A potato salad inspired by Aunty Minna

My strongest memories are the ones where food is involved. Fact. I have been fortunate to grow up around, what I think, are some of the best cooks and have been able to sample some of the best home cooking.

In South Africa, where I grew up, we live in a very social culture and at the hub of these social outings is usually a braai. A braai is a South African version of a BBQ. But better… way better.

The men all stand around the fire staring at the embers, drinking beer and shuffling round a chicken wing or a steak on the grid – ‘being manly’. Whereas the women, drink wine, gossip and make amazing salads, which the men hardly eat because South African men don’t eat ‘rabbit food’.

 

One of these amazing salads that stand out to me and that I get a sense of nostalgia for is the humble potato salad. Now my aunty Melinda makes the best potato salad I have ever had! My cousins and I could never wait until the meat was done, we had to grab a fork and get stuck in.

 

The other night, Charles and I decided to have salads for dinner and I thought of my lovely aunty Melinda for inspiration for this dish. I am not sure what her recipe is and I will admit that it wasn’t as good as hers but it tasted like home and that was good enough for me.

Ingredients:

1kg Potatoes, boiled and peeled

3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

Handful of gherkins, chopped

4 spring onions, chopped

30g mayonnaise

15ml milk

Salt and pepper

 

Method:

Once the potatoes are boiled and peeled, chop them into chunks, however big or little you wish,

Chop the eggs (I like to give mine a rough chop – nothing fancy here) ad these together in a bowl along with the gherkins and spring onions.

Then mix the mayo and milk together so that the mayo is a bit loosened up and pour over the potato mixture.

Add your seasoning and then I would recommend letting it stand for a while so that all the flavours can integrate.

Mussels with Cider and Cream

Mussels in Cider and Cream I remember being a child on the beach, in South Africa, and picking mussels off the rocks with my family and taking them back to the house and steaming them in a massive pot over the fire ‘au natural’. We would all sit around eating mussels and slurping the yummy natural juices off our hands as it dripped down our arms. I think I over did it in those days so for years I didn’t touch them. Charles got me back into them and I have been craving them forever! So when I saw fresh mussels in the local shop, I had to get my hands on them. This recipe was so easy and took less than 15 minutes to cook. If you want to know how to cook these tasty guys see below:

You will need:

1 kg Mussels, cleaned

1 shallot

2 cloves garlic

1 fresh chilli or 1 tsp dried chilli flakes

250ml single cream

250ml cider

Handful fresh Italian Parsley

Salt

Pepper

How to: Start off by cleaning the mussels by giving them a scrub and discarding and beards, throw away any that are broken and don’t close tightly when tapped.

In a big pot with a secure fitting lid, fry off the shallot in a splash of oil until soft. Once softened add the cider, as this starts to boil add the mussels and put the lid securely on to the pot.

Leave for about 4 minutes and you will know when they are cooked once all the shells have opened. Discard any mussels that have remained closed.

Add the cream and chopped parsley and stir.

My favourite part – SERVE! We had ours with some crusty French bread.

Miraval Rose. Is it all a hype?

I have succumbed to the hype that is the Brangelina Provencal Rose, Miraval 2014, Cotes de Provence. This is unfortunately a disappointing wine and not worth the acclaim it has been given!

My tasting note are as follows; the appearance of the wine is very pale pink in colour. The wine has a good clean nose with aromas of summer fruit i.e. strawberries and raspberries, a little citrus, some lemon and lime character, and stone fruits like peach. On the palate, the wine is bone dry,    medium + (plus) acidity. This is a light wine with not much body, if any. The flavours are similar to the aromas.

This wine lacks any finish and is anything but long lasting. By the time you’ve taken one sip and placed your glass back down on the table, you will need to pick it back up again and take another. The flavour doesn’t last at all.

Another unfortunate point about this wine is its price which is high for a below average wine. I’m a huge fan of Perrin Wines but alas this is not at all good.

Cinco de Mayo Taco Fever

Dinner last night was sublime, If I can say so myself….

We wanted to pay homage to our Mexican brothers and sisters but weren’t really wanting burritos or fajitas anything other than TACOS!!

I’ve never made tacos before so wasn’t really sure what I was doing but went into the kitchen with a can-do attitude!

The end result were these delicious pockets of spicy meat, guac and cheese. I mean what else could you ask for!!

If you want to see how I made these bad boys, please my recipe below.

