There's no bread Mommy 'Daar's niks brood nie, Mamma'.
That was my son as he came charging up the stairs. Oops, we live far from town and it happens sometimes. No bread or milk. We keep some long life milk and some bread in the fridge, but every so often we end up with a depleted stash.
'I'll just bake you something then'. It probably says something about a household if there is always four kinds of flour, yeast, sprinkles of any description, buttermilk, many varieties of rice and even more of grains in the pantry, but no bread.
There were two very ripe bananas in the fruit bowl, perfect for some muffins. We like bananas, but not the very ripe variety, not even in a muffin, so I decided to mask the taste slightly with some cacao. The chocolate bit is not decadent, just a bit of extra taste. Still healthy enough for lunch.
As soon as they were in the oven, the electrician and his daughter showed up. And then my father. Everybody took a few, straight out of the oven, piping hot. It left only four, which we took to E's swimming coach in the afternoon.
Then we had friends over for supper and I made some chocolate mousse for dessert, with some macarons on the side. Decadent, dark and even a bit naughty. We ate it while staring at the lightning that illuminated a huge storm over the mountain.
It has been so hot these last few weeks. Really hot and humid, sticky.
I don't like to cook when it is that hot. The kitchen is unbearable and the idea of sticking anything hot into my mouth, unthinkable. We eat a lot of salads, fruit with something on the side. But the human body can only take so much fresh food and then I know it is time for a cooked meal. Something with a bit of substance. Definitely not rich and creamy, just hot and unctuous.
This Moroccan inspired dish fits the bill perfectly. The sauce is the real star and it pairs so well with the couscous. It will probably work just as well with beef or lamb meatballs. It does take a bit of time to prepare, but you can taste it in the end result. The sauce and chicken needs the time in the oven.
I enjoyed cooking these while the little ones sat at the kitchen table doing homework. Colouring, drawing, counting. Special times.
I am cheating a bit this time, as the preserve in the blog was not actually made by me, but by my mom. I thought you would not mind, as this is such a special recipe and so very time consuming to make, that it deserves a post. It just does.
We found a huge makataan at the farmers' market last weekend and when we did, my mom and I were both giddy with excitement. It has been years since we found a watermelon with a skin thick enough worthy of the effort of making preserve. Makataan is just perfect, as the skin is all you are really after.
My mom took on the almighty task of preserve making this week and by friday she was ready to bottle them. This is not a process for the fainthearted, because it takes a full week of tender, loving care to get the end result in the bottle, but boy is it worth it. Nothing, absolutely nothing compares you for that first bite into the sweet, sticky, gingery, syrupy deliciousness.
