The Corkless Mind

Category: Snacks

Fig and Speck Salad with Parmesan Crisps.
This recipe is inspired by two amazing women, Donna Hay, and my sister. My sister texted me some food inspiration when I really had none at all, she had a vision of me making something delicious with luscious figs she spotted in store, with that in mind I recalled a recipe from Donna Hay I have been saving, not sure why though. With Figs in peak season, I knew this was the perfect time to make this gorgeous recipe.

I’ve noticed and made a mental note that the figs I see in store are a lot smaller than previous years, and makes me wonder, if at all, there is some sort of correlation between that and the ongoing drought the City of Cape Town is experiencing.

Recently I have started a journey of mindful eating and fitness, so whilst I won’t be posting as many indulgent recipes any time soon, I will surely not deprive myself, nor you! I am on the hunt for delicious yet healthy recipes. If you have any ideas on how to spruce up healthy foods with ‘oomph’ please do let me know in the comments section, I would love to hear from you!

Fig and Speck Salad with Parmesan Crisps.

Ingredients:
- 4-6 Black Figs, or any figs for that matter
- 4 slices of Speck or prosciutto roughly torn into strips
- 100g Rocket and Baby Spinach
- 5 Samphire sprigs
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 100g Grana Padano, or any other Parmesan
- a little salt and freshly ground black pepper to serve
Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Grate the Parmesan and spread out evenly on a silpat on lined baking tray. Bake for 5-6 minutes until golden and crisp. Set aside to cool and harden. To assemble, wash the rocket and spinach and place onto a plate. Place the speck, then the figs and samphire, drizzle over the balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Break the Parmesan crisps into shards and add a little salt and pepper. Serve as an entree or snack.

*side note: if it does happen that you have any leftover Parmesan crisps, you can keep it in an airtight container for a week.*

Happy eating and happy weekend! x

Follow my blog with Bloglovin
February 23, 2018
Homemade Labneh
This week I am daydreaming of aimlessly wondering through souks with what I can only imagine the type of scents filling the open air with the heady aromatic array of spices and fragrant rose. And of course wearing long flowy kaftans in the breathtaking beauty of the Middle East. Whilst I don’t have the opportunity to go and explore Morocco or Jerusalem just yet, I can recreate some recipes that I would envision myself there.

To my excitement, I was recently asked by Faircape Dairies to blog about a few of their products which I have chosen myself. I ended up choosing their gloriously velvety smooth Double Cream Yoghurt that is unsweetened to my delight, and their versatile Amasi(sour milk) which I used in a few recipes as buttermilk and worked out pretty great!

This first recipe is inspired and adapted from one of my food heroes, Yotam Ottolenghi. The Labneh I made is from the cookbook, NOPI. To complement the rich labneh, I made macerated strawberries in a pomegranate molasses and sumac syrup with a dash of freshly cracked black pepper this was just the edge the in-season sweet strawberries needed. I love how extra creamy and decadent the Faircape Double Cream Yoghurt made this labneh. The texture of the yoghurt is such a thick yet smooth consistency that I would happily swop out cream in savoury recipes for this delicious yoghurt. Last night, I made a little throw together with whatever was in the fridge and pantry, and ended up making an incredibly tasty lime chicken pasta dish with this yoghurt as the base for the sauce. My verdict: I love cream very much, but for those days where you need to watch your calorie intake, I will certainly add this double cream yoghurt as a great substitute.

Labneh is a thick spreadable cream cheese that is made with usually greek yoghurt, a little salt and lemon juice and left to sit in the fridge to drain off the whey for 24 hours to thicken and turn into labneh. Usually served with plenty of good quality Extra Virgin Olive oil and Za’atar. Like always, this time I’ve put my own twist on Labneh and how I serve it.

Homemade Labneh with macerated strawberries.

Ingredients:
- 300g Faircape Double Cream Yoghurt
- 1 Tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil,plus extra to drizzle at the end.
- 1/4 teaspoon of smoked sea salt flakes
- 1 punnet of fresh in season Strawberries or any other fruit that is in season
- 2 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses
- 1/4 cup caster sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon sumac
- A pinch of freshly cracked black pepper
Method:

To make the labneh, in a small bowl combine the double cream yoghurt and olive oil. Pour into a cheesecloth or light linen cloth, knot tightly and hang over a small jug. Make sure the cloth is not touching the bottom of the jug. Leave to sit for 24 hours or more depending on how thick you want your labneh(I left mine in for 48 hours) however If you want to shorten to the time, constantly go back and squeeze out the excess moisture. This will speed up the process. Transfer to a bowl or plate.

Slice the strawberries and add to a small saucepan,together with the sugar, water, pomegranate molasses, sumac and black pepper. Cook on a medium heat for 2-5 minutes until the sugar is dissolved and the fruit is macerated. Serve by pouring the syrup and fruit over the labneh. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil.

**Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. My views on this brand’s product is written in full honesty and without bias. I was not financially compensated for this post but I was however sponsored only the products to produce recipes.**
September 28, 2017
Chicken sausage rolls with a basil and pumpkin seed pesto.

Last week whilst on holiday, and feeling quite famished, I wanted a greasy quick fix to keep the hunger pangs at bay. The area we stayed in was quite rural and had a lack of stores. So heading out to the nearest mall with a Woolies to stock up on snacks to last till we leave, I grabbed a chicken sausage roll on the go. Having never consumed a chicken one before, this one in particular was just so good! Which prompted me to conjure up my own recipe to make at home.
This recipe is really easy and super quick, and is ideal for making when you have unexpected guests over you want to impress with a shortcut tasty snack made in a jiff.

Chicken sausage rolls with a Parmesan, basil and pumpkin seed pesto.

Ingredients:
– 400g Chicken Mince

– Store bought Puff Pastry

– 2 eggs (one beaten for eggwash)

– 1 tsp of salt

– 1 Tbsp of Smoked Sweet Paprika

– 1 TbspGround cumin

– 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs

– A glug of olive oil to bind.

– 25g finely grated Grana Padano.

Basil pesto:

– A handful of Basil leaves

– 4tbsp of olive oil

– Pinch of salt

– Handful of toasted pumpkin seeds

– 25g of finely grated Grana Padano.
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Begin to mix the salt, paprika, cumin with the chicken mince in a large bowl, then add a glug of olive oil, breadcrumbs and the egg. Mix until combined. Shape into balls and place in roasting dish to roast for 15 minutes. Once cooked, cool and set aside. Roll out the pastry and cut into rectangles. Place the chicken balls on top of the pastry and cover with Grana Padano, then close with the pastry and brush with egg wash. Bake on a roasting tray with parchment(I used my Silpat, which I find prevents soggy bottoms) for 20 minutes until golden brown and crisp.
For the pesto, in a pestle and mortar, grind the basil leaves, olive oil and salt. Toast a handful of pumpkin seeds in a pan for 2-3 minutes until nutty in smell and taste. Once cooled slightly, roughly chop the pumpkin seeds and add to the pesto. Add the Grana Padano, and a little olive oil if the mixture is too clumpy. Keep grinding until an almost runny consistency is what you’re left with. I did indeed leave mine chunky, for purposes of food photography, in my opinion it gave the photo a little more colour and character.

* I cooked the chicken mince first, before filling the pastry out of fear of undercooking*

February 7, 2017
Roasted Sunbutter with chocolate.

I seem to have a healthy(excuse the pun) obsession with nut/seed butters these days. I could spread this luxurious paste on anything, from toast to dipping fruit into the nut/seed butter for a quick healthy snack option. This week I spotted a special on the sunflower seeds at my local supermarket and decided that I would experiment and make my very own homemade Sunbutter in my NutriBullet. I normally don’t have leftover chocolate, I think I might have forgotten about it and probably stashed it away for a rainy day… So with Sunbutter in mind I decided to use the leftover chocolate to give it a more dreamy luxurious feel.

This recipe is modeled off of a general guideline to make nut butter.
Roasted Sunbutter with a hint of chocolate.
Ingredients:
250g of Sunflower seeds

2 x Tablespoons of coconut oil

Two tablespoons of cocoa powder or four blocks of 70% dark Lindt Chocolate

Pinch of salt

Two tablespoons of honey
Method:
Place the seeds on a baking tray with parchment on and roast in a preheated oven(180 degrees C) for 10-15 minutes(watch it carefully as you don’t want the seeds to burn) set aside to cool.

Once the sunflower seeds are completely cooled down, in a large NutriBullet cup, add only the seeds and blitz till the oils of the seeds are extracted and the grainy texture becomes oily and comes together, blitz every 30 seconds then scrape down the cup with a spoon. Once an almost paste like consistency is obtained, add the salt and coconut oil. Blitz for a further 30 seconds until a smooth consistency is achieved. Add the honey and melted chocolate/cocoa powder and blitz again for another 30 seconds.

Serve on toast, with fruit on the side or seed crackers.
*the melted chocolate I heated up the microwave with 10 second blasts in between and add a little milk in at the end to make the mixture runny.
There are so many things you can do with nut/seed butters. I am an avid smoothie drinker and maker, so it’s only natural that I add some of the Sunbutter to a smoothie. I made a Banana, Whey protein, honey, coconut milk and Sunbutter power up smoothie. Just add all the ingredients to the cup and blitz, easy as that! For best results, freeze banana slices, this will give your smoothie a smooth and creamy texture whilst keeping the smoothie really cold too.
If you own a NutriBullet and love the nifty little gadget as much as I do, then please share some other ways you best utilize yours.
Dominique x

January 25, 2017
Buddha’s ganoush

Happy 2017! Better late than never 🙂 we all set some goals before 2016 packed its bags and thankfully left us, and one of mine is to start eating mindfully, I do believe my body will reward me for my choice of nourishment.I don’t proclaim to be a complete healthy eater, but I think it’s important to start the year off on a healthy note, healthy body and healthy mind.

