From the Kitchen of: Jessica Brainard

Cheese Ball

1 8 oz. Package of Cream Cheese

4 oz jar Roca Blue Cheese

4 oz jar Old English Sharp Cheddar

Onion and Garlic Powder

a splash of Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon of Sherry

Roll in crushed Nuts

Note: The last time I made this I couldn’t find the jar of roca blue cheese. I don’t know if they even make this cheese any more. Just us another cheese or 2 of the Old English.

Homemade Mac-N-Cheese

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 (8 ounce) package elbow macaroni

* 1 (8 ounce) package shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

* 1 (12 ounce) container small curd cottage cheese

* 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

* salt and pepper to taste

* 1 cup dry bread crumbs

* 1/4 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

1. Pre-Heat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil, add pasta, and cook until done; drain.

2. In 9×13 inch baking dish, stir together macaroni, shredded Cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. In a small bowl, mix together bread crumbs and melted butter. Sprinkle topping over macaroni mixture.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until top is golden brown.

Queso Cheese Dip

Ingredients:

1 pound of Ground Turkey

1 Jar of Salsa

1 small can of diced green chilis

1 pack of taco seasoning

Brown the ground turkey in a skillet and drain the fat. Cut up the Velveeta cheese and put it in the crock pot on low.

Add the turkey, taco seasoning, a jar of salsa, and a can of green chills.

Home Made Cheese Cake:

Ingredients

Crust crumbs, add sugar, butter and mix well.press around the sides and bottom of the pan (do th sides first)

24 gram crackers

1 tablespoons of sugar

1/4 lb butter

Roll crackers to fine

(or buy a store bought pie crust)

Filling

4 eggs well beated

1 cup of sugar

A dash of cinnamon

2  8oz pkg. of cream cheese

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Combine filing and beat until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 325 degreese for 35 minutes. While hot add the well mixed topping on top.

Topping

1/2 pint sour cream

3 tablespoons of sugar

1/2 to 1 teaspoon of vanilla

Mix this well. Leave cream in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

Note: I was given this cheesecake and its recipe for my 16th birthday.

From the Kitchen of: Jessica Brainard

Domestic Goddess Salad Recipes

The art of making a super tossed salad. Use a jumbo bowl and servers, salt grinder and pepper mill. Chef’s seasoning trick; Put a little salt in mortar add garlic buds and herbs, then crush. Use a variety of greens plus wedges of ripe tomato, hard cooked eggs. Add tangy dressing, toss briskly, and you have the tastiest salad you ever ate. One of these days I will make one. For eye appeal and flavor contrast: Add tomato wedges, onion rings, green pepper, radishes, grated cheese, pimiento, egg slices, olives, small fruits, nuts. Bonus tidbits for nibbling; carrot sticks, celery curls, green onions, crisp rye wafers, melba toast. Salad success means serving it crispy cold-so serve immediately.

Miso Salad

Shredded Napa cabbage with fresh avocado, julienne cucumbers, daikon, edamame, carrots, red cabbage, green onions, cilantro, crispy rice noodles and crisp wontons tossed in a Miso dressing and topped with blue crab and shrimp. Also available with chilled-grilled chicken instead of seafood.

Mediterranean Salad

A chilled salad of cucumbers, red onions, fresh tomatoes and Greek olives tossed with crisp Romaine leaves and lemon-herb vinaigrette, served on a bed of hummus. Topped with Feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and our homemade Tzatziki sauce. Served with pita bread. Add grilled rosemary chicken breast, grilled shrimp, or sautéed salmon.

Grilled Vegetable Salad

Grilled asparagus, Japanese eggplant, zucchini, green onions and roasted corn, served warm over a bed of chilled Romaine lettuce, fresh avocado and sun-dried tomatoes in a Dijon balsamic vinaigrette. Tossed upon request. Also available with grilled rosemary chicken breast, sautéed salmon or grilled shrimp. 

Thai Crunch Salad

Shredded Napa cabbage, chilled-grilled chicken breast, julienne cucumbers, edamame, crispy wontons, peanuts, cilantro, julienne carrots, red cabbage and green onions tossed with a lime-cilantro dressing. Topped with crispy rice sticks and Thai peanut dressing.

Add fresh avocado.

Field of Greens Salad

A delicious blend of field greens, pears and candied walnuts tossed in Dijon balsamic vinaigrette. Also available with grilled shrimp, sautéed salmon, or Gorgonzola cheese.

