Milk tart

Today is milk tart or melktert day in South Africa and the simple fact that my country can recognise a dish with a day in the calendar, is merit enough for me to make one and to celebrate.
First you have to make the base, which is basically a shortbread base. Beat an egg, 125g of softened butter, a quarter cup of oil and three quarter cup of sugar until it is light and fluffy. To this mixture, add a teaspoon of vanilla essence, a cup of flower and a level teaspoon of baking powder. Press this mixture into a 20cm X 20cm oven proof dish, making sure that there are no holes in the base.
For the filling, bring one liter of milk to the boil and then allow to cool. Meanwhile, beat 10 eggs and 250ml of sugar until light and fluffy, Add the milk as well as cinnamon to taste. Carefully pour this mixture into the prepared baking dish, taking care to not pour into one spot, thereby making a hole in the base.
Bake in a medium oven until set.
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Chocolate cake

This is perhaps one of the simplest chocolate cake recipes that I've ever made, one introduced into my family many years ago by my brother-in-law, Dennis. And if the idea was to win my sister over, her accomplished it with great aplomb. The cake is rich and moist and light, all at the same time.
Make a cup of instant coffee and mix it with half a cup of cocoa powder and allow to cool.
In a bowl, mix one and a half cups of sugar with one and three quarter cups of flour as well as three teaspoons of baking powder and a quarter teaspoon of salt. Make a hole in the middle and add four egg yolks (egg whites in a separate bowl to be beaten until stiff). Also add in a cup of oil, a teaspoon of vanilla essence and the coffee/cocoa mixture.
Using a spatula, mix everything together. Last, fold in the stiff egg whites. Grease a baking tin with detachable base with butter and add some flour to it, moving it around until the flour covers all the butter. Now pour the cake mixture into the baking tin and bake on a medium, pre-heated oven until an inserted knife comes out clean (about 25 minutes).
For the frosting, I use about 70g of soft butter which I beat with a cake mixture and then start adding icing sugar until the mixture becomes smooth and homogeneous. Food colouring or a few tablespoons of cocoa can also be added.
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Outdoor cooking - Part 4

To conclude this series of posts on cooking over coals, I have most definitely saved the best for last. The asado in its traditional form is a style of cooking that takes slow cooking and technique to the next level. This style of roasting meet was originally done by gauchos on the farms or estancias. The meat is racked on a metal frame or cross, tied down and the cross is then stuck in the ground. The fire is then made upwind from the meat so that the heat suggests onto the meat, thereby cooking it. The secret to this technique is to make sure that the heat source is always flaming and not merely hot (which will only have the effect of "boiling" the meat as opposed to roasting it). A very characteristic trait of this style being effected correctly is that the fat drains out of the meat.
Traditional things to cook on the cross-style is an entire lamb or, if beef is preferred, the entire rib section, where the bones have been cut apart but the meat left intact. The bone always faces the heat for most of the cooking process, absorbing the heat and regulating it. The meat is rarely moved or regulated, as this is done at the start. The meat may be hydrated with salt water for moisture and flavour.
The final product is a truly amazing eating experience and comes highly recommended.
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Outdoor cooking - Part 3

Contrary to popular belief, a good asado isn't only about the excellent meat. It is also about the other bits and pieces that are placed on the parrilla to accompany the meat.
Veggies done on the parrilla have a very unique taste and work well with the meat and chicken that is being cooked. Whole red peppers are slow roasted until the flesh is soft. Thereafter, the skin is peeled off, the pips removed and the peppers cut up into finger slices, a clove of crushed garlic is added and it is drizzled with olive oil. Slices of butternut is wrapped in aluminium paper with a sliver of butter, some salt and a few sprigs of rosemary. Mushrooms are placed in aluminium paper with butter and garlic and make a great starter.
A South African favourite (that I have been introducing my Argentine friends to) is garlic bread. Take a french loaf, slice it up, making sure to keep the slices in order. Then crush a clove or two or garlic and mix it with soft butter. Now butter the French loaf and reassemble it into its original shape. Wrap in aluminium paper and place over the heat, making sure to turn it so that the whole bread toasts. Makes a great starter. Replace the garlic with herbs and / or lemon to get an alternate flavour.
Potatoes, onions and sweet potatoes also make great asado veggies. If you are pressed for time, wrap them in foil and place them below the grill, closer to the coals. Alternatively, slice any and all your veggies up, add to a metal dish with about half a cup of water and some salt, cover in aluminium paper and place amongst the coals. This process works well for bread too.
An Argentine favourite on the parrilla is provolone cheese that is placed in a special provolone dish (a simple disposable foil dish will do) and grilled over the coals. Add oregano, paprika and some olive oil.
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Outdoor cooking - Part 2

