From the Kitchen Archives - Food Wine Garden

Preparing food in my home has been my foremost passion. I thrive on reading and researching what is fresh, locally produced and delicious, designing a menu, preparing it and serving it in the most beautiful & appetizing way possible. The joy that I have in sharing beautiful food with our friends and family cannot always be expressed in words….. but I will try to do so!

I will include what is new and on trend in both ingredients and equipment, and of course who is influencing and tantalizing my palate via books, blogs or restaurants. There is so much to share and write about.

Many people ask me questions about food safety, food labeling and nutrition. I still consult in this field and keep updated via Technical Journals and networking. I have found that the average consumer is often misinformed, therefore I aim to inform or dispel some myths on various interesting topics in an easily ‘digestible’ manner. Questions from and discussions with friends and family have already provided me with a list of topics. You are welcome to email me any topics that you would like me to cover in this forum.

Fig Leaf Ice Cream

Robyn Wallace2022-02-25T13:45:46+02:00February 25th, 2022|From the Garden, From the Kitchen|

I have been intrigued with fig leaf ice cream for some time and just waited for fresh figs to be available (to serve with the ice cream) before I made a batch! In the meantime I have researched various recipes and as usual ended up creating my own using various ideas. I find American, David [...]

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Salmon or Trout with a Korean Glaze

Robyn Wallace2021-12-30T12:35:19+02:00December 30th, 2021|Asian, From the Kitchen|

Salmon or trout coated with a gingery miso glaze and grilled or baked is one of my favourites, but I took this one step further by changing my glaze to be gochujang based. Why gochujang? When I bought a tub of gochujang a few years ago I thought it would sit in my fridge forever. [...]

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Quinoa Salad with a ‘Green dressing’ and Avo

Robyn Wallace2021-12-29T14:27:15+02:00December 29th, 2021|From the Kitchen|

In the summer I try to replace heavier carb based salads with lighter grain salads. Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is currently my favourite grain. It has been around in South America for centuries where it was the staple food of the Incas. It has only gained popularity in the rest of the world recently. It is [...]

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Summer Salads

Robyn Wallace2021-12-29T14:16:33+02:00December 29th, 2021|From the Garden, From the Kitchen|

Salad savvy and 4 easy salads Salads can be appetizing and exciting or boringly old fashioned! When planning your salad menu consider variation in colour, texture, nutritional balance and flavour. Also consider how the salad will complement the other food served. Sometimes a rich, creamy dressed salad is perfect with a plain grilled protein. On [...]

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Gammon with a Korean twist and cooked in 30 minutes!

Robyn Wallace2021-12-22T13:22:52+02:00December 22nd, 2021|Asian, Christmas, From the Kitchen|

Instead of the usual recipe I decided to use a Barbeque Korean Beef Rib recipe and I cooked it in the pressure cooker. What a success! The Korean flavours worked so well with the smoked meat and cooking in the pressure cooker was the ultimate time saver. In bygone days I recall my mother and [...]

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Pan fried sausages with fruit and sage

Robyn Wallace2021-12-18T13:13:01+02:00December 18th, 2021|From the Kitchen|

There is something wonderfully satisfying about a pan of grilled sausages! Maybe because it reminds me of casual family suppers. You can use the same recipe for chicken, pork or duck sausages. I found delicious pork sausages laced with sage which were delicious with the apple and the tart Granny Smith apples. Know your sausages [...]

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Creamy Parmesan Sauce for Pasta, Chicken or Pork

Robyn Wallace2021-12-03T13:44:49+02:00December 4th, 2021|From the Kitchen|

I have a weakness for any Parmesan-laced dish, particularly a rich, creamy sauce for pasta. When I say rich and creamy, it must not be heavy and claggy. This creamy parmesan sauce is just that, rich, flavoursome and light. Serve it on its own with pasta or add meat in the form of pork, chicken [...]

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Sherry Marinated Mushrooms

Robyn Wallace2021-12-03T13:11:47+02:00December 3rd, 2021|From the Kitchen|

The mellow flavour of a medium sherry is a perfect match with mushrooms My palate for this combination probably came from my Mom, who often made a chicken and mushroom dish that was laced plenty of sherry! You can simply use white button mushrooms for this recipe, but I love using a combination of exotic [...]

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Pistachio Roulade

Robyn Wallace2021-11-26T13:30:29+02:00November 26th, 2021|From the Kitchen|

Dessert, Tea or Coffee time treat, Christmas Cake? I am nuts about most nuts, well, I mean the edible ones! Pistachios being one of my favourites. As you are aware, after pine nuts they are very expensive in South Africa, but at last they are grown locally which makes them much more viable. When one [...]

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Carrot Cake Roll

Robyn Wallace2021-09-04T13:07:29+02:00September 4th, 2021|From the Kitchen|

It dawned on me that the reason why I love carrot cake is actually about the cream cheese frosting and filling! In this rolled cake the proportion of frosting to cake is generous! A little surprise can be added to the filling in the form of tart apricot jam or chilli jam. Try my tomato [...]

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