Ingredients:

500g minced beef

1 medium onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1Tbsp Tomato Puree

1tsp cayenne pepper

1tsp chilli flakes

1tsp paprika

1tsp cumin

Salt and pepper

Taco Shells

To Garnish:

Guacamole

Sour Cream

Lettuce

Grated Cheese

Method:

I started by dry frying the minced beef, once cooked I added the spices followed by the onion, pepper and tomato puree. I added a dash of water so that everything could come together nicely but this evaporated in the cooking process.

Once the meat was cooked I filled the taco shells with the meat mixture, lettuce, sour cream, guacamole and cheese.

Mexican inspired Quinoa Party

We try and eat healthy as much as possible, sometimes we fall and stumble off the wagon but we always get back on again more enthusiastic than the last time.

When I say healthy, please don’t think steamed vegetables, boiled chicken and brown rice. While there is nothing wrong with that sort of meal, its just not us. We prefer something more interesting and that’s exactly what last night was all about.

We have kind of hopped aboard the Quinoa train but it definitely needs some colour and flavour otherwise its boring.

Last night’s meal was like a party, a coming together of delicious flavours and boy was it tasty! There’s no set recipe for this dish, its almost like a deconstructed fajita, kind of.

Loose How to:

I start off by cooking the Quinoa, according to the instructions on the packet. It takes the longest so this goes on first.

Next I chop up a whole bell pepper, either strips or dice and I like to use either red, yellow or orange for colour. This goes in a pan with a touch of olive oil. I then add chicken breasts which have been diced into similar sized pieces along with some cayenne pepper, paprika and freshly ground black pepper.

I then heat up some black beans and keep this on a low heat and that’s that for the cooking.

Next, its time for the garnishes.I like to use cottage cheese, cheddar, avocado and a touch of sweet chilli (Charles has a slight sweet chilli sauce obsession).

I then put it all on a plate and it looks so beautiful I don’t even want to eat it but it just tastes too good to resist!

That’s what I love about cooking, you can just let those creative juices flow.

Presto Pesto!

A few weeks ago we bought some herb plants, Mint, Rosemary and Basil. The basil has started to run amok and needed a bit of pruning. I wanted to make Pesto but didn’t have pine nuts or parmesan cheese. Undeterred, I went exploring through the kitchen and came up trumps with walnuts and cheddar as ‘substitutes’. With nothing to lose I chucked the walnuts and basil leaves in the blender and whirred away, adding olive oil little by little until it had a sauce like consistency.

I added the cheese gave it one last blast of the blender a drop of oil and hey presto we have pesto!

Cheesy I know but I am pretty impressed with myself and it tastes delicious!

I plan on making a simple supper tonight of spaghetti with my homemade pesto! Yum!!

Risotto – The King of Suppers

We have a bit of a love affair with Risotto in our house, we love it. No, we are obsessed with it.

If we could eat without putting on any weight, we would have it every night of the week.

I’m also obsessed with bacon, so these two make a brilliant pairing for my palate.

 

Risotto can seem a bit daunting but once you’ve mastered the basics, it’s simple. Just stir, stir, stir!

This is great if you have guests coming round or if you just need to relax and zone out after a long day at work.

 

I sometimes get a craving for a dish but don’t have all the ‘correct’ ingredients so have to come up with plan B, using whatever is in the cupboard. Last night’s Risotto was sort of like that.

I skipped out on the wine part and used cheddar instead of parmesan and it tasted amazing (purists block your ears).

I have another Risotto recipe on here already but for last night’s variation, please see below.

Ingredients:

1 Onion, diced

1 cup risotto rice

1 litre chicken stock, I use a cube and some water

6 rashers bacon

100g asparagus, chopped

50g Cheddar Cheese

25g unsalted Butter

Seasoning to taste

White Truffle Oil (optional)

 

Method:

I first get the stock ready, so on goes the pot with water and a stock cube. If you want to use homemade stock heat this up now and then leave the stock on a low temperature so it stays warm throughout the cooking process. I also like to fry off some of the fatty bits of bacon until they go nice and crispy and set these aside as a garnish for some texture. Next heat a dash of olive oil in a pan and add the onions, you want a medium high heat for this. Once the onions are translucent, add the rice and stir until all the grains are coated with the oil. You then want to start adding your stock, I add this a ladle full at a time and stir until the liquid has evaporated and so on. I find that the rice takes about 20-25 minutes until it is still tender but not crunchy on the inside. About 10 mins from being ready I add the bacon and asparagus, I also season at this stage with a little salt and pepper – to taste. Once the rice is cooked I add the butter and cheddar, remove the Risotto from the heat and put a lid on the pot so that everything can ooze together nicely. Serve immediately with a sprinkling of crispy bacon and a few drops of truffle oil if you want to be fancy, we never have any leftovers!

