Author: heinstirred

Chicken Marbella with La Motte Syrah

I do love a traybake.  So much so I published an 18 recipe ebook back in 2021 dedicated to traybakes  and I wish this Chicken Marbella recipe was in it. Chicken Marbella is an iconic dish from The Silver Palate…

Honey Caramelised Roasted Pears

Pears don’t get nearly enough attention and with these Honey Caramel Roasted Pears served with brown sugar labneh and crushed ginger biscuits, I want to give pears their delicious moment. Roasting is a brilliant way of using fruit that is…

No-Bake Date Bars with Pecan and Tahini

I came across these No-Bake Date Bars with Pecans and Tahini on Instagram a while back and if you’re looking for something sweet without being overloaded with refined sugar, this recipe is a keeper. Layers of sticky Medjool dates, toasted…

Oven Baked Polenta with Mushrooms and Crispy Chorizo with La Motte Cabernet Sauvignon

Cozy, comforting and so satisfying this Oven Baked Polenta with Mushrooms and Crispy Chorizo manages to achieve all of that with minimal fuss. And if time is of the essence, cooking the polenta in the oven takes away the faff…

Warm Root Vegetable Salad with La Motte Cabernet Sauvignon

This moreish Warm Root Vegetable Salad features baby carrots, beetroot and red onions roasted (or thrown on the barbecue) until deeply caramelised, then piled onto a creamy tahini yoghurt dressing. Finished off with crispy spiced chickpeas for some crunch and…

A Baked Apple Sponge Pudding using store bought cake mix

Sometimes you need to take advantage of all the convenience out there and this Box Cake Apple Sponge Pudding is a perfect marriage of a premade cake mix and a tin of pie apple slices. Granted, it’s not much of…

Mini Egg Easter Bark with toffee, chocolate and mini eggs

This recipe for Mini Egg Crack is somewhere between chocolate bark meets millionaire shortbread meets Easter. But as complicated as that may sound it is made with a lot less faff. Seems like Christmas Crack was a thing in 2025…

Namoura – Easy Lebanese Semolina Cake

Basbousa is a sweet semolina dessert popular throughout the Middle East and North Africa. A dessert synonymous with Ramadan, it’s a baked semolina batter sweetened with a sugar syrup and usually cut into diamond or square shapes. My recipe for…

Bar La Vina Basque Cheesecake

Created in the early 1990’s by Santiago Rivera in his pintxos bar La Viña, the Burnt Basque Cheesecake became a global dessert icon. Much like Italy’s tiramisu, the Burnt Basque Cheesecake is a beautiful reminder of how a single dish…

La Motte Wine Estate

One of the highlights of my trip back home to Cape Town was a leisurely day spent at La Motte Wine Estate situated in the beautiful Franschhoek Valley. Just over an hour’s drive from Cape Town, the farm has been…

Viral Japanese yogurt cheesecake

The 2 Ingredient Japanese Yogurt Cheesecake is all over social media at the moment, originating from Japan. And for someone who has a sweet tooth it was really hard to resist making it and to see what the fuss is…

Braised Leeks

2026 is here, which means it’s time to reveal the Most Popular Recipes of 2025! This year’s list features 8 recipes making their first appearance, alongside rediscovered favourites getting renewed attention and 3 brand new recipes published during the year…

Chicken cooked in a creamy sauce with sun dried tomato pesto. Most popular recipe on New York Times Cooking in 2023 and it is said that this chicken dinner is so good that if you make it for your partner, a marriage proposal will be next

This is my version of the famous Marry Me Chicken recipe where legend has it that it tastes so good that you can expect a marriage proposal from the person you are serving it to. Apparently Emily Blunt made it…

Mince Pie Slices

These Mince Pie Slices will give you everything you love about traditional mince pies. They are buttery, crumbly, gooey, rich, fruity and a bit boozy but without the faff of making traditional mince pies. Christmas decadence in every bite. If…

Festive Gin and Tonic

Let’s be honest, the drinks are a big part of the fun of festive entertaining. And for some inspiration, here are my 8 Festive Drinks to Celebrate the Season. From ice cold and fruity to a dreamy cocktail that’s pretty…

