Recipe Library: 
a special birthday menuCream of Tomato SoupChicken Goulash - Hungarian Style Buttered Tagliatelli with Sage Shallots with Cauliflower Green Salad with Tuscan Vinaigrette Grapefruit Alaska Coffee      |
 |
Cream of Tomato Soup 
Serves 4The secret of this soup lies in the ripeness of the tomatoes. If you do not have ripe tomatoes available, use canned whole Italian Plum Tomatoes and roast them as below.
2 cans of Italian Plum Tomatoes
1 T (15 ml) brown sugar
2 t (10 ml) Ina Paarman's Seasoned Sea Salt
1 T (15 ml) olive oil
1 smallish onion, peeled and cut into 8 wedges
2 T (30 ml) Ina Paarman's White Sauce Powder
2 T (30 ml) tomato paste
4 cups (1 litre) boiling water
4 t (20 ml) Ina Paarman's Chicken Stock Powder
2 T (30 ml) sherry (optional)*
Ina Paarman's Chilli & Garlic Seasoning
½ cup (125 ml) fresh cream, lightly whipped
Drain the tomatoes in a sieve over a bowl. Cut the canned tomatoes lengthways in half.
Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Pack the tomatoes in a single layer in a large casserole dish, cut side up. Sprinkle with sugar and Seasoned Sea Salt. Toss the onion wedges with oil and add them to the tomatoes.
Bake, open, for ± 30 minutes to brown the vegetables to drive off excess liquid.
In a medium size saucepan mix the White Sauce Powder with the extracted juice. Add the tomato paste. Add boiling water and Chicken Stock Powder. Bring to a slow simmer.
Put the roasted tomatoes and onions in a food processor or blender and puree until absolutely smooth. Add to the simmering soup. Cook for 10 minutes. Add sherry (if using) and season to taste with Chilli & Garlic Seasoning. Add a spoonful of lightly whipped cream to each bowl of soup.
* SUBSTITUTE FOR SHERRY
1 t (5 ml) wine vinegar
FRESH TOMATOES
8 very ripe tomatoes, skinned
Cut the skinned fresh tomatoes in half through the waist. Remove the pips from the fresh tomatoes and leave the pips to drain in a sieve over a bowl. Rub through the sieve to extract all the tomato juice, discard the pips if using fresh tomatoes.
Proceed as above.
Chicken Goulash - Hungarian Style
Serves 4
8 chicken portions, thighs and drumsticks
2 t (10 ml) Ina Paarman's Seasoned Sea Salt
3 T (45 ml) Ina Paarman's White Sauce Powder
2 T (30 ml) smoked paprika
2 T (30 ml) canola oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 can (410 g) chopped tomatoes
2 carrots, sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
2 t (10 ml) Ina Paarman's Chicken Stock Powder
½ cup (125 ml) boiling water
½ cup (125 ml) white wine
½ cup (125 ml) sour cream
chives
Remove excess fat from chicken portions. Measure Seasoned Sea Salt, White Sauce Powder and ½T (7,5ml) paprika into a paper or plastic bag and shake the chicken portions in it.
Brown the chicken portions on both sides in the oil. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in an ovenproof dish.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Sauté the onion in the remaining oil until soft and golden. Add the garlic and remaining paprika and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, carrots, peppers, Chicken Stock Powder, water and wine. Bring to a fast boil for 3 minutes. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover with a lid or tent with foil.
Bake for 45 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for a final 15 minutes.
Top the dish with sour cream and chives. Serve with buttered tagliatelli.
SMOKED PAPRIKA: Spice shops and delis may offer a better choice than regular supermarkets.
Buttered Tagliatelli with Sage
Serves 4-5
250 g tagliatelli
2 t (10 ml) Ina Paarman's Green Onion Seasoning
1 T (15 ml) butter
1 T (15 ml) olive oil
a good handful of fresh sage
Boil the pasta in unsalted water according to pack instructions. Drain and toss with Green Onion Seasoning.
Heat the butter and oil and pan-fry the sage until just crisp.
Toss sage butter into pasta.
CHEF'S TIP:
Put a cork in the pasta water, while boiling, it prevents foaming and the water from boiling over.
Shallots with Cauliflower
Serves 4This dish is best made with shallots. I tried it with leeks and with baby onions. The shallots won, hands down and the baby onions were an acceptable substitute.