When eating an Argentine asado you will be amazed by the excellent quality of the meat. And yet, not wanting to take anything away from the excellence of Argentine beef, you can achieve very similar results elsewhere in the world. The secret isn't so much in the quality of the meat as such, but rather in the way in which it is prepared. And the secret is painfully simple: SLOWLY! There is nothing rushed about a good asado. On the contrary, a slow pace and good timing is what delivers the best results.
Now I know that sounds easy but it took me a long time to overcome my own cultural heritage where braaing meat is about loads of heat, thin meat cuts and a nagging audience who want to eat ten minutes ago. With a lunchtime asado, for example, where the food is going to be ready to eat at say two in the afternoon, I start the fire between 11h30 and 12h00, allow it to burn down to coals and lay the meat out at 13h00 to be ready to start eating at 14h00. All of this naturally depends on what cuts of meat are being cooked.
The person preparing the asado will be aware that a thick meat cut like vacio (flank steak), asado de tira (short or chuck ribs) and bife de chorizo (strip loin steak) will all cook longer than entraña (skirt steak), for example. Then there are chorizos (sausages) which cook pretty quickly but are served ahead of the main meat cuts, often in a short bread roll, called a choripan. This is served as a starter and is well liked by most Argentines.
Pork is another favourite at an asado, with bondiola de cerdo (pork shoulder) and matambrito de cerdo (pork flank steak) topping the list. More difficult to cook is carre de cerdo (pork loin) due to its thickness and the risk of drying it out.
A "complete" asado will also have a variety of "achuras" (offal) which include rinoñes (kidneys), mollejas (sweetbreads) and chinchulin (initial portion of small intestines). For many people these items sound horrible because they are often discarded in other countries. They are, however, amazing when done properly at an asado.
Whole chicken split open and flattened down is also popular on the parilla (grill) while lamb is much less popular but amazingly tasty. Lamb tends to be reserved for "special" occasions like New Year when it is often prepared whole (or one half at least).
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Outdoor cooking - Part 1

Every country and culture has its version of cooking outdoors and for many this involves preparing food (meat) over some or other heat source. In South Africa we call it a "braai", around the world we call it "barbecue", the Aussies even call it a "barbie" (go figure) and here in Argentina we call it "asado". Obviously every culture wants to believe that their way is the best and I'm not here to debase that notion. I would, however, like to say that the Argentine way of preparing meat over hot coals is amazing. And I would like to pay homage to that cooking style over the next few posts.
Right at the start I need to clear up something for those of you who have never been to Argentina or partaken in an asado. It is NOT about the food alone. An asado is a ritual that is repeated for those persons attending. This ritual obviously has variations but it is still a ritual. One of sharing time and food and wine and laughter (and the odd political argument) with everyone present. It is more often than not a slow, drawn-out affair that encompasses many hours of eating, drinking and laughing. All in all, an asado is a wonderful way to spend time with friends and family.
So, to the business of making an asado. The fire: and from the word go there are two schools of thought. The first and more traditional way to make a fire is to use wood. This is slower as the Argentine asado wood of choice is often hard and slow-burning due to the time it takes to cook the meat. The upside of using wood is that it flavours the meat in the most unique way, adding that extra dimension to the amazing, world-famous Argentine beef. The second school of fire-making is to use coal. This is obviously quicker and much less hassle. The coals maintain the heat longer and the results are easier to manipulate. It obviously doesn't supply the aroma that wood does. Many people use a blend of the two schools, while the novices start with coal and over time regress to wood. To each his own ...
To end off this post, I need to clear up that cooking meat on an asado can take a while, depending on what is being cooked. For that reason an astute asador (asado-maker) will keep a source of fire close by, adding more coal / wood as the situation demands.
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Pancakes

