Roasted Tomatoes and Verlaque

I was taught the Ten Commandments  in Sunday School many years ago. It is a list which was spoken by God and is seen as a moral foundation to my faith. The last one talks about coveting your neighbour's house, his wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour. 

I really don't covet my nighbour's wife (or husband), I don't think they have a servant (or a slave) and I haven't seen any livestock, except for their cats, which I can categorically say I hate.

But in food land, I covet many things. I read about the fresh product markets in France, where you can buy 8 different kinds of onions, the Italians who have joints of Parma Ham hanging in their barns and the Spanish fish markets where you can but real anchovies. Then the Americans that have things like peanut butter chips, blood oranges and San Francisco Sour-dough bread and muffins the size of small children.

But occassionally something comes to the shelves of our supermarkets in South Africa, locally made which makes me feel totally superior. One such product I recieved at the SA Food Bloggers Conference was Verlaque Fruit infused White Balsamic Reduction.

So, today I am not coveting - I am totally smug and especially with these Roasted Tomatoes using the Verlaque Fresh Cranberry Infused Reduction. 

I slow roasted quartered tomatoes (with the skin on) on a low heat, 110ºC for 4 hours. Before baking them I sprinkled them with a little olive oil and salt and then a generous splashing (aka Jamie Oliver) of Verlaque Fresh Cranberry Infused White Balsamic Reduction.

It bakes right down, without drying out, with a sticky, sweet, tangy fruit syrup. I served it as a vegetable, but it would work really well in a salad, with cheese or as a antipasto.

“People often ask for what others have, 

while not prepared to go through 

what others went through to gain it.”

Verlaque Recipe Challenge

Over the last few months I have made no less than four original recipes using wonderfully proudly South African ingredients from Verlaque.

From the first time I tasted their Persian Pomegranate Concentrate, I knew that this was something my kitchen would never be without. After attending the Cape Town Food Bloggers Conference, I received a free bottle of Infused Balsamic Reduction with  Preserved Cranberries and fell in love all over again.

So when Verlaque  announced a competition open to bloggers and requested a recipe using one of their products, I was in recipe creation over-drive! Lucky for me I have my step-son staying with us and his love for food creation is as enthusiastic as mine, so I had a unfair advantage of "two heads being better than one".

Together we came up with this scrumptious Dukkha Encrusted Salmon with a Cucumber Spaghetti Salad

 Dukkha Encrusted Salmon
Serves 2

2 Salmon Fillets (skin on and bones removed)
60ml Infused Balsamic Reduction with Sundried Mango & Chili
Zest and Juice of 1 Lime
1" Piece of Peeled Ginger Grated
100ml of Dukkha (I used a dukkha with a chilli, sesame seeds, almonds and hazelnuts)

Marinade the salmon in the Infused Balsamic Reduction with Sundried Mango & Chilli, the zest, lime juice and ginger for about 1 hour.
Preheat your oven to 200°C.
Remove the salmon from the marinade, and shake off the excess and wipe the skin.
Lay the fillet, flesh side down in the dukkha and cover with dukkha - pressing gently into the flesh.
Using a pan which is oven proof, heat a little olive oil.
Place the salmon in the oil, skin side down and fry for about 2 minutes, until it starts to caramelize.
Place in a hot oven and roast for a further 7-12 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fish.
Leave to rest for 2 minutes and serve with the salad below and extra dukkha pounded fine.

Cucumber Spaghetti Salad with Infused Balsamic Reduction with  Preserved Cranberries

½  Cucumber (cut into julienne - I have this gadget )
¼ Red Onion, sliced very thin
1 Green Chilli, cut into very thin slices (optional)
6 Baby Tomatoes cut into ¼'s (I use 3 red and 3 yellow)

30ml Fresh Coriander leaves
30ml Infused Balsamic Reduction with  Preserved Cranberries

Mix all the the ingredients together just before serving.
Make sure you place the chilli on top for those who might want to pick them out.

Little Treasures : Onions and Verlaque

Yesterday as I was browsing the aisles in Woolworths, feeling completely uninspired and freezing cold I found these little gems.

  They are called Italian cipollini. Small flat shaped onions with a thin papery skins, which looked perfect for roasting.I was so excited I bought 2 bags.

I roasted them with some small Mediterranean potatoes, whole garlic cloves and olive oil. They are wonderfully sweet and made a perfect accompaniment to the roasted chicken.

The potatoes I roasted until they were soft and then squashed them with the skin on (not mashed), added some of the roasted garlic and a splash of Verlaque Pomegranate Moroccan Glaze. Homemade Heaven at it's best.

Guacamole and Pomagrantes

Avocados are now in season, what a wonderful time of year, it makes up for the loss of the peaches and other delicious summer fruits. I do find the winter fare of oranges, apples and pears slightly boring after a month.

But Avocados I never get bored of, with the added bonus of now knowing someone who owns a great big tree - FULL of fruit, the blessing I have are countless.

This Sunday was the South African Food Bloggers Conference and as with all great conferences, we all left with bags full goodies from very generous sponsors.

As an added bonus, I got to sit the table with the owners of Verlaque Fine Foods. Wonderful people, with a wonderful product which they are really passionate about and rightly so.

I had bought their Persian Pomegranate Concentrate, from Woolworths. I've been "playing around" with it for a while, splashing it in tuna salad, adding it to vinaigrettes but never really getting the full value of the sublime tartness,  I then got this great tip from the owner - try in guacamole!

Guacamole with Persian Pomegranate Concentrate

1 Ripe Avocado (peeled and stone removed)
¼ Fresh Green chili chopped (optional)
1 Handful of Parsley (roughly chopped)
10ml Verlaque Fine Foods Persian Pomegranate Concentrate
Salt to taste

Mash the Avocado with a fork - don't over mash, you don't want puree.
Add the other ingredients and mix.
Drizzle a little extra concentrate over the top, it's really delicious.
Serve with biscuits, pita or as a vegetable dip.

