Agave Syrup and Mustard Sausages with Garlic Mash

 

The nights are getting chilly and comfort food is in order.  I always remember having bangers and mash as a child, always on the same night of the week.  That was how it was - dinner was at 6pm and you always knew what was going to be on your plate.  My grandfather used to walk down from his house in the same street to join us, the rules were strict and we always sat at the table. Unlike these days where we often grab our plates and curl up on the couch in front of the fireplace and the telly.  So times have changed. 

 

My mom would have used honey with the sausages but I have discovered Agave nectar and wow!!!   This natural syrup is obtained from the sap in the hearts of the Agave or Maguey plant. It is slowly metabolised and has a very low Glycaemic Index. And best of all - its local, home grown in Africa. 

Ingredients

8 pork sausages

1 tbsp whole grain mustard

2 tbsp agave syrup

zest and juice of one lemon

salt and pepper

1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

 

For the mash

750g potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks

large knob of butter

2 cloves garlic, sliced

Warm milk

 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C.

2. Place the sausages in a roasting pan, making sure they are in a single layer.

3. In a bowl mix together the mustard, agave syrup, zest and juice of a lemon, thyme and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the sausages.

 

4. Bake for 30 -40 minutes, turning the sausages a few times during cooking. This gives them a sticky, glossy coat.

5. While the sausages cook, make the mash by boiling the potatoes until soft.  Gently heat the butter with the garlic until the butter has melted. Set aside. Drain the potatoes when cooked, discard the garlic and add the butter to the mash with enough warm milk to make a creamy mash.

6. Serve the sausages on top of the mash. Top with caramelised onions and parsley.

 

Cheese and Rosemary Bread

 

 After a few years of our rosemary bush not doing very well, we planted a new one in a different position in the garden and wow! Its gone wild, so every night rosemary finds its way into dinner. Now nothing beats the smell of bread baking in the oven, adding rosemary adds that extra punch and makes you get the plate and butter out way before its ready. I found this recipe in a magazine, but searching in the grocery cupboard and the fridge I didn't have the right ingredients so tweaked it and used what I did have.

 

Ingredients



1 x cup grated gruyere cheese
3T chopped rosemary
500g self-raising flour
5ml salt
5ml ground black pepper
250ml buttermilk
250ml plain yoghurt

Method
1. Heat the oven to 180 degree C.

2. Mix the dry ingredients together.  Add the gruyere cheese and rosemary and mix in.

 

 

3. Add the yoghurt and buttermilk and mix well with a wooden spoon.

4. Grease and flour a loaf tin, put bread mixture in, grind some salt over and bake for a 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

 

 

Baken Chicken Drumsticks in a Spicy Cornflake Crumb

 

So now, in the quest to find crumbed chicken that is more on the healthy side, and after many, many attempts......I have found this recipe to be tasty, not greasy and fabulous to pick up and eat with your fingers.  Great for snacking on while watching the rugby on the telly.

 

Ingredients

 

8 drumsticks
2 cups cornflakes, lightly crushed
1t chilli powder
1t paprika
2t ground cumin
Salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degree C.

2. Mix the cornflakes with the spices.

3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Put the cornflake spice in a plastic bag.

5. Dip drumsticks to coat in the beaten egg.

 

 

6. Doing one at a time, place the drumsticks in the bag with he cornflake spice. Shake to coat.

7. Line a baking dish with baking paper and spray with cooking spray. Lay the drumsticks on the paper.

 

 

8. Bake for 25 minutes then turn and bake a further 25 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

Chicken meatballs served with a salad and drizzled with a honey,mustard yoghurt dressing

Now that our weather has settled down and we are experiencing a normal Autumn season, with beautiful warm days and cool nights, lunch needs to be simple and tasty over the weekends.  We always need more time to enjoy the outdoors while we try not to think of winter which is on the way.  Today was a perfect day to try out chicken meatballs. Now the recipe I have uses chicken mince, and its really not easy to find.  So not wanting to drive around looking for it, I sliced chicken breasts up into thin strips and then cut them with my herb scissors! Worked like a charm!

