Anel Potgeiter won Dinner Divas after five grueling rounds of cooking, three of which were in a battle against second placed Janice Tripepi and Kristy Snell.

It was a tough three rounds of cooking in the finals and Anel did not have it all her own way as she fought a closely contested battle with Janice Tripepi. Only a few points separating the two shining lights of the South African food blog scene when all the points were tallied up.

Janice Tripepi had won the first of the three rounds with her Country Style Chicken and Prawn & Ricotta Ravioli in a Seafood Broth, scoring well against the meatballs served up by Kristy and Anel. In the second round of the finals Anel was the only contestant to present the judges with a perfect Eggs Benedict, her Hollandaise Sauce in particular impressing the judges.

In the final round of the competition the Divas has to make a two course meal for the judges using ingredients from the Dinner Diva’s kitchen and anything that they wanted to bring from home.

This was again a close contest between Anel and Janice as Kristy fell further behind on the score card, not making an impression on the judges with her Almond Crusted Kingklip and Salsa Verde.

Anel who had made it through to the Top 25 of MasterChef SA in 2012 only began blogging after the disappointment of being eliminated in the second round of the competition.

Not being one to lie down and give up she dusted herself off with a few “Zoo Biscuits” before starting up the aptly titled blog “Life is a Zoo Biscuit“.

She very quickly found a home amongst the foodie blogging community and with this accomplishment behind her will no doubt grow in stature.

Watch full episodes of each of the Dinner Diva rounds.

Anel Potgieter wins Dinner Divas, a new food star is born first appeared first on Gourmet Guys

Anel Potgeiter, Janice Tripepi and Kristy Snell battle it out in the last of the three final rounds.

Where there is smoke there is fire and Kristy has plenty of it in this episode as she does not take the judges criticism of her food lying down. Aubrey in particular is on the sharp end of her tongue.

Each of the contestants are given free reign in the kitchen in a final push for the title of South Africa’s Dinner Diva and the best food blogger.

The prepare a two course meal using any ingredients in the Dinner Diva kitchen and from home.

Who do you think will win the title, watch episode thirteen to see the winner revealed, Saturday, SABC 2 at 8:30am

Dinner Divas Episode Twelve, the last of the three finals first appeared first on Gourmet Guys

Anel Potgeiter, Janice Tripepi and Kristy Snell head back into the kitchen for another finals round.

In this episode the three Divas have to make the same dish and the judges will decide who has been the most successful in pulling it off!

It is not all plain sailing as the Hollandaise Sauce presents some difficulties and the judges get tougher.

Dinner Divas Episode Eleven – Round Two of the Finals, Eggs Benedict! first appeared first on Gourmet Guys

Who makes the best meatball in South Africa? The search was on, after our epic meatball cook-off with the judges of the TV series Dinner Divas! I wanted to know who makes the best meatball and what is their secret. I received numerous entries and the secret ingredients used, were as colorful as our precious nation!

Now, firstly I have to say, this competition was totally subjective…… I wanted to know! My benchmark or my frame of reference was simple….I want a meatball that tastes like the ones I remember from my childhood. I have many stories to share about Griet, our cook, who worked for us for so many years. Amongst all her beautiful attributes, was the fact that she cooked the most delicious meatballs in the most unconventional way. All she had available, was good beef, salt, pepper, bread and onion and maybe some days a little  fine cloves!

The secret I have come to learn is that the secret is NOT in the ingredient list, but in the COOKING METHOD. Griet knew that, but I have only realised it know. You see, Griet used to braise about 3 onions in a pot( not Le Creuset…just a common old Hart pot) until the onions where all brown and caramelly. She then made the meatballs and placed the meatballs on top of the braised onions, almost filled the pot with water and then merrily started cleaning the house from the far end, leaving the meatballs to do their own thing! Every now and then, she would just come and have a peep to see if the meatballs needed a little extra water. By lunch time they were done….The result…..soft marrow-like meatballs with the most divine rendered-down gravy you can imagine. That my dear friends was what I was looking for.

…and then I received this recipe!

The cooking instructions were simple – braise with onion long and slowly! I knew it, I had a winner. I had Griet’s winner! The lucky lady who made my tastebuds jump with joy, is Doreen van der Berg, of Gugulethu! Well done Doreen, your meatballs made me miss my childhood and Griet!

Check out the original source here.

Meatball Challenge Winning Recipe | My Easy Cooking first appeared first on Gourmet Guys

Kristy Snell, Janice Tripepi and Anel Potgeiter battle it out for the Dinner Diva title over three rounds of cooking challenges.