Smoked Mackeral Pate made with yoghurt, horseradish and parsley

I first had Mary’s Mackerel Pate at a fabulous lunch she served at her home in Cork, Ireland last year and was pretty chuffed when she shared her recipe with me. The Mackerel Pate is simple, elegant and perfect for…

Date and Walnut Meringue Cake

This fabulous recipe for a Date and Walnut Meringue Cake popped up on Instagram a while back and it looked so good I immediately had to bake it. The recipe is super simple and bonus that it is gluten free…

Oven Baked Rice with a Pizza style topping of melted mozarella cheese, pepperoni, basil and burrata

Transform your leftover rice into this delicious Oven Baked Pizza Rice that delivers all your favourite pizza flavours. Loaded up on all those veggies left in the fridge it is a simple one pan recipe that is the perfect weeknight…

Papdi Chaat is a popular Indian chaat snack made with crisp fried puris, sweet sour and spicy chutneys, yogurt, sev and pomegranate seeds

Whenever I invite my pottery bestie Parneet for lunch or dinner she will always ask what she can make and bring. And Parneet’s Papri Chaat is always my answer, no matter what else I may be cooking. Papri Chaat or…

Yogurt Pizza Dough

When you need pizza fast, this yoghurt pizza dough will deliver time and time again. It is made with four ingredients you already have in your kitchen: self raising flour, Greek yoghurt, salt, and a drizzle of olive oil.  Making…

SweetMango 18 Edit

Product Photography and Styling Workshop Saturday 23 August 2025 |  Cape Town I am pleased to confirm that I will be hosting a new Product Photography and Styling Workshop in collaboration with the exceptional Kalinka Lombard. Kalinka is an accomplished…

Butternut Rosti

This Butternut Rosti recipe shows there’s more to this vegetable than the usual roasting or making soup. Not that there is anything wrong with those, they are certainly delicious. But sometimes you want to try something new with an ingredient…

Vegan Chocolate Pots

These Vegan Chocolate Pots, have become one of our go to desserts whenever there is a celebratory meal or we have people over. And you only need three ingredients : soft Medjool dates, coconut cream, and bitter dark chocolate. Sprinkled…

DrunkenStrawberriesA

Wimbledon is all about strawberries and cream (and tennis). Even The Cavendish, the restaurant situated at court no 1 describe strawberries as the true icons of The Championship. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the start of…

LemonOreganoChickenC

This delicious mid week winning Lemon Oregano Chicken is inspired by a recipe from Diana Henry’s brilliant book – A Bird in the Hand. It really is the perfect mid week meal. Meaty chicken thighs, a red onion cut into…

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Does the world need another Malva Pudding recipe?   I am going to answer yes because this Masala Chai Malva Pudding is delicious and even though quite a bit different, it is still very much a South African dessert. Replacing…

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Looking for the ultimate summer drink? This Summer Spiked Watermelon Aguas Frescas is the most refreshing blend of juicy watermelon and a splash of tequila, making it summer’s go to drink for those long hot days, alfresco lunches and beach…

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The concept for these Salmon Sushi Cups seems to have originated on TikTok about 2 years ago and they combine all those favourite, classic ingredients of sushi in a bite sized form that makes for a delicious snack on the…

South African Buttermilk Rusks

If there is one recipe that could sum up my childhood it is My Mom’s Buttermilk Rusks. Growing up there were always two large cake tins filled with buttermilk rusks, my mother somehow managing to keep them full even with…

Mini Egg Crunch Bars

These decadent Mini Egg Crunch Bars combine a buttery biscuit base, caramelised cornflake crunch, rich dark chocolate, and a crunchy topping of mini eggs and pistachios. The inspiration comes from the Easiest Five Step Chocolate and Nut Bars, a recipe…

Chocolate Truffles inspired by the famous Dubai Chocolate

Get ready to melt, mix, roll, and dip your way to chocolate decadence with these Dubai Chocolate Truffles. My Dubai Chocolate Truffles are inspired by the now globally famous Dubai Chocolate that was created by Fix Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai…

Spiced Orange Almond Cake

This fabulous Orange Almond Cake with Olive Oil and a Spiced Syrup is an updated variation of the popular recipe for Tokara’s Orange Polenta Cake I posted a few years back. For the new recipe I still pureed two whole…

