11.

APRÈS MINUIT

[ah-PREH mee-NWEE] after midnight

There seems to be a widespread assumption that every meal a chef sits down to eat is prepared carefully, plated beautifully and savoured slowly. Au contraire, mon ami! In fact, we spend so much time ensuring that our guests are well fed that we often only sit down to eat around midnight, after the kitchen has been put to rights and everything is ready and prepped for the next day. This is when we take sneaky little shortcuts and follow our gut to create easy, unfussy dishes to enjoy alongside that well-deserved drink after a long service. The dishes in this chapter are the result of these late night forays into the freezer and can be used to serve two peckish folks or one ravenous human. Here’s to easy, unpretentious, yet lovingly prepared midnight snacks! Enjoy!

RED, GREEN AND YELLOW PICKLED SALADS

Serve with cheese, bread, cold meats and a glass of very drinkable red.

Makes: 3x 500 g jars

Difficulty: Easy

Prep time: 30 min + overnight chilling

Cooking time: 5 min

INGREDIENTS

Basic Pickling Liquid*

• 50 g granulated sugar
• 150 ml vinegar of choice
• 150 ml water
• 2 cloves garlic
• 5 ml black peppercorns
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 2 whole cloves

Red vegetables

• Red peppers, deseeded and sliced
• Cooked beetroots, peeled and sliced
• Red onions, sliced
• Red cherry tomatoes
• Red cabbage, sliced
• Aubergines, sliced into long fingers

Green vegetables

• Cucumber, sliced or chopped
• Green peppers, deseeded and sliced
• Courgettes, cut into ribbons
• Green beans
• Mange tout
• Fennel bulb, quartered

Yellow vegetables

• Onions, cut into wedges
• Yellow patty pans, quartered
• Yellow peppers, deseeded and sliced
• Baby corn
• Yellow cherry tomatoes
• Gooseberries

METHOD

1. For the pickling liquid, heat the sugar, vinegar, water, garlic and preferred spices in a saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool slightly.
2. Place all the red vegetables in one sterilised jar, the yellow vegetables in another, and the green veg in a third jar, pour in enough pickling liquid to cover the vegetables and leave in the fridge overnight. Use within 3–4 days and store in the fridge.

* The pickling liquid is sufficient to fill one 500 g jar. Other herbs and spices you can use include Fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, fresh mint, dried chilli, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and mustard seeds.

BANANA AND SALTED CARAMEL POPCORN SMOOTHIE

Serves: 2

Difficulty: Easy

Prep time: 20 min

Cooking time: 15 min

INGREDIENTS

• Salted Caramel Popcorn
• 120 g popped popcorn
• 15 ml fine sea salt
• 200 g granulated sugar
• 250 g butter
• 125 ml golden syrup

Smoothie

• 3 frozen bananas, peeled and chopped
• 20 ml crunchy peanut butter or speculoos butter
• 250 ml plain yoghurt

METHOD

1. For the popcorn, line a tray with baking paper and grease with nonstick spray. Place the popcorn in a large bowl and season with the salt.
2. Heat the sugar, butter and syrup in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the mixture to the boil and cook, without stirring, for another 5–8 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the heat and pour over the popcorn. Stir until coated. Spread onto the prepared tray and set aside to cool.
3. For the smoothie, blitz the frozen bananas, peanut butter, yoghurt and salted caramel popcorn together until combined. Don’t make it too fine; you still want to bite into popcorn.

Note: Peel the bananas before freezing; they’re actually easier to peel from the other tip instead of the stem end.

CREAMY SCRAMBLED EGGS

Who needs a recipe for scrambled eggs is what you’re thinking, right? Well, for perfect, creamy, fluffy eggs cooked to perfection there are a few pointers you need to know. Most important of these is: don’t just use any eggs. I always use organic eggs. This is seriously one of those investments you need to make to take your scrambled eggs to a different level.

Serves: 1

Difficulty: Easy

Prep time: 10 min

Cooking time: 2 min

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large organic eggs
• 1 ml fine sea salt
• Pinch ground black pepper
• 5 ml unsalted butter
• 50 ml crème fraîche
• 2.5 ml chopped chives
• Flaky sea salt for serving

METHOD

1. Make sure you have all the ingredients ready before you start. Crack the eggs into a medium-sized bowl and add the fine salt and black pepper. Use a whisk to whip the eggs for about 30 seconds until pale yellow in colour.
2. Melt the butter in a medium-sized nonstick pan over medium-low heat and add the eggs when the butter starts to foam. Leave the eggs undisturbed until a thick layer of cooked egg forms around the edge of the pan. Use a rubber spatula and big movements and push the eggs all the way around the circumference of the pan, then across the base. Add the crème fraîche and chives and continue stirring until the eggs are barely setting. This should take about 2 minutes. The secret is that they should still look runny on top. Immediately place on a warm plate and sprinkle with a few more pinches of chopped chives and sea salt flakes.

