Recipe Library: 
Let's roll out the ritz without killing yourself with work, or breaking the bank.This menu really lends itself to pre-preparation. Both the soup and the cake improve if done the day before.
The fish is best baked between courses. The potatoes re-heat perfectly in the microwave and one of your favourite guests can help you to assemble the salad.
Create warmth in the room with a fire or cosy heater, set the table with candles and the best cutlery, play soft soothing music and serve a good wine.
dinner by candlelight
Beetroot soup
Baked Fish with Cheese and Mustard Soufflé Topping ON VIDEO !
Buttered Parsley Potatoes
Winter Salad with Citrus and Avocado accompanied by a Herbed Yoghurt Dressing
Sour Cream Cinnamon Cake with Pecan Streusel ON VIDEO !
Borsch is a Russian culinary classic. We love this recipe for its robust taste and vibrant colour. Slice ¼ of the vegetables into julienne strips (for looks!) and grate the rest (for ease of eating).
4-5 whole beetroot, peeled
2 large carrots, scraped
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 T (45 ml) canola oil
3 sticks of celery, sliced into fine rings or ¼ cup shredded basil
6 cups (1½ litres) hot water
4 T (60 ml) Ina Paarman's Chicken Stock Powder
2 T (30 ml) lemon juice
3 ripe tomatoes, halved and grated
Ina Paarman's Green Onion Seasoning to taste
½ cup (125 ml) sour cream for garnish
Cut one beetroot and one carrot into fine julienne strips if you have a slicer, and grate the rest coarsely. Sauté the onion in the canola oil for 10 minutes until soft and beginning to brown (don't rush this - it adds to the flavour of the soup).
Add the beetroot, carrot and celery. Sauté to develop the flavour of the vegetables. It will take about 3 minutes.
Add the hot water, Chicken Stock Powder and lemon juice. Simmer covered with a lid for 30 minutes. Add the grated tomatoes and cook for a further 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning and if a little sour, add a teaspoon of sugar. Serve very hot with a dollop of sour cream in each bowl.
VARIATION
For a richer soup, suitable for a meal-in-one, 8 rashers of rindless streaky bacon can be fried in the oil before the onion is browned. Cook the onion in the bacon fat and sprinkle the crispy bacon bits over the soup just before serving.
This is my current 'easy entertaining' option. Everyone loves the taste and texture of this dish and I appreciate the simplicity of preparation and the glamorous look of the cooked dish.
800 g Kabeljou (only when in season), Kingklip or Dorado, filleted and skinned
Ina Paarman's Lemon & Black Pepper Seasoning
2 T (30 ml) olive oil
½ cup (125 ml) grated mature Cheddar cheese
1 x 200 ml Ina Paarman's Mustard Sauce
2-3 extra large or jumbo eggs, separated
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Butter a large flatish ovenproof dish.
Cut the fish into portions. Butterfly the thicker pieces so that all the portions are of equal thickness.
Season the fish portions lightly with Lemon & Black Pepper Seasoning. Drizzle olive oil over and turn to coat fish on both sides.
Arrange the fish in a single layer in the prepared dish. Bake uncovered for 6 minutes.
While the fish is in the oven mix the grated cheese with the Mustard Sauce and the egg yolks. Just before the 6 minutes is up, whisk the egg whites to firm peak stage. Gently fold one half of the egg whites into the mustard mixture with a spatula or metal spoon to soften the consistency. Fold in the final half of the egg white. Work gently to keep the texture as light and fluffy as possible.
Remove the dish from the oven. Spread the soufflé mixture over the fish and immediately return it to the oven.
Bake for ± 14 minutes just until the topping is golden brown and puffy. Take the dish to the table straight away.
VARIATION
2 ripe avocado's pipped, peeled and sliced
2 T (30 ml) fresh lemon juice
When the fish comes out of the oven after the initial 5-6 minutes baking, lay the avocado slices, brushed with lemon juice, on top of the fish before covering everything with the soufflé topping. For a thicker soufflé topping or when using smaller eggs use 3 eggs instead of 2.
