A tart, spicy pomegranate syrup, so dark and plummy it’s almost black, adds some magic to these slow-roasted plums and grapes. You can cook these gently on a stove top, but baking them uncovered in the oven concentrates the flavour of the fruit. This is quite an intensely flavoured syrup, so go easy on the spices, or leave them out altogether if you’d prefer a pure fruity taste.
Sweet end-of-season grapes are delicious baked this way, and are a perfect foil for our tangy pomegranate concentrate.
The pomegranate seeds are there to add colour and a fresh pop to the dessert. Pomegranates are in season in South Africa now, so you shouldn’t have much trouble finding them. They also freeze very well (remove them from their skins and freeze them loose in lidded plastic boxes) so it’s worth buying extra and keeping a frozen supply for winter desserts. If you can’t get hold of pomegranate seeds, add a sprinkling of coarsely chopped pistachio nuts instead.
If your plums and grapes are very sweet, you may need to add less brown sugar, or leave it out altogether.
Roast Plums and Grapes with Pomegranate Syrup
8 juicy, dark red plums, washed
1 large bunch of seedless red grapes
⅓ cup (80 ml) Verlaque Persian Pomegranate concentrate
2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice
a 2-cm-long stick of cinnamon
a whole star anise (optional)
a pinch of ground cloves
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground ginger
2 tablespoons (30 ml) brown sugar
To serve:
vanilla ice cream
½ cup (125 ml) fresh pomegrate seeds
Heat the oven to 180ºC. Halve the plums, remove the stones with the tip of a sharp knife and place them, in a single layer and flesh side up, in a glass or ceramic ovenproof dish. Scatter the grapes among the plum halves. Drizzle the pomegranate syrup and lemon juice over the plums. Tuck the cinnamon stick and star anise between the plums, and sprinkle with the ground cloves and ginger.
Bake, uncovered, at 180ºC for 15 minutes. Baste the plums with the liquid and sprinkle with brown sugar. Turn down the heat to 150ºC and bake for another 25-30 minutes, gently basting the fruit with the syrup every ten minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Serve warm, or cold, with vanilla ice cream and a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds.
Serves 6.
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Even if you’re not a huge fan of lentils, we know you’re going to love this dish, which is packed with the warming, perfumed flavours of North African cuisine. You can serve it cold or warm as a salad, or piping hot as a side dish.
This dish is very good with a firm feta cheese, but you could use a creamy goat’s milk cheese instead. If you’d like a little extra crunch, sprinkle the salad with toasted pumpkin seeds just before serving.
Preserved lemons are important for that authentic North African flavour. Try our Verlaque Zesty Lemons in Sea Salt, or, if you don’t have any to hand, make your own ‘instant’ preserved lemons.
Dried mint is also essential if you want an authentic taste, as it has a flavour quite distinct from that of fresh mint. It’s available in supermarkets and spice shops, or you can make your own (see Cook’s Notes, below).
Thank you James Robertson for the inspiration for this dish.
Moroccan-Spiced Lentils with Feta and Roast Cherry Tomatoes
For the roast tomatoes:
500 g ripe cherry tomatoes
3 tablespoons (45 ml) Verlaque Wild Garlic Olive Oil, or similar
salt and milled black pepper
For the salad:
2 cups (500 ml) good-quality brown lentils
1 litre warm water
a large stick of cinnamon
1 teaspoon (5 ml) whole caraway seeds
1 cup (250 ml) pitted green olives
3 tablespoons (45 ml) finely chopped preserved lemon
salt and milled black pepper
For the dressing:
⅓ cup (80 ml) olive oil
⅓ cup (80 ml) Verlaque Sundried Tomato Balsamic Reduction, or similar
the juice of a lemon
2 small cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
4 teaspoons (20 ml) dried mint
1 teaspoon (5 ml) dried red chilli flakes
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) powdered cinnamon
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) paprika
1 tablespoon (15 ml) cumin
To top:
1½ cups (375 ml) roughly crumbled feta cheese
½ cup (125 ml) chopped fresh coriander
a dusting of paprika and cumin
First make the roast tomatoes. Heat the oven to 170°C. Tip the cherry tomatoes, whole, into a small-oven proof bowl or dish. Stir in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place, uncovered, in the hot oven, and allow to bake, undisturbed, for 1 hour. Remove and allow to cool slightly.
