2017 - June - beetroot recipes

2017 June 29

We are halfway through 2017 ... and in Joburg it is cold and windy ... but with a gorgeous sun shining down on us!

Let us beet this cold weather, beet the pots and pan around and let’s get cooking!

Beetroot!  Love it or hate it ... what do you with yours?  Beetroot salad ... cooked and cubed ...

In 2014 I issued another beetroot issue (with beetroot pesto, beetroot tzatziki, beet bread, beet falafels, beetroot risotto (baked in the oven) and beetroot frittata.  Here’s the link to that issue:  http://www.xcentricideas.co.za/images/2014/XCentric%20Ideas%202014%20Issue%208.pdf

This issue has a few different recipes in to honor this beautiful vegetable!  And it was all thanks to an episode on Iron Chef ... this lady made Beet Schnitzel and it sounded absolutely scrumptious, out of this world different and of course it caught my attention!  I Googled the recipe and voila!  Then I checked when beetroot will be in season (now) and decided to do some other beetroot recipes.

I especially loooove the ‘beet wellington’ (and don’t worry – it’s totally vegetarian and if you’re gluten intolerant ... make a wheat free pastry) ... it was so filling and soooo delicious!!!!  And really easy.  And a real showstopper for any dinner party or just your family.

Having a dinner party in July?  Or just having some friends over?  Think about ‘Xmas in July’.  Here are some ideas:   

http://www.xcentricideas.co.za/images/2006/XCentric%20Ideas%202006%20Issue%2012.pdf / http://www.xcentricideas.co.za/images/2008/XCentric%20Ideas%202008%20Issue%2016.pdf

Put on your beanies, scarves and mittens and enjoy the cold weather for the next few months ... if you’re on the other side of the world and have Summer now, we are jealous!!!

Send me your stories, pictures and updates.

From a very cold windy Joburg, I say: toodeloo.

Chattier version:

Thank you all for the lovely comments on my ‘longer chattier version’ of my email!!  Some suggested I should have this all in a blog ... sometime in the future maybe. (and it happened during the COVID-19 virus lockdown in May 2020!!!!)

In case you’re wondering ... yes I do have kitchen flops.  I just forget about them and try again.  Why am I always trying out new recipes?  I just have to ... I’m curious, I just love to experiment and then I love to share it with people ... and hope to inspire some to also try new things.  Why do I always try wacky flavors?  It’s just me ... peanut butter cheesecake with aged Balsamic vinegar dripped onto it?  Oh yes, bring it on!

Sit back, relax with your feet up and let’s beat the cold ...

I sometimes watch Masterchef Australia 2017 and Matt Preston (who looks soooo dapper with a beard and his wildly bright-colored suits) gave a masterclass.  He made chicken nuggets and it intrigued me.  So he took boneless chicken breasts, hammer them flatter with the ‘flat’ part of the mallet and cut them into ‘nugget’ size pieces.  He then had butter over hot water on the stove to keep it melted (I’ve just melted my butter and used it quickly.)  Then you dip the chicken pieces into the butter and then into a mixture of soft breadcrumbs, parmesan powder and herbs.  His oven was on 200 oC, he had baking paper on baking sheet and baked the nuggets for 18 – 20 minutes (turning them halfway).  What a lovely idea!   We did try it out with the whole pieces of chicken and it was a winner.

We all know stork parties ... mostly it’s a party for pregnant women, attended by women ... leaving the men ... out somewhere alone.  But there’s this new party on the block ... A DIAPER PARTY.  For the men!!!!  So when the pregnant lady and her lady friends are sipping tea and eating cake and guessing what’s in the gifts ... the men have their own party.  It’s mostly a bring and braai (or the dad-to-be supplies the meat and bread) and his male family members and male friends are inviited ... BUT EVERY SINGLE MAN HAS TO BRING A PACKET OF DIAPERS.  And maybe a ‘bum lotion’ or ‘wet wipes’.  But mainly its diapers!  And of course the invite has to state that not every single guy brings newborn diapers, but the other age-group diapers too.  What do you think???  I think that’s brilliant! 

Have you ever heard of the little hamlet town called ‘Val’.  (https://www.valhotel.co.za/)  It has only 28 inhabitants and it boasts to be smallest, cleanest and most beautiful little town outside Gauteng.  It’s about 50 minutes on the other side of Heidelberg, towards Standerton.  How did we know about this?  Last year we visited Her Majesteas Salon in Heidelberg (http://www.victorianguestlodge.co.za/hmshome.htm) for a Saturday buffet breakfast.  It was delicious.  But more so, the decor is just spectacular English! 

