Inspired by the Mediterranean A Summer Tomato Tart I improvised a bit on this one, using shop bought pastry, as I understand that sometimes we need a recipe that is quick and easy to make, but still impressive and delicious.  This tomato tart recipe, is a favorite in my home. Summer Tomato Tart Recipe – A 5 Ingredient Recipe – Ingredients: 1 packet of puff pastry (defrosted) 2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 small container Feta Cheese – (or more if you like) Fresh basil ½ tsp. Salt ± 350 g Cherry Tomatoes ***Using a combination of different and colorful tomatoes makes it look even prettier. Amalfi on the…

American Southern Fried Green Tomatoes Fried Green Tomatoes certainly is one of the most iconic dishes in America.  This southern classic is especially beloved in Alabama. Serving Suggestion: ***They are fantastic to serve as an appetizer, with a nice dip. However, to those of us not living in America, this dish might sound strange, so: What is Fried Green Tomatoes? Yes, it is made from unripe tomatoes which are coated with cornmeal and then fried. A delicious way of using tomatoes that are not yet red and juicy. Traditionally they use cornmeal or mealie meal.  For our recipe, we used a combination of Mealie Meal and Cake Flour. The Recipe…

Alsatian Tarte Flambée Recipe When visiting the Alsace region of France, you simply must stop for a taste of their famous Tarte Flambée or Flammekueche. It is also called:  Flammkuchen, Flàmmeküeche or Flammkuche, and has its origin in Alsace France.  So, when visiting beautiful places like Colmar in France, a stop to eat true Alsatian Tarte Flambée should definitely be on your itinerary. What is Tarte Flambée? This specialty is composed of bread dough rolled out very thinly and which is then covered with Fromage blanc or crème fraîche, thin-sliced onions, and bacon.  It is simply delicious!  Almost a “French version of the pizza.” What is the difference between Flammkuchen…

How to make perfect roast potatoes I think we all have memories of perfect Sunday lunches with friends and family.  Many of those memories include the perfectly roasted potatoes, made lovingly by a mother or grandmother, aunt or sister… Roasting potatoes might come easy to some, but others would love to know the secret to the perfect roast potatoes.  There are many ways of doing this and the number of recipes on the internet is endless.  However, this recipe is the tried and tested method, used by our grandmothers.  Easy enough to follow even for novice cooks. INGREDIENTS Potatoes (1kg for 4 people) Water (enough to cover) Salt 50 ml…

Ragù Bolognese with Tagliatelle or Fettuccine Ragù Bolognese is a winner in my home.  This recipe starts with a traditional Italian sofrito (typically consisting of onions, celery, and carrots sautéed or braised in cooking oil). Ingredients: 2 tbsp. olive oil 2 big onions (finely chopped) 2 celery stalks (finely chopped) 2 big carrots (finely chopped) 300 g – 400 g ground beef (lean mince) – You can use 50% beef + 50% veal ± 80 g bacon (or pancetta, finely chopped, if you have) ½ cup of good red wine 3 cups beef stock 3 tbsp. tomato paste Salt to taste 1 cup whole milk How to make Ragù Bolognese…

From a Great-Grandmother’s Kitchen On the day of this article, I want to share with you two recipes from a very special lady:  The lovely Daffy is a 93-year-old great-grandmother living her best life in Australia.  She’s become the favorite grandmother for many people around the world, with fun jokes, sharing recipes, and many a wise word.  If you follow her on Facebook, you can share in their daily lives as she shares her wisdom with her granddaughter…and of cause now you.  🙂 Daffy shares her recipes for: Spaghetti Bolognese Potato Bake And many more… Daffy’s Wise Words @daffyswisewordss  · Comedian Daffy shares her secrets to many family favorite recipes. Good homemade…

Delicious Ukranian Pampushky When times are hard, you long for those home baked recipes… Something like Pampushky. The easy recipes that can either be just plain hearty food or which can be dolled up by just adding another ingredient.  This is one such recipe that can feed a crowd but also be the star of your next family gathering.  Made with basic ingredients, it is something you can easily make at home with only the few things in your cupboard.  INGREDIENTS 1 cup (250 ml) milk  1 packet active dry yeast 2 tablesp. sugar 2 tablesp. sunflower oil  3 cups (380 g) all-purpose flour 2 teasp. salt 1 egg, lightly…

Cheesy Weekend Potatoes – Side Dish to the Perfect Braai South Africans are always looking for a good recipe, for ‘the braai’.  A side dish or just something that goes perfectly with a braai.  Well, this is a winner.  Cheesy Weekend Potatoes is perfect as a side dish for any braai/barbeque, or even just on its own. Go on ; Try it. Cheesy Weekend Potatoes Ingredients:Baby potatoes halved or bigger potatoes quartered  (If it’s really small baby potatoes you can leave them whole.)  Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil 1 tsp. garlic powder (or flakes) 1 tsp. dried oregano Finely chopped or dried parsley Salt and pepper to taste  A mix…

