So, it's halfway through the week...Mini Friday, or Saturday (as some would say?) and I have a recipe for anyone who is out of ideas...and or has a very small budget. This oven bake involves minced meat, Spinach and some tomatoes (predominantly). Man oh man, even if I say so myself, this one turned out Goooooood. So well in fact, that there are no pictures of the end result... I do however have a photo or two of the procedure that led me to finished product :) Methodology and Ingredients:
You will need: Spinach cherry tomatoes Minced meat stale bread crumbs an egg S & P, sugar and other spices last few drops of Tomato Sauce Worcester Sauce Garlic Butter Milk Flour Ina Paarman's White Sauce powder (if available) left over Cottage cheese last piece of cheese in fridge sunflower oil (or any oil really) All of the ingredients used for the meatballs were mixed together in a bowl and rolled up into little meatballs for the oven dish. This included all of the ingredients except the spinach and tomatoes (and all the white sauce ingredients...which comes later). The egg and bread crumbs help to bind the meatballs a bit better as they cook. Next, I washed and cut the spinach leaves, sliced up the tomatoes and proceeded to create lasagna-like layers with the spinach and tomatoes, then the meatballs resting on top and then covered by more tomatoes and spinach. S, essentially, it's a meatball-sandwich with spinach and tomatoes as the bread. This then went into the oven for approximately 10-15 minutes--while I prepared the cheesy, white sauce. The melted butter, flour and milk (all in that order) were mixed together and placed in the microwave for small increments at a time to help cook the sauce a little. Thereafter, I added two or three teaspoons of the Ina Paarman white sauce powder (proudly provided by the spice rack of our commune) and stirred and heated further. Lastly, half a handful of grated cheese and the last tablespoon of cottage cheese was added to the mix. Place in the microwave for more or less a minute or two. Important to remember with a white sauce (or any sauce I guess) is to Whhhhisk!; one can never go wrong with whisking frantically. Many sauces (especially white/ cheese/ mushroom) are salvageable by adding a splash or two more of milk. Once my cheesy-white sauce was ready, I took the meatballs and spinach dish out of the oven and poured the sauce over it, covering the whole leafy affair. One must ensure to get it into all of the nooks and crannies of the spinach leaves and meatballs. Those juices later on are super tasty! Leave in the oven for about 25 minutes at 160 degrees Celcius (but as previously mentioned, keep checking on your dish...some ovens are pretty unforgiving..or emotionally-volatile). After that, we all know what happens... Remove from the oven and DO NOT SHARE! You'll understand why once you take the first bite. Oh ya, and a last point to note; Do not be fooled by the huge amount of spinach you may need. It might look like you've cut up too much to start off with, but once it wilts, the amount drastically lessens. So, in this case, More is More. I hope you enjoy this recipe...it blew my socks off (okay, I'll quit bragging now). Au revoir mes amis!
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So, seeing as a couple of friends and I are heading to the farm this weekend, the budget which my parents have bestowed upon me (I know that is not grammatically correct, but it sounds so much more fancy) this week needs to be planned almost down to the 50 cent coin. I took a refreshing walk to the green grocer a couple blocks from my house (although, looking at it now, I walk everywhere, all the time...so it wasn't that refreshing...I did however get sprayed by an unavoidable sprinkler on the way there). On the walk, I wondered about what would be most beneficial to my health-and my purse. Today, for late lunch/ early dinner I've decided to bake another easy bread and top it off with some wholesome (yet creamy) spinach and baby tomatoes. I sometimes find that it's a little bit better for the body/ metabolism not to combine starchy foods with protein, therefore you digest the food a bit quicker and more efficiently, hence the spinach and tomatoes instead of maybe bacon or chicken. Sometimes feeling a bit sluggish after a meal is the result of your body having to work twice as hard to break down two or three different types of food. So here, take a look :) Here's le pain..before it was sliced... Here are some of the ingredients:
Basic bread dough: 2-3 cups of flour (as mentioned in earlier post), a packet of instant yeast, salt, luke warm water. For this bread I also added whole mustard seeds (a teaspoon or so), lemon and rosemary seasoning and a tiiiny bit of sugar to enhance the saltiness. Oven on approximately 180 degrees Celcius (preheat, to get the job done a bit quicker). And most importantly, don't forget to let your dough-baby incubate in the sun for about 30 minutes before-hand. Spinach--cut up and wilted in frying pan, a couple drops of oil, sliced up baby tomatoes and Garlic and Herb cottage cheese (low fat...ladies!). And then of course, good ol' S & P. I let the spinach and tomatoes cook on a low heat for about 40 minutes; to be really soft and flavorsome! Next recipe will be a bit more daring... Moving away from the bread, gonna have buns of steel one of these days (pun intended...sort of). Next installation...Something with mmmeatballs! Have a lovely lundi! Until the next one* Another eventful week that has just passed! As mentioned in my previous post, it was my younger sister's Matric Dance on Saturday. I even left Pretoria a tad earlier than usual to go over and help her and my mom prepare..for the big affair (check out the rhyming skillz over there!). The occasion in itself was quite a momentous one--not only for my little Jess, but also for our family--and then on a larger scale, our community. My sister and I have grown up with quite a