Prawn and Asparagus Salad with Verjuice Dressing & Mayonnaise

An easy, sea-breezy salad that takes just minutes to put together, and you cannot go wrong if you use the very best ingredients in this simple dish. I've specified cooked, peeled prawns from Woolies here, which I admit are expensive, but they are very good, fresh and springy, and a fine ingredient to splash out on when the festive season comes rolling in.  If you're on a low-carb or diabetic diet, omit the Verjuice (which is a little sugary) and use more lemon juice or white-wine vinegar.

Prawn & Asparagus Salad with Verjuice Dressing & Mayonnaise

This is another in a series of new recipes I've developed using Verjuice, which is wonderful for making salad dressings with a slightly sweet, subtle zing.  Its gentle acidity makes it the perfect companion for ingredients with a delicate taste, such as prawns.

In this bright salad, a two-ingredient dressing and a clean-tasting homemade mayo make magic with prawns, asparagus, dark salad leaves and peppery baby radishes. If you can't find Verjuice, use more fresh lemon juice, plus a whisper of caster sugar to cut through the sharpness.  Please see my Cook's Notes at the end of the recipe for what to do if your mayo curdles.

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Wine recommendation by Michael Olivier. He says: "Bellingham Whole Bunch Roussanne 2015, 
recently awarded 5 stars in the 2016 Platter's South African Wine Guide."

It looks like: Elegant bottle The Bernard Series labelling. In the glass pale golden straw with youthful lime flashes.

It smells like: Gentle tropical fruits, desiccated pineapple, kiwi and scrunched fynbos herbs. 

It tastes like: A full circle through easy entry with white flowers, ripe nectarines, Canary melon and gentle sweet spices. The fruit is generous, the acidity balancing and zesty in its youth. Long, full, richly flavoured, with a gently waning aftertaste.

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Prawn and Asparagus Salad with Verjuice Dressing & Mayo

350 g asparagus tips
a packet of dark mixed salad leaves
200 g Woolworths ready-cooked peeled prawns
8 baby radishes, halved lengthways

For the dressing:

100 ml Verjuice
100 ml extra-virgin olive oil

For the mayonnaise:

2 extra-large free-range egg yolks, at room temperature
flaky sea salt
1 tsp (5 ml) Dijon mustard
200 ml sunflower oil
100 ml extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp (45 ml) Verjuice
1 Tbsp (45 ml) fresh lemon juice
1 tsp (5 ml) Tabasco, or more, to taste
milled black pepper

To make the mayo, put the egg yolks, salt and mustard into a bowl.  Tuck a damp cloth under one side of the bowl to tilt it. Using an electric beater, whisk the yolks until creamy.

Mix the two oils in a small jug. Turn the beater to its highest speed. Now, as you whisk the egg yolks with one hand, dribble the oil onto the yolks, a few drops at a time, with the other. Continue patiently whisking and dribbling on the oil, a little at a time, and within a few minutes you will see the egg mixture begin to thicken. Keep adding the oil in a small steady trickle until you have a thick, pale yellow ointment.  (See Cook’s Notes, below.)

Stir in the Verjuice, lemon juice and Tabasco and season with salt and pepper.  Place in the fridge to chill for a few hours.

To make the dressing, combine the Verjuice and olive oil in a small jar or jug.

Blanch the asparagus tips in boiling salted water for 1-2 minutes, or until just tender-crisp.  Drain then plunge into a bowl of iced water to set the colour. Leave for 3 minutes, then pat dry on a clean towel.

Put the salad leaves on four plates and arrange the prawns, asparagus and radishes on top.  Drizzle with the dressing  (give it a good shake first) and serve with the mayo and plenty of warm crusty bread.

Serves 4.

Cook’s Notes:

If your mayo ‘splits’, or does not thicken, start again with a clean bowl. Place a whole egg yolk in the bowl, whisk till creamy, and very gradually dribble on the split mayo mixture, whisking all the time, as above.  In most cases the mayo will re-emulsify.

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Seared Beef or Venison ‘Carpaccio’ with a Thai-Style Dressing

Carpaccio is a brilliant choice of starter or snack if you're on a low-carb or diabetic regime. I'm always astonished when people tell me they don't fancy carpaccio, because to my mind the combination of rosy leaves of beef fillet, sharp salty Parmesan shavings, fruity olive oil and a spritz of lemon juice is the food of the gods. It may seem like heresy to tinker with this formula by using a zippy Asian dressing, but the result is sensational. Follow my measurements to the letter, though, because the punchy ingredients will overpower the delicate meat if they're not used with restraint.

Seared Gemsbok 'Carpaccio' with a Thai-Style Dressing.
Plate by David Walters, Master Potter of Franschhoek

Wine recommendation from Michael Oliver. He says: "Du Toitskloof Tunnel White."
 Go to the end of this page for more detail about this wine pairing.

It’s impossible to produce paper-thin slices of carpaccio at home unless you have an industrial slicing machine, or you freeze the fillet first. I don’t have the former and won’t ruin the texture of the meat by doing the latter, so my solution is to flatten the leaves of fillet with a rolling pin.

I usually make this with beef, but it's also excellent with good-quality venison fillets. In this picture, I used gemsbok from the Gardens Continental Butchery in Kloof Street, which was as tender as a baby's cheek.

Strew the top of the dish with any tiny leaves or micro-herbs you can find - I used the tiniest flat-leaf parsley leaves, from the heart of a plant that cheekily seeded itself in a crack between two paving stones in my garden.

The recipe contains a very small amount of sugar (essential to create the perfect hot-sour-sweet-salty balance that characterises Thai food) but if you're on a punishing no-carb regime, you can leave this out. Or add a whisper of your favourite sugar substitute.

This recipe - which serves 6-8 as a starter - comes from my book Scrumptious: Food for Family and Friends, and is reproduced here courtesy of Random House Struik.

If you like this recipe, try my low-carb Halloumi and Beef Carpaccio Salad with Crisp-Fried Capers, and Low-Carb Seared Tuna with a Burnt Tomato & Caper Dressing

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Seared Beef or Venison ‘Carpaccio’ with  a Thai-Style Dressing

750 g fillet steak, or the equivalent weight of venison fillet
a little olive oil, for rubbing
4 tsp (20 ml) oil, for frying
small herb leaves, for garnish
white and black sesame seeds, for garnish

For the dressing:

2 limes (see Cook's Notes, below)
1 tsp (5 ml) white sugar
3-cm piece of lemon grass, bruised, peeled and finely sliced
1 Tbsp (15 ml) finely grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 small green chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
2 Tbsp (30 ml) sunflower oil
1 tsp (5 ml) finely grated palm sugar (or ordinary sugar)
1 tsp (5 ml) soy sauce
1 tsp (5 ml) fish sauce
2 drops sesame oil

Rub a little olive oil all over the fillet. Wrap the meat lengthways in a large sheet of clingfilm and twist the ends in opposite directions to create a tight Christmas-cracker shape. Tuck the ends underneath and chill for at least 2 hours, or until needed.

