The ultimate strawberry tartlets

Before home-grown strawberries disappear totally from the shops, a re-run of what I reckon is the ultimate strawberry tart recipe from Orlando Murrin's irresistible book, A Table in the Tarn and which he used to serve at his French guest house Le Manoir de Raynaudes.

Orlando says "This pastry is so good you can eat it like a biscuit. Everyone imagines it must have a host of ingredients to give its supreme nutty crunch, but not so. The secret is in the Demerara sugar and the handling of the pastry. You really do need to need to follow the instructions to the letter. The cook who taught me this pastry, an Austrian, said she had given the recipe to a couple of my neighbours, without telling them the secret of how to handle it. How fortunate she took a shine to me!"

Makes 6

For the pastry
110g self-raising flour
25g plain flour
110g unsalted butter
2 tbsp Demerara sugar

To finish
6–10 tbsp mascarpone, cool but not straight from the fridge
icing sugar, to taste
few drops of vanilla extract
250g strawberries, not too big, halved

You will also need a marble slab or large flat board

If serving for dinner, make the pastry in the morning or afternoon. Mix the flours with a good pinch of salt and rub in the butter (can be done in the processor). Mix in the sugar until the mixture comes together into a crumbly ball. Shape into a squared-off sausage and refrigerate for about an hour until just firm.

Cut the pastry into 6 chunks and on a lightly floured surface roll out each to a thin circle about 10cm in diameter. For a professional finish use a cutter to perfect the circle. Transfer to an ungreased rimless baking sheet using a spatula or palette knife and bake at 180°C (170°C fan) for 10–15 minutes until lightly golden (neither pale nor actually browned) and just firm when you touch it.

Remove from oven, count to ten and with extreme care slide a palette knife under one of the pastry discs. Tilting the tray, slide-push the pastry disc on to the marble slab. Continue with the other discs. Nudge the discs lightly while cooling a couple of times so they do not stick to the slab or board. Leave there, covered with clingfilm, till ready to serve.

Have ready 6 serving plates. Beat the mascarpone to soften, sifting in a little icing sugar and vanilla to taste. It needs to be spreadable: too warm and it will be in danger of curdling when you beat it; too cold and it will tear the pastry when you spread it. Spread on to the pastry discs, right to the edge, then top with a tight layer of halved strawberries and a dusting of icing sugar.

You can dress up this dish further by using a lemon cream instead of mascarpone. Make some lemon curd by bringing to the boil 180g sugar, the juice of 2 lemons, 75g unsalted butter and 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest, and then whisking into 3 large beaten eggs. Return to pan and cook gently for about 5 minutes, till thickened and 71°C. This keeps for a week in the fridge. For this recipe, fold about 100ml of lemon curd into 100ml whipped cream and spread on the tartlets before adding strawberries.

Recommended wine match: I'd suggest a Gaillac doux from the area where Orlando was living but you could also drink a dessert wine from Juranon or Pacherenc-du-Vic-Bilh or a sweet, sparkling Clairette de Die from the Rhône.

Beef fillet in red wine and soya sauce

In our final extract from Cape Wine Braai Masters we feature a recipe intended for Gemsbok from Michael Bucholz, winemaker for the Obikwa range but as antelope are a bit thin on the ground in the UK I've adapted it for beef fillet.

BEEF FILLET IN RED WINE & SOYA SAUCE

1.5kg beef or any South African antelope fillet

MARINADE
3 cups red wine (preferably Merlot)
cup soya sauce
cup olive oil
1 heaped tablespoon soft brown sugar
4 cloves garlic, grated (add more if you like)
3–4cm fresh ginger, peeled & grated
1 heaped tablespoon coriander seeds, dry-fried & coarsely crushed
2 fresh chillies, deseeded & finely sliced (add more if you like)
1 tablespoon salt for seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Spring onions for garnishing

Combine all ingredients for the marinade. Place the meat in a tight-fitting bowl, pour the marinade over it and leave covered in the fridge overnight. Turn the meat from time to time. Strain the marinade off the meat and retain for basting. Place the meat on a braai grid over hot coals (the fire needs to be hot enough to ensure good browning of the meat without charring). Season both sides with salt and pepper. Baste the meat regularly and cook for 20 minutes on each side for a well-browned, slightly caramelised coating and a fillet that is rare to medium-rare. Allow the meat to rest for at least 10–15 minutes, slice, garnish with spring onion cut into slivers lengthwise and serve.

WINE NOTE
Michael suggests a glass of Obikwa Merlot but frankly this wine-friendly dish would go with almost any full-bodied South African red.

Roast vegetable stacks

Another recipe for your World Cup celebrations from the Van Loveren family. It comes from the new Wines of South Africa cookbook Cape Wine Braai Masters but you could equally well cook it with a conventional oven and grill.

You can use any vegetables of your choice in whatever quantities required such as

Aubergines (eggplants), baby marrows (zucchini), green, red and yellow bell peppers and whole mushrooms
Garlic butter
Mozzarella cheese
Mixed fresh herbs of your choice
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground salt and black pepper

Cut the aubergines into thick rounds. Salt the slices and stand in a colander for about 30 minutes. Rinse thoroughly in water and dry with kitchen towel. Season the aubergines, drizzle with olive oil and roast or grill them on both sides. Roast the peppers under the grill until the skins blister and blacken. Wrap with clingfilm for 5 minutes. Peel away the skins and quarter the peppers. Fry the baby marrows in a griddle pan in some olive oil. Slice the mushrooms and fry them in garlic butter. Stack the vegetables in layers on top of the aubergine rounds, drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, season with salt and pepper, and top with a slice of mozzarella cheese and some herbs. Bake at 200°C for about 15 minutes. Pop under the grill for a few minutes to brown the cheese if you like.

Wine note: It would obviously depend what else you were serving at the barbecue. The Van Loverens recommend their Cramond, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay but if you were serving the vegetables as an accompaniment to lamb, they suggest you go for their Wolverine Creek Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Can Can chicken

Continuing with our series of South African Braai recipes to celebrate the World Cup, here’s winemaker Paul Cluver’s version of beer-can chicken made with apple juice rather than beer.

This is a fantastic way of cooking chicken for any of you who haven’t tried it. You need a barbecue with a domed lid like a Weber.

Serves 4–6 (You can double up the recipe for two chickens)

One large free-range chicken, giblets removed

For the marinade
100g butter
125ml red wine vinegar
100ml olive oil
Handful of Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
3–5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
Freshly ground salt and black pepper
1 can Appletise (or any unsweetened sparkling apple juice or good cider)

Melt the butter, then add all the other ingredients except for the Appletise. Marinate the chicken in a large bowl – leave it for at least an hour. This will also give you time to prepare the barbecue. You need to place the charcoal on the sides and make sure you have a drip tray in the middle. Open the can of Appletise, pour off half the contents, put the chicken over it and place it in the middle of the barbecue. It takes about an hour to cook.

You can obviously cook this on a gas barbecue too FB

Wine note: Paul recommends the Paul Cluver Pinot Noir with the chicken but you could also drink a Chardonnay - or, obviously, apple juice or cider if you don’t want to drink wine.

This recipe comes from Cape Wine Braai Masters published by Wines of South Africa