HecticNine9 - SABC2

On Thursday 27th of May, I was invited to come co-present the very popular kiddies show on SABC2, HecticNine9, which is broadcast live at 16h00 weekdays. 

The theme for the day was food glorious food, and I had to demonstrate a couple of dishes that are easy to prepare and  more nutritious than the regular fast food alternatives.

First up was a smoothie to give the younger foodies a sustainable energy boost for the day, that tasted great and was incredibly healthy:

1 banana

1/2 cup of fat free vanilla yoghurt

2 tbsp goji berries (highest anti-oxidant food on the planet)

1 tsp organic raw chocolate nibs

1 tbsp raw honey

1/2 cup fat free milk

Add all except the milk to the blender and blend until smooth, then water down to a drinking consistency with the milk.

The next easy-peasy dish was an alternative to the common toasted cheese sandwich - a very tasty wrap:

1 tortilla

1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese, grated

2 slices country ham (not the processed type!)

3 thin slices of tomato, seasoned with salt & pepper

Small handful fresh rocket

Cover the tortilla with the mozzarella and then either toast it under the grill or simply pop it in the micro for 20 seconds to melt the cheese.  Place the ham and tomato over half of the tortilla, followed by the rocket.  Fold over once as tightly as you can, then fold in the sides, and continue rolling it up until you get a nice little package.  Slice diagonally down the middle, and VOILA - a healthy alternative to a fatty melted cheese sandwich.  

The show was actually great fun, which ended in a massive food fight - not ideal when my next meeting was at the One&Only 6 star hotel in the waterfront, with cream still dripping out of my ear - charming!
For more pictures of the shoot, go here: http://www.jasonwhitehead.co.za/Jason_Whitehead/My_Albums/Pages/TV_Stuff_1.html

A very big thank you to talented photographer, Drikus le Roux for spending the day with me on set:

web: www.drikusleroux.com

Recipes: Malva Pudding

Quick 'n Easy puddings are way up there on my Sunday night decadency's, and as with all my recipes, I gave this Malva my own little twist.  I like playing with my food and sometimes the combinations won't appeal to everyone, so feel free to serve yours with just plain vanilla ice cream.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
50g of soft butter
2 tbsp of apricot jam (I used an apricot and passionfruit jam I bought when I was in Zanzibar)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup of flour
1 cup of milk
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda


Preheat your oven to 190 degrees.
Using an electric mixer (or whisk if you have the energy), and mix the sugar, butter, jam, vinegar and egg together until well combined and sugar is almost dissolved.  Add your flour and mix for a minute or so, followed by your milk and bicarb.  Pour the mixture into a glass or oven proof dish - no need to butter and flour it first - nice and easy.
Bake for about 45 minutes until nicely browned and set.


Meanwhile, make your sauce and custard:
SAUCE
50g of butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup peach or orange juice (I combined the two)
1/4 cup of water
3/4 cup of cream


Heat together until sugar is dissolved


CUSTARD
3 egg yolks 
1/2 cup of brown sugar (usually you would use castor sugar, but I wanted a caramelly flavour to the custard)
1 cup of pouring cream
1 vanilla pod
1 tsp good instant coffee


Beat the eggs and sugar until sugar has dissolved and becomes a pale yellow colour.  Gently bring the cream, coffee and scraped vanilla pod to the boil.  While beating the egg yolk mixture, pour in a dash of the hot cream mixture, then pour the egg yolks into the cream, beating all the time.  Put back onto the stove on a very low heat and keep beating it until you get the desired consistency.  Pass it through a sieve to remove the vanilla pod and set aside.


Once the malva is cooked, remove the oven and pierce it quite a few times with a fork.  While it is still hot, ladle the sauce on a spoon at a time allowing the pudding to absorb it before adding another spoon.


Serve hot with the custard, drizzle with some maple syrup and some toasted coconut.  Take it one step further and serve it with coconut ice cream... mmmmm!