Michy Loves Food

Pear, Blue Cheese & Rocket Salad This is such an easy and...

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 11:52:11 -0400

Pear, Blue Cheese & Rocket Salad

This is such an easy and fresh salad which is perfect for Cape Town summer heat!
200g Rocket leaves
1 pear
100g blue cheese
50-100g pine nuts
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

Toss the leaves with Balsamic and Olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place pine nuts in a hot pan and quickly brown them…be careful as they can easily burn! Place the leaves on your serving plate. Cut the pear into slithers and place on rocket leaves. Crumble the blue cheese over the salad and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts.

Serve with a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc or Viognier!

SUNSHINE SALAD I love this salad! I made it the first time about...

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 11:48:00 -0400

SUNSHINE SALAD

I love this salad! I made it the first time about two years ago when I took my boyfriend Mark to Paternoster for a suprise birthday weekend away. I served it with prawn skewers then and again for another friends birthday weekend away. It goes well with spicy chicken kebabs or fish.

Ingredients:

One large mango
One red onion
250 g rocket
One lemon
100ml Olive oil
Salt & pepper

Moves:

1. Peel and slice onion thinly. Cover with salt and juice of one lemon and put aside.
* handy hint…microwave teh lemon for 15 – 30 seconds to get the max amount of juice out of the lemon*

2. Peel and cut mago into chunks

3. Once the salt has drawn some of the liquid out of the onion add the olive oil to this mixture. Season with coarse black pepper.

4. Coat the rocket leaves with the onions, lemon and olive oil dressing.

5. Top with mango and serve!

Easy peasy sunny summer salad!

I am a big fan of stone fruit and nectarines are my fave! This...

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 04:15:00 -0500

I am a big fan of stone fruit and nectarines are my fave! This easy recipe takes just a short while to make and can be served hot or cold.

Nectarine and Almond Tart
Ingredients:
1 roll all butter puff pastry ( or normal if you can’t find)
4-5 Ripe nectarines
125ml ground almonds
125 ml flaked almonds
125 ml butter
125 ml sugar
5 ml cinnamon
5ml all spice

Recipe
NB *Thaw puff pastry night before*
Roll out puff pastry on a greased baking sheet. Systematically fold the edges of the puff pastry over to create a lip for the tart.
Heat butter, sugar, spices and ground almonds over a low heat until it has all melted.
Slice nectarines into equal sized slice ( I cut mine into thin wedges)
Spread butter mixture all over pastry.
Layer nectarines across pastry in rows.
Egg wash the borders of the puff pastry for a nice golden edge.
Sprinkle a bit of extra sugar over the top and bake as per pastry baking instructions.
I take mine out a few minutes before it needs to and sprinkle teh flakes almonds over the nectarine tart so they can brown a bit.
Makes 8 very generous portions or 16 lady size portions. Serve warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream or stiff whipped cream.

Photo & Styling by Michy P

I love ‘fake’ junk food for when you feel like pigging out but...

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 06:49:00 -0400

I love ‘fake’ junk food for when you feel like pigging out but don’t feel like dealing with mega guilt afterwards. This recipe for healthy pizza is perfect ‘fake’ junk food. It’s super easy and hits that naughty take away craving spot perfectly!

Ingredients:

6 wholewheat pita breads
Mrs Balls tomato chutney
180 g reduced fat feta
600 g butternut
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar or glaze
Rocket leaves

Instructions:

1. Chop and peel butternut into small squares (about 2cm x 2 cm should do)

2. Chuck the butternut into a bowl and coat with a drizzle (5-10ml) of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

3. You can either put these into a preheated oven at 180 or I just roast them in a pan on the stove as they are so small it works quite well.

4. Once they are roasted and have a nice brown colour add the honey and balsamic and roast this off in the pan to create your sweet roasted butternut topping. Let this cool while you move on to the next step.

5. Take the Pita breads and spread Mrs Balls tomato Chutney on top.

6. Sprinkle the roasted butternut on the pita breads followed by the reduced fat feta cheese.

7. Pop onto a tray and into the oven at 180 untill the feta has started melting and the pita crust is nice and crispy!

8. Top with rocket leaves and season with salt and pepper! Super easy and super yummy!

PS: These are ideal for meat free Mondays but if your Carnivorous side is craving some more protein add some bacon to create a more meaty meal. If you are not feeling healthy you can always add some cheddar cheese to the pizza before you pop it on the oven!!

Let me know what you thought of the pizza and any other cool topping suggestions!

Oh my word!!! Gotta love it ! (not just the Dax one...

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 10:09:49 -0400

Oh my word!!! Gotta love it !

