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

Roasted fennel

A very simple recipe for a very simple dish. Roasted fennel goes brilliantly with any fish or chicken as a light accompaniment but, you can also mix in artichoke hearts/garlic/onions or tomatoes, olives and cooked new potatoes for a more robust fennel affair . It has a slight aniseed flavour but it is very subtle. If you want to try something new, give this a bash...

Roasted Fennel

Ingredients:

3-4 fennel bulbs (discard the tops('fonds') and slice the bulbs)
4 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1tsp salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 200*C
Wash and dry the fennel to get rid of excess dirt that might be between the stalks and pop into a baking tray.
Pour over olive oil, lemon and salt and cover with foil.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Pork fillets with Parma ham and olives

I published a pork fillet casserole recipe a little while ago, but I actually bought too much at the time and had two lovely fillets left over. I wanted to make an easy dish that would require little-to-no effort but that would still be very impressive. I love olives and cream together and go gaga for anything wrapped in Parma ham so I decided to combine the two loves and it worked a treat

The whole thing will take you half an hour from start to finish and, if you want to make it an hour or so in advance, the pork will sit happily in the sauce without drying out.

Pork fillets with Parma ham and olives

Ingredients: (serves 4)
2 pork fillets (approx 700g)
4 pieces parma ham
125ml cream
125ml chicken stock
100g pimento stuffed green olives (200g packet with brine)
fresh thyme
salt and pepper

Butter bean mash and green beans/mange tout to serve

Method:
Preheat oven to 190*C
Wrap the slices of parma ham around the pork fillets and season with salt and pepper.
Put a non-stick pan on high heat, pour in a drizzle of olive oil and brown the fillets on all sides. (approx 5 min)
Put the fillets into a casserole dish with the olives and a few sprigs of thyme.
Mix together cream and stock and pout over the fillets. Season with a little salt and pepper and cover.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes* (mine only took 15), take out and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving in thick slices with mash and spoonfuls of the creamy sauce.

*To check if the pork is cooked through; gently press the fillet all over with your index finger - it should feel the same all over, but if the centre is softer than the sides then it needs a few more minutes in the oven.

Microwave meringues

Yes, you saw the title correctly - these are no mess, no fuss meringues you can make in the microwave in 1 minute. The whole dessert will take you 5 minutes. This is for all those wonderful people out there who can't cook or hate cooking or just don't have the time. You can spoil your special someone tonight or any night for that matter and it will cost you next to nothing in both money and time.

Whilst I would never say that these are as glorious as slow-baked meringues, they really do the trick - especially if you are making something like Eton mess. I even managed to make one big enough for a pavlova, and that took about 3 minutes to cook.

Easy as 1..2...3

Meringues with strawberries and cream in 5 minutes

Ingredients:
1 egg white (my eggs gave 40 ml of egg white)
2 cups icing sugar
2 tbsp corn flour
baking paper
strawberries and whipped cream to serve

Method:
Mix together icing sugar and corn flour and put into a bowl with the egg white.
Stir until combined - it will get harder to stir as you go, but stick with it until you have a big clump similar in texture to confectioners icing.
Cut a circle of baking paper to line the glass plate in your microwave.
Roll the meringue mixture into small balls about the size of a quails egg/Smartie egg and place 4 at time, with space between each, on the baking paper.
Bake in the oven for between 35 and 60 seconds - every microwave differs in power so I would do a test with the first ball to get the hang of it. Mine took 40-45 sec. You want to let the meringue rise fully - once it has stopped growing give it a few more seconds and then it should be done. If you leave them too long they will begin to burn. If you open the microwave door and they begin to fall, quickly put them back on for a little longer and they should rise again.
Once done, allow to cool for a few seconds and then peel off the paper and repeat.
Serve with straberries/berries/mango and cream