Comfort Food for a Rainy Day

So our beautiful Cape Town weather disappointed us a bit this weekend. We woke up Saturday morning rearing to go kite boarding, and were very disappointed when we got up to our spot and there was way too much wind. There were no other kiters out (never a good sign in Cape Town), and we watched 2 people put their kites in the air, almost fly away and drop them back down again without even attempting to get in the water. Plus, the rain was starting to set in, which was making things even more unpleasant.

Sunday we woke up to our roof shaking, and sideways rain. Before we even got out of bed we decided it would be a great day to spend indoors. Eliot had some work he wanted to do and I thought it would be a great afternoon to do some baking in preparation for all the visitors that are about to arrive. (I do mean ABOUT, Holly's plane lands in just a few short hours.)

On a side note, I went on a diet and Eliot lost weight. There's something really really unfair about the differences between men and women's bodies, and how he loses weight because I make the effort to cook differently. Anyways, it doesn't matter, I don't think I'm fat, but I'm just trying to rein in my recent eating habits that have been spiraling out of control since we left China and entered the world of wonderful food again (aka the world of bread, pasta and other delicious carbs that I haven't felt the need to deny in any way...until now).

(*I realize that this blog doesn't really go along very well with my low carb diet plan, but you should know I've been practicing the BEST self control within my abilities.)

Here's the menu for Sunday afternoon:

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough to freeze for quick Chocolate Chip Cookies in a pinch

(Didn't take a photo, wasn't that exciting)

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (At Eliot's request)



Lemon-Sour Currant Coffee Cake- A recipe I got from THIS LOVELY FRIEND



Coconut Cupcakes with Curry Lemon Curd and Basil Cream Frosting


~Baby Cakes with Curry Lemon Curd on top~


~Applying the Basil Cream Frosting~




Recipe For Cupcakes:

Sweet Basil Cream
1 1/2 C Heavy Whipping Cream
1 bunch Fresh Basil
6 C confectioners sugar
8oz. packet cream cheese

Sweet Curry Lemon Curd
1 C Sugar
2 eggs
2 Tsp. Mild Curry Powder
3/4 C Lemon Juice (about 3 lemons)
3 Lemons zested
1/4 C Unsalted Butter (melted)

Coconut Cupcakes
1 (18.25 oz) Package of White Cake Mix
1 1/4 C Sweetened Flaked Coconut
3 eggs
1/3 C vegetable oil
2 Tsp Coconut extract

Sweet Basil Cream
Heat whipping cream in saucepan until hot (not boiling). Turn off heat and add bunch of basil, let seep for 1 hr. Allow to refrigerate overnight, strain and discard basil.

Sweet Curry Lemon Curd
In lg microwave bowl whisk white sugar, 2 eggs and curry powder until smooth. Stir in lemon juice, lemon zest and butter. Cook in microwave stirring at one minute intervals until thick. Should do this in reasonably large bowl, it tends to grow and bubble a lot while it cooks. Pour through and sieve and refrigerate at least 3 hours (I did mine overnight) until it's the consistency of pudding.

Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius (347 degrees F)
Combine white cake mix and coconut flakes in mixing bowl. Stir in water, 3 eggs, vegetable oil and coconut extract. Scoop cake batter into prepared muffin tins filling 2/3 full. Bake until golden brown (about 20 min) and cool completely.

Frosting
In a chilled bowl whip basil cream and 3 C confectioner's sugar until stiff peaks form. In separate bowl beat cream cheese and remaining 3 C confectioner's sugar until smooth and soft. Fold in whip cream and mix gently until completely combined.

Spread 1 Tsp curry lemon curd on top of cupcake and then put on a dollop of basil Cream frosting. Garnish with baby basil leaf (if you so wish).


~Yummalicious~

It was a great day to take advantage of the weather, stay inside and fill the house with lovely warm aromas coming from the oven.

So now I have tons of Curry Lemon Curd and Sweet Basil Cream Frosting left over. Does anyone have any good ideas to utilize these? I would love any suggestions.
xxx

I woke up at 5:30 this morning...

...which totally sucks. Saturday morning, the one morning I can sleep in and I'm awake at 5:30. I don't know what's wrong with me, especially since I can sleepy ANYWHERE at ANYTIME, except my bed on Saturday mornings apparently.

So while shutting my eyes tight and trying desperately to get back to sleep I was thinking about a lot of things. One of those things being food (no surprise there), which made my mind start thinking about breakfast and what we were going to have (I usually cook big brekkie on Saturday morning, something I credit to my father). Then I started thinking about our CSA bag and how I should really be using things from that since we're going to be gone next weekend, oh and we have a lot of eggs in the fridge.

I don't know why I decided to take photos of it this morning, but here it is:
Spanish Tortillas



olive oil
2 sm-med Potatoes (peeled and diced)
2 Spring onions (I used chives this morning, cause that's what I had)
Bit o' Cilantro (some call it coriander, but it's a Spanish Tortilla so today it's Cilantro)
4 Eggs
Cumin
Paprika
Salt and Pepper
Sour Cream

* Put a bit of oil in a pan and add the potatoes with salt and pepper and just a smidge of paprika. When sizzling cover pan and let fry/steam themselves for a bit (like 10 min). While potatoes are cooking beat 4 eggs into a bowl, and add onions (or chives) and cilantro and a dash of cumin (out of habit, I always crack some salt and pepper into my eggs that I'm about to cook, doesn't seem to hurt anything). Add the cooked potatoes to the egg mixture and make sure everything is mixed together well. Add a bit more oil to the pan (you DON'T want this sticking) and then pour in the eggs with potatoes. Drop the heat waaaaay down, you don't want it cooking too fast. Let is simmer in the pan until it's cooked almost completely through on top. Then I slid it out onto a plate and flipped it back into the pan to cook for a couple more minutes on the other side. Cut and serve with a drop of sour cream, perfect morning breakfast for the sleepless.