Heat the oil in a large pan and, when it is blazing hot (but not yet smoking), quickly brown the meat on all sides. This should take no more than 2-3 minutes - less, if you have a slim venison fillet - and the meat should remain quite raw inside. Place in the fridge to cool for 15 minutes.

Cut the fillet into slices 3-4 mm thick. Place the slices between two sheets of clingfilm and use a rolling pin to thin and gently stretch the meat to the desired thickness. Alternatively, you can use the back of the blade of a heavy knife to stretch and flatten the slices.

To make the dressing, cut the limes in half and dip the cut end in the white sugar. Place them, sugar-side down, in a hot non-stick frying pan. Cook until the cut surface is nicely browned and caramelised. (If you're on a sugar-free regime, leave out this step and squeeze the lime juice directly into the dressing.)

Cool the limes for a few minutes, then squeeze the warm juice into the jug attachment of a stick blender. Add all the remaining dressing ingredients and whizz at high speed until well combined. The dressing should be slightly coarse, with tiny 'bits'.  If you don't have a blender, very finely slice the ingredients and pound everything together with a mortar and pestle before whisking in the liquid dressing ingredients.

Spread a little dressing on the base of a platter or several smaller plates. Arrange the meat slices on top and drizzle with the remaining dressing. Strew over the herb leaves, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve immediately.

Serves 8 as a starter.

Cook’s Notes

The fillet can be seared, sliced and refrigerated, and the dressing made, up to 3 hours in advance, but put them together just before you serve the dish or the dressing will ‘cook’ the fillet. If you can’t find fresh limes, use lemons instead.

Wine pairing by Michael Olivier

It looks like: Very refreshing in a dew dropped bottle. Pale golden straw in colour with some lime green flashes around the rim of the glass.
It smells like: Grapey, fresh, yellow apples and a lime squirt.
It tastes like: Crisp off-dry fruity.

This is a non-vintage wine.

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A discovery: how to cook beef topside & fillet in a wonderful Wonderbag

It's taken several months of experimentation to write this blogpost, because I wanted to test the method over and again so it works perfectly for you every time. In a nutshell: you can use the Wonderbag, a brilliant energy-saving South African innovation, to produce tender beef topside (and fillet) that's uniformly pink within, dark and caramelised on the outside, and filled with flavoursome juiciness.

 How to cook perfect rare & juicy beef topside in a Wonderbag. The 18th-century
silver mustard pot in this pic was a gift from my husband on our 25th anniversary.

Wine recommendation from Michael Oliver. He says: "Zonnebloem Cabernet 2012."
Go to the end of the page for more detail about this wine pairing.

There are several photographs in this blogpost showing my various recipe trials. I hope this post will encourage you to buy or donate a Wonderbag (which you can do here, or at YuppieChef. If you're not in South Africa, click here).  

My hard-working Wonderbag.

If you're a chef in a busy restaurant kitchen, I'd like to suggest that you supplant some of your sous-vide baths with a few of these versatile gadgets.

Let me go back a little. I've owned a Wonderbag since 2009.  It's a bit raggy and saggy and stained after so many years at the coalface, but I still use it several times a week for making slow-cooked family dishes and my foolproof Greek yoghurt. 

It's also brilliant for holding delicate sauces - such as hollandaise and béarnaise - at a constant gentle temperature for many hours.

I take it along to the supermarket when I'm buying ice cream on hot days, and to the local pizza place when I'm collecting take-outs.

My interest in the Wonderbag was rekindled  a few months ago when I met the ebullient Italian chef Luigi Carola, Global Lead Innovation Chef for Unilever, and best known in South Africa as a star of Knorr's cooking adverts*.

Edge-to-edge pinkness, a lovely caramelised crust, and very tender meat

I don't know how Luigi and I got on to the subject of the Wonderbag, but once we did, over a few glasses of wine, there was much high-fiving.  He told me he'd been experimenting with cooking a variety of dishes in his Wonderbag, and that he was so enthused by this cooking method that he'd written a cookbook on the subject.

What interested me most was his claim that the best fillet steak he'd ever eaten came out of a Wonderbag. Also, said Luigi, many other slow-cooked dishes can be incubated with great success using this method. He told me about Italian relatives who create gorgeous stews, pack them in a Wonderbag, then drive for many hours across Europe to deliver piping-hot meals to homesick children in other countries.

Here's how a Wonderbag works: it has extraordinary insulating properties that prevent heat from escaping from a very hot pot. If you closely follow the steps I've detailed below, the bag will 'hold' your food at a notch below boiling point for several hours.

After that, the temperature inside the bag (and pot) will drop in grudging increments over many long hours. I can't give you exact temperatures using my cheffy temperature probe, because a big no-no of cooking in a Wonderbag is opening it up, but my experience is that when I open my bag after 3 hours, the lid and handles of the pot are still too hot to touch with bare hands.

I've cut off the top of this piece of beef topside to show you what
you can expect when you when you cook it in a Wonderbag.

This slow, even cooking is what makes this technique so effective.

So I set about experimenting with beef roasts.

I adore topside, because my mum has always had a knack of roasting this temperamental cut to rosy-pink perfection.  Perfect fillet steak was my next challenge.

The biggest benefit of cooking beef this way is that you cannot over-cook it.  I can't emphasise enough this huge advantage of using a Wonderbag - you can leave topside or fillet in the bag for two or three hours, or longer, and when you open it up it will be beautifully warm, brown on the outside, and an edge-to-edge blushing pink on the inside.

It will also be well rested, tender and juicy.

There are two more reasons I love this technique.  One, it's so convenient: pop your roast in the Wonderbag and go forth to enjoy your Sunday morning.  Two, it's a huge energy saver. Sure, you'll use up a bit of power as you do the initial browning of the meat, but after that you can tuck the meat in its bag and let its residual heat do the rest of the work.

A whole fillet steak beautifully tender and rosy after two hours in my Wonderbag. 

How to cook topside & fillet in a Wonderbag - two recipes

1. Topside in a Wonderbag

1 x 1.8 kg mature good-quality topside, at room temperature
2 Tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
milled black pepper
a pinch of flaky sea salt
a small sprig of fresh rosemary
1 cup (250 ml) red or white wine
1 cup (250 ml) water or stock
3 cloves garlic, unpeeled and lightly squashed
milled black pepper
a pinch of flaky sea salt

Select a piece of well-matured beef topside. 

