Magaliesburg Weekends

Tomorrow morning we are going to Amarula. A little farm that we frequent quite often for the weekends. A beautiful, very rustic farm house that we spend great times with a couple of dear friends. It is a self catering place so we load the cooler box with lots of delicacies that we gorge ourselves when we are not hiking the mountains, throwing our selves into sparkling rock pools or playing cards. Friday night we will have some paella. And I thought before the main course a little cooler for the warm summer night sounds like a good idea to me. This gazpacho recipe is very easy to make.

Gazpacho, My version

Gazpacho dates back to Roman times, it can roughly be translated like "leftover soup".
Fame came in the 19th century, after peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes were added. Spaniards say there are "as many different gazpachos as there are mortars and pestles". My version is :


GAZPACHO NON TRADITIONALE (serves 6)
-4 ripe tomatoes, peeled and deseeded
-2 pickled onions
-1 yellow pepper roasted, peeled and deseeded
-1 chilly, deseeded
-1 tbs. olive oil
-1 cup of tomato juice
-3 drops of lemon juice
-salt and pepper to season
Put all the ingredients in a blender and use the pulse button to roughly blend. Chill the soup at least 1 hour before serving.

You can also serve this as a hot soup. But remember to add 2 slices of stale bread soaked in cold water and a good dollop of sour cream before liquidising.

Tuna Tartare, Japanese style

Japanese style Tuna Tartare

-slice of very fresh tuna fish (1cm thick and 15cm diameter)
-1 ripe but firm avocado, thinly sliced
-1tbs sesame oil
-1tbs light soy sauce
-1ts dark soy sauce
-1ts toasted sesame seeds
- 1tbs limejuice
-1ts sushi vinegar
-few sprigs of coriander to serve
Chop the tuna to 1cm cubes. Mix all the ingredients, except the coriander and the avocado, in a bowl. Arrange nicely the avocado slices on a plate. Fill the middle with tuna tartar and scatter with the fresh coriander before serving. I also used chopped tomatos to decorate.

If you don't have the sushi vinegar handy use rice or cider (apple) vinegar and mix with a drop of honey.

Easy beetroot pickle

On my way back from Magaliesburg I bought a bag of baby beetroot. So yesterday I made this delicious pickle.
Beetroot as a source of various vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, is very good for you. It helps the production of the blood cells and prevents anemia and impotence.
I have many recipes with this beautiful magenta roots that I will share with you in future...

EASY BEETROOT PICKLE
-5 medium beetroots
-4cups water
-1cup red wine vinegar
-1/2ts salt
-2 cloves of garlic
-5 pink peppercorn
Wash the beetroots well and put them in a pot with 4 cups of cold water without cutting the heads and tails to prevent from bleeding. Cook until soft. Cooked beetroots don’t need peeling but little scrapping with hands; use rubber gloves if you don’t fancy ruby hands. Once peeled cut them into 2x2 cm cubes and put in a jar with garlic, salt, pepper and vinegar. Top the jar with the boiled beetroot water. The pickles will be ready next day and will keep in the fridge for 3 weeks easily.

QUAIL EGGS WRAPPED IN PROCIUTTO WITH BASIL AND BALSAMIC DRESSING
-12 quail eggs
-4 slices of prociutto
-1tbs pesto alla Genovese (basil pesto)
-1bs extra virgin olive oil
-1ts aged balsamic vinegar
-12 leaves of fresh basil, similar in size
Boil the quail eggs in salted water for 5mn. Fish them out and plunge them in ice cold water for another 5 mn. Peel and set aside.
Cut each slice of prosciuto into 3 long strips.
Roll each prosciuto strip with an egg in the middle.
Mix the pesto, olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl to make a dressing
Garnish each roll with a basil leave and drizzle with your dressing just before serving.

Wild dog party!

Pashmina, 20 months

Dirty Harry, 4 months (3 on this pic)

This two little terrorists ruined my garden during a wild dog party on Wednesday late night or Thursday early morning. No plant younger than 5 months survived in the garden. Sprinkler system is completely chewed. I am afraid Mina is teaching Harry all the dirty tricks of being a very naughty doglet. Here is the story.

