"Healthy Lunch Box Ideas"

Back to school is an exciting time and I suggest adding to this enthusiasm with healthy, lunch-box ideas. I am childless so I recruited the help of family, friends - and childhood memories, which I like to believe don't go back too far!

A lack of available time is a mother's constant lament but remember to resist the easiest option. The following suggestions are intended to put enjoyment back into eating.

Containers add interest and keep all foodie items separate and fresh. I recommend investing in colourful vessels of varying sizes. And remember food should be stored in a little cool bag. Temperature control preserves nutrients, which means your child will fully benefit from the healthy snacks you provide. I recall un-enticing, hot sandwiches - yuck! Can you imagine all those many micro organisms having a field day? As I and many others before - and after - me live to tell the tale, there must be some truth in the old adage "what doesn't kill makes you stronger".

Children should be encouraged to pack their own lunch boxes. With your guidance they can be involved in the process of planning and shopping. This results in their taking responsibility for their eating habits. Skipping a meal time, as in lunch, because a particular snack isn't enjoyable - and then having to get through an afternoon - often on the sports fields - is not an ideal scenario. With their involvement, parents are assured their children will eat in a more sensible manner and not be starving when arriving home. Remember a lunch box is normally four light meals: the breakfast that your child might have missed because he/she overslept, morning and afternoon tea, and lunch. Hence a variety of food must be packed to ensure a balanced diet. As a basic guideline include dairy, fruit or vegetables, starch and protein - and remember nuts.

Left-over dinner on bread was always one of my favourites because it put new life into yesterday's meal, and the memories that went with it. Think low-GI, whole-wheat, brown or rye bread. Alternatives for bread can be pitas, tortillas, pancakes, flapjacks, bagels, mini pizzas, or bake interesting homemade vegetable bread. Cheese or banana muffins are another option. Traditional homemade oat crunchies create happy childhood memories and energy bars are a sound choice. One of my best friends at school always brought dry cereal, usually fruit loops, in her lunch box. In retrospect a healthier option for Kelly would have been a Tupperware filled with granola or muesli. Unbuttered popcorn, and potato or vegetable crisps are always enjoyed and often forgotten; so are muesli and bran rusks. Rice cakes, and baked potatoes, can be packed with interesting but simple toppings such as crispy bacon, chives and cream cheese. Potato or pasta salads are tasty and healthy, as are pumpkin fritters, potato cakes and corn on the cob.

Lean cold cuts, chicken pieces, homemade hamburger patties, mince balls, boiled eggs, tinned tuna, biltong, smoked fish and baked beans are all nourishing ideas if temperature control is maintained. A snack of fruit yoghurt with honey, nuts and roasted seeds is a real treat. A serving of cottage cheese and/or cheese makes up the recommend diary component. In-season fresh fruit, especially at this time of the year is refreshing and nutritious. Think superfood - blueberries or a selection of fresh, crunchy vegetable sticks. What about a stir fry? This is my kind of lunch box option. And remember tomatoes and avocados. A chunky, lettuce-free, tomato, onion, green bean, basil, avocado and feta salad is appetising and healthy; so are dried fruit rolls, raisins and dates which make an easy fruit snack. Soups or herb frittatas are ideal hunger stoppers.

Another school friend of mine always had a gherkin or pickled onion, or two, for lunch. I remember she had quite a mature palate.

Healthy drinks include homemade milkshake, milk, yogi-sip, energy drinks - and for those chilly mornings include a flask of hot chocolate or cocoa.

Come on mums; take the drag out of lunch boxes. I wish you a healthy, fun-filled 2012.

Take these recipes and try them.

RYE BREAD
HOME-STYLE BAGEL
CAPRESE PASTA SALAD
BUTTERNUT FRITTERS
LETTUCE-FREE SALAD
ROASTED TOMATO SOUP
HERB FRITTATA

I always look forward to hearing from you.

