What Sup: Baked Spaghetti

The good thing about this supper is it easy, cheap and you can cook everything beforehand and just bake it when you are ready to munch!
You will need:
1 onion peeled
2tbs olive oil
2 garlic cloves peeled and chopped finely
500g mince (you could use pork,beef or chicken mince for this)
2 tbs tomato paste
1tsp chutney
1tbs flour
half cup white wine
2 can chopped tomatoes (I like the KOO brand with garlic and herbs added)
half tsp nutmeg
1 tbs of fresh or dried thyme and oregano
spaghetti
grated Parmesan ( to cover top, this will give it a the crisp cover when baking in oven)

Fry onion and garlic and dried/fresh herbs till oil is infused, add mince continue frying till brown. Sprinkle flour and cook, stirring for few min. Add wine,paste,chutney and canned tomatoes and reduce (cook gently for 20 min). while the sauce is reducing boil pasta (remove from heat and drain when tender but firm). coat with a little olive oil and coat with sauce. Scatter cheese and bake till golden brown crust forms.

What sup: Aubergine sandwich (no bread)

You will need:
1 large aubergine cut into thick pieces (this will be the"bread" in this sambo)
rocket leaves
1 tbs smoked paprika
1 large onion
BBQ sauce (I like Spur BBQ)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 large red pepper
Note:You will need a griddle pan to fry aubergine and peppers, you could use also gas braai griddle.
Coat aubergine in olive oil salt and pepper fry in hot pan, turn after 4 min and continue cooking till cooked through but still firm. Remove from pan and set aside. Add oil to pan and add red pepper, blacken and remove from heat. Lastly fry onion in the BBQ sauce.Now stack aubergine, onion, rocket and peppers. serve with a dollop of mustard.

What Sup: basil, cucumber, grilled baby-marrow and tomato salad

You will need:
5 large baby marrows sliced into ribbons
1 large cucumber also thinly slices into ribbons
2 large handfuls of basil leaves
1 cup cherry tomatoes cut into halves
garlic infused olive oil, salt and black pepper
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
juice from 1 nectarine
Coat in oil and grill the baby marrows in oven till tender, this will only take 5 min in oven
sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss with other salad ingredients. Squeeze juice from nectarine and vinegar over salad and serve.

What Sup: Frozen Chocolate Mousse

With the heat wave in Cape Town this week and the long hot summer days ahead, a frozen dessert recipe is a must. Anyone that knows me well, knows I usually buy desserts from Woolworths as I really hate measuring accurately....I only try dessert recipes that have been tried and tested by family. My sister in law made this mousse and I'm glad she did!

You will need:
200g bittersweet chocolate chopped
2 large eggs plus 2 yolks
100g castor sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
tbsp whiskey or any booze of your choice (Amaretto could also be great)
250g whipping cream
cocoa powder for dusting

Melt chocolate in bowl set over a pan of gently boiling water.Cool for 3 min. in a separate bowl beat eggs and sugar until pale and thick.
Add melted choc and beat vigorously for 4 min, then add booze and vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl beat cream until it forms peaks, now fold in to chocolate mixture and pour into loaf tin cover and freeze overnight. Take out of freezer 15 min before serving and dust in cocoa powder.

What Sup: Warm Lentil Salad

You will need:
250g lentils(can)
1 onion chopped finely
2 cloves garlic smashed
Dressing:
2 tomatoes
2tbs chopped mint
2 tbs chopped flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper to taste
2tbs olive oil
1 tbs red wine vinegar

The great thing about this dish is it can stand alone or be a side dish, the mint and tomato dressing really goes with anything. Fry garlic and onion till soft, then add lentils to warm them through. To make the dressing cut tomatoes in half, discard the seeds and juice and chop flesh into bite size pieces. In a bowl combine tomatoes with all the rest of dressing ingredients. Now toss lentils in dressing while still warm and serve.

What Sup: Herb Bread

You will need:
1tbs yeast
1tsp sugar
500g plain all purpose flour
1tsp salt
2 tsp dried mixed herb
parsley chopped
30g butter
Crumble the yeast into bowl,stir sugar and 1 and quarter cups water until yeast is dissolved.
Set aside till mixture froths.
Mix together flour, salt and herbs. Rub in the butter and make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the yeast mixture. Stir well with wooden spoon and knead on floured surface for about 5 min. Roll into ball and set aside until it has doubled in size.
Punch down (great stress buster:) and reform into ball, place on non stick oven dish and bake at 180 degrees for about 45min, you will smell the bread when it is ready. The irresistible aroma will fill your kitchen and make you hungry. Serve warm with lots of butter!

