I Can Make A Rainbow!

'Tis the Season... Summer has returned and with it... the Salad Season. We all know it's true. All through Winter, during those pleasant months when we've been hidden under sweaters and large coats, we've feasted on stews, guzzled gallons of hot chocolate and eaten packets of biscuits. If you haven't, then you've got a level of super human self control that really doesn't make you popular with the average woman. In order to preserve my friendship with the Tipsy Tarts, I have refused to discuss this with them, after the Other One admitted to actually losing weight over Winter! Hmph. I'm going to try to get her hooked on those chocolate cream martini's... that ought to solve that weightloss problem :-) *insert evil chuckle here*

Anyway - back to Salad Season. As I was saying, we eat loads of things that we really probably shouldn't, then 1 month before the official start of Summer, all the fashion magazines (read "devices to torture ordinary women into hating themselves") publish issues with loud headlines proclaiming new ways to be "beach ready" in just 3 weeks... Now let's be honest ladies... there are 2 kinds of women in the world. Those that ARE and those that ARE NOT beach ready a month before Summer. Those are further split into women who DO and DO NOT care about their bodies and if they are comfortable in their own skins, then they generally have no issue with being in a swimsuit anyway and no 3 week starvation diet makes any difference to them. Rendering the magazine gloriously redundant! There is another thing that starts to happen about a month before the official start of Summer and that is that every site, magazine and newspaper starts to run articles on best salad recipes, best ingredients, best dressings etc. I cannot disagree though, because after a season of heavy Winter foods, there is nothing yummier than a crisp, fresh salad. Yes, with a drink :-) I swear, these two share a one track mind! Ok, a jug of sangria, some cold meats and salad and an evening in the garden is hard to beat. Especially as Phin has taken such good care of my garden and it's looking awesome. But I hear you asking what this has got to do with colours and using them... ?

Well, let me elaborate... think about things like fish & chips... chicken nuggets... burgers.... steak.... stews. Well, quite often during Winter (and indeed all year round) our plates will present themselves in very boring shades of beige and brown. Especially for people who rely too much on fast food and supermarket take-aways. That boring state of plate leads to almost complete culinary complacency (which I wouldn't suggest you try to say too fast if you've had a few)! We often slip into a state of disinterest with our meals... they become almost a chore... largely due to the fact that they bore us. Bore our eyes, our palates and our imagination. Pardon? No... I didn't miss-spell "plates". Our palates are our tastebuds. Shall we continue?

Ok, so back to the new colour that Salad Season brings into our lives. It's hard to have a boring plate when you have green lettuce, red tomatoes, dark green cucumber, black olives, white feta cheese, peppers, avo, etc, etc... whatever you want in a salad really! Just looking at the plate will make you feel better. Yes, I promise. No - this isn't colour therapy 101... it's just a reality of life. The flavours are clean, natural, fresh and totally delicious and your tastebuds are going to wake up and do the can-can with delight as you munch your way through the meal. No, they're not going to flash their knickers at people... as far as I'm aware, my tastebuds don't wear knickers. NO! They're not perverted or nudists... they're tastebuds! Oh dear. I can see you're in that state of mind this evening. I'm going to walk away until you're done giggling....

Ok, so a salad as a meal may not be everyone's cup of tea. I can see José in particular shaking his head outside the window and mumbling something about goats... or rabbits... But I promise you ----> Real Men Eat Salad! Stop laughing, I'm being serious! Ok, they're not likely to order themselves a salad for lunch or dinner, but a salad with a meal is likely to go down a treat (especially as more and more men are trying to get "beach ready in just 3 weeks"). It's here that you can make a salad to tempt your man... You can add things like smoked chicken, tuna, biltong (beef jerky), boiled eggs, 3 kinds of cheese, spicy peppers... whatever floats your (and his) boat!

