sumptuous summer snacks: baby squid, chorizo & feta salad ♥

without even realising, "sumptuous summer snacks" is becoming a regular post :) it's mostly because summer is around the corner, and with the humidity increasing everyday so is the need for light, fresh food.

sunday afternoon was a day of severe proprortions and all we needed a little snack as the air was cooling, so this was it:

just fry off the chorizo until cripsy, throw in your scored and bite sized pieces of baby squid for a minute or so on quite a high heat. remember the "tender-tough-tender" rule when cooking calamari/squid. a minute will allow it to stay tender and fresh, there's literally miniscule seconds between that and it becoming tough. cooking it for much longer will enable it to go past the tough stage into the tender stage again.

remove, toss through some crumbled feta, a few basil leaves and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and this is a great summer starter or a larger portion would make an amazing summer lunch or dinner with some crusty bread and a glass of white wine :)

peace & love friends

xo

masterchef australia

so the final week of masterchef australia is here! i'm more anxious than i have ever been in my life about this sort of competition and i think part of it is because over these weeks we've really began to get to know these contestants and for a food lover like me, it was like a journey of my own. the other part of it is that in a few weeks the winner of masterchef australia will be here at our good food and wine show!

 

i have to admit that before this show, i was pretty against australians in general. and it pretty much stems from growing up with cricket in my blood and they were kind of our arch enemies in the 90s! but this show has really made me look at australians differently, and even wanting to seriously visit there. it was an eye opener and really quite enlightening.

 

so the finalists are:

 

 

justine (i am sooo glad she's back!)

julie (love her to death!)

poh :)

julia

chris

lucas

 

i have to admit, i'm kind of over chris and i actually don't know why. maybe it was this slight arrogance i got from him at times. i don't believe he's like that but something about him has put me off over this last week. i have to say i am in love with poh. i think she's a genius and so dedicated and forward thinking! and julie (i think i just found something out when i googled her and i'm rather upset right now but i shall block it out) well julie has grown sooo much over these weeks and has really shown the inner strength she has and i am just rooting for her because of her humility, her honesty and just the love she exudes. she has amazing character! i'll just be ecstatic if one of the girls win :)

 

let's see how this pans out (no pun intended lol)

 

xo

sumptuous summer snacks: chicken skewers ♥

the heat has finally returned to durban town and how we missed it! sunny skies and humidity all round, it's reminded me why i love this city so dearly (we know we're gonna be quite over it in the next few weeks, mind you, and i will probably regret these positve words, ha!) but it's just after 3pm and it is this time of day that i really love about summer nearing -  the sun peering down at us relishing the few hours left, the air cooling slightly, and the sky as blue and clear the Mediterranean sea. it makes me think of the months to come and of course, the food and wine we're going to enjoy!

yesterday was a day just like today and i made heavenly chicken skewers: here's my recipe -

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 large chicken breasts, cubed.
• bacon sausages (optional) - sliced on the angle.
• onions, cut roughly in quarters.

you're gonna wanna dry marinate your chicken breasts because they're gonna go onto a griddle pan and you don't want them to stick. so a good dry rub is:

• salt
• lemon pepper
• black pepper
• peri peri spice / paprika
• ground cumin
• dried mixed herbs
• brown sugar

adding brown sugar to the dry rub is not just going to add another level of flavour to the chicken but is going to help caramelise the chicken when it hits the griddle pan. it is absolutely fantastic!

just skewer your chicken, onion and bacon sausage alternatively and you're ready to go. i made some skewers with just chicken and onion because my mom is not a fan of bacon sausages.

