I ate a bucket of meat

African Brai, Street party style : Mzoli's (Gugulethu, Capetown)

Any person who knows about Mzoli's glows about it. I didn't quite know what to expect but from the instant buzz people get when they talk about this place my tastebuds were tickled just thinking about it.

Sitsuated in the heart of Gugulethu township in surrounding Capetown - on first glance - totally missable, it looks dingy and totally confusing to see the ques of people spilling out onto the street. There is a haze of smoke crawling out from behind a giant tin roof - and then you smell wood burning meat - and your totalz swept up in the humy buzz of smokey energy.

  

This place has got the art of Braii perfected. In the midst of a township it's easy to feel out of place or a sense of trespassing - but this place welcomes everyone - even a kinda of awkward middle aged women doing the moonwalk. It's an all day street party where you BYO booze / salads / ice boxes and you buy your meat at their butchers. Line up in the first building with dusty glass and choose any meat you could dream off, fillet, sausages, lamb chops (totally mouthwatering) ribs - get it weighed and pay - then follow your nose out the back to the floor to ceiling wood burning fires - where all your meaty goodness is cooked to perfection and seeped in woody smokey greatness.




Hell Yeah!!

 

I eat humus by the tablespoon

Humus with freshly baked pita pockets

2 months without an oven has caused serious food day dreams of all the uncookable things that linger just out of reach – until yesterday. Pita bread time – well a version of pita, more like flat bread - and oh holy moly you can't have pita without humus.

Humus
8 tblsp Tahini (the tahini I used was runny and real pale in colour)
2 tins of chickpeas
1 ½ cans of liquid from the tin of chickpeas
2 ½ tsp chopped garlic
juice of 1 ½ lemon
½ tsp salt
4-5 tblsp olive oil

This recipe is my current version - but always worth playing with. Add the two tins of chickpeas to a pan – heat on a low temperature for 2-3 mins. Add all other ingredients to the chickpeas. Continue to heat on a low temperature for about 5 mins and use a potato masher to much it up. Turn off the heat and mash or blend until smooth.

Pitta Pockets
3 cups of flour (1 of white 2 of brown bread flour)
1 ½ tsp salt
1 packet of yeast (15g)
1 ¼ – 1 ½ cups of luke warm water
2 tblsp olive oil

Mix yeast with flour and salt – add the olive oil and 1 ¼ cup of water and stir. The ingredients should come together to form a ball (if the flour won't stick add some more water / if too wet add some more flour). Place ball on a floured work surface and kneed for 10 mins. Then place ball in a bowl that is lightly coated in olive oil- coat ball in oil by rolling it around the bowl. Cover with cling film and leave somewhere warm until it has doubled in size (90 mins). When doubled, punch down to release trapped gas and divide into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and cover with cling film. Let it rest for 20 mins. Pre- heat oven to it's hottest – spread flour on a baking sheet. Roll out balls to 1/8 inch thick – cook for 5 mins. Then whats real nice is to toast them to give them a lovely golden brown colour. They should keep for a few dayz.

When I dream about markets I dream about this place

Neighbourgoods Market, Old Biscuit Mill (375 Albert Road, Woodstock, Cape Town)

Check out their website here

OMG this place is like heaven.

Feels like Bourgh Market with space and more light during a street party. Its part independent designer goods, part food. I hung out with the beautiful clothes for a bit, but the lure of the gormet treats in the next building was too much and I was off.

The market was founded in 2006 by Justin Rhodes and Cameron Munro and comes to life in a sky-lit Victorian warehouse. Communities have always flourished around lively food markets and the concept behind Neighbourgoods was to rejuvenate a district through a 'local food market' - make a hub of energy by creating community and transform a space.

As you walk around the market you are surrounded by buzz words, heavy on the locally sourced, fresh and organic stalls. This is so exciting to see here and much needed forward thinking in a country that at times seems dated. There's organic fruit and veg stalls, raw chocolate, french specialty delights, heaps of uber fresh bill-tong, pure white mozzarella, roasted mushrooms with garlic salt. The warehouse is lined with high quality and beautifully presented food wares, and you kind of long to buy a little from each. 