In the first of the three rounds the Diva’s are presented with a mystery basket of everyday ingredients and have to come up with a weekday family meal in 45 minutes.

Two of the contestants prepare meatballs and this does not go down well with one judge in particular while the third battles to produce a meal without the ingredients she usually uses for her preferred style of cooking.

Gourmet Guys editor Andrew Lieber is not particularly impressed,

I’m just thinking its the finals of the competition and I got meatballs.

Two of the contestants plate up with meatballs, judge Andrew Lieber is not impressed.

The Divas come face to face with the judges for the first time in the competition and this adds a brand new dynamic to the show ensuring that the tension and confrontation levels are raised considerably in the kitchen as they will for the very first time have to listen to their food being critiqued.

The judges comments are the most direct they have ever been and not all of the divas are prepared to simply sit back and take it like a trainee chef, they fight back!

I’m not to keen with that around my dinner table, don’t criticise my food.

The Dinner Divas come face to face with judges Andrew Lieber, Aubrey Ngcungama and Caro de Waal for the first time.

For this round the judges, Aubrey Ngcungama, Caro de Waal and Andrew Lieber are scoring the bloggers on the taste and execution of the meal, including the presentation, staying true to the blogs voice and how well the ingredients are chosen.

They also need to consider the blog and whether or not it could be monetised, it’s sincerity & honesty, then finally the possibility of securing a book deal.

The same three judges will be judging all three of the final rounds.

Don’t miss Dinner Divas, SABC 2, Saturday 8:30am

Follow on Twitter @DinnerDivas1

Follow the conversation on Twitter #dinnerdivas

Like Dinner Divas on Facebook

Meatballs!!! Dinner Diva’s, the first of the three final rounds. first appeared first on Gourmet Guys

If one were to look at the list of bloggers who entered the first season of Dinner Diva’s not many would have picked out Kristy Snell’s name as a finalist.

Kristy is relatively new on the blogging scene and is not as prominent as some of the foodies she competed against.

In her first sudden death cook off she found herself cooking against the very well known and established Nina Timm, for many it would have been a foregone conclusion that Nina would win comfortably. Kristy was having none of that and produced a meal equal to that of her peer. The judges were divided and the result was a tie, both of them went through to the semi finals!

That would not be the last time that Kristy would have to face Nina, in the semi finals a three way battle took place between Kristy, Nina and Janice Tripepi. It was not a sudden death cook off as for the earlier rounds, all of the contestants were being awarded points by the judges and of the seven semi finalist the top three scores would be going through to the Diner Diva finals.

This time Kristy pulled out all the stops and racked up the points to take her through to the finals leaving Nina to reflect as to how the young upstart out cooked her in the kitchen.

This is one good reason why we should have more opportunities like Dinner Divas which provide a platform for talented young people to gain more exposure.

Kristy displays a natural gift for food and has another very special talent for food styling and photography.

The Dinner Diva finalists, Kristy, Janice and Anel

Heading into the finals alongside Kristy are Janice Tripepi and Anel Potgeiter.

Janice is very experienced and well respected in the food community, she has an abundance of talent in the kitchen especially around her core speciality, Italian. She beat Thuli Gogela in her first round elimination cook off and then scored some big points in the semi finals to see her through the the last round.

Anel Potgeiter is another relative newcomer having been first noticed by MasterChef SA where she made it through to the second episode falling short on the onions and egg whisking challenges. She did not encounter any such problems on Dinner Divas as she beat Barry Gerber, the only male contestant, in her elimination round and then, like Janice, scored big in the semi’s.

MasterChef’s loss is Dinner Divas’ gain as Anel’s blog Life Is A Zoo Biscuit brings a fresh approach to food reflecting Anel’s bubbly personality.

The Dinner Diva finals will be broadcast over four episodes as they take on their most challenging kitchen tasks yet.

The judges for the finals are Aubrey Ngcungama, Caro de Waal and yours truly, Andrew Lieber. It gets a little heated with the judges on occasions as the diva’s dig their heels in.

It all makes for some great entertainment as the three fantastic foodie finalists battle it out in the challenge for the tiara!

Will Kristy surprise everyone again and produce another winning recipe, will Janice stay calm and collected, steaming in to the title or will Anel pop her champagne cork and let the bubbles flow!

Who are you rooting for?

Don’t miss Dinner Divas on SABC 2, Saturday’s 8:30.
Full episodes available on Gourmet Guys the following week for those who may have missed it!

Kristy Snell gate crashes the Dinner Diva finals first appeared first on Gourmet Guys