Dec 2, 2015
Photography by Darren Bester
Yield: 10, as a side
Ingredients:
5 Bunches Beetroot, boiled, peeled, cooled & cut into quarters
200g Walnuts, broken into smaller pieces
300g Bocconcini Mozzarella Balls
2x 120g Rocket Leaves, roughly torn or punnet micro herbs
Drizzle of Olive Oil
Couple of squirts of Lemon Juice
Few drizzles of Honey
Salt & Black Pepper
Method:
Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, honey, salt & pepper and pour over the cooled beetroots and marinade in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Drain the Bocconcini balls and season with a dash of olive oil, salt & pepper, set aside.
To assemble, combine the marinated beets, walnuts and rocket and toss delicately. Spoon onto serving platter and carefully place the Bocconcini balls amongst the other ingredients.
This recipe was featured on The Pretty Blog – You can view the post here
Also visit here to see the full menu and beautiful setting we created for our Lunch Celebration!
Dec 2, 2015
Photography by Darren Bester
Beetroot Cured Salmon
Yield: 10 as a main dish accompanied by sides
Ingredients:
1.5kg side of Norwegian Salmon, boned & skin removed
4 Beetroots, grated
400g Caster Sugar
315g Coarse Sea Salt
2 Handfuls of fresh Dill, chopped
Zest of 3 Oranges
75g capers, chopped
Method:
Combine the beetroot, sugar, salt, dill, orange zest and capers in a bowl and stir to combine well. Line a baking dish or other dish suitable of holding your salmon comfortably, with cling wrap (but don’t tear off the cling wrap). Spread half of the beetroot mixture across the cling wrap, in the shape of the salmon, place the salmon on top of the mixture & cover with the remaining mixture, pressing it up against the sides to ensure all of the salmon is covered. Wrap tightly in the cling wrap a few times over to ensure its snug. Place a heavy pan or board on top of the salmon and place in the fridge for between 8 – 12 hours. Remove the cling wrap, rinse under cold running water, pat dry with carlton towel and either serve or refrigerate until required.
Cooks Notes: Don’t worry if your mixture becomes runny – just wrap up in the clingfilm as snug as possible. Be aware that over curing will result in a hard leathery exterior on your fish and it may become too salty so do not exceed the recommended curing hours.
Here’s the link to our Lunch Celebration Table, as featured on The Pretty Blog
Nov 11, 2015
Photography by Darren Bester
You say Pea soup and I’m immediately transported back in time… I’m in my family kitchen, I’m a child, my Mom is standing over one of her trusty AMC pots (pots which are now in my kitchen some 30 years on – Talk about quality!), the radio is on and the aroma of pea soup is filling the air ! Yummy, my favourite of all her soup recipes.
My Mom’s version, is actually Split Pea Soup, made with dry split peas & no-one will ever be able to make it quite like Mom, well not in my eyes anyway 🙂 So when the craving for Mom’s Pea soup hit the other day, I wasn’t about to attempt to recreate her winning recipe, because for me, half the comfort is knowing that my Mom made it for me, but with mom not around to see to this craving, I decided to experiment with a different kind of pea soup. Feeling inspired by the recent sunny weather we had during our Cape Town winter, I felt like a lighter, fresher pea soup and so opted to use whole peas instead of split peas, I added some bacon because well, its bacon and any opportunity to add bacon to a recipe, I do 🙂 and then a sprinkle of mint to heighten the lightness and freshness of the soup.
The result? Quick, easy and tasty! Suitable for a deliciously healthy light lunch or dinner starter. The beautiful green is so vibrant that it brings colour to any dining table, while conjuring up feelings of excitement and anticipation that Spring is finally, once again, knocking at our door …
Pea, Bacon and Mint Soup
Yield: 4
500ml Fresh or Frozen Peas
250g Streaky Bacon, diced
1 Large Potato, chopped
1 Litre Chicken or Veggie Stock (I use the organic liquid stock from Woolies)
Handful of Mint, finely chopped
Method:
Fry the bacon for 5 or so minutes until crisp (keep some aside for garnish), add the potato and stock and cook until the potato is soft, approximately 20 minutes. Add the peas and turn down the heat to a gentle simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, season with salt & pepper and stir in the mint. Use a food processor or hand blender to puree. Pour into serving dishes and garnish with a drizzle of fresh cream and a sprinkle of crispy bacon.
Cooks Note: If you don’t have cream at hand, drizzle with a dash of olive oil instead. The soup can thicken on refrigeration , if this happens just add a little stock or boiling water when reheating to achieve the preferred consistency.
This recipe was featured on The Pretty Blog: Martha Who’s Pea, Bacon & Mint Soup