I have never really taken the time to think about how lucky I am to able to eat whatever I like, whenever I like and even in whatever amount I like. Until one day, a colleague of mine was diagnosed as being an aciliac or someone who cannot eat gluten. And only then did I realise that gluten is everywhere and seemingly in everything we eat. So this post is dedicated to my colleague, Luli, and the recipe has been supplied by a former student, Katherine Roussopoulos.
In order to make flour-less pancakes, you will need a banana and two medium to large eggs. Mash the banana and add the eggs and blend with a handheld mixer until you obtain a smooth liquid. Add some butter to a non-stick pan and spread about and then pour in a little of your mixture. Allow to fry on one side and then flip over. In no time you will have really tasty, simple, no-flour pancakes. Dress these delights with whatever topping takes your fancy.
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Tomatoes

One of the most gratifying times of the year is when your garden starts to produce fruit or veggies and all your Spring toiling seems like a distant memory. And of all the things you can plant, tomatoes will bring you the greatest joy. They are easy to plant and maintain and tend to deliver a massive yield. The transition from buds, to small plants to green tomatoes until they eventually turn red, is awesome. Also, there are so many different varieties of tomatoes (black, yellow, green, cherry, pear, etc) that your garden will become a virtual salad bar.
But having all these wonderful tomatoes does create a small hassle: what do you do with it? You can eat tomatoes, give them to your friends and family, but there always seems to be some left over. Here's what I do:
Dice two or three large onions and fry in butter, accompanied by two cloves of crushed garlic, coarse salt and a teaspoon of coriander seeds. Cook until transparent and add your tomatoes that have been washed and diced. Also add about two to thee teaspoons of sugar to combat the acidity. Cook until the tomatoes break apart easily. You will notice that I haven't spent too much time on cutting the tomatoes into small and equal parts. The reason is that the final product will be frozen and used later, where I will cook it slightly and then use a hand-held blender to achieve a smooth sauce.
To freeze the tomato/onion mix, I like to recycle my plastic milk bottles. When I start using it, I simply cut the bottle and ice mixture on the inside all the way through, leaving the rest frozen.
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Mate [mah-tay]

If ever you travel to Argentina and you are fortunate enough to hook up with some of the local people, you will be tortured (in a good sense) into trying mate. And, to be fair, to the untrained palate, it is a pretty shocking experience as it is bitter and hot. Your initial response will inevitably bring out lots of laughter and jeers from your torturers and then you'll be given a second go. And, if like me, you are persistent enough, you will come to love this beverage, not only as a drink but as a social tool.
"La hora de tomar mate" (the time to drink mate) is nothing more than an excellent excuse to chill out, chat, laugh, complain while drinking mate.
So what is mate and how is it prepared? Well, it's a herb (yerba) that is placed into a vessel (a mate gourd traditionally although there are many variations today) onto which is poured hot water (anywhere between 70°C to 85°C - never boiling water) and drunk from a metal straw called a bombilla [bom-bee-sha]. The water is poured near the bombilla without wetting all the yerba in one go (in that way, the mate retains its strength for a longer period of time). The person doing the pouring is called the cevador or server and generally drinks first. Thereafter, the mate is filled with water again and passed onto the next person who then drinks it down and returns it to the cevador. Once you are done drinking you are not expected to thank the cevador, as saying "gracias" is a signal that you no longer want to continue drinking.
Mate culture is rich in etiquette and folklore and most Argentine people will willingly teach you any and all of these traditions.
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Bagels

