Indian Egg and Tomato Curry: Easy, Fast and Delicious!

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ingredients indian egg tomato curry sonia cabano blog eatdrinkcapetown
Ingredients for tomato, egg and red lentil curry: fast and easy vegetarian recipe

This recipe really tastes best with the addition of fresh curry leaves. Most decent supermarkets stock tubs or sachets of at least the dried ones these days, and remember: if your local grocery store doesn’t stock something, ask the manager to order some for you. I have, in the past, made this curry with fresh fenugreek leaves, which was truly delightful. Fenugreek is an astringent herb with a uniquely nutty, citrussy note. Hard to describe it, but if you’ve ever had it fresh, you’ll eagerly fall upon it the next time you see it for sale.

Red lentils are OK if you’re on a low carb diet and have many health benefits, especially for diabetics.

Kids love this curry, especially if made with tinned cherry tomatoes. Kids who love eggs, that is. I can’t really think of a substitute for the eggs if you don’t like them, except perhaps paneer or tofu. You could even try chunks of chicken breast, lightly simmered. Serve it with the microwaved spice rice if you’re not on a low-carb diet, otherwise try some caulirice. Make the recipe even faster by using tinned tomatoes flavoured with Indian spices. You can also serve this to vegetarians who include eggs in their diet.

boiling eggs indian egg tomato red lenitl curry sonia cabano blog eatdrinkcapetown
Boil eggs for 10 minutes; cool completely in cold water before shelling. Rinse under cold running water to remove all bits of eggshell.
frying spices indian egg tomato red lentil curry sonia cabano blog eatdrinkcapetown
Fry onion, ginger, garlic and spices in oil over medium heat for 5 minutes
indian egg tomato red lenitl curry sonia cabano blog eatdrinkcapetown
Add tomatoes to spicy onions and squash with back of a spoon
add red lentils egg tomato curry sonia cabano blog eatdrinkcapetown
Add lentils, curry leaves and salt with 2 cups of water and simmer for 20 minutes or till very soft

TOMATO EGG CURRY

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

4-8 eggs

2T (30ml) sunflower oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2t (10ml) grated fresh ginger

2t (10ml) crushed garlic

2t (10ml) mild curry powder

½ t (2.5ml) cinnamon powder

½ t (2.5ml) turmeric

410g can plain chopped tomatoes (or with Indian spices)

2 cups (500ml) water

12 curry leaves

½ cup (125ml) red lentils, rinsed

½ cup (125ml) frozen peas (optional)

Handful of fresh coriander, chopped, to garnish

Poppadums, to serve

Method:

  1. Place the eggs in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. As soon as water begins to boil, put lid on and remove pan from heat. Let stand for 15 minutes before shelling eggs.
  2. Cook the onion, ginger, garlic and spices in the oil for 3-4 minutes, until aromatic. Add the tomatoes, water, curry leaves and lentils and simmer for 20 minutes, until lentils are soft.
  3. Add shelled eggs and peas, simmer for 10 minutes and serve garnished with coriander, with microwave spicy rice and poppadums. (If the sauce becomes too thick, add ¼ cup (60ml) water and stir well.

COOKS’ TIP:  For low-fat poppadums, cook individual ones on high for 18 seconds in the microwave and let harden before serving.

finished egg tomato red lentil curry sonia cabano bloag eatdrinkcapetown
Add tin of cherry tomatoes and peeled eggs 10 minutes before serving, warm through and garnish with chopped fresh coriander

 This recipe first appeared in my cookbook Luscious Vegetarian, co-authored with Jade de Waal. Published by Random House Struik 2012. 

Antipasti Platter with Labneh Cheese Balls

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antipasto platter sonia cabano blog eatdrinkcapetown
Breakfast antipasto platter for lazy weekend brunch. Photo Sean Calitz

Great for entertaining, big on visual appeal and child’s play to assemble. Raid the deli shelves for this one, to make the most of jars and pickled relishes. Holiday food par excellence.

Serves 8

16 pickled or freshly boiled and shelled quails’ eggs, halved

10-14 labneh or goats’ cheese balls rolled in dukkah (read here how to make labneh at home)

1 x 210g pickled mushrooms, drained

8 marinated artichokes, quartered

8 fresh figs, quartered (omit if on a low carb/high fat diet)

1 cup (250ml) sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained and snipped in half

Large handful of mixed olives

Large handful of rocket

110g ready–made croutons (omit if on a low carb/high fat diet)

Crumbed bocconcini (see note below)

Bocconcini are little fresh mozzarella balls available from most good supermarkets and delis. If you can’t find them, use 3cm cubes of top-quality mozzarella instead.

