Serves 8-10 small mugs

Warm up your guests with a delicious, hot toddy before and during dinner. Remember the flavour of mulled wine deteriorates if it is simmered for longer than an hour.

3 sticks cinnamon
10 whole cloves
10 black peppercorns
2 star anice
2 bottles medium- or full-bodied red wine
4 strips zest from one orange, removed with a vegetable peeler, each strip about 5cm long, cleaned of any white pith
½ cup (125 ml) sugar
2-4 T (30-60 ml) brandy

Toast cinnamon sticks, cloves, peppercorns and star anise in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat until fragrant (about 2 minutes). Add wine, orange zest and sugar. (Can be prepared in advance to this stage.) Cover partially and bring to simmer, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat to low and simmer 30 minutes until wine is infused. DO NOT BOIL.

Strain through fine-mesh strainer. Pour infused wine into a jug. Discard spices and orange zest. Stir 2 tablespoons of brandy into wine. Pour into small mugs and serve. Keep the rest warm on a candle warmer.

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Serves 6-8

This soup keeps well in the fridge for a day or two, but do not freeze. A lot of people like to serve this soup chilled. That is missing the point entirely. The soup needs warmth to come alive, the frozen avocado gives great temperature contrast.

4 leeks, white part only
4 large onions
4 T (60 ml) butter
6 potatoes, peeled
1½ litres water
4 T (60 ml) Ina Paarman's Chicken Stock Powder
Ina Paarman's Green Onion Seasoning to taste
Freshly ground nutmeg to taste
¼ cup (60 ml) cream - fat reduced will do
2 T (30 ml) finely sliced chives

Wash the leeks carefully, and cut into thin slices. Slice the onions to about the same thickness and sauté with the leeks in the butter over a gentle heat. They should be soft and transparent, but do not let them turn brown.

Peel and slice the potatoes, and add to the leek and onion mixture. Sauté for one minute then pour in the water and chicken stock powder.

Simmer gently until the potatoes are soft, about 45 minutes. Add Green Onion seasoning and nutmeg. Blend with a handheld blender or purée in a food processor until smooth. Serve hot with a dollop of cream (see chef's tip), sliced chives and a helping of frozen avocado.

 CHEF'S TIPS:

Feathering cream:
Spoon a teaspoon of cream into the soup. Feather the cream out with the handle tip. Make sure you wipe the tip clean after every stroke.

Taking the worst chill out of the Avocado
Remove from the freezer to the fridge about an hour before serving.

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Serves 6-8

Adding a helping of frozen avocado to a piping hot soup, makes for a great hot and cold eating experiencing.

1 large avocado
1 clove of crushed garlic
½ t (2,5 ml) Ina Paarman's Chilli and Garlic Seasoning
1 T (15 ml) lime or lemon juice
2 T (30 ml) olive oil

Cube the avocados and then roughly mash them with fork in a small mixing bowl. Add the garlic, seasoning, lime juice and olive oil. Mix lightly - don't pulverize too much.

Line a flat plate with a double layer of cling film. Shape the avocado mixture with 2 dessert spoons to form neat oval shapes (see picture) and place on the film. Freeze open. When frozen hard, cover well with more cling film and put back into the freezer until 1 hour before serving time. Dish up the soup and drop an ice cold avocado quenelle into the soup. Serve straight away. Can be prepared 2-3 days in advance.

 CHEF'S TIP:

Quenelles are rugby ball shaped. This technique is often used for sorbets and desserts but also works well for mashed potatoes and patés.

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Serves 6

2-3 springbok fillets
olive oil
2 t (10 ml) Ina Paarman's Garlic Pepper Seasoning
3 t (15 ml) Ina Paarman's Meat Spice

Double the little tail ends of the fillets over (about 8 cm) and tie them with cotton string to ensure even thickness of the whole fillet. Rub the meat in with olive oil and a mixture of Garlic Pepper Seasoning and Meat Spice Leave to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200ºC.

Preheat a ribbed cast iron griddle pan until very hot (no oil in the pan). Put the oiled and seasoned fillets on the smoky hot surface and press flat to emphasise grill marks. Do not turn until browned. Turn and brown lightly on second side.

Place the pan with the fillets on in the oven. Bake for 5-6 minutes at 200ºC, depending on the thickness of the fillets. Remove to a warm serving dish and rest for 5 minutes. Slice into 1cm thick slices on the diagonal.

TO SERVE:
1 x 200 ml Ina Paarman's Ready to Serve Gravy

Decant the gravy into a microproof sauceboat, add the leftover meat juices and microwave for 1 minute on high. Stir through and if not hot enough give it another 30 seconds.

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Serves 6

Occasionally one sees red-skinned potatoes in the stores - pounce on them, their flavour is excellent!