The Original, BBQ Chicken Chopped

Chopped lettuce, black beans, sweet corn, jicama, cilantro, basil, crispy corn tortilla strips and Monterey Jack cheese tossed together in our herb ranch dressing. Topped with chopped BBQ chicken breast, diced tomatoes and green onions.

Original Chopped

Chopped lettuce, basil, salami, chilled roast turkey breast, diced tomatoes and Mozzarella cheese tossed in our herb-mustard Parmesan vinaigrette and topped with green onions. Chopped garbanzos added upon request.

CPK Cobb Salad

Chopped lettuce with applewood smoked bacon, fresh avocado, grilled chicken, diced tomatoes, chopped egg, basil and Gorgonzola cheese with our herb ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing. Fresh beets added upon request.

Waldorf Chicken Salad

Steak Salad 

A bicoastal rendition of a NYC favorite! Field greens, chilled-grilled chicken breast, seedless grapes, Granny Smith apples, candied walnuts, celery and Gorgonzola cheese. Tossed with your choice of Dijon balsamic vinaigrette or blue cheese dressing.

 Chinese Chicken Salad

Shredded Napa cabbage and crispy wontons tossed with julienne carrots, red cabbage, green onions, basil, toasted sesame seeds and fresh cilantro in a spicy sweet & sour sesame dressing. Topped with chilled-grilled chicken breast.

Classic Caesar

Crisp Romaine leaves, shaved Parmesan cheese and garlic-herb croutons tossed in our Caesar dressing. Whole or half size. Add grilled rosemary chicken breast, grilled shrimp, or sautéed salmon.

• An English muffin (substitution options include a baguette or panini)
• Camembert cheese (you could opt for Brie, or similar. Swiss might even work)
• Cranberry Sauce

Cut up some Camembert and put it on one half of the English muffin, add Cranberry sauce and put it in a toaster oven set to “broil” for approximately 4 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. If you don’t have a toaster oven, you could either cook it in your real oven on low heat, or possibly cook it like a grilled cheese sandwich (in a frying pan). If you’re lucky to have one of those sandwich press things, then that’d work too.

Happy Lunching!

Today’s recipe is short and simple, but your taste buds will thank you for taking the minimal amount of time and effort to make it. It’s little more than an omelet, but it takes on a whole new dimension of flavor with the mere addition of an item not usually associated with omelets: jam. We saw a recipe at some point for a tea sandwich consisting of camembert cheese with fig jam. It was this that inspired us to create the dish presented today. We used the eggs as the serving vehicle for the camembert (or Brie, either will be fine) and blue cheese; the savory qualities of the eggs and cheese is a natural match for the fig jam. This could almost be considered a dessert – heck, serve it as such if you want, nobody will complain. The cheeses give the dish a rich component; we served it with strawberries to balance it out, and it worked perfectly. Enjoy!

The MHK’s Cheese Omelet with Fig Jam

(serves 2)

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

6 eggs

¼ tsp. ground black pepper

2 oz. camembert or Brie cheese, sliced thin (with or without the rind)

2 oz. crumbled blue cheese

2 tbsp. fig jam

Heat oil in a skillet over med-high heat (if using a really good non-stick skillet, you can cut down or omit the oil). Lightly beat eggs with the pepper. Add to skillet; let the bottom set. Flip omelet over; top half with the cheeses. Fold other half over the cheese-topped half; flip once and then plate. Slice omelet in half. Top each with a 1 tbsp. dollop of fig jam. Eat!

I had been looking for a white bread recipe for a while,  eventually just decided to adapt my seed bread recipe, and it worked really well.   I also had a camembert cheese in the fridge, which I planned to bake and serve with the homemade bread. 

The combination was just amazing – after all, two of my favourite foods in all the world are freshly baked white bread and cheese – any cheese!!!! So how could this go wrong? 

Imagine gooey melted camembert with a hint of herbs and sweetness, scooped onto pieces of hot,  freshly buttered white bread…YUM.  Here’s how to get this delicious-ness yourself.

Milk Loaf

3 ½ cups cake flour

5 mls salt

1 sachet instant yeast

30 mls syrup or sugar

60 mls oil or melted butter

200 mls warm milk

200 mls warm water

• Mix the dry ingredients, stir in the oil and syrup, add the milk and mix until blended.  
• Turn out onto a clean surface, knead until smooth and elastic.  If you have small hands like me, this takes longer .  Relax and take the time to work the dough until it is beautiful and silky, and just springs back when you stretch it.
• Place the dough in a bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm to rise, until at least double in size.

