Apple Butter

Making apple butter is a great way to use up the glut of apples at harvest time. Although that is not for a few months yet, I'm including the recipe here as it goes so well with Homemade Sausages. As the name suggests there is butter in this preserve, need ti dispel the myth; 'butter' is a bit of a misnomer. The name comes from its smooth and buttery texture. It is delicious served with pork of any kind as well as with bacon or just served on toast at breakfast.

Ingredients:
2kg Granny Smith apples
250ml apple cider vinegar
500ml water
about 1000ml sugar
Salt
10ml ground cinnamon
2ml ground cloves
2ml allspice or ground pimento
grated rind and juice of 1 lemon

Method:
Cut the apples into quarters, without peeling or coring them. Much of the pectin in in the cores, seeds and peels. Cut out any damaged parts of the apples.

Put the apples into a large pot, add the vinegar and water, over, bring to the boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes until the apples are soft. Remove from the heat.

Ladle the apple mixture into a conical sieve (or food mill) and force the pulp through the sieve with the back of a spoon into a bowl. Measure the resulting purée. Add 125g sugar for each 250ml of apple pulp. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Add a dash of salt, the cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice, lemon rind and juice and blend through the apple mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Transfer the apple mixture to a large, wide, heavy-based nonstick saucepan and cook on a low heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Scrape the bottom of the pot while you stir to ensure a crust does not form on the bottom of the pot. If your pot is nonstick, it shouldn't form a crust, but just to be sure, constantly clear the base of the pot. Cook for 1-2 hours until thick and smooth. To test when it is ready spoon a small amount onto a chilled plate - it should be thick, not runny.

Pour into hot, sterilised jars and seal. This makes a little more than three jam jars. Store in the larder until opened, then store in the fridge.

Farmhouse Beans

This is a traditional Afrikaans way of preparing green beans, also known as "Boere Boontjies". I learnt to make this behind my Ouma's apron. As children, it was a treat and I still enjoy beans prepared this way.

Although suet is the genuine fat used by the 'Boere Vrou', it is not considered as a suitable fat to use today as it is saturated fat. You could replace it with butter or olive oil, or a bit of both.

Ingredients:
1 small potato, peeled and chopped into quarter inch cubes - or coarsely grated
1 shallot, peeled and chopped
1 packet of green beans, topped and tailed and chopped into 1 inch pieces - smaller if you wish
30g suet for frying - or butter and/or olive oil
salt and ground black pepper to season

Method:
In a frying pan, melt the suet and add the potatoes, frying for a few minutes until the potato becomes a little translucent. Add the shallot and beans and fry for about 5 minutes until the onion is a little coloured and the beans are cooked, but still crunchy. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper a keep warm until ready to serve.

Double Mash

This is a mash potato made with potatoes and sweet potatoes mixed. It is much more flavoursome than ordinary mash and is more beneficial nutritionally.

Ingredients:
2-3 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
30-50ml milk
20-30g butter
salt and white pepper to season

Method:
Boil the potato and sweet potato together in salted water until the potatoes are tender. Mash them with a potato masher, adding milk and butter to soften the mixture, until the mash is soft smooth and creamy. season with salt and ground white pepper to taste.

Homemade Pork Sausages

'Bangers and Mash' is traditional British comfort food, but coming from South Africa, we have a different take on this family meal. These homemade sausages are ever so tasty and perfectly easy to make. Even better than the traditional pork sausage, they have no casings and can have the herbs and seasonings of your choice added to them. Instead of serving them with plain mash potato, we like to have 'Double Mash', 'Farmhouse Beans' (Boere Boontjies), and Apple Butter.

Ingredients:
450g fatty minced pork
breadcrumbs made from 2 slices of white bread - or 50/50
1 egg, whisked
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 small shallot, peeled and chopped
30ml fresh coriander leaves, chopped
celery salt and ground black pepper for seasoning
2-5ml chilli flakes, to taste
15-30ml soy sauce to taste
50ml olive oil for frying

Method:
Mix together all the ingredients, except the olive oil, seasoning well with celery salt, ground black pepper and as much chilli flakes as you enjoy. Fry a tiny bit of the mixture in a pan with a dash of olive oil to test the seasoning, adjusting to taste. Divide the mixture into 8-12 pieces and shape each into a sausage. Place on a baking tray or plate and set aside until ready to cook them. Chilling them for a couple of hours in the fridge helps to firm them up.

To cook the sausages, heat a frying pan on a low to medium heat. Add 50ml olive oil and gently fry the sausages for 12-15 minutes, until golden on all sides and cooked on all sides.

Serve with Double Mash, Farmhouse Beans and Apple Butter.

