the lazy hunter

I now walk into the wild

[thelazyhunter-blog]

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups & Oreo Chocolate Brownies!

This is my version of Eric Lanlard's Devilish Chocolate Brownies with a twist.

The below recipe is taken from Eric Lanlard's book Chocolat but a few extra steps to make my it my own!

Eric Lanlard is quite a charming fellow, I had the honour of watching him cook at the Cape Town Good Food & Wine Show in 2013.

Recipe

Makes 16 Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 30 minutes 150g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing 2 tsp vanilla paste or extract 150g golden caster sugar 3 eggs, beaten 75g plain flour 2 tbsp cocoa powder 1 tsp salt Replace the 100g dark chocolate chips with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Cadbury's Oreo Chocolate Slab which I found at the Spar in Rosmead Avenue Cape Town. Preheat the oven to 180 (160 for fan).  Grease a 19cm square shallow baking tin and line the base with baking paper. You wont need to melt the chocolate, butter and vanilla together in a heatproof bowl as per his recipe. Beat in the eggs, then sift in the flour, cocoa and salt and fold it until the mixture is smooth and glossy.  Now break up the peanut butter cups and Oreo chocolate and add it to the mixture. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top.  Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the top starts to crack but the centre remains gooey. Turn off the oven and leave the brownies inside for a further 5 minutes before removing.  Leave to cool completely in the tin. As its as simple as that, yes I know, not very healthy at all but given that it's Christmas tomorrow lets all indulge a little!

TLH

[thelazyhunter-blog]

Cape Town Fish Market was the choice tonight, which is strange since it’s never been my choice, ever, before and to add to it I dined alone… To some people that may not be a big deal but it’s something I've avoided until now.

Yes, my first time dining alone in a restaurant and well I can't say it wasn't awkward it was ok… I can do it again in other words.

Now onto the food, I was pleased to see that CTFM had a few more vegetarian options on the menu than a few years ago. My options besides sushi and Caesar salad was vegetarian enchilada or vegetarian noodles. I went with the enchilada and sushi, as you can see in the pictures I forgot to take the picture before I started filling my tummy.

The sushi was good, as expected. I had avo maki and bean curd nigiri and for the first time at CTFM I had the tempura chili poppers, THEY WERE HOT!

My enchilada was delayed because some waiter decided to give my order to someone else so I waited quite a bit and watched at least 5 tables around me get their food in good time.

The enchilada was below average, Mexican is definitely not their strong point. It tasted of homemade, throw any vegetables in the pan, kind of food. The vegetables was weird, I'm pretty sure there were some frozen fries, baby potatoes and green beans in the mix with some peppers. It wasn't great at all.

I waited 25 mins to have my waitress take my plate away and to ask for the bill, let’s hope I get the bill before this place closes.

I wrote this entire blog waiting for the bill…and I still don't have it. 

TLH

[thelazyhunter-blog]

So this week I was all about finding a great breakfast spot. I went to the dreaded Canal Walk a few days before Christmas and decided to try Caffe Magnifico . They were super crowded but managed to seat us in a few minutes which was great.

There was no question about it, I went with their eggs benedict with sauteed spinach and spicy tomato relish. I have to say the presentation was appealing but could be better. The Hollandaise was way too much on the plate that it actually became a challenge to finish each bite without taking  a few sips of my rock shandy to wash it down. Given that they were pretty much filled and the kitchen must've been chaotic they did poach my eggs perfectly although the same can't be said for my sisters eggs, the one egg was pretty much boiled. 

I was also expecting the spicy tomato to be spicy but it was rather bland and needed seasoning. The breakfast was overall average at best and I wouldn't order it again. I was always happy with their lunches but I will not go back for their breakfast.

TLH

[thelazyhunter-blog]

So there we were, wanting a really great breakfast, after browsing the Internet for a few minutes 65 on Main came up and looked great! I've never heard of it before but we certainly didn't want another average Mugg and Bean breakfast before we started our adventure around Cape Town.

We looked at each other and said, what the hell! Lets go and see if it lives up to the pictures on their website.

When we found it (just next to Gelato Mania in Green Point) it seemed a bit quiet, well it was quiet, there were 3 other people there.

We didn't let that deter us from having an awesome breakfast so we went ahead as planned and ordered from their well varied menu.

The service was ok, the waiter was average the only disappointment was that he didn't know what their specials were and didn't bother checking either apart from his clear lack of preparation he was friendly.

I decided to try their guacamole, scrambled egg and cheddar breakfast wrap with chunky fries. 

I was happy with the presentation however the wrap could've done with some seasoning especially the eggs (just a little salt and pepper).

Nonetheless the wrap satisfied my lust for a scrumptious breakfast. I would go back again just to try some of their lunch options so let's see what visit two turns out to be.

Thinking of visiting 65 on Main? See deets below

65 on Main

65 Main Rd Greenpoint, Cape Town  

021 439 9559

P.S Try their eggs benedict and if the Hollandaise breaks send it back, you won't be disappointed that you did :)

TLH

[thelazyhunter-blog]

'Tis the season for cheese, cheese, and more cheese!

There's nothing better than sitting around the dining room table with your family and/or friends with good wine and food.

To explain what I put together to satiate my taste buds:

Woolworths cheese platter (R62.00 plus the extra bits was about R120.00)

Woolworths Orange marmalade (R35.00)

Woolworths Rocket Pesto and Sundried Tomato Pesto (R35.00)

Woolworths (BEST) Onion Marmalade (I absolutely love it and I'm glad to see they sell them in bigger jars now) (R45.00)

Backsberg 2009 Merlot (R100.00 odd)

...and another great find, 4 different reductions I found at the V&A Market On The Warf.

We have a lovely combination of balsamic, pomegranate, jalapeno and olive oil. Each combination given your tongue a new adventure.

They are priced about R160.00 for the pack of 4 variants but so worth it. It's great for warm or cold salads, and even good old roasted veggies. The best roasted veggie combination is the balsamic, olive oil and pomegranate.

I thoroughly enjoyed dinner with the folks, it's not the cheapest opinion and all my prices are estimates but so worth the effort when you can.

TLH