Jackie Cameron
Head Chef
Hartford House
www.hartford.co.za
jackie@hartford.co.za
+27 33 263 2713

P.S. Add me as a friend on FACEBOOK to keep up to date on local foodie news.

"Bountiful bubbles, marvellous memories, love and laughter"

New Year celebrations mean bountiful bubbles, marvellous memories, love and laughter.

This calls for desserts - decadent and indulgent! You can worry about your resolutions tomorrow...

Tiramisu (Italian dessert made with sponge biscuits soaked in coffee and liquor, and topped with mascarpone or a soft cheese, and garnished with grated chocolate) cups are always a hit for their sweet and savoury combinations. They can be pulled out of the fridge at the last minute and win the day as a perfect "pick me up" - living up to the translation of the name.

White-chocolate-and-herb frozen mousse with vibrantly-coloured, edible garden flowers served with a tart, berry sorbet is creamy and fresh. Every bite releases the aromas of an herb garden after a thunderstorm. Expect an explosion of flavour!

For an entertaining suggestion try peanut-butter (only the crunchy variety must be used) semi-freddo dessert. Serve with loads of your favourite hand-broken chocolate bits and candied banana slices. This can be taken to another level by adding a large ball of maple syrup ice cream. Do it - it will make your day!

Another option is three sorbets of your choice. This is created by sectioning your container into three. Once the sorbet is set, scoop out and roll balls incorporating all three flavours. Summer fruit sorbets are my favourite. Serve these balls of sorbet in good quality glasses and top with bubbles, fresh mint and lavender. My kind of dessert!

A homemade Dom Pedro makes a delicious dessert. To vanilla-bean ice cream add a tot or two of Kahlua and a drop of cream or milk and you have the adult equivalent of ice cream and chocolate sauce!

Here's to great celebrations and exciting times! May 2012 be a year to remember.

Take these recipes and try them.

TIRAMISU CUPS
WHITE CHOCOLATE AND FENNEL MOUSSE
PEANUT BUTTER SEMI FREDDO
MAPLE SYRUP ICE CREAM
TRIO OF SORBET
NEW YEAR'S DOM PEDRO DESSERT

I always look forward to hearing from you.

Jackie Cameron
Head Chef
Hartford House
www.hartford.co.za
jackie@hartford.co.za
+27 33 263 2713

P.S. Add me as a friend on FACEBOOK to keep up to date on local foodie news.

"Small Producers / Suppliers to the Culinary Trade"

Turn up at the front gates to Summerhill Stud, home of Hartford House, on any given day, at 12 noon and a little beyond, and you'll see them; a stream of gleaming SUV's and smart cars, all headed for one of the nation's top eateries. They know their stuff, and they know it doesn't get much better. She's regularly in the news these days, but she takes nothing for granted. Every moment of recognition in a competitive world, is graciously acknowledged. Head Chef, Jackie Cameron, has been recognised once again by the publishers of Eat Out magazine. Their associate publication is Eat In (as most "foodies" know) and of all the experts in the nation, Jackie has been invited to join a panel of just four to assess the nation's premier small producers / suppliers to the culinary trade. To illustrate the extent of the compliment, she sits alongside revered critics Anelde Greef, (Content Director of Eat In) Abigail Donnelly, Anna Trapido and Pete Goffe-Wood, quite a team, and she's the youngest by half! (forgive the observation, guys!)

Judging takes place in Cape Town on the 19^th and 20^th January, so watch out for the outcomes in Eat In's 2012 edition, particularly if you're keen to know the tricks of the trade, and where the country's leading kitchens get their secret ingredients from.

www.eatout.co.za

Read more about Eat Out Magazine and Chef Jackie Cameron...

Food & Home Entertaining

Food & Home Entertaining magazine has just released their top list for 'OUT & ABOUT : KZN MIDLANDS' by Clifford Roberts where Hartford House features in the category 'Best for Fining Dining' :

Hartford House
Summerhill Stud Farm, Hlatikulu Road, Mooi River
033 263 2713

Renowned chef Jackie Cameron weaves culinary magic in the restaurant, situated in a large colonial sandstone building featuring vistas of hills and dales. Cameron travels regularly and applies what she learns in her kitchen.

