The Famous Bunny Chow!!!!!

THE BUNNY CHOW!!!!!!! Need I say more..... For those of you who have not heard of one this is a typical street food that you would find in Durban, South Africa. It is made using half a loaf of white bread and stuffed with some really hot and spicy curry, it is meant to messy and you are meant to eat it with your hands and literally get it all over your face, which for me is the best part of enjoying this meal.... :) I guess the only real difference between the one I have made in the pic above is that I did not use half a loaf of bread , but decided to make petite little ones using a crusty bread roll cutting out the centre and stuffing it with some seriously good curry. In this instance I used Lamb Curry and I will share the lamb curry recipe below. This is a fantastic way to feed a hungry family as it is quite filling and really inexpensive. You can make any curry you like, beans, chicken, fish or lamb curry. Using Petite bread rolls... This makes it easier to handle, serve and eat, I find this is the best way to do it for any party. 

Ingredients: - 

Any type of mince or veg you prefer to use, I used 250g lamb mince...

1 Potato roughly chopped

1 Brown onion finely chopped 

1 - 2 Star Anise 

1 - 2 Cinnamon Sticks

1 - 2 Cloves

1 Tsp Fennel Seeds

1 TBLS Crushed Garlic

1 Tsp Crushed ginger

1 TBLS Chopped Chilli (Red) 

1 Tsp Tumeric

1 Tsp Chilli Powder

2 Tsp salt

1 Tsp of Chop Steak Masala (Shan Brand) can be purchased at any indian grocery store. It does pack a punch so becareful how much you use...

2 Tomatos made into a purée 

2 Stalks of spring onion finely chopped 

Coriander to garnish 

Method: - 

Place a pot on a medium heat, if you have a slow cooker even better, the longer you cook the meat for the more tender it is and the higher the chances of it absorbing as much flavour as possible. I used a slow cooker and kept the curry cooking on high for about 3 - 4 hours before serving. 

Place some olive oil into the pot with the star anise, cinnamon sticks and cloves. When you start to hear crackling add the onions and fennel seeds,  you want to cook this for a while until your onions start to become golden in colour. Add the crushed garlic, ginger, chopped chilli, tumeric, chilli powder and cook the masala slightly and add the potatos. Add your meat or veg to the masala and let it cook until the meat is sealed, switch your slow cooker to the slow cook - high setting or if you using a stove top lower the heat until there is a gentle simmer, (If you are using a stove top you may have to add some water to prevent your meat from burning). Let this cook until your potatos are tender. Once the potatos are tender add the chop steak masala mix, spring onion and tomato purée.  Let the purée cook for about 10 minutes and add the coriander to garnish. 

To Serve, cut a hole into the bread roll or half a loaf of bread and remove the centre so you are able to stuff it with curry. Fill it with curry to the top until it is almost falling out of the roll. Top with more coriander or chopped tomato and onion spiced with chilli powder and salt and serve immediatey.  

Con le sarde (Pasta with sardines)

This Popular italian dish con la sarde is a classic sicilian dish usually served as part of their festive dinner on Christmas Eve. Italians usually obeserve a fast on Christmas Eve and traditionally the meal is made up of a variety of seafood, some households even cook up to 20 different varieties..... :) Can you imagine???? All I can think of is probably the best pasta, pizza and risotto dishes that would be part of this amazing feast. 

I particularly like this recipe, because it includes one of the most amazing tasting fish sardines!!!! Now I know many people do not like sardines, so if you do not want to use them, then feel free to replace it with Tuna or any other fish you like. 

Oh and if you would like to make your own pasta please feel free to do so. I did not have a pasta machine so I used the San Remo Gluten Free Penne Pasta. (It is really yummy by the way, you can't tell the difference between normal durum wheat and the gluten free pasta).... I thought I would add the pic of the box to make it easier to find in supermarkets...

