Ilse's Kitchen - culinary adventures of a girl who loves to eat

Ingredients (serves 1): 1/4 medium-size watermelon,  1/4 red onion, halved and sliced 50g goat cheese, crumbled 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper Instructions: 1. Cut the watermelon into 1 cm thick slices and the slices into wedges. I like to leave the edges on for looks, but  if you prefer you can remove them for easier eating.  2. Plate the watermelon wedges. Toss over the red onion, the crumbled goat cheese, and the chopped mint.  3. Mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle over the watermelon right before serving.  

Not long ago, I made goat cheese and peach puff pastry tarts . With a big tin of fresh strawberries in the fridge, I thought I’d try something with strawberries this time. Ingredients (makes 4): 4 squares puff pastry (the ones I used were roughly 14 x 14cm), thawed 200g cream cheese 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest 1 teaspoon lemon juice 3/4 cup strawberries 1 small egg cane sugar few leaves fresh mint, shredded Instructions: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius 1. Place the puff pastry sheets on a floured surface. Cut a small strip about 1cm from the outer rim all around, but leave a small piece at two diagonally opposing edges uncut. Then grab the corner that is not left uncut, lift it, and fold it, placing it on top of the rim opposite it. Take the bit you cut off from that side and flip it the same way, making a little raised ledge all around the puff pastry. You can use a bit of water to make it stick better. The corners you left attached ...

Because I have been going out and getting ingredients I never use, I had some halloumi in the house. It's a cheese from Cyprus that is traditionally made from a mix of sheep and goat cheese. In terms of texture it falls somewhere between feta and mozzarella. It's great for grilling because its texture holds up really well when heated. I decided to try it in a simple, straightforward Cypriot recipe - halloumi with cucumber.  Ingredients (serves 2 as a starter): 250g halloumi, rinsed with fresh water and cut into slices  300g crispy cucumber, cubed handful fresh basil leaves handful fresh mint leaves 3 tablespoons olive oil  1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional) freshly ground black pepper Instructions: 1. Slice the halloumi. Heat a grill pan. Rub the halloumi with some olive oil on each side and place on the grill. Turn when browned and do the other side. (This should take a couple of minutes per side). 2. Place the cucumber on a plate, top with...

Some days, the sun shines so brightly it calls for food that is tropical, colourful and makes you feel like it’s summer, even if it’s still cold out. I like to look up recipes by searching for combinations of ingredients I have in my fridge, and this time I had mango and pomegranate. In my search I came across a lovely recipe by Seasonal Sprouts that combines the savoury and sweet, and has a lovely bit of bite. Ingredients (serves 2): 60g rocket salad (arugula) 1/2 mango, peeled and sliced 150g peas 2-3 tablespoons pomegranate seeds 1/4 red onion, finely sliced 1 teaspoon sesame seeds (I like black, but you can also use white) Dressing: 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 teaspoon lime juice 1/2 tbsp fresh mint, roughly chopped 1/2 cm fresh ginger, grated 1 tsp tahini Instructions: 1. To make the dressing, throw all the ingredients together in a small glass jar with a lid, and shake well. If you don’t have a jar, you can also just throw them in a glass and s...

Beefsteak tomatoes, or 'coeur de boeuf' in French, are massive. They can get up to 450g, and are meaty and wonderful. With numerous seed departments they are oblong and oddly shaped, instead of the typical round tomato. One of the loveliest thing about them is how great they taste fresh - especially when you compare it to your typical Dutch greenhouse tomato. And that, of course, is a great reason to make them a part of your salad.  Ingredients (serves 2, but I ate it all by myself...):   1 large beef tomato 1/2 - 1 purple onion, sliced & cut in half handful of mint and parsley leaves 100g feta, chopped into cubes.  dressing:  2 tbsp olive oil 1.5 tbsp red wine vinegar sprinkling of oregano salt and freshly ground black pepper Instructions: 1. Slice the beef tomato in slices about 5-7 millimeter thick. Assemble them on a large plate. Then, top with the purple onion (use half an onion or a whole one depending on how much of a fan...