Ingredients: 400g bocconcini balls or ordinary mozzarella, cut into 3cm cubes

2/3 cup (80g) flour

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup (125g) breadcrumbs

Sunflower oil for frying

  1. Roll the mozzarella balls or cubes in first the flour, then beaten egg and finally coat in breadcrumbs. Repeat two more times for a thorough crumb ‘jacket’ to form. Set in single layer on a plate and refrigerate until needed.
  2. Fry 4 or 5 mozzarella balls a time in hot shallow oil until just golden brown on all sides – not more than 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain briefly on absorbent kitchen paper and adding to the platter.
  3. To serve: Arrange all ingredients attractively on a large serving platter, garnish with rocket and dish up!

This recipe first appeared in my cookbook Luscious Vegetarian, co-authored by Jade de Waal . Published by Random House Struik 2012.

Crispy Chicken Nori Bites – low carb snack

crispy chicken nori low carb snack recipe sonia cabano blog eatdrinkcapetown
Chicken nori bites with watercress, baby spinach, cucumber and sundried tomatoes, bean sprouts + shredded spring onions

Whenever I run out of ideas of what to do with chicken, I turn to recipes from the Orient. This quick and easy dish comes from the book Yoshoku: Contemporary Japanese by Australian chef and writer Jane Lawson. It’s a tasty tidbit to serve as cocktail snack, or do as I did and add it to a salad of watercress, baby spinach, cucumber, avocado and sun dried tomato, with crisp ‘n’crunchy bean sprouts and shredded spring onion as garnish. They are irresistible and I’m certain the recipe will become one of your favourites too. I’ve adapted Jane’s recipe by omitting the sake and lessening the amount of chicken.

Nori are the seaweed sheets most often used to wrap around maki sushi – Woolies and Pick & Pay sell it, or you could try an Oriental deli. Ask for nori flakes if you’re shopping at the latter, because making your own is a bit of an effort. I forgot to buy some, so made my own nori flakes by snipping up 5 sheets into thin strips with some scissors, toasting them until crispy in a dry frying pan and then chopping up in a food processor. Shake the pan over a high flame while toasting the nori strips, to make sure they roast evenly. They turn a lighter browny green and smell nutty when ready. To make the chopping/grinding easier in the processor, add the flour and pepper flakes along with the nori. Don’t give up, though, the end results are so delicious you’ll be glad you persevered! If all that is too much bother, just wrap a strip of nori around the chicken before rolling it in the flour and then frying.

Serves 3-4 as a snack

Ingredients:

500g chicken breast fillets or deboned thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces

50ml Japanese (light) soy sauce

50 ml mirin   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirin – like rice wine, but lower alcohol content. Use dry sherry instead

100ml sake – Japanese rice wine (optional)

1 T (15ml) finely grated fresh ginger and its juice

1 t (5ml) crushed garlic (I didn’t have any so left it out and prefer the taste that way)

sunflower oil for deep-frying

2 T (30ml) sesame oil for deep-frying (add to sunflower oil)

1 cup (250ml) Maizena, potato flour or tempura flour

2 T (30ml) nori flakes

1/2 t (2.5ml) red pepper flakes (optional)

lemon or lime wedges, to serve

Method:

1. Mix soy sauce, mirin and ginger (plus sake and garlic if using) and pour over chicken pieces in a bowl. Refrigerate for npot more than an hour – the marinade becomes too strong after that. Drain and discard marinade.

2. Mix flour, nori flakes and red pepper flakes.

3. Toss chicken pieces in seasoned flour until well coated and deep fry a handful of pieces at a time until golden brown, crispy and cooked through. Drain on absorbent kitchen paper and serve with a dip of your choice.

Chicken nori bites with watercress, baby spinach, cucumber and sundried tomatoes, bean sprouts + shredded spring onions
Chicken nori bites with watercress, baby spinach, cucumber and sundried tomatoes, bean sprouts + shredded spring onions

How To Make Lamb Soutribbetjie

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soutribbetjie sonia cabano blog eatdrinkcapetown
Soutribbetjie over the coals

Lamb ribs are an immensely fatty cut of meat, but properly prepared as with the recipe below, delivers a combination of all that is great about lamb: moist tenderness from the fat and the slow simmering, crisply charred crackling from slow braaing over glowing embers, and the flavour punch that only good, free- range lamb can deliver.