What Sup: Tuscan Chicken with Roasted Vegetables

This is a simple chicken dish that is easy to make and perfect for a dinner party. You just can't go wrong with tomatoes, basil and garlic as the base to your meal!
You will need:
Chicken pieces, any pieces you like-this is also great with chicken breasts
Cherry tomatoes 1 cup
Basil leaves- I LOVE basil so put in 2 cups
Chopped tomatoes (2 cans)
Spring onion
Olive oil to coat chicken
1tbs brown sugar
Garlic, 1 clove
Olives optional
First coat your chicken pieces with olive oil, salt, pepper and the chopped garlic and place in an ovenproof dish. Cover chicken with all the other ingredients and bake on 180 degrees for 1 hour. The tomato thickens into a rich velvety sauce!

To accompany the chicken I made roasted butternut, halloumi (or feta if you don't like halloumi/cheaper option) and spring onion. Coat the veg in olive oil and nutmeg and pop in the oven with the chicken.

Butternut, feta, rocket and pumpkin seed salad

It's a new year and after all the excessive eating, drinking and socialising a healthy salad is just what we need.
This is a quick and easy meal and a great salad to take along to friends.
You will need:
Large butternut cubed into bite size pieces
Feta cheese (as much as you like in salad, I use 2 disks)
Roasted pumpkin seeds and rocket
Olive oil
Vinaigrette of your choice
Salt and pepper to taste

Roast butternut till cooked, if you don't have the time to roast then just buy cut butternut and pop in microwave for 4-5 min. Let this cool while you cube the feta and chop rocket leaves. Add all ingredients together and top with the pumpkin seeds, salt, pepper and dressing. It's so simple and quick! I also enjoy a variation of this salad-butternut, feta and moist biltong pieces. Give it a try, you wont be disappointed.

What Sup: Salmon, pea and baby marrow pasta in a creamy sauce

Marisa and I made a fantastic dinner for friends, it was quick and simple and everyone had seconds (which is always a good sign)
You will need :
1 tub salmon cream cheese (Simonsberg always a good choice)
1 packet pasta-fresh always better
5 large baby marrows sliced in ribbons
1 packet Spring onions
1 cup peas
salmon pieces (up to you as to how much you would like in the dish)
1 garlic clove chopped
2 tbs butter salt and pepper to taste

Start by frying onions, garlic and the salmon pieces in butter.
Set aside and boil pasta as per the instructions on packet. 5 min before the pasta ready add baby marrow and peas to cook with noodles. Reserve 125ml of pasta water and drain noodles. Now add the tub of cream cheese to the fried salmon, stir in the water you set aside and stir till it makes a creamy sauce.Coat noodles in the sauce and serve.

What Sup: Carrot, sweet potato and garlic soup

With cold weather in Cape Town this week, I went out and bought a selection of vegetables over the weekend to make soups. My first soup, a sweet potato soup with onion dumplings.
You will need the following for this soup:
2 bulbs garlic
About 3 cups diced orange sweet potato
2 large carrots peeled and finely grated
1,5 chicken stock/or veg stock if you prefer
Start by frying garlic in some olive oil,add stock potato and the grated carrot.Simmer until potatoes soft and smooth with a blender or food processor. Serve with onion "dumplings".

Onion Dumplings: 150g wholemeal flour, 1 egg whisked, 6tbs olive oil,- very finely grated onion and 2 tsp chopped fresh oregano. Beat flour and egg, squash grated onion into little balls (the secret with the grated onion is to squeeze out as much liquid before forming ball). Coat onion in the batter before frying till golden brown.

What Sup: Broccoli and Stilton soup

You will need:
Olive oil
6 spring onions finely chopped
600g broccoli (I used frozen as it has a mild flavour compared to fresh)
70g oatmeal (this might sound like an odd ingredient but thickens the soup and adds a creamy texture)
The combination of broccoli and oatmeal make a surprisingly light and delicate soup with huge health benefits!
750ml skim milk
750ml stock (veg or chicken stock)

Start off by heating the oil and sweat spring onion for about 5min. Add broccoli and stir gently for few min, add oatmeal still stirring for another 5 min. Pour milk and stock into the pot and cover, simmer on very low heat for 20 min and season to taste. Smooth with hand blender or food processor and garnish with the Stilton cheese and some chives.The Stilton will melt into the soup adding a strong smokey flavour.

What Sup: Potatoes, peas and lime with mayo and mint dressing

Great as a side dish with any meat! You will need: olive oil, 2 limes, 2 tbs mayonnaise (the best you can find), 5 large potatoes (peeled, diced and boiled), 1 cup cooked peas and fresh mint leaves.