Rinse the lentils in a colander under running water. Place them in a large pot, add the cinnamon stick and caraway seeds and cover with the water. Cover with a tilted lid, bring to the boil and cook gently for 30 minutes, or until almost all the water has been absorbed. Drain well, allow to cool for ten minutes and place in a large bowl. Discard the cinnamon stick.
Add the green olives, preserved lemon and warm roast tomatoes.
To make the dressing, place all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk well to combine. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently. Season generously with salt and millled black pepper. Just before serving, sprinkle with the crumbled feta and chopped coriander, and dust with a little paprika and cumin.
Serves eight.
Cooks’ Notes
To dry fresh mint, wash a bunch of mint and strip off the leaves. Shake well. Spread the leaves loosely on a baking tray, and put them on the middle rack of your oven. Turn the heat down to its lowest setting and bake until they are quite dry. Crumble the leaves and store in a clean, airtight jar for a up to a month.
A quick, easy recipe that’s perfect for a light lunch or supper. Fillets of fresh white linefish are topped with a sparky mixture of fresh garlic, ginger and lemon zest, with a sprinkling of red chilli flakes adding a little kick. 
Before they’re baked, the fillets are drizzled with our Cape Lemons Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which helps to keep the fillets moist. A final splash of Verlaque Sundried Mango and Chili Balsamic gives the dish a lovely zing.
This dish is best made with fresh linefish, but if fresh fish isn’t available, you’ll find it works wonders with frozen fish fillets, which tend to be a little flavourless. There’s no need to thaw the fish first, but you will need to increase the baking time slightly. (Check the baking instructions on the side of the box).
How long the fillets will take to cook depends on their thickness and the efficiency of your oven. Check the fish after about 12 minutes by poking a fork into the thickest part of the flesh. If there’s any pinkness or glassiness, cook for a few minutes longer.
Serve with olive oil mash and a leafy green salad.
Spicy Baked Linefish
4 fillets white linefish, unskinned
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, finely grated
the juice and zest of a lemon
2 tsp (10 ml) chilli flakes
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 tablespoons (45 ml) Cape Lemons Extra Virgin Olive Oil or similar
2 tablespoons (30 ml) Verlaque Sundried Mango and Chili Balsamic, or similar
salt and milled black pepper
For the olive oil mash:
6 large potatoes, peeled
salt
3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil, and extra for dressing
a little milk
salt and milled black pepper
To serve:
lemon wedges
Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
First make the mash. Peel the potatoes, cut into chunks and and add them to a pot of rapidly boiling salted water. Boil until quite tender. Drain the potatoes in a colander and allow to dry out for five minutes. Return the potatoes to the pan you boiled them in and place over a low heat. Add the olive oil and mash until smooth, adding just enough milk to produce a smooth, creamy texture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm.
Remove any bones from the fish. Place a piece of baking paper on a baking sheet, and lay the fish fillets on it, skin-side down. Smear the crushed garlic over the fish. Sprinkle with the grated ginger, lemon zest and chilli flakes. Put a few sprigs of thyme on top of each fillet. Drizzle over the lemon juice, olive oil and balsamic reduction. Season generously with salt and black pepper.
Bake, uncovered, in the oven, for 15-18 minutes, or until the fillets are just cooked through.
Place a pile of hot mash on each plate, drizzle over a little more olive oil and top with a fish fillet. Serve hot, with lemon wedges and a leafy salad.
Serves 4
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A fine dinner party dish: a whole beef fillet cooked to glistening mahogany on the outside and perfect pinkness within, and served with hot mash, crisp peppery rocket and a cooked marinade made with our zippy, fruity Sundried Mango & Chili Balsamic Reduction.
