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Hi everyone!
This morning I had a packet of "slapchips". I
guess this must be the South African version of French fries, crispy fried
potato chips eaten with burgers or fish. What makes our slapchips slightly
different is that they are not fried till crisp but taken out of the oil
while they are still sorta "limp", just before the crispy stage. These
slapchips (directly translated would be "limp chips") are usually bought
at the local corner café. Every neighbourhood has it's own unique corner
café that makes the best slapchips in the world. Just before they close
the packet some salt is sprinkled over and a liberal sprinkling of
vinegar, and there you have the perfect slapchips.
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Our local corner
cafe where I get my slapchips! |
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A packet of
slapchips ready to be devoured! |
When I was still at school the thing to eat
with your chips would be vienna sausages, the red ones. They have long
passed by the wayside and today's viennas are a ghastly brownish colour.
Then russian sausages became the "in" thing and the new fav junk food was
"russians and chips".
You have probably guessed by now that the
theme for this newsletter is potatoes. Apart from slap chips I also love
potatoes mashed and baked. A really nice snack is to butter a slice of
fresh bread, spread with fine apricot jam then cover with a layer of
mashed potato. Try it, it's yummy. And how about this one, take a vetkoek,
slice in half, fill with slapchips, smother with tomato sauce (ketchup)
and close the vetkoek.
Potato salad is also a favourite at bbq's,
in fact the dish with the potato salad in is always empty first! But
enough, scroll down to the recipes and try out some potato dishes!
The internet is a network of zillions of
computers, so there must be ways to harness all this power to generate
some money! There are many affiliate schemes out there but unless you have
really many contacts or your site is really attracting a lot of hits you
don't have much chance of cashing in. Like with all businesses, you
have to identify a need and you have to be able to supply a solution at
reasonable cost, and you have to be first while the idea is still new.
THEN, perhaps you will be able to cash in. I am putting a page together of
ideas that have worked for me,
click here to go take
a look. If you know of a scheme that really works, perhaps you could share
it and I will add it to the page.
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Thanks to everyone who has mailed us fridge magnets depicting your
State, City or Country. If you collect fridge magnets, I will mail you
a South African one for every one I receive from another country.
Please
email
me and we can make arrangements. Thanx a lot! |
My website is interactive, there are a few
pages you can contribute to:
Elephant Stew - add
your suggestion 
Wacky Sarmies - add your
fav sarmie (some great sarmie ideas here!)
Animal Facts - Give
your opinion on the
the ram/ewe/bull/cow controversy, solve the puzzle and add your caption to the lion pic.
Discussion Forum - Add to a current discussion or start a new thread.
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Why not post a message on the
Discussion Forum. The topic can be food, wildlife, travel or
photography related, or anything else of interest. Let's see if we can
get some interesting discussions going |
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Navigate my
website with this |
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Baby potato fritters
8 medium potatoes
1 onion
2 eggs
salt and milled black pepper to taste
2 ml cake flour
30 ml chicken fat
oil for deep-frying
Peel and grate potatoes and onion. Add beaten eggs and remaining ingredients
and mix thoroughly. Drop a tablespoonful at a time into hot, but not
boiling, oil and fry until golden brown and crisp. Drain on brown paper and
keep hot. Makes 20-24.
Bacon and cheese potatoes
20 baby potatoes
200 g Emmentaler or semi-hard, mature Cheddar cheese
fresh basil leaves
20 bacon rashers
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Wash potatoes under running water, dry and halve each potato. Arrange a
slice of cheese and a basil leaf on each half and top with the second half.
Roll a rasher of bacon around each potato and secure with a toothpick.
Arrange potatoes tightly together in an ovenproof dish and bake at 200 ºC
until tender and cooked through (about 35 minutes). Serve immediately as an
accompaniment to an informal dinner. Serves 6.
Best ever roast potatoes
5 large roasting potatoes, cut in half and parboiled
65 ml butter, melted
salt to season
30 ml fresh rosemary, chopped
Preheat the oven to 200 ºC. Drain the water off the parboiled potatoes and
give the pan a good shake - this will give the potatoes a broken edge that
will crunch up in the oven. Toss the potatoes in butter, salt and rosemary.
Place on a very hot baking tray. Roast for 45 minutes or until golden and
crisp. Turn them a couple of times while cooking.
Pan-fried chilli potato cakes
4 large potatoes
1 onion
1 jumbo egg
salt
milled black pepper
5 ml chilli paste
sunflower oil for frying
Grate potatoes and onion, using a grater or the steel blade of a food
processor. Place on a clean dish cloth or muslin cloth and squeeze hard to
remove excess moisture. Mix potatoes and onion with egg, salt, milled black
pepper and chilli paste. Shape into 1 cm thick cakes and fry on both sides
in hot, but not smoking, oil until cooked and golden brown. Remove and drain
on absorbent paper.
Potato and corn braai bake
3 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
5 spring onions, sliced
225 g creamed sweetcorn
salt and freshly ground black pepper
50 ml cream or milk
100 ml mature Cheddar cheese, grated
1. Place a layer of potatoes in the bottom of a foil loaf pan. Sprinkle with
half the spring onions and top with half the sweetcorn and salt and freshly
ground black pepper to taste. Repeat layers, ending with a layer of
potatoes. 2. Drizzle with cream or milk. Sprinkle with the cheese. Cover the
whole loaf tin with a double layer of aluminium foil and place in among the
coals. Leave to cook for 20 to 30 minutes.
