Tantelizing Lemon Curd Recipe...at your disposal!

Today I came home and just saw lemons galore in my kitchen, so I thought for a while about what I could make with them...perhaps a tart? or maybe a lemon cake? But then it clicked: Quick, simple and delicious Lemon curd! It came out beautifully tart, smooth and sweet all at the same time, and got my mom reminiscing about her youth. Eat it as an accompaniment to scones for a tea time treat or wedge macaroons together using it as the "glue" or just eat it with a spoon! It is also a great "thank you" gift for a host. Give it a try! You'll love it!

Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

• 140ml lemon juice
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 100g butter
• 250g caster sugar

Ingredients

Method:

1. Wash the lemons, grate the rinds, squeeze and strain the juice.
2. Cook the juice, rind, sugar and butter slowly in a double boiler/in a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water, until the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted.
3. Strain in the lightly beaten eggs. Cook gently, stirring frequently, until just beginnng to thicken. DO NOT BOIL!
4. Remove from the heat and pour at once into warmed pots/steralised jars. Cover and store.

Amazing!

 

Recipe Source: Silwood Kitchen Recipe Service

Go to Knead Bakery...it's a must!

Today I unfortunately don't have a recipe to share with you, but to make up for my lack of cooking I have decided to give you all a recommendation. My recommendation to all of you is to take a visit to Knead Bakery in Cape Town, South Africa. There are a couple scattered around namely in:

• Muizenberg
• Wembley Square
• Kloof Street
• Dean Street Arcade
• Palmyra Junction

This Bakery is fantastic! If you looking for a delicous breakfast or lunch or even just a quick cup of coffee or hot chocolate, that is made with the freshest ingredients, then I really suggest you take a drive to one of their bakeries. All of the bakeries are warm and inviting as well as exciting as the guests are able to see what is going on in the kitchen. The Bakery is also child freindly and the waitrons are particularly attentive and helpful.

Knead Bakery bakes their goods on each of their premises. They make outstanding breads and croissants that regularly get bought in my household and are great to quickly go and buy if you are on your way to breakfast/lunch/dinner at a friend and want to give them something "home-made".

I personally have a regular craving for their Sweetcorn fritters with smoked Salmon, Cream cheese and lemon. This breakfast/lunch dish is absalutely fantastic! The fritters are stacked in the middle of your plate, topped with smoked salmon and the cream cheese, surrounded with a line of pesto and a few cherry tomatoes and then to top it all off, rocket is thrown on top of it as well as a slice of fresh lemon.

Each component of the dish compliments one another. The tastes transform in your mouth and literally make you wanting more!

Sweetcorn Fritters

Sweetcorn fritters with smoked salmon and cream cheese

I strongly suggest that you pay this Bakery a visit, let me know what you thought about it!

My favourite Spanish inspired pasta

When I opened my fridge this evening the ingredients just jumped out at me and the inspiration hit! I love love love Chorizo sausage with its Smokey flavors it goes well with anything, from calamari to chicken to just plain on its own with beautiful freshly baked bread and farm style cheese. But tonight I wanted pasta and I so I added the chorizo some of my cupboard staples like tomatoes, garlic and chili and it was fabulous and easy. Give it a try or make up your own combination and tell us about it...

Chicken and Chorizo Pasta

Ingredients: (Serves 3)

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 Spanish red onion
• Olive oil
• Chorizo sausage (sliced)
• Handful of Rosa tomatoes
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 3 chicken breasts (sliced)
• Chili (to taste, I used dried chili flakes but fresh is also good)
• Paprika
• Pasta of your choice
• Sugar, salt and pepper

 

Ingredients

 Method:

1. Place a medium saucepan on a medium heat, and chop the onion and crush the garlic.
2. At the same time place a pot of salted water on the stove for the pasta.
3. Heat some olive oil in the pan and add the garlic, and onions.
4. When the onions have browned slightly add the chorizo (the chorizo will flavor and colour the oil and infused the dish with Smokey flavors)
5. Let the chorizo crisp its oils.
6. Then add the chicken and cook through.
7. When the chicken has browned add the fresh tomato and let them blister and cook releasing their juices.
8. Then add the tinned tomato, and flavor with the chili, paprika, salt and pepper. (Don’t forget to add some sugar, just a small teaspoon, to normalise the acidity of the tomato)
9. Then when your pasta is cooked, add the drained pasta to the sauce and serve

Ready to enjoy

Served with Wild Rocket

 

Use yesterday's Pesto recipe and make today's Pesto Pasta!

