YOGURT WITSOUS VIR LASAGNE
1 liter plain yogurt
2 eiers
1 pakkie wit uiesop poeier

Meng alles saam en gebruik in lae soos met lasagne.
Resep en foto: Cindy Mossop

TAIWANESE BRAISED PORK RICE BOWL
Lu rou fan, a Taiwanese comfort food classic of braised pork belly over rice, is probably the best recipe to come out of a kitchen.
500 g skin-on pork belly, cut into ½” pieces
2 teaspoons oil
2½ teaspoons granulated sugar
1 small onion or a couple of shallots, finely chopped
8 shiitake mushrooms, cut into ½” pieces
¼ cup white wine
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 cups water
4 hardboiled eggs, peeled (optional)

For the spices (wrap everything in cheese cloth and tie with kitchen string):
3 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
6 cloves
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns
2 pieces dried tangerine peel
2 slices fresh ginger

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, and blanch the chopped pork belly for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Heat the oil in a wok over low heat, and add the sugar. Cook the sugar until it starts to melt and then add the onions. Turn up the heat to medium high and stir-fry the onions for a minute. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry for another couple minutes.
Add the blanched pork, wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and water. Stir and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, add the spices (which should be tied in cheese cloth).and turn the heat to the lowest setting. Simmer for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
At this point the meat should be fall-apart tender.
To finish the dish, remove the spice packet add the peeled hard boiled eggs and turn up the heat to medium high to thicken the sauce, stirring occasionally. This process should take about 5-minutes. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon, but there should still be plenty of it left.
Serve over steamed white rice.
Recipe and photo: Elize de Kock

JAPANESE CHICKEN WITH RICE
Vibrant Japanese flavours give new life to ginger, chilli and mushrooms in this fresh, zingy stir-fry.
290 g (1 1/3 cups) sushi rice
625 ml (2 ½ cups) cold water
1 ½ tablespoons peanut oil
3 teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger
300 g chicken mince
3 brown mushrooms, chopped
1 bunch broccolini, stems thinly sliced, florets reserved
60 ml (¼ cup) water, extra
1 tablespoon caster sugar
2 ½ tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
4 eggs
½ teaspoon sesame oil
3 teaspoons caster sugar, extra
green shallots, thinly sliced diagonally, to serve (optional)
thinly sliced fresh red chilli, to serve (optional)

Rinse rice through a fine sieve under cold running water until water runs clear.
Transfer to a saucepan. Cover with the water. Cover. Bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low. Cook for 10 minutes or until water is absorbed. Set aside, covered, for 10 minutes to steam.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil in a wok over high heat. Stir-fry ginger for 1 minute. Add mince. Stir-fry for 3 minutes or until brown. Add mushroom, broccolini stems and extra water. Cover. Cook for 3 minutes. Add florets, sugar and 2 tablespoons soy, the oyster and fish sauce. Stir-fry for 2 minutes or until broccolini is tender crisp. Transfer mixture to a bowl. Cover to keep warm.
Wipe the wok clean. Return to high heat. Whisk the eggs, sesame oil, remaining soy sauce and extra sugar in a bowl. Heat remaining peanut oil in the wok. Pour egg mixture into pan. Cook, without stirring, for 30 seconds. Use a flat-edged wooden spoon to gently push the egg mixture, scraping the bottom of the pan, from 1 side to the other in 4 different directions. Repeat the pushing action every 10 seconds for 2-3 minutes or until just cooked.
Divide rice among bowls. Top with mince mixture and egg mixture. Sprinkle with shallot and chilli, if using. Serve with extra soy sauce and pickled ginger on the side.
Recipe and photo: Elize de Kock

ELIZE’S “INSANITY” BURGER
By brushing these burgers with mustard and Tabasco Chipotle sauce as they cook, you end up with an incredible gnarly layer of seasoning
800 g minced chuck steak
olive oil
1 large red/white onion
1 splash of white wine vinegar
2 large gherkins
4 sesame-topped brioche burger buns
4-8 rashers of smoked streaky bacon (optional)
4 teaspoons American mustard

Tabasco sauce
4 thin slices of cheese
4 teaspoons tomato ketchup
For the burger sauce:
¼ of an iceberg lettuce
2 heaped tablespoons mayonnaise
1 heaped tablespoon tomato ketchup
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon brandy
4 Fried eggs.

For the best burger, go to your butcher’s and ask them to mince 800g of chuck steak for you. This cut has a really good balance of fat and flavoursome meat.
Divide it into 4 and, with wet hands, roll each piece into a ball, then press into flat patties roughly 12cm wide and about 2 cm wider than your buns.
Place on an oiled plate and chill in the fridge.
Next, finely slice the red onion, then dress in a bowl with the vinegar and a pinch of sea salt. Slice the gherkins and halve the buns.
Finely chop the lettuce and mix with the rest of the burger sauce ingredients in a bowl, then season to taste.
I like to only cook 2 burgers at a time to achieve perfection, so get two pans on the go – a large non-stick pan on a high heat for your burgers and another on a medium heat for the bacon.
Pat your burgers with oil and season them with salt and pepper.
Put 2 burgers into the first pan, pressing down on them with a fish slice, then put half the bacon into the other pan.
After 1 minute, flip the burgers and brush each cooked side with ½ a teaspoon of mustard and a dash of Tabasco.
After another minute, flip onto the mustard side and brush again with another ½ teaspoon of mustard and a second dash of Tabasco on the other side.
Cook for one more minute, by which point you can place some crispy bacon on top of each burger with a slice of cheese.
Add a tiny splash of water to the pan and place a heatproof bowl over the burgers to melt the cheese – 30 seconds should do it.
At the same time, toast 2 split buns in the bacon fat in the other pan until lightly golden.
Repeat with the remaining two burgers.
To build each burger, add a quarter of the burger sauce to the bun base, then top with a cheesy bacon burger, a quarter of the onions and gherkins.
Rub the bun top with a teaspoon of ketchup, then gently press together.
As the burger rests and egg, juices will soak into the bun, so serve right away, which is great, or for an extra filthy experience, wrap each one in greaseproof paper, then give it a minute to go gorgeous and sloppy.
Recipe and photo: Elize de Kock

