Chantal Malan, a chef at Friendship Haven, shared three mouthwatering dishes perfect for the festive season.

First on the menu is North African roasted butternut and baby spinach salad, serving is for 10 to 12 guests.

“I just love this salad, it is packed with flavour and excellent for the hot festive season weather. Try it and you will be amazed,” Chantal said.

Ingredients:

• 1 large butternut peeled, de-seeded and cubed in 2cm blocks
• 1 red onion chopped
• 1 red pepper chopped
• 1 green pepper chopped
• 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes halved
• 1 cucumber cut into quarters and diced
• 500g baby spinach
• 1 tin of chickpeas
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice
• 1 tablespoon of margarine
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Place the butternut, ground cumin, mixed spice, margarine and olive oil in a roasting pan and roast for 20 to 25 minutes in the oven at 200°C. Stir it occasionally until the butternut is soft when you stick a fork in it, then leave it to the side to cool.

Drain the liquid with a sieve from the chick peas and rinse them with fresh water, then leave them to dry.

Wash the baby spinach and place it on a kitchen towel to dry completely, making sure the leaves stay dry.

Once all the ingredients are ready, start with the spinach at the bottom, and you are welcome to arrange it on a platter in a rainbow style or mix it. Use the roasting juices from the butternut, too.

Cover and refrigerate the salad until serving it.

The dressing:

Ingredients:

• 100ml olive oil
• 50ml white wine vinegar
• 10ml honey
• salt and pepper and 1/2 a teaspoon of mixed herbs (optional)

Add the ingredients to a jar and shake it like you mean it. Serve with your salad. This dressing will keep for weeks in the fridge.

Chantal added two tips:

• You can add some Dijon mustard to your dressing to make it creamy and give another dimension to the flavour
• You can also add fresh coriander leaves just before serving for a fresh burst of flavour

“I love North African cooking, the flavours are robust and fresh. This salad can also be added to cooked couscous. It is packed with flavour, nutrients and protein. It is also a cool salad to serve, should you have vegetarians joining your function,” said Chantal.

She added, “This is always my go-to. It looks good, and it is not traditional. We are already attending a traditional get-together with family, why should we get bored with serving the same food, year after year?”

The second dish is a summer festive pork belly, which serves 12. Chantal noted it is simple yet unforgettable.

Ingredients:

• 3kg boneless pork belly with fat and rind
• 2 carrots, roughly peeled and chopped
• 2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon six gun spice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Method:

Chantal advised making sure the rind is tapped dry and using a deep oven tray.

Layer all the chopped vegetables at the bottom of the oven tray.

Season the bottom (the meaty part of the pork belly) with the six-gun spice and pepper. Place the rind side up in the oven tray and rub the rind with the salt.

Add one cup of water to the bottom of the tray to help with the steaming of the meat and to keep it moist.

“This is where the beauty starts,” said Chantal

Cover the dish with foil and slowly roast in the oven for four hours at 110°C.

“I know this is time-consuming, but it allows you to concentrate on your side dishes and setting the table,” Chantal added.

Once the four hours have passed, remove from the oven and remove the pork from the tray onto a cooling rack. Make sure to allow the rind to stay dry; it will also dry completely as it cools down. Do not cover it until it has completely cooled.

The vegetables and cooking juice will then become the sauce.

Once the meat is cooled, slowly remove the rind from the meat and cut away any excess fat. You are welcome to leave a small layer on the pork, but the rind must be cleaned completely.

She noted she usually turns the heat up to 200°C and cuts the rind either in strips or blocks with a scissor. She then seasons it with fine salt, which extracts the excess fat and makes the best crackling. As the fat drips away, so will most of the salt.

Place it on a baking tray with a dripping pan at the bottom to catch the excess fat and let it puff up in the oven.

“Be patient with this. It is truly worth it, within no time you have crispy, crunchy pork crackling,” noted Chantal.

Remove from the oven and drain the excess oil off the crackling. Keep it at room temperature and do not cover. This is to keep it nice and crispy.

For the sauce, mash all the vegetables together with the cooking juices in a pot and bring to a boil. You can get creative and add some brandy or cherry liquor and thicken with flavour with flour or Maizena. Remember to cook the thickener well. The seasoning should be perfect, depending on how you like it.

Slice the pork into squares just before serving. Place the pork in the oven at 180°C just to heat it through. Garnish each piece with your crackling and serve the sauce on the side.

The last part of the dish is bacon jam, which makes 300ml.

“Let’s get real, why not add some sweet sticky bacon jam to your pork belly for the best combination of sweet and salty. You may wonder why pork on pork, I say, why not? I love this as it is a wedding of flavours,” stated Chantal.

Ingredients:

• 500g streaky bacon, cut into small pieces with a scissor
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of syrup
• 80ml apple cider vinegar
• Add some chilli flakes or fresh chopped chilli to taste (optional)

Method:

Fry the bacon pieces in a pot until crispy. Remove the bacon and keep the fat from the bacon. Fry the onion in the fat until golden brown for around 12 minutes on a low heat.

When the onions are ready, add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a simmer on a low heat, stirring occasionally. Let the liquid reduce and thicken to a jam consistency. Remember to keep the heat low.

Pour into a sterilised jar and use within seven days.

“This jam is really fast and delicious to cook. You can serve it with anything meaty. You will fall in love with this jam. Keep experimenting with different flavours,” said Chantal.

She added a few tips:

• I like to add some freshly chopped chillies and thyme to the jam
• Heat the jam slightly before serving with your pork belly
• When the jam looks sticky, remove it from the heat. Once it cools, it will continue to thicken, so do not overcook. Make sure it becomes nice and thick, but still has a loose consistency. As it cools, it will become a nice, thick jam