Category Archives for Recipes (English)

Gluten free fried potato balls

Like I mentioned last time, my children love potatoes. They don’t eat bread at school and it important for me to find something they will love eating that is also filling. Potatoes give me that possibility. They love it and it is filling at the same time.

Ingredients:
3 potatoes (raw potatoes that you grate)
pinch of salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons of brown rice flour (or regular flour if you prefer)

Method:
1. Make the balls as big or small as you like. I make it small, easier and quicker to cook and not too much to eat at a time.
2. Take a spoon full of mix and press together in your hand. Once it holds it’s shape, deep fry in oil.
3. I choose to deep fry them, but you can shape them and then bake in the oven without any oil.

Easy to make 🙂
Enjoy!!!

Potato Cakes, gluten free

My children are very fussy when it comes to eating at school. They do NOT like bread (only toast) so I had to come up with something else they will enjoy at school that is filling enough and NOT full of sugar and junk. So I tried these wonderful potato cakes. It only takes a few ingredients and are very easy to make. You only need the following ingredients:

Ingredients:
4 large potatoes (boiled and mashed with a little bit of butter)
1 extra large egg
pinch of salt
A large hand full of cheddar cheese (or whatever cheese you prefer). You can add as much as you enjoy.
Optional: add bacon, salami or ham.

Method:
1. First boil the potatoes and mash with some butter.
2. Add the cheese, egg and salt and mix well.
3. Add the bacon, salami or ham, whatever you are in the mood for 🙂
4. Mix well and heat up a pan. I use my pancake pan and don’t use any oil.
5. Form little balls and then press them flat in the pan. I bake 4 at a time.
6. Turn when one side is golden brown and cook on the other side.
7. Remove when ready and eat warm or cold as a snack…

Cup cakes

This mixture can be used to either bake one large cake or cup cakes. Depends on what you are in the mood for… This sponge cake is very light and tastes wonderful with the orange.

Ingredients:
1 cup of margarine or butter
1 ½ cups of sugar
1 cup of corn flour(maizina)
1 cup of milk
4 eggs
2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
A pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of grated orange peel

Method:
1. Cream the butter and sugar together.
2. Mix the corn flour with ½ a cup of milk and add.
3. Beat the eggs very well and add to the mixture.
4. Sieve the dry ingredients together and add, taking turns with adding the milk as well.
5. Lastly add the vanilla and orange peel. Mix well and pour the mixture in a round cake pan.
6. Bake in a pre-heated Bak at 180°C for about 50 minutes until light brown.

If you are baking the cup cakes, you shouldn’t need to bake them for longer than about 20 minutes. Decorate them in any colour you feel like… Let the children help 🙂

If you live in Vereeniging in South Africa and want to order cup cakes instead, why not visit our Ouma’s Cookies site 🙂

Chocolate mousse

How many of you sometimes wake up craving chocolate? I am sure most of you can say yes to that statement. I certainly can…. Then a wonderful recipe to try will be a chocolate mousse….

Here is a very easy to follow recipe and it is very rich, so add a few scoops of ice cream with it.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup of cream
1/2 cup of cocoa
1/2 cup of icing sugar
50g of dark chocolate

Method:
1. Beat the eggs together for about 5 minutes. Add the cocoa and icing sugar and mix.
2. Beat the cream and keep in a separate bowl.
3. Melt the chocolate and add to the egg mixture.
4. Add the cream last and fold everything well together.
5. Place spoons full of mixture in wine glasses (to look pretty) and put in the fridge to set.
8. Add a scoop of ice cream on top when serving.

Eat and enjoy.

Sosaties

Aaaaahhh….. sosaties is a wonderful invention. What can be easier than taking meat, cubing it and putting it on a stick… Only work that goes into it is the marinade (and that is very fast) and off you go.

We decided to have sosaties last week but it was a bit wet outside, so instead of having a braai (BBQ) as usual, I decided to make the sosaties and grill them in the oven.

I know it is not the same as cooking on the braai, but it had to do and it sure did. I put together a quick marinade. Have a look at this:

Ingredients:
Chicken cubes (we used 5 chicken breasts)
Red pepper (I prefer the red to the green, tastes a bit sweeter)
Onions
4 tablespoons of olive oil
Squeeze the juice of 1 large lemon into the oil
1 tablespoon of soy sauce (we use a gluten free sauce)
Salt (to taste)
Fresh parsley, finely chopped

Mix everything together and add the chicken, peppers and onions. Let it marinade for at least 2 hours, longer if you have time.

Remember to soak the sticks you are going to use in water beforehand, it stops the sticks from burning too much.

Place the chicken, peppers and onions on the sticks and grill in the oven. It doesn’t take too long. I heated the oven to 180 degrees Celcius.