• Turn out again, and knead briefly once more.  
• Divide the dough into three pieces, roll and stretch each piece into a long sausage. 
• Pinch the three pieces together firmly at one end and plait them, pinching the other end together as well.  
• Place the plaited loaf onto a greased baking tray, cover with a clean tea-towel and leave to rise again. 
• When doubled, brush with a mixture of milk and egg, and sprinkle with a tablespoon of sesame seeds. 

Bake at 180°C until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap it.

This went down a treat with the baked camembert cheese:  place the camembert in a ramekin.  Drizzle with a little honey, add a teaspoon of butter and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. 

Pop it in the oven until hot and melted.

 Enjoy!

The camembert was wrapped in tinfoil, along with all these other goodies, and cooked over the fire, and let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS. 

I put 2 sliced figs in with the cheese (and ate the rest of them, yum),  then some thyme on top of the figs, and a good drizzle of honey, wrapped it all up, and AP cooked it for a few minutes on the fire, til it was a gorgeous gooey mess.

I decided to bake a fresh bread on the fire to eat with the camembert, and had a yeast bread recipe in mind but I sprained my finger the evening before that and didn’t feel up to kneading bread (good excuse, huh??), so NJ said ‘make a beer bread’. 

Now I’m sure you all have a beer bread recipe, but if not……here’s mine.  I have had this recipe nearly 30 years, got it from a Californian friend:

Beer Bread

 3 cups of self-raising flour

340 ml bottle of beer, room temperature

3 tbsps sugar

a little salt

Stir all the ingredients together very well, spoon into a greased loaf tin.  Now you can bake it at 180 deg C until done, or you can bake it on the fire, like we did – we have a cute little cast iron bread tin, which bakes a small loaf very well on the fire; AP bakes the bread on the grid over a bed of coals, placing a few coals on the lid and changing them when they start to cool. 

 It takes about an hour to bake.  This went down a treat with the camembert cheese!

AP is still complaining that there was too little camembert, so I guess I will have to make it again soon.

There are times in my life when baking (eating) trays of something delicious and sweet seems to smooth away the days troubles;  I’m not suggesting that eating chocolate biscuits will eradicate problems such as a bad day at work, a tax bill or your Mother writing about your eating habits in a blog but I have found that taking some time in the midst of chaos to bake can take my mind off whatever’s troubling me..well for the a few minutes at least.

It’s possibly the precision required when baking cakes and biscuits that distracts me; weighing out an exact amount of ingredients that have to be sifted and folded together in a precise way is something I find almost therapeutic.  Baking of course isn’t all about measurements and sweet things there are so many delicious baked savoury dishes that require less precision but are just as comforting to prepare and to eat.  It’s possibly the easiest thing in the culinary World to bake a camembert cheese in it’s box until the centre melts, when cooked top it with a pile of warm caramelised onions and dip into it’s molten centre with small new boiled potatoes or crusty bread.

This particular baking session is calling for something sweet and preferably a chocolate cookie that when just warm from the oven will give a slightly soft centre melting with chocolate and an outside that will yield with a crisp bite.  Could this be just the thing to heal the wounded?

Double Chocolate Cookies

• 325g dark chocolate chopped into small chunks
• 125g softened salted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 150g soft dark brown sugar
• 1 free range egg, beaten
• 3 slightly heaped tbsp cocoa
• 220g sifted plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 160 deg/Gas Mk 3 and line a baking tray with non stick baking parchment.

Melt 130g of the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.  Leave to cool slightly.

When the chocolate is melting whisk the sugar and butter together until fluffy, add the vanilla extract and the egg followed by the melted chocolate.

Sieve the dry ingredients together and beat into the chocolate mixture with the remaining chocolate chunks.

Form into walnut sized balls and place on the prepared sheets, bake for 10-12 minutes the surface with crack slightly and this is usually my guide to tell me that they are ready.  Leave to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.  I’ve varied this recipe by adding a few chopped cubes of crystalised ginger or chopped hazlenuts and both have worked well.

The word baking for me conjures up a warm and cosy image and I can’t help but think of the ‘perfect’ 1950′s housewife.  Everything about her is immaculate – her tiny waist and shiny hair; the kitchen shows little evidence of the baking session that has taken place, the fire is blazing and her children beam love at her as she presents a plate of perfect cakes fresh from the oven.  However, my baking reality couldn’t be further from the truth.  I’m usually covered in flour and a few smears of butter, the sink is overloaded with the necessary equipment used to bake, the floor has a light dusting of  sugar that missed the bowl and my waist will never be described as tiny.   Despite these shortcomings, I can’t help but feel just as delighted although decidedly less immaculate than my 1950′s counterpart when I have baked something successfully…I can only hope that my (peace) offering will have the required effect on my offspring.  Happy baking.

