Campbell Street Cottage. Cafe Food at Home.

Okay, so its been a while since I last posted anything. Ok ok, so its been a REALLY long time since I posted anything. Nevertheless, here it is, an elusive post. Campbell Street Cottage.

Campbell Street Cottage is home to a weird and wacky couple who have been cooking up some great food in the months passed. It's an eccentric home, filled with odd-ball artwork, half-finished framing jobs, wafts of incense clouds, a myriad of arb instruments, a garden of spice, and specs of flour and dough in every crack and crevasse you can eyeball. Its a wonderful place to spend my time. 

 Since returning from Sri Lanka at the beginning of this year we have been revitalized. What a fantastic country and people. We have grown a lot and lately have become interested in becoming as self-sustainable as possible. Which means we have learnt to start making our own pantry products without having to rely on store-bought, preservative laiden, hormone mutated produce. I'm not really sure where this urge to live like this came from, possibly a spinoff from my recent studies in environmental management or possibly a result of the slight hermatage lifestyle I have been living for the past few years, mixed with the strain of the financial noose that gets wrapped around our heads once our parents shake us from the suckling teet. Either way, I have found myself thirsty for knowledge. Knowledge of how to do things ourselves rather than employing or relying on the production of others. It all started with a simple vegetable garden. 

When we moved into the Campbell Street Cottage there was backyard, not in great shape, but a backyard nonetheless. So we started a veggie garden. It wasn't easy and we definitely went about it the wrong way those first few years - too many vegetables all planted at the same time equals BUMPER CROP of note. We have since improved our veggie gardening skills and now have over 45 different vegetables, herbs and spices growing in the garden. We have summer and winter harvests of seasonal vegetables and a year round supply of fresh herbs. We try  grow as many ingredients as we can, including some exotics which I have recently planted (cardomom, ginger, galangal, star anise ,nigella etc) Its become slightly obsessive, to the point where I even thought about growing my own wheat to make my flour. 

So that was stage 1 of our revolution. Next I started building things. Learning capentry and trying my hand at making frames, wooden chopping boards,musical instruments (stompbox and diddly-bow), additional cupboard shelves etc. I started refurbishing old furniture of ours as well, trying to improve our house without spending too much money and at the same time adding intrinsic value to the furniture as we gain a sense of accomplishment everytime we use it.

 

Stage 3 - Fatti and Moni aint got nothing on me. For my birthday this year I was gifted with a pasta machine. A turning point in my culinary and self-sufficiency journey. My first batch of pasta was an absolute abortion, the dough was too eggy and I didn't roll it out thin enough and it ended up being like eggy pylons. But I have learnt and now produce possibly the best pasta this side of Cape road. Made lasagne last week that brought me to tears. I made a batch one sunday afternoon for Nix's folks and they called me on Monday evening to say that it was the best pasta they ever tasted and quote unquote  said "how can we go back to eating packet shit after that?" They now phone down orders fortnightly! 

 

 

 

After my intial successes at pasta making I grew interested in making as much of our own food as possible. Pizza bases were obviously next. Thin, crispy, delicious pizza bases were then turned out first try.  Charlie Superstar - you just got owned! Man, I thought, if I can produce my own food, that is cheaper, healthier (no preservatives, colourants or added hormones) and without a doubt tastier, then why the hell do we go to the shops so frequently to buy this manufactured crap. The obsession deepens. 

 

 

 

A few weeks ago sitting around on a lazy Sunday afternoon I decided to try my hand at baking bread. Not just any bread (remember I'm a master-baker already - well in my head at least) but rather Ciabatta. Suprisingly for a first timer, it didn't turn out bad at all. It could have been a bit more "airy" and I used Sasko flour (bleached and all the good flavour taken out), but I impressed myself and I thought, I can do this. So a few days later, with some extra Biga sitting in the fridge (about a week spent fermenting), some fresh stone-ground flour from Eureka Mills and an air of excitement I started my second batch of Ciabattas. Holy cow balls did those ciabattas come out perfectly, I mean like utter perfection, super "airy", slightly salty slightly sour taste, chewy and soft inside, crusty flavoursome outside, they were like breads from the heavans. Obsession deepens further. I started making different breads, simple artisan breads, French Boules, Italian Altamurras more Ciabattas. Its now been 5 weeks since I bought a loaf of bread from the shops and we've eaten delicious bread everyday. And better yet, after some calculations the other night I realised that for the same price as 3 loaves from the shop I can make 8 artisanal breads (including electricity usage of the oven) that are way better than any store-bought mutant loaves. 

 

 

Next on the agenda is cheese-making. Probably my favourite of all foods. If we get this right we will be in cheesy heaven. Until next time - Ayubowan!

 

 

  

Rinky-Dink Instruments. A dirtbag project.

Blues, folk, bluesgrass and now Rinky-Dink. Music of indigent Americans, otherwise known as hillbillies. Screaming slide guitar and strange instruments banging and scraping and whistling all coming together in a cornucopia of genuine home-made music. A drifters soundtrack to life.

I have decided to start building my own set of home-made instruments. Rinky-Dink Instruments (trademark pending).I will be starting with "Stompbox". No, not an electric guitar pedal, a REAL stompbox. A wooden box for stomping your foot on, generating a bass drum effect. Made to emulate the footstompin of hillbillies stomping their feet on the front porch while jamming their myriad of junkyard instruments.


