It is official mense, Lockdown
Season 2 is here.
The three-week national lockdown to help stop the spread Covid-19 was meant to end at midnight tomorrow.
But with the infection and death rate still increasing, President Cyril Ramaphosa made the bold and right decision to extend the lockdown by a further two weeks.
Hopefully, by the end of April, we would have flattened the Corona curve, and we can start working on ways to flatten our body curves.
I’m embarrassed by how many times a day I eat.
The only thing harder than staying indoors for an additional two weeks is staying out of the kitchen.
Between my daughter and I, it’s a daily competition to see who eats the most.
We have officially finished all our lockdown snacks, and now it’s time to restock.
Of course, cooking and baking is a better option to keep the food stocks up, plus it’s a great way to pass the time.
It’s also a hell of a lot cheaper to make snacks and treats than to buy them, especially when you have many mouths to feed.
Instead of buying a loaf of bread each day, a bak freshly made vetkoek can last a few days and can be enjoyed with curry on one day, cheese the next day and jam as die nood druk.
Seeing other people’s baking treats on social media has given me the urge to make something.
I’m thinking biscuits would be great to enjoy with the copious amounts of tea I’ve been drinking lately.
So bly binne mense en bak julle harte uit.
Recipes:
Vetkoek stuffed with Chakalaka Corned Meat
Chef Lentswe Bhengu
Ingredients
(Serves 6)
Chakalaka Corned Meat Filling
3Tbs Vegetable Oi
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1⁄2 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
2 cans Bull Brand Chakalaka Corned Meat
2Tbs Barbeque Spice
2 cups chopped vegetables (use whatever you have in the fridge - celery, beans, sweet potato, carrot) OR 2 cups drained Rhodes Quality Mixed Vegetable
Salt & Pepper to taste
Method
Heat the oil, in a large frying pan over medium-high heat.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add the onion, cayenne pepper and garlic and sauté until the onion softens
Add the corned meat, breaking it up with a spoon.
Cook for 5 minutes until browned
Stir in the barbeque spice and cook for one minute.
Add chopped vegetables and peas, stirring until cooked through.
Check seasoning.
Vetkoek:
Ingredients
1 kg flour, plus extra for dusting
120g sugar
1 10g Sachet Instant Yeast
2Tbs Oil
1Tbs Salt
1l warm water, keep 1 cup extra (if dough is too stiff)
Vegetable oil, for deep frying
Method
Mix the flour, sugar, yeast, oil, salt and warm water.
Add extra water only if necessary. Knead thoroughly, then allow to prove for 30minutes until double in original size (this will take longer on a cold day).
Dust a tray with flour.
Scoop up handfuls of dough and roll into balls. Place the vetkoek on the tray and allow to rise until doubled in size.
Heat the oil in a deep saucepan.
Deep fry a few vetkoek at a time (do not a lot of balls at the same time)
Keep turning the balls after every 2 minutes.
Check the vetkoek after 10 minutes – they should have risen to the top of the oil.
Drain on kitchen paper until ready to serve.
Vetkoek stuffed with Chakalaka Corned Meat
Boerewors and Mash with Chakalaka
Rhodes
Ingredients
:
1 x 410 g can Rhodes Quality Chakalaka Hot & Spicy
500 g boerewors
30 ml (1 T) sunflower oil
1 large onion, sliced
Mashed Potato
1 kg potatoes
125 ml (½ C) milk
45 ml (3 T) butter
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Method
Peel the potatoes and chop into quarters.
Place the potatoes in a large saucepan of salty water and bring to the boil.
Cook over medium heat until the potatoes are soft and can be poked through with a knife without resistance.
Drain in a colander.
In the same saucepan, place the milk and the butter and bring to the heat.
Return the drained potatoes to the saucepan, and over a low heat, mash with a potato masher, incorporating the milk and melted butter until the mash is smooth and creamy.
Season the potato mash to taste with the salt and pepper and set aside.
