Dressing

Really this post is all about the dressing. I first tasted this as a pasta salad in Israel and could not stop putting more spoonfuls on my plate. It's for any pasta salad really and whatever you would like to add to it that tickles your fancy.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon mustard powder mixed with a little hot water and sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup vinegar
1 cup canola oil
6 heaped tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt

Blend well with a blender and mix into your salad.

Lucky Fish

Travelling through to Muizenberg side later than 10am on the weekend means sitting in quite a bit of traffic, if you go on the main road. What should have been a 5 minute drive turned out to be more like 25 minutes. The company in the car was good though, so the only thing we arrived at Surfers Corner with were our hungry stomachs. I tried to give the heads up that the portions were big and that I happily share with my mom... but I know that feeling of being so hungry you just want your own food. The girls ordered hake, calamari and chip combos and I went with plain, good old fashioned fish and chips. There is nothing like a fresh piece of hake, with the soft melt away flakes that come from frying it in a crispy batter. Just cannot be beaten! It's something I crave when I am away from home... and when it is served wrapped up in paper with no need for any knives or forks (yes... I ate it all with my hands), including loads of All Gold tomato sauce with the chips... all I can say is it's finger licking good!

Crispy Chicken Salad

I sat through almost two hours of Chanukah traffic to get to Kfar Saba in order to visit family friends. I got a tour of the little suburb but unfortunately it was in the dark as in winter the sun is gone by 16:30 in the afternoon. It was a ladies evening out and we found ourselves at a place called Japanika, not the most creative of names but the food was good. I ordered this crispy chicken salad which came with pieces of tempura spring chicken (which were really lovely to bite into) and the most scrumptious dressing which I think made the whole dish - a vinaigrette of ginger, citrus and sesame. If I wasn't out at a restaurant or in company I would have tipped the bowl at the end to get the last drop.

Happy Chanukah from Micky

Micky made us homemade doughnuts for Chanukah... the dough itself wasn't too difficult but figuring out the temperature of the oil proved to be an obstacle of it's own. In the end they came out beautifully and I may have eaten one too many. Some were filled with Crème Patisserie and others just dusted with homemade icing sugar... my favourite!

French Toast

French Toast isn't the most difficult of dishes to make, but my goodness does Micky make good French Toast! It started off one weekend when I first arrived and kind of became our thing we do on Saturday mornings. The usual mixture of eggs and milk is used with the addition of some cinnamon and his secret ingredient - cottage cheese. I am not sure whether its the cottage that is mixed into the mixture or the fact that it's made with love... or both... but I have never had anything as delicious as these soft, melt-in-your-mouth with a slight cheese blintzer taste, pieces of French Toast that make me want to eat more than I should. I do add a little more cinnamon and sugar, but not before eating one piece plain. I don't think my hips will, but I will most certainly miss this!

Israeli Tea

Israelis don't drink tea like us South Africans. Milk? You've got to be kidding. Made with tea leaves like Louisa (Lemon Verbena), Mint, Za'atar and Camomile in beautiful glass teapots, it is generally served in tiny little glasses where you are just able to hold the edge as not to burn your fingers. Delicious and quenching, Ill be taking this home with me.

Happy Chanukah from Roladin

Chanukah. Back home in Cape Town it's a time to get out the Chanukia and buy the little colourful candles to light every night. Here in Israel it's pretty much the same thing except for one BIG difference. Sufganiot. In English that's doughnuts. I would say in all shapes but that's not necessarily true. All sizes and with what feels like a thousand different fillings and toppings however is most certainly the case. Micky had gone out to the Roladin bakery and come home with 6 different doughnuts, none of which were remotely familiar to me. I had a caramel (Dulce de leche) filled doughnut and the boys had Chalva and Orea. The ones pictured here involved squeezing additional liguids (chocolate and rose water) into the centre of these 'shot' chocolate, nougat and Malabi doughnuts. If you have a sweet tooth, these are definitely something to try. I however must admit that I love a plain or apricot jam filled doughnut and don't really need to experiment with every other filling under the sun. The Dulce one though, I did enjoy. Happy Chanukah, and Chag Sameach : )

Olivery Pizza

Walking along Ibn Gvirol in North Tel Aviv, we came across Olivery, an adorable Sicilian Bistro. I had heard about it after joining a group where someone had asked the question of where to get good pizza in the Tel Aviv area. We happened to discover this little beauty during lunch time and got to enjoy their lunchtime special which included one of their scrumptious salads and delicious lemonade. The salad above included beef carpaccio on a thin slice of toast covered with rocket leaves, red onion, sliced radish, pesto and a drizzle of olive oil. The salad below was the same thinly sliced homemade toast covered in sun dried tomato paste, rocket leaves, red onion, torn mozzarella balls, sun dried tomatoes and a dressing. Both of these were mouthwateringly delicious!

