OUMA DOELA’S APRICOT CHUTNEY
Ouma Doela was a formidable woman in many ways, but her skill as a cook was probably her most outstanding talent. Her party trick was identifying the ingredients in a restaurant dish, cake or pastry simply by tasting it, and then not just recreating it at home, but improving on it! She was also a past master at creating meals with whatever you happened to have in your pantry. My mother got this wonderful recipe for apricot chutney from her when she was still a young woman living on Doornkraal. Many years later a similar version appeared in the lovely venison cookbook ‘Camdeboo Karoo Venison’. Consult this book if you are looking for precise instructions, or follow Grandma’s recipe if, like her, you enjoy relying on your senses to get a dish to taste just right.
Soak, cook and purée about 500 g dried apricots. The purée mustn’t be too soft and runny. Alternatively, use 1 kg thick apricot jam, puréed if it was a preserve, or 1 – 2 kg fresh apricots, lightly salted, rested for a while, and then lightly pressed to remove moisture before being cooked. Or use a combination of all three.
Take a large finely chopped onion, add salt and place it in a colander. Weigh it down with a dinner plate to help squeeze out some of the moisture. Now add about ½ cup crushed almonds; whole coriander that’s been roasted, ground and sifted; a red chilli that’s been thoroughly pounded in a mortar and some white wine vinegar.
Add salt and sugar to taste. Be generous with the sugar if you’re using dried or fresh apricots instead of apricot jam, as with too little sugar the chutney could start to ferment after a while.
Mix all the ingredients together and spoon into jars. No additional cooking is required. Be careful not to use apricots that are too watery, nor too much onion and coriander, which will overpower the delicate taste of the almonds and apricots.
POT-ROASTED SHOULDER OF LAMB
Shoulder of lamb is usually eaten as chops, but I prefer to use it in this dish, which will serve approximately four people. It’s not the tenderest meat, but it’s full of flavour, even more so when it’s pot-roasted – which is something we do on those days when it’s simply too windy to braai.
Rub the shoulder with a mixture of a little fresh garlic, salt and pepper. Place it in a pot, add a cup of sweet wine and cover. Now roast it in a cool oven (around 160ºC) for an hour.
Open the pot and arrange the following around the meat; a few potatoes cut lengthwise; pickling onions, if you have any; an aubergine, cubed, salted and drained; and a sliced pepper, in fact any seasonal vegetables you prefer. If you don’t have other vegetables, that’s all right too – add only the potato.
Continue roasting at the same temperature for another 1½ hours, turning the vegetables halfway through. If the meat isn’t brown enough about half an hour before it’s time to dish up, remove the lid for the last 30 minutes. You can pour off the fat and use the pan juices to make gravy if you like, but it isn’t really necessary.
BREAD AND WORKING WITH YEAST
Few people are unmoved by the smell of freshly baked bread. It is like a braai in its ability to conjure up a sense of togetherness and well being, of a return to simplicity and tranquility.
Yeast for baking comes in several forms; dried, compressed and as a liquid. Dried yeast comes in the form of sachets containing instant yeast, which is added directly to the flour. In the past you could also by so-called active dried yeast that had to be soaked in lukewarm water for 10 – 15 minutes before being added to the mixture.
There is also yeast for making beer, which can be used for bread in an emergency, but it takes a lot longer to rise than bread yeast. Brewer’s yeast, which can be bought in powder or tablet form, is deactivated yeast and rich in vitamin B.
Besides these there is also fresh or compressed yeast, a moist mixture of yeast cells and starch, which must be dissolved in lukewarm water before use. It’s no longer readily available on supermarket shelves and is mainly used in commercial bakeries that purchase it in large blocks. Some stores or bakeries may be willing to sell you a piece.
Fresh or Instant?
One sachet of instant yeast weighs 10 g and contains one tablespoon (15 ml) yeast, enough for 1 kg flour. If you buy fresh yeast, you’re usually given a lump across the counter, with no instructions. In that case use the following guideline: 25 g or 25 ml fresh yeast is equal to one 10 g or 15 ml sachet of instant yeast. It is enough for 1 - 2 kg flour.
BATTER BREAD
This recipe is enough for two small loaf tins - those tins with the rounded corners you can buy in most shops. If you have other tins, use two, each with a volume of approximately 1,5 litres. To measure the volume, fill the tin with water all the way to the top, then pour the water into a measuring jug. Grease your tins very well, because getting the bread out of the tin can sometimes be a struggle.
Measure about 4 level cups (500 g) whole-wheat flour and 2 level cups (240 g) brown or white bread flour into a fairly large mixing bowl. For a lighter bread use 4 cups brown bread flour and 2 cups white bread flour. Stir in 2 teaspoons (10 ml) salt and 2 teaspoons (10 ml) instant yeast. You can add about 1/3 cup (80 ml) seeds or something that will give texture, such as sunflower seeds, linseed, oats, crushed wheat, chopped pecan nuts, poppy seeds and so on. You could also try chopped dates or raisins if you like.
Mix well using a wooden spoon. Make a well in the dry ingredients. Measure out 3 cups (750 ml) lukewarm water and add 5 teaspoons (25 ml) oil, 4 teaspoons (20 ml) honey or brown sugar and 3 teaspoons (15 ml) vinegar. Pour this into the well and stir for about five minutes until well combined - you should see the batter coming together nicely. Don’t stir too vigorously.
Divide the batter between the two tins, which should each be about half-full. Level the tops, cover so it won’t dry out and place in a warm spot to rise. I always put mine in the oven with the oven light on. In winter I might turn the oven on for a few minutes then off again before putting the bread inside to rise. Let the batter rise to about twice its size, or until it fills the tin. This can take 30 to 45 minutes. Be careful not to let it rise too much, or the texture will be crumbly and coarse.
Now heat the oven to 200ºC and bake for 45 minutes until the bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when you knock against it. Leave to stand for a few minutes, then turn out. If you like a crisp crust all round, you can return it to the oven for a few minutes after turning it out.
Wrap in a clean tea towel and allow to cool - if you can wait that long. If you can’t eat both loaves within a couple of days, you can freeze one. To serve it, wrap it in a tea towel and defrost it in the microwave on low setting until it’s warmed through. It’ll taste exactly like the freshly baked one. Alternatively, let it defrost at room temperature, then bake in a warm oven for a short while.
LEMON SYRUP
If you have a glut of lemons and no idea what to do with them, why not make some delicious lemon syrup? In all its simplicity it is one of the most delicious home-made cool drinks around.
Squeeze some juicy lemons after you’ve grated off the rind. If the lemons aren’t all that juicy, leaving them in boiling water for about five minutes will help, as will placing them in the microwave on medium power for one minute. Now grate off the rind. Then measure the juice and pour it into a saucepan along with the rind and the equivalent amount of sugar (a cup of sugar for every cup of juice). Heat to just below boiling point, but don’t let it boil as that will spoil the delicate flavour of the lemon. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Strain the hot syrup and pour into sterilised bottles. It keeps best in the fridge, but a cold pantry will do. Serve on ice with a slice of fresh lemon and a sprig of mint the next time the priest comes to call.
A FARM IN MY HEART
From the yard to the pantry and the table
Emilia Le Roux and François Smuts
Published by Tafelberg
Available at leading book stores in South Africa.
For further information contact Tafelberg Publishers
Tel: +27 (021) 406 4215 or contact sjoubert@nb.co.za
www.nb.co.za
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