A classy way to welcome your guests and set the mood for the party.

2 x 200 ml tins tomato cocktail
1 t (5 ml) Ina Paarman's Lemon & Black Pepper Seasoning
¼ cup (60 ml) fresh (whipping) cream
1 T (15 ml) Ina Paarman's Olive Pesto
1 small lime or small lemon, cut into thin rings

Season the tomato cocktail with Lemon & Black Pepper Seasoning and pour into sherry glasses. Soft-whip the cream and fold the Olive Pesto through. Top the cocktails with olive cream. Serve on a silver or stainless steel tray. Hook a wheel of lime onto each glass, trim straws a little shorter from both ends.

VARIATION

Add ¼ cup (60 ml) of Vodka to the tomato cocktail mixture.

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Cigar size bites with a variation of two delicious vegetable fillings. Best to prepare in advance and bake on the day. Can also be re-heated in the oven before serving. See Chef's tip for a variation without phyllo pastry or how to use left-over filling.

SPINACH FILLING
200 g baby spinach leaves
2 wheels feta cheese
1 t (5 ml) Ina Paarman's Reduced Salt Garlic & Herb Seasoning
½ packet Ina Paarman's Ready to Serve Cheese Sauce
Wash the spinach and microwave, covered, on high for 4 minutes. Dish onto a dinner plate, put another dinner plate (right side up) on top of the spinach and squeeze the two plates together while tilting them over the sink. When the spinach is squeezed dry, chop it in a processor with the feta, Seasoning and Cheese Sauce to form a firm dry paste.

BUTTERNUT FILLING
2 cups (250 g) cubes of butternut
2 t (10 ml) Ina Paarman's Green Onion Seasoning
½ cup (125 ml) Pecorino cheese, grated
½ packet Ina Paarman's Ready to Serve Cheese Sauce

Microwave the butternut with 2 T of water for 7 minutes, covered, on high. Drain. Chop in a food processor or mash with a fork and add Seasoning, pecorino and Cheese Sauce to form a firm paste.

PASTRY
Remember to buy phyllo pastry from a shop with a high turnover because old phyllo pastry tends to be brittle.

1 x 500 g phyllo pastry
olive oil
1 egg, beaten
± ¼ cup (60 ml) sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Unroll the pastry. Brush the top sheet lightly with olive oil and place on the work surface, add another layer and brush with oil. Cut into 7 cm wide strips with a pizza wheel or sharp knife.

Cut off 10 cm at the bottom of each strip. Spread out a heaped teaspoon of the filling (s) onto the 10 cm pieces and wrap up. Place open sides facing up and down, on remaining pastry. Roll up. Place on a baking sheet well oiled or lined with baking paper. Brush the tops of the rolls with the beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 30-35 minutes until crisp and brown.

CHEF'S TIP

To use up leftover filling add a little soft breadcrumbs until really firm and shape into 5 cm x 1 cm sausages. Skewer as illustrated on kebab sticks. Roll in sesame seeds and serve cold.

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Par-boiling the vegetables in a well flavoured stock greatly improves them and makes them easier to bite into.

1 x 150 g short green asparagus spears
6 baby marrows, cut in quarters lengthways
10 baby carrots, leave 1cm of the green stems on
1 punnet baby corn, keep whole
300 g baby calamari, cut into rings
2 T (30 ml) Ina Paarman's Vegetable Stock Powder
4 cups (1 litre) water
2 T (30 ml) olive oil
Ina Paarman's Lemon & Black Pepper Seasoning
¾ cup (180 ml) Ina Paarman's Thousand Island Salad Cream

Boil the vegetables, one kind at a time, in the stock/water/oil mixture. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep on one side. 3-4 minutes should be enough depending on their size and type. Lastly add the calamari and simmer for 2 minutes only, remove from the heat and stand in the hot stock for another 4 minutes. Drain and season with Lemon & Black Pepper Seasoning. Arrange everything on a patter. Serve, at room temperature, with a dipping bowl of Thousand Island Salad Cream.

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Zaanouk was one of the most delicious Moroccan 'cooked' salads we tasted on our trip.

2 medium aubergines
Canola oil for deep frying
2 large tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 T (30 ml) parsley, finely chopped
2 t (10 ml) Ina Paarman's Seasoned Sea Salt
1½ (7,5 ml) paprika
3 t (15 ml) cumin
2 T (30 ml) olive oil
2 t (10 ml) lemon juice
3 mini pita breads cut into triangles

Cube and gently deep fry the aubergines until golden. Peel and dice tomatoes. Place diced tomato, garlic, fried aubergine, parsley, spices and olive oil in a frying pan over low heat. Mash together and continue cooking over low heat until dry and pasty.

Add 2 t (10 ml) lemon juice, mash and cook for 1 minute then turn off heat.

TO SERVE
Dish the aubergine salad into a bowl and serve with pita triangles.

CHEF'S TIP:

For this recipe it is not necessary to salt the aubergine beforehand. Buy well ripened aubergines.

