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Bar-One sauce - a South African classic 
So you think you've had a rough week?
Well, spare a thought for some of the occupants of the International Space Station. First they break the news to you that of the two spiders being sent into space, you are not the Lead Spider - you are merely the understudy. So you have no real role unless the Lead Spider for some reason becomes incapacitated during the flight. Then they tell you that you will have to spend the trip in a sealed tank, separated from the only other member of your species, for the entire trip. And then when the astronauts come to check on you, you are discovered to have gone AWOL - the tank is as empty as a jar of peanut butter in Elvis' kitchen. "Umm... we're sure he's around here somewhere..." mutter the embarrassed astronauts, hoping that small crunching sound as they bounce weightlessly off the ceiling of the cabin was not your carapace.
Or spare a thought for the Lead Spider. When the understudy went missing, the astronauts went to look if he'd sneaked into the Lead Spider's tank. But the Lead Spider has become so confused and miserable because of weightlessness that he has taken to covering every millimetre of his tank in erratically spun webs, in an attempt to stop himself from floating around. And now there is so much webbing in the tank that the astronauts can't tell if either spider is in there. Hell - Elvis could be in there!
But the person I feel sorriest for is the astronaut who happily puts on their space glove and discovers that this is where the spiders have decided to hole up.
Doesn't your week seem a whole lot less trying now??
Something that I find always helps when you're feeling confused and miserable is dessert - even better if it's something to remind you of home. Now when I was a little girl, my mom used to make her own chocolate sauce that she kept in a jar in the fridge. Later we could get plastic squeezy tubes of chocolate sauce, and even later, bottles of Ice Cap chocolate sauce that you'd pour over ice cream and they'd harden to a crispy shell. But the biggest treat of all was hot Bar-One sauce. Bar-Ones are South African chocolates simmilar to English Mars bars and American Milky Ways: chocolate bars consisting of a layer of malted nougat topped with a layer of caramel and covered in milk chocolate.
Somewhere along the line, somebody discovered that melting Bar-Ones together with a little cream makes for a fabulously rich chocolate sauce. You get the taste of the malted nougat, and the gooey consistency of the caramel, all in a chocolate matrix - it's the best of all possible worlds! Served hot over vanilla ice cream, I can think of few simpler (or guiltier!) pleasures.
If I could, I'd send the space spiders a bowl to cheer them up.
BAR-ONE SAUCE (makes 6-8 servings)
Ingredients:
2 x 100g Bar-Ones or Mars Bars200ml whipping cream1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Method:
Cut the Bar-Ones into 1cm thick slices and place in a pyrex bowl. Set the bowl over a pot of boiling water and allow the chocolate to melt. The nougat and caramel will take longer to melt than the chocolate, so stir vigorously until all the lumps have melted. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla essence and cream and stir well. You can add a little milk if the consistency is too thick. Serve hot over vanilla ice cream.
Follow me every day in November as I complete National Blog Posting Month - a post a day, every day, for 30 days! Here's what I've written so far.
Posted at 11:36 PM in NaBloPoMo 2008, Recipes - dessert, Recipes - South African, Recipes - vegetarian | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0) Digg This | Save to del.icio.us Orecchiette in a creamy mushroom & pesto sauce 
Short and sweet tonight, I'm afraid!
It's been a long week, I have a houseguest coming over tomorrow night, and at some point I would dearly love to fit in more than the 5 hours sleep per night I've been getting since the start of November and NaBloPoMo...
Orecchiette is a pasta shape native to the Apulia region in south-eastern Italy. The name literally means "little ear" and they are so named because the little domed discs are thought to resemble ears. Traditionally, they are made using only hard wheat flour, water and salt, and each disc is shaped by hand, with the thumb giving it the distinctive indentation. Apart from looking adorable, the indentation serves as a useful pasta sauce reservoir - what will those clever Italians think of next?!
This bag of La Puglia in Tavola orecchiette tricolore came back with us from our Italian trip in March. The orange and green pieces were flavoured with (I think) tomatoes and spinach, but as with most flavoured pasta, once boiled they didn't taste much different to the white pieces. Still, you can't argue that they weren't beautiful!
To go with them, I made one of the quickest pasta sauces in my repertoire - perfect in every sense of the word for Ruth's Presto Pasta Nights event, hosted this week by the lovely Nilmandra from Soy and Pepper. And quick or not, I can't conceive of a universe where mushrooms, pesto and cream would not equal heaven in a bowl :)
PASTA WITH A CREAMY MUSHROOM & BASIL PESTO SAUCE (serves 2)
Ingredients:
enough orecchiette or other pasta for 2, cooked according to package instructions3 large-ish shallots, finely chopped1 clove of garlic, crushedolive oilabout 1.5 cups of mushrooms, chopped (I used closed cup)a little flour100ml single cream2 generous Tbsp basil pesto (I used Sacla Organic)salt and pepper
Method:
Heat a little olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallots. Sautee till soft but not caramelised.
