I was fortunate enough to get one of these pizza braai ovens as a birthday gift from my wife and children. Intimidated at first as to how it would actually work, my son gave me an introductory demonstration. Easy as Pie! Just like all other braais one develops a feeling for heat and time required for a perfect braai. The same goes for the Pizza Braai. You will soon be in total control of this amazing oven. It really bakes the perfect pizza and even has that wood fired flavour to it if you place embers underneath it.
The design is really simple and functional, and the build quality is exceptional. It is really well constructed with heavy gauge metal and stainless steel. It is easy to clean and with the good craftmanship it will certainly last a lifetime.
I make my own pizza bases in batches of four, pre-bake them and then freeze them. My recipe makes four large pizzas and the cut-offs will be enough for a fifth one. The fifth one might be a bit tougher when baked due to the overhandling of the dough.

Lockdown during the worldwide pandemic has been quite challenging for most of us. My wife, daughter and I decided that one way of making the time at home more fun was that each of us had a weekly turn to prepare a new dish.
We revisited our vast collection of cookbooks and travelled the internet wide and far. Whether it was beef, lamb, chicken, pork or fish - a new recipe had to be found. Some turned out quite good, some disappointed and some were absolutely amazing.
I also had the luxury of brushing up on the classics. From Escoffier's "Le Guide Culinaire", Larousse Gastronomique, right down to Julia Child's daunting "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" - a whole new world of cooking techniques have opened up.
​Taking the humble white sauce and elevating it to a Michelin worthy bechamel sauce has certainly changed my approach to cooking. Patience, lots of time and even more love and dedication is sometimes required to get to that glorious end result. But believe me - it is really worth it! 

Moules Marinière is a very simple dish of mussels, cream and white wine. The Provencale version is a tomato based dish.
This recipe is basically cream and wine based, with added tomato and a touch of red curry paste. It might seem and odd combination, but the end result is a sauce/soup that is totally irresistible. It also makes the ultimate base for a seafood dish with added prawn, firm white fish and crayfish or langoustine. Whether made simply with mussels, or with the addition of luxurious seafood, it will become a firm favourite in your cooking repertoire.
The success of any seafood dish is the quality of the ingredients. Absolutely fresh, firm and no fishy odour.
Mussels must be the most underrated seafood in the world. Fortunately I discovered the most beautiful frozen mussels in the local supermarket. They are rope grown half shell Saldanha mussels. Large, plump and ever so juicy - truly delicious! Serve with a freshly baked crusty baguette, lap up the sauce and go straight to seafood heaven!

Recipe: Moules Marinière​

​Coq Au Vin
Two Versions of an Iconic French Dish
Coq au Vin is a traditional French peasant dish. The tough old farmyard rooster was braised in red wine for hours until it rendered itself into tender submission. This resulted in a rich, robust, hearty and very flavoursome dish.  
Julia Child took this peasant dish and transformed it into the iconic French classic as we know it today. This has also revolutionized the method of cooking with wine; not only to be enjoyed with a meal, but as an integral ingredient and base of the dish itself. 
​Unfortunately we do not nowadays have ready access to mature free range chickens. The supermarket versions are slaughtered at a very young age, resulting in virtually no texture or flavour. Supermarket chicken cooks in no time compared to the slow cooking for hours of a old fashioned rooster. This leaves a problem as to how to get the maximum flavour into the bird with such a short cooking time. Marinating the chicken for as long as possible will impart a lot of flavour for which this dish is so well known for. This calls for a different type of wine and cooking method altogether. The classic recipe is made with a full bodied red wine, but the other lighter, but equally delicious version, calls for a Blanc de Noir, Blush or Shiraz Rose.
Today it has become quite a refined dish with as many variants as there are chefs. 
Recipe: Coq au vin Blanc
​Recipe: Coq au Vin Rouge

Taking the humble tomato to new heights
 It is really a wonderful surprise when an ordinary ingredient is presented in an extraordinary way.
Gazpacho is a well known Spanish favourite, but this roasted relative surpasses it on every level - it delivers abundantly on flavour and taste.  Serve it as an elegant starter, garnished with basil or mint and accompanied by freshly baked baguette or sesame crackers.

