Transport Caff

Sausages, beans and chips

2011-07-10T16:55:00.001+02:00

Well, to be precise, sausages, beans and herb and garlic potato wedges. Just a simple and delicious though.

The foulest of them all

2010-03-14T07:39:00.002+02:00

Have been experimenting with with roast chicken of late. This particular bird has been marinating in ground, roasted chillies and yoghurt, with a little vinegar. 24 hours in a bag in the fridge, and it's ready for the oven.

Roast baby chicken and vegetables

2010-01-21T09:45:00.003+02:00

Ready for the oven

Ready to eat

Baked sausages, cauliflower and chips

2009-11-14T10:12:00.002+02:00

Arrange sausages, cauliflower florets and chips in a baking dish. Set oven at 180 degrees. Bake for about three quarters of an hour. Turn sausages and cauliflower half way through.

Very simple. Very delicious.

2009-09-25T10:00:00.002+02:00

Sausage, bacon, musical beans, fried bread -- doesn't get much better than that.

Habanero

2009-03-26T08:46:00.003+02:00

The Habanero, a prince amoung chillis. Add one to a dish of mince and it is transformed. The euphemisn Spicy does not do it justice. Even the Professor liked it, inspite of gasping for air a couple of times.

The famous no-knead pizza -- again

2009-03-19T09:19:00.002+02:00

Best beans in the world

2009-03-09T18:12:00.002+02:00

I stole this recipe from somewhere, just can't remember where, so take note - I did not invent it.

Take 500 g of long green beans
half a disk of feta (pepper is the best)
half a very small onion
2 or 3 pieces of lean bacon

fry the bacon and onion in a non stick pan with very little or no fat.
cut the bacon into tiny pieces. (I find this easiest to do if it is froxen still)
top and tail the beans, and cut into whatever size pieces you like to eat. I use about inch pieces.
Warm or cook the beans to your liking - I just warm them so they are still raw and crunchy.
mix.
Crumble and add the feta.
Melt all together until the feta has coated everything,
Serve and eat.
YUMMY!

pic to follow...

Caio Baby Cucina

2009-01-23T21:53:00.001+02:00

Here's the Country Breakfast served at Caio Baby in Sandton City -- eggs, bacon, chips,tomato, sausages, mushrooms and toast. All for only R49, must be the best value in town

Another pizza.

2009-01-20T11:15:00.005+02:00

Another pizza made by the no knead process.

Before cooking..

... and after.

Really delicious.

More Christmas victuals

2009-01-03T10:48:00.002+02:00

Christmas pudding, condensed milk toffee and ice cream.

Roast hukufowl at Christmas

2009-01-01T09:24:00.003+02:00

Notice the dukkah potatoes.

No knead pizza

2008-12-18T15:21:00.002+02:00

Pizza made by the no knead process of the legendary Chef John of foodwishes.com. Delicious

Two "EBCB Type" establishments in the Western Cape.

2008-12-15T10:39:00.010+02:00

The Peregrine Farmstall in Stanford

We visited The Birkenhead Brewery in Stanford for a tasting of their products -- the Stout was excellent.

Aftrewards we had lunch at the Peregrine Farmstall.

Here's the professor studying the Ploughman's Platter. She need not have looked so aprehensive, it was very good.

Better still was the Stanford Breakfast

It looks a bit out of focus, but then we had just been to the brewery.

The Full Stop Cafe in Swellendam

Very non-PC, a fine atmosphere of stale beer and cigarette smoke. Rare to find these days.

The professor again, eating grilled chicken and salad...

...but look at the condiments, Bushman's Hot az Hell sauce. Oh boy!

And just in case you hadn't realised, no bovver on the sidewalk.

Egg, bacon, refried spuds, potato cake, hamburger, tomatoes and beans.

2008-08-14T20:55:00.003+02:00

Delicious.

