My neighbour Sue said she had PLENTY of granadillas (passion fruit) and maybe I should use that in an issue ... I thought ... I know you get passion fruit on cheesecake ... and uh uh .... so I started to surf the Net ... and wowsa!!!!!!
Cordial,
syrup, chutney, chili sauce, chicken and muffins ... who would have thought!
Put some
passion in your cooking by trying out one of these recipes. Only 6 this
time to choose from .... obviously I loove every single recipe!!!
I trust you
have a Green month ahead! What’s up for next month? Who knows.
Have a
fabulous month!!!
Grab a piece of leftover Valentine
chocolate, sink into a comfy chair and read my longer Windy Cape Town chat:
Tuesday 7
Feb 2017
Hein said he had some business in Cape Town .. do I want to tag
along. After checking the flights, I started packing my suitcase.
Heehee ... in a hurry I was. When checking for rental cars, we realized
there was some political stuff going on, so no cars for hire. Okay ...
we’ll just Über. Not wanting to stay in a hotel or bed & breakfast,
we booked a self-catering flat in Table view. One block from the sea and
when you sit in bed, you see Table Mountain and the sea.
Here’s the
link to my pictures ... of course mostly of food! http://s216.photobucket.com/user/almapretorius/library/Cape%20Town%20February%202014%20Valentine%20Celebrations
Not bad for
an early Valentine celebration. Flying on Wednesday 8 Feb 2017, I spent
the Wednesday morning making 4 of this issue’s recipes. Not wanting to
check in our luggage, we managed to pack 2 gym bags – we even stood on the
scale to weigh them.
At Lanseria airport, we sat outside on the patio at
Wiesenhof for lunch. I loved the look of the Roosterkoek (grid cake) with
grated Cheddar cheese. Hein had stywe pap, tomato relish, boerewors, egg,
bacon and toast. I looked at my plate ... no grated Cheddar cheese ...
only slices of processed cheese. I cut into my roosterkoek and although
it had lovely grid marks on the outside, it wasn’t crispy. Really??
It’s like ordering toast and your toast is not crispy. I sent it back and
snagged some of Hein’s toast, bacon and egg. Sigh.
Arrived
after 5pm in Cape and the wind was in full force! We stood outside an
exit to wait for our Über and the wind blew my hair gel out of my spiky
hair!!!! The smokers had a really hard time lighting up ... stood in
corners of the building. Yeah, not pleasant!
At the
flat, I quickly unpacked, looked at all the kite surfers (and there were loads
of them!) and then walked a few blocks to Catch 22 (https://www.catch22restaurant.co.za/), a steak and seafood restaurant, meeting up
with a friend.
It was around 7pm and we didn’t book, but luckily a table
was available. The place was buzzing!!! The waitress was
amazing!!!! Told us only certain fish was available. When Hein
ordered the Fillet on the Bone, she had to check with the chef ... some of the
steaks were over-matured!
Hein was in luck so he ordered the THICK cut
Fillet on Bone with Madagascan green peppercorn sauce, sautéed potatoes with
crispy onions on top and veggies. He said although he’s used to a creamy
version of green peppercorn sauce, this was more butter/oil-based but still
good. Everything on his plate was yum!
Chris had T-bone steak with
baked potato, sour cream and onion rings. He said it was GOOD. I
ordered a starter of chilli-crusted, deep fried calamari tubes served with
peanut satay sauce. Calamari was tender and deeeeeeelicious!!!
I
also ordered side orders of garlic-cheese baguette (for the table) and battered
onion rings. It was okay.
Dessert was
a gingerbread milkshake ... oh my goodness!!!! It tasted exactly like
gingerbread cookies ... but a smooth version! What a stunning
restaurant! Interesting menu, excellent service and not ‘over-the-top-
prices.
Thursday 9
Feb 2017 – drinking coffee while watching the sea was amazing! Wind was
still blowing but we managed to again walk the few blocks to Melissa’s (http://www.melissas.co.za/) for breakfast. Decor is really spectacular and all the yummy
goodies on display .... but sadly, that’s all it is. I wanted to order
the Croque Monsieur - I was told I couldn’t. No reason given.
Also there were no SALMON available. Hein ordered a croissant with scrambled
eggs and bacon. Croissant was crispy and buttery, scrambled eggs were
good, but the bacon ... or should I rather call it ‘pork fat lightly called
bacon’. There were a few slices but mostly fat! A few thin strips
of meat on the ‘bacon’. Uggh.
I eventually
decided to order a toasted baguette with bacon jam, poached egg and rocket
leaves. The bacon jam was good, as was the egg and rocket. BUT the
baguette was really resistant to cutting with my butter knife!