6 medium potatoes, cut into quarters with skin on
2 t (10 ml) Ina Paarman's Seasoned Sea Salt
1 bay leaf
2 T (30 ml) canola or olive oil
1 x 150 g low fat cream cheese
Ina Paarman's Green Onion Seasoning to taste
2 T (30 ml) chopped fresh chives

Place potatoes in large saucepan and cover with 2 cm cold water, add seasoned sea salt and bay leaf. Bring to boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently until a fork can be inserted into potatoes with no resistance (35 to 45 minutes). Reserve ½ cup cooking water, then drain potatoes. Return potatoes to empty, but still warm saucepan. Discard bay leaf and allow potatoes to dry in the saucepan, uncovered, for 5 minutes.

Crush the potatoes (skin and all) with a potato masher until roughly broken up. Add olive oil. Add the cream cheese and enough of the reserved potato water to bind everything nicely. Season with Green Onion seasoning to taste. Dish up and sprinkle with chopped chives.

 CHEF'S TIP:

Fried bacon cubes makes for a good garnish and adds flavour and colour. They can be prepared in advance and used at room temperature.

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Serves 6

A good way to take the hassle out of last minute vegetable preparation is to prepare everything earlier on and then to steam the vegetables in the microwave in a micro-steam container.

1 punnet (140 g) mange tout (flat pea pods)
3 large carrots
1 punnet (200 g) broccoli
1 small head of cauliflower
2 T (30 ml) olive oil
2 t (10 ml) Ina Paarman's Rosemary and Olive or Lemon and Black Pepper Seasoning
1 T (15 ml) fresh marjoram, stripped off the stems

Cut the mange tout in half lengthways.
Cut the carrots into very fine julienne strips. Break broccoli and cauliflower into small and dainty florets. Toss all the vegetables with one tablespoon of the olive oil in a glass mixing bowl. Cover and refrigerate until later. Place the vegetables in the top basket of the micro steamer and fill the bottom bowl with hot water.

Microwave on high for 10-12 minutes. Test if done. Add the remaining olive oil and season to taste with the seasoning of your choice. Garnish with marjoram leaves and serve.

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Serves 6

My students used to maintain that this is our best créme caramel recipe.

2/3 cup (132 g) granulated white sugar
1½ cups (375 ml) full cream milk
½ cup (125 ml) fresh cream
2 t (10 ml) grated orange rind
2 lemon leaves
5 eggs, use 3 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks
½ cup (105 g) castor sugar
½ t (2,5 ml) vanilla essence or best to use a real vanilla pod (see chef's tip)
pinch of salt

Butter or spray 6-8 individual ovenproof ramekins or old tea cups. Heat the granulated sugar in a dry saucepan until the sugar melts and turns to a golden caramel syrup.

Divide the syrup between the buttered dishes. Work fast or the caramel will set. Hold the ramekins in a cloth to protect your hand from the heat and tilt gently to coat the base. Place the ramekins in a shallow baking pan or roasting tin.

Heat the milk and cream with the orange rind and lemon leaves to just below boiling point. Allow to draw for 20 minutes off the heat. Pre-heat the oven to 140ºC. Lightly beat the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl and gradually stir in the hot milk until well blended. Strain into a jug and divide the mixture between the prepared ramekins.

Fill the baking tin to a depth of about 2,5 cm with boiling water, ensuring that it is below the top edges of the ramekins. Cover the pan completely with wet greaseproof paper and place in the centre of the pre-heated oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the custard has just set but is still 'shaky'. Allow to cool at room temperature and refrigerate (overnight is best).

CHOCOLATE GARNISH
100 g dark chocolate
¼ cup (60 ml) cream

Break the chocolate into blocks. Bring the cream to the boil in a smallish bowl in the microwave. Remove and add chocolate. Leave to stand on a cloth or wooden board until the chocolate has melted. Stir vigorously.

TO BLEND - Make a disposable piping cone. Fill the bag with chocolate (or you can use one corner of a sturdy small plastic bag as a piping bag) Turn the caramels out on dessert plates. Pipe chocolate over the tops. Garnish with orange rind.

 CHEF'S TIP: Vanilla Pods

Split the bean lengthways with a sharp knife, scrape out the sticky black seeds and add them together with the pod to the cream and milk mixture - leave to soak.

 CHEF'S TIP: Making a classical piping bag

• Take a piece of greaseproof or non-stick paper, and cut out a 25 cm square. Fold in half diagonally to make a triangle shape. Cut the square of paper in half diagonally to produce two triangles, and use just one piece.
• Fold in the overlapping corners at the top of the cone tightly to secure the end. The bag is now ready to be filled.
• Snip the tiniest hole at the pointed end to pipe through.

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