Share in the green celebration and have your pick of garden-inspired recipes created by local foodie favourites. They serve up fresh dishes, refreshing drinks and give handy tips on how to put out the very best Garden Day spread.
GARDEN-STYLE FOCACCIA BREAD
Host an intimate Garden Day celebration and break bread with close family and friends. Food photographer and stylist Angelique Booysens (@theGoodRoots) is all about cooking healthy dishes with sustainable ingredients, ideally straight from your garden. Forage herbs and other edible plants from your green space to create this tasty work of art.
Angelique’s homemade focaccia bread is not only hearty and delicious but also exceptionally versatile. Wrap this Italian staple in a tea towel and serve up a picnic snack that looks as good as it tastes, or wow your guests at lunch with this perfect side for a crisp green salad. There is no end to the ways you can enjoy this focaccia.
Ingredients: 3 cups & 2 tbs cake/ bread flour; 2 tsp dry active yeast; 1 ½ cups lukewarm water; 1 tbs brown sugar; 5 tbs olive oil; 1 tsp coarse sea salt
Garnish options to make it your own: Rosa or sundried tomatoes; peppadews; thyme; chives; rosemary; capers; dill; olives
Method: Pour the water in a bowl and sprinkle in the yeast, followed by the sugar. Gently stir and set aside for 10 minutes until the mixture starts to bubble. Add the flour, olive oil, and salt. Mix the dough with your hands or the paddle attachment on your mixer for 5 minutes. The dough should be sticky to the touch. Turn the dough out onto a clean surface dusted with flour. Stretch and fold the dough a few times to create air pockets. The dough should now be soft, smooth, and slightly less sticky to the touch. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl and cover with a clean cloth. Set aside for 1 hour or overnight to rise and double in size.
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Drizzle olive oil onto a baking tray and scoop the dough into the tray. Stretch the dough until it reaches the sides and more or less fits the tray. Poke holes in the dough with your fingers and drizzle it with olive oil and coarse sea salt. Use your favourite combination of garnish options to create your own garden scape on the surface. Lightly press any ingredients into the dough to stay put. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.
Enjoy as an appetizer, side dish, or a pizza base.
LEMONGRASS GINGER BEER
Nthabiseng Ramaboa, or Chef Nti as she’s known among foodies, is passionate about keeping our rainbow nation’s food stories alive. While her travels have taken her around the world, we’re delighted to have her back on home soil where she’s reinventing proudly South African dishes with a modern twist.
For Chef Nti, ginger beer is reminiscent of Christmas mornings and celebrations in Soweto. She shares what is a staple at her restaurant, The Taste Kitchen in Gauteng. Put homemade goodness on your Garden Day menu with this refreshing summer drink.
Ingredients: 625g sugar; 250g chopped ginger; 150g chopped lemongrass; 4 litres water; 2 lemons; 10g yeast; 1 pineapple cut into squares
Method: Bring 1 litre of water to the boil in a large pot. Add the lemongrass, ginger, and sugar and allow the sugar to dissolve. Add the remaining water, lemon juice, zest, and yeast. Rest the mixture for 10 to 12 hours. Strain the ginger beer and refrigerate.
Add fresh pineapple to elevate this cocktail from utterly moreish to pure magic. For even more flavour, serve this with slices of fresh ginger. Add ice or drink it slightly warmer – either way works beautifully. Bottoms up!
CHEEKY CHEESE
This delicious and creamy plant based ‘cheese’ is very easy to make, but still requires time. Mokgadi Itsweng, chef, gardener and author of Veggielicious cookbook says she enjoys making this cheese from scratch, as nothing tastes better than home-made. “I love using sunflower seeds, because they are packed with nutrients but are also affordable.”
