Leftover Tart

Sunday night suppers are always difficult for me. Firstly because I have pre-Monday blues, and secondly I always have small bits of left overs which are too big (or unappealing) for one and too small for two. I hate the thought of throwing it away, but feel pressurized by the fact that Monday is garbage day and if I don't I'll be stuck with them for another week.

This Crustless Savoury Tart is perfect for Sunday nights (or just lazy nights) and left over magic! I'm going to give you the original recipe but I am also going to give you a few ideas on what you can add or leave out (there really are no rules on this). You can serve it hot or cold, you can make it as a whole or in muffin cups.

Crustless Savoury Tart

3 Eggs
½ Cup Milk
1 Onion Chopped
1 Tomato Chopped
1½ cup of grated cheese
1 Tsp of Garlic
1 tin Corned Meat chopped into pieces
200g Viennas (Hot dogs) sliced into pieces
1 Tsp Thyme chopped
10ml Mustard
2 TBSP Flour
60g Bacon
Salt and Pepper

Pre-heat oven to 180°C.
In a bowl beat eggs, milk,cheese, garlic, parsley, mustard, salt and pepper together.
Saute onion and meat for a few minutes until onion is soft and the meat is slightly browned.
Add the flour and fry for another minute.
Grease a large glass dish - which is suitable for oven to table (or you can use muffin tins).
Place the meat mix in the baking dish and pour over the egg mixture - mix to combine.
Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes until cooked and browning.

Now for the things you can add or leave out :
Sweetcorn
Courgettes
Asparagus
Mushrooms
Smoked Snoek or Salmon (I would then leave out the corned meat and hot dogs)
Cut down on the amount of cheese
Chili
Paprika
Wholegrain mustard
Use Chorizo instead of hot dogs - or leave it out altogether - Last night I only had 2 hot dogs in the freezer, and it worked well.
Use any leftover cold meats you have on hand or make it vegetarian
Baked Beans
Tinned chickpeas
Cooked rice

In a Pickle

There was a time when people had to pickle and preserve fruit and vegetables. When you couldn't buy peaches and cucumbers all year round. Now days you can buy anything you like, no matter what the season and buying pickled cucumbers is as easy as buying milk.

While making your own pickles might not be as convenient as buying them, it is very simple and you can adjust the flavours to suit you own tastes - not to mention the "WOW factor" of taking out a bottle of your own homemade pickles !

There are many complicated pickling recipes out there - which require days of preparing and waiting, but this only takes about 10 minutes to prepare (just long enough to sterilize your bottles and lids in boiling water) and only 2 days in the fridge

Easy Vegetable Pickle

1 fresh Cucumber sliced into ½ inch batons (the same length as the height of your bottle)
and or
5 or 6 Large Carrots sliced into ½ inch batons (the same length as the height of your bottle)
Slices of fresh Garlic
a few Bay Leaves
Whole fresh chillies (I used this with the carrots)

For the pickle mixture (the amounts can be changed to suit your taste)
2 Cups of Water
1¼ Cup of Vinegar (White wine vinegar works best for me)
¾ cup of Sugar
3 teaspoons of Salt
10 black peppercorns (or more if you lazy to count them)

Place all pickle ingredients the in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer until the sugar has melted.
Leave the liquid to cool - check the taste and adjust to your liking - you might want it slightly sweeter or more tart.
Sterilize your bottles and the lids in a large pot of boiling water for 10 minutes.
Place the vegetables and spices in your hot bottles, cutting them to fit the bottle.
Pour over the cooled pickle liquid and seal the jars.
Place in the fridge for 2 days and then enjoy!
Try experimenting with the flavours, by using sliced onion, green beans, radish or anything that takes your fancy.

Seven Natural Wonders

If you have been following this blog for a while, you will have picked up how much I love Cape Town. I really believe it is the most beautiful city in the world, and Table Mountain is our biggest and most famous land mark.

I have climbed it from every side and never grow tired of the views, both from above and below. Now we have a chance to vote Table Mountain as one of the 7 New Natural wonders of the world. I hope that all the photos which I have shared with you over the past 2 years have not been in vain and that you'll vote for this majestic mountain.

In case you're not sure how beautiful it really is,


or just how high it is...

