Recipe Library: 
Many of the dishes can be made in advance but the look is fresh and pretty with colourful spring touches of asparagus, strawberries, nasturtiums, mint, etc. Set the dishes out buffet style, let the guests help themselves and eat either sitting down at the table or casually on their laps.
festive family lunch
Prawns and Linefish on polenta
Summer Turkey or Chicken Marinated in Olive Oil, Garlic and Herbs
Braaied Herbed Leg of Lamb
Glazed Ham with Mustard Sauce
Creamed Spinach
Biltong and Bread Salad
Frozen Chocolate Malt Bombé
Christmas Pudding (on video)
This starter was a great hit when we served it at my birthday party recently. It can be baked in advance and served at room temperature.
POLENTA BASE 1¾ cups (437 ml) water
1½ T (22.5 ml) Ina Paarman's Chicken Stock Powder
2/3 cup (166 ml) coarse yellow polenta
1½ T (22.5 ml) butter
¼ cup (60 ml) grated pecorino cheese
Bring the water to the boil and add the Chicken Stock Powder. Add the polenta in a thin stream to the stock while whisking with a wire whisk.
Cook slowly with the lid on for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir in the butter and cheese.
Butter a muffin pan, spread and level a generous heaped tablespoon of polenta into the base of 8-10 hollows. Leave on one side.
TOPPING 4 pieces of Ina Paarman's Sun-dried Tomato Quarters Chop all ingredients roughly together in a food processor. Do not overmix.
FISH 300 g firm fish filleted and skinned. Dorado and Cape Salmon are the best choices. Stay away from kingklip - too tough, and hake - too watery
2 T (30 ml) Ina Paarman's Olive Pesto
2 T (30 ml) fresh parsley
½ T (7.5 ml) green peppercorns, drained from brine
2 cloves of garlic
1 x 50 g tin anchovy fillets, rolled around capers in oil (use the oil as well)
2 T (30 ml) olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
Ina Paarman's Lemon & Black Pepper Seasoning
olive oil
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Cut the fish into 8-10 small portions and season lightly with Lemon & Black Pepper Seasoning. Brush each one with a little olive oil.
Lay one slice of fish on a bed of polenta. Spread a little of the topping over each portion. Bake for 10-12 minutes just until the fish is lightly cooked.
PRAWNS 8-10 large black tiger prawns
Ina Paarman's Seasoned Sea Salt
1 T (15 ml) butter
2 T (30 ml) oil
If frozen, leave the prawns in a sink half filled with cold tap water until beginning to thaw. Separate from each other and remove the heads. Cut through the hard shell, along the backs, with a pair of kitchen scissors and then slice each prawn almost completely through the flesh, with a sharp knife, to butterfly them open. Remove the black vein and the shell, but not the tail end. Rinse in clean water.
Skewer the prawns individually on wooden toothpicks to open them flat. Season lightly with Seasoned Sea Salt. Pan fry the prawns in the butter/oil mixture. Leave to cool, remove toothpicks before use.
TO SERVE 1 packet wild rocket or watercress
1 x Ina Paarman's Tuscan Tomato Vinaigrette
Carefully lift the fish, on the bed of polenta, out of the muffin pans and place on a fish plate (a palette knife works well). Top with a prawn. Add rocket leaves and splashes of Tuscan Tomato Vinaigrette.
CHEF'S TIP:
Left over topping is delicious on buttered toast. If crayfish is available use medallions of crayfish in place of the prawns.
Serves 10
The advantage of this recipe is that you don't have to stress about roasting or carving a turkey on the day. Make and refrigerate the day before.