 

When it came to the pizza, I was more than happy to share! I am not a fan of thick bases and these weren't as thin as I like, but definitely rank at the top of my list when it comes to pizza in Israel. We had the mushroom pizza (tomato base, porcini, champignon and portobello mushrooms with mozzarella and truffle oil) as well as the onion pizza (red onions caramelised in balsamic vinegar, caramelised shallots, green onions and fresh mozzarella). I do look forward to going back... my mouth waters at the thought of it : )

Lemon and Garlic Fish

 

Although this is Nicoles' lemon and garlic fish, I have to refer to it as Carlos' fish as he just loves it and apparently requests it every week. It is mouth wateringly delicious and so soft and tender. The lemon flavour was lovely and the "tons" of garlic in it can only be good for you.

Coriander, tomato, chili red pepper, rosemary and a lot of garlic are layered in an oven proof dish. Your choice of fish (we used salmon) is placed on top and covered with additional coriander, paprika and a sprinkle of chicken stock. A dressing of lemon, olive oil, rosemary and 4 cloves of garlic is poured over the fish. Cover with tinfoil and bake for half an hour at 180°C.

Moroccan Style Fish

 

Some of my best memories of Israel are visiting our good old family friends down south on Kibbutz Bror Chayil. From the moment I see them at the train station my heart is filled with warmth and I just feel welcome and at home. Nicole is like the sister my mom never had and having known her since I was 6 she is like family. The one dish, memories of Shabbat dinners back home in Cape Town that always comes to mind and one that my mom will still salivate about to this day, is Nicoles Moroccan Fish. Hot and spicy in the best way possible, you cannot not have the accompaniment of fresh Challah to dip, dunk and wipe in the delicious red sauce that is this beautiful Moroccan dish.

Coriander, garlic, chili pepper, sweet pepper, water and turmeric are layered in a pan. Your choice of fish (we had white fish and salmon) are placed on top and covered with additional coriander and garlic. This is then cooked for about half an hour with the lid on.

After the half hour, a mixture of 2 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons sweet paprika and a little cumin are added (pour over the fish) and you continue to slow cook.

Koek Sisters

I don't think you can come across too many South Africans that don't like a Koek Sister. I remember sitting in my Home Economics class and Mrs Roy asking me what I feel like making... I was always the one sitting there asking when we can bake again. Koek sisters please! This recipe has been with me ever since and has made it's way into the kitchen here in Israel. They are not too difficult, but they do take time. Unfortunately though they don't last that long, but that's just cause they get eaten really quickly. A good Koek Sister and a cup of strong tea goes down very well any day.

Ingredients:

200g flour

20ml BP

15ml margarine

Pinch of salt

1 egg

100ml milk approximately

Syrup (can be prepared the day before)

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

Place all ingredients into a pot. Stir only until the sugar had dissolved and boil for 7 minutes

Method:

Sieve together dry ingredients

Rub in margarine with fingers until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs

Add egg and sufficient liquid to make a soft dough

Knead well and roll out to a thickness of half mm

Cut the Koek Sisters and plait (5cm long)

