Lifestyle

Italian cuisine is loaded with astonishing soups. There is, for example, zuppa pavese, a chickenbased bowl of greatness topped by sourdough bread and a poached egg. At the greatest height, however, is minestrone, a classic with a thousand variations. Here is the version I cooked a few nights ago.

Vegetables are a healthy addition to a braai or any other meat-based meal. However, the way you cook your veggies can make the difference between a great dish and a simply ‘okay’ one.

Couscous may have originated on this continent, but the addition of avocado gives this dish a distinctly Mexican look and taste.

Veganism is a growing global trend, and many of us will serve dinner or lunch to a vegan guest at some stage. Here is a recipe for mouth-watering, Israeli-inspired chickpea burgers.

It’s probably safe to say that hake is South Africa’s favourite supermarket fish. A magnificent vehicle for quick cooking, it can be prepared in many ways. Here is one.

There are few pasta dishes as powerfully flavoured as this marine-dominated classic. Try this freshly developed variation at your next dinner party for a really memorable meal.

Steak can be cooked and served in a variety of ways, but this Asian-inspired marinade can turn even the tastiest steak into something far more special and appetising.

Amaze your mates. Delight your womenfolk. Surprise yourself. Go bake a ginger and honey cake, bru!

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!

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.

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.

Jonno designs a farm shop that includes a shisa nyama/braai area; an entertainment hall/restaurant, a car wash and filling station.

Johann Erwee of Kuduwane Game Lodge provided Gerhard Uys with insights into what it takes to keep a small hunting operation economically sustainable, and its environment ecologically sound.

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.

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.

In this instalment of HillbillyHomes, a client requests a design for an affordable, three-bedroom home that is small but comfortable.

EcoTraining, a South Africa-based company, has helped more than 11 000 people from around the world qualify as nature guides, and its graduates are sought after by the ecotourism industry. Its courses are run in Africa, Asia and Australia, India and Nepal.

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 …

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.

Avid Farmer's Weekly readers Bashi and his wife want to build a small, thatched rondavel in a quiet corner of their existing property.