All in all, this counts as my idea of food nirvana. The recipe is from my mom’s old handwritten cookbooks, now worn with age. Growing up in the Free State, braaiing was a staple of our weekend meals and there were usually a few Tupperwares in our fridges at any given time during the week, with chops, ribs and sosaties in their various marinades slowly tenderising and soaking up flavour for the Sunday braai. Saltpetre is available from a pharmacy, and it acts as preservative for the meat. Don’t skip the simmering and drying parts of the recipe, and braai the ribs very slowly, to render most of the fat and turn your ribs into a beautifully crisped-up thing of joy.

Old fashioned coriander rub for lamb ribs – ‘soutribbetjie’

Lipsmackingly good, a true South African classic.

Makes enough for about 2kg of ribs. Your butcher should happily oblige to prepare a whole rack of ribs for the barbecue if you explain what you’re making. Make sure he scores the fatty side, and really work your rub into the cuts for maximum flavour.

Ingredients:

2 kg rack of lamb rib, whole

2 T (30 ml) brown sugar

1 cup (250 ml) coarse or kosher salt

1 t (5 ml) saltpetre (ask at the chemist)

1 t (5 ml) ground black pepper

2 T (30 ml) coriander seeds

1 t (5 ml) ground cloves

Method:

  1. Toast the coriander seeds in a dry frying pan over medium heat for about 3 minutes, until lightly golden and smelling aromatic. Let cool completely and grind finely with the salt, sugar, saltpetre and cloves.
  2. Rub thoroughly into the ribs and place meat in an airtight container. Leave in the fridge for 3 days, turning twice a day and pouring off any juices that collect in the container.
  3. On the third day, remove ribs from container and hang with a meat hook somewhere airy and dry or leave on a cooling rack to dry out completely.
  4. To cook, place ribs in a large pot and just cover with water. Simmer gently until meat is tender – about 2 hours. Top up with more water when necessary, just enough to cover the ribs. Drain, dry, season well and grill over coals until crispy and done.
  5. gabrielskloof braai sonia cabano blog eatdrinkcapetown
    Braai is koning. Photo courtesy RandomHat PR

Recipe from Relish: Easy sauces, seasonings and condiments to make at home, published by Random House Struik 2011 November © Sonia Cabano

Braaitime: smoked paprika, cumin and coriander rub for pork ribs

Smoked paprika, cumin and coriander rub for pork ribs
Smoked paprika, cumin and coriander rub for pork ribs or rashers

 

I might not know how to light a fire or braai very well personally – what are friends for, anyway? – but I DO know a thing or two about seasonings, if I say so myself. In fact, so obsessed am I with flavour and taste and getting the very most from your food with proper seasoning, that I wrote an entire book on the topic containing more than 280 recipes.

I devised the recipe below for the chapter ‘Dry and moist savoury rubs’ in my kitchen bible cookbook, Relish: Easy sauces, seasonings and condiments to make at home. I’m not a big fan of ready-mixes of any kind, especially seasonings and sauces, because I don’t like the taste of additives and colourants and whatnot on my tongue, and I certainly don’t like paying for fillers. (Did I sound like my dad there? I guess I did.)  My book shows you how to make all of these at home, easily, with ingredients found in your store cupboard or the nearest supermarket, and will teach you how to make everything from vinegar, flavoured oils, dressings, mustard, pickles, chutneys, braai spices, spice mixes, soft cheeses and a whole lot more.

If you’re a keen braaier, chances are you like proper meat, so why go and ruin good (and expensive) meat with inferior sauces? Make your own – it’s as satisfying as building a fire.

With pork, I prefer a cut with some fat on it, to crisp up during braaing, as well as moistening the meat on the grill. The sweet succulence of free range pork takes bold flavours comfortably, and this rub is good on almost any cut of pork destined for the braai or oven. It’s equally tasty on red meat and free range chicken. If the bite of fiery smoked paprika is too heady for you, use sweet paprika instead.

I’m lucky enough to have a mate, Martin Raubenheimer of Curedeli, who sells free range pork and home-cured bacon at the weekly City Bowl Market a block or two from my home. It’s virtually impossible to go back to eating intensively reared supermarket-sold cops and bacon after you’ve tasted Curedeli’s delicious pork, and it’s pretty much the same price. Well worth looking out for a stockist of free range pork in your area, I’d say.

