My Food Heroes – Manny’s Need Lotsa Bread for dipping Spicy Chicken Soup

Coming home from Uni was always wonderful. I got to lie on the couch sipping Milo and watching the food channel all day long. It was absolute bliss. More importantly than the relaxation was getting home and seeing my family and friends. It was sometimes difficult coming back and missing so many things that happened, the birthdays, the parties, the memories but even so was the new friends that had inadvertently become my new friends. I’ll always remember the story Amy told me about this girl she met at her Uni up in Joburg and all the shenanigans they would get up to. They had become instant friends but I never really got much of a chance to meet her or even hang out. When I was home for Amy’s 21st birthday I finally got to meet Tammy. She had planned this beautiful slide show of stunning pics of Amy throughout her childhood and older years. It was a really special thing to see and I realised then and there that Tammy was such a great and caring friend and was excited to get to know her more. We hung out a few times at the ever famous O’hagans and drank way too much but never enough haha. I got to meet and visit her amazing family on a few occasions and finally adopted them as my own lol. Sharing so many similarities and dreams it felt like I had known Tammy my entire life.

It was awesome coming home every 3 or 4 months to such a great friendship group where it felt like no time had passed at all. There was always a glass of wine to be had and a story to be told and one such night embodied all of the above and one delicious bowl of soup. It was probably the months leading up to before I left for Korea that Tammy invited me over for dinner. YAY! I love when people cook for me. I brought enough wine to keep us entertained for the night knowing that her fridge was most probably full of wine already and probably a few bottles of beer too. There is NO such thing as too much wine.

We sat on her couch sipping glass after glass chatting about all of life’s ups and downs. We had really connected as friends over those last few months when I was still in South Africa and it was such an emotional and spiritually important time for the both of us. It’s a time I will always remember and cherish and all around a steaming bowl of delicious spicy soup lapped up with so much bread it could fill a bakery. It was so comforting and hit you like a ton of bricks but represented so much of what our friendship was; an instant kick you in the teeth kinda love with a dash of respect and understanding.

And here is the recipe straight from my wonderful friend herself. It made me chuckle for a good few minutes as I was reading the whole recipe in her voice. haha lol.

Ingredients

You need:
2 x wine glasses (1 for me and 1 for you)
1 x red wine (1/2 for you, 1/2 for me:) )

6 x chicken breasts chopped into cubes or heart shapes, what ever
1 x chicken stock
250ml cream
200ml boiling water
1 x fresh red chili finely chopped (more if your enemy is coming to dinner)
1 x chopped onion, finely chopped
1 x garlic clove crushed
1 x chopped green pepper
– take a sip of wine…
1 x table spoon of marmite or bovril
1 x table spoon curry powder
1 x bowl of crispy bacon (I say bowl as you can never have too much bacon)
– take a sip of wine and cheers your friend to good times
2 x whole tinted tomatoes blended
2 x cups of cooked lentils
3 x baguettes

Now here is the hard part….

Put it all in a big pot and stir on a medium heat until the chicken is cooked and everything smells yummy!
– sip wine every 5 mins

Toast your bread in the oven

Pour soup in bowl, pour more wine and serve!

Love u too much my Manny ❤

My Food Heroes – Moface’s Macaroni & Cheese

Now no one could ever start a food blog without remembering all the amazing food they had as a young child. The very first meal that got you hooked  and who was there when it happened. For most people this involves their mother. How could It not! Hell I could dedicate an entire blog just to her. My amazing mother has been on a culinary journey with me my entire life. The bags of flour that I sifted through, the eggs, the baking powder THE MESS!! THE MONEY spent! My mom has been there through it all. She always allowed me the time and space to destroy her kitchen and turn it into an experimental mecca of foodie thoughts and ideas. She is the one that got me started not just on the idea of cooking and feeding people but the whole concept and joy behind it.  Luckily for me I remember this day. In the kitchen at my childhood home. My mom had just made dinner, a huge casserole dish sat pristine ontop of the stove cooling down. All I could see was melty cheese and bits of sausage and some pasta. Ooo melty cheese. My gastronomical crutch. I pushed the small wooden chair closer so I could reach it and started picking away at the delicious crispy crunchy melty bits.