Fry in deep fat and drain well on absorbent paper

Dip into cold syrup

♥

Shakshuka

I'm not sure if you can tell, but there are eight eggs sitting on the top of this pot of Shakshuka. This isn't exactly how I grew up knowing it... I was used to frying onions, adding chopped tomatoes and frying a little more before adding beaten eggs with a dash of milk, to make what could best be described as scrambled eggs with onion and tomato. So when I first saw Shakshuka like this I was surprised and almost hesitant to eat it. The sauce of this Shakshuka did boil over the eggs a little, but normally you can see the egg whites on top too. This dish although foreign to, what I presume would be anyone that isn't Israeli or Middle Eastern is something that you will find on almost any breakfast menu throughout Israel. Not sure what to make for dinner? This works well too! A combination of fried onions (garlic optional), red peppers and tomatoes with some tomato paste and water to make a consistency of a pasta sauce. Spices like thyme, parsley, pepper, paprika, cumin and bay leaves are added, as well as sugar to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes and a little salt for seasoning. Once the sauce has thickened to a nice consistency and the flavours are to your taste, you break the eggs into the pan pouring into gaps of the mixture. You then cover and allow the eggs to poach over a low heat for about 10 minutes or until the egg just sets. Served out of a hot pan at a restaurant or onto plates at home this is best eaten with fresh bread for dunking.

Chocolate Brownie Cheese Cake

Micky made this cake for a dinner party to celebrate the second half of Succot... we were lucky enough to have leftovers brought home! I absolutely love a good Jewish baked cheese cake, so when I cut a slice I tried to spoon out that part from the chocolate. Cheese and chocolate? I wasn't too sure about that. I am now however sold, ka'ching! The cheese cake part was soft and moist, and then came the chocolate. The chocolate brownie texture that I love... dense and chocolaty but not too rich, with crumbly melt in your mouth edges. The sweet flavour of the chocolate with the softer more "savoury" flavour of the cheese balanced this cake out beautifully.

Cheese Cake Ingredients:
250g creamed cheese (30% fat)
250g cream cheese (5% fat)
100g melted butter
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
3 eggs
1 tablespoon (10g) corn flour

Chocolate Brownie Ingredients:
300g dark chocolate
200g butter
4 eggs
1 cup (200g) sugar
1 cup (240g) dark brown sugar
1 1/4 cup (180g) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (100g) chopped walnuts (optional)

Cheese Cake
Mix the cheese, butter, sugar, vanilla essence and eggs together
In a separate bowl mix the corn flour with a cup of the cheese mixture, then combine it all together

Brownies
Melt the chocolate and butter together
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the white and brown sugar then add the melted chocolate
Add the flour, baking powder, salt and mix together. If you chose to add nuts, add them here

Put 2/3 of the brownie mixture into a greased baking dish
Slowly pour the cheese mixture over the chocolate
Spoon the rest of the chocolate mixture on top
Bake at 170 degrees for an hour until the cheese is brown and the whole cake is stable. Cool and put into the fridge for at least 2 hours

Persian Food

This has been food I dream about. This little Persian stall that is open on Thursday and Friday mornings as part of the food market in Dizengoff Centre, Tel Aviv. I arrive there today and one of the ladies helping spots my African pendant... oh, South Africa she says. You must be hungry! With that we were handed teaspoons of different rice dishes to taste, sweet and savoury. My all time favourite though are the Dolmades. These little vine packages stuffed with spiced rice and what I think may possibly be some raisins, are served hot out the pot. I may be so full from the lamb and rice dish that I chose (enough to serve two!) and say that I have had enough of that to satisfy me for life, but for those vines I will most certainly go back!

Sun Downers and Snacks

After a long walk around old Jaffa with views of Tel Aviv, we found a relaxed spot to have sun downers along the beach. Now I am not the biggest drinker, so I prefer to choose things where the taste of alcohol is masked nicely. I ordered a frozen strawberry daiquiri thinking that maybe it would be similar to what I have had back home. It wasn't... but I was pleasantly surprised. This was more of a strawberry smoothy made with frozen yoghurt and I suppose a shot of something somewhere. It was good! After a long day it is never good to drink on an empty stomach so a few starters were ordered. I remember having fried cauliflower back home, made by our Israeli friends... but my goodness were these delicious. Served hot out the pan with sweet chili sauce, I don't think I went too many bites without saying YUM! Chumus with techina and chickpeas came along with pita bread of course and lastly were some spicy chicken wings. I know you can see cutlery in the picture, but trust me this was far better eaten with your hands ; )

 

Date Balls

These must be one of my all time favourites. I love the fruit and when they are turned into these little sweet crunchy balls I love them even more! Here in Israel it is never difficult to get them, they are available all year round in what looks like a vacuum packed loaf of dates... the one item I got pulled aside for when leaving Israel one year as I suppose through an x-ray machine it looked like drugs. Really? Dates!