The real indulgence, however, is the amount of time you want to spend here - esp sitting at those long, long, long tables that stretch along the center of the market -  where everyone crams onto wooden school benches to devour their food bootie. People are drinking champagne (well Cape Sparkle), Mojitos or 1 quid beers and it's not even midday. This community vibe is the highlight and the energy force behind this market, creating a total stir to Saturdays afternoons in Cape town.

I'll eat anything that swims (nearly)

BBQ Lemmon Pepper "Shad" from Coffee Bay (serves 2) 

Seems like it's taken forever to have my first bite of scaly goodness. So far, fish, along the Wild Coast have been pretty unremarkable - over cooked mussels, battered KFC tasting line caught pong - but that track record is history - for about 2 quid you can get yourself a fish from a local fisherman - fillet it (Mamma Bat took charge) - wrap in tin foil with heeps of lemon pepper and cloves of garlic and then go right back out and do it again - cause believe me, when your finished, your yearning for one more bite.

 

1 fresh lemon sliced (juice poured on fish)
1 med Shad fish (I think seabass tastes pretty similar)
1 tsp salt
3 tsp palm sugar
1/2 tsp paprika
handful of crushed black peppercorns 

1 tsp of whole pepper corns

hearty drizzle of olive oil

So after you fillet the fish, place each fillet on a tin foil crafted plate and add all the ingredients, by rubbing them into the fish. Close the opening of your tin-foiled fish so none of the juice gets out and cook on a BBQ for about 13 mins on each side (until it's not translucent anymore and it has a nice firm texture).

My friends have good taste

Eating London H I T L I S T


A few dayz until my African food Odessa and I got a chance to catch up on some hot spots to dine in London. But when choice is endless and time is short, it felt like the best route to follow were friends favs - and this is where they brought me.


Caravan (11-13 Exmouth Marker, London): I am such an easy please for a weekend breakfast, any combo of streaky bacon and poached eggs will normally suffice, but C A R A V A N is a new moment in food time - totalz going straight to the top of my best breakfast of 2010. Toasted sour dough bread, slow roasted tomatoes - gorgeously amber with burned edges, soy creamed mushrooms - with that amazing truffle quality and deep chocolatey taste (I somehow managed to keep a couple to savor in my last bite), on top of these you have perfectly cooked streaky bacon that's crispy and oily and two runny poached eggs. The rest of the menu was totally great and exciting too, mackerel / avocado with chilli flakes - they also roast all their own coffee downstairs. UNREAL

The Breakfast Club (Camdem Passage, Angel): The portions sprawl upwards and outwards from the plate - gee this it - exactly how you imagine it - and a challenge worth attempting. I got chicken burrito - it was so chubby - rammed to bursting with rice and chicken and beans and cheese - served with sour cream and 3 tomato chutney. This is dream hungry lunch material - pure satisfaction. The menu is piping with things I wanna try next. BTW NEW B'FAST CLUB OPENING SPITALFIELDS EARLY NEXT YEAR with Jen the Ren manning this food den eco style. LOVE. 

Song Que Cafe (Kingsland Road, Easy London): The bottom end of Kingsland road is a total hub of Vietnamese food spots - app the Song Que is Jamie Olivers fav - also my friend Alex's so this is where we all went. Nice canteen style feel with high ceilings, paintings of running horses and pretty rammed. Hands down the best spring rolls, the battered king prawns were abit 'cheap take away' to look at but such a hearty bite. The spicy salt squid had translucent seemed like egg white batter - so light and crisp - also check out the poached ginger and chilli sea bream. . .  so much flavor, that awkward plate licking thing happens.