Add the mushrooms and cook until they just start to soften and release some moisture.
Remove from the heat and stir in 1-2 Tbsps flour - enough to soak up the moisture. Add the cream and return to the heat, stirring continuously. Stir in the pesto.
If the sauce is too thick, thin it with the water that the pasta is cooking in. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper if required. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce, stiurring so that the pasta is evenly coated. Serve immediately with a crunchy green salad.
Follow me every day in November as I complete National Blog Posting Month - a post a day, every day, for 30 days! Here's what I've written so far.
Posted at 11:43 PM in NaBloPoMo 2008, Recipes - pasta & rice, Recipes - vegetarian | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0) Digg This | Save to del.icio.us Comptoir Gascon 
So... the financial world has gone to hell in a handbasket. You still feel the need for your regular fix of French bistro food, but the credit crunch has curtailed your travel budget and trips across the channel just seem like an unnecessary extravagance. What to do, what to do?
Well, help is at hand, in the shape of Comptoir Gascon. By day, this little brother to Club Gascon tucked away behond Smithfield Market does double duty as a shop/artisan baker and restaurant, whereas at night the restaurant takes over entirely. The space is cosy and rustic but has a very relaxed and unfussy feel. As the name suggests, the speciality is dishes from the Gascony region of Southwest France, a region famous for its foie gras, truffles and many ways of preparing duck. But the main reason why we visited a couple of months ago with Johanna and her hubby Chris was because Comptoir Gascon is reputed to serve some of the best cassoulet in London, and I'm nothing if not a sucker for cassoulet.
The restaurant was fairly busy for a Saturday night in the City but not unpleasantly full or noisy. Service was efficient if not memorable, and there was much to like on the menu. To avoid having to make any agonizing choices, we began with a selection of starters to share between the four of us: a fresh bread selection including an intriguing wholewheat loaf with chunks of blue cheese in it and excellent butter; mackerel with orange zest and fontant potatoes; outstanding duck rillettes; and a glorious slab of foie gras. The mackerel was a revelation of deliciousness - why isn't citrus zest always compulsory with mackerel?? This was all washed down with an excellent Semillon from the very French wine list.
My main course cassoulet Toulousain was definitely the best I've had in London, with the proper gooeyness that comes from long, slow cooking together of the beans and meats. If I have any criticism, it would be that the confit duck leg was a little dried out, but overall this was great rib-sticking stuff. The cassoulet I had in Toulouse still beats this one, but like I said, going to Comptoir Gascon is a lot cheaper than a weekend in France! Nick was happy, if not ecstatic, with his onglet with Bordelaise sauce and frites (he pronounced the meat tasty but a bit stringy). Chris made an excellent choice with his slow-roast pork belly and artichoke mash, but Johanna said her roasted pollock with chorizo and mushrooms was unspectacular. A big winner, though, was the side order of carrot, fennel and artichoke barigoule that she and I shared - an aromatic vegetable puree topped with 2 artichoke halves - truly delicious.
When it came to dessert, I was struck with a serious case of order envy. I had gone for a warm apple tart which turned out to be a symphony in ordinariness. Next time I'll order what Johanna had, namely the omelette Pyreneenne. The closest I can come to describing it accurately would be something akin to a baked Alaska, with a boozy Agen prune hiding at the base. Wha's not to like??
 Overall, we had a pleasant and unhurried evening and the food was very good, particularly the starters and the cassoulet. At about £50 each (inluding 2 bottles of wine between 4 people), prices are reasonable, especially considering the overall quality of the food. Francophiles are in for a treat, and think of all the money you'll save in Eurostar tickets!
Comptoir Gascon63 Charterhouse StreetLondonEC1M 6HJ
Tel. 020 7608 0851
Follow me every day in November as I complete National Blog Posting Month - a post a day, every day, for 30 days! Here's what I've written so far. Posted at 11:53 PM in NaBloPoMo 2008, Restaurants - London | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0) Digg This | Save to del.icio.us Sautéed Brussels sprouts - do it right 
When people tell me they don't like Brussels sprouts, my response is the same as when people say they don't like :
"Oh sweetie, maybe you're just doing it wrong!"
In some ways, I realise I'm lucky in that Brussels sprouts didn't really appear on our table when I was a child, so I have no traumatic childhood memories of them to sully my enjoyment now. But I know that there are loads of people who have fairly strong feelings to the contrary! From a kid's perspective, they are very green (always a bad thing!) and if they are boiled, I can see how they woudl become scary - a pot of green water into which all nutrients have been leached; a distressing cabbagey smell; and little green nuggets that are in all likelihood a but mushy and tasteless.
Hmmm - where do I sign up for those. Not.