On to the recipe, since I believe it’s best to marinate meat a good 24 hours before braaing, and then of course only cook it once the meat in its marinade has reached room temperature, if it had been refrigerated.

Smoked paprika, cumin and coriander rub for red meat or pork

If you’re not keen on too much fire with your food, by all means use sweet instead of smoked hot paprika. This is excellent with pork ribs and chops grilled or roast in the oven.

Makes about 2/3 cup (165ml)

Ingredients:

5 T (75ml) cumin seeds

2 T (30ml) coriander seeds

3 T (15ml) smoked hot paprika

1 t (5ml) mustard powder

2 t (10ml) soft brown sugar

1 t (5ml) ground allspice

1 t (5ml) ground black pepper

1 T (15ml) sea salt flakes

Method:

  1. Toast the cumin and coriander seeds in a dry frying pan over medium heat for about 2 minutes until aromatic. Leave to cool completely and grind finely in a spice grinder.
  2. Mix thoroughly with the remaining ingredients and store in an airtight container for up to 8 weeks.

USES:

Blend 3 T (45ml) rub with 1 T (15ml) oil and 1 T (15ml) tomato puree and rub into pork ribs or chops. Let stand for at least 30 minutes, preferably overnight, in the fridge before grilling or roasting.

Credits: Food styling by Brita du Plessis/photography by Sean Calitz. Published by Random House Struik 2011 November. © Sonia Cabano

How to Make Vinegar at Home

Fruit-infused home-made vinegar
Fruit-infused home-made vinegar

With all the wine made, sold and drunk in the Cape, it stands to reason that you’re likely to find yourself with with some unpoured, uncorked wine some day. Why not use what’s left in the bottle to make your own vinegar from scratch at home? Yes, I know it seems like a slender prospect to many to have ‘leftover’ wine, but you need one scant cup of lightly oxidised wine to start off with and it’s really no effort at all – you just let nature take its course. Autumn, winter and spring are best for making vinegar, as airborne yeasts are less likely to run rampant in the cold and spoil your tenderly nurtured vinegar-in-progress.

This recipe appeared in my cookbook Relish: Easy Sauces, seasonings and condiments to make at home, published by Random House Struik in 2012.

Making your own vinegar

If you’re ever lucky enough to find a vinegar mother – a strange, flattish fungoid-looking thing called Mycoderma aceti – lurking at the bottom of a bottle of old vinegar, don’t throw it away! This is the substance that makes vinegar from soured wine. Simply put the mother in a sterilised clean glass jar and pour over a scant cup (250ml) of oxidised white or red wine. (That’s wine that you’ve left uncovered for several days to go sour.)

I often buy organic, unpasteurised cider vinegar, as this usually contains a vinegar mother, which appears as something cloudy at the bottom of the bottle. Simply strain off the vinegar and decant the mother into the jar you’ll be using to make your own vinegar in.

Now add a 1 T (15ml) of the matching wine vinegar. Cover the jar with a tight fitting lid and store in a dark, cool place for about 2 months, by which time your sour wine will have become vinegar! After this you can start to add more of the same type of wine to feed and increase your vinegar, provided the wine has been well-oxidised first. Oxidisation simply means exposed to air and left to turn sour, which happens to a glass or bottle of wine within 8-12 hours of being opened. So, a glass of wine left open overnight will be perfect for you to start your vinegar with. Don’t even think of adding fresh wine to your mother; this will kill it stone dead instantly. Treat your vinegar mother as you would your own: with respect.

The mother can be used over and over again, and will even multiply in time if you treat it carefully.

To make your own vinegar mother from scratch, I follow this method: I simply leave an open Consol jar filled with some wine and several tablespoons of the matching wine vinegar on my kitchen windowsill for three or four weeks. A mould will eventually start to form on the surface of the wine, underneath which the vinegar mother will start growing. Do not disturb the surface. If the mould starts bubbling and smelling off, you’ll have to throw it out and start again.

I was told by olive and vinegar specialist Chrisna Pepler not to worry if gnats fall into a glass of left-over wine or the jar of wine-becoming-vinegar; apparently they contain some enzyme that activates the vinegaring process.