Eat well, live well, laugh lots

I don’t know if any of you know of this:

1. For the marinade: mix olive oil, mixed spices, garlic and onions. Place lamb chops in a bowl with a lid and pour the marinade over to cover all.
2. Fry the rice in oil in the pot that you will be cooking it in.
3. After about 5 minutes or when the rice starts to brown, add the stock and cook the rice until it is ready.
4. Put the potatoes on the stove to cook.
5. Heat oil in a frying pan for the lamb chops.
6. Once the potatoes are cooked and the rice is just about done, start frying the chops.
7. Place it in the pan straight out of the bowl, don’t remove any onions or garlic stuck to it and don’t let too much of the sauce drip of.
8. Deep fry the potatoes until they are crispy on the outside.
9. Once the chops are cooked through you can dish up.
10. Serve with seasonal vegetables.

Dessert was custard and jelly.

[Fish/Meat]

- Fresh stewing beef aged min. 14 days super warehouse pack $2.99/lb ($6.59/kg, Western family)

- Fresh tenderloin steak Angus pride aged min. 14 days $15.99/lb ($35.25/kg, Western family)

- Fresh chicken beast fillet removed boneless skinless super warehouse pack $4.99/lb ($11.00/kg, Western family)

- Fresh pork loin centre chops boneless super warehouse pack $4.49/lb ($9.90/kg, Western family)

[Produce]

- Asparagus No. 1 grade $2.49/lb ($5.49/kg, imported)

- Brussels sprouts No. 1 grade $0.99/lb ($2.18/kg, USA)

- Broccoli crowns $1.49/lb ($3.28/kg, USA)

- Cauliflower cello wrapped No. 1 grade $2.99 each (USA)

- Celery No. 1 grade $0.79/lb ($1.74/kg, USA)

- Red grapes seedless No. 1 grade $1.49/lb ($3.28/kg, imported)

- Mandarin oranges 5 lb box $3.49 each (imported)

- Baby royal seedless Mandarin oranges 1.5 lb box 2 for $4.00 (imported)

- Pineapples $2.99 each (Costa Rica)

- Tomatoes on the vine hot house $1.49/lb ($3.28/kg, Mexico)

- Jumbo yams $0.49/lb ($1.08/kg, USA)

[Deli]

- Honey ham smoked $1.69/100 g

- Camembert Francais $3.39/100 g (Alexis de portneuf)

- Raclette cheese 120 to 150 g $4.99 each

- Blue cheese $2.89/100 g (Rosenborg)

[Other food]

- Cereal 369 to 425 g $3.99 each (Kashi)

- Chips 220 g 2 for $5.00 (Kettle)

- Chips 162 – 191 g 2 for $4.00 (Pringles)

- Chocolate layer cookie Tim Tam 200 g 2 for $5.00 (Arnott’s)

- Cream cheese 150 to 250 g 2 for $6.00 (Kraft Philadelphia)

- Frozen Edamame beans 454 g $3.99 each (Seapoint farms)

- Flour all purpose white 10 kg $7.99 each First 2 (Robin Hood)

- Ice cream double churned, smooth & dreamy, or confectionary 1.66 to 1.89 L $5.99 each (Breyers)

- Olive oil 500 mL or grapeseed oil 750 mL $4.99 each (Berio)

- Shredded cheese 380 g $6.99 each (Kraft)

- Tea bag 15′s $9.99 each (Mighty leaf)

- Tea bag 18′s or 20′s $2.99 each (Stash)

- Tortilla 220 to 360 g 2 for $5.00 (Doritos)

- Canned vegetables 341 – 398 mL 4 for $5.00 (Green Giant)

- Yogurt Activia 8 x 100 g or Silhouette 6 x 120 g $3.99 each (Danone)

- Yogurt Source, Yoptimal, or Asana 650 g $2.99 each (Yoplait)

[Drink]

- 100% apple or blends juice 1 L or 5 x 200 mL 4 for $6.00 (Sun-rype)

- Orange juice 1.75 L 2 for $7.00 (Tropicana)

[Health]

- Pain killer extra strength 400 mg caplets or liqui-gels 50′s – 72′s, or 200 mg liqui-gels 72′s $11.99 each (Advil)

- Toothpaste 75 – 100 mL $3.99 each (Sensodyne)

[Household]

- Paper towels ultra full sheet or choose-a-size 6 roll $5.99 each (Sponge towels)

* Need Save-on-more card.

