Ashleigh Levin - Home Cooked & Heart Warming

Ashleigh Levin knows exactly how to appeal to a younger generation of cooks who want to impress their loved ones and friends with delicious meals that dont require any formal culinary training. At the same time, more mature cooks will find a wealth of ideas to inspire even the most jaded of palates. Ashleighs own love affair with food started in her grandmothers kitchen when she was about the same height as the kitchen table. As she says of one occasion, In that second of pancake-fuelled ecstasy, I saw for the very first time the utter perfection of food and its ability to bring people you love together

With her conversational writing style, Ashleigh takes you on a journey thats filled with memories, delicious flavours, lots of butter and the freedom to make your own tweaks, to ensure the recipes work for you, and never forgetting a relaxing glass of wine to accompany it all.

I am enormously grateful to the brilliant and kind people at Penguin Random House South Africa, to Linda, Cecilia and Bev, for believing this would all work out and for all your hard work. To Sarah, I dont think you quite understand the consequences of your kindness. Henk, Lisa and the dream team, your work and attention to detail have been flawless. Thank you. My everlasting gratitude to the talented Jessica Farley, your contribution has been immeasurable. My parents, Mandie and Graham; brothers Ryan and Dean; my darling Oumie, whose care and guidance mean the world to me; and to all the Barkhuizens; you are the best family in the world. The Levins, who have welcomed me into their fold as one of their own, I love you. Rob and Mike from Hurleyvale Meat, nothing compares. Thank you to Robsie and my Investec family for the encouragement and love. The melting pot of happy humans who spend their time at my table lovingly inspiring me to be the cook, friend and mother that I am. Ash, Chessie, Kirsty, Olivia, Krystyna, Kate, Misha, Didi, Lee, Stef, Sam, Debbie, Debs, Ali, Bron, Shiri and all of their husbands and children. My children Spencer and Sophie, you have taught me more about myself than anything or anyone else, your loving hearts bring me infinite joy. My dearest beloved Grant, thank you for your unwavering patience, extraordinarily kind heart and being simply the best father and husband, I can hardly believe you chose me. This ones for you.

Published in 2018 by Struik Lifestyle, an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Company Reg. No. 1953/000441/07

The Estuaries, 4 Oxbow Crescent, Century Avenue, Century City 7441, Cape Town, South Africa

PO Box 1144, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa

www.penguinrandomhouse.co.za

Copyright in published edition: Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd 2018

Copyright in text: Ashleigh Levin 2018

Copyright in photographs: Ashleigh Levin 2018

Copyright in cover illustration: Adehoidar/iStockphoto.com 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers and the copyright holders.

ISBN 978-143230-878-0

PUBLISHER: Linda de Villiers

DESIGNER: Beverley Dodd

EDITOR: Cecilia Barfield

PROOFREADER AND INDEXER: Bronwen Maynier

PHOTOGRAPHER: Henk Hattingh

PHOTOGRAPHERS ASSISTANTS: Lee-Ann Olwage and Susan Opperman

STYLIST: Lisa Clark

STYLISTS ASSISTANT: Andrea Baines

I like large parties. Theyre so intimate. There is no privacy at small parties.

My love for cooking began one evening in my Oumies kitchen when I was about five years old. Well after my bedtime, the two of us were still wide awake, whipping up a batch of pancakes for a naughty late-night snack. I was in charge of sifting and, wearing her vintage wedding gown and every single piece of jewellery she owned, covered head to foot in a light dusting of flour and laughing fit to burst, I was taking the job incredibly seriously. I was so happy, and somewhere between cracking the eggs and ladling out the batter, I had a moment of clarity (the kind that decreases and diminishes as you grow up) when I realised I was exactly where I was supposed to be. In that second of pancake-fuelled ecstasy, I saw the utter perfection of food and its ability to bring people you love together, to show them you hear them, you see them and you understand them. Thus began years of eating, laughing, delighting and recipe writing.

This book is a sort of love letter to that evening with Oumie, and a nod to every sweet moment since with friends and family around dinner tables and on picnic blankets. In writing all those memories into recipes, I have (hopefully) designed an all-in-one roadmap for you to create your own beautiful moments, extracting maximum enjoyment with minimal effort when youre tasked with cooking for friends and family.

Many of the recipes here have evolved over years of practice, until they reached my personal pinnacle of perfection. However, it should be noted that I am not a chef and have no formal training; I learned to cook in my grandmothers kitchen and come from a long line of taste-and-see caterers. We dont do pretty food, we do hearty food. To me, cooking is a process of feeling, and understanding how ingredients dance together. A pinch here, a sprinkle there, the occasional disaster and voil , a recipe is born ... so when using my recipes all you need is a love of eating and a bit of confidence to cook fabulous meals. Remember, the people you are cooking for dont know what the recipe said, they havent seen the picture in the book, and as long as its seasoned with love (and a few extra knobs of butter), almost anything is edible.

So, as you begin this journey with me I ask you to be brave. My recipes are perfect for me, my friends and my family, but if your heart and hands tell you to add a little something extra or to go rogue on a flavour or spice, do it. Let that energy and joy for food inform the way you cook, make it your own and, above all else, share those meals with others the good and the less good. Splash in a little extra cream, double the amounts, leave something out that you dont like and see if it works. If disaster strikes, fill your guests glasses up to the brim and let the wine dull their palates before the main meal is served.

And, so, onwards ...

ASHLEIGH LEVIN

I hate people leaving the table hungry and am notorious for over-catering. However, family tradition dictates that any extras are taken to my brothers home, where they are quickly vacuumed up to feed his never-ending appetite; so nothing goes to waste. Most of the recipe quantities indicated in this book feed six to eight people, but I have made a note on the recipes where this differs.

I implore you to use real butter in my recipes. If you substitute beautiful butter for low-fat synthetic alternatives or, give me strength, margarine, the food gods will punish you with flat souffls and overcooked meat for the rest of your days.

I love butter. Whenever butter is listed as an ingredient, assume that I mean salted butter unless unsalted is indicated. The difference is minimal and, to be honest, salted butter has a longer shelf life.