(not just the Dax one …all of them!)

ps: Beware sensitive eyes : mind the swearing yo!

anotherdamnedfoodblog:

relax-with-dax.co.za

Bitches keep your pants on. Go get a towel. Yes I know I’m a looker. But there’s time for all ya’ll. First I gotta eat some shit. Free shit. Yes, free. Now please! Do you know who I am? Really really really know? I will tell you. I’m not like those other fucking bloggers. I’m the next big thing. I’m the second coming. I’m a fucking religion motherfucker. I will blog your ass into next year. I will eat your sandwich and tell you how to fix it. I don’t demand respect. I AM respect. I’m a diamond fucking ring baby. A mixed platter of freaky gifts. A dessert trolley of talent. A fucking cheese plate of skills. I can sniff out foie gras from duck liver at 200 metres. I can tell the vintage of a wine from the sound of the cork pop. Claret or Bordeaux? Can’t fool me you suburban shits. Rustle the leaves and I can hear the difference between dahnia and coriander. I can find water in the desert. I know who shot JFK. I can tell what’s grilling by the sound of the sizzle. I’m round but I can fucking dance baby. Don’t you forget it. I will unravel your koeksister. I will marry your daughter. And kiss your son. Bitches beware. Daxy is here.

Chocolate cupcakes with Sailor Jerry Chocolate Ganache icing...

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 10:00:05 -0400

Chocolate cupcakes with Sailor Jerry Chocolate Ganache icing #tripple yum!

Sailor Jerry Chocolate Rum truffles #yum

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 07:41:28 -0400

Sailor Jerry Chocolate Rum truffles #yum

I have a secret… I drink rum. Not just any rum though,...

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:31:00 -0400

I have a secret…

I drink rum. Not just any rum though, only the good stuff! One of my best friends, Cate Whittaker, who lives in England introduced me to this beautiful drink! We had it next to the pool mixed with ginger ale and a squeeze of fresh lime juice one English summer and I was in LOVE! Needless to say I was so stoked when it arrived here in SA!

Having recently discovered how to make really easy chocolate rum truffles I decided to use it in my tribute to Sailor Jerry in …

Sailor Jerrys Chocolate Love (Choc cupcakes with rum ganache & choc rum truffles!)

I made a simple Chocolate ganache which is used as a topping for the yummy choc cupcakes and ALSO used this to make the truffles.

Chocolate cupcakes - the easy way!

100g Caster Sugar

100g Butter / baking margarine , softened

100g Self raising flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tbsp Milk

2 Large Free range Eggs

2 tbsp Cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 190 C. Mix all of this together in a bowl with hand mixer until light and creamy. Scoop into cupcake cases and bake for about 15 - 20 minuntill risen and firm to the touch.

Chocolate Rum Ganache

240 g of your fave chocolate ( I love dark chocolate and it works well with Rum)

240 g fresh cream

10 ml butter

40 ml Sailor Jerry rum ( or whichever rum or other spirit you prefer)

Chop the chocolate into teeny pieces and place in a glass bowl. Heat the cream on the stove until it just reaches boiling point. Pour the hot cream into the chocolate and stir until all the choc is melted. Add teh butter and mix in well. Add the Rum and mix in well. You now have your choc ganache icing for your cupcakes.

Once cupcakes have cooled top them with the ganache. You need to work pretty quickly before the ganache starts to set and becomes difficult to work with.

Once you have topped all the cupcakes place the remaining ganache in the fridge for about an hour or two to cool down.

Sailor Jerry rum Chocolate truffles

1 Bowl leftover chocolate ganache

Icing sugar to dust your hands

Cocoa for dusting truffles ( I added gold food dust to my cocoa mix pictured here)

Once the mixture has cooled and is set use a teaspoon to scoop small balls of ganache out. dust your hands with icing sugar and roll the chocolate in your hands to form a ball. Dust this in cocoa and set aside. I find a sheet of baking paper or cling film over a chopping board works well. If your hands become too warm you can always run them under a cool tap to make the rolling easier.

Now place your Chocolate Rum Truffles on top of your cupcakes to complete your taste of “Sailor Jerry Chocolate Love” !

Even though Cape Town has offered us such amazing weather so far...

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 11:10:30 -0400

Even though Cape Town has offered us such amazing weather so far this winter there are still a few miserable days in between and what better way to spend them then producing this beautiful labour of love? I have always wanted to make a Chicken Pie from scratch…the Slow Cooked way! I must however admit that I did cheat a little bit…I used store bought Puff pastry BUT…it is AMAZING Woolies All Butter French Puff pastry so it really does taste home made and super delish!