Chris CEO, Lesley from Cape Town Blog, Hila from Add to Taste, Maryke Sales Marketing Manager, Charles Back, owner of Fairview, Nina from My-Easy-Cooking, Linda from The Squashed Tomato, Jessica from Tiny Oven Adventures, Colleen from browniegirlblog

Fairview Goat Tower

Bruce Rowbotham Cheese Maker

We passed a water basin with antiseptic soap, washed our hands, pushed through the thick plastic curtains over the doorway and entered a long passageway with many doors leading off on either side. I think we were all totally struck by the absolute cleanliness of the factory. My goodness you could comb your hair and put lipstick on using the surfaces and you could definitely eat straight off the floor without batting an eyelid. I went through a cheese factory many many years ago and I still remember the smell……oooh it was nasty! I had been secretly afraid of experiencing the same but this was definitely not the case here at Fairview - it was clean, and smelled just like warm very fresh milk (if you have ever spent time on dairy farms you will know what I mean by the smell of fresh milk, straight from the cow into a bucket). Oh there was one room where the strong stinky cheeses were maturing that did smell quite overpowering but even that smell was not hugely unpleasant. All in all it was such a pleasant experience, I think we all got so caught up that we didn’t even notice the sweaty workout we were all getting inside our plastic coating

Bright and clean Fairview Cheese Factory

The first room that we entered was where the fresh milk from earlier that morning had been delivered. There was a round vat of 1000 litres and another rectangular one of 2000 litres that was just starting to bubble from the cultures that had been added. Bruce informed us that the cows milk they used was 100% Jersey milk obtained from a single source rather than from many smaller sources like some other factories do it. This way he was able to keep a beady eye on the source of the supply.

2000 litres of milk starting to separate

From there we went through to another room where we saw curds (I think) being strained off and put into largish buckets and being sent offto another room.

All the while throughout the tour Bruce explained the processes of making the different cheeses at Fairview. It got rather confusing and I dont remember a lot of it so I am just going to take you through with the photos that I took

cheese curds being measured off and taken through to the brining room

Cheeses Resting in their brine bath

 The next room that we went into we all just ooohed and aaaahed, firstly because it was so delightfully cool after the other much warmer rooms, and secondly at all the rows upon rows of rolls of blue tower cheese in the airing and drying room. This is where they get taken and put through a machine that punches lots of holes into each one so that the blue growth can grow along the veins….the cheeses were all in varying stages of blue growth, from the new ones in this photo to the older ones towards the other side and those that were ready for washing and the next stage of the process. I tell you all of us cheese sluts were absolutely delighted with this room…and there was still more to come!!

Blue Cheeses by the dozens, in the drying room where the temperature is kept constant at a low of about 8deg and the humidity is high

 We were then taken into a couple of rooms where the bries and camemberts were resting merrily growing the mouldy skins that would indicate their stages of ripeness and readiness.

I found it fascinating to see the fine white velvety fluff growning on the round little camemberts. The bries are made in bigger rounds and then finally cut into wedges for packaging.

Camemberts and Bries growing their moulds

 The only room that we were warned about the smell before we went into it….where the stinkiest of all the cheeses were maturing and even there it was not unbearable, more interesting to know what that cheese was and what it was going to taste like. I believe the La Beryl (named for Charles Back’s late mother) is the strongest of the cheeses. It is South Africa’s first washed rind cheese and made in a similar style to the French Pont-l’Évêque which dates back to the 12th century. During the ripening process it developes a characteristic orangey  colour and a strong rather pungent aroma and flavour. I must say it is not unpleasant to taste and I might even get used to it

Those stinky cheeses I mentioned earlier

After we had been through the last room of cheeses, passing many smiling happy employees going about their jobs, and noticed some funny smallish parcels of cheese packed to one side that Bruce told us were his pet experimental projects (they looked really interesting too. I saw caraway seed in one I think)  we were then brought finally into the packaging area where there about 4 employees packaging different cheeses. The gentleman who was packing the Fairview Ripe and Ready Camembert in its fun modern packaging was Jimmy and we were told that he is totally blind. He was a great inspiration to us all I believe, happily doing his job with great pride. So when you buy a box of Fairview Camembert in the stores, please remember Jimmy who packaged it so well for you to take home.

