Category: Uncategorized

HILDA’S KITCHEN AT GROOTE POST WINTER MENU

By PatR, July 4, 2010 5:31 pm

HILDA’S KITCHEN AT GROOTE POST LAUNCHES DELECTABLE WINTER MENU

Now open in July for the first time, in celebration of the Soccer World Cup
Hilda’s Kitchen, Groote Post’s well-loved restaurant, has created a captivating menu for the winter season. With the West Coast becoming an increasingly attractive tourist destination, the country hospitality of Hilda’s Kitchen, amidst the rustic charm of Groote Post, promises to entice wine aficionados, gastronomes and nature-lovers alike. Adeptly using local and seasonal produce and combining these with her culinary creativity, Debbie McLaughlin – Hilda’s Kitchen’s internationally-trained cordon bleu chef – has, in her eclectic and delicious winter menu, devised unique expressions of her famous dishes.
Groote Post is one of the few wine cellars, let alone wineries with restaurants, open on Sundays in the Darling district and surrounding wine routes. And for the first time, in celebration of the 2010 World Cup, Hilda’s Kitchen will be open during the month of July. The Groote Post tasting room, traditionally closed on Sundays in July, will now be open 7 days a week.
Visitors to Hilda’s Kitchen will be spoilt for choice with an array of epicurean delights, accompanied by Groote Post’s superb range of wines, charged at cellar door prices. Delicious new options on the Hilda’s Kitchen menu – with suggested wine pairings – comprise:
NEW WINTER MENU
STARTERS SUGGESTED WINE PAIRINGS
Line fish soup with mussels and chorizo Groote Post Chardonnay (Wooded)
Cauliflower and cumin fritters with lime yoghurt Groote Post Unwooded Chardonnay
Sweet potato turnovers with a green herb chutney Groote Post Sauvignon Blanc
MAIN COURSES
Braised beef with celery root mashed potato Groote Post Merlot
Lamb osso bucco with orange, lemons and capers Groote Post Shiraz
Chicken tagine with pumpkin and chickpeas Groote Post Weisser Riesling
DESSERTS
Orange polenta cake The Old Man’s Sparkle
White chocolate and macadamia nut brownies Groote Post Noble Late Harvest
Apple tarte tatin with homemade vanilla bean ice cream Groote Post Noble Late Harvest
In order to avoid disappointing regular patrons, Debbie includes as many ‘old favourites’ as possible, on a rotational basis.
The award-winning Hilda’s Kitchen – named after Hildagonda Duckitt, a grande dame of Cape cuisine, who once lived on the Groote Post farm – resides in what is now a national monument, a restored 18th-century manor house, and is managed by Shaun and Debbie McLaughlin, whose names have been synonymous with the hospitality industry for years, and who have established Hilda’s Kitchen as a rare West Coast gem. Hilda’s Kitchen has fast become a popular destination for tourists and ‘foodies’ alike. Judged by the 2010 Eat Out Guide as one of South Africa’s Top 10 Alfresco Restaurants, Hilda’s Kitchen is, without a doubt, a must for all visitors to the West Coast – it will undoubtedly tease your senses and taste buds.
Fun for the whole family at Groote Post
Situated in the Darling Hills, Groote Post is only one hour’s drive from Cape Town along the West Coast Road, the R27 (it is 11 kilometres from the West Coast Road, after turning off at the Darling Hills Road towards Darling). Owned by the Pentz family, Groote Post is a beautiful, historic farm with a rustic atmosphere, undulating hills and vast open spaces. In addition to wine-tasting and sales, and lunch at Hilda’s Kitchen, Groote Post offers a jungle gym and rolling lawns where children can play; nature walks; bird-watching, including a hide on the farm dam; and game drives in their 2 000-hectare game camp which is home to indigenous species such as kudu, black wildebeest, red hartebeest, bontebok, springbok, eland and gemsbok. The farm, which is part of the famous West Coast spring flower route, also holds much appeal for environmentalists.

New road – the Groote Post Highway

The long-awaited upgrade to the Darling Hills Road, from the R307 Darling/Mamre road to Groote Post, was recently completed. The result is a super smooth gravel surface which rides almost as smoothly as tar.

