Mia, Palesa, Nolene: cooking with Miss SA

MIA LE ROUX'S THAI GREEN CURRY

Ingredients

750g skinless chicken breasts

olive oil

400g button mushrooms

400g tin coconut milk

1 chicken stock cube

200g sugar snap peas

½ bunch fresh basil

I red chilli, chopped

I lime

For the curry paste

4 cloves of garlic

2 onions

5cm piece of ginger

1 lemon

4 green chillies

1 tsp ground cumin

½ bunch of fresh coriander

2 tbsp fish sauce

Method

1. To make the curry paste, peel, roughly chop and place the garlic, onions and ginger into a food processor.
2. Add the zest of the lemon and squeeze the juice into the processor. Trim and add the chillies, the cumin and half the coriander.
3. Blitz until finely chopped, then add the fish sauce and blitz again.
4. Slice the chicken into 2.5cm strips.
5. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat, add the chicken and cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until just turning golden, then transfer to a plate.
6. Slice the mushrooms into even pieces. Return the pan to a medium heat, add the mushrooms and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until golden.
7. Transfer to a plate using a slotted spoon. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the Thai green paste for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. Pour in the coconut milk and 200ml of boiling water, crumble in the stock cube.
9. Turn the heat up and bring gently to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes or until reduced slightly.
10. Stir in the chicken and mushrooms, reduce the heat to low and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through, adding the sugar snap peas for the final 2 minutes.
11. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
12. Roughly chop and stir through the basil leaves and remaining coriander leaves and scatter over the chopped red chilli.
13. Serve with a wedge of lime and steamed rice.

PALESA LOMBARD ABSOLUTE BEST CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp espresso powder

1 cup milk or buttermilk

½ cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

For the icing

¾ cups butter, softened

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2½ cups icing sugar

¼ cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp espresso powder

1 can Caramel Treat

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC. Prepare two 23cm cake pans by spraying with Spray and Cook or lightly dust with flour.
2. Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder to a large bowl and use an electric mixer to whisk and combine.
3. Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla and mix on medium speed. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the batter until well combined.
4. Distribute batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan and cooling completely on a rack.
6. To ice the cake, add cocoa powder to a large bowl and whisk to remove any lumps. Add butter and whisk.
7. Gradually sift in the icing sugar and the milk while still mixing. Add the vanilla extract and espresso powder and combine well.
8. If frosting appears too dry, add more milk, a tbsp at a time until it reaches the right consistency. If it appears too wet and does not hold its form, add more icing sugar, a tbsp at a time until it reaches the right consistency.

NOLENE SPINKS' MATILDA CHOCOLATE CAKE

Ingredients

3 cups self-raising flour

1¼ cup cocoa powder

2 cups sugar

3 tsp baking powder

2¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1½ tsp salt

3 large eggs

¾ cup oil

3 cups buttermilk

3 tsp vanilla essence

Secret ingredient: 1½ cups boiling water

Method

1. Sieve all dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix all the wet ingredients except the boiling water. Then add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix until well combined. Do not overmix.
3. The secret to this cake is to add between 1 - 1½ cups boiling water.
4. This makes the cake moist and rich.
5. Split the batter between two baking pans after they have been sprayed with Spray and Cook.
6. Bake at 180°C for 30-45 mins (the sides will pull away from the pan when it is ready). Cool in the pans for 15 minutes before removing and cooling them completely on a rack.
7. Decorate with Chuckles, Oreos and all your favourite chocolates.