barbecue, when the coal has cooled down a bit but is still hot enough to give the bread a nice golden colour. Remove when the cheese has melted and before it becomes too brown.

Enjoy!