However, I think you'll find that once the colour revolution hits you, it's hard to keep it contained to just one meal or part of your menu... You'll find yourself adding more veggies to your meals and looking for the ones that are the nicest to look at. You'll also mix and match your colours, so corn, broccoli and carrots with those chops instead of just chips. You see you eat with your eyes first and when a meal is really fun to look at, your brain automatically assumes that it's going to be just as much fun to eat! You'll be in a good mood before you've even had any of the health benefits of eating better. And really - I have to tell you - a healthy state of mind is a large part of a healthy state of living. Probably a big reason why those two can lead reasonably productive...? No, that's not it. Active? Nope. Vertical? Yeah, vertical will do. That's probably why those two can lead reasonably vertical lives considering how much booze they have each day... it's a healthy state of mind. Hee hee. Some foods (like Miss Twinset's favourite - beetroot) are fun all the way through your system, but I'm not going into more detail. You either know or you don't :-)

I'm nothing if not fair though... a new outlook on colour in your diet needn't be limited to your main meals. After all, there is more to life than just lunch or dinner... there is also tea and dessert :-) It's just as important to have something appealing to look at for these treats as it is to have something yummy for your meal. You should savour the experience of eating them - especially as you shouldn't eat them too often if you'd like to have that "perfect beach bod". I like to have food that looks good, making my meals an occasion, all year round. It's something that I've been trying to inspire in Miss Twinset and the Other One, but since one cooks very little and one has a professional chef, it's hard to tell how I'm doing on that front. I'm sure that Ruby appreciates my efforts though and I know Phin loves the fresh goods I'm growing in the garden :-)

So, here is the challenge to all of you. Be it your lunchtime sandwich or your spag bol dinner... find a way to bring colour into your meals. You'll feel better mentally and also physically as we benefit from all the good that a varied and healthy diet brings us.

So... I can make a rainbow... and so can YOU!

Until next time!

In Praise of Braise!

Those of you who have visited regularly are probably aware that while the Other One doesn't know her Aga from her elbow, Miss Twinset is relatively comfortable in the kitchen. She has her standard dishes that she's actually quite good at and since we started with this blogenture, she's been branching out. A little. I pushed her with the new recipe and she's been following my instructions for approaching new dishes, although I haven't actually witnessed her doing it recently... I think the Other One is a bad example. I'm not saying that having staff is a bad thing, but when you lead the kitchen capable off the straight and narrow into the marshy and uncharted land of the "ladies who lush", we're going to have words!



So on the day of the Grand Event - more generally known as "my Mom's birthday lunch", she showed up in the kitchen in a powder blue twinset, the obligatory pears, white gloves and a matching cream apron with blue frill. Miss Twinset, not my Mom. My Mom wouldn't be caught dead in either a kitchen or a twinset lol. She can cook, but why should she with my Dad and I around? Anyway, Miss Twinset was something to behold. Not sure if it was a good look or not, but it was better than the housedress she had on the other day... at any rate, she said that she was ready to help and I never look a gift horse in the mouth :-) The meal that my Mom had requested (the one that was soooo not a surprise) was her favourite.... Braised Steak with baby potatoes, peas, cauliflower brocolli with cheese sauce and oven baked butternut. There was a request for caramel carrots, but thankfully the carrots never arrived as I had run out of pots and stove space by then... Don't get me wrong, the carrots were invited and would have been welcomed at the meal, but as there was no space, it was rather fortunate that they were a bit late and never made it to my parents car. Tardy but tasty... Your typical carrot :-) But I digress...



So, when you're braising steak, you're going to need - rather unsurprisingly - some steak. In this case, tenderised steak. You slice this into smaller serving sized pieces and spice them with barbeque seasoning and loads of black pepper (freshy ground of course). In a heavy pot, one that can go into the oven, so no plastic handles please, you need to heat up your oil and then you fry the pieces of steak until they are very brown. Here is where my dastardly plan came into action. You see, the steak is best when it's just this side of burning, but since it's in my nature not to burn my food, I have to watch the pot and make myself leave the meat in the oil until past when my brain is screaming "take it out". Miss Twinset on the other hand is a world champion at saving food from disaster "just this side" of burning, so putting her in charge was the perfect solution. Of course, she thought it was me giving her some responsibility and who was I to disillusion her? *Shrug* Ok, so you've browned your meat and in the bottom of the pot are burnt on bits of meat and spice. Don't panic... they're meant to be there. In fact, if you don't have that, then you probably did it wrong :-) Into this, you're going to put around 6 large chopped onions (depending on how many you're cooking for after all) and while you're cooking these, you'll find that they pick up all those delicious burnt bits and go a glorious brown colour. This is important because it is a great base for the flavour of this dish.




