Text Illanique Van Aswegen. Photograpghs Adel Ferreira.

Source: This article is taken from the July 2011 issue of Food & Home

It’s the month to go mad for this delicately earthy Boland bloom – the waterblommetjie.

To compliment this dinner, a good wine would be the newly released Durbanville Hills Merlot Rosé, robust enough for the game but not too heavy to overpower the delicate waterblommetjies, and with a hint of sweetness for the tart gooseberries.

Waterblommetjie and squash soup with garlic and parsley toast

Serves 4 – Easy 1 hour

Soup

• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 600g fresh waterblommetjies
• 4 gem squash, halved
• 125ml (1/2 cup) fresh cream
• 125ml (1/2 cup) good-quality vegetable stock, warm
• 45ml (3 tbsp) butter
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Toast

• 1 garlic clove
• finely chopped 10ml (2 tsp) fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 30ml (2 tbsp) Pecorino, finely grated
• 8 slices baguette

1. For the soup, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the lemon juice and gently boil the waterblommetjies until tender. This will take between 20 and 40 minutes, depending on size and toughness.
2. In a separate pot, cook the squash in boiling water for 15 – 20 minutes.
3. In a saucepan, gently heat the cream until hot, but not boiling. Scoop out the flesh of the squash and blend it with the cream and stock until smooth.
4. In a pan, lightly fry the cooked waterblommetjies in the butter and garlic. Season and chop into bite-sized chunks. Combine the pureed squash and waterblommetjies in a dish and keep warm until required.
5. Preheat the oven grill.
6. For the toast, combine the garlic, parsley and Pecorino and spread on the bread. Grill until golden and bubbly and serve with the soup.

Braised springbok shanks with pumpkin fritters

Serves 4 Easy  9 hours

• 5ml (3 tbsp) vegetable oil
• 4 springbok shanks
• 2 onions, quartered
• 3 celery sticks, chopped
• 1 litre white wine
• 1 litre good-quality beef stock
• 125ml (1/2 cup) verjuice or moskonfyt
• 4 bay leaves
• 15ml (1 tbsp) ground cardamom seedless grapes, halved, to serve

Fritters

• 500ml (2 cups) pumpkin, cooked and mashed 60g (1/2 cup) cake flour salt, to taste
• 5ml (1 tsp) ground cinnamon
• 10ml (2 tsp) baking powder
• 30ml (2 tbsp) sugar
• 2 large eggs
• oil for frying

1. Heat the oil in a deep, heavy-based pot and lightly brown the shanks on all sides. Stir in the onions, celery, wine, stock, verjuice, bay leaves and cardamom. Simmer until the meat is tender and falling off the bone, for about 8 hours. (Game is very tough and needs a lot of time and patience before it is tender and soft.)
2. For the fritters, blend the pumpkin, flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and sugar in a food processor and mix well. Add the eggs and mix until a thick batter is formed – it should almost hold its shape.
3. Heat a little oil in a greased, non-stick pan and drop in heaped tablespoons of the batter. Fry until firm and golden before flipping the fritters over to cook on the other side. They are ready when springy to the touch and no batter pushes out of the sides.
4. Serve the springbok hot, sprinkled with the grapes and with the fritters on the side.

Gooseberry fool

Serves 8 Easy 30 mins

• 450g fresh gooseberries
• 160g castor sugar
• 600ml fresh cream

1. Place the gooseberries in a pan with the sugar and add a few tablespoons of water. Bring to the boil and cook until the fruit has burst, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, cool and then chill in the fridge.
2. Whip the cream until soft peaks form, then gently fold in the gooseberries.
3. Serve chilled with shortbread or other biscuits.