few friends- some with older siblings and some with younger ones- in the neighbourhood over the past years and last weekend it was finally the turn of all the youngsters for their "time to shine". Needless to say, all the moms (including the undersigned's Mom...) at the local hair salon were tearing up ever so slightly as they chatted about how their daughters were finally reaching the point of matriculation...and leaving the nest (Hey..! What was I when I left? Chopped liver?). In our first year of Anthropology here at the University of Pretoria, there was a fantastic module spent on Liminality. Basically what "liminality" means is sort of like crossing a threshold; it is when a person, group or entity goes from one phase or space into the next. Super symbolic and a very fitting topic at the point in time which we learned about it. One usually does so with a peer group or fellow colleagues et cetera. This weekend and the months to come is a perfect example of being in the liminal phase. As Jess and her fellow school friends finish up with their final exams and go off on their matric vacation (as majority do, I guess), they exit and move on from High school and into the next phase of life which awaits them-- be that University, work, possibly a Gap year, you get the point. But before I bore my readers too much with the inner workings of Anthropological perspective, here is a snap of My sister, myself and her date: I didn't think I would get too emotional on the night when we saw them off at the pre-party or on the "red carpet", but...in total contrast to that thought...I was more concerned and worried (and slightly koo-koo) than expected. Even the owner of the hair salon told me to calm down (it wasn't like I was interfering with the stylist or anything. Just giving a few plain, constructive pointers is all).
As my parents and I left Jess and her friends to enjoy the Dance, I felt like I was back in Nursery school with her; where the teacher told us that because of our age difference, we had to split up into different play groups. That day and subsequent days thereafter, I cried my eyes out every time we went to our different groups because I shuddered at the thought of not being with her and just wanted her to be okay (not realizing that she was way more ready to spread some wings than I was for her to). Gosh, I don't know if it's possible to describe to anyone on Earth how it feels to have a sister, or just how much love you can have for one another. The best I can do is just to say that, without even having to think about it, I would lay my life on the line for her. She has made me the person that I am today and I thank God every day for giving me such a treasure. Having a sister is one of life's most precious gifts anyone can ever receive. And to top it all off not only did I get a sister, He gave me Jess! Double Whammy. Sometimes it feels as though she is the older one; always giving positive advice and trusting with her heart and believing in the best of people. I hope if there's anyone who reads this and can relate, that you take the time to tell that special sibling or even family member how much you love them. We all know that life can change in the blink of an eye, so there's no reason why the people close to you shouldn't know how much they mean to you. Keep well! Oh ja, and before I forget, I'm in the process of uploading another little lunch recipe! Stay tuned...or um, logged on. :) So this weekend I decided to head on down to Johannesburg and pay the ol' fandamily a visit. My sister's Matric Dance is taking place this coming Saturday and so, I thought that it would be a good idea to help her and my mom prepare-- If there are any male readers at this point, this is where I will elaborate; last minute touch-ups on the dress, finding shoes, a clutch bag, a matching bow tie for her date, jewellery and/ or accessories...the list continues as the dance draws nearer. Let us consider this as a trial run for any girl's wedding day... Anyhow, it was great to see my parents and sister (and two dogs; Gus and Frostie) for a couple of days. We spent Friday evening at one of our favourite restaurants which we have been going to ever since I was a very small person (I'm talking a couple months old here!) and shared some extra-cheesy, decadent, pan-fried pizza's as well as a fabulous, never-disappointing bottle of Alto Rouge (2011). The night revolved around making and discussing plans for the future, reminiscing (and by "reminiscing" I mean, chuckling) on memories from younger years, complaining to the waiter for messing up the pizza order (which resulted in us getting some free cappuccino's...) and just good old-fashioned face stuffery! Top button of pants unbuttoned at the terminus of the evening: Check! As afore-mentioned, the bulk of the weekend was spent doing searching and shopping for Matric Dance specifics. This means getting ready, going to the mall, and spending hours upon hours looking for what is on the list and returning home with the only thing purchased being coffee and lunch from Mugg n Bean to gather strength... Not so productive, but at least we had seen everything that was on offer. Thus, on Sunday, the job for my mom and I was much easier now that we had formed an idea of what could work. This evening we decided to do a family collaboration on dinner. I shall now present the final product; My dad cooked the rump steaks, I created the salad and my mom made the cheese and mushroom sauce for the steak. Other additives such as the reduction for the meat was put together by my dad and I made a quick vinaigrette for the salad. A Couple of Ingredients: Rump Steak (slightly obvious)--pan-fried, spices of your choice and a dash of olive oil. Mushrooms, flour, butter, milk, salt--made in microwave, compliments of Mom's age-old methodology. Danish Feta, avocado, egg plant, olives, bread (for croutons), tomato, rosemary, your own choice of spices and baby spinach