Trim any big blobs of fat from your topside. Heat 30 ml oil in a large pot that has a tight-fitting lid, and which will fit neatly into your Wonderbag. Pat the meat dry with kitchen paper and season to taste with salt and pepper. When the oil is very hot - almost on the point of smoking - add the topside and brown it well on all sides, starting with the fattiest side.  This should take about 8 minutes in total.  Turn the topside over with a pair of tongs once each side is beautifully browned and caramelised.

Brown your topside well before you add the liquid. In this experiment
I added finely chopped onions, garlic and crisp bacon bits. Other times,
I've added sliced mushrooms and a pinch of chilli flakes.

Halfway through the browning process, add the rosemary sprig.

Now remove the meat from the pot and set aside on a plate. Drain any excess fat from the pan, then put it back on the heat and deglaze with a cup of wine, scraping and stirring to dislodge any golden residue. Bubble over a furiously high heat for 2 minutes, then add the squashed garlic cloves and water (or stock).

Return the topside to pan, fatty side up, and cover with a tight-fitting lid.  The liquid in the pot should come to about 2 centimetres up the sides of the meat.

Turn down the heat to medium and cook at a fairly brisk bubble for 12 minutes.  If you have a topside smaller than the 1.8kg I've specified in the ingredient list, cook it for 8-10 minutes (you'll have to use your instinct here). Don't take the lid off the pot to check the meat, or the temperature inside will drop.

After 12 minutes, the lid of the pot will be too hot for you to touch with your bare fingers, and you will see little puffs of steam escaping around the rim.

Without opening the pot, place it in the Wonderbag, cover quickly with the cushion, then tightly draw up the strings.  Set aside, undisturbed, for at least 3 hours, or until you're ready to serve it.

If, when you open the bag, you find the beef is too rare - and I've only had this happen once, when I couldn't contain my excitement - you can reheat the pot over a brisk heat until you once again see billows of steam (see above) then place it back in the Wonderbag for another 30 - 60 minutes.

Take the meat out of its pot and set it on a board to cool for a few minutes. Carve into slices and serve immediately.  Or let it cool, then refrigerate and carve it the next day.

If you'd like to make a gravy, strain the pan juices through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing down with the back of a spoon to extract the the garlic & rosemary flavours.  Boil briskly to reduce to a rich glaze, or thicken with a little flour slaked in water.

2. Fillet Steak in a Wonderbag

1 large whole fillet steak (about 1.5 kg)
a large sprig fresh thyme
2 Tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
3/4 cup (180 ml) red or white wine
3/4 cup (180 ml) water or stock
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled and lightly squashed
milled black pepper
a pinch of flaky sea salt

Two hours before cooking, take the fillet out of the fridge so it can come up to room temperature. Using a sharp knife, trim away any visible fat, then cut away the 'silver skin' (membrane) on the outside of the meat.

Double the thin end over and tie it to the main fillet with kitchen string. Don't worry if one end is much thicker than the other (the thick end will cater for those who like their fillet rare, and the thin, doubled-over end will do for those who like brown beef).

Brown the meat all over as described above - this must take no longer than 5 minutes, in a blistering hot pan. If there is no smoke in your kitchen, your pan is not hot enough!

Halfway through the browning process, add the thyme sprig.  Set the fillet aside on a plate and deglaze the pan with the wine, as detailed above.

Now follow the same steps: cook the wine over a high heat for 2 minutes, then add the squashed garlic cloves and water (or stock). Return the fillet to pan and cover with a tight-fitting lid.  The liquid in the pot should come to about 1½ centimetres up the sides of the fillet.

Turn down the heat to medium and cook for 6 minutes. Don't take the lid off the pot to check the meat, or the temperature inside will drop.

After 6 minutes, the lid of the pot will be too hot for you to touch with your bare fingers, and you will see little puffs of steam escaping around the rim.

Without opening the pot, place it in the Wonderbag, cover quickly with the cushion, then tightly draw up the strings.  Set aside, undisturbed, for at least 2 hours, or longer (see my notes above).

Let the fillet cool on a plate, then slice and serve.

Wine pairing by Michael Olivier: 

Zonnebloem Cabernet 2012

It looks like: A brilliant gem-like deep ruby with an enchanting purple garnet at the edges.  This will change to a more brick red as the wine matures.

It smells like: Blackcurrants, hedgerow berries, spice and cedar from the oak and a whiff of dark chocolate.

It tastes like: Classical Cabernet red and black berries and cassis.  Soft tannins. Fabulous long aftertaste. A truly underrated wine.


* Note:  I have a professional association with Knorr South Africa.

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Low-Carb Chicken Breasts in a Butter, Basil & Tomato Cream Sauce

This delicate dish, with its tiny sequins of butter, is quick to make, but it does involve some faffery in the tomato-peeling department. It's worth the effort, though - the dabs of fresh tomato and basil shreds add freshness to the sauce, which is scandalously creamy and buttery, containing as it does those two luscious ingredients so allowed on a low-carb #LCHF or #Banting diet.  This is a dish of utmost simplicity, and I hope you enjoy it.

Low-Carb Chicken Breasts in a Butter, Basil & Tomato Cream Sauce

Wine recommendation from Michael Oliver: Môreson Dr Reason Why Unwooded
Chardonnay 2013 - Franschhoek. Go to the end of the page for more detail about this pairing.

The first time I made this, I found the sauce lacked depth, as is the case with any dish made in a hurry. The next time I tried it, I added a little concentrated chicken stock, which made all the difference.  It's frowned upon in foodster circles to use shop stock, but I have no patience with this attitude.  I don't have time, when I'm making my family's evening meal, to fiddle around making stock, or thawing and reducing the many tubs of home-made stock ossifying in my freezer.  Two important points: one, use a good quality concentrated stock; two, these can be quite salty, so don't season the sauce until you've tasted it.

Please follow my instructions to the letter in this recipe so your chicken breasts are beautifully tender, without a hint of rubberiness.

As this sauce is subtle, I suggest you serve it with meek-tasting veggies, such as courgettes or baby green beans.  Don't pair it with the ubiquitous caulirice or cauliflower mash, which will overpower the understated tomato and basil flavours. If you're not on a low-carb regime, I'd recommend serving this with creamy mashed potatoes.

If you'd like to add a little smokiness to this dish, crisp up some finely chopped bacon in a hot pan before you fry the chicken breasts.  Set aside, then stir the bits in when you add the cream.

The pulp and seeds of tomato are packed with umami, so don't throw these away when you prepare the tomatoes - again, see my instructions below.

This sauce contains no starchy agents, relying for thickening on fast reduction.  So it's suitable for diabetics, low-carbers and everyone else reducing carbohydrates in their diets.


