STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING

250g whole dates, pitted and chopped

175g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

60g soft butter

125g dark muscovado sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon black treacle

100ml milk

For the Sauce:

250g muscovado sugar

75g butter, diced

400ml whipping or double cream

1. Start the pudding the day before serving. Put the dates in a bowl with 150ml boiling water and soak for about half an hour. Set the oven at 160 degree C. Grease an 18cm square cake tin, line the bottom with non-stick baking parchment and dust the sides with flour.
2. Sift the flour and soda into a bowl. Cream the butter and sugar together in another bowl until fluffy and paler in colour. Beat in the eggs a little at a time. Beat in the treacle, then gently fold in the flour and milk using a large metal spoon Take care not to overmix.
3. Lightly mash the soaked dates with a fork then stir them into the pudding mixture. Pour into the cake tin and place in the oven on a backing sheet. Bake for a bout 45 minutes or until the top of the pudding feels springy when gently pressed.
4. Make the sauce. Put the sugar and butter in saucepan with half of the cream. Bring slowly to the boil over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer for 4-5 minutes until the sauce is a rich toffee colour, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the rest of the cream.
5. Remove the pudding from the oven and slowly pour half of the sauce over it. Cool, then cover the tin and leave the pudding to soak in the fridge for 24-48 hours. Keep the rest of the sauce in the covered pan in the fridge.
6. To finish, reheat the pudding in a 140 degree C oven for 20 minutes. Reheat the remaining sauce in the pan on top of the stove. Service the pudding cut n squares with the extra sauce and custard and/or vanilla ice cream.

Chinese Cabbage Salad

Ideal served with panfried marinated duck breasts

Thinly sliced:

Red cabbage

White/green cabbage

Red onion

Grated:

Carrots

Courgette

Optional:

Bean sprouts

Add:

Cashew nuts

Dressing:

Equal quantities of:

Soy Sauce

Japanese Mirin

White vinegar

Add to taste:

Honey

Salt & Pepper

Adjust seasoning by adding more of any of the first 3 ingredients to taste.

Perfect Roast Pork Belly

• 
  

  2kg boneless pork belly, skin scored

• 1 onion, cut into chunks

• 1 carrot, cut into chunks

• 1 celery stick, cut into four pieces

• 4 sprigs flatleaf parsley

• 2 sprigs thyme

• 3 star anise

• 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half

• 110g butter

• 2 tbsp honey

• 110ml red wine

• 250ml beef stock

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

  
  

  For the apple sauce

  25g/1oz butter

  1 large Bramley or 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, roughly chopped

  For the apple sauce, heat the butter and Bramley apples in a lidded saucepan over a gentle heat. Cover and cook for 2-4 minutes, or until the apples have collapsed and are soft and fluffy. Stir the mixture to form a smooth purée.

  
  

  Preparation method

  For the pork belly, place the pork belly, onion, carrot, celery, parsley, thyme, star anise and cinnamon sticks into a large saucepan. Cover with cold water until the pork is just covered.

  
  

  1. Bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for two hours.

  2. Remove the pork belly from the mixture and place between two heavy baking trays. Chill in the fridge for at least two hours.

  3. Preheat the oven to 225C/450F/Gas 8.

  4. Remove the pork from the fridge and cut into four squares.

  5. Heat an ovenproof frying pan until hot, add half of the butter and the pork belly pieces, skin-side down. Fry for 2-3 minutes.

  6. Carefully turn the pork belly pieces over and pour over the honey. Roast the pork belly in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the pork skin is crisp.

     
     

     Meanwhile, bring the red wine and beef stock to the boil in a saucepan and cook until the volume of the liquid has reduced by half. Whisk in the remaining butter and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Traditional Lasagne al Forno

Serves 8

450g no-cook dried lasagne sheets (+-24 sheets) or fresh if you prefer

400g Mozzarella, diced or grated

110g Parmesan, freshly grated or shaved

For the Ragu

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, peeled

200g sliced pancetta (or streaky smoked bacon)

2 fat cloves garlic chopped

350g minced beef

350g minced pork (use all beef if you don't want to use pork)

175g finely chopped chicken livers (trimmed and rinsed under cold water and dried thoroughly with kitchen paper)

1 x 400g tin Italian chopped tomatoes

1 x 230g tin chopped tomatoes

6 tablespoons tomato puree

175ml red wine

1/4 whole nutmeg

15g fresh basil

salt and freshly milled black pepper

First of all begin by making the ragu. Heat a tablespoon of oil in your largest frying pan over a medium heat and gently fry the onion for about 10 minutes. While it is softening, chop the pancetta. Add this to the pan along with the garlic and continue cooking the whole lot for about 5 minutes. Transfer this mixture to the casserole.

