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Hacked Off

August 27th, 2012 | Posted by Ruby in Rants - (Comments Off on Hacked Off)

I don’t get it!  My blog had only been up and running for about 2 months when it got Hacked.  For those that have experienced this modern form of pure evil you will appreciate that I need to just RANT.

It was a few weeks ago that my blog was hacked.  And since I built my own blog using a WordPress template with very limited technical knowledge it was a real challenge to firstly find where the code had been hacked and then to fix it.  Fortunately my son-in-law is a software specialist (although not familiar with blogging software) and he came to the rescue to help sort it out.  Around the same time I was going on my summer holidays so, with time running out and a new obstacle presenting itself at each turn, I packed my bags and headed off to France.  The blog would have to wait for my return.

So finally this weekend I sorted out the last few issues and we’re back up and running again.

All this got me to pondering what possible value or benefit does anyone gain from hacking an insignificant foodie blog like mine.  In the grand scheme of things this blog doesn’t create the slightest little blip on anyone’s radar so the sense of achievement at successfully trashing my blog has to rate somewhere alongside the big bully kicking a small dog – the bully get some aberrant sense of satisfaction and the dog gets hurt.  Apart from this, the only upside I can see is possibly for security software companies trying to scare us into buying there software to avoid being hacked again – along with kicking the dog that would be downright unethical, immoral and just plain wicked.

 

Oh well, now I’ve got that off my chest, onwards and upwards.

 

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Feta and Coriander Samosas

August 20th, 2012 | Posted by Ruby in Condiments | Lunch | Snacks | Starters - (Comments Off on Feta and Coriander Samosas)

Feta and Coriander Samosas

It has been a few years since I last had these tasty morsels.  In fact the last time was in Kenya.  I spent about a year living in Karen, Nairobi and one of the regular haunts for expats was the Talisman Restaurant and this was definitely one of there most popular starters (there’s is served with a tomato chilli sauce which is equally yummy).

Sitting in front of the roaring fire having pre-dinner drinks I could never resist ordering a few portions.  This is my take on an old favourite.

Recipe for Feta and coriander samosas

Ingredients (makes 12)

1 small bunch of fresh coriander finely chopped

200 grams feta cheese

4 sheets of phyllo pastry (sheets usually about 40cm x 30cm)

melted butter

 

Method

  1. Crumble feta with back of fork in a bowl
  2. Add chopped coriander
  3. Lay 1 phyllo sheet on flat surface and brush with butter
  4. Lay 2nd sheet on top smoothing over buttered surface
  5. Cut this double sheet layer into 8cm lengths along the shorter dimension (see photo below)
  6. Place 1 heaped teaspoon on feta mixture in top most corner of strip and start folding tightly as shown
  7. Brush final edge with butter to seal
  8. Repeat until all pastry strips are used then repeat from point 3 with remaining pastry sheets
  9. Place samosas on greased baking tray and brush tops with butter
  10. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden

 

Recipe for Sweet chilli dip

Ingredients

½ cup sugar

½ cup water

1 red chilli finely sliced

½ carrot finely grated along length of carrot

 

Method

  1. Place water and sugar in saucepan and bring to boil
  2. Boil over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until liquid is reduced by 1/3
  3. Add chilli and carrot to liquid and allow to cool

Dip can be stored in airtight jar in fridge for 2-3 weeks

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Lunchtime Lemonade

August 8th, 2012 | Posted by Ruby in Drinks | Lunch | Summer - (Comments Off on Lunchtime Lemonade)

Cool, refreshing Lemonade

When summer finally arrived in London it was time for a refreshing home-made lemonade.  Lemonade always reminds me of the Organic market in Bryanston (Johannesburg) located at the Michael Mount Waldorf School.  This Saturday morning market served the most sublime freshly made Lemonade. (also moonlight markets on Tuesday evenings)

Recipe

You’ll need:

½ cup castor sugar

1 cup water

1 cup lemon juice (squeezed from 3-4  large lemons)

plus 1½ cups ice water

ice cubes

mint leaves

1 lemon sliced

 

To prepare:

  1. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil – boil for about 5 minutes until you have a thin syrup – remove from heat and allow to cool
  2.  Pour the syrup into a 1 litre serving jug and add all the remaining ingredients

 

Note: you can use cold sparkling mineral water instead of the ice water to produce a sparkling lemonade (both are equally refreshing).

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