Naturally, as you can imagine, I couldn't trust the Other One to do anything more challenging than sitting quietly - and even that is a stretch for her at times. Aah. I hear you... yes, you at the back trying to look invisible. You wondered why I didn't put her in charge of drinks? Have you just arrived? I wanted to actually HAVE some drinks for the Grand Event, not just get high off of her breath :-) I tried asking her to help with the vegetables, but she looked appalled that I would even suggest that she do any actual "labour". "Dahling... really? You are so funny" Huh. I was aiming for desperately busy, but apparently I came across as calm and humourous. Oh well. So, when you've poured another martini (for yourself) and passed another bottle of vodka to the Other One, you need to check on your onions. When they are softened a little, you can tip the meat and all the juice in the dish from the cooked meat, into the onions and stir well. To this you need to add enough beef stock to cover all the contents of the pot and stir again. I also add some beef gravy powder and brown onion gravy mix just to make the sauce rich and brown and extra tasty. I have to warn you that if you're watching your salt intake, you'll find that you've had the annual recommended intake of the Pitcairn Islands in this dish, but it's too good to refuse :-) From here on out it gets really easy... put it into a preheated oven at around 180 deg C until the meat is soft (about 2 hours or you can cook it at 200 deg C if you're in a hurry).



Now... you'll probably have about 1 - 1 1/2 hours until you need to start cooking the vegetables. For me, this time was spent on the Pavlova as discussed on Tuesday. You may use the time as you see fit. See... aren't I nice? Ok, so assuming we live in TV land ...



1 hour 20 mins later



... the braised steak is now nearly ready. What you need to do now is start on your veg. The baby potatoes are put into a larger pot and covered with water. They need to boil until soft and should be put on to cook first. The peas are quick and easy, so you can do them last... simply pour into pot, add a small amount of water, some salt and boil. *cough* Yes, as it happens I have heard that joke. What? You want me to tell them? I'm sure they've heard it too... oh, alright. My apologies ladies and gentlemen, but the Other One won't be quiet until I ask you if you know what 2 things you can eat, but not do? ~~~ peanuts and pea soup ~~~ sigh :-) The broccoli and cauliflour is also put into a pot with a 1/4 cup of water and boiled. Now please... to all of you who boil your veg to death - and you know who you are - you do NOT need to cover your vegetables in water to cook them. I promise that a small amount of water will suffice as the steam will also cook the veg. The benefit is that you don't cook all the nutrients out of your food and it's still colourful and tasty at the end of the process. If you're doing a Sunday roast, the small amount of fluid that you have in your veggie pots can be used to add to the gravy. Back to my vegetables... the only other thing that had to be done was the butternut. The trick here is to buy a butternut that is generally all one size (in otherwords, no bulb shape on one end). If you do this, then your butternut is unlikely to have a large seed area and it will give you several decent butternut discs for your guests. You decide how thick you'd like the butternut discs, then place a small knob of butter underneath the butternut and place it in a pyrex dish. Put another small blob of butter on the top and sprinkle with brown sugar and a small dash of cinnamon. Cover with tinfoil and then put it into the oven around 40 minutes before you want to eat (it can go in with your pot of braised steak if your oven is large enough). As for the cheese sauce... well, I can make it from scratch, but they make so many powdered sauces that rock and with all the work I'd already put into this meal, there was no need to kill myself :-) Yes - a cheat is allowed from time to time :-)



It's important that you keep the Tipsy Tarts entertained while all this is going on. Something that is usually a challenge, but Miss Twinset was so pleased that she'd been able to help, that she skipped off grinning like a loon to go re-do her hair and wasn't seen again that day. The Other One was slurping happily on her martini (a new concoction involving dark chocolate, vodka and strawberry coulis) and since she seemed to be over her "no carb, no salt, no sugar, no point in living" diet - which lasted about 4 hours (or until she discovered that booze contained both carbs and sugar and was therefore a no-no) I handed her the white chocolate ganache bowl to lick out and she was ecstatic - and on a bit of a sugar rush - so all was well :-)



