Swiss Deli and Bistro again and another Sunday pot

Our friends Rene' and Bronwyn joined us for the weekend and as the weather was good we decided to go back out to the Swiss Deli and Bistro in Saint Helena Bay for lunch. The owner Daniel had been generous enough to sponsor a meal for two to the value of R250 as one of the prizes on our recent Polar Bear run so we would only have to pay for two of the meals - bargain!

The last time we were there it was mid summer and the place was sweltering in the mid 40's, this time it was a lot more comfortable. After browsing the menu for a while we selected our starters;

I went for the mussels in a creamy wine sauce, in spite of the fact that I work on a mussel farm and can have mussels whenever I want I like to taste how other people prepare them and Daniel's dish was a winner! First of all it was a generous portion, I think there were eight mussels and the sauce was delicious, I had no trouble polishing the whole lot off.

Bronx went for the fried calamari strips which she declared were tender and succulent, both Janet and Rene' had chicken livers peri peri which were delicious and too much to eat as a starter, they could have been a main meal!

My main course was pork schnitzel with speatzle (spelling?), it was delicious with little dumplings and I had no trouble finishing the whole lot.

Rene' had kessler chops with potatoes which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Bronx enjoyed her schnitzel with roesti (and again I apologise if the spelling is wrong, I should have copied the menu.)

The food is great, it is rich and the portions are generous. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone, however they are unlicensed and they do not take credit cards - they take cash or cheques! Hands up anyone who writes cheques these days! Our bill came to R495 without the gratuity, that's about R125 per person for an excellent starter and a main course, good value in my book - give Daniel a call on 0767985182 and tell him I sent you.
Sunday dawned bright and warm, just perfect for a lamb potjie! I know that I have written about lamb potjies before, but please stay with me on this, they are all different.

If you have been reading my stuff you'll know that I like to line up my ingredients; choice lamb, yellow peppers, chopped onions, white onion soup powder and tomato paste, fresh herbs (or 'erbs as my American friends say, how do you pronounce "Herb Alpert" the old musician; "Howsit Erb?") but I digress, four green chilies (chillis/chilis/chillees) chopped, one tin of butter beans, chopped butternut squash, potatoes and button mushrooms.

In the trusty old three legged pot first brown the meat in a little bit of cooking oil stirring constantly, when it is nicely browned remove and set aside.

What you are left with now is the oil and some lovely juices from the meat, chuck in the chopped onions, peppers and garlic and fry them until they are soft and translucent and then throw the meat back in and give the whole lot a good stir.

It is at this point that I usually add my stock and with this pot I made it with the "Thick white onion soup powder" and the tomato paste stirred into a good cup of dry red wine, I also added a cone of salt, a good "grind" of pepper and my 'erbs and spices.

 This is the time when the potatoes, butternut and butter beans go in, pour in half a Castle Lager (drink the other half), put the lid on the pot and leave it to simmer for an hour, the mushrooms go in right at the end after you have checked to see if the meat is cooked.

Janet made a lovely sweetcorn souffle' and we served it up with ciabatta, exploding tomatoes and black olives, what a lovely meal.

Our friends enjoyed it, or at least they said that they did!
Friday afternoon I am playing pool at the Phoenix bar again and then Saturday Frank and I head south for the "Day of the dead" dayjol at the Killarney racetrack so I will let you know how that turns out, in the meantime stay on two wheels.