You can check out my other photographic work at www.malcolmventer.com

Sunday, December 6, 2009

An Impromptu Boogie Soufflé Christmas Party

On Thursday it was my mate Russell's birthday. Happy happy again mate :) So, on Thursday night myself, Mickey, and Aidan made our way to the horsey capital of Gauteng, Kyalami, to have dinner with Russell, Lydia, and assorted family and friends. After gorging ourselves on the magnificent snoek casarole made by Lydia, and quaffing* a reasonable amount of white wine, Mickey mentioned that he had a colleague from Pretoria visiting, and would I mind cooking for them?

Friday came with a sunrise and a headache, and after a busy morning I had a brainwave. This was quite a noteworthy event, especially since I still had a mild ache behind my eyes. "Why not", I suggested to Mark, "Why not make this an unofficial (read cheap) Christmas party for Boogie Soufflé? I mean all the local businesses were having their Christmas do's, why not us?" So the idea for the Boogie Christmas party was born.

* Quaffing: the same as drinking, but you tend to spill more. (Terry Pratchett)

 
 
For starters I served Aubergine stacks with grilled peppers and a corriander, dill and lemon drench and a side serving of sherry mushrooms.
 

Mark cooked spaghetti with our famous seafood sauce with salmon, oysters, mussels, tomatoes, and white wine.

Mark and I both surprised our guests, Mickey, Karen and Kerry (Mark's sister) by hosting the party in black tie!



Karen seemed to like my Captain Morgan outfit. :)



 Kerry, clearly enjoying the atmosphere.



Mark and I, looking sharp!



For desert I made bread and butter pudding, always a winner.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Dinner with friends from Mozambique

Some pictures from a dinner party I hosted with friends that I made in Mozambique.

Mickey scoring a potato!


Salad with cooked baby apples, nectarines and blue cheese.


Roast beef, roast potatoes, and salad.


Aidan tells us about his plans for global domination.


Vicky and Rachel.


From Left to right: Mickey, Rachel, Vicky, and Kerry


Mickey spooning.


Jen spooning.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Chicken Cordon Bleu with snap peas and roast potato

Made this a couple of weeks ago. The chicken cordon bleu is cooked in white wine and served on a bed of greens. This meals stars were actually the roast potatoes made by Rachel. She uses butter rosemary, sage whole garlic and lemon, and then at the last minute drenches them with honey.

Absolutely delicious!




Sun-dried Tomato Bread

It has been ages since my last post. Sorry, its been crazy. I promise to blog more regularly in the future. So here is how to make Sun-dried Tomato Bread:

Ingredients:

4 cups bread flour (any kind, you choose)
1 packet instant dried yeast
2 tbl spoons sugar
2 tea spoons salt
2 tbl spoons olive oil
1 jar sun-dried tomatoes
Almond slivers
warm water

Instructions:

1.) Mix flour and salt in a mixing bowl. make a depression in the middle of the flour and add the yeast and sugar. pour in a little luke-warm water. Wait 2 minutes.

2.) Start kneading the dough. Add water as you go until you have a a nice stretchy dou that doesn't fall apart when you pick it up. Add flour if it gets too runny.





3.) Pull the dough ball out of the bowl and put it onto a heavy board or kitchen counter. Make sure you put flour on the surface to stop it sticking.



4.) Make a deep dent in the dough with the side of you hand and add the tomatoes.



5.) Pinch the sides of the dough up around the filling (tomato) to make a parcel.

6.) push the dough in from the sides and make another dent.



7.) Add more filling.



8.) Seal the loaf again thoroughly.



9.) Coat the loaf in olive oil, and place in a bread tin.
(note: if you dont own a bread tin, put it on a baking pan, it works fine)



10.) Cover the loaf with a dish-cloth.

11.) Sprinkle some water on the cloth, and leave it somewhere warmish and out of the wind for an hour to rise. (A cupboard is perfect)



12.) Once the loaf has risen, sprinkle on the almonds first (pat them down) and then a little flour on top. This is the stop the nuts from burning.

13.) Put the pan in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for 1 hour.



14.) Take the bread out of the oven and tin, and pat the bottom of the loaf. If it sounds hollow it is ready. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes and serve!



Voilà!