My Mom and Dad had arrived earlier in the day as expected and had been keeping themselves occupied while I finished the meal and by the time I was ready to dish, my Mom was hovering in the kitchen like a kid on Christmas morning, clutching her plate eagerly as I added finishing touches to this and to that. The Tipsy Tarts hadn't been too thrilled at being told that they couldn't stay for the party, but this devine dish was for family only - as it should be for a birthday :-) She was so content when she sat down with her meal that if she'd been a cat, she'd've be purrrrrrrrrring. In fact, this ------------------------> is what the meal looked like. Steak, potatoes, peas (her absolute favourite veg), cauliflower, broccoli and butternut. I have to confess, that even though I made it myself, the meal was A+ and was a perfect additional gift from me to her. The fun part is going to be waiting to see what my folks pick for their Anniversary lunch in Dec. Since they have to work together on this, it could get very interesting, but I think we all know by now that I'm a girl who's up for a challenge :-)



Until next time.....

The Yolk's on Us...

or is it?

Yeah - you heard me right... You see, we're constantly being told by supermarkets and marketing guru's that we need to buy the products that we like or need. It's seen as somehow a little "wrong" to make your own anything... I mean, how would you react if a friend said she was making her own clothes? Your first thought (if she's not a fashion major) will be to wonder if she's running low on money. Don't shake your head... some part of you knows it's true. The Other One is a prime example... if they package it in something "shiny or sparkly", then she's likely to buy it even if it's something she doesn't need or will never use - her whole kitchen being a prime example! I think the oven still has "new appliance" smell. The only thing worn in is the coffee machine and only because her wonderful housekeeper used to be a barista and mornings are 'lean under ' times (she doesn't like the term hangover) where coffee is a MUST. Right after that she moves onto hair of the dog. The whole dog.


Miss Twinset is another one... She has certain products and brand names that she simple "can't live without" and if I even suggest that she try making some of her kitchen favourites for herself...? Well, the reaction is not very ladylike. The funny part of it all is that there are some things that sound difficult, but once you've tried making them for yourself, you'll discover that they're not only easy, but so delicious that you'll simply keep making them... much to the annoyance of all those advertising and marketing people :-) and the absolute delight of your wallet and budget!!


I promised you yesterday that I would tell you what to do with your leftover egg yolks from the Pavlova and there are 2 delicious and useful things that you can make with reasonable ease while your Pavlova meringue's are baking. I'm afraid that you can't keep the yolks for long or they go... "icky". So, let's start with something that's an English teatime favourite... Lemon Curd!


You'll need 4 egg yolks, 180ml of sugar, pinch of salt, 80ml of lemon juice, 4 tbl spoons of butter and 2 tbl spoons of lemon zest. You beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a pan and when it's well mixed, you add the butter, salt and lemon juice. So far, so easy. Here comes the only really tricky part... you need to STIR IT constantly while it's on a medium heat. The only way you get out of this is if you can either convince a Tipsy Tart or bribe Ruby into doing it for you... The chances of those aren't good, so you're stuck with plan A! Now, bear in mind that you don't want to boil the mix or you're going to end up with the weirdest, lemon flavoured scrambled eggs ever. I've never had it happen, but I can imagine it won't be pretty :-) When the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon (about 6 - 10 min or so), you need to pour it through a sieve so that any accidental "scrambled" bits are left behind. You now have a dark yellow, smooth, lemony curd. To this, you're going to add the 2 tbl spoons of lemon rind and then you can put it in a jar for later.


Lemon curd is pricey in the stores and it's so simple to make (and far tastier) that you'll never be held to ransom by the supermarket over this again. You can use this as a base for lemon meringue tartlets or even for lemon bars. It's also great on toast or crumpets or..... most things :-)


The other basic - and definitely far more common - kitchen item that you are probably paying a lot for is an item that seems to trouble even the most kitchen savvy girl :-) Mayonnaise! Yeah ... you heard me. We're going to make mayonnaise! It always sounds soooo impressive when people say that they make their own. I've been to a number of dinners where the hostess has humbly presented us with a bowl of mayo to accompany this dish or that and when asked which brand it is... she's tittered prettily behind her napkin and confessed to making it herself... usually with one of those "oh this old stuff" expressions on her face. You're usually left feeling like you should be humble in the face of her sacrifice... after all, you are her guest and she thought you were so special that she slaved away making you mayonnaise. It's a condiment that means something. Take a breath here.... it's MAYO :-) Yes, the recipe can be intimidating, but actually it wasn't that bad. Shall we begin?