Herby Summer Salad

Salads are always popular for summer eating, with a braai or barbecue, or just for a light lunch or accompaniment to an evening meal. This delightful lemon dressed herby salad only takes minutes to make and has fragrance from the herbs, sharpness from the lemon and saltiness from the bacon. All in all, it's a nicely rounded salad and the dressing can be used for many other salads as well as this one.

Ingredients:
For the Salad:
8 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, finely sliced
olive oil
A small bunch each of tarragon, basil, flat-leaf parsley, coriander and dill, leaves picked
a punnet of baby cress
60-70g rocket
Parmesan cheese shavings, for garnish

For the Dressing:
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
45-50ml lemon juice
100ml olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

Method:
Put all the dressing ingredients in a jar with a little salt and pepper, then shake to combine. Taste and add more seasoning or lemon juice if required.

Fry the bacon in a drizzle of olive oil till crisp. Drain on a piece of kitchen paper, then place in a bowl with the herbs, cress and rocket. give the dressing a shake, then drizzle over enough to coat the leaves; toss with your hands. Sprinkle with Parmesan shavings and your salad is ready to serve.

Braai Grilled Onions

These savoury onions are great to grill during the last 15 minutes while cooking your meat. They go well with almost all cuts of meat.

Ingredients:

4 medium onions, topped and tailed and skins removed

30ml Worcestershire sauce

30ml balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar

30ml soy sauce

30ml olive oil

1-2ml dried tarragon

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Cut each onion in half lengthwise and place the halves in a shallow, flat container. Beat the Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, tarragon and oil together and pour this mixture over the onions. Allow them to marinade at room temperature for about 1 hour, basting occasionally.

To cook, arrange the onions around the edges of the grid. Cook until the onions are tender and brown, basting occasionally, for 10-15 minutes. These cook best on a covered grill, but may also be done on an open fire. Once done, remove the onions to a serving dish and season with salt and pepper.

Easy Barbecued Roasties

If you have never thought to do roast potatoes on the braai or barbecue, give it a try.

These are just amazing!

They take about an hour to do, so they will need to go on long before your meat, unless you are doing a large chunk of meat for a roast, with which they make a great accompaniment, but we like them with any chargrilled offering....

Ingredients:
6-8 potatoes, peeled and quartered
60ml boiling water
60ml olive oil
60ml butter, melted
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2ml turmeric
2ml paprika

Method:
Prepare a direct fire, if you are doing steaks, chops or chicken pieces, or an indirect fire if you are cooking a roast on the barbecue.

Par boil the potatoes in salted water for about 10 minutes and drain. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer in a cast iron pan or in an aluminium foil drip pan.

Combine the remaining ingredients and pour over the potatoes; toss to coat all the potatoes well. Cook over the drip pan until you put your meat on, then move to the side of the fire while you cook your meat if you are using an indirect fire. If you are using a direct fire put the tray of potatoes on the side of the fire for about an hour; the potatoes will absorb all the liquid and will be puffed, crispy and golden brown.

Cooks Tip:

Using a Kettle Braai or Barbecue...

There are two different ways to cook over a braai, especially if you are using a kettle braai, which has a lid or cover - what we call a 'Weber', the favourite Braai in South Africa, which is also available in the UK.

The method you select will depend on the type of food to be cooked. As a rule of thumb, place the most emphasis on the type of meat you are going to be cooking - vegetables usually cook just as well on both methods of cooking, but many meats benefit from what is called the 'indirect' method of cooking over coals, especially if you are preparing large pieces of meat, such as roasts, hams, whole chickens, duck or turkeys. It is also the best method for cooking fatty meats, such as ribs, park rashers and duck breasts.

When using the indirect method, food is cooked by reflected heat, not directly over the coals. Hot coals are positioned at either side of the fire bed and a drip pan is placed between the two beds of coals. the food is placed on the grid over the drip pan. food cooks slower than by direct heat. Because there are no coals directly under the food, flare-ups and smoke are minimised.

The second method id the 'direct' method. This is suitable for cooking steaks, hamburgers, chops, sausages, kebabs and most vegetables. A direct fire requires the hot coals to be spread over the fire bed and food is placed directly above the hot coals. Food to be cooked by this method may be placed in an open or covered Weber.

'Open' or 'covered' are the further two options, which the kettle braai permits - to cover or not to cover.... Open grilling is probably the method of choice for cuts of meat that are no more than 6-7cm thick, such as fish fillets, vegetables, steaks or chops. These will probably cook in 10-12 minutes, before excess charring occurs on the outside.

