Cooking for Madiba (oops...I mean Eddie!!)

Xoliswa Ndoyiya has cooked for Nelson Mandela for over 2 decades. She has just  released a book on the food Madiba loves to eat.....well, these soy sauce baked lamb chops are lip- smacking delicious.....and have become Eddie's favourite....

 The book is about sharing South African recipes and using simple ingredients to create simple tastes.....she highlights that she is not ashamed to use Aromat, stock cubes, margarine instead of butter..these are her secret tricks to unashamedly good, simple food......
Here is her recipe for~

Soy Sauce baked lamb chops and Potato Latkes.

15ml olive oil
1tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp steak and chop spice
1kg lamb loin chops
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 medium onion sliced
1tbsp dried oregano.

Preheat the oven to 180deg C
Mix together the oil, garlic, and meat spice and rub well into the chops.
Arrange the lamb chops in an ovenproof dish in a single layer and bake for  20min.
Mix together the tomato sauce, oregano and onion. Pour this mixture over the chops and return to the oven.
Bake until the onions have caramelised and a thick, dark sauce has formed for about 15 mins. (Serves 4 -6)
Serve as you wish!

Potato Latkes
Serves 8 -10

1/3 cup of cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 medium potatoes peeled and grated...squeeze out excess juice.
2 med onions, peeled and grated
1 tsp Aromat
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cooking oil, for frying

Sieve flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add potatoes, onions and Aromat and mix until combined.
Mix in the eggs until you have a thick batter that drops off th spoon. You might not need all the egg.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and drop tablespoonfuls of batter into the pan. Fry the latkes in batches until brown on all sides. Drain on paper towel.
Serve immediately.


And how about a Strawberry Cream Cheese cake to round off  the meal ~~
I found the recipe here at Monique~~  I substituted the raspberry jam for Strawberry jam and served it with a Strawberry sauce and custard~

A few tablescapes to complete the delightful meal........

                      and of course, the flowers in all the shades of spring.............

Oh and by the way, Eddie, if you are reading this post....this little breakfast nook is just for whilst I'm waiting for my fireplace to be installed in this corner!!!!

See you all soon!

Shel x

Special thanks to Ukutya Kwasekhaya: Tastes from Nelson Mandela's Kitchen, by Xoliswa Ndoyiya (Real African Publishers)