Well, for this recipe, you'll need egg yolks, salt, pepper, white wine vinegar and oil... lots of oil. This certainly isn't

your diet friendly condiment, but if you're going to be having it anyway, you may as well know exactly what is in it. You start by putting your egg yolks, salt, pepper into a bowl and beating this on a medium speed until it is thick, pale and fluffy. When this has happened, you need to slowly add about 120ml of the oil in a very thin stream until this is all incorporated into the egg mix. This may require some co-ordination if - like me - you're using a hand-held beater. Then add the vinegar and beat again. From here on out, you're going to add the rest of the oil (about 380ml of it) slowly into the mix in a thin stream, making sure not to let it split on you. When you're done, you'll have a bowl of very thick mayonnaise :-) Ok, so I made this recipe over the weekend, but to be honest... it was just a lot of work for me with the electric hand beater :-) So... what's a resourceful girl to do? Google! And there it was... the holy grail of home mayonnaise making adventures. Mayo in Minutes :-)


This recipe differed in a few ways... it was 2 egg yolks, 1 tbl spoon of white wine vinegar, 1 tbl spoon of lemon juice, 3/4 of a tsp of salt, 1/8 of a tsp of sugar, 1 tsp of Dijon mustard, 1 cup of vegetable oil and 1/2 cup of olive oil. I'm a complete heathen and simply can't stand the taste of olive oil (I'll wait until you've all recovered from the shock and horror of it all)... So what did I do? I just used 1 1/2 cups of veg oil and it turned out great. What makes this recipe my new favourite discovery is the fact that you put ALL the ingredients into a narrow container which is just large enough to hold one of those stick blenders. I used a jar :-) You put all the ingredients into the jar (starting with the egg yolk and ending with the oil), wait for the egg to settle and then insert the stick blender. Pulse gently and slowly with the blender and you'll be able to watch magic happen... the kind you don't need a pixie for! UM... Even though we LOVE having you around Ruby :-) As the mix turns to mayo at the bottom of the jar, you'll be able to get more energetic with the stick blender and within moments, you have a jar full of mayonnaise... For those of us living in SA, it tastes a lot like the imported Hellman's Regular Mayo which is quite pricey... This recipe will set you back around R8 or about $1.20!


So... I now even have Miss Twinset's attention. She loves saving money in her grocery budget - gives her more money to spend on shoes or twinsets or pearls or wine :-) The other one didn't know there was egg in her mayo, so that little revelation was amusing, but even she was impressed. So... are you going to be brave enough to try it? After all, not only did we just not waste the egg yolks from the meringue, but we also showed producers that the yolk's not on us anymore :-)


Until next time...

Ova the Pavlova?

NEVER!!!

You may be wondering why I found myself making Pavlova. The truth of the matter is this... it was recently my Mom's birthday and since I started a new tradition this year of allowing each person to pick their meal for celebrations, I knew that I had some cooking and baking in my future. So, a few days before the Grand Event, I cornered her and asked her to make her selection. Ok, it's not quite as "last meal" as it all sounds. I promise. I was fairly certain what her lunch selection would be, but her dessert selection was another matter entirely. I had a suspicion, but with my Mom, you can never be to sure. Although - as it turned out - I was right! You see, my Mom loves a good Pavlova. Hell, she loves just about ANY Pavlova, so it wasn't long before I had my orders for both lunch and dessert and the date for the festivities was set for Sunday (not the birthday day, but since when have we ever been normal that way). White chocolate and strawberry Pavlova it was :-)

Now. I know that a Pavlova sounds intimidating, but that is NO excuse for buying the ready made bases. Yes, I have done so in the past, but really - those things look like they're carved out of Styrofoam and can probably be used as ceiling tiles. I can promise that if you've ever tried your own Pavlova, you'll pass those sad, sorry "meringue's" in the shop and turn your face away, shaking your head at their weak attempt to impersonate real food. All you need is eggs, castor sugar, white wine vinegar (not your usual chip shop white... focus), vanilla essence (or extract if you'd prefer) and corn starch. To be honest, you don't actually need the whole egg... just the whites, but since they don't lay them separate, you'll need to make do. This particular recipe called for 8 egg whites and 500ml of castor sugar, but it did make 2 layers, so not too bad all things considered.