Most foods cook more evenly on a closed braai. Very thick steaks, roasts, chickens, chunky vegetables or large whole fish need to cook slower in order to cook through. the covered barbecue will also keep the food from drying out while cooking and fatty foods that may cause flare-ups, or foods with oily marinades or sauces will cook better if covered.

Gingered Chicken on the Braai or Barbecue

Summertime ... and the living is easy...

I love summer because it's a time you can get outdoors and enjoy fresh air....

Or it's supposed to be.

Even if we are having a bit of a wet spell, my hubby and I try to make the best of it; perhaps we are becoming a bit British - we stand in the rain to cook over the Weber if we are forced to by this inclement weather we are having this year. One moment it's sunshine and the next the wet stuff is coming out of the sky again, just when we have put the meat on the fire! Ah well, that's life...

Chicken isn't something that a lot of people think to put on the braai or barbecue, but we love it and I have a few tips for you as to how to do it. If you put the chicken over hot coals to cook, especially if you have used a marinade or sauce, it's likely to burn before it cooks. No one enjoys burnt but uncooked offerings! The thing to do is to partially cook it in the microwave first. This will ensure that the flesh is cooked thoroughly but not charred on the outside. I don't choose to use the oven for par cooking because this could dry the chicken out before it is transferred to the hot coals and then you don't get so much of the lovely smoky flavour from the charcoal. I recommend marinating chicken before barbecuing; it helps to 'cook' the meat before the application of heat and keeps the chicken moist while it completes its cooking.

Ingredients:
8 chicken thighs or breasts
60ml olive oil
1 bunch spring onions, chopped - including the green parts
Juice squeezed from 40ml grated fresh ginger
200ml light soy sauce
30ml brown sugar
20ml sesame oil
3 ml black pepper

Method:
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat on the hob and sweat the spring onions for a few minutes. Add the juice from the grated ginger and discard the pulp. Add the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and pepper to the onions and pour over the chicken in a microwavable marinating container. Stand for at least 30 minutes, but leaving it to marinade for 2-3 hours is even better.

Meanwhile, prepare a direct fire - one in which the coals are spread evenly under the grid. When the fire is almost ready, transfer the chicken to the microwave, still in its marinade, and microwave on 70% for 8-9 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and transfer to the barbecue to grill directly over the hot coals. Turn frequently for 10-15 minutes, basting often with the liquids from the remaining marinade.

Serve with your choice of accompaniments.

Lite Coronation Chicken Salad

For those of you who are conscientious about eating healthy, here is a variation on the classic British dish, Coronation Chicken, without the masses of mayonnaise. It's even more delicious than the original and far better for you all round. With crunch and sumptuous flavours of the orient and the juicy peppery taste of watercress, it's ever so quick and easy and you are going to love this as much as I do.

If you can't get mango chutney you could make mine - find the recipe HERE, or use fresh mango slices and a chutney of your choice, something like Apricot Chutney or Autumn Chutney.

Ingredients: - Serves 2
2 skinless chicken breasts
5ml mild curry powder
50ml olive oil
30ml mango chutney
zest and juice of half a lemon
half a cucumber, peeled, seeds removed and cut into 2 inch sticks
2 handfuls of watercress
toasted almond flakes to garnish

Method:
Toss the chicken breasts with 10-15ml olive oil and the curry powder to coat evenly, then leave to marinate for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the salad: Reserving 10-15ml olive oil to cook the chicken, mix the remaining oil with the chutney, lemon zest and juice. Put the cucumber sticks and watercress in a salad bowl and dress with the chutney mixture, tossing to distribute the dressing.

Heat a frying pan with the reserved oil and cook the chicken for 5-6 minutes, turning over halfway through the cooking. When done the chicken should be just cooked through but still succulent. Cut the chicken breasts into 1/2 cm slices and allow to cool slightly before tossing through the salad.

Serve, garnished with toasted almond flakes.

Coronation Chicken

Coronation Chicken was a dish devised, as the name suggests, for the banquet for the coronation of one of Britain's monarchs; in this case it was our present queen, Elizabeth II. This royal gem of a recipe was proposed by a florist, Constance Spry, and a chef, Rosemary Hume, to be put together form cold cooked chicken and a creamy curry sauce, supporting the new Queen's love of curry. It's a dish that proved immediate, and continued popularity with the British public as it is so easy to make and can be prepared in advance if required for a special celebration, or even for just a family meal. Although it was tremendously in vogue in the 1950s and 60s, its popularity has waned, but is still often found as a filling for shop-bought sandwiches.

Be a little British and serve this classic party food dish at your next gathering of family or friends.