It was heaven. The sauce that embodied the pasta was creamy and rich and full of flavor. The tomatoes displayed neatly on the sides. The little russian sausages cut into small cubes and perfectly distributed throughout the dish. The onions diced finely gave a gentle sweetness and crunch. The cheese! Oh the cheese! Melty and gooey inside, perfect and crispy ontop. It was as I have and always will remember the best meal of my entire life and every time and I mean every time my Moface makes it, it brings back only the happiest thoughts and memories. It’s tough to explain in that it’s the most special dish I think I will ever share on this blog. It’s comforting, it’s moorish and just plain damn delicious.

Moface’s Macaroni & Cheese Recipe

Ingredients

1 Onion chopped

4 Savoury Sausages (Russians) chopped

1tsp Garlic

1tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Mustard powder

1 tsp Oregano

1/2 cup Cheese (grated)

1/2 pkt Cooked Macaroni

2 Tbs Butter

2 Tbs Flour

1Tbs Corn Starch

1 Cup Water

Instructions

1. To make a white sauce add the butter into a small pot and melt. Add the flour and corn starch in small quantities and mix till it forms a smooth paste. If it gets too think add small amounts of water to bring it back to that paste like consistency.

2. Mix all the ingredients above except the cheese.

3. Add the white sauce into this mixture  and mix well.

4. Once combined place this mixture into a glass casserole dish, cover with freshly sliced tomatoes if that’s your thing and then pile as much cheese as you can on the top.

5. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 30 mins or until the cheese is crispy.

Dish yourself a massive bowl, pour a glass of wine, sit back, relax and enjoy.

Love you Mamma ❤

My Food Heroes – Piley’s Cappuccino Choc Chip Muffins

Not many people know but I’m not really into sweet things. I couldn’t imagine sitting down with a whole bar of Cadburys and devouring the thing in one small go. I’ve never liked chocolate and if I do get one I tend to savor each piece. A large Toblerone could last me a good month maybe longer. Easter eggs are just lost on me, all that chocolate and no belly to enjoy it. I’m not a chocolate bar or candy prude I guess I just only like certain sugar highs.

I do however like decadent sweet things; chocolate eclairs, chocolate ganache covered triple layered mousse, fudgey brownies, oh the list could go on. It’s that kind of sweet dessert that tickles the back of your throat and leaves u in an eye rolling ecstasy. Never experienced that before? Well we need to hang out, you have no idea what you’re missing out on!

One such gorgeous treat is my childhood friend Amy’s (Piley) Cappuccino Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe. It may seem like just a muffin recipe but it is sooo much more than that. It represents an almost 15 year friendship. More than half of my life, these muffins have played their part. That day at school where she came into Afrikaans class with a whole box of muffins and cookies for sale. Yes Aimz I remember 😀 I bought one who knows how much for and the first bite had me addicted. I think I bought another 3 or 4 by the end of the day.

It’s always been a running joke that whenever Amy ever wanted me to do something for her she would repay me in muffins haha. It was actually discussed not even a few weeks ago. haha.  It got to a point a few times where I even bribed her to make them for me. I eventually decided I couldn’t treat my bestie like my foodie slave so I got the recipe myself and tried my hardest to match that delicious pouch of sweety goodness. Well I failed. It looked as if small aliens were sprouting out of the muffin tray. So I just decided to continually bribe my wonderful friend and probably will until we are old grannies sitting on the stoep at the old age home talking about that one time at band camp…

I will however attempt to once again recreate these little chocolatey angels for the sake of a few pictures and a walk down memory lane. The ingredients are simple enough to find in Korea, except buttermilk. That’s quite easy to fix though. Just some milk and vinegar and boomshakalaka.

