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Milk Tart .. My favorite recipe (Melktert) A South African favorite! (Part 1)

South African Melktert (Milk Tart) This is my own creation







120 ml cornflour (maizena) can be substituted for 240 ml Cake flour. This recipe has the perfect balance.. This is my own creation. The less firm the milk tart is, the less air it will hold. You may use the first method if you have time & want to get the maximum air into your mixture / or you may use the lazy boned 2nd / last method which is the quickest method, but beat as much air into the mixture as you possibly can.



I have made this with salted butter which is my 1st choice, but you may use any hard / medium margarine with the texture of butter.



Prep Time: 30 Min



Cook Time: 25 - 30 Min



Ready In: 1 Hr 10 Min



Servings: Makes 2 very generous milk tarts, each tart yielding 8 servings





Ingredients: Pastry crust:



6 Tablespoons / 90 ml butter or use a hard margarine (May also economise by using ½ & ½)



2 Tablespoon castor sugar



180 ml Cake Flour (use your set of measuring spoons)



Generous pinch salt







Sift together flour, castor sugar & salt. Rub in butter till it forms crumbs. Knead dough to form a ball. Place each ball into centre of both 23cm diameter tart foil pie or baking dishes. Press out pastry making sure you press well to thin out around corner edges. Trim/neaten edges & Bake at 180 degrees Celcius for 8 - 10 minutes if you want a soft pastry & 10 - 12 minutes for a crispier shortbread one. Remove from oven.











Ingredients: My Filling



1, 810 ml milk



6 – 8 cinnamon sticks (Use piece stocking & elastic to enclose sticks, then bash)



360 ml cake flour



5 large eggs, separated



250 ml castor sugar (I grind up normal table sugar into castor in blender –cheaper!)



10ml baking powder



60 ml vanilla essence



Large pinch salt



75ml butter or margarine, with the hardness of butter (A hard Med Spread will do)



300ml castor sugar (I grind the usual table sugar into castor in blender –cheaper!)



10 – 15 ml sugar ground up with 1 cinnamon roll (In your coffee grinder / blender to taste)



YOU WILL NEED:



1.) 2 stainless steel bowls (If not 1 will do for the egg whites & it must be a grease free clean stainless steel bowl)



2.) I small bowl for the egg yolks



3.) 1 teacup for the vanilla essence baking powder mixture



· 2 large bowls (Microwave plastic will do fine) / 2 pots if doing it on stove.



· Sieve



· Spatula



· Set of measuring cups & spoons



· 2 pre-baked foil tart pastry cases



· Electric beater



· Small bit of stocking & elastic to form little pouch for bashed cinnamon sticks(Optional)



· Coffee grinder / blender if don’t have just use powdered cinnamon (here in South Africa it has become a too adulterated yucky stuff! So best use the real thing!)



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RE: Do you like to bake?

Hi! I find electric beaters so much easier with dough hooks attached, clean up being less. I am considering purchasing a few more just for back up. Kenwood mixers are just so expensive & then you need to create the counter space for it these days, though I would really love one! Problem with electric hand mixers is that they are not designed to handle more than 450 - 500 g flour, as in bread making which I tend to do a lot of. The other day I pushed it a bit with 900 g of flour and dough hook snapped clean off in dough! Definitely not pure metal but some kind of a combination whether it be fake or not.. Bread machines also do a fairly good job I find. I put mine on a dough cycle, when done, remove the dough hooks & let dough rise till doubled, then set it to bake. Can also bake cakes, meatloaves, some puddings & lasagnes in them too . So beware!

TRIPE AND TROTTERS in creamy onion sauce

TRIPE AND TROTTERS in creamy onion sauce________________________________________
Smothered in a delicious creamy onion sauce!! Served on a bed of mashed potatoes!!

1.750KG WOOLWORTHS CLEANED TRIPE
1.750KG PORK TROTTERS
6 MEDIUM TO LARGE ONIONS
4 CELERY STICKS, LEAVES RESERVED
2 MEDIUM TO LARGE GREEN PEPPERS
4 MEDIUM TO LARGE GARLIC CLOVES
500G (2 PUNNETS) WHITE BUTTON MUSHROOMS
LOTS OF FRESH PARSLEY
1-2 PACKETS (KNORR) WHITE ONION SOUP POWDER
250ML DOUBLE THICK WOOLWORTHS CREAM
ONION SALT

Pressure Cook Tripe with Trotters 1 Hour (1st Ring Pressure Cooker) 15 mins. Rinse, Add Clean Water. Again, Cook for Another 1-hour 15 mins. Rinse Well To Clean.