Macaroni Cheese

2008-05-09T21:20:00.003+02:00

I've come across many fine and fancy recipes for macaroni cheese but I think the simplest is still the most delicious.
Boil the macaroni.
Place a layer in a dish and sprinkle on grated cheese.
Add a second layer and the rest of the cheese.
Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes until the top is nice and brown.
About half the weight of dry macaroni in cheese makes an excellent if unhealthy mixture.

Sausage and Bread

2008-03-30T15:23:00.007+02:00

You can always make your own Sausage and Bread. A glass of Guinness is not necessary but in this case it added to the experience. Notice the evil looking mustard.
We were on our way to Cape Agulhas, the most southerly point of Africa, (or maybe we were on our way back). Anyway, we stopped in Napier at The Farm Stall for lunch. It was excellent.
The Stall sold these jars of ferocious looking mustard. Definitely not for the faint-hearted.

What's in a name?

2008-01-17T19:50:00.000+02:00

I don't know into what language "baby chicken" translates as "pousson" but whichever it is, they are delicious.

Happy Christmas

2007-12-24T18:09:00.000+02:00

the action is here -- well you may have to mouse around a bit to get the link

This is for Sow Mei

2007-09-22T12:00:00.000+02:00

You will notice the "Dagwood Type" construction.

Hamburger, mashed potato, peas and gravy

2007-08-12T18:44:00.001+02:00

Homemade hamburger.
Instant mashed potatoes.
Fresh peas.
Pre-packed gravy.

Ninos Woodmead

2007-07-24T14:50:00.000+02:00

A friendly sign -- breakfast and lunch.

An evil looking sauce of unknown origin.

A focacetta, onions, mushrooms, chilli and haloumi cheese, delicious...

...Janis called it something else.

The Mega Breakfast

2007-07-12T10:44:00.000+02:00

Blairgowrie Wimpy (again).

Roast

2007-07-02T19:54:00.001+02:00

A packet of skinless chicken drumsticks and thighs, a packet of roasting vegetables, a packet of baby potatoes. Roast for an hour or so until done. Make some gravy, and...

there you are.

Blairgowrie Wimpy June 2007

2007-06-28T08:49:00.000+02:00

Homestyle Baked Bean Breakfast

Not sure that I fancy one of those

2007-05-29T12:57:00.001+02:00

What the Bagatelle calls a Gourment Sandwich

2007-05-24T19:56:00.000+02:00

In spite of the strange spelling it was delicious.
Haloumi, mushrooms, tomato, avo and rocket.

The origin of Miami Casserole

2007-05-24T16:30:00.000+02:00

It's made in Letsitele in Limpopo Province in South Africa, near the Kruger Park.
Have a look at Google Maps (lat -23.889206 long 30.392874)

Instant Salsa

2007-04-29T14:53:00.000+02:00

Open a tin of tomato, onions, chillis and green peppers and empty into a bowl.
Add a good few shakes of Tabasco Sauce.
Stir around and you're done.
Of course you could just open a jar of Old Wagga-Wagga. That wouldn't be the same though.

Chicken Kiev

2007-04-26T15:39:00.000+02:00

Chicken Kiev at Scrooges in Brightwater Commons, Randburg. The menu said something about chips but of these there was no sign. All the same it was excellent.

Tomato, olives and bacon in pita

2007-04-17T12:00:00.000+02:00

I doff my hat to the citizen, (or tribe member), who found out that you could eat olives.

Just down the road

2007-03-31T17:12:00.000+02:00

Flapjack and ice cream...

...at the Manhattan Grille

All hail the sandwich

2007-03-29T07:34:00.000+02:00

It's the sandwich that truly sets us apart from the lower animals. Not language, symbolism, opposable thumbs, the capacity for abstract thought, the ability to make and use tools or operate machinery (occasionally under impaired conditions).

Chimps have been known to construct rudimentary tools from bone fragments, communicate with each other (and Jane Goodal) and even use symbols. But they don't have sandwiches.

