Sticky beer ribs on the braai

Nothing reminds me more of the promise of summer and warm weather like the smell of freshly mowed grass and the smoky aroma of braaivleis hanging in the air. Having said that, the smell of braaivleis is the only fond memory I have of childhood braais since my father is possibly the worst braaier ever.  More often than not the charred remains of chicken wings and boerewors would be passed silently under the table to our happy black Labrador to devour while my father’s attention was elsewhere. My dad does, however, make the best bonfires and some of my best summer memories are of our family sitting around the huge crackling fire, laughing and roasting marshmallows together.

So here’s what I will be making for braai day on 24 September and I hope that this recipe will make it’s way onto your braai too which will hopefully be surrounded by delicious aroma’s, happy laughter and good memories!

2 x 350g rack of pork ribs, halved

2 x 340ml tins beer

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1T oil

2T freshly grated ginger

1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped

6T tomato sauce

2T golden syrup

3T light soy sauce

Place the ribs and beer in a saucepan, cover and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 35-40 minutes or until tender and cooked. Remove the ribs from the beer and reduce the liquid.

In a large dish, mix the garlic, oil, ginger, chilli, tomato sauce, syrup and soy sauce.

Add the hot ribs and coat well. Leave to cool and chill until ready to braai.

Cook the ribs over medium heat coals on the braai for 15-20 minutes or until brown and sticky. 

Grilled Aubergine & Dukkah Borek

We all know those people; the ones that go on holiday to an exotic location like Bali or Thailand and then insist on sending the rest of us badly-taken cellphone photos (which amazingly do nothing to diminish the beauty of said location) just as a reminder that, well, we’re here and they’re there. I didn’t know this until now, but apparently my brother is one of these people and has spent the week torturing me with images of Cairo, the Nile river and ancient pyramids. I do, however, tolerate the “wish you were here’s” for a greater purpose.

Since my brother started working in the Middle East for months at a time, I have developed a love for exotic spices; mainly saffron. This spice is now firmly entrenched in my heart as I nostalgically associate it with his visits; when gifts of valuable Iranian saffron are brought home for me, beautifully packaged in perfume vials. I’m sure by now you can sense where this is going but with my pantry well-stocked with saffron, I have my sights set on more ‘Prada for my larder’ and this comes in the form of Egyptian dukkah. Dukkah is an aromatic spice mix made by grinding toasted hazelnuts, sesame seeds, coriander and cumin seeds, black pepper and sea salt together. It seems only fitting that with its coarse texture and golden colour its origin belongs in the land of pyramids and sand dunes – with the spice itself almost echoing the terrain.

Although I covet the authentic dukkah from the banks of the Nile, you can easily make your own or even find it in the spice aisle. The fragrant rub is incredibly moreish when used as a dip – especially when preceded by crusty bread and extra virgin olive oil. It's lovely rubbed on grilled fish and chicken or simply sprinkled over roast vegetables or a crisp salad. These cigars are inspired by a Turkish dish called Börek which makes use of leftover mashed potatoes and grilled aubergine. If making the individual cigars is a tad time-consuming for you, simply layer the ingredients in a casserole dish, bake and slice, or better yet, make one big cigar and serve in slices.

Serves 4-6

120g mashed potato

100g feta cheese, crumbled

100g grated mozzarella

2 eggs

¼ cup chopped parsley

2T chopped chives

½ cup dukkah, plus extra for garnish

Salt and pepper to taste

1T milk

500g phyllo pastry sheets, thawed

2 aubergines, sliced and grilled with olive oil

2 cups plain yoghurt

squeeze of lemon juice

2T chopped mint

Combine the potato, cheeses, 1 egg, herbs, half the dukkah and the milk to form a smooth paste. Season with salt and pepper.

Unroll the phyllo pastry sheets - keep the pastry covered with a damp cloth as you are working.

Lay the grilled aubergine slices out and place a tablespoon of the filling along one of the short ends. Roll up to form a cigar before placing on a strip of pastry, folding in the ends and rolling up.

Wet the end with water to seal. Continue, keeping the finished ones covered with a damp cloth as you work. Refrigerate until required.

Whisk the other egg in a bowl. Brush the pastries with the egg mixture.

Sprinkle extra dukkah over the pastries and bake at 180C until they are golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Mix the yoghurt, lemon juice and mint together and season to taste. Serve with the cigars.

TIP To make your own dukkah, toast 2/3 cup hazelnuts, ½ cup sesame seeds, 2T coriander seeds, 2T cumin seeds, 2t freshly ground black pepper and 1t salt until fragrant. Pound lightly in a pestle and mortar or food processor and store in an airtight container or jar.

Dried fruit crumble slice

The pastry for this delicioiusly moreish slice was the very first recipe I ever wrote down. Just as my mother copied it from my grandmother's old, worn recipe book, I copied it from my mother's – and in pencil, because I was too scared I would make a mistake in my brand new recipe book. While transferring the ingredient quantities I remember wondering if the crisp clean pages in mine would ever resemble the splattered and well-thumbed pages of the tomes my mother and grandmother cooked from. After typing out this recipe from my beloved little book, it makes my heart happy to say that it is stained with blobs of butter, the edges of the page are dog-eared and there are a few stray sugar granules resting in the spine. 

 A sign that a recipe book is truly loved.

