Butter Bean Soup with Crispy Bacon

It's February and its hot, so why soup you ask.....well why not I ask!  With temperatures in the mid 30's, something quick to make and tasty is the key to spending more time outdoors. 

With one day to go before a trip to the Farmers Market to stock up on food, it was a case of scratching around in the grocer cupboard and the freezer for something to eat.  While a loaf of Irish Soda Bread bakes in the oven, the soup can be made and they will both be ready at the same time.  Serve the soup with the bread and an ice cold cider....way to go!!

 

 

Butter Bean Soup with Crispy Bacon

 

Serves 2 as a starter or 1 as a main meal.

 

Ingredients

 

1 400g tin butter beans, drained and rinsed

1 T butter

1 onion, chopped

1 t fresh thyme leaves

375ml chicken stock, I use homemade out the freezer

4 slices bacon

Parsley to garnish

 

Method

1. Pan fry the bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towel and cut into small pieces.
2. Melt the butter in a pot, add the onion and fry until soft.
3. Add the beans and the thyme.
4. Pour in the chicken stock and simmer for about 20 minutes.
5. Blend in a blender until smooth, and then pass through a sieve into the pot.
6. Reheat gently, pour into bowls, and sprinkle on the bacon and chopped parsley.
7. Serve with freshly made bread.



 

 

 

Sweetcorn Soup

Sweetcorn brings back memories of lazy afternoon lunches after school, straight out the pot sprinkled with salt and lashings of butter.  We poked forks into the ends to serve as handles, and tried hopelessly not to get a face full of the melted butter.  These of course are always best eaten outside under the trees on a hot summers day, or sitting in the sun on a warm winters day. 

 

So on reading various recipes to make sweetcorn soup, I found this the best for us. However I had to adapted it for my daughter who has gluten and dairy allergies. I used margarine instead of the butter. The cream (50ml) was only added into my bowl and we shaved some goats Parmesan cheese over hers for flavour.

 

Sweetcorn Soup

Serves 2

 

Ingredients

 3 Cobs of fresh sweetcorn

1 litre of chicken stock

40g butter/margarine

1 small leek finely chopped

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper

100ml cream

Popcorn kernels

Oil

Small basil leaves

 

Method

1. Cut the sweetcorn off the cobs using a sharp knife.
2. Bring the stock to a boil and keep it simmering gently. I use homemade stock but you can use store bought chicken or vegetable stock.
3. Melt the butter in a heavy based saucepan, add the leeks and garlic and sauté over a medium heat. Stirring all the time until the leeks are translucent. 
4. Add the sweetcorn and the bay leaf and cook for a few minutes, season with salt and pepper.
5. Add the stock to the sweetcorn mixture, bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes or until the corn is tender.
6. Stir in the cream and remove from the heat.
7. Blend the soup in a blender, and then pass through a sieve into a large saucepan.
8. Pop the popcorn in a little oil and set aside.
9. Reheat the soup gently when ready to serve.
10. Garnish with the popcorn and small basil leaves.

 

 



Peri-Peri Chicken

There is nothing quite like getting stuck into a plate of Peri-Peri Chicken.  Forget the knife and fork, make sure you have lots of serviettes and use your hands, it's messy but oh so wonderful!  

Pili pili (Peri-Peri) was introduced to the Portuguese settlers to Mozambique by the locals and they in turn brought it to South Africa.  Pili pili means pepper pepper in Swahili.  Growing up down the road from the very first Nando's was a treat.  Who can resist their flame grilled Peri-Peri chicken!! 

Like all good things there comes a time to try making it yourself,  so here we go.....

 

Prepare the day before as it needs to marinate overnight.

 

Chicken thighs 8 to 16 (the marinade is enough to coat 16)

1 - 2 lemons, sliced in quarters

 

Marinade

 

300ml olive oil

30g tomato puree

1 large red onion, peeled and diced

5 cloves garlic, peeled

25g fresh ginger, peeled and grated

100g chillies (red and green), sliced, no need to take the seeds out

2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons cumin, ground

20g coriander, ground

30g fresh coriander

salt and pepper

 

Method

 

1. Place all the marinade ingredients into a blender and blend until combined.

2. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Marinate the chicken well and cover. Place in the fridge overnight.

4. Braai over hot coals until cooked through. Alternatively you could grill them in the oven.

5. Squeeze lemon juice over and enjoy.

 

Cherry Tarts - Gluten Free

Its cherry season!  After a trip to the Cherry festival in Ficksburg, we had all these cherry's  and decided to make gluten free cherry tarts for dessert.  You can make them with Tennis Biscuits or Marie Biscuits if you don't have an allergy to wheat or gluten.  This recipe makes 4 small tarts. The gluton free biscuits can be found at Pick n Pay or Dischem.