Fry or grill the boerewors until cooked and browned on both sides.
Remove from the pan and set aside.
Drain excess fat from the pan.
Heat the oil in the same pan and fry 1 large sliced onion until softened.
Add the Rhodes Quality Chakalaka Hot & Spicy and bring to the boil.
Cut the boerewors into smaller pieces and add to the chakalaka mix.
Heat through and serve hot over the mashed potato.
SOUL FOOD: Boerewors on mash topped with chakalaka
Strawberry Jam & Butter Cookies
Rhodes
Ingredients
Biscuit Dough
400 g butter, softened
150 g caster sugar
50 g icing sugar
300 g cake flour
2.5 ml (½ t) salt
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 egg yolk
To assemble: Rhodes Strawberry Jam, icing sugar
Method
Using the K-beater attachment (the flat attachment) and an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugars together until pale and creamy.
Sift the flour and salt and add to the bowl.
Add the lemon zest and the egg yolk.
Continue beating until the mixture comes together to form a firm dough.
Work the dough into a ball by hand.
Divide the dough in two, flatten each ball and wrap it in cling wrap before refrigerating the dough for 30 minutes.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place between two sheets of baking paper.
Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out evenly.
Using a heart shaped cookie cutter, cut the dough into hearts and place on a baking tray.
Cut out a small circle in the center of half of the heart cookies.
Bake the cookies in an oven which has been preheated to 180˚C for 12 -15 minutes or until the cookies are lightly golden.
Cool.
To assemble, place a blob of Rhodes Strawberry Jam on one full heart cookie and use it to sandwich a second heart cookie with a cut-out on top.
Dust with icing sugar.
Strawberry Jam & Butter Cookies
Jam Doughnuts
Rhodes
Ingredients
400 g cake flour
5 ml (1 t) salt
5 ml (1 t) sugar
1 x 10 g packet instant yeast
160 ml (⅔ C) milk
45 ml (3 T) water
65 ml (¼ C) butter
1 egg
sunflower oil for frying
castor sugar for dusting
125 ml (½ C) Rhodes Strawberry Jam
Method
Sift the flour, salt and sugar into a large bowl, and sprinkle over the yeast.
Heat the milk and water and add the butter.
Stir until melted then remove from the heat and allow to cool until tepid. Whisk in the egg.
Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and work into a firm dough.
Knead the dough until smooth and elastic.
Cover the dough with a damp cloth and place in a warm spot to rise until it has doubled in size.
Roll the dough out on a floured surface about 2 cm thick and cut into rounds using a large cookie cutter.
Arrange on an oiled tray, cover and set aside in a warm spot to rise until doubled in size.
Half-fill a medium saucepan with oil, heat to 190 °C (medium-high heat) and fry the doughnuts on both sides until they are golden and cooked through.
Drain the doughnuts on paper towels to remove excess oil, toss them in castor sugar and set aside to cool.
Then make a small slit in the top of the doughnut, press your finger into the slit to create a cavity and fill that with Rhodes Strawberry Jam and serve.
Swiss Roll with Jam
Ingredients
6 large eggs
250 ml (1 C) castor sugar
250 ml (1 C) cake flour
5 ml (1 t) baking powder
15 ml (1 T) boiling water
125 ml (½ C) castor sugar
125 ml (½ C) Rhodes Mixed Fruit Jam or Rhodes Strawberry Jam
250 ml (1 C) cream, stiffly beaten
Method
Beat the eggs and 250 ml castor sugar until the mixture is thick, creamy and leaves a trail.
Sift the flour and baking powder together and gently fold into the eggs.
Fold in the boiling water.
Pour the batter onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake in the oven preheated to 180 °C for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and turn out onto a second sheet of baking paper dusted with the 125 ml castor sugar.
Remove the top sheet of baking paper and allow to cool.
Spread a layer of Rhodes Mixed Fruit Jam or Rhodes Strawberry Jam over the cake, followed by a layer of cream.
Roll up lengthways.