Banana bread

Banana bread is a wonderful recipe from South Africa that is easy to make. It might take an hour in the oven but the smells coming from the kitchen while it is baking is well worth the while.

Ingredients
½ cup of butter
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups of flour (Gluten free flour)
2 teaspoons of baking powder (Gluten free)
a pinch of salt
5 small bananas

Method
1. Cream the butter and sugar together and add the vanilla.
2. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well.
3. Sieve the dry ingredients together and add.
4. Mash the bananas with a fork and add last. Mix well.
5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 1 hour.

When the banana bread is removed from the oven, leave it for a few minutes in the pan to rest. Remove and let it cool down. Cut the banana bread while it is still a little warm and add butter. It tastes at its best when the butter just starts melting.

You can very easily make this recipe Gluten Free by substituting the baking powder and flour for gluten free versions. Remember to also add 1/4 of teaspoon of xantham gum to help it bind. The banana bread in the photos that I made yesterday is gluten free 🙂

If you are interested in my Gluten Free version of Recipes from South Africa, please do not hesitate to contact me at lizel@recipesfromsouthafrica.com If you want to purchase the real book from Amazon, click here to have a look or buy the downloadable version here.

Piesangbrood

Piesangbrood is so ‘n lekker Suid-Afrikaanse resep en is baie maklik en vinnig om voor te berei. Dit bak vir ‘n uur, maar die reuke wat uit die kombuis kom terwyl dit bak is tog te heerlik… Hier is die resep…

Bestandele
½ koppie botter
1 koppie suiker
1 teelepel vanilla geursel
2 eiers
2 koppies meel
2 teelepels bakpoeier
‘n Knippie sout
5 klein piesangs

Metode
1. Room die botter en suiker saam. Voeg die vanilla hierby.
2. Meng die eiers een vir een by.
3. Sif die droë bestandele saam en voeg by.
4. Druk die piesangs fyn en voeg laaste by.
5. Bak vir 1 uur in voor-verhitte oond teen 180°C.

Wanneer die brood uit die oond kom moet jy dit vir ‘n paar minute in die pan laat rus en dit dan op ‘n afkoelrak laat afkoel. Sny die brood terwyl dit nog ‘n bietjie warm is. As jy dan die botter opsmeer dan smelt dit nog so effens en dit maak die brood nog lekkerder.

Jy kan die resep baie maklik Gluten Vry maak deur die meel en bakpoeier te vervang met gluten vrye produkte. Onthou ook om ‘n kwart teelepeltjie xantham gum by te voeg om dit te laat bind. Hierdie piesangbrood wat ek gister gebak het is Gluten Vry.

Sun City, the place to visit

Sun City is a luxury resort and casino that is situated in the North West Province of South Africa. This wonderful resort is located about 2 hour’s drive from Johannesburg near the city of Rustenburg. It is nestled between the Elands River and Pilanesberg. It borders the Pilanesberg Game Reserve.

Sun City was developed during the 70’s by the hotel magnate, Sol Kerzner as part of his Sun International group of properties. It was officially opened on the 7th of December 1979 and was located in the Bantustan of Bophuthatswana. South Africa’s government at the time declared Bophuthatswana an independent state although no other country recognised this. During the 70’s gambling and topless shows were banned in South Africa, but it was allowed in Bophuthatswana which ensured that Sun City became a very popular holiday and weekend away destination.

The United Nations imposed a cultural boycott on South Africa in condemnation of apartheid. Kerzner offered substantial financial incentives to performing artists to use Sun City as a venue. Many artists performed at the venue including the Beach Boys, Cher, Linda Ronstadt, Frank Sinatra, Status Quo, Rod Stewart and Elton John. Queen also performed here in 1984 which caused lots of criticism in the British music press.

This venue has hosted a heavyweight boxing championship fight between American Mike Weaver and South African Gerrie Coetzee as well as Miss South Africa, Miss South Africa Teen and Miss World pageants.

Sun City continues flourishing since Bophutatswana was re-incorporated into South Africa in 1994. The resort has four hotels including Sun City Hotel, Cascades Hotel, The Cabanas and The palace of the Lost City. The complex includes time-share facilities, which is a popular self-catering facility.

There are also two international standard 18 hole golf courses. The first on is The Gary Player Country Club which is home to the prestigious Nedbank Gold Challenge and the second is the Lost City Golf Course which is noted for the 38 crocodiles in the water feature of the 13th hole. Both were designed by Gary Player.

In 2014, the movie Blended with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler, premiered after being filmed mostly at the resort.

A brand new water slide was installed in 2016 and expanded accommodation choices to countryside like Cabanas Chalets was just completed. The new Chalets are located 750m from the Cabanas hotel, nestled beside the Letsatsie bush which is close to the Cultural Village of the resort.