Jimmy the blind employee at his packaging table

 I just think that it is pertinent to mention here (even though we didn’t see it being made) the new style Feta Cheese that is being proudly produced at Fairview by Bruce and his happy team of cheese helpers. 

Developed over six months,and using the latest technology the innovative team have produced a firm-textured, velvety smooth ‘brineless’ feta made from  that Jersey cows’ milk which I mentioned earlier. ‘The new inline thermoform packaging eliminates the need for brine to be used and reduces carbon emissions as no transportation of feta and brine water around the country is needed. There is also quite a saving of water as a regular 400g tub of traditional cheese in brine containes 300ml of brine (which is salt and water) that goes down the drain eventually. By packing it as they do now the brine is saved and re-cycled by filtereing and correcting the salt concentration then pasteurised and used again. The new flat packs reduce the amount of plastic used as well. The new pack also reduces the amount of plastic used per kilogram and offers close to 100% barrier properties. While not a new concept as other products are packed similarly, Fairview claims to be the first to try and take on the traditional way of packing feta on a larger scale. So there you have it….brine is so YESTERDAY! This new feta is deliciously smooth, not quite as salty as feta that sits in brine on the shelves. Aimed at the same market as the traditional feta, this new format is targeted particularly at environmentally-conscious consumers. It comes in convenient 100g or 200g size make it suitable for pensioners, students, people living alone and small families who would consume it in one sitting or, at most, in three to four days. The price is also good. And children love it. When we were out at Fairview some weeks ago with Tyler the older grandson he kept going back to taste it……he even tasted the La Beryl and said it wasnt too bad…..and eventually hauled out his pocket money and bought himself a 100g pack!!

Once we had been through the factory we were then taken across to the Goatshed Restaurant by our lovely hostess, Maryke Truter the Sales & Marketing Manager for the farm. There we we met Chris Davis the CEO and then Charles and Di Back, owners of Fairview Farm who all joined us for a lovely lunch with wine and lots of happy chatting. We left there feeling confident that our hosts knew a lot more about blogging, tweeting and social networking, which are the best restaurants in Cape Town and surrounds and other food trivia!! The food was amazing, everyone enjoyed their choices. Nina went so far as to come over to me and pop a forkful of her most amazing filet steak into my mouth for me to sample. It was so very good. Nina swears it is the best steak she has ever eaten in her life. So if you want to experience that, get thee over to the Goatshed very soon!  

In the Goatshed Restaurant - Hila from Add to Taste; Maryke Truter Sales & Marketing Manager; Charles Back owner of Fairview Wine Farm; Nina from My-Easy-Cooking; Linda from The Squashed Tomato Blog

 Of course I couldn’t NOT show you what I ended my meal off with…..Oooooh it was heaven in a cup! Made from dark Belgian Chocolate and cream Thats all!!

Decadent, thick Belgian Hot Chocolate so thick it can be eaten with a spoon!!

 At the end of the lunch we were presented with a delightful hamper each that contained an assortment of Fairview Wine and Cheeses, a recipe booklet for the new Feta and a lovely crossover apron.

Fairview Cheese and Wine Hamper

 Finally the long wait was over for the 3 finalists Nina from My Easy Cooking, Hila from Add to Taste and Linda from The Squashed Tomato when Chris announced the winner of the competition which turned out to be Hila!

Congratulations Hila, hope you enjoy spending your lovely voucher at the Goatshed soon.

A thrilled Hila Jonker from Add to Taste after being presented with her prize

A very very big thank you to Fairview Wine Farm and Chris Bryant for taking the iniative and engaging food bloggers in a challenge. We all thoroughly enjoyed the experience from beginning to end. It was a privilege and honour to have met you all and to have been on such a wonderful tour of the farm. I will definitely be back with my grandsons to visit the goats and little Choliwe the steenbokkie.

Have a wonderful weekend and I do hope that you are all wearing your Casual Day Stickers today to aid our disabled. And with it being Arbor Day I hope you plant a tree for the generations to come.

browniegirl xx

Could this be Billy Goat Gruff??