Add All above Ingredients excluding … (Green Peppers, mushrooms, fresh parsley & finely chopped celery leaves
1-2 packets Knorr white Onion soup powder onion salt & cream).

Pressure Cook another 1 & ¼ hrs, on 1st Pressure cooker Ring.

Add the Rest of the ingredients, season to taste. Lastly stir in cream. Serve on a bed of mashed potatoes.

Note: This is something we grew up with but not for the faint hearted!

My Very Best Greek Moussaka Ever !!! (Part 2)

Build your Moussaka….... Continued....

Lightly oil a baking or roasting pan (I use both bottom and top lid of my roasting pan) and sprinkle the bottom with the ½ of of your breadcrumbs. Place half of your eggplant slices on the breadcrumbs (It is ok to overlap) and spread half of your meat mixture evenly on top, followed by half your cheese. Repeat the above whole procedure again, and then carefully pour the béchamel sauce evenly over the top. Sprinkle the top with nutmeg. Bake at 350 F (180 degrees Celsius) for 30 minutes, and continue to cook for another 15-30 minutes, until golden brown.
Remove the Moussaka from the oven and allow cooling for 20-30 minutes. Moussaka is traditionally eaten warm, not hot, and can be eaten at room temperature. Like many Greek dishes, this is even better the next day. Yield: approximately 8 very generous servings.
Serving suggestions: Serve with a Greek or green salad.

My Very Best Greek Moussaka Ever !!! (Part 1)

My Very Best Greek Moussaka Ever !!! (Part 1)

No one ever said it was easy, but it is well worth the effort! (This recipe is enough to make any Foodie die and go to heaven!!)


Prep Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

5-6 medium Globe eggplants (about 5-6 pounds)
Sea salt and sugar to taste
Olive oil / Sunflower oil
4 medium onions, chopped
2 ½ pounds (1.5 kg of ground beef (I’ve used the lean beef mince (from Fruit & Vegetable City, at Fig tree on the William Moffat)
3 cups of chopped ripe tomatoes with juice (or canned tomatoes)
3 cloves of garlic, minced or more if desired!
6-8 whole cloves, generous amount of fresh origanum, and parsley
½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon or a small stick (break off around 1 inch long)
1/8 teaspoon of ground allspice
2 bay leaves
1 cup of grated kefalotyri cheese or pecorino or parmigliano reggiano) I just use 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 cup grated stale dry breadcrumbs (may add to meat mixture or layer)
3 tablespoons of tomato paste
Freshly ground pepper
6 cups basic béchamel sauce
Optional: ½ cup extra dry red or white wine (I did not use)

Prepare eggplant

Wash, cut off stems, and slice into very thin rounds. Heat butter oil mixture and stir-fry with some salt and sugar to taste… enough at a time adding more butter oil mixture until well absorbed through and cooked. Must be very tender and soft (texture of very soft cooked through mushrooms). Set aside to cool and drain if required.

Prepare Meat Sauce

Preheat the frying pan or skillet over low heat.
When the pan is hot, add 2 tablespoons of oil, and increase the heat to medium low. Sauté the onions, with a wooden spoon, until onions are translucent. Add the meat and continue to sauté until lightly browned. Add tomatoes, ½ the breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, origanum, parsley, bay leaves, allspice, wine, and tomato paste, add sugar and salt to taste only, and mix well. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until all the liquid has been absorbed, about 45 minutes to an hour. Once done stir in your lightly beaten egg whites.
Note if there is still liquid in the pan, continue to simmer uncovered, stirring to prevent sticking, until the mixture is as dry as possible. To prevent the final dish from having too much moisture, this step is crucial.
When dry, remove the cloves, bay leaves, and cinnamon stick (if used), and set sauce aside uncovered until ready to use.