When I was growing up I spent a lot of time watching movies and the one movie food that always fascinated me was the bagel. It summed up New York for me and seemed exotic and distant. Until I learned how to make them, that is. Bagels still hold that lofty title of "exotic movie food" for me but now I make them at home for my family to enjoy, at any time and without too much fuss.
Allow some yeast to prove in a small bowl with warm water and two teaspoons of sugar. Once bubbly (about 20 minutes), add to a bowl that contains 500g of flour and a teaspoon of salt. Mix everything together, adding little bits of warm water until you have a dough ball. Turn this out onto your work surface and knead until smooth and elasticy. Return to the bowl and allow to prove until double in size.
After about an hour, remove the dough from the bowl and break up into ten balls (more for smaller bagels, less for bigger ones). Once you have a smooth ball, use a wooden spoon and poke a hole through the middle. With the dough ball impaled on the spoon, gently move the spoon in a circular motion so that the hole becomes ever bigger (like a hula hoop dancer). The hole should be about 3cm in diameter. Leave on the work surface and repeat for all the balls.
Meanwhile, bring a bot of water to the boil and add 2 tablespoons of sugar to it. By the time the water boils, the bagels would have puffed up quite a bit (the hole will be somewhat smaller) and as you gently lift them up to drop them into the boiling water, they will feel puffy and light. Boil for about 1-3 minutes, turning them over halfway through.
As you remove them from the water, allow them to drain and then dip them in a topping of your choice (sesame seeds, poppy seeds, etc). Place the bagels on a buttered baking tray and bake until brown and crispy.
Enjoy with cream cheese, cheese, jam or whatever you like for a breakfast or brunch snack.
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Yogurt

As easy as it is to go to a shop and purchase yogurt, there is something really satisfying about making your own. This is simple to do and requires no special equipment.
First of all, you will need full cream milk (one liter) as well as a pot of shop bought yogurt which have live cultures. Heat the milk to anywhere between 35°C to 45°C in a thick based pot. If you're lucky enough to have a clay pot, that's even better. In a separate bowl, mix your pot of yogurt with a few spoons of the warm milk as well as two teaspoons of sugar (to activate the bacteria) and stir into the warm milk. The secret now is to keep the milk mixture still and at a constant temperature. You could wrap it in a blanket or leave it near the central heating in your house or, as I did, place the mixture in a thermos flask and off you go. After about 10 hours, the yogurt will have formed.
There are a number of factors which will make your final product better or worse and these you will only discover as you go along. Some milk and yogurt are more pasteurized than others and therefore have less active bacteria in it which will make the process slower if not impossible. Sometimes your yogurt will stay pretty liquid. In this case, you could add half a cup of dried milk to the initial process to help it thicken up.
Once your yogurt is done, you can enjoy it as it is (natural yogurt) or you could blend fruit like strawberries or blackberries in a blender and stir some into your yogurt to create your own flavours.
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Biltong

As I've stated on a number of occasions, Simple Foodies is about simple-to-make food. And although today's recipe does require some "special equipment", it isn't by any means difficult.
Biltong is, essentially, dried meat and some people might call it jerky. There are differences, none that I want to go into today.
Biltong originated in South Africa when people needed to preserve their meat over long periods without the benefits of cooling. So the process of biltong making is basically taking raw meat and dehydrating it.
So let's start. The best meat to use is Topside or Silverside and in Argentina I use Falda sin hueso also called Tapa de Asado.
Step one is to clean any excess fat off the meat and then to cut the meat into strips (about 5-7cm wide), with the grain..
Next the meat has to be soaked in white vinegar for a few hours. This gets rid of bacteria and helps with the curing process. Drain the liquid from your container and add the seasoning.
For people in South Africa, this means going to a supermarket and buying biltong spice. For those of us who are not that lucky, the spice can be made as follows:
two cups of coriander seeds, one cup of course salt, half a cup of fine salt, half a cup of black peppercorns, two tablespoons of cayenne pepper and one tablespoon of ground cloves. Place these ingredients in a coffee grinder and break up slightly. When everything is slightly more broken up, add half a cup of brown sugar. And there you have your spice to marinade your biltong.
Liberally add the spice to the meat and toss about until it is spread evenly and leave to marinade for a few more hours. Up until this point, I have kept rack with the Simple Foodies philosophy. Now for the slightly tricky part. As I said earlier, the meat has to be dehydrated and that implies drying it out. The South African way is to have a biltong box which you can buy commercially. Essentially is is four pieces of perspex with a base as well as a lid, which has a 60w bulb in it and a computer fan. Yes, that's all it is. The number of variations on making your own one are almost endless (do a Google search for "making a biltong box"). The meat is then hung up in this box, the light and the fan are switched on and within three to four days (depending on the humidity where you live), your biltong will be done. Obviously not everyone has a biltong box. If you have an oven that has a fan in it, hand the meat off the oven racks, turn the oven on to about 50 degrees Celcius (about 122 degrees Fahrenheit) with the door slightly open for about four hours.
WARNING: this is a very addictive food and once you start eating it, there's no going back!
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