LATKES {POTATO PANCAKES} GLUTEN-FREE LATKES

 

I made these for the first time last night and I wonder where I have been living all this time! I will be making HUGE piles of these gorgeous Jewish delights for years to come.
They are:
1) easy
2) keep well in the oven
3) taste good cold
4) make great lunch box snacks
5) taste delicious

Seriously I was just  wanting something quick to make for supper and thought I will make some eggy omelette things with potato in them... Quick google potato pancakes / Latkes. I had read of them before but never made them and thought oh well lets try... and boy am I glad that I did!
This is one of those recipes where you don't have to be exact - you just take the ingredients and throw them together and fry and waalaa you have delicious-ness.
Perfect for making into canapes with dollops of cream cheese on top. this little potato pancake has no end to it uses.
*On a side note I think I will add more onion next time.

INGREDIENTS
4 medium to large Potatoes
2 medium onions
2 eggs
1 and a half cups GLUTEN FREE Flour (roughly) - you can use whatever flour you like
salt  and pepper to taste

METHOD
Peel your potatoes and then grate them on the long side of the potato to give you long strips (large side of the grater).
Place them in a sieve, over a bowl and place a plate on top to help squeeze out the potatoes water/juices.
On a separate plate peel and then grate the onion.
Keep pressing down the potatoes every now and then to get more juices out. It is important to get as much of the juices out as possible. You can also put the potato in a muslin cloth and turn to squeeze the juices out. I eventually squeezed my out in the palms of my hands.
Then mix in the grated onion.
Mix in the egg and salt and pepper.
Add the flour a bit at a time until you have a nice thick batter coating the potato strips
Heat up a frying pan nice and hot with a good quality olive oil
Spoon dollops of potato batter in the pan and flatten out a bit into rounds
Fry in batches until nice and crisp.
Place on plates and eat immediately or place in the oven at a low heat to keep warm

Enjoy

ps people will want seconds

Romantic Autumn Dinner and Consol Solar Jars

Consol sent me a few of their new solar jars, and I am so happy that they did.
After playing with them for a bit I realized the endless possibilities they could have at a wedding or party or function. Just think you could fill them with beads/ flowers / colourful tissue paper / sequins / glitter / coloured water (maybe half fill) etc....

But I decided with autumn approaching, the weather is mild with a slight nip in the air. I thought it would be nice to have a romantic evening dinner outside. Beautifully set out with warm autumn soup and pretty flowers accompanying the consol jars. They gave off beautiful light and I didn't have to worry about anything blowing out or catching alight .. I would have had to worry if I had used candles. Try a nice thick vegetable soup with a drop cream. You can find a recipe for

• Potato and fennel soup here, 

• Beautiful Tomatoes soup here 

• Warm Butternut soup here.

What do you think? A warm soup and some pretty flowers and gold pears.. pretty romantic to me.

If you are not sure what a Solar Jar is Consols website says "Solar powered LED lights are powered by sunlight which is harnessed through solar panelling fitted on the lid." So the sun charges the batteries via a solar panel in the lid/ on top of the jar and once charged you have LED lights that can be turned on for light. Pretty cool, hey.

• Photography - mine
• Props and Styling -mine

Disclaimer: These jars were sent to me by consol and I did not pay for them in anyway. Although I received them for free these opinions are my own.

ROASTED TOMATO SAUCE & HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

So yesterday was my daughters 8th Birthday and Saturday will be her party!
Hence I am up to the eye balls with party boxes, garlands, baking,sticking things etc...
BUT today is Valentines day, the day filled with red, pink and hearts. So I thought I'd sneak in a quick recipe filled with red... sorry no heart baked good this year.
This recipe is a guide line and you can vary it according to what you have in your fridge and herb garden or pantry - of course you have to have tomatoes. The variety of tomatoes doesn't matter but a lovely bunch of deep red, sun kissed and preferable organic will make a very delicious sauce which can be used on anything!
I use mine in pasta, on gnocchi, on pizzas and for dipping for chips etc...
As with most recipes - the better the ingredients the better the dish.


