David Basckin
Mexican-influenced salsa for roast chicken
We all know how to roast a chicken, just like we all know how to make toast. But here’s the next giant step: creating a Mexican-influenced salsa to spice up the freshly roasted fowl!
Make the best shepherd’s pie
It’s impossible to think of a more suitable recipe for Farmer’s Weekly. Give this one of a million versions your full attention and win the praise of your lucky fellow diners.
A pasta and meatballs classic
Unless you have the entire Mafia Womens’ League on your unpaid payroll, this Italian-American pasta and meatballs classic is a great moment to display your skills as a solo cook.
How to cook rabbit meat
Cooking a rabbit is a minor challenge, second only to getting a rabbit in the first place. Like most survivalist foods inherited from the peasantry of Europe, these floppy, cartoonish animals are a welcome addition to the repertoire.
Slow-cooked oxtail with burnt sugar
Oxtail is a classic casserole and a firm favourite. Here’s a variation I’d never come across before, but after making it, and more importantly, loving it, I recommend it to all fellow oxtail fans.
How to make Biscotti
Biscotti are what Italians dip into their espresso, because in Italy there are no rusks. Use this recipe to qualify as a baking mafioso, or in time even a don. Capiche? Of course you do …
Cook a perfect beef stew
There’s something gloriously accessible in the word ‘stew’. It represents the best values of the home cook: simple but well-chosen ingredients, and classic and extraordinarily potent kitchen skills and techniques.
Mazavaroo: a Mauritian veld fire in your mouth
I have known grown men to drink Tabasco straight from the bottle, while others in brave response chewed maniacally on raw chillies. But if you are a chilli fan, one of the most complex ways to enjoy this curious combination of flavour and pain is mazavaroo.
Prawns with pak choi and five-spice seasoning
To make prawns with pak choi and five-spice seasoning for four, you will need:
600g of peeled, cleaned and thawed prawns
1 teaspoon freshly...
Pickled hake with onions
Cooks perfected the art of pickling food products long before they had fridges. Try this great South African classic – pickled fish – with its mouth-watering sharpness and exquisite oceanic tang.
Ultra-spicy! Home-made tandoori chicken
Tandoori chicken is one of the Asian subcontinent’s many contributions to fine dining. A ‘tandoor’ is the Hindi word for the special clay oven used in this style of cooking. If you have no tandoor to hand, fear not. Here’s a way to produce a pretty fine imitation in your own kitchen.
Vietnamese pho: Looks like soup, tastes like heaven
A friend of mine recently returned from Hanoi, bringing with him happy memories of pho, an aromatic, beef stock-based noodle soup made with beef or chicken, and chillies. He came for dinner the other night, and we set to work creating a local version of this famous Vietnamese dish.
Crisp shortbread biscuits
With the possible exception of a chocolate brownie, nothing accompanies tea or coffee better than a crisp shortbread biscuit.
Bacon and dried fruit pizza
Staunch artisanal chefs and sourdough bakers amongst our readers will object, but the simple fact is this: if supermarkets offer frozen pizza bases for sale, why attempt to make them at home?
Magnificent pork casserole
Is this not just totally, excessively marvellous in every way? There is literally nothing else your guest will be able to say, except … may I have some more?
Steak Béarnaise
Now that eating butter has been decriminalised, all the old favourites are coming back into fashion. Béarnaise is very nearly the best thing you can add to a superb grilled or braaied steak.
Modern boozy berry trifle
Here's our take on the traditional trifle, mixed with the secret ingredient... Amarula Cream. Try this delicious recipe now.
Spicy pork belly
I come from an ancient family tradition in which we never ate pork. But when I became a man, I cooked like a man, and pork found a minor but significant role in my diet. Pork belly gets its best attention in the cooking of Asia, specifically the south-east. Here’s a delicious meal that will satisfy a hearty appetite – and, if you choose, set your tongue on fire.
Israeli baked eggs with lamb kidneys in brandy
Some Israeli friends recently dropped by just long enough to cook me a breakfast of shakshuka. This rewarding dish consists of eggs baked on a bed of spiced tomatoes. Add lamb kidneys and you have a delicious, quick-to-prepare Sunday brunch.
Bobotie: The Cape on a plate
Whenever I visit my brother in Cape Town, I know I am in for superlative dining. And when the big item on the menu is bobotie, this Durban boykie renews his delight in the mild heat and soaring spiciness of a Cape Malay classic.
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