Luckily, by the time they appeared on our dining table, we had a microwave steamer, so we used to have them steamed with butter and black pepper, and done this way I always loved them. But I can see that if you are suffering from post-traumatic sprout disorder, steamed sprouts may not be sufficiently far removed from the mushy green nuggets of your youth... So allow me to suggest something else: sautee them!
It's quick, it's easy, and it brings out a delicious nutty flavour that you probably never realised that Brussels sprouts even had. Plus the sprouts take on a lovely caramelly hue that is, frankly, a lot more attractive than over-boiled grey-green. And if you still have some doubters in your midst, why not add in some bacon bits to the pan (because everything is better with bacon!).
So next time you do Brussels sprouts, make sure you do it right. ;-)
SAUTéED BRUSSELS SPROUTS (serves 2)
Ingredients:
About 600g Brussels sprouts4 shallots2 cloves of garlic, crushedolive oilvegetable stock cube/powder
Method:
Clean the Brussels sprouts and cut each one vertically in half. Finely chop the shallots and crush the garlic.
In a large flat-bottomed frying pan, heat enough oil to cover the base of the pan. Place the Brussels sprouts in the pan, cut side down, in a single layer. Scatter the chopped shallots and garlic over the sprouts.
When the sprouts are just starting to caramelise (you will smell them), turn them over and cook for another 5 minutes or so.
Add enough water to cover the base of the pan with about 1mm of water and crumble half a vegetable stock cube into the pan (I used Maggi basil bouillon cubes). Give the pan a good stir and then allow to steam-fry until all the liquid has cooked off and the sprouts are tender. Serve hot.
Follow me every day in November as I complete National Blog Posting Month - a post a day, every day, for 30 days! Here's what I've written so far. Posted at 11:04 PM in NaBloPoMo 2008, Recipes - gluten-free, Recipes - vegetables, Recipes - vegetarian | Permalink | Comments (21) | TrackBack (0) Digg This | Save to del.icio.us The WTSIM #21 theme announced, an award - and a meme  So. The October edition of Waiter, There's Something in My... is done and dusted, round-up posted, and people are beginning to wonder what the next theme is going to be. Well, wonder no more - forthcoming host Johanna has put us all out of our misery and announced the theme for November.
What are your most vivid childhood recollections of Sundays? Boredom? Family activities? Church services? I know what mine revolve around - Sunday lunch! As in many Afrikaans households, Sunday lunch was always a big event and attendance was compulsory, even after my brother and I left home. The table in the dining room was properly laid with silver and my dad would pour everyone a round of drinks before lunch (Cinzano and lemonade when I was at school, gin and tonic when I was older). Once my mom called everyone to the table, newspapers, books and whatever other distractions we had been occupying ourselves with were banned - Sunday lunch was about conversation... and food. More often than not, Winter or Summer, my mom would serve a whole roast chicken, with an occasional roast leg of lamb or pork for variety - and it is these roasts that form the backbone of all my childhood Sunday memories.
So hopefully I can be excused for coming over all nostalgic and misty-eyed when Johanna chose Roasts as the theme for November's WTSIM! Time to get your thinking caps on - what does a roast (Sunday or otherwise) mean to you and your family? Post a recipe and let Johanna have your entry before 30 November - more details available on her announcement post. So what are you waiting for - get roasting!
In other news, the lovely Val from More Than Burnt Toast has passed on an award to me - one of the flurry of well-deserved awards she has recently received. So I am the honoured recipient of the Inspiration Award - thank you *blush*! I am passing this prestigious award on to five other bloggers, namely:
Ilva of Lucullian Delights Katie of Thyme for CookingGrace of A Southern GraceDragon of Dragon's KitchenHelen of Food Stories
And, mindful of my request for meme tags to get me through the self-imposed suffering that is NaBloPoMo, I am also going to borrow the meme I found on Val's blog as I'm sure she won't mind ;-) It's a slight variation on the "seven/six/five random things" meme so sit back, relax and get random with me.
7 Things I Say More Often (than...?):
1. In the grand scheme of things...2. What do you want to eat?3. Suit yourself...4. F***!5. May I make a suggestion?6. And your point is...?7. You may ask me 20 questions, I may say yes or no.
