If you have any overripe  bananas at home then you should definitely make this cake. We wanted to try a new cake recipe baked in our AMC cookware, so when trying to decide on which cake to make everyone wanted banana bread! Using the AMC 30 cm Electric Frying Pan, 24 cm Baking Tin and AMC Grater you can bake this cake anywhere. And soon you’ll be biting into a warm slice of banana bread straight from the oven – heaven!

Banana cake
Makes 1 x 24 cm cake

125 g butter, softened
½ cup (125 ml) brown sugar
½ cup (125 ml) white sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
5 ml vanilla extract
500 ml flour
5 ml bicarbonate of soda
5 ml baking powder
2 ml salt
50 ml milk
3 – 4 bananas, mashed

1. Place an inverted AMC Grater in an AMC 30 cm Electric Frying Pan. Cover with lid and turn probe to 8. Heat until the gold indicator of the Visiotherm reaches the 12 o’ clock area. Prepare the cake batter while the unit preheats. Butter an AMC 24 cm Baking Tin and set aside.
2. Place butter in a bowl and beat with an electric beater until smooth. Add the sugars and beat for 2 – 3 minutes until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix through.
3. Sift the remaining dry ingredients over the batter. Use a spoon or spatula to fold mashed banana and milk into the batter until well blended, but don’t over mix.
4. Pour the batter into the Baking Tin. Once the unit has preheated, place the cake tin on top of the grater. Cover with lid. Leave probe on 8, ensuring that the Visiotherm stays around the 12 o’ clock area. Reduce or increase heat as needed. Bake for 1,5 hours or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
5. Turn probe off and remove cake tin from unit. Leave to stand for 10 minutes in the tin before turning out and leaving to cool. Top with coconut shavings and serve with caramel cream.

Variations:

• Add some chopped walnuts or pecan nuts to the cake mixture if preferred.
• If you would prefer to bake in the oven, bake at 180 C for about 45 minutes or until cooked through.
• Caramel cream: whip cream and fold through caramel.

Hands up who doesn’t enjoy a good prawn dish? I thought so.  Yudhika Sujanani shares her mouth-watering creamy chilli prawns with us. Besides being effortless, prepare this for guests and you are sure to impress.  I cannot wait to mop-up that creamy sauce on Good Friday.

Creamy Chilli Prawns
Serves 6

1 kg large king prawns, completely thawed
8 cloves garlic, crushed
30 g butter
2 mild green chillies, chopped
10 ml red chilli powder
125 ml fresh cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
30 – 50 ml freshly chopped coriander
French bread to serve

1. Clean prawns properly, removing the shell but keeping the tail. Make a cut down the back of the prawn and remove the dark vein.
2. Heat an AMC 28 cm Chef’s Pan over a medium temperature until the Visiotherm reaches the first red area. Pan-fry in a single layer until the prawns are sealed before adding crushed garlic and butter.
3. Fry the garlic and stir until fragrant taking care not to burn the butter or garlic. Add green chillies and red chilli powder.
4. Sauté for 10 seconds and pour in the fresh cream. Season to taste.
5. Simmer until the sauce thickens and the prawn tails are loosely coiled. Remove from the heat and garnish with fresh coriander. Serve with crusty French bread.

Variations:

• Substitute prawns with mussels.
• Reduce the amount of chillies if it is too hot for you.

Every Easter we prepare enough pickled fish to feed an army and have leftovers for days!  On Good Friday pickled fish is a staple with a few other seafood dishes and of course hot cross buns. I have fond memories of my grandfather starting out his day with a cup of black coffee and a bun topped with, you guessed it, pickled fish before heading off to church. Below Carey shares her picked fish and tacos recipe with us.

Cape Malay pickled fish with roti tacos

Makes 14 tacos

1 large onion, finely sliced
15 ml medium curry powder
2,5 ml turmeric
2,5 ml coriander seeds
2 of each bay and curry leaves
3 cloves
4 black peppercorns
180 ml brown vinegar
150 ml water
45 ml apricot jam
45 ml sultanas (optional)
2,5 ml salt
7,5 ml cake flour
500 g hake fillets (or a combination of hake, yellowtail and angel fish)
60 ml seasoned flour
30 ml oil
handful fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Roti tacos
350 g cake flour
5 ml salt
2 ml baking powder
+- 400 ml ice cold water
80 g softened salted butter
125 ml extra flour for rolling
oil for greasing

