Vetkoek

Vetkoek is a traditional South African fried dough bread. It is a deeply engrained and beloved food embedded in South African culture. The word vetkoek literally means "fat cake" in Afrikaans.

It is delicious with just butter, or syrup, or cheese, or syrup and cheese... or mince... or mince and cheese... or use it instead of buns for a hamburger... or lettuce and chicken mayo... oh my goodness... now I'm hungry!!

This is a simple and time & tried tested recipe.

Ingredients

5½ cups flour

2t salt

3tbs sugar

1tbs instant yeast

2 cups warm water

Method

1. Mix the flour, salt, sugar and yeast well.

2. Add the warm water and bring it together to form a stiff dough.

3. Knead for at least 10 minutes.

4. Smear with oil and cover with a damp cloth and let it rise to double in size.

5. Lightly knead down, and use as you wish. For Vetkoek, divide into equal balls,

cover and let it rise.

6. Heat oil in a pot and fry the balls of dough in the oil until well done.

7. Remove from the oil and drain onto paper towels.

I made spinach and feta vetkoek, as well as bacon and cheese.

Use your imagination, go wild, but most of all... eat, drink and be merry!!

Yours in oil and veggies,

Risch

For a printable PDF version of the recipe, click here: Vetkoek PDF

Potato Bake with Bacon

Potatoes is one of the most versatile foods out there. And also one of the healthiest – despite what those medical people say. You take a potato out of the ground, wash it and cook it – no processing whatsoever. Please tell me how it can be unhealthy? Not to mention how absolutely delicious potatoes are with butter and cheese and cream and mushrooms…

Preparation time: 15min

Cooking time: +-2hours

Difficulty Level: Very easy

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

8 medium potatoes

500ml milk

1 onion, finely chopped

50g butter

350g bacon bits

100g cheese

Salt & Pepper

Breadcrumbs in butter

Method:

Cook the whole potatoes till ¾ ready.

 Add the onion to the milk and cook for about 20min on medium heat.  

Drain the milk off, and keep both the milk and onion.

Melt the butter and fry the onion and bacon until soft and lightly starting to brown. 

Add the onion milk and mix well.

Slice the potatoes and layer in a baking dish. Dot a little butter and sprinkle salt & pepper over the potato. 

Add some cheese. Add another layer of potato, and continue to layer until all the potato is done.

Pour over the bacon mixture.

Melt some butter and add the breadcrumbs, enough to cover the top the dish. I had a bit of a mishap, so mine doesn't exactly cover the top!!

Bake in the oven at 160°C until nicely browned.

Serve at a braai, or as part of dinner or enjoy as is!!

Yours in oil and veggies

Risch

Chicken Hamburger

Friday nights are usually “take-out” nights. But not necessarily by buying junk food, by making it at home. For some reason, junk food made at home is much tastier, and much more filling than the junk food you buy.

There is no recipe for making a hamburger, though. Personally, I don’t like tomato sauce or hot-dog mustard sauce, so I try my best to avoid it all times. I prefer mayonnaise, chutney and decent mustard like Dijon or Hot English Mustard.

In making a chicken hamburger, tomato sauce and hot-dog mustards are very much off limits. Dead zone. Don’t even take it out of the cupboard. You use a white sauce, made with mayonnaise, smooth cottage cheese and a little Dijon mustard.

You also need to have lettuce, tomatoes, onion, buns (obviously, we like the hard crusted ones for burgers) and chicken patties. I prefer to buy the chicken fillets, not the chicken patties. I find it tastier and more… authentic. O, and cheese. Always, cheese.

Lucky for me, this is my blog with all my opinions, feel free to disagree and make your hamburger your OWN!!

Ingredients:

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Onion

Buns

Chicken Fillets or Patties

Mayonnaise

Smooth Cottage Cheese

Dijon Mustard

Cheddar cheese, grated

Method:

Spread the buns with margarine/butter. 

 Mix 2tbs mayonnaise, 1tbs smooth cottage cheese and ½t Dijon mustard. (Make more depending on how many burgers, and feel free to tweak the proportions to your taste!) Spread one half of the bread generously with the sauce. Add tomato and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. 

Add the onion and the lettuce. Fry the patties in oil or bake in the oven, as per package instructions. Add to the bun. Add cheese to your liking.

Serve with onion rings.

And enjoy!!!