If I could have eatin all 6 I would have

Rosemary and garlic prawns wrapped in Parma ham (makes 6)

In need of a starter – I’ve regressed to my cooking staple – garlic. Skewered prawns it is - these savory badboys become tip of the tongue irresistible when left to marinade for a few hours. Grill them until they turn pink…. then the secret - pan fry them for 40 seconds – they’ll sizzle as the Parma ham crisps up and releases those salty juices that then seep lustily into the skewered prawns – total tease of a starter

Marinade:

Handful of fresh rosmary (finley chopped)

Good splash of white wine vinegar

4 garlic cloves (finely chopped)

2 tsp palm sugar (or muscavodo sugar could be used)

1 tsp salt

1tsp runny honey

good grind of black pepper

30 king prawns

6 slices of Parma ham

a few sprigs of rosemary

Make your marinade – keep tasting it as you add the ingredients and when it tastes balanced i.e sweet, savory and a twang bringing the flavor up at the back, add your prawns and leave to marinade for a few hours. Prepare the prawns – skewer the prawns, 5 per skewer, stick in little sprigs of rosemary to the prawns themselves. Take a slice of the ham, tear in half, and wrap each half around the skewered prawns – do this for all 6 skewers. Then cover and leave in the fridge until ready to cook. Grill the prawn skewers for about 5 minutes on either side – until pink – no more – then remove from the grill and heat some oil up in a pan, pan fry the prawns on each side for about 20 seconds.

Mrs Pork

Gluttony and the Pig: The Tesco Taste Northern Ireland Event 17th -18th September (nb. where not to go if you like food) 

A day with the hog and 11 hours later my legs feel like they've been run over by a tarmac flattener - or maybe that's my food soul from such rotten supermarket dumping. Once a pretty vibrant food stop on the food market track - now a cesspit of oven pasties, battered cocktail sausages and microwavable burgers. The Belfast city council, could not this year bring us the taste festival without a "little help" - so thanks to Tesco’s - the Taste NI Festival was made possible this September. But not without a price.

Caoimhe Mannion, Marketing Manager with Tesco NI said "We are committed to supporting producers across Northern Ireland and this event, which celebrates the very best of the region’s food and drink, is testament to that.” Hardly, any small producer who was not a supplier to Tesco was pushed out to the back corner and not mentioned in the press release naming exhibitors Press release (insert names of retailers here). They also had to deal with unending food sluttery from Tesco's relentless sampling. These are the independent food retailers - the ones that have been here each year, providing a real sense of local and innovative food. 

What the guts of the problem appeared to be was that the market goers, were plied with such an overload of free food (super uninteresting food btw) and drink on the part of Tesco suppliers that this led to serious magpie greed - the idea of paying for food's worth drowned outside along with the gardens - people seemed to resent money changing hands, which is so different to a proper food market - where your excited to hand the money over to make that delish something yours. In no way is this the fault of the retailers there today or those that were hired to work the stalls - it was the atmosphere created when a giant super market chain sets up base in a market place setting. So a headz up - avoid - unless of course, your heading straight to the Pheasant Hill Hog - the real gem in the pack - for some rare breed, free-range hog roast - alternatively, if you feel like pre packaged chicken wings on your cheek, this is the market for you. Whatever your taste is eh

I need Truffle restraints

Chambord and Brandy Truffles (makes about 40)

Faced with a birthday desert challenge, I made chocolate heaven. I hadn't quite grasped how the different layers of a truffle are what make it great - this recipe brings that out nicely. The alcohol gives fruity depth and changes the texture of the inside of your truffle, the dark chocolate coating adds bite, and rolling in coco powder gives sweetness with that messy talc like touch.

Truffle Mix:
60g milk chocolate
150g dark chocolate
150g unsalted butter
40mls brandy
120ml Chambord

Rolled in:
120g melted dark chocolate
40g coco powder

Break the milk and dark chocolate into small bits and heat until nearly melted. In a small saucepan heat the brandy and the Chambord - just until too hot too touch, not boiling. Add this mix too the nearly melted chocolate. Chop the butter into little cubes - gradually mix the butter into the mix. Line a square / rectangular (one that is nice and deep and not too wide, about 14cm squared is good, depth anything from 2 inch’s up works) with cling film. Pour in the mix and refrigerate for 3hours or until set. Take out cut into small cubes, roll in melted chocolate then coco powder and place back in the fridge. Ready when you are.

