Tarts, kittens and neat whiskey

Well, my reclusive period lasted till Sunday afternoon, I fought against the masses but they won. It began at an 'all you can eat' chinese buffet, for the princely sum of R69. Now chinese buffets at the best of times are scary, this one was positively overwhelming. Five heaving tables of glutenous, gelatinous food, I played it safe and stuck to cabbage, bean curd salad and seaweed salad; all these vegetarian delights were positioned dangerously close to the boiled pigs ears which Jack described as "cartilage is miff". And this is where the trouble began, with Jack, Lisa, Rob (whose birthday celebrations brought us together) and my new friend Skippy the lippy Australian who claims he managed Soho House in London. I do believe him but it's a miracle they retained any clientele with Skippy about. (This is payback time, Skippy).

Following our chinese extravaganza we went for a few lazy Sunday afternoon drinks where upon we decided to cook dinner at Lisa and Rob's house. So Jack and company gathered what they could find on a Sunday night at 6pm and off we went to Lisa and Rob's. What a magnificent house and a view of Joburg on top of a mountain to kill for. As we arrive, Lisa says she has a surprise for me. I knew immediately that her cat had just had kittens. On her bed. Four of them. Tiny little things, suckling as mum lay exhausted on a gory mess of sheets. If anyone wants one, please let me know, they are just beautiful.

And so the preparation of dinner began. It was epic and I had nothing to do with this meal. I worked on my laptop at the kitchen table, Jack and Lisa cooked, Rob played some awesome tunes and Skippy played guitar loudly over my favourite songs.

What was scraped together for this impromptu best Sunday night for a long time was: Goats cheese and onion tarts, mascarpone cheese, parmesan, tomato and basil tarts, roasted nectarine salad and a courgette salad, all nimbly prepared by the hands of Jack. We had dessert too, banana and caramel crepes, made by Skippy.

The meal embodied what L'Oeuf is all about. Making something out of nothing, discussing work, music and life over a kitchen table and a tiny stove. Thank you all for a wonderful, wonderful evening.

Jack has made these tomato tarts before at an equally fun weekend away. They are so easy to prepare and a killer party piece. Serve with a simple salad and it is the perfect snack to enjoy with sundowners or any time for that matter. In this case at 9pm on a Sunday night with neat whiskey.

Jack's Tomato Tarts (Serves 6)

INGREDIENTS

6 tomatoes
2 sheets of puff pastry
marscarpone cheese
parmesan cheese
Basil
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees

Blanch your tomatoes in boiling water and then plunge them into ice water after 5 minutes. Peel them, cut them in half, spoon the seeds out and then quarter them. Put these to one side.

Roll out the puff pastry to 3mm thickness and place the puff pastry on a greased baking sheet.

Brush the edges of the puff pastry circles with beaten egg. Press the edges with a fork.

Place the pastry in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes or until pastry is golden and fluffy.

Remove the pastry from the oven once cooked and gently spread over the marscapone cheese.

Arrange your tomatoes on top of the mascarpone and sprinkle parmesan, salt and pepper over the tomatoes.

Switch your grill on and place the pastry under it.

Watch the tart and remove just as the parmesan begins to sizzle.

Remove from oven, tear up basil and sprinkle over the tart.

Cut into pieces, dig in and get dirty.