(tip: remember to soak your skewers [if they're wooden or bamboo skewers] because this will stop them from burning when they hit griddle pan. also a good tip to know for putting skewers on the braai!)

serve it in a roll with a bit of tomato relish or on it's own with a dipping sauce, either way it's just a beautiful summer dish on the go, outside in the sunshine, or by the poolside on the humid durban day :)

new look:)

i was feeling for a bit of a change today, and just couldn't put my finger on it. eventually i figured out that a change in the look of my blog was what i needed and so i did it. i stuck to my usual colours, but i'm loving the fresh new look i've given it - a lighter background has brought a calmer, more delicate palette and it's making me feel renewed :)

i hope you all like it too!

my dear friend, sadhana sahaye (fellow blogger and friendo of coming on 10 years - to go to her blog click here) made me an amazing logo, but unfortunately i just haven't found the right place to add it just yet. it will come to me. but lots of thanks to her and will be putting it up in the next few days after a bit of pondering! keep an eye out for that!

peace & love friends

xo

my take on the traditional vegetarian breyani (v)

a good breyani is like the crowning of a queen - momentus. and today i made my first one! i have to admit, i was quite nervous (not as nervous as my first mutton curry but nervous nonetheless) but my mum had faith in me and that gave me courage (lol). it's a soya breyani made with vegeteen chunks from woolworths (since it's monday). i figured that most people my age don't make breyanis - it's the type of dish left to the mums, grans, aunts of the family but it's necessary we learn to make it because one day the day will come when they are no longer around and we will need our kids to experience the wonder of a delicious, traditional breyani.

everyone makes a breyani differently and if you ask your mom or grandma, she'll tell you her way to make it. in my opinion, it's all in the hand, the love you make it with and doing it the way you want. so i did it, and here's my recipe:

(ps: it's not uber traditional, but easy for us young ones to follow. it's also a little healthier with minimal use of oil but still as flavoursome)

INGREDIENTS:

• one packet vegeteen chunks from woolworths
• 2 onions
• chillis
• 2 stems curry leaf
• breyani mix (1 stick cinammon, 2 cloves, cumin seeds, cardomom pods etc) - this can be bought everywhere.
• masala of your choice
• tumeric powder
• ginger and garlic
• yellow food colouring
• any mixed vegetables you'd like to use - i used carrots, peas, mushrooms.
• salt
• 1 cup basmati rice

METHOD:

• first you will need to rehydrate the chunks by covering them in boiling water and leaving it to soak for 5-10 minutes. when that is done, drain and squeeze out the excess water and marinate with some breyani mix (crush it in your pestel and mottar) and masala. this needs to be done because the vegeteen chunks don't really have a distinctive flavour.
• put your rice on to boil, this should take 15-20 minutes. put a teaspoon of tumeric in the water to give in a yellow colour. when the rice is cooked, drain and drop in a teaspoon of food colouring and this will give the rice a really marbled yellow colour that adds character to the dish.
• in a pot saute one of your onions in oil with your breyani spices until golden with a touch of tumeric. throw in some stem of curry leaf at this point. take your time - this is going to add serious depth of flavour to the dish. add in your ginger and garlic and cook off the rawness before adding in your marinated chunks.

• add in about a tablespoon of masala and a teaspoon of salt and mix well. turn to a low heat, add in some water at this point to merge the flavours and soften the chunks even more. leave this to simmer  for a good 15 minutes. when it's done remove from the heat.

• saute your vegetables in oil with cumin, star anise and cinammon and remove from the heat.

• fry the remaining onion in oil with a touch of tumeric and the remaining curry leaf stem.
• fry some potatoes until golden (tip: i microwave cook my potatoes and then fry them)
• layer the rice and vegeteen chunks in a pot with the vegetables. place your fried potatoes and onions on top and cover with foil and place in the oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees.
• garnish with dhania (coriander) and serve immediately.

so that's my take on the tradional breyani, eek so proud of myself :)

peace and love friends :)

xo

flapjacks with strawberries, cream and bar one sauce

i'm not a lover of dessert which you might have noiced if you are a regular reader of this blog. but yesterday, i really was feeling for some dessert. so i popped into woolies with mekarl (the boyfriend hehe) and got me some supplies!

strawberries, whipped cream, flapjacks, and bar one chocolate. can you say yummo?

literally melted the bar one chocolate on the stove with some butter and half a bar of dark chocolate, on goes the whipped cream and strawberries with shavings of dark chocolate on top and the bar one sauce.

decadence!!!