Angela Day
Many will know Kenny Maistry for his wonderful voice on the 702 Solid Gold weekend morning shows.
I invited Kenny to visit the Angela Day Kitchen where I helped him prepare a perfect menu for a romantic meal.
Kenny and his wife, Nikki, try to follow a Banting lifestyle so I kept this in mind and planned a mostly low-carb menu.
The one compromise we made was preparing the tomato tarts with ready-made puff pastry and Kenny felt that for a special occasion it was worth bending the rules.
MENU
Tomato and Goat’s Cheese tarts
Refreshing Basil and Raspberry Sorbet
Rib-Eye Steak with Creamed Spinach and Sweet Potato Rosti
Flourless Chocolate Cake with Berries
TOMATO TARTS
Serves 2
200g ready-made puff pastry
30ml basil pesto (buy ready-made for convenience)
125g cherry tomatoes, halved
30ml fresh basil, chopped
Salt, freshly ground black pepper and sugar
30ml olive oil
60ml feta or other goat’s cheese, crumbled
1 extra-large egg, beaten, for glaze
Cut two 12.5cm squares from the pastry, to form the bases. Reserve the remaining pastry for later use. Using a sharp knife, lightly score a 10.5cm square within the 12.5cm square, ensuring you do not cut all the way through pastry, to form a 2cm “frame”.
Place on baking sheet.
Spread the inside square with 10ml pesto and pile tomatoes on top.
Sprinkle with chopped basil, salt, pepper and a little sugar.
Drizzle with olive oil. Brush pastry with egg glaze and bake at 200degC for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove when pastry is golden brown. Serve immediately.
RASPBERRY AND BASIL SORBET
250ml water
160ml xylitol or castor sugar
a handful of basil leaves
375g raspberries
In a pot, combine the water, xylitol and basil. Heat on low until xylitol dissolves. Turn up the heat and simmer for five minutes. Remove and cool completely. Strain to remove the basil.
Once cooled, combine the syrup and raspberries in a food processor and blend until the mixture is very smooth. Strain the raspberry mixture through a fine mesh sieve. Place in an ice-cream machine and churn until thick, then place in the freezer. Or freeze overnight in an air-tight container.
GRILLED STEAK WITH CREAMED SPINACH AND SWEET POTATO ROSTI
Serves 2
2 rib-eye steaks
30ml olive oil
15ml spice rub
salt and pepper
30ml thick soy sauce
CREAMED SPINACH
60g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
5ml chopped garlic
15ml cornflour
250ml cream
200g spinach, blanched and chopped
a pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper
100g feta, crumbled
SWEET POTATO ROSTI
1 large orange sweet potato, peeled and grated
1 onion, peeled and grated
2 eggs
salt and pepper
olive oil, for frying
For the steaks, combine the oil, spice rub and salt and pepper and rub all over the steaks. Rub the soy sauce over the steaks.
Once spinach and rosti are cooked, heat a griddle pan to very hot and cook the steaks to desired doneness. Serve with creamed spinach and sweet potato rosti.
SPINACH: Melt the butter in a pot and fry the onion and garlic until soft, about five minutes. Add the cornflour and cook for another minute. Add the cream and stir until thickened. Then add the spinach and nutmeg.
Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Stir in the feta. Season with salt and pepper.
ROSTI: Place the grated sweet potato in a tea towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
Place into a bowl. Do the same with the grated onion and combine with the sweet potato. Add the eggs, salt and pepper. Heat a bit of oil in a frying pan and place spoonfuls of the mixture into the pan.
Press down gently and fry for a few minutes a side, until golden. Keep warm until required.
FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE
150g dark chocolate
150g butter
5 eggs
125ml xylitol or castor sugar
5ml vanilla extract
150g ground almonds
mixed berries to serve
whipped cream to serve
Combine the chocolate and butter in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave on low for 2-3 minutes until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
Beat the eggs and xylitol or castor sugar until thick and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture. Fold in the ground almonds. Spoon the mixture into a 20cm cake pan that has been lined and greased.
Bake at 160degC for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan.
This cake does sink slightly in the middle on cooling. Remove from the pan and pile with mixed berries and serve with whipped cream.
ANGELA DAY
* For household queries, recipes and tips, call The Angela Day Helpline at 011 836 7181 from 8.30am to 12.30pm weekdays, or e-mail Janice at [email protected].
* See www.angeladay.co.za.
* Follow us on Twitter @verveangeladay
Saturday Star