Lifestyle

In one of my other lives, I write a weekly television review. US swamp-related documentaries grab my attention from time to time, and it was from these that I learnt about chicken-fried steak, a delicious Southern-style beef dish. Let’s get cookin’, folks…

Capitalising on their Italian heritage, Carlo and Lucar Marra have turned their interest in Italian food specialities into a lucrative agritourism business on their 30ha farm. They spoke to Jeandré du Preez about their growing success.

I received a call from a Farmer’s Weekly reader in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands to design an upmarket lodge developnment. After browsing through my many...

This delicious dish is melt-in-the-mouth, and is a superb way to mark any occasion.

Dear Jonno I’m a regular reader of Farmer’s Weekly, and am also intrigued by all the different home styles you devise. I am recently widowed and...

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.

Most of us spend time and effort on making dips, rather than on the dip vehicle, call it what you will. This results in first-class dips smeared on sometimes stale, industrially made dip chips made of 90% salt and 10% very old oil. Here’s the best dip chip in the history of the world.

Dear Jonno We really need your help: our thatch home burnt down! Please find attached the photo of what is left as well as the...

Dear Jonno I follow your page in the Farmer’s Weekly every week. Thank you for all your ideas. I am a small farmer in a low-...

Dear Jonno We were inspired by a layout we saw in the Farmer’s Weekly of 25 December last year, in which a cottage was converted into...

A banana cake is just like banana bread, only better, and it’s one of the best ways to begin your personal adventure into baking. Not only do you get a brilliant cake in a pretty short time, but the opportunity to modify and enhance the basic recipe is just begging for your good ideas.

Penne pasta is designed to convey the most flavour from plate to mouth. These palate-tempting ingredients allow the flavours to come through rich and strong.

Paul, a previous client, has requested that the wedding facility he had been thinking of for the last six months go ahead. I suggested...

Dear Sarah and Gary Thank you for the informative afternoon on site and ideas for your new home. Attached here are the layout sketches for...

This, fellow kitchen mechanics, is a gazpacho. It is not simply a soup; it is a new way to combine the freshest vegetables and herbs to produce a memorably delicious meal.

Dear Jonno I want to convert a 12m x 25m x 4,5m steel shed into a house for myself. Each pitched side has a mezzanine...

Stir frying is the quickest way to make food that will please almost anyone. Here’s a starter recipe using only three main ingredients.

I got a call from a couple in the Midlands who bought a farm with the most magnificent view of the Drakensberg, writes Jonno.

Dear John and Sue Thank you for the feedback on your retirement home. You said previously that you required the dimensions of the home to...

If detective stories set in New York are true, every second NYPD policeman lives on a diet of spaghetti and meatballs. This Italian-influenced American dish is one of the many examples of the internationalisation of food.