So far I intend on making a few essential junkyard instruments. Namely :

  - Stompbox
  - Diddley-Bow
  - Cigarbox Guitar
  - Doodle-Bass

Once I have assembled my Rinky-Dink collection I hope to record a few tracks of pure unadulterated trashbox music.  Until then ...Put your shoes on Lucy, don't you know you is in the city?

Darkside of the Moon. The view from Richmond Hill.

June 2011 Lunar Eclipse. This was the view from Richmond Hill, Port Elizabeth.

Serendib. The journey begins in a daydream of Saag Gosht.

OK, Tickets booked and paid for. With very little buyers remorse I must add.

I'm usually susceptible to a rapid onslaught of varying degrees of buyers remorse after most of my financial transactions, however after spending quite a considerable amount of my hard-earned savings yesterday I feel decidedly calm about the departure of my funds.

I will be making my way, along with my better half (Nicolette), to the island formally known as Serendib and Ceylon. Sri Lanka. A journey which I'm sure will have as much of an impact on our lives, if not more than our South East Asia travels of 2009. We are to spend 14 days in Lanka, traveling by rail throughout its sandy borders, eating glorious street food, playing street cricket and having hilarious conversations with locals over a few cold Sri Lankan beers. I hear Lion Lager is the beer of choice. On route home we make a stop in Mumbai, for a taste of what the spiritual India has to offer. More than anything I'm excited for the amazing and strange foods which will be on offer in the numerous side-alleys and markets  on the sub-continent.

Last night, with all my excitement from the purchase earlier in the day, I decided to make a Sri Lankan Chicken Curry. The result was great, although it was hotter than a Durban masala, it came out pretty good. Their cuisine seems to have influences from both India and the South East with some of their own flare thrown in for good measure. Curry leaf and lemon grass aromas compliment the Indian flavours of cumin, coriander and fennel seeds, with distinct Cardomom overtones and a coconut milk finish. This makes for a soirée of flavours that leaves you feeling slightly more spiritual than before. I definetly hope to indulge in a cooking course during my stay, as well as bring back some interesting ingredients to spice up my repertoire.

And so the Journey begins, there has been several months planning prior to the ticket purchase and I'm positive that there will be several more months planning in the build-up to our introductory tour of the Sub-Continent. As an ode to the east I have a recipe for a Saag Gosht (Lamb and Spinach curry) which I made last week, which has had me dreaming of spices since.I must make reference that the idea for divulging recipes on my blog is straight out of the hilarious and edible captains blog.

This recipe is something I came up with after reading through a variety of recipes on the net. After carefully inspecting them all, I concluded that a combination of recipe ideas were needed in order to produce the final taste sensation that is Saag Gosht. This recipe requires a number of processes and it is suggested that you save at least an hour to an hour and a half for preparation. This recipe is intended for 2-3 people. Lets begin.

Ingredients : 

- 100-150 gm  diced lamb.
- 2 cups pureed fresh spinach
- Panch Phoran (Indian 5-spice)
- 100ml yoghurt
- 100 ml fresh cream
- 2-3 tsp garam masala
- 2 fresh tomatoes (Diced)
- 1 cup crushed cashew nuts- 1 large brown onion
- 1 big stick cinnamon
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Salt to taste


Method : 

Step 1:  Make the Panch Phoran

 Ingredients : (I did not use any measuring devices whilst making my Panch Phoran I simply grabbed    pinches of the seeds in amounts I thought would best compliment each other, but for this recipe I have included spoon measurements)

- 1.5 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp feneel seeds
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 1 tsp nigella seeds
- 3 cardomom pods (shelled, only use the seeds)
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds

I also added :
- 1 tbs coriander seeds
- 1 tsp black pepper corns


Dry-fry all the seeds on a medium heat until they become aromatic (ie when the kitchen starts smelling really really nice) toss them into a mortar and grind them with a pestle until the seeds break-apart and form a nice powder-like substance (It doesnt have to be a fine dust, just a rough powder is fine).

Step 2: Caramelize the onions

Chop you onion into half moon slices and fry on a low-medium heat for 20 min or until the onions have turned a nice golden colour.

Step 3: Brown the Gosht (Lamb)

Add the cinnamon stick to the onions. Mix the garlic and ginger with your Panch Phoran to form a nice paste and add this to the onions and fry for 1 min on high. Add the lamb and fry until the meat browns. Next add the tomatoes. Fry for a further 2-3 mins.  Turn the heat down to low and add the yoghurt, 1/2 cup of water, spinach and cashews.  Allow to simmer for around 1.5 - 2 hours until the lamb is nice and tender. 15 min before taking the pot off, add the cream and mix well.

Serve with rice or naan and pompadoms.
Enjoy

Oṃ maṇipadme hūṃ

Social Media.The forbidden fruit.

So...

After actively ignoring the call to indulge in the ever-growing world of social media for the past few years (bar facebook) I have been requested by my employers to research this uncharted territory as a means of customer support and mild marketing strategies.

As a form research I have taken it upon myself to create a buffer blog, a sort of crash test dummy of a blog if you will, to ascertain how this new world I have entered into functions and the possibilities that it affords me.

Let me just get one thing straight first. I will not be blogging about my work, nor will I be blogging about the advantages of using social media as a form of customer support. This initial post is merely an explanation as to why I have suddenly found myself in this unfamiliar environment.

As I push forward into the unknown I hope to capture the essence of the moments I comment about in a light that is both interesting and slightly weird. I don't expect everyone to understand some of my innate ramblings, but I do hope that somewhere out there, a faint light will flicker in the darkness.

To later days.