Slow cooked Chicken and Mushroom Pie

Ingredients (for 6 small pies or one large pie)

One whole free range chicken or 6 chicken pieces

Two large onions

One bay leave

3 cloves

One large carrot

Punnet of button mushrooms(250g)

Punnet of Brown Mushrooms ( 250g)

10 ml Olive Oil

10 ml Mixed herbs

3 ml fresh nutmeg

Maizena (app 10-15ml)

Two packets All Butter Puff pastry

One egg

Method

1.Cover chicken in a large pot with water. Peel and chop one onion into quarters and add to chicken along with the Bay leave, cloves and one carrot chopped into 5cm chunks. Let this simmer for about an hour or two on a medium heat until chicken is very tender ( you are technically making a chicken stock while cooking your chicken!)

2. Remove the chicken from the water and place in a bowl to cool.The chicken should feel really tender and slip off the bone. Keep the water you have boiled the chicken in and strain through a sieve as this will act as your stock a bit later. Remove all skin and bones and keep chicken meat seperate.

3. Finely chop the other onion and mushrooms and fry off in the oil. Add mixed herbs, nutmeg and salt and pepper and let this simmer for a few minutes and then add the shredded chicken.

4. Add a bit off the stock to the chicken and mushroom mixture ( about a cup). Season to taste.

5. Add maizena to this mixture to thicken the pie filling. Add it bit by bit and keep stirring the filling to allow the Mazena to dissolve properly. Let this thicken for a few minutes over a low heat. Remove from heat and alow to cool a bit while you prepare the pie casing.

6. Line the pie dish with your Woolies All Butter Puff Pastry and blind bake this for about 15 min.

7. Fill with your pie filling and top with Woolies All Butter Puff Pastry…Brush with a beaten egg and bake for 15 min.

Voila! Your slow cooked pie is ready to serve! I served mine with roasted baby potatoes and peas. Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it!

This easy butternut soup has had my friends and family asking...

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 07:59:00 -0400

This easy butternut soup has had my friends and family asking for more this winter. The added bonus of course is that it is very healthy with barely any fat used. When made recently by my lovely friend Deborah for our book club it got such rave reviews I decided to make this my first post for my Getaway Blog. (I have used reduced fat feta cheese as a garnish with mine pictured here but it is an optional extra). I hope you enjoy it and please let me know how you got along with it!

Butternut soup (4 hearty portions)

Tools:

Large pot

Stick Blender

Ingredients:

1 kg butternut peeled and chopped

1 potato peeled and cubed

2 leeks

1 large onion

1/2 tsp mild curry powder

10 - 15ml olive oil

750 ml chicken or vegetable stock ( I like Nomu Fond, but any will do)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

250 Skim milk or fresh cream (Depending on your diet!)

Reduced fat feta for garnish ( optional extra)

1.Dice the leeks and onion and fry off in oil on a medium temperature.

2.Add the mild curry powder and allow the onions to absorb the curry flavours for a few minutes.

3. Add the diced butternut and potato and stir to coat with oil.

4. Add stock and let the butternut simmer gently until very soft ( approximately 45 - 60 min depending on the size of the chunks- the smaller the faster !)

5. Add the cinnamon and blitz the soup with a stick blender ( remove from heat before doing this as it can splatter and cause burns!)

6. As soon as the soup has been blended return to a very low heat just to keep it warm. You can now taste the soup to adjust seasoning accordingly.

7. Add milk or cream and stir through just before serving. This soup is best served with a nice fresh white bread.

Yoghurt tart

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 06:23:22 -0400

How delicious! A tart made from yoghurt ( and several other ingredients!). Unfortuantely it got gobbled up before I could shoot it but I will post an image soon as I am bound to make it very soon again! It is so scrummy and super easy to make!

Recipe for Yoghurt tart

115g /125ml butter / margarine at room temp

200g / 250 ml sugar

3 eggs beaten

140 g / 250ml self rasing flour

1ml salt

450 ml milk

350ml Bulgarian yoghurt

extra butter or margarine to dot on tart before it enters the oven.

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Butter a ovenproof dish ( at least 2litres in size). Cream the butter and sugar and add eggs, mix well. Mix milk and yoghurt and add to egg mixture, mix thoroughly. Pour mixture in ovenproof dish and dot bits of butter ontop. The recipe asks for it to bake for 45 minutes but I baked mine for about an hour. It should be a nice golden brown colour on top. Can be slightly wobbly as it will set when cool. Can be served hot or cold. I ate some of this yoghurt tart hot out the oven with a sprinkling of cinnamon which was delish! (…And then a slice when it had cooled down as well - I prefer it hot but both are super yum!)

Enjoy!

