The Kitchen Goddess was on fire this weekend!

Here's the next installment...ideally this should be accompanied by pictures, we'll see if I can do that successfully, it is worth a try.

Last week was quite exciting. I attended my first lesson at a baking class in Durban. This is not because I don't know how, but because I want to take it to the next level. I did learn quite a few things in those three hours, and the interaction and camaraderie was most welcome. It is also comforting when your much acclaimed instructor keeps reminding you that she did not study this, but loves it and has perfected the art overs years of practice and sheer courage.

Of course I also started my blog on Friday, and am getting quite a buzz from navigating this new world.

What I want to focus on in this post are my culinary adventures over the weekend. I must credit the assistant chef, The Master.

Saturday dawned bright and beautiful and saw the Master and I take our cherished drive up the hill to the Shongweni market. This has become quite the tradition in our household. Besides what I want to see or buy, the Mater has a very simple plan...get to market, look through the stalls, buy cup cakes from Madeleine's and chipolatas from the breakfast stall, sit on haystacks to enjoy said goodies and then go 'jump'. The 'jump' is a trampoline based contraption where he feels like he'll touch the sky - no trip to Market is complete without the jump.

Planning to have a bake-a-thon the next day we got fresh eggs from the Egg Lady and went off the nearest shopping centre for the rest of the ingredients. Our business done it was off for a visit to our friend, Mamsie's.



Tender steak with onion and port



Here I found the madam had bought some great looking steaks and I could not resist the urge to offer to prepare them myself. A year ago I would not have touched the stuff. Steak was a challenge for me to the point that I convinced myself that I did not like it. Late last year, I remembered a conversation I once had with my Ma where she was defending my Dad, because we had said he is not a  new-age man and just sits there with his newspaper (teenage rantings that had nothing to do with the man's character). In her spirited defence for her beloved, she told me how it was he who had taught her how to cook stiff-pap and how to prepare a perfect steak. It was in that conversation that she gave me the theory...more than 30 years later I remembered and decided to try it, just a s she had said it. It worked! I then decided to give it some more and so added onion , mushroom and wine/sherry/port (subject to availability) to make a sauce...can I say jus?

I was mighty chuffed with the results, and the diners were indeed happy. Tough critics these are, so this is a huge plus for me. Having set the tone with my steaks the evening went off splendidly!

As Durban weather goes, Sunday was just as beautiful a day as the previous. We rushed off to holy mass...8 o'clock is not easy when you have to content with a four-year-old.  We came back to start our bake-a-thon. On the plan, were cupcakes and a vanilla sponge cake (practice from my class on Tuesday) and a granadilla/passion fruit cheese cake (recipe copied from a blog on the net). Master was excited, I was keen to go and so we started.



Master crushes and mixes the base for cheesecake

 First job for the master was to make the base for the cheesecake. he had a great time crushing the biscuits and mixing it all up with the butter. Once he had finished that and we placed it in the fridge to set, he went on to grease all the pans we would need. What I had not counted on was that he is terrified of the food processor, in fact anything that makes that kind of noise. That is when I dubbed him "The Fugitive Assistant Chef" Each time I had to start the machine, I had to tell him so that he could go and hide in the other room away from the noise. Once we got that out of the way, we got our rhythm and carried on. It is the job of the assistant chef to sift flour and he rose to the occasion.

The cups came out alright and so did the sandwich sponges, though I must admit I was feeling a little insecure about them. The cheesecake looked good. Assistant chef went off-duty leaving Ma to figure out the decorations.



"I know what to do, Mama, I can do it myself!"



"Must I put for all of them, Mama?"

The decoration may seem a simple enough task to many, but this is not always the case. There were  a few new factors for me, in fact, I was glad the Master was out of the way.

1. This would be the first time I would be using my piping bag for anything
2. I had learned a new way with glace icing. Mine had always gone too runny or too hard
3. This was my first cheesecake attempt ever and did not want to traumatise the poor child when I wailed at the failure
4. I had never successfully used colouring

The results, I am happy to say were not bad at all. I am as pleased as punch. The feedback from the tasters who are also my first customers (at the office) has been encouraging. I already have an order for cupcakes for a birthday next month.



The fruits of my happy toil!!!

Thank you to all my beloved who have shown faith in me so far, even when I had none in me. Today is one of those days I feel like I could conquer the world!!!