Proving she is more than just a talent in the business world, on our visit to her weekend home near Richmond, Margaret Hirsch dished up a dining room table full of colourful and healthy meals. And… she shared the recipes with us! Hope you enjoy making these dishes as much as we enjoyed indulging in them.
Tomato Soup
Ingredients
1kg vine tomatoes (or a mix of tomatoes and baby tomatoes)
3 to 4 cloves of garlic, peeled
Olive oil for roasting
60ml fresh basil leaves
15ml balsamic or red wine vinegar
125ml to 250ml good quality hot vegetable stock; depending on thickness of soup
250ml soya milk, almond or rice milk
60ml basil pesto
Salt & pepper
Method
Preheat oven to 190°C. Spread the tomatoes and garlic onto a tray in single layer and drizzle over olive oil, Season with salt and pepper and scatter over the basil. Roast for 40 to 45 minutes. Stir from time to time. About 10 minutes before the end, take the tomatoes out and add the vinegar. Give the pan a shake and return this to the oven to finish roasting. Remove from the oven and toss the roasted tomatoes and garlic directly into a blender. Add the boiling hot vegetable stock and milk and blend for a few minutes until smooth. Serve immediately or, make this in advance and reheat to serve later. Top with basil pesto and a few basil leaves.
Falafels served with herb sauce and apple salsa
Falafels
Ingredients
30ml sunflower or vegetable oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
400g can chickpea, washed and drained
5ml ground cumin
5ml ground coriander (or use more cumin)
Salt and pepper to taste
A handful parsley, chopped, or 5 ml dried mixed herbs
1 egg, beaten
Method
Heat 15ml oil in a large pan, then fry the onion and garlic over a low heat for 5 minutes until softened. Tip into a large mixing bowl with the chickpeas and spices, then mash together with a fork or potato masher until the chickpeas are totally broken down. Stir in the parsley or dried herbs, with seasoning to taste. Add the egg, and then mix together with your hands (you could use a stick blender or a food processor for this step). Mould the mixture into 6 balls, then flatten into patties. Heat the remaining oil in the pan, then fry the falafels on a medium heat for 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown and firm. Serve hot or cold with couscous, pitta bread or salad. Alternately you can mould smaller little balls and fry gently. You could use an air fryer for this too. Once you have cooked the falafels, put them into the prepared Cape Malay Sauce and gently heat through.
Herb Sauce
Ingredients
250ml packed fresh basil (large stems removed)
250ml packed fresh parsley (large stems removed)
500ml packed kale (or other sturdy green such as collards or beet greens)
45 ml sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, or Brazil nuts (use seeds to keep nut-free)
3 large cloves garlic (peeled)
15 to 30ml lemon juice
45 to 60ml nutritional yeast (optional)
3ml sea salt (plus more to taste)
45ml extra virgin olive oil
45ml to 90ml water (plus more as needed, depending on thickness of sauce required)
Method
To a food processor or small blender, add the basil, parsley, kale, nuts/seeds, garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and sea salt and blend/mix on high until a loose paste forms. Add olive oil (or water) a little at a time (streaming in while the machine is on if possible) and scrape down sides as needed. Then add 1 Tbsp. (15ml // use more or less if altering batch size) water at a time until the desired consistency is reached – a thick but pourable sauce. Taste and adjust flavour as needed, adding more nutritional yeast for cheesy flavour, salt for overall flavour, seeds for “nuttiness” or thickness, garlic for bite/zing, or lemon juice for acidity. May be heated and poured over falafel, or served at room temperature to dip falafel into. Store covered in the refrigerator up to five days.
Apple Salsa
In a presentable bowl, dish, serve a mixture of the following:
1 Pink Lady Apple, skin-on, diced
half a cucumber, deseeded and finely diced
a handful of flat leaf parsley and mint, roughly chopped
3 spring onions, sliced
40ml extra virgin olive oil
30ml (2 tablespoons) lemon juice
sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
a scattering of micro herbs, if you like
Butternut Sauce with Homemade Ravioli
For the pasta
Ingredients
250g flour
125ml water
25ml olive oil
Method
To a bowl, add flour, water and olive oil. Combine everything together with a fork until you obtain a dough. Knead the dough for 2 minutes, then cover it with a clean kitchen towel and place it in the fridge for 1 hour. Take the prepared dough out of the fridge and roll it out thinly between two pieces of parchment paper or on a lightly floured surface. Using a glass or a ravioli cutter, cut out medium-sized circles. Roll out leftover dough and repeat this step. Or place dough in a pasta making machine and cut strips. Place approximately 5 to 10ml filling of your choice in the centre of each circle. Filling can be sautéed leeks, spinach, sweet potato, mushrooms or a combo.
