Day Eighteen - Fam Dam and the I Heart Market

Saturday morning started out early by meeting the family at the I Heart Market at Moses Mahbida Stadium after showing the mum around all the stores, we finally dispersed for breakfast.

The S and I shared a flat bread from Loophole Flatbread, we opted for the whole bang shoot, however the brinjals and artichokes were kindly put to one side for the S benefit as he finds them despicable.  In-between eating icing off the nieces cupcakes and concentrating on not spilling oil on myself, I climbed into the flatbread.

Served on a wooden board, which on return you receive your R20 deposit back, the sourdough flatbread is loaded with napolitana sauce, olive oil, cured meats, rocket, balsamic reduction and parmesan shavings and of course the brinjals and artichokes on one side for me.  The bread is cut into pieces which you are then able to share easily, we sat side by tearing of pieces of bread with me squashing on extra pieces of artichoke and brinjal onto each piece.  Once every morsel was demolished and the last bit of olive oil and balsamic reduction wiped up, breakfast was finished. 

A great meal to share with a friend while at the Market, just make sure you reach for the extra serviettes while picking up the flatbread to avoid any spills! For more information on where they will be next, click here for their Facebook page.

Day seventeen - Shongweni Farmer's Market. Crack of Dawn.

Up early on a Saturday morning, leaving home at half 7 to be somewhere, sounds important right?  Well it was, kind of.  I had finally convinced the S to come to the Shongweni Farmers Market.  I also scored massive brownie points with his rents by making him invite them to join us. Yes I did.

So after getting lost (big thanks to Google Maps for that one!) and starting out a bit late we finally arrived and nabbed a parking off someone already leaving the market.  With only one thing on our minds, after meeting the S' rents we made a beeline for the breakfast stalls.  

After shopping around and looking at the different options on offer I picked The Hearty Breakfast stall, which also happened to have the longest line.  Oh joys, always a winner on a not so early Saturday morning.  Anyway, after placing my order, which they also write your name on, great personalised element there.  Although it didn't really work as Melinda just did not come pick up her order of 4.  There was a little wait, in which I spent the time tasting the S' brekkie - french toast with mushrooms and bacon and then finding myself the smoothie stall where I ordered a mango,strawberry and banana smoothie.   Although quite thick the smoothie was delicious and instantly brought back a memory of Gili Air an island off of Bali where at breakfast (on the beach) I ordered a mango juice and the blender promptly started up and I was treated to a mango in a glass, literally the best juice I have ever had the pleasure of taking part in.  So not quite that calibre, but you get my drift how fresh it was.  Pity about the plastic cup it is served in, don't know if this is just oh so townie of me but I expected some kind of biodegradable, recycled cup of some sort.

Back to waiting in the queue for my breakfast, and feeling quite special when my name was finally called and I squeezed passed everyone waiting to claim my order.  We sat at benches with a wooden cog acting as our table, and I finally started in on my brekkie. Insert drum roll… potato rosti (this is like a deliciously warm, soft and well spiced hash brown) cooked spinach, bacon, poached egg, chives, rocket, hollandaise sauce and balsamic reduction.  My first bite was a slow warmth which started on my tongue and then quickly spread throughout my body down to my fingers and toes. I could not suppress the smile on my face or the quick shrug of my shoulders in pleasure.  All the fresh, just cooked and homemade flavours washed over me and I could taste each element separately which then stood up together to take the final bow creating a combined taste which was my breakfast.  The only downside was the lingering onion taste in my mouth which must have been used in the potato rosti, however this was quickly abated with swallowing the remainder of my mango berry smoothie.

The remainder of the morning was spent wandering the market, trying the different samples, feeling sorry for the little rescued animals, waiting for the S' dad to chat to worm farmers, water savers and herb garden builders about his latest herb/veggie garden project he has decided to embark on.