Make your own and show us your photos 🙂

Tomato jam (Gluten Free)

Cooking something yourself from scratch is a great feeling!! You feel like you actually achieved something wonderful. Specially if your husband and son likes the end result 🙂

It is very easy to make… Thanks to my husband and mother’s help I had success. You need only a few ingredients and off you go:

Ingredients:
1kg of tomatoes (I bought the jam tomatoes)
1 cup of sugar
4 peppadews (you can use fresh chilli if you wish, just don’t add too much of it 🙂
a pinch of salt
juice of half a lemon

Method:
1. Place the tomatoes in a large bowl and pour boiling water over it (it must be covered).
2. Once the tomatoes have been soaking for about 15 minutes, peel the skins off and cut into little cubes.
3. Put the sugar in a pot on the stove and start melting it over a low heat.
4. Add the tomatoes, salt, lemon juice and peppadew. Mix everything together and bring to the boil.
5. Once it is boiling, turn the heat down and let simmer for about 1 – 1 1/2 hours. Stir in between and make sure it doesn’t burn. Don’t put the lid on the pot.
6. Once all the water is gone and the sugar has turned into a syrup, remove from heat and let it cool down.
7. Place in glass jars and store in fridge.

This tastes really nice and goes well with anything 🙂

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.

Cheese puff recipe

Cheese puffs is a favourite for both children and adults. Therefor it is a guaranteed hit for the whole family. Cheese puffs is a very easy recipe and quick to prepare. Get your children involved and let them help you. They will love it!

This recipe can very easily be made GLUTEN FREE.

Ingredients:
1 cup of flour (gluten free flour, a mixture of chick pea, white rice and tapioca flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder (gluten free baking powder)
1 cup of grated cheddar cheese
1 egg, filled up with milk to make one cup (250ml)

Method:
1. Sieve all the dry ingredients together
2. Add the grated cheese.
3. Mix the egg and milk mixture and add.
4. Pour spoons full into patty tins.
5. Bake in a pre-heated oven a 180 degrees celcius for between 15 and 20 minutes.

Serve the cheese puffs with butter and cheese, marmite or apricot jam. My favourite is a teaspoon full of cream. Nothing can beat the taste of the cream and jam combined. You have to try it!

This really is very easy to make and is a light snack that everyone will enjoy, anytime of the day! My mother used to bake this for us when we were growing up and we couldn’t get enough of it! Now that I am married, I do the same. I love baking recipes my mother used to bake for us.

My husband loves South African recipes and putting a smile on his face is worth while!

If you are interested in purchasing my e-book, please click on this link and have a look.

If you would rather purchase the paperback copy from Amazon, and go have a look!

Bobotie

Bobotie is one of the proudest and oldest South African recipes. It was influenced and inspired by the slaves that came to South Africa. They brought with them their great spices and flavours, and Bobotie was invented!

Ingredients:
2 large onions
2 tablespoons butter
1 thick slice of white bread
1 cup milk
1 kg mutton (minced beef can be used as substitute)
2 ½ tablespoons strong curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons apricot jam
2 almonds, quartered
¼ cup lemon juice (or vinegar)
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon white pepper
¼ cup seedless raisins
1 green apple, grated
10 dried apricots, soaked and cut up (or apricot jam)
4 lemon leaves or dried bay leaves
2 eggs

Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Lightly fry the onions in the butter.
2. Soak the bread in half the milk and mash with a fork.
3. Mix the meat with all of the ingredients except for the eggs, the rest of the milk and bay/lemon leaves.
4. Put the mixture in an oven proof dish. Push the lemon/bay leaves in on the top.
5. Cover and bake for about 40 minutes.
6. Beat the eggs and milk together and pour over the meat. Slightly lift it to allow the egg to run into the bobotie. Bake until brown on top (about 15 – 20 minutes).

To serve:

Serve bobotie with yellow rice and raisins. Side dishes that go great with bobotie and yellow rice are vegetables like green beans and sweet potato, or try potato salad.

Roly Poly pudding

I don’t know of any other desert that is as quick, easy or lovely as a Roly Poly to make. All you need to do is prepare the pudding and then place it in the oven when you serve your main course. By the time the main course is finished, desert will be warm and ready to serve!

In South Africa we enjoy this great pudding with apricot jam. In England they tend to enjoy everything with strawberry jam. But if I can recommend one, it would be the apricot jam. You have to try it at least once.

Ingredients of desert:
1 cup of flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 egg
A pinch of salt
2 tablespoons of butter

Ingredients for syrup:
2 cups of water
1 cup of sugar

Method:
1. Rub the butter in with the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Beat the egg and mix with a little bit of milk. Add to the above.
3. Roll out the dough and spread apricot jam on top.
4. Boil the ingredients for the syrup together and pour into the dish you are going to use to bake the pudding in.
5. Roll up the dough and place in the boiling syrup.
6. Bake the desert in ‘n pre-heated oven at 180 degree celcius for 25 minutes.

Serve the Roly Poly warm as it comes out of the oven with custard or ice-cream. It tastes great on warm and cold days, so don’t worry if it is not winter. Ice-cream is a great treat on a hot, warm, summer’s day. Enjoy!