1 small turkey or 2 extra large free-range chickens SAUCE 2 cups (500 ml) extra virgin olive oil 4 cups (1 litre) chicken stock, reserved from cooked poultry
4 large carrots, sliced in rings, slightly on the diagonal
2 large onions, quartered
12 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
4 T (60 ml) Ina Paarman's Chicken Stock Powder
8 cups (2 litres) boiling water
1 T (15 ml) Ina Paarman's Seasoned Sea Salt
1 cup (250 ml) tightly packed fresh origanum, basil or sage leaves
20 cloves garlic, sliced into fine strips
2 t (10 ml) Ina Paarman's Seasoned Sea Salt
Skin the turkey or chicken by simply pulling the skin off the body and thighs. Don't bother with the wings. Place it breast up in a heavy-based saucepan with the carrots, onions and garlic. Dissolve the Stock Powder in the boiling water, add Seasoned Sea Salt and pour it over the poultry. 
Cover first with greaseproof paper and then a tight-fitting lid or tightly tented with foil if your pot is a little small.
Simmer slowly for 1½ - 2 hours until the poultry is very tender and starts to come away from the bone. Mix the sauce ingredients together and leave to stand at room temperature to allow the flavours to develop.
Remove the poultry from the stove and turn it over, breast down. Leave it to cool slowly in the poaching liquid for an hour. Remove the bird and reserve 4 cups (1litre) of the stock for the sauce (freeze the rest of the stock for soup or another recipe). Reserve the carrots.
Strip the meat from the bone into long, thin strips. Beat the reserved stock into the marinade. Layer the poultry, sauce and carrots in a porcelain dish and cover with cling film, pushing the cling film down onto the mixture to expel as much air as possible. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight, to let the flavours mature.
CHEF'S TIP:
Be careful of food spoilage in the warm weather. Cook and prepare poultry within a morning or afternoon and refrigerate immediately in the sauce. Any left over stock must be frozen straight away.
Serves 6
Boning a leg of lamb and opening it butterfly-style has many advantages when braaing. Our Herb Marinade is the perfect partner for lamb. Discard used marinade (it has given up all it's flavour to the meat) and baste with fresh marinade while braaing.
1 leg of lamb, boned and opened butterfly-style (ask a butcher to "vlek" the meat so that it is no thicker than 6 cm in any one area)
1 cup (250 ml) Ina Paarman's Herb Marinade
2 t (10 ml) Ina Paarman's Rosemary and Olive Seasoning
4 T (60 ml) olive oil
Coat the leg with Marinade and seal tightly in a zip-lock bag. Store in the fridge overnight.
The next day, remove meat and scrape off excess Marinade and discard. Season the meat all over with Rosemary & Olive Seasoning and brush with olive oil.
Place the meat over indirect heat on a medium fire in a kettle braai, meaty side down.
Cook with the lid closed for about 15 minutes until nicely browned. Turn with a pair of tongs. Baste the cooked side with fresh Herb Marinade. When nicely browned on the other side, turn and baste with fresh Marinade. Continue turning and basting now and again. Use a meat thermometer to test when done. Don't overcook meat; it must still be slightly pink and juicy.
Cooking time varies from 45-60 minutes, depending on thickness of meat and intensity of heat. Rest for 10 minutes before carving. Carve meat into thin slices and serve on hot plates.
Serves 6 - 8
According to a Fair Lady test kitchen survey, Checkers has the best gammons this year. The 'blanket' method described below gives a very good result. Recently I have used my slow cooker also with excellent results. It takes about 5-6 hours.
GAMMON 1.5kg uncooked, boneless gammon GLAZE 4T (60 ml) wholegrain mustard
2 sticks celery
1 bay leaf
1t (5 ml) black peppercorns
2 carrots, sliced
1 onion, cut into wedges
3 T (45 ml) Ina Paarman's Vegetable Stock Powder
2 cups (500 ml) red wine or beer or gingerbeer
½ cup (120 g) soft brown sugar
5 whole cloves
water to cover
½ cup (125 ml) soft brown sugar
SERVE WITH
1 x 200 ml Ina Paarman's Ready to Serve Mustard Sauce
Place the meat, on a saucer turned upside down (to prevent burn-on), in a heavy based pot with a snug-fitting lid. The pot must be deep enough for the lid to close tightly when the meat is in. Add all the ingredients. Cover and bring the gammon to a slow boil on top of the stove for 1¼ hours.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately wrap the saucepan first in a thick layer of newspaper and then in a thick blanket, duvet or sleeping bag. Set aside in a cardboard box or buffered by pillows for 6 hours. (If you are using 3-5 kg ham, leave it for 10 hours, or 12 hours for a 7 kg ham).
