aKING

aKING is one of my favourite South African bands. Correction, one of my favourite bands fullstop.
Their music is just awesome, and they class it as "Melodic Rock". Whatever that means. They've got three albums released:

Dutch Courage (2008)
Against All Odds (2009)
The Red Blooded Years (2011)

I've been listening to The Red Blooded Years a lot lately. Its nice, they've added an instrumental track and generally softened their sound a little, which I like. I've heard some people say "Oh ya but now they've just become too commercial, they're just trying to sell more albums." Blah blah blah. Shut the fuck up. aKING is a real band with a good true sound, definitely producing some seriously good music. I have no patience for people who can't see that.

Anywayyyyyyyyy, exciting news is that they are PERFORMING LIVE THIS SATURDAY (4TH JUNE) at The Assembly in Harrington Street. Its supposed to be the video launch of the Catch Alight video (great track, by the way), but lets get real, we go for the music regardless of whether there is a video launch or not. So get suited and booted bitches.

Check out this link to have a look at the event. I would highly recommend buying tickets beforehand. See you Saturday.

Oh, and P.S. the band name is said like this: uh-king, not ayyyy-king like everyone thinks. Just think of it like you're about to sneeze, but then instead of sneezing you say KING. As in aKING. Get it right. Please, for your dignity's sake.

dK

Carrot, apple and pecan muffins

This recipe comes out of the Ottolenghi cookbook. It is one of my favourite cookbooks. The food photography in there is absolutely incredible, and the food is unmatched in flavour, presentation and appeal. A more in-depth article about the book should follow sometime.

Time (approx): 15 minutes prep

                           10 minutes making

                           25-40 minutes baking

                           15-20 minutes cooling

Total : About 1hour 15minutes from when you decide "Hmm, I feel like a muffin" until it is being devoured by your ravenous face.

Ingredients (makes 12 muffins)

For the topping: 50g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

                             75g plain flour

                             25g light muscavado (brown) sugar

                             50g oats

                             15g sunflower seeds

                             25g pumpkin seeds

                             15g black sesame seeds

                             1 tsp water

                             1 tsp sunflower oil

                             1½ tbsp honey

For the muffins: 300g plain flour

                             2 tsp baking powder

                             2 tsp ground cinnamon

                             a pinch of fine salt

                             4 free-range eggs

                             160ml sunflower oil

                             230g castor sugar

                             2 tsp vanilla extract/essence

                             200g Granny Smith apples, peeled and grated (about 2 apples)

                             220g peeled, grated carrot (about 5 medium sized carrots)

                             100g pecan nuts, roughly chopped

                             100g sultanas

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a muffin tray with paper muffin cases.

• Start by making the topping: rub the butter, flour and sugar together with your fingers until you have a crumbly texture. Mix in the oats and seeds, then the water, oil, and honey until all incorporated. You should end up with a wet, sandy texture. Set aside.

• Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla essence, carrot and apple. Gently fold in the pecans and almonds, then the sifted flour mixture. DO NOT OVER MIX. It is fine if the batter is lumpy and irregular (it gives the muffins their characteristic light and short texture). Carefully spoon the batter into the muffin cases. Evenly sprinkle the topping over the muffins.
• Put the muffin tray in the oven, and turn the temperature down to 170°C.
• Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. It could take up to 40 minutes, depending on how reliable your oven is.

Remove the muffins from the tins when they are just warm, and allow to cool before serving. The flavour will actually improve after a few hours.

These muffins rock. They taste good, they're (kind of) good for you, and they're best with a cup of tea on the couch while the rain thrashes the window outside. Or any other time, for that matter.

dK

Weekend food

A couple of items on the menu this weekend were:

Carrot, apple and pecan muffins with crumble topping

Pancakes with crème pâtissière au chocolat

Chicken mayo sandwiches with Brewers &Union Dark Lager

Scrambled eggs with chilli, coriander and spinach

Pictures accompany, recipes shall follow.

And so it begins...

Alright! Up and running! Welcome to my blog!


This first post has no purpose other than to be my first post. So, the blog will be about:


Food
Photography
Coffee
Chocolate
Bread
And probably life in general
And sex (which kind of encompasses everything above. If you can get creative enough)


Enjoy it!


dK