These can be quite filling therefore we are serving them in tiny glasses. A liquidizer, food processor or handheld blender is important for blending.

3 oranges, cut away skin and white pith and cut up roughly
2 granadillas, halve and scoop out the pulp
1 x 500 g punnet strawberries, reserve the best 8, rinse and hull the rest
2 very ripe bananas
500 g Greek yoghurt
4 T (60 ml) honey
one cup of ice cubes

Blend together the orange chunks, granadilla pulp, strawberries (except best ones reserved for garnish), bananas, yoghurt, honey and ice cubes. The mixture must be blended until smooth. Taste for sweetness. Pour into small glasses and garnish with strawberries.

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A delectable selection to wake up everyone's taste buds.

6-8 medium or large eggs
200 g smoked snoek, skinned, boned and roughly broken up
200 g smoked mackerel, skinned and roughly broken up
200 g smoked salmon trout ribbons
3 lemons, cut into small wedges
2 onions, cut into rings, separate the rings
½ cup (125 ml) capers, drained
125 g cream cheese
½ cup (125 ml) Ina Paarman's Thousand Island Dressing
½ cup (125 ml) Ina Paarman's Lemon & Olive Oil Mayo Style Dressing
fresh rocket, watercress or butter lettuce

Place the eggs into a saucepan and cover them with warm tap water. Bring to the boil. Cover saucepan with a lid and remove from the heat. Leave to stand for 8 minutes. Dunk eggs into cold water and crack the shells immediately. Arrange the smoked fish, lemons, onions and capers in colour groups on a large platter. Mix the cream cheese with the Thousand Island Dressing and spoon into a bowl. Decant the Lemon & Olive Oil Dressing into a smaller bowl. Garnish with rocket.

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This slightly chewy bread always gets rave reviews! Best to prepare it in the evening and leave to rise slowly in the fridge overnight.

3 cups (360 g) bread flour
1 cup (150 g) yellow polenta or white mealie meal
1 x 10 g sachet instant yeast
3 t (15 ml) Ina Paarman's Rosemary & Olive Seasoning
1 T (15 ml) fresh rosemary, chopped
± 1¾ cups (438 ml) lukewarm water
2 mealies, cut as close to the husk as you can to remove the pips
3 T (45 ml) olive oil

Toss the bread flour, polenta, yeast, Rosemary & Olive Seasoning and chopped rosemary in a biggish mixing bowl. Make a hollow in the centre and add all the water. Mix to form a soft but pliable dough. Knead for 2-3 minutes. Knead in the fresh mealies and olive oil. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in the fridge overnight if preparing in advance, otherwise leave in a warm spot until doubled in size.

Set oven temperature at 220ºC. Knead the dough for a second time, divide in half and flatten halves to the size of fish plates.

Sprinkle a small handful of polenta or mielie meal on a baking sheet and lay the breads on it. Prick the dough with a fork and push a few more tufts of rosemary into the dough. Drizzle a little more olive oil over. Leave to stand in a warm place for about 15 minutes. Bake for 25 minutes until golden and risen.

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Scrambled Eggs in Phyllo Baskets 

The glamorous way to serve scrambled eggs. The baskets can be baked up to 3 days ahead. The layer of cheese in the bottom of the baked basket prevents the pastry from going soggy when the scrambled egg is dished into it.

PHYLLO BASKETS

8-10 sheets of phyllo pastry
± ½ cup (125 ml) melted butter

Butter two muffin pans and preheat the oven to 180°C.

Unfold the pastry on the work surface. Lift off one sheet and brush it with melted butter. Lay a second sheet on top and also brush it with butter.Cut pastry into 16 squares of about 9 cm x 9 cm. A pastry wheel guided by a ruler gives best results.

Now place one square on top of the other with the points forming a star as illustrated.

Place these pastry stars into the buttered hollows of the muffin pan and push it firmly into the base and corners. Repeat with another two sheets of pastry. Bake for 6-8 minutes until golden brown. Cool, and store in an airtight container lined with absorbent paper.

CHEF'S NOTE:

If time permits use up all the pastry to make baskets. They freeze exceptionally well and are great to serve as snacks with drinks. Fill with snoek paté, chicken liver paté, sautéed mushrooms, etc.

Beat the eggs with a fork in a small bowl until well mixed. Beat in the water. Warm a heavy based dry frying pan until hot. Add the butter. As soon as the butter has melted and just begins to foam swivel the pan to coat it with butter a little up the sides.