Click here to vote for Table Mountain.

Now to something which is just as popular in Cape Town - Dahl. I've made it before, but certainly not enough. The evenings are cooling down and Autumn has a arrived, which is a relief after the few weeks of heat we had earlier this month, so this dish works very well now.

This is my version of brown lentils. I have no idea what it should taste like, but this certainly works for me.

Rose's Brown Lentils

250g Brown Lentils
2 Onions Sliced
½ Teaspoon Fenugreek Seeds
1 Green chilli chopped
15ml Fresh Thyme
1 Sachet Tomato Paste
250g cut Button Mushrooms
10ml Sugar
10ml Mother-in-Law Curry powder (or whatever is your favourite curry powder)
10ml garam masala
500ml Water

Fry the fenugreek seeds until they start to change colour.
Add the onions and fry until soften.
Add the curry powder and fry for 1 minute.
Add the lentils, the chopped chilli and the water.
Simmer for 35 -40 mintues until the lentils are soft.
Add more water if neccessary.
Add the tomato paste, the mushroom, the sugar and the garam masala.
Cook for another 10-15 minutes.
Stir in the fresh thyme leaves just before serving.
Serve hot.

Taking it Easy

Last week I hurt my knee during our hike, nothing serious - just a little cartilage problem. I was advised not to take any strenuous walks or do any running for a week.

I have been feeling so much better, and the knee is doing great, so we decided to take a long walk along Blouberg Beach. I have never been to Blouberg when the wind is not blowing, and when ever I think of Blouberg, I think of kites and wind surfers!

What a surprise yesterday to find a perfect wind free day! I actually had an ice cream without sand - and after all these years I thought that was the only flavour you could buy in Blouberg!

As you can see from the photos the views from Blouberg are postcard beautiful.

The weather is cooling down now, and the evenings are bearable again. I am once again making time to cook meals, rather than just having salads every night.

This simple Monk Fish and Chorizo Sausage dish is quick to prepare and filled with warming flavours.


Monk Fish and Chorizo Sausage

2 Monk Fish Fillets (enough for 2 people)
10cm piece of Chorizo sausage (or spicy sausage equivilent)
½ teaspoon chilli Flakes
Oil for frying (only use if needed)
Lemon

Slice the sausage into 1cm thick slices.
Fry in a dry pan until you have rendered most of the oil and they are nice and crispy.
Slice the monk fish into medallions about 2cm thick and add to the sausage, together with the chilli.
You can add a little oil to stop it from sticking (this will only be needed if your sausage did not contain much fat).
Keep frying the fish until it is just done and coated in the juices.
Give a squeeze of lemon juice and season to taste.
Serve hot with oven baked chips.

I also served this with home grown aubergine, stacked with roasted butternut.

I ended my wonderful weekend watching "The Bucket List", I would recommend this movie to everyone - it is an eye opener as to how little time we have on this earth and how important it is to live life to the full - don't miss a thing and never leave something for tomorrow, because : "Forty-five years goes by pretty fast." - " Like smoke through a keyhole."
Here is another quote from the movie which really touched my heart :

Edward Cole: I envy people who have faith, I just can't get my head around it.
Carter Chambers: Maybe because your head's in the way.

Cricket Lovers

One of South Africa’s favorite past times is watching cricket. It is the second most popular sport and is the only sport in South Africa to feature in the top two sports of all race groups.

Yesterday, I was very lucky to be able to attend the first day of the last test between South Africa and Australia. Our boys did so well, and bowled the Ozzies out for just 209. Seeing lots of wickets fall (against the another team) is much more fun than watching them bat all day!

As promised here is the recipe for the Spicy Pilchard Fishcakes, which we took on our last hike. They are perfect for picnics and would go down very well at the cricket too.

Spicy Pilchard Fishcakes.

1 410g Tin Chili Pilchards

52g Packet of Smash (Instant mash potato)

1 grated Onion

2 Chopped chilies (Optional)

Oil to fry

Empty the pilchards into a bowl, with all of the sauce.

Mash the pilchards and then add the onion, the Smash and the chilies (if using).

Leave to chill in the fridge for about an hour (this makes it easier to work with).

Form into cakes and fry on medium hot heat until browned.

Serve hot or even better chilled.