Yummy Meaty Comfort food.

Visiting in Cape Town at the moment. Just come back from a very cold and damp parkrun. Cape Town in general, is quite different from Johannesburg as far as winter weather is concerned.

Johannesburg has icy evening and morning temperatures. The gardens often taking a knock as frost, even black frost, ruin the more delicate plants. The days warm up to pleasant temperatures and excess clothing is discarded, only to be put back on as the afternoons become cooler.

The Cape winters are wet and miserable. The morning temperatures only rise by perhaps 2 degrees come midday.

These weather conditions make being in the Cape during winter, the perfect time to experience good, wholesome, warm comfort food. Even though I’m on a business trip, I’m fortunate to have my recipes on my phone so I am including some favourites for you to try. Enjoy!

Malaysian beef rendang.

Ingredients:

Curry paste:

• 5cm knob fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
• 4 stalks lemongrass, roughly chopped
• 1 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, sliced
• 6 red chillies, deseeded
• 3cm knob fresh turmeric, peeled and grated, or 1 tsp (5ml) ground turmeric
• 2 tsp (10ml) ground cumin

• ½ cup (125ml) desiccated coconut
• Glug vegetable oil
• 1kg beef shin, cut into chunks
• 3 star anise
• 6 cardamom pods, bruised
• 4 cloves
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 1 can (400g) coconut milk
• 1 Tbsp (15ml) tamarind paste
• Juice (30-60ml) of 1-2 limes

For serving:

• Sliced red onion
• Shards of cucumber
• Fresh coriander
• Fresh coconut shavings
• Strips of red chilli
• Steamed white rice

Method

1. Grind curry paste ingredients using a pestle and mortar until smooth, or purée in a blender with a splash of water.
2. Toast desiccated coconut in a dry pan for 1-2 minutes or until golden.
3. Heat a generous glug of oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
4. Fry curry paste until fragrant, stirring often.
5. Season meat and add to pot, frying and turning until browned all over.
6. Add whole spices and toasted coconut and stir-fry for a minute.
7. Add about 2 cups (500ml) water – enough to cover the meat – and half the coconut milk, cover and simmer until the meat is tender, about 1½ to 2 hours. (Add more water if it’s a little dry.)
8. Stir in remaining coconut milk, tamarind paste and lime juice to taste, and stir to combine.
9. Serve curry on rice, topped with red onion, cucumber, coriander, coconut and chilli.

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Butter chicken pie

Ingredients:

• Glug olive oil
• 1 Tbsp (15ml) butter
• 4 (about 450g) chicken breast fillets, cut into chunks
• Salt and milled pepper
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 Tbsp (45ml) all-purpose curry paste (click here for full recipe)
• 2 Tbsp (30ml) tomato paste
• 2-3 curry leaves
• 1 can (400g) chopped tomatoes, blitzed
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• ½ packet (250g) diced butternut or pumpkin
• 1 cup (250ml) cream
• 1 roll (400g) puff pastry, defrosted
• Melted butter or whisked egg, for brushing

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.  
2. Heat olive oil and butter in a pot over medium heat.
3. Season chicken and fry in batches for 3 minutes or until golden. Set aside.
4. Sauté onion in the same pot for 5-8 minutes or until soft.
5. Add curry paste, tomato paste and curry leaves, and cook for 3-5 minutes until fragrant.
6. Stir in fried chicken, chopped tomatoes and vegetables.
7. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until veg is cooked through.
8. Stir in cream, season and spoon into a 23cm ovenproof dish. Allow to cool slightly.
9. Roll out puff pastry to 5mm thick and cut into a 25cm disc.
10. Score the top in a spiral, radiating from just off-centre, and take care not to cut all the way through.
11. Cover pie filling with pastry disc, trim and tuck in edges.
12. Make a small hole in the centre of spiral for steam to escape, and brush pastry with melted butter or egg.
13. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until pastry is golden and cooked.
14. Serve immediately, hot out of the oven.

