50 years, and still going strong

 

my grandmother’s kitchen has green linoleum tops and cupboards, the oldest stove and microwave you could ever imagine and cotton swing curtains – but it’s probably the most well-kept 50-year-old kitchen you’ve ever seen. everything is spotless and in its place, which matches my grandmother completely. you see this kitchen is as old as my father. my grandparents moved into this house in 1961, the year my father was born and almost everything is in its original condition. it has a certain charm about it, and it kinda makes me smile sometimes because it’s just so seeped in history.

for that exact reason, and to thank my grandmother and my grandfather for this beautiful home they built from the ground up, i decided to dedicate this post to my grandmother’s kitchen.

when my parents moved to johannesburg at the start of this year i moved into my grandparents’ house in merebank. it was quite a big move for me – coming from the comfort of my parents house with my own space and all the things i’m used to – but i did it.

at first it was difficult to settle into my new room. but with all my stuff in it, it slowly became more homely and more me. after unpacking my things and setting up my furniture, the only other thing to get used to my grandmother’s kitchen.

growing up, this kitchen wasn’t a place i spent all that much time in. i mean, my grandmother was the boss of that kitchen and we always just let her do her thing! we hung out there, did some gossiping and helped cut stuff up but i never really used her stove and got into it.

check out how retro it is!

wall tiles

    

old school stove

 

tea towl hanger

 

microwave

 

it’s been kinda awesome using all this vintage stuff. some of the plates on the stove don’t work perfectly and the microwave needs a little pull in the right direction in order to start it up sometimes, but it’s interesting and makes me think of my dad, aunt and uncle growing up here. isn’t that pretty amazing?

yeah, i think it’s pretty damn amazing :)

may

xo

happiness lives in…

 

…a mugg & bean muffin!

i’m a fully fledged mugg & bean addict and a few weeks ago when mekarl and i went road tripping to the city of gold, one of my goals was to stop off at one of these mugg & bean minis that have opened up on the N3 toll route. i eventually got my wish (not a mini though, we stopped at a real m&b) and it just ended our road trip on such a high. funnest trip everrr!

it was the first time in our five years together that we road tripped such a distance by ourselves. it was such an exciting journey. leaving at 12:30pm on friday afternoon, armed with sausage rolls and tons of water, we set out to gauteng province. we only stopped a few times and actually never made any food stops (THE HORROR) – just one in escourt to get some cabanossi from the butchery at the ultra city – because we knew my mum was preparing amazing home-cooked loveliness. arriving in johannesburg at around 10pm (crazy traffic!) we sat down to sticky rice, creamy prawn chutney, grilled fish and crumbed chicken. what a way to go to bed – with a full belleh :)

the weekend was fantastic! being with the parents and my brother just before his matric exams was so fulfilling. thinking about it – it’s weird how every second of the day is defined by what food we will eat when planning something. i think it comes from the basic act of sharing. i think we, as a family (whether it be grandparents, parents, aunts uncles or cousins) show our love, gratitude, wealth and happiness through preparing, providing and sharing a meal together, and this trip was much the same as every outing was centred around which place we were gonna stop to have a nibble!

awesome food memories include:

• the best dim sum i’ve ever had, delicious angry duck with rice and sweet & sour pork from kong roast;
• the most mouth-watering lunch from tasha’s melrose arch – succulent steak, with baby potatoes in a tomato sort-of-stew topped with rocket; and
• sunday brunch including mince curry, eggs, steak and gravy and bacon which toasty french bread and danishes for desert.

on our way back home, we stopped off at mugg & bean just outside harrismith and got ourselves a rib and buffalo wing combo, a burger and a m&b spectacular giant choc-chip muffin. mugg & bean muffins are the heartiest things on earth, i swear! just so generous and heart warming that getting caught in the storm from howick to durban was manageable with a little choc-chip scrumptiousness!

here’s some photos from the trip :)  

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revamp

 

as most of you know, I have been out of the blogging game recently. not by choice but by the sheer volume of stress and work I have been swamped with. BUT FEAR NOT. I am expanding may’s morsels into more than a recipe blog. seeing as though my life is so much more than cooking, I have decided to expand this blog into a recipe, food appreciation and lifestyle blog documenting everything that makes me happy and that I am sure will make you happy too :)

for where I am in my life right now, to have a pure recipe blog is too confined for my liking, especially when I am in such a black and white profession. I need some diversity and a creative outlet and i am sure that it will be just as entertaining to you this new endeavour is to me!

stay tuned!

may

xo

lamb casserole

 

on a cold winter’s day, there is nothing that warms you up better than a hearty meal. whenever cooking wintery food now, i remember some wise words i heard while watching masterchef australia last year. chef john torode (resident judge on masterchef in britain) was a guest judge on that particular episode for the “british food” theme and when explaining to the contestants about the heart of british cuisine, he emphasized that it is the hearty meal that brings the sunshine to the dull, grey days england is known for. i kept that in mind when making this delicious casserole that warmed us up nice and easy on saturday night :)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 kg lamb – shoulder, shank or leg are great cuts to use.
• 2 tbsp plain flour – seasoned with salt, pepper and chopped rosemary
• olive oil
• butter
• 5 cloves of garlic
• baby pickling onions
• baby potatoes
• 3 carrots chopped
• 1 turnip
• 4 stalks of celery
• 1 leek
• 1 punnet mushrooms
• 2 and half cups of good, rich beef stock – if you don’t want to use beef, then chicken will work just as well
• 1 cup red wine – use a wine that is full bodied and pairs well with red meat. also remember to use a wine you would love to drink, because if it is not good enough to drink it’s definitely not good enough to cook with! i used a cabernet sauvignon/merlot blend
• fresh rosemary
• fresh thyme
• fresh parsely

 

METHOD:

in a heavy based casserole dish, start off by slightly browning the pickling onions in some olive oil and butter then remove from the pot. this will start the dish off with a layer of flavour. the most important thing with a casserole is creating a level of flavour with the addition of every ingredient.

put your lamb in a bowl and season well with the flour, salt and pepper. chop up your rosemary and add to the flour dredged meat and then brown in batches in the oil and butter used to brown the onion. remember not to overcrowd the pot as this will decrease the temperature in the pot and in turn, take much longer to brown the meat.

once all the meat has been browned, you may need to add more olive oil and butter into the pot and then turn the heat down and throw in your chopped vegetables and garlic and cook for 5 minutes until the vegetables are softened and brown. once this is done, add the lamb back into the pot along with the browned onions and deglaze with the red wine. after the wine has reduced by half, add in the beef stock together with a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary. bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes on the stove.

throw in more fresh thyme and rosemary and put in the oven for 1 and half hours on 180 degrees or until the meat falls off the bone.

serve with crusty bread and you’re ready to be warmed up on a cold, winter’s day :)