2016 August
1
Good
morning XCentric family and friends!!
The month
of July – done and dusted. It’s still freezing cold in Joburg, but at
least the sun is shining brightly.
Do you eat
Bovril / Marmite / Vegemite? This issue is a definite ‘love/hate’
issue. I’m a Bovril girl, but lately my snack is ‘ Safari Marmite
Cashews’.
As well as Marmite Mini Rice Cakes. Mostly these are
available at Pick ‘n Pay or Spar shops.
Gluten intolerant? Remember that if one of
my recipes use all-purpose flour ... do not automatically skip it! Use
gluten-free flour!!!!
I made a
Bovril fridge cheesecake, but since I couldn’t decide if I like it or not ... I
scrapped it. (Hein thought it was a caramel cheesecake, took one bite and
the look on his face: priceless!!! And not in a good way!)
DO TAKE
NOTE of the Flourless Peanut Butter Bovril cookies .... yes, it sounds a bit
weird, but my friends all loved it!!!!
9 August is Woman’s Day ...
Let me know
what you think of this Bovril/Marmite/Vegemite issue. Oh and if you stay
in Joburg and plan on going to Australia ... PLEASE PLEASE see if you can find
me one of these ....
I would
love to taste this! Although I’ve heard that Vegemite is just a TAD
different than Bovril/Marmite.
LONGER, CHATTIER VERSION – GRAB A CUPPA
AND BE COMFY...
Wednesday 13 July 2016
Burgers ...
a few weeks ago we really wanted to sink our teeth into a yummy burger ...
Dukes Burgers, Greenside, is well-known for their Wednesday Rock Menu.
Amazing toppings and flavors for their burgers.
Arriving at Dukes around
17h30 on a Wednesday, we looked at the menu and then I realized the waitress
didn’t hand us the Wednesday menu. Asking for the menu, I was stunned
with her reply: you cannot order from that menu, it’s only available from
18h00. Uh, okaaaay, so we’re 30 minutes early, we are prepared to
wait. Oooooh she said then, you can order from this rock menu. No thanks
we said ... we’ll go someplace else. So first we had to ASK for the
Wednesday menu, then we cannot order because we’re too early, then we could
order ...
Walking
down Gleneagles street from Dukes Burgers, we walked into Rim & Rubber (https://www.zomato.com/johannesburg/rim-rubber-greenside/reviews). A quirky restaurant filled
with motorbikes and with an EXTRAORDINARY menu!!! (They have a live bike
show recordings on Wednesdays, poetry evenings and more.) Scanning the
menu, I saw quite a few really nice menu items. But then my eye fell on
this dessert – BAKED ALASKA. Have you ever seen this on a restaurant
menu?
We’ve been privileged to visit some upper class restaurants, but
I’ve never seen this on a menu. It’s basically a cake,
surrounded with ice cream, enveloped in meringue mixture and then blow-torched
or baked in oven for a few minutes. I promptly ordered this
dessert. It had pumpkin spice cake, Amarula ice cream and the meringue.
OH MY GOODNESS!!! It was quite a big portion (definitely enough for 2
people) and was deeeevine!!!!! The cake was soft and spicy, the ice cream
still ‘ice cream’, not ‘slush’ and the whole dessert was just one yummy
treat!!! Hein had this steak on the bone with chips - he was really pleased.
Wednesday 20 July 2016
A week
later we decided to have lunch at Rim & Rubber. (I’m not sure when
their busy times are ... the restaurant is sometimes a bit empty, but the
food makes up for it!) Scanning the menu again, I was really tempted to
try the Tomato and Boerewors soup with ‘roosterkoek’ (griddle cake) ... but
then my eye fell on this salad – Deep fried goat salad with beetroot ice
cream.
Yes! Once again, I was blown away. 4 Round balls of
goat’s cheese was deep fried ... served on lettuce and with a ball of Beetroot
ice cream!!!!! It was absolutely smashing!!!!!!!
Hein had steak, egg & chips served in an unusual way. It was delicious!
If you
want to visit a lovely French cafe ... French Toast in Hartbeespoortdam is
it. (They’re right on the same premises as the aquarium) (http://frenchtoastharties.co.za/)
Wow, really amazing decor! Inside
they have 2 seating areas ... first a ‘cafe-like’ area with musical instruments
displayed on shelves ... then a separate room decorated with candelabra,
burgundy painted walls and gold-framed paintings. Outside is a tall
Eiffel tower and on all the tables miniature Eiffel towers. Food is
mostly based around .. you guessed ... French Toast. I ordered banana,
bacon and french toast kebabs. It was really good.
Hein had french toast, topped with beef fillet, onion marmalade and a cheese sauce. It was fabulous!
Next to the
Eiffel tower is an area where you can display your personalized messaged lock
on a metal grid.
Do you love
fish ... visit the restaurant ‘Love Fish’ in Morningside Mall (they’re
affiliated with The Green Peppercorn (Morningside Mall) and Liquorish Bistro
(Nicolway).
Hein and I were lucky to tested a few of their dishes ...
read my Zomato review (https://www.zomato.com/review/OEyYpo) – the Food is extremely tasty,
extremely creative and although quite pricey, really worth the visit!!
Our favorites were 3 starters: salmon carpaccio served on a
honey-teriyaki sauce, smoked snoek samoosas served with peach chutney and salt
& pepper squid served with banana-curry-mayo. OVER THE TOP GOODNESS!
