Whiskers on Kittens - by H

Dear Blog… I’ve missed you. I know that sounds ironic coming from me, because I am the one who’s neglected you over the past few weeks. I vowed when I first got hooked on you that this wouldn’t happen, but here I am, feeling shameful.

Boy and I have had a very busy month. November often is. I suppose it’s the last surge of craziness before the December period, with so much work needing to get finalised before people go on leave, and the whole of Cape Town (save the retail stores) goes into holiday mode.

On a personal level, I’ve had an interesting month. As often happens to me, it is in the maddest moments that I become my musiest and most introspective. Those who know me best but love me anyway call this my ostrich-type head in the sand moments- but they also know that while I look like I’ve “checked out” or hidden away, there is often way too much going on beneath the surface.

But this post is not about that. As much as written words help me put my often jumbled thoughts into perspective, tonight I’d like a break from those thoughts all together. Boy will wonder what on earth’s got into me ;)

Amidst all the blur of a manic month, some truly lovely things have happened. Most lovely of all is that Mowgli and Logan, our gorgeous kitten boys, have come home, and stolen our hearts. I suppose from the outside looking in, we are absolutely ridiculous with them. From the baby talk, to the way Boy and I refer to one another as “mommy” and “daddy” when speaking in their presence- I can safely say we’ve lost it. But it’s a great feeling.

 


Logan

Mowgli

Taking a little nap...

Boys being boys!

I also, somehow, was brave enough this month to try to re-create one of Boy’s dishes. This NEVER happens. Usually, it is Boy re-creating MY dishes- putting some fancy spin on them and completely annoying me by making them better than I do. But- we had the ingredients, I had the urge to cook, Boy had the urge to xbox… and so, I tried my hand at the Fillet Rossini! I tweaked it a little and played with the recipe a bit. I also screamed like a little girl when I flambéed the fillet, which takes some of the grandeur away from the whole thing, I think.

But the dish turned out magnificently. Boy was well impressed, so naturally, I have not been able to shut up about it since.



 

Whisky Live 2011 - by Boy

I promised you a report on this years Whisky Live Festival, and I know I'm late with that report. The thing is, I had full intention of posting my report on Saturday morning, but I really could not get myself to do anything but make coffee and sleep. I also had to fly to Port Elizabeth on Sunday morning for a business trip.

Whisky Live 2011

 In short, the festival was awesome, although the following day I could not stomach the thought of whisky, let alone writing about anything involving it. This is how I reassured myself that I am not cut out for the whole 'alcoholic' thing.

I was like a kid in a candy store, hopping from stall to stall, trying not to miss out on anything. To my disappointment, Ardbeg was not at the show. Nevertheless, there were one or two whiskies that really stood out.

The star of the show, for me, really was The Peat Monster by Compass Box (review to follow), and I could not resist buying a bottle. H was impressed by Orangerie- also by Compass Box- and I must admit it is a very interesting whisky.

The blending session hosted by Compass Box was very informative, and we had a good laugh blending our own whiskies. H nearly poisoned everyone at our table with her concoction. She was not listening when we were told to add water to our blends (typical), and walked around for a good part of the night proclaiming that she could not feel her lips. Haha, I love my wife!

After the blending session, we spent some time at the BenRiach stall, and it is here that we found not one, but two little gems.

The BenRiach range caters for everyone, and we slowly but surely made our way through most of the whiskies that they had available. That's when I came across the Curiositas Peated 10 yr. I know what you are all thinking ... All he ever talks about is peaty, smoky whisky. You are absolutely right, I love the stuff. For me, a whisky should stare at you with a twitch in his eye, his hand on a Magnum, and say ... "Do you feel lucky, Punk?" The Curiositas does exactly that.

Standing at BenRiach, H was handed a glass of what looked like Amarula. But this was no Amarula, this was something they simply called Magnum. It is bottled in a unique silver canister that resembles an old milk or cream can. Wow, is this stuff awesome. It's like a butterscotch and cream factory exploded in your mouth. We were lucky enough to get a bottle and I will share it with you as soon as I am back in town.

The rest of the evening is a bit of fuzzy, and I know that there was a lot of Drambuie consumed. The show lasts for about 4 hours (if it were any longer, I think I might still be in bed) and there is something for everyone.

If you are in Johannesburg and don't have your tickets yet, go and get them now! You really will not be disappointed.

The Yamzaki Single Malt - by Boy

Seeing as its the festival this week, I thought I would share a rather interesting whisky with you. When you hear the word single malt you tend to think of the Highlands of Scotland with their crystal clear, ice cold water sources.


