MEDITERRANEAN STYLE CHICKEN
& PORK SAUSAGE BAKE

One of my all time favourites.  Alot of flavour and more than easy to put together for
a house full of people.

(recipe serves 4 hungry people)
8 x Chicken Thy's - on the bone and with the skin in
12 x Pork Sausages  - also called chippolata's
200 g black calamata olives
4 whole garlic cloves
one tin of tomato & onion
1 tin of whole peeled tomato's
2 sashes tomato paste
10 ml grounded black pepper
10 ml dried oregano
10 ml dried thyme
5 ml medium curry powder
25 ml brown sugar
5 ml cumin
10 ml veggie spice / mixed herbs

Brown the chicken skin side down in a heavy base pan.
Place them in a heavy duty oven tray and place sausages between the chicken meat.
Scatter olives and garlic cloves ontop
Combine the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Pour tomato mixture over the meat in the oven tray, sprinkle with freshly grounded sea salt and bake at 160 degrees until chicken are tender and cooked through. (about 40 - 60 minutes)
Remove from oven and neatly place the chicken and sausages in a clean serving dish.
Gently pour the tomato sauce over and garnish with fresh thyme and basil.
Serve with basmati rice and a fresh garden salad.

TIPS:
You can also add in baby potato's and whole baby onions to the chicken before baking it

QUICK CHICKEN SALAD AND FRESHLY BAKED 
FOCASSIA FOR LUNCH 


Lunch simply stay one of those meals that always catch me off guard on a weekday.  Especially when you only cooking for two.
Running between washing, cleaning house, wetting gardend, emails and a naughty puppy - and before you know it lunch is upon us - again!.

Here's a real quick fix - and when there is no time for kneading focassia dough - simply toast a few slices of rye bread of use some freshly baked buns form the supermarket.

This simple recipes can be serve to 4 people for a light lunch

FOCASSIA BREAD
500 g Cake Flour
5 ml Salt
5 ml Sugar
1 sashet yeast
350 ml luke warm water
50 ml extra virgin olive oil.
Simply combine the wet and dry ingredients separate.
Gently knead in the wet ingredients to the dry ones (you can use a electrical mixer if prefer)
and knead until a soft dough has formed - you might need a little more flour or water to get the nonresistance
right.  Cover and sit until double in size.
Place dough on a flat oiled baking tray and spread out.  Punchuring the douh with your nuckles.
Rub with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt.
Rest again for atleast 20 minutes.
Place in a pre-heated oven of 160 degrees and bake for 20 - 30 minutes

CHICKEN SALAD
While the dough is rising  cut 6 bone and skinless chicken breasts up in even slices.
Combine 75 ml olive oil, 75 ml lemon juice, 15 ml veggie spice, 15 ml parsley, 5 ml garlic and pour over
the chicken strips.  Marinate for atleast 15 minutes.
Heat a heavy base pan and fry the strips in olive oil until golden brown and cooked through.
Remove from pan and cool.
Cut up three tomato's and tossed with some mini mozzarella balls, fresh rocket and olives. Add to the cooled down chicken and served with the warm focassia straight out of the oven along with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

A fresh piece of soft cheese - eg camenbert, brie of a smooth blue will - can be served alongside and will
raise the bar on any boring weekday lunch.
Sundried Tomato Pesto or home made Hummus are also great condiments for this lunch.


TIPS
You can top your focassia with any flavour.  From tomato, olives, flavoured pesto's, thinly sliced potato, 
cheeses, cold meat etc.  And if freezes VERY well.
You can really add anything to this salad to spice it up a little bit. Pineappe of mango cubes, cucumber, onion slices, avo - or what ever you have around.

Dont forget the glass of wine  :)

HOME MADE GRANOLA

I've made my first granola working in a Hotel in Massachusetts. The process seemed endless and almost uncalled for.  Until i tasted my first bowl...

I've adapted the recipe and made a few changes to make it easy for every kitchen goddess. 

Serve this with a good quality Bulgarian or goats milk yoghurt, fresh fruit and honey - and you will be hooked.

This recipe takes a little time – but store in a airtight container and it will last for a couple of weeks. You can also package it in ziplog bags and freeze it until needed.

If the granola seem to be becoming a little wet – simply spread out on a baking tray and dry in a pre-heated oven of 120 degrees for 10 – 15 minutes.