Lángos, The Most Ancient of Hungarian Street Foods Although its popularity has spread to neighboring countries such as Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Romania, it remains Hungary’s identity in terms of national street food. From Budapest to the smallest village, you’ll find it everywhere. The Lángos path throughout history It is as old as bread and was originally the result of leftovers of the ancient grain. Generally, when making bread there are small clumps of dough that stay behind on the sides of the kneading bowl. For the hungry, these tiny clumps were baked and ready to consume long before the bread was ready for the table.  Furthermore, bread was…

This recipe is great for weekday dinners or weekend lunches with friends.  Cheesy comfort food is always a favorite with my family and friends because it makes us ‘feel good’. The great thing about this recipe is, that you can make it quickly and without a lot of effort, but you’ll have that tasty homemade comfort that we all sometimes crave. Tip: You can buy pancakes ready-made as well as the white sauce, as long as you then use good quality cheese and lots of it.  However, I do prefer it all homemade. The perfect family pleaser and Weekday Dinner Hero Traditionally Cannelloni is a cylindrical type of lasagna generally…

During the Halloween season, you might be stuck with a huge amount of leftover pumpkin after carving your jack-o’-lanterns.  Here are three easy pumpkin soup recipes:  just perfect for when you get back from trick or treat.  You can easily make this ahead of time and just warm up when you’re ready to eat.  Easy Pumpkin Soup Cooking Time: 30 mins Course: Side dish, starter, lunch, dinner Family Favorites:  by Emily Chef Secrets! Roasting the pumpkin in the oven will give your soup a totally different taste and many people prefer this option.  I prefer to cook the pumpkin on stove top with a little bit of added sugar or…

In South Africa, especially the Cape, fishcakes are food for the kings.   You’ll find almost every household having their own family recipe for fishcakes.  Some made with ‘sardines’, other with ‘smoorsnoek’ or ‘stokvis’…  It is almost part of the tradition, having a secret fishcake family recipe.  For this reason, we are going to share one recipe in English and the other in Afrikaans.  After a visit to Cape Town and getting to know all of its wonderful people, you’ll understand the rich culture of this beautiful country… Cuisine:  South African Difficulty:  Easy Time:  10 Min. Sardine Fishcake Recipe Ingredients: 2 cans of Sardines in tomatosauce 1 onion (finely chopped) 50…

Let’s be honest, not all recipes on the internet are winners.  Therefore I prefer to trust a recipe more if it is from someone’s grandma, mother, or mother-in-law.  That way you know it is a family favorite. Shepherd’s pie comes from the UK.  It is a favorite in many homes and there are a lot of different recipes on the internet out there.  But does it taste good?  Well, I know this recipe does.  This is a traditional recipe from grandma’s kitchen with the extra luxury of adding a few mushrooms if you like. Time:  1 Hour Difficulty:  Medium to Easy Inspiration:  Grandma’s Love Family Favorite Shepherd’s Pie Ingredients: 1kg…

STAPLE INGREDIENT BEST RECIPES We all have situations in life where we need recipes that only take a few staple ingredients to make.  Easy recipes with no fuss.  These recipes are for those “what to make” days, those “there is nothing in the house” days, or those “what can I make with the minimum ingredients” days. We are here to help. 1. Easiest Bread Recipe Ever Recipe:  Elvera Osborne No Eggs / No Dairy Course: side dish Origin: South Africa Time: 2h40m Rating:   5/5 Freshly home-baked bread in under 3 hours with staple ingredients from your pantry. Ingredients 1 Kg Bread Flour 1 packet (10 g) instant yeast 2…

One of America’s favorite dishes certainly is the American Corn Dog.  Whether you prefer it served hot or cold (doesn’t matter): there are millions of ways to make them and serve them.  We’ve tried a few and decided to share these two recipes with you as they are very easy to make. Why is it called a Corn Dog? Well, it is basically a hotdog coated with cornflour.  From there the name “corn+dog”.  What exactly is a Corn Dog? For those that haven’t had the pleasure of eating one yet:  A corn dog is a sausage on a stick that has been coated in a thick layer of cornmeal batter…

The Boeuf Bourguignon Recipe is not as difficult as it looks   When you read any recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon, the first thing you see is “fry, set aside” / “fry, set aside” / “fry, set aside”.  This sounds terribly frightening and intimidating to a novice cook.  Further more the list of ingredients looks terrifying as well, but actually it’s not.  Let’s make it easy.  Here is the whole recipe and the method in 5 easy steps. Most of the ingredients for Boeuf Bourgiognon you might already have in your pantry, if not all. A Touch of France! How to Make Boeuf Bourguignon the easy way Course: Main Cuisine: French Serving:…