Weekend getaways… | Hanlie Green

Natanya, a beautifully restored Beachhouse, on the rocks of Betty’s Bay, South Africa. Set against the fynbos rich Kogelberg Mountains. Closer to the sea you cannot get, with whales playing in the bay, this was the spot we chose for Bruce’s birthday weekend…. Me and Shannon, it is all about the food, and this setting was going to blow our socks off.

I think we’ve spend 2 months planning “the lunch menu”, (endless hours of fun over cups of tea and glasses of wine) as this house is close to our hometown, we’ve decided to invite some friends over on the Saturday to make it an extra special Birthday celebration for Bruce, well, we obviously played our hearts out, planning the menu, who to invite to stay, who to invite to come for the lunch, all very exciting…

Natanya lounge

We’ve planned to have a long table in the “dining room” overlooking the bay, but on arrival we soon realised that our space was quite limited as the lounge area did not lend itself to a long table. I told Shannon, we stick to the plan, i want a long table and we just need to make it happen. Well with Shannon, my foodie friend, we’ve managed to find this beautifull old wooden table outside and at the end we could not have asked for a more fitting visual display…. I loved the rough wood feel of the table and we presented some of the dishes straight on the table without any serving platters, just on sheets of wax paper.

Long rustic table

The recipes for our lunch that will feature in this blog post will be Sanmari’s Asian Cabbage salad. Cabbage, yes, i am not big fan of cabbage but this salad is a real crowd pleaser and got a lot of ooos and aaaaahs from the guests. In part 2 I will post the Creamy Lemon Tart …… And play we did play, in this beautifull open plan kitchen, also with a stunning view of the bay.

For the Asian Cabbage Salad you will need:

Salad:
2 Baby cabbages, finely shredded we’ve used green and purple cabbage
1 cup spring onions cut into fine rings
1 cup mange tout

Dressing:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tbsp soya sauce
Some flavouring, 1 tsp, in the form of chicken stock powder
1/4 cup of olive oil

Topping:
200ml sunflower seeds
200ml flaked almonds
1 packed of uncooked 2 minute noodles broken into small pieces

Start by making the dressing, boil all the ingredients together for 5 minutes, until all sugar is dissolved and the dressing slightly thickens.

Then, chop / shred the cabbage finely, add the spring onions and mange tout.

Roast in an oven tray the topping ingredients, don’t take your eyes off the tray while in the oven, the nuts and raw two minute noodles needs to lightly brown, be careful as once it starts to brown it can burn within seconds, you need a light brown colour.

The above 3 steps can be done well in advance.

One hour before serving mix the dressing with the cabbage mixture.

Just before serving, give the cabbage and dressing another good mix and top with the cooled roasted nuts and noodles…

Don’t mix the nuts and noodles into the salad, it should be on top of the salad to keep it’s crunch…

We’ve served an caprese salad with the Asian Cabbage Salad, made of half red ripe tomatoes, basil pesto and slices of moserella cheese…topped with more drizzles of basil pesto… visual, visual….

The menu further included a goats cheese tart, mini aubergine and feta meatballs (served in heaps straight onto the rough table on wax paper), Asian sticky pork neck cooked for 3 hours and beetroot roasted with red onions and garlic….

Natanya was everything we wanted and expected for this lunch, how do i describe the feeling when we (me and my foodie friend) look at each other at the end of the meal, and we just know we’ve knocked their socks off…. no words needed, a passion for good food we share…

TO FOLLOW: PART 2 OF 2 , THE NATANYA DESSERT…. A SEXY CREAMY LEMON TART SERVED WITH STRAWBERRIES AND MARSCAPONE CHEESE…

“the birthday boy and my foodie friend…”

Before i tell you more about this delicious Carrot Cake, i first need to tell you a little bit more about THE PLACE, no better setting to showcase this Carrot Cake than Lands End, Victoria Bay….

A perfect setting for a long weekend or beach holiday.

Lands End, situated in the seaside hamlet of Victoria Bay. The last house of about 12, tugged into the bay, on the Garden Route coastline. Lands End, a mere 10 minutes drive to the closest shops, but it is so secluded that it feels like a little piece of paradise with the ocean a mere 3 meteres away from your front stoep.

Lands End Victoria Bay

Memories….

We booked the two bottom units of the house, Point View and Bay view, Point View with two bedrooms sleeps four and Bay View with only one bedroom with a pull out couch for small children. Both units with their own kitchen but if you book them together it forms a lovely single unit with a large front stoep, and this is where you will spend your days, on the stoep. The front stoep is very well protected and even if it’s raining you can still sit there and just breathe in the view and amasing scenery.

Lands Stoep

The two main bedrooms are so close to the water, literally 3 meters. It is the last house, so it’s situated right on the point of the bay, in the morning the voices of the surfers, sitting on their boards, waiting to catch a wave wakes you up, this is really a gem of a weekend getaway spot.

There is a small swimming beach, which is about 2 minutes walk back towards the entrance of the bay, and a lovely tidal pool for the smaller children.

Swimming Beach…

I’ve decided to bake Belinda’s Carrot Cake for our Lands End weekend, as you can make it up to two days in advance, keep it in a airtight container till needed and ice at your destination.

Make the Carrot Cake as follows:

1: Mix together : 2 cups of sugar , 4 eggs and 1 and a half cup of canola oil.

2: Sift together and mix with sugar mixture: 2 cups flour, 2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp bicarb of soda,
1 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt.

3: Mix together and add to the above: 3 cups grated carrots, 3/4 cup grated coconut, 1 cup chopped pecan or wallnuts, 1 cup crained crushed pineapple (don’t drain too much).

Bake in a 30cm springform pan at 180 degrees for 45 – 55 minutes or untill a skewer comes out clean.

I’ve used a large ringpan. Make sure you butter the pan very well, and let the cake stand for at least 15 minutes after baking before you turn it out.

Carrot Cake

For the Cream cheese icing you will need:

125 ml butter
500 g sifted icing sugar
250 g cream cheese

Cream the butter and gradually add the icing sugar. Add vanilla, followed by the cream cheese. Don’t beat too much as the cream cheese will become watery.

I always have a little bit of extra icing sugar on hand, add if the cream cheese icing is a bit soft….