Farm shop with food and entertainment
Jonno designs a farm shop that includes a shisa nyama/braai area; an entertainment hall/restaurant, a car wash and filling station.
How to profit from a small hunting operation
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.
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.
Building a farm manager’s home in phases
In this instalment of HillbillyHomes, a client requests a design for an affordable, three-bedroom home that is small but comfortable.
Training the future guardians of our natural environment
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.
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.
A cosy garden hideaway
Avid Farmer's Weekly readers Bashi and his wife want to build a small, thatched rondavel in a quiet corner of their existing property.
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...
A 5-star country accommodation
I was recently called out to a tourist development site in the Cradle of Humankind in North West. The proposed development offers comfort, convenience, and the aesthetics of living in the wild.
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.
A delightful stone cottage
A two-bedroom, two-bathroom stone cottage on a farm in southern Drakensberg.
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.
Renovating a home for a farm manager
A client in Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, recently asked me for additions to an existing 6m-diameter thatched bedsit to accommodate a new farm manager and his family.
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?
National parks for all seasons!
Experience South Africa’s national parks when they are at their best this coming year, says Taryn Arnott van Jaarsveld and René de Klerk.
