Friends. Food. Flavour. is the culmination of a long journey. Michael
and Roelien Immelman, a very talented illustrative designer agreed to
go in a partnership on Friends. Food. Flavour., and including the recipes
of friends, the book was born. The dishes are eclectic with Roelien’s
superb illustrations and Mike Robinson’s sensitive photography.
INDEX
Dalewood Wineland Wild Mushroom Brie
Christine Capendale’s Beef Fillet
Nicky Barber’s Peppermint Crisp Ice-cream Parfait
Niël’s Pumpkin Puffs
Niël Stemmet* and I have known each other for 30 years. He is so talented in terms of design, décor, hospitality and cooking. He uses Afrikaans as his medium, in an interestingly quirky way.
Niël says: ‘My loved cook Emily made these puffs, which we served mainly with main courses, at Le Must Restaurant in Upington. Guests came from far and wide to eat these puffs. And, as they stand, they become more chewy and nicer. So, you can make them a little before the meal. You can also enjoy the puffs with custard or Greek-style yoghurt, then you can call them pudding.’
* Sadly, Niël died of COVID-19 just after sending me this recipe. A huge loss of a unique person.
SERVES 4 – 6 as a side dish
PAIR WITH Pudding wine, a White Jerepigo perhaps? Well chilled …
750 g cooked and mashed pumpkin
2 free-range eggs
5 ml sea salt
500 ml self-raising flour
15 ml baking powder
500 ml sunflower oil
SYRUP
500 ml sugar
250 ml water
125 ml fresh cream or milk
30 ml butter
A pinch of sea salt and a knife point of white pepper
2.5 ml ground cinnamon
2.5 ml ground ginger
10 ml cornflour
Beat together the pumpkin, eggs and salt until creamy. Sift the flour and baking powder three times, then stir it well into the pumpkin mixture to form a soft dough. Heat the oil in a heavybottomed saucepan until it is at medium heat. Drop spoonfuls of the dough into the oil. Do small batches at a time as it makes it easier to turn over the puffs. When golden, remove from the oil and place onto kitchen paper to absorb as much oil as possible, and keep warm.
Now prepare the syrup. Bring all the ingredients, except the cornflour, to the boil in a saucepan. Mix the cornflour with a little water to make a thin paste that looks like buttermilk. Stir this into the syrup mixture and cook for a short while to cook the cornflour and thicken the sauce. Pour the warm syrup over the puffs and serve.
Niël says: ‘Geniet die ou-se-dae se lekkerte.’ (Enjoy the deliciousness of the olden days.)
Chicken Liver Toasts
Tuscan Style
“I made these once at the African Relish cookery school in the Karoo town of Prince Albert for a course that I led there. It was at a time when I was very influenced by Anna Del Conte’s food. Still am. The students loved it. It’s a bit of a heritage dish for me as my mother cooked lamb’s liver with onions and vinegar for lunch every Saturday.”
Serves: 4
Pair with: Nothing quite like a glass of chilled Lambrusco here
400 g chicken livers, cleaned
60 ml sunflower, rice bran or canola oil
½ stick celery, very finely chopped
1 small onion, very finely chopped
2 fat cloves garlic, very finely chopped
45 ml finely chopped fresh parsley, plus extra for garnishing
15 ml tomato paste
90 ml dry white wine
Sea salt and freshly milled black pepper
4 anchovy fillets, chopped
30 ml butter
15 ml capers, rinsed well and chopped
Extra virgin olive oil for the bread
4 slices (not too thick) artisanal bread
Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
Make sure the livers are well cleaned and then cut them into small squares.
Heat the oil in a sauté pan over low heat and add the celery, onion, garlic and parsley. Sauté for about 8 minutes until soft.
Add the chicken livers and cook them gently until nearly done. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for a minute or so. Pour in the wine, and season with the sea salt and plenty of freshly milled black pepper. Turn up the heat, add the anchovy fillets and simmer gently for 5–8 minutes. Finally, add the butter and capers and swirl the pan to mix well.
In the meantime, brush some olive oil onto the slices of bread. Place on a baking tray and bake them in the oven until crunchy.
Dish the livers onto the toasted bread and garnish with some extra chopped parsley.
Dalewood Wineland Wild Mushroom Brie
topped with Panko, Enoki Mushrooms, Thyme and Lemon Pagrattato
Petrina and Rob Visser make some sublime cheeses at Dalewood Fromage, where their Jersey herd feeds on grass pastures. Their renowned cheeses regularly win awards in local and international competitions.