Elephants have exhibited abstract thought after a fashion - see their paintings, which have raised handsome sums for good causes. But do they have sandwiches? No.

I've seen dogs on skateboards. But fluffy has never brought me a nice pastrami on rye.

Indeed, the sandwich is truly a remarkable achievement.

Salsa -- again

2007-03-27T21:33:00.000+02:00

This time made with jalapenos, tomatos and garlic. Excellent.

Caio Baby Cucina, Sandton City

2007-03-23T09:25:00.000+02:00

The coffee was good as well.

Nourishing, very nourishing

2007-03-22T19:35:00.000+02:00

In the sub-culture of our family bananas are classified as: Crisp; or Nourishing.
Here's an example of a Nourishing Banana.

On the other hand you could have a delicious piece of fish

2007-01-16T16:09:00.000+02:00

Tandoori

2007-01-12T13:54:00.000+02:00

So here's the thing: even a tandoori oven is portable if you screw wheels onto the bottom of it. And it is indeed such a contraption whence came the delicious meal you now see before you.

Naan bread, tandoori chicken, raita, etc. Note its firey colour.

Another delicious breakfast

2007-01-03T08:26:00.000+02:00

Doughnuts and coffee. (Proper doughnuts filled with apricot jam, not the toroidal Yankee variety).

More experiments with salsa

2006-10-21T08:47:00.000+02:00

With fresh ingredients this time -- much more delicious.

Wimpy meals

2006-09-28T20:13:00.000+02:00

Wimpy in Blairgowrie Plaza.
The double-up breakfast.

At the Engen 1-Stop on the motorway outside Bloem.
Toasted bacon and egg and chips.

Salsa

2006-08-01T13:11:00.000+02:00

We used to buy salsa, usually the Old Wagga Wagga variety, but it's easy to make your own.

Mix a tin of diced tomatoes with a tin of pimentos in a saucepan.
Add chopped garlic.
Add a chopped chilli.
Simmer for about an hour and taste. If It's not hot enough add Tabasco sauce.

That's all there is to it.
Keeps for up to a week in the fridge.

Baked Pork Fillet

2006-08-01T12:40:00.000+02:00

Very simple.
Place the pork fillet in some foil.
Make some cuts across it.
Spread on salsa.
Add chopped garlic.
Add a little stock.
Bake for 45 minutes at 180 C.
Excellent!

A good breakfast

2006-06-14T09:20:00.000+02:00

Bacon, tomatos, fried bread, re-fried potatos, Imperial Darjeeling tea brewed in a pot, very hard to beat

Diva's Cucina

2006-05-06T10:14:00.000+02:00

The other day we had breakfast in Diva's Cucina, in Sanlam Centre in Randburg.

The professor had pancakes with butter and cheese. I had the most delicious egg, chips and bacon.

The chips; fat, fresh, hot, soft in the middle and crisp on the outside.
The egg; done perfectly, and not on one of those circular rings.
The bacon; excellent.

All this for just R22,00. What can I say?

The professor's pancakes were pretty good as well.

Scrambled eggs with tomato

2006-05-02T15:10:00.000+02:00

This is I suppose, a kind of piperade, (without the green peppers, onions and garlic, ha ha).

Heat some butter in a saucepan. Chop up a tomato and add to the hot butter. Sprinkle on salt, pepper and dry oregano. Then cook until the tomato goes mushy.

Add the eggs. Two eggs to a medium sized tomato are about the right proportions.
I usually just crack the eggs into the hot tomato and stir.

Serve on crisp buttered toast.

Of course you could go wild and make an open sandwich of fried bread, bacon and the tomato scramble. I'm sure Stuart would be able to define the colours for this.

Pancakes -- (proper grub)

2006-04-16T10:29:00.000+02:00

You can't make less than two pancakes. This is just as well as one pancake is good enough for neither man nor beast.