ROASTED TOMATO SAUCE
a bunch or two of tomatoes
an onion or two
olive oil
a teaspoon or 2 of  brown sugar
salt
pepper
basil
oregano
thyme

METHOD
Wash and cut your tomatoes in half. Place them in an oven dish with the cut side facing up.
Finely dice your onion and sprinkle on top.
Sprinkle over your olive oil - just a glug.
Season with a nice handful of herbs (washed and broken up)
season with salt and pepper and some brown sugar.
Place in the oven at 180 degrees celcius and roast until soft and mushy (stirring occasionally).
Take out then you have soft and sagging tomatoes that yield to your thumb and the surrounding liquid is thick.
Allow to cool slightly and place in a blender and pulse/ blend until desired consistency.

*hint* for a creamy tomato pasta sauce add some cream when blending

Can be bottled and kept in the fridge for a few days

enjoy

PURE restaurant Valentine's Day Menu judging

THE Amazing Springbok that stole my heart! with spiced beetroot puree, baby caramelized onions, cherry tomatoes, red wine sauce

On Friday I had the privilege of being invited to Pure Restaurant at Hout Bay Manor to do a tasting/ help with some dish judging :) I've never been a judge before ... I must say I quite liked it and found it quite fun. Taste , comment, taste, comment, write some notes, ponder - its strenuous work *wink*





It was a great idea: Each person in the Pure kitchen (except the main chef) got to cook and create a dish for the Valentines Day Menu... then one of their dishes will WIN and be the main course for the official V-day menu at Pure. There were 6 entries and they were all very delicious. But there were definitely 2 dishes that stood out!

Delicious duck on carrot puree, plum carpaccio with 3 bean cassoulet and love-oli (minus the duck in this pic)

Now note that I had let Pure know that i wasn't really eating meat (I have been 90% vegetarian for the last 2 and a half months) They very kindly allowed me to judge/taste the food minus the meat but I did elect to taste a small portion of the one and only game meat on the menu which was springbok and it was AMAZING! So much so I asked them if they would include it in their regular menu at Pure. (So that was my teeny tiny meat indulgence for the month.) but I just couldn't do all the duck, beef, pork and springbok of fear that I would fall asleep after living so happily and AWAKE for the last 2 and a half months! *yes I feel amazing being off meat*

Ok so back to the tasting of food.

Mark Coxon - far right

The winner of the Valentines day dish from Pure's kitchen was Mark Coxon - a 3rd year student at Silwood kitchens. His creation was: Plump duck breast, beetroot puree with pomegranate-vanilla reduction & lusty kimchi salad. It was VERY delicious - even minus the duck for me.

Beetroot Puree with pomegranate-vanilla reduction & lusty kimchi salad

My dining companions were: Max Lund (@maximusland), Retha (@Rethavs), Clark Truter, (@clarktruter), Cheyne (@cheyne_reaction) , Matt Mercer (@mattmercerZA), Lara Scott, Aletta Longari and Alexa from Pure (@purerestaurant)

Snapped a pic of someone else plate: crispy pork belly with Strawberry risotto, mange tout fan and granadilla vanilla syrup

Thanks Pure Restaurant and Hout Bay Manor for a very delicious day

EAT-IN Best Local Food Blog Awards

So this blog is in the running for an EAT-IN DStv BEST LOCAL FOOD BLOG AWARD.

I am 1 of 10 bloggers who are up for the prize/title of Best *LOCAL food blog. So that means I have 1 in 10 chance - YAY! If you help me *wink*  

Its this voting process that allows you to pick who has the best blog and tell the Judges who you like.

You visiting this blog and reading this so I'm gathering you probably like this blog - or better yet you know me and think I'm nice *happy dance*
SO then please vote here http://www.eat-in.co.za/Awards/Blogger-Awards

IT EASY PROMISE
->SELECT BETTY BAKE from the list and use your name and  email address to vote.

Its these kind of happy awards that make blogging a happy place and make you feel you have a little noddy badge of "hey, you're doing good"

Thanks for helping me out

*Local being South Africa (but you can vote from any where in the world with your email address)

VANILLA CAKE GLUTEN FREE

Here is the typed out version from the recipe: Vanilla cake in my you tube video. A big thank you to all who have viewed it. I hope it keeps spreading and being viewed - YAY!

It really is a VERY easy and Yummy cake :) Its one of those cakes that you can make in 1 bowl and whip up and place in the oven while supper is being prepared. It is THAT easy!