Ingredients: - 

250g Pasta (if you don't like Gluten free or can't find any use any pasta you have available to you) 

1 Brown onion finely chopped

2 pieces of Tinned Anchovies finely chopped (For this recipe I used Chilli flavoured) 

85g of Tinned Sardines roughly chopped (if you can get fresh great)

2 Tsp of Capers roughly chopped

2 Tomatos roughly chopped

2 TBLS tomato paste 

1 TBLS Olive Oil

3 Tsp of Garlic ( depending on whether you like the sardine taste or want to mask it the more garlic you add the less likely it will taste like fish) 

1 Tsp Chilli powder

1 Tsp Salt 

1/2 Tsp Black Pepper

pinch of Saffron 

1 Tsp Italian Herbs

50 g toasted pine nuts 

A good Grating of Parmesan

Method: - 

Cook Pasta according to the box instructions. 

Place a pot on a medium heat with the olive oil, onions, garlic and italian herbs. Cook until the herbs start to release their flavours, you will be able to smell the herbs. Add the anchovies, capers and sardines and cook till slightly brown. Add saffron, tomato paste and the chopped tomatos and season accordingly. Once the sauce is ready, place the pasta into the sauce. (I like to rinse the gluten free pasta before adding to the sauce as it does become quite starchy during the cooking process).  

Mix and put a generous grating of parmesan cheese, toasted pine nuts and top with breadcrumbs and serve immediately.

Dhokla Chaat

Dhokla is a savoury gujarati snack that is used mainly as a starter in traditional gujarati homes. Creativelycooked has decided to take this traditional recipe, ofcourse still keeping the Dhokla to the traditional recipe but adding a change up in terms of the chutney that it is served with. Usually the green chutneys tend to be quite of a challenge and turn out quite messy in terms of presentation. So, I thought I would make a Coriander Mint Jelly and try it out with Dhokla as a chaat. Making the jelly can be quite tricky so stick with the recipe below and be sure to follow the steps. 

Ingredients: - 

For the Dhokla 

1 Cup Semolina

3 TBLS Chickpea / Besan flour

3 TBLS Oil

5 TBLS fresh Corn

3 Tsp Eno

3/4 Cup Water

1 Cup Buttermilk

The juice of half a lemon

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Green Chilli

1Tsp Ginger

For the Coriander Mint Jelly 

1 Cup of Sugar

2 TBLS Water

2 Tsp crushed mint leaves

1/2 Tsp Mint Oil 

1/2 Tsp Coriander finely chopped 

Method: - 

For the Dhokla bring a steamer to a boil. I used the idli trays to make my Dhokla. Place all the ingredients into a bowl except the Eno. Mix the ingredients together. Ensure that your steamer is ready before you add the eno to the mix. The reason for this is that you want to roughly fold the Eno into the mix as it starts to fizz and quickly place into the idli trays and into steamer for about 10 - 15 mins, this will allow the dhokla to rise. You will know it is ready once you see that it has the consistency of a baked caked.  

Remove idli tray and allow to cool before removing Dhokla. 

For the coriander mint jelly 

Place a non-stick pot onto a medium heat and add the sugar and water. As it starts to simmer add the coriander, mint leaves and mint oil, continue mixing till a really thick mixture is formed (starts to look like a jam consistency). Be careful not to burn or drop a single drop of the Jelly on your skin as it is extremely hot and can cause some serious burns. Place the jelly into a dish and allow to cool at room temperature. Because it was quite cold on the day I did not need to refrigerate to allow it to set, but once it is cooled you should be able to roughly spoon pieces all over the dish once you are ready to serve. If not place in the fridge for a few minutes until it is firmer before using. 

*Another option would be to add Glucose syrup or agar agar, this will also assist in setting it. Most probably you would be able to cut it into well formed squares and serve. For the picture above I have not used glucose syrup or agar agar, I followed the standard mint jelly recipe. 

Serve with some Sev and garnish with mint or corainder leaves and serve it warm. :) 

Kale and Quinoa Salad

I usually get my veggies delivered to me on a Tuesday morning at 4am. This weeks box contained some kale, broccoli and sweet potato. I have been wanting to make quinoa for a while but just never really had the chance to do it but with the ingredients I had just received I thought it was time for me to get creative and create a flavour packed salad.... So now that I did, I can see myself making this more often. It is sooooo tasty and amazingly good for you too. This recipe is so easy it will take you ten minutes to get it onto the table to serve. 