Enter The Yamazaki. Yip, straight out of Japan. The Yamazaki distillery lies just southwest of Kyoto, nestled deep within the heart of Mt. Tennozan. The distilery was built in 1923 by Mr Shinnjiro Torii, founder of Suntory and the father of Japanese Whisky


I was introduced to Yamazaki by a friend of mine, Clive Searle, a very old wise Rhodesian (God I hope he reads this!) who really knows his whisky. He actually inspired me to start a collection. Last time I checked, he had over 90 single malts in his collection.

The Yamazaki is sweet and spicy with hints of nuts. It's not the smoothest single malt and the finish is a little dry with hints of macadamia nut. I must admit I can't drink more than one at a time, it's a bit too sweet for my taste, but then again I enjoy the heavy, smoky, bottled charcoal whiskies. Don't get me wrong, I like it, but I enjoy the look on people's faces when I present them with a Japanese single malt more.

The Good Old Days - by Boy

I came across an old video of me flairing. This was at Shotz cocktail bar in Flic en Flac, Mauritius 2007

2011 Whisky Live Festival - by Boy

There is excitement in the air in the Red Wine & Coriander household!

a)      We got our kittens, Mowgli and Logan, over the weekend
b)      It's Movember (yes, I do have my Mo for Movember)
c)       The FNB Whisky Live Festival kicks off tomorrow in Cape Town!

I am like a little kid on Christmas day! I have been looking forward to the show for ages! Some of my favorite whiskies will be at the show. Lugavulin, Ardbeg, Peat Monster, Spice Tree, and many more. For a full list of whisky’s that will be at the show, you can visit Whisky Live Festival 2011 .

H and I have been invited by the lovely people at Liquidity to the Compass Box Blending Zone. This is a first for the show, and as I understand we will do a tasting, followed by a DIY blending lesson. I really can’t wait for this one. If you are interested in partaking in the workshops, email Charlotte Spicer at charlotte@liq.co.za or find her on Twitter @Liquidity_SA to book your Seats. I have also been told that they will be launching a new whisky called Great King Street. I will try and get my hands on a bottle (or two) and post a review soon.

“This is more than a brand; it’s a mission. A mission to get people – all people - to take a fresh look at Blended Scotch; to join in the Rebirth of the Blend: in how Blends are made, how they are viewed, how they are consumed.”  – John Glaser, Whiskymaker

The Compass Box Whisky Company is a boutique Scotch whiskymaker, started in 2000 by John Glaser. The Compass Box signature range of whiskies includes Asyla, Oak Cross, The Peat Monster, The Spice Tree and Hedonism.

I am a big fan of Compass Box’s The Peat Monster and have even got my Dad hooked on the brand. I know he really enjoys their Spice Tree, so I am very excited to try Great King Street.

H and I will be there on Friday evening. 3 of my favourite things - H, Fridays and Whisky (not in any specific order).

Cheers

Boy

Raindrops on Roses - by H

I have a cold and I’m sulky. My nose is blocked, my eyes are watering, my head feels stuffy and my throat is sore. And work is mad. Like- super mad. Mad like I can’t take a smoke break, let alone a day off to lie in bed, drink tea, ponder life, and maybe realise that it’s probably just hayfever or something, and that I will sooner or later feel normal again. 

 

Boy started it. He got sniffles on Saturday, and on Sunday he was man-down. Our plans for the day got canned in favour of him lying on the couch and me playing nurse maid. I offered to make him chicken soup. I always offer to make him chicken soup, even though his answer is always along the lines of “Soup? Gross!” Boy couldn’t be bothered with soup unless it is a pre-cursor to a steak. And even then it’s a push. So I kept him medicated, encouraged him to take lots of naps, and made hamburgers instead. Sundays are good days to be sick.

 

Me, on the other hand? I waited until Wednesday. At month end. My busiest time of the month. During financial year end. My busiest time of year. Boy is clearly smarter than me when it comes to these things. 

 

Also, Boy was out of town on business yesterday (more bad-getting-sick-timing on my part), and would you believe it, we were offered FREE, AWESOME Kings of Leon concert tickets, but had to decline because Boy was away. So not only was I feeling horrid, tired and super-stressed from work; not only was I left to fend for myself sympathy and cuddle free- but we missed out on what sounds like an unbelievable concert.

 

All in all, it’s just not my week.

 

That said, I just watched the latest How I Met Your Mother episode, so I have “My Favourite Things” from Sound of Music running through my head. This is inspiring me to think back on the things that have made me laugh or smile this week, instead of marinating in my Gloomy Gus-ness. Here goes…

 

• New How I Met Your Mother episodes always make me happy!