Ingredients: 500g Sunflower seeds (soaked overnight); 100ml lemon juice; 3 garlic cloves; 3tbs nutritional yeast; 1tsp cook’s seasoning salt; 300ml water; 1 tbs Uju Spice Cheeky Chilli Pickle
Method: Drain the seeds and blend with lemon juice, garlic and water together into a thick smooth paste. Season with cook’s salt, nutritional yeast. Taste, making sure that everything is well balanced. Transfer the cheese onto a muslin cloth, tying a knot at the top. Suspend the cheese over a colander, placed over a dish (to hold the water from the cheese). Leave the cheese in the fridge for 12hrs or longer. Unroll the cheese and shape into 1 large ball or small balls, whichever you prefer. Chop up some fresh herbs or chives and roll the cheese into the herbs. Plate, topped with Uju Spice Cheeky Chilli Pickle. Serve with crackers on a cheese platter.
UJU SPICE SEASONAL SALAD
‘This salad uses whatever fruit and veg are in season’
Ingredients: 500g Heirloom tomatoes; segments of 1 orange, grilled; 100g mange tout; 50g vegan cheese balls or feta; handful microgreens
Dressing: 1 tbs Uju Spice Cooks’s seasoning salt; 50ml white wine vinegar; 80ml olive oil; 1 tsp honey; 1 garlic clove chopped; 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
Method: On a platter, arrange your fruit and veg. Place all your dressing ingredients in a jar and shake to mix. Drizzle the dressing over the salad. Top with microgreens. Serve.
BEETROOT TARTE TATIN
Jessica and Luke (@GoodtoGather) put their inspirational farm-to-table philosophy to work with this heavenly beetroot tarte tatin. Jessica’s down-to-earth cooking style turns the traditional French pastry upside down with a savoury twist. The sweet, earthy tones of beetroot set in caramel and golden pastry will be the star of the show on Garden Day.
Put the finishing touches on this plat du jour with edible flowers or salad leaves cut fresh from your garden. Enjoy it as a sharing starter or main course with a goats’ cheese salad. It’s easy to make, and it looks incredible.
Ingredients: 10 – 12 medium-sized beetroots; 2 tbs butter; 2 tbs brown sugar; 2 tbs red wine vinegar; 2 cloves garlic; thyme leaves; sea salt; 1 cup crème fraiche
Garnish options to make it your own: Salad leaves; edible flowers
Method: Preheat the oven to 200°C. Trim the beetroots and place them in a pot of cold water. Bring the water to the boil and cook for 20 to 30 minutes until a knife can easily pierce the beetroots. Drain and set aside to cool before peeling. Melt the butter in a heavy-based skillet. Add the brown sugar and stir until it dissolves and starts to caramelise. Add the red vinegar (take care as this will create steam), followed by the thyme leaves and garlic. Stir to combine and turn off the heat. Cut the beetroots in half lengthways and arrange them on top of the caramel mixture. Cut a round from ready-made puff pastry to cover the beetroots. Cut an X into the centre of the pastry to let the steam escape during baking. Place the skillet in the middle of the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the pastry is puffed and golden. Remove the skillet from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes before turning it out. Be careful, the skillet will be hot! Place a suitable platter upside down over the skillet. Hold the handle with one hand (using a dry dish towel) and place your other hand on the base of the platter. With one quick and careful move, turn the platter and skillet over. Top the tart with the crème fraiche and decorate with salad leaves and edible flowers. Serve immediately.
SWEET AND SOUR KOREAN PICKLE
When attorney Lizz Pather is not empowering women in business, she is tending to her weird and wonderful selection of plants. She plants every bit of soil she can get her hands on to grow unusual fruits and veggies like Romanesco, Buddha’s Hand, and heirloom tomatoes.
For this crunchy, moreish sweet and sour side, Lizz harvests plump white radishes straight from her garden. Add this North Asian favourite to your Garden Day menu for a refreshing tang of flavour that goes exceptionally well with spicy food. Or serve this dish solo as a palate cleanser between dishes.
Ingredients: 2 Medium to large white radishes; 1 cup water; 1 cup brown vinegar; ½ cup sugar; 1 tsp salt; sterilised glass jar with a lid
Method: Wash and trim your radishes. Cut each radish into round discs about 1cm thick and put the pieces in the jar. Add equal parts of water and brown vinegar until the radishes are covered. Add the sugar and salt and stir to combine until both are dissolved. Seal the jar and leave your radish mixture to pickle overnight. Serve chilled.