7 Things I Did Before (umm... before what?):
1. Play the piano2. The Sunday Times cryptic crossword over breakfast3. Play Tetris compulsively4. Ran a business selling Zulu beaded jewellery with my mom5. Went dune-bashing in Dubai6. Went to the EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh, WI7. High-impact aerobics classes
7 Things I Do Now:
1. Blog2. Cook3. Travel - a lot4. Translations for a South African charity5. Yoga (erratically!)6. Take pictures almost every day with my Canon EOS 20D7. Ski
7 Things I Want to Do:
1. Live in the same city (or at least country) as my brother & his family2. Travel more - to South America, India and Australia in particular3. Become a better photographer4. Do more freelance writing that actually pays5. Learn more html6. See the Aurora Borealis7. Hear Beethoven's Choral Fantasia performed live
7 Things That Attract me About the Opposite :
1. Sense of humour2. Intelligence3. y eyes4. A great butt and a washboard tummy (come on, let's be honest!) 5. Beautiful hands6. Kindness to animals and kids7. Confidence
7 Favorite Foods:
1. Cheese (mature cheddar, truffled brie, aged Pecorino, comte...)2. Jamon Iberico de Bellota3. Karoo lamb chops cooked on the braai (BBQ)4. Joel Robuchon's impossibly creamy mashed potatoes5. Steamed char siu pork buns6. Berthillon salted butter caramel ice cream7. Pierre Herme's olive oil and vanilla macarons
I'm not going to tag anyone (after the flak I took for my casual use of the prescriptive phrase "have to" in my previous meme!!) but if you feel the need for a more meme-ingful life, feel free to nick this one and complete it on your own blog :)
Follow me every day in November as I complete National Blog Posting Month - a post a day, every day, for 30 days! Here's what I've written so far. Posted at 11:27 PM in Awards and prizes, Memes, NaBloPoMo 2008 | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0) Digg This | Save to del.icio.us Caramelised nectarines and cherries 
Can you hear anything? A low rumble, maybe? A gurgling noise? Pipes clanking?
Nope?
Well, me neither. Because my new boiler is very, very quiet.
Yes, you read correctly. New. Boiler. After five unhappy days and nights with no heat and no hot water, British Gas finally condemned the old boiler and the landlord no longer had any other option but to get a new one. I was told that this could take up to a week (another week?? Good grief, imagine how much cava my neighbour and I could get through in another week of our soirees!). But somehow my landlord managed to persuade a small local firm to come in yesterday morning and fit a new boiler, an electric immersion heater (should this ever happen again, God forbid), some thermostatic radiator valves and a new timer - all in a single day! Granted, I had to spend four hours today trying to get every object and surface in my kitchen clean and free from the blanket of dust generated when they moved the boiler to an adjacent wall.
But at least I can look forward to a HOT bubble bath, up to my earholes, in the comfort of my own home :) God bless the boiler men.
And to ensure that you, my lovely readers who enquired anxiously about the boiler situation every day this week, can share in my warm, fuzzy feelings, I'm going to share with you one of the simplest, quickest and most delicious desserts that I make. I last made this a couple of months back when we still had summer fruits in the shops, so it's probably more appropriate right now for my Southern hemisphere readers. But I should also point out that my mom used to make this all the time using tinned peach slices and glace cherries - so don't feel constrained by the seasons :)
CARAMELISED NECTARINES AND CHERRIES (serves 2)
Ingredients:
2 small nectarinesabout 10 cherries 1 Tbsp butter2 Tbsp dark brown sugar1/4 tsp cinnamonbrandy (optional)vanilla ice cream to serve
Method:
Wash and cut each nectarine into 8-12 wedges. Wash and halve each cherry, and remove the pit. I would then macerate the fruit in a few tablespoons of brandy, but this is optional.
In a skillet or heavy pan, heat the butter and dark brown sugar over medium heat. Allow the butter and sugar to melt and wait for the mixture to bubble and turn slightly brown before adding the fruit (be careful as the sugar will probably splatter!) and cinnamon.
Stir to coat each piece of fruit with the caramel sauce and cook over medium heat until the fruit is warmed through.
Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream.
Follow me every day in November as I complete National Blog Posting Month - a post a day, every day, for 30 days! Here's what I've written so far. Posted at 11:34 PM in NaBloPoMo 2008, Recipes - dessert, Recipes - vegetarian | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBack (0) Digg This | Save to del.icio.us Saturday Snapshots #12 
Bottlebrush flower, Johannesburg 2007
Bottlebrush plants (named for the distinctive shape of their flowers) are native to Australia but are very happy in South Africa where they adorn road verges and gardens. They range in size from ground-hugging shrubs to trees of 10m or more and are members of the Myrtle family. This one lives in a friend's garden in Johannesburg and was at the height of its flowering cycle when I visited just over a year ago.
This is part of a series of non-food photographs that will be published every Saturday on CookSister. Click here for a full list of photographs previously featured.
Follow me every day in November as I complete National Blog Posting Month - a post a day, every day, for 30 days! Here's what I've written so far. Posted at 10:39 AM in NaBloPoMo 2008, Photography, Saturday Snapshots | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0) Digg This | Save to del.icio.us London International Wine Fair 2008 
Boiler saga update:
[A phone rings in CookSister's office] "Jeanne speaking, good morning."
"Hello, this is British Gas - we're at your house right now and we have some news about your boiler."
[voice filled with trepidation] "Yeeeeees?"