The basic pancake ingredient is an egg. One egg makes two pancakes. You also require half a cup of flour and some milk. (Use simple arithmetic if you want to make more than two).

Here's the process:

Mix the egg flour and a little milk with a whisk. Keep adding milk until the mixture is like thick cream.

Heat a drop or so of oil in a large frying pan. It must be quite hot. Ladle a dollop of mixture into the frying pan. Tilt the pan around so that the mixture runs to the edges. Keep shaking the pan so that the pancake does not stick anywhere. This can be a bit tricky; you may have to give some assistance with a spatula.

When the pancake is done on one side, say after 20 seconds, it's time to turn it. Some people can toss them over. Whenever I've tried this it has ended in disaster. What I do is to raise the frying pan upwards suddenly and help the pancake over with the spatula. It works nine times out of ten. Cook the other side, again about twenty seconds.

Slip the pancake onto a plate, roll-up with whatever - syrup, cinnamon, sugar, mozzarella - and eat. Pancakes are most delicious when eaten out of the pan, hot and crispy.

Tofu. Nobody can tell you what it is; you have to experience it for yourself

2006-04-12T04:09:00.001+02:00

Until I came to Malaysia, I'd never really considered tofu real food. It was something you ordered with sesame seed dressing at pretentious Japanese restaurants for amusement purposes only. It was the preserve of vegans, bunny huggers and victims of fashion. I'd never seen a tofu bush, or a herd of tofus, or wherever I thought it came from.

Now of course, it's everywhere. In the shops. On menus. Wild gangs of tofu roam the streets. You can't escape it. So I decided to do a little experimentation.

Let me say right from the outset that I have no idea what I'm doing. What's more there are several different types of tofu to be had, and they all behave differently under cooking conditions.

The picture here is of a fried tofu salad. Not very good, unfortunately. The tofu shrunk. It was bland. It fell apart. In short, the salad didn't gain anything by it.

I have a block of tofu sitting in the fridge right now. A different variety from the last. I'm going to try and grill it. I'll keep you posted.

Orange, green and white

2006-03-06T09:15:00.000+02:00

I don't know if thais happens to anyone else, but I perceive taste as colour. My own curry recipe, for example, tastes purple to me. So I often try combinations of food according to what colour they might make if mixed together; and here's one that came to me the other night.

Orange: I halved a butternut, covered both sides with tinfoil and baked it in the oven until soft.

Green: A couple of spoons of pesto sauce, as purchased in the supermarket (no need to go to the trouble of making it yourself).

White: I added that to some thick yoghurt (must be the non-runny, Greek style, without flavouring).

The result was delicious - almost a candy-stripe flavour.

Chicken feet salad

2005-12-29T13:14:00.000+02:00

The salad bit is quite easy really; just chuck anything salady and amusing and dress appropriately. Getting the bones and the talons out is the trick.

Apparently you just boil them until the crucnhy bits fall out. I would suggest that you do this in some kind of stock - chicken or chilli would be good.

The result is chickenish pieces that look like feet from a rubber chicken; same shape, only rubbery.

Spice em up and serve. Not for the squeamish.

Oven Toasties

2005-12-05T09:23:00.000+02:00

Here's another crafty idea from Andrew - oven toasties.
It's really simple and really delicious.

Set your oven to HOT.
Andrew has a gas oven so he just sets it to max.
I suppose 220 degrees would be good for an electric one.

Lay slices of bread on a baking tray.
Cover the bread with cheese and add anything else you like.
We have tried olives, tinned asparagus tips, sliced onion, garlic, chillies, whatever.
Place in the oven and wait until crisp, hot and melted. Marvellous!

Fond(ue) memories

2005-10-07T05:45:00.000+02:00

One of my fondest food memories from childhood has to be cheese fondue - maybe this was the beginning of my alcoholic tendencies, but I digress. So imagine my delight when I espeyed the newly opened Fondue House near my apartment in Sri hartamas.

