Turn the festive season into a feast with stone fruit.
Spiced Roast Chicken with Roast Peaches and Yoghurt Dressing
A fruity take on roast chicken by Caro Gardner for Juicy Delicious
You’ll need: 2-3 garlic cloves, crushed, 1/3 cup (80ml) raisins, finely chopped, 2 Tbsp (15ml) mild curry powder, 1 tsp (5ml) turmeric, ¼ cup (60ml) peach chutney, 1/3 cup olive oil, salt and milled pepper, juice and grated zest of 1 lemon, 1 lemon cut in wedges, 1 whole chicken, 2 medium red onions, sliced in wedges, 4-6 peaches, sliced, 4-6 baby fennel, washed and halved
For the dressing: 1/2 cup yoghurt, 3 Tbsp (45ml) mayonnaise, 20g coriander, 20g basil, 50g walnuts, toasted, salt and milled pepper, juice of ½ lemon or limes
To make: Preheat the oven to 200C.
Mix garlic, raisins, curry powder, turmeric, cumin, chutney, olive oil, seasoning and lemon. Rub seasoned oil all over the chicken. Fill cavity with lemon wedges. Season and place on a baking tray. Add onion wedges and roast for 45 minutes before adding peaches and fennel, add an extra drizzle of seasoned oil and roast for an extra 30 minutes or until cooked through.
Blend dressing ingredients together. Serve roast chicken with roast peach and fennel drizzled with herby yoghurt dressing.
Cook twist: Serve leftover chicken shredded and tossed through butter lettuce, cucumber ribbons, roast peaches and fennel and drizzled with dressing.
Pickled Plum and Zucchini Carpaccio
A lovely light and fruity starter or side by Mokgadi Itsweng for Juicy Delicious
Serves 4 to 6
You’ll need: 180ml white wine vinegar, 125g castor sugar, 3 sprigs rosemary, 3 sprigs thyme, 3 bay leaves, 2 garlic cloves, sliced, 1 Tbsp grated ginger, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp peppercorns, 3 plums sliced into wedges, 1 red onion thinly sliced, 3 plums thinly sliced, using a peeler or a mandolin slicer, 4 medium sized Zucchini, thinly sliced into circles, using peeler or mandolin slicer, 20g wild rocket leaves, 20g sunflower seeds, lightly toasted
Sunflower seed dressing: 100g raw sunflower seeds, juice and zest of 1 lemon; 1Tbsp chopped mint, 1Tbsp chopped basil, 1 Tbsp chopped parsley, 2 garlic cloves, 60ml water, 20ml olive oil, 1Tbsp honey, 1tsp salt
To make: In a saucepan, bring to the boil the vinegar, sugar, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves. Cook for 5minutes, remove from heat, and allow to cool slightly.
In a separate bowl, place the garlic, ginger, plum wedges and red onion, and mix them together before pouring the hot pickling vinegar mixture over the plums and onions. Mix well, cover, and leave to marinade for 2 hours.
While the plums marinate, make the dressing by blending all the ingredients for the dressing until smooth and creamy. Cover and set aside.
To plate, neatly arrange the zucchini and the thinly sliced plums on a platter, then top with rocket leaves.
Scoop the plums and onions from the pickling solution and place in top of the rocket leaves.
Serve dressed in sunflower seed dressing.
Whole Smoked Cauliflower Roast with Plum sauce
Fruity, smokey cauli … yum. By Mokgadi Itsweng for Juicy Delicious
You’ll need: 1 Whole med-large cauliflower, 1 litre water, 1 tsp salt, 100g smoking wood chips
Plum Sauce: 500g red plums, halved, pitted, and roughly chopped, 100g brown sugar, 200ml rice vinegar, juice of 1 lemon, 100ml water, 1 tsp five spice powder, 1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger, 1 onion chopped, 1 tsp cayenne, 40ml soya sauce
To make: Bring a salted litre of water to a boil, then add the whole cauliflower. Boil for 20 minutes, then drain and set aside.
Smoke the cauliflower by placing a hot charcoal disk into a small foil container, then adding the wood chips. When the chips start smoking, place the foil container with the wood chips inside the bottom rack of the oven. Place the cauliflower on the rack, directly above the smoking chips. Close the oven and allow to smoke for 10-15minutes.
While the cauliflower smokes, make the sauce by placing all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer at medium heat for 25minutes. Blend all the ingredients to a smooth sauce.
Pre heat the oven to 200°C.
Place the cauliflower on an oven baking tray, then baste with half the sauce. Bake for 15minutes, then baste with sauce and bake for a further 10 minutes, until the cauliflower is nicely browned.
Serve sliced into steaks with extra plum sauce and fresh herbs on top.
