Avocado Mash!

What a terrible name, mash, might as well be smash the crappy "instant" de-hydrated potato in a sachet. Sometimes I feel for an absorbent substance with which to eat my proteins and I do not feel mentally comfortable eating rice, potato (mash) or some kind of bread, except a croissant (I suppose the French can claim victory on that). I could have called it mush, which I use to deter dinner guests from coming over so there is more food for me. That last bit is me just being greedy.

This recipe kind off fulfils that void and introduces another complimentary taste to my meals, just short off  the insulin rushing effects of a post rice/mash meal.

The recipe itself is very quick to make and I usually only make the recipe once the main meal is ready. Be warned this recipe on its own is quite filling and should serve usually 2 people.

Ingredients
1 large avocado
1 handful of macadamia nuts
3 Tbsp of olive oil

Method
Add all ingredients into a blender
blend for 10 seconds, depending on how smooth you want the texture

Dish out and enjoy!

Eggs......Really!

The post shall be about a generally accepted breakfast dish.....eggs, but with some additional joys of the natural food realm. I believe eggs are easy enough to make and doesn't necessarily warrant a recipe post, but after seeing the amount of popularity that these pictures generate on Instagram, I have decided to post a methodology on an egg variation.

You might notice that I refrained from calling this post a recipe in the latter half of the first paragraph and that is because it does not take rocket science or culinary mystic to prepare an egg.......Rocky "cracked" raw eggs to any number of cooked variations i.e. poached, fried, boiled.....or just add heat and eat. "Heat and eat" the breakfast version of "shake and bake".....too much?

What I enjoy about preparing eggs is that I generally use fresh ingredients, which I am fortunate enough to source from the actual farmer and not the painted effigy at the local convenience store.

For this recipe, I use red onions which imparts a sweetie acidity to the meal and Pomodoro tomatoes, which should be the star of a bolognaise but compliment the onions soo well, and holistically the taste is very good. The small difference is that it usually takes me about 45mins to prepare an egg dish because I like the flavours to slow cook together so that the taste is an amalgam of glorious natural flavours.

At this point I should also mention that the eggs I source are of such great quality that you require a little bit of elbow grease to break the shell, the Yoke is a rich texture of colour and the natural flavour is glorious. I believe the chickens that lay (not slay) these golden nuggets still live in trees.

Ingredients
1Tbsp Coconut Oil
2 Green chillies
1 Chopped Medium Red Onion
1 handful of chopped cold meat
2 Medium Chopped Pomodoro tomatoes
3 Tbsp crumpled Feta
4 Organic Eggs
1 tsp pepper

Method
Place coconut oil, onions and chillies in pan on low heat (33% of full heat)
Wait until onions become soft, then add chopped cold meat
Wait until cold meat becomes crispy on edges then, add chopped Pomodoro tomatoes
Wait until tomatoes lose shape, become soft and give off liquid
mix soft tomatoes into onions and break eggs into mixture, add Feta and pepper
Wait until the eggs are cooked to your likeliness

Enjoy!

Chicken and Butternut Salad

 

 

I’m chilling in the coffee shop/restaurant Ginger and Fig, in Pretoria. I’ve just hooked up to the wi-fi and the password code is the funniest I’ve heard in a while. The story of Ginger and Fig is a very cool one. Although the owner (he is a ginger) does not fit the profile of the story. He looks very much like Lucas Parker of Crossfit fame, and someone not to F#$* with.

The food is very good, lovely ambiance and the coffee is at this date my favourite in Pretoria, eclipsing Haloa, Vintage coffee and Lucky bread by the fairest of margins. They use Doubleshot coffee beans which is locally roasted in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, #supportlocal. I would certainly recommend this place for an all-round experience.    

There is so much I’ve wanted to share but the time and my own personal laziness have prevented the outpouring of my knowledge. This recipe was born out of items that I had in my freezer but not particularly fond of. The chief culprit, chicken fillet. Why oh! why did we buy chicken fillet. All the best proponents of the chicken have been removed, bones, skin etc. It’s like a laboratory generated meat with a propensity to not cook properly. The weirdest thing is that we pay more for it. Rant aside I hope to have worked out a recipe using one of my disliked ingredients with another childhood phobic word, i.e. SALAD.

The recipe also uses an air fryer (marketing beguilement of note), to complete a trifecta of pet hates. Last rant-tjie (synonym in English/Afrikaans for small rant) I promise………for now. On to the recipe!

Ingredients

·         Chicken fillets (250g), cut into cubes

·         1 tsp chilli flakes

·         1 tsp freshly ground pepper

·         1 “medium” butternut, cut into blocks (apologies for the term medium, I do not even know how to describe the butternut size used)

·         1 green pepper

·         3 Tbsp Olive Oil

·         1 small red onion (cut into cubes)

·         3 Tbsp Feta (crumpled)

Method

·         Mix chicken fillets, chilli flakes and pepper and place in air fryer for 13mins @ 220 deg C (ensure that the fillets are cooked)

·         Remove chicken and place in bowl

·         Add butternut to air fryer and cook for 15mins @ 220 deg C

·         Place green pepper and olive oil with chicken in bowl and mix around

·         After 15mins add onions and coconut oil to butternut and mix around, then place in air fryer for 20mins.

·         After 20mins, remove butternut and onion and combine with chicken.

·         Add Feta and serve…….Either hot or cold!!

Bon appetite!!