Scroll to the end of the post to see how yummy is is all finished and filled with cream.

 INGREDIENTS
100 grams Brown sugar
2 eggs
120 grams Gluten Free flour (you can use regular flour - just use a bit less)
1 and a half teaspoons baking powder
1 vanilla pod or a generous teaspoon of vanilla essence
1/4 - half a cup of milk

VANILLA SPONGE CAKE - GLUTEN FREE & ON YOUTUBE

 After Many hours I finally have a recipe video on You Tube - hooray!

Enjoy the EASY and Gluten Free Vanilla Sponge cake. Feel Free to share this video - go nuts and tell everyone - even your grandma. She'll love it to!...

To go directly to the link and to see it in a much bigger screen go here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbt0pfH1_ZM

Thank you to my 2 egg actors who were super cute and very willing to try anything ;)

A BIG THANK YOU to Matthew Mole for allowing me to use his cute and fun snappy song. You can down load his music for free here

And for my husbands patience I owe him another cake ;)

GNOCCHI GLUTEN FREE

 

I have been eating very little meat for the last 2- 3 months. Reserving to eat meat for special occasions or a treat. Doing this I find that I have so much more energy and feel more awake. Weird cause I didnt feel asleep before.
Anyway when eating out I find it hard to find something on the menu that I like that is meat-free and wheat free. *I don't eat sea food either.
Even though Gnocchi isn't wheat free I decided that because it has quite a lot of potato in it I'd give it a try as I was tired of eating lettuce filled salads at restaurants.
After enjoying a few I decided I needed to give it a try myself

I read through some recipes and I found this one to be the most comprehensive and helpful here on www.finecooking.com

I converted my recipe to gluten free and just used a rough read through of the recipe to make my own version.

INGREDIENTS
6 medium potatoes
Gluten Free Flour +/- 1 and a half - 2 cups (i just added until i had the right consistency)
1 egg
a generous pinch of Salt

METHOD
wash your potatoes and place in a pot of boiling water so that potatoes are covered by the water and turn down to a simmer.
Simmer until soft. I tested by inserting a knife and it went in easily.
Turn off and throw off the water and allow the potatoes to cool down until warm.
Peel the potatoes by hand and roughly cube.
Mash the potatoes WELL! you want it to be lump free and smooth.
Let the mash potato cool then add 1 egg and a generous pinch or 2 of salt and stir in thoroughly.
Now add flour a bit at a time until you feel you have reached a soft dough consistency - not super sticky but not to stiff either. Mix with your hands. DO NOT work with it to much - just enough to mix all the flour in. I felt the success is not over working your dough.
Wash and dry your hands.
Flour your work surface.
Break off fist sized balls of dough 1 at a time and roll into a sausage.
Use a sharp knife and cut into pieces about as wide as your thumb.
Lay the pieces on a baking tray covered with wax paper.
Keep working until you have rolled and cut up all your dough.
Using a large pot bring water to the boil and sprinkle in a little salt. Turn down to a simmer.
Place roughly 10 gnocchi pieces in at a time and when they float remove with a slotted spoon.
If you put to many gnocchi in at once you will end up with a goopy mess.
Place a sauce of your choice on your plate or bowl and place gnocchi on top.
Sprinkle with freshly grated cheese
Serve immediately

 

PS this was a huge hit with my family :) 

UPDATED AGAIN: Coffee Espresso Machine - BREVILLE

flat white made by a professional Barista - not me!

PLEASE READ TO THE END OF THE POST TO SEE THE OUTCOME!!!

So recently my husband and I went coffee machine shopping. Before we set out I never realised how daunting this would be. We had been browsing for almost a year now and we had a rough idea of what we wanted. We knew we wanted an espresso machine. We had a stove top peculator already and we were now wanting to progress to the next step :) yay! well so I thought...