Thick Béchamel Sauce (I use the whole of this up)

1-cup fresh cream
6 cups milk
270 ml Cake flour
270 ml Butter
6 egg yolks (egg whites lightly beaten up and added to meat mixture)
Salt, white pepper and a nice sprinkling of nutmeg to taste.

Heat milk in a small pot. In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the flour and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Pour in the hot milk, stirring constantly with a wire whisk to blend the mixture smoothly. To remove lumps, if any exist, place a sieve over another pan, and strain the sauce through. Return the strained sauce to the heat and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring with the whisk to prevent the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in egg yolks and 1-cup cream. Cover and set aside.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius

Build your Moussaka… Continue to part 2.........

South African Traditional Tomato Bredie .. This is the best ever! Fall on the back delicious!

Tomato Bredie
The Malay exiles and slaves brought their traditional dishes with them to the Cape. These have become a cornerstone of South African cuisine. This tomato bredie is rich and spicy and one of my favourites. Instead of the lamb, use stewing beef or chuck if you prefer beef. Serves 6-8

1.2-1.5 kg lamb neck or knuckles
60 ml (4 Tbs) oil, butter, or a mixture
30 ml (2 Tbs) flour
3 large onions, chopped
410 g tinned tomatoes, chopped (with juice) or 8 fresh medium tomatoes
250 ml (1 cup) tomato puree
3 large cloves garlic, crushed
6 cardamom pods (Optional)
Alternatively, 3 ml (1/2 tsp) ground cardamom (Optional)
10 ml (2 tsp) grated fresh ginger (I stamp to a paste)
1 ml (pinch) cayenne pepper
4 bay leaves
4 sticks cinnamon
625 ml (2 + ½ cups) beef stock (1 cube)
15 ml (1 Tbs) sugar added to taste
4 medium potatoes, each cut in 6 pieces
Adjust to taste with salt, lemon juice, 1-cloves and sugar to taste.

• Split the cardamom seeds by gently hitting them with a rolling pin or meat mallet.
• In a very hot pot, brown the meat well, a little at a time, in oil or in butter and oil mixed. Remove the meat and reserve.
• Lower the heat and sauté the onions until glassy.
• Sprinkle the flour into the pan and cook over medium heat until flour is dark brown.
• Add all the remaining ingredients except the potatoes, and bring to the boil.
• Return the meat to the pot and simmer for about 2 hours (3 hours for beef) until the meat is soft. Add the potatoes, sugar and salt to taste.
• Simmer for another 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

Chicken Chow Mein and Chop Suey ..prepared the South African Cantonese way

Chicken Chow Mein and Chop Suey
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Chicken breasts are perfect for stir-frying. Be careful not to overcook them. For this dish, Chinese noodles (Mein) are the best!

Mein
1 kg cake flour
6 jumbo eggs

• Knead well with damp hands.
• Put through pasta machine.
• Blanche handfuls of noodles in rapidly boiling water for 3-5 minutes only.
Drain, toss in just enough oil and set aside.

There are two methods for stir-frying. I have used the simplest in this recipe. For the more traditional method, see the stir-fried vegetable recipe. A Chinese wok, with its rounded bottom, is ideal for stir-frying; It allows the juices to run down, so that the vegetables remain crisp. A heavy-based frying pan may also be used. (Serves 4-6).

300 g Mien Noodles
4 filleted chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
750 g vegetables of your choice, (e.g. cabbage, onions, carrots, broccoli, cucumber, celery, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, green beans, peas, peppers) oil for stir-frying

Marinade for chicken
5 ml (1 tsp) sugar
5 ml (1 tsp) salt
15 ml (1 Tbs) sherry or brandy (I prefer brandy)
15 ml (1 Tbs) soy sauce
7 ml (1 ½ tsp)cornflour
(I find that zeal, soya, sugar and mazena are a fine blend)

Chop Suey Sauce…Your vegetable sauce (serve as a side dish).