 

Ingredients

 

Meatballs

2T olive oil

4 chicken breasts (minced or finely chopped)

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

zest and juice of 1 lemon

2T chopped chives

1T dried oregano

1T plain yoghurt

1t dried mushroom powder (optional)

salt and pepper

 

Salad

1/4 cucumber, peeled, take the seeds out and cut into chunks

150g baby tomatoes, sliced in half

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

100g goats feta

salt and pepper

 

Dressing

50ml plain yoghurt

1T honey

1t wholegrain mustard

 

1.  Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

2. Combine the chicken, breadcrumbs, lemon zest and juice, chopped chives, oregano, yoghurt and mushroom powder together in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

 

 

4. Heat the olive oil over a medium heat.

5. Shape the small meatballs and fry for a few minutes until brown.

6. Transfer meatballs to the oven for 10 - 15 minutes.

7. Mix together the salad ingredients and season to taste.

8. Prepare the dressing by combining all the honey, mustard and yoghurt in a bowl.

9. Serve the meatballs and salad, drizzled with the dressing.

 

 

 

Grilled Cheese and mustard sandwich

The fridge and pantry cupboard always seem to be a bit bare after the weekend, but I always have cheese and today I also had some left over small ciabatta loaves. And what is more perfect than making grilled cheese sandwiches. 

This sandwich is fried gently and slowly in a pan, so that the cheese melts and runs out. The taste is so much better than if you’d toasted it in a toaster machine.  This amount of filling is enough for one small loaf, just double it up if you need more grilled cheeses.

Ingredients

 

1 T olive oil

1 small garlic clove, peeled

1 sprig fresh rosemary

50g strong cheddar cheese

½ t wholegrain mustard

1 egg yolk

A dash of Worcester sauce

1 t fresh parsley, chopped

1 small clove garlic, crushed

salt and pepper

1 small loaf ciabatta

Method

1. Place the olive oil, garlic clove and rosemary in a small pan and heat gently. Remove from the heat and let it rest for a while.

2. Mix the cheese, mustard, egg yolk, Worcester sauce, parsley and crushed garlic and season to taste with the salt and pepper.

3. Slice the loaf (I got six slices out the small loaf) and place three slices on a board.

4. Divide the cheese mixture between the slices and cover with the remaining slices. Brush the olive oil over the slices on both sides.

5. Pan fry the sandwiches very gently over a low heat until the bread is golden and the cheese mixture has melted.

Baked eggs or “oeufs en cocotte”

What a wonderfully fancy name for such a simple dish.  It might sound hard but really its easy and ready in a few minutes.  Quick to rustle up for breakfast or on Sunday nights when you just don’t feel like spending time in the kitchen.  It somehow has that feeling of comfort and conjures up all sorts of fabulous ideas.  You can make one egg per small ramekin or two eggs per medium size ramekin.

Serve it with sliced and toasted Turkish Ciabatta loaf (the Turkish loaf is a soft loaf), slice your loaf, spread with butter and a sprinkling of thyme leaves and a little grinding of sea salt.  Put under the grill until brown and crisp on the edges.

 

Ingredients

 

4 jumbo eggs

4 T cream

Salt and pepper

1 T thyme, chopped

Butter for the ramekins and a bit for the top

 

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree C.

2. Grease 4 small ramekins with butter, break an egg into each and season with the salt and pepper.

3. Sprinkle on the thyme and a knob of butter in each ramekin.

4. Divide the cream between the ramekins.

5. Place in a roasting pan and pour in enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

6. Bake for 10 minutes or until the whites are set and the yolks are how you like them.

Plum Jelly

 

One of the best things in life is a box of beautifully ripe plums in the height of summer.  They have been sitting in their bowl on the kitchen counter for a few days and even though we can try eating them all, it just isn’t going to happen before they spoil. 
 

I remember my gran making Crab Apple Jelly from the fruit in the back garden, and more recently I was thrilled to see Crab Apples growing in my brothers garden in England.  As I do not have Crab Apples in my garden, I got to wonder how Plum Jelly would work using the same recipe.  Well it’s worth a try….right? 

 

 

Ingredients

About 6kg plums

Water to cover

Sugar

Method.

1. Use the biggest pot you have.

2. Wash, halve and take the pips out the plums. Put them into the pot.
3. Cover with water to about 2 –3 cm above the level of the plums and bring to the boil.

 



4. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 2 hours. I covered the fruit with a cartouche, but its not essential just don’t put a lid on the pot.

 

 

5. Line a colander with a clean tea towel over a second pot.
6. Remove the plums from the heat and tip it into the colander.
7. Leave the plums to drain for about an hour. The tip here is not to push the plums down or press in any way, if you do you will get cloudy jelly.
8. Discard the fruit and measure the juice in the second pot.
9. For every 250ml juice you will need 100g sugar. Place the juice and the sugar in a pot and bring to the boil.
10. Reduce to a simmer and allow it to cook until the setting consistency is reached. (If you dip a wooden spoon into it, it should cling like honey)
11. Spoon the jelly into sterilized jars and seal. I use a round of wax wrap to sit on top of the jam. Store for about 6 months.