DOUBLE HONEY ALMOND TRUFFLES

INGREDIENTS
100grams Raw Almonds
6 Tablespoons Honey
2 Tablespoons water
pinch of salt
125ml cream
100grams 85% Dark Chocolate (eg Lindt or other good quality chocolate)
2 tablespoons cocoa for dusting

METHOD
Grill/ roast the almonds in the oven until light golden brown (watch it or they will burn). You can store them in an airtight container for a day or 2 or carry on with the recipe.
Transfer the almonds to a frying pan with 3 - 4 tablespoons of honey, water and a tiny pinch of salt. Simmer and stir and leave on low till nice and thick and darker golden brown. Make sure that you don't burn the honey!
Have a tray ready with buttered foil or  buttered wax paper!
Spoon the honey almond mix onto the buttered foil/paper and allow to cool and go brittle.
In a Bain Marie (eg glass bowl over a pot of simmering water) place cream and chocolate.
Stir until melted and smooth.
Stir in 2 Tablespoons honey
Cut/crush the brittle honeyed almonds with a sharp knife until you have course crumbs and stir into the melted chocolate mixture.

Place in the fridge for a few hours to firm up.
Once firm (I left mine over night but think 2 hours should be fine) scoop out a rounded teaspoon at a time and roll very lightly in your hands and the place in sifted cocoa.
Shake off lightly and place on tray or place and place back in the fridge to firm up
I managed to make 20 small truffles

They were moreish!
Enjoy!

STRAWBERRY SORBET - COOL & HEALTHY

It is beach weather in Cape Town at the moment. REALLY HOT! Get-a-tan-and-burnt-in-20-minutes-flat-kinda-weather. You know the kind where the sea glistens and the beach babes play volley ball and your skin smells of coconut sunblock.
Well I'm not falling for it! I may live 2 minutes walk from the beach but I am opting to sit in the shade of my garden and watch my daughter play in the sprinkler (under the shade of a tree).
Im going to kick back my shoes and eat some sorbet. It maybe less fashionable but I'll have just as much fun with out the sand being in my shoes and every piece of clothing I wore to the beach ;)
BONUS: This Sorbet will be even more delicious (and healthy) than ice cream bought from the kiosk at the beach.

This recipe is so much easier than you think and is filled with fresh fruit (vitamins) :) Its a win-win summer treat!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup fresh apple juice
1 generous cups strawberries (trimmed and cut up)
4 tablespoons honey
1 small lemon
2 x eggs whites beaten (soft to medium peaks)


METHOD
Dissolve the honey in the apple juice by heating it slightly in a small saucepan on the stove.
Puree your strawberries in a blender and then pass through a sieve into the apple juice. This is to get rid of the tiny little seeds.
Squeeze the juice of the lemon into the mixture - tasting as you go. Don't make it to sour.
Freeze and mix in your ice cream machine or in a low dish in your freezer.
Add the all ready beaten egg whites.
Stir and freeze or serve immediately
Freezes well in a sealed container (I use CONSOL glass jars - preserving/ Mason jars) for roughly 6 weeks.

*if you don't have an ice cream machine and are freezing it in a dish = then beat the mixture and return to the freezer twice before adding egg whites

NEW YEARS EVE SPARKLYNESS

This year I think we will stay in with our 7 year old - make some snacks rent a cool DVD and spend some time chatting about the new year. Then when it is very late for a 7 year old to be up :) we will send her to bed with a million kisses and tell her all about how it will be a new year when she wakes up. but before she does we'll fit in some ice cream before bed and some fizzy juice in "champagne" glasses... maybe some sparkly cupcakes and light some sparklers while listening to some Frank Sinatra :) then tuck her in.

Once the little one has drifted off to sleep the husband and I will sit outside under the stars as we do every year and talk, eat and wrap ourselves in blankets to keep warm... of course there will be yawning and joking and then just after 12 a kiss and off to bed for a snooze.

There WILL BE food -  Im already contemplating the snacks. Maybe some cheese on biscuits with cherry tomatoes and basil. Also some yummy berries and home made custard ... ooo .. I know custard cold with chocolate grated into it YUM!

I can also make use of the cherries I steeped in vodka to make a nice fizzy champagne cocktail for me and the husband. 

mmmm - Who knows? maybe we will invite some friends over

OOOOOOR go out...

I am never sure exactly how it will go, but I do know I want it to be relaxing and stress free.

hope your New Years is as fun and as nice as you anticipated and FULL of sparkly-ness



Love and thanks for reading my blog over this year

Hope you will come back and read some more in 2012

See you then

Happiness and love


 


PS WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR NEW YEARS- ANYTHING FUN?