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Remove the ham from the cooking liquid. If the skin is still on, use a small, sharp knife, to peel away the skin, leaving the fat layer. Slice into the fat layer to form a diamond pattern. Spread the mustard over the ham and press brown sugar into the mustard. Bake until the sugar layer turns caramel brown.
Serve at room temperature, thinly sliced, accompanied by the Mustard Sauce. Outstanding on sandwiches the next day.
CHEF'S TIP:
Bone in gammon actually has a slightly better flavour, but the boneless one is so painless to slice that I tend to sacrifice a little taste here, in favour of the ease of carving.
Serves 8
Another dish from our party menu. Some of the guests kept going back just for spinach!
3 medium/large potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 T (30 ml) butter
2 T (30 ml) oil
4 leeks, well washed and finely sliced
Ina Paarman's Green Onion Seasoning
1 pack (± 300-400 g) regular spinach (Swiss chard)
1 pack (± 200-300 g) baby spinach
2 cups (500 ml) milk
2 T (30 ml) butter
4 T (60 ml) Ina Paarman's White Sauce Powder
4 T (60 ml) cold water
Boil or steam the cubed potato until done, approximately 10 minutes. Drain. Sauté the leeks in a butter/oil mixture in a deep saucepan until soft and aromatic. Add cooked potato and stir it through. Season generously with Green Onion Seasoning. Place the well washed, roughly chopped Swiss chard on top of the potato mixture followed by the baby spinach - cover it with a lid and cook only for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave to stand while making the white sauce.
Measure the milk in a large measuring jug. Add the butter. Microwave on high for 2-2½ minutes until the milk boils. Mix the White Sauce Powder with the cold water and stir this slurry briskly into the boiling hot milk. It will thicken virtually straight away.
Put the spinach and potato mixture into a food processor, add the sauce and chop up. Season with Green Onion Seasoning to taste.
This vegetable dish re-heats really well in the microwave. It can happily be made the day before.
Serves 8
½ ciabatta (Italian bread)
olive oil
Ina Paarman's Green Onion Seasoning
400 g ripe baby tomatoes
a handful fresh basil leaves
1 punnet rocket leaves
100 g finely sliced biltong
¾ cup (185 ml) Ina Paarman's Tuscan Tomato Vinaigrette
Preheat the oven to 240°C.
Slice the bread and roughly tear the slices into small pieces and place on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake in the oven for about 5-10 minutes until dry and toasted on the outside. Place in a bowl. Season with Green Onion Seasoning.
Slice tomatoes lengthways and toss with the basil and rocket.
Just before serving toss the fresh ingredients with the bread. Sprinkle the biltong over. Pass the Tuscan Tomato Vinaigrette at the table.
Serves 8
Nobody can resist this special treat! And it is so easy to make and serve.
ICE CREAM 1 cup (250 ml) cold water FILLING 2 x 125 g malted chocolate balls (Chuckles, Maltesers or Whispers) (Reserve some for garnish)
1 x 250 g Ina Paarman's Chocolate Mousse
2 cups (500 ml) fresh whipping cream
In a smaller mixing bowl, whip the cream until soft peak stage. Using the same beaters, whip the mousse mixture again for 1 minute until smooth. Gently fold the whipped cream into the mousse mixture using a spatula or metal spoon and stir until evenly blended. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Line a medium size pyrex or plastic mixing bowl with a double layer of cling film. Spoon two thirds of the chocolate ice cream mixture into the bowl and make a large hollow in the middle. Fill the hollow with chocolate balls. Cover the balls with the remaining mixture and carefully level the top. Cover with more cling film and freeze overnight.
NEXT DAY
Remove the cling film over the top of the bowl, and peel the ends away. Turn the bombé out and peel away the clingfilm.