Food and wine evenings are a regular event, with dishes such as seared beef fillet served with fresh horseradish, horseradish potato creme, green beans and roasted garlic on offer. For breakfast, don't miss the oast and Irish whiskey with grated apple, raisens and cream.

For more information please visit :
www.hartford.co.za

"Legendary competitors in the saddle, fast friends today"

Last week took me back to 1979 and my short spell at university in Pietermaritzburg. Money was tight, so any opportunity to earn was grabbed - tending the bar at Polo Tavern paid best. I also did my share of selling tickets at Woodburn Rugby Stadium.

That was the year when the racing bug took a strong hold on my young mind. Someone at the zoo we called William O'Brien Residence discovered that in horseraces where pace was key, your financial circumstances could be enhanced by having a bet on the kings of the turf, Michael Roberts and Basil Marcus. Particularly in races over 2000m or longer and especially either was riding a 6/1 chance. Have no idea what the precise record was, but the theory worked well enough for me to follow the formula as a matter of course.

Three decades and a bit later, and here we were having a spectacular dinner with these two legends. It was one of those special 'Hartford House' evenings hosted by my good friend, Summerhill's Mick Goss. This time it was to honour his VIP visitors, Australian racing personalities Vin Cox (MD of Magic Millions) and Rowena Smith (marketing boss at Aushorse). The Aussies were seated too far away for much talk-time. But with Roberts and Marcus close, it became an evening to remember.

First Michael, now 58 and one of KZN's top trainers. His relocation from the Karkloof to Summerveld has gone well. Verna Roberts tells me that although her husband leaves home at 4am every morning and often only returns at 6pm, he doesn't regard this as a hardship. The multiple SA and UK Champion Jockey loves his horses and having had years of doing a lot of the heavy lifting himself, really appreciates Gold Circle's services like tending Summerveld's tracks and daily removal of bedding. It's a happy yard. I've got the feeling we'll be soon seeing another big horse from Roberts.

Basil Marcus, who ten years ago made an immediate impact as a trainer with a string of top race winners including the legendary Jay Peg, returned from his Singaporean adventure a few months back and is delighted to be home in Cape Town. He is adamant that he won't be training again, preferring for now to spend time with his two Rhodesian Ridgebacks. That they cost R170,000 to bring back home from Singapore gives some idea how close they are to this former ace jockey.

Basil remembers a radio interview we had four years back, which was part of a series to enlighten the public about the attraction of buying racehorses. A bit like his one time boss Herman Brown Snr, Basil says he will be quietly in the background helping his 20-something son Adam who is now the family's licensed trainer. He remains a class act. Despite ample opportunity, he refused to point any fingers or even discuss a Singaporean campaign that didn't work out the way everyone hoped. He is proud, though, at the way the horses he took there have performed - four of his former inmates are among Singapore's top 10.

Given Marcus's global brand value, obvious intellect and engaging personality, it would be a terrible waste for him to drift off into early retirement. His unique insights into the Far East (6 times Hong Kong Champion Jockey) could be invaluable for this country's efforts to participate in the potentially explosive growth of Chinese racing. Apart from adding star appeal, Marcus would in my view have plenty of good ideas for Peter Gibson's Racing South Africa team. He should be roped in. Like last week.

What will stay with me most about the evening, though, was the way these great rivals in the saddle have remained such fast friends. Apart from banter about the other's waistlines (both claim to be impressive 32cm), good-natured stories about times together speak to a long, deep friendship.

Extract from www.gracelandfarm.co.za

Hartford House
Home of good conversation, fine wine and classic horses.

For more information please visit :
www.hartford.co.za

HARTFORD HOUSE
"The home of good conversation, fine wine and classic horses"

What's life without a little luxury? And if you want to indulge, well, what's better than Hartford House?

