A taste of South Africa
TV chef Sophie Michell has developed a range of delicious recipes which all feature South African fruits.
These tasty recipe ideas include South African plums, peaches and nectarines and are sure to warm you up in these colder months.
South African grapes, plums, peaches and nectarines are widely availible in supermarkets during the British winter.
The Recipes:
Spiced pork burgers with South African peach and chilli salsa
“I wanted to something slightly different here, peaches are so versatile and in this dish they shine with Cajun flavours and pork. Making a peach and chilli Salsa is a fresh addition and much better than fat laden sauces. This dish is also a great change form the usual burger recipes” said Sophie.
Serves 4
Preparation time 20 minutes
Cooking time 40 minutes
Ingredients:
600g minced pork
1 heaped tsp of ground cumin
1 heaped tsp of ground coriander
½ tsp of smoked paprika
1 clove of garlic, finely crushed
Sea salt and pepper
Salsa:
2 peaches
1 red onion
1 red chilli
1 small handful of fresh coriander
Juice and zest of 1 lime
1 inch piece of ginger
Splash of olive oil
To serve:
4 medium sweet potatoes
3-4 garlic cloves
Sprinkling of dried chilli flakes
Olive oil
Sea salt and pepper
Green salad
Method:
1. Firstly mix the spices together and add the garlic and the meat, mix well and add a good amount of seasoning, about a teaspoon of sea salt and a good few turns of freshly ground pepper.
2. Make the mix into four large patties or eight small patties, and pop back into the fridge.
3. Then get the potatoes ready, preheat the oven to 200C, and peel and cut into wedges.
4. Lay them onto a baking tray and sprinkle with the olive oil, chilli flakes and garlic.
5. Roast until cooked and golden, for around for 30 minutes or until golden and cooked.
6. While they are cooking make the salsa. De-stone and cut the peaches into small dice, about 1 cm sized pieces.
7. Finely chop the red onion and chilli and mix well together.
8. Zest half the lime and add along with all the juice.
9. Finally grate in the ginger, add the olive oil and coriander and season.
10.Then heat up a frying pan or griddle pan, and during the last 20 minutes of cooking the potatoes, you can cook the burgers just make sure they are cooked throughout, this should take about 8-10 minutes each side.
11.Serve the burgers with a big scoop of salsa and the wedges or even for something different, serve in baps or pitta bread.
Fluffy vanilla pancakes with sliced white South African nectarines and honey drizzle
Sophie says “I have never met a child (nor adult!) that hasn’t loved pancakes and these are great for a lazy weekend morning with all of the family. They come out light and fluffy and are perfect served with a drizzle of honey and the clean flavours of white nectarines. Honey is a natural sweetener, so not too bad as a treat for the babies!”
Serves 4
Preparation time 10 minutes
Cooking time 10 minutes
Ingredients:
300g self-raising flour
4 eggs separated
200ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
100ml runny honey
4 ripe white nectarines, sliced
100ml Greek yoghurt
More runny honey to drizzle
A small handful of chopped macadamia nuts (optional)
Method:
1. Place the flour in a bowl then whisk in the egg yolks, honey, vanilla extract and milk. Don’t be alarmed if the mix looks stiff, it will be fine!
2. Whisk until smooth and then set aside.
3. Whisk the whites in a separate bowl until stiff and carefully fold into the batter.
4. Heat a large frying pan up to medium heat and add a splash of vegetable oil.
5. Carefully drop in four large tablespoons of the mixture; keeping as separate as possible, hopefully you will be able to fit 4 in the pan.
6. Cook for a couple of minutes, until starting to turn golden at the edges and then flip over and cook until puffed up.
7. Pile onto a plate, with the nectarines on the side, a dollop of yoghurt and a drizzle of honey.
8. Finally finish off with a sprinkling of nuts (optional).
Roasted duck with star anise poached South African plums and bok choi
“Duck works so well with Chinese flavours and plums. I have added the extra depth of star anise and five spice to make a dish packed full of flavour. Making this dish is also a healthy alternative to the fat and sugar filled Chinese takeaways that we all love!” Sophie Michell.
Serves 4
Preparation time 35 minutes
Cooking time 70 minutes
Ingredients:
4 duck breasts, about 150g each
1 tsp five-spice powder
4 plums, halved and de-stoned
100g caster sugar
5cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and slice into large chunks
2 star anise
4 small bok choi, trimmed and quartered
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
Method:
1. Score the skin of the duck breasts, rub with five-spice powder and set aside.
2. Put the sugar, 300ml of water, peeled and sliced ginger, and star anise into a saucepan and bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Add the plums and simmer for a further 5 minutes or until just tender. Then take off the heat.
4. Put another frying pan on a very low heat. Season the duck breasts and place skin-side down in the pan.
5. Cook slowly for about 15 minutes, periodically draining off the fat into a bowl. (This slow cooking is to render the fat from the skin, so don’t worry that the duck isn’t browning off.)
6. After the 15 minutes is up, turn up the heat to now brown off the skin-side then turn the breasts over and cook on the flesh-side for a few minutes to brown. Remove from the pan and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
7. While resting the duck you can stir fry the bok choi 4-5 minutes in a hot wok with the sesame oil and soy sauce, you really don’t want to over cook them. Then take them out and place one bok choi on each plate, slice the duck breast and also add to the plate along with a spoonful of plums.
8. Serve with fragrant boiled rice.
Roasted brown sugar plums with Amaretto whipped cream
“Often you feel like a pudding or something sweet to finish off a meal, but it can be too easy to reach for a shop made version. This is a weekday pudding that can be put to together quickly and has the added benefit from the vitamin rich plums. The Amaretto cream is an optional luxurious extra, but it can be served with Greek yoghurt or crème fraiche instead.”
Serves 4
Preparation time 10 minutes
Cooking time 30 minutes
Ingredients:
8 plums
1 tbsp of muscovado sugar
100g blanched almonds
75g butter
200ml double cream
Splash of Amaretto
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Halve and de-stone the plums, and lay into a baking dish.
3. Sprinkle with the sugar and almonds, then dot the butter randomly across too. Roast the plums for 40 minutes until brown and bubbling.
4. While waiting for the plums, whip the cream into soft peaks and then mix in the liqueur.
5. Serve the hot plums with a dollop of the cream and some shop bought amaretti biscuits on the side for the easiest dessert around!
For more information, visit beautifulcountrybeautifulfruit.co.uk.