5 ml (1 tsp) cornflour
125 ml (1/2 cup water
15 ml ( 1 Tbs) soy sauce
15 ml (1 Tbs) sherry or brandy
3 ml (1/2 tsp) chicken stock powder, or ½ cube, crumbled

• Mix the chicken with the marinade ingredients and leave to stand for 30 minutes.
• Mix all the sauce ingredients and set aside.
• Cut the vegetables into julienne strips, keeping them separately in piles on a tray.
• Stir-fry the vegetables into julienne strips, keeping them separately in piles on a tray.
• Stir-fry the vegetables in batches according to their toughness, starting with carrots, celery and onions together, then adding the broccoli, cabbage and beans before the first batch is cooked. Cucumber and bean sprouts, which need very little cooking, are added last and, almost immediately thereafter, the bamboo shoots and water chestnuts,which are already cooked. All the vegetables should have reached the same crispy texture at this point.
• Add salt to taste and remove from the wok or pan.
• Add a little more oil and quickly stir-fry the chicken, taking care not to overcook it.
• Replace vegetables and pour on the sauce.
• Simmer for 1 minute and remove from the wok or pan.
• Heat a little oil and quickly fry cooked mein (noodles).
• Toss in the chicken and vegetables.
• Serve chicken chow mein garnished with toasted sesame seeds if wish!

Hints!

• May also use beef or pork
• Use 60 g meat per serving
• Use 100 g Mien per serving

Broccoli soup with sesame cheese toasts

Broccoli soup with sesame cheese toasts
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Soup
15 ml (1 tbsp) each butter and sunflower oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 Large potatoes, cubed
About 400 g broccoli
45 ml (3 tbsp) white wine (I use extra dry)
750 ml (3 cups) chicken or vegetable stock (use 1 1/2 cubes)
Salt and milled pepper
125-250 ml (1/2-1 cup)
Cream or natural yoghurt

Toasts
4 slices ciabatta (Italian bread)
100 g ricotta cheese
100 g plain goats milk cheese
Milled pepper
Sesame seeds
Serves 4

Soup: Heat butter and oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and sauté until glossy. Add potatoes and broccoli and toss to coat. Add wine and stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Place in a blender and process until smooth. Return to saucepan, season to taste and stir in cream and yoghurt. Heat through gently.
Toasts: Preheat grill and toast bread slices on one side. Mash cheeses together, season with pepper and spread liberally on to untoasted side of bread. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and grill until seeds are golden. Serve with soup.

Cooks notes
French bread may replace ciabatta for the toasts.
Cream cheese or smooth cottage cheese may be used instead of ricotta.
If you don’t like goat’s milk cheese, use feta instead.
Use your chicken carcases for making chicken stock.
Just plain Cheddar cheese will also do
Sesame seeds are optional.

RE: Do members have to BE great cooks?

I think anything that tastes good will be great collection on this forum "To serve to the Queen" .. I'm sure she would love our plain but tasty home cooked food too! A very good example would be "plain old Irish Stew or even a lovely Lancashire hotpot" on a cold Winters eve. .. Yum! Now what could be better than that!

Greek Cottage Pie

Greek Cottage Pie
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A Savoury mince, centred in a bed of mashed potatoes. Serve warm with a tomato and onion salad.

750g potatoes, peeled
100ml cream or milk
1 egg yolk
Pinch finely ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
250g minced lean topside beef
25ml oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, stamped
5ml salt
Pinch pepper
10ml tomato paste
Pinch sweet basil or rosemary
100ml meat extract or wine
50g (125ml) grated cheddar cheese

Boil potatoes till soft and mash. Add cream, egg yolk, nutmeg, salt and pepper and beat well. Set oven 200%C (400%F). Fry mince in oil till dry. Add onions and garlic and fry till soft. Add salt and pepper, tomato paste, herbs, meat stock, mix and cook a while. Layer ½ mash in greased oven dish. Spread over mince mixture and then spread over other ½ of mash. Sprinkle over cheese. Bake 20-30 mins
• Serves 4 portions

Best Marinated Mushroom Salad!!

Best Marinated Mushroom Salad!!

400 g (1 lb) small button mushrooms
1 clove garlic
¼ tsp salt
75 ml (2 fl oz) wine vinegar
Pepper to taste
1 small onion, very finely chopped or minced
1 tbsp chopped parsley

(Serves 4 -5 as an hors d’oeuvre)

1. Wash, peel if necessary, and dry the mushrooms. If they are small, leave them whole, but if they are large, you may prefer to slice them
• Dry them out on a tray in the oven before using. Also to partially cook them (This is the secret).

