3 delicious weeknight suppers

The best Brunch in Cape Town & two lovely wine farm bistro's

Hello friends and welcome back!

June was a busy month and I enjoyed a few fabulous restaurant visits (see below) and a lovely weekend away in Wellington. I always take advantage of this quieter season to support our local restaurants where you often find amazing winter specials.

A few recipes to make now

I’m sharing 3 delicious weeknight suppers because the weeks are always the hardest to schedule. I love recipes that are mostly hands-off and require little effort. I have started to plan out my meals for the week on Sunday. This removes the stress of the dreaded ‘what are we having for dinner tonight’ scenario.

Roast chicken with Italian sausage and new potatoes

if you can get hold of proper Italian, fennel-laden sausages then that is the best for this roast chicken with herbs and orange recipe. The fingerling potatoes make the dish complete. You can use pork sausages instead and ramp up the fennel seeds in the sauce.

Oven risotto with spinach, cauliflower and sage

If you haven't tried this hearty vegetarian dish I urge you to give it a try. Making risotto in the oven is a hands-off alternative that yields delicious results. It’s also a great base recipe to play around with using other vegetables such as roast butternut.

Spaghetti & meatballs

A comforting bowl of spaghetti and meatballs is always a good idea for a weeknight supper. I have used Marcella Hazan’s gold-standard tomato sauce as the base of the recipe.

My favourite weeknight supper recipes

Where I’ve been eating

The Pot Luck Club Brunch

The Pot Luck Club in Woodstock has extended their wildly popular Sunday brunch through winter. Ordinarily, this was a summer affair, but I prefer the idea of it in winter. With panoramic 360-degree views of Cape Town, what better way to while away a Sunday afternoon than with the best brunch in Cape Town?

I love how it feels like a lazy Sunday lunch with so many delicious waves of food being served. Starting with a few snacks, canapes, and bread items, you move over to a delicious duck main course with a selection of comforting sides before finishing off the feast with dessert and petit fours.

From July to the end of September, the brunch menu which is usually priced at R1250 for just the food will now also include unlimited bubbly (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic plus DIY Bloody Mary Station).

The Farm Eatery on Diemersdal Wine Estate

The Farm Eatery on Diemersdal Wine Estate in Diemersdal opened in 2012 in a restored cow shed on this farm, which dates back to 1689. The Louw family, who have owned the estate for six generations, and have always seen food as a part of the enjoyment of wine, decided to create an atmospheric, rustic space where meals can be enjoyed with Diemersdal’s wines.

Martin de Kock, the chef at The Farm Eatery’, has over the years elevated the restaurant into a part of Diemersdal that stands on its own feet due to his innovative cheffing skills that balance the offering of accurately cooked and plated dishes, well-sauced and using seasonal produce, with the kind of hearty substance one expects from a farm restaurant.

French and Asian inspirations blend with a Cape Boland twist to allow ever-changing offerings of meat, poultry, and seafood. The menu is driven by De Kock’s adventurous state of mind and the availability of ingredients.

I enjoyed a lovely lunch recently with media friends and got to taste a few of the latest vintages of Diemersdal wines.

Klein Constantia Bistro

Klein Constantia, a farm that shines brighter than many in South Africa, is one of the country's oldest, nestled in an idyllic corner of the Constantia wine region. It's renowned as the home of the globally acclaimed Vin de Constance.

Beautiful forests and streams surround immaculate vineyards producing Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

The tasting room adjoins the barrel cellar, and a passage leads to the cozy Bistro with a fireplace and tables under old oak trees. Be sure to browse in the lovely Farm shop on your way in or out.

Recently we enjoyed a delicious, relaxed lunch and sampled some new winter menu items. The menu features comforting dishes with fresh seasonal ingredients and is thoughtfully concise. We enjoyed the mussels in a creamy white wine sauce, crumbed Camembert, mushroom risotto with truffle, and a Klein Constantia Wagyu burger with mature Cheddar. Finishing off with a classic bread and butter pudding and a twist on Malva pudding.

With excellent service, outstanding wines, and birds tweeting, it was a lovely outing on a warm winter day.

Ending with Vin de Constance made for a heavenly conclusion.

A weekend away in Wellington

I recently enjoyed a weekend away at Casa Simelia on Simelia wine farm in Wellington. An easy one-hour drive from Cape Town, it’s the least touristy of all the Winelands towns.

You can read in more detail about the house, the delicious wines we tasted from this small-batch boutique winery, and a few recommendations of places to visit in the area HERE.

Coming up

In my next newsletter, I’m sharing two healthy recipes for baked oats and baked oat bars. On my blog, I will be publishing a delicious new soup recipe on Wednesday, so keep a lookout.

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Sam x

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