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 – Stef’s Gnocchi

When I had returned to Johannesburg after studying in Stellenbosch for 4 years my good friends and I all started a book club together. It was such fun and we did end up dubbing it the wine club as everyone always forgot about the books. Each person would host the dinner and the others would bring the wine. So many amazing recipes passed my lips but it was my stunning friend Stef’s Gnocchi at her first book club that stood out.

She had a whole menu full of Italian inspiration and I couldn’t wait to stuff my face. The one thing that stood out was Gnocchi. Little delicious potato globes smothered in a rich bolognaise sauce. The first time I had ever eaten it I was at some or other health restaurant with my Mom in Stellenbosch. It was stodgy and stuck together and the sauce was waaaay too healthy with zero meat. I was unimpressed but I just knew that my little Italian firecracker of a friend was gonna blow me away with her version.

We all sat around her kitchen table which I absolutely love. A kitchen to me is the absolute heart of any home and there is nothing better than sitting with my friends, sipping on some Merlot, while Stef stood at the stove and boiled the freshly made Gnocchi then lathered it in ladel fulls of sauce.  All I was waiting for now was some Italian granny to pop out the cupboard like in the Fatti’s & Moni’s ads. It was immaculate. Such an amazing meal with such amazing friends.

Now getting this recipe from her a week or so ago was insanely amusing and I had a good chuckle at the detailed description she gave me. I haven’t had a chance to practice the recipe myself due to some other cooking commitments but once I have the free time I’m gonna be Gnocchifying all of Korea. Try the recipe yourself and let me know how it goes!

My Stef’s Spectacular Gnocchi Recipe

Ingredients

4 Potatoes

4 Cups Flour

1 Egg

Pinch of Salt

Instructions

1. Peel & boil the potatoes until there is no resistance when you poke with a knife (To cut down on cooking time cut potatoes into chunks)

2. Mash the potatoes  well, if you want to be fancy you can pass them through a sieve (or even fancier a potato ricer)

3.  Allow the potatoes to cool but not completely as they will partially cook the flour when added.

4. Add 2 cups of flour first and work into the potatoes with your hands mashing up any stray lumps with your fingers.

5. Add the egg, the rest of the flour and salt to create a dough that doesn’t stick to your fingers when kneading.

6. Cut the dough into easy to manage sections and roll out to the thickness of your thumb. Cut into pieces roughly an inch.

7. Then get a fork and gently roll the Gnocchi over the back of the fork to make ridges. This is so the Gnocchi catches the sauce you make it with.

8. When all your Gnocchi is in pieces dust lightly with flour and let it rest for about 30 minutes. This will let the Gnocchi absorb any flour as it is still moist.

9. Boil some water in a deep pot till It starts bubbling rapidly and then add handfuls of Gnocchi at a time.

10. Let the Gnocchi float to the top (this should tell you that it’s ready) scoop it up and place in a colander and serve with a delicious bolognaise or creamy sauce.

Chef Stef’s TIPS:

1. For a healthier version replace 2 potatoes with butternut and follow the same process.

2. You can also add some parmesan cheese and parsley when you add your flour to the potatoes.

3. Don’t worry about making too much the Gnocchi can be frozen and reused at your next dinner party.