GEORGES CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

I don’t know about you, but I have been avidly watching Australia’s FIRST Masterchef series http://www.masterchef.com.au/masterchef-series-1.htm. Yes, I know it’s old hat for the rest of the world, but here in South Africa it has only just finished and I have enjoyed every minute of it!

A recipe that had me intrigued was a chocolate mousse George http://www.georgecalombaris.com.au/index.htm made with olive oil. It took me quite a bit of hunting about to track down the recipe. Here it is for you to enjoy.

I found that the fruitiness of the olive oil makes a difference to the end product. I have opted to use lighter style oil, that doesn’t have an overpowering flavour profile, but go ahead and experiment.

George Calombaris Olive Oil chocolate Mousse

200g dark chocolate, melted

200ml pouring cream, whipped

½ cup olive oil

½ cup frozen mixed berries, thawed, optional to serve

1 Place chocolate in heatproof, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on Medium/50%

for 2 minutes, stirring every minute with a metal spoon, or until smooth.
Set aside to cool slightly.

2 Combine melted chocolate and cream in a bowl, slowly pour oil in, continuing to

whisk until thick. Spoon into serving glass and refrigerate for 10 minutes or until

ready to serve

3 Serve mouse topped with berries.

Spice Up Your Life



Green Papaya Salad



On one of my visits to Bangkok I visited the Baipai Cooking School. If I have the time I like to try out a local cookery class. It’s a great way getting an understanding of local ingredients and flavours http://www.baipai.com/ The class was fun and throughly enjoyed by all.

One of the extremely popular dishes in Thailand is Som Tam, or Green Papaya Salad. Everyone has their own version. As street food it’s light and delicious in the heat of the day. Here's the recipes I learnt, with one or two minor changes to allow for ingredients availibility in South Africa.

INGREDIENTS:

Serves 1

50 g peeled and shredded young papaya. ( If you can’t find papaya you can use green mango, cucumber or shredded white cabbage)

2 cherry tomatoes – halved

2 french beans – cut into pieces ( In Thailand Snake beans are used)

1 Tbs roasted peanuts

1 Tbs of dried shrimp ( I have had difficulty find this in Cape Town so I use a heaped teaspoon of shrimp paste which is readily available from Asian stores)

3 Cloves of garlic

1-2 Thai chillies (depending on just how hot you like it!)

1 Tbs Fish sauce

1 Tbs Lime Juice

1 Tbs tamarind paste

1 Tbs palm sugar

3 Medium sized prawns ( deheaded, shelled, deveined, and cooked)

METHOD:

Put garlic and chillies in a pestle and mortar and pound roughly.

Add dried shrimp (or shrimp paste) and roasted peanuts and gently pound. (you need texture and don’t want the peanuts to be too fine)

Add fish sauce, lime juice, tamarind paste and palm sugar. Mix well until the sugar has dissolved.

Then add beans, tomatoes and papaya and pound gently until everything is combines.

Toss in the prawns and mix gently and serve.

Note: The “dressing” ingredients are just a recommended guide. Taste as you go. You might prefer more sweetness, more acidity, heat or salt. Mostly enjoy the process and the fantastic explosion of flavours.

Now that it's braai(barbeque) season leave the prawns out and use white cabbage to turn the recipe into a spicy slaw with a difference!

Cape Flavour

Waterblommetjies in Bloom

Waterblommetjies are an indigenous water hyacinth flower (known in English as Cape pondweed, Cape hawthorn or Cape asparagus and scientifically as Aponogeton distachyos) found in the dams and marshes of the Western Cape (South Africa).

This weekend I headed to one of my favourite spots for the freshest waterblommetijies in town. Seasonal food at it’s best – what a treat!

WATERBLOMMETJIE BREEDIE

INGREDIENTS:

1 Kg of lamb knuckles/ neck/ or stewing lamb cut into cubes
30 ml sunflower oil
15 ml butter
5 ml salt
5 ml freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of sugar
2.5 ml freshly grated nutmeg
500 g potatoes
2 large onions, sliced
250ml white wine
250 ml chicken stock
3 large cloves of garlic, chopped
20 ml lemon juice
Pinch of dried chilli flakes
15 ml white wine vinegar
500 g waterblommetijies
Chopped parsley for garnish

METHOD:

Trim the stalks from the waterblommetjies. Soak them in salt water for 2-3 hours. Then drain and rinse. Peel and quarter the potatoes.