We’re Engaged!!! and Tea at Cliveden

A couple of weekends ago, Charles innocently suggested that we go and have a casual stroll around the gardens at Cliveden House. This being probably one of my most favourite places in the world, coupled with the fact that it was sunny, I jumped at the idea! Little did I know what he had up his sleeve…

When we got there he said he would pop inside and ask if they had a spot available for tea. I know Charles and he is a planner, he’s not an ‘on a whim’ sort of guy. I didn’t think much of it and let him has his moment while I stood outside taking in the splendour which is Cliveden House.

Triumphantly he came back out and said they just happened to have a spot available later in the afternoon and that we would go for a walk around the grounds until then. As I said it was a warm sunny day and there were lots of families lying around on the grass soaking up the sun.

After a while we found a quite spot sans screaming children and Charles decided that we HAD to walk through a field of daffodils, he handed me a letter which he had written last year and, without going into too much detail – I will spare you the mushy stuff, once I had finished reading it I saw him reach into his pocket (Slow Mo), pull out a black ring box and get down on one knee…

I of course said yes!!! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world knowing that  get to spend the rest of my life with the greatest guy in the world.

I’m sure you’re all like ugh get to the food part already…

We walked back into Cliveden House, past Emily Blunt I later realised but I was too much in a daze to notice, and were seated at a little table in big wing backed chairs.

We went for the classic afternoon tea, which consisted of scones, mini cakes and finger sandwiches.

All delicious and washed down with a gorgeous bottle of Tattinger 2006.

The staff were all very friendly and helpful and were on standby should you want a refill of any food or tea (at no extra cost!).

We went home in a little bubble of perfect bliss and am sure will be back to Cliveden where we can relive the perfect day that we had.

Tattinger 2006

Cliveden House

Tea at Cliveden

Crustless Quiche

I’ve been on a bit of a health kick this month but I sometimes feel stuck when trying to come up with exciting new recipes which are healthy and tasty so that Charles will enjoy the meals as well.

Sometimes I tweak his portions so that they are more enjoyable without making him suffer while I try and be healthy.

Last night I made a crustless quiche, it was my first time making this but it came out really tasty and would definitely recommend trying this out if you’re looking for a lighter option for dinner.

Check out the instructions below if you want to give it a try.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion

2 cloves garlic

1 green pepper

5 rashers bacon

A good handful of spinach

5 eggs

60ml milk

Grated cheddar, as much as you like

Fresh Thyme

 

Method:

Fry the onions in a little olive oil until soft. Next add the green pepper, which I chopped into cubes, until just cooked but still crunchy.

Add the bacon and garlic and fry until cooked. Next add the thyme, I used a few sprigs, this gave it a lovely fresh taste.

I laid everything in a pie dish to cool slightly, while I whisked the eggs and milk, I then topped this with the spinach and cheese. Once the eggs were whisked thoroughly I added some salt and pepper and evenly poured it over the rest of the ingredients.

I cooked the quiche for 25mins at 180 degrees so it was just set and had a slight wobble.

 

You could serve this with a lovely green salad to keep it nice and light or just tuck into it one its own.

 

We hope you all enjoy

Chloe + Charles

Ultimate Paella Recipe

Today was a lazy day and I was treated to a lovely lunch of Paella made by Charles.

Ingredients:

1 onion diced

200g Chorizo

3 Chicken Breasts

1 cup Paella Rice

1 Litre Chicken Stock

6 strands Saffron

150g Squid

300g Prawns

1 cup peas

salt and pepper

pinch cayenne pepper

Method

Chop chorizo into chunks and fry over a high heat to extract the oils. Remove from pan and add the onions, cooking until translucent.  Once the onions are cooked add the chicken breasts. Once the chicken is cooked add the rice and coat every grain in the oil. Add the stock and leave rice, stirring occasionally. Once the rice is just cooked, add the peas, squid and prawns stirring to cook.

leave the paella on a low heat until all of the stock is absorbed. If you find that the rice is too dry add more stock or hot water to loosen it up.

once the rice is cooked or ‘al dente’ add lemon or lime wedges and season to taste.

serve and enjoy

Chloe + Charles