• At least I got to make some chicken soup. With Boy away yesterday and the Kings of Leon tickets going to some other lucky bugger, I got home from work and made a great big pot. Granted, it took me ages because I was working in slow motion and grumpy, but it got made.  

 

• Boy is back home now, and he fed me some medicine, told me to have a nice hot bath and get into bed and do my nails. I like that he’s here to bring me stuff and be nice to me, but I like even more that he knows that doing my nails makes me happy.

 

• I get to listen to Boy and Sister Child playing xbox in the lounge together, killing zombies. It is strangely comforting.

 

• I get to sit down and write a blog post. This is really cathartic and fun, and I realise I’ve missed having the time to write this week.

 

• It was my dad’s name day yesterday (it’s a Greek thing) and because of lovely Skype, even though he is in Greece and I am here, I got to see him while we chatted, and we got to drink a scotch to celebrate “together”.

 

• It was also the name day of all my Greek friends named Dimitri. Which is most of them (haha) so in contacting them all to wish them, I got to catch up with some pretty awesome people I haven’t had the time to chat to in a while.

 

• Boy was pretty cute- here are two conversations that made me laugh this week:

 

Boy: How are you my muse?

H: (giggling like a Southern Belle whilst envisioning herself swathed in inspiration and wisdom) Your muse? Why am I your muse?

Boy: Because you’re a-musing.

 

Boy: (whilst sick on his spot on the couch, after I’d returned from my sick-person supplies retrieval mission) Lemonade is the perfect sick drink.

H: Why is that?

Boy: Because it has lemons in it. And also the word “aid”.

 

• If I’m feeling no better, I get to skip putting on makeup tomorrow morning. If today has taught me anything, it’s that it won’t do a bit of difference anyway. So why bother?

•  Lastly, and this might be a little cheesy (perhaps the hayfever delirium is setting in) but my mom’s facebook status this morning really made me laugh:

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.

"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.

"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meat-free Monday - by Boy

So I came across this thing called "Meat Free Mondays" and apparently it’s BIG in the foodie world. To be honest, I struggle to understand this concept. Cows over populate our beautiful countryside. As Dylan Moran, in a very heavy Irish accent, once said “…cows are big, stupid, lumbering animals and we should eat them all…” But because I am a new blogger and I am afraid of being shunned from the foodie blogger community I will comply.

I give you ……. BREAD!

500g self raising flour

1 packet instant yeast

1.5 tsp salt (I don’t like a lot of salt; it’s bad for your heart anyway)

1 cup of water (maybe a bit more)
1 tbl white sugar

Method

Sieve the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Make a little well in the middle of it to "catch" the water.

Mix the yeast and the sugar in a measuring jug with 250ml of hot water. Heat helps to “activate” the yeast.

Pour the water into the well that you created in the flour. Using a wooden spoon coated with flour, (this will help the dough not to stick to the spoon) mix the water and flour until dough starts to form.

Now comes the fun part. Coat your hands in flour and start kneading the dough until most of the flour is out of the bowl. Throw some flour on a flat surface and put some elbow grease in it.

Kneading the dough really gets the yeast going so don’t rush it. You want to pull the dough apart and then push it all together again, getting a nice soft smooth texture throughout the dough. The dough should be “wet” but not too wet. If it is too wet add little bits of flour at a time while kneading. If the dough is too dry wet your hands and keep kneading until the right consistency is reached.

Alternatively throw everything in a Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook attachment and press the “on” button. Then go and sit in the corner with your finger on your mouth because no one wants to play with you! Better yet, get in your car and go buy a loaf of bread from Yuppie Chef!
(Yes, I'm green with envy). 

Now you want to proof the dough. This is the fermentation process caused by the reaction between the yeast, flour, salt, water and sugar. Ideally you would leave the dough in a cool dry place for about 2 hours, flatten the dough and proof for another 2 hours. This will give you wonderful, fluffy bread but it takes too long.

When I start kneading my dough, I switch the oven on to grill. I let the oven heat up for about 3 min an then switch it off. When I have finished kneading the dough I pop it in the oven to proof for about 20 minutes.

Please first check that it is not too hot. If you stick your hand in the oven and it melts the nail polish off your beautifully manicured French tips (see H, I do pay attention) it’s too hot. The oven needs to be a bit warmer than room temperature.

After 20 minutes the dough should have raised a substantial amount. Now … knock it flat! And do it again!

After the second proof you can place the dough in a bread tin, plait it or shape it and bake it at 250 degrees for about 30 min.

I decided to plait my bread and keep it plain, but there are millions of things you can do with fresh bread so don’t be scared to experiment.