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

1 box Gullon gluten free cookies, crushed

6 tablespoons margarine, melted

500g cherries, stalked and stoned

75g brown sugar

 

Method

 

1. Spay and cook the tart pans.

2. Mix the crushed biscuits with the melted margarine.

3. Press some of the mixture into the four tart pans, enough to cover the base and sides. Save some of the crushed biscuit mix for the tops.

 

 

4.  Mix the cherries with the brown sugar.

5. Divide the cherries between the four tart pans and top with the remaining biscuits.

6. Bake in a moderate oven for 20 - 25 minutes.

7. Remove the tart tin and serve with a little brown sugar sprinkled on top. Serve with cream or custard

Baked Potato with Cottage Cheese, Crispy Bacon and Avocado

We had this for brunch today as everyone was going off in different directions.  Its quick to make, you can feed a crowd or just a few. It's for the hungry (use two potatoes or one large potato) or the not so hungry (use small potatoes).

Baked Potato With Cottage Cheese, Crispy Bacon and Avocado

 

 

Ingredients

 

1 -2 potatoes per person

3 rashers bacon per potato

a few teaspoons Cottage Cheese per potato

Avocado, peeled and sliced

salt and pepper

 

Method

 

1. Grill the bacon until crispy.

 

 

2. Slice bacon into bite size pieces and set aside.

 

 

3. Microwave the potatoes until soft, between 7 - 10 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes.

4. Cut a cross in each potato and open up.

 

 

5. Spoon the cheese into each potato.

6. Top with the crispy bacon.

 

 

7. Top with avocado.

 8. Season with salt and pepper.

 

 



Mediterranean Moussaka Stack with Yoghurt

I never liked eggplant when I was little, but have since discovered that it actually is rather great. That and the fact that my daughter is always putting a few in the trolley at the farmers market!   So here's a fairly quick and tasty midweek meal.  We only had coriander, and it works well with the dish. You can use parsley and basil is you have them.

 

Ingredients

 

1 red onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

3 tablespoons olive oil

300g beef mince

3 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

salt and pepper

1 cup stock, I used vegetable stock

1 large eggplant, sliced into rounds

1 red pepper, de-seeded and sliced into strips

plain yoghurt to drizzle over

1 lemon

handful of coriander leaves

 

Method

 

1. Heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan.

2. Cook the eggplant until browned and tender.

3. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and cook the red pepper until browned and tender. Keep warm.

 

 

4. Add the last tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and cook the onion and garlic until soft.

 

 

5. Add the beef mince, tomato, cinnamon and nutmeg until the beef is browned. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

 

6. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the liquid is absorbed. Remove from the heat.

7. Stack the eggplant, red pepper and beef mince on plates and drizzle over the plain yoghurt. Top off with the coriander leaves. Serve with a slice of lemon.

 

 

 

Marinated Chicken with Watercress Salad, Grape and Pine Nut Dressing

I simply love pine nuts.  What are they?  They're the edible seeds from the pine tree, from the pine cones.  They are expensive as it take years for the trees to start producing the seeds and they are harvested by hand.  All these factors add to the price tag.  I can't always find them at my local shops, but when I do I buy out the lot.  They are fabulous when lightly toasted and a bit crunchy.   They are most well known for being one of the ingredients in pesto.  Some years ago I made this chicken dish and came across the recipe the other day.  As it is also grape season and the weather is hot, it was perfect to make on the braai.  Prepare it the day before as it is best marinated overnight. I had typed that the dish was "Simply to die for", so I just had to try it again, and yes......it is simply to die for. 

 

Ingredients

 

1 whole chicken

salt and pepper

1 heaped teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

zest and juice of 1 lemon

DRESSING

2 tablespoons roughly chopped white seedless grapes

1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts, roughly chopped

4 tablespoons olive oil

dash of white wine vinegar

salt and pepper

4 large handfuls watercress, washed

 

Method

 

1. Turn the chicken so that they are breast-side down and with kitchen scissors, cut along both sides of the backbone.

2. Discard the backbone, rinse the chicken under cold water, pat dry with paper towels and press flat.

3. Insert a skewer horizontally through the thighs of the chicken to keep it flat, then transfer to a bowl.

4. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle over the rosemary, chopped garlic, olive oil and the lemon zest and juice.

5. Coat chicken well, then refrigerate overnight to marinate.

 

6. Remove chicken from marinade and arrange on a wire rack over the braai (BBQ). Grill, breast-side down for 5 minutes, then turn and grill until the skin is golden brown and the flesh is cooked.

7. To make the dressing: combine the grapes and pine nuts with the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

8. Just before serving, mix up well and toss with the watercress. the chicken can be served warm or cold - slightly warm is best.