Ingredients:

For the Chicken:
1.5kg trussed chicken, giblets removed.
½ onion.
½ stick celery.
2 bay leaves.
1 star anise.
4 cardamom pods.

For the dressing:
1 onion, roughly chopped.
1 large clove garlic, roughly chopped.
3cm piece root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped.
2 tbsp olive oil.
2 tbsp mild curry powder.
½ tsp ground coriander.
½ tsp ground cumin.
Seeds from 2 cardamom pods, crushed.
¼ tsp salt.
Freshly ground black pepper.
3 tbsp mango chutney.
120g mayonnaise.
50g Greek yoghurt.
50g raisins or sultanas, soaked in hot water to soften.

To serve:
Toasted flaked almonds.
1 little gem lettuce.

Method:
Put the chicken in a deep stockpot or saucepan and cover with cold water. Drop in the onion, celery, bay leaves, star anise and cardamom pods and cover with a lid. Bring to the boil then turn down the heat very low and poach for 1 hour, or until the leg comes easily away from the bone and the chicken is cooked through (see cook's tip below on poaching). Turn off the heat and leave the chicken in the stock until cool enough to handle.

Lift the chicken out of the stock, reserve 400ml and discard the rest. Remove the skin then remove the meat from the chicken by tearing off large bite-sized pieces and transfer to a bowl to cool. If you're making the chicken ahead, pour over a little stock then cover and chill until you're ready for the next step.

For the dressing, put the onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor and blitz until the mixture takes on a paste consistency. Heat the oil in a frying pan and gently fry the paste for 6-8 minutes to cook through. Add the spices, salt, a good grinding of pepper and cook for a few minutes more until fragrant before stirring in the mango chutney. Pour in the stock and bubble rapidly until the mixture has reduced back down to a paste, then transfer to a large bowl and leave to cool.

Mix the mayonnaise and yoghurt into the cooled paste then stir in the raisins or sultanas and toss with the chicken. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary. Chill until needed then serve on crunchy lettuce leaves and garnished with scattered toasted almonds.

Cook's Tip:

Poaching is a very gentle technique that gives really succulent meat; the water should only break an occasional bubble. Be careful not to boil the chicken as it'll toughen like old boots.

Lay-Z Cherry Cheesecakes

Plump and sweet British cherries are at their best right now and the season lasts only six weeks through July and August, so make the most of them while you can.

The Romans brought the first cultivated cherry trees from Persia to Britain in the first century AD. Over the centuries, cherry orchards were developed in south and west of England, and the summer months saw orchards lined with juicy, dark clusters of fruit, but with the importation of fruit grown in warmer climes and distributed at more attractive prices, by the early 1980s, these orchards had all but disappeared. However, some industrious cherry farmers still persevere and grow good-quality fruit, which is part of our British heritage.

Cherry orchards provide a vital habitat and food source for many native birds, butterflies and insects, making the continued cultivation of this fruit an important agricultural activity. If it were not for cherry growers like Bryan Neave of Little Sharstead Farm near Sittingbourne, in Kent, endangered species like the noble chafer beetle may have become extinct.

These individual deserts are so much easier than the traditional method of making cheesecake, but are every bit as luscious and can be put together in a matter of minutes and makes an exciting end to a lovely meal.

Ingredients:
150g ginger biscuits, crushed
200g cream cheese. or soft cheese.
300g natural Greek-style yoghurt
50g caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon
200ml water
100g sugar
200g fresh British cherries, stems and stones removed.

Method:
Divide the crushed biscuits between 4 tumbler glasses and press down with a spoon. Mix the cream cheese, yoghurt, 50g caster sugar and lemon zest together. Spoon this mixture into the glasses on top of the biscuit base.

In a medium saucepan, warm 200ml water with 10g sugar over a gentle heat until the sugar dissolves. Turn up the heat and boil for 2 minutes. Reduce to a simmer, add the cherries and cook for about 10 minutes until you have soft fruit in a syrupy sauce.

Spoon the cherries on top of each glass, sharing them evenly. Chill until ready to serve.

Steak and Baked Potatoes with Chilli and Garlic Cream Sauce

Now that we are into July, we are also into the full swing of summer with wonderful warm days and long balmy evening. What better way to enjoy these amazing days and extended evenings than to take out the Weber and have a braai. - or barbecue for those of you who are not aversed with South African English...

So many people seem to think that a braai or barbecue is just for sausages, burgers or kebabs, but not in our household; we like to have steaks, chops, even roasts.

I concocted this steak dish to utilise a chutney I bought at a food fair that was held in Ellesmere not so long ago, and even if I say so myself, it turned out divine!

The chutney came from Heather's Harvest, a one-woman home-production outfit in Shrewsbury, UK - not so very far from where we live.