Return it to the freezer lightly covered until an hour before serving time. Leave in the fridge for that time to soften. Decorate. Slice with a strong knife dipped into boiling water.
DECORATION:
100g dark chocolate for piping
berries of your choice
CHEF'S TIP:
- We turned the bombé out on a silver foil covered cake board so that it could safely go back into the freezer. Remember not all glass is freeze resistant.
- The double layer of cling film for lining the bowl is important. The first layer sticks to the bowl and the second layer to the ice cream which makes turning it out dead easy.
This cake mixture is so moist that it can happily double up as a Christmas Pudding. So bake both from one mix!
Soaking the fruit in advance speeds up the ripening of the cake, therefore it can be enjoyed as soon as the day after baking. For step-by-step pics see December Fresh Living Magazine.
SOAKING THE FRUIT - DAY ONE: 500 g mixed cake fruit
½ cup (50 g) slivered almonds
1 cup (100 g ) glace cherries, halved
4 canned pineapple rings, cut into small wedges
½ T (7.5 ml) grated lemon rind
¼ cup (60 ml) molasses, black treacle or honey
2 T (30 ml) lemon juice
1¼ cups (312 ml) stout beer or gingerbeer
MIXING AND BAKING - DAY TWO
Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Prepare either one large square cake tin measuring 22 cm across x 7 cm deep or a smaller tin 15 cm x 7 cm and a fluted mould for the pudding. 16cm (top) x 10cm (base) x 5cm (depth).
Butter the cake pan with soft butter and line the base and sides with greaseproof or baking paper. Cut five strips of newspaper 5 cm higher than the pan and wrap the paper around the outside of the pan - tie in position with string or secure with paper clips. Line a baking sheet with 5 layers of newspaper. Set aside.
1 cup (120 g) cake flour
1 t (5 ml) baking powder
½ t (2.5 ml) salt
1 t (5 ml) bicarbonate of soda
1 t (5 ml) ground ginger
1 t (5 ml) ground cinnamon
½ t (2.5 ml) ground nutmeg
1½ cups (90 g) soft fresh white breadcrumbs
½ cup (125 g) butter at room temperature
2 T (30 ml) cornflour
½ cup (115 g) soft brown sugar
2 jumbo eggs
¼ cup (60 ml) brandy
Sift the first seven ingredients together twice. Add the soft breadcrumbs and toss through with your fingers. Cream the butter until light. Mix the cornflour and brown sugar. Add sugar mixture to the butter in small batches, creaming very well after each addition until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.
Add first the white and then the yolk of each egg, creaming thoroughly after each addition.
Add one-third of the flour mixture. Mix in lightly with a spatula or metal spoon., Add half the fruit mixture and fold in. Continue in this way, ending with the flour mixture. Don't over-mix at this stage but work lightly and gently.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake pan/s. Bake at 170°C for 1 hour. Continue baking at 160°C for a further 1 hour. Switch off the oven, open the door about 3 cm and leave the cake to cool in the warm oven. When cool pour brandy over the cake and turn out. Remove the greaseproof paper and wrap the cold cake in foil. Store in an airtight tin. The cake may be used the next day or it will keep for 2 months. If a longer shelf life is required, freezing is recommended.
FRUIT AND NUT TOPPING FOR CAKE 2 T (30 ml) smooth apricot jam
1 cup (100 g) assorted nuts
A few red glace cherries and 1 crystalised fig (optional)
REHEATING THE CHRISTMAS PUDDING Reheat (remove from the mould first!) on 80% power in the microwave for 4-5 minutes. Serve with brandy butter,custard or ice cream. Decorate with stemmed glacé cherries.
CHEF'S TIP:
The pudding mould does not need to be lined, just butter it really well and also bake it on a pan lined with newspaper and tie some paper around the mould.
The suggested wine is from Eagle's Nest - a wine estate right next door to us. What makes these wines exceptional is the situation of the vineyards - high up against the mountain, plenty of sunshine but with cool breezes from False Bay to keep temperatures down, this results in depth and complexity of flavour. The perfect wines to compliment our menu.