The Taste of Cape Town, one of my favourite food festivals, took place this past weekend and as usual it did not disappoint! The weather was marvellous and the food on the menu even more so. The only problem was deciding what to eat!
As always, the ten restaurants created starter sized dishes to reflect their food philosophy. We tried a variety of dishes and I can honestly say that not any one disappointed. If I had to pick a favourite the roasted duck from Hemelhuijs and the pork belly from Longridge Restaurant would make it close to the top of the list.
I missed the presence of one of my favourite restaurants; Il Leone Mastrantonio as well as Lindt Chocolates. Hemelhuijs and Beluga did a pretty good job of making up for them, though.
My favourite dish of the evening was Lamb Barbacoa with green rice from Cosecha Restaurant. I could eat a man size plate of that stuff and probably still find room for more. I have never been to Cosecha Restaurant before but I am planning to visit very soon.
I was dreaming of this delicious dish and googled the lamb dish and the green rice. Both these dishes are Mexican dishes. The green rice is called Arroz Verde and is basically rice with herbs and chillies; it is utterly delicious. The rice can be served as a side dish or as a main vegetarian dish. Served as a main dish I think it will be great with some toasted flaked almonds.
This is my version of the Green rice:
- 1 celery stick, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 20g fresh parsley leaves
- 15ml fresh oregano
- 10g fresh coriander leaves, chopped
- 625ml vegetable stock
- 30ml olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 250ml long grain white rice
- salt
- 3 green chillies, seeded and chopped
- 5g fresh mint leaves, chopped
- Place the chopped celery, garlic, parsley leaves, oregano and halve of the coriander leaves with 125ml vegetable stock in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Process the herb mixture in a food processor.
- Heat the oil in a thick-bottomed pot on high heat. Add the rice and chopped onions and stir to coat all the rice grains with oil. Let the rice and the onion brown. Stir the mixture so that more of the rice browns.
- Once most of the rice is browned add the herb mixture with the rest of the vegetable stock. Season the rice with salt. Bring the rice to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
- Turn the heat off and add the chopped green chillies, mint and the remaining fresh coriander. Fluff with a fork and stand (covered) for 10 minutes. Serve as a side dish or as a main dish
I was worried about the ‘green’ part, but it starts out white so that’s OK.
You should work in some mouse melons (Melothria scabra) – my latest passion!
This green rice sounds so good Zirkie 🙂
lovely recipes