Tart tatin

This is one of those desserts that I will forever be enamored with French for making but will forever resent the French for naming...'Tart tatin' -the only way to say it is as if you have just tasted something awful and bitter so that you widen your mouth into a frog-like smile to let the words drip off your tongue to get the pronunciation right. In Layman's terms you would pronounce it 'tert - tata' with a 'n' on the end that is present but in the same annoying way as the 't' in 'Moet'. - in short, if you don't get it or can't get it, forget about it, just make it and tell your friends that it is a French apple tart, or say 'tart tatin' under your breath in the hope that they will all be too embarrassed to ask you to repeat it. Either way you should make this.

Tart tatin

Ingredients: (serves 6-8)
7 apples (granny smith)
1/2 cup sugar
50g butter
1 packet ready-made puff pastry
Cream to serve

Method:
Preheat oven to 220*C and grease a 23 centimeter oven proof frying pan or completely metal cake tin (you are going to melt the sugar in it on the stove top)
Peal, core and halve the apples.
Pour the sugar into the pan/cake tin and place on the stove top on high heat. When the sugar begins to dissolve swirl the pan so that the sugar melts evenly, once the sugar has melted and has turned a golden brown colour, continue to swirl until it turns a lighter shade of caramel (approx 5 min), now add the butter and swirl the pan so that, as the butter melts, it dissolves into the sugar to create a caramel.
When the caramel is a deep brown take it off the stove. (If it begins to darken too quickly, put the bottom of the pan into a sink of cold water which will stop the cooking process immediately.)
Carefully arrange the apples, centre side up in the caramel in the pan.
Cut the pastry into a circle just larger than the pan and carefully cover the apples with the circle of pastry. Tuck in the edges and prick the top with a fork.
Bake for 20 minutes on 220 and then a further 20-25 minutes on 200.
Remove from the oven, place a plate on top of the pan and, making sure not to burn yourself, turn the pan and plate over to release the tart onto the plate.
Serve warm or cold with cream.

If you are serving your tart the next day - I would advise you glaze it with a little melted apricot jam as the longer the tart stands, the more its shine will dissipate.

Chocolate chip cookies

Life got ahead of me again...like it tends to. No excuses apart from the fact I needed to prioritize  squeezing in some fun, drinking and sleeping to ease my hard worked body and subsequently my dearest blog was forsaken.

To make up for the lack of attention however I present you with a damn fine recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Gooey and gorgeous I swear by them as a sure fire way to get you out of any hot spot :) I hope they make up for the weeks silence dear readers...

Chocolate chip cookies 

Ingredients:(makes 30)

125g butter (at room temp)

150g sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

150g Flour

Pinch of salt

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

150g/1 cup chocolate chips/chopped dark chocolate

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C.

Grease and line 2 large baking trays.

Beat the butter and sugar with an electric beater until light and thick, add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.

Sift the dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients as well as the chocolate chips and fold together until you have a thick cookie dough.

Spoon dollops of the cookie dough into your palms, roll into balls about the size of large marbles and place on the baking sheets at least 5 centimetres apart as they will spread as they bake.

Bake in the oven for 8-9 minutes – they should still be slightly gooey in the middle when you take them out of the oven.

Allow to cool slightly before taking off the baking paper and transferring to a wire wrack to cool completely.

Mexican Eggs

I am surrounded by wonderful people (I know, here we go with a soppy post, you want to vomit don't you) But seriously I am (perhaps scroll down if you're not in the mood for what I like to term 'happy-feet-waffling'); I work with inspirational people with good hearts and great minds, my friends are supportive and beautiful inside and out, the person I love is..well...all-together-lovely, my family is wonderfully mad and my parents think that everything I do, from boiling an egg to getting dressed in the morning embodies some form of artistic genius...let it be said I am one lucky las.