SERVES 2 as a main course or 4 as a post-dinner cheese
PAIR WITH A delicate red, Grenache Noir or Pinot Noir
Extra virgin olive oil
60 ml panko (Japanese rusk crumbs) or plain breadcrumbs
Sea salt and freshly milled black pepper
1 small handful enoki or shimeji mushrooms
250 g triangle Dalewood Fromage Wineland Wild Mushroom Brie (a plain Brie is also fine to use), at room temperature
Grated rind of 1 lemon
A few sprigs fresh thyme, picked
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Make sure the shelf is in the middle of the oven. Pour a little slick of olive oil into a cheese baker or suitable small baking dish, and use a pastry brush to coat the inside.
Brown the crumbs in a small non-stick frying pan, season with salt and pepper and spread out to cool.
Fry the mushrooms in a little olive oil in a separate non-stick frying pan, then season with salt and pepper.
Place the cheese into the prepared dish and brush with a little olive oil. Place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 12 minutes. The cheese should be bubbling when it comes out of the oven.
Mix together the crumbs, mushrooms, lemon rind and thyme leaves. Sprinkle generously over the baked cheese and serve with chunks of baguette.
"This nachos recipe by Christine Capendale is one she sent me to use on my website. The dish is so utterly delicious and a huge treat that I could not leave it out. It takes about 15 minutes to prepare and even though it uses several convenience products, it is still quite a healthy meal. This is the perfect stay-at-home Friday dinner."
Serves: 4
Pair with: Have to have a Mexican beer here, Corona is perfect
30 ml extra virgin olive oil
4 chicken breast fillets, cut into strips
Sea salt and freshly milled black pepper
1 red onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
150 g cherry tomatoes, halved
80 g sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
½ tin (200 g) whole kernel corn, drained
350 g plain nachos
160 ml mild tomato salsa or Peppadew salsa
250 ml grated Cheddar cheese (or use half Cheddar and half mozzarella)
2 avocados, peeled and sliced
15 ml lime juice
120 ml sour cream
60 ml thinly sliced jalapeño chillies (optional)
Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the chicken strips until done and golden brown. Season with salt and freshly milled black pepper and remove from the pan.
Add the onion and garlic to the same pan and cook until soft and starting to caramelise. Season with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.
Add the chicken to the onion mixture along with the cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes and corn.
Divide the nachos between four ovenproof serving bowls (or one large dish) and spoon the chicken mixture over the nachos. Spoon over the salsa and top with the grated cheese.
Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes until the cheese has melted and is golden brown.
Season the avocados with salt and pepper and drizzle over the lime juice.
Serve the nachos immediately with the sour cream, avocados and jalapeño chillies (if using) on the side or piled on top.
Christine Capendale’s Beef Fillet
with Burrata and a Caper Sauce
Christine Capendale is a truly busy cook and food writer. Her latest book, Meals, was published in 2019. An internet friend, I often use her recipes as recommendations to partner my wine reviews.
Christine says, ‘This dish looks sumptuous served on a large platter for everybody to help themselves. Serve it accompanied with crispy potato wedges. If you cannot find burrata, use any other fresh, soft mozzarella cheese, such as fior di latte, bocconcini or nodini.’
SERVES 4
PAIR WITH Ah! A brilliant Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon
40 ml extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly milled black pepper
1 kg beef fillet
1 large onion, sliced
30 ml capers, drained and rinsed, lightly chopped
50 ml lemon juice
5 ml honey
300 g mixed exotic baby tomatoes (yellow, red and green varieties)
15 ml chopped chives
250 g burrata
80 ml crispy onions
Fresh basil and rocket for garnishing
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Mix 15 ml of the olive oil with sea salt and milled black pepper and rub into the beef fillet.
Heat a griddle pan over medium heat and grill the fillet, turning, for about 6 minutes until browned on all sides. Transfer the fillet to a roasting pan and roast for 10–15 minutes in the preheated oven until cooked to your liking. Rest the meat for 10 minutes before cutting it into thick slices. Drizzle with the pan juices.
While the fillet is roasting, heat another 20 ml olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add the onion and capers. Cook until the onion is soft and the capers become crispy. Add the lemon juice and honey and reduce the sauce. Season with sea salt and milled black pepper.
Halve and quarter the baby tomatoes and mix them with the remaining 5 ml olive oil and the chives. Season with sea salt and milled black pepper.
