Mince pies for luck
In some traditions, it is considered good luck to eat a mince pie every day for the 12 days before Christmas, and even luckier to eat each pie in a different home. In my family it is far more simple.
Every mince pie eaten before Christmas gives you a month’s good luck.
So the more you eat, the better your luck (assuming they don’t kill you from a heart attack). Of course eating 12 pies guarantees your luck for the next year. To continue this nonsensical and superstitious tradition, I ate my first mince pie of the season last night; like I need an excuse to eat a mince pie. It was supplied by my friend Sandra, and baked by her husband.
Ok to tell the truth, my luck is guaranteed for at least the next two months, and I am bound to have a little more luck coming my way soon.
Enjoy the pies :-)
Cape Bobotie
If you take an English cottage pie, remove the mash and mix it with a medium Indian curry, you get an approximation of what bobotie tastes like. It is a difficult dish to describe to somebody that has never tried it. “Curried Mince” simply does not describe this unique and tasty dish from the Cape.
Served with a little chutney, it will lure you into eating food a little more spicy, you will have delicious left overs on toast for breakfast, and you will be left with the lovely warm and full feeling that only a good meal can do. Spicy, yet not hot. A curry, but not quite. Mince, but not a cottage pie. I love bobotie, it is one of the most tasty meals that you will experience.
Ok, now for the test: one of these was made with beef mince, and the other with vege mince. Which one is which? Leave a comment and guess.
To simplify, make a mince curry, mix in a few slices of bread, pour on an egg crust and bake.
Here’s my mom’s recipe
Ingredients:
- 375ml milk
- 2 slices of brown bread (no crusts), soaked in the milk
- 2 onions
- 2 cloves garlic (like I will only use 2)
- 25ml curry powder
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 25ml chutney
- 12.5ml apricot jam
- 12.5ml Worchester sauce
- 5ml turmeric
- 25ml vinager
- 500g mince
- 1 egg
- 2 bayleaves
- A few raisons (if you want)
Directions:
- Lightly brown the onions
- Add the mince and garlic and brown
- Add the rest of the ingredients (except for the milk and bread) and mix in
- Add the soaked break, but keep the milk & mix in
- Add a few raisons if you like (not for me though)
- Put the mince mix into a casserole dish
- Break the egg into the left over milk and mix
- Pour the milk and egg mixture over the mince, and place the bayleaves on top
- Back for 40 minutes
That’s it! While it sounds a little complicated, it is really easy to make, but oh so yummy! The almonds are not part of the recipe, but I love to add a few slivers on top before baking.
Lamb Shank
On Saturday night Lois made me slow-cooked lamb shank with mushrooms and baby tomatoes. Of course lots of chilli and garlic went in as well. The strange thing in our house is that Lois is vegetarian (ok that in itself is not that strange), but Lois is usually the one that cooks the meat dishes, and I am the one that usually cook the vegetarian dishes.
So while I cooked Lois a pumpkin bake, she cooked me the lamb shank. Personally, I think that I got the better deal :-)
Posted in Cape Town, Daily Photo, Food and Drink | 
food, lamb, mushrooms, shank, tomatoes | 
2 CommentsEspetada at Forries
Francois’ Espedata
The weather this weekend has been glorious (you may notice that Capetonians have an obsession with the weather), so a group of us decided to have an outdoor lunch at Forries in Claremont. Foresters Arms, which is a traditional English pub, has been around for as long as I can remember. And they server about 15 beers on tap (which is very rare for Cape Town).
Francois could not resist the Espedata, which looked fantastic. But at 400 grams, it was simply big a meal for me, so I settled on a chicken burger covered with Bree and cranberry sauce.
Posted in Cape Town, Daily Photo, Food and Drink | espetada, food, forries, meat, pub | Leave a commentTomato tart with gruyere pastry
We are supposed to be at Kirstenbosch Gardens having a birthday picnic with our friend Sarah, but alas I am having an acute and sudden dose of pollen allergy, so I don’t think that an afternoon in the botanical gardens in spring is such a good idea.
However, our contribution to the picnic was going to be a baby tomatoe tart with gruyere pastry, which Lois still made for lunch.
It is really simple to make and very yummy. Here is the recipe:
- Fry 1 chopped onion and 4 cloves chopped garlic
- Mix about 800 g baby tomatos with 1/4 cup salt, 1/2 cup chopped basil, 1.5t sugar, and a little salt and pepper
- Mix in the onion/garlic mixture
- Put the tomatos mixture into a ceramic pie dish
- Cover dish with puff pastry from the supermarket
- Brush some egg over the pasty
- Finally sprinkle about 1/2 cup finely gruyere cheese over the top
- Bake at 180 for about an hour, and leave to stand for a few mintues before cutting
Serve hot or cold. Yummy indeed!
Posted in Cape Town, Daily Photo, Food & Recipes, Food and Drink | food, gruyere, tart, tomatoes | 3 CommentsPlease contribute
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