Ingredients: - 

(Serves 2)

100g quinoa (white, black or mixed quinoa is fine) 

Broccoli heads cut into quarters

1 sweet potato chopped (keep the skin on) 

2 Kale leaves stalk removed and roughly chopped

1/2 Tsp black pepper

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Crushed Garlic

1 Tsp Cumin powder 

1Tsp Coriander powder 

Fresh Coriander to garnish 

1/2 brown onion finely sliced

1 Tsp Olive Oil

Method: - 

Place the olive oil over a medium heat preferably in a non-stick pan. Add the onions and garlic and cook until slightly brown. Add the sweet potato and let it cook until you notice the sweet potato starting to soften. Add the quinoa with 2 parts of water and add the salt and spices too and let it cook, you will start to see the quinoa increase in size. SO how do you know when the quinoa is cooked?????? The best way is to press it between your fingers and see that it squashes. If it does it is cooked if not let it cook for a further 3 minutes. 

Keep the pan on the stove and add the broccoli and kale to the quinoa. The aim is to simply start getting the kale and broccoli to tender just slightly. Once you notice that the broccoli and kale start changing colour (bright green) remove from the stove and transfer to your desired serving bowl. Garnish with coriander and serve. 

A great idea is to use this as a pilaf with any curry that you may have, or even with some prawn or chicken skewers. To add the extra protein. 

Falafel Fattoush

This lebanese inspired salad not only serves as a side dish but is also quite filling as a main meal. Fattoush is the term used for bread salad, so any pita or lebanese bread which is toasted and added to a salad. However in the picture above I did not have pita bread so I used rotis which I had left over the night before and simply grilled them in the oven at 160 degrees for about 10 mins until golden and crispy. 

For this recipe just to save time I used premix for the falafel and the bought ready made hummus. You could use store bought tabouleh if you like, but I used fresh parsley, tomato, onion and pepper instead. 

Ingredients: - 

1 packet of falafel mix

1 bowl of Hummus

1 Iceberg lettuce finely chopped

1 bunch parsley finely chopped

1 tomato finely chopped

1 red onion finely diced

1 green pepper finely diced 

2 TBLS of Garlic Aioli 

Salt and black pepper to taste

Juice of 1/2 Lemon 

Toasted pita bread or any other bread that you prefer

Grated cheese, gouda or cheddar works really well 

Method:- 

Mix the parsley, onion, tomato and pepper together and season with salt, black pepper and lemon juice. I mixed this in a bowl and kept it seperate before serving. Place the finely chopped lettuce into a dish, make sure your lettuce is drained completely and does not have any water on the leaves as this will cause them to droop. 

Prepare the Falafel as instructed on the box and keep aside until ready to serve. Mix the hummus and garlic aioli together, I added abit of pepper and lemon juice to it to make it abit more tangy. 

To serve mix the lettuce together with the parsley mix and place in serving plattter. Place the falafel on top, you could place a drop of the hummus mix into the salad at random places or you could keep it in a serving bowl in the centre, like I have in the picture above. Add the greated cheese and toasted bread as well and serve. 

Buckwheat Berry Cake

This was a recipe I promised a while ago but just never had the chance to type it out. The Buckwheat berry cake. This is what started out as an initial birthday cake which than changed into the eggless mudcake  recipe which I posted earlier and the reason for the change was simply because I used egg replacer instead of eggs and sort of didn't like the cake as much as I had expected because it came out quite dense. SO inorder to prevent this from happening stick with the real eggs!!!!! Buckwheat is an acquired taste for many and if you want to go with it because you have recently gone onto a gluten free diet than this cake is definately for you. All the ingredients I used are gluten free. 