The first thing you have to do is separate the eggs. Not into "colour shades" as Miss Twinset was so patiently doing when I caught her. Sigh. I'm pretty sure she'd had a few bottles of vino by then, especially as she didn't notice when I topped her glass up with the vinegar! I need to make sure we do new projects earlier in the day to avoid these situations. Now, please don't worry if you don't have one of those "fancy" egg separators. Eggs have an innovative built in system commonly known as "the shell" to aid you in just this type of situation. You simply need to break the egg roughly in the middle and then pass the yolk back and forth from shell half to shell half until all the white has dropped into the bowl that you (hopefully, please lord) put underneath. You then tip the white into your mixing bowl and put the egg yolks into another bowl for use in other projects... don't worry - I'll elaborate in the next blogs. You then beat the egg whites until soft peaks form when you lift the beaters out of the mix. Soft peak? Well - imagine that you've only partially arous... What? Family friendly. Oh... yeah. Well, a soft peak would be ... um ... soft? No edges? Ok, it just means that it's going to be a bit like a squishy cloud. When you take the beaters out of the mix, the peaks that form will sorta "smoosh" (another technical term) over on themselves while still looking kinda like peaks. I suppose you could say that soft peaks are the average 40+ year old boob without surgical intervention...

At that stage, you need to start adding the castor sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Which I'll admit is a pain in the butt!! Especially if you don't have one of those sexy kenwood mixers (which I'd be happy to test for anyone who'd like to send me one hint hint... all brands welcome) and you have to use a hand mixer. It requires a little patience, upper arm strength and co-ordination, but if you've worked with the Tipsy Tarts (I'm liking that group name more and more) around for long enough, then you've developed the reflexes of a cat and the strength of Hercules... sometimes it's the only way to protect booze and food that's intended for consumption at other places :-) When the mixture has reached stiff peak stage (18 - 25 year old boob), then you fold in the white wine vinegar, corn starch and vanilla essence using a metal spoon (I'm not sure why, but I don't argue with the recipe Gods when they're that specific) - before spooning it onto your baking sheet on your baking tray and shaping it to suit your needs. You can create fun detailing on the final Pavlova by taking the back of the spoon and touching it to the Pavlova to make wave peaks (no boob related metaphor here as I don't want to picture wavy boobs). You put it into the oven at 140 degrees for an hour and then turn the oven off and leave it in there overnight. Yes - you DO need to be prepared ahead of time! lol

The following day - in my case, the morning of the Grand Event - you get your serving platter and place your base on

it. I made a double layer Pavlova (no, I'm not showing off... as I said, I just had that much meringue mix lol). You then take your desired filling and begin constructing this yummy dessert... In this case, it was a white chocolate and strawberry filling, so I melted white chocolate in the microwave (about 2 - 3 min on 60% power) and added fresh cream to that to form a white chocolate ganache which was then spread on the Pavlova base to stop the fluid from making the meringue go soft. The remainder of the cream is whipped to just before a stiff peak (there's that term again) stage. To assemble, spoon your chopped strawberries onto the ganache base and pile them as high as desired. Then cover with the whipped cream and then - if required - add the second layer of meringue and repeat the above steps. It's important that you don't let Miss Twinset or the Other One anywhere near this process or you'll end up with an Eton-Mess... just as yummy, but nowhere near as impressive on the table! I've been lucky so far and only had this problem once. Fortunately I was only practicing, so it wasn't a train smash :-)

You may be wondering why - when there is a whole lunch that was done - I've chosen to start with dessert. Well, too often, we start with the meal and skip dessert and if you're only going to read today's blog... I figured it should be a little decadent!

Tomorrow, I'll cover the meal and if you stick around, I'll cover what to do with those 8 egg yolks too... after all, my Gran didn't waste and neither do I :-)

Until next time....