I learned this late, but as they say: better late then never. Courgette (zucchini) isn’t just a wonderful vegetable to oven-bake, but it’s also really good raw and makes for lovely salads. Especially when you use a vegetable peeler to slice it into thin, elegant ribbons - much as I’d once learned to do with carrots and cucumber. This courgette salad is fresh, light and colourful: perfect for spring. Ingredients (serves 2): 1 medium size yellow courgette (zucchini) and 1 medium green courgette Juice and grated zest of one lemon (it’s easiest if you grate the zest first, then juice it) 15g shaved almonds, toasted lightly 140g feta cheese handful of mint leaves 1 tablespoon olive oil salt and freshly ground mixed pepper (pink, green and black kernels) 1. Cut the top and bottom off the courgettes, then use a vegetable peeler to slice them lengthwise into long ribbons. 2. In a large bowl, mix the lemon juice and olive oil, then season with salt. Toss in the courgette ribbon...

You know those days when you just don’t feel like dinner in the traditional sense, but would rather fork in snacks all evening? Yeah, I was having one of those - so I thought if I was going to go that way and succumb to my snack attack, then I might as well make myself some *proper* snacks. Ahem. This one definitely passed the test. :) Ingredients (serves 2): 240g wheel of camembert (or brie, that works too) 250g strawberries 1.5 tbsp honey 1 tsp white balsamic vinegar (if you don’t have the white kind, just use brown) 1 tbsp finely chopped mint 1 tbsp chopped walnuts Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius Instructions: 1. In a bowl, mix the honey and balsamic vinegar together. 2. Remove the green hearts from the strawberries and slice them in half. If they are big, quarter them. Then add them to the balsamic-honey mixture and stir around to coat them all. 3. Spread on a baking tray or dish covered in baking parchment. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, so they...

We hardly realised it, but Izzy & I walked a whopping 18km yesterday. When I got home, I was starved but too tired to stand on my feet. So I opted for a no-cook salad. All you have to do is a tiny bit of chopping, shaving, and you’re done. Oh yeah, and you toast the almonds - but that hardly qualifies as cooking. It’s the perfect under fifteen minute meal, and my body was ever grateful for the veggies. Ingredients (serves 2): 2 zucchini 2 long sweet marconi peppers 100g goat cheese 150g almonds, skinned and unsalted 1 handful of fresh cilantro leaves 1 handful of fresh mint leaves Cilantro Mint Vinaigrette:  10g cilantro, finely chopped 10g mint, finely chopped 1 red chili pepper, deseeded and finely chopped juice of 1/2 orange juice of 1 lemon  100mL olive oil pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper Instructions: 1. Using a vegetable peeler or, if you have one, a mandoline, shave the zucchini in thin strips. Avoid the centr...

Sitting next to the fireplace in a country cottage in Franschhoek, South Africa and leafing through an old local edition of "Woman and Home” left behind by some previous passer-by, I came across a fabulous recipe for pork in little gem lettuce. I loved it so much I just had to share. This is more or less it, in a slightly altered version. Ingredients (serves 2-3): 1 little gem lettuce 150g minced meat (50% pork 50% beef) 1/2 red pepper, seeds removed and finely chopped 2 tsp fish sauce 2 tsp fresh lemon juice 1 tsp soy sauce 2 tsp fresh mint leaves 2 tsp fresh koriander (cilantro) leaves dash of vegetable oil 1 tsp sesame oil 1 tsp sesame seeds (white, black, or mixed) + an extra dash Instructions: 1. Pour a dash of vegetable oil into a skillet and fry the minced meat until it is no longer pink. Remove from pan and set aside, leaving as much of the oil as possible in the pan. 2. In the remaining oil, lightly sautée the red pepper (2-3 minutes) on medium heat,...

Cod is a great white fish. It falls to pieces when you cook it and is soft and with butter, lovely and rich. I love it just the way it is, but this time, I wanted something different. For some reason, I was fixating on fish fingers in mind - the kind I had as a kid, frozen from a box with a captain on it. I'm not even sure why, other than the nostalgia of the idea. I hadn't really loved them, but after two or so decades and a palette renewed many times over (every seven years, they say), I was a little curious. The result proved it once again: things just taste better when they don't come in a box (or from the frozen food section). I should have called these Melt in your Mouth fishcakes. Seriously. No Captain Igloo will ever compare. Ingredients (makes 8): 300g potatoes (weight after peeling) 180g cod fish zest of 1/2 lemon 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 small onion, finely chopped 15 mint leaves, finely chopped 50ml white wine 50ml milk 150ml water 1/2 fish ...