Somtimes I feel like I live for bites

Mini Berry Crumbles (makes 12) 

I had some extra ingredients from the mammoth Sunday galette, so mini tartlets followed. What's nice about these is their individualism ensures a light and flakey pastry- equally satisfying is that the bite sized tart is a little less intimidating than a real life tart - they just disappear - where as the big old galette's consumption is a much more visible affair.

Follow the recipe for Sweet Berry and Macarpone Galette to make the mascarpone cream, the cumble and the pastry.

Ingredients

12 raspberries

a couple of handfuls of bueberries

1 tbl spoon of melted butter

Roll out pastry so it's 2cm thick. Rather than using a tart tin - cut out 8cm discs of pastry and roll the pastry to about half a cm thick, lightly dust a bun sheet or muffin tray with flour. Lay the pastry discs into the cavities, pressing in around the sides. Bake the tarts cases blind for about 10-12mins gas mark 5 - take out of the oven when they start to puff out slightly. Add a spoonful of mascarpone cream, top with some blueberries and raspberries, brush the fruit with melted butter, sprinkle with crumble. Bake until the sides of the pastry start to go golden brown and the crumble begins to crisp.

Showing off is so distasteful

Sweet Berry and Mascarpone Galette

It being the end of the summer and all - it's nice to bring a little fruity heartiness to the table. This sweet pastry galette, is a big effort treat - so prepare for major time consumption, but its pretty impressive - the cooked mascarpone and buttery pastry give a sublime full bodied and creamy squeeze to the tartness of the berries while the crumble adds this lovely bitty texture that feels kinda playful in your mouth

Mascarpone Cream (Ottolengi taught)

150g mascarpone

150g cream fraiche

25g icing sugar

Crumble (makes abit more than you need)

100g cold salted butter

200g plain flour

50g caster sugar

Pastry

1/1/4 cup of strong white bread flour

20g icing sugar

200g salted butter

1/4 cup ice water 

2 tbl sp lemon juice

Filling

1 red plum 

150g mixed berries

30g melted butter

1 passion fruit

Pastry: Freeze flour and butter for one hour. Add the icing sugar to the flour - giving that sweetness to the pastry thats this treat craves. Then cut the butter up into cubes and gradually work into the flour. Mix up your sour cream, water and lemon juice. Make a well in the crumbly flour / butter and add half the wet mix. Work this in. As big chunks form, remove them and place to the side. Keep removing the big bitz. Then when there’s nothing left in the bowl, roll all of them together in your hand, just until joined. Wrap in cling film and place in fridge for 1 hour

Mascarpone Cream: Whisk the mascarpone to loosen it, then add the icing sugar and cream fraiche. Whisk until it's firm again - refrigerate until ready to use.

Crumble: Add the butter, flour and sugar together - work it between your fingers until it has the consistency of bread crumbs - then refrigerate until ready to use

Pre-heat oven to gas mark 4. Roll your pastry out. Lightly flour a hard based tart tin / baking tray - add the pastry. Cover with baking beans and bake blind for twenty minutes. Remove from the oven (turn heat up to gas mark 5), let cool for 10 mins. Add spoonfuls of the mascarpone to the base. Add mixed berries and sliced plum over the mascarpone. Brush the fruit with the melted butter, sprinkle with crumble, place in the oven on gas mark 5, for around 40 mins – checking every 15mins and brushing the pastry edge with butter or milk to stop it burning. 

Any reason to stay indoors

Roasted Cauliflower, Leek and Garlic Soup

September's here and instead of an "Indian summer" we get downpours and fog - what's needed is some straight to the point appreciation for being stuck inside and curled up on a cream sofa with deadliest catch on screen - sip this soup with onion focaccia - wait for perfect comfort realsied

1 medium headed cauliflower

2 leeks

6 cloves of garlic (skinned and squashed)

2 tbls sp olive oil

4 heaped tbls sp butter

50ml sour cream

800ml chicken stock

1 tsp salt (alwayz maldon)

1 tsp black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5. Chop up the cauliflower and the leeks. Place on a baking tray, along with the 6 whole galric cloves (squashed) - add salt, olive oil and butter. Roast for 40-45mins - until brown and slightly softened. Add roasted veg and garlic to a saucepan along with the chicken stock and black pepper - heat until bubbles - leave to cool. Add the sour cream and blend until smooth and creamy - season to tast

Is it wrong to want meat for breakfast?