I woke up to a horrible Thursday morning... Opened the front door to say good morning to my four legged kids, as my routine every morning at 7, and saw the poor plants neatly! stacked on my door step. Dilemma: should I kill my beloved dogs by myself or should I call F and watch him killing them. Which option was more satisfying? Was telling to my wild side "lucky me it's Thursday and I don't need to deal with the mess because my loyal gardener M. is due today" sort of a calming down mantra. Hah! Cherry on top M. did not turn up this Thursday!

Sorry to let you know guys a depressed Ipek is completely non-functional! Put all the plants in to the buckets with water, dressed up and left for gym, then head off to Bryanston Organic Market because the bright green and beautiful smell of all the fresh herbs have a calming effect on my system. Oh plus the delicious coffee and cheesecake combination would sort any upset women out!

The brave pineapple dessert who saved the night

Serves 4
8 slices of fresh pineapple
2 cups of yogurt
2 tbs runny honey
1 tbs Galliano ( vanilla liqueur)
4 sprigs of mint
Chop 4 slices of pineapple and blend with yogurt, honey and Galliano until creamy. Fill the dessert cups 2/3 full. Decorate with pineapple slice and mint. I layered mine like this; yogurt mixture, kiwi fruit, pineapple and decorated with mint and pineapple leaf.
This very fresh and light little dessert saved last night!

Chicken Business

Yesterday when I was shopping I decided to give a try to an ordinary chicken instead of a free range one. %30 price difference was not that small after all. But my little subject of experiment, although it was shorter on the cooking time, turned out to be a big mistake on the taste department. The texture was interesting, almost fish like. The taste was strangely bland, my marinade did not save the show without the help of the poor chick. A beautifully wasted chicken roast evening!
Conclusion: I am not in favor of organic chicken because I can not taste nor smell the difference. So why to pay 2.5 times more? But will never ever try again a "factory" farm chicken. Full stop!

Breakfast

A little road side cafe in south of Turkey

When I was working 24/7 the breakfast was the biggest luxury. Some stolen mornings having breakfast at the corner cafe with my sister was truly special. That was back in Istanbul. Since I am in SA and not working, week days breakfast is a must thanks to F. He would never leave for work before having his toast and marmalade. Oh and 2 cups of Earl Grey with milk of course! The corner cafes and my sister are parts of my Turkish life which I still enjoy big time when I am back for holidays. Toast is OK but marmalade is NO NO in my book. Anything cooked with orange is NO NO in fact. They say that I cook the best "duck" a l'orange. I simply follow the recipe because I never tasted the sauce. Anyway you will witness more of my antics along the line. Let's go back to the breakfast. My favorite breaky would be the big Turkish "village breakfast". Here is the list:
A local cheese platter, black olives, sour cherry jam, butter, honey and traditional fresh cream with walnuts, tomato and pepper scrambled eggs "menemen", watermelon or grapes all accompanied by very freshly baked warm white bread and "simit" sort of a bagel with sesame seeds. Oh it's heaven! So what do I do? When ever I have time and enough participant around I replicate those heavenly breakfasts. Still trying to convert South Africans...

An early start

I started life as a fussy eater. Every single friend of my parents has a recollection of the very thin blond little girl trotting around followed by a family member carrying a spoonful of something, trying to feed her. I was also very famous of saving some food on the very back of my mouth hoping to fool my mom that I ate all my dinner (this little habit proved to be very bad for my mouth hygiene, I suffered of toothaches quite often in my youth).
We do not remember when exactly I turned to be an eating machine. But I do remember when I started cooking properly! My mom was suffering a bad eczema in her palms, I was 7. She asked me if I would enjoy helping her in the kitchen. Oh yes! My very first full dinner was "Pan fried meatballs with tomato sauce served with mashed potato and shepherd salad". So successful!
Meatballs, we call "kofte" in Turkish and we cook them in several different ways. I love them all! Potato is my favorite staple food of all times. Can not live without tomato, garlic and olive oil which are the main ingredients of Turkish shepherd salad "coban salata". Don't worry recipes will follow!
My little joy of cooking at 7 became a passion for food and stamped all my lifestyle today. I am so lucky that my life partner F. shares the very same passion of food and pleasures of good living with me.

Courage

Time flies. This is my fifth year in this beautiful country. Have been planning to write about my life since the beginning. Never had enough courage to express myself in English. Few days ago I decided if I don't start now the right time will never come. So Ipek the fresh blogger here I am!