Well, let me say that what I ate wasn't fondue. To begin with, they (the staff) were unable to tell me which cheeses they were using. Then when I mentioned Kirsch, I may as well have been asking for a description of the dark side of the moon. I perservered, though, thinking any form of melted cheese couldn't be bad.

What finally arrived at the table was a thinnish, runny sort of cheesy roux - the kind of thing that would make a very bad macaroni cheese. It didn't taste too bad, but it was too runny to really be of any use. So I asked for some grated cheese to thicken it up - at this point even an old cob of dodgy cheddar would have done).

It was not to be. I was informed that in order to thicken the mixture I should extinguish the burner. Ayayayayayay! And adding insult to injury, I discovered that the "fondue" actually came in a packet, ready mixed.

Now, I"ve never made fondue myself, but I thought at the time that it was nothing more than cheese melted into hot Kirsch or white wine over a burner.

This is indeed the case (as I discovered this morning by doing a search for Fondue Recipes). I also discovered that the fondue pot is csalled a caquelon . More interesting, though, was a recipe that used beer, instead of kirsch.

So here it is:

1 1/2 cups Gruyere, shredded
1 cup Emmental, shredded
1/2 cup Appenzeller, shredded
1 clove garlic, cut in half
1 tablespoon cornstarch or flour
3/4 cup beer (hearty beers work best, like amber ale, porter or stout)
hot pepper sauce to taste

Rub the pot with the garlic, pour in the beer and the chilli sauce, chuck in the cheese.

Deeelicious.

A gwai lo eats sushi

2005-09-30T07:51:00.000+02:00

So I was eating cheap sushi at one of my favourite places last night, when the tempura salmon arrived. In a moment of clarity I think I may have invented a completely new thing:

I called for a small bowl of mayonnaise and mixed in some wasabi. Damn! Now all I need to do is find a name for this fabulous new concoction. If tomato sauce mixed with mayo is 1000-island dressing, and peri-peri mixed with mayo is peri-naise, then I think the wasa-mayo combo needs a name, too.

How about Wassamatter?

Amaqanda natamatisi

2005-09-10T17:29:00.000+02:00

The first reference I found to Huevos Rancheros - a delicious breakfast -- was on the Cooking with Amy BLOG. I did a Google search the other day. I found more than 210 000 references for huevos rancheros. I haven't tried them all but I did experiment with some.

Here is my local version. It needs just three ingredients.

First you need a bottle of salsa. Our Spar supermarket sells "Old el Paso" salsa. You can get it in Thick 'n Chunky or Hot varieties. Both are good. I notice from the bottle that it is made in Australia. Why it's called Old el Paso I'm not sure. Perhaps Old Wagga-Wagga salsa would not sell well.

Next you need some tortillas. Spar also sells tortillas but calls them Wraps. I think they come from Boksburg (the far east).

Lastly an egg.

The process is simple.

Place a tortilla on a plate and spread on some salsa. Put the plate on a warming tray. Fry an egg to your liking and place on the tortilla and salsa.
Simple and delicious.

(For those not versed in the vernacular, amaqanda natamatisi means eggs with tomato).

Snake fingers

2005-08-15T11:27:00.000+02:00

Here's an old favourite of mine (actually called steak fingers).

It involves a whole bunch of really nice beef, cut into stroganoff sized strips - like your finger, only less crunchy.

Ingredients:
Beef as mentioned above
Equal parts tomato sauce, red wine, chutney and worcestershire sauce

Place the beef in a pot and cover with the above sauces

Boil slowly until the stuff gets really sticky

Can be eaten hot, or cold

Also good for dipping pieces of tangy cheese into

Easy. Delicious. Add chilli sauce if you're feeling adventurous

A toot, Brutus

2005-08-15T08:20:00.000+02:00

There are many schools of thought where Caesar Salad is concerned. Somewhere in the memory banks a little voice is telling me that I should be using baby spinach leaves. I've never done it this way, though. I generally use the most intresting lettuce I can find (here in Malaysia simply finding lettuce at all is cause for celebration). But there's a new varietal that I've come across recently; it's called mache and it is the current darling of the organic food set.