Lightly brush the sides with water and fold each circle in half. Seal the edges with a fork to prevent the ravioli from opening when you cook them.
To cook the ravioli, bring a large pot of water to a boil and carefully add in the ravioli. Simmer until they float to the top (2 to 3 minutes), it means they are cooked. Remove from the pot and drain.
Note: Once ravioli are cooked, you can sauté them in a little bit of coconut oil until they are slightly crispy.
Butternut Sauce
Ingredients
3 cloves garlic, crushed
30ml olive oil
1 packet baby spinach
1 large butternut, peeled, seeded, cubed and steamed till soft
Seasoning to taste
Rind of 1 lemon
½ cup vegetable stock
125ml coconut cream or soy milk or almond milk
250ml toasted walnuts, chopped
Method
Sauté garlic in olive oil, for a minute, add in spinach and sweat until wilted. Add in steamed butternut, and cook for a further minute. Season to taste. Add in lemon rind and stock. Cook for about 5 minutes. At this stage if you want a smooth sauce you can use a plunge blender to puree, or leave it chunky. Add in coconut cream or the soy or almond milk. Toss over ravioli and top with toasted walnuts.
Mrs Hirsch’s Signature Coconut Cake
Ingredients
375g soft yellow tub flora margarine
1 cup sugar
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups flour
1 and 1/2 cups desiccated coconut
4 tsp baking powder
Espresso cup of oil
For the Syrup
3 cups water
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 cinnamon sticks
Method
Before starting with the cake, prepare the syrup by bringing all the ingredients for syrup to boil and then set aside to cool.
Cream the margarine, add the sugar and mix. Add the eggs, two at a time, followed by the vanilla essence. Add your dry ingredients; make sure your baking powder is last. Mix well and then add the oil. In rectangular Pyrex dish, place the batter; it’s not a runny batter so you need to smooth it out with a spatula. Bake at 180°C for 40 minutes. Once it’s ready (golden brown) leave it for 5 minutes before pouring the syrup over the cake (remove the cinnamon sticks before pouring). Sprinkle some desiccated coconut over the top.
Note: Always remember, your cake must be hot and your syrup cold.
Pavlova
Ingredients
8 egg whites
500ml sugar
Vanilla essence
Method
Blend all ingredients together, then place on your over dish of choice. Bake in a 100°C oven for one hour. Dry out overnight.
Filling
1 punnet seedless grapes
Mixed berries (fresh not frozen)
500ml cream
Whip cream and fold in the berries and place in the middle of the Pavlova.
Strawberry soufflé
Ingredients
1 punnet of strawberries
1 egg white
250ml sugar
Method
Mix in an electric beater and pour into martini glasses. Top with sliced strawberries.
Vegan Aquafaba Pavlova with Coconut Cream and Berries
Aquafaba is the liquid that a tin of beans sits in. It works amazingly in place of eggs in many recipes. The most common type of aquafaba used in baking is that from a tin of chickpeas.
For the pavlova
120ml aquafaba liquid from 1 tin of chickpeas – unsalted
225g caster sugar
1/2 tbsp beetroot powder
1.5 tsp white wine vinegar
For the topping
800g tinned coconut milk left in the fridge overnight (2 standard tins)
200g mixed berries fresh or frozen and defrosted
Method
To make the meringue, preheat the oven to 130°C(fan)/150°C/gas mark 2. Line a baking tray with baking paper and draw a 23cm circle on it – the easiest way to do this to draw around a cake tin.Whisk 120ml aquafaba in an electric mixer for 10 minutes until stiff. Ensure that your aquafaba has formed stiff peaks – it should be spoonable and not runny at all. Continue whisking for a further five minutes adding 225g sugar a spoonful at a time. Whisk in 1/2 tbsp beetroot powder and finally 1.5 tsp white wine vinegar. Spread the meringue on top of your circle on the baking paper, making the sides higher than the middle. Place in the oven and reduce the heat to 120°C(fan)/140°C/gas mark 1.
Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes until firm on top. Turn the oven off and leave your pavlova in the oven until completely cool.
To make the filling, when ready to serve take 2 x 400g tins of coconut milk out of the fridge and scrape out the solid white part, leaving the clear liquid behind. You should have something like 350g of solid white coconut milk – but don’t worry if it’s slightly out. Whisk for 3 to 4 minutes at high speed with an electric mixer until it’s smooth and well combined. Transfer your meringue base to a serving dish, spread over the coconut cream and cover with 200g berries. Serve as soon as possible and store any leftovers in the fridge.
Photos by: Penny Katz Photography, pennykatzphotography.myportfolio.com, e-mail [email protected], 083 214 0692