Paul and Corine Leeuwerik are our neighbours and the owners of the Olifantsberg Family Vineyards. Paul is into the winemaking side producing exceptional wines, but it is Corine's culinary skills that tempted me to make one of my least favourite dishes - cold tomato soup!
Having dinner with them one evening she served this soup as part of a trio of starters. The melon and parma ham was lovely, the smoked salmon terrine was equally good, but it was the tomato soup that was an absolute revelation. Good enough for me to ask her for the recipe. I got the recipe - and more - a masterclass in her own kitchen on how to make it.

As with most dishes that rely on one or two main ingredients it is vitally important to use the best quality ingredients possible. Vine ripened tomatoes and supersweet palermo peppers. They simply burst with flavour, especially after being oven-roasted with the other ingredients.
Make the soup well in advance - it will last three to five days in the fridge and also freezes well, making it ideal as an entertaining dish.
Recipe: Roasted Tomato and Sweet Palermo  Pepper Soup

The perfect way to serve steak      on a summers evening.
​
This is the perfect way to serve steak as a summer dish. It is vibrant, full of flavour and texture, and your steak will really go a long way.The combination of the fresh salad leaves, beautiful mature camembert cheese and juicy steak - all drizzled with the buttery pan juices will take you to taste heaven.
Steak Tagliata is the perfect entertaining dish - just about everything can be prepared in advance. Grill the steak just before serving and you have a winning dish.
As with most summer dishes freshness and the best quality meat is essential. Serve with your favourite bottle of wine.​
Recipe: Steak Tagliata ​

New Year’s Resolutions !!!
So here I am set for my culinary journey of 2016 - ready to beat the budget and the bulge, making the most of what is available, preparing really flavoursome food, allowing a little extravagance now and then, but most of all; preparing and eating really delicious food!
A good solid strategy is usually needed to make a plan come together. Problem is - where does one start?

If a healthier lifestyle is a priority in your life then this is the first place to start. Decide what your overall goal will be; just losing a few kg's, taking on the banting lifestyle, going for any of the myriad of proven diets out there, or just eating less and doing more exercise. This has to be thought through carefully as it will govern all the other steps that you can take to achieve whatever you want to achieve.

Half the problem is that we are so spoilt for choice and get tempted so easily that we lose focus of the ultimate goal. For me the challenge is very simple - BEAT THE BUDGET AND THE BULGE!!!
I will start with the bulge first - not that I have to lose that much weight - but it would be nice to drop a size or two. I quite enjoy the banting bit, but I also enjoy the cheating bits - my downfall. This said, a diet or eating pattern determines how we go about our shopping. Fortunately I have a passion for gowing our own veggies, salads and herbs -  so at least there is a healthy side to my bad habits.
Really take some serious time to think about how you would like to eat this year. It is an essential step to prevent those impulsive moments that can ruin your bulge and your budget. Now I know there are some who just love going to the supermarket or upmarket food store, throw caution to the wind, and load the trolley to capacity. For me the exercise is more of a challenge than a necessity, but this makes it all the more exciting. Being a clever shopper gives me great joy, much to my wife's dismay sometimes when I get home with six of something or the other, just because it was a bargain. But done wisely it saves an enormous amount of money over a period of time.
For my food journey of 2016 I have developed my personal strategy that I hope will have the desired effect. Each one of us will have our own and very diffent take on it, but at the heart of it will still be cooking delicious food!  Let the journey begin......

Get a clear vision of your eating habits, your food preferences, your time and financial constraints and what you would like to change this year.

Become a smart shopper by getting to know food prices so you can spot those unexpected special offers and bargains. Also try different ways of shopping - don't just go to your favourite supermarket. Explore small food markets and street vendors - you will be amazed at the low prices and high quality you can find there.

Go through you deepfreeze and used everything that has been sitting at the bottom for a few months. Search for the best recipe to make use of those items.

Keep a good basic pantry so that you can limit your shopping to only once a week.

Have fun developing a new strategy and enjoy your culinary journey this year!