Low-Carb Chicken Breasts in a Butter, Basil & Tomato Cream Sauce

8 free-range, deboned, skinless chicken breasts
salt and milled black pepper
5 large red juicy tomatoes
boiling water, for skinning the tomatoes
3 Tbsp (45 ml) salted butter
2 Tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
1 small clove garlic, peeled and finely crushed or grated
1½ tsp (7.5 ml) good quality concentrated chicken stock, such as a Nomu Fond or Knorr Chicken Stock Pot
1 cup (250 ml) cream
10 big fresh basil leaves
a squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Trim any globules of fat from the chicken breasts, place on a board and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Put the tomatoes into a big bowl and cover them with boiling water. Set aside for 3-4 minutes, or until you see their skins begin to wrinkle and split.

Very gently cook the chicken breasts on one side only in their buttery
 bath. I have turned over two breasts in this picture to show you how
 they should look when they're ready to be taken out of the pan.

In the meantime, heat the butter and olive oil over a high heat in a large shallow pan big enough to fit all the chicken breasts in a single layer.

When the butter stops foaming, add the breasts, smooth side down, turn down the heat to medium-low and gently fry them in their buttery bath for 3-4 minutes, or until their undersides are a light golden colour, but the breasts are still completely raw on top.  Don't allow them to brown or burn - if the butter is anywhere near darkening, turn the heat right down.  When they look as if they've cooked halfway through, remove from the pan and pile them onto a plate. Set aside.

Pull the wrinkly skin off the tomatoes and discard. Carve out the dots on the stalk ends and slice each one in half.  Place a bowl on your countertop and, holding each tomato half above the bowl, remove the seeds and pulp, letting these drop into the bowl. It's easiest to do this with your fingers.

Slice the outer parts of the tomatoes into a fine dice, and place these little pieces in a sieve set over the bowl containing the tomato pulp. Drain for a few minutes, then set aside in a bowl (you'll add these bits to the sauce at the end).

Gently reheat the oil/butter mixture in the pan and add the crushed garlic. Cook over a low heat for 30-60 seconds, without letting the garlic brown.  Now hold your sieve over the pot, and into it tip the contents of the bowl containing the tomato pulp and juices.  Press down hard with the back of a soup ladle - or your fist - to extract every bit of juice.  Discard the remaining pulp.

Add the concentrated chicken stock and bring the butter/tomato juice mixture to a brisk simmer. Cook for 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for a minute.  Now stir in the cream, a splash at a time.  It's important to do this slowly - and off the heat - to prevent your sauce from curdling.

Simmer the browned chicken breasts in the creamy
sauce very gently, until just cooked through.

Return the pan to the heat and bubble over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring often. The sauce will soon thicken slightly, with the bubbles in the centre getting bigger and lazier. Return the chicken pieces to the pan, uncooked side down, along with the golden juices that have collected beneath them.

Simmer, uncovered, for about 4 minutes, or until the chicken pieces are just cooked through, but still very tender and succulent.

While the chicken is cooking, cut the basil leaves into fine shreds.  It's easiest to do this by stacking four or five leaves together, rolling them up into a tight 'cigar', then slicing them very finely crossways.

When the chicken is done, stir in the reserved diced tomato flesh and the shredded basil.

Add a spritz of lemon juice - just enough to give the sauce a slight pleasant acidity - and stir. Serve immediately with steamed veggies.

Serves 8, as a main course along with vegetables. 

Wine pairing by Michael Olivier: 

Môreson Dr Reason Why Unwooded Chardonnay 2013 - Franschhoek

It looks like: Beautiful gem-like citrine in colour in the glass.

It smells like: Tropical fruit, windfall citrus.

It tastes like: Crisp and fresh like a Granny Smith Apple.  Creamy desiccated pineapple, fresh sliced pear and the texture of ripe winter melon.  A wash of lime on the long aftertaste.


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Low-Carb Beef Shin, Tomato & Olive Stew with a Naartjie Gremolata

It's the gremolata that makes this stew special: a heavenly scent of citrus, parsley and garlic billows up as your face meets the plate. The starring ingredient here is freshly zested naartjie [clementine] peel - a glorious South African flavour that brings such warmth and colour to winter kitchens.

Beef Shin, Tomato & Olive Stew with Naartjie, Lemon, Garlic & Parsley Gremolata.
 Bowl by my uncle David Walters, Master Potter of Franschhoek.

Wine recommendation from Michael Oliver: Simonsig Pinotage 2012.  Go to the
end of the  page for more detail about this pairing.

I'm besotted with naartjies and use them with abandon in many dishes, even more so now that I've discovered that they have no impact on my blood sugar. They're one of the only fruits I, as a diabetic, can eat with no fear.  At the end of this post, you'll find links to some of my favourite naartjie recipes.

This nourishing beef & olive stew is easy to make. 

This heartwarming, deep-flavoured stew is easy to make, but it involves several steps, and takes time, as all good stews do.  It will take you about 45 minutes to get the stew on the go - so put on some music and relax into the cooking! After that you can leave the pot on the stove over a very low heat and forget about it for two or three hours.

Please use well-trimmed, dark-red beef shin in this recipe, preferably with the bone in.  Shin is much leaner than other similar stewing cuts, and it dissolves beautifully into melt-in-the-mouth pieces.  You can use boneless shin if you don't fancy finding those fat ivory bangles in your stew, but the bone marrow does add lovely unctuousness to this dish, and the leftovers make good treats for jealous dogs.

A tip: avoid sliced shin that looks as if it has bone dust sprinkled over the meat.  If your butcher can't slice up a shin without splintering the bone, his saw isn't sharp enough, and you must find a better supplier.  The shins I used here come from Woolies - they're on special now.

If anyone in your family doesn't like olives, set aside a portion before you add the olives.

This recipe contains four tablespoons of flour, so it isn't perfect if you're on a punishing low-carb diet. However, this is a piffling amount of carbohydrates split between six to eight people, so I think I can confidently recommend this for anyone on a low-carb or diabetic regime.

Some of the ingredients for this dish: carrots, leeks, beef shin, bacon, garlic,
red wine, chopped tinned tomatoes, olives and naartjie peel. 

Here's an Instagram quick video of my making this dish: http://instagram.com/p/pONolmw4xc/

Beef Shin, Tomato & Olive Stew with Naartjie Gremolata

8 (2 kg) bone-in beef shin slices
4 Tbps (60 ml) white flour
salt and milled black pepper
4 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
3 Tbps (45 ml) olive oil, for frying
2 large onions
500 g medium carrots
500 g small leeks
2 bay leaves
a large sprig of fresh thyme
4 cloves garlic, peeled
5 Tbsp (75 ml) tomato paste
1 cup (250 ml) dry red wine
2 x 410 g tins tomato-and-onion mix, or chopped tomatoes
1 thumb-sized strip naartjie [clementine] or orange peel
24 Calamata olives, pitted

For the gremolata:
the finely zested rind of 2 small naartjies
the finely zested rind of a lemon or lime
5 Tbsp (75  ml) finely chopped fresh curly parsley
2 small cloves garlic, peeled and finely grated

Trim any small pads of fat off the shin slices. Snip the membrane surrounding the slices here and there so the meat can collapse easily in the pan.  Put the flour on a plate, season generously with salt and pepper and mix well.

