Category Vegetarian and Salads

Serves 6 to 8

A recipe for the true potato lover, equally as delicious as a vegetarian meal with the bacon omitted. This is a rich dish with a potato bake filling which is topped with a cheesy mash potato. It can be the star of the show, or served as a side dish at a buffet. Depending on the size of your potatoes, you may need more cream. Be sure to cook the potatoes on the stove top until they release some of their starch and thicken the cream, this results in a much creamier bake.

Flavour Combination:

For the bake –

2 tbsp olive oil

1 red onion, finely diced

125g bacon, finely chopped

250ml whipping cream

8 to 12 large potatoes, peeled and sliced (using a food processor or mandolin slicer)

Seasoning, to taste

For the topping –

6 to 8 large potatoes, peeled and quartered

50g parmesan ...

Serves 6 to 8

This is a great winter salad. The flavours of sweet chilli sauce and fried bacon marry well with the roasted new potatoes and aubergine. It’s simple to prepare and then tossed together and served warm, perfect for chilly days and as an accompaniment to a roast dinner.

Flavour Combination:

700g new potatoes (baby potatoes), washed and halved

2 large aubergines (egg plants/brinjals), washed and cubed

1 tbsp dried rosemary

1 tbsp dried thyme

½ tsp Himalayan salt

¼ cup olive oil

2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

1 tbsp butter

Bacon, chopped

Rosa/cherry/vine tomatoes, or a combination

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Wild rocket leaves

Feta cheese, to garnish (optional)

To make:

1. Preheat oven to 180*c
2. Mix the new potatoes, aubergines, herbs, salt and olive oil together in a large bowl, coa...

I would love to win with the Hot Potato Blogger Challenge because… well, should I start with what I would do with the prize money, why I think my recipes are fabulous, or first tell you why I entered?

I think I will begin with telling you why I entered. Potatoes are such a great ingredient to work with, they are so versatile and can be used for a quick light meal, to being a side dish for a posh affair, or even the main affair itself. Potatoes are getting a bad rap from the low carb protagonists, but they will always have their place on the menu. Especially my dad’s menu. The minute I heard about this potato challenge, I thought of my dad, who is a meat and potatoes kind of guy...

I’m not really sure what I snacked on before the lovely Nina Timm sent an interesting looking package to me last week.  The box contained Moir’s Cream Crackers, Fairview Erik’s Goat’s Cheese Gouda and a jar of Oriental Dried Fruit and Onion Chutney.  Slowly but surely that package has been sustaining me over the past few days while I’ve been plodding through admin duties.

A delicious oriental dried fruit and onion chutney and very tasty goat’s gouda cheese!

Determined not to finish every bite of deliciousness before using at least one product in a culinary way, I simply topped a bowl of Spicy Lentil and Beetroot Soup with plain yoghurt and Nina Timm’s Oriental Dried Fruit and Onion Chutney.  I’ve never used chutney as a soup garnish before, but it worked!

The Spicy Lentil and Bee...

It is ironic that my first challenge for Freshly Blogged was the last time I cooked in my Noordhoek home.  In early July, my son and I moved from the suburban part of Noordhoek to our new rental property in the quaint collection of Harfield Village cottages. 

And so it was with pure elation that I set to work transforming the ingredients of the first challenge – eager to enjoy my last precious moments spent cooking in that now familiar space.  Knowing that the next week I would be getting used to new cupboard space, work surfaces and an unfamiliar oven; made me appreciate the galley-like kitchen even more. 

To make the Roasted Butternut and Aubergine Cous Cous Salad:

Dice 2 medium peeled and seeded butternuts into large blocks, dice 2 aubergines into medium blocks, thickly slice 2 red onion. Mix olive oil with chopped fresh ginger and garlic in a bowl and then add NoMU Moroccan Spice and a dash of cinnamon and turmeric. Throw in the butternut, aubergine and red onion and mix well. Bake this in an oven dish until cooked through and browning, about an hour at 180·c.

Meanwhile, prepare the couscous. Put a glug of olive oil, a sprinkling of white balsamic vinegar and a light dash of sumac and seasoning into the large ceramic flat dish you are going to use for the couscous. Stir the dressing together with a fork, then add the couscous and stir together quickly...