Roast Belly Pork Roll

I am so happy, summer has arrived in Cape Town. There's still some wind, which is normal for this time of the year - but it helps to ease you into the rising temperatures. Once January and February comes, all we'll have are blisteringly hot days and no cool breezes to combat the heat.

Our days are longer now, so supper is being served later and later, it's too hot to eat at early and I find facing hot meals too much effort. We are enjoying lots of pasta, salads, cold meat and of course ice-cream!

Yesterday I managed to find a beautiful rolled pork belly( at Woolworths), which had very little fat and decided to slow roast it, and then leave it to cool before serving it with a big salad and a boiled potato - simple to make and easy to digest on a hot summer evening.

Slow Roasted Pork Belly Roll.

1 Rolled Pork Belly
2 Large Onions cut into 1" rings
2 Granny Smith Apples, slides crosswise the same as the onions
10 Fresh Sage leaves
Salt and Pepper
Olive oil
Pomegranate juice concentrate to serve (optional) - I used Verlaque

Pre-heat your oven to 160ºC
Place the onion, apples and sage leaves on the base of the roasting pan.
Dry the pork well with kitchen paper.
Rub the pork with a little oil and salt well.
Place the pork on the vegetable trivet and top with a good grinding of black pepper.
Roast for about 1½ -2 hours until done.
Remove from the oven.
Remove the rind from the roast and set aside - this will make the crackling.
Leave to cool to room temperature, or you can serve it hot if preferred.
To make the crackling, heat a thick based non-stick frying pan to high.
Lay the rind which you removed and weigh it down with another heavy pot.
Allow to fry until crispy.
Slice the rind into thin strips and serve with the pork.
I made a green salad with blue cheese and grapes, which worked very well with the pork.
If you using the pomegranate juice, pour over a little just before serving.

A Fishy Winner

Following on from last week's Sweet and Sour Fish with Egg Fried Rice I decided to use the other half of the hake fillet.

Before I start with the recipe, which is more of a re-make than an original, I thought I would give some thought to good choices for fish. My mission with last week's fish recipe was to promote the City of Cape's campaign to encourage Capetonians to pick one day of the week where they eliminate red meat from their diet and eat more fruit, vegetables and grains instead.

Today I want to address some fish choices which are better than others with regard to their sustainability.

The Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI) was initiated in November 2004 in order to inform and educate all participants in the seafood trade, from wholesalers to restaurateurs through to seafood lovers. SASSI has three primary objectives:

1. Promote voluntary compliance of the law through education and awareness
2. Shift consumer demand away from over-exploited species to more sustainable options
3. Create awareness around marine conservation issues

Having said and supported all this, I do on occassion choose fish from the orange list, but it is definitely more of an exception than a rule. I have even blogged on fish on the orange list, only because I feel I should be honest. There those who don't share those tasty morsels with their readers for fear of reprisal. 

Hake is on the green list, so it's a good choice for the environment and the sustainability of our sea stocks and is also relatively cheap when bought in season.

For more information on choosing the "right" fish click here.  You can also SMS  the name of the fish as a text message to the number 079-499-8795 you will get a prompt response telling you where the species is on the list, as well as some additional information such as minimum size and bag limit in the case of line-fish. The SMS is charged at standard cellular rates.

Lime Battered Fish with Aubergine and Red Bean Salad

Hake fillets (skin on cut into 4.5cm pieces)
1 Cup of Plain Flour
Finely grated Zest of 1-2 Limes
2 Eggs Beaten
Salt and White Pepper
Oil for Deep Frying

Warm the oil to 190ºC.

Add the zest of the limes, the salt and a little pepper to the flour.
Dry the fish thoroughly.
Coat the Fish in the flour, then in the egg and again in the flour.
Deep fry until golden brown and cooked through.

Warm Aubergine and Red Bean Salad

1 Large Aubergine cut into 1" disks and then cubed evenly.
4 Whole Dried Red chilis
Olive Oil
1 Tin Kidney Beans, drained and washed.
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and Black Pepper
Pomegranate Concentrate (I use Verlaque Persian Pomegranate Concentrate)

Pre-heat your oven to 200ºC
Place the aubergine and chilli in a roasting tin and coat with olive oil.
Season with salt and pepper and bake for about 30-35 minutes until browned and cooked.
Add the kidney beans and bake for another 10 minutes, until the are heated through.
Squeeze over the lime juice and toss through.
You might want to add a little extra olive oil (if you not watching your fat intake)
Serve and drizzle with the Pomegranate Concentrate.  

Home for Lunch

I only work half day, well perhaps I should say I only get paid to work for half the day - the rest of the day's duties, are all done free. I am not complaining, both my paid and unpaid "jobs" involve things I love.

One of the really great things about coming home early is I sometimes get to spoil myself with a wonderful lunch, like this Moroccan Roasted Chicken with Deep Fried Camembert.

The chicken was prepared at the Cooksplayground on Monday with Jenny. This chicken was smothered with a combination of Moroccan spices, preserved lemon and fresh coriander and then roasted, but you can use any left over cold chicken.

Deep frying camerbert is really easy. Slice a round of Camembert into eight, dip the pieces into beaten egg and then roll in breadcrumbs, fry in hot oil, turning until golden on all sides.

To assemble the salad, place the sliced chicken and fried Camembert cheese on a bed of rocket and dress with your favourite dressing, which for me is Verlaque Fruit infused White Balsamic Reduction.

Homemade Heaven: Little Treasures : Onions and Verlaque

Follow my blog with bloglovin