2. In a china or glass bowl crush the garlic clove with the salt. Slowly whisk in the oil, then the vinegar. Continue whisking until it turns a nice yellow colour. Then mix in the pepper, onion and parsley, and lastly the mushrooms. Stir the mushrooms around to coat them evenly.

3. Leave them, covered, to marinate for at least 1 hour, longer for larger mushrooms. Stir them now and then.

Note: The mushrooms can be kept for several days if kept tightly covered in a refrigerator, so they can be prepared well in advance.

• Serve: Sprinkled with finely chopped chives/spring onion (green part only) and finely crumbled black peppered Feta cheese.

BAKED POTATO SALAD IN A CREAMY GARLIC SAUCE…VERY NICE!!

BAKED POTATO SALAD IN A CREAMY GARLIC SAUCE…VERY NICE!!

Garlic
Salt to taste
Potatoes
250 ml fresh cream
Few pats butter
Chopped chives or parsley

• Crush garlic together with salt in an ovenproof dish.
• Slice rings of potatoes into bowl.
• Pour over the cream and toss to mix.
• Add a pat of butter and bake 180%C.
• Toss every now an then till done
• Garnish with chopped chives or parsley
• Serve warm!
• If desired, can add a squeeze lemon juice
• Marries well with mushroom salad at a barbeque!

cookies

hey people i like cookie and anything with food i want to learn how to make cake crab loogons

RE: mad dog!

I have a 6 year old lab as well. She was constantly pulling on her lead and she was 80 pounds. I went to the local pet store and got her a halti, and it has stopped her dragging me with her

Here is some information on haltis.


Not sure how to help on the eating everything though

hope this helps

Soup?

Does anyone know any good soup recipes. I'm going to stay with my best friend for a week and she is sick. :( I decided I was going to cook for her. I figured soup would be a good choice. Of course, if anyone else has any suggestions feel free to say so.

Does anyone know any good soup recipes?

How to write a Sonnet

How to write a sonnet.

The Sonnet made simple...

The traditional English - sometimes referred to as Shakespearian - style sonnet normally consists of 14 lines broken down in to 3 quatrains and a closing rhyming couplet. It is OK to write the 3 quatrains as a 12 line stanza if the writer prefers - the entire sonnet can be written as one 14 line stanza if the writer prefers.

The rhyming pattern is thus whichever way you choose to construct the sonnet: Rhyme lines 1 & 3 - 2 & 4 - 5 & 7 - 6 & 8 - 9 & 11 - and 10 & 12. The final two lines should be a rhyming couplet.

OK. Ideally prosodic rhythm (prosody) should be used throughout in the form of iambic pentameter, which is ten syllables in each line or 5 metric feet. One metric foot = 2 syllables which should be an unstressed (short syllable) followed by a stressed (long syllable) so that it sounds like this:

di daa - di daa - di daa - di daa - di daa.

That is a line of iambic pentameter using prosodic rhythm. After the first couple of attempts, the rhythm becomes easier and more natural until you find that you can get the syllable count right without having to count them.

William Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, this is his sonnet No. 103 which is a perfect example:

Sonnet 103

Alack, what poverty my Muse brings forth,
That having such a scope to show her pride,
The argument all bare is of more worth
Than when it hath my added praise beside!

O, blame me not, if I no more can write!
Look in your glass, and there appears a face
That over-goes my blunt invention quite,
Dulling my lines and doing me disgrace.

Were it not sinful then, striving to mend,
To mar the subject that before was well?
For to no other pass my verses tend
Than of your graces and your gifts to tell.

And more, much more, than in my verse can sit
Your own glass shows you when you look in it.


I hope this helps anyone who is considering writing a sonnet. It even shows that England's greatest writer was sometimes deserted by his Muse... :-)

Many thanks to Fellsman for putting this guide together.

prosody (pronounced /'pr?s?di/ pross-?-dee) is the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech. Prosody may reflect various features of the speaker or the utterance: the emotional state of the speaker; the form of the utterance (statement, question, or command); the presence of irony or sarcasm; emphasis, contrast, and focus; or other elements of language that may not be encoded by grammar or choice of vocabulary.