Heat a large heavy-based lidded pot over a high flame and fry the bacon bits dry until golden and just crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Press the shin slices - three at a time - into the seasoned flour, and shake to remove the excess. Add the olive oil to the pan and when it is very hot and shimmering - but not yet smoking - add the first three shin slices. Fry for 3 minutes, until nicely golden and caramelised, then turn them over to brown the undersides.  Don't allow the pan to get too fiercely hot, or your stew will have black spots.  Remove the slices from the pan and set aside on a plate. Repeat with the remaining slices.

In the meantime, get the vegetables ready.  Peel the onions and cut them into thick slices, crossways. Do the same with the carrots, cutting them into 2-cm thick slices. Trim the bases of the leeks, remove the green upper parts and slice the white and pale green sections crossways into 4-cm lengths.

When you've finished browning the shin, add the onions, carrots, leeks, bay leaves and thyme sprig to the pan, turn down the heat and sauté for 4-5 minutes, or until the onions are beginning to turn golden.

Gently sauté the veggies in the bacon fat & olive oil.

Finely grate or chop the garlic, and add it into the vegetables along with the tomato paste.  Cook, stirring often, for a minute, without allowing the garlic to burn. Pour in the red wine and deglaze the pan, stirring and scraping to dislodge any golden stickiness.

Turn up the heat and add the tinned tomatoes and the reserved bacon and beef shin. Press the shin pieces deep into the liquid and bring to a fast boil. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Now turn down the heat to its lowest setting. Cover and bubble very gently for 2½ to 3 hours, or until the meat is so soft you can pull it apart with a fork.  Thirty minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the olives.

Check the stew now and then to make sure it isn't sticking on the bottom.  You shouldn't need to add extra liquid, but if the sauce seems too thick, thin it down with a little water.

Just before you serve the stew,  mix together, in a small bowl, the grated naartjie and lemon zest, the chopped parsley and the freshly grated garlic.  Turn off the heat under the stew, and sprinkle with the gremolata.  Alternatively, you can pass the gremolata around the table and let your guests help themselves. [Postscript 15 June 2014: My daughter says not to put too much gremolata on each portion as it can overpower the taste of the stew.]

Serve with hunks of warm crusty bread, or rice, or boiled baby potatoes, or - best of all - creamy mash.

Serves 8 as a main course. 

Wine pairing by Michael Olivier: 

It looks like: ‘Deep Persian carpet red’, say the estate notes. At the edge of the glass the wine shows ruby purple, an indication of its youth.

It smells like: Sweet red berries and cinnamon spice.

It tastes like: Again the red berries. Soft tannins. Sappy with fruit cake spices on the long aftertaste.

More naartjie recipes: 

Slow-Cooked Moroccan-Spiced Beef and Apricot Stew with Naartjie Couscous

Dried Naartjie Peel, and a South African Milk Tart to go under it

Naartjie Mousse in Dark-Chocolate Cups, with Rosemary Flowers

Caramel-Dipped Naartjies on Kebab Sticks

Couscous, Feta & Pea Salad with a Naartjie Dressing



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Low-Carb Griddled Chicken Breasts with Romesco-Style Sauce

There are many variations of this flavour-packed Catalan sauce, and here is mine.  Being a low-carb recipe, it contains none of the fried breadcrumbs sometimes added to romesco sauces.  If you're on a low-carb, #LCHF or diabetic diet, I don't think you'll miss the crumbs at all, because the toasted hazelnuts and almonds add lovely crunch, while the fiercely roasted red peppers and tomatoes produce natural sweetness and gorgeous depth of flavour. This is delicious dolloped over flash-fried chicken breasts, and very good with melting aubergine slices, pan-fried fish fillets, braised leeks and plain old hard-boiled eggs.

Low-Carb Griddled Chicken Breasts with Romesco-Style Sauce. The Africa shape
of this chicken breast is entirely unintentional, but somehow appropriate. Plate by my uncle
David Walters, Master Potter of Franschhoek. 

Wine recommendation from Michael Oliver: Nativo White 2013

You can whizz this sauce to fine purée, or pulse it in a food processor to a coarse pesto so it has some texture.  Because I prefer this sauce slightly chunky, I don't bother to peel the peppers.  But if you don't like pepper skin, you can roast the peppers whole in the oven (or blacken them over a flame), then scrape off all the charred skin before you process the sauce.

This sauce is traditionally made with mild dried nyora peppers, but as you're not likely to find these in South Africa, I have a specified a pinch or two of dried chilli flakes. Add more if you want a sauce with a memorable kick.

It's important to achieve a good balance of sweetness and acidity in this recipe. I've used a delicious Spanish sherry vinegar here but, again, this is not easy to find in South Africa, so I suggest you use red wine or balsamic vinegar, adding it a few drops at a time until you're satisfied with the taste.

I use blanched, skinned hazelnuts from Woolies, but if you're not able to find these, you will need to toast the skin-on hazelnuts in a dry pan first, then rub them energetically in a tea towel to remove the skins.

Low-Carb Griddled Chicken Breasts with Romesco-Style Sauce

For the sauce:
3 red peppers [capsicums or bell peppers]
1 large white onion, peeled
250 g cherry tomatoes
30 g blanched, skinned hazelnuts (see my note, above)
30 g slivered almonds
5 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped or grated
a pinch or two of dried chilli flakes, or more, to taste (see recipe)
2 Tbsp (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus a little extra
2 tsp (10 ml) sherry vinegar (or red-wine or balsamic vinegar)
1 tsp (5 ml) sweet paprika
salt and milled black pepper
a squeeze of lemon juice

For the chicken:
6 skinless, deboned chicken breasts
1 Tbsp (15 ml) olive oil
1 Tbsp (15 ml) butter
salt & milled black pepper
a squeeze of lemon juice

To serve:
lemon wedges
baby salad leaves

Heat the oven to 200 °C, fan on, or 210 °C if your oven has no fan.

Lightly oil a large baking tray.  Remove the stalks and seeds from the red peppers and cut into big wedges.  Cut the onion lengthways into thick slices, and slice the cherry tomatoes in half.  Arrange the vegetables in a single layer in the baking tray, and rub a little olive oil over the onion slices.  Season lightly with salt and roast in a hot oven for 45-60 minutes, or until the veggies are very soft and have blackened edges here and there.  Watch them closely so they don't scorch or stick.

