Food and wine
Comfort for the cold
The best part of winter is spending time indoors, curled up on the couch with a good book or a movie. It’s even better accompanied with some delicious comfort food. We have some ideas that will take your “me time” to another tasty level.
Beef Stew Ingredients
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1Kg beef stew meat, (fat removed) ½ Stick butter
2 Cups water
1 Teaspoon dried thyme 2 Teaspoons salt
1 Teaspoon black pepper 6 Potatoes, peeled and quartered 6 Carrots, cut into large chunks 3 Onions, quartered
Method
Place meat in a bowl and coat with flour. Over medium heat, melt butter in a pot and add the meat. Cook for 10 minutes until the beef is browned on all sides. Add water slowly and stir. Sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper, stir well and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for one hour. Add in the remaining vegetables and simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally until everything is cooked through and tender. Serve with rice or bread of your choice.
Chicken and Mushroom Pasta Ingredients
2 Chicken breasts (diced or stripped)
½ Yellow onion, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper Cajun spice or chicken spice Mixed herbs
2 Tablespoons crushed garlic 500ml Fresh cream 500g Mushrooms
500g Pasta of your choice Oil
Knob of butter
Method
Before you start cooking, boil a kettle of water for the pasta.
Preheat the stove for pasta and the pan for the chicken.
Place chicken in a bowl and season with Cajun/chicken spice, mixed herbs and a pinch of salt and pepper. Once the water has boiled, add it to the pot, followed by the pasta of your choice and season with some salt. Leave to boil.
Add the knob of butter to the preheated pan, once melted add the sliced onion and sauté until tender. Add the crushed garlic and let it simmer for a while. Add the chicken, constantly stir and let it
brown. Break the mushrooms into the pan; they do not have to be perfect pieces because the mushrooms will give the dish a different texture. Once it starts simmering, add in the fresh cream and stir. Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for a few minutes.
Strain the pasta in a colander, gently drizzle some oil over it and toss. Once you are satisfied with the thickness of the sauce in the pan, remove from the stove, add pasta to the pan and mix. Serve and enjoy.
Chocolate Cake Ingredients
Cake
2 Cups flour
¾ Cup cocoa
2 Cups sugar
1 ½ Teaspoons bicarbonate of soda 2 Teaspoon baking soda ½ Cup hot milk
½ Cup of oil
4 Eggs (separated) 2 Teaspoons vanilla essence Pinch of salt
Icing
ѿ Cup butter
Ҁ Cup cocoa
2 Ҁ Cups powdered sugar
ѿ Cup milk
1 Teaspoon vanilla
Method
Cake
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix sugar, vanilla essence and egg yolks. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff white peaks. Add the water, milk and oil to the sugar and egg mixture, mix well. Once completed, add to the dry ingredients and mix. Lastly, fold in egg white to the batter. Bake for 35 minutes.
Icing
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add cocoa and stir until the mixture is smooth and thick. Pour mixture into a bowl and let cool. Add the icing sugar, vanilla essence and milk. Whisk or use an electric mixer to mix to the desired consistency. Once the cake has cooled down, spread the icing over the cake and decorate as desired.