The Valley of Waves re-opened after its annual winter maintenance with another heart stopping ride to try. The new water slide, White Water, sees visitors have the ultimate 17m plummet body slide adventure in a capsule. It sends riders sliding at 40mph (65km/h) before being swept upwards into a near-vertical loop. G-force pins the riders as they slide up, over and then down before crashing into the splashdown lane. It is not for the faint hearted…

Sun City also has the largest permanent maze in the Southern Hemisphere, The Maze of the Lost City. It was constructed from artificial stone and wood which creates the illusion of an ancient archaeological discovery. It covers half an acre. The maze is accessed via a 100m suspension bridge from the Entertainment Center and offers the most spectacular views of the resort. At night time flaming torches light the paths along the chambers…

Spanish Style Chicken

My husband is a wonderful cook and loves spoiling us on a daily basis. The other day he made us the duchess potatoes and not long after that, he made a beautiful chicken dish with chirizzo, chicken and wonderful vegetables cooked together in a paella pan outside on the braai.

The meat was so tender and juicy and the vegetables tasted like the sauce it was cooked in for hours and hours… Never thought you could make such a wonderful dish outside on the braai. You braai the chicken first and then add the vegetables and sauce and they cook together for a long time.

If you are interested in this Spanish chicken recipe, have a look on his website for step by step instructions. He first shows you the ingredients you will need, then he explains step by step how to prepare every part of the dish. You will also be spoilt with videos showing you how to follow some of the steps.

The wonderful part of all these recipes is that they are all GLUTEN FREE. My husband is a celiac and whenever he cooks for us, it is all 100% Gluten Free. The flavours are so wonderful, you won’t believe it until you try it.

Konsternasie

Die Afrikaanse taal is ‘n wonderlike uitdrukkingstaal… Daar is geen emosie wat jy nie kan beskryf met die een of ander ongelooflike beskrywende woord nie. Ek kan die heeldag boeke lees en nuwe woorde ontdek, nuwe uitdrukkings en gesegdes lees, en ek is darem al ‘n hele paar jaar op hierdie aarde van ons.

Een van hierdie pragtige woorde wat ek graag gebruik is een van daardie Liewe Heksie oomblikke waar sy sê “Hi ooeee, ek het ‘n bietjie vergeet van daardie groot woord”. Ek praat van konsternasie… n Pragtige woord wat lekker op jou oor val en oor jou tong rol, en dan begin jy wonder. Watse woord is dit? Wat kan dit tog beteken? Dit klink mooi maar ook aardig. Hoe gebruik ek hierdie woord wat ek mal is oor, maar ook terselfdetyd nie regtig verstaan nie?

As jy by iemand is wat die woord in ‘n sin gebruik sal jy sommer dadelik verstaan wat dit beteken. Jy het nie eers nodig om vir ‘n verduideliking te vra nie, jy sal sommer net verstaan en dit sal jou terselfdetyd laat glimlag

Ek het ‘n pragtige voorbeeld van hoe hierdie woord gebruik kan word. Ek bak en brou graag in die kombuis en gewoonlik neem ek aan ons het die regte bestanddele wat ek benodig vir ENIGE resep in die yskas of kaste. Maar wat soms gebeur is ek kry my Resepte van Suid-Afrika kookboek uit en slaan die boek op een van my gunsteling resepte oop en begin sommer alles te meng.

Eers die botter en suiker (soos meeste resepte mos maar begin), dan die eiers en die sout en as ek by die meel kom, is daar ‘n koppie meel te min. Hi ooee wat nou gemaak!!!! Wat ‘n KONSTERNASIE!!! Ek neem aan als is daar vir die resep en dan is dit nie. Maar die ergste is ek besef dit nie altyd van die begin af nie, maar kom dit soms eers agter nadat ek die meeste van die bestanddele reeds gemeng het. Kan jy nou glo. En dit is ‘n baie goeie manier om hierdie lieflike woord, konsternasie, te gebruik in ons alledaagse lewe.

As jy ooit so ‘n konsternasie oomblik beleef, laat my weet. Dit is heerlik om ander mense se gedagte te lees en te weet ek is nie die enigste persoon wat sulke dom goed aanvang nie…

Soentjies, baking cookies from home

Baking from home can be daunting and when you see a wonderful recipe and want to try it, it can be overwhelming. Especially if you do not know where to start or what equipment to use. This is why my mother uses her Kenwood Chef. She bakes biscuits, cookies, rusks, cakes and cup cakes from home and her life is made much easier using her Kenwood. Having to use your hands to mix the dough, roll it out and cut it can be very intensive, but make your life easier this way…

We baked the most beautiful Gluten Free soentjies the other day. First you have to mix all the ingredients together. Then you have to let it rest for a while…

While the dough is resting, prepare the Kenwood Chef. You will have to feed the dough through the Kenwood once it is ready…

Then you have to feed the dough through the Kenwood. You need the mincer and the cookie attachment with the Kenwood. Then you can easily bake from this point on. When the dough comes through the attachment, you then cut the cookies into the same size. Bake in the oven and let the cookies cool down…

When the cookies have cooled down, use the mixture you made to stick 2 cookies together at a time. They taste absolutely heavenly…

If you love eating biscuits but can’t be bothered to go through the hassle of making it, feel free to order them… If you live in the Vaal you are lucky enough to order and collect. If you live anywhere else in South Africa, we are happy to send your order via courier (only biscuits and rusks). Check out Ouma’s Cookies and place your order today.