Rustle up something tasty for a winter’s day

With winter slowly creeping in, not many things can keep one warmer than a hearty home-cooked meal.

Around this time of year, you won’t go wrong when whipping up some of the proudly South African comfort dishes that MiCasa vocalist and restaurateur J’something offers in his book Something’s Cooking.

Create a day’s menu with these recipes from the chef’s cookbook.

Breakfast

Nothing says “home” like good old porridge the South African way on a cold winter’s morning.

Ingredients

3 cups of water
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup maize meal
1 cup cold water
1 tbsp butter
milk, to serve
brown sugar, to serve
Fresh fruit (optional)

Method

1. Boil the cinnamon and salt in 3 cups water in a pot and cover with a lid
2. Mix the maize meal with the cup of cold water and stir into the boiling water
3. Simmer for at least 20-25 minutes, stirring regularly
4. Add butter
5. Serve with milk and brown sugar. Fresh fruit such as blueberries and bananas go well with this.

Lunch 

Maybe you can’t  get to you favourite kasi food spot, but you can always bring kasi to the comfort of your home with the right “kota” (sandwich) recipe.

Ingredients

4 potatoes, peeled and cut into chips
2 cups of vegetable oil, for frying (+ 1 tbsp)
2 russians, sliced down the middle lengthways 
1 loaf of bread, halved and quartered lengthways
2 tbsp atchar
Tomato sauce
2 slices ham
2 slices cheddar cheese

Method

1. To make the chips, place the potatoes in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes until the potatoes have just softened, then remove from the heat, drain and pat dry.
2. Heat the oil in a pot and deep-fry the potato chips until golden. Place the chips on a paper towel to drain, then set aside and keep warm.
3. Fry the sliced russians in a little oil until cooked.
4. Using a knife, hollow out the quartered bread.
5. Spoon the atchar onto the base of the loaf and spread as you would with butter.
6. Place some of the chips on top and drizzle with tomato sauce.
7. Place the sliced ham and cheese on top of the chips.
8. Add another layer of chips, followed by sliced russians and finish with another layer of chips and more tomato sauce.
9. Use the bread you removed when hollowing out the loaf as a lid.

Dinner

Potjie

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
4 carrots (2 finely chopped, 2 roughly chopped)
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp paprika
150g minced chouriço 
1kg lamb knuckles, dusted in flour
1 cup red wine
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1tbsp brown sugar
4 cups lamb (or beef) stock
4 potatoes, roughly chopped
300g green beans 
1 can cannellini beans

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a pot, add the onion, finely chopped carrots, celery, garlic, paprika,and chouriço. Fry until the vegetables have softened, then remove the veg and chouriço from the pot and set aside.
2. Place the knuckles into the pot and cook until browned, then return the veg mixture.
3. Add the red wine and allow to reduce. Once reduced, add the tomatoes and sugar and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Add the stock, roughly chopped carrots and potatoes. Cook for 1-2 hours or until the meat is nice and tender.
5. Lastly, add the green beans and cannellini beans and cook for a further 10 minutes — and you’re done!
Serve with rice or dombolo (dumpling).