They have separate private rooms for dinner parties and while munching on liver cakes (lewerkoekies) and bacon and eggs ... another couple told us to just drive on towards Val.  But we didn’t on that day.

So on Saturday 17 June 2017 we filled the tank, pulled on a scarf and headed towards Val.  It was a fantastic day ... the sun was shining brightly and not a single cloud in the sky!  Avoiding the main roads, we drove in-between farms and meadows and fields.  

I think it took us about 2 hours and by them we were quite hungry.  Arriving at Val hotel, quite a few motorcycles were parked outside and we first drove past ... and saw that the hotel was really the only place in this little town.  There are hotel rooms and self-catering cottages, but we didn’t see them.  One of the cottages apparently is built below a cement dam ... we were soooo curious to see that one!  (Please have a look at the Val Hotel link to read the descriptions of their rooms ... it’s really cute and different.)  The Hotel is built inside the old police station so all the walls have signs and pictures and mementos.

We entered the ‘Moeggeploeg kroeg’ (roughly translated:  tired of ploughing bar).  Fresh coffee in a pot is on a table – you just help yourself as many times as you like ... no charge.  Bread is also there in a basket and you can either toast it or eat as is.  There are only 2 breakfasts:  the usual bacon and eggs with cheese viennas ... or the health breakfast.  There are quite a few other items for lunch, but for some reason I didn’t make notes of that.  The bike-people were standing outside in the sun around a HUGE square picnic table, sipping on orange juice and stamping their feet.  Breakfast was lovely, not spectacular, but the whole experience of this little town and the decor of the hotel made it worth the drive.

I was reading Nigel Slater’s ‘Eating for England’ – it’s a funny book talking about some of England’s adored foods or products.  Somewhere in a paragraph he mentioned pies and then my eye caught this:  Bedfordshire Clanger.  What???  Luckily I was reading this on my IPad, so I immediately Googled those 2 words and my goodness me ... I was hooked!!!!!  Clang means ‘to eat voraciously’ and in the olden days the women sent their men to work with a ‘clanger’.  Those days it was made of suet and boiled ... these days its made of pastry and baked.  It’s basically a long pie (almost like a sausage roll) but it has 2 fillings ... one savory, one sweet.  Hahahaha, I know some of you will go ‘yuckidy-yuck-yuck’ but listen to this:  It was made this way so that the men can have their pie (the savory part) and then end of their lunch with something sweet!  And the top of the pastry had holes in to mark the difference between savoury and sweet ... 3 holes for savory ... 2 holes for sweet.

I was absolutely intrigued ... last week Monday night I made a beef shin curry, so there were some leftovers.  2 Granny Smith apples were bought and those I fried in a pan on low heat with sugar, cinnamon and bit of water to an ‘apple pie filling’ consistency. 

Bedfordshire Clanger Pie

Clang means to eat voraciously.

My version:

Serves 2

1 x puff pastry, defrosted

1 big cup cooked filling*, cooled down

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cubed

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp butter

cinnamon, mixed spices (All Spice) to taste

bit of water

1 egg, beaten

In a pan/pot on stove, melt the butter.  Add the apples, sugar, spices and water, put lid on and on medium heat, cook till apples are soft.  Let cool down completely.

Preheat oven to 200 oC, using the bottom oven shelf.  On baking sheet, place foil and grease.  On floured surface, lightly roll out the pastry.  On the one side, cut off a long thin strip of pastry.  With a knife, lightly mark the bigger part of pastry in 4.  Spoon the cooked and cooled savory filling on the one side, leave a space around it.  Now use the thin strip of pastry, wet the pastry on both sides and let it stand upright next to the savory filling, folding it a bit around the filling (see picture below). 

Spoon the sweet filling* onto the other side on top of the pastry, leaving a space around it.  Wet the borders of the pastry and carefully fold the pastry side closest to you over the top of fillings to the other side.  Crimp with a fork.  Brush with the beaten egg.  Make sure you know which side is the savory side by either making 3 holes on top of the pastry, or 3 slashes with a knife.  Then on the sweet side make either 2 holes or 2 slashes with a knife.  Bake for 30 minutes or till pastry is golden and puffy. 

*This filling can be a leftover stew, or a bolognaise, or veggies mixed with a cheese sauce … use your imagination.  Anything that you normally would put into a pie.

