COOK LIKE A CHEF
Cooking like a pro doesn’t have to be complicated. Add Bertus Basson’s easy mussel curry and panna cotta to your arsenal.
One of the hardest working chefs in the business, Bertus Basson says his restaurants are how his dreams “get to live”. The spin-off cookbook from his TV show, Being Bertus Basson, features some of the most popular dishes from all his restaurants so you can taste a bit of the dream in your own home
MUSSEL CURRY
“Fresh is always best, and I love going musseling on the West Coast. This curry sauce is fantastic – perfect to make in large batches and freeze.”
Serves 2
EASY
GREAT VALUE Preparation: 15 minutes Cooking: 20 minutes
For the curry sauce: vegetable oil a splash large onions 4, chopped garlic 8 cloves, finely chopped chillies 4, seeded and chopped ginger 20 g, chopped salt 1T sugar 1T turmeric 4t paprika 2t masala spice 2t medium curry powder 4t coconut milk 4 x 400 g cans fresh coriander 30 g
curry sauce 1½ cups mussels 700 g, cleaned salt, to taste lemon juice a squeeze fresh coriander, to garnish radish, thinly sliced, to garnish
1 To make the curry sauce, slowly sweat the onions, garlic, chillies and ginger in the oil in a large pot. Add all the dry ingredients and cook over a low heat for 1 minute. 2 Pour in the coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the coriander and blitz the sauce. Portion and freeze what you don’t need immediately. 3 Bring the remaining sauce to a simmer. Add the mussels, cover, and steam for about 5 minutes. Make sure all the mussels have opened. 4 Season to taste and finish with a squeeze of lemon juice. We garnish the curry with radish, coriander and puffed rice but serving it over a bowl of steamed rice or with a vetkoek will do just fine. CARB-CONSCIOUS, HEALTH-CONSCIOUS, DAIRY-FREE, WHEAT- AND GLUTEN-FREE WINE: Woolworths Signature Series Danie de Wet Chardonnay 2017 “This recipe happens in various stages.
You need to make the batter for the fish, then blanch the chips, then fry the fish and, finally but almost simultaneously, the chips. We use a double fryer at the restaurant, but at home you could use two pots of oil with a thermometer. When buying your hake, try to get pieces of fish roughly the same size and thickness. The recipe will also work with gurnard, snoek or angelfish.”
Serves 4
EASY
GREAT VALUE
Preparation: 20 minutes, plus 2 hours’ standing time
Cooking: 30 minutes
For the batter: cake flour 500 g fresh yeast 2t salt 1t sugar 1t sparkling water 3½ cups
For the chips: potatoes 1.5 kg oil, for frying salt, to taste
“THE REALITY IS THAT YOU ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS THE LAST PLATE OF FOOD THAT LEFT YOUR KITCHEN”
– BERTUS BASSON
For the seasoned flour, mix: cake flour 200 g paprika 1T salt 1t
hake fillets 4 x 180 g oil, for frying tartare sauce, for serving (optional)
1 Start a couple of hours ahead with the batter and combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Whisk in the water a little at a time to ensure a smooth thick batter, making sure the yeast, sugar and salt are dissolved throughout the batter. Cover and set aside to ferment and bubble for at least 2 hours before using. 2 Now get to work on the chips and set your fryer to 130°C before cutting the potatoes, skin and all, into chips of even thickness – about 8 mm. Pat them dry and blanch them in oil in the fryer in small batches for around 7 minutes. They should remain white and be tender, and you should drain them well and set aside to cool completely. 3 When you are ready, preheat the oil you are using for the fish to 170°C. The chip oil should also be heated to 170°C. Dredge the fish fillets in the seasoned flour, pull them through the batter and gently drop them into the fryer. Fry until crisp and golden brown, then drain and season. Keep warm. 4 Fry the blanched chips in batches again until golden, then drain, season and serve immediately with the fish and some brown vinegar. There’s a tartare sauce in my first book that goes perfectly with this recipe, too. WINE: Woolworths Spier Private Collection Chenin Blanc 2017
PERI-PERI CHIP SAUCE
Makes 2½ cups
EASY
GREAT VALUE Preparation: 10 minutes
red chilli 25 g green chilli 25 g onion flakes 100 g garlic flakes 100 g chilli flakes 2t fresh coriander 25 g paprika 20 g white vinegar 1 cup lemon juice ½ cup plus 2 T vegetable oil 3 cups sugar 50 g salt 25 g
Place everything in a large bowl and blend using a hand blender – but not too fine. The texture should be coarse, but everything must be combined really well. Store tightly sealed in the fridge. CARB-CONSCIOUS, FAT-CONSCIOUS, DAIRY-FREE, MEAT-FREE, WHEAT- AND GLUTEN-FREE