Coming soon... my Fig-free Fridays recipes!

I do food too! - by H

Last Thursday night was Boy’s last night of absence, and Sister Child was out celebrating her Valedictory, so I made one of my “everyone-is-away-so-why-bother-really-cooking” specials.

Two of my favourite such “dishes” are:

• Grilled cheese made on our lovely griller machine that Boy says apparently also grills other things, but as far as I’m concerned has already paid for itself twice over in grilled cheese production, OR
• Egg on toast

Egg on toast because Boy does not eat eggs. So weird. He never has. Not scrambled, not fried, not poached or boiled. Not since he was a baby. He just can’t handle them. So when he’s away, I maximize.

Anyway, one “everyone-is-away-so-why-bother-really-cooking” day, I was torn. Grilled cheese? Or egg on toast? Which to do? I really wanted both. And then- it came to me. Best of both worlds… Behold…

Egg on Grilled Cheese

Put grated cheese on bread. How much? Lots. Unless you’re on a bit of a health mission like I was last week. For the first time, I only used a small, respectable amount.

I would really NOT recommend using a small respectable amount.

Sprinkle the cheese with a little bit of origanum.

Put whatever else you like on grilled cheese on the bread. This time, I used turkey rashers from Spar. They are divine! Mom discovered them and was so excited by them, she bought Boy and I two packs to try. I’m hooked.

Fry up the turkey rashers, add to bread.

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan. When pan is hot, break egg into it.  Add loads of salt and pepper to egg.

Meanwhile, put prepared sandwich in griller machine. If you don’t have a griller machine:

1) Spray n’ Cook a pan, heat on stove, and when super hot, put sandwich on it and grill on both sides until required golden-browness of bread and meltiness of cheese is reached.

2) go and buy a griller machine. Seriously. They’re awesome.

I like my fried eggs pretty and sunny side up, but not too runny, so at the same time as heating the oil in the pan, I usually turn my oven on to grill. Once the egg is cooked on the bottom but still a little too runny looking on top, put the pan in the oven for a while, depending on how runny you like your yolk. (I forget how long I keep it in there, maybe a minute- maybe less- I just keep checking).

Put egg on top of grilled cheese. Salt more if required. Call Boy and tell him you can also make up fun creations in the kitchen. Ignore him when he laughs at you.  

The Boys are back in town - by Boy

It's good to be home. God, if I had R1 for every time I have said that this year I would be a very wealthy man. As H mentioned I travel ..... a lot! I have been on more flights this year than most people take in their entire lives. This year I have been to Namibia, Botswana, Tanzania, Kenya, Swaziland, Mauritius (for about 9 hours but I will let H tell you about that one!) and just about everywhere in South Africa. It's tough being away from home so much, living out of a suitcase and missing your wife all the time, but it is my job and I love what I do. 

Its not all bad, I get to see the most amazing places in our country you just won't normally visit. Places like Olifantshoek, Mathubathuba, Garies, Pongola and many more. Each little town I have been to has something special, whether its the people, the food or just the atmosphere.

I like to go to little restaurants and try some of the local cuisine when I travel, though most of the time I end up getting some form of take away, as it's a bit arb sitting in a restaurant all by your self.

I was staying in the Stanley Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya where I came across a lovely Thai restaurant. Very authentic little place on the 2nd floor of the hotel. All the chefs that work in the restaurant are from Thailand and you could see by the menu and the decor that this was not just some "...hey let's open a Thai restaurant..." kind of place. I love Thai food, absolutely adore it. I would normally go for a red or green curry but they had a dish on their menu (can't remember what they called it) that was Thai meatballs served with glass noodles. Very interesting dish.

So here it is, another recreation.

I served the meatballs with some fresh stir fry and noodles.

Ingredients

Meat Balls

1kg extra lean beef mince
1 onion
1 egg yolk
1 thumb size piece of fresh ginger
1 tbs red or green Thai curry paste
fresh coriander
5 drops of sesame oil
2 tbs fish sauce
1 clove garlic
1 green chilli (if you like it hot)
 bread crumbs
salt & pepper

Stir Fry

Whatever fresh veg you have in the fridge.

Method

Meatballs

Finely chop the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli and add to a mixing bowl with the mince. Add about a handful of chopped fresh coriander along with the rest of the ingredients, except the bread crumbs, to the bowl and mix it up using your hands. once mixed up I add the breadcrumbs depending on how wet the mixture is. Its normally about a handful.