After the recent Fairview Camembert Bloggers Competition that I told you about last time all those bloggers who took part in the competition were invited to the farm on Friday for a wonderful outing. A few of the bloggers could not make it for various reasons so a group of six of us met outside the cheese factory where we met Maryke, Sales and marketing manager and she told us how the day was going to pan out. We then met Donald who takes care of the goat herd on the farm and he led us off to meet the pregnant nannie goats and gave us a short lecture on goats. Did you know that after the dog, a goat is the animal to be mans next best friend? S’trooooo, Donald told us We also learned that they come into season around February, they are pregnant for about 5 months so there are lots and lots of heavily pregnant mommies standing listlessly around in various stages of their pregnancy. We had all hoped that there might be one ready to give us a show and deliver while we were there but although there was one or two almost ready that didn’t happen.

Pregnant nanny goats

Heavily pregnant with triplets!!

 This poor girl couldn’t even muster up the energy to get up and move around…..I wonder if she is a proud mama by now?

We did get to see a brand new kid struggling to stand on its shaky little legs, it was being licked clean by the mother….too sweet!

Newly born kid being cleaned by mommy

Choliwe the Steenbokkie

This is Choliwe (the name means *abandoned by the mother but rescued by another*) a little baby steenbok

who was found almost dead on the farm and is being well cared for by the staff of Fairview. You can just see how much everyone loves her!

GO Choliwe, we wish you well little one!

Are you my mommy?

We were then taken through to the nursery where all those kids older than 3 days are taken once they are separated from their mothers. They stay the first 3 days so they get all the good colostrum that contains all the antibodies that they require to be healthy. Then, of course, they have to be separated as the cheese factory needs the goats milk for cheese. These little kiddies are then bottle reared on a mixture of goats and substitute milk until they are weaned.  We were all given the opportunity to cuddle and to feed them. They are kept in small pens just a few to a compartment. There are lights for keeping them warm and they are so well cared for.

Warm under the lights

Kiddie Cuddles with Lady Raven

Being bottle fed by browniegirl

 Once the babies were all fed we said goodbye to them and then were led off to the creche where the slightly older kids (I call them the toddlers hehe) live, they each have their own little pens at night and at feeding times but during the day they are let out into the fields to wander around and play in the grass. They have jungle gyms that have been built for them as it has been proven that the kids can die from stress and playing and climbing destresses them. These little dudes are just too gorgeous, incredibly friendly and follow you around as though you are the pied piper. We went out into the field with them and they just gathered around as we appeared, coming running and bleating from all directions to *chat* to us! They are curious and love to lick and nibble on your shoes or fingers or bag etc. They have been dehorned already, tattooed and tagged.

Nina surrounded by kids

Climbing and jumping for fun

 Eventually we were told that we had to say our fond farewells to the goats as we were expected in the cheese factory for a quick tour before our lunch at the goat shed. We wandered off, loath to leave the beautiful kids and as the creche door closed behind us we could hear the bleating fading away.

If you would like to take your family to visit Fairview Wine Farm you will find them on the Suid Agter Paarl Road near Paarl. I would assume that you would just have to phone them first and ask if you can bring your family to see the goats and kids. Visit the link above for all the contact information.

Tomorrow I will take you on a priviledged tour through the Fairview Cheese Factory otherwise this post will be way too long and it is now bedtime.

Until next time,

browniegirl xx

I found this delicious recipe while rummaging through yellow journo content on dailymail (not all of it is rubbish) and was struck by how simple it was. I almost cried. Now if only Camembert cheese was that easily available my side of town.
Here’s the easy-peasy recipe:

SERVES 4
INGREDIENTS
* 250g (9oz) round of Camembert in a wooden box
* 3 ripe plums, stoned and sliced
* 3 ripe figs, sliced
* Campfire bread (see link below), or crusty baguettes

METHOD
• Remove all of the wrappings from the cheese and return it to its wooden box.
• Wrap in 3 layers of foil, remembering which the right side up is. Place the box directly on the embers and cook for 10 minutes, turning occasionally until heated through.
• You should be able to hear the cheese bubbling inside when it’s ready. Carefully unwrap and serve with the plums, figs and bread – take care as it will be very hot.

Note: Additionally, a generous sprinkling of dried herbs like oregano, thyme, basil and marjoram should add fresh flavour to the bubbling, gooey, cheesy goodness of smoky Camembert.