DUKKAH AVOCADO TOAST

The dukkah gets made in large quantities beforehand and can be stored in an airtight container for up to one month. As part of my after-service ritual, I take a Cape seed loaf home and toast it before I top it generously with sliced avocado and the spice mix. Add to that an ice-cold beer and Netflix and it’s the perfect way to end the day!

Serves: 1

Difficulty: Easy

Prep time: 15 min

Cooking time: 5 min

INGREDIENTS

Dukkah

• 150 g hazelnuts
• 65 g sesame seeds
• 30 g cumin seeds
• 20 g coriander seeds
• 20 g fennel seeds
• 5 ml ground cinnamon
• 10 ml dried mint
• 5 ml fine sea salt
• Ground black pepper

Avocado Toast

• 1 ripe avocado, sliced
• 2 slices Cape Seed Loaf (see page 24), toasted
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Squeeze fresh lemon juice
• Few pinches fresh parsley or your favourite herb
• Red onion, very thinly sliced

METHOD

1. Measure all the ingredients for the dukkah separately. Use a large pan and place over medium heat. Toast the nuts and each of the seeds separately as they will toast differently due to their sizes. Give the pan a shake now and then to make sure they toast evenly. Place the mix in a food processor with the cinnamon, mint, salt and pepper and blend until the desired consistency is reached. I like mine with a bit of grain just to keep me awake while eating it late, late at night.
2. Arrange the avocado on each slice of toasted bread. Top with some dukkah and then drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Top with fresh herbs and red onion slices.

BILTONG AND CRISP SANDWICH

Don’t judge a sandwich by its filling. Over the years this has become a snack I admittedly enjoy so much that I actually get tears in my eyes when I eat it. Until now, this has been a closely guarded secret.

Serves: 2

Difficulty: Easy

Preparation time: 5 min

Cooking time: 0 min

INGREDIENTS

• 4 slices soft, fresh white bread (or Pain de Mie, see page 32)
• 30 ml Mrs Ball’s chutney
• 30 ml Mayonnaise (see page 248)
• Thinly sliced biltong, wet or dry, to your preference
• Chutney flavoured crinkle-cut crisps

METHOD

1. Place the slices of bread side by side. Spread chutney over two of the slices and mayonnaise over the remaining two slices. Arrange the biltong and crisps on the chutney slices and top with the mayo slices. And enjoy!

PANCAKES WITH MUSHROOMS AND GRUYÈRE

Serves: 2

Difficulty: Easy

Prep time: 15 min + 1 hr resting for batter + 30 min infusing

Cooking time: 20 min

INGREDIENTS

Pancakes

• 3 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 30 ml granulated sugar
• 35 ml butter, melted
• 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
• 500 ml milk
• 220 g all-purpose flour
• 30 ml sunflower oil for frying

Béchamel Sauce

• 250 ml milk
• ¹⁄₂ onion studded with 2 whole cloves
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 30 ml butter
• 15 ml all-purpose flour
• 30 g Gruyère cheese, grated
• Sea salt and ground black pepper

Mushrooms

• 400 g exotic mushrooms or whichever kind you have
• 50 g butter
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked

METHOD

1. Make the pancakes first. Mix the eggs, egg yolk, sugar and melted butter in a small bowl. Scrape the vanilla seeds into the milk, add the vanilla pod and place over low heat until heated through. Sift the flour into a large jug, make a well in the centre and pour in the egg and butter mixture. Add the warm milk and mix until the batter is free of lumps. Rest the batter for at least 1 hour or store it in the fridge for the next day.
2. Heat a frying pan and add a drizzle of oil. Add a ladleful of batter and tilt the pan to spread it evenly. Cook for about 1 minute over medium heat until the bottom is golden. Flip and cook the other side for a minute. Remove the pancake from the pan and keep warm. Repeat with the rest of the batter, or keep the batter in the fridge for up to two days. The batter makes 10–15 pancakes.
3. For the béchamel, heat the milk, studded onion and bay leaf until just simmering. Remove from the heat and set aside to infuse for 30 minutes. Discard the studded onion and bay leaf. Heat butter in a saucepan until melted. Add the flour and fry the roux until golden. Whisk in the milk and cook for 5 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and the flour has cooked out. Add the cheese and season well. Place a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming.
4. For the mushrooms, heat a large pan over high heat. Add the mushrooms and dry-fry until golden and all the moisture has evaporated. Add the butter and thyme and season well with salt and pepper.
5. To serve, divide the mushrooms and some shaved Gruyère between two pancakes, fold over and pour the béchamel over the top. Top with extra shaved Gruyère.