A family friend, Ob, was touching the fourth floor, so hubby and I made our minds up to be there. After much thought and consideration I called Lame, his Mrs, and asked for permission to take over a portion of her event prep kitchen. With her blessing, I took to the drawing board to come up with an appetiser, which would impress their guests. With a number of cooks in the kitchen and quite a big menu, our main focus was a lesson on appetisers as well as assisting where needed with our mobile kitchen that had ingredients from Hinds, Rhodes, Nola and Danone. Our beverage for the session was Robertson Sparkling Brut Rose.
It is a deliciously sweet, yet refreshing rosé sparkling wine made from carefully selected white and red grape varieties. The taste buds are tantalised by ripe strawberry flavours, which linger with each sip. The day’s programme was designed to start in the late afternoon, so we wanted an appetiser, which would not be heavy, but could hold you over till the main course. 2ingredient Nutriday Dough is super adaptable, and this is why it was an easy pick to be the vessel for the starter. Mince is equally versatile in the number of ways it can be prepared, i.e. meatballs, mince or patties, all depending on what you feel like or how much time you have to prepare a meal. This is how we concluded the decision on the dish of choice; relatively easy to put together, a bit technical but playful. I believe that cooking should be fun. Cook it with love and it’ll feel less like a task, especially if you have to cook every day. That being said, I do encourage breaks from the kitchen, be it getting someone else to cook, eating out or getting take away, keeping in mind that these options don’t have to be completely unhealthy. Initially, the mince was supposed to be transformed into meatballs. However, due to time constraints factored by travel distance, I quickly opted to go with mince. This appetiser can be served with your choice of toppings. We added a little rosemary in the bread to bring out another flavour profile. The entire Hinds spice range was otherwise well utilised by the cooks on different dishes. We have been encouraging you to keep glued to the ChellzKitchen FB Page so as not to miss our Spicy announcement which is that, the Money in the Pots competition which is centred around the NEW Hinds Curry range has officially kicked off. Buy the curry range and share your dishes to the ChellzKitchen page and you could be the winner of up to P5, 000 each month. It’s too easy, and simply delicious!
INGREDIENTS 1tbsp Sunflower oil 1 med onion, peeled and chopped 500g Minced beef 1 can Rhodes braai relish ½ cup water 2 level tbsp plain flour 1 tbsp Rhodes tomato puree 1 tbsp Sugar 1 tbsp crushed garlic and ginger 1tsp Hinds medium curry 1tsp Hinds parsley 1tsp Hinds cayenne pepper 1tsp Hinds chicken Pinch of salt
INSTRUCTIONS Heat the oil in a pot or large frying pan, add the onion and cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have started to soften. Add garlic and ginger and stir until fragrant. Add the beef mince to the pan and cook for about 5-10 minutes, stirring to break up the meat, until it browns. Once the meat is crumbly add all the dry spices and cook for about 4 minutes. Sprinkle a bit of flour over the meat, then mix it in well and heat for 3-4 minutes to cook the flour. The flour will absorb the fat that comes out of the meat, which will then thicken the sauce. Pour in the can of tomatoes, tomato puree and sugar. Pour in water. Bring the mixture to the boil, stirring continually, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until it thickens slightly. Season to taste with salt and pepper before serving, or use it as a base for another recipe. If the sauce seems very thick, just add a little boiling water.