The trick with this is to add the dressing while the potatoes are still warm so that they absorb the flavours.

In a bowl add mayo the juice of 2 limes and a little zest from 1 lime. Add half cup of olive oil, salt and pepper and whisk together. Taste the dressing before you pour it over warm potatoes and add more lime or oil till you have a good balance of flavour. Lastly add the chopped mint leaves and the peas. Let it cool to room temperature before you serve.

What Sup: Butternut and caramalised onion tarts

These could be served as a starter or made larger for a main portion.
you will need rolled puff pastry, cut into squares( you could experiment with size and shape of pastry to put your own creative touch on the dish). Place squares 2 cm apart in oven proof nonstick dish.  Use a fork to squash the edges and form a crust.

In the middle of the pastry place cooked butternut (this can be cooked in microwave while you work with the pastry). I used a little nutmeg, salt and rosemary to flavour butternut. In a pan fry up one large onion in butter till brown add a little brown sugar and remove from heat when it starts to caramelise. Place onions in centre of pastry with the butternut. Cover the top with a white sauce and bake at 200 degrees for 20 min.

White sauce: 1tbs butter, 1 tbs flour, half cup of milk season with salt, garlic and black pepper.

Melt butter and add flour to form paste. Add the milk and heat. Stir till in sauce thickens and pour over the butternut and onion before baking.

What Sup: Creamy butternut, spinach and feta pie with green beans and garlic new potatoes

Butternut and spinach pie

This is my version of a "diet" pie, if such a thing really existed! Instead of having loads of pastry, I use only a small amount on top of the filling. I used a delicious heathy filling of creamy butternut, spinach and feta.

You will need the following to make the pie: bag of baby spinach (sounds like alot but it shrinks when cooked), butternut (1 cup diced and roasted with nutmeg), feta, onion,rolled puff pastry. you will also need the following to finish the sauce: milk, flour and marg to thicken the sauce.

To make this filling fry onion in olive oil and add spinach leaves, add the roated butternut (if you are lazy or dont have the time to roast butter nut microwave on high for 4 min). Add half a cuo of milk and stir. Simmer for 2 min.
Make a paste with 1 tsb marg and 1tsp flour and add into mixture slowly till the sauce thickens.



Spoon mixture into small ovenproof dish, add the feta pieces and top with a pastry. Bake till pastry golden brown.



Side dish: Green beans, mint leaves, onion, thick slice of ham and chicken stock powder. Baby potatoes can be boiled and coated in a little garlic butter or olive oil.

Fry the onion and add ham, fry till ham is crispy and add green beans and chopped mint leaves as well as the stock powder. Simmer on low heat till the beans are cooked.



What Sup: Creamy tomatoe, rosemary and roast chicken pasta

I had a little chicken left over from the roast on Sunday so instead of making chicken and mayo I decided to use this in a pasta sauce instead.
You will need the following ingredients to make the sauce:
1 cup roasted chicken shredded (you could be lazy and use Heinz canned chicken or smoked chicken instead)
3 tbs Olive oil
1 and half cups baby tomatoes cut in half
Garlic and chillies to taste
Rosemary finely chopped
1 tin onion and tomato mix
Half a cup reduced fat cream
Secret ingredient is 2 tbs sherry added right at the end with the cream
Pasta- any type of noodle will do, I used spaghetti

Drizzle the olive oil in a pan and fry the following for 2 min: garlic,chilly, rosemary and roasted chicken (shredded). Then place the tomatoes in the pan so that the juicy side touches pan, this will make it easier to make the sauce as you need to squash them flat to release juices.

Once you hace sqashed all the cherry tomatoes add the can of chopped tomatoe and onion and simmer till it reduces and sauce is dark red in colour. Remove from heat and add cream and sherry. Stir in cooked pasta till it is coated in sauce and garnish with a little left over rosemary.

What Sup: Wine and Chocolate at Durbanville Hills

Went out after work last Friday and decided a perfect treat for us ladies was the wine and chocolate at Durbanville Hills. They are now offering wine tasting with chocolate (R50 per person) or biltong (R60 per person). Chocolate and wine seem to be natural companions, both with delicious flavour and adding a fun dimension to the wine tasting experience.

Above: 5 wines paired with choclate R50,00 and a real treat. They are definitly not shy when pouring wine!



Happiness is!

What Sup: Lunch at Wild Olive Kalk Bay

The Wild Olive is situated in Kalk Bay on the main road and seems to have it all....