This dish requires a little planning (read the recipe through first!), but is easy to make, and we promise it will have your guests coming back for more.
Fillet with Mash, Rocket and Sundried Mango & Chili Balsamic Reduction
one 2 kg fillet, or two smaller ones of the same weight, trimmed of sinew
2 tablespoons (30 ml) butter
2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
a large bunch of fresh rocket
freshly squeezed juice of 2 lemons
olive oil
salt and milled black pepper
For the marinade:
½ cup (125 ml) Verlaque Sundried Chili Balsamic Reduction
1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
1 red chilli, finely chopped, or 2 teaspoons dried chilli flakes
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 teaspoons (10 ml) grated fresh ginger
the grated zest of an orange
½ cup (125 ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons (30 ml) light soy suace
2 dried bay leaves
a large sprig of fresh thyme
freshly milled black pepper
For the mash:
12 large floury potatoes, peeled and quartered
milk and butter
Place the whole fillet in a ceramic or glass dish. Mix together the marinade ingredients and pour over the fillet. Do not add salt. Cover with clingfilm and marinate, in the fridge, for three hours or longer (overnight is fine). Turn the fillet in its marinade every now and then. An hour before you’re going to cook the fillet, remove it from the fridge so it can come up to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 190°C and place a baking sheet in the oven to heat.
Put the potatoes into a pan of salted water, bring to the boil and cook until quite tender. Drain in a colander, allow to dry out for 5 minutes, and then put them back in the pan.
In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil and butter until very hot – just short of smoking. Remove the fillet from the ceramic dish, scrape off most of the marinade with the back of a knife, and season well with salt. Reserve the marinade.
Quickly brown the fillet on all sides until nicely caramelised (this should take about 6 -7 minutes). Put the fillet on the heated baking sheet and place it in the oven for 8-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fillet/s, or until done to your liking (it’s best a nice rosy pink inside – cut a slit in the thickest part of the fillet to check for doneness). Take the fillet out of the oven and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes. Leave the frying pan and its juices on the stove. Put 8 plates in the warming drawer.
While the fillet is roasting and resting, mash the potatoes, prepare the glaze and dress the rocket, as follows.
First, the mash. Turn the heat on under the pan of potatoes. Add a splash of milk, allow it to heat through, and then mash the potatoes until fluffy and smooth. Stir in a knob of cold butter. (Or put the potatoes through a potato ricer before you add the milk and butter.) Season with salt and pepper, cover and keep hot.
Now prepare the glaze. Turn the heat on under the pan you fried the fillets in. Pour the reserved marinating liquid into the hot pan and stir well to loosen any sediment. Allow to bubble over a brisk heat until reduced by about half, to a slightly syrupy consistency.
Tip the rocket leaves into a bowl. Add the lemon juice and olive oil, in equal quantities, season with salt and pepper and toss well to coat.
To serve: Carve the fillet into 1-cm-thick slices. Put a generous mound of hot mashed potato into the centre of each plate and drizzle with a little olive oil. Strain the balsamic glaze into a little jug. Place a few slices of fillet on each mound of mash and drizzle with some of the hot balsamic glaze. Top with a generous handful of dressed rocket.
Serve immediately.
Serves 8
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We recently asked Jo and Brian Dick of Johannesburg’s famous cheese emporium, The Cheese Gourmet, to taste our range of wine jellies and come up with some suggestions about pairing them with cheeses.
Jo and Brian are absolutely passionate about cheese, and their shop of delights has become a must-visit destination for Johannesburg lovers of fine foods.
There’s very little that Jo and Brian don’t know about cheese, and so we were intrigued to find out what they thought of our jellies, and which cheeses they’d recommend with each product.
This is what they had to say:
‘We had fun testing out the range and think that the Pinotage and Pear (for the flavour) and the Cabernet and Blackcurrant (for the texture) will prove to be the best sellers.’
