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eG Foodblog: GSquared - An Innkeeper in Eden


gsquared

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I am a hopeless accumulator of food. The freezers never seem to get emptier. We unpacked all the frozen meat and fish today so that I can try and bring some sanity to our stock levels. Looking at what we have, and seeing that I already have some suggestions for the Fool's menu for Saturday, and that the blog will end on Saturday, I thought that I could get you to design the two hot meals for Saturday. Breakfast with Egullet. Here is what is available in sufficient quantities:

Kudu fillet (size of a beef fillet)

Springbok loin (same size as the impala fillet, but finer grained and more gamey)

Blesbuck fillet (in size halfway between Springbok and Kudu)

Eland fillet (same size as Kudu but much less gamey)

Smoked cocodile (thin slices)

Smoked Ostrich (thin slices)

Ostrich fillet

Smoked Swordfish (thin slices)

Kassler rib

Pork loin chops

Chicken breasts

Whole pigeon

Calf's liver

Chicken liver

Ostrich liver

Small shrimp (shelled and deveined)

Prawns (15-20/Kg)

Fresh loin of Tuna - got it today

Whole quail

Lamb chops - but I think that will go on the menu for tomorrow

Assume whatever veggies you need will be available

Anybody up for it? The only condition is that the menu must be capable of being cooked a la minute. No casseroles or anything that takes longer than 15 minutes to prepare. Pre-cooking means you have to guess at the order mix - I hate waste.

Edited by gsquared (log)

Gerhard Groenewald

www.mesamis.co.za

Wilderness

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If not, do you share?  We'd love to see.

No, it was not. Here are a few samples - sorry about the quality, but taking pics of paintings is not easy.

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Gerhard Groenewald

www.mesamis.co.za

Wilderness

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Dinner tonight will be pork loin chops with a garlic mash. Neither of us are really hungry. We oversnacked at lunch on a great loaf of bread (sniff), Danish butter and Eland biltong. For those of you that are not familiar with biltong, it is dried meat. It bears the same relationship to jerky that a Ferrari has to a VW Beetle.

This is what the Eland biltong looks like, sliced:

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Before slicing.

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A special cutter to slice biltong is available everywhere.

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Gerhard Groenewald

www.mesamis.co.za

Wilderness

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If you are going to starting working with yeast again, then you should try sweet potato cinnamon rolls.

What kind of scones do you make?

Oooh. Send to me too please, or better yet, post to Recipe Gullet.

Merci.

Question for G:

What are prevalent grains/starches in SA cooking?

Bridget Avila

My Blog

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Hi GG,

I am curious, what with all this talk of the exotic (to n.americans) warthog and eland, etc....What food is exotic to you?

Loving the blog - what a lovely place to stay!

~Radio

the tall drink of water...
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Question for G:

What are prevalent grains/starches in SA cooking?

Pretty much the same as in your neck of the woods. Samp is something that I have not encountred elsewhere, though. It is very similar to American hominy or posole: both are de-hulled dried corn. For samp the corn kernels are crushed or broken into pieces and then cooked in water. Samp and beans (Umngqusho - the "gq" combination is a click) is a favourite among the Xhosa people, one of the major cultural groups in the Western Cape.

Gerhard Groenewald

www.mesamis.co.za

Wilderness

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I am curious, what with all this talk of the exotic (to n.americans) warthog and eland, etc....What food is exotic to you?

Loving the blog - what a lovely place to stay!

Hmm...Truffles. Even if we could afford them, they are just not easily available.

Wild salmon. We get plenty of the farmed variety from Norway and these are the only salmon that we get fresh, not frozen. The Canadian or Scottish wild are inevitably frozen.

Foie gras is difficult to source and then always frozen. We had a small handful of local poducers but they all got hounded into closing by the various movements upset at the production method. all we can get now is frozen. And then you pay through the nose.

Gerhard Groenewald

www.mesamis.co.za

Wilderness

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Dinner was not bad. Pan-fried pork chop with garlic mash, coriander and herb jelly.

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I have to start working on tomorrow morning's menu. No checkouts today, same crowd for breakfast as yesterday. I have some great lamb racks.