You may
think we like to grumble in restaurants, but look ... we pay for our
food! We don’t get it for free and sometimes the prices aren’t low ... so
yes, if I order something and it’s not up to standard .. I will calmly tell
them to remove the dish and no – you cannot redo the dish for me ... if you’ve
got it wrong the 1st time, why would you get it right the 2nd
time?
Hein had a
meeting so he helped me find an Über. I was on my way to Greenmarket
Square Cape. Walked around the streets, mostly African-based
products. At an indoor African market, I bought an orange leather heart key-ring (to use as an earring). I've added orange buttons - cute!
A brightly colored canvas caught my eye
... it was an African woman with a headdress ... but I think only the headdress
and her eyes were painted ... the rest of picture were glued-on beads!!!!
Even her face had these tiny beads. It was brilliantly done!
In Adderley
Street, Town Square, there’s a XPresso coffee shop (https://www.zomato.com/capetown/xpresso-caf%C3%A91-cbd) (you may remember I wrote about the
one in Durbanville!) So this one also sells EVERYTHING for R10!
But the
cool thing ... there was a beggar opposite the cafe, so when I asked the staff,
they said I could buy a R10 voucher and they give it to him .. and he can then
choose what he want. How brilliant is that! Walked through
the Food Lovers’ Market and through a few other streets. I was tired
now. So on my own, I ordered an Über that took me back to the flat.
What absolute pleasure these Über cars .. no need to worry about parking, traffic,
nothing!
At the
flat, it was around lunch time and Hein said he had another meeting in Century
City .. he could drop me off at Canal Walk Mall. My tiredness gone, yes
let’s go! At the KFC I had a chicken thigh and small chips.
Yummy!!! This Canal Walk mall is BIG!!! I walked in and out of
shops and found another earring ... a red leather owl keyring.
But
seriously, after all this walking I nearly had blisters from my flip
flops. Sipped a peanut butter smoothie for strength and was picked up by
Hein and Chris.
After 5 pm we walked the few blocks to News Cafe
for dinner. The wind was blowing madly!!! I hold onto Hein – of
course the kite surfers loved it! This News Cafe Table View (https://www.zomato.com/capetown/newscafe-1-table-view/info ) is really great!!!
Hein had a
mushroom and cheese burger with chips and pepper sauce on the side. The
pepper sauce was actually just a white sauce.
I ordered Smoky BBQ chicken
wings with blue cheese sauce (yummy!) and side order of Mac n Cheese. The
Mac n Cheese was quite bland, so we added the blue cheese sauce and some red
Tabasco sauce and it was great!
Hein had some whisky for ‘dessert’ but
News Cafe doesn’t have desserts. Only carrot cake (can be too dry) or
chocolate caramel cake (can be too bland and dry) or ‘naked’ baked
cheesecake. How boring!!!
This waitress
absolutely CRINGED!!! And said no no no!!! It will be too
sweet! I said ... pretty please, can I have that. It was absolutely
delicious! Not too sweet, but real good!
So it was
still light outside when we walked back to the flat, but the wind was still
blowing fierce! In front of us an older couple walked. He with 2
boxes of pizza. The next moment the wind flipped the lid of one box and
down went some slices of pizza on the street!! The poor guy gave the
other box to his wife and struggled to pick up the slices. But as soon as
he had them in the box, the wind would flip the lid again and down the slices
went. Eventually he managed to pick up all the slices. Then he
wanted to take the box from his wife, but she held onto that box like it was
the last meal!!! Oh dear, what a shame that was!!!
Friday 10
Feb 2017
We woke up with clear skies and no wind! The sliding doors at
our bedroom were open the whole night and the waves breaking on the beach was
just so soothing. After coffee, we decided that News Cafe will have us
for breakfast. In this glorious morning we walked the few blocks.
Sat outside the News Cafe and ordered a Mexican Sunrise.
It’s quite a big
breakfast for R98 ... but we told them we’ll share it. Fried chorizo
slices, refried beans, egg, toast, avo, corn fritters, tomato salsa and
crumbled feta. The kitchen was clever and divided the dish into 2 small
pans. It was absolutely delicious!!!!!!
Deciding
that we’ll celebrate an early Valentine in Camps Bay for dinner, Hein went to a
few meetings and I stayed in the flat, reading and gazing at the mountain and sea.
I booked a table at Mezepoli (https://www.zomato.com/mezepolicampsbay) for 7pm. Just after 5pm we
ordered another Über to Camps Bay ... boy, the traffic was really bad!!!!