"We tried one last trick and we have the pilot light lit - so the boiler is running! Shall we leave the hot water on for you?"
"Oh you wonderful man! Yes please!" [already dreaming of celebratory bubble bath] "Goodbye!"
[air-punching whoop of delight]
Approximately 5 minutes later
[A phone rings again in CookSister's office] "Jeanne speaking, good morning."
"Hello, this is British Gas again. I'm afraid we won't be able to leave your boiler on for you after all."
"Whaaaaat???"
"It's running, but it has failed all the safety & emissions tests so it has to be disconnected for safety reasons. Please contact your landlord. Goodbye."
[Tourette's-like outburst of words that are entirely unrepeatable on a family blog]
5 nights without heating or hot water. Stay tuned.
A few months ago (yikes - where does the time go?) I had the great pleasure of taking the afternoon off from my day job and heading out to London's Excel exhibition centre to attend the London International Wine Fair. Over 3 days there were 14,000 visitors who came to see 1,250 international exhibitors, each of which must have had on average 5 to 10 wines... It's easy to see how things can go fairly drastically wrong! The show is a trade show and, as such, not open to the public but only to e.g. trade buyers, importers, retailers, off-license staff, hotel/catering buyers, agents and press. So of course I went as Press - my first press badge! Once inside, it's quite overwhelming and unless you have a plan you won't get the most out of the day. I met up with my good friend Andrew of Spittoon (who had already spent the morning there) and the first place we headed was to sede our mutual friend wine blogger Rob of The Wine Conversation who was manning the stand for Spanish merchant Dinastio Vivanco.
We started with a Vivanco Viura Malvasia 2007 (green apples on the nose, melony fruit on the palate), followed by the Vivanco Rosada 2007 (80% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha) (caramel and cherries on the nose; surprisingly not sweet on the palate but with a short, caramelly finish). The Dinastia Vivanco Rioja Crianza 2004 (100% Tempranillo) was a pale brick red with a smoky nose and medium-bodied fresh red cherries on the palate, and didn't taste at all like the 13.5% alcohol it contained. The Dinastia Vivanco Rioja Riserva 2001 (90% Tempranillo 10% Graciano) had a more vegetal nose, but wonderfully soft tannins and notes of vanilla on both the nose and palate. From there we moved onto the Collecion Vivanco Rioja 4 Varietales 2005 (a blend of four grapes namely Tempranillo, Graciano, Garnacha and Mazuelo) which was a stunning wine with ripe, plummy fruit, an almost brandy-like alcoholic hit, and yet remaining fabulously balanced. The final two Vivanco wines made for a fascinating contrast. Both were big, alcoholic reds, coming in at 15.5% alcohol per volume. But whereas the 100% garnacha Collecion Vivanco Parcelas Garnacha Rioja 2005 was a huge, mouth-filling beast with a jammy nose and loads of accessible ripe berry fruits, the 100% Graciano Collecion Vivanco Parcelas Graciano Rioja 2005 had an almost port-like nose with rounded jammy fruit flavours, soft tanins and a long, subtle finish. If I hadn't seen the labels with my own two eyes I would not have beleived these two wines had the same alcohol content. And I have to add that Rob was a most charming and knowledgeable host - thanks Rob!
Since Andrew had already spent the morning at the fair he let me choose what we would be tasting next. No prizes for guessing... I headed straight for the impressively huge South African pavillion (pictured at the top of this post)! The first estate we came to was one that I am familiar with: Kleine Zalze, a beautiful old estate just outside Stellenbosch where wine has been made since 1695. We started with the 2007 Vineyard Selection Chardonnay (9 months in French oak, 14% alc) - stewed apples and vanilla on the nose but disappointing on the palate: too sweet for my taste and not balanced. Next up was the 2007 Vineyard Selection Chenin Blanc (barrel-fermented, 14% alc) which was even sweeter - in fact the sweetness overwhelmed pretty much anything else that might have been going on. Rather more pleasant was the 2007 Vineyard Selection Pinot Noir (14% alc) with a good pale garnet colour, caramelly boiled sweet nose and a burnt sugar palate with smooth tannins and a long finish. The 2005 Vineyard Selection Shiraz (14.5% alc) had a meaty nose and a lingering palate packed with upfront red fruit, but once again there was that caramelly sweetness that seemed to creep into all the wines we tasted. My favourite Kleine Zalze wine of the day was definitely the 2006 Family Reserve Shiraz (22 months in oak, 14.5% alc). Its rather shy nose did nothing to prepare you for the huge berry fruit palate, heady alcohol and smooth tanins. A well-balanced and really delicious wine. Also scoring points with us was the 2005 Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (18 months in French oak, 14.5% alcohol) with a more vegetal nose, but still plenty of berry and liquorice flavours on the palate and smooth tannins. But, sadly, other than the last two wines, we found our Kleine Zalze tasting to be rather disppointing.