1. Fish: Heat an AMC 20 cm Gourmet Low over a medium heat until the Visiotherm reaches the first red area. Add onions and spices, frying for 2 minutes. Add the vinegar, water, jam, sultanas and salt, cover and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes – the onions should be cooked but still have a bite to them.
2. Make a paste using some of the cooking liquid mixed with the flour and add to the sauce stirring to thicken it up a bit. Season to taste.
3. Cut the fish into 6 thin portions. Coat with seasoned flour. Heat an AMC 24 cm Fry Pan over a medium temperature until the Visiotherm reaches the first red area. Add oil and fry the fish in batches for 3 – 5 minutes(depending on thickness) – if fish begins to flake, remove.
4. Layer the fish, onion, sultanas and coriander in a shallow, medium sized dish. Pour the sauce over the fish ensuring everything is covered. Cover and make sure it is airtight and chill in the fridge until ready to eat. It tastes best on the 3rd day.
5. Roti Tacos: Place the flour, salt and baking powder in a food processor and add the water. Blend until it comes together forming a pliable dough. With floured hands remove and place onto a floured surface. It’s important not to overwork the dough as it will become tough and difficult to roll. Divide the dough into 14 equal pieces and roll into balls.
6. On a floured surface roll each ball into round discs about 10 cm in diameter. Cover the dough or discs you are not busy with with a damp towel to prevent drying out.
7. Spread butter onto each disc and fold into quarters (will look like mini crepes). Cover with cling-wrap and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then gently form them into balls again and repeat the process one more time and chill covered again for at least 20 minutes or when ready to roll out and fry. This process makes the rotis nice and flaky.
8. When ready, gently form into balls again and roll out into discs for the final time. Heat an AMC 28 cm Chef’s Pan over a medium temperature. Lightly grease pan and fry rotis until dark blisters form, then turn over to brown the other side and turn again until they puff up a bit. Then remove from unit and slap between your hands – this also brings on more flakiness . If your hands are fragile, use oven gloves so you don’t burn yourself. Keep warm wrapped in foil.
9. Spoon some pickled fish onto mini rotis and fold to resemble a taco – you may need to use small skewers to keep them intact. Serve with dollop of raita.

All things pink that’s what I like, so when I saw this beetroot soup on the Bits of Carey blog, I was very excited to try it! If you have only eaten pickled beetroot then please do try this recipe. Boiling your beetroot in your AMC Speedcooker saves on cooking time, and after that this soup cooked in a few quick and easy steps.

Beetroot & herb soup
Serves 6 – 8 as a starter

500 g beetroot bulbs
300 ml boiling water
1 onion, chopped
500 ml vegetable or chicken stock
handful of chives and mint, roughly chopped
250 ml cream or Greek yoghurt
salt and freshly ground black pepper
100 g smooth cottage cheese or goat’s cheese

1. Place beetroot in an AMC Speedcooker and cover with boiling water. Seal with Speedcooker lid. Heat over a medium temperature, allowing cooking indicator to reach the green level. Reduce heat slightly and cook beets for 10 – 15 minutes.
2. Remove unit from the heat and allow the cooking indicator to drop completely. Release excess steam by pressing down the red safety valve and open unit. Rinse beets under cold water and pull the skins off – this should come off easily. Cut the roots off and slice into quarters then set aside.
3. Heat an AMC 20 cm Low over a medium temperature until the Visiotherm reaches the first red area. Add onion and sauté until soft before adding stock and simmering for a few minutes.
4. Put beets, onions, stock, herbs and cream or yoghurt in a food processor and blend until smooth. Season to taste. Add more stock if soup is too thick. Chill or serve warm with a dollop of cottage cheese or a crumble of goat’s cheese.

Tips:

• Alternatively cook beetroot with 100 ml water in an AMC 20 cm High for 35 – 40 minutes or until tender.
• Use a stick blender instead of a food processor.

Who doesn’t adore coleslaw? Although over the last holidays I made it so many times that I could do with a break from it until I stumbled across this recipe. Definitely not your traditional cabbage and carrot slaw! This is a simple recipe that makes loads and is perfect for your next get together. The original recipe is on Smitten Kitchen, but I’ve tweaked it to my tastes.

Broccoli slaw
Serves 6 – 8

100 g flaked almonds
1 head of broccoli, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces
½ red cabbage, thinly sliced and rinsed
75 g dried cranberries
½ small red onion, finely chopped

Dressing:
125 ml Greek yoghurt
80 ml mayonnaise
zest and juice of 1 lemon
5 – 10 ml honey
15 ml red onion, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat an AMC 24 cm Chef’s pan over a medium temperature until the Visiotherm reaches the first red area. Place almonds in unit and toast until golden brown. Remove from unit and set aside.
2. Combine dressing ingredients in an AMC 20 cm Kombi, seasoning to taste. Set aside until needed.
3. Meanwhile toss broccoli, cabbage, cranberries, onion and half the toasted nuts and dressing together in an AMC 30 cm  Salad Bowl. Drizzle with remaining dressing and nuts just before serving.

Variations:

• The broccoli can also be substituted with cauliflower, or use half a head of each cauliflower and broccoli.
• Replace yoghurt in the dressing with buttermilk.
• For an easy meal add some leftover sliced chicken to the salad.
• Sliced apple or firm pears can also be added.