Great service, a wide variety of delicious meals (breakfast menu also looks tempting so will be back) and it's a perfect 'people watching' spot! Even though the road works have the streets in a mess, it's still worth the drive when you have a great lunch. I used to love coming to this restaurant when it was Winesense but the new owners have improved on the menu and atmosphere. You will love sitting outside near the fountain with the fresh sea air, looking around at odds and ends in the quirky antique shops or the strange people you see milling around the streets and harbour.

The Majestic salad, with the works



Healthy open sambo

What Sup: Trinity Restaurant, Bar and Club

The restaurant offers everything from sushi to pizza. It has a similar atmosphere and menu to Beluga.
On the night we went they had a live jazz band. This venue offers a bar, great food with live entertainment and a club. You are guaranteed to have a great evening.

Pork Belly

Salmon with jasmine rice

The Club

What Sup: Meat Free Monday-Vegetable Bake

Meat Free Monday doesn't have to be boring! It gives you the opportunity to be creative with texture, colour and the natural flavours of your favourite vegetables.


In the vegetable bake: Baby marrow, cherry tomoatoes and smoked paprika
Sweet potatoes with sunflower seeds and honey
roasted beetroot with garlic and rosemary
Butternut stuffed with spinach and BBQ sauce
Bake all for 1hr at 180 degrees c


What Sup: Roasted butternut soup

This "deconstructed" soup has much more flavour than just boiling vegetables on the stove top for hours. The roasted vegetables (especially the butternut squash) become sweet and caramelise when roasted,that is what makes this the best butternut soup recipe!

First make your stock using grated carrot, celery,onion,tomatoes,leaks and chicken stock powder.

 Once the stock and simmered slowly for 30 min take off heat and strain. Set this aside while the vegetables(butternut, carrots, potatoes) roast in the oven for 45 minutes.


1 chopped butternut, 2 medium potatoes and 3 carrot coated in a olive oil, rosemary,cinnamon and nutmeg.

Add the vegetables to the stock and reheat, use a blender to create a smooth decedent soup. You could add a splash of cream.

What Sup: Fritata with peppers, baby marrow and bacon

You will need:
Red pepper and green pepper finely chopped
1 large baby marrow grated
Spring onion
Fried bacon cut into small bits(about half a cup)
6 Large eggs
Half cup cream/milk for low fat option
Salt and pepper

Whisk eggs and milk (or cream), add all ingredients and pour mixture into a small dish, remember to spray before you cook so it wont stick.

For side salad: avo (mashed with lemon and and pepper), rocket, watercress,cherry tomatoes,yellow pepper and cucumber. One orange to be used for citrus dressing with olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. I also served this whit toasted flat bread.

What Sup: Aubergine Burgers



A vegetarian burger can be just as flavourful with these "Patties".



Whisk the egg and dip the aubergine into this mixture, roll in the bread crumbs and seasoning and fry in olive oil till aubergine cooked and golden brown.

To start off you will need the following ingredients: 1 large aubergine (cut into think slices that will be used as the burger patties), 1 extra large egg, steak seasoning, onion rings, 1 ripe avo, BBQ sauce and bread rolls.

For a really healthy option I found these brown rolls enriched with Omega.

Garnish for burger: fry onion rings in some BBQ sauce and set aside with some mashed avo, lettuce and tomatoes.

Assemble burger and tuck in!

Another idea: Save some of the "patties" and use as a starter with a fresh herb salad.

What Sup: Woman's Day at Wafu

It was a stunning day here in Cape Town so we decided to head out to Seapoint to find a meal with an ocean view. Wafu and Wakame are just the place if you looking for asian food with flair. We ordered the main of mussels in a thai broth and sushi that was fresh and oh so tasty. The service was great this time round(this can be an issue at times).

What Sup: Bombay Bicycle Club

 

YES, That is a bed hanging from the ceiling of a restaurant!

You could honestly spend an hour just looking at all the interesting items used as decor.

This a very interesting little restaurant that has a strange quirky side. The food, as with the restaurants decor has no particualr theme. They offer just about anything on the menu (pasta, curries, fish and steak). If you feel like an unusual experience this is the place to try!

What Sup: Woodlands Eatery in Vredehoek

Great spot in Cape Town for lunch on the weekend: We had the lamb pizza (sounds strange to be used as a topping but it was the best pizza I have ever had!) It was filled with the rich flavour of slow cooked lamb and rosemary, with a mouth watering savoury tomatoe sauce and cream cheese.
The Woodlands Eatery is a cosy, relaxed neighbourhood bistro. On the menu is a selection of comfort food. The wood fired Tuscan lamb pizza is a MUST!