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I removed the fatty skin and underlying sinews and cut them up into chops. Beacuse they are almost fat-free, a quick sear will cook them.

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Copped up some rosemary, sprinkled over and turned to cover on all sides. This will rest overnight. We will then rub off the excess rsemary. The herb should impart its aroma to the meat overnight.

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We'll serve it with a cheese phyllo roll and sauteed vine tomatoes with balsamic. Saute in olive oil until the skin bursts, the add some balsamic and toss to coat.

For the Chef's choice, an omelette with mushrooms and a smoked sneok fish cake with a light curry sauce. Snoek

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has been a Cape delicacy for a long time. It is often salted or smoked. The smoked version tastes like, well, snoek. Nothing to compare it to. We will flake it, carefully extracting the plentiful bones, add an egg well beaten with minced coriander and form it into flat round cakes. Fry briefly in hot butter until a crust forms and keep warm. Add red Thai curry paste to the pan, deglaze with cream, allow to reduce slightly and season.

Gerhard Groenewald

www.mesamis.co.za

Wilderness

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If I was a guest at your B & B I would be hard pressed to eat only ONE breakfast order. How does one choose between rack of lamb with a cheese phyllo roll in that lovely preparation and omelette with smoked snoek fish cakes? My partner would NEVER get to eat their meal, if I had to order only one meal at a time. How do you handle gluttinous patrons? Do you offer an additional menu for extra ordering by hungry girls?

Edited by Rebecca263 (log)

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Isn't snoek a sweet water fish? Is it the same as pike?

No, Klary, salt water. Caught on lines during the snoek season.

Edited by gsquared (log)

Gerhard Groenewald

www.mesamis.co.za

Wilderness

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If I was a guest at your B & B I would be hard pressed to eat only ONE breakfast order. How does one choose between rack of lamb with a cheese phyllo roll in that lovely preparation and omelette with smoked snoek fish cakes? My partner would NEVER get to eat their meal, if I had to order only one meal at a time. How do you handle gluttinous patrons? Do you offer an additional menu for extra ordering by  hungry girls?

If you are up to it, we'll carry on cooking until you cry uncle. We had a venerable German guest who would order both hot courses, then call me and say "And now, Gerhard, we start eating!" I produced, for the three days he was here, at least two additional hot meals. After the first day it was easy, because I prepared. He also holds the coffee record to date: 8 double espressos during the meal!

Edited by gsquared (log)

Gerhard Groenewald

www.mesamis.co.za

Wilderness

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I wondered if snoek was snook (a saltwater Florida gamefish). It isnt (thank you, google).

But this is interesting:Lure of Snoek

I'd have to travel with a companion willing to share. Those breakfasts all call to me.

Edited by Kouign Aman (log)

"You dont know everything in the world! You just know how to read!" -an ah-hah! moment for 6-yr old Miss O.

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After nine. The weather is great- 23C and no wind. The stars are bright and methinks it is time to call it a day. There is still some Spier Cab ($6) left in the bottle. A wonderful smell permeates the house. I have poached some pears in Pinotage with sugar, nutmeg, 5 spiecs, ginger and cloves. Into the fridge. I will reduce the poaching liquid down in the morning. The fruit for tomorrow's menu will be a pear, with the reduced poaching liquid over served with a wedge of blue cheese. In the meantime, we will sit on the patio and talk. My daughter phoned. She will visit in two weeks time to introduce the boyfriend. Who is apparently nervous. This could be fun. The Artist and I need to strategise to get the most out of it. Life is great! Good night.

Gerhard Groenewald

www.mesamis.co.za

Wilderness

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In-room coffee was a bone of contention from the word go. I tried and rejected just about every small coffee making gadget and appliance known to man. Some because they simply did not work well and others because they are not suitable in the context of a guest house room. An example of the latter is the french press. It works well, but repeated testing showed that every now and then it seems to "stick". This happens when air gets trapped beneath the sieve. The reaction is to press hard and the result is a spout of water squirted into the air. Dangerous and messy. In the end Natasha found a supplier of pretty decent ground coffee packed into small teabag-like bags. You use it like a tea bag and if you allow about 2 minutes for infusion, you get an acceptable cup of coffee. If anybody out there has a better solotion, let me know. I have been playing with the idea of buying the new pod machines for the rooms. Maybe I should buy one to test.