Ingredients: Serves 2

2 large baking potatoes
2 sirloin steaks
steak and chop seasoning

For the Sauce:
30ml olive oil
1 small red onion, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic
5-10ml chilli and garlic chutney - Heather's Harvest
...... depending on how hot you like it
50ml soured cream
50ml double cream
10ml sugar
5ml Worcestershire sauce
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

Method:
Parboil the potatoes in their skins for about 10 minutes until just beginning to soften, then warp in foil and put on the prepared charcoal fire for about 15-20 minutes, turning from time to time.

Season the steaks on both sides with Steak and Chop Seasoning and grill over a prepared charcoal fire until done to your specifications. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

To prepare the sauce, put the onion, garlic and chutney into a mini-blender and blend to a smooth paste. In a small saucepan over a medium heat, warm the olive oil and add the prepared paste. Cook gently until a wonderful aroma arises and the paste begins to become translucent. Add the soured cream and blend into the mixture in the pan, followed by the double cream, stirring gently all the time. Mix in the sugar, Worcestershire sauce and seasoning. Simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently to amalgamate the flavours.

When ready to serve, remove the potatoes from the foil, cut across the top and push the potatoes on the sides to expose the soft flaky flesh. Place a potato and a steak on each plate and cover them with the thick, creamy sauce - and enjoy!

July Fruit and Vegetables

Summer is now well entrenched and, as far as fruit and vegetables are concerned, we are in our seventh heaven; Nature truly spoils us this month with a luscious array of colourful produce. Whole ranges of tomatoes, courgettes, sweetcorn and other quintessential summer vegetables are available in copious quantities.

July sees a glut of tomatoes, which although they are not one of the UK's great crops as we don't get enough sun for them under normal conditions, those grown under' plastic' give the Mediterranean tomatoes a run for their money while the weather is good. All sorts of tomatoes are available: the beef tomato, which is great for salads and cooking, cherry tomatoes, wonderful in salads and pastas, and plum tomatoes, too tough for eating raw, but with solid flesh and good flavour that make them perfect for curries and sauces are the best to look for.

Summer is also salad season, and July is one of the peak months for salad ingredients: lettuces, cucumbers and spring onions as well as the ubiquitous tomato. To complete any salad, a dressing made with the new season garlic, which should now be available from France and Italy, puts the finishing touch.

The two other vegetable stars of July are sweetcorn and peas, a couple of vegetables that are not worth buying fresh any time other than now. I can't think of any vegetable more delicious than peas straight out of the pod or a mealie cob picked from the maize field, boiled and served with butter soon after picking! Both of these vegetables, when picked, are packed full of sugar that can make them additively sweet. But that sugar doesn't last very long. These vegetables continue to act as if they were still 'alive' after picking, using their sugar as food or converting it into starch. Sugar loss can be as high as 40% in 6 hours, which leads to a drastic drop in sweetness. The solution is to buy directly from a farm where they are picked daily, or even more frequently, or to pick them yourself and cook them immediately, where possible. If you can't cook them on the same day as picking, refrigeration storage will slow the rate of sugar loss.

Summer fruits are at their best in July, with mountains of berries and stone fruits just begging to be used. With the wonderful weather to begin the month, the English strawberries are ripening under the warm sunshine and the first raspberries are appearing with their succulent combination of acidity and sweetness. This is the time to use these berry fruits, for jam-making, baking, fruit salads or just enjoying them one berry at a time straight from the bush if you should be so lucky. July is probably the best month for making jams and preserves. The cheapest way to buy, which is important for jam makers, is by going to a 'Pick Your Own Farm', or if you don't have one in your area, is to find a farmer's market, where the quality will be good and the prices reasonable.

Cherries, peaches and nectarines should also be making a good showing this month, but choose these fruit carefully as they are picked while under-ripe to help them withstand the long journey they make to grace the shelves of our stores. sometimes they don't ripen; a trick to get them to ripen is to store them in the fridge in a paper bag. Some supermarkets sell ripe-picked stone fruit at a premium price; they may deserve the premium, but sometimes not. Less than perfect fruit can be used for puddings and preserves.

Of the fruit that is available in July, apart from our own previously mentioned berries and stone-fruit, much of the best fruit comes from more southerly climes. Melons are in good supply, succulent and sweet, making them suitable for fruit salads and for serving with cold meats, hams and spicy sausages.

A fruit that is available most of the year, but at it's best in summer is the mango, which come from Pakistan and India. If you are lucky enough to live near an Asian food store, they may have boxes of this delicious fruit from a source of their own at a more reasonable price than you may find in your local supermarket.