Strandkombuis, Yzerfontein, South Africa

                                                  

This is a real treasure, hidden away on the quiet seaside of the West Coast in South Africa.  Yzerfontein is a small holiday town with breathtaking sunsets and welcoming locals.  

Take a turn off before hitting the town on a Sunday and let yourself discover the seafood delight. 

                

 

Family of mine has owned this remarkable location for years and it has grown into a cherished wedding destination for couples from all over the world.  The restaurant is set on the dunes with a spectacular view…

  

A Buffet Lunch is hosted on Sundays, where friends, families and couples enjoys a warm rustic atmosphere.  The staff prepares an impressive seafood banquet with local seasonal ingredients.  Dishes like, smoked Snoek, west coast mussels, prawns, calamari, Yellowtail and much more… 

I recommend booking well in advance.  Also, you are welcome to bring your own wine along.  And for those who wish to indulge completely, there is a convenient B&B attached to this unique operation.

This will always be a special place and one day I would be lucky to have something as exceptional for myself. 

Strandkombuis

Photos compliments of Maciej M. Podolak

IL GUSCIO RESTAURANT - Porto Cervo, Sardinia.

I have spent quite a bit of time in Porto Cervo, Sardinia. If you find yourself there you will soon realise that it is aimed at the super wealthy who holiday here. As beautiful as it is it is certainly very overpriced and value for money is hard to come by. This is not a problem for the Russian yacht and villa owners who dominate the place. For me its like a Russian version of Saint Barth's.... a place where wealthy successful people congregate and show off there wealth in an exclusive place.

Either way, amongst all of that i discovered an amazing treasure of a restaurant called : Il Guscio. Unique in the fact that it was reasonably priced but also has an extensive menu that could satisfy anyone! 

I love typical Italian food so this place was a must although it had meat, fish dishes etc.

  

Of course when wining and dining anywhere in Italy my cocktail of choice is an Aperol Spritzer! The other great thing about Italy is that you can find very affordable Prosseco which glams up any dining experience making it a celebration!....And if you are in the mood for a red wine you have the best of Italian reds at your fingertips. No better time than to enjoy say a delicious Chianti for example!

Must Have Starter @ Il Guscio: It is really like a thin crust pizza which doesn't have cheese on top but rather inside it. Almost like taking a thin crust pizza and cutting it in half horizontally and filling it with a creamy soft white cheese. Deliciousness!!!

Al formaggio (stracchino (soft cheese)

The Only Bloody Mary worth drinking!!!

Bloody Mary's can be the perfect addition to a hungover brunch or simply a delicious cocktail for anytime you're in the mood! 

Everyone makes them so differently that i find it too risky to order because now that i have discovered the ultimated recipe anything else leaves me disappointed! I now refuse to order them out. Often i find them too watery and strong in alcohol. 

 

Below is the foolproof recipe: 

Fill a glass with ice and pour into shaker (this ice will go back into your glass so don't fill ingredients over it...)
1 Teaspoon horseradish
1 Flat teaspoon celery salt
Salt and pepper ( only a couple shakes of salt, but u can grind as much pepper as u like!)
Lea and Perrins Worsecester sauce: 5 shakes
Tabasco  3/4 shakes
Vodka shot (optional ;) )
Fill rest with tomato juice. (i sometimes use a can of V8 becuase it is thick and delish!)
Shake up, just enough to muddle ingredients- not the same as shaking a martini
Garnish with olives/ celery stick/pickles whatever your hearts desire :)
Enjoy !

The simple science to Food and Wine pairing!

When you love something you need to take the time to learn about it if you want to get the most out of it and enjoy it at its best. We try to do this with everything we love and share what we have learnt with anyone who is equally interested.

One of the things we love is wine and equally so, we love food! To get the best taste experience from our food and wine we take the wine paring knowledge we have acquired through our Cape Wine Academy courses and put them into practise at every opportunity. 

Here are some simple rules to help you when picking a wine for your meal.

• Sweetness in food -will increase sourness & bitterness in wine, making wine appear less sweet(more dry) and less fruity. You can therefore pair a sweet wine with a sweet dessert because a sweet wine can afford to appear drier. You would not want to pair an already dry, acidic wine with a dessert because appearing even more dry an acidic will make it very harsh and not bring out the best in the wine.