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A delicious middle Eastern delicacy also popular in Spain.

1 large potato, peeled and cut into quarters
½ t (2,5 ml) Ina Paarman's Lemon & Black Pepper Seasoning
1 T (15 ml) olive oil
1 x 50 g anchovy fillets - mash half with it's own oil and reserve the rest
pinch of Ina Paarman's Chilli & Garlic Seasoning
¼ cup (60 ml) parsley, finely chopped
1 T (15 ml) capers, chopped
2 heads of chicory, broken into leaves for serving

Boil the potato in a cup of water with the Lemon & Black Pepper Seasoning until soft. Remove potato with a slotted spoon (reserve water). Mash the potato with 1-2 T of the cooking water until it has a soft texture. Add the remaining ingredients, except chicory leaves, and mash everything together. Spoon onto chicory leaves for serving. Garnish with remaining anchovy strips and sprigs of parsley.

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Tortilla is the most popular appetizer served in Spanish bars. It can be made in advance and served at room temperature or re-heated.

2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 5mm thick slices
1 large red or white onion, sliced thinly
Ina Paarman's Seasoned Sea Salt
1/3 cup (80 ml) canola oil or half canola and half olive oil (yes it is one third of a cup!)
3 extra large eggs

Sprinkle the sliced potato and onion with Seasoned Sea Salt. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and add the potatoes and onions at the same time. Cover and cook slowly over a medium heat (it is really stewing rather than frying), for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender but not brown.

Drain the vegetables in a colander over a bowl, reserving the oil. Allow to cool. In a bowl beat the eggs, mix the cooled potatoes and onion with the eggs and leave to soak for about 15 minutes. Preheat a 20 cm omelette pan and add 2 T (30 ml) of the reserved oil. Spoon one third of the potato and egg mixture into the pan and lower the heat to medium. Shake the pan occasionally to prevent the tortilla from sticking. When it starts to come away from the sides of the pan and the bottom has browned, turn over the tortilla by placing a plate over the frying pan and quickly turning the tortilla upside-down onto it. Add another tablespoon of oil to the frying pan and slide the tortilla back in. Cook the other side for a minute or until browned.

Cut into wedges and serve hot or cold.

CHEF'S TIP

For a family supper dish, cook the whole recipe in a large frying pan. Crispy bacon, cooked chicken or grated cheese can be added to make it a substantial meal. Delicious with a salad.

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One cannot have a drinks party in South Africa without frikkadels! But this time we are giving them a Middle Eastern twist.

250 g pork sausage meat
250 g lean beef mince
1 t (5 ml) Ina Paarman's Braai & Grill Seasoning
1½ t (7,5 ml) ground cumin
½ t (2,5 ml) turmeric
½ t (2,5 ml) cinnamon
½ cup (125 ml) soft breadcrumbs (white)
¼ cup (60 ml) Ina Paarman's Brown Onion Soup Gravy Powder
½ cup (125 ml) cold water

COATING
1 cup (250 ml) soft white breadcrumbs, finer is better
1 t (5 ml) Ina Paarman's Chilli & Garlic Seasoning
1 x 200 ml Ina Paarman's Tomato & Chilli Ready to Serve Sauce

Mix all the ingredients for the frikkadels together with a small knife. Leave to rest for 10 minutes. Divide the mixture and roll into 30-40 small balls.

Mix the soft breadcrumbs and Chilli & Garlic Seasoning together. Roll the mini-frikkadels in the breadcrumb mixture. Pan fry in a little olive oil. Serve at room temperature speared on toothpicks with Tomato & Chilli Sauce for dipping.

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All the delicious flavours of Morocco. Leg of lamb strips are an excellent alternative to chicken.

MARINADE
Grated rind of 1 lemon
2 T (30 ml) lemon juice
½ t (2,5 ml) ground ginger
1 t (5 ml) ground cumin
½ t (2,5 ml) turmeric
2 T (30 ml) olive oil
2 T (30 ml) fresh parsley, chopped
2 T (30 ml) coriander, chopped
4 chicken breasts, cut into 5mm strips lengthways
2 t (10 ml) Ina Paarman's Braai & Grill Seasoning

Mix all the marinade ingredients together. Season the chicken strips with Braai & Grill Seasoning and then toss them in the marinade. Leave at room temperature for 2 hours or overnight in the fridge.

Thread one to two chicken strips zig-zag style on skewers. Pan-fry or grill and serve speared into a lemon with the base leveled off.

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Always a winner!

1 x 400 g tin green olives (with pip)
1 t (5 ml) cumin
2 bay leaves
2 t (10 ml) Reduced Salt Garlic & Herb Seasoning
2 T (30 ml) olive oil
4 T (60 ml) sherry vinegar or wine vinegar
3 whole cloves garlic, crushed

Crush the olives lightly with a meat mallet in a plastic bag and place them in a glass jar. Mix all the other ingredients together and pour over the olives. Shake the jar and allow to marinate at room temperature for at least 24 hours. Will keep in the fridge for weeks.

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