Second Helpings

Our best and tastiest recipes

GOOD FOOD IS always worth making again, so here are our chosen “Best of T8N” recipes from our archives. We have everything from condiments to mains to a chocolate dessert. You may notice a backyard barbeque theme, because a meal eaten al fresco always tastes good, and tastes better when you have friends and family enjoying it with you.

Bourbon & Brown Sugar Mustard

This truly might be the grainy mustard of champions. Add it to BBQ sauces, top your favourite burger or use it as a glaze on chicken.

3/4 cup bourbon

3/4 cup water

1 cup brown mustard seeds

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

5 tbsp dry mustard powder

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp salt (or more to taste)

In a small mixing bowl, combine the bourbon, water and mustard seeds. Cover with plastic wrap, and allow to steep and absorb the liquid 5 hours or overnight. Place the soaked seeds in a food processor, and pulse to the consistency you like. Add the vinegar, dry mustard, sugar and salt, and pulse to mix. Transfer to a medium pot, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer to thicken 3 to 5 minutes, then taste and adjust the salt to your liking. Transfer to jars, add the lids and store in the fridge for up to 3 months.

French Onion Soup Burgers

Onion-soup lovers, unite! This juicy number’s for you.

.5 kg lean-ground beef

.5 kg ground pork

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

3 tbsp Worcestershire

2 tsp onion powder

2 tbsp chopped thyme

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly cracked pepper

2 tbsp grapeseed oil (for frying)

1 small loaf of French bread, cut into 2-cm thick slices

1 clove garlic, peeled

1 tbsp olive oil (for seasoning the bread)

4 slices Gruyere cheese

4 slices Fontina cheese

Caramelized onions

In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, ground pork, mustard, Worcestershire, onion powder, thyme, salt and pepper. Gently mix until combined, and then form into patties. Set your oven to broil.

Add the grapeseed oil to a large frying pan, and heat it to medium-high. Add the patties, and let them cook for 4 minutes before flipping. Reduce the heat to medium and let the second side cook slowly until the burger is cooked all the way through. Top the hot burgers with slices of Gruyere and fontina, and transfer them to a cutting board to rest.

Toast your French bread slices (2 per burger) on each side under the broiler. Slice your garlic clove in half, and rub the cut side on the toasted bread. Brush the toast with olive oil, and season with salt to taste. Assemble your burger between 2 slices, beginning and ending with caramelized onions. Dig in.

Feta & Avocado Salad with Red Onions

This salad is a great starter for any meal—salty, acidic and perfect for waking your palate.

1 small red onion, peeled and sliced thinly

1/2 cup red-wine vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

2 generous handfuls of baby arugula

1 cup of cow’s milk feta, rinsed under cold water

2 avocados, peeled, pitted and sliced

1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

Freshly cracked pepper

Extra-virgin olive oil (to taste)

Add the red onions, red-wine vinegar and salt to a cereal bowl, and leave them to mellow. Strew the arugula in an even layer across a dinner plate, and top with large, crumbly cubes of feta and slices of avocado. Remove the softened onions from their vinegar bath, and add them to the salad.

Garnish with pomegranate seeds and a generous sprinkle of freshly cracked pepper. Dress with olive oil to taste.

Blackberry & Thyme Shrub

A shrub is an old-fashioned drink that’s found its way back to popularity. This one is well worth the fruits of your labour.

For the shrub

2 cups blackberries

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup honey

7 sprigs of fresh thyme

1/2 tsp freshly grated orange zest

1/2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar

For the cocktail

2 oz gin

2 oz blackberry & thyme shrub

Club soda or sparkling water, to top Thyme and blackberries, to garnish

Place the blackberries in a mixing bowl, and toss them with the sugar and honey. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge to macerate for 24 hours. Place the sprigs of thyme, orange zest, lemon zest and vinegars in a Mason jar, secure the lid and place in the fridge to steep for 24 hours.

Pour the steeped vinegar into the bowl with macerated fruit, and mix them together with a fork, crushing some of the berries as you go. Re-cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge for 1 week. Strain the mixture, discard the seeds and herbs and pour the shrub into a sealable jar. It’s now ready to add to your cocktail.

Fill a tall glass with ice, add the gin and shrub, top with club soda and stir. Add blackberries and thyme to garnish, then serve.

Salad Roll Bowl

Finally, a “salad roll” that’s as easy to make as it is to eat. Perfect for lunch or dinner. Even better topped with grilled shrimp or pork.

1/3 cup dry-roasted peanuts

7 oz rice vermicelli

1 cup shelled edamame, cooked

2 carrots, julienned

1/2 English cucumber, seeded and julienned

1/2 orange pepper, cut into strips

1/2 red pepper, cut into strips

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

3 scallions, chopped

2 tbsp chopped mint

2 tbsp chopped basil

For the dressing

1/2 cup (or less) soy sauce

1/4 cup rice vinegar

2 tsp sriracha

2 tsp honey

1 1/2 tsp sesame oil

Juice of 1 lime

1 tbsp sesame seeds (to garnish)

Lightly toast the peanuts in a small pan over medium heat, and set aside. Whisk together the dressing in a small bowl, and set that aside, too.

Cook the rice vermicelli according to package instructions, then drain and rinse it with cold water.

In a serving bowl, gently toss the vermicelli with the vegetables and herbs. Add the dressing, toss again and garnish with sesame seeds and dry-roasted peanuts.

You!

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Ginger & Lime Salmon Burgers

The only thing showier than these burgers are the toppings that go on them. Tangy tzatziki dolloped high over sun-ripened tomatoes fresh from the garden and peppery microgreens packed with flavour. Hello, delicious.

2 tbsp mustard

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

2 tbsp soya sauce

1 tsp freshly cracked pepper

2 tbsp freshly chopped dill

Zest and juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup bread crumbs

.5 kg sockeye salmon, skin removed Olive oil, for brushing burgers

Cucumber slices, to garnish

Lettuce, to garnish

Tomato slices, to garnish

Microgreens, to garnish

Coarsely chop the salmon, and set it aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, mustard, ginger, soya sauce, pepper, dill, lime zest and lime juice. Stir in the bread crumbs, and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the chopped salmon, and gently mix just enough to marry the ingredients.

Form into patties, brush them on all sides with olive oil and place them in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes.

Heat your cleaned and oiled BBQ grill to medium-high. Place the chilled patties on the grill, and leave them to sear and firm up for 6 or 7 minutes before turning. Carefully flip the patties, and let them finish cooking on the other side. Remove them to a plate, and assemble into burgers with garnishes of cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, microgreens and tzatziki.

No-Bake Chocolate Tart

When a serious chocolate craving calls, answer with this no-bake masterpiece.

30 Oreo cookies (original, chocolate, vanilla or mint)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup whipping cream

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup of bittersweet chocolate chips

2 tbsp Baileys Irish Cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

Berries, to garnish

Chopped pistachios, to garnish

Powdered sugar, to garnish

In a food processor, blitz the cookies until they are crumbs. Add the melted butter, and blitz again until moistened and combined. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a round, 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Place in the freezer to chill 10 minutes.

Heat the cream in a small pot over medium heat. When it’s hot (not boiling), remove the pot from the heat, and stir in the chocolate chips, Baileys Irish Cream, vanilla and salt. Continue stirring until smooth. Pour the chocolate filling over the prepared crust, and place in the fridge to chill for 3 hours. Decorate with berries and pistachios, dust with powdered sugar and serve.

BY : GENE KOSOWAN PHOTOGRAPHY : BRENDA LAKEMAN

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