Alternatively you can attempt to get a little seasoned wooden vinegar barrel from a wine-farm into which you pour 2 cups (500ml) dry white wine along with 2 cups (500ml) white wine vinegar or a vinegar mother. Continue adding the same quantity of wine once a week until the barrel is full to the top and don’t ever disturb the mould that forms on the surface. After 2 months you should have yourself some lovely home-made vinegar. Decant into sterilised glass bottles and label before storing.

You can flavour your home-made vinegar with all sorts of different additions like spices, fruit, honey, chillies etc. More posts about that at a later date.

Credits: Styling by Brita du Plessis/Photography by Sean Calitz Published by Random House Struik 2011 ©

Relish: Easy sauces, seasonings and condiments to make a home. A must for every kitchen!
Relish: Easy sauces, seasonings and condiments to make a home. A must for every kitchen!

Vegetarian Curry with Microwave Spiced Rice

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vegetarian curry microwave rice
vegetarian curry with microwave rice

Middle of the week, and you’re spinning like a top getting everything done. What to cook, what to eat, to avoid the dreaded take-out rut?

Some of the things I love about living in Cape Town are a) having an abundance of beautiful fresh vegetables and fruit available throughout the year b) spice shops. A legacy of the various 17th and 18th century settlers and slave community in the Cape can be tasted today in the seductive spicing beloved by our local cooks, and this recipe is a tribute to them. Aside from being dead easy and super fast to make, of course. It’s also from my latest cookbook, Luscious Vegetarian, published by Random House Struik in November 2012. Stylist Brita du Plessis and photographer Sean Calitz did such a splendid job creating the book with designer Helen Henn, that it promptly won the prestigious Gourmand Best Local Vegetarian Cookbook Award for South Africa. Yes, that means you should buy it!

I tend to prefer grinding and mixing my own spice blends – or masalas – with spices bought from merchants with a high turnover, to ensure freshness. I find this delivers a far superior result to commercial blends, unless you can lay your mitts on some Natural Herbs and Spices’ spices  – a newish, locally produced product range that pretty much knocks all contestants out of the park in terms of quality.

All the ingredients in this recipe can be found in your nearest supermarket, and the food is cooked and ready to serve in 30 minutes. Now if that’s not a perfect solution to mid-week mealtime panic, I don’t know what is. Healthy, too.

Serve with rice or a grain of your choice – I love millet, and since it’s the original African grain and packed with protein, a dedicated locavore’s first choice too.

Cook the rice while you make the curry –all ready in about 30 minutes.  For an even faster curry, use 2T (30ml) bottled rogan josh or korma curry paste instead of the spices, ginger and garlic.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2T (15ml) oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1t (5ml) crushed garlic

1t (5ml) grated fresh ginger

½t (2.5ml) ground cumin

1t (5ml) ground coriander

1t (5ml) mild curry powder

410g can chopped tomatoes

1T (15ml) tomato concentrate

410g can chickpeas or brown lentils, rinsed and drained

1 small cauliflower, broken into large florets

Chopped fresh coriander

Method:

  1. Rinse the rice in a sieve under running water, combine in a large pyrex bowl with spices and cook while making the curry sauce.
  2. Make the curry sauce by frying the onion in the oil until translucent and soft, about 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic, ginger, spices and curry powder (or bottled curry paste) and cook for another minute before adding the tomatoes, concentrate and chickpeas or lentils.
  4. Add the cauliflower florets and simmer for 10-15 minutes until thick and aromatic. Serve over microwaved rice with lemon atchar and coriander.

Microwave spiced rice:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cups (250ml) basmati rice

2 star anise

2 cardamom pods

2 bay leaves

3 cloves

4 cm stick cinnamon

2 cups (500ml) water

1 t (5ml) salt

Method:

  1. Put all the ingredients together into a large microwaveable glass bowl and cover with cling film. Microwave on high for 15-20 minutes, stir well and cover again.
  2. Cook for another 5 minutes and let stand under cover for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.

Credits: Styling by Brita du Plessis/Photography by Sean Calitz. Publish by Random House Struik November 2012 ©

Making Yoghurt, Labneh, Fromage Blanc, Crème Fraîche and Cream Cheese at Home

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soft white cheese fromage frais créme frâiche cream cheese yoghurt labneh sonia cabano blog eatdrinkcapetown
Soft white cheese
garlic herb soft white cheese sonia cabano blog eatdrinkapetown food wine travel
Labneh, Garlic and herb soft white cheese.Photo Sean Calitz from Relish, by Sonia Cabano

Fermented, cultured and strained dairy products are some of the oldest and most original ways of preserving food. Before refrigeration and preservatives were invented to prolong shelf-life, the natural effect of bacterial and enzymatic action was skilfully applied by domestic cooks in order to stock the larder. Since milk changes rapidly when exposed to warmth, simple home-made cheeses and drinks like kefir or yoghurt quickly evolved in all cultures where herds of cattle or flocks of goats and sheep are kept, whether nomadic or pastoral.