One & Only Nut Cracker themed High Tea

I attended the Press Launch for THE ONE & ONLY CHRISTMAS HIGH TEA in August for Christmas. Yes they are that organised!

The Christmas theme at The One & Only is sure to be cute and special this year with a high tea spread that I found really pretty with a festive nut cracker theme. There were cute little nut crackers everywhere .

If my stomach was bigger and could have handled more food I would have tried one of every single thing on the table.... I wish! So choose wisely if you are not a big eater!

I personally loved the tiny canille and the creamy and smooth mini cheese cakes not to mention the florentines! I tried many more things too ... mmmm

Canille on the right - a giant bowl of yumminess!

Tea is R145 per person and includes teas and coffees. Early booking is advised.



Seeing as Christmas is a few days away - run off and go try it before its over and gone!


*photos are all my own*

MISS K's IN GREEN POINT

A little while back I was invited to lunch with a few bloggers and media at Miss K's. It was a small intimate lunch with the owner herself - and what a lovely lunch it was.

 Miss K herself - so friendly and warm. And an array of deliciousness that is in her eatery.

I was fortunate enough to have a generous and delicious salad all to myself as I have been avoiding meat lately and everyone else was having a seared tuna salad - which looked so good. But wanting to avoid the seafood and meat aspect I had a veggie salad. It was a show stopper of a salad!!! Filled with delicious veggies, fruit and salad ingredients. I think I will need to return for another one :) It was huge so next time I'll share some of my salad with the husband ;) as I couldn't finish the one they served me.

 The delicious salad I had / outdoor seating / painted wall mural / fresh flowers.

The vibe and layout is quite nice with an open kitchen counter where you can see the cooks and kitchen staff cooking. The outside area has tables, chairs and umbrellas for the sun and fresh air seekers. 

The event was lovely with a delicious lunch followed by very nice chocolate brownies (they were as fudgy as they were chocolatey). *note return again for brownies*

A kind thank you to Kirsten and her PR team for inviting me.

To see their menu and other details visit their website here

SIGNAL RESTUARANT AT THE CAPE GRACE AND PAUL CLUVER WINES

On Thursday night I was invited to attend the Food and Wine Dinner at the Cape Grace Hotel in their Signal Restaurant paired with Paul Cluver wines - All compliments of The Cape Grace Hotel (thank you!)

View from the library window

We started out in the library  at 7pm with canape's and white wine and some chatting. I had the lovely husband with me to talk to (phew) as I'm not so good at meet and greets.


After half an hour we were led through to the restaurant for dinner. To my great surprise we were seated at our own table of 2 and each party of people had their own table depending on the amount of guests they had booked for. It was like any usual night in a restaurant seating wise. I really liked this as I didn't have to make small talk with other diners but just enjoy the evening with my husband. I sounds like I hate talking to people - I don't I promise! but it was nice having the husband all to myself :)

After a brief talk by the chef Malika van Reenen explaining the menu and then a talk by Andries Burger from Paul Cluver wines about the wines that would be paired with our food. Both were interesting. Andries made me want to visit Burgundy in France from his stories. It sounded so beautiful and amazing.

Starter
green gazpacho toasted cumin flat bread, homemade blueberry yoghurt cheese paired with Paul Cluver Close Encounter Riesling 2011 - I have to say I really loved this wine and drank it through out the night - it paired well with everything! I have added it to my list of must buy wines.

Main
twice-cooked crispy duck leg with wild mushroom and lentil ragout, beetroot gastrique paired with Paul Cluver Pinot Noir 2009 - The duck was lovely and the mash very creamy. The wine wasn't to my taste - then again I'm no wine buff.

Dessert
summer strawberries, rose and litchi paired with Paul Cluver Riesling Noble Late Harvest 2010 - The summer strawberries was served in the form of a sorbet which was very light and refreshing, it was lovely. The wine was very sweet - being a dessert wine and lovely.


PRIOR TO THE EVENING:
I had let the hotel know that my husband is allergic to nuts a few days prior to the function and The Cape Grace were really good at making sure that he didn't have any food containing ANY nuts!
They really were very thorough. I felt that they had taken the time to prepare their staff and several of the waiters and staff were aware of the allergy and made sure that everything was nut free.


*Thank you to Leah De Klerk who helped organize everything