*You can use other fruits … anything you would normally use for a pie filling.

MY GOODNESS ... WHAT A SHOW STOPPER!!!!  This will only feed 2 people, but even so ... imagine if you could serve this to each couple in your dinner party!!!! 

On Facebook I saw a Chipotle Tabasco chocolate ... from Australia.  Hmmm. .... I asked my sis in Perth if she’s ever seen it (cause I also really wanted to try the Vegemite Chocolate slab from Cadbury, but unfortunately Cadbury emailed me and said it’s off the market.)  So my sis wasn’t impressed with this chili choc and hasn’t seen it in the shops.  Well ... Google my friend had some recipes.  Off to Pick ‘n Pay ...a small bottle of Chipotle Tabasco ... milk chocolate discs and thick cream.  You heat everything together and let it cool.  I added the Chipotle to the choc-cream melted mixture but couldn’t taste it ... added some more Chipotle ... opened our fridge and took out the real deal Tabasco (the red one) and sommer added 4 tablespoons.  Poured it into mini cupcake wrappers and into the fridge.  But it was really soft.  So I shoved it into the freezer and although this was last week, I can take one out now – straight from the freezer and it will still be softish.  But yes, absolutely delicious!!!!!  Well, to me anyway.  I handed out some but got mixed feedbacks.  Oh well. 

After a hard week of early rising and hard work, it was again Saturday 24 June 2017.   A poster of a Winter bash in Beestekraal stasie caught my eye ... and off we went.  It used to be a railway station and is on the other side of Brits. (http://www.beestekraalstasie.co.za/index.html)  Once again, a fantastic drive out from Randburg with open skies and a few clouds drifting around.  

The railway station is now a kitchen with a small store selling this and that.  Picnic benches are on the covered patio and some kind of wild pig was roasting on the spit.  Going to the bathrooms you cross the railway lines and a separate small building is the bar.  A few singers were entertaining us with guitars and songs.  About 10 stalls were dotted around, selling army knives, wine, cheese, handbags, jewellery, clothes and jams.   A guy walked past with a boerewors roll and we decided it was time for breakfast.  

Hein ordered the boerewors roll but always being curious, I ordered the biltong soup.  When Hein’s roll arrived, it was obvious the bread roll was in the fridge (or frozen and defrosted).  The one part of the bun was falling apart and it was stone-cold.  They brought us another one, whole this time but still cold.  The sausage was really good but with a smear of ketchup and mustard for R30 ... a bit cheeky.  My biltong soup ... it was okay but I couldn’t taste any biltong at all (although I could see flecks in the soup).  I ordered the butternut soup then (Hein finished off the biltong soup) and yeah ... the butternut soup was okay ...  when walking around the stalls, a caravan with ‘spiral potato chips’ caught my eye and THAT WAS SCRUMPTIOUS!!!  Me and my plain palate ... not!  Heehee.  

Jerseys ... so I’ve done the 1^st one in May ... didn’t like the colors, so I gave it to charity.  

 With my last email, I was busy with an olive green jersey and had to finish a sleeve ... well.  I didn’t like that one either.  So off it went to charity. 

 Then I knitted a ‘Josephs’ coat’ version jersey that fitted and is in my cupboard. 

I then bought no 8 knitting needles and with the same pattern but different wool, I knitted my 4^th jersey and finished it Monday.  And wore it today.  It’s quite longish and straight down, below my hips and in muted colors of red, grey and black.  It’s really nice and I’m very happy with it.  I’ve knitted a snood with it too.  But for some reason this jersey used a lot of wool!  Almost 10 balls of 100g.   I now have 2 more bags of wool ... 5 balls in thick cream wool ... 5 balls in that same olive green I knitted previously.  Not wanting to knit another big jersey, I’ve decided to knit the smallest version so it should fit a big child / teenager.  Click-click-click.

Feeling like pizza, I decided to make my own dough.  I’ve made it years ago but not lately ... just plain lazy.  Luckily this dough doesn’t need any yeast!!!!  So it can be made in about 15 minutes.  I made it in my food processor with the dough hook and then I stretched it out onto a baking sheet.  You then first bake it for 8 minutes and then add the toppings and bake for another 20 minutes.  It was really yummy although the crust was a little thick.

But then I discovered this FABULOUS recipe!!!!  I've not looked back.  It's just awesomeeeeee!