While the vegetables are roasting, put the hazelnuts and almonds into a dry frying pan, set over a medium-low heat and cook, tossing frequently, until they are golden brown and lightly toasted. Don't take your eye off them for a moment - they burn in an instant.  Add a teaspoon of olive oil to the pan, along with three-quarters of the peeled, crushed garlic.  Cook gently, over a low heat, for another 60 seconds, without letting the garlic brown. The idea here is to take the sting out of the garlic. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Scrape all the roasted vegetables into a food processor fitted with a metal blade.  Add the chilli flakes, the nut/garlic mixture, 2 Tbsp olive oil, the reserved garlic, the vinegar and the paprika.  Whizz to a fairly coarse purée - or to a fine paste if that's what you prefer - stopping now and then to scrape down the sides.  If the blades are reluctant to turn, add a little more olive oil.

Season to taste with salt and milled black pepper.  Add a spritz of lemon juice - just enough to 'lift' the sauce. Use a spatula to scrape the sauce into a bowl.  Serve immediately, or cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

To prepare the chicken:  Place a chicken breast between two sheets of clingfilm or sturdy greaseproof paper and use a rolling pin (or a wine bottle) gently to bash it out and flatten it so it's of a fairly even thinness all over.  The trick here is to start in the middle and work outwards, using gentle thumps that won't shred the chicken or make holes in it. Repeat with the remaining breasts.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the breasts, over a medium-high heat, for about two minutes on each side, or until just cooked through.  (If you're not certain they're cooked, cut a slit on the underside of the thickest part of the biggest breast. If it's still pink inside, cook the breasts for another minute or so.)

Turn down the heat, add the butter and a squeeze of lemon juice, season to taste with salt and pepper and cook for another minute,  basting the breasts with the butter & lemon juice.  Remove from the pan, rest for a minute, then serve hot with the romesco sauce, lemon wedges and baby salad leaves.

Serves 6.


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Low-Carb Griddled Baby Butternut with Chorizo, Feta & a Lemon Dressing

This beautiful black plate is the work of my uncle, master potter
David Walters of Franschhoek. The shiny black slick of glaze
 across the plate is designed to stop your fork from grating.

I seldom see these beautiful baby vegetables in the shops, and when I do spy them, I grab a few punnets and race home to cook them. They're similar to courgettes [zucchini] but have a nuttier, sweeter flavour, a denser texture and a beautiful pale-orange colour.

In this easy tapas-style dish, I've griddled them until just tender, and combined them with fried chorizo, crumbled feta and a garlicky lemon vinaigrette, with toasted pumpkin seeds for crunch.  If you can't find baby butternuts, use courgettes, sliced into thick leaves.

I haven't been able to figure out the carbohydrate content of these veggies, but I had a great big bowl of them for lunch, and they didn't cause any spike in my blood sugar, so I can assume their carbohydrate content and glycaemic load is negligible.  This recipe is suitable for anyone on a low-carb, #LCHF or diabetic regime.

The chorizo sausage I used in for this dish wasn't the best in its class, but was all that was available at my local supermarket. The gorgeous smoky note it adds to this dish makes all the difference, and I'm looking forward to trying this with an excellent Italian cured sausage, or with crisp-fried bacon bits.

Wine recommendation from Michael Oliver: La Bri Merlot 2012. 

Low-Carb Griddled Baby Butternut with Chorizo, Feta and a Lemon Dressing

600 g baby butternut (or courgettes, if you can't find mini butternuts)
2 Tbsp (30 ml) olive oil, for frying
1 spicy chorizo sausage, sliced
a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
1 'wheel' (about 70 g) feta cheese
1/3 cup (80 ml) pumpkin seeds [optional]
salt and milled black pepper to taste
baby salad leaves, to serve

For the dressing:
1 clove garlic, peeled (or more, to taste)
a pinch of flaky sea salt
½ tsp (2.5 ml) prepared Dijon mustard, or a big pinch of Hot English Dry Mustard powder
the juice of a small lemon
4 Tbsp (60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

Rinse the baby butternuts (or courgettes) under cold running water to remove any grit.  Cut lengthways into slices about 7 mm thick.

Add the chorizo slices towards the
end of the cooking time so their smoky
flavour permeates the veggies. 

Heat a griddle pan, or a large flat pan, over a very high heat. Add the olive oil and - when it is shimmering -  arrange the baby butternut slices in a single layer on the pan.  Cook over a medium-high heat for about 5 minutes on each side (three if you're using courgettes) or until toasty and golden on the outside, and just tender on the inside.  Watch them closely, adjusting the heat if necessary because they scorch quickly.

Two minutes before the veggies are ready, add the sliced chorizo, and fry until hot and crisp. Now add a generous spritz of lemon juice. As soon as the juice has evaporated, remove the pan from the heat, set aside and keep warm. Season to taste with salt and milled black pepper.

While the butternut slices are cooking, make the dressing. Put the garlic and salt into a mortar and pound to a paste.  Add the mustard and lemon juice and stir until the salt has dissolved.

Now whisk in the olive oil to form a smooth emulsion.  If the dressing seems a bit sharp, add a pinch of white sugar. Set aside.

Place the pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan and toast over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or until they are hot and crunchy.

To serve, lightly blot the baby-butternut and chorizo slices with kitchen paper to remove any grease.  Arrange them on a platter, sprinkle over the dressing - just enough to coat the slices -  and scatter with the toasted pumpkin seeds, baby salad leaves and crumbled feta.

Serve hot or warm.

Serves 4 as a starter. 


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Spicy Low-Carb Roast Chicken Soup

Although the picture below shows a few dabs of fresh red chilli, this is delicately spiced and mild enough to offer to kids. I've used restraint because I don't want the spices to overpower the deep delicious chickeny flavours of this soup. The chilli is there to give the soup a finishing kick, but entirely optional.  I often use ready-roasted rotisseried chickens in soups these days because their flesh and skin have a gorgeous melting texture and a salty succulence that's difficult to reproduce in a domestic oven, and they're a world apart from the insipid flesh you'll pull off a chicken that's been simmered in a home-made stock.

Spicy Low-Carb Roast Chicken Soup

It may seem a hassle to make stock using the bones and skin of your supermarket chicken, but this process takes just 30 minutes, and adds glorious depth of flavour. The veggies are seethed at the same time, in a separate pot; after that you'll need just 10 minutes to put the soup together. And dinner's on the table!

If you don't have all the ingredients for the stock, throw in what you do have in your fridge - half an onion, a stick of celery, and so on.