Next, add another tablespoon of oil to the pan, turn up the heat to its highest, then add the minced beef and brown it, breaking it up and moving it around in the pan; when browned tip it into the casserole to join the onion mixture, then heat another tablespoon of oil and do exactly the same with the minced pork. Transfer to the casserole too. Finally, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil and cook the pieces of chicken liver, adding these to the casserole as soon as they have browned nicely.

Place the casserole over direct heat, and give everything a really good stir. Then add the contents of both tins of tomatoes, the tomato puree, red wine, a really good seasoning of salt and pepper and about a quarter of a nutmeg, grated. More stirring, then allow this to come up to simmering point. While that happens, strip the leaves from the basil, tear them into small pieces and add to the casserole. As soon as everything is simmering, place the casserole on the centre shelf of the oven and leave it to cook slowly, without a lid, for exactly 4 hours. It's a good idea to have a look after 3 hours to make sure all is well and to have a good stir, but what you should end up with is a thick, reduced, concentrated sauce, with only a trace of liquid left in it. When that happens, remove the casserole from the oven, taste to check the seasoning, then strip the remaining leaves off the basil, tear them into small pieces and stir them it.

For the cream sauce:

175ml double cream

1.5 litres milk

175g butter, plus a little extra for greasing pan

110g plain flour

1/4 nutmeg

salt and freshly milled black pepper

Place the milk, butter, flour and some seasoning in a large thick-based saucepan. Place this over a gently heat and whisk continuously with a balloon whisk until the sauce comes to simmering point and thickens. Then, with the heat as low as possible, continue to cook the sauce for about 10 minutes. After that beat in the cream , taste and season if needed and grate in another quarter of the whole nutmeg.

Assembly:

25.5 x 30 x 7.6 cm roasting tin/ovenproof dish, well buttered

Now spread about a quarter of the ragu over the base of the dish. Cover this with one fifth of the sauce followed by a quarter of the mozzarella, then arrange a single layer of the lasagne. Repeat this process three more times, finishing with a final layer of sauce, then cover the whole lot the the grated parmesan and the lasagne is ready for the over. All this can be done well in advance.

Then when you are ready to bake the lasagne, pop it on to the top shelf of the over, pre-heated to gas mark 4, 350 F (180C) for 45-50 minutes, or until it's bubbling and turning slightly golden on top.

Malva Pudding

Malva Pudding

Pudding
250ml castor sugar
2 large eggs
15ml smooth apricot (or a little more if you want)
185g cake flour (plain flour)
5ml bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
30ml/30g butter of margarine
125ml milk

Sauce
250ml cream (single or double)
125ml butter
125ml/125g sugar
Optional - 125ml water, orange juice or sherry

Beat the caster sugar and eggs until fluffy and light.
Beat in the apricot jam.
Sift the flour, bicarb and salt together 3 times. (Important)
Melt the butter or margarine with the milk over low heat.
Fold the flour mixture and the milk mixture alternatively into the egg mixture.
Pour the batter into a greased ovenproof dish.
Bake the pudding at 180C for about 40 minutes, or until knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Place all the ingredients for the sauce into a saucepan and stir over moderate heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
Do not allow the mixture to boil.
Remove the pudding from the over, pierce it in a number of places with a skewer and pour the hot sauce over it immediately.
Serve hot or cold, with cream.
Can be baked the day before needed and warmed in the microwave for approximately 5 minutes.

The FoodBarn

What a wonderful restaurant - The Food Barn, Noordhoek.
Even Oprah has been there!

If you haven't been there yet, you should plan a visit. Have a look at their website:
http://www.thefoodbarn.co.za/

Family Meals

Lunch at "The Grand".

Evening out with all the family at "The Grand".






Dinner at home.



Memories of sharing a lovely tomato tart and a chicory tart made by Paul. In the background a very healthy salad with roasted butternut. Very enjoyable and as always table looking beautiful courtesy of Ingrid.