1 Box oats

250 ml brown sugar

10 ml vanilla essence

250 ml oil

150 ml maple syrup

250 ml honey

150 molasses syrup

1 cup macadamia nuts roughly chopped 

1 cup walnuts roughly chopped

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup flaked almonds

1 cup crushed nuts

½ cup poppy seeds

½ cup sesame seeds

1 cup pumpkin seeds

2 cups dried fruit chopped

1 cup raisins

1 cup sultana's

Combine brown sugar, vanilla, oil, Maple, honey and molasses

Gently stir in the oats

Spread evenly out on a large baking tray and leave to dry at 90 degrees overnight (as for rusks)

Combine all the seeds and the nuts and spread out on a baking tray.

Roast at 160 degrees until well toasted – make sure to stir them through for even browning.

Once the oats mixture has dried and cooled down. Brake lumps up and add in the toasted seeds and nuts along with the dried chopped fruit, raisins and sultanas.

Stir through well.

Store in a airtight container until needed.

You can always double the amount of dried fruit / nuts / seeds or raisins to suit your taste.  Play around with coconut shavings, dried mango and banana shavings, different seeds or nuts or keep it simple and cut the nuts, seeds and fruits by half.  

FEW GREAT BREAKFAST TIPS

When making fruit salad, remember to add a little bit of lemon juice to cut apple, pear and banana. This stop the oxidation process that make the fruit turn brown.

Flavour natural plain yoghurt yourself by making fresh fruit coulis.

Simply blend a fruit of your choice to a fine pulp. Strain through a fine sift and serve a selection of fruit coulis with plain yoghurt. Now your guests can create and make their own favourite flavour yoghurt by adding a little bit of coulis to plain yoghurt. Use mango's, strawberries, blackberries, banana or ripe nectarines and peaches.

Store nuts and seeds in the freezer or refrigerator. This will help to prevent them from going ransit. And always make sure that they are kept in a airtight container or vacuumpacket. Make sure to toaste them before serving them – as this will cook the seeds or nuts and bring out the flavour aswell as the texture.

MUSHROOM TARTLET

Easy Mushroom Tartlet.  Make small ones for pre-dinner snacks or serve as a starter or vegetarian meal with a light tossed vegetable salad.

YOU NEED
Ready made puff pastry
2 onions - sliced
2 leeks - sliced
olive oil, salt & pepper
20 ml dried thyme
2 punnet mushrooms - sliced
10 ml fresh thyme
one round of feta cheese - crumbled
100 g of cream cheese

Cut even size round or square shapes out of the puff pastry dough.
Place the cold dough in a pre-heated oven of 180 degrees and bake until
crisp, puffy and golden brown.
Fry onions and leeks in the olive oil, salt and pepper until translucent and cooked through.
Add in dried thyme and mushroom and cook over a slow heat until all the water of the
mushrooms has evaporated
Remove from stove and cool.
Add in fresh thyme, feta cheese and cream cheese and mix well.
Scoop spoon ful of the mushroom mixture optop of the ready bake pastry
Topped with more fresh thyme and freshly grounded black pepper  and serve.

TIPS

• This filling keep well for up to two days in the refrigerator.  It can be serve cold or at room temperature.
• For a meatier version - add 250g of bacon with the onions and leeks.
• Use the same filling for a savoury tart of quiche.  Mix three egg yolks, one egg and 100 g grated cheddar with the cream cheese before adding it to the mushroom mixture (u can also add in two cups of chopped spinach) pour in a prepared quiche base and bake until just set.  Sprinkle with more cheese and paprika and bake for 2 more minute. 
• Drizzle a  few drops of black truffle oil over the tartlet before serving it (truffles are a type of mushroom/fungi that grows under the ground and get sniffled out by pigs - originally found in Italy.  It's an extremely expensive product, but the oil - locally available in deli or specialty stores - are a great substitute and a little really goes a long way.  Make sure you buy a bottle that have a few pieces of truffles in it.  - it look like small black pieces of dirt.  To stretch your oil, add one unit of a good quality extra virgin olive oil to one unit truffle oil.  

SIMPLE AND EASY VALENTINES MENU FOR TWO

Valentine is only a few sleeps away. And you better be prepared.

Here is a very simple three course menu that will guaranteed blow your loved one away.

PRE-DINNER DRINK
Chilled Watermelon & Vodka Drink
Cut and remove the pips form one quarter of a large watermelon.
Combine with the zest of 1 orange, one shot of vodka and 2 sprigs of fresh mint.
Blend together until a smooth pulp has formed.
Strain through a sift, pour in a martini glass and chill for alteast 3 hours before serve.
Topped with crushed ice, fresh mint and serve with a bowl of calamata olives and marinated feta.