The Good Food & Wine Show at CTICC

Fri, 27 May 2011 04:03:00 -0400

Mark,myself and my good friend Ola went to the Good Food and Wine Show at the Cape Town INternational Convention Centre last night and had such an amazing time! We started off with a Johnathan Dannias ( From Australian Masterchef) food demo. He was so sweet and sincere! Looks like a great guy!

He made a lovely Duck breast in balsamic & vanilla glaze served on a bed of rocket with caramalized pears and roasted walnuts! Looked delish! Also got a great recipe from him for Choc fondant and he did a demo on caramel sauce. (Can’t believe he made two of my faves!!! DUCK +FONDANT!)

The stands were very nicely done as always and we very much enjoyed what we called the “wine mile”. Solms Delta Sparkling Shiraz definitely stole the show for us! We had it at Christmas last year and were so pleased to get it at a great “Expo” price. :)

Other than the wines the Baking & kitchen gadget stands were also top on the list. Got some beautiful golden food glitter from Nicollettes. And some awesome Teflon baking sheets.

Obviously we had to stop for a few snacks to go with all the vino! We had plates from Bleomendal ( Chicken breast wrapped in duck prosciutto served with a Pinotage jus and a butter poached potato) which was our least favourite.

We swiftly moved on to the Blues stand which offered amazing Roast veg wrapped in thinly sliced beef. It was delish! So simple yet uber tasty!

Bistro 1682 offered amazing plates too ( Ola had the Pork Ragout!~was amazing!) and we opted for 3 plates from Five Flies : Lamb cutlet served with a aubergine “bake” , Seared scallops, Grilled salmon served on wilted spinach. They were all very tasty but my favourite stayed the Little Bundels of Beef love from Blues.

The absolute highlight for me of course my new LeCruesset Caribbean Kettle!!! So excited by this! Ola contributed as part of a housewarming gift (we are moving in a few days) and Mark the balance !! Already had coffee this morning using my new beauty!!! I have always wanted one so I am very very grateful for this!

All in all well worth it!

Have a fab weekend, mine is definitely off to a good start!

What beautiful flatware you have!

Thu, 19 May 2011 08:25:25 -0400

What beautiful flatware you have!

Winter Menu

Tue, 17 May 2011 09:31:03 -0400

Woke up this morning with a headache which ( one myprodol later) is still lurking around. Might be because my Mac powercable gave up on life last night and now I am stressing about where / when and how I am going to fix this problem.

Anywho, headache and cables aside, I am feeling so inspired to do a soup story this weekend. Especially after spending time with Russell Smith (www.russellsmith.co.za) last week on an Autumn shoot and learning more about directional natural lighting in Food Photography.

I will be making 4 soups, two which I have made once or twice before and two which will be new to my repertoire. All of them are vegetable soups, five a day and all that you know!

So I will be heading off later to try and get cloth for this shoot. And some textured wood. And crockery.

Whatever I cant find today I will have to find on Saturday Morning as I am shooting pregnancy pics of my Sister on SAturday Afternoon ( she is due next week!!!).

Wish me luck!

ex to the oh

Easter weekend baking

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 05:56:26 -0400

Going home this weekend and will defenitely be baking a little something something :).

Ideas so far : Yoghurt Tart! Super delish, healthy-ish and cost effective!

or Hot cross bun Bread and butter pudding. Inspired by @SarahDuff who posted it on the Getaway Blog. I have not stoppped thinking about that yummy pudding!!!

We will have to wait and see!

Happy Easter to all!

russiankid: *‘black and white tux ain’t no need for no other...

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 10:21:44 -0400

russiankid:

*
‘black and white tux ain’t no need for no other colours’

janelle monae. what a lady!

imma go home and practise those moves.

Milk Tarts in Phyllo Pastry Test run bake for MILK&HONEY...

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:30:00 -0400

Milk Tarts in Phyllo Pastry

Test run bake for MILK&HONEY exhibition this Saturday!

Healthy winter lunches

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:28:41 -0400

Hey all!
Any recipe ideas for healthy winter lunches. You post them, I'll shoot them!

Test run for Milk Tarts

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:25:17 -0400

I’ll be doing a test run for Milk tarts this evening ( traditional South African tart) for Russiankids MILK & HONEY exhibition. What am i doing for the HONEY part?

HONEYcomb cupcakes ofcourse!!

Made the test batch from a secret family recipe last night.

Very excited!!

Have all my decor together :)

Will post Milktart pics soon!

Grilled Salmon topped with Beurre Blanc and served with Creamy...

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 10:00:08 -0400

Grilled Salmon topped with Beurre Blanc and served with Creamy Mash.

(Kloovenberg in Riebeeck West, Cape Town, South Africa)