I've used vegetables to thicken this soup (leeks, cauliflower plus a few carrots for colour) and it contains not a grain of starch, making it suitable for anyone on a low-carb or diabetic regime.

I bought the chicken for this soup from Checkers - hot out of a huge industrial rotisserie - and it was plump, juicy and packed with flavour.  My favourite rotisseried chickens, however, come from Woolies.

Spicy Low-Carb Roast Chicken Soup

1 ready-roasted/rotisseried chicken (it helps if it's still warm, as this makes it easier to strip away the flesh)
6 medium leeks (500 g, after trimming)
4 large carrots, peeled
2½ litres boiling water
2 cloves
2 bay leaves
a few parsley stalks
freshly milled black pepper
2 Tbsp (30 ml) olive oil or butter
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 small head of cauliflower (500 g), trimmed and broken into florets
4 Tbsp (60 ml) cream
½ tsp (2.5 ml) turmeric
½ tsp (2.5 ml) cumin
½ tsp (2.5 ml) mild curry powder
½ tsp (2.5 ml) chilli powder
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
salt

To garnish:
finely chopped or sliced fresh red chillies [optional]
fresh parsley or coriander

Pull the rotisseried chicken into big flakes, leaving
some golden skin behind if you fancy it.

Tear all the flesh away from the chicken, pull it into large shreds, place in a bowl and cover.  (If you like chicken skin, cut away the breasts whole and slice diagonally into strips so each piece has a covering of golden skin). Put all the skin and bones into a large pot. Scrape out any golden-brown jelly or juices that have collected in the chicken's packet and add to the pot.  Turn on the heat and gently fry the bones and skin for a minute or two.

Prepare the leeks by trimming off the dark-green upper parts and making a long horizontal slit three-quarters of the way through their lengths.  Fan out the ‘pages’ of the leeks under a cold running tap and rinse away any grit hiding in the outer leaves. Set aside.

Add one leek and one carrot, each cut into thirds, to the pot, and pour in 2½ litres boiling water.  Now add the cloves, bay leaves and parsley stalks and season generously with milled black pepper.

Bring the stock to a fast boil, skimming off any foam as it rises, cover with a tilted lid and cook over a medium heat for 30 minutes, or until the carrot pieces are very soft.  Turn off the heat and let it sit for five minutes.  Using a large spoon, lift away and discard any fat.

While your stock is boiling, gentle sauté the leeks and carrots
in a separate pan.

While the stock is boiling, slice the remaining leeks and carrots.  Heat the oil or butter in a separate large pot (I use my wok) and gently sauté the veggies for about 4 minutes, or until the leeks are just beginning to soften. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Now place the cauliflower florets on top of the leeks and carrots, and add 4 ladles of boiling stock from the other pot.  (It's okay if the cauliflower is poking up above the water line - the steam inside the pot will cook it.)  Cover with a lid and simmer at a brisk bubble for 15 minutes, or until the carrots are very soft.

Remove the lid from the pot containing the veggies and place a colander on top.  Pour the hot stock through the colander and press down on the bones with the back of a spoon.  Retrieve the carrot and leek pieces from the colander and add them to the soup.

If your second pot isn't very big, you can pour everything back into the rinsed-out pot in which you made the stock.

Blitz to a fine purée using a stick blender or liquidiser.  If the soup is too thick, thin it to the desired consistency with hot water.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Stir in the cream, turmeric, cumin, curry powder, chilli powder and nutmeg,  and simmer for 5 minutes. Now add the chicken strips - reserving some for the garnish - and cook over a gentle heat for another few minutes, or until the chicken has heated through.

Serve with finely chopped red chilli, plenty of milled black pepper and a scattering of parsley or coriander.

Serves 6. 


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Low-Carb Slow-Roasted Pork Neck with Caramelised Onions

The gravy I made for this dish was not a thundering success. I figured that whizzing up the golden onions, apple slices & carrots with Dijon mustard and a splash of cream was an inspired idea for a low-carb gravy, but I was mistaken. The flavours were great, but it had a curious grainy texture, with none of the silken mouth-feel I expect from a good gravy. My family weren't at all keen, and did not hesitate to tell me so. The pork and onions were scrumptious, however, so please try this recipe, and disregard the bowl of gravy at the top left of the picture below.  (I have given instructions for preparing the so-so gravy at the end of the recipe, in case you low-carbers feel like giving it a go.) This recipe is suitable for diabetics, and for anyone on a low-carb #LCHF regime.

Low-Carb Slow-Roasted Pork Neck with Caramelised Onions  

Wine recommendation from Michael Oliver: Zonnebloem Limited Edition Pinotage 2010.
 Go to the end of the page for more detail about this pairing.

My 2009 recipe for Roast Pork Neck with Leeks, Carrots and Apples has been the second-most popular recipe on this blog for many years (the first being South African Ginger Beer). Pork neck is an inexpensive cut ideal for slow roasting. It has superlative flavour and a melting, juicy texture that cannot be rivalled by any other cut of pork. It's a little difficult to find, but I'm pleased to see that Food Lovers Market now stocks vacuum-packed pork necks. If you don't have a branch near you, look for it in a good German butchery, or ask your own butcher to order it for you.

The ingredients for this dish include a pan-browned pork neck,
onions, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, fennel seeds and an apple.

The fennel seeds add a very faint aniseed flavour, but you can leave them out if you wish. If you're on a very low-carb regime, you might elect to omit the single apple in this recipe, but I urge you to leave it in, because it adds a lovely sweet note.

It's a pain in the neck to slice onions, so I do this in a jiffy using my food processor and its thickest slicing blade.

Serve this with bright steamed vegetables, or with tender-stem broccoli, griddled courgettes, or shredded stir-fried cabbage.




Low-Carb Slow-Roasted Pork Neck with Caramelised Onions 

1 x 1.8 kg pork neck 
3 Tbsp (45 ml) olive oil, for frying
5 large white onions, peeled and sliced
1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
2 slim sticks celery, leaves removed and thinly sliced
1 large apple, cored and thinly sliced (no need to peel it)
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs fresh thyme
½ tsp (2.5 ml) fennel seeds (optional)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely grated or chopped
4 Tbsp (60 ml) red wine
1 Tbsp (15 ml) balsamic vinegar
4 Tbsp (60 ml) water
1 Tbsp (15 ml) prepared Dijon mustard
salt and milled black pepper

Heat to oven to 160 °C. Pat the pork neck dry on kitchen paper. Heat the oil in a large shallow ovenproof pan with a thick base. (You can do this in a heavy rectangular roasting pan, but you will need to watch the onions closely so they don't catch or burn.)