Yours in oil and veggies

Risch

Pea & Mushroom Spaghetti

In my garden, I have a small selection of veggies growing. Spinach, cauliflower (which flopped – thanks white fly!), brussel sprouts and peas. I love peas. I love growing them and I love picking them and I love eating them. Mostly I love eating them straight from the shell after picking. They are so sweet…  but usually my pea harvest is just enough for me to eat, and never enough for a meal. 

Well, this time I did something right. I harvested enough peas for a whole meal – and you wouldn’t even think I plucked anything, as there are still so many left!!

The best thing about fresh peas, is that they really don't require a lot of cooking. A little heat just to match the heat of the meal, is sufficient, because their taste is so sweet and so fresh.

Preparation time: 15min

Cooking time: 30min

Difficulty Level: Very Easy

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

500g mushrooms, sliced (2 punnets)

150g bacon bits

2tbs coconut oil

400g spaghetti

250g fresh peas

Water

Salt & Pepper

Method

Melt 1tbs coconut oil and fry the onion till soft. 

 Add the bacon and fry till lightly browned. 

Melt the other tbs coconut oil and fry the mushrooms. 

Boil enough water for the spaghetti. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the spaghetti and cook until el dente. Pour off the water. Add the bacon, onion, mushrooms and peas and mix well.

Dish up with a little grated parmesan.

And enjoy!

Yours in oil and veggies

Risch

Cheese, Onion & Corn Quesadillas

I cheated. Yes, I know... But I simply didn't have enough time. You know, to make my OWN wraps. So... I bought them. Should you wish to make them, you can find the recipe right here on Rischlicious Recipes.
Compliments to the "Mexicorn" company, though. Normally the wraps you buy are bland, tasteless, reminding you of cardboard. Old cardboard. These ones were very tasty and soft. And not that expensive either.

I tasted my first Quesadilla in Spur. And it was love at first bite. So I decided to make some of my own. Fun thing is, you can really play with the ingredients. I am not concerning myself with the ethics of what is now a TRUE quesadilla or what SHOULD be in there... this is food, people. You can make it to suit your taste and mood. 

This recipe contains no measurements, as you make it according to your taste. Want more cheese? Then add more cheese! Want more onion? Then add more onion? Want to add green pepper? or Bacon? or Chocolate Chips? Then add it!! (I only have one rule when it comes to being adventurous about new combinations and flavours: you eat what you make. So perhaps we should rethink the chocolate chips...?)

Ingredients

1 tin whole kernel sweetcorn
3 onions
butter
lots of grated processed cheese
wraps (2 per person)
mayonnaise

Method

Chop the onion.

Fry the onion in butter until lightly browned. 

Spread mayonnaise on the wraps. You can spread on only the bottom one, or top and bottom. 

 Cover with cheese. Don't spread too close to the edges, because we don't want it to melt out of the quesadilla.

Sprinkle the whole kernel sweetcorn.

Add the fried onions.

Place the second wrap on top and press lightly down.

Heat up a frying pan big enough for the quesadillas. Add some olive oil to cover the bottom.

Place the quesadilla in and lightly fry the one side. Carefully turn it over and fry the other side. Remove and place on plate. Add a little more oil to the pan. It is advisable to add a little oil before each quesadilla, to get a nice golden brown fry. Otherwise, it turns to black frying spots.

Cut in quarters. You are welcome to carefully arrange it on the plate and garnish with some green salad... we were just too hungry to think of anything else than EATING it!! 

And it was super delicious. And surprisingly filling, too. 

Yours in oil and veggies

Risch

Bacon, Onion & Cheese Roll

Very delicious and simple to make, and you can add almost anything to it. I again didn't add quantities, because maybe you like a little less onion or more cheese, and with this roll, you can swing it any way you like. Add green peppers, mushrooms and feta. Add salami. Replace the bacon with salami... the combinations are endless!
The ingredients is what I used to make this roll.

Ingredients:

1 roll puff pastry, defrosted
onion
cheese, grated  (I used processed cheese.)
bacon 
1 egg

Method

Roll out the puff pastry.

Cover with the bacon. 
Add the onion. Cover evenly.

Cover with cheese.
Roll up.

Whisk the egg with a little bit of water to make the eggwash. And brush your roll. Make a couple of slits on the top of the roll for the steam to escape.
Bake in the oven @ 160degrees C for half an hour, or until it browns nicely.

And serve!

Yours in oil and veggies

Risch