Being close friends with Mick and Cheryl Goss has a lot of upside. My braaimaster skills and his red wine have produced some memorable Graceland evenings. Mick's got the sense to know that whatever his cullinary abilities they would pale next to the master chef Jackie Cameron who runs the kitchen at Hartford House. So his reciprocation is often an invite to a dinner at the only five star boutique hotel housed on a major stud farm. Especially when interesting guests grace our district with their presence.

Last week was one of those memorable evenings. Remgro's top duo Thys Visser (CEO) and Jannie Durand (CIO) were convinced to overnight at Hartford by their fellow Rainbow Chickens director Bill Lambert. Although I've known and admired Thys for years, this was the first time I'd met Bill Lambert, former Gold Circle chairman and, as you might expect, another infected with the horse disease. It's a pity, Bill is as articulate as he is charming - and judging by what Jannie Durand explained, deeply loyal too, a trait to admire.

Jannie, a Rhodes Scholar and former CEO of Venfin, was having his first visit to the Midlands. He promised to return soon. Hopefully Mr Visser will too. But I'm afraid despite Mick's best efforts - which included a personally guided tour and a close-up look at a covering - neither Thys nor Jannie opened their wallets to invest in our wonderful sport. Not yet, anyway.

The occasion was brightened by the inclusion of newcomers to the district, Cape Town asset manager William Meyer and his wife Claire. They've relocated to a farm called Balenso's that's directly opposite Summerhill and share their new home with a handful of warmbloods and even more dogs than Graceland's five. The other new faces for Jet and I were Midlands icons Guy and Di Smith - he the golf course developer of Prince's Grant and, more recently, Nottingham Road's spectacular Gowrie.

Guy is the elder brother of the Natal and SA wicketkeeper batsman "Titch", a man who has dedicated his life to serving God and does it by putting together projects that help hundreds of vulnerable people in rural KZN. Quite a family. Look forward to meeting Titch as well one day. Much that was said last evening will stay with me. Especially Guy's impassioned speech about breaking the commercial mould - chucking away return on investment calculations and, rather, to, instead, create the exceptional. He did that at Gowrie and has invited us to come see what's called "Guy's Folly" - a spectacular, massively over-capitalised home that dominates the development. Can't wait.

Read more from Alec Hogg's Blog :

www.gracelandfarm.co.za

Read more about Dinner at Hartford House...

LAND OF LEGENDS
"Legacy of the Zulu Kingdom"

The late David Rattray was mesmerizing company. From the Royal family of Britain, across the waves to Los Angeles in the west and to Hong Kong in the east, he was one of the world's most welcome dinner guests, and when Cheryl Goss embarked upon her life's work, Hartford House, one of the first things we did was to engage with our old mate on the idea of the formation of the Land Of Legends. That was 1996, and today we host a gathering of the "legends" for the first time in several years.

For those who are unacquainted with the concept, the idea behind the foundation of the Land Of Legends, was to breathe a new awareness of the offerings our region held for visitors to this country. In our hearts, we knew that this was the real Africa, that if you were visiting South Africa, and you wanted to feel its authenticity, its culture, its history and its traditions, you couldn't afford not to include KwaZulu-Natal in your itinerary. Too many travellers would "do" Cape Town and its environs, Kruger and the Eastern Transvaal, Victoria Falls and perhaps a bit of Botswana, but most of these events were packaged into relatively tight modules, and there was little or no contact with the customs, the language, the land, its indigenous architecture and its smells.

In those days, only 4% of our first-time international travellers to South Africa included KwaZulu-Natal on their itineraries, but such was the awareness created by the Land Of Legends, that today the figure is closer to 40%. This is a healthy turnaround, and comes about because the Land Of Legends is the only collection of top quality hospitality and tourism facilities in the world, which is bound by its common interest in culture, history and tradition, and its reverence for the environment.