leaves. Everything except for the avo, feta, olives and spinach leaves were roasted in the oven for crispiness; approximately 20 minutes at 140 degrees Celsius. Olive oil and other spices including mauled Cumin were also tossed around in the oven tray to give ingredients some personality. For the Vinaigrette: Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, S & P, chopped rosemary, sugar, Steers French Dressing, Sweet chili sauce, small helping of chopped garlic (depending on when your next conversation with other human life is) and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Shake up in any container, jar, bottle, whatever is closest and drizzle over insalata! The Monday night meal was enjoyed by everyone...except Gus and Frostie who were given a slightly more budget version of: Lucky Star shredded Pilchards, dog pellets, fermented bread and hot water. Sorry guys, maybe next time. Here's a picture of Gus; him preparing for Coachella 2015... He looks a bit hostile here, but is usually the biggest monochromatic (okay, well, dual-chromatic...If there is such a word) teddy-bear the Southern Hemisphere has ever seen. He does tricks such as presenting his paw upon request, and jumping. And when he lies on his side, he places his legs neatly on top of one another (always a crowd favourite). He always responds when you talk to him, and waves his tail when you wave to him. His only downfall is his bad breath and the level on dustiness on his belly. For the rest of the week, I hope the readers of this will have wonderful sunny days and warm, cosy evenings! Until the next post! So the other day, I finally decided to roll up my sleeves and remove the finger jewelry again for some kneading! It has been a while since my last home made bread and after deciding to experiment with some brinjals (or aubergines...I don't really know how big the difference is), I thought it would only be fitting to see whether or not they would work in a rustic (in other words...very straight-forward) bread. There were two versions of photo's that came out of this cooking session; my photo's (taken with my WWII artifact) and photo's with Stef, my housemate's camera. Her photo's were absolutely brilliant; so brilliant in fact that I questioned whether it was me who baked the bread after seeing those pictures. Unfortunately however, I could not get them from her in time, and so, I've opted for my own instead. But, I guess they're still not too bad! Here is my attempt at a Brinjal, roasted tomato, mushroom and olive bread!. Feast your carbo-loading eyes! Honestly, any bread is easy to make if you make it with enough love... and strong wrists! A Couple of Instructions: For your dough, you can do it according to any recipe you find on the internet, but the general principle which I use goes along the lines of 2-3 cups of flour (and then you'll need to add more as you start kneading), one packet of instant yeast, a pinch of salt and luke warm water (add slowly!). Once you've finished kneading your dough, leave it in the bowl and cover with a layer of cling film or perhaps just a plastic shopping packet or anything that will retain a bit of heat (we're going for the incubator effect here...like a little floury baby). What I usually prefer to do then is to find a good towel or blanket and then wrap the bowl with this. I look for a sunny spot outside in the garden and place it on a chair for approximately 40 minutes. While the rising of the dough happened, I prepared the filling for the bread in the oven, take a look: A bit of oil in the pan--we all know why we need oil, sliced up brinjals, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. Seasoned with rosemary and lemon herbs, paprika, S & P and coriander. Leave in the oven for approximately 15 minutes at 160-180 degrees Celsius (but keep checking on it; the aim is roasty, not charcoal and cinders). Once the dough had risen enough (you'll know it is ready when it almost wants to climb out of the bowl itself), I gave it another kneading and spread it out into the same pan used above for the roasted contents in the same way we would do with a pizza. I then smeared a thin layer of balsamic and red onion dip on the laid out dough (for creaminess) and then packed all the ingredients onto the flat dough. This is where the olives also came in. Because I opted for a bread that is easier to cut into slices for sandwiches (open-faced or closed), what I then did after laying out all the roasted bits, is I gently lifted the dough and rolled it up (roly-poly fashion) from right to left and then swiveled it in the pan so that it would fit spaciously (room for growth, in life and in bread is always a good thing...). I usually bake my bread for about 30 minutes or longer, depending on how (for lack of a better word) crusty you want it. After waiting impatiently in the kitchen, pacing up and down, the bread was finally ready. I gave it a few minutes to cool off (which was torturous) and then proceeded to cutting a few slices. I topped mine with normal cheddar cheese, a slice of hickory ham and Steer's Italian dressing (and more black pepper). The loaf in its entirety lasted more or less 1 day only-- Stef and myself being the main culprits of its disappearance. It was really simple to make, but the results spoke for themselves and it was a real hit with the rest of my commune.
Obviously if you were to try this recipe, you could add a whole bunch of your own ingredients or own toppings afterwards, this was merely a summation of what was in my cupboard at the time! Please do give it a try, and always remember that, you can make anything well, if you add enough... <3 ... (wow, that was cheesy). Happy Baking! |
AuthorHi there, my name is Judete Fourie. I am a twenty-something-year-old writer living in Stellenbosch in SA's Western Cape. Follow my day to day adventures that involve wine, wit and braaibroodjies. Archives
June 2017
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