Okay, I have to admit I sometimes eat like a 10 year old that has been left alone at home for an evening of junk food eating and binge watching 80’s movies. However, I find as I’m getting older I feel my body needs more nutrition than those days after eating junk that I cram my body full of only to resume the junk eating the next week or so… Not very smart, I know.

As an avid Woolworths Taste magazine reader, I could not resist trying out this recipe for myself. This recipe is out of the book Plentiful by Paul Atkinson,Chris and Louis Van Loon and Angela Shaw.This recipe is ideal for snacking with flat breads, (my favourite) crunchy radishes, carrot sticks or some rice crackers. Serve as a dip at your next laid back lunch with family or friends, it’s something different and best of all it’s super easy to make at home. I used my trusty NutriBullet to blitz everything up in just one cup. The consistency is a velvety smooth dip texture and taste is reminiscent to its cousin hummus, because of the tahini paste, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic.
Buddha’s Ganoush recipe:

Ingredients:

-2 large aubergines/brinjals halved lengthways

-5T olive oil, plus extra

-2T toasted ground cumin

-2 cloves garlic

-1T tahini paste

-1/2 bunch parsley

-3T Lemon juice

Sea salt and ground pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Halve the brinjals/aubergines lengthways and prick the aubergines all over using a fork, then rub with some olive oil.

Place aubergines in roasting dish and roast for 45 minutes turning them halfway through. Once cooked, remove from oven and allow to cool completely before scooping out all of the flesh from the aubergines with a spoon. Toast the cumin in a hot pan until fragrant and darker in colour but shouldn’t turn black(shake every few minutes when toasting to avoid burning) place all of the aubergines flesh into a food processor or NutriBullet with the olive oil, garlic, tahini, cumin and parsley, then blitz. Add the lemon juice a little at a time, so as to avoid the mixture becoming too runny. Season to taste and serve with chopped radishes or with some fresh flat breads.
Happy mindful eating!

Dominique x

January 5, 2017
Aubergine fries with a honey balsamic drizzle.
I’ve recently started to broaden my food magazine perusing to international territory, reading online is one thing but I’m a sucker for good old paging through an actual book/magazine. Yes, I know not very Eco-friendly, but I’m tradionalist at heart! Sadly, we don’t have much of a wide selection of food magazines here in South Africa, so because I scour Delicious Australia’s site on a weekly basis, I spotted the UK version and rushed home to immediately page through it( I do love the smell of fresh magazines) I am quite proud of our food mag scene in S.A but there are so many fresh ideas in the international ones I am so excited to try out all before reading the entire magazine, my excitement seems to get the better of me sometimes…

This recipe comes straight out of the September issue of Delicious UK, chosen and submitted by a reader, she described the fries as ‘light, crisp, but not greasy’.

Ingredients:
- 3 medium aubergines/eggplants sliced into batons
- 1Tbsp of Salt
- 1 medium free-range egg
- 250ml iced water
- 90g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 litre sunflower/canola oil for deep frying
- Balsamic glaze to drizzle
Method:

Place aubergines batons in a colander and sprinkle over salt.set over a bowl, then place in a fridge for 1-2 hours so the aubergines can release some of their juices and firm up. When ready, lay out on a kitchen towel/paper, and blot firmly and rub to remove excess salt, then set aside.For the batter, whisk the egg and iced water until frothy. Sift the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl with a pinch of salt, then slowly add the egg mixture in a thin stream into the flour, whisking to combine. Immediately stop whisking when combined.Heat the oil in a deep large pan, the oil should be approximately 180 degrees Celsius, reduce heat to keep at this temperature. In batches, dip the batons in the batter, and with a slotted spoon lift out to place gently in the oil(always away from you) and fry for 4-5 minutes until golden and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper. Serve with balsamic glaze, or like me, you can mix a little balsamic vinegar with honey and drizzle over the fries. As an extra special touch I finely grated Grana Padano Parmesan cheese over the fries, because why not, right?

These fries are life-changing, and such a great substitute to potato fries. The crunch on these fries are incredible, the flavour is that of a natural umami coupled with a sweet twist! I’m hooked! And definitely making these for when I have friends or family over.

Let’s all make Meat-free Monday’s exciting again!

Dominique x
November 14, 2016