COCONUT TWISTS
Pastry:
190 g butter
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup of milk
3 ½ cups of flour
Filling:
60 g butter
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ cups coconut

Sift dry ingredients and rub in butter until it looks like breadcrumbs.
Beat egg and milk and add to the flour dough.
Make 5 portions and roll each one into large rotis and leave aside.
For the filling cream the butter and sugar until smooth and fold in the coconut.
Place one roti at a time and spread the filling. The last roti will cover it all and will have NO filling.
Slightly give it a roll and cut into long rectangular shapes and twist each one.
Place on oven tray and bake at 180 degrees C for 15 minutes.
Recipe and photo: Yasmeen Ibrahim

HOMEMADE NANDOS PERI-PERI CHICKEN
6 chicken pieces
½ cup (125 ml) Nando’s PERi-PERi sauce, (hot or mild to your taste)
1 Tbsp tomato paste
3 Tbsp brown sugar
whole chilli (Optional)
salt

Toss the chicken in the Nando’s PERi-PERi sauce, tomato paste and sugar and then bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until cooked through. Season with salt.
Place whole chilli in sauce if used. Baste from time to time with sauce. Grill last few minutes to brown.
Recipe and photo: Elize de Kock

ALTA SE MIELIEGEREG
1 blikkie room mielies
375 ml melk
30 ml meel
½ ui, fyn gekap
1 koppie gerasperde kaas
3 eiers, geskei
15 ml botter
knippie sout na smaak

Smelt botter in pan roer meel by.
Voeg melk geleidelik by en maak ‘n lekker witsous.
Haal pan van stoof af en roer kaas en ui by asook eiergele wat goed geklits is.
Klits eierwitte styf en vou in mielie mengsel.
Bak in gesmeerde bak, oond 180°C vir 45 min.
Resep en foto: Alta Gunter Van Dyk

CAULIFLOWER RICE
6 cups cauliflower florets (about 1 head)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cm ginger, minced
1/2 teaspoon vegetable spice
1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs, such as chives, coriander, parsley and/or basil
2 tsp lemon zest
1/4 red/yellow pepper
1/4 finely diced onion
1/4 diced tomato (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped celery

Pulse cauliflower florets in a food processor until chopped into rice-size pieces. You can cut this with a knife as well.
Heat oil in a large non-stick pan, medium heat.
Add onion, pepper and celery and fry till onion is translucent but not brown.
Add garlic and ginger together with tomato and cook till fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add cauliflower rice,sprinkle with spices and cook, stirring continuously until slightly softened, 2-3 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir in herbs and lemon zest.
***Cauliflower rice can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. I freeze mine with great success.
***You can add any sauteed vegetables to your rice if you prefer.
Recipe and photo: Amanda Conradie

PIRATE CAKE
200 g sugar
4 large eggs
250 g cake flour
15 ml baking powder
3 ml salt
125 ml boiling water
125 ml oil
5 ml vanilla

Whip eggs and sugar till fluffy.
Sift dry ingredients together.
Mix oil, boiling water and vanilla together.
Add half each dry ingredients and oil mixture to eggs. Mix till just combined. Repeat with remaining wet and dry ingredients.
Bake at 180°C for 25-30 mins.

For chocolate cake, add 60 ml cocoa powder to oil/water mixture. Leave vanilla out. Decrease flour to 230 g.
You can also add about 60 ml instant coffee powder to boiling water before you add the oil. This will result in a richer texture.
NotaL
Vir die bottom tier het ek die resep 2 1/2 keer aan gemaak. Boonste tier een keer. Alles eetbaar behalwe swaard. KitKats gebruik om skatkis mee te bou. Die koek bord en onderste koek het ek “geverf met powdered food coloring ” sommer ‘n nuwe make-up sponsie gebruik.
Resep en foto: Linda Wessels

WENK VAN PEKEL VAN VIS VOOR BRAAI
Deur die vis vir tien minute in ‘n sout pekelwater te los (1 eetlepel seesout per 4 koppies koue water), sal keer dat die vis op die rooster uitmekaar val.
Selfs as jy nie braai nie, soos wanneer jy kerrie vis maak sal ‘n vinnige pekelwater ontslae raak van die onooglike vlekke van wit albumien wat op vis vorm wanneer dit gekook word.
Dit gaan ook meer ferm bly.
Net 10 minute in ‘n 9 persent oplossing (1 eetlepel sout per koppie water) is genoeg.
Dit verbeter ook die vog retensie en jou vis sal sappiger wees
Die sout los die spiervesel op die oppervlak van die vis gedeeltelik op, sodat wanneer dit gekook word, dit stol sonder om saam te trek en die albumien uit te druk.
Wenk: Elize de Kock