± 400 g shallots, peeled
2 T (30 ml) olive oil
1 T (15 ml) butter
1 small cauliflower, broken into florets
2 T (30 ml) fresh origanum leaves, if available
½ cup (125 ml) water
Ina Paarman's Green Onion Seasoning
1 x 200 ml Ina Paarman's Ready to Serve Cheese Sauce
½ cup (125 ml) grated cheddar cheese
¼ cup (60 ml) breadcrumbs
2 t (10 ml) butter, melted
Sauté the shallots in the oil and butter until golden. Add the cauliflower, origanum and water.
Season with Green Onion Seasoning, cover with a lid and simmer on top of the stove for 10 minutes. Transfer into a serving dish. Preheat the grill. Top with Cheese Sauce. Mix grated cheese with breadcrumbs and melted butter and sprinkle over the dish. Flash under the grill to brown the top.
Fresh Green Salad with Tuscan Vinaigrette
Serves 6These easy, casual throw together salads are one of the joys of cooking. You can also add, radishes, etc - whatever is available and in season.
1 punnet spinach, rocket and watercress mix
200 g baby tomatoes, halved
1 bunch spring or salad onions, finely sliced with green tops
½ cup Ina Paarman's Tuscan Vinaigrette
Toss the salad ingredients together. Dress just before serving.
Grapefruit or Orange Alaska
Serves 4This is a real party piece. Put sparklers into the individual Alaskas for the guests to light. Prepare and measure everything for the meringue, it takes a few minutes to mix up. Do use the ice cream made with our Lemon Cheesecake Mix - it is much more melt resistant than regular ice cream.
2 pink grapefruit or large oranges
1 T (15 ml) sugar
2 T (30 ml) orange liqueur or brandy (optional)
4 generous scoops ice cream made with our Lemon Cheesecake Mix (click here)
MERINGUE TOPPING
2 egg whites
½ t (2,5 ml) lemon juice
½ cup (125 ml) castor sugar
Cut the pink grapefruit or large oranges in half. Remove the segments with a grapefruit knife. Reserve the juice. Scrape all the fibrous membranes neatly out of the shells.
Toss the grapefruit segments with the sugar and liqueur. Add a little of the juice to keep everything moist, then divide the segments between the grapefruit-skin halves. Keep the halves steady and level in tea cups. Place a large scoop of ice cream on top of the fruit. Store in the freezer.
JUST BEFORE SERVING
Remove the grapefruit or orange halves from the freezer.
Preheat the oven to 220°C.
To make the meringue, use an electric beater and a glass bowl, or a metal whisk and a copper bowl, but never a plastic bowl. Beat the egg whites until foaming lightly, then add the lemon juice. Continue beating until the mixture stands up in firm peaks. Gradually add the castor sugar, spoonful by spoonful, beating continuously, until the meringue becomes thick and shiny.
Divide the meringue between grapefruit halves. Spread thickly over the ice cream and right down to the edges of the fruit. Fluff up the meringue with the back of a spoon.
Bake the meringue until tinged with brown, ± 5-10 minutes.
Place an unlit sparkler into each dessert. Dim the lights. Give each guest a box of matches and at the count of three - light all the sparklers simultaneously.
Wine suggestion:
This month's wine suggestion is courtesy of Rietvallei Wine Estate.
Special Select Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Elegant, lively and finely balanced, this Sauvignon Blanc is tightly wound around a core of crisp, flinty and mineral notes. Its vibrancy is amplified with nuances of ripe Cape gooseberry, a touch of capsicum and succulent grapefruit. The sleek mouth-feel, revealing hints of asparagus, culminates in an elegant, crisp and decidedly dry finish
Esteanna 2007
Deep, ruby red in colour. Expressive cherry and cassis aromas on the nose with delicate hints of violets. On the palate, the cherry flavours persist with just a hint of vanilla and cedar and a good lift of acidity. The tannins are sumptuous making this is a well-rounded wine which is showing beautifully in its youth but which has the structure and fruit to mature for a good 4-6 years. Enjoyable on its own, this wine will pair beautifully with rare roast beef or lamb and with more complex dishes of feathered game.
Muskadel 2009
The red-gold colour looks sparkling fresh in the glass. On the nose the Muscat flavour comes through very strong. This Muscadel fills your palate with its complexity and is characterized by its raisiny sweetness. The acidity compliments the wine and makes it even easier to enjoy. Additional bottle maturation will further enhance the flavours of this dessert wine.