For lunch today I decided to use what I made yesterday, add a couple of minor ingredients and make a delcious Pesto Pasta. The dish came out beautifully... Appealing to the eye as well as to the tastebuds! Try it, it won't disappoint.

Simple Coriander and Almond Pesto Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 batch of the coriander and almond pesto (recipe on blog)
• 250ml sour cream/creme fraiche (I used creme fraiche)
• 1 bag of pasta
• 1 handful of shaved almonds
• Parmesan cheese, grated.

Ingredients

Method:

1. Boil your pasta in boiling, salted water.
2. While your pasta is boiling, in a bowl, mix together your pesto and sour cream/creme fraiche, creating a light green in colour and creamy consistency'd sauce (add more or less to your liking)
3. Fry the almonds in a dry frying pan (lightly toasting them). Be careful to not burn them.
4. When the Pasta is al dente, drain, and put into your desired serving bowl.
5. Pour the sour cream/creme fraiche and pesto mixture over the pasta and toss. (making sure that all the pasta has some sauce on it)
6. Put the desired portions into serving dishes, sprinkle with toasted almonds and some freshly grated parmesan, serve and enjoy!

Enjoy!

Versatile Pesto...for every occasion

Today I made some Coriander/Cilantro and almond pesto as I had the ingredients floating around in my fridge and thought it was the most versatile "paste" to have at hand and it would more than likely go down well in my house. The herb and nuts used in the recipe can be exchanged for other leafy herbs such as basil and rocket and the nuts can also be exchanged for other nuts such as walnuts, cashews and pinenuts. The flavour of the pesto is quite strong but very flavoursome and I'm sure if you are a fan of pesto in general you will enjoy this recipe.

Coriander and Almond Pesto

Ingredients: (makes +/- 250ml)

• 50g shaved/slivered almonds
• large bunch of coriander leaves
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 50g parmesan, freshly grated
• 125ml olive oil, + extra to seal
• sea salt and black pepper

Ingredients

Method:

1. Lightly toast the almonds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat, tip onto a plate and leave to cool.
2. Put the coriander leaves, garlic, grated parmesan and almonds in a blender/food processor and blitz yo a rough paste.
3. Slowly add the olive oil, scraping down the sides of the machine as you go along.
4. When fully combined, season with salt and pepper.
5. Transfer the pesto to a dish with a lid or a screw top jar and pour a thin layer of olive oil over the surface and cover with a lid.
6. The pesto should keep well for up to a week in the fridge.

Delicious and ready to eat

 

 

Recipe source: Adapted from Gordon Ramsey, Fast Food

Another Delicious Soup Recipe

This afternoon I felt like soup but I just couldn't quite put my finger on the type that I felt like. I was staring into the fridge and freezer as you do when you're hungry and a saw a bag of frozen corn and the idea popped into my head!

Chowder first originated in America and is basically a milk based soup. It is usually made with seafood, most commonly clams, but I decided to go for a meat option and used bacon. I was pleasantly surprised and definitely recommend giving this recipe a try

Corn Chowder:

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

• 1 celery stalk
• 1 medium onion
• 1 ½ tablespoons butter
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme 
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 3 cups (1%) milk
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into little cubes
• A small bunch spring onions
• 2 cups frozen corn
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• 200g streaky bacon 
• Salt and Pepper









Ingredients

 Method:

1. Chop the onion and the celery.
2. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan, over a medium heat. Add the onion and the celery and saute until brown. While the vegetables are cooking peel and cube the potatoes, and fry the bacon.
3. Pour the flour over the vegetables and fry for a few more minutes (at this stage you may need to add a bit more butter).
4. Pour in the milk and add the potatoes. Bring to the boil and carry on stirring so the soup doesn't stick to the pot. It should take about 10 minutes for the potatoes to cook
5. Meanwhile, thinly slice the spring onions. When the potatoes are cooked add the corn, bacon and the spring onions.
6. Bring the soup back up to the boil and sprinkle on some thinly sliced spring onion and crispy bacon bits
7. serve with fresh crusty bread.