Like most dishes of peasant origin, dairy tastes infinitely better made at home than when commercially bought. It may sound a bit nerve-wracking for a novice to venture into the seemingly treacherous waters of home-made dairy foods, but you’ll  soon enough find that your instincts and common sense serve you nicely, as it did the rural babuschkas or grandmères of 300 years ago.

A word of caution: make sure all your utensils and draining cloths are spanking clean, and be wary of making dairy on the hottest summer days  as it might spoil rapidly. And everyone knows what ‘off’ smells like, so if your yoghurts or cheeses smell distinctly off rather than cheesy or yeasty, chuck ’em. You’d rather live to see another day and try again, wouldn’t you?

Home-made yoghurt

 Plain, live culture yoghurt is indispensible in my kitchen. I add it to stews or curries, spoon dollops onto my favourite warm bean or lentil salads and use it in marinades to tenderise meat or chicken. One of my favourite drinks is lassi – an Indian beverage made from thinning plain yoghurt with some iced water before blending with either sweet or savoury flavourings, like mango, banana or toasted cumin and fresh mint. It’s also a great tonic for sun-frazzled skin! And of course it makes a brilliant breakfast with some organic honey drizzled on top and a pinch of cinnamon, with or without granola.

Have a go at this easy recipe. The trick is to keep the culturing yoghurt at a constant temperature of 38 degrees Celsius, which is why a yoghurt maker or thermos flask works so well.

Makes 3 cups (750ml)

Ingredients:

600ml fresh or long-life full-cream milk

150ml fresh live natural yoghurt

Method:

  1. Bring the milk to the boil in a large stainless steel saucepan so that it bubbles to the brim of the pot and let it bubble like that for 2 minutes.
  2. Remove from the heat immediately and let cool to blood heat – about 38 degrees Celsius. You should be able to keep your finger in the milk without burning for 10 seconds.
  3. Now gently stir in the natural yoghurt until thoroughly blended.
  4. Prewarm a Thermos flask by filling it with boiling water and quickly emptying again. Pour the yoghurt into the flask and quickly screw on the lid. (This may be easier if you pour the yoghurt into a jug first).
  5. Leave undisturbed in a draught-free, warm place for 7-10 hours to set, after which it can be transferred to an airtight container and kept in the fridge for up to one week. The cold stops the further development of the bacteria that makes the yoghurt set.

COOK’S TIP: Home-made yoghurt is thinner and not as smooth as the commercial variety. If you’d prefer a thicker, creamier texture, add 1-3 T (15-45ml) skim milk powder to the milk when you boil it. If your yoghurt tastes overly acidic, it means the temperature at which it incubated was too high, and if it tastes too sweet, the temperature while culturing was too low. I find using a wide-mouthed, pre-warmed Thermos flask circumvents this problem, but some cooks prefer a commercial yoghurt maker. And remember to keep ¼ cup (60ml) aside to start your next batch of home-made yoghurt!

Yoghurt cheese – labneh

So now you’ve made your yoghurt, learn to make some yoghurt cheese balls! These Middle-Eastern delights are commonly made from goat or ewe’s milk, and sold packed in oil in jars. Serve them freshly made, rolled in chopped herbs, black pepper or sesame and poppy seeds, or pack them into a sterilized jar, cover with good olive oil and keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. A lovely appetiser with pita breads, olives and other meze.

Of course you can use bought live yoghurt to make your labneh as well. Labneh doesn’t have to be rolled into balls; it is also frequently served simply spooned into a dish to be scooped up with chunks of bread.

Makes about 48 balls.

