I have really fallen in love with Ricotta cheese over the last year or two, trying to work the delicate, curdled cheese into everything from Flapjacks with Blueberries, Sandwich toppings and rich fillings for aubergine involtini. At first, shop-bought Ricotta was just fine but in December I was browsing the Donna Hay iPad app and I saw her very easy recipe for home-made, fresh Ricotta. I promised to make my own and have just not gotten around to doing it until yesterday. I was a bit nervous to make my own cheese as I’ve never done anything like it (even though the recipe could not be simpler). It also didn’t…
Archive for the ‘Vegetarian’ Category
I saw someone doing marinated tomatoes on tv not so long ago and for the life of me, I can’t remember who it was. I can’t even remember on which channel it was which makes me feel horrible as I can’t give credit where credit is due. I am however very thankful to that person for exposing me to the wonder that is a marinated tomato. I know the thought of blanching then peeling and then marinating cherry tomatoes is not appealing. I thought I had gone crazy when I found myself even considering the idea of trying it myself. You see, I’m a very lazy person. I love…
After some weekends (like the one that just passed), I need to stay away from food. I ate too much and did too little and that leaves me feeling like a Heffalump! But saying that, it’s very hard to stay away from food completely, because, well, I get hungry. But I can stick to healthy, fresh food right? Let’s hope so! For breafkast I am having a frozen mango, grape and Greek yoghurt smoothie, for lunch I’ll probably have a salad of sorts but when dinner comes around, I always feel like I need something a bit more substantial which means meat and starch right? Wrong! With this Aubergine Involtini…
These may seem finicky and like they take a lot of trouble but I can assure you that could not be further from the truth. These gorgeous and delicious tartlettes are so easy to make, I would trust my 19-year old brother to do it (please note that my brother can barely make himself toast and he’s a master at making 2-minute noodles! What is important to remember when working with phyllo is that whatever filling you add needs to be relatively dry or else the pastry will go soggy and that kind of defeats the purpose as you want the pastry to stay beautiful and crisp. These tarts are…
When I need a quick lunch, I find myself coming back to Bruschetta time and time again. There’s something about the charred, garlicky bread that just works so incredibly well with almost any topping you choose to use. I’ve made it with everything from simple sliced tomatoes to more extravagant parma ham and melon. This way of doing it showcases the wonderful Mediterranean Delicacies Basil Pesto to it’s full potential by pairing it with creamy and delicious Fior Di Latte (a cow’s milk mozzarella) and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. It is the absolute best thing to serve as a quick summer lunch or as a snack with…
A while ago I was approached to be part of a fabulous campaign for one of my favourite brands, Mediterranean Delicacies. It took almost no time for me to say Yes Yes YES!! I’ve always loved their products as my mom was an absolute Mediterranean nut (even though she had never actually been there). Mediterranean Delicacies (MD) offers an enormous range of products at really reasonable prices so you get to feel like you’re lying on an island in the Med, eating delicious Meze all year long. Over the next few months you can expect my blog to take on a very Mediterranean feel as I’ll be incorporating these delicious products…
I’m not sure if I should be proud or embarrassed at the pure simplicity of this post and indeed, of this salad. But I guess, as it is with my life, I often go from one extreme to the other. Deep fried, doughy Churros one day and a fresh and crisp Greek salad the next. And let me just clarify, I am not trying to give you a recipe for Greek salad. I’m sure you know how to chop up some salad ingredients, add chunks of Feta cheese and olives and if you are anything like me (the person who is asked to bring salads to a braai often), you have made…
This past week we’ve had the most beautiful weather, warm and sunny during the days and only slightly chilly at night. But it seems like the cold front is hitting us and when that happens I need serious comfort food. Risotto is probably one of the most comforting foods out there but unfortunately I don’t always have the patience to stand in front of the stove stirring the pot (even though my friend, Chef to the celebs, Neill Anthony told me that boiling the rice for 8 minutes before making the risotto cuts the time down to almost nothing). The thing with baking risotto is that the end result is…
After my Beef Penang Curry post the other day, I spent an entire day day-dreaming about our Malaysia trip and thought about all the foods I was exposed to and how much I regret not being more open to all of it. I was 21 at the time and although I already had an obsession with food, I was less adventurous and scared to try things.One thing I should’ve tried when I had the chance was Nasi Goreng. At the resort we spent the first week at, breakfast consisted of the normal “English” offerings and then a few Malay dishes were also on offer. One of them being Nasi Goreng….
Everywhere I look lately I see tomato soup recipes and photo’s. This might be the reason why I was so amped to make it last week, and why my husband was so surprised to find out that I’d never made or eaten tomato soup before. I think it’s the fact that in our high school Home Economics class, the teacher always said you can’t make tomato soup in certain pots, I think it was Aluminium, because the acid in the tomatoes react with the Aluminium and this gives the soup a metallic taste. The thought of that petrified me and I was always too scared to make it. Meanwhile, we only…
