Mountains, here we come.

Hi All

Its has been a hectic month end for most South Africans due to the fact that our tax returns have to be in by close of day, today. We love you Trevor Manual, no relation to Mr. Pigg.

The thing I love about this weekend coming is that the crew and family are of to the mountains for a bit of R & R. The crew being- The Piggs, the Wades, the Byroms, the Louws and the Williams'. We are off to Champagne Lane in the Drakensberg Mountains.

The chalets have a heated swimming pool and a jacuzzi between them , all to ourselves. Tennis on Saturday afternoon to work off the Friday dinner and to get ready for the Saturday Night Feast. It is going to make Halloween look like a puppy when you see what we are going to look like on Sunday.

Yours truly will be out of action for the week there after, as I am in Bloemfontein doing my course and exam. I am taking my laptop with so if I get a gap I will blog something.

The girls are getting together tonight at my place this afternoon at 5 to make the final arrangements for the food, drink, etc. for the weekend. Trevor and I have giving squash a bit of a miss for the last couple of days but will put our elbows to the test this afternoon in the jacuzzi while the ladies are having their POW WOW.

My office is finally painted and my new furniture will be arriving shortly for the boardroom and the reception, thanks Trevor.

I wish all a enjoyable weekend and will miss chatting and talking .... with everyone.

HAVE A GOOD ONE.

ASHA'S ROAST LEG OF LAMB and MINT SAUCE

2kg leg of lamb, gashed a few times

1 Tbs ginger paste

1 tsp pounded green chillies

1 tsp garlic paste

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp chilli powder

juice of 1 lemon

2 Tbs oil

1 Tbs butter

2 cups water

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

Make a paste with the ginger paste, chillies, garlic paste, chilli powder, black pepper and lemon.

Rub well onto the meat and in the gashes.

Heat oil and butter in roasting pan.

Place the spiced leg of lamb in the pan and brown all sides.

Add the water.

Cover with foil and place in the oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Remove the foil at the end of cooking time and brown meat evenly.

Serve with roast potatoes, savoury rice and buttered vegetables of choice.

MINT SAUCE

1/2 cup chopped fresh mint

3 Tbs balsamic vi negar

1 tsp sugar

pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Heat vinegar and remove from heat. Add mint, sugar and pepper. Stir and served chilled.

Still Here

Hi All

Been quite busy with my real job, yes, I still have one.

Have been paying out monies today like it is about to go out of fashion. I really have not had any inspirations today about what to blob about except to say that is helluva cold outside and the fact that we are in the middle of summer.

Maybe the Ozone is beyond economical repair. I am going to leave you with not much said by myself as I have to get cracking, but leave you with a nice pepper soup recipe that serves about 8 - 10 people.

HAVE A GOOD ONE.

PEPPER SOUP

Ingredients:
Olive oil to saute the onions
225g chopped onions
450g potato, peeled and diced
400ml chicken or vegetable stock
600g of canned peeled tomato
2 red peppers, diced
2 yellow peppers, diced
25ml paprika
10ml ground coriander
25ml ground cumin
2 fresh chillies, finely chopped
600ml coconut milk
2 tbs sugar
bunch of fresh chopped coriander

Method:

Use a large saucepan to saute the onions and peppers, then add the potato and all the spices(except fresh coriander) and cook off to release the aroma.
Add stock and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the canned tomatoes.
Simmer gently for about 20 minutes, then add sugar and coconut milk.
Taste and season with salt, bring to the boil.
Just before serving add the fresh coriander.

Hot Balls

Hi All

South Africans are quite adventurous when it comes to using spices in our food, but I think the Moroccans are a little hotter than we are.

Their food is picture perfect, the colour combinations are amazing. One of the main herbs that the Moroccans use is Mint. It must not be taken lightly, some of the vendors in the market sell mint bundles to hide the terrible smells.

I was doing a bit of research on Morocco because I am keen to take the Family there in the not to distant future and came across a recipe for riatha, this is served in a little glass so when eating it takes the burning sensation out of the dish. The question posed in the article was, why not make it mild in the first place?

Well, because in Morocco you want to taste all the spices and appreciate the blend of flavours without dulling the experience. Riatha neutralises the heat and heightens your taste buds' facilities, to quote the Country Cousin, Johan Eksteen.