 
But from there we moved on to two of the more impressive SA tastings I've had in years. First up was probably my favourite estate in the country - Springfield. The estate is in the lovely Robertson valley and is owned by brother and sister team, winemaker Abrie and marketer Jeanette Bruwer (who was one of the people manning the Springfield stand when we visited). Abrie is known for being obsessed with terroir (the influence of the land where the grapes are grown on the wine) and his philophy is that "terroir is a gift from God inherited by our ancestors". This means that the winemaking process is kept as direct and uncomplicated as possible so that the natural elements in the wine can speak for themselves, with the least possible human interference. Whatever he is doing, let me tell you it works. We started with the 2007 Firefinch Sauvignon Blanc (classic cut grass and green pepper aromas on the nose; slight initial prickle on the tongue giving way to luscious guava flavours) before continuing on to 2007 Life From Stone Sauvignon Blanc (less aggressively green on the nose; a balanced palate full of gooseberries & spiciness); 2007 Special Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc (also a slight prickle on the palate at first and less fruity than the other two, but far more complex and really delicious - my favourite white); Wild Yeast Chardonnay (a promising "cheesy" nose which I usually associate with French wines; but slightly flabby and too sweet for me on the palate); and the Methode Ancienne Chardonnay (a lovely golden colour but shy nose; beautifully balanced palate with both fruit and acid, creamy and mouth-filling with a very long finish). From there we moved on to the reds, starting with the Firefinch Ripe Red, a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon (lots of ripe red fruit and cherries on the palate, easy-drinking), 2003 Work of Time, a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon (jammy vanilla flavours on the nose; beautifully structured wine with restrained fruit and balanced tannins - delicious); 2006 Whole Berry Cabernet with natural yeast and unfined & unfiltered (deep ruby colour; on the palate, the first taste is... red grape juice! This is followed by more complex, smoky, jammy flavours balanced by remarkably soft tannins. My favourite red by a mile.); and the 2002 Methode Ancienne Cabernet Sauvignon (very deep garnet colour; very complex palate - oaky, tobacco flavours but also dark fruit jam and dried berries - delicious but never over the top or overblown). 
From there we staggered across to the lovely ladies at Ses'fikile. Now I have to confess that I had never heard of them before, but that's hardly surprising as the company was only founded in 2004, by which time I was living in London. As it turns out, manning the stall were two of the owners and two more charming and passionate people you could hardly hope to find. Ses'fikile, as they told me, means "we have arrived" in isiXhosa and it is an empowerment company in the very best sense of the word, owned and run by women and fully BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) compliant. The women in question are former schoolteachers who set about educating themselves in the wine industry and they have a strong partnership with winemaker Bruce Jack of Flagstone. It is, by all accounts, a winning partnership for all concerned, and Ses'fikile wines are available through Marks & Spencer in the UK. We tasted the 2007 "Rain Song" Chenin Blanc ("cheesy", musty cellar nose - smells like a French rather than a South African wine; uncomplicated palate with hints of stewed fruit - easy drinking); the unoaked 2007 "Folklore" Chardonnay (a musty cellar nose again; quite fruity, well balanced and very pleasant for an unoaked Chardonnay); the 2006 "Rain Song" Pinotage (great colour for a Pinotage; a big mouthful of sweet cherries and soft tannins - about as lovely and accessible as a Pinotage gets); the 2005 Folklore Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc blend (deep colour; luscious, intense blackberries with hints of vanilla & balanced tannins - absolutely delicious); and the 2004 Matriarch Shiraz reserve (intensely purple; "meaty", savoury nose; very intense jammy plum pudding flavours, in fact verging on a good ruby port).
Astonishingly, we still felt up to more tasting after that, so went exploring slightly off the beaten track. OK, so very off the beatn track! H Stagnari is an Uruguayan vineyard known for their Tannat, and seeing as this is one of my new favourite cultivars, we tasted a few wines. The 2008 Rose Dinastia (100% Tannat) started off well with a beautiful coral colour and caramelly nose, but there was practically no hint of rose's customary fruit or sweetness on the palate, makinjg it practically undrinkable. The 2005 Tannat Viejo was an improvement with a smoke, port-like nose, but again the wine was totally unbalanced with intense raisiny flavours but almost no discernible tannin. Our last attempt was the Dayman Tannat (12 months in American and French oak) which had a promising fruity nose but practically no fruit on the palate. And then Andrew insisted that we beat a hasty retreat!
 Our final foray into the unknown was Monsoon Valley, a Thai vineyard (yes, really!) that has, for the past 8 years, been making wines 60km south-west of Bangkok. I miust say, the colours of these wines were what attracted me - I can't imagine a more beautiful and girly spectrum of pinks and corals. But as for the wines.... The first one we tried was the Colombard, which had a nose I can only describe as "cheesy" and a palate that was unrelentingly sweet. The White Shiraz was the most exquisite shade of pale coral, but turned out to be aggressively tannic and no fun at all. The only potantial redeeming feature was the Muscat, another beautiful onion-skin colour with a characteristic litchi nose. Although sweet, it was the most balanced wine of the three and I could imagine serving this at a girly lunch party in the summer. For the rest, though, I would probably not dash back to Monsoon Valley!