And of course, no hope of parking at the Promenade, Camps Bay. At 6pm we
walked into Mezepoli and sat at our reserved table ... right next to the
pavement, overlooking the sea. It was a GLORIOUS Cape Town day!
People were walking around in swimsuits, shorts, flip flops and
sunglasses. Loads of tourists passed us and we gawked at the fashion and
people.
A virgin
Mojito was my drink, while Hein struggled with a lukewarm beer (apparently the
overseas visitors prefer a warm beer). In November 2015 we’ve been to
Mezepoli so we decided to again order tapas dishes. Pita bread with
tzatziki and hummus dips. Just delicious!
Small plates we
ordered: beef kebab with chips, black olives, Mama’s meatballs, grilled
Sardines (for me) and grilled calamari tubes filled with feta and red peppers
and more pita bread. Everything was just
amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hein ordered a glass of white wine and
nearly choked on an olive when he saw the bill ... R72 for a glass of wine???
Dessert was .. of course ... Baklava with black Greek coffee. Out
of this world!!! By then it was nearly 8pm and the whole vibe of the
street was gearing towards cocktails and party! It was a good time to
leave. Über back to the flat.
Saturday 11
February 2017
8 am we ordered an Über, handed in the flat keys and off to the
airport. What a stunning little visit to Cape Town!
Moroccan
– If you live in
Gauteng and love Moroccan food, this is a lovely place to visit: The
Moroccan House, Atterbury Road, Pretoria (http://www.moroccanhouse.co.za/rooftop-cafe.php). They are only open for
breakfast and lunch Monday to Saturday, no dinners and are closed on
Sundays.
YOU HAVE TO
BOOK! What a fabulous little restaurant .... richly decorated in Moroccan
colors and with fabulous Moroccan decor articles displayed all over!
Tagine pots on the steps leading to the cafe, tagine pots on pillars on
corners, shoes, tassels, small tiles, leather bags with fabric inlays
....
YOU HAVE TO BOOK IN ADVANCE! They are not open for dinner or on Sundays.
If you visit their website, DO have a look at their guesthouse suites ... oh my goodness, it's soo rich and opulently decorated!!!
Saturday 18 February 2017
YOU HAVE TO BOOK IN ADVANCE! They are not open for dinner or on Sundays.
If you visit their website, DO have a look at their guesthouse suites ... oh my goodness, it's soo rich and opulently decorated!!!
Saturday 18 February 2017
There's
an outside 'garden' area with tables and then the rooftop cafe (seats
about 32). Alongside the one wall are shelves filled with flavored
oils, rose jam (a must try), olives, preserved lemons, Turkish delights
and spices. My only comment would be that the shelves are a bit
'hidden' behind tables, so either you're going to bother the customers
at the tables, or you just won't be able to browse the shelves. Maybe
they can display these goodies on the lower floor ...
Placemats have little tassels on the sides. Miniature tagine pots host coarse salt, coarse black pepper and a cumin spice mix.
Placemats have little tassels on the sides. Miniature tagine pots host coarse salt, coarse black pepper and a cumin spice mix.
When you order coffee
/ tea, cubes of sugar on a saucer entices you to sweeten your brew.
Traditional Moroccan mint tea is a real display ... the waiter stands next to the glass and from up high he pours the tea out of a teapot!
Traditional Moroccan mint tea is a real display ... the waiter stands next to the glass and from up high he pours the tea out of a teapot!
The Arabica
coffee is delicious but real sweet ... The Cardamom milk coffee
is milky and fragrant. Complimentary spiced olives in oil are a real
treat to start this Moroccan journey.
Breakfast have only a few
options, which make deciding SOOO much easier! I asked to taste the
rose jam and it was such a delight! I wanted to order the North African
breakfast muffin (with rose jam and cheese) but unfortunately it was
sold out. Next time!!! Instead I started off with dessert ... Orange Blossom and Turkish Delight Cheesecake served in a Moroccan
glass. I expected something more fragrant, but it was a lovely (not too
sweet) dessert. On top was a jelly with small pieces of Turkish
delight, served with fresh strawberries on top. ... deeelish!
Hein, Lana and Lucian ordered each a Kefta Tagine ... dished in a glazed Tagine pot, eggs are poached in a yummy Charmoula (tomato) relish, served with small meatballs and crispy pita squares on the side!!!!
The bill was in another Moroccan glass with tiny squares of a lightly colored Turkish delight ... not Rosewater.
Afterwards we browsed the shelves and I bought 2 colorful tassels (for earrings) and a tiny shoe key ring (also for earring).
What
a fabulous brunch!!!! I cannot wait to return for lunch and a shared
platter of Moroccan delicacies!!! And maybe stay over a night ....
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