The recipes I am going to leave you with today are by Kim Brackenridge of "7 on Kelner Restaurant", Bloemfontein.

I am going to try them out when I am in Bloem from the 3rd till the 9th of November and will let you in on my evening their.

HAVE A GOOD ONE.

MEATBALLS

Ingredients:
900g ground beef
2 slices of white bread
2 tsp of pounded cumin seeds
1 tsp of pounded dried red chilli
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp chopped garlic
2 tsp paprika
2 eggs
2 onions - grated
Serves 4 - 6 people

Method:

Place meat in a bowl.
Use a food processor to crumb the slices of bread.
Add all the ingredients together and mix well with wet hands and roll into balls the size of golf balls.
These can be cooked straightaway or put into the fridge for a day.
To cook, place on a baking tray and cook in pre-heated oven for 15 - 20 minutes.

Mint and Almond Couscous

Ingredients:
Salt and pepper
500g couscous
Handful of fresh mint
125g flaked Almonds

Method:

Cook couscous according to packaging.
Toast almonds in the oven.
Roughly chop up the mint leaves.
Mix all together and season with salt and pepper.

Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tsp chopped garlic
Olive oil, salt and pepper
2 red onions finely chopped
4 large cinnamon sticks
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp fresh chopped chilli
2 x 400g tins peeled tomatoes
400ml water

Method:

Saute onions until soft, then add all the ingredients. Cook slowly for about 20 minutes.

Riatha

Mix the following ingredients: 500ml plain yoghurt, half a cucumber finely diced, 1 tsp ground cumin and a pinch of salt.

Serving Method:

Place meatballs on top of couscous ( 4 per person ). Spoon sauce over and sprinkle fresh coriander and almonds to garnish.
Serve with riatha in a small glass.

STAR WARS........

Hi All

Last night saw the Williams Family down at Rhys' school helping the teachers make props and costumes for the schools up and coming Christmas Concert. It is based around the sun and planets. A kind of Stars Wars theme according to Rhys'.

About three years ago I was in London Visiting the folks and popped into Hamley's and bought Rhys on e of those Darth Vader Helmets for his birthday and now he insists that his teacher, Dorothea, must let him use it in the concert. I am sure the two of them can come to a mutual agreement.

Dorothea made for us while we where busy a lovely Lentil and Potato stew, to which she gave the recipe to my Dear Wife. So when I asked her for it this morning, Davida's reply was that she really wasn't listening to Dorothea and that she will get it at a later stage so that I can publish it on the blog. So hang in there everybody, I will get it for us because it is a dam fine meal.

Not to get into my wife's bad books, Davida did give me that recipe for the Chicken Marinade, eventually so that is what I am going to leave you with today as well as a cool Mash Potato recipe to accompany the chicken.

To all of you Manchester United supporters out there, just like me, I hope you enjoy the match against Dynamo Kiev tonight and will report back on UEFA a little later.

HAVE A GOO ONE.

MARINADE FOR CHICKEN BREASTS

This one is from my wife's trusty Pamela Shippel cookbook. A cookbook no sister in the family is without.

Chicken Breasts

To ensure that the breasts are soft and juicy.

- Always slash them diagonally on the fat side of the fillet, cutting across the grain of the meat and about 5mm into the flesh. When the muscle contracts as it cooks it will not toughen.

- Place chicken breasts in a plastic bag with the prepared marinade and leave the bag in the fridge for 5-6 hours, or overnight.

- Place on grid for BBQing, or on a baking sheet for grilling.

- BBQ (Braai) over hot coals, or grill in a very hot oven for seven minutes turning once.

NOTE: The marinade will form a coating on the chicken as it cooks, the chicken itself will not brown.

Pepsi's TOMATO MARINADE

(For 8-12 Breasts)

For a low calorie option-leave out the oil.

410g tinned tomato puree

45ml white wine of fruit juice

45ml oil or melted butter

30ml soya sauce

30ml tomato sauce

45ml HP sauce

10ml dried marjoram or 30ml fresh sweet basil, chopped

3ml salt

3ml black pepper

Mix all ingredients together.

YOGHURT MASH(Thanks Avocado)

This mash is good for the waistline, and you could make it even healthier by using low-fat, plain yoghurt.