Photography by Angie Lazaro

Dried fruit crumble slice
(serves 8-10)

450g mixed dried fruit

100g dried fig

1t ground allspice

1t ground cinnamon

100ml brandy

200g castor sugar

pinch salt

Pastry

250g butter

¾ cup castor sugar

1 egg

1t baking powder

2¹/3 cups cake flour

²/3 cup corn flour

Place all the dried fruit and spices in a bowl and add the brandy. Add enough boiling water to cover the fruit and allow to soak overnight in the refrigerator. For the pastry, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg followed by the baking powder, flours and salt. Press ²/3 of the dough into a greased baking dish and refrigerate. Strain the fruit and reserve the liquid. Roughly chop the fruit and set aside. Place the liquid in a saucepan, add the sugar and heat until dissolved and the syrup is light golden brown. Moisten the fruit with a little syrup. Spoon the mixture onto the base and grate the remaining ¹/3 of the dough over the top. Bake at 170°C for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with piping hot custard.

Waterblommetjie risotto

When I visited Seychelles last year on a Top Billing photo shoot, I ate bat curry. Yes, you read right – bat; those winged, eerie, blood-sucking creatures that live in caves. It's a treasured delicacy on the island and a story that, when recounted, either earns me mucho brownie points in foodie circles or garners an open-mouthed stare or instant gasp-and recoil reflex.

China has birds nest soup and tuna eyeballs, Cambodia has fried tarantulas, maggot cheese or Casu Marzu is a delicacy in Sardinia while thousand year old eggs are big in Asia - bat isn't sounding so bad right now is it? And while it may not be as shocking to us locals, it's still a little weird that here in South Africa we eat.... pondweed. Also known as waterblommetjies.

Not being Afrikaans, I didn't grow up with ouma's waterblommetjie bredie simmering on the stove. So when I first found myself confronted with a bowl of waterblommetjies, I recoiled in horror at what I was told was wild plants that were harvested from a dam or pond. To be fair, put the word 'pond' or 'weed' on the end of any word and it does not sound like something I want on the other end of my fork. But, dunk the fleshy green bulbs into a frothy tempura batter and deep-fry until crisp and golden, then sprinkle the light batter with a generous squeeze of zesty lemon and a sprinkling of sea salt and waterblommetjies turn into a sublime delicacy. The supermarket shelves are now bulging with fresh, seasonal waterblommetjies so try them in the easy-cheesy risotto below, pair it with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and you'll earn some serious culinary credentials in my eyes. Enjoy!

(serves 4)

500g waterblommetjies, washed well

5 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 onion, finely chopped

4T butter

1 head of garlic, halved and roasted in foil until golden

1 ¼ cups Arborio or risotto rice

1 cup white wine

zest and juice of 1 lemon

¼ cup grated gruyère cheese

¼ cup crumbled goat's cheese (optional)

2T chopped parsley

Cook the waterblommetjies in the boiling stock until tender. Refresh the waterblommetjies in ice water and set aside. Bring the stock to a simmer again. Saute the onion in the butter until soft. Squeeze the roasted garlic from the cloves and add to the onion. Add the rice and stir for 1 minute. Add the wine and cook until completely evaporated. Stir in ½ cup of stock at a time and simmer gently while stirring until completely absorbed before adding more. Keep adding until the rice is al dente. Stir in the chopped, cooked waterblommetjies and the rest of the ingredients. Season well and serve with tempura waterblommetjies, if desired.

TIP: For a quick tempura batter, sift 85g cake flour and 1T cornflour with a little salt. Whisk in 200ml ice-cold sparling water and whisk with a fork until just combined (a few lumps are fine). Dip the waterblommetjies into the batter and deep-fry in hot oil until golden. 

Rose madeleines

When I think of roses I always think of the breathtakingly beautiful garden my grandfather used to tend to in their home in Tamboerskloof. The beds were filled with stunning roses of every name and colour; the gorgeous old-fashioned kind that filled the air with a thick sweet scent and whose buds bloomed into big, full roses with large petals that attracted butterflies and bees. The aroma also brings fond memories of my grandmother who used to wear the perfume of roses on special days and trips to town when the pearls and hair curlers came out too.

Perhaps it is these special memories then that began my love affair with rose water. A twist of the cap and I'm swept right back to that scented garden in the heat of summer, or enveloped in my grandmothers smell just as I used to be when caught in a big warm hug. With Women's Day on the calendar this week, I can't think of a more feminine and graceful ingredient to use for the occasion. And with it being Ramadan, the supermarket shelves are well stocked. So, treat the lady in your life (or even yourself) to a batch of these delicate, dainty and buttery Madeleines which have been perfumed with rose water and hopefully I won't be the only one looking at this ingredient through rose tinted glasses.

Rose madeleines
(makes 24)

185g butter

2 eggs

¾ cup castor sugar

1 cup cake flour, sifted

1T rose water

1t vanilla extract

icing sugar, to dust

Melt the butter in a small saucepan until it starts to bubble and turn brown. When it smells like roasted nuts, remove from the heat and strain well. Bea the eggs and sugar until very thick and pale. Fold in the sifted flour and butter followed by the rose water and vanilla. Spoon into a greased madeleine tin or greased antique serving spoons. Bake at 200C for 6-8 minutes or until golden. Dust with icing sugar. Serve with pink rose water icing to drizzle or dip.

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.