Anyway returning to the point I was going to make. Apart from the bacon, croutons, anchovies and other things that I put into salad so that people can avoid actually having to eat the lettuce, hard boiled eggs are an essential ingredient.

Here's how I do it: I boil the eggs for 7 minutes only. Then when I peel them the yolk is still runny.

Mmmm. Mmmm. A tatste that can't be beat.

Green beans

2005-08-10T09:01:00.000+02:00

Green beans have never been a favourite of mine. I don't object to them but I find them, well rather green and fibrous. I'm sure they are very good for you but delicious, I don't think so.
However, you can transform them by a simple trick. Simply add a sprinkling of caraway seeds before serving.
I must warn you though that the Professor does not approve of this.
"You've been mucking about with the beans again" she will say.

I didn't know nuttin'

2005-08-03T08:18:00.000+02:00

A zillion years ago, when my brother and were but boys in shorts, we used to delight in making our parents buy coconuts for us. These were the dried kind - brown and hairy. I was never much into eating them, however, and once I'd peeled the hair off and cracked it open that was that. I wasn't even interested in the small amount of juice that was usually contained therein. But let me get to the point.

Here in Malaysia, as I am sure it is in the whole of the South East Asian region, coconut is a much used ingredient in everything from drinks to Makanan (food). So allow me to introduce you to one of my favourite things (nasi lemak), and another that I have just discovered (coconut milk with sugar and shaved ice).

Nasi Lemak (rice in cream, or fat rice, as it should really be called)

This really is nothing more than rice cooked in coconut milk, but it's ridiculously delicious (although it's probably the chilly that goes with it that I really like).

A note here: Coconut milk and coconut water are not the same thing; coconut water is the clear liquid that comes out of a coconut, while coconut milk is the result of mashing up and straining the pulp of a mature coconut.

Mix 2 parts coconut milk with 6 parts water and cook the rice in this mixture as per normal cooking method.

The rice is then served with a boiled egg, cucumber slices, very small dried anchovies (when I first saw these a thought they were cat treats) and of course sambal (chilly stuff).

How to make Sambal

The traditional method calls for dried chilies, softened in water and pounded finely in a pestle and mortar
Shallots, or onions, or garlic, or all of the above
Shrimp paste (although this is not necessary)
Small amount of sugar
Tamarind (but again, this is not really necessary)
Salt and pepper
Then you just fry this up in a wok-ish thing until it becomes a paste

Done. Serve. Be warned it contains about a zillion calories.

And now the other thing: (coconut milk with sugar and shaved ice)

Same kind of coconut milk as above, then add caremalised sugar and lots of ice. Hereabouts, we also add red beans.

Andrew's steak rolls

2005-07-29T16:40:00.000+02:00

Recently we stayed with the number two son, his number two wife and four offspring. Food was a constant problem. In the first place we needed a lot of it to feed eight people. In the second place our aim was to keep the cost of food within manageable limits.

One evening, Andrew, the number two, prepared steak rolls. His recipe was delicious, low coat and simple.

He bought sixteen rolls, a bunch of onions, a tub of Flora Olive light marge and about 1 Kg. of thick cut rump steak.

Chop the onions up and fry until brown and sticky. Dump onto a plate to keep warm.
Fry the steak on both sides for a minute or two. Then cut it into eight pieces and slice each piece in two to make two thinner ones. Continue to fry the pieces to taste.
Cut the rolls in half and spread marge on them.
Spoon a large amount of the onion onto each roll, add a piece of steak, and eat.

You can of course gild the lily and add mustard, chilli sauce or whatever. But you don't need to.

