Lifestyle

Dear Jonno One of my employees, a widow, owns a shack in the township, and is in the process of building herself a better home. She...

Never judge a book by its cover, or a pie by its pastry. You never know what delicacies lie hidden beneath the dish’s crispy exterior. If it’s succulent texture and rich aroma you’re after, read on.

This requires only a few simple ingredients and can be prepared quickly. But it tastes absolutely marvellous. What’s more, it goes with nearly any vegetable or salad you desire.

Mark, a previous client of mine who owns a game farm in Limpopo, visited my studio on his way to the KZN coast.

There’s nothing mysterious about a piece of cold meat between two slices of bread. But here we take the basic sandwich invention and thrust it right into the middle of fine dining, with your bare hands doing most of the work.

Dear Jonno I stumbled across your fascinating plans in a Farmer’s Weekly magazine, and would like you to help me with a design. I acquired...

There’s a whole lot of gustatory novelty in this splendid collection of ingredients. From pancetta to chilli, to the pasta itself, this menu item for your personal collection is excitingly different – and set to become a favourite.

Raw mussels, straight off the rocks, were a staple of the strandlopers, indigenous South Africans from long ago. For those of us far from the strand, the nation’s supermarkets provide cleaned and shelled frozen mussels, just waiting for this recipe to convert them into a diner’s delight.

Recently, two game farm owners – from Limpopo and Mpumalanga respectively – asked me to design two-bedroom, self-catering accommodation units for hunters and off-season visitors to their farms.

Here’s a meal from the great folk who gave us the Roman Empire, Luciano Pavarotti, Ferrari sports cars, and some of the strangest Test rugby known to modern man.

Dear Jonno I’m always fascinated by your unique country design homes. In one of your recent articles, you suggested the use of throw-away wood quarterings....

Pan-fried calamari is an impressive addition to the new cook’s repertoire, and the tomato sauce is a tasty reinvention of a classic. Enjoy this dish with a cold beer, or if you have a more delicate palate, a good white wine.

Every one of us is unique and has a different idea of what we want our home to look like. To date, I have prepared over 4 800 working drawings for clients, and have not produced a single exact repeat! Here then, briefly, are the most important aspects that should be considered when designing a home.

A client, Lethu, recently collected the working drawings I had prepared for his two-bedroom home.

Stir-frying, as I never cease to tell my readers, is a liberation for the new cook. It’s a quick path to astonishing dinner parties or even a quick and fragrant dinner time for two.

Jonno designs an A-frame cottage on a game park for George.

While a broiler fowl straight from the chiller at the supermarket may be a marvel of contemporary agriculture, the bird can sometimes be a little low on flavour. And that’s where lime salsa verde comes in, transforming the humble broiler into a splendid vehicle for enticing aroma and taste.

Tyron asks Jonno to design a double-storey farm cottage for him. Look at what Jonno comes up with.

This is a fine stand-alone dish, or if you’re a relentless carnivore like this writer, a great side-dish to a mutton or chicken curry. A couple of roti per diner are all you need to complete the menu.

Dear Jonno Thank you for the initial sketches you sent me for my idea of a u-shaped lodge building. Here is my plan for moving...