And the best part is that as we staggered off at the end of the day, Andrew (who has spent many years in the wine trade) confessed that he had been floored by the high quality and restrained Old World style of the Springfield and Ses'fikile wines that he had tasted that afternoon, and that they had probably been his favourites. So a great afternoon of winetasting rounded off with a boost to my patriotic pride - what more could one wish for?
Follow me every day in November as I complete National Blog Posting Month - a post a day, every day, for 30 days! Here's what I've written so far. Posted at 11:46 PM in NaBloPoMo 2008, Wine | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0) Digg This | Save to del.icio.us Chicken, sun-dried tomato & mustard pasta sauce 
Saga update:
No boiler. No heat. No comment.
Since the start of the Death of a Boiler saga on Monday, I have found myself spending more and more time at the house of my lovely neighbour P. (Troy's owner). This is partly because she has a working shower and central heating (!), partly because she can be relied upon to open a bottle of cava within minutes of my arrival, and partly because we just get on really well. So far this week we have discussed boiler and kitchen renovations (unsurprisingly!), cats, movies, restaurants, art and our families. Tonight P. asked me whether I resembled my mom, a question I haven't had to answer in ages.
Physically, I have been told by a number of people (and the mirror!) that the resemblance sometimes verges on the uncanny. To look us square in the face side by side, you wouldn't really say so, but try a 3/4 profile and you'll see what I mean. Then there was the similarity in our voices - many a hapless telephone caller launched into a discussion with one of us thinking it was the other, to their mortifrication. And let's not forget our identical shoe sizes, our identical figures (thanks for my tiny waist mom, but you could have kept the thick ankles!), and our protruding ulnae that gave our wrists the same distionctive bump. (A colleague once told my mom the smooth, round protrusion of the end of her ulna was the iest thing he'd ever seen on a woman - she quite correctly filed him under F for Freak, Fetishist and Finished.)
But apart from our physical resemblance, there are other parallels too. Like my mom, I am an inveterate collector of recipes from the back of packets, boxes and tins. Her philosophy was always that the manufacturer obviously wants you to buy their product again, so any recipe on the back of the packaging is going to show off the product to best advantage, and the recipe was therefore likely to be worth keeping. So the back of a packet is where I got my go-to tiramisu recipe, as well as the recipes for peppermint crisp pudding, double peanut butter cookies - and this pasta sauce.
The recipe was originally from the back of a packet of sun-dried tomatoes in South Africa and travelled to London neatly pasted into my recipe index book. It's quick, easy, a little bit luxurious and quite simply one of my favourite pasta sauces. Enjoy!
CHICKEN, SUN-DRIED TOMATO & MUSTARD PASTA (serves 4)
Ingredients:
500g chicken breasts cut into stripssalt and pepperCanola or sunflower oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed1 medium onion, chopped8 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped60ml dry white wine250ml single cream15ml wholegrain mustard15ml chopped fresh basil (optional)
Method:
Boil 500g pasta according to package instructions.
Heat a little oil in a heavy frying pan and add the onions and garlic. Season the chicken strips and when the onion begins to soften, add the chicken to the pan. Stir-fry until the chicken strips are just cooked.
Add the sun-dried tomatoes, wine, cream and mustard. Stir continuously until the sauce thickens slightly, then add the basil, check for seasoing and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Serve on a bed of noodles.
I am submitting this recipe to Presto Pasta Nights, an event that was started by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and in which I don't participate nearly often enough. But how could I resist this week when it's my dear friend Inge of Vanielje Kitchen who has returned from blogging limbo to host? You still have until tomorrow to get your entries in... make it presto!
Follow me every day in November as I complete National Blog Posting Month - a post a day, every day, for 30 days! Here's what I've written so far. Posted at 11:47 PM in Blog events, NaBloPoMo 2008, Recipes - pasta & rice | Permalink | Comments (21) | TrackBack (0) Digg This | Save to del.icio.us Whole baked tilapia with flat-leaf parsley and garlic 
Saga update:
Visits to my house by British Gas this week: 3
Hours spent at my house by British Gas this week: +/- 7
Futile phonecalls to Landlord this week: 3
Number of tops I'm wearing as I type this: 4
Pairs of socks I'm wearing as I type this: 2
Number of working boilers in my house at the moment: 0
Number of warm hands and feet: 0
Number of happy thoughts: 0
Last night I joked about it, tonight I did it: I ran the new washing machine on its hottest cycle and leant up against it for warmth. And that's all I want to say about that.