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Asian pork, mushroom, and broccoli stew

Ingredients:

• Salt and milled pepper 
• 6-8 (about 600-800g) pork rashers, cut into 3-5cm chunks 

Marinade: 

• 2 Tbsp (30ml) gochujang (Korean chilli paste) 
• 1-2 Tbsp (15-30ml) hoisin sauce 
• 1 Tbsp (15ml) miso paste 
• 1 Tbsp (15ml) sesame oil 
• 3 spring onions, sliced + for serving 

• Glug canola oil 
• 1 onion, chopped 
• 1 punnet (100g) shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced 
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 5cm knob ginger, grated 
• 1 cup (250ml) kimchi, roughly chopped 
• 3 Tbsp (45ml) kimchi brine 
• 2 cups (500ml) mushroom stock (see cook’s note) 
• 2 Tbsp (30ml) cornflour mixed with ¼ cup (60ml) water to make a paste 
• 1 packet (230g) Tasty Stem broccoli, blanched 
• Juice (30ml) and grated peel of 1 lime 
• Cooked sticky sushi rice, for serving 

Method

1. Season pork rashers. 
2. Combine marinade ingredients and thoroughly coat pork. 
3. Marinate pork for 20-30 minutes. 
4. Heat oil over medium heat and sauté onion for 3-5 minutes. 
5. Add mushrooms and fry for 4-5 minutes, until golden. 
6. Remove and set aside. 
7. Add garlic and ginger to pan and fry for another minute until fragrant. 
8. Add pork, reserving marinade, and fry for 12-15 minutes. 
9. Add marinade, kimchi, kimchi brine and stock, and simmer for 35-40 minutes. 
10. Stir in cornflour paste, fried mushroom mixture, broccoli and lime juice and grated peel. 
11. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes. 
12. Top stew with spring onion and serve with sticky rice and mandarin pancakes if you like.

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Beef and bean slow-cooker soup

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp (30ml) canola oil
• Salt and milled pepper
• 1kg beef shin
• 6 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 5 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 packet (50g) tomato paste
• 5 cloves garlic, grated
• ½ cup (125ml) red wine
• 1 Tbsp (15ml) Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce
• 1 punnet (250g) portobello mushrooms, wiped clean and kept whole
• 1 packet (500g) Livewell dried beans, soaked overnight (we used white kidney beans, red adzuki beans and cowpeas)
• 5 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 5 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 cups (1.25L) beef stock
• 2-3 cups (500-750ml) water
• Pinch sugar
• Knob (60g) butter

Method:

1. Heat oil in a slow cooker (we used an 8L one) or a large pot on the stove top.
2. Season meat well and brown in batches over high heat. Set aside.
3. Fry carrots and celery for 5-8 minutes.
4. Add tomato paste and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes until sticky.
5. Add wine to deglaze the pot – it loosens all the yummy bits stuck on the bottom.
6. Add Worcestershire or soy sauce, mushrooms, beans, herbs, stock, water and sugar.
7. Cook for 7 hours in the slow cooker, or simmer for about 2 hours on the stove, until the meat is tender. (You can also cook it for 45 minutes in a pressure cooker).
8. Add butter and stir to melt. Season to taste.
9. Serve with bread.

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Herb-crusted leg of lamb with blistered peppers.

Ingredients:

Herb crust: 

• ½ punnet (10g) each fresh parsley, mint and oregano, finely chopped 
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 
• 2 red chillies, seeded and chopped 
• Grated peel of 2 lemons 
• Glug olive oil 

• 1 (about 2.5kg) leg of lamb 
• Salt and milled pepper 
• Glug olive oil 
• 2 onions, halved 
• 1 bulb garlic, halved 
• Handful fresh oregano 
• 3 cups (750ml) beef stock 

• 2 Tbsp (30ml) butter 
• 1 punnet (250g) baby carrots 
• 2 Tbsp (30ml) honey 
• 1 Tbsp (15ml) chopped fresh parsley 
• 2 punnets (200g each) sweet baby peppers, charred 
• Fresh herbs of your choice, for serving 

Herb sauce: 

• 1 punnet (20g) fresh parsley 
• ½ punnet (10g) fresh mint 
• Handful pitted green olives 
• ⅓ cup (80ml) olive oil 
• 2 cloves garlic 
• Juice (120ml) of 2 lemons 

Method

1. Combine herb crust ingredients. 
2. Season lamb. 
3. Heat oil in a pan and brown lamb on all sides for 3-4 minutes per side. Remove and cool slightly. 
4. Cover lamb with herb mixture, packing it together tightly. 
5. Place onions, garlic, oregano and stock in a large, deep baking dish.  
6. Nestle lamb on top and cover with foil. 
7. Roast at 170°C for about 3½ hours or until soft. (Top up dish with stock as needed during cooking.) 
8. Blitz together sauce ingredients. Season. 
9. Heat butter in a large pan on medium heat and cook baby carrots for 3-4 minutes. 
10. Stir in honey and cook for 2-3 minutes, until glossy and cooked through. 
11. Scatter with parsley and season. 
12. Char baby peppers under the grill or in a griddle pan. 
13. Serve roast lamb with charred peppers and carrots on a platter, garnished with herbs and drizzled with sauce.