If you are looking for a fresh food experience where truly locally sourced food products are used then Shongweni Farmer's Market is it.  There are many breakfast stalls to choose from, you could even have a boerrie roll if you so desire.  Afterwards you can even do a bit of a grocery shop with loads of veggies, cold meats, breads, spreads and pastries available.  Face the cold early morning, I had a nap in the afternoon to make up for it, and head up to the Market you won't be disappointed.  Click here for more information on product offerings and directions on how to get there for those 'townies' who have no idea!

Day Sixteen - Tapas again

This seemed to have been a tapas week.  As I was sick (again!!) this week I was adamant that Friday night was for staying in.  The S cooked up a storm of tapas which we ate picnic style on the bed.  There seemed to be even more on offer than the night before and this was proven true when the S was resigned to eating tapas for the rest of the evening. 

I was treated to a warm butternut, sweet potato and chorizo dish, pepperdews stuffed with cream cheese, sautéed mushrooms, salad with peppers, lettuce, celery and feta, marinated ribs and a selection of cold meats and mini pita breads.
 

Lets face it, the S can cook and although this wasn’t all cooking, the combination of flavours pulled together beautifully.  It was the perfect meal to a Friday night in and I’m sure he didn’t complain too much about eating it the rest of the weekend!

Day Fifteen - Thursday Tapas

On Thursday Little Kim, The Spik and I held our first dinner party at home.  With tapas decided on for dinner and guest requirements allocated we set about deciding on what we would, quite literally, bring to the table.  After a quick calculation on the amount of money left in our kitty, at that stage it owed The Spik bucks, we decided on raiding the freezer for our portion.  We ended up making it all except for the hummus and bread, we vowed next time to make the hummus as well!

The Spik and Little Kim did an amazing job preparing dinner, I was stuck on N2 traffic (what’s new?) and dispatched to the store for a last minute purchase of greek yogurt for the tzatziki. I came home to the meat balls waiting in the microwave, bread ready to serve, The Spik on chicken and Little Kim on meatballs.   I quickly found myself a spot at the table and started on the sauces.

Our tapas dinner consisted of; beer battered chicken strips, meat balls, crudités, bread, tzatziki, hummus, potato wedges and a pink dipping sauce.  Mich also added to this with some yummy samosa’s which we started climbing into beforehand. 

Dinner was a great success with interesting conversations running around the table and of course the usual googling of some shady character that we heard a shady story about.  We wrapped up with dessert brought by Lily and Lolo – delicious tin roof ice cream and triple chocolate mousse that coupled with cupcakes from Mich, completed our dinner and our appetites for the evening!

Day fourteen - Meeting at Market

Last Friday I was treated to the intimately romantic setting of Market Restaurant. Little Kim's friend Cath from Cape Town is visiting and since she had a birthday earlier this week, what better reason to celebrate!

After a nightmare of trying to get home before dinner, N2 was closed from a massive accident and even after trying every obvious and secret alternate to get home I waited it out at The S flat.

Once joining the table and hearing that no orders had been placed yet I settled down to an even longer than anticipated wait.  When you tell people that you are going to Market and their reply is; “Oh their service is so bad.” Don't underestimate them, it really is ‘so bad’.  Our waitress was quite zany and off the wall, however so overworked and under supported it was frightening, when a manager is just wondering around straightening chairs while his two staff are running around serving the many tables inside and out, I do begin to wonder.


Anyway, my food was as follows: lamb burger which was a spicy lamb patty encrusted with mint and feta served on a ciabatta roll with a dressing.  And to finish a decadent chocolate torte with a sour berry coulis.  Little Kim had the same main meal as myself and we were both in agreement, it was alright.  Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I felt that Market had under delivered on its fresh and locally sourced food.  

 

Although in no way making up for it, my chocolate torte with creme fraiche and berry coulis was divine. The sourness of the berry coulis balanced out the sweet richness of the chocolate torte.  A small helping but plenty enough for me, I didn’t feel sick or needy once done.

If you are looking for a long evening spent sitting on a hardwood bench amongst beautifully romantic surroundings then Market is your place!

Day thirteen - My turn!

Tuesday night was my turn to cook, as my previous turn was an uninspired piece of frozen fish with salad I felt I needed to pull out some (not all, gotta leave some tricks up my sleeve) the stops on this one. 