Peanut Butter Chicken Skewers

I woke up this morning, my mouth itching for last nights dinner. Oh your good - creamy coconut skewered chicken. These kebabs add a totally satisfying decadence to your average bbq - the chicken soaks up the coconut milk, keeping it rich and mouthwateringly moist - and the peanut butter keeps that salt craving right on target

1 can of coconut milk

2/3 rd Jar of peanut butter

6 chicken breasts (diced)

2 cloves of garlic (crushed)

2 red chilies (finely chopped)

1 green pepper

1 yellow pepper

2 red onions

10-20 chestnut mushrooms

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Add the coconut milk, peanut butter, garlic, chilies, salt, black pepper, and diced chicken. Leave to marinade for 2-3 hours. Make kebabs - skewering the chicken - mushroom - onions - and peppers. Pour what’s left of the marinade over the top - BBQ when readz 

Eating in Toon - logged

Anytime I try to think of my fav places to eat something delish in Newcastle, I seem to get a mind blank, so before I leave, I thought I'd track down my ideal spots that are totalz hot stuff to dine in - to stop myself forgetting if I ever return.


Alphabetically:

Al basha (the big market): Unreal. Melted halloumi between super thin flatbread. Musaka / Vine leaves / Foul - truly great stuff - mushy bean dish that tastes kinda cheesy. They're pretty generous with their flatbreads and the hummus is perfectly smooth, salty and creamy

The butterfly cabinet (Heaton road): The lunchtime menu here rocks. ESP the mussels, a huge bowl with the most succulent sauce that leaves you wanting to drink the remains straight outa the dish - ps pretty vast portions totally sharable

The Golden Phoenix (7 Marlborough Cr): I have a dark addiction to Chinese food - thinking of salted chilli chicken keeps me up at night - the golden phoenix is the bee’s knees when it comes to Mandarin cuisine - with a pretty hip clientele

Kahns (178 Heaton road): I haven’t been here for so long, but I am making a special pit stop before I leave - my memory is all hazy from eating too much - but it went like this - mmmmmmmmmmmmm - I will have to touch up this entry after Monday

Olive and Bean (Near monumnet, Clayton St.): Lunchtimes in the centre of Newcastle were saved when this place came to town. Totally delish deli and sandwich bar - chorizo and manachego or grilled halloumi are killer - but i've heard good things about the stilton and pear - choices choices

Cafe Paradiso (1 Market lane, behind Popolos): How could I forget this total gem (headz up from Adam). Sitting in a booth surrounded by stylish leather the floury toasted lamb wrap with thick cut chips is pleasure galore with extra drippage

The side cafe (1-3 Side, Quayside): Kindy pricey at moments i.e. the wine - but each dish is so complete, for dinz, the French black pudding should be attempted, although visually looks a little too dark and long - slightly awkward moment when it's staring right back at you, and you know you gotta eat that thing - but tasting it changes everything, so rich and so soft like the best gravy condensed into solid form. For breakfast the hollandaise sauce of the eggs benedict leaves you cleaning the plate with your finger, a slightly ashamed attempt to get the last remnants of your hollandaise fix.