For many people, whole fish represents some sort of culinary final frontier. Some people refuse to buy or order it "because of the eyes" (!). Others find it hard to take home a meal that resembles almost exactly the beast it used to be in life. And yet others are just plain nervous about how they are going to cook it. Happily, I don't fall into any of these categories and recently I find that we've been buying whole fish more often. You get more fish for your money, which appeals to Nick ;-) One way of treating them is to fillet them (not that hard but takes practice so as not to waste too much meat), but I prefer to cook them whole: skin, eyes and all! Cooking a whole fish is so childishly simple and yet bringing it to the table always elicits compliments. Guests seem to think you've done something truly amazing by cooking a whole beastie from the deep!
Tilapia is not really a fish I grew up with. In South Africa in the 1970s when I was a kid, fresh fish was either hake (if you weren't particularly wealthy); snoek (if you lived in Cape Town); or kingklip or sole (of you were wealthy). Tuna was something you got in a tin, as were pilchards. And although my horizons did broaden beyond the fish of my childhood, I don't think I tried tilapia until I came to London. So although the rest of the world might have been munching away on them for decades, tilapia are still a novelty to me.
Tilapia form part of the cichlid family of fish, grow to about 10-30cm in length, and are prized for their firm, sweet flesh. Here are some things that I'll bet you didn't know about them:
they can live both in fresh and brackish water;
the name tilapia is a Latinisation of thiape, the Tswana word for fish;
they are ideally suited to aquaculture because of their adaptability, but the water temperature where they live has to be heated to tropical temperatures. One way that this is done is by uising waste heat from power stations and factories;
unusually, tilapias care for their young, sometimes by gathering them in the parent's mouth for safekeeping (called mouth brooding); and
tilapia were introduced in Kenya to control the mosquito population, as they consume mosquito larvae.
I was particularly pleased to read the bit about aquaculture, as this means that tilapia are sustainable and I can enjoy them more often - hurrah!
This recipe is incredibly simple and relies mainly on the tilapia's sweet flesh and the classic combination of garlic, parsley and lemon. Flat leaf or Italian parsley is thought by some to have a better flavour than its curly cousin - and this is borne out by chemical analysis, which has shown that it contains a higher concentration of essential oil. It is also able to withstand heat better and retain its flavour - so it's perfect for this dish. I served mine with celeriac remoulade but the choice is yours: roasted geen beans; roasted cherry tomatoes; sweet potato fries - or whatever takes your fancy.
WHOLE BAKED TILAPIA WITH FLAT-LEAF PARSLEY AND GARLIC (serves 2)
Ingredients:
2 whole tilapia, cleaned1 medium onion, thinly sliced2 cloves of garlic, crushed30g butter, softeneda large handful of flat-leaf parsley (stalks and all)1 Tbsp lemon juicesalt and pepper
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Prepare two squares of aluminium foil large enough to completely weap each fish and spray with a little olive oil on the shiny side.
Mix together the softened butter, garlic and lemon juice.
Rinse and pat the fish dry, including inside the body cavity. Lay each fish in the centre of its piece of aluminium foil, on the shiny side.
Season with salt and pepper inside the body cavity, then spread half the butter inside each fish. Lay the onions on top of the butter inside each fish's body cavity and top the onions with a flat-leaf parsley. Make 2 slashes in the skin on the top surface of each fish.
Sprinkle the skin of the fish with salt and wrap each fish in its foil parcel. Place on a baking sheet in the pre-heated oven for 20-30 minutes or until the fish is just cooked. Carefully open each parcel (be careful not to lose the juices!) and place under the grill for a further 5 minutes to brown a little before serving.
 I'm submitting this post to Heather of Diary of a Fanatic Foodie who is hosting this week's edition of Weekend Herb Blogging, the event founded by my friend Kalyn and now run by the lovely Haalo.
Follow me every day in November as I complete National Blog Posting Month - a post a day, every day, for 30 days! Here's what I've written so far.
Posted at 11:38 PM in NaBloPoMo 2008, Recipes - fish, Recipes - gluten-free, Weekend Herb Blogging | Permalink | Comments (20) | TrackBack (0) Digg This | Save to del.icio.us Older posts »   
Bar-One sauce - a South African classic Orecchiette in a creamy mushroom & pesto sauce Comptoir Gascon Sautéed Brussels sprouts - do it right The WTSIM #21 theme announced, an award - and a meme Caramelised nectarines and cherries Saturday Snapshots #12 London International Wine Fair 2008 Chicken, sun-dried tomato & mustard pasta sauce Whole baked tilapia with flat-leaf parsley and garlic All text and images on this site, unless expressly specified otherwise, belong to Jeanne Horak-Druiff. If you wish to use any image or text from CookSister, you MUST obtain prior authorization and you MUST link back to the site, crediting me.     
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