Ode to Toast

Jamie Oliver calls his 'bruschetta', Nigel Slater insists on only using whole mushrooms (no fancy funghi please!) and slightly burnt government white loaf toast for his, while Gordon Ramsay's Italian version swops bread for chargrilled polenta. And although Jamie's lisp stole my teenage heart, Nigel's writing my soul and Gordon Ramsay's mouth my, er, innocence, none of my culinary heroes have hit the mark quite like Luke Dale Roberts did this past weekend.

What is humbly dubbed 'Mushrooms on toast, grated lemon, parmesan, procini dust' on the menu is in fact the reason I have been dreaming about my meal at The Pot Luck Club & Gallery for the past 3 days. Imagining slabs of toasted buttery brioche topped with sherry glazed mushrooms and drowning in dredgings of Parmesan cheese wafting out of the kitchen and into my mouth, is a tad extreme, even for a food nerd like me. To put a halt to these crazy funghi fantasies, I decided to douse the craving with my own midweek (meat-free Monday) version of this dreamy mushrooms on toast dish. So here it is, my ode to toast; simplicity at its best!

Photograph: The Pot Luck Club & Gallery

Posh mushrooms on toast

(serves 4)

6-8 slices ciabatta, sliced

olive oil, for drizzling

250g mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 glug of old brown sherry

1 knob garlic parsley butter

finely grated zest of 1 lemon

salt and pepper, to taste

crumbled feta cheese or Parmesan and rocket, to garnish

Drizzle the ciabatta slices with olive oil and toast until golden brown. Heat a little oil in a pan until smoking hot and saute the mushrooms until browned. Add the sherry and allow the alcohol to evaporate completely before stirring in the butter, zest and seasoning. Add a spoonful of water and stir to thicken before toppin the ciabatta toast with the mushrooms and crumbling over the feta. Place under the grill again until golden and bubbly. Serve with the rocket.

Chocolate brownie in a cup / Choc chip cookie in a cup

I absolutely love baking up a storm but my family can attest to the fact that I seriously despise washing dishes. As a child I used to put on my own cooking shows in our family kitchen with every ingredient precisely weighed out into its own neat little bowl – just like I'd seen Delia Smith do on her show. This used to drive my mother mad as no matter how many times I'd swear on my spatula to wash the mound of dishes I'd dirtied, it would never happen and my poor mother would be left washing a million condiment bowls while silently praying for a dishwasher. Now that I have to wash my own dishes at the end of a baking marathon, I have a whole lot more appreciation for the recipes that promise minimal time at the kitchen sink. This is one of those – a chocolate chip cookie recipe made in a cup. It is not only perfect for those times where you're craving something to dunk into your tea, coffee or hot chocolate on chilly evenings, but also great for keeping kids busy in the kitchen during the school holidays. And because it's made in the microwave, there is no danger of little fingers being burnt (and the fact that you'll be left with only a few cups and spoons to wash is a huge bonus!). Replace the butter with peanut butter, swop out the chocolate chips for raisins, smarties or whatever the kids' imaginations can conjure up! And once they've mastered the 'cookie in a cup', let them try the 'chocolate brownie in a cup' recipe below – it is delicious!

Choc chip cookies in a cup

(makes 3)

1T butter

2T brown sugar

few drops vanilla essence or extract

pinch of salt

1 egg yolk

¼ cup cake flour

2T chocolate chips

Place the butter in a mug and melt in the microwave. Add the sugar, vanilla and salt and stir with a fork. Add the egg yolk and mix well. Stir in the flour and chocolate chips. Lightly grease a microwave safe plate and place 3 mounds of the cookie dough on the plate, leaving enough space in between each. Cook in the microwave on full power for 40 – 60 seconds or until cooked. Remove from the plate with a spatula and allow to cool completely or eat while still hot and gooey! Serve with at tall glass of milk for dunking.

Chocolate brownie in a cup

(makes 1)

4T cake flour

4T brown sugar

2T cocoa powder

2T oil or melted butter

2T water

pinch of salt

few drops vanilla extract

2T chopped nuts or chocolate chips (optional)

Place the flour, sugar and cocoa in a cup and mix well. Add the oil, water, salt and vanilla and stir together with a fork until thoroughly mixed. Place the cup in the microwave and cook on full power for 45-60 seconds until cooked through but still a bit gooey in the middle and moist. Allow to cool slightly and serve immediately with cream or ice cream.

