The Corkless Mind

Category: Festive Fare

  • A Very South African Christmas – A Food24 Recipe Round-up

    A Very South African Christmas – A Food24 Recipe Round-up

    Recently I was tasked with developing summer dessert recipes with a South African twist for Food24. So it is official, I am now a Food24 contributor in recipe development. This enables me to go back to my first passion which is being in the kitchen, playing around and adapting recipes. With a week to go until Christmas, I thought I’d share my recipes I developed and photographed for Food24 with you!

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    19 NOV 028

    I love making and experimenting with meringue. It’s stiff, glossy peaks are reminiscent of a Christmas snowy summit that I can only dream to experience (for now) The brief was to make summer desserts with a South African twist. The pavlova wreath I made, was topped with decadent caramel, flecked with chunky bits of peppermint crisp chocolate and studded with raspberries to create balance and give a bit of tart flavour. This is my ode to the very South African festive dessert – peppermint crisp fridge tart.

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    peppermint crisp pavlova wreath 077

    21NOV 010.jpg

    A Lolly to Make You Jolly! 

    Christmas in the Southern hemisphere is a scorcher, so to keep cool and calm, I made rosè, rooibos (the South African twist) and strawberry Ice lollies.

    21NOV 027

    Creme Soda Gummy Bears 

    I’ve been looking for a gummy bear mold and dropper set for ages! Imagine my elation upon finding an affordable set on Takealot! The South African twist you ask? The legendary green fizzy drink that is our version of creme soda. It only takes 20-30 minutes in total to make and set in the fridge. Such a fantastic idea to make with the kiddos in the school holidays. Here’s the recipe.

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    19 NOV 005

    Tropical Fruit Meringue Roulade 

    Inspired by my mom’s famous swiss roll cakes she used to magically conjure up in the kitchen, I made my own modern twist on the traditional by making a roulade with seasonal summer fruits. You can find the recipe here

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    What will you be making for your festive table this year? Recreating any of my recipes? Let me know and share a photo of your lovely festive fare 🙂

    Wishing you and yours a joyous and safe festive season!

    Happy feasting x

  • Festive fare – Canapés.

    Festive fare – Canapés.

    We all know how stressful hosting can get, especially this time of year, I’m going to make it my mission to take the pressure off and make it a little easier for you. Everybody loves canapés at a party,it’s a great ice breaker for something different to talk about, and when you’ve been waiting ages for the food, because the host decided to try out a new recipe and the tension is high in the air because hangry, canapés seems to save the day. 

    With this post i’d like to show you a few ideas, some rather different to the norm and some old trusty ideas we rely on that never gets old. I was lucky enough to get a copy of a rather elusive Delicious Australia December issue recently, there are so many recipes I need to try out(of course, giving myself ample time to perfect before Christmas) one of my favourite recipes in the issue, is a Jamie Oliver recipe for Brioche Mince pies. The change from the usual mince pies, is quite refreshing. The brioche as a vehicle for the fruit mince is perfect as a sweet textured little hollowed bun, the creme patissiere adds a lovely smooth velvety contrast the sharp mince needs. The fruit mince I made, I deviated from the store bought stuff and made my own, using chopped Pink Lady Apples, Medjool dates and Cranberries, with of course the usual Christmassy spices to spruce it way up. The recipe can be found in the issue or in Jamie Oliver’s latest cookbook, called “Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Cookbook” 
    For the Grana Padano cheese sticks and pinwheels, I got my hands on some store bought Pastry (because life is far too short to make your own for canapés guys!) my theme for these canapés is a little effort coupled with minimal fuss(if that makes sense) cut the pastry into strips brush with eggwash sprinkle over grated cheese, twist (for the sticks)and brush with egg, for the pinwheels repeat, but roll up into a wheel brush with eggwash and sprinkle both with sesame seeds. Bake for 15 mins until golden and crisp. 
    For the baked fig and cranberry Camembert, I spotted some lush seasonal figs at my local deli that I couldn’t resist to take home with me. I scored the top of the Camembert in a cross cross pattern, this makes the cheese ooze out, and the flavours of the honey, fig and cranberries really infuse the cheese with more flavour. Drizzle over honey a quarter fig with a few dried a cranberries. Bake for 20-25 minutes on 180 degrees. Serve warm with the cheese sticks and pinwheels and relish in the complements of being a a complete domestic goddess! 
    A few tips for hosting: 
    -never make a recipe for the first time whilst hosting, practice makes perfect! 

    -keep guests fed with plenty of little canapés to keep the wolf at bay

    -prepare a few carafes of homemade iced tea or watermelon juice that you can spike with some gin or vodka. 

    -keep it simple yet stylish, add a little sparkle with decor on the table by spray painting pine cones and if you can make your own wreaths before the time, get the kids to help if you like. 

    -lastly, enjoy every second of having all your loved ones in one room, life gets a little crazy sometimes so much so that we are all guilty of not taking the time out for each other. 

    If you’re taking a social media/blog hiatus during the festive season, in that case, enjoy every moment making new memories with your loved ones and be safe on the roads if you’re traveling. 
    Happy holidays! 

    Dominique x

  • Festive fare – Menu inspiration. 

    Festive fare – Menu inspiration. 

    It certainly is beginning to look a lot like Christmas, especially here on Off Beet! These recipes are just some of my favourite menu items that I love to make for special occasions. Because at the end of the day, you should only be making food you love eating. My motto is to keep it simple in the kitchen, no frills kind of cooking. 

    I shot and recreated the recipes a few months ago already in preparation for my Food&Home Magazine feature, which was for the ‘Blogger of the Month feature. Just another week or two till you can get the copy off of shelves. I had a lot of fun shooting the recipes and the excitement was something I really couldn’t contain. I don’t own any sort of Christmas decor, so I had to borrow some festive decor from family. I am still buzzing from the feature and feel that this is only the start of a budding career. 
    The recipe for the Pork Belly, is from one of my favourite cookbooks, Nopi By Yotam Ottolenghi. Recipe for the Garlic and rosemary Duck Fat roasted potatoes is one I have developed. I love this recipe so much, that it would probably be my last meal on Earth. The recipe for the meringue covered tropical Bundt cake was adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Thyme and Lemon Bundt cake recipes rom the cookbook Simply Nigella, both of which is unfortunately not available online but can both be found in the books. The beetroot cured Salmon, fennel and gooseberry salad is a great option for an entrée. 

    For the beetroot cure, in a food processor or NutriBullet blitz two baby beet roots or one beetroot with a little water to make the mixture watery, place the salmon slices(I had 50g of salmon)  in the beetroot mixture with a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar, leave in the fridge to cure and soak up the beautiful beet colour. Assemble salad and place salmon on top of all ingredients, to add a creamy texture I added Ricotta to the salad. 

    For me, Christmas won’t be the same, without crispy crackling pork belly and duck fat roast potatoes. 
    What are your signature dishes for Christmas?