Preparing
dinner the past few weeks have been really good ... I’ve made a fantastic
Ostrich Pepper Pie!!!!! (Hein said: now we cannot buy a pie in a
restaurant anymore.) The ostrich was soooo soft and tender and the pepper
sauce ... absolutely delicious!
Ostrich
pepper pie
Note: how much black & white pepper you use is
up to you
500 g
Ostrich goulash (cut into smaller cubes)
Coarse
pepper (about 1 tablespoon)
Fine black
pepper (about 2 – 3 tablespoons)
Fine white
pepper (about 2 – 3 tablespoons)
Crushed
garlic to taste
1 onion,
chopped in chunky bits
1 tbsp
Worcestershire sauce
About 1 cup
All-purpose Flour (to coat meat in)
3 heaped
teaspoons Beef Stock powder
1 cup
frozen peas
2 big
carrots, sliced
750 ml
boiling water
Salt to
taste
1 roll Puff
pastry, defrosted
1 Egg
beaten
Oil for
frying
Mix the
beef stock powder with boiling water. Coat
the ostrich cubes in mixture of fine white and black pepper and then flour. In big pot with a lid on stove, fry ostrich
cubes in single layer (repeat till they are all brown) in oil till brown. Remove.
Fry the garlic and onion in the oil, add the ostrich cubes, seasonings,
peas, carrots and cover with the stock (the ostrich cubes must be under the
liquid) –put lid on pot, lower the heat on stove and simmer till meat is soft –
about 1 hour to 1 ½ hour.
Preheat
oven to 200 oC. Spoon your ostrich
mixture into your pie dish / oven dish / 2 small oven dishes. (If the liquid of
the ostrich mixture is very thin, thicken a bit with flour.)
Roll out
pastry. Cover the
dish/dishes with pastry lid, brush with egg mixture. Place pie dish / oven dish / 2 small oven
dishes on baking sheet on centre shelf in oven.
Bake for 30 minutes or till pastry is golden brown. Make mash,
pour gravy over and serve with salad/veg.
Recipe: Alma Pretorius
One of
my aqua friends, Rekha, gave me a fantastic recipe to turn an ordinary tin of
baked beans into something spectacular!!! With the addition of a few
herbs and spices, totally delicious!
Rekha’s baked beans
1 Onion,
chopped
2 Tomatoes,
chopped finely
1 tbsp Black
mustard seeds
1 tbsp Cumin
seeds
1 tsp Ground
cumin
1 tsp Ground
coriander
1 tsp (or
more) Chilli powder
1 tsp Ground
ginger
1 tsp Crushed
garlic
1 tin Baked
beans
Fry onion
with mustard and cumin seeds. Braise the
ginger and garlic for a few minutes. Add chopped tomato. Let simmer for a bit. Add rest of ingredients EXCEPT beans and
simmer. Add beans and simmer more.
Apple
strudel ... I managed to make one with puff pastry and was it quick and
easy! And sooooo yummy!
Celebrating
our 24th anniversary, we booked a Monday-Friday (25 - 29 July 2016) bush-break at
Dikhololo. This game reserve is on the other side of Brits (http://www.dikhololo.co.za/), so it’s not even 2 hours’ drive from Randburg. This was our 2nd
visit, so we can give you really good tips ... for one ... stay in a
stand-alone chalet!
Monday 25 July 2016
This visit we stayed in a chalet close to the main
complex ... attached to another chalet. Ours was a studio chalet and I
have to admit ... fabulously equipped!!!! It has one open-plan room with
a double/queen-sized bed, granite dining table with chairs, fully equipped
kitchen with a pantry cupboard, a clothes cupboard and a dresser with drawers,
bathroom with shower in the bath, toilet, sink and then upstairs (open to the
rest of chalet) are 2 single beds.
Our chalet had a lovely private braai
area. The problem? The wall between the 2 chalets doesn’t reach the
thatch roof ... so there’s a gap. If we’re in the front room/bedroom area
and our neighbors are in their front area, we could literally hear every
single word of their conversation! Not to mention if they start to watch
TV news at 8am ...
Dikhololo
overall is a great place. Even if you’re single. There is a
super-tube (only open certain days), a room with pool tables, table tennis, an
inside heated pool, outside pool, mini-golf, a spa (with appointments only), a
big shop with a bit of everything, a liquor store, a pub and a lovely big
restaurant (seating inside and outside). On some days there are live
entertainment, bingo and guided game drives.
Food is
fantastic. Good prices, good portions and quite a variety of menu
items. DO ORDER THE SCONES WITH JAM AND CREAM!!!!!!
I refuse to buy
scones in Joburg ... it’s just a really ‘touch and go’ item ... but at
Dikhololo I always order it! 2 Scones, halved and topped with jam and
cream ... absolutely delicious! Some evenings they have a Carvery
... fabulous! Staff is efficient, friendly, most of them talk Afrikaans
and know the menu.
There are
no big game on Dikhololo, but plenty of buck, giraffes, etc and normal cars can
easily drive through the bushes – no need for a high-clearance vehicle.
Birds are plentiful and really tame. Monkeys visit the chalets, so keep
doors and windows closed. It’s really a fantastic bush getaway
experience.
I bet
you’re drooling for some scones now ... not to mention apple strudel, baked
beans and ostrich pie! And I’m pretty sure you’re cuppa has dried up ...
or been refilled a few times.
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