Many years ago, I spontaneously decided to travel to Paris. My goal was to immerse myself in French culture, and learn everything I could about French food, fashion and language. Somewhat unexpectedly however, my journey to France soon became a lesson in Vietnamese culture as during my travels I met a Vietnamese lady who was born and raised in Saigon. In addition to teaching me some Vietnamese, she was kind enough to teach me about the food in Vietnam. As an aspiring chef, I was inspired by every dish she talked about, but one dish in particular stuck in my head. That dish was “Banh mi”. When I received this week’s ingredients, I decided to re-create my French experience through my food: a touch of Vietnam, with a hint of France, like late Julia Child’s always says “Bon Appetit!”…

Pork Meatballs:
1 lb ground pork
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp grated ginger
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp fish sauce

In a large bowl, gently mix the ground pork with all ingredients excluding banana leaves. Using moist hands, roll the pork mixture like a size of a meatball. Set it aside.

Prepare bamboo steamer (if you don’t have a bamboo steamer use a colander cover with lid).

Line the steamer with banana leaves. Place the pork meatballs in the steamer close the lid. Set on medium high heat to boil the water in the wok and steam-cook the pork meatballs for 15-20 mins.

(The use of banana leaves gives a exotic fragrance to the pork).

Quick Pickled Haricots Verts:
½ cup julienned carrots
½ cup julienned steamed green beans
¼ cup distilled white vinegar
¼ cup sugar
Kosher salt

How to Arrange the Sandwich:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. cut the baguette lengthwise. Spread some mayonnaise. Arrange the baguettes and bake until hot and crusty outside for 5 mins. Remove from the oven immediately. Load the sandwich with pork meatballs, drain the pickled haricots verts , generous amount cilantro, cut some camembert cheese top it off with fried quail eggs.

End with Julia Child’s Bon appétit!!

**You can also smear the buns with pâté and sriracha chili

[Sunshine.]

[Companionship + a cozy sweater.]

[...and Vermont Camembert + fresh baked sourdough bread + Vermont honey = absolute bliss.]

Happy Sunday.

-Carey

One baguette, a hunk of local camembert cheese, a warm blueberry crumb pie, and two homemade sugar doughnuts for the road and we were off and within minutes of crossing the border (successfully) into Vermont. We arrived at my parents’ house and were greeted with a roast chicken dinner my mother had been preparing since sunrise. My father chose the 2005 Cambria Julia’s Vineyard Pinot Noir.

The Julia’s Vineyard Pinot Noir opened with an amazing nose and showed as light in the glass as any wine I can remember. The transparent strawberry tones proved to be a precursor for this wine’s dominant fruit flavors of strawberry, rhubarb, and cherry.

The nose was complex and original—combining pine sap, cedar, cinnamon, and black pepper. This wine opened nicely requiring no decanter time to pull itself together and fortunately evolving minimally over the course of the evening. Cambria’s flavorful sweetness was dessert-like, stemming from the strawberry influence—coordinating the spice rack of a baker’s “sweet” pantry, rather than a chef’s “savory” pantry.

Balance came in the form of the woodsy flavors that braced the fruit on both the nose and palate. The first few inhales immediately reminded me of a wood shop, where the scents of cedar and pine are in an exaggerated, concentrated form rather than the subtleties presented in nature. And while the “woodland” qualities did ease, giving way to light mocha and vanilla undertones, they were never overwhelming—if anything it seemed uniquely fresh and different.

The Julia’s Vineyard was a perfect pairing partner for the camembert cheese and roast chicken. Such easy, comforting flavors needed the soft red fruit and food-friendly acidity of the Pinot Noir. In a world where good Pinots can often require a commitment of $30 or more, $22 for Julia’s Vineyard is a fair price. From my experience, which is not great in the Pinot Noir department, uniqueness combined with varietal integrity can be a hard find at this price.

Enjoy!

-Rob

Late in the morning I dug into a Fuji apple and atualfo mango. The mango is a bit over-ripe, which makes it delicious, but I’m starting to get concerned it might go bad. But I should be fine if I finish it tomorrow, which is no hardship on my part

For lunch I started out with some carrot, grape tomatoes, and steamed broccoli.

The veggie goodness was followed by a hunk of roasted pork tenderloin, and couple of tiny sweet potatos that took a trip to the microwave before consumption.

When I got home I was greated by a surprise treat.  My roomie and a friend were making a fancy dinner and they invited my to join in.  I had a delicious bowl of leek and potato soup.

Followed by a piece of bread with a slice of Camembert and some Balderson Vinter’s Red Wine Cheddar  (aka some of the best cheddar I’ve ever had, and this wasn’t the first time).

And a really good glass of wine, just a little sweet the way I like it.  I even went back afterwards to take a picture of the bottle for future reference.

And for dessert I had some sweet and satisfying maple glazed almonds.  A wonderful humpday treat.