Ingredients: - 

1 Cup Organic Buckwheat flour

1 Cup coconut Sugar or Xylitol

1/2 Cup of Cashew Butter or organic butter whichever you prefer

2 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp Vanilla

4 Organic eggs

1/2 Cup of coconut milk or coconut cream 

Optional 1/2 Cup of Cacao powder (really does add to masking the buckwheat taste, but remember cacao is really bitter too so be careful with how much you use) 

Method: - 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Beat the eggs, sugar and butter till light and fluffy. Add Vanilla and baking powder to the mixture. In a seperate bowl sift the flour and Cacao powder together and then add to the mixture. Mix for approx 2 mins until everything is mixed well together and the batter appears to be thick and fluffy. 

Place into two 9 inch baking trays that have been greased and lined with baking paper and place in the preheated oven for approx 30 - 35 mins. Always test the cake with a skewer if the skewer comes out clean it is ready if it comes out with batter on it then put it back in the oven for a further 5 mins. 

I used the same jam that I used in the eggless mudcake recipe, to join the layers together and also used tofutti for the top of the cake. 

Asian Baked Salmon with Bok Choy and Spanish Rice

Spanish Rice reminds me of my Childhood days when my mum would make this for us on the weekends as a meal on its own. It has the same essence of a paella but ofcourse I have changed it up a bit to tie it in with Asian baked Salmon. 

This is seriously a power packed meal, you have veg, brown rice, bok choy, omega 3 fatty acids from the salmon. This is a really well balanced meal and super filling at the same time. 

Ingredients: - 

For the Rice

1 Cup of Tastic Rice (Brown Rice)

1 Onion Finely Sliced

1 Green pepper chopped

1/2 Tomato roughly chopped

2 TBLS Olive Oil

1 TBLS Soy Sauce 

2 Clove of garlic Finely grated

For the Salmon Marinade

1 Bunch Shallots

1 Bunch of Bok Choy

1/2 Bunch Coriander

2 TBLS of Manuka Honey warmed up 

Dark Soy Sauce

Light Soy Sauce

1/2 inch of ginger finely grated

2 Cloves of garlic finely grated

Juice of 1/2 lime

Method: - 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Place the rice in a pot of boiling water and cook, strain the rice but do not rinse under cold water, you still want the rice to remain starchy. 

In a non stick pan place the olive oil, onions, garlic and pepper and cook until tender. Before the pepper starts to brown add the chopped tomato and cook until mushy. Add the Soy sauce and rice. At this point give it a taste and see whether you need to add more soy sauce (this will add saltiness to the dish so do not add any additional salt). Let it cook the bottom starts to crisp once you see the rice starting to crisp remove it off the stove other wise it will burn really quickly.

For the fish, place the ingredients except the honey into a blender and mix till a course but runny marinade is formed. Warm the honey slightly just so that it is runny and pour this over the salmon. Use your hands to ensure the fish is well coated in honey and than add the marinade. You could leave this to marinade overnight or even for just 30 minutes. 

Place the bok choy at the bottom of the baking tray and place the salmon on top. Bake for roughly 20 - 25 minutes depending on how cooked you like your salmon, I prefer to have salmon that is well done so I usually keep it in for 30 minutes. 

Copy Cat Meals

Copy Cat meals are a great way to entertain when you have one or more guests that have different dietary requirements. It can be quite a challenge to create or even think of different ideas but sometimes using ingredients that could complement both dishes are a great way to simplify the meal.

The sauce for this recipe can actually be made and stored in the freezer using the Clever Jamie Olivers idea of a sauce library. So the next time you make a family dish and have way too much bolognese sauce, or salsa place them in ziploc bags and freeze them for another meal. Create your own "Sauce Library". :) 

As you can see the above picture has both fish and chicken. Can you tell which one is which?????

Well the one of the left is a Ling Fish Fillet and the one on the Right is chicken breast. Both have the same sauce and flavourings, so lets get into it.... Oh yes and ofcourse if you are vegetarian there is absolutely no reason why you cannot try this recipe with Soy Fillets. 

