There’s no better way to spend a wintry weekend than cooking up a hearty meal

CRISPY BACON AND EGG TORTILLA  CUPS

Serves 6
Prep time 20 min
Cooking time 10 min

Ingredients

• Butter, to grease
• 3 large tortillas
• 80g streaky bacon, roughly chopped
• 6 eggs
• 2 tsp finely chopped chives
• 1 tsp finely chopped parsley, plus extra to garnish
• Tabasco sauce
• Smoked paprika
• Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Method

1 Preheat oven to 200ºC and grease a six-hole muffin tin.

2 Use a 9 cm cutter to cut 6 rounds from the tortillas. Snip several small cuts into each one to allow it to fold easily, then arrange in the muffin tin.

3 In a large non-stick frying pan, dry-fry the bacon until crispy. Remove and place on paper towel to drain.

4 Crack an egg into each tortilla cup, sprinkle with bacon, chives and parsley. Add a few drops of Tabasco and season with paprika, salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the yolks are just set.

5 Remove from the oven and serve warm, garnished with extra parsley.

MUSHROOM AND VEGGIE PIE

Serves 6
Prep time 15 min
Cooking time 25 min

Ingredients

• 160g kale, roughly chopped
• Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 3 tbsp butter
• 400g mixed mushrooms (portobellini, wild, etc.), thickly sliced
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 cup cream
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 120g baby marrows, sliced
• 80g pattypans, quartered
• 2 tsp finely chopped coriander
• 200g sheet puff pastry
• 1 egg

Method

1 Preheat oven to 220ºC. Place the kale in a bowl and sprinkle lightly with salt. Leave to soften.

2 Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat and fry the mushrooms until golden brown. Add the cumin and fry for 1 minute. Then add the cream (reserving 1 tsp for the glaze) and cook until reduced by half.

3 Add the lemon zest and juice, baby marrows, pattypans, coriander and kale. Season lightly with salt and generously with pepper.

4 Transfer the filling to an ovenproof dish. Place the pastry on top and cut around the edges to remove the excess. Poke a few holes in the pastry to let steam escape.

5 In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg and add the reserved 1 tsp cream. Brush this glaze over the pastry.

6 Bake the pie in the oven for 25 minutes. Serve immediately.

STEAMED CITRUS PUDDING WITH HONEYED CUSTARD 

Serves 6–8
Prep time 20 min
Cooking time 2 hours

Ingredients

For the pudding

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
•  cup full-cream milk
• 3 tbsp butter, plus extra to grease
• 1½ cups cake flour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• Zest and juice of 1 grapefruit, plus slices to decorate
• Icing sugar, to dust (optional)
• Lime leaves, to decorate (optional)

For the sauce

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp butter
• Zest and juice of 4 limes

For the custard

• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1 cup full-cream milk
• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• ¼ cup honey
• 4 tsp sugar
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract

Method

For the pudding

1 Grease a large ovenproof bowl.

2 Beat the sugar and eggs together until thick and pale.

3 Heat the milk in a pot over medium heat, then add the butter.

4 Sieve together the flour, baking powder and salt.

5 Slowly whisk the milk into the egg mixture, until fully combined. Then make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients, grapefruit zest and juice. Fold in until just combined. Pour the batter into the bowl.

6 Place a sheet of foil on the work surface and a layer of waxed paper on top of that. Pinch the centre to create a fold (this will give the pudding space to expand), then brush the waxed paper with butter. Place the prepared paper over the pudding, foil-side up, wrap with string and tie tightly. Tie an additional piece of string to each side as a handle. Cut off any excess foil.

7 Place the wrapped pudding in a large pot and fill with warm water to reach  up the sides of the bowl. Cover with a lid and steam for 2 hours over low heat, topping up with boiling water every 30 minutes.

8 Remove from the water and allow to cool for 10 minutes before carefully removing the wrapping.

For the sauce

1 Place the sugar and ½ cup water in a large pot over a high heat and boil for 5 minutes.

2 Remove from the heat and add the butter and lime zest and juice. Immediately pour over the steamed pudding.

For the custard

1 Mix the cornflour with 1 tsp lukewarm water until fully dissolved.

2 Heat the milk in a pot over medium heat.

3 Beat the egg yolks, honey and sugar until slightly pale and thick.

4 Add the egg mixture and the cornflour mixture to the warm milk. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until thickened, stirring continuously.

To serve

1 Decorate pudding with grapefruit slices, dust with icing sugar and garnish with lime leaves. Serve with warm custard.

Recipes & styling lisaclark.co.za

Photography Andreas Eiselen/HMimages.co.za, Gallo/Gettyimages

(This article was first published in the winter 2015 issue of AA traveller magazine)