The truth

Pan African cooking class

My buddy Vic celebrated his birthday in the coolest way a few days ago. He invited a few friends and family members to the Good Food Studio for a Pan African cooking experience. What fun we had.

There were thirteen of us on the night and Nicole, the manager and chef, taught the class. We were all given our aprons and our very own work stations where miracles were expected of us :-)

Our starters were mashed potato bricks (phyllo pastry parcels with a spicy mash filling). We deep fried these beauties until golden brown  - they tasted golden too. I'll definitely be making these again soon.

The main dish was a grilled baby chicken with a sweet and spicey cous cous and raisin stuffing. YUMMY!

After cooking, we all gathered in the very cool chocolate-covered dining room and got 'high on our own supply'. :-) :-) :-)

It was an evening well spent...

Pick 'n Pay Good food studio

Corner William Nicol and Republic road

Sandton

Me and Su

Su, my mom, and I spent a better part of the weekend together. We shopped [which we do very well together], we fought [because she has an opinion about everything I do/wear/say/think and must let me know about it] and we cooked [I learned most of what I know from her].

We made a quick and easy chicken biriyani served in different coloured peppers which turned out really well. Great way to entertain guests.



Ingredients

• Medium sized peppers
• 1 large finely chopped onion
• 3 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 teaspoons grated ginger
• 1/2 cup black lentils (soaked in water for approximately 15 minutes)
• 4 chicken breasts, cut into bite size cubes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 1/2 cups basmati rice
• 2 medium sized tomatoes, grated
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 chili, deseeded and finely chopped
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• salt to taste

Method

• Heat oil in a deep pan. Add onions, garlic, chili and ginger and fry until onions are translucent
• Add spices and continue frying for approximately 3 minutes
• Add chicken and lentils and mix well. Cook for approximately 5 minutes mixing all the while and ensuring the chicken doesn't stick to the pan or burn
• Add tomatoes, cover pan and cook for approximately 15 minutes
• Add potatoes, cover pan and cook for a further 15 minutes (or until potatoes are soft enough to consume)
• In a separate pot, cook basmati rice until al dente. Once cooked, add rice to curry and mix well and remove from heat
• Preheat oven to 180C
• Cut the tops off the peppers, deseed and coat the inner part with oil 
• Season with salt and fill each pepper with cooked biriyani
• Replace the tops, place on a lined baking sheet
• Bake for approximately 10 minutes

Boss

Too cute!

Source: Funny junk

40 days

The last cake that I baked and enjoyed...21 days ago

I’m a hedonist to the core and I am, at times, a little ashamed of this fact. I have very little restraint when it comes most things pleasurable, especially sweet and dessert-like yummies. Every meal of mine has a sweet [or happy :-)] ending to it and that has been the case for a very long while. This is obviously unhealthy on so many levels and I acknowledge that my giving to my cravings at every given moment speaks to the type of person I am and my character flaws which are abound. Not to mention the havoc it’s wreaking on my body.


So I decided to embark on one of my biggest challenges yet – to go without dessert and everything that closely resembles it for 40 days. This happens to coincide with lent that is observed by Christians around the globe – makes my struggle a little easier as many people I know have made similar sacrifices during this time.


It has been 3 weeks to the day. That’s 21 days. A whopping 504 hours which translates to an incredible and unbelievable 30,240 minutes. That’s how long I’ve been able to go without the one thing that has the crazy ability to excite me regardless of the time of day, angle of the sun or direction of the wind. I haven’t had cake in all this time and I’m surprisingly still sane and functioning…normally.[although I have visions and hallucinations from time to time :-) ]


What have I learned? You don’t have to concede to every desire or craving you have, whatever form it may manifest in. In fact, it is in your best interest not to do so for countless spiritual, physical and psychological reasons. The next challenge is to apply this to all aspects of life...

 

‘get up early and pray to your God, hone your virtues...master your cravings’ – Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love

Burnside

My food buddy and I discovered a new favourite. [recommended to us by a friend] It's a really gorgeous restaurant nestled in the leafy green suburb of Craighall Park.

We had a six o'clock dinner reservation and were seated outside on the patio overlooking the garden. The driveway leading up to the restaurant had a beautiful willow tree that gave it so much character and appeal. [love willow trees] Anyway, I ordered their chicken pot pie served with a warm aubergine, beetroot, onion and lettuce salad. It was the creamiest, tastiest chicken pie I've had in a while.

My food buddy had their fillet steak served with rustic potato chips served with a homemade mayonnaise [I had some of the chips and mayo and that was amazing - I even drizzled some of it on my salad]. The steak looked a little dry to me but he was very happy with it.




Dessert time came and my heart broke. The selection looked amazing but I sadly couldn't have any [I'm  off cake and everything that resembles dessert for 40 days. This explains why I haven't baked anything in so long]. Anyway, my buddy ordered the cheesecake and gave me a blow by blow account of his experience. Apparently the base was made of ginger biscuits and the berry sauce was amazing. It looked pretty amazing too [sigh]

After dinner we visited the gallery situated in the same vicinity as the restaurant. We also met the very interesting and inspiring photographer, Norman Hanna, who was show casing his work - the perfect way to end a perfect evening and reason 1,000,001 why I love Joburg. :-)

6 Burnside avenue

Craighall

011 326 3970

Dream kitchen

One day when I'm big...I'd like a kitchen that encompasses all of these...

Source: pinterest

Sooo pwetty...

Addis

Some friends of mine who live in London visited Addis, an Ethopian restaurant, recently and this was their experience

Late on a blustery Saturday afternoon, we wandered into Addis seeking shelter from the cold and impending rain; food at this point was a luxurious extra. As we started to thaw out through a mixture of good heating and the brightly decorated restaurant, the menu became more interesting. After a brief inspection, and recommendation from the waitress, we settled on hummus and Selata Asward (deep fried aubergine salad with tahini dressing) for starters. The hummus was superbly spiced and it wasn’t long before the plate was empty. The aubergine salad on the other hand was sadly disappointing; both in terms of presentation and taste. Our chirpy waitress soon bought us some delicious injera with two steaming bowls: Quanta firfir (dried with cooked in a spicy sauce and mixed with injera) and tibs firfir (cubes of lamb with onion and 7 spices). Both dishes packed a punch on the spice scale, but nothing a mere non-chilli desensitised mortal couldn’t handle. The quanta firfir provided a strange new sensation of stewed dried meat, (new at least to the author), chewy yet strangely moreish. The lamb on the other hand was delightfully soft and tender with a flamboyant mix of spices. Despite both parties claiming to be well fed halfway through the main, somehow both dishes were soon polished off (or very nearly so). The service was attentive and the waitress knew the menu well. The restaurant was never empty and there was a steady stream of people who were clearly regulars throughout the afternoon. The prices offered excellent value for money with the total at £15pp, including coffee and tea

Addis - 40-42 Caledonian Road London N1 9DT

Tel : 020 7278 0679

Nearest tube: King Cross (about 3 mins away)

Text by Claire Loxly and images by John Carl

Spiga d'Oro

This restaurant is quite popular amongst Durbanites and I soon discovered why. It's set in a very trendy part of town on Florida road with minimalistic and unpretentious decor - much like their food.


I think I may possibly have had the most amazing Italian food there :-) I had the gnocchi with capers, anchovies and olives in a yummy tomato sauce. The gnocchi was soft and cooked to perfection. The sauce was seasoned beautifully, cooked beautifully and tasted beautiful. I polished my plate and could've quite happily had another serving [if I was alone without anyone to judge me] :-)

I'll be sure to visit them the next time I'm in Durbs