Gathering at Hartford today are representatives of Phinda Game Reserve, The Oyster Box, The Beverley Hills, Fordoun Hotel and Spa, Rocktail Beach Camp, Hartford House and Fee Berning's celebrated Ardmore Ceramics. That's as august a collection as you'll find anywhere, and it's our privilege to have them on board, together with our recent Ingwazi awardees, the famous conservationist, Dr. Ian Player, and KZN Premier Dr. Zweli Mkhize, who are automatically welcome at any gathering of this clan, as patrons of the organisation.

www.landoflegends.co.za

Read more about KwaZulu-Natal and The Land of Legends...

EAT OUT DSTV FOOD NETWORK RESTAURANT AWARDS
Sunday 20th November 2011

Nominees for the Eat Out DStv Food Network Restaurant Awards have been announced and KZN has just one entry in the running...

Hartford House in the Mooi River area is among 20 nominees on the list from which the Restaurant of the Year, Chef of the Year, Service Excellence Award as well as the Top 10 Restaurants will be chosen.

The awards are judged by Eat Out Editor Abigail Donnelly. The criteria are stringent and assisting Donnelly in the compilation of the shortlist was Eat Out's national panel of over 30 professional restaurant reviewers as well as consumer reviews received on www.eatout.co.za.

Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in Cape Town on 20 November.

ECR's Anisa Ussuph caught up with Hartford House head chef, Jackie Cameron...

Jackie, what an honour! You must be over the moon...?!

It is always wonderful for my team and I to be acknowledged for the hard work we put in daily to maintain and continuously uplift standards.

Now, Cape Town is widely regarded as the culinary capital of SA as many of the award-winning restaurants are based there. It's fab to have Hartford House representing KZN. It's the only establishment to represent the east coast - why do you think that is?

I have been lucky enough to have eaten at and experienced many international kitchens over the years and have always brought back ideas of upliftment. A large percentage of our guests are international and they know a lot about food and wine and eat in the top restaurants on a daily/weekly basis. And so they expect nothing less when dinning at Hartford. The staff at Hartford is truly special and adds to the ambiance and entire experience. I know I would not be where I am today if it was not for the entire team. Every guest is treated like royalty and leaves a friend.

What makes Hartford House so special?

On the food side of things... it doesn't matter if you have a scone, sandwich or a five course dinner - all is an experience and foodie delight. As mentioned before, the staff are exceptional; professional without the pompousness. Hartford is truly a wonderful place in all aspects; from being situated on the stunning Summerhill Stud Farm to the warm Zulu hospitality, ambience, fine wine and food... all makes for a magnificent time.

Jackie, as the main chef at Hartford House, what do you think your "recipe" for success is...

Working extremely closely with my team, never shifting on standards, always uplifting and training myself and those around me and leading by example in every aspect of my life.

How do you define good food?

A meal cooked with love and presented with care which has been made with the best available in-season ingredients possible. A good meal can be my mother's roast chicken or a fine dining tasting menu - both have their place and are enjoyed just as much depending where one is.

And Jackie, we saved the strange question for the last: reality shows focusing on restaurants are all over the place. Is the real thing as frenetic and stressful behind-the-scenes as depicted on TV?

Indeed it can be. No one will, or could ever, understand the pressures or extremity of it all if never having worked in a restaurant. We try absolutely everything to ensure this is never the case at Hartford. I don't think any guest should pay their hard earned money on a meal that is not up to standard because a kitchen team is not well prepared. Not being organized and prepared is normally the reason for most of the kitchen stress that occurs. A good chef is a prepared chef and this is so true for everything in this high-paced industry where deadlines are hourly not weekly or monthly.

Read more about Jackie Cameron and the Hartford House Reastaurant...

"Cocktails & Canapés"

Join us for an evening of Cocktails & Canapés.
Learn to make fun, unusual and exciting cocktail combinations to impress friends this summer - prepared by Jason the cocktail magician from LIQUIDITY - purveyors of fine wine and spirits.

Contact us today
to make your reservation.

For more information please visit :
www.hartford.co.za

Read more about the Hartford House Cocktails & Canapes evening...