• Foods with high amounts of acidity will decrease the sourness of the wine and will make it taste richer and more mellow. A sweet wine would therefore taste sweeter. You could take a acidic, fresh, crisp wine and allow it to be softened and mellowed. 

Depending on what you are wanting to achieve and on personal taste you can either go the conventional way of matching wine to food by similar strength and acidity ( ie: a sweet dish with a sweet wine, an acidic food with an acidic wine) or you can choose to pair in a unconventional way and decide to match a sweet wine with an acidic food. 

There is no right or wrong. It is just understanding the cause and affect of wine tasting so that you can achieve the desired outcome.

• Bitter, sweet and savoury flavours in food increase bitterness in wine

• Sourness and salty foods suppress the bitterness in wine

• Adding salt to sauces and foods can therefore tone down astringency and bitterness in wine. Salty foods tend to make a sweet wines sweeter

• Savoury increases bitterness in wine and saltiness in conjunction with savoury neutralises the effect because as written above: salty foods suppress bitterness.

The traditional formula:

Red wine with red meat

Dry white wine with white fish and white meat

Sweet wine with dessert or spicy food

But remember you can choose to contrast or complement wine and food equally successfully.

PERFECT TAPENADE

We eat tapenade with just about everything... : our cheese platters, on crackers, as a dip for nachos, a spread for a ciabatta sandwich and even as a filling for our amazing stuffed chicken breasts!

You can finely chop the below ingredients or just use a blender. You can adjust the quantities to your preferred taste. Sometimes you need an extra squeeze of lemon or more anchovies... etc.

• 1 Packet/jar of black olives (pitted)
• 4 Anchovies
• 2 Cloves of garlic
• Black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice.
• A few basil leaves finely chopped.
• 1 Tablespoon of olive oil

or you can make our PERFECT PESTO PLUS!
Sometimes you are in the mood for a simple traditional tapenade in which case you can use the above recipe. When in the mood for something a bit more interesting try this:

Use the above recipe with half green and half black olives and then simply add any/ all of the below extras to the original recipe.

• A tablespoon of capers
• Half a wheel of greek feta
• A tablespoon of basil pesto

PERFECT GUACAMOLE

Much like the PERFECT SALSA that we tried, tested and refined we have obtained the PERFECT GUACAMOLE!

This is honestly the most delicious Guacamole!

• 2 Ripe Avos 
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons of finely chopped red onion
• Juice of half a lime
• 2 Tablespoons of finely chopped fresh coriander
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

I roughly dice my avo because i prefer chunky guacamole. When you add in all the rest of the ingredients and mix it up it will smooth out the consistenty so that your guacamole is creamy but still chunky.

PERFECT SALSA

I love Fresh Salsa because it is so easy to make and everything you add is colourful and fresh.

Salsa is just one of those delicious things to have with nachos or in a fajita with sour cream, PERFECT GUACAMOLE etc. There are all different recipes, many of which i've tried and refined until coming up with the best salsa ever! Some people add too many things and it's just finding the simple version with just the right combo.

Fresh Salsa:

•  2-3 medium sized fresh tomatoes (seeds and middle removed), finely diced
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• 1 jalapeno (seeds and center removed), finely diced
• Juice of one lime
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• A handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped

Keeping it simple = Perfection!

Now i do feel there is a place for store bought Salsa. It has that saucy red consistency that is also just delicious. Mari and i like to add a few spoons of store bought salsa to our fresh salsa to make a full flavoured combo salsa. They both compliment each other resulting in a delicious saucy salsa that has maintained the fresh ingredients and flavour.

 If you prefer to have the fresh salsa by itself that is also fantastic. Depending on my mood and what i feel like on the day i decide because sometimes that fresh salsa is just tops!

Our twist on Potjiekos...

I've always had a secret love affair with French Cuisine.  Years ago I found this authentic Provincial French Country recipe book in a dusty cornet of a 2nd hand bookstore.  True to form, red wine stains are all over the page of Boeuf Bourguignon and a little while later I found Julia... Julia Childs boeuf-bourguignon recipe

Potjiekos is just a South African way of making stew on an open fire.  It's taken quite serious in these parts of town and we have regular competitions.  I have a tendency to get super excited.

Being the person I am, mine is normally red-meat based.  I love to use the basic recipe mention above as a base, but the options are endless.  Today's Potjiekos was Lamb Shank and Bone Marrow.