Due to our massive bulk purchase of chicken breasts, none of which have been touched yet, I took on the challenge to start the demolition of our chook tower.  I started off by rubbing the chicken in garlic and then wrapping each breast in bacon and popping a piece of danish feta under the bacon in the middle of the breast.  These were then placed in a tray with olive oil spooned over them, with the three remaining pieces of bacon I placed onto the tray and drizzled olive oil over the top to ensure crispy strips of bacon. 

To accompany the chicken breasts wrapped in bacon I brought together a salad consisting of what was left in the fridge.  A crisp lettuce base, well as crisp as week old lettuce will be, topped with yellow and red slivers of pepper, chopped mushrooms, a sprinkling of danish feta finally tied together with quarters of sweet green grapes.

Due to a sicklet of a Spik and an ever so hard working Little Kim, I was treated to dinner on my own some. The table wasn't set, but I did sit down at it with my knife and fork to enjoy my meal.  The chicken was slightly dry, most definitely due to me leaving it in the fridge to defrost as opposed to a better location such as on the draining board next to the sink. However the bacon added a richer, sweeter flavour to the chicken with a great little surprise of the melting feta down the middle of the breast, tucked under the layers of bacon.  Although lacking in the traditional cucumber and tomato the salad was nicely brought together by the outstanding sweetness of the grapes, along with a well represented colour pallet the salad was a refreshing partner to the bacon wrapped chicken.


Although the company wasn't my first choice, the meal on offer certainly made up for what the conversation lacked.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken - a quick and easy Tuesday night option:


1x packet shoulder bacon
3 x large chicken breasts
Olive Oil
Garlic salt
Black pepper
Danish feta


Heat oven to 180 degrees
Rub each chicken breast front and back with garlic salt
Place an oblong piece of danish feta which stretches the whole of the chicken breast onto the centre of the breast.
Wrap each chicken breast in bacon strips from top to bottom so the entire breast is covered with the bacon.  The feta will now be secured into place by the bacon.
Place each wrapped breast onto a flat baking tray and spoon olive oil over the top of each wrapped breast.
Top each wrapped breast with a grind of black pepper
If there is any bacon remaining, place onto baking tray to cook crisply next to the wrapped chicken breasts.
Cook breasts in the oven for 15 minutes, then turn over and cook for another 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and place onto plate.
Remove the extra bacon strips after 15 minutes if crispy, leave for longer if neccessary.


These are great served with rice, potatoes or a salad.  I served with a lettuce, red and yellow pepper, mushroom, grape and danish feta salad topped this with the extra left over pieces of bacon crisped up in the oven.

Day twelve - tea time macaroons

With the burra friends visiting us I felt tea would definitely be the order of the day.  So on finding Daniela’s macaroons on sale at the I Heart Market, I could not resist.  With R10 a delicious round of crusty shell and velvety centre plus a sixth free when ordering five, I was sold and we had tea for Sunday!  I chose six different flavours so we would each be able to have a taster.  One Chai, Peanut butter and sea salt, Pistachio, Strawberry, Passion Fruit and Chocolate macaroon later we were all sighing in pleasure.  How can you not after feasting on macaroons!

We each had different views on the best flavours and a full-fledged discussion on the best flavour ensued.  With Little Kim and Bundle of Se agreeing on the peanut butter and sea salt topping the list, Miss Kirsti’s sweet tooth was sold on the Pistachio, while also finishing off the Strawberry. For me the chocolate is always a winner as it even tasted of chocolate and not something trying to impersonate chocolate, which I find is often the case with ‘bought’ chocolate treats.

Daniela’s has just YAY opened an outlet in Umhlanga and has others in Hilcrest and Capetown, with speciality cakes and high teas being their order of business (click here for a look at a brochure) along with supplying macaroons to numerous restaurants in the area, Daniela’s macaroons truly are a deliciously decadent experience.  Like them here on Facebook for more information on how to enjoy your own deliciously decadent Daniela’s experience.