The Restory Retreat Centre

We are constantly on the lookout for easy and tasty recipes to serve during retreats. The criteria are strict but simple: it has to be comforting and wholesome and often need to meet dietary requirements such as being suitable for vegetarians or diabetics. This lovely dish ticks all the boxes and even meat lovers find nothing amiss. Sebastien takes a shortcut with the lentils that works like a charm: he doesn't cook the lentils beforehand as the original recipe advises, but he pours boiling water over the lentils and let them soak while he prepares the aubergine slices. By the time the dish is assembled, he merely drains the lentils and add them to the pot. They have a lovely texture that way. Serve this moussaka simply piping hot with a crisp salad on the side. And if possible safe some for the next day. It tastes even better then. Picture by Matilda Angus Ingredients: 400g Aubergine (sliced thinly in rounds) 50ml olive oil salt and black pepper 1 red onio...

Photo by Matilda Angus It must be more than a year already that we are following a food combination diet. Which simply put, means separating proteins and starches in meals and not having fruit with or soon after meals. This was brought on to see if it would help with George's low blood sugar problems and I knew from before that it helps me loose weight rather quickly and easily.  It did. George never comes in from the workshop anymore ready to devour the entire contents of the fridge, and I lost quite a few kg which made me feel great on our wedding day. Generally we feel much healthier and more energetic and we are now used to picking dishes carefully.  But George still was plagued by a spastic colon and we decided to take it one step further and eliminate all gluten. This is proving to be quite a challenge for me, and add to that our aiming to keep the GI count low on everything we eat, I often get anxious just thinking of what to serve at meal times.  ...

Aaah, tea and guilt-free rusks! Photo by Matilda Angus Years ago I tried to go the gluten-free route with children prone to food allergies. It was very difficult. Especially to provide the kind of comfort food they were accustomed to. Simple things, like a buttermilk rusk with early morning coffee, were near impossible to accomplish. My attempts were met with frank honesty. "I think I'll rather go without rusks, Mom. These taste like wood chips," my daughter said. But with the healthy food revolution, a lot has changed, and I am grateful every time I open a packet of gluten-free flour mix that will produce pancakes or muffins that can hardly be distinguished from their wheat counterparts. With that said, the perfect buttermilk rusk has still been eluding me, though I have tried and tested many recipes. Yesterday, I was at it again. And this morning, when I dunked the oven-dried rusk into my tea I felt a little like Eliza Doolittle in My fair Lady must have when ...

Gluten-free pumpkin and coconut fritters with homemade fig preserve. Photo by Matilda Angus Trying to follow a gluten-free diet is not easy. Mainly because we are so used to having staples like bread and pasta, and not to mention snacks like cookies, rusks and muffins! As any serious dieter will tell you, the secret to sticking to the regime is to avoid feeling deprived. The fact that problems with blood sugar levels and colon are a thing of the past, makes up for a lot of what have to be sacrificed, but yet, by now I know the look in George's face that says "I will swim the mighty Apies river for a brownie or a slice of lemon meringue pie." We are lucky. The gluten-free revolution have brought along huge advances and variety in products that are easy to use, if rather expensive. For a special treat (or an emergency), I keep a packet of gluten-free cake flour in the pantry. Today I tried my hand at pumpkin fritters which is a very traditional South African co...

While Eylene was living in Nieu Zealand, we stayed in contact through the internet and many long phone calls. The distance between us being literally halfway around the globe felt immense and I often had an incredible longing to be able to just give her a hug.        What gave unexpected comfort, was sharing recipes. We both enjoy cooking and baking and she would often ask for a family recipe to counter the attacks of loneliness. There's nothing as soothing as the familiar fragrance of a leg of lamb with rosemary and garlic roasting in your foreign kitchen, she would say.        She sent me this recipe of a Chocolate mud cake. It is totally decadent and incredibly rich, so it goes a long way in small portions, but if you need a little extra loving care from yourself, this is it.          I baked it recently for my friend Ralie's birthday tea. I decorated it with fresh jasmine blossoms and tiny violets from my garde...