Ingredients

500ml flour
15ml baking powder
125ml soft brown sugar
100g choc chips
50ml strong coffee granules
80ml water hot
100ml oil
100ml butter milk or plain yoghurt
2 extra large eggs
60ml milk

Instructions

1. Place flour, baking powder, sugar and choc chips into mixing bowl

2. Dissolve coffee in hot water and let it cool down.

3. Mix oil, buttermilk, eggs and milk with coffee and then add to dry ingredients to form a stiff dough, do not over mix!

4. Spoon into muffin tins and bake at 200 degrees for 20mins. Remove and cool.

CHEF AMY’s TIPS:

Try not to eat them all up yourself 😀

My Food Heroes – Amy’s Marmite Fritters

Your typical breakfast can be anything from a small bowl of cereal to a slice of toast to anything as extravagant as eggs, bacon and four hundred different kinds of side dishes.  Unfortunately I’m not one of those “breakfast people” that lives for a full on english or continental spread. I’d rather skip breakfast all together and miss out on all those wonderful creations, chefs from all over the world have made. Who would have thought that one of my best friends Amy could turn me into a breakfast person with something as simple as a marmite sandwich.

I remember the day as clearly as it was yesterday. We were at Amy’s parents house on the Vaal River and Amy’s mom Sorene had suggested we should make marmite fritters. I had absolutely no clue what to expect. Fried marmite? Eek!!! Marmite mixed with something else and then fried? I had no idea. So I just stood back and watched. It seemed simple enough but I knew there was definitely something special about this specific tasty snack that would stick with me. Well it has been almost 10 years and that first marmite fritter still lingers on my taste buds.

Ever since that first taste, marmite fritters have been constructed at gatherings, birthdays, breakfasts, lunches and for midnight snacks. I’ll never know who ever invented this amazing recipe however many years ago but I will always remember the family that introduced it to me. It brings back so many wonderful warm memories spent with my amazing friends that I could even tear up right now thinking about it all. So let’s get onto the recipe before I start getting all mushy.

Compliments of my awesome friend Amy Trevarthen here is the recipe that is bound to change your breakfast time forever.

Ingredients:

2 slices soft white bread

1/2 Tablespoon of butter

1 Tbs Marmite or Bovril depending on your fancy

100g Freshly grated Cheddar

3 Tbs Flour

1tsp Potato Spice/Aromat/Salt (some kind of MSG inducing saltiness)

Water

Sunflower Oil

Instructions

Make yourself a marmite sandwich with the bread/marmite and butter. I put marmite and butter on both sides of the bread and the closed it up. Cut the sandwich into four squares.

So much marmitey buttery goodness

Make a paste with the flour, seasoning and water. The paste should resemble a kind of pancake like batter.

Heat up your pan with the oil. Dip each square into the batter making sure to cover all the sides and fry till golden brown.

As suggested by Aimz you can also add cheese to your sandwich before you fry it. I however like to put my cheese in right at the end; burning my fingers trying to pry open the square, releasing the steamy goodness and shoving freshly grated cold cheese inside, closing it up and again and shoving it straight into my mouth. It’s heavenly, indescribable really.

The salty marmite, the soft creamy cheese and the crunchy outside = Che’s heaven breakfast!!

Love to my stunning friend Amy for her recipe ❤

Melty Cheesey Marmitey Heaven

My Food Heroes

After trying, testing and experimenting with my own recipes since the age of 7 I thought It was only but right that I dedicate a section of my food blog to my food heroes. No, I’m not talking about Jamie Oliver, Nigella or Gordon Ramsay. Even though I do love them all.

My food heroes are the friends and families that have been a part of my cooking journey since I was small enough to reach the stove. Every single memory I have has always involved a certain meal, smell, sound and experience. Mostly food to be quite honest but hey I wouldn’t love cooking so much if it wasn’t that way right?

I’m going to be dedicating the next few weeks posts to my special friends and family members and the recipes that changed my world.

Enjoy ❤