ANOTHER BEAUTY FROM THE GARDEN

Fresh parsley from the garden, our garden, home grown, the way to go, go green guys...

SUNDAY LUNCH

OCTOPUS PASTA

This was my Sunday lunch, Octopus pasta - Mauritian style, absolutely mouth wateringly delicious.

I bought baby octopus from La Marina, Miguel made his Mauritian tomato sauce, we quickly flash fried the octopus then added the tomato sauce and allowed it to simmer for 2 minutes.

We served it with al dente spaghetti that had been tossed in sauteed garlic, red onion and melted butter and finished off with some fresh chives stirred through.

The combination of the rich tomato and octopus sauce with the al dente herbed spaghetti was the perfect way to spend a Sunday lunch and OF COURSE we had bubbles with it.

BLACKEND SPRINGBOK LOIN

SPRINGBOK AND TOASTED SESAME SALAD

Instead of the usual hot beef salad, which is a great spring salad because its a warm salad while its still a little cool outside, BUT trying to use more local/traditional produce I want to change it to a springbok salad.

Remembering that springbok should not be over cooked and rare in the middle its delicious if you melt butter in a pan and as it starts to turn a golden nut colour place the springbok loin in and season well all over, brown on all sides then deglaze the pan with brandy and allow to flame. Remove the springbok and allow to rest. Slice thinly.

Make some black pepper and garlic croutons by cutting cubes of ciabatta, drizzle them with olive oil and black pepper and bake at 180'C until golden and crispy. Rub fresh garlic over them.

Toss some mixed lettuce leaves together, cut some cherry tomatoes in half, some blanched asparagus tips and fold together with the springbok and croutons and the liquid from the pan you browned your springbok in.

Crumble some goats feta on top and sprinkle a few toasted sesame seed over and serve while still warm.

DUCK AND RASPBERRY SALAD

SPRING RECIPE 2

These 2 flavours work together in harmony and produce a mouth watering dish, the tartness of the fresh raspberries and raspberry vinaigrette cut through the fatty richness of the duck.

Recipe:

1 small pkt watercress
1 small pkt mixed lettuce leaves
5 baby corns, cut into 3
10 mange touts, cut in half
2 cakes black pepper feta
2 cooked duck breasts, crispy skin but pink inside
1 punnet fresh raspberries
50ml raspberry vinaigrette
100ml grape seed oil
seasoning

Method:

Toss all together and serve with some warm homemade wholewheat bread, slightly toasted and rubbed with garlic.

WOMENS DAY ARTICLE

This was an article that came out on womens day from the HOTEL AND RESTAURANT MAGAZINE

GOOOOOOO WOMEN................

Plea for more recognition of women in tourism

August 8th, 2011 by Andrew Moth | Categories: food, hotels, industry, people, restaurants, tourism, training

In the picture above is Stacey Lee Chan, one of the growing number of women chefs helping to expand the appeal of the South African hospitality industry as a career choice.

A plea for greater recognition of the role played by women in the tourism and hospitality industries has been made by Calvyn Gilfellan, CEO of Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU), on the eve of National Women’s Day tomorrow.
Although women performed key roles and responsibilities at all levels of the Western Cape’s tourism industry, their valuable contribution was not always acknowledged, he said.
“Tourism and hospitality are labour-intensive industries providing ample opportunities for women with their unique strengths and abilities to thrive. Significant progress has been made, but we are concerned that in some of the sub-sectors women are still struggling to break through the proverbial glass ceiling,” Gilfellan said today.
“Although women are well-represented in the tourism industry, too many occupy the lower echelons of the employment structures. It is time that more of them are employed as general managers, directors of companies and senior executives in government and other agencies.”
In recognition of the importance of women in the industry, CTRU fully supports the following United Nations World Tourism Organisation proposals to elevate the role of women in tourism:

• The general improvement of the role and status of women in the tourism industry
• Create awareness of the opportunities available to women at all levels of the travel and tourism industry
• Ensure that women’s matters and gender equality are high on the agendas of tourism policy and legislative processes
• Support good training, development and career opportunities for women in or wanting to enter the industry
• Support policy and legislation that provides for equal opportunity and equal pay for female employees
• Strongly speak out against sexual and other exploitation of women and children in the industry
• Acknowledge and celebrate women’s immense contribution to the industry

SPRING BLOSSOMS

I had decorex for the past few days and in the estate where it was being held I came across this tree that was blossoming, they are the first sign of spring and so gorgeous I just had to take a picture.

These blossoms make me think of a stunning warmish Saturday afternoon brunch with warm bagels filled with smoked trout, cream cheese, freshly sliced avocado and a good squeeze of lemon juice and cracked black pepper with a glass of rose bubbles, all seated under a blossom tree.

Spring brings along a stunning assortment of fruit and vegetables, use whats in season as its at its best.

Enjoy spring and keep watching and reading for some stunning simple, yet classy and sassy spring recipes.

TOFU AND CHICKEN SOUP

For everyone who doesn't like tofu or doesn't know how to cook it and serve it here is a simple way to make tofu taste mouth watering.

Firstly it has to be fresh fresh tofu, which you can normally get at any Chinese shop.

Then you make a strong chicken broth and put the tofu in when it boiling hot so it basically poaches the tofu.

The tofu will then cook in this broth and absorb all the flavours of the broth.

Serve the broth with some freshly chopped spring onions, if you don't go back for a second bowl something is wrong with you :)

Enjoy TOFU...