To serve, place the meat on a large serving platter and drizzle with the caper sauce. Add the tomatoes to the platter and top with the burrata and crispy onions. Garnish with fresh basil and rocket.
Nicky Barber’s Peppermint Crisp Ice-cream Parfait
I have known Nicky Barber for some time, and she’s an exciting, innovative young woman. Her website – mydeliciousmonster.com – is well worth a visit.
Nicky says: ‘I made my first peppermint crisp tart when I was around eight or nine years old, after being inspired by a school friend during a week of English orals where we could choose any topic and discuss it in front of our class. Cooking demonstrations were allowed, so the no-bake option of a peppermint crisp tart was a good one. So were my devilled eggs – proof that I’d spent far too much time poring over my mom’s dinner party recipe books from the eighties and planning my future entertaining endeavours. I opted to use store-bought ice cream as I really didn’t feel like making my own, and then the pièce de résistance is the Chocmint Ice Cap, which is super pedestrian but an absolute must!’
SERVES 8 – 10
PAIR WITH A Peppermint Liqueur
2 litres vanilla ice cream
1 packet (200 g) tennis biscuits, crushed (set aside half for the biscuit base)
1 large slab (150 g) Peppermint Crisp, half crushed and half roughly chopped (set aside the roughly chopped portion for decorating)
1 quantity Salted Caramel, see below (set aside half to make sure you have enough to add a few teaspoons to the biscuit base mix and for decorating)
Melted butter
Chocmint Ice Cap
SALTED CARAMEL
250 ml white sugar
60 ml water
30 ml butter
180 ml fresh cream
Maldon sea salt flakes
Start by making the salted caramel. Put the sugar and water in a medium-sized saucepan over medium to low heat and don’t stir! You need to allow it to melt completely and begin bubbling until it begins transforming from a clear to amber liquid. When it starts changing, feel free to gently swirl the pan – this will help evenly caramelise the sugar.
Take it off the heat, add the butter and whisk. Once the butter has melted, add the cream and whisk to emulsify everything. Be careful not to burn yourself because when you add the butter and cream the mixture can spit and bubble up. Just keep whisking!
Place the saucepan back on the heat, continuing to whisk for about 1 minute.
Remove from the heat again and add a pinch of Maldon sea salt flakes.
Pour into a heatproof bowl, cover and leave to cool completely. You can place it in the refrigerator to speed things up, but it will become very thick, so you’ll need to give it a good mix to loosen it up again before assembling the tart.
To begin assembling the tart, make sure you’ve lined the long side of a loaf tin with baking paper, allowing a few centimetres of overhang so you can loosen it from the tin before tipping it out onto your serving plate or board. You don’t have to do this, but I feel like it’s an extra step that might make your life easier when it comes to unmoulding the parfait.
Take the ice cream out of the freezer to soften while you begin with the first layer, which is a dusting of crushed tennis biscuits and peppermint crisp.
Add a layer of ice cream. It doesn’t have to be an exact amount, just make sure it’s enough to cover the base of the tin once you’ve smoothed it out with the back of a spoon.
Add another layer of tennis biscuits and peppermint crisp, as well as a generous drizzle of salted caramel. Again, not an exact amount – you do you.
At this point, depending on what ice cream you’re using and how hot the weather is, you might need to pop the loaf tin back in the freezer for 15–20 minutes to firm up again.
Continue with another layer of ice cream and repeat until you’ve either finished the ice cream or almost reached the rim of the loaf tin.
To make the biscuit base, you’ll need to combine enough melted butter with the reserved tennis biscuits to moisten them. Add a few teaspoons of salted caramel to the mixture, mix well to combine and then layer on top of the ice cream. Make sure to pack it firmly so you create a sturdy base for the parfait.
Place the loaf tin in the freezer for at least a few hours to firm up completely, or better yet, overnight.
To unmould the parfait, place the tin in a shallow bath of room temperature water for a few seconds so it comes away from the tin easily. You can check if it’s ready by using the wings of the baking paper to gently lift it up without removing it completely. Carefully flip it out onto your serving plate or board, remove the tin and carefully peel away the strip of baking paper. You may want to place the parfait back in the freezer at this point to firm up again until you’re ready to decorate.
Decorate the parfait with a dusting of any leftover crushed tennis biscuits and peppermint crisp if you wish, drizzle with reserved salted caramel and scatter over the roughly chopped peppermint crisp. Finish it off with a generous drizzle of Ice Cap and place back in the freezer until ready to slice and serve.
Extracted from Friends. Food. Flavour. by Michael Olivier, out now.
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