Melissa introduced me to a food magazine from South Africa - Taste Magazine. The pictures make you salivate and make me create massive grocery shopping lists. Saturday I deep fried "Crispy Avocados". No health benefits whatsoever. The Crispy avocado recipe earned the "alright, but not amazing" grade. The lime juice is really what made it taste passable. I don't think it is worth trying again.

Sunday's meal, however, was a work of culinary art. At least, that's what my friends tell me. Steak Bearnaise with Sweet-Potato Straws...except I couldn't find sweet potatoes, so I skipped making sweet potato fries. The beef part and Bearnaise sauce is as follows:

Beef
1 3/4 lb Beef fillet
garden herb rub (rosemary, celery salt, parsley, garlic, salt & fresh ground black pepper)
Olive oil
Red Wine (or red wine vinegar in my case)

Cooking instructions: Marinate. Grill or, if a grill cannot be found, broil or fry to preference. Remember the meat will continue cooking for a bit after you remove it from heat, which will need to be done before making the Bearnaise Sauce.

Bearnaise Sauce
Olive oil
2T white-wine vinegar
2T white wine
1T Chives (I used shallots since that's what I had)
2T chopped parsley
3 egg yokes (I used 4)
melted butter

Cooking instructions: Bring the vinegar, wine, chives and 1/2 the parsley to a simmer in a small sauce pan. Whisk the egg yokes and then add to the simmering mixture. Continually whisk the sauce until it is thick. Add the melted butter in steady stream, always mixing. Finally add the remaining parsley. This sauce should be prepared just before serving the food. It is similar to a hollandaise sauce - it can't be overdone or it will get lumpy.

Tupo, who functioned as preparatory kitchen elf, assembled a salad out of cucumbers, vinegar salt and fresh ground black pepper. I threw together the other two sides, coconut rice and lentil-like beans in a shallot-sherry sauce.

Everything was scrumptious. You can tell, because everyone had the right type of tummy ache at the end of the meal and the meat was almost gone.