Thin pizza crust no yeast recipe

1 ¹⁄₃ cups all purpose-flour (cake flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt

Dried herbs if you like

¹⁄₂ cup milk (any kind) or tap water

2 tablespoons olive / vegetable oil

Heat oven to 400°F / 200 oC

Mixture can be made in bowl by hand – or since I’m lazy, I use the dough hook in my food processor and let the mixture in processor comes to a ball. 

In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk and oil until soft dough forms. If dough is dry, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons additional liquid. If dough is too wet, add more flour.

On lightly floured surface, knead dough 10 times. Shape dough into ball. Cover with bowl; let stand 10 minutes at room temperature.

Place dough on lightly floured ungreased cookie sheet; roll out with rolling pin (or sommer a wine bottle -make sure you sprinkle flour on to prevent from sticking to pin/bottle and dough). Poke holes all over the dough with a fork.

Bake 9 minutes at 400°F/200 oC, then put on the toppings and bake for another 20 minutes until they are cooked.

Pizza sauce:

I normally use All Gold / Wellington ketchup – mix it with dried Oregano, dried Mixed Herbs, chillies and crushed garlic. 

Toppings:

Any protein (fish/chicken/bacon/sausage/meat) should be cooked beforehand. 

Focaccia version:

Roll out the dough onto baking sheet – DON’T prick – just press your fingers all over.  Brush with oil, sprinkle with crushed garlic / chili / herbs and grated Mozzarella (other) cheese.  Bake at 200oC for 20 minutes.

So this week I made the same dough mixture, but divided it into 2.  I then rolled out each ball carefully with a rolling pin and put it on 2 separate baking sheets.  It was absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!  Thin and crusty all the way through (cause I just hate when you order a pizza and the center crust is soft at the bottom.)  Only tricky part was that my oven can’t have both baking sheets next to each other, so they’re on 2 oven shelves and I had to shuffle them around a few times.  But no biggie.  We are anxious to buy seafood mix and make a delicious seafood pizza!!!! 

A few weeks ago we had a braai at my bro-in-law Deon and his girlfriend Val ... and they gave us some lemons from their garden. Hmmm I thought – Lemon curd.   I squeezed out 2 of the lemons, mixed it with the lemon zest, egg and sugar and heated it on the stove till thick.  It is such a fabulous recipe ... I really sometimes hate using butter and this recipe is amazing.  One can also substitute the sugar with an alternative sweetener.  

Lighter Lemon Curd

(of course you can double ingredients for bigger quantities)

1/3 cup strained, fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons) (84 ml)
1-2 tsp lemon zest
5 tbsp white sugar/fructose (5 tbsp honey?)
1 large egg, room temperature

MICROWAVE

In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar (honey) and eggs until smooth.

Stir in lemon juice, lemon zest.

Cook in the microwave for one minute intervals, stirring after each minute until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon.  (Mine took 3 minutes).  Makes ½ cup lemon curd.

STOVETOP

In pan/pot on stove, add the lemon juice and zest.  In mixing bowl, whisk sugar/honey and eggs till smooth. Add to the lemon juice mixture and on medium high, boil while STIRRING till the mixture thickens … I’ve then put it on high and while stirring continuously, waited for it to be nice and thick to coat the back of the spoon.

https://www.food.com/recipe/lighter-lemon-lime-curd-no-butter-260160#activity-feed

Previously I’ve always made this curd in the microwave, but since my microwave is on the blink, I made it on the stove and it was really no big deal.  Last night I made white toast with thick lemon curd on top and Cheddar cheese ... yummo!!!  I had to share it, Hein liked it too.

Bran muffin mixture ... Sunday I wanted to make bran muffins (from the Snowflake bran muffin mix) but I normally add in raisins or cranberries ... and my pantry was empty.  I remembered then that I have Apple Vanilla Cinnamon tea bags.  So this bran muffin mix need oil, egg and milk.  I first steeped 4 of the apple teabags into boiling water for a few minutes ... then I removed the teabags and steeped them in the milk for about 10 minutes.  Removed the teabags and mixed the ingredients as per the recipe.  Well .... you can absolutely taste and smell the apple!

Today browsing the shelves in Pick ‘n Pay I found a ‘Strawberry and Black currant’ tea ... yip.  I’m going to try these bags steeped into milk for the next batch of bran muffins and will maybe add a thin glaze of strawberry jam as a finish.  

Isn’t life a journey of learning new things, trying out new things, throwing out the flops and experimenting with recipes.

Have a fantastic July!