No Knead Focaccia

This No Knead Focaccia has become my go to party dish, it’s the least faff yeasted bread you can bake and if you are new to bread baking this is pretty much the perfect way to get started. The only…

Beetroot and Lentil Salad

This Beetroot, Fig and Lentil Salad is a summery and colourful salad that’s ready in a flash. Earthy beetroot and lentils, sweet figs with its crunchy seeds, slightly bitter grapefruit, salty feta, sharp red onions and herby za’atar makes for…

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As we welcome the new year, it’s time for one of my favourite traditions: recapping the Most Popular Recipes of 2024! This list features a  mix of recipes that has become classics, with views each day from across the world…

Smoked Negroni

Ring in the New Year with a cocktail that’s as sophisticated as the occasion. This Rosemary Smoked Negroni combines the timeless charm of the classic Negroni with a smoky herbal twist, adding just the right amount of glam to your…

FestiveMessC

This fabulously easy Christmas Eton Mess is meant to remove some stress from entertaining this holiday season by giving one of the most famous English desserts a quick festive make over. And all you need is 5 ingredients. All the…

Frozen Mimosa Festive Cocktail

This Holiday Mimosa is one of those super simple recipes that impresses everyone each and every time. So add it to your bag of tricks this coming festive season. All you need to do is simply pour the orange juice…

LimoncelloTrifleB

A beautiful trifle and the festive season seem to go hand in hand and my Lemon Curd Trifle with Raspberries and Limoncello is a delicious update to the traditional sponge, custard, fruit, jelly and whipped cream version. For this version…

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Festive and decadently indulgent, this Amarula Latte is more than just a coffee, it’s also a dessert in a glass, perfect for celebrating special moments this festive season or treating yourself to a little luxury. A golden layer of salted…

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This is our celebration food. We make this Beetroot Cured Salmon every Christmas, most birthdays and special occasions. It is the most beautiful dish, the beetroot staining the pinky orange of salmon with ruby red. It looks spectacular, tastes delicious…

Frozen Limocello Spritz

The festive holiday season is around the corner, matric exams are almost done and this Frozen Limoncello Spritz is the first of a number of festive recipes I will post in the next few weeks. Loosely based on the fabulous…

SimpleSaladsZucchini 2

I think it is safe to say that courgettes (zucchini, baby marrows) are my favourite vegetable and this recipe for Charred Courgettes with Gremolata is the 17th recipe on Heinstirred where they are the star of the show. And this…

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These Parmesan Za’atar Swirls with Hot Honey is a an updated version of Za’atar Rolls I posted back in 2017. This version is made with puff pastry rather than a yeasted dough and has 2024’s trendiest condiment, hot honey to…

ButternutFetaTartB

One of my earliest blog posts featured a recipe for Roasted Butternut Soup, marking the beginning of butternut’s presence on my blog as a star vegetable ingredient and it is no different with this Butternut Feta Tart. The tart looks…

CitrusBurrataA

Craving something fresh, vibrant and tasty? This Burrata and Citrus salad is served with a zippy dressing based on the Vietnamese dipping sauce called Nuoc Mam Cham. It is a delicious Vietnamese staple sauce that brings a balance of sweet…

LemonPossetBA

I’ve made these Lemon Possets with Vanilla Poached Strawberries twice in the last 3 weeks, each time to rave reviews so I just have to share the recipe. It is such a delicious dessert with a smooth, silky soft set…

Easiest Sausage Lasagna

Everybody loves lasagna but truth be told it is a bit of a faff even if that faffing is invariably worth it in the end. But this recipe for the Easiest Sausage Lasagna eliminates most of the faff and the…

Butter Miso Chicken

This recipe for Miso and Gochujang Butter Roast Chicken comes from Lara Lee’s book, A Splash of Soy. The book is a great selection of recipes that pays homage to her Asian Australian heritage and this roast chicken was the…

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My round up of 8 Irresistible Peppermint Crisp Recipes You Need to Try is just in time to celebrate Heritage Day in South Africa.   The 8 Peppermint Crisp recipes have all appeared on heinstirred over the last 10 years…

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