Food Roll ...

It's been forever since I've done a "food roll" ... so here goes -- just a little breakdown of some of our recent meals.

First up is a meal I didn't make and for which I only have one, really sh*tty picture, but which was probably my favorite meal that we had in Mossel Bay:

Oxtail Stew with rice and salad with pineapple -- I had never had pineapple in salad and it instantly became a favorite flavor.  And the oxtail stew was absolutely stunning -- full of spices!

OK, on to things I've made ...  Here is a quick chicken dish:

 I basically sauteed onion rings, tomato paste, baby potatoes, garlic, paprika, pungent olives with browned chicken breasts -- really yummy!

With the leftovers of the chicken dish above, I decided to make empanadas, a hand-sized filled pie (and a variation of which you'll find in all Latin American countries, and many countries really -- think of samosas, pasties, etc.)

I used a basic dough recipe, with slight modifications to make it lower-fat (cuz of the IBS.)  Here's the process:

 You know you want my old-wine-bottle rolling pin!

I chopped up the chicken and veggies to make the filling.

 Here they are all done:

 They were so good with Sweet Chili Sauce -- a very popular condiment here in South Africa which I have taken to eating by the spoonful!  (See the pineapple in the salad?)

The success of the empanadas made me cocky and I tried to make flour tortillas ... kind of a fail!  I mean they weren't terrible, but I'll definitely try another recipe next time.

In any case, the filling I served them with was good -- a mix of cooked red beans, a brown and wild rice mix, onions and garlic, paprika, and generous glops of South African chili sauce (very similar to authentic Mexican salsas) ...

Last but not least, two recipes from my IBS cookbook:

 

  Sesame Coated Chicken with Asian-Style Coleslaw.  AWESOME!  Finger-licking yuuuum!

 And Cornmeal-Crusted Catfish.  I had to substitute a local fish called "hake" -- but it was really good -- a very quick and easy way to make fish.

Oh, and I had to share this:

Isn't that adorable?  An honest-to-goodness crocheted tea cozy (this was at the restaurant we ate at every night in Mossel Bay) ... I might have to make one!  Now all I need is a teapot ...