Roll your meatballs into golf ball sized ... well, balls, and place them on a tray. Stick them in the fridge for about 20 minutes for the to set. If you don't have time for this just saute them in a hot pan with olive oil. Just be careful as they can break easily. If they have set in the fridge, add them to a hot saute pan with olive oil and roll them around in the pan to get a nice golden sear all around. Put them in a oven proof dish and bang them in the oven on 180 degrees until they are nice and firm and cooked.

Stir Fry

Julienne the veg, stir and fry. Done!

Noodles

Boil the noodles in water. Once they are done strain the water and place back in the pot. Mix the stir fry veg in with the noodles and then place it in a hot pan or wok. I add a splash of fish sauce, salt & pepper, and just a touch of soy sauce for colour. Flash fry the mixture for about a minute.

I plate the meatballs on top of the noodles, but you can add them to the noodles and veg and mix it up.

This is a very quick and easy recipe that should not take more than 20 minutes unless you chill the meatballs in the fridge.

The week that was - by H

Boy gets home today! Ah, I’ve missed him. Here is a rough summary of the Boy-less week that was.

Home inspection went well! We got approved to adopt!

We are over the moon! The lovely lady who did the inspection is foster mom to 3 rescued, orphaned kitten brothers. Boy and I saw photos of them and just love them! We meet them tonight, and we already have a good idea about which two we think are “ours”.

Sister Child had her Valedictory.

Sister Child lives with us. She’s my sister, and at 18, I suppose she’s not really a child, but Boy and I call her the child. Two years ago, mom had to move, and with Sister Child only two years away from finishing high school, I figured it was the most natural decision to make to have her live with me while completing her schooling, instead of in some hostel somewhere. “How hard can it be?” I’d told Boy at the time...... Bless.

 Anyway, yesterday, a chapter in all our lives began drawing to a close with Sister Child’s Valedictory Ceremony, and last ever official day of high school. More on that later...

I decided to document and post a recipe of my own!

I thought... Boy can’t be the only foodie in the family. Look how nicely I cook when he’s away! My awesome recipe will follow. I even took a photo and everything.

Boy and I celebrated 5 months of wedded-ness!

Yep, yesterday was our 5 month wedding anniversary! Unfortunately, Boy was away, but we celebrated by sending each other really cheesy, hand-me-a-barf-bag type messages (me) and some really touching emoticons (him).

Blackberry went down, and then started working again...

...And the entire world went mad. Look, granted, it was a HUGE inconvenience. Boy and I were both upset and put out. But seriously people- it’s not the apocalypse. It was emails and instant chat. Not electricity and running water. Give the Blackberry peeps a break. I still love my Blackberry! But more importantly- it’s just a phone and a couple of apps. We’re not talking world peace here.

I was super healthy! (ish)

I drank loads of water, ate mostly healthy, and avoided wine pretty well until Wednesday, when Sister Child wanted a glass to celebrate her impending end of school. So I had one (three) with her. It was the right and selfless thing to do.

I killed nothing in the garden!

When Boy is away, it is my job to water the garden. I only forgot once this week (don’t tell Boy). All the bonsais are still alive, and the grass is still green. We’ve had casualties in the past. I don’t like to talk about that.

I was super cool in Boy’s absence.

Not co-dependent and pathetic-like at all. If you don’t count me sleeping on Boy’s side of the bed every night. And switching to his deodorant.  Ssshhhh.

Other Cat - by H

The coffee mug I’m drinking from at work says “Simply the Best Mom”. I’m not a mom. Never have been (if you discount my annoying urges to constantly feed people). But somehow, somewhere along the line, I noticed I was being brought coffee in a “Simply the Best Mom” mug at work. So today, I’m going to take it as a sign.

Someone is coming to inspect our home this evening for kitty-adoption-worthiness. Boy and I love animals and have wanted to get a pet for a while. I would have loved to adopt a puppy, and in fact I spent a great deal of time begging Boy for one. I think I almost had him, but his logical thinking and common sense took over (don’t you hate when that happens?) We both work full days all week, so the kind of attention a puppy would need is not available for us to give at the moment.

Kitties are just as lovely though. And clearly, they love us. Somehow, shortly after moving into our home, we became a stop by point for a whole bunch of the neighbourhood cats. They just began to casually pop around for a visit. So while we were delayed in adopting our own kitties due to loads of travels and busy schedules, we vicariously enjoyed our visitors.  We even named them all.

• Cat, the tortoise shell, was our very first regular visitor.
• Then, along came Other Cat, a beautiful grey cat.
• Ginger Ninja was... well... ginger. But she liked to hang in the garden and rarely came inside.
• Fluffy Cat looked just like Other Cat, except super fluffy- like a teddy bear. Ironically, she just wasn’t a cuddler.
• Creepy Cat was white and really weird looking. She’d only come in while we were asleep and make the loudest, creepiest noise. I’d wake up thinking a demon baby had teleported into the house to wail us awake.