Hot toddies for chilly evenings

Like a comforting hug, or your favourite snuggly slippers, hot toddies are perfect for warming up cold hands and feet when coming in from the cold. I've compiled my 6 favourites to suit all kinds of moods and hopefully you'll find the one for you! The chamomile honey vanilla latte is one of my favourites to cozy up to just before bedtime – chamomile is known for it's sleep inducing properties and will ensure sweet and peaceful dreams while the apple mint green tea is less indulgent – for those moments when you're watching the waistline. Hot coco is my take on hot chocolate, made with coconut milk for something a bit different. Of course, always make sure to use fat-free milk to keep the calories down. My homemade spicy chai is better than anything you'll find on a supermarket shelf; you'll have all the spices in your storecupboard already and it really tastes wonderful. The hot butterscotch is for those spoil-yourself moments and makes a great replacement for dessert when entertaining. And last but not least, the classic hot toddy, Gluhwein is a sure way to warm up body and soul and even better when sipped in front of a roaring fire. What are your favourite winter hot toddies?

Photography by Katelyn Williams

Apple mint green tea

Break open 2 tea bags of mint green tea and place in a saucepan with ½ sliced Granny Smith apple, pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon and bring to a gentle simmer for 2 minutes. Set aside and allow to steep until fragrant. Strain and sweeten with honey, to taste.

Chamomile honey vanilla latte

Brew ½ a pot of strong chamomile tea made with two tea bags. Heat 300ml of fat-free milk with a vanilla pod or few drops of vanilla extract. Divide the strong chamomile into 2 mugs and top with the vanilla milk. Drizzle honey ontop to taste

Hot coco

Heat ½ tin reduced fat coconut milk and 1 cup of fat-free milk with 75g good-quality dark chocolate and a cinnamon stick. Simmer gently for a few minutes until fragrant. Alternatively, replace the chocolate with cocoa powder and adjust the sweetness with honey. Garnish with toasted coconut shavings or for a decadent addition, serve with toasted coconut covered marshmallows.

Homemade spicy chai

In a saucepan, combine 1/4t ground cardamom (or 2-3 cardamom pods, crushed), 4-6 black peppercorns, 4-6 cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, 1T brown sugar (or to taste), the leaves from 2 Darjeeling or Assam tea bags and 2 cups of fat-free milk. Heat gently over low heat for 2 minutes and set aside to brew for 10 minutes before straining, reheating and serving.

Hot Butterscotch

Coat the sides of 2 mugs with tinned caramel or butterscotch sauce (for a quick and easy recipe and step-by-step video click here). Heat 2 cups of fat-free milk with a dash of vanilla extract and pour into cups to serve. For something a little different, serve with a sprinkling of sea salt for a salted caramel version – salt and caramel are perfect partners so give it a try!

Gluhwein

In a saucepan, gently heat 3 cups red wine, 1 stick cinnamon, 2T brown sugar, 2-3 cloves, 4 star anise and the peel of 1 orange for 5 minutes. Set aside to infuse before straining, reheating gently and serving.

Some more ideas:

Hot chocolate is a great way to experiment – try infusing the milk with dried chillies, basil leaves or fresh mint before adding the chocolate. Adding liqueurs is also a decadent treat every now and then and the wide variety of flavours mean you can get creative with combinations.

Purchase inexpensive spoons and dip them into dark or white chocolate a few times (allow to set inbetween) and tie together with a pretty ribbon. Package them with some marshmallows and you'll have a thoughtful gift for someone special. 

One Pot Wonder: Harissa chicken with olives and mint yoghurt

My mother is the queen of one pot wonders – give her a bag of groceries and she can have dinner on the table in 20 minutes flat. These skills are more attributed to the fact that cooking is a chore for her (yes I often wonder if I'm adopted because of this), however, my dish-free dinners are rather attributed to the fact that I despise washing up. No need to raise your rubber glove-clad hand if you agree – I know I'm not alone. This recipe is one of my favourites because it's big on flavour and low on effort: a chopping board, knife, casserole dish and small bowl is all that will land up in your sink. If you've never cooked with harissa before, you're in for a treat. It's a condiment used in North African and Middle Eastern cooking. Chillies, oil, garlic, coriander and cumin are ground into a paste and used to season meat such as lamb, chicken, beef, or tossed through roast vegetables and couscous. Quite a few supermarkets stock it in the spice section but if you can't find it, I've included a substitute below so you can give it a try. And if you're wonder woman with a wok or turn into superman with a saucepan in your hand then post your one pot winners in the comment box below – sharing is afterall caring. Happy cooking!