~Chives~


~Steamy Potatoes and Cilantro~


~Sizzling away~


~Perfecta!~

More Kitchen Time

I'm always on the lookout for a good Chicken Satay recipe and I happened to come across this one while I was actually searching for something completely different. I find a lot of satay recipes turn out to be too peanut buttery and really thick. But this one is really, melt in your mouth, good.



Chicken Marinade
4 small-med Chicken breasts cut into cubes to be skewered.
1/2 Cup Coconut Milk
1 clove garlic (chopped)
Green Ginger (I don't know how you measure ginger, but about the size of 2 garlic cloves peeled and chopped.)
1 tsp. Turmeric Powder
1 1/2 tsp. Brown Sugar
dash of salt and pepper





Mix it all together and put in fridge for at least an hour. When ready put onto wooden skewers and grill.

Peanut Sauce
1 Cup coconut milk
1 TB turmeric powder
1/4-1/2 Cup peanut butter (this all depends on your preference, the sauce thickens up pretty quickly and you can always add in more at any time. I also think this recipe would be really good with cashew butter, and I think I'll try it next time.)
3/4 Cup chicken stock
1/4 Cup brown sugar
2 TB lemon juice
1 TB soy sauce
Dried hot red chili flakes (this again, depends on your preference of spiciness, add a bit and taste until you get it to where you like it)



Bring coconut milk, curry powder, peanut butter, chicken stock and brown sugar to simmer. Stir all until smooth, then reduce the heat so it's not bubbling anymore then stir in lemon juice and soy sauce. If sauce thickens up too much I add a little bit of regular milk to it. Serve Chicken over rice and top with the sauce. Enjoy!

In the Kitchen

So as I mentioned, we've been really enjoying having a good kitchen and have been doing quite a lot of cooking. We also get quite a variety of fruits and veggies in our CSA bag every week, which makes finding recipes and experimenting with new veggies really enjoyable.

This week, amongst many other things, we received kohlrabi.



I'd never even heard of this before, but a quick google search of the root vegetable and I also discovered a new favorite food blogger, Morta Di Fame, who gave me a great recipe for this veggie. Pasta Con Cavalo (kohlrabi): A very delicious and light garlic tomato sauce served over fettuccine and, of course, the cooked kohlrabi. The recipe is really simple and I was delightfully surprised with how much I liked the kohlrabi.


~Simmering Sauce~


~Kohlrabi cooking with the pasta~


~Pasta Con Cavalo~

Love it All

We had another great weekend in South Africa, and lucked out with the weather once again. (Although as I'm writing this now it's pouring down rain with lots of wind outside.) Friday night we had over 2 very dear friends, Mike who went to school with Eliot in Maine and who also lived with us for 6 months in China, and also Scott, a Chinese guy that the guys worked with out in China and who is in South Africa for another month, working on logistics. We had a nice time, sipping wine and teasing Scott about the South African accent he's picked up.

Eliot and I have also signed up with a local market to get fresh organic produce every week. On Thursday we get sent a newsletter via email telling us what is going to be in the next weeks "Wild Bag" and we reply to it by the following day, in order to pick up our produce the following Wednesday. The market gets all their produce from local farmers in the area and it's all certified organic. I have to say, it's a ton of stuff and when we picked it up last week I was worried that we wouldn't be able to use it all up. But so far nothing has gone to waste, and it's a good way to guarantee that we cook veggies for dinner every night.

This week in out Wild Bag we got turnips... My mom has never cooked turnips, I don't think I've ever had them in my life, so needless to say I was a bit unsure of what to do with them. Of course since the internet has EVERYTHING I was able to get a good recipe for them here. Carrot-turnip gratin. I know it's not the best way to use fresh veggies (coating them in sour cream and cheese), but it seemed like every recipe I looked at for turnips called for either excessive amounts of bacon or butter. But everyone seemed to love it, and it's definitely something I would make again.


~Turnips and Carrots~


~Chopped and ready to be cooked~


~Before going into the oven~


~The finished piece~


~Gorgeous Grapefruit~

On Saturday we had a pretty laid back day. We went out to have lunch and then ended the day at the beach. Eliot got in the water to go body boarding and I mostly just froze on the sidelines. But now we've gotten me a board too, so I can join in. Here's a photo of the Cape Town sunset.


And finally, Sunday we went over to our friend Will's house. He just got back to South Africa (from China) for a couple of months and his folks were having a "small" get together for him and his girlfriend, Rebecca. We had an awesome braii, and his family is the type of family that makes you feel right at home. Thanks you guys! And here's Rebecca, her first time not only in South Africa, but also ever leaving China. I'm so happy she's here! It's so nice to have familiar faces around in a new place.


I know, completely random blog, but that's kind of how things have been so far. Just to add to the randomness, here's some flower I bought on the day we arrived, and two weeks later they are still looking beautiful. (And no, they're not fake.)

Alright, that's all for now (I know thank goodness right?), but I hadn't written anything in a while and thought I would just let you know what we're up to.