I woke up craving olives

Feta cheese and poppy seed turkish scones

Cooked olives give the best 'perfumey' sweet salt twinge, the feta cheese and slightly lumpy butter melts - keeping the scones moist and making the bites extra satisfying as your mouth makes it's way to the middle - stuffing central

Scone mix

4 eggs (2 yolks set aside for glaze)

2tsp salt

1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

200g salted butter

1 cup of sour cream

1/2 cup olive oil

450g plain flour (add gradually)
2tsp baking powder

Filling / Topping

250g feta cheese (keep a little aside for topping)

handful of chopped parsley

large handful of olives - maybe 100g (save some for topping)

handful of poppy seeds (for topping)

Set oven to gas mark 7 - turn 2 baking trays upside down and grease with butter. Add all your scone mix together in a big bowl- gradually adding the flour, until the mix comes together to make a not too sticky dough. The butter might be abit lumpy - so rub through the mix with your fingertips. Crumble the feta cheese into a bowl, add chopped olives, parsley and add a little salt, some nutmeg & drop of oil.  Take small handfuls of the dough and flatten between palms of your hands into a disc - then flatten (1cm thick) a little more on a floured surface - add a tsp of the feta mix to the middle of the disc, fold the disc like a parcel and roll into a slightly flattened ball. Keep this up until you have about 12 - 14 dough balls filled with feta. Set on the upturned baking trays in sets of 6 - brush with egg yolk - add some chopped olives, crumble a little feta on top and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake for 25mins- until golden

A tart a day

Red onion and goats cheese tart

I can't get over the butteryness of this pastry. Dream material, you can see the translucent layers when it's hot out of the oven, the trick is to totalz enjoy the time consumming integration of the butter and the flour. WOW I wanna eat you.

To make the pastry:
1 1/4 cups of flour
1/4 tsp of salt
3/4 of a stick of butter (so yeah, loads)
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup of ice water
2 tblsp lemon juice

Filling time:
1 red onion
75g light brown muscovado sugar
big dollup of butter
2 splashes of balsamic vinegar
100g goats cheese

Add the salt to your flour and freeze for one hour. Freeze your butter for one hour too. Then cut the butter up into little bits and gradually work into the flour. It's pretty meditative, this is a good bit, take your time. Then mix up your sour cream, water and lemon juice. Make a well in the crumbly floury / butter and add half the wet mix. Work this in. As big chunks form, remove them and place to the side. Keep removing the big bitz. Then when there’s nothing left in the bowl, roll all the big bitz together in your hand, just until joined. Wrap in cling film and place in fridge for 1 hour. Work on your filling while your waiting. In a heavy based pan add the butter - slice your onion, so you have long lanky strands, add these to the butter, cook down untill soft, add the sugar and keep the heat really low, add balsamic vinegar and cook until carmalised. Roll out your sticky dough with lots of four, add to floured baking tray. Add the onions and crummble goats cheese over the top. Bake until golden - 30 mins (ish).

Light work load leads to a heavy belly

Toffee and Hazlenut Brownies

I swear to god these are delicious brownies, though the picture makes them look a little dark and ominous. They've got stickyness with bite, and not too much overkill on chocolate as the hazlenut chunks give your mouth a nice dry contrast to rub up against. TOTALLY WORK- could work better with banana jam.

Homemade Toffee

25g unsalted butter

75g Caster suger

Gooey Mix

300g chocolate (200g 70% coco solids & 100g 50% coco solids)

280g unsalted butter

2 eggs

280g plain flour

180g caster sugar

100g light brwon muscavado sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2tsp salt

80g hazlenuts

Make the toffee, add ingrediants together, and heat on a medium (7mins maybe), stirrign constantly with a wooden spoon - then when the mix turns a nice dark caramel colour, pour onto a baking tray, lined with baking parchment to cool. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 3. Sift flour and salt and set aside. Melt chocolate and butter together over a pan of simmering water (don't let the water touch the bottom of the pan or let the chocolate mix get too hot) - when melted remove from heat and set aside. Add sugar, eggs, vanilla extract to a bowl and whisk, just until combined. Fold in the melted chocolate / butter mix. Fold in the flour / salt mix. The caramel should be cooled now, so break it up and add to gooey mix. Add the hazelnuts (crush them in a bag by hitting them with something heavy - a freezer bag works good for this). Then pour / spoon the mix onto a baking tray  that's been buttered and lined with baking parchment. Cook in the oven (25mins) until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.