Sausages Beans and Chips

2005-06-26T10:16:00.000+02:00

I first enjoyed sausages beans and chips at the Skyline Hotel. This was the water hole for the teachers of Lord Malvern School. I doubt if either the school or the hotel exist now. Bob Mugabe will have done away with them.

The Skyline Hotel prepared the best S, B and C that I have ever tasted. The art teacher and I would dowse the servings with pepper, and enjoy. A glass of very cold lager completed the delicious meal.

I've tried to reproduce the Skyline meal but failed. The sausages and beans are easy; it's hard to make a mistake with them. But the chips, the Hotel must have had a secret process. I've only once had any that came near to theirs. It was in New York at a restaurant alleged to have been a Mafia meeting place. (Good marketing by any standard). This restaurant used dripping to deep fry the chips.

I don't know if that is what the Skyline Hotel did, or if it was the brand of potato, or just an excellent chef. I'll never know, what a pity.

Mince with beans and tomatoes

2005-06-20T10:31:00.000+02:00

Mince by itself is not all that delicious. But there are some simple things you can do to improve it.
Put a few good shakes of oil into a saucepan. I usually use olive oil but canola, or just plain sunflower oil will do. I've never tried it but I suspect old fashioned dripping would be excellent. The Professor is not keen on the use of dripping. She considers it bad for the health.
Turn up the heat to medium under the saucepan.
Chop up an onion Jamie Oliver style and add to the oil.
I read somewhere that you should cook onion until it becomes transparent. I've never known this to happen. All it does is become somewhat translucent. Anyway, cook the onion for a while.
Chop up a clove of garlic and add.
Remove the seeds from a chili, chop up and add. You can use more than one chili. However, whenever I try this, the Professor guesses my intention and hollers out "Don't add too much chili".
Don't rub you eyes after chopping chili.
Add salt, ground black pepper, a small amount of ground ginger, and ground coriander.
Stir it around for a moment.
Add a small tin of baked beans and half a tin or so of peeled diced tomatoes. At one time I used fresh tomatoes but it's much easier from a tin. Seems to taste better as well. You can add some dried oregano to the tomato.
Again stir round for a moment.
Now for the mince.
Our Spar Supermarket has what it calls lean mince. I've tried extra lean in the Interests of Health, but I found it too dry. Lean is the best.
For the amounts given above about 500 grams will do.
Add the mince to the mixture and bash it about a little to break it up.
The trick is now to cook it very slowly for at least two hours; three is better.
Stir it now and then to break up any lumps.
Then there you are, delicious mince. You can eat it by itself, with pasta, on toast or in a wrap.

Smell the garlic.

2005-06-01T15:44:00.000+02:00

Western Omlette a la Janis

2005-05-31T15:58:00.000+02:00

I was first introduced to the Western Omelette in Canada, when I was working at Nabisco on a training project. One of my colleagues hailed from Jamaica, and she once had a breakfast that smelled and looked absolutely fantastic. It tastes just great too.

It was a western omelette. Now, that was probably 6 years ago, and you must allow for haze of memory to have changed this fine recipe, but there goes:

Two eggs
Finely chopped onion
Finely chopped green pepper
Small amount of finely chopped ham or Canadian bacon
Fresh herbs

Make the omelette in the usual way, adding the green peppers towards the end so that they are still raw and crunchy.

Voila! Omelette Jamaican style man.

