Every day is a food holiday, and we celebrate some special dish, beverage, or ingredient. But May 11 is special because today you can eat whatever you want. It's National Eat What You Want Day!
Hot dogs, greasy hamburgers, French fries, cake, cookies, candy, and ice cream are just a few of the things you can enjoy today without remorse. Decadent food is definitely on the menu today.
Below are a few recipes you can whip up to celebrate this day.
Spicy hot dog with sweet onions
Ingredients
3 large onions, sliced in rings
Sunflower or olive oil
Salt, pepper, and sugar to taste
Dash of vinegar
1 x 410 g Rhodes tomato and onion mix
2 cloves garlic, crushed
10 ml chilli flakes
2 ml ground cumin
15 ml ground paprika few dashes of Tabasco sauce
1 x 300g can Bull Brand corned meat
Seasoned cake flour
4 fresh hot dog rolls
Method
Fry the onions in a little oil until soft, season with salt and pepper to taste, and stir in a generous spoon or two of sugar and vinegar. Continue to fry on a medium heat until lightly caramelised, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.
Then place the tomato and onion mix in a saucepan together with garlic, chilli flakes, cumin, and paprika and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer without a lid until reduced and thick. Taste the sauce and season with Tabasco and more salt, pepper, and sugar as required. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside.
Cut the Bull Brand Corned Meat into thick strips and dip each in cake flour. Fry in a little hot oil until lightly browned on both sides.
To assemble, cut a slit into the top of each roll. Spoon in a generous portion of sauce, add a few strips of the meat on top of the sauce, and finish with the onions. Garnish with rocket, if using, and serve.
3-ingredient Oreo ice cream
Ingredients
1 packet Oreo biscuits roughly crushed
500ml fresh cream
½ tin condensed milk
Method
Whip cream until fluffy and not stiff.
Fold in half a tin of condensed milk.
Then add 1 packet of crushed Oreo biscuits.
Put the mixture in a suitable container for freezing.
Freeze for at least 6 hours.
Best carrot cake
Ingredients
250g all-purpose flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon powder
200g light brown sugar
¼ cup honey
½ cup walnuts, chopped
4 large eggs (at room temperature)
400g carrots, peeled and finely grated.
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 tsp ginger powder
Sugar syrup (recipe below)
Cream cheese frosting (recipe below)
Whole walnuts and carrot fondants for decorating (optional)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line the bottom of two 16 cm cake tins with baking paper circles and spray the sides lightly with oil or brush with melted butter. Sift the flour, cinnamon powder, ginger powder, baking powder, and bicarb into a large bowl and make a well in the middle.
In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar, oil, honey, and eggs, then add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix until smooth and well combined. Stir in the finely grated carrots and chopped walnuts.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake tins, and bake for 60 minutes, rotating the cake tins after 30 minutes. Stick a skewer into the middle, and if it comes out clean, the cakes are done. Remove them from the oven and let them cool before taking them out of the tins.
Make the sugar syrup and the cream cheese frosting. When the cakes have cooled, trim the top of each cake with a serrated knife so it is flat. Slice both cakes in half horizontally so you have four rounds.
Place the first round on a plate or a rotating cake stand and brush the top with a layer of sugar syrup. Spoon ¼ of the frosting on top and spread evenly to the edges.
Gently place the second cake round, upside down, on top and repeat the sugar syrup and frosting process, followed by the third round and the final round, spreading the remainder of the frosting equally across the top. Decorate with walnuts and or small carrot fondants.
Note: For the sugar syrup, combine 100g sugar and 96 ml water in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until all the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool completely before use.
For the cream cheese frosting, use a hand mixer and whisk together 350g cream cheese and 125g butter until smooth, then add 375g icing sugar, followed by two tablespoons lemon juice, the zest of one lemon, and two teaspoons of vanilla extract. Continue to whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before use.