Salted PB & choc caramel cookies

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We’ve been visiting my mom-in-law {she lives on the South Coast in KZN} this past week and it’s been a week now, a week of fun in the sun, until today…
Today was one of those days that just dragged on forever!

It was dreary and grey and windy…
Normally, that would be heaven – lots of book-reading, movie-watching, etc.
Well, not with two little ones running around!
{Oh yes and my husband is off running an ultra-trail-marathon-type-event 3 hrs away… So proud of him – he did SO well today!}

So, I decided to go for a walk with Francois today, while Seb was still napping, leaving him with granny. With Faf all zipped up in his pram, safe from the nippy weather, I headed off on my walk and did about 4 laps around the block, where I know the area and would be safe…

It was quite soothing, with the wind, they grey sky and the sound of the ocean.

While I walked, I decided it’s perfect weather for baking cookies! I headed back home, popped the kids in front of the Tupperware cupboard {thank heavens for Tupperware cupboards = hours of fun!!} and raided granny’s grocery cupboard for the ingredients I needed.

Recipe adapted from My Happy Place {blog}:

You will need:
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 eggs
1/3 cup + 2 tbs golden syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 5/6 cups flour
1 tsp coarse sea salt + more for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 180C and grease a baking sheet.
Whisk together all the wet ingredients until smooth, then add all the dry ingredients and mix until everything is well combined.
Roll into small balls {you will get 24} and press down gently with a fork. Sprinkle with sea salt and bake for 10 minutes.

For the caramel:
80g butter
2 tbs cream
1 tbs golden syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2 tsp peanut butter
Bring everything, except the vanilla, to the boil in a small saucepan and then let it slowly simmer until the sugar has melted and everything is mixed. Add the vanilla. You need to stir quite vigorously to prevent it from burning.
Let it cool slightly until it’s thickened up a bit and then drop spoonfuls onto the cookies once they’ve come out of the oven.

You get a chocolatey, chewy, peanut butter cookie with just enough caramel to tie everything together nicely. Perfect comfort for a grey day!

Enjoy! X

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Four-bird-roast with all the bells & whistles

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Heard of ‘Turducken’ before? Well this four-bird-roast is kind of like that, with extra quail thrown in the mix to liven things up a bit!
It’s a turkey, stuffed with chicken, duck & quail – all perfectly deboned of course.
It’s really a Christmas roast, or perhaps better suited to a Sunday lunch extravaganza… We decided to enjoy ours mid-week, mid-Feb, you know, live a little!

The menu includes:
Four-bird-roast
Cauli-mash
Tomatoes in olive oil
Creamy mushroom sauce
Cucumber & corn salad

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For the roast:
Rub with olive oil, salt & pepper and cover with foil.
Roast in a pre-heated oven of 180C for an hour. Remove foil and roast uncovered for another hour {for a 2kg roast}.
They also come with a nifty little pop-up timer to signal when it’s ready. But yes, work on 2 hours.
Once your bird is cooked, let it rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting.

For the cauli-mash:
Steam or boil a large head of cauliflower until tender, then purée using a food processor / blender / stick blender.
Add a large chunk of butter and season with salt & black pepper.

For the tomatoes:
Use a pan just big enough for the amount of tomatoes you want to use and cover the bottom with olive oil. Fill the pan with small tomatoes {cherry is best} and let it cook until the skins burst. Don’t throw away the oil! This is the most amazing sauce for the cauli-mash.

For the mushroom sauce:
Dice an onion and sauté in olive oil and butter.
Add sliced mushrooms, oregano & garlic and sauté until the mushrooms are cooked and browned.
Season with salt & pepper and add about a cup of cream. Reduce the heat and let it reduce to a thickish sauce.
Add a ladle of the juices from the roast and stir well to ensure everything is mixed properly. Deeelish!