Then something unexpected happened. Other Cat started to take over. She got super territorial and started scaring and fighting all the other cats away. We loved her to death, but she wasn’t ours to keep, and as much as we loved her visits and sleep overs, we started feeling guilty about feeding her and so unwittingly, more often, keeping her away from her real home (shuddup, it’s not that bad- do YOU have visitors in your home and not offer them a drink or a nibble?)

Also, we began worrying about what she would do to our own cats when we finally got them.

Boy told me I had to stop feeding her when she visited. Not even a bowl of water, nothing. It killed me. “Love... Other Cat is moaning... please can I give her a bit of water at least? She’s thirsty!” Sometimes it worked. But Boy started sticking to his guns and convinced me to harden up too. Especially when we smelled something weird on our porch and realised... she was “marking her territory”. Our timeshare cat would have to be weaned off us if we were ever going to get a full time cat of our own. We’d have to cut her off from snacks, water, attention and cuddles. It was torture.

Other Cat has been gone for a couple of months now. Sometimes, we’ll still wistfully think of her and say how much we miss her. But now that she’s moved on, we’re ready to look into adopting a cat of our own, safe in the knowledge that Other Cat won’t beat it up.

Let’s hope the home inspection lady thinks our house will make for a happy kitty home. At least, all our feline visitors seemed to think it was.

Boy Interrupted - by H

Boy is on a business trip again. He left in the early hours of this morning. He will be gone until Friday. The week looming ahead of me will feel longer than usual.

Things are pretty quiet when Boy is not home bouncing around all over the place. Just not as alive.

Tonight, I’ll try to take in the quiet. I’ll do things I’ve been meaning to do all week and just haven’t done. I’ll clean out and organise my closet (time for some of those summer outfits to come out again!) As is my usual “first night of Boy’s absence” ritual, I’ll turn our bed into my personal mani-pedi salon. I’ll catch up on Gossip Girl or some such similar TV show that makes him cringe.

Usually, I would eat too much pasta. I love any sort of pasta in excess. I don’t have a sweet tooth, and I do try to be healthy, but pasta is my major downfall. When he’s home and we’re eating pasta, Boy tends to frown on me when I try to sneak a third helping, so tonight would usually involve making an excess of some pasta based dish, and then eating as many helpings as possible, guilt and witness free.

However, yesterday, I put on a bikini for the very first time since last summer. The excitement of getting to wear a bikini again diminished very quickly as I stood in front of the mirror, did a double take, and asked Boy- “how did that happen??” So this week, I will try to detox a little while he is away. Up the water and exercise. Cut out the wine and comfort food. Can’t have a great big pot of pasta lying around. I don’t trust myself with it.

Okay- my list of things to get done while Boy is away:

- Avoid pasta, and any form of melty cheese.
- Avoid wine.
- Organise closet.
- Catch up on girly shows.
- Manicure/ pedicure/ facial.
- Listen to some cheesy Mandy Moore music.

And then... I'll still have another whole 3 nights left to go.

Bugger.

Not such a "Mystery Basket" - by Boy

So last night was supposed to be mystery basket night, something we have been doing for the last couple of months. H picks a bunch of random ingredients that I have to use to create a 3 course meal with. I am allowed to add ingredients but I have to use every single ingredient that she picks. Loads of fun and keeps your food from becoming boring and mundane. I know of people that have a set weekly menu. Same thing over and over and yes their lives are just as boring as their menu!

H has been going on at me to make Chicken Parmesan for some time now, as she is an absolute pasta …. Person (see what I did there? Kept my potty mouth in check) Last night’s mystery box was full of subtle hints (not so subtle at all) and I could see where she was going.

She gave me the following:

Tomatoes, Onions, Chicken Fillet, Garlic, Lasagna Sheets, Parmesan Cheese, Tomato Paste, Flour along with some other ingredients.

So I looked at her while sipping on my Ardbeg and said: “You call this a mystery basket or a Chicken Parmesan basket”. We scrapped mystery basket for this week and I made my gorgeous wife her chicken parm. The last time I made this for her was on our wedding day, yes I did my own catering and yes I know it was a stupid Idea.

Chicken Parmesan

2-4 Skinless chicken breasts

4 Medium tomatoes

1 Onion

1 Clove of garlic

1 Egg

1½ Cup red wine

4 Sprigs of rosemary

Flour

Bread crumbs

Salt & Pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

2 Bay leaves

Sauce:

Add olive oil to a sauce pan over high heat. Finely chop your tomato and garlic and sauté. *Peel your tomatoes and roughly chop.