Merlot and Marula
This doesn’t suit salty cheeses. It’s good with a Dalewood Huguenot (a firm medium-flavoured cheese), or with lighter, milder, more delicately flavoured cheeses such as goat Chevre, cottage or cream cheese, and mozzarella.
Cabernet and Blackcurrant
This has a wonderful texture, and we really enjoyed it. This works best with goat Chevre or goats’ milk camembert. It doesn’t work with blue or hard, flavoured cheeses.
Pinotage and Pear
This works with blue cheeses and other strong cheeses such as Parmesan, because the saltiness of those cheeses pulls out the flavour of the fruit. We liked this one the best.
Rose and Redcurrant
This didn’t work with goats’ milk cheeses, but complemented mild goudas and bries.’
Thank you, Jo!
The Cheese Gourmet is located at 71 Seventh Street, Corner 3rd Avenue, Linden, Johannesburg. Tel (011) 888 5384
Have you tried any of our delicious Verlaque wine jellies? These unusual preserves, made by hand using a selection of fine South African wines and fruits, are packed with intense, complex flavours, making them ideal for serving with all types of cheese.
Read what South African wine fundi Nikki Dumas had to say about our jellies: Jars of Wine and Food.
Our range of wine jellies comprises:
- Cabernet and Blackcurrant
- Merlot and Marula
- Pinotage and Pear
- Rosé and Redcurrant
These jellies are very versatile and – because they’re so concentrated – go a long way. But how do you use them in your kitchen?
Here are some ideas:
- They’re lovely with many types of Mediterranean-style appetiser: salami, proscuitto and other types of ham, sausages, smoked venison, chunky pâtés and terrines, and so on. Arrange a platter of antipasti on a large wooden board, add some grapes or figs, and serve with a selection of wine jellies.
- Use a few teaspoons of wine jelly to enrich gravies when you’re making a roast. Their slight sweetness and tang makes them perfect for rich meats, such as duck and pork.
- Add a little wine jelly to red-meat casseroles or stews. It’s very good with slow-cooked lamb shanks (see left).
- Add a dollop of wine jelly to a frying pan of cooked pork sausages or chipolatas, and toss well over the heat to create a sticky glaze. This works well with thick pork rashers too. Try adding wine jelly to your spare-rib marinade: it makes all the difference.
- Melt some sharp Cheddar on a piece of bread and top with a spoonful of wine jelly. It’s good with Welsh rarebit too.
- When you’re caramelising onions, add a little wine jelly to the mixture five minutes before you take it off the stove.
- To make a chilli dipping sauce, heat a few tablespoons of wine jelly in a saucepan and add chopped fresh chilli, crushed garlic, a dash of soy sauce and another of one of our balsamic reductions. Season with plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
Do you have any ideas for using our wine jellies? Post a comment below, or send your suggestion to blogverlaque at gmail.com
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Packed with the singing flavours of the Mediterranean, this dish makes a lovely light lunch for two, or a starter for four. It takes less than 10 minutes to make, and the topping can be prepared several hours in advance.
You can use any of our balsamic reductions here, but we recommend our Sundried Tomato Balsamic Reduction, which has an intense sweet-sharp flavour that brings out the best in the cherry tomatoes. This reduction is made with aged dark Balsamic vinegar from Modena in Italy, carefully blended with South African grape vinegar, and gently infused with sundried tomatoes from Mpumalanga.
In this recipe, we’ve topped the tomatoes with delicious white anchovies, which have a soft, silken texture and a subtle flavour. If anchovies aren’t your cup of tea, use crumbled feta cheese, or mozzarella, or pitted black olives.
White anchovies are available in top-end delicatessens, and from Italian food merchants. If you can’t find fresh oregano, use marjoram, thyme, basil or rocket.
To make this dish in advance, prepare the tomatoes and set them aside at room temperature (but don’t refrigerate them). Toast the bread at the last minute, pile on the tomatoes, top with the anchovies and herbs and serve immediately so the bread doesn’t have a chance to become soggy.