In motels and hotels here in the States, I usually see simple two-cup electric "Mr. Coffee" style drip coffeemakers, supplied with pre-measured packets of ground coffee. The coffeemakers are pretty foolproof, and the more upscale places can dress them up simply by choosing more upscale coffees for those little packets. Here's an example of the kind of gizmo I mean (it's listed as a 5-cup maker, but as those are 5-oz "cups", the amount it actually makes is more like two normal-sized mugfuls).

The Western Cape has an abundance of proteas. We have a contract with Paul and Jeanette Engels, who farm proteas, to supply us on a weekly basis.

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Thank you for prompting me to look up more info about these amazing flowers--I had seen them before, but never knew they were native to your area. And according to this page, apparently northern San Diego County was one of the first places they were grown in the States--who knew? :smile:

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If you are going to starting working with yeast again, then you should try sweet potato cinnamon rolls.

What kind of scones do you make?

I like the sound of that, Michelle. Recipe please.

Plain English scones, chive scones, buttermilk and lemon. I very seldom set out to make a specific scone. The important thing is to start rubbing the butter into the flour and then hunt around for inspiration. My methodology is somewhat slapdash. Maybe that has been my bread problem, the absence of rigorous discipline. Maybe I need to change my entire outlook on life to become a successful baker. Or perhaps I should shave in the mornings before dealing with yeast. And comb my hair.

Here is the recipe for Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls. I can't remember where I got this recipe. I have a feeling someone posted it on eGullet. Don't worry, I rewrote the recipe. They are delicious. I also add a little nutmeg and clove. But, try it with just the mace first and see what you think.

I don't have a lot of time right now (I work in hi-tech) because I have a very tight deadline at the moment, but I also have some nice scone recipes. However, I think I got a number of the recipes from the Great British Kitchen.

I also recommend:

Ginger Fig Scones

Edited by Swisskaese (log)
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Such an interesting blog, full of things I've never heard of or seen before! I love the story of your staff, and they certainly do look happy as clams.

The thing that surprises me the most is all the savory foods and meats that you serve for breakfast. That would be extremely unusual in the States, where breakfast foods tend toward the sweet side, and fish is virtually never on the menu unless it's something smoked.

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Here is the recipe for Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls. I can't remember where I got this recipe. I have a feeling someone posted it on eGullet. Don't worry, I rewrote the recipe. They are delicious. I also add a little nutmeg and clove. But, try it with just the mace first and see what you think.

Thanks, Michelle.

Gerhard Groenewald

www.mesamis.co.za

Wilderness

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It was slightly more difficult than usual to heave my body out of bed. The Artists's fault. She insisted that we open another bottle of wine to lubricrate our discussion of the new boyfriend. Thing to do when you have to get up, is not to think about it and just get up. I am vertical, if a little bleary. I wanted to try one of the suggested recipes, but maybe it is best if I don't roll into production without a test first. If I screw up, I may run out of time. I'll go and stir things around in a bowl and see whether I get inspired.

Daughter when last she visited.

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Gerhard Groenewald

www.mesamis.co.za

Wilderness

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Ok. Here it is. This is the fridge in my personal kitchen. The ones in the breakfast kitchen (there are 4) are in much better shape.

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Edited by gsquared (log)

Gerhard Groenewald

www.mesamis.co.za

Wilderness

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5 refrigerators? You lucky duck.

One to keep the 5 x 5 liter containers of fruit juice and to hold the plated fruit. One for fruit and veg. One for dairy and cold meat. One for meat and fish. I really want a walkin, but the cost cannot be justified. The problem is that everything rusts. A stainless steel compressor and motor is expensive. We coat everything with a metal surface with silicone every two weeks. TV's and PC's have to be left on to prevent condensation on the PC boards. I wish I knew what yachtsmen do to protect their computers. Maybe someone out there knows. If so, please tell me.

Gerhard Groenewald

www.mesamis.co.za

Wilderness

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