\u201cFor many years, we\u2019ve continued to relish in our love for food, by making our kitchen the heart of our home. It\u2019s where homework is done, where we eat breakfast and have dinner as a family. When we designed our kitchen, we had the hob facing the breakfast nook so that while cooking, we could still talk and interact with each other,\u201d says the couple who love nothing better than getting home from work, talking and sharing stories of the day, before sitting down to a meal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also gather most Sundays \u2013 the entire Hirsch clan \u2013 for a lunch which we cook together, combining our skills, before breaking bread.\u201d<\/p>\n
The book is a story of beautiful food \u2026 a selection of the meals that they love to serve to family and friends. It also includes contributions from many of their loved ones.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the recipes are simple and stylish, perfect for summer dinners, especially as we head towards Valentine\u2019s Day!\u201d<\/p>\n
Try it yourself …\u00a0 here are a few of the couple\u2019s favourites<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Serves 4 \u2013 6<\/em><\/p>\n Cooking for two can be more fun than cooking for any other number, especially when you\u2019re both doing the cooking and the eating. If cooking is an adventure; how much more fun to explore with somebody special in your life? This soup allows you to do just this. While one is chopping and preparing, the other can be making the tortilla wraps and setting the table; not forgetting to have a sip of wine in between! <\/em><\/p>\n You\u2019ll need: <\/em>15ml sunflower oil; 1 onion, chopped; 3ml dried chilli flakes; 5ml paprika; 3ml ground cumin; 1 x 800g tin chopped tomatoes; 250ml red lentils; 400g tin red beans, drained; 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock; 15ml fresh basil, chopped; salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste; 2 tortilla wraps, cut into thin strips; 30ml olive oil; Sea salt, to taste<\/p>\n What to do: <\/em>Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium-heat; lightly saut\u00e9 the onion until translucent. Add the chilli, paprika, cumin, tomatoes, lentils, beans and stock, bring to simmering point, then reduce the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, until the lentils are soft. Add chopped basil for the last 5 minutes of cooking time. Blend soup with a plunge blender or in a food processor fitted with the double-knife stainless-steel blade. Process until smooth. Season to taste. Fold wraps into quarters; cut into fine strips with a pair of scissors. Toss strips in olive oil and sea salt and bake at 180\u00baC for 15 minutes. Do this while the soup is cooking. Serve soup with the crisped tortilla strips.<\/p>\n Variations:<\/em> Serve soup with a blob of basil pesto. Use smoked paprika in place of normal paprika. For a meatier flavour, add in 125g finely chopped bacon, in step 1.<\/p>\n Tip:<\/em> Divide the soup into two portions. Freeze the remainder for use another day.<\/p>\n Duck breast salad with seared pineapple and pomegranate<\/strong><\/p>\n Serves 2<\/em><\/p>\n One of Simone\u2019s most favourite meals is duck, cooked any way. This recipe is especially good, using duck breasts; combining them with the fruitiness of pineapple and pomegranate, while providing crunch with the cashew nuts. The nuts and fruit beautifully offset the rich flavour of the duck. <\/em><\/p>\n You\u2019ll need: <\/em>\u00a02 x good quality duck breasts; salt; 75g cashew nuts; 20ml soy sauce; 15ml honey; \u00bd small fresh pineapple, peeled and cut into quarters lengthwise; 20ml olive oil; 50g castor sugar; 75ml pineapple juice; 2ml ground coriander; 2ml cayenne pepper; 1 star anise; 15ml honey; \u00bd pomegranate, seeds removed, retain juice; Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste; 1 bag watercress, or rocket<\/p>\n What to do:<\/em> Preheat oven to 180\u00baC\/160\u00baC fan\/Gas mark 4. Prepare duck breasts: trim away any sinew and excess fat from around the breast; leave the skin intact; score with a sharp knife across the grain. Season with salt. Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Place the duck breasts, skin-side down, in the dry pan. Remove any fat from the pan while cooking. When the skin is golden-brown (about 3 minutes), turn breasts over, and seal for a further 1 \u2013 2 minutes.<\/p>\n Transfer the duck breasts to the preheated oven. Cook a further 4 \u2013 5 minutes. Remove from the oven; place the duck breasts on a cooling rack to cool down. While still warm, cut into slices across the breasts. Mix cashew nuts with soy sauce and 15 ml honey. Place onto a baking tray and roast for 10 minutes; set aside. When cool, break nuts into smaller pieces.<\/p>\n Remove core from the pineapple wedges. Slice into 1.5 cm slices. Place a frying pan over a medium-high heat; add olive oil, and sear pineapple pieces until lightly golden. Set aside. Place the sugar into a dry-frying pan over a medium heat. The sugar will melt, and turn a light caramel colour. Remove from the heat, and add pineapple juice, coriander, cayenne pepper, star anise, 15 ml honey, and any juice from the pomegranates. Mix well, and set aside to cool for 25 \u2013 30 minutes, for flavours to infuse. Then strain the sauce. Combine the duck slices, seared pineapple, strained caramel sauce, and the pomegranate seeds. Mix gently to blend the flavours. Arrange watercress or rocket onto plates. Place the duck mixture attractively on top. Sprinkle with chopped cashew nuts, and drizzle over some of the caramel sauce.<\/p>\n Delicate rose and rosemary shortbread<\/strong><\/p>\n Makes approximately 50 \u2013 60 biscuits<\/em><\/p>\n Love is in the air when you make these biscuits. Their delicate flavour is fantastic as a tea-time or after-dinner treat. They store really well and make the perfect gift for Valentine\u2019s Day!<\/em><\/p>\n You\u2019ll need:<\/em>\u00a0 170ml spray-free rose petals, torn into small pieces; 250g butter, softened (250ml); 100g icing sugar (200ml); 10ml rose water; 280g cake flour (500ml); 65g cornflour (130ml), or rice flour; 20ml finely chopped, fresh rosemary<\/p>\n What to do: <\/em>Carefully rinse and dry the rose petals. In the bowl of an electric food mixer cream the butter, icing sugar and rose water, until very light and fluffy. Sift in flour and cornflour or rice flour; add rose petals and rosemary. Stir until just combined. Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead gently, until the mixture just comes together. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out dough to roughly 1cm thick. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut desired shapes. Transfer to baking-paper-lined baking trays. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, if possible. Preheat oven to 160\u00baC\/140\u00baC fan\/Gas mark 3. Bake for 20 \u2013 25 minutes, until light golden. Be aware that the baking time will depend on the size and shape of your shortbread. Check regularly; once biscuits start to colour, remove from the oven. Cool on baking trays. Dust with extra icing sugar to serve. Store in an airtight container.<\/p>\n Variation:<\/em> Use 30ml lavender flowers, instead of the rosemary.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s no secret Richard and Simone Hirsch have a profound love of food. Preparing it. Cooking it. But most of all, eating and enjoying it together as a family, especially after a busy day at the office. It\u2019s the month of love and who better to find foodie inspiration from than Hirsch\u2019s Homestore CEO Richard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":42758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10916,51],"tags":[2532,2533,11358,11359,11360],"class_list":{"0":"post-42740","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-food","8":"category-lifestyle","9":"tag-hirschs","10":"tag-hirschs-homestores","11":"tag-his-and-hirschs","12":"tag-richard-hirsch","13":"tag-simone-hirsch"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/getitmagazine.co.za\/highway-berea\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/01\/soup-400x353.jpg\")
Quick Mexican tomato-tortilla soup<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/getitmagazine.co.za\/highway-berea\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/01\/RICHARDS-BOOK-Duck-Breast-Salad-with-Seared-Pineapple-400x358.jpg\")
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