Delta!

As the Crow Flies, is the novel you are referring to gogo. It is the life story of Lord Charles Trumper. As the crow flies, and a Prisoner of Birth are my favourite Jeffrey Archer Novels, I feel inspired when I think of the Characters. Delta!

Yip, I've got all of Jeffrey Archer's novels and short stories. Kane and Abel was one of the first ones that I read, very good novel, I love the way the reader grows with the characters. Delta!

Finished the Millenium Trilogy a week ago. it was fan-freaking-tastic. Now I have 2 Kathy Reichs and the new Jeffrey Archer novel, Only time will tell, waiting for me.

I'm making some more almond and Amarula Ice cream, my cousin works at Distell, the company who makes Amarula, and she brought me a bottle a while ago... and well, what better way to have it, than in ice cream! Delta!

In South Africa, we have a number of versions of porridge, or pap as it is called in Sunny South Africa! We have the normal porridge, (slap pap) made with lots of water, salt and maize (mielie meel -> rough ground flour from corn, similar to Italian polenta, just white) that has a runny consistency and is eaten more often by white people with sugar, butter and milk. Then there is (stywe pap), a firm porridge, made with less water, mielie meel, and salt(black people omit the salt) and it is eaten with meat(mince, pork rashers, sausage, wors, and white people like it especially with Braai vleis/barbeque) and "sheba"('n sauce made with onions, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and something that adds a bit of a kick like chilli) black people consider this their staple food, and will have it every day! "pap, wors en sheba" Then there is also Putu pap/krummelpap(crumbed porridge), made with only a little bit of water, salt, a drop of oil, and mielie meel, the meel is dropped in the hot water, but not mixed in immediately,, most of it, infact should not even be covered by the water. a lid is placed on top and the pap is steamed, after about 30min, the pap is stirred and mixed properly. it is a very dry form of pap, and best eaten with lots of milk/sauce/sheba. Oats, I love oats, havent't had it in a very long time though, but mostly served with some sugar, milk and butter melted in, very nutritious. and South Africans are very creative with food, pap has been made into plenty of forms here, baked into "paptert"(porridge tart) with onions, mushrooms, tomato and cheese melted over the top, deep fried in balls, pan fried in patties... Delta!

As for as I know it was Heston Blumenthal and the Fat Duck who started the craze for bacon and Ice cream together, with his bacon and egg ice cream, using more eggs than normal,he tempered the warm cream into the eggs and let some of it curdle/scramble on purpose, and added crispy bacon bits in the last minute of churning the ice cream.

my favourite dark kitchen quotes are from the frozen happiness topic, post no4 by gogo "I'll always make time in my day for some parfaits, granitas and anything sweet...but my favorite will always come down to the ice cream... ...I think the day has dawned for a chilli chocolate ice cream!" The Chilli chocolate Ice cream came out delicious, with a wonderful smooth texture and great scoopability. Delta!

Welcome to Darkmatters Dark-hunter, have fun along with the rest of us! If you like food/cooking be sure to check out the Dark kitchen Delta!

The chocolate would've made the ice cream freeze rock solid, and I didn't want to make the ice cream too sweet by adding more sugar/honey/glucose, so brandy was readily available. I haven't seen the mixture after putting it in the freezer, I'll have to check the consistency later Delta!

oooh oooh oooh! I used to love Age of Mythology, it really got my love and interest in fantasy and myth to start, and it taught me a lot about those topics (at least Greek, Egyptian and Norse Myth) Delta!

I've finally made the chilli chocolate ice cream, (after procrastinating making it at home for months, my headchef said I can make it at the restaurant with some left over chocolate that we used for a function, so I took chilli and made it this evening. First she freaked, cause she didn't mean I could make it now already, but once she tasted it she forgot all about her anger, and she almost devoured all of it...mmmm the persuasive power of ice cream ) I used: 1L cream 200g chocolate 1 1/2 hands dried chilli 160g sugar 3 whole eggs 1tot brandy Add the cream, sugar, chilli and chocolate to a pot and slowly bring to boiling point. Once it is boiling, temper it into the eggs. contact cover and leave in the fridge to cool, or stir it in an ice bath to cool down faster. once cold, churn it in an ice cream machine, and freeze once it is ready... It is very delicious, the chocolate makes it smooth, rich and extra creamy, before a slight bite from the chilli kicks in. sorry for taking too long with making it, but it was worth the wait for me. Delta!

I don't have photos of all the recipes, and I'm not allowed to give the Restaurants recipes (for which I have photos) but check out this topic, http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?/topic/17833-good-food-we-serve-at-the-restaurant/ otherwise, I'll start posting recipes, and where I have them, I'll add photos. Firstly, my favourite to have with Coffee/tea/milk, Bruskets. It is a traditional family recipe. in Afrikaans, my home language we call them "Ou soort soetkoek" directly translated it is "traditional sweet cake". I started calling them Bruskets cause it was hard to explain to my english only speaking friends, and it is between a biscuit and a rusk. 12 cups(12 X 250ml) flour 1tsp (5ml) ginger powder 2tsp (10ml) cinnamon powder 1.5tsp (7.5ml) nutmeg powder 1.5tsp (7.5ml) clove powder 6tsp (30ml) cream of tartar 6tsp (30ml) bicarb of soda 2tsp (10ml) baking powder pinch of salt Mix the above together In a separate bowl melt 500g butter, and add 4cups(1litre) sugar, and 9 jumbo eggs(13 small eggs) mix well, and then mix the butter mixture into the flour, knead until it is mixed well. preheat the oven to 160°C, spray/butter trays and start pushing in the dough to about 1cm thickness, if you press it out to thick, the inside doesn't bake. Bake at 160°C for 30min or until a testing pin comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Cut it while it is still hot and let cool Delta! PS: Maybe we should try to make this recipe posting a daily thing...

Wow, send some of that heat over here, and I'll send some of the winter cold our low for Pretoria is 8° C and high of only 17° C. Delta!

I drink tea whenever I feel like drinking tea, but mostly after the meal. However I drink Rooibos tea(native to South Africa, but sold worldwide now I think). I'm not sure of all the good it does for you, but I've found it helps digestion and and soothes an overeaten stomach, Green tea is also mostly drank after the meal, to help aid digestion. Delta!