Johannesburg - Food editor, Jenny Kay, also known as Angela Day, will be appearing at The Slow Food stand at the Good Food & Wine Show on FridayJuly 24 at 1.30pm and Saturday at 3.30pm.
Here, she tests recipes from four of the international chefs who will be appearing at the show. which runs from July 23 to 26 (www.goodfoodandwineshow.co.za/show/gauteng/)
Brent Owens
Season six MasterChef Australia winner Brent Owens never expected to win this prestigious competition, and even had an agreement with fellow contestant Emelia Jackson that if either of them won, they would give the other a A$50 000 (R458 000) share of their winnings, which he did.
From being a bobcat driver,the life of this down-to-earth and unassuming cook has changed dramatically, and he is now living his dream.
His recently published cookbook Dig In reflects his accessible style of cooking traditional recipes with his own twist.
I prepared these healthy and moreish lettuce cups from that book.
VIETNAMESE LETTUCE CUPS
Serves 6
1 packet baby cos lettuce
150g chicken mince
150g pork mince
2cm piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1 garlic clove, grated
1 bunch of spring onions, chopped
60ml fish sauce
salt and pepper
30ml peanut oil
60ml roasted, unsalted peanuts
100g vermicelli noodles
2 large rice-paper wrappers,deep-fried
100g enoki mushrooms
100g bean sprouts
1 small Lebanese cucumber,cut into batons
60ml mint
60ml chopped fresh coriander
2 red chillies, thinly sliced
1 lime, cut in wedges
Peel individual leaves off the lettuce, trying not to tear them. Rinse thoroughly to remove any grit.
In a large bowl, combine the chicken and pork mince, ginger, garlic, spring onion and fish sauce.
Season with salt and pepper, then combine thoroughly with clean hands.
Heat a wok to the highest heat. When smoking, add halfthe peanut oil and fry half the mince until crumbly and golden brown.
Remove and set aside. Repeat with the remaining oil and mince.
Reduce the heat to medium, add the peanuts to the wok and fry until lightly coloured, 1-2 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the noodles in a bowl and cover with boiling water. After 2 minutes, or whenthe noodles are tender, drain well.
In a frying pan over high heat, deep-fry the rice paper wrappers, one at a time, until puffed up and crisp.
Once cooked, break them up.
Fry the enoki mushrooms in a bit of butter.
Fill the lettuce cups with the wrapper pieces, mince, noodles, sprouts, cucumber, peanuts, mushrooms, fresh herbs and chilli.
Squeeze over some lime and enjoy.
Tom Parker Bowles
Tom Parker Bowles may be theonly son of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, but he has made a name for himself in the food industry asa much loved TV personality, food critic and author.
Parker Bowles aims his recipes at the home cook, making them easy and accessible.
From his latest cookbook, Let’s Eat Meat, which advocates eating less but better quality meat, I tried the delicious Chicken Lahori recipe.
CHICKEN LAHORI
Serves 4
30ml oil
4 green cardamom pods
5ml cumin seeds
2 bay leaves
3 onions, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
2cm piece of ginger, grated
5ml chilli powder
15ml ground coriander
5ml turmeric
1 green chilli, chopped
6 tomatoes, skinned, chopped
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
30ml natural yoghurt
250ml chicken stock
pinch of salt
125ml chopped fresh coriander
5ml garam masala
Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the whole spices and bay leaves until they crackle and pop.
Add the onions and cookfor 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Then add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute.
Add the chilli powder, ground coriander, turmeric, green chilli and tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes.
Add the chicken, yoghurt, stock and salt.
Simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
Stir in the coriander and garam masala.
Serve with basmati rice.
John Torode
UK Celebrity Masterchef judge John Torode has become a familiar face on our TV screens as he and co-judge Gregg Wallace take contestants through their weekly challenges.
Torode has written many best-selling cookbooks, and this recipe comes from his latest book, My Kind of Food
HOT BACON AND GRUYÈRE BREAKFAST BREAD
10g sachet of instant yeast
15ml milk
5ml olive oil
350ml warm water
a sprinkle of sugar
500g flour
10ml salt
80g butter, cubed
250g bacon bits, fried until crisp
200g Gruyère cheese, cubed
100g mozzarella cheese, grated
2 handfuls of fresh herbs, such as basil, chives, parsley and sage
75g butter, melted
250ml grated Parmesan cheese
Mix the yeast with the milk, oil, 60ml of the water and sugar. Leave in a warm place untilit starts to bubble.
Put the flour and salt into a mixing bowl.
Add the bubbling yeast mixture and enough of the warm water to make a dough that is soft but not sticky.
With the mixer running, add the butter cubes a few at a time, mixing well until incorporated.
Cover the dough and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size.
Take the dough out of the bowl and knock it back. Roll into a log about 30cm longand then divide the log into 12 portions. Roll each pieceinto a flattened disc.
Fill the centre with the bacon, cheeses and herbs and fold the dough up to enclose the filling.
Dip each ball into the melted butter, then roll in the grated Parmesan.
Pack the balls into a deep 28cm ring tin. Cover loosely with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to bake, remove the tin from the fridge and bring to room temperature.
Pre-heat the oven to 200°C. Put the tin in the oven, turn the temperature down to 180ºC and bake for 40-50 minutes until golden brown and crisp.
Remove from the oven.
Turn out the rolls and enjoy while still warm.
Adriano Zumbo
Australian pastry chef Adriano Zumbo’s moment of fame came when he was asked to create dessert challenges for MasterChef Australia. His macaroon tower and croquembouche creation set contestants shaking in their boots, and since then, Zumbo has become a household name. His latest book, The Zumbo Files, is not for the faint-hearted and the recipes are mostly aimed at experienced pastry chefs. I prepared one of the easier recipes.
MOROCCAN CHICKEN SAUSAGE ROLLS
Makes 24
500g puff pastry
flour, for dusting
1 egg, lightly beaten
125ml ground almonds
125ml flaked almonds
20ml chermoula spice
FILLING
500g chicken mince
125ml ground almonds
75g Parmesan, grated
1 onion, finely chopped
2cm piece of ginger, grated
20ml chermoula spice
5ml ground cinnamon
5ml salt
2ml pepper
125ml macadamia or olive oil
125ml couscous
4 mushrooms, diced
80ml raisins, roughly chopped
Preheat oven to 180°C. Linea tray with baking paper and set aside.
Remove the puff pastry from the fridge and roll out on a floured work surface into a large rectangle 2-3mm thick.
Cut the pastry in half lengthways.
Put the filling in a piping bag and cut off the tip, 4cm in diameter.
Pipe the filling lengthways on the pastry.
Brush one side of the pastry with egg and roll the pastry over the piped mixture to form a sausage.
Press down to seal. Repeat with the remaining pastry and filling.
Cut the logs into 12cm sausage rolls. Brush the sausage rolls with egg wash.
Combine the ground almonds, flaked almonds and chermoula spice for the topping.
Dip each sausage roll upside down into the topping mixture.
Place topping side up on the prepared baking tray.
Bake for 20-30 minutes, until golden brown.
FILLING: Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix together to combine.Do not over mix.
* The Angela Day cookery column is published in The Star, the Cape Argus, the Daily News and the Pretoria News.