So 'yay' for me and, you ask, what’s is the point? The point is that we should cherish beautiful people, we should tell them and show them how much they mean to us and appreciate the smiles that they bring to us and the laughter they inspire in us because without beautiful people in our lives, we have nothing. Sharing has to be one, if not the greatest joy, for what is a meal if not shared and what is the point of a gut-wrenching laugh if you're on your own.

What does this all have to do with Mexican Eggs? Well, I went away with one of my dearest friends and her family a few years back. We went to an exquisite Game farm and all we did was cook and eat and talk. It was food for the soul. On one of the best mornings after a long run, seeing the most amazing sights and a subsequent dip in the pool, they cooked this up for everyone; we all sat around laughing and talking while her family showed me how to make their most-loved breakfast. It is indeed a sharing breakfast and one that is best served to a crowd because you cook it all in the same pan, you can sit around and let it all happen slowly, leaving room for banter of the best kind. Now every time I make it I think of her and yes, it always makes me smile. So cook this for someone and share a little while you do because it makes the world of difference.

Mexican Eggs

Ingredients: (serves 2-4)

200g Chorizo (sliced) Alternatively use bacon

1/2 onion (diced)

1/2 large red/yellow pepper (sliced)

1 large clove garlic (finely chopped)

1 red chilli (finely chopped)

5 tomatoes (chopped)/1 1/2  tins chopped tomatoes

1/2 tsp sugar

4-6 eggs 

100g grated cheddar/feta

1 avo (sliced)

Method:

Pour a little oil into a large fryingpan on put it on medium heat. Add Chorizo, onion and peppers and fry for about 2-3 minutes until the onions and peppers have softened and the chorizo is lightly browned.

Add garlic, chilli, tomatoes and sugar and cover. Simmer gently for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have broken down and the sauce is thick and gorgeous.

To cook the eggs: make little indentations in the sauce by pushing down with a large spoon. Crack the eggs into the spaces, grate/crumble over the cheese and cover once again to allow the eggs to poach for 4 minutes.

Scatter over avo before scooping generous portions into bowls or straight on top of toasts. Yum

Babotie spring rolls

This was an idea given to me by my lovely friend Caro; I had been asked to cater a small function and they wanted trendy South African 'street food'. She said she had tried these at a very popular restaurant in Knysna called 'Ile de pain' (I have been and it is out of this world - best croissants this side of the equator) I thought it was a great idea and so set about making my own version.

For all of those out there who have no idea what 'babotie' is: 
Bobotie also spelt bobotjie, is a South African dish consisting of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-based topping. It is thought that colonists from the Dutch East India Colonies introduced bobotie to South Africa after which it was adapted by the Cap Malay community.

To be honest, if you have left-over babotie you could just as easily mix it together and use it for your filling. If you don't want to make a huge amount simply halve me recipe.

Babotie spring rolls

Ingredients: (makes 30 spring rolls)
3 onions
3 tbsp garlic and ginger paste/4 cloves garlic & 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger (grated)
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp medium strength curry powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander
1kg mince
1 tbsp tomato paste
4 tbsp apricot chutney
2 pieces of white bread (crusts removed) soaked in 125 ml milk
125ml raisins (optional)
2 handfuls of coriander (chopped)

spring roll wrappers
1 egg mixed with 3 tbsp water
oil for frying

Method:
Put a large saucepan on medium heat. Drizzle in a good glug of olive oil/sunflower oil (4tbsp) and saute the onions until translucent.
Add the garlic and ginger, salt, sugar and all of the spices and fry for a minute or two (if the mixture starts to stick to the bottom of the pan add a little water)
Add the mince and fry until browned (about 5-8min)
Squeeze excess milk from the bread, break apart and add to the mince along with the tomato paste, chutney and raisins.
Simmer for 15 minutes to reduce.
Remove from the stove and allow to cool.
Once cooled add the chopped coriander.
Place a heaped tablespoon of the mixture on the centre of each spring roll wrapper and shape into cylinders. Fold over the sides, brush the top edges with a little egg was and roll up to seal.
Repeat.
Fry in batches and serve with sweet chilli sauce/tsatsiki/simple salad/all of the above