When the oil is beginning to shimmer, add the pork neck.  Sear it over a high heat on all sides, until it is golden-brown all over.  You may find that the meat sticks to the bottom of the pan for the first few minutes, but it will loosen with a gentle nudge once its surface has browned. This process should not take more than about 6-7 minutes, if your pan is hot enough.

Remove the meat from the pan and set aside on a plate. Add the onions, carrots, celery, apple, bay leaves and thyme sprigs.  Cook over a low heat, uncovered, stirring now and then, for 15-20 minutes, or until the onions are soft and a glorious golden colour. Don't allow the onions to burn, or you risk a bitter flavour.

Now add the garlic and cook for another minute, without letting it brown.

Turn up the heat and add the wine and vinegar. Deglaze the pan by stirring and scraping briskly to dislodge any sticky bits.

Place the browned pork neck on top of the golden onions, cover
and roast at a low temperature for two hours.

Pour in the water and place the pork neck on top of the veggies, along with any juices that have collected beneath it.  Cover the pan (use a double layer of tin foil if you don't have a lid that fits snugly) and bake for one hour at 160 °C.  Remove the lid or foil, and add a few more tablespoons of water if the onions seem dry.

Turn the heat down to 150 °C and roast for another hour, uncovered.

Remove the pork neck from the pan, place it on a warmed platter and let it rest, loosely covered with a sheet of tin foil, for 15-20 minutes.

When you're ready to serve, gently reheat the vegetables on your stove top and stir in the mustard. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Snip through and gently tear away the netting on the pork neck, then carve it into thick slices. Arrange these on a warmed platter, pour over any juices that have accumulated under it, and serve hot with the caramelised veggies.

If you'd like to try my-not-very successful low-carb 'gravy', remove two-thirds of the onion mixture, set aside and keep warm.  Heat the pan containing the remaining veggies, add two-thirds of a cup of water and bring to a gentle boil. Use a stick blender to blitz the mixture as finely as you can, adding more water if necessary.  Stir in 3 Tbsp (45 ml) cream and a little more Dijon mustard, if you think it needs it. Season generously with black pepper and serve hot.

Serves 6.

Wine pairing by Michael Olivier: 

It looks like: Deep ruby at the core, which pales to ruby garnet around the edges of the glass.

It smells like: Red and black berry fruits, whispers of charcuterie and smoke from the barrels.

It tastes like: Classical red Pinotage berry fruits, ripe bloodplums, a smidge of savouriness and smoke. Elegant with ripe tannins, fruit, acidity and the oak all perfectly balanced.

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Low-Carb Double-Bacon Cheese & Herb Mini Quiches

I have called these cheesy puffs 'Double-Bacon' quiches because they contain two doses of what is arguably the world's most delicious ingredient. There are crisp bacon bits on the inside, and more strips to line the muffin pans. If you're a vegetarian, or don't eat bacon for whatever reason, you can use fine courgette 'leaves' as a casing for these easy quiches - please see my Cook's Notes at the end of this page. Serve these hot and puffed for breakfast, or warm as a light lunch, with crisp green leaves.

Low-Carb Double-Bacon Cheese & Herb Mini Quiches. The two at the
back of the platter have been lined with courgette slices (see above).

One of the things I miss on my  low-carb diet is quiche with feather-light pastry, so I've spent some time this past week dreaming up recipes that are satisfying and delicious, but that can be made without a pastry case.

This is a quick and easy recipe that will fill your tummy with joy if you're on a low-carb, #LCHF, banting or diabetic regime.

The ingredients for this easy dish: eggs, cream, fresh herbs and crisp bacon bits.

Use good-quality back bacon in this recipe, because it's perfect for tearing apart to line the bases and sides of the hollows in a muffin pan. The 'oyster' of each bacon strip goes on the bottom of each hollow, and the fattier strip is pressed around its edges.

Here are two more of my low-carb tart recipes you might enjoy: Double-Egged Crustless Spinach & Bacon Tart and Easy Crustless Courgette, Mint and Feta Tart.


Low-Carb Double-Bacon Cheese & Herb Mini Quiches

2 x 250 g packs back bacon
the juice of a lemon
7 extra-large free-range eggs
¾ cup (180 ml) cream
a small bunch of chives, finely chopped (about 3 Tbsp/45 ml)
a small bunch of parsley, finely chopped (about 3 Tbsp/45 ml)
1 cup (250 ml) grated Cheddar, and extra to top
salt & milled black pepper
small herb sprigs, to garnish (I used oregano from my garden)

Heat the oven to 200 °C, with the fan on, or 210 °C if your oven has no fan.

First prepare the bacon bits for the filling. Cut 8 rashers of bacon into a small dice, put them into a dry non-stick frying pan and crisp them up over a medium-high heat. Don't allow them to burn - the trick here is to take your time and keep a watchful eye, turning the heat down under the pan if the bacon is browning too quickly.

Drain all the fat from the pan, set it back on the heat and add the lemon juice. Stir briskly to dislodge any sticky golden bits, and when all the lemon juice has evaporated, remove from the heat and set aside.

Line the bottoms and sides of a non-stick muffin pan as follows:  pull away the big non-fatty 'oysters' of bacon from each rasher, and press them neatly to the bottoms of the depressions in your pan.

Now wrap the remaining strips of bacon - fatty side up - around the edges of the hollows, stretching and pressing them so they stick to the sides and form a cup.  If you find your rashers are curling inwards, make a few small vertical snips, using sharp scissors, around the uppermost edge of the fat.

Whisk together the eggs, cream, chives and parsley, and season to taste with salt and black pepper.  I usually whisk my quiche mixture by hand for at least a minute, because this helps to incorporate air and produce a puffy result.

Put the crispy bacon bits into the muffin pans, and divide the cup of grated Cheddar between them.   Gently pour over the egg mixture, filling each bacon 'cup' to about two-thirds of its depth.  Top each quiche with another little heap of Cheddar.

Bake at 200 °C for 10-12 minutes, or until the quiches are well risen, golden and just set in their middles.

Run the tip of a sharp knife around the edges of each quiche to remove it from the pan, and serve immediately.

Serves 4 as main meal with salad, or 12 as a starter or snack.  

Cook's Notes

• If you don't fancy bacon, use courgette (baby marrow/zucchini) strips to line your muffin tins. Here's how: rinse the courgettes under cold running water to remove any grit, then slice them horizontally into thin (3 mm) 'leaves'.  I do this using a mandolin, which produces beautiful even slices. Place the slices in a hot pan - or on a very hot griddle - with a little olive oil and fry them until they are lightly brown and just pliable.  Line each of your muffin pans with two slices, pressing them firmly against their sides.
• You can add any other ingredients you like to these quiches. How about finely sliced fried mushrooms, wilted spinach or nuggets of feta or blue cheese?

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