Ready to enjoy!

 This recipe was adapted from a Jamie Oliver recipe.

Vegetarian option for the day...

This vegetarian dish (Melenzane Parmigiana) is delicious. Whenever we have a glut of aubergines in our vegetable garden this is one of our "go to" recipes! It is flavoursome, filling and fairly easy to prepare. Try it if you haven't before...or even if you have and you know you'd enjoy it! The recipe called for basil leaves, but in Cape Town basil is not in season at the moment, so I went and bought some basil pesto to replace it. It actually worked really well and gave the dish a wonderful taste. Unfortunately I did not put the basil pesto in the "ingredients" photograph as I went to buy it at the last minute.

Here is the recipe:

Melenzane Parmigiana

Ingredients:

• 3 medium aubergines
• 125ml olive oil + extra for greasing the dish and frying the onion.
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped.
• 2 large cloves garlic, crushed
• 120ml flat leaf parsley, chopped finely
• 1 tablespoon dried oreganum
• 1 tin tomaoes/ 6 really ripe tomatoes, peeled.
• 25ml tomato paste
• salt and pepper
• 250g sliced/grated mozzerella
• 250ml basil leaves chopped/ 50ml basil pesto
• 100g parmesan grated
• 400ml cream (only if you planning on freezing this dish and reheating it)

Ingredients

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade
2. Slice the aubergines lengthwise in thickish slices (Don't peel), lay them in a collinder and sprinkle with salt and allow them to drain for 10- 15 minutes.
3. Fry aubergine slices in olive oil until soft and cooked, put aside.
4. Fry the onion in a pot until soft and translucent. Add the garlic, parsley and oregano and fry over a low heat for 1-2 minutes. Do not burn the garlic.
5. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, pinch of salt and black pepper to the onion and garlic mixture. Cover and cook gently for +/- 35 minutes. (If it seems to watery, reduce it for a bit with the lid off)
6. Grease a deep baking dish with olive oil.
7. Cover the bottom layer with aubergine, follow with a layer of the tomato sauce, then a layer of mozzerella. Repeat until you have run out of one of the ingredients.
8. Finally sprinkle with a generous layer of parmesan.
9. Bake for +/- 40 minutes.
10. If you freeze this dish and reheat it, then about 3 minutes before removing it from the oven add 50ml or more cream (depending on the size of your dish) .
11. Serve with a side, green salad, enjoy!

Ready to enjoy!

Recipe Source: Sumptuous, Marlene Van Der Westhuizen

Crisp, melt in your mouth, chocolate biscuits

These chocolate biscuits are wonderful! They melt in your mouth and have a deep, rich, chocolatey taste. They are exceptionally quick to make and have minimal ingredients which is perfect for when you are having another one of those chocolate craving days.

Try them out and see what you think:

Crisp Chocolate Biscuits

Ingredients: (makes +/- 20 biscuits)

• 125g butter
• 50g caster sugar
• 125g self raising flour
• 25g cocoa

Ingredients

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade
2. Grease a baking sheet well or put a silicone mat onto a baking sheet (a"silpat" works well)
3. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy.
4. Sift in the flour and cocoa and mix well.
5. Form the misxture into small balls.
6. Place onto a greased baking sheet and flattern with a damp fork.
7. Bake for 10 - 15minutes
8. When they come out the oven they may still feel soft and uncooked to the touch, but don't let that concern you. Once they are cooled they will be hard and crisp.
9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy with a cup of tea!

Guava's are BACK in season! Here's something you can do with them!