Bruschetta with Seared Balsamic Tomatoes and White Anchovies
2 T (30 ml) olive oil
250 g small, ripe cherry tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 T (30 ml) Verlaque Sundried Tomato Balsamic Reduction
1 t (5ml) good-quality dried oregano
salt and pepper
4 slices day-old ciabatta, or similar
a little olive oil for rubbing
To top:
white anchovies
fresh oregano leaves, or similar
a little extra-virgin olive oil
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. When it is very hot, add the whole cherry tomatoes. Cook, tossing, over a high flame, for two or so minutes, or until the skins start to blister and blacken in places. Turn down the heat slightly and cook for another three or four minutes, or until the tomatoes are just beginning to sag and wrinkle. Add the garlic, balsamic reduction and oregano and bubble briskly for another two minutes or until the liquid has reduced by half. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Rub the bread slices on both sides with a little olive oil. Toast on both sides until golden brown in a ridged griddle pan or a dry frying pan, or over hot coals.
Pile the tomatoes onto the toast slices and top with white anchovies, a few baby oregano leaves and a drizzle of olive oil. Grind over a little more black pepper, and serve warm.
Serves 2 as a light meal, and 4 as a starter
Verlaque Sundried Tomato Balsamic Reduction can be ordered online (South Africa only) at www.verlaque.co.za.
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A really simple, classy starter, made in minutes. The combination of prawns, Parma ham and our Sundried Turkish Fig Balsamic Reduction may sound unusual, but it works: the deepy, figgy, fruity flavour of the dip is a perfect match for the saltiness and sweetness of the prawns and ham. 
Adrienne Verlaque, the alchemist behind the Verlaque range, often makes these on the braai, using uncooked, peeled prawns and streaky bacon, which can tolerate the fierce heat of the fire.
You can use either bacon or Parma ham for the pan-fried version of this recipe, which uses plump cooked prawns. The quality of this dish does depend on good ingredients: if you can find them, use prawns that haven’t been previously frozen (available from good fishmongers and Woolworths). If you like, you can toss the prawns in a little olive oil, and perhaps some garlic and herbs, before you wrap them.
Mermaids on Horseback with Turkish Fig Balsamic Reduction
16 cooked, peeled prawns
8 slices Parma ham
1 tablespoon (30 ml) olive oil
milled black pepper
To serve:
lime or lemon wedges
Verlaque Sundried Turkish Fig Balsamic Reduction
Season the prawns with pepper (but no salt, as the Parma ham is salty enough). Carefully cut each strip of ham in half lengthways to make two long ribbons. Starting just above the tail, spiral the ham around each prawn, and press firmly down on the end to secure.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the prawns (in batches) and fry over a medium flame until the ham is crispy. Remove from the pan and drain on a paper towel.
Serve immediately with lime wedges and the balsamic reduction.
Serves 4 as a starter or snack
Verlaque Sundried Turkish Fig Balsamic Reduction can be ordered online at www.verlaque.co.za
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The sun’s climbing higher in the sky, days are getting longer and summer’s on its way in South Africa. Officially, it’s still spring, but within a few weeks the weather will be hot enough to break out the tongs and fire up the braai.
Braaied Loin of Lamb with Verlaque Rosé & Redcurrant Wine Jelly
Not that we need an excuse to have a ‘lekker braai’: cooking over an outdoor barbeque is virtually a national sport among South Africans. And every South African braai-master has his or her own special tricks of the trade: a special rub of spices, a top-secret marinade, or a recipe for home-made boerewors that would make angels weep.
Not every master of the braai, however, knows just how versatile and delicious Verlaque products are when it comes to imparting special flavour and succulence to braaied food. Our infused Balsamic reductions and infused olive oils are excellent in marinades, bastes and dipping sauces, adding a fruity, tangy zip to all kinds of braaied meat, poultry and fish.