Ingredients:

1kg live natural yoghurt – (goat or ewe’s milk if you can find it, or thick Greek-style yoghurt)

1 T (15ml) sea salt

1 T (15ml) ground black pepper

600ml olive oil

1 T (15ml) fresh rosemary – leaves stripped from the stems

5 sprigs fresh thyme

4 fresh bay leaves

2 small dried chillies

3 garlic cloves, lightly crushed

Method:

  1. Line a colander with a clean J-cloth that you have quickly rinsed in water. Place the colander over a bowl large enough to catch any drips.
  2. Mix the yoghurt very well with the salt and pepper and spoon into the colander.
  3. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge – between 16-24 hours will do.
  4. Make the labneh balls by rolling teaspoonfuls between your palms. Put the balls on a clean baking tray lined with clingfilm, cover lightly with more clingfilm and leave in the fridge once more for 8-12 hours. This will firm the balls up and dry out any excess moisture.
  5. Now you can serve your labneh, perhaps first rolling in some finely chopped herbs, black pepper, paprika, seeds or chopped nuts. Otherwise layer them in a sterilized glass jar with the seasonings given above, cover with olive oil, seal and keep in the fridge for up to one month.

COOK’S NOTE: If you regularly make your own dairy products, keep a supply of new kitchen wipes (J-cloths) handy for draining yoghurts, cheeses and so on.

Fromage blanc (fromage frais)

Fromage blanc is a low-fat, soft, smooth white cheese beloved in France, where it is often used in stuffings or paired with fruits for simple desserts. Combined with crème fraiche and drained in muslin overnight to firm up it also makes a gorgeous cream cheese that goes very well with olives, nuts, herbs or in salads. All recipes are given below.

Makes about 2 cup (500ml)

Ingredients:

1 cup (250ml) labneh or smooth low fat cottage cheese

1 cup (250ml) live natural yoghurt

1 T (15ml) fresh lemon juice

Method:

  1. Beat the ingredients together very well until smooth. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Crème fraiche

 Crème fraiche is lightly soured, thick and creamy and melts into a luscious silkiness when used in cooking or baking. More easily obtainable these days than before, it nonetheless remains a breeze to make your own at home.

Makes 2 cups (500ml)

Ingredients:

2 cups thick cream

2 T (30ml) fresh buttermilk

Method:

  1. Stir the buttermilk very thoroughly through the cream. Cover the bowl tightly with cling film and leave undisturbed in a warm place for up to 12 hours to thicken.
  2. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks – it will continue to thicken and develop flavour.

Fresh cream cheese

 This soft white cheese is delicious in salads, sprinkled with olive oil and herbs. Or try it with some very good prosciutto and marinated artichokes. Use much like you would mozzarella.

Makes about 300g

Ingredients:

300g fromage blanc

100ml crème fraiche

Method:

  1. Line a colander with muslin or a new J-cloth that you have briefly rinsed in water. Place the colander over a bowl large enough to catch any drips.
  2. Blend the fromage blanc and crème fraiche together very well and spoon into the colander. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge to drain excess moisture.
  3. Place the cheese between two plates or boards for 2 hours to drain off further moisture and firm up. Wrap in cling film or put in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Garlic and herb soft white cheese 

You might know the commercial version of this, sold as Boursin. Use either labneh, fromage blanc or fresh cream cheese for this luscious, garlicky spread. Fresh herbs work best, about one cup in all (250ml) of whatever you like. My favourite herb mix for this is half chives, half parsley and a mere teaspoon (5ml) dried tarragon.

Makes about 2 cups (500ml)

Ingredients:

2 t (10ml) crushed fresh garlic

2 cups (500ml) fresh soft white cheese

1 cup (250ml) of your favourite fresh green herbs or a mixture

1 t (5ml) sea salt

½ t (2.5ml) black pepper

Method:

  1. Use a wooden spoon to mash everything together, or do it in your blender, until smooth and thoroughly blended.
  2. Transfer to an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.

COOK’S TIP: stir in 1 T (15ml) cream for a richer taste.

garlic herb soft white cheese sonia cabano blog eatdrinkapetown food wine travel
labneh, Garlic and herb soft white cheese.Photo Sean Calitz from Relish, by Sonia Cabano
These recipes appeared in my cookbook Relish: Easy sauces, seasonings and condiments to make at home, published by Random House Struik in 2011. Available in Afrikaans as Pikant.

How To Make Cape Seed Loaf – a classic spoon bread recipe

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I love my oven. I love the way food is transformed in it – you turn on the heat, put in some raw ingredients, wait a bit and behold! Out comes edible magic. Since I’m not very good at baking cakes, I tend to use my oven more frequently to make casseroles, slow roasts and little bakes like muffins and cookies.

And bread, of course.