Today's recipe I cannot take credit for making, as my mom actually made it for me. They are my favourite and they are very versatile in terms of how you can eat them and with what. The recipe for today is quick and easy STEWED GUAVA"S! You can eat them with your breakfast which I have done, you can have them with custard for dessert or you can even eat them plain. They are sweet, delish and really hit the spot!

Here is the recipe:

Stewed Guava's:

Ingredients:

• 4 (or more depending on how many you want) ripe guava's, peeled and halved
• 3 cups water (or enough water to cover the guava's in your particular sized pot)
• 200ml sugar
• 3 cinnamon sticks

Ingredients

Method:

1. Place the water, cinnamon sticks and sugar into a pot on a medium heat.
2. Stir the mixture until all the sugar has dissolved.
3. Add the peeled and halved guava's to the sugar-water mixture and allow to simmer until the guava's are soft (and a knife can go through them easily)
4. Allow to cool/ serve warmed.

Delicious on a bed of granola and yoghurt

Rusks, Rusks, Rusks!

Today's recipe is: Buttermilk rusks! These rusks are like biting into a little, crunchy heaven! They are absolutely divine! They have a wonderful flavour and they are the perfect accompaniment to your cup of tea! I got this recipe when I was at Silwood, so you are sure to enjoy them (as any recipe from Silwood is sure to tickle your tastebuds) Try them, you will not be disappointed!

Buttermilk Rusks:

Ingredients: ( I halved this recipe and it made +/- 30 medium sized rusks)

• 10 Cups Self Raising Flour
• 5ml salt
• 500g Butter
• 3 extra large eggs, beaten
• 2 x 500ml cartons of buttermilk
• 500ml sugar

Ingredients

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade.
2. Grease 4 loaf tins or a large roasting pan.
3. Sift together flour and salt
4. Rub in the butter and add the sugar. Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk and the beaten eggs.
5. Mix to form a thick scone- like textured dough.
6. Spread into the prepared roasting pan or loaf tins.
7. Bake until risen and golden brown. (+/- 1 hour)
8. Turn out of the pan and allow to cool before cutting into desired rusk shapes.
9. Dry the rusks out in a cooled oven/ in a fan oven at 80 degrees centigrade for four hours or overnight. Until wonderfully crisp.
10. Enjoy with a cup of tea.

After 1st Baking



Dried and ready to eat!



Delicious and ready to share with friends.



Dunk into your tea, and enjoy!

Recipe Source: Silwood School of Cookery

Vegetarian Pasta Dish

You may feel as though I am repeating one of the previous pasta recipes that has been posted on this blog, but this one has some slight alterations and I thought I might as well share it with you. This tomato based pasta dish is really so versatile and one can basically do anything to it, but here is what I did with it this weekend.

Here is the recipe

Creamy Tomato and mushroom pasta, with toasted almonds:

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of penne pasta
• 10 or more field mushrooms, diced (chunky rather than sliced)  
• 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 tin chopped, peeled tomatoes
• 45ml cream
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
• 5ml chilli flakes or 1 dried chilli chopped.
• 15ml tomato paste
• 30ml olive oil + extra for pasta

Some things that I added at the last minute that aren't in the picture, but that are an asset to the recipe are:

• 60ml red wine
• 5ml dried oreganum
• 100ml shaved almonds, toasted
• salt and pepper
• Parmesan

Ingredients

Method:

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add salt to the water.
2. Add the pasta to the boiling water and allow to cook until al dente. Then drain.
3. In a smallish pot heat up the olive oil and add the garlic. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Add the mushrooms to the garlic and olive oil and brown.
5. Add the tomatoes to the mushroom mixture and fry for 1-2 minutes.
6. Then add the tinned tomatoes and tomato paste and allow to simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.
7. Add the red wine and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
8. Add the oreganum and chilli flakes and cream and allow to simmer for 2 minutes.
9. Taste sauce and add an appropriate amount of seasoning.
10. Pour some olive oil over the cooked pasta to help it not to stick together. 
11. To dish, fill a bowl with the pasta, add sauce, sprinkle with grated parmesan and toasted almonds and enjoy!



Wonderful!