Ingredients

4 large potatoes

30ml wholegrain mustard

300ml Greek yoghurt

Method

Peel the potatoes and chop them roughly.

Boil them in salted water for about 15 minutes, or until soft.

Drain the potatoes and put them into a mixing bowl.

Mash well and then add the mustard and the Greek yoghurt.

Stir until smooth.

Serves 4-6

"Sea Cockroaches Rock, Dad."

Hi All

It was back in February this year that Rhys and I had a little break down on the south coast at our villas at San Lameer. The best place in the world to take a holiday. Anyway the one night the two of us decided to go and take in a movie at Shelly Center. I think we watched the Fantastic Four.

After the movie we decided to have dinner at John Dory's, Rhys wanted a little steak and I decided what the hell we are at the coast, let me have some fresh seafood. Prawns was the verdict. When the food arrived Rhys was amazed to see these things with heads and legs, feelers and all. He asked me what they where and I said "they are called prawns my boy, but I call them sea cockroaches Rhys."

"Sea cockroaches, yuk Dad." After explaining that they weren't really cockroaches, he asked if he could try one. The end result, "sea cockroaches rock, Dad" and Rhys has been hooked since. This story brings us to the lazy Sunday we had as a Family at home yesterday. A day next to the pool, not a cloud in the sky, not a breathe of wind around and a few afternoon coolers to make it the perfect ending to a great weekend.

We feasted on a late lunch of Lemon and herb grilled prawns and Grilled Sirloin in a sweet and sour soy sauce all done on a gas BBQ. It's tough in Africa, I might let you know.

The marinade recipe I will get to you later but for now I am going to let you in on my way of doing an afternoon tea SHAKE-UP.

I also found this great, simply recipe on the back of a buttermilk carton( I drink the stuff neat but if you like you can put a teaspoon or two of honey into the buttermilk, also very lekker(nice) with muesli.)

So try out these refreshing drinks when you get a chance and let me know how you like them.

EARL GREY MARTINI

Ingredients:

30ml Gin
30ml Earl Grey Tea
20ml fresh lemon juice
12.5ml sugar syrup

Method:

Shake with ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into a martini glass.
Garnish with a slice of lemon or lemon zest.

LONG ISLAND ICED TEA

Ingredients:

12.5ml Gin

12.5ml Vodka

12.5ml Bacardi White Rum

12.5ml Tequila

12.5ml Triple Sec

12.5ml sugar syrup

25ml fresh lemon juice

Method:

Shake and strain into a martique glass full of ice.

Top with cola.

Add a slice of lime and garnish with a slice of lemon and serve with straws

DARK CHOCOLATE BUTTERMILK CAKE

Ingredients:

240g (2 cups) flour

125g reduced salt butter

125ml hot water to which 5ml instant coffee is added

250ml buttermilk

5ml baking powder

2 eggs

5ml vanilla essence

180g Castor sugar

60g cocoa

5ml bicarbonate of soda

1ml cream of tartar

1ml salt

Mix cocoa and coffee mixture together.

Cream butter and Castor sugar in mixing bowl.

Add eggs one by one, beat well each time.

Add cocoa mixture.

Pour buttermilk on bicarbonate of soda and stir well.

Sift flour, salt, baking powder and cream of tartar.

Stir in dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk.

Lastly add vanilla.

Pour mixture into 2 greased sandwich cake tins and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 20 to 25 minutes or until firm to touch.

HAVE A GOOD ONE.

Viva! South Africa

Hi All

It is very rare that I would do any posting on a weekend but I just had to share a recipe for success with you.

As the world know South Africa has won the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Last night at Saint Denis Stade de France saw John Smit and the boys bring the Webb Ellis Cup home to the Greatest and as you will notice I am not saying "probably, maybe" or any similar words to describe us. WE ARE THE GREATEST. Well Done Boys, the noise around my neighbourhood indicated to me that the parties carried on until the early hours of this morning. I even had a bit of a headache, probably to many ' Coffee with a Bloffie'. (To those who don't know what this means, a cup of freshly made coffee with a serious amount of liqueur in it, I was using Kahlua last night)

To give you an idea of how proud us South Africans really are, I slept in my Springbok rugby jersey last night and this morning at 6.30am when I went outside to fetch my Sunday Times I noticed the paper boy was still in his, so I said to him, well done and his reply to me was "I still haven't slept yet." That's Passion Folks.