Serves 6
1 kg small potatoes, peeled and kept whole if small, or cut into halves if bigger
2-3 T (30-45 ml) butter
3 t (15 ml) Ina Paarman's Potato Spice
½ cup (125 ml) chopped parsley
Boil the potatoes in a covered saucepan until the prongs of a fork easily penetrates into the flesh. Drain the water off. Add butter, Potato Spice and parsley. Shake the pot to roll and coat the potatoes with the flavour ingredients.
Serves 6
The combination of oranges, grapefruit and mint turns this colourful salad into something special. The watercress or rocket picks up on the herby note in the dressing.
3 medium oranges and 2 ruby grapefruit, cut into segments - place the segments in a strainer over a bowl to catch the juice
2 avocado's pipped, peeled and sliced into strips, lengthways
1 t (5 ml) Ina Paarman's Green Onion Seasoning
½ cup (125 ml) Ina Paarman's Herb Dressing
¼ cup (60 ml) plain thick yoghurt
1 punnet of watercress or rocket
2 T (30 ml) fresh mint leaves, chopped
Gently turn the avocado slices in the citrus juice and season with Green Onion Seasoning.
Mix the Herb Dressing with the yoghurt.
Line a platter or individual plates, with watercress. Spoon the orange and grapefruit segments over and scatter the chopped mint over. Arrange the avocado over the greens and oranges. Lastly, just before serving, drizzle with the herbed dressing.
CHEF'S TIP:
If you choose to use avocado in the fish main course, omit it from the salad.
Serve dainty slices of this aromatic cake, rich with the flavour of cinnamon and the crunch of pecans, as an after dinner treat with citrus and yoghurt cream. It stays lovely and moist for up to 5 days in an airtight container and even improves on standing.
1 x 600 g Ina Paarman's Vanilla Cake Mix
½ cup (125 g) butter, cut into blocks
3 extra large eggs
1 cup (250 ml) sour cream
½ cup (125 ml) soft brown sugar
2 T (30 ml) ground cinnamon
1 cup (100 g) pecan nuts, chopped
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Adjust oven rack to middle position.
Butter a 25 cm ring pan or spring form pan really well. Decant the Vanilla Cake Mix in a medium mixing bowl, add the blocks of butter and cut or rub the butter into the flour mixture to form coarse crumbs.
Spoon out ¾ cup of this crumbly mixture and keep on one side. It will be used for the streusel later on.
In another medium mixing bowl beat the eggs and sour cream together until well blended. Add the main body of the butter/flour mixture and gently stir it in by hand with a spatula or metal spoon until evenly blended. Keep on one side.
To make the streusel mixture add the brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped nuts to the reserved ¾ cup of butter/flour mixture.
To assemble the cake spread ½ of the soft cake batter into the prepared tin. Sprinkle just a little more than ½ of the streusel mixture over. Continue with the another layer of cake mixture topped with streusel. Pull a knife zigzag fashion through the cake mixture to create a nice pattern in the cake and to rough up the top of the cake.
Bake for about 45-50 minutes until a long toothpick or skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to rest in the pan for 10 minutes before turning it out.
Serve at room temperature simply sliced or with a dollop of citrus and yoghurt cream.
CHEF'S TIP:
This cake remains moist for 4 days in an airtight container.
CITRUS AND YOGHURT CREAM (optional) 1 cup (250 ml) cream
pinch salt
¼ t (1 ml) ground cinnamon
¼ t (1 ml) ground ginger
2 T (30 ml) sugar
2 T (30 ml) orange liqueur or brandy or orange juice concentrate
2 t (10 ml) grated orange rind
½ cup (125 ml) plain yoghurt
To make the citrus cream, half whip the cream with the salt and spices. Add the sugar and whip until firm. Fold in the liqueur or orange juice, rind and yoghurt. Cover and chill.
I would serve Groot Constantia Chardonnay with the Baked fish as it goes well with the Cheese and Mustard topping, but Chardonnay does not like herbs, and may fight with the Herbed Yoghurt Dressing ! Perhaps the salad could be served after the baked fish without the wine.
With the cold winter at our door, we all need a comforting Cinnamon Pudding teamed with Groot Constantia Port, decadent central heating for the soul !"
Suggestions by Christine Jenner-Clarke