New Year’s Resolutions - On the culinary side of things there is much to look forward to this year. A wave of food  bloggers, chefs, presenters and publishers have left us spoilt for choice on which culinary track we want to travel on this year.
With the indulgence of the festive season still with us, I have this urge to just cut back, scale down and simplify things back to normal again.
After cooking up a storm and preparing dishes of all shapes and tastes it is time to reflect on what has really worked and what not.
A basic principle that undeniably holds true is that keeping it simple is almost always better, and less is very often more.
I am a great advocate on the use of quality ingredients, but I have discovered that with proper cooking methods and techniques you can ensure the maximum amount of taste and flavour in your dish - even if the ingredients are just what you have available to work with.
So here I am set for my culinary journey of 2016 - ready to beat the budget and the bulge, making the most of what is available, preparing really flavoursome food, allowing a little extravagance now and then, but most of all; preparing and eating really delicious food!
                                             Cooking is a celebration of life!

DARLING is certainly most well known for it's glamorous 'First Lady', Evita Bezuidenhout and Evita's Perron, but it also has a few treasures that will surprise most visitors. An extended week-end almost felt like a holiday after visiting a few of the gems that Darling has to offer.
If craft beer is your thing then a visit to the Darling Brewery is a must. It seems to be a very popular week-end destination - it was packed on a Saturday morning. The food platters are amazing and the prices reasonable.

In town the Mantis Mall (three tiny shops in one building) is worth a visit. The bookshop is right up there with the latest in the world of printing - a seriously good selection of really good books! For the sweeter side of life there is the toffee shop and factory where you can do a toffee tasting in a combination of almost any flavour you can think of. The Flying Pig has a selection of cakes and breakfasts to be enjoyed, but it is their Ciabatta that made our week-end. Be warned, it sells fast so it is best to place an order before it hits the shop.
Darling Vleismark is a Butchery/Deli well worth a visit for their fine selection of really high quality charcuterie. From Parma ham to salami, chorizo to boerewors and all the normal products you would expect from a first class Butchery/Deli.

And then there is Cafe Mosaic, or 'die stoep' as it is locally known. It seems to be the heartbeat of Darling. Here locals and visitors meet all day. Breakfast, lunch, pizza and burger specials in the evening, good coffee and ice cold beer make it an all-day meeting place.
With an excellent cappucino in hand our friend suggested - rather insisted - that we try their Peppermint Crisp Tart. Not really one of my favourites, but I nevertheless ordered. What a delight - so good that I am now a convert and I simply had to get the recipe! With a lot of flattery and begging I eventually won over Siena to part with her recipe and give me permission to post it. It is very sweet, utterly decadent, and the overload of whipped cream balances it perfectly and transforms it from a 'kerk basaar' tart into a truly sinfull delight! 

Siena is the one who works her magic in the kitchen of Cafe Mosaic. Apart from the Peppermint Crisp Tart, she also does a Carrot Cake extraordinaire - but that recipe was unfortunately 'nowhere to be found'.
I will forgive her for not sharing it with me - every cook has a recipe so close to their heart that they simply cannot part with it. At least we can all still enjoy it when we order it with our next creamy cappucino on 'the stoep'.

Back to the Peppermint Crisp Tart. The recipe she gave me was for a very large tart so I had to halve the ingredients to still make a large tart for the average household.




Ingredients:
2 x 200gr Tennisbiscuits (Coconut biscuits)
2 x 150gr Peppermint Crisp chocolates
2 tins caramel
500ml cream

Method:
Whip the cream to form stiff peaks.
Grate the chocolate finely.
Place a layer of Tennis biscuits, about 3x5 biscuits, in a single layer in a fairly deep tart dish.
Spread a layer of caramel over the biscuits (1 tin)
Spread half the craem over the caramel (250ml).
Sprinkle the grated chocolate (1 slab) over the cream.
Repeat with a second layer of biscuits, caramel, cream and chocolate.
Place in the refrigerator, preferably overnight or longer, for the biscuits to slightly soften.

Siena does her tart in three or four layers, but my home version only has two, but it is equally good.

Camembert Cheese Tower - This centrepiece presentation is good on it's own, or it could be the focal point of a special cheese course. It is impressive, delicious and just absolutely stunning.
This one is decorated with candied orange spirals, green-fig preserves and a selection of macadamia and cashew nuts and almonds, glazed with a sherry infused sticky caramel sauce. The earthiness of the cheese, the fruitiness of the preserves and the salted caramel crunch of the nuts make it just so moreish and completely addictive.
Serve as a cheese course with a fine selection of your favourite biscuits, or as a grand finale to a fantastic meal!
Recipe: Camembert Cheese Tower