{Enjoy this feast with any green salad – I just made a very simple salad using up some leftover bits from the fridge: diced cucumber, sweet corn kernels, lettuce, olive oil, white wine vinegar and a lemon & black pepper seasoning.}

X

Grilled yellowtail – fresh from the sea

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Fish is one of those things that is best kept simple. Forget complicated sauces – your best bet is freshly squeezed lemon juice and perhaps a bit of butter. Add some salt & pepper and you’re done.
While visiting Mom-in-law at the coast, I decided a nice fresh fish will be in order for dinner. That, some crisp white wine, fresh sea air and a salad – yum!

We bought 2 freshly caught yellowtails from a local fishmonger and decided to braai them.

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The fish were scaled and gutted – all I had to do was prep them for the braai:
Sprinkle generously with salt {on the inside}, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, some black pepper and melted butter. I also placed a few slices of lemon inside while the fish ‘rested’ and waited for the braai.

They went onto the grill closed {with lemons inside} until the outside was nicely cooked and golden brown, slightly charred. We then opened them up and removed the lemon slices, placed the whole fish open and inside down on the grill for a few minutes, just allowing the inside to cook. Be careful not to overcook, fish is very delicate and must be just cooked, never overcooked!

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Perfect meal for a {VERY} hot summer’s eve! Enjoy! X

Veggie curry – our lunchtime staple in India

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It feels like a lifetime ago, our year-and-a-half-stint in India… It’s only been {almost} a year now since we’ve been back, but it seriously feels like ages ago and I haven’t really cooked anything Indian since!
So, in this blazing summer heat, I decided to make a nice veggie curry for lunch – mild enough for the boys to enjoy {toddler of 2 and a half, and baby of 10 months}.
This curry is so simple, yet truly flavourful. Just because it wasn’t overly spicy doesn’t mean it was bland.
I learnt to make curries from our nanny we had in India, dear Annu, as well as some local food magazines and on our trip to south India, where we stayed in a ‘homestay’ near Kerala.

This is not from a recipe, I just used the spices I had and from what I know work well together.

You will need:
1 small aubergine, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 potatoes, diced {I had some leftover from bad ol’ December that I needed to use!}
1 large sweet potato, diced
1 cup {roughly} frozen peas defrosted in some hot water, just enough to cover the peas {the water will also go into the curry}
Whole coriander seeds
Yellow mustard seeds
Mild curry powder {includes turmeric and other spices}
Cumin powder
1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
Cream
Tomato paste
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

Start by sautéing the onion in olive oil. Add all the spices and fry until the mustard seeds start to pop. {I didn’t measure the spices! but I probably used about a tsp of each…}
Add the veggies, tomato paste {about a tbs} and cream {half a cup} and another half a cup of water. Add enough salt, probably about a tbs and let it all simmer away until the potatoes are soft. Season generously with salt & pepper.

Garnish with fresh coriander.
Enjoy! X

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Super Summer Salads

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With a low supply of veggies in the fridge, I’ve been faced with a bit of a dilemma… What shall I put in the salad?
Here are two options for super tasty salads, even without a large selection of fresh goodies:

Rocket, halloumi & tomato salad:

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Grill a few slices of halloumi cheese, until just melted.
Use yellow and red Roma tomatoes and slice them in half, toss with rocket leaves, olive oil and salt.
Add halloumi and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Grilled pepper, tomato & rocket salad:

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Roast a red pepper under a hot grill, turning every now and again, until it’s charred all over. Place in a bowl and cover with clingwrap. Let it cool and then gently peel off the skin and remove seeds.
Toss pieces of the grilled pepper with rocket and halved Roma tomatoes. Add feta cheese and drizzle with olive oil.

Fast, fresh and delicious – the perfect accompaniment to roast lamb or chicken {or any meat really!}.

Enjoy! X
{The rocket came from our veggie garden, and so did some of the red tomatoes.}

Prune, rocket & halloumi salad

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A very easy dish – quick, flavourful and exciting – and quite extraordinary!

You will need:

Rocket leaves
Dried prunes
Halloumi cheese
Dried fennel seeds
Freshly ground sea salt
Olive oil

Grind the fennel & salt in a mortar & pestle.
Toss the rocket and prunes together, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the fennel salt.
Grill the halloumi on a hot griddle pan until just melted, let it cool slightly and cut into smaller pieces.
Add to salad and voila!

Enjoy! X