Heat the oil and butter in a large heavy based saucepan. Brown the meat in batches. Remove. Then add the onions and garlic and sauté until softened.

Return the meat to the saucepan and season with salt, pepper, sugar and nutmeg. Add the wine, vinegar and chilli flakes and simmer for about and hour.

Stir in potatoes, waterblommetjies, lemon juice and chicken stock. Simmer uncovered for about 45 min or until the meat is very tender. Check the seasoning. If the bredie has too much liquid, cook a bit longer. Garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with rice.

Winter, or Spring? I'm confused.

Cape Malay Curry, Chutney and Tomato Sambal

It’s supposed to be spring but all the furies of hell have been released in the Cape the last few days. I guess we are not the Cape of Storms for nothing! Forget the salads and bring on the comfort food. I love the local curry which has a completely different flavour to other curries . There are layers of flavours that make evry mouthfull an adventure. Why not give it a try?

For more information on the origins of Cape Malay food here’s a link you might find helpful  http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/FOOD_IS_ART/reference/capeMalayart.html

CAPE MALAY CURRY

Malay curries have more spices , such as cardamom, cumin and coriander and less chilli than Indian curry. They are eaten with rice or rotis and a selection of sambals. Fresh salads such as tomato and onion are also served. (recipe below as well)

INGREDIENTS:

500g cubed lamb – I usually use knuckle

5 cloves of chopped garlic

A knob of fresh ginger

5 ml of cumin (ground)

5 ml of coriander (ground)

A large stick of cinnamon broken into pieces

5 cardamom pods

3 whole cloves

10 ml turmeric

7 ml crushed dried chilli

5 ml salt

30 ml sunflower oil

2 large onions – thinly sliced, but not diced

water

250 ml finely chopped tomato ( or 1 tin )

3-4 medium potatoes

Fresh coriander to garnish

METHOD:
Heat the half the oil. Brown the meat. Remove. Heat the remaining oil and gently braise the onions for about 5 min to release the sugars, until golden. Add the spices and fry for a minute. Add a splash of water to avoid sticking to the saucepan. Add meat back into the saucepan and cover with water. Simmer gently for about an hour.Then add tomato and 250 ml of water. Cook for about 15 min until the tomato starts to get absorbed into the gravy. Add the potatoes. Add more water if required. Cook until potatoes are soft. Cook a little longer for a thick gravy. Serve with white rice or roti.

Serves 4-6

TOMATO AND ONION SAMBAL:

1 finely chopped onion

2 finely chopped tomatoes

10 ml sugar

30 ml white wine vinegar

5 ml fresh chopped or dried red chilli

Mix sugar, vinegar and chilli together. Pour over combined onion and tomato.

Siam Sunray

Siam Sunray in the foreground.

We were sitting on the veranda when I stood up, went to the window box, picked a chilli, bruised it, then popped it in my vodka. My friends thought I had lost my mind. I started to tell them about a recent trip to Thailand where I enjoyed a cocktail had enjoyed called Siam Sunray. To me it had all the ingredients in it that I love about Thai cooking.


Background to the cocktail : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29279391/

Here is my version for you to enjoy.

INGREDIENTS:
30-40 ml. of Smirnoff vodka
30 ml. of coconut liqueur (Malibu)
15 ml. of syrup (recipe below) You might want to add more if you prefer a slightly sweeter drink.
Thai chilli
1 Kaffir lime leaf
3 slices of ginger
Slice of fresh lime
1 Stick of lemon grass
A squeeze of fresh lime juice
Soda water


METHOD:
Bruise the ginger, Kaffir lime leaf, and lemon grass to bring out the flavour. Add syrup, lime juice, Smirnoff, and coconut liqueur, and shake in a cocktail shaker. Blend well.

Strain into a glass with ice, top up with soda water; garnish with chilli, lemon grass and a slice of lime. 

SIMPLE SYRUP:

The easiest way, I find, to make simple syrup is to combine equal parts (1:1) sugar and water in a bottle and shake it until the sugar is completely dissolved. The result is a thin syrup, but it does the job!