*An easy way to peel tomatoes is to cut the bottom of the tomato, the piece that attaches the tomato to the vine, off and cut a cross on top of the tomato. Put them in a bowl with the crosses facing up and pour boiling water over them. You will immediately notice that the peel starts to separate from the flesh at the tips of the crosses. Leave the tomatoes in the boiling water for about 15 - 20 sec and strain. Now you can just pull the skin off the flesh. Easy peasy.

Add the tomatoes to the sauce pot and stir. I do not add any liquid at this stage, if it starts to burn, turn the heat down. Cook the tomato and onion mix in their own juices for about two minutes. Add 1 tbs of tomato paste and stir. When you add the tomato paste all the liquid that was released by the tomatoes and onions will dry up. Keep stirring and cook for about a minute. Before your sauce starts to burn add 1½ cup of red wine, bay leaf and rosemary and stir. I also lightly season the sauce at this stage with salt & pepper and a pinch of sugar to cut the acid in the tomato.  Bring to the boil and reduce heat to a slow simmer. Let the sauce reduce and develop flavour while you move on to the chicken. Remember to keep an eye on the sauce, so that it doesn't over reduce and burn. If your sauce starts to over reduce, just add some more wine. Everything is better with more wine. Once we are ready to use the sauce, taste it and adjust seasoning as needed. The sauce must be nice and thick once it is finished, some people like to blend it until smooth. I prefer to keep my sauce more rustic, thick and chunky, almost like chutney. Remember to remove all the bay leaves and any rosemary stalks before using the sauce.

Chicken Fillet

Butterfly* your chicken breast (*cut them in half but not all the way through) and lay them flat on a cutting board. Cover them with cling wrap and beat the crap out of them with a rolling pin. You want them to be about the same thickness all the way through. This will help them cook evenly. Remove the cling wrap and get three bowls out to start crumbing them.  

When crumbing anything, always remember the month of FEB. Flour, egg and then bread crumbs. I season the chicken with salt and pepper before I start. Coat the chicken in the Flour, then the Egg and lastly the Bread crumbs.

Heat up a pan with some extra virgin olive oil and turn your oven on to 150ᵒ C. Sear the chicken on both sides until the crumbs are golden brown. Remove them from the pan and place them on some kitchen roll to drain the oil. Place the chicken in an oven proof dish and add some of the tomato sauce. Don’t drown the chicken in the sauce. I used about 3 tbs per breast. Smack it into the oven for about 5 – 10 minutes (timing chicken is hard, when I did my training and asked one of the chefs how long to cook a piece of chicken the answer was always an abrupt “…until it’s done!”).  At this stage I normally drop my pasta into a pot of seasoned (salt and olive oil) water. I like to add about a punch (about a fist full) of salt to my water, this will not only season the water, but also help it boil faster.

Just before I remove my pasta I pull the chicken from the oven and grate a generous amount of Parmesan cheese over the chicken. Stick the oven on grill and grill until the cheese is nice and crispy.

When your pasta is cooked, strain all the water and drizzle with olive oil, this will help your pasta not to stick. By the time you have done this, the Parmesan should be nice and crisp, unless you work as fast as a 1 legged, blind Rottweiler, in which case the cheese will burn.

Plate

Plate your pasta first and drizzle with some of the left over tomato sauce, and plate the chicken on top or on the side of the pasta. Garnish with some flat leaf parsley.

One for the boys - by Boy

Don’t let H confuse you… I am an angel - I’m fucking lovely. But I also have my vices. Whisky, Red Wine, Rum, Brandy … ok, anything with an alcohol content of over 5%.

I have recently started a single malt whisky/whiskey collection. My favorite whiskies are from the Islay region in Scotland. I adore the mouth blasting, peaty, smokiness that you get from some of these whiskies.

One of my absolute favourites is Ardbeg. They call it the Ultimate Islay Single Malt on the bottle, and I tend to agree. It’s a ten year old single malt that blows your mind like a 21 year old blond. The distillery lies on the southernmost point of Islay close to the Lugavulin and Laphroaig Distilleries (2 of my other favourites). 

The peat hits you first, and then you get creamy cappuccino, toffee, buttermilk and ripe bananas. The finish goes on forever, coating your mouth with flavours of espresso, almonds and aniseed.

So, as tonight is mystery basket night, I think I will pour myself a nice Ardbeg while I ponder what to make. I might have 2!