STARTER NIBBLES
Crispy Pastry with Home Made Spreads
Roll out a piece of bought puff pastry and brush with egg white. Sprinkle with cheese, herbs and chopped garlic, cut into heart shapes and bake until double in size and crispy.
Make a cheese spread by combining 200 g of smooth cottage cheese with 100 ml whipped cream, 2.5 ml salt and 2.5 ml freshly ginded black pepper.
Now add the desirable flavour to it – 30 ml of biltong dust / 20 ml mixed dried herbs / 20 ml pesto / 30 ml chopped sundried tomato / 10 ml roasted garlic.
Pour in little ramekins, cover and keep refrigerated until needed.

MAIN MEAL
Rare Roasted Beef Fillet with Rustic Salad.
MEAT: Marinate a 400 g portion of beef fillet in 50 ml lemon juice, 50 ml olive oil, 20 ml honey, 20 ml chutney, 20 ml soy and fresh rosemary for 2 – 3 hours.
Heat a grilling pan to smoking point and and sear the meat well on all its sides.
Place into a pre-heated oven of 180 degrees and bake for 10 – 15 min for
Cool, and store in refrigerator until needed.
SALAD For the salad you will need one bunch of fresh rocket, cup plum tomatoes- halved, 1 mango -cut into cubes, half cup toasted walnuts, one roll of goats cheese, 5 boiled baby potato's -halved, 1 punnet of steamed baby corn, 1 punnet of steamed mange tout
DRESSING: 50 ml olive oil, 20 ml lemon juice, hand full of freshly chopped herbs, 2.5ml salt, 2.5 ml coarse black pepper, 10 ml whole grain mustard, 5 ml honey.
Combine all ingredients and whisk well. Keep refrigerated until needed.

Get all the ingredients ready before the time. With dinner, simply combine the salad ingredients and toss lightly with the salad dressing. Arrange on a large serving platter, cut the fillet and put the thin slivers on top of the salad and drizzle with the rest of the dressing. (you can also plate individual portions if prefer.)


DESSERT
Strawberry Meringue Cup
Whip one cup of cream with 50 ml of icing sugar to soft peak and fold in one tin of passionfruit pulp.
Cut up 6 large ripe strawberries and combine with a handfull of blueberries, 50 ml orange juice zest of one orange and 10 ml of brown sugar.
In a fluted or martini glass – scoop one large spoon of the berry mixture, topped with wipped cream and crumble meringue ontop. Repeat with more berries, cream and topped with soft chocolate ganash or minted chocolate shavings and fresh mint. Serve straight away.

OOEY GOOEY CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

This is definitely one of those recipe's to have handy - as one never know
when you simply need to bake some OOEY GOOEY CHOCOLATE BROWNIES.
This recipe is easy, quick to make and are best kept in the refrigerator.
It also freeze well for up to 6 weeks.

Serve it dusted with icing sugar, with a dollop of cream, as a base for a
deadly chocolate mousse cake or with a scoop of ice cream.


RECIPE
220 g Dark Chocolate
125 ml Cooking Oil
125 ml treacle (dark brown sugar)
2 eggs
5 ml vanilla essence
5 ml coffee granules
80 ml cocoa powder
200 ml cake flour
7.5 ml baking powder
1 cup chopped white chocolate

Melt the dark chocolate and slowly whisk in the oil, sugar and eggs,
Followed by the vanilla and coffee
Sift together the flour, cocoa and baking powder and gently fold
this into the chocolate mixture.
Pour this in a prepared baking tray and sprinkle the
white chocolate chips over the top.
Using a spoon - swirl the white chocolate chips into the mixture by making a
figure 8.
Repeat this process two or three times.
Bake at 180 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes.

The brownie should have a cracked top with a slightly soft interior.
Cool and keep refrigerated until needed, but serve at room temperature.

happy baking

(photo by Shirley Bowker)

THEMED FOOD DEMONSTRATIONS AT FAIRFIELD

Themed food demonstrations can be booked
at Fairfield Kitchen for groups of 6 to 8 guests.
The day include a full demonstration of a 3 course meal of the selected theme, beverages before, during and after the class, all notes and recipes and a lunch that consist out of all the food demonstrated.

These demonstrations can also be held in the comfort of your own home.
An island style kitchen layout is ideal and the amount of guest of these classes depends on the kitchen's facilities.

THEMES TO CHOOSE FROM:
Italian South African 'Boerekos'
Mexican Mediterranean
Indian Easter
French Christmas
Moroccan Valentine

Inbox me at fairfieldfoods@gmail.com for costs and more info
regarding the classes.