Potato and pea curry
4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
65 ml vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
5 ml ground cumin
3 ml ground coriander
3 ml ground ginger
3 ml ground turmeric
3 ml ground pepper
5 ml garam masala
410 g chopped tomatoes
250 ml frozen peas
parsley yoghurt to serve (see tips)
1. Boil potatoes until just tender. Heat oil in a pan and sauté onion and
garlic until soft. 2. Add spices and tomatoes and simmer, uncovered, for 5
minutes or until slightly thickened. 3. Stir in potatoes and simmer,
stirring occasionally until potatoes are heated through and mixture is
almost dry. 4. Stir in peas and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes or until
peas are heated though. Serve with parsley yoghurt.
Potato bake
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 kg potatoes
200 g Cheddar cheese, grated
5 ml salt
3 ml pepper
allspice
100 g butter
1 egg
200 ml beef stock (or 2 beef stock cubes)
Rub the garlic in an ovenproof dish (about 5 cm deep) and grease with
butter.
Peel the potatoes, cut them into thin slices and keep in a dish of cold
water.
Drain the potato and dry with kitchen paper.
Put a layer of potato slices in the bottom of the dish and sprinkle with
cheese, salt, pepper and allspice.
Dot with butter.
Repeat until all the potato has been used, ending with a layer of cheese.
Beat the egg, add the beef stock and pour over.
Bake in a preheated 210 °C oven for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are
soft and browned.
Potato cake
6 eggs, lightly whisked
250 ml milk
60 ml olive oil
250 ml cake flour
3 potatoes, peeled and grated
2 onions, grated
150 g spinach, shredded
30 ml chopped fresh thyme
salt and freshly ground black pepper
oil for frying
Beat the eggs, milk and olive oil together.
Sift the flour to form a smooth batter.
Add the potatoes, onions, spinach and thyme and season well with salt and
black pepper.
Heat a little oil in a large pan and pour the mixture into the pan.
Cook high above cool coals until set at the bottom.
Cover the cake with a sheet of foil and arrange a few coals on top of the
foil.
Continue heating until the cake is lightly browned on top and completely
set, about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of the pan and the heat
of the coals.
Serve with feta cheese spread and crisply fried bacon rolls.
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Potato pancakes
500 g potatoes
1 small onion
125 g self-raising flour
2 eggs, beaten
salt and black pepper
oil for frying
1. Wash, peel and finely grate potatoes; drain and pat dry on a tea towel.
Peel and finely grate onion, and mix with grated potatoes. Don't worry if
potato starts discolouring. 2. Sieve flour, stir in beaten eggs and potato
mixture. Season well and let mixture stand for 10 minutes. 3. Heat a
cast-iron frying pan with oil. Test pancake batter - if too thick, dilute
with a little water. 4. Drop spoonfuls of batter and cook as for a pancake,
about 7 minutes per side or until golden brown. These pancakes will be
thicker than normal crêpes. 5. Drain; and fill with sour cream or plain
yoghurt, flavoured with snipped chives.
Potato salt-rising yeast
6 ml finely ground salt
17 ml sugar
1 potato, scrubbed clean and sliced
1 litre boiling water, slightly cooled
210 g wholewheat flour
Take a large enamel bowl and cover the base with 5 cm of flour. Put a 2
litre, straight-sided enamel container inside the first container, resting
it on the flour. Fill the space between the two containers with flour. Place
the salt, sugar and potato in the inner container and pour in the water.
Sprinkle just enough wholewheat flour over the water to fill the container.
Make a hole through the flour by inserting your finger in it until you can
feel the water. Lightly cover the inner container with a lid. Sprinkle
wholewheat flour over the lid. Wrap both containers in a small blanket and
newspaper and place in a cardboard box, which will fit into your oven. Just
before going to bed, place the box in a warm oven that's been switched off
and leave overnight. Completing the yeast. The next morning, beat the
mixture well with a fork and add 125 ml boiling water. Beat well and
sprinkle a little fresh wholewheat flour over the mixture. Bet once more and
cover the container. Wrap in the blanket again and place in a very cool oven
(30 ºC or 80ºF) for 1-2 hours until the yeast runs over the sides of the
container or is very foamy.
Potato salad
1 kg small potatoes, scrubbed
1 medium onion, finely chopped
30 ml finely chopped parsley
125 ml frozen peas, thawed (personally, I would omit the peas!!)
250 ml good-quality mayonnaise
25 ml milk
5 ml Aromat or Fonder seasoning (optional)
1 hard-boiled egg, shelled and finely grated
Boil the potatoes over a medium heat for about 20 minutes or until tender.
Drain and allow to cool.
Peel, slice and place in a salad bowl.
Add the onion, parsley and peas and stir carefully, taking care not to break
the potatoes.
Place the mayonnaise, milk, Aromat or Fondor (if using) and salt and pepper
to taste, in a screw-top jar and shake well.
Pour over potato mixture.
Mix with a wooden spoon, ensuring that the potato slices are well coated.
Sprinkle with grated egg and refrigerate for at least three to four hours.
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