Here are some ideas for using Verlaque products when you braai:
Pork Chipolata & Tomato Breakfast Kebabs with Sundried Mango & Chili Balsamic Reduction
- Verlaque Splashes, which contain a mixture of infused olive oils and flavoured Balsamic vinegar, can be used as-is to make instant marinades: place the meat, chicken or fish in a deep glass bowl, pour over a cup of a Splash of your choice and season well with pepper. Salt the meat just before you put it on the braai and cook over a medium fire until done, basting often with the remaining marinade. These Splashes also make terrific instant dipping sauces.
- The intense flavours of our infused Balsamic reductions add sparkle and substance to marinades. Combine a few tablespoons of the reduction with an equal quantity of olive oil, and then add flavourings of your choice: white or red wine, lemon juice, garlic, spices, citrus zest and robust herbs such as thyme, rosemary, bay leaves or oregano. Smear the marinade over the meat, place in a bowl, cover, and allow to sit for a few hours, turning now and then. Use the remaining marinade to baste the meat as it cooks.
- Vinegar has a tenderising effect on meat, making our balsamic reductions perfect for tougher cuts. Marinate the meat overnight for best results.
- Drizzle a little Verlaque infused olive oil over the meat as it comes off the braai, for a final burst of flavour. Our Cape Lemon, Wild Garlic and Sweet Basil extra-virgin olive oils are delicious with fish and chicken, while Verlaque Ground Chili Olive Oil adds a kick to braaied seafood, lamb, beef and sausages.
- Put a few little bowls of different infused olive oils, and some flaky sea salt, on the table and provide crusty hunks of bread and raw vegetables for dipping. Add a few drops of infused Balsamic reduction to each bowl for extra pep.
- Rub some garlic- or lemon-infused olive oil onto slices of bread and sprinkle with salt. Braai the slices over a medium flame until golden and crusty.
- Serve braaied lamb, game and duck with one of the our fruity wine jellies: lamb is lovely with Rosé & Redcurrant Jelly (see picture, above right), while game and duck pair nicely with Pinotage & Pear Jelly and Cabernet & Blackcurrant Jelly.
- To add a touch of sweetness and a deep tang to marinades, stir in a few teaspoons of Verlaque Pomegranate Concentrate.
Lamb Chops marinating in lemon, herbs and Ground Chili Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Combining Flavours
How do you know which Verlaque product goes best with which meat? Adrienne Verlaque, the creative force behind Verlaque, offers some of her favourite flavour combinations:
- ‘A fillet of beef or lamb is just sensational with Sundried Turkish Fig Balsamic Reduction. I marinate the meat overnight in a mixture of the fig balsamic, olive oil, fresh rosemary, bay leaves and pepper. I sear the meat over a high flame until it has a rich crust, and then move it to a cooler part of the fire to finish cooking.’
- ‘Sundried Mango and Chili Balsamic is very versatile because it adds gorgeous flavour to any braaied meat. It’s especially tasty with all types of pork, and with fresh seafood, particularly tuna.’
- ‘For delicious chicken pieces, try marinating them with Fynbos and Wild-Flower Honey Balsamic Reduction. Add a little olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and garlic to the marinade, and remember to baste them frequently as they braai. Fynbos and honey reduction also goes very well with fresh salmon.’
Inspired? We hope so! Watch this space for details of our forthcoming recipe challenge.
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We’ve hidden an upside-down V, like the one on the left, on one of the pages on our new website and online shop: www.verlaque.co.za
If you can find the symbol, you stand a chance of winning one of six of our gorgeous Verlaque gift boxes, which we’ll deliver to your door! (Please note that this competition is open only to people residing in the Republic of South Africa.)
Here’s how to enter:
1. Visit the website – www.verlaque.co.za – and find the symbol.
2. Send an email to blogverlaque@gmail.com telling us the TITLE of the page on which you found the symbol (that is, the name of the product). In the subject line of your email, write the words ‘Find the symbol competition’. Don’t forget to include your name and contact telephone number.
3. Sit back and wait to see if you’ve won. We’ll award a prize to the 1st, 25th, 50th, 75th, 100th and 125th email we receive.
For further information, and to read the rules, please visit our competition page on Facebook.