Opening Hours

Hilda’s Kitchen: Open for lunch Wednesday to Sunday (Booking essential)
Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays

Wine-tasting and sales: Open Monday – Friday: 08h00 -17h00
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays: 10h00 – 15h00

Groote Post closed: Easter Friday, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day

Game drives: Prior booking essential

Contact: Tel: 022 492 2825
Email: wine@grootepost.co.za
www.grootepost.com

Hay boxes, Hotboxes

By PatR, July 4, 2010 5:10 pm

Hay box

A hay box, straw box or “fireless cooker” is a primitive  cooker that uses the heat of the food being cooked to complete the cooking process. Food items to be cooked are heated to boiling point, and then insulated. Over a period of time, the food items cook by the heat captured in the insulated container. Generally, it takes three times the normal cooking time to cook food in a hay box.

Hay boxes are so called because hay or straw were the commonly used insulators. Pots of food would be brought to the boil and then placed in a box filled with hay or straw. Additional hay or straw would be added around and on top of the pot. Campers and hikers have used variations of hay boxes for years, heating their food in the morning and then storing the heated pot in a sleeping bag  or backpack. In this way a hot meal is available for eating at the end of the day.

Hay boxes today consist of two fabric cushions stuffed with insulating material such as small polystyrene balls.

They can be bought from:

Sue Ogterop ( cost: R120)

Tel.: 021 761 8756

e-mail: ogterop@telkomsa.net

and

Kwalapa Organic Wholefood Store ( cost: R220)

Contact Emily: Tel: 021 687 9314
email: emily@kwalapa.com

31 Newlands Avenue,
Montebello Design Estate,
Newlands
Cape Town,
South Africa

For more interesting information go to http://www.mothercityliving.co.za/10-really-good-reasons-to-get-a-hay-box-or-make-your-own/

Slow Food Snail Trail No. 78 Visit to “Nice” Ice Cream

By PatR, April 23, 2010 12:38 pm

Slow Food Snail Trail
Newsletter of the Cape Town Convivium
No 78, April 2010

“Nice” Ice Cream – Saturday, May 22 at 10h00

In a small kitchen in Westlake Business Park, Cherylle Cowley and her staff make a selection of delectable ice creams and frozen yoghurts using classic and traditional ingredients and methods.
She has kindly agreed to tell us about these delicious products and let us sample them. After this there will be an opportunity to buy if you wish. Maintaining the cold chain is important so you are advised to bring insulated bags or boxes, preferably with frozen ‘bricks’ in them if you are going to take any home.

There is a very limited space which cannot accommodate more than twenty people at a time so we will have two sessions in order to accommodate the anticipated attendance. The first session will be at 10h00 and should finish just before 11h00 when the second session will start. When you book please indicate which session you would prefer to attend.

On Saturday mornings there are two good markets in the area so why not make a morning of it and visit the markets for breakfast before coming to the talk and tasting. The first is the Porter Estate Produce Market in Tokai which opens at 09h00. The second is the Earth Fair Food Market at South Palms, next to Builders Warehouse in the Main Road, Tokai.

The visit to The Nice Company is free but please book with Lorna as usual so we know how many people are coming.

Directions: See attached diagram.

Book with Lorna van Besouw as usual (see below) and please indicate if you are
coming to the 10h00 or 11h00 session. Bookings will close on Wednesday May 19.

Slow Wine We still have supplies available of delicious Neethlingshof Pinotage 2008 at
R300 per case of six bottles. If you would like to order supplies of this wine which our
members crushed two years ago. Make a deposit to our account and we will make
arrangements to get the wine to you. We also have a few bottles left of the Stellenzicht
Shiraz which we made in 2007.

When ordering please post your payment or deposit it to Cape Town Slow Food at FNB, Grassy Park, code 203109, account number 62023929378. Please do not deposit cash. When doing this please put your name as a reference on the deposit slip.  Payment will confirm your order.

Dates for your diary:

Saturday 12th June: Sausage, salami and meat-curing workshop with Willem Viljoen of Rudi’s Deli at Silwood Kitchen, Rondebosch.
Thursday,  29th July:  Cheese tasting and wine pairing with cheese guru Kobus Mulder at Silwood Kitchen

Saturday 11th  September: A guided tour through the vineyards and culinary fynbos and renosterveld garden of the Solms Delta farm in Franschhoek, with a meal prepared from garden produce.

Cape Town Slow Food Convivium: Hon. Secretary/Treasurer Lorna van Besouw,
3 Lutgens Road, Rondebosch, 7700. Telephone 021 685 1197. Fax 021 685 1577.
E-mail: vbesouw@iafrica.com   Website: www.slowfoodcapetown.co.za

Panorama Theme by Themocracy