Not one for being a ritual celebrator of Valentines’ Day, I generally prefer to stay home – open a good bottle of something and eat some equally good food. This trumps being at the mercy of restaurants on this Hallmark Holiday that mostly just capitalize on set menus filled with chocolate fondants and ‘complimentary’ below average bubbles.
So without further ado, this is what I have planned for Friday’s evening in… Roasted Butternut, Leek & Feta Quiche, with a Nectarine & Chavroux Salad. Chavroux is a type of really creamy, soft Goats cheese – it’s amazing, and I only use it on special occasions. You can find it at Woolies in a little conical shaped container – don’t look at the price, just buy it and trust me on it’s incredible flavour and the knowledge that a little goes a long way.
I can’t not mention my favourite wine at the moment, being La Motte’s Pierneef Collection Sauvignon Blanc 2013 – made from organic grapes, it is a beautiful choice to pair with anything summery and creamy. So…Happy V-day in advance, everyone!
With age comes maturity (for the most part), and if there is one thing I’ve learned when it comes to buying produce, it is to buy fruit that is in season. This only really dawned on me in the past year or so, as in times gone by, I would see a pack of prepared watermelon slices, think, “ooh yes watermelon”, and then after languidly devouring the tub, rue the purchase when I spy the extortionate price sticker as the tub goes into the trash. This is now a thing of the past, and if I have to sit and plough my way through an entire watermelon, I will.
Is there anything better than freshly baked bread out the oven, dripping in salted buttery juices? Quite simply, no there isn’t.
I always speed up past the baking section in the grocery store, as am totally unversed in working with things like gelatin, yeast and fondant icing. But this year I want to challenge myself to delve into the world of baked goods – especially since it dawned on me that 90% of my favorite foods are thus created. So I began to learn about my most favorite favorite, Bread. It was in doing so that I was amazed to discover that one does not actually need to touch things like yeast in order to actually have bread that looks like, well, bread. The basic method I borrowed from the ever-trusty Delia’s How to Cook, but I swapped out almost all her flavorings for my own.
So here is my first attempt at a delicious loaf of goodness – I combined some of my most revered flavors – Caramlised Onion, Feta & Rosemary – and the result was definitely pleasing! Not only was it pretty easy to make, it also doesn’t contain any fat (as such), so you can go wild with the butter and olive oil when gorging! Happy Baking and Happy Tuesday x
Feta, Caramelised Onion & Rosemary Loaf
Serves 4 Takes approx 1 hr
Ingredients
175g Self-Raising Flour, sifted
Pinch of Salt
1 tsp Caraway Seeds
Handful fresh Thyme
Handful fresh Rosemary
1 large Red Onion, finely diced
200g Feta, crumbled
1 large raw Potato, peeled and grated
2 tbsp Woolworths Caramelized Onion Marmalade
1 egg
3 tbsp Milk
1 tsp Mustard
Method
Preheat the oven to 180˚C and placed a sheet of baking wax paper onto a tray and place this in the oven to heat up.
Prepare and weigh out all ingredients into little bowls to make it easy when combining. In a small jug, or bowl, beat together the egg, milk and mustard.
Sift the dry ingredients from a fair height to the bowl below. This simply aerates the ingredients better.
Add the caraway seeds and grated potato into the bowl, along with the diced onion, herbs and about three quarters of the Feta.
Mix everything together gently with a spatula, or wooden spoon until it becomes a pasty ball.
Pour the milky mustardy mixture over this and combine until well mixed and the pasty ball becomes more pliable.
Transfer the dough onto the preheated baking tray, scatter a few blobs of feta over the top, and some sprigs of rosemary.
Bake for about 45-55 minutes or until brown and crusty looking.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
Serve with some salted butter, extra virgin olive oil and a smattering of freshly cracked pink peppercorns.