Well I will come down from my high tomorrow and give you all a day to rest and bask in our VICTORY and leave you with that recipe I mentioned.

SOUTH AFRICA WORLD CHAMPIONS SUCCESS RECIPE

Ingredients

45 million screaming South Africans

Beer

Biltong

Braais

More Beer

Friends

Flat Screen TVs

MORE BEER

MORE FRIENDS

PASSION

Method

Mix all the above together anyway you wish and say out loud " WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD"

HAVE A GOOD ONE. (make it a good couple)

Still A Long Way To Go.....

Hi All

Mr. Pigg what can be said about him, the class and caliber of the 'Old Cock' would put a lot of men to shame. I started the first game of squash last night with a win, a good win at that. The Squash Killer was the one who actually returned last night and not me. He gave me a really good "KLAP" that's African for "A Good Smack". There Trev, I gave you your due. I WILL BE BACK.

South Africa is renowned for our diverse cultures and none more so than the Malay influence in the Cape. The Malays make a wonderful dish called BOBOTIE which I am going to give you a recipe later in the blog. The only problem I have with bobotie is that it has raisins in it. Now me and the wrinkled grape are not big Mates, in fact I detest the bloody things. I prefer my grapes in a good bottle of Merlot or a Kanonkop Pinotage than to eat the wretched thing.

It stems back to my childhood, my Mom apparently gave me one to eat as a toddler and I immediately spat the thing back at her. The rest as they say is history.

One can feel the excitement building around town as the guys are all calling their friends to see what, where are they going to watch the World Cup Rugby Final on Saturday night. The party seems to have started already. GO BOKKIE!!!!

Till meet blog again.

HAVE A GOOD ONE.

BOBOTIE

INGREDIENTS:

2 medium sized onions, chopped

10 ml vegetable oil

40 ml butter

600 g beef mince

2 thick slices of stale white bread

125 g sultana raisins

60 ml flaked almonds

40 ml chutney

2 garlic cloves, crushed

10 ml masala

5 ml turmeric

5 ml ground cumin

5 ml ground coriander

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

3 cloves

salt to taste

ground black pepper

10 bay leaves

Egg custard:

3 eggs

150 ml milk

METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Fry the onions in vegetable oil and butter over medium heat until they begin to brown.

Add the mince and brown for a few minutes.

Place the mince in a colander and soak the bread in the juice that drains from it.
In a mixing bowl, combine the mince and all the rest of the ingredients except the bay leaves. Press the bobotie mixture into a deep oven-proof dish. Spike the bay leaves into the mince.
Beat together the eggs and milk and pour over the top of the mince.

Bake at 200°C for 30 minutes until the custard has browned.

Serve the bobotie with geel rys (white rice cooked with turmeric, raisins and cloves), chutney, chopped tomato and onion, sliced banana and desiccated coconut.

Serves 6 - 8 people.

The Master Returns

Hi All

Tonight sees myself and Mr. Pigg squaring up on the squash courts, I am going to Squash him literally. Will let you know the outcome on the blog tomorrow.

Yesterday I took Rhys ans his friend Nadine up to the golf course because I had to return my Golf cart from the trip last week, hell it was dirty. Anyway everything sorted out and decided to have a beer at the clubhouse and while chatting to a few of the lads, Rhys and Nadine proceeded without my knowledge to make sand castles in the bunker on the 18th green. When I eventually decided to go home I realised what they had done and could to nothing but laugh. I tried my best to rake the bunker but gave up and phoned our greenkeeper, Lionel, in the morning and apologised and asked if he could sort it out. He to called back and said he would have prefered the kids work of art instead of my attempts. So much for trying to be nice?

I missed the round table meeting last night and feel quite bad, but family comes first.

Davida made lovely grilled chicken breasts in the oven last night, I have asked her to send me the recipe but looks like I will have to hold her down tonight and let you all have it on the next posting.

The squash is going to be good, my fan club ( Rhys ) is coming along tonight to give me some support.

While having coffee this morning I remember a recipe that I once did for courgette and onion rostis. So till we meet again.

Have A Good One.

COURCETTE AND ONION ROSTIS

INGREDIENTS

1 Large Potato

1 Small Onion

2 Small Courgettes

Parsley

Oil for frying

METHOD

Peel the potato and the onion.