(serves 4-6)

6-8 chicken pieces

1 head of garlic, halved

1 cup black olives

¼ cup tomato paste

1T harissa paste

1T brown sugar

½ cup chicken stock

salt and black pepper

250g baby tomatoes, halved

4-5 sprigs thyme

1 cup plain yoghurt

zest of 1 lemon

2T chopped parsley

1T chopped mint

Preheat the oven to 180C. Place the chicken pieces in a casserole or baking dish and add the garlic, olives, tomato and harissa paste, sugar, chicken stock and salt and pepper. Toss to combine with half the tomatoes. Cover tightly with a lid or foil and place in the oven for 1 hour. Remove the lid/foil, add the rest of the tomatoes, thyme and roast until golden and sticky. For the yoghurt, combine the rest of the ingredients and season well. Serve the chicken with the minted yoghurt on the side.

Homemade harissa

10-12 dried red chillies

1/2t salt

2T olive oil

1t ground corinader

1t ground caraway seeds

1/2t cumin

Soak the dried chillies in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain. Remove the stems and seeds and combine in a food processor or pestle and mortar with the garlic, salt and olive oil. Add the rest of the spices to form a smooth paste. Store in an airtight container and drizzle the surface with olive oil – this will seal it and keep it fresh. The harissa paste will last up to a month in the fridge and is best when rested for 12 hours before using.

Buttermilk Bran Rusks

Like most food lovers, autumn (and winter) is my favourite time of the year. As the leaves turn and the cold weather rolls in, everything slips into a slow slumber and rich stews and soups simmer away on my stove. While growing up though, there was only one sign that the chilly weather was approaching and that was the gentle sweet smell of my mother's wholewheat buttermilk rusks drying in the oven for what felt like days on end. In our home, rusks are reserved for winter (for whatever reason) and I remember them tasting the best when dunked into milky tea on pitch black, ice cold mornings while sitting in front of the roaring fire my dad lit in the fire place before my sister and I went to school. Every year since leaving home, without fail, a large package of mom's rusks arrives just when the weather starts to turn and I know it's time to unpack my boots, woolly jerseys, scarves and thick blankets. 

But what makes these rusks so magical is that I can never make them myself. The recipe is one of a handful in my mother's cookbook that I simply cannot replicate. One would think that with all my chef training and culinary knowledge that would be impossible. And you would be wrong. Measuring with scientific precision and following the instructions exactly just doesn't help - they simply don't taste the same as my mother's. I'm sharing this precious recipe in the hope that it will find a special place in your family cookbook and that one day your children might also complain of not being able to make them 'just like mom or dad'. That surely must be the biggest compliment; to fill a biscuit tin with so much love it is unrivalled. 

Photographs by Angie Lazaro

Williams Wholewheat Buttermilk Rusks

(makes 50)

4 cups wholewheat flour

4 cups cake flour

3 cups All-bran flakes

3 cups bran

3 cups muesli

50ml baking powder

2t bicarbonate of soda

1½ cups light brown sugar

2 cups melted butter

2 cups buttermilk

1T vanilla extract

1 cup sunflower or pumpkin seeds

Mix the dry ingredients together. combine the melted butter, buttermilk and vanilla and mix into the dry ingredients. add a little milk, if necessary, to form a soft dough. Press into a greased roasting tray and bake at 180°C for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Slice into fingers when cool and place in a low oven with the door ajar until crisp and dry.

It was my desperate craving for my mom's rusks that led me to developing my own recipe for Buttermilk bran rusks; one that nobody can mess up - not even me. It uses the fantastic Sasko Quick Treats Bran muffin mix as a base with a few simple additions. In fact, you can watch me making them on Tuesday 24 April on Expresso Breakfast Show on SABC3 at 06h45 in the Sasko baking slot.

Buttermilk Bran Rusks

(makes 30)

1 x 500g Sasko Quick Treats muffin mix

½ cup bran flakes

½ cup mixed seeds or nuts

200ml buttermilk

½ cup melted butter

1 egg

1t vanilla extract

Combine the Sasko Quick Treats muffin mix with the bran flakes, seeds or nuts and mix well. Whisk the buttermilk, melted butter, egg and vanilla extract together and add to the dry ingredients. Press into a greased 20 x 20cm baking tin and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Turn out and allow to cool slightly before cutting into fingers. Arrange on a baking tray and dry at 60°C for 4-6 hours or until crisp. Store in an airtight container.