Ingredients: - 

For the Mash: 

250g of frozen peas

2 - 3 medium sized potato's 

Salt and pepper to taste

1 TBLS Butter

For the Fish and/or Chicken

1/2 Jar of Sundried Tomato's 

1/4 Jar of Chargrilled red peppers

1/4 bunch of parsley (Prefer the Curly Parsley for this recipe) 

2 Garlic Cloves

1/2 Tsp of Black pepper

2 Tsp of Olive Oil

1/2 Tsp Salt

Juice of half a lemon

Dash of Balsamic Vinegar

Grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese

* Bread crumbs or you could use corn crumbs if you would like to make it gluten free. 

Method: - 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. 

For the mash place both frozen peas and chopped potato's into a pot of boiling water and cook until soft and mushy. Remove excess water and partially mash the veggies. Add salt, pepper and butter to taste. 

For the Fish or Chicken 

Simply place all the above ingredients into a blender and mix until a thick paste is formed. Marinade the chicken or fish in the paste for about 15 to 20 mins. Place on a oven tray and bake until cooked through. This usually takes about 15 - 20 minutes depending on how hot your oven is. Halfway through the cooking process take the tray out sprinkle with breadcrumbs and finely grated parmesan or pecorino cheese and bake until golden brown. Remember you do not want to over bake the chicken or fish as it will become really tough and dry out. 

To Serve place on top of pea and potato mash and enjoy. :) 

Hot Pots

Hot Pots always have something warm, soothing and comforting about them. This does not mean that because it is typically seen as comfort food that it has to be unhealthy. The pic above is one I made last week for dinner. It was surprisingly quite filling on its own. So instead of going to restaurants that serve hotpots why not stay at home and cook a hearty meal for your family. 

Ingredients (makes 2 Serves, could get 4 smaller serves if you use as a side dish): - 

For the hotpot base

2 - 3 Medium sized Brushed potato's

1 Can of minestrone soup (preferably something that has lots of veggies and borlotti beans) if you want you could use another italian type of soup that might have chicken or beef if you like 

For the Salsa

1 Brown onion finely chopped

1 - 2 Tomato's Roughly chopped

1/2 Green Pepper roughly chopped

1 Tsp Garlic 

1 Tsp Pepper

1/2 Tsp red chilli powder 

Juice of half a lemon 

To Serve

Instead of fresh cream use Sour cream 

Shallot to garnish 

Cheddar cheese (optional) 

Method: - 

Preheat oven at 180 degrees. 

For the hotpot base 

Peel and boil potato's until soft and easy to cut. Cut into rough cubes and divide equally amongst oven proof serving bowls. Place the soup into a pot and warm on stove top. Once warmed pour over potato's. 

For the Salsa

This should really only take ten minutes. Place the onions, tomato's and peppers into a pan with olive oil over a medium heat. Braise until slightly brown and tomato's are soft and mushy. Add garlic, pepper, red chilli powder and lemon juice. Place equal amounts of salsa on top of each serving bowl. You could add the cheese now and place in the oven for 5 to 10 mins at 180 degrees. 

To Serve

Place a heaped tablespoon of sourcream onto each hot pot and garnish with shallots. Serve straight away with some warmly baked garlic bread. 

Cinnamon and Vanilla Eggless Mudcake

The Rustic look is very trendy at the moment, thus I did not crumb coat the whole cake. I also wanted to make sure that all the fruit I used for the recipe actually made a statement on its own. The reason for making this cake was to celebrate my Father in laws Birthday. This initially started out as a gluten free buckwheat cake (which I will also share the recipe for shortly), but I decided to go with a normal flour and make it into a delicious cinnamon and vanilla mudcake. 

There is also a secret ingredient that my mum in law introduced me to a couple weeks ago, which I am absolutely in love with and that is tofutti!!!!! I know you probably thinking TOFU and CAKE are you serious!!!!! Tofutti is an imitation cream cheese, you honestly cannot tell the difference in taste. Tofutti is  VEGAN, DAIRY FREE, KOSHER PARVE, GLUTEN FREE, LACTOSE FREE, MILK FREE, NO BUTTERFAT, NO CHOLESTEROL, NON-GMO. It is available to purchase in most supermarkets. 

