Down town Joburg with mom

My mom and I visited the final Neighbourgoods market for the year two weekends ago. I knew it would be interesting because that ol' lady is one fussy eater. Her food can't be too oily, too cold, too sweet, too pink, too blue.... I could go on for days.
Our first stop was at the Ethiopian food stand. She was very curious and asked PLENTY questions and I just stood back and watched because I knew how it would all end... :-) So, after she interrogated one of the assistants for what seemed like a very very long time, she decided she didn't like the look of the food and wanted us to move on. I wished I had taken  a video of it all and how she turned her nose up and walked away. It's what really good comedy is made of. LOVE IT!

The rooftop of the market has a large seating area, bar and a few interesting clothing vendors. They even had a live band playing which was quite cool.

Anyway, after exploring the market, we decided to sample some of the food. We had the chicken and chorizo paella which was...ok. Now, if I didn't like it, I knew for sure that mom really wouldn't like it. I was right :-) I also had a bit of Belgian waffle with sugar which was a little salty for my liking. I decided to take the rest of it home and smothered it in honey - much better. The texture was great and the portion size was very generous.

I'll definitely make my way back there again in the new year to sample more of their food...with a less fussy foodie of course. :-) Love you mom...

Physical location

73 Juta Street

Braamfontein, Joburg

7 days in Thailand

I was in Thailand a couple of weeks ago and had an absolute blast.

Wednesday, 7 Dec

We landed in Bangkok late afternoon, checked in our bags at the hotel in Sukhumvit and hit the streets. One of the coolest things we did in Bangkok was to have drinks at the mobile bar parked along the street we stayed in. The vehicle was converted into a very stylish bar and the owner even had fold up chairs and tables lined along the street for all his patrons. He also played some really good hip hop and R&B that kept us entertained for hours - an awesome way to kick off our stay

Thursday, 8 Dec

We went shopping at the 7-floor MBK mall and got some really good bargains there. We also spent some time checking out the street vendors and even visited the famous Phat pong disctrict [don't judge]. I'm sure you'll appreciate why we didn't take any photos there.

Friday, 9 Dec

We flew to Surat thani airport [a real dump of a place with a nasty lingering odour that I couldn't understand] - we needed to get to one of the islands, Koh Tao, for a wedding. From the aiport, we took a taxi to the harbour where we caught 2 ferries, and covered a distance of about 70kms before finally reaching our distination. We stayed at the Sensi resort and spa which was really quite cute.
We decided to do as the locals do and rented a scooter which cost next to nothing. This was the best way to explore and really experience the place - what a pleasure.

Saturday, 10 Dec

The wedding was intimate and sweet and the food at the reception was to die for! I had smoked salmon with snow peas, spaghetti and parmasan shavings - culinary heaven

We went to a cabaret show after the wedding and watched the lady-boys do their thing - they sang, danced and looked absolutely fabulous.

Sunday, 11 Dec

We headed off to the island of Koh Samui which is approximately 2 hours away from where we were. We stayed at the Nora Buri resort which I'd recommend to anyone visiting the area - absolutely stunning.
We shopped some more, ate some more, got stared at some more [we soon discovered that not many chocolate coloured individuals make it to the islands which made us exotic - very funny]. We even managed to fit in a full body oil massage that was worth every cent spent.

Monday, 12 Dec

We missed our flight back to Bangkok and were stuck at that smelly airport for a while [sigh].
It was super late by the time we got back to the big city. We decided we weren't going to sleep and to explore Bangkok for the last time before heading out back to Jozi the following morning.

Tuesday, 13 Dec

Flight back to Jozi plus a 12 hour stop over in Doha [very sad]

MY THAI FOOD HIGHLIGHTS

Fried rice with chicken and bacon - super tasty
Banana lassi - this drink apparently originated in India and is usually mady up of yoghurt, cream, honey and fruit.
Chicken and bacon dim sum with sweet chilli sauce - one of my favourite things to eat, even in Jozi
Chocolate doughnut - not very Thai, I know. It was sweet and surprisingly not as oily as I expected it to be - really good
Green Thai curry - I had it a few times during our stay
Sweet sticky rice with mango - this is a classic Thai dessert that took me a while to get used to. Very enjoyable

I'll definitely make my way back there again...

Tis the season to be jolly

A few of my girlfriends and I got together and cooked up a storm recently. We had an amazing and sumptuous 3 course meal fit for a king – and we made it all from scratch! Here are a few of the winning recipes.

STARTERS

Cheese meatballs

Ingredients

·         3 cups finely shredded cheddar cheese

·         1 cup bread crumbs

·         salt

·         black pepper

·         1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

·         1 kg lean beef mince

Method

·         In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into balls. Place meatballs on a greased rack in a shallow baking pan.

·         Bake at 190° for 12-15 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink

Recipe from keyingredient.com

Grilled flat bread

Ingredients

•      1/2 cup warm water

•      1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

•      1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for bowl and brushing

•      1 1/3 cups white bread flour, plus more for dusting

•      3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

Method

·         Heat a grill or grill pan until hot. Place water in a medium bowl, and sprinkle yeast on top; stir to dissolve. Let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.

·         Add olive oil, flour, and salt; combine. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, 1 to 2 minutes.

·         Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand in a warm place for 30 minutes. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into four equal pieces, and roll out each into a 1/8-inch-thick round.

·         Lightly brush both sides of each portion with olive oil, and place directly on the hot grill. Grill the flatbread until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from grill, and season with salt.

Recipe from keyingredient.com

 

MAIN COURSE

Grilled salmon

Ingredients

·         Salmon steaks

·         Chillies

·         Garlic

·         Fennel

·         Olive oil, salt and pepper

Method

·         Preheat oven to 190°

·         Finely chop the chillies, garlic and fennel and place in bowl

·         Add olive oil and some salt and pepper to taste and mix well

·         Lightly dip the salmon in the olive oil mix and place on a greased oven tray

·         Bake for approximately 15 minutes

DESSERT

Tiramisu

Ingredients

·         1 packet of Lady fingers (approximately 400g)

·         2 eggs

·         500g mascarpone cheese

·         4 cups brewed strong coffee, cooled

·         120g sugar

·         Cocoa powder

·         Coffee liqueur

Method

·         Separate eggs in a medium sized bowl. Mix egg yolks with sugar and beat until smooth. Gently mix yolks with mascarpone cheese until smooth

·          In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Fold egg whites into cheese

·         Dip Lady fingers in the coffee and line the bottom of a large glass bowl. This needs to be done quickly as they absorb moisture very quickly and become soggy

·         Spoon half of the filling over the lady fingers until completely covered

·         Add another layer of lady fingers on top of that

·         Top up with the rest of the mascarpone cheese filling

·         Dust with cocoa powder and refrigerate for at least 4 hours



             

Gone fishing

The Lightly salted crew is out of town for 2 weeks. We promise to bring more juicy and interesting stories for you soon