The Half Monty Breakfast

2005-05-27T11:48:00.000+02:00

There is nothing to beat a Full Monty Breakfast with its eggs, bacon, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast and so on. It does take time to prepare though.
At times you need something quicker.
The Half Monty Breakfast takes ten minutes.
First minute.
Put the grill pan on medium to hot.
Get out two tomatoes. With a sharp knife cut out the stem part and the bit the other end. Cut the tomatoes in half. Place in the microwave on defrost set for nine minutes.
Get out four rashers of bacon. Back bacon is the best, the non-PC kind with plenty of fat still attached. Place the bacon in the grill pan.
We have an edition of Mrs. Beeton in our kitchen. Inside the cover is the inscription: Maria E Welby 14 June 1904. The book originally belonged to the Professor's grandmother. Mrs. Beeton recommends grilling bacon by laying the lean of one rasher over the fat of the next. In this way, the fat cooks well; the lean is not overdone. One hundred year old good advice.
Put out two plates to warm. We use a Salton hot tray.
Next seven minutes.
Turn the bacon in the pan after three minutes or so. When done transfer to the plates.
Put two slices of bread in the grill pan.
Next minute.
Turn each slice of bread. Have a look at the tomatoes. They should be mushy with the skins loose. If not blitz them on high for one minute.
Last minute.
Transfer the fried bread to the serving plates. Remove the skin from the tomatoes and place them on the fried bread.
There you are. The Half Monty Breakfast in ten minutes.
Try it yourself.

If scrambled eggs were crunchy

2005-05-26T09:28:00.000+02:00

No. I'm not talking about leaving the eggshells in the mix. I am talking about a well-known Jewish concoction consisting of eggs and matzos.

Break the matzos into pieces of your favourite size and add them to the raw eggs. When cooking, same rules apply.

You laugh? Just try it.

I guess different textures can be achieved by adding the crunchy bits to the already cooking egg at the desired moment (obviously the less time the matzos has to get soggy...well, the less soggy it will be).

Chops with potato wedges

2005-05-25T14:16:00.000+02:00

Standing in the kitchen grilling or frying chops is for the birds. What a waste of time.
A hot oven will allow you more time to watch TV or do whatever.
Set the oven to about 220 degrees C. This is quite hot.
Put some potato wedges on a baking tray. Chop a couple of cloves of garlic into small pieces and sprinkle on the wedges. Lay the chops on the wedges. Arrange it so that the chops cover most of the potato wedges.
When the oven is ready, put the whole lot inside.
Watch TV for 15 to 20 minutes, then have a look. One side of the chops should be done, the fat nice and crispy. If so turn them over. Otherwise leave for a few more minutes. Transfer any well-done potatoes to the serving dish - you did put a serving dish in the warming drawer didn't you?
You may be a little busier for the next 15 to 20 mins.
Put a saucepan of water on to boil, likewise a kettle.
Grab a packet of instant gravy. In South Africa, Royco makes the best instant gravy. Make the gravy and put the gravy boat in the warming drawer.
When the saucepan comes to the boil add frozen peas. Bring to the boil again and leave for a few minutes. Drain and put in the warming drawer.
By now the chops and remaining potatoes should be... perfect.
So there you are: chops, potatoes, peas and gravy. Simple and delicious.

Symmonds Yat

2005-05-25T14:15:00.000+02:00

It is Britain in the late nineteen fifties. My brother and I work for an organization running canoeing holidays on the River Wye.
These holidays are a tribute to British spirit and good humour. People pay good money to come on them.
Our cooking arrangements are primitive. We have a large kettle, a large frying pan, a large saucepan and two gas bottles. The kitchen is an ex-army bell tent.
The quartermaster, our boss, has provided bread, marge, Jam, tea, condensed milk, sugar, potatoes, bacon eggs and chops.
The intrepid canoeists queue outside the tent each evening, often in the rain, for their meal: a cup of hot, sweet, milky tea, and a good helping of whatever we have managed to cook. Do they complain? No, in fact many come back for more.
Breakfast is a similar process. Then they take to the water keenly and with confidence.
Half way down, the river runs through a series of rapids at Symmonds Yat. I remember this place not for the rapids, but for Symmonds Yat Transport Café.
In the evening we escape for an hour or so for some Proper Food: sausages, beans and chips, or bacon and egg, or macaroni cheese: simple and delicious.