Red Velvet Loaf Cake with Blueberries

I love blueberries and I adore red velvet cake so it wasn't a stretch of the imagination

to combine the two into this stunner of a cake. The plump juiciness of the berries with their velveteen inkiness is so beautiful against the rich scarlet hue of the sponge. 
And then there's the cream cheese frosting... swoon! 

Photographs by Angie Lazaro

Red Velvet Loaf Cake with Blueberries
Serves 6-8

120g butter, softened

300g castor sugar

2 eggs

15g cocoa powder

2 tbsp red food colouring

1t vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

300g cake flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3 tsp white wine vinegar

400g icing sugar

100g butter, softened

250g cream cheese

2 cups blueberries

1/2 cup water

juice and zest of 1 lemon

1 cup castor sugar

Preheat oven to 170C. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
Beat on high while adding the eggs one at a time. In a seperate bowl, mix the cocoa powder, colouring and vanilla to make a thick paste. 
Add to the butter mixture and mix very well. Beat slowly while adding half the buttermilk and half the flour. Mix well before adding the remaining buttermilk and flour. 
Beat on high until smooth. Add salt, bicarbonate of soda and vinegar and mix well. 
Spoon into a lined 30 x 25cm rectangular baking tray and bake for 30 minutes until springy to the touch. Allow to cool on a wire rack. For the icing, cream the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth. 
Place in a piping bag. Cut the cake to form three 10 x 25cm rectangles and pipe the icing in-between each layer. Simmer the blueberries, water, zest, lemon juice and castor sugar until reduced and glossy. Allow to cool. Top the cake with the blueberry compote.

Below is a step-by-step video: 

Sweet on figs

Adam and Eve may have opted for the leaves to spare their blushing, but it’s the luscious plump and fragrant figs that are summer’s most delicious treasures – and, while the best way to eat figs is out of hand and still warm from the sun, their jammy sweetness makes them irresistible in both sweet and savoury fare.

Photographs by Gunther Gräter

It’s fig season and the endless culinary possibilities that these luscious fruits bring are as countless as the number of tiny seeds each holds. The sweet, juicy fruit that is so prized now is said to be the oldest fruit recognized by man and, although Adam and Eve best employed the leaves of the fig tree by sewing them together to form an apron to preserve their modesty, it is a rather useful fact to keep in mind that the sap of the plant is actually an irritant – so wearing a fig leaf is, shall we say, not particularly recommended. Rather, don a more sensible apron and get into the kitchen as figs’ ability to take centre stage in starters, mains and desserts is a treasured trait. Aside from the potassium, iron and calcium that figs boast, they provide more fibre than any other common fruit of vegetable. The fibre in figs is both soluble and insoluble and is important for good health. It’s also interesting to note that figs contain a special chemical which helps extend the freshness and moisture of baked goods as well as one that promotes tanning in the sun.

For a delicious starter, bless the tops of the figs with a kiss made by a knife, firmly squeeze their swollen bellies to reveal the raspberry-coloured fruit inside and then envelop the fresh figs in a blanket of salty-sweet prosciutto. A stuffing of rich goat’s cheese, a flurry of cracked black pepper and an anointing of the best fruity extra-virgin olive oil and a hot oven awaits. Roast until the edges of the ham are slightly charred and crisp and the crimson flesh inside warm and succulent. The figs need a mere scattering of peppery rocket leaves and a swift glug of aged balsamic vinegar. Whichever way you choose to enjoy the humble fig, do it outdoors to savour their sweet taste of summer. 

Toffee figs with grilled Christmas cake 

(serves 6)

2 cups caster sugar

1 cup water

6 black figs

6 pieces Christmas cake or pudding

2T melted butter

vanilla ice-cream, to serve

Place sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat and cook, without stirring, for 8–10 minutes or until sugar has dissolved. Increase heat to high, bring to the boil and cook for 7–8 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from heat and, using a fork, carefully dip figs into toffee. Place on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper and set aside to cool and harden. Brush the Christmas cake with butter and grill on a griddle pan. Serve immediately with vanilla ice-cream and the toffee figs.

DID YOU KNOW?

Figs are not actually a fruit but rather flower receptacles. Like other blossoms, they bud straight from the branch and the fruit actually lies inside the fleshy bulb consisting of the seed-like parts.