Coriandered Red Wine - by H

If Boy is a self-confessed coriander whore, I guess that would make me the red wine… enthusiast. I can’t argue with that. Love the stuff. I drink it at home. I drink it out. I drink it with friends. I drink it alone. (Yes. It is normal. No. I don’t have a problem. I’m Mediterranean). 

Sometimes, though, I need my wine fix more than normal. Every now and then, I get bouts of weepiness, moodiness or fatigue. At times like that, some women need chocolate. I need my wine.

Since yesterday, I’ve been in one of those drained and unreasonable slumps, and I’m feeling guilty about that, because Boy is the one who only just got back from a week long business trip on Saturday evening. He should be the one dragging his feet around the house and spontaneously lying down each time he passes a soft, flat surface. Not me.

He’s no angel, my Boy. He’d toss himself out of a window before going to the theatre with me. He rolls his eyes when it’s my turn to pick the movie, and I pick a chick flick. He’s always leaving things lying around the house where they’re not supposed to be, and then complains when I “hide” (pack) them away.

But he really knows how to deal with me in times like this. He’s patient, rarely asks “tired from what?”, and says lovely things like “tonight, why don’t you relax with a nice glass of wine, and I’ll make you a Mystery Basket dinner!”

Our Mystery Basket nights were inspired by the TV show Master Chef. I pick out random ingredients, and then Boy creates a meal with them. He loves the challenge, and I love getting to throw random cravings of the moment together and getting a meal out of it.

While I’m wondering about what I will put in tonight’s Mystery Basket, and looking forward to the evening, I’m feeling pretty grateful, and maybe a little less slumpy. Excited, even? He’s a smart one, that Boy.

And I realise that just like red wine and coriander, Boy and I might not have too much in common on the surface- but we work pretty darn well together.

**(Case in point- Boy would never say “darn”).

Fillet Rossini - by Boy

So H and I went to Barristers and she absolutely fell in love with their Fillet Rossini. Coming from a restaurant background I have always liked to re create dishes and put my own spin on them, sometimes for better sometimes for worse. I found it very difficult to put a recipe on paper as I never follow any recipes. I cook with my senses. I think it is very important to always taste things as you go so that you can adjust a recipe as needed. I have found that people tend to be scared of cooking and tend to stick to a recipe 100%. Food is supposed to be fun and as in life always sticking to the rules is boring. Don’t be scared to try new things and if a dish fails take it as a learning curve and try and improve the dish.

 So here is my take on the Fillet Rossini. After cooking it I realised that they might have used red wine as a base to their sauce where I decided to use some fresh beef stock along with the red wine. Their recipe also did not call for fresh coriander but I am a bit of a coriander whore. I think it adds some freshness to the dish.  

Fillet Rossini served on a bed of whole grain mustard mashed potato. (I also served it with fresh home made bread- recipe to follow).

Ingredients

400 g Beef Fillet

250g Chicken Livers

1 Red Onion

1 Celery stick

1 Red Pepper

Half a punnet of exotic mushroom mix

1 Red chilli

1 Clove of Garlic

1 cup Red Wine

Coriander

Flat leaf parsley

1 cup Beef stock (fresh or cube)

250ml Cream

Salt & Pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Mashed Potato

4-5 small to medium potatoes

2 tbs Whole grain mustard

Salt & Pepper

Method

Start by cutting the fillet into medallions and marinade in some red wine.

Clean the chicken livers and cut in half.

Sauce

Finely chop the onion, garlic, celery stick and red chilli. Heat a sauce pan with some extra virgin olive oil and sauté over medium heat until the onions are golden brown. Be careful not to burn the garlic.

Add the chicken livers and sauté.

Deglaze sauce pan with red wine. Do this 3 times. (When you sauté something, your pan begins to “burn”. When you deglaze a pan, you add little bits if liquid to the pan and stir. You will notice that the part of the pan that looked like they started to burn- this is actually caramelisation-  are then lifted back into your sauce. This is what gives good sauces all their flavour and is normally done three times).

Add 1 cup of stock and 1 cup of red wine and simmer until reduced.

While the sauce is reducing heat a sauté pan with some olive oil and roughly chop the red pepper and mushrooms.

Sautee mushrooms and red pepper until the mushrooms are golden brown. Add directly to the sauce. Add the cream to the sauce and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and allow the sauce to simmer until cream starts to thicken.

Remove the fillet from the red wine and sauté in a smoking hot pan with some olive oil until desired temperature is reached. NB fillet cooks much faster when cut into medallions. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix the cooked fillet medallions into the sauce. Just before serving, add a handful of fresh coriander and parsley (roughly chopped).