Ingredients:
250g butter
1 cup (250ml) sugar
2 packets pitted dates
1 egg
1 packet marie biscuits
coconut

Melt the butter then add the sugar and melt
Add broken dates to pot, switch plate to low and keep stirring until dates have broken up
Allow to cool
Add beaten egg
Add crushed maries and cool
Roll into balls and then coconut

Put them into the fridge to cool, or even store them there as they are a lot better cold.

PS enjoy them with a cup of five roses tea : )

Frozen Yoghurt

One of my favourite things to eat on a hot Summers day (even though Israel is currently in Autumn, but yet it's still sweltering outside) is Israeli style frozen yoghurt! What I love about this yoghurt is that there is no artificial colouring or flavouring in the actual yoghurt itself. What you decide to add on top of it though is all up to you... there are all sorts of toppings from sweet things like chocolate, chalva and nuts to the healthier option of fruits like melon, sabre (prickly pear), pineapple, berries and peach to mention a few. When you are done choosing your toppings you are able to add syrups, I generally like to stay away from these but they have things like caramel, chocolate and strawberry. My best is to select a few fruits and then add jelly babies which need to be squished down into the frozen yoghurt where they get all hard and extra chewy : )

Druze Lunch

Arriving in Israel after the New Year means that there are a lot of holidays almost one after the other. I was up in the North for the start of Succot and as a "tourist" was taken out for the day to the Golan Heights. We spent the morning watching a movie of what the Golan has to offer. An experience that reminded me of Disney World where they put on big fans to give you the feeling of wind, spritz you with water and let you smell the flowers as part of the experience. This was followed by a trip to Mount Meron where you get to see what the bunkers that the soldiers have to live in during the war are like. You are able to see the Syrian border from up there... when you look into the distance everything that is green and flourishing is part of Israel and everything that is brown is part of Syria. Not for lack of anything on their side, but because Israel works at changing the land to support her people.

When lunch time came we found ourselves in a Druze Village closer to the Chermon Mountain. We started off with falafel balls that were soft, really green inside and thoroughly delicious. This was accompanied by pickled vegetables, olives and fresh bread with a sweet red pepper and tapenade (olive) paste. Yum! One of my favourites was then brought to the table... Labaneh drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with Za'atar, accompanied by pita Druzit (thin bread). By this stage I had already eaten so much... but the mains were still to come. In Israel Chumus is considered a main, unlike in the rest of the world where they eat it as a dip. We got one plate of Chumus with Techina and chickpeas, another with fried mushrooms and a third with beef, this was eaten with a salad, chips and although I stayed away from more carbs there was also soft fluffy pita breads! Betay'avon.

Breakfast Treat

 

One of the perks of working with a friend (besides getting to see them every day) are the sample tasters you get after an evening of baking. I was surprised this morning with a homemade bran muffin accompanied by grated cheddar cheese. I do love a good bran muffin, but the surprise flavours of added raisins, almonds and dates made this one that much more special. What a great breakfast idea for those early mornings before work!

Red Velvet

My cousin kept telling me about this red velvet cake recipe that she had, that every time she made it everyone would rave about it. I know the traditional way of making a red velvet is to use beetroot in the mixture and to be honest I've only recently started eating that vegetable... but I do like a scrumptiously moist cake. I took the recipe and decided to try cupcakes instead. Covered in cream cheese icing, these little red handfuls were rather delicious.

Ingredients:

2½ cups (350g) flour

1½ cups (300g) sugar

1 tsp (5ml) bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp (5ml) cocoa powder

1 tsp (5ml) salt

1 cup (250ml) buttermilk

2 eggs, at room temperature

1½ cups (375ml) vegetable oil

1 tsp (5ml) white vinegar

5 tsp (25ml) red food colouring or a beetroot reduction

1 tsp (5ml) vanilla essence 

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prepare your choice of baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl add the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa powder and salt together.

In another mixing bowl combine the buttermilk, eggs, oil, vinegar, food colouring and vanilla essence.

Mix the flour mixture into the buttermilk mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes for a large cake, and 18-20 minutes for cupcakes.

Decorate with cream cheese icing.

 

Icing:

125g butter

125g cream cheese

500g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

 

Cream the butter and icing sugar, it must be a very stiff mixture.

Stir in by hand the cream cheese and vanilla. Do not stir too vigorously or the mixture will become very runny.