Easy enough to start:  You'll need a fire and eventually end up with coals.  I usually brown coarsely chopped onions with Portobello mushrooms and a grated carrot.  Seal off the meat to a nice brown crust.  during this time, we've also roasted some garlic

and  bone marrow in the oven.  This could of course be done on the fire too, but it would get in the way of our socializing.  Add to the cast-iron pot the meat, onions, mushrooms, garlic, bone marrow with added canned tomatoes of your choice, half a bottle of bold red wine, good stock and herbs.  Let this simmer for a good couple of hours.

Normally you'd have some type of starchy side dish to plate up with the potpie.  Rice is and old classic.  My favorite however is Potbrood.  This is just a simple bread recipe and then we usually add rosemary and garlic, backed in another cast iron pot on the fire.  Today however, we decided to add extra cheese and calamata olives and place it on top of our potjie...  Before this, you should add the last of your chosen vegg.  Leave this to the last stage so your vegetables don't disintegrate.  Today we chose baby onions, baby carrots and butternut.  After placing the dough on top you'll constantly add coals to the lid of the pot too.  Depending on the heat, it should simmer and bake for another hour.  I would recommend you pair this with a bold Red Bordeaux Blend to match the complexity and flavor. Be sure to make plenty.  My friends have a tendency to plate up not only 2nd but 3rd helpings too.  Also great the next day!

Sweet chilli poached egg breaky...

This is the most delicious breaky option when you want to do something a little more exciting than egg on toast. 

So simple but looks impressive and tastes amazing!

Health toast with a healthy spread of philadelphia cream cheese, then comes sliced avo, followed by bacon with a poached egg on top and sweet chili sauce drizzled on top of the stack

*In the above pic it was done on an english muffin but i prefer it on health toast.*

Nespresso Martinis!!

I really struggle with cocktails because generally i find them far too sweet! That's why i enjoy G&T's, because they are refreshing rather than sickly sweet. *See: G&T Revised*

I also discovered an espresso martini to be a great cocktail that is delicious and one of the few that is not too sweet. It is more of a decadent cocktail than our refreshing G&T and does have some sweetness which is balanced out with the bitterness of the coffee. getting that perfect icy cold espresso martini with a thick creme is tops!

Of course when we find something we love we have to make our own new and improved version.

We make Nespresso martinis!!

Things you need:

• Nespresso Machine
• Nespresso pods of choice
• a cocktail shaker
• ice
• vodka of choice. (Absolut is a good value for money option)
• Kahlua
• Coffee beans *optional*

Simple fill your shake with ice and add:

1.5 oz Kahlua
1 oz Vodka
1 oz Nespresso

Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with 3 espresso beans.

Creamy Tomato Pasta!

YUM! I absolutely LOVE creamy tomato pasta! Tomato pasta's can seem too plain or tart and a creamy Alfredo can sometimes be too rich.... a creamy tomato pasta is everything in one- perfect harmony!

Sometimes we add:

•  crispy pancetta bits and chilli

Or

• mushrooms and chilli 

*The chilli really adds a contrast to the creamy flavours making the overall taste more exciting!*

 If you're not a fan of heat then chilli's can certainly be left out and in fact you can tailor this pasta to suit you by trying out different things!

The main thing is that is is yet another super simple, delicious and impressive dish!  Creamy Tomato Pasta

I like to serve it with a fresh salad that includes avo, rocket and feta with a balsamic dressing to contrast and balance out this creamy dish.

Creamy tomato pasta

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Spier Winery

Perfect Picnic...

I have enjoyed a good few perfect picnics at Spier. It is especially great as a spontaneous decision as no prepping is necessary.

 One simply need visit their deli where you pick up a shopping basket and create your perfect picnic by purchasing from their selection of meats, cheeses, fresh baguettes, pesto, olives, wine etc

.

 Picnic blankets, cushions & wine glasses are for hire and they give you napkins, plastic cutlery and paper plates.

One can happily spend an entire day there indulging, napping, reading and chatting.

I have heard comments of it being "too touristy" but there are plenty of secluded spots to be occupied where you can enjoy your picnic in peace. We did also experience less than amazing service at the deli on one occasion which was well worth putting up with considering the many hours of bliss spent in this wonderful location!

Spier Winery