Die Koffiepot, Clarens

I recently went away with my hubby and parents to the beautiful Drakensburg area.  On a particularly miserable, rainy day, we all decided to take a drive through Golden Gate.  This area is a well preserved, pristine, nature reserve, that separates Harrismit from Clarens in the Free State of South Africa.  The scenery was breath-taking and the lighting was perfect for photographs!  

 

The most surprising find of the trip was, however, not a mountain range, waterfall or grassy verge, but a quaint coffee shop called "Die Koffiepot" (The Coffeepot).  Here they serve up traditional "Boerekoffie" that consisted of proper coffee brewed from coffee grounds and served with condensed milk and a soft "Anysbeskuit" (Aniseed rusk).  Delicious!  Even their hot chocolate had a cute twist to it!  Best of all was their traditional milktart - layers of milky custard with thin pastry - need I say more?!?  I was pretty impressed with this little coffee shop that we randomly saw a board for on the side of a mountain pass!  Needless to say, it all went down a treat!

Treatology™ by Wilton

I just came across this website that shares the science behind flavour combinations that you didn't think would work.  Just navigate across the easy-follow-table at http://treatology.wilton.com/

Halloween Spicy Pumpkin Soup

We have never been big celebrators of Halloween in South Africa, but lately there have been many mini celebrations and (dare I say it...) "American-style" candies on our shelves.  Last week, while doing my weekly veggie run at one of our local grocery stores, I came across this pumpkin...

I was so excited that I grabbed the pumpkin, placed it in the trolley and went home...  But then when I got home and looked at this orange basketball shaped vegetable, I realised I didn't have a clue as to what to do with it...

Considering I am one of the clumsiest individuals you will ever meet, as well as not being the most artsy person in the world, I decided against carving the pumpkin...  But luckily that evening an episode of Masterchef Australia aired on tv and guess what they made - PUMPKIN SOUP!  So I trolled the internet for some ideas and came up with my Halloween Pumpkin Soup!  And this is what we ate for Halloween dinner while elsewhere in the world people were gorging themselves on candy and chocolates :)

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin purée
• Tinned pumpkin or roasted pumpkin pieces
• Cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and place cut side down on baking try lined with tin-foil.  Bake at 180°C (or 350°F) for about 45 minutes until the flesh is soft.  Scoop out the flesh.  I used a Moulinex to make the pumpkin smooth.

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 to 2 small onions
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper
• A bit more than a pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 to 2 teaspoons of curry powder
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 1 to 2 cups of water - check the consistency of the pumpkin and eyeball it for yourself; just remember you will be adding milk
• A splash of milk
• Sugar to taste
• Cream for decoration
• Salt to taste

 

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium sized pot and sweat off the onions and garlic.
2. Add the spices and cook them off .
3. Add the pumpkin and stir.
4. Add the stock cube and water.  Allow to simmer gently on a very low heat for about 30 minutes.
5. Add the milk and stir well.
6. Season to taste.
7. If the soup is too spicy you can add some cream to cool it down a bit.
8. Serve in a bowl with a dollop of cream and fresh bread.