Ingredients: - 

For the cake  (recipe here makes two layers) 

250g Butter

2 Cup Castor Sugar (or Xylitol)

2 TBLS Vanilla Extract

2 TBLS Baking Powder alittle extra for luck ;)

2 1/2 Tsp of Cinnamon Powder (if you not a cinnamon fan, maybe use about 1 tsp) 

3 1/4 Cups Plain Flour 

2 Cups Warm milk 

Method: - 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Lightly grease two 9 inch baking pans. 

Mix the butter, sugar, vanilla extract together until a soft mixture is formed. Sift the dry ingredients into a seperate bowl and add to the mixture, add the warm milk slowly and mix on low speed until a thick batter is formed. Pour equal amounts of mixture into pans and bake for approx 25 - 30 mins or until golden brown. Test with Skewer to ensure the cake is cooked through. 

For the filling (Jam or Compote): - 

It is solely dependant on what you prefer. A jam is fruit that is boiled in a syrup till it is thick. A compote is fruit boiled in a syrup and kept quite runny. Compote is what they use for desserts and yoghurts. A jam is used ofcourse for cakes, scones, toast etc. 

I decided to go with Jam for this recipe. 

Handful of Blueberries

Handful of Raspberries 

Handful of Strawberries (cute into chunks if they quite large)

1 Cup of Castor Sugar (Xylitol)

2 TBLS of Water 

Method: - 

Place pot onto a medium heat, add all the ingredients into the pot and start to boil until the desired thickness is achieved, allow to cool before using on the cake. (If you have extra keep it in a jar and refrigerate, great ot use for breakfast or for another dessert) 

For the tofutti, it is best just to leave it out of the fridge for a little while till it softens. Once it starts to soften you will notice you will be able to spread it quite easily. If not add abt 2 tsp of icing sugar and mix it through, this changes its texture and makes it easier to spread. 

To serve: - 

Once the cakes have cooled down you can level the cake if necessary I found that both cakes were actually quite level so I did not do anything with them. Place Tofutti onto each layer of cake, than place the jam ontop of the Tofutti. Place one layer on top of the other and place cherries or strawberries for decoration on top. I also used mint leaves to give it abit more colour and texture. Have fun decorating and enjoy the cake!!!! Ciao for now :) 

Vietnamese Street Style Food

Vietnamese Style Street Food, is a great idea for friday or saturday night meals. Really simple ingredients are used but they truly bring out the wow factor in terms of flavour. Traditionally their lettuce wraps tend to be made with pork or beef mince, however the picture above I have used salmon kebabs, so I will share this recipe with you. Feel free to use any other  kebab. You could make chickpea and black bean kebabs (If you would like a recipe for these please inbox me).

Ingredients: - 

For the Salmon kebabs

1 Tin of Salmon 

1 Stalk of spring onion roughly chopped

1/2 bunch Coriander finely chopped

The Juice of half a lime

1 Tsp Garlic

1/2 Tsp Dark Soy 

1/2 Tsp light Soy

2 eggs

1/2 a red chilli deseed and slice

For the Slaw

1/2 Red Cabbage Julienne

1/2 Cucumber roughly chopped

1 Carrot Julienne

4 - 5 mint leaves roughly chopped

Coriander roughly chopped 

Juice of half a lime 

Romaine or Cos Lettuce leaves to form the base of the meal 

Mayo, chilli, sweet chilli or tomato sauce to drizzle at the end

Method: - 

For the Salmon Kebabs

Mix the all the ingredients together (becareful not to add too much soy sauce or lime juice as this will cause the salmon cakes to become soft and break, if this does happen add alittle flour to it) and form patties. Place a pan with coconut oil or olive oil onto a medium heat and place in patties to fry. Cook on either side for 5 mins until golden and crisp. 

For the Slaw

Mix ingredients together and keep refrigerated until ready to serve. 

To serve, place lettuce onto a plate, place as much slaw as you would like and break up the salmon kebabs on top of the slaw. Drizzle whichever sauce you prefer and eat...... (feel the pop of flavours in your mouth).  :)