So clever.... and Pumpkin & Cheese Soup

Yes, there is some "seriously" clever people out there in the world. Which makes me realise (again) that I really don't know anything!!

For instance... I never, ever thought of placing a whole pumpkin in the oven, baking it soft and THEN peeling it etc. to make pumpkin soup - how clever! And then adding cheese to the pumpkin - double clever and simply delicious!

Quick and easy!

So, not to waste another minute, I took one of my pumpkins, from my own veggie patch (if I might add) and tested it out. How could I not!

You will need:

* 1x medium size pumpkin
* 4 - 6 Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges
*  +- 2 cups Veg or Chicken Stock

1. Take 1x whole, medium size pumpkin and pop it in the oven at 100degC for about 45min      -1 hour (or until a knife can easily be pushed through the skin)... but not totally soft!

I wrapped mine in foil, but it isn't necessarily.

2. When the pumpkin has cooled down enough, cut it, peel it and take out the seeds. Place the rest in a pot with about 1 1/2 - 2 cups of vegetable or chicken stock. Cook until very soft.

3. Switch off the stove and take the pot off the heat. Using your hand processor, mix the pumpkin until a smooth, thick-ish consistency.

  3. Now it's time to add in the "Laughing Cow" white creamy cheese... I add in about 4 - 6           cheese wedges to a medium size pot of pumpkin soup! I LoVe cheese.

4. That's it! Now it is ready to serve.

Flops, more flops... so I asked "why?"

Why?? 

Oven temperature good - yes
Ingredients fresh - yes.
Adding all the ingredients - yes.
Hm mm...

Emotions OK - no! 

Tehehe, I should have known! When I'm not happy or when something is bothering me, I must not bake - period. I "baked" a Raisin and Ginger Bread two days ago (in the bread-maker, may I add) and it was terrible! No flavour, no aromas floating around in the house... a flop!
I will not mention all the other flops pestering me over the past couple of weeks! Moving to another country can be a roller coaster ride...

BUT, things are looking up ;-). I baked a batch of Ginger Cookies this afternoon and they are delicious!! I tried another recipe this time - not the recipe from a previous post -  this one was from "bigfatcookies" by Elinor Klivans. The texture is different, but they are really good.

At least I took some photo's of my other "non-flops"... and I promised a customer I'll post them today, so I'd better get a move-on!

Koeksisters

(pronounced: cook + sisters)


Never, ever, EVER did I think I would attempt to make this famous South African sweet treat anywhere in my "baking future" - all on my own, rotating between really hot oil and near freezing cold syrup! Mostly because everyone always told me: "O man, that's a big job!"

But, you know, living in NZ now, I can't just pop into the local SPAR and buy a dozen of koeksisters anymore. I was craving them. So what's a girl to do....?

Yes, I found a recipe, made the syrup, left it in the fridge for 24hrs, started with the pastry the following day, made the koeksisters, placed them in the fridge..... and they were all eaten up by day two. 

Sweet, syrupy and just addictive! If I can make them, anyone can!

Ingredients for dough:

• 2 cups cake flour

• 2 tablespoon baking powder

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 large egg

• 4 tbsp butter/margarine

• ½ cup of water

• oil for frying

Ingredients for syrup:

• 1kg sugar

• 1 ½ cinnamon sticks

• ½ tsp ground ginger

• 1 ½ cups of water

• juice of one lemon

Method: syrup

Prepare the syrup a day before (it needs to be very cold). Dissolve sugar in the water. Add the spices and lemon juice to this and boil together. Leave the syrup cool in the fridge overnight.

Method: dough

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Rub in the butter and mix until pliable.
Mix this with the egg and water (adding the water a little at a time). Work the dough well. 

If the dough appears to be lumpy and sticky, continue to work the dough until it will ball up.
Let the dough rest at room temperature for about three hours (under an inverted mixing bowl).

Prepare the koeksisters:

• Roll out the dough (thickness 5mm).
• Cut the dough into strips of 6cm long, 2cm wide.
• Cut each of these strips into three strips (not all the way through, leave the strips connected at the top).
• Plat each strip, pinch together at the end of the strip.
• Deep fry until golden brown.
• Remove and drain quickly – dip the hot koeksisters in the cold syrup (that was stored in the fridge up to now).
• The secret is to keep the syrup cold and the koeksisters hot, this way it will draw just the right amount of syrup.
• You can keep the syrup cold by keeping the syrup bowl in another container filled with iced water.

Thank you to Just Easy Recipes -http://www.justeasyrecipes.co.za/2009/08/27/koeksisters/

Preparing the Koeksister

Into the oil they go!

Pork Belly Andre

As promised...

...Andre's "secret' marinade recipe for Pork Belly!

On it's way to the Cobb.

The coals and juice go below, then your meat,
then the lid.

I cannot give you quantities :-), because he didn't measure out anything... he tasted! Well, there you have it folks - let your taste buds do the work.

We slow cooked our PB on our cobb (www.cobbglobal.com). It's really a handy little cooker! Of course, us South Africans, love to braai and see flames and stink from smoke and braai-vleis, but some days we can be sophisticated too...

What you will need:

• Your tongue - for tasting
• Olive Oil
• Soy Sauce
• BBQ Sauce
• Tobasco Sauce
• Ginger
• Salt and Pepper
• 1Kg Pork Belly (our PB still had the ribs on)
• Apple juice if using a Cobb

Make about 500ml of the marinade... mix all the ingredients together in your preferred quantities (by tasting). 

Place your PB in a large enough Zip Lock bag, then add the marinade. It's best to let the PB marinade over-night in the fridge.

A Cobb is not a "must have". (BUT, if you do have one, below, where the coals go, pour some apple juice in the area around the coals... you will know where). You can use some other means of slow cooking it as well - Weber, kitchen oven, etc. Ours took about 2hrs to cook!

You can use your thermometer to check the meat temp. to see if it's done! Andre just cut the meat and had a look... he probably tasted it too - hehe!