If you find the whole idea of baking your own bread a thoroughly daunting process, I suggest you start with something simple like this classic spoon bread. ‘Spoon bread’ simply means that the dough ingredients are stirred together with a spoon, and that no kneading is required. The dough – or more appropriately, batter – should be the consistency of thick porridge and drop off the spoon slowly.

Hardly anything can go wrong with this recipe, really, except if  you’re using stale yeast, or if your oven’s temperature gauge is wonky. ( I eliminate this problem by getting a technician to check my oven’s temperature every year: a small price to pay to avoid ruining endless meals.)

Stoneground organic flour gives the best results – and remember that wholewheat flour can and does get stale, so use yours well before the expiry date on the package.

Easy Cape Seed Loaf 

This is a typical spoonbread, in that the dough is stirred together into quite a soft batter, before being poured into the loaf tins where it rises for an hour. Freezes beautifully for up to 1 month and makes lovely toast, too – ideal for the recipe with rosemary roast mushrooms. Makes 2 medium loaves.

Ingredients:

2 cups Nutty Wheat (coarse wholemeal flour)

2 cups stoneground brown bread flour

1 cup stoneground white bread flour

1 ½ sachets (15g) instant yeast

1 T (15ml) each of: sesame, poppy, sunflower and linseeds

Extra seeds to sprinkle over before baking

1 ½ t (7,5ml) salt

1 T (15ml) oil

1 t (5ml) honey

3 cups (750ml) warm water (slightly warmer than tepid)

Method:

  1. Mix all the dry ingredients with the yeast, salt and seeds.
  2. Dissolve the honey in the warm water and add the oil.
  3. Pour the water into the flour mixture and stir very well with a wooden spoon until thoroughly mixed. It should be the consistency of thick porridge.
  4. Spoon into two x 1 kg capacity pre-sprayed loaf tins, sprinkle seeds over and cover with clingfilm and a few clean, dry cloths. Set aside to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  5. Meanwhile heat the oven to 200 C. Once risen, bake the loaves on a wire rack  in the centre of the oven for 1 hour, until golden brown and the bases sound hollow when rapped with your knuckles. (Slide the loaf out of the tin to do this, no point rapping the base of the tin!)
  6. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
easy seed loaf sonia cabano blog eatdrinkcapetown
Easy Cape Seed Loaf photo Sean Calitz courtesy RHS

This recipe appeared in my cookbook Easy: Simple and Delicious, which was published by Random House Struik in 2010.

Easy, Simple and Delicious Cookbook

Easy: Simple and Delicious
Easy: Simple and Delicious

 

My cookbook Easy, Simple and Delicious, published in 2010 by Random House Struik. Available in Afrikaans as Vars, Vinnig, Maklik.

With many vegetarian recipes, it’s divided into four chapters  –

Fresh – detox and recharge with easy recipes for everyday vitality. Raw juices; crisp seasonal salads; minty lemon and chilli-grilled halloumi; glorious low-fat low GI vegetarian dishes; sticky cashew chicken; banana nut curry; pizza; sesame grilled crispy tofu and even phyllo pears and honey with dark chocolate chips and slivered almonds.

Fast – Quick and easy gourmet meals for cooks in hurry. Use these recipes for standby favourites you’ll make again and again in 30 minutes or less from stove to table. Crispy hash browns;  chorizo-bean-and-tomato soup with rosemary, garlic and chilli; 20-minute Mediterranean fish soup; Thai fishcakes; chop-chop chicken pies; toad in the hole, spicy lamb pittas with mint and parsley pesto, 11 easy pasta sauces; Asian noodles with ginger, sesame and chilli; ricotta puffs with honey and almonds and so much more!

Lazy – wind down and celebrate the good life with simple, sensuous treats. Nutty rusks; coconut and cranberry granola; sticky chicken wings; slow roast pork belly; masala fish; classic coq au vin; seafood risotto; peri-peri chicken; pastas galore; proper rare roast beef with Yorkshire pudding; lamb curry; lamb shanks with white wine, sweet peppers and balsamic vinegar; creme caramel, chocolate brownies, baklava, tarte tatin and apple strudel to name just some!

Staples – stock up your larder with a cook’s a-z, from basic breads to zesty sauces. White bread, seedloaf, foccaccia, home-made stocks, spice blends, barbecue sauces, salad dressings, sweet chilli sauce and pesto – all easily made at home with affordable, accessible ingredients.

Available at bookshops countrywide and from www.kalahari.com