BOOK GIVEAWAY

QUICK & EASY E V E R Y D A Y

Sculpting fruit, painstakingly rearranging and placing sesame seeds in just the right position or getting the perfect amount of caramelised char on a burger patty is part of Lisa Clark’s daily chores as a sought-after South African food stylist.

The Cape Town based stylist regularly does work for a range of well-known local publications as well as commercial advertising product shoots. The former chef describes her job as “hair and make-up for food” and no two days are the same. “The product which often starts off looking less than pretty, needs to ultimately look mouth-watering and delicious. I find the diverse world in which I work both stimulating and exciting, and enjoy its dynamic nature.

“There’s never a dull moment on set, and often the behind the scenes images show just how many tricks of the trade are used in order to create the shot that the consumer will finally see on the packaging or in the magazine.”

LIFE IS HECTIC BUT TAKING CARE OF FEEDING YOUR FAMILY IS MADE A LITTLE BIT EASIER BY LISA CLARK IN HER NEW BOOK, EVERYDAY.

But ultimately she’s a working mum, on the clock, and often having to mother her twins by remote control – arranging their lives by phone, ensuring they’ve arrived home safely, changed out of their school uniforms and are doing their homework...

And just like so many of us, she doesn’t want to stress over what to cook for the family’s dinner. Her book, Everyday, provides a handy guide packed full of recipes and meal suggestions for both moms and dads on the go, all of them healthy, balanced and quick to prepare. The book is divided into 10 chapters, each starting off with a basic recipe and then followed by several others that show how to turn one quick meal into several appetising dishes.

From muesli, tomato sauce and roasted vegetables to fish, chicken, pastry and sponge cake, there is sure to be a recipe to inspire your everyday cooking.

FETA AND HERB FLAT BREADS Sometimes feta, herbs and freshly baked bread is all you need – such a simple recipe with ingredients that work together every time. Especially good if dipped in hummus.

Makes: 6 flat breads Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 10 minutes or less Difficulty: Easy

½ quantity Basic Bread Dough (see overleaf) Semolina, for rolling 50 ml olive oil, for brushing 15 g fresh thyme leaves 15 g fresh rosemary, finely chopped Zest of 1 lemon 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 2 ml freshly ground black pepper 100 g feta, crumbled

1 Divide the bread dough into six roughly even balls. Cover with a tea towel and allow the dough to rise until doubled in size. 2 Dust a work surface with semolina and roll the dough into flat shapes (I don’t worry too much about perfect rounds). 3 Heat a grill pan until moderately hot and grill the flat breads, two at a time, for 2–3 minutes on each side. Try to turn once only so you get even grill lines. The dough will start to bubble when it’s almost ready. 4 Mix the olive oil, herbs, lemon zest, garlic and pepper together and brush over the hot grilled breads. Sprinkle with feta and serve hot.

MEATBALLS AND TOMATO SAUCE

VEGGIE BURGERS

MOUTH-WATERING MEATBALLS AND TOMATO SAUCE I make this for my family when I have time and I’m feeling happy (never, ever try to cook when you are angry – you can’t, you just can’t!). It is not that time consuming, but it does take a little bit longer than Monday Night Bolognaise or Tomato Bacon Pasta, which I often serve after a busy Tuesday.

Serves: 4 Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 30–40 minutes Difficulty: Easy

400 g lean beef mince 1 egg, beaten 15 ml tomato purée 1 small onion, grated 10 ml finely chopped fresh parsley 50 ml dried breadcrumbs 50 g butter, frozen and grated Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 50 ml olive oil 400 ml Basic Tomato Sauce (see below) Cooked spaghetti or linguine and grated Parmesan, for serving

1 Mix all the ingredients together, except for the olive oil and the basic tomato sauce. 2 Place the mince mixture into a bowl and chill for about 30 minutes. 3 Remove from the fridge and roll the meat mixture into 2 cm balls – it would make about 24. 4 Preheat the oven to 180 °C. 5 Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and sauté the meatballs until golden. Remove from the pan and transfer to an ovenproof casserole dish. 6 Pour the tomato sauce over the meatballs and bake for 15–20 minutes until the sauce is bubbling. 7 Serve over cooked spaghetti with a little grated Parmesan on the side.

BASIC TOMATO SAUCE Makes: 1 litre Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour Difficulty: Easy

2 kg ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped 100 ml olive oil 60 ml balsamic vinegar 20 ml sugar Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Preheat the oven to 200 °C. 2 Place the chopped tomatoes onto a baking tray and drizzle evenly with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 3 Sprinkle with the sugar and season very well with salt and pepper. 4 Roast in the oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes, and allow the edges of the tomatoes to char slightly as this gives a delicious roasted flavour. 5 Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking tray. 6 Blend the roasted tomatoes until completely smooth. 7 Refrigerate or freeze the sauce until needed.

WIN A COPY OF EVERYDAY BY LISA CLARK See T&C’s on pg 04 To qualify, send an e-mail or a postcard clearly marked Cheers Book Giveaway and containing your name, ID number, physical address (not a PO Box please!) along with a contact telephone number to qualify for the lucky draw. ADDRESS: cheers@cheersmag.co.za or Cheers, PO Box 259, Rondebosch 7701. ENTRY DEADLINE: 15th June 2018 LIKE us on www.facebook.com/ CheersMag to double your chance of winning.

VEGGIE BURGERS Makes: 8 patties Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: ±8 minutes Difficulty: Easy

500 g Basic Roasted Vegetables 2.5 ml paprika 2.5 ml ground cumin Pinch of chilli powder 15 ml finely chopped fresh parsley 60 ml dried breadcrumbs 1 egg Olive oil, for sautéing

There’s never a dull moment on set, and often the behind the scenes images show just how many tricks of the trade are used.

1 Using a potato masher, roughly mash the roasted vegetables. 2 Add the remaining ingredients, except the oil, and mix thoroughly. 3 Shape into eight patties and place in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before cooking so that they can firm up. 4 Heat a little olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook each patty for 2–3 minutes on each side. 5 Serve with your choice of sides, such as pickled beetroot, mashed avocado, Roasted Vegetable Hummus and grilled mushrooms, all topped onto a whole-wheat bun, or have it bun-less, if you prefer.

BASIC BREAD DOUGH The dough freezes well, so when using a half quantity for the recipes that follow in this chapter, you can either freeze the remaining half for baking offlater or simply use right away to bake a single loaf or a dozen mini rolls.

Makes: 1 large loaf or 2 small loaves or 24 mini rolls Preparation time: 20 minutes, plus 2 hours rising time Baking time: 30–35 minutes for loaves and 10–15 minutes for rolls Difficulty: Easy 500 g white bread flour 15 ml salt 30 ml sugar 10 g (1 sachet) instant yeast 45 ml olive, sunflower or coconut oil ±300 ml warm water 1 Mix the flour, salt, sugar and the yeast in a large bowl or into the bowl of a stand mixer. Make a well in the centre and add the oil and the water. Mix well to form a soft dough. If the dough seems a little stiff, add another 15–30 ml water. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10–12 minutes until the dough is silky smooth (knead for the same length of time if using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment). 2 Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and leave to rise for 1 hour until doubled in size. 3 Knock back the dough and shape into either two loaf pans or 24 mini rolls on a baking tray. Allow to rise again until doubled in size. 4 Preheat the oven to 220 °C and, once the loaves or rolls have doubled in size, place into the oven. 5 Bake the loaves for 30–35 minutes or until golden brown and with a hollow sounding when tapped. Bake the rolls for 10–15 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. 6 Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.