Top and Tail the courgettes.

Finely chop 1 tablespoon of fresh parsely.

Grate all the vegetables into a bowl, add parsely and mix together>

Season well with salt and pepper.

Shape the vegetable mixture into patties.

Fry in batches, in a little oil, on a low heat for about 6 minutes a side or until golden, keeping its shape.

Place on a greased baking sheet in a warm oven while you finish the rest of the rostis.

Makes 5-6 large rostis.

The Squash Killer

Hi All

Last night saw Trevor, sorry Mr. Pigg give me a real good drumming at squash. I went down five games to love and on top of that he even clinched a white wash game.

Anyway, after that the Fam and I went up to Andre and Malinda's because our lovely Malinda celebrated her birthday. Being a Monday night we did not go overboard, but the eats that where laid out where top class. We have a shop that sells homemade goods baked by Ladies from around town, they all get a cut from the proceeds. My favourite is Aunty No.5 for sweet stuffs and Aunty No.4 for the savoury.

Anyway it seems that our National Road Authorities are now staring to get serious about road happenings and drunk drivers. The demerit system will start in Feb 08 and I personally think it is about time.

To those supporters of the Rugby make sure and arrange your parties on Saturday night at someones home like I am doing, nothing better than having a few mates over for a BBQ and a beer during the football.

I am going to leave you with a nice marmalade recipe I came across while browsing thru the Avocado mag. Nice and easy to make.

Have a Good One.

FIVE-FRUIT MARMALADE

Combine all the winter citrus fruit to create the best-ever marmalade.

INGREDIENTS

1 lime, juice and zest

1 lemon, zest

1 grapefruit, zest

2 naartjies, zest

2 oranges, zest and juice

750ml water

560g sugar

METHOD

Combine all the zest and juice and as many pips as you can find(the pips contain the much needed pectin) in a large bowl, add the water, cover and leave to soak overnight.

The next day, bring the juice and the zest mixture to the boil in a large saucepan and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half.

Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Return it to the heat and boil until it reaches jelling stage.

Meanwhile, sterilises the glass jars and the lids.

Once the mixture has reached jelling stage, bottle into the sterilised jars while the mixture is still hot and seal well.

Makes 3 medium jars.

Helllooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi All

Sorry it has taking me so long to get some new stuff on my blog, but I have been rather busy on a course lately. Actually myself and 23 other lads played some of the most amazing golf courses that the Kwazulu-Natal Midlands has on offer.

My favourite being Boschoek, it reminded me of playing the Vale in Wales. Green and lush. Will go into a bit of detail in the up and coming posts.

Nadia had me moving her office around again this morning because she was trying to get the Feng Shui or however you spell it right. Nothing like a bit of manual labour to kick-start your day into action.

If any of you out there are passing through Colenso on your way to Durban or that direction, take time and stop at a little biltong and farm stall about 5 kms outside of Colenso on the Durban side. The owner's wife makes the most amazing venison pies and sausage rolls. You can also buy them frozen and cook them at home later.

The nice part about coming home after a short while away is the way Rhys pretends that he did not miss you and only later in the evening does he turn around and say " I missed you Dad". My heart just melts.

I have to get some work done, this is actually for Bonnie my Sister-in-Law who lives in Qatar, at least I have one regular reader out their. Thanks Bonnie.

I am leaving you with a great Chocolate Fudge Pudding that Davida makes that is always a winner and easy to make enjoy till we chat again.

Have A Good One

CHOCOLATE FUDGE PUDDING

This dish must be served with Vanilla Ice-cream or fresh cream.

1 cup flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

Salt

2/3 cups sugar

2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

Sift together

Heat together

200ml Milk

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

2 Tbsp Margarine

Add together

Spread batter into a deep greased dish

Topping:

Mix: 1 cup brown sugar and 1/4 Cocoa Powder

Sprinkle over batter

Pour over 375ml boiling water

Bake 50 minutes @ 180 degrees Celsius

Lost and Found

Hi All

Have been busy redoing my office and did not even get a chance to get near a computer.

Lost in work but I have some great stories to tell, will start of tomorrow about the Anniversary Dinner on Wednesday at Gooseberries, Great is all I am going to say.

Have A Good One.