Add the egg all at once, turn the stove down to low. As soon as the egg starts setting, stir it very gently to allow the un-cooked egg to come in contact with the base of the pan. As soon as the mixture is creamy and almost set, remove from the heat and add the cream (to cool down the mixture and stop the cooking), the seasoning and the half the chives. Sprinkle half of the cheese into the prepared phyllo pastry cups. Spoon the scrambled eggs into the cups, top with the remaining cheese and chives. Serve straight away or reheat in the microwave - see Chef's Tip.

CHEF'S TIP:

Do not overcook the eggs, they will become tough and draw water! The filled baskets can be reheated briefly in the microwave at 50% power for 2 minutes.

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Crispy Bacon 

This is a good way to prepare bacon for a crowd. The pre-preparation can be done the night before - it also allows the bacon to dry out as most of our commercial bacons are pumped with water to increase the mass. Cooking bacon between sheets of paper avoids mess in the oven and stretching the bacon with the rolling pin keeps it nice and flat.

1 x 250 g rindless streaky bacon
baking paper

Preheat oven to 200ºC.

Line a big oven tray with baking paper. Lay the bacon strips on the paper - don't overlap them.

Lay a second sheet of baking paper (cut to size) over the bacon and roll with a rolling pin over the top sheet to stretch the bacon lengthways. Leave to stand with the paper on until ready to cook. Can be left overnight or even longer. Bake for 15-20 minutes until bacon is crispy.

CHEF'S TIP:

Baking paper is essential here because the bacon will stick to greaseproof or wax paper.

Do Not use wax paper. Baking paper is coated with a thin layer of silicone which gives it a non-stick finish. Wax paper will give an unpleasant taste to the bacon when exposed to the heat of the oven.

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A lovely combination of flavours!

2 bunches of green asparagus
4 T (60 ml) olive oil
Ina Paarman's Green Onion Seasoning
1 x 250-300 g punnet portabellini mushrooms
1 T (15 ml) butter
1 T (15 ml) balsamic vinegar
1 t (5 ml) Ina Paarman's Garlic Pepper Seasoning

Wash the asparagus in deep water to rinse away any sand. Break or trim off the woody ends.

Warm a dry frying pan over high heat - when very hot add 2 T olive oil and immediately add asparagus. Shake and roll the asparagus in the pan until they are bright green and just beginning to soften. Spoon out and keep on one side. Season with Green Onion Seasoning. Add the remaining 2 T of oil and butter to the same pan. Stir-fry the mushrooms briefly. Add the balsamic vinegar while shaking the pan - add Garlic Pepper Seasoning and shake pan to blend all the lovely flavours.

Combine the two vegetables just before serving. This medley can be served at room temperature, or you can pre-prepare and just briefly re-heat in the microwave.

Delicious with crispy bacon.

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Wholewheat Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing 

These are absolutely divine and you don't have to feel too guilty about eating them! The apple keeps them moist - a really good addition.

2 extra large eggs
½ cup (125 ml) canola or sunflower oil
1 cup (250 ml) plain yoghurt
1 cup (250 ml) milk
1 x 700 g Ina Paarman's Muffin Mix with Raisins and Bran
2 t (10 ml) ground cinnamon
2 cups (500 ml) grated carrots
1 apple, coarsely grated with skin on
½ cup (50 g) chopped pecan nuts
paper cups

Preheat oven to 180°C and adjust oven rack to middle position. Remove the raisin-bag from the foil packet and pour boiling water over the raisins to plump them up. Drain immediately and set aside to swell.

Line two muffin pans with paper cups. Beat eggs and oil for 2 minutes on high speed until well blended. Add yoghurt and milk and beat for 1 minute on high speed. Add contents of pack, cinnamon, drained plumped raisins, grated carrots, grated apple and chopped nuts. Stir by hand with a spatula ± 40 times until uniformly blended. (Do not beat). Spoon one heaped tablespoon of mixture into muffin pans. Fill the hollows only about 2/3 full. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until nicely risen and browned.

CREAM CHEESE ICING

¼ cup (60 ml) butter
½ t (2,5 ml) vanilla essence
2 cups (250 g) sifted icing sugar
125 g cream cheese or smooth creamed cottage cheese, dripped in kitchen paper
extra nuts and orange zest to garnish

Cream butter and vanilla, gradually add icing sugar until you get a dry, crumbly mixture. Add the cream cheese. Don't beat cheese, just fold it in gently by hand, as it becomes watery when over mixed - the icing must still look slight lumpy. Ice muffins when completely cooled. Garnish with chopped nuts and orange zest.

CHEF'S HINT:

Apart from Philidelphia cream cheese which is very expensive most other cream cheeses have quite a high water content and must be dripped in a sieve lined with white kitchen paper or muslin before used in the icing. I prefer to use low fat creamed cottage cheese as it is not so rich. Cottage cheese definitely needs to be dripped overnight.

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