Home-Made Chicken Pie

It was my turn to make dinner for my family tonight and I felt like something warm and delicious but at the same time was quick and simple as I didn't have a lot of time. So I came across this recipe and decided to give it a try.

Roast Chicken and Mushroom Pie

Ingredients

• 2 onions (diced)
• 50g butter
• 400g portabellini mushrooms (halved)
• 8 fresh sage leaves
• 4 garlic cloves (crushed)
• ¾ cup white wine (optional)
• 500ml chicken stock
• 1 cooked free – range rotisserie chicken (shredded)
• 1 cup cream
• 2 – 4 teaspoons corn flour
• Puff pastry
• 1 egg for the egg wash
• Salt, pepper and seasoning to taste (I used some chili flakes and some mustard powder for heat)

Ingredients

 Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade.
2. In a saucepan over a medium heat, fry the onions in the butter for 5 minutes. Increase the heat and add the mushrooms, sage and garlic then fry for 10 minutes.
3. Add the wine, stirring for 2 minutes, before adding the stock.
4. Simmer for 15minutes or until thickened then add the chicken, cream (I used reduced fat cream) and corn flour, 1 teaspoon at a time until thickened to your liking.
5. Simmer for a further 5 minutes, then season to taste.
6. Spoon onto a large ovenproof pie dish.
7. Cut out the pastry and put onto of the chicken mixture. I made two decorative leave and a simple boarder for fun.
8. Remember that everything that you put on as decoration must be washed with egg too.
9. Brush the pie with the beaten egg and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden and crisp.



Mmmmmm...



This would also be really sweet as mini individual pies instead of one big one.

Quick and easy, good, old fashioned Milk Tart recipe.

Just felt like making a Milk tart today, and all the ingredients were ready at hand, so I whipped one up. It came out beautifully and because I had baked the puff pastry before the filling went in, it was crisp and delicious. I didn't put any almond essence in the filling, which I slightly regret, as I normally do it and it adds some depth to the flavours of the filling, so I'm going to add it to the ingredients list I give to you, try it out and let me know how yours turned out.

Here is the recipe

Milk Tart:

Ingredients:

• 1 roll of ready made puff pastry
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• 2ml almond essence

Ingredients

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade
2. Grease a medium - large pie dish
3. Roll out pastry and line the pie dish with it. Poke holes with a fork into the pastry. Bake blind for 15 minutes, then remove blind baking beans and paper and bake for a further 15 minutes.
4. Place milk, almond essence and cinnamon into a pot and scald.
5. Combine the flour, cornflour, sugar and salt.
6. Add the scalded milk gradually to the flour mixture, mixing after each addition to make sure no lumps form.
7. Cook slowly, whisking constantly until thick and well cooked.
8. Remove from the heat.
9. Add butter.
10. Cool slightly.
11. Stir in the well beaten eggs.
12. Pour mixture into the ready baked puff pastry shell.
13. Bake for 20 - 25minutes
14. Cool slightly.
15. Sprinkle a cinnamon sugar mixture over the baked filling.
16. Serve hot or cold.

Try it!

Left over puff pastry? Make a tart!

So today I realised there was a piece of puff pastry in the freezer that hadn't been finished yet, so I decided to use it. I was inspired last week when a teacher at the school that I am working at made it and ever since then I have been wanting to try it out myself. It is to die for and it is super easy to make, quickly pop it into the oven before guests come over and serve as a snack or a starter...they will be begging you for this easy and fool-proof recipe.

Try it out!

Basil Pesto, Cherry Tomato and Parmesan Tart:

Ingredients:

The ingredient's amounts differ depending on the size of your sheet of puff pastry, but here is a guideline:

• 1 sheet of rolled puff pastry
• 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved (+/- 20 whole cherry tomatoes)
• 30g parmesan or 50g gouda (depending on your likes/dislikes), grated
• 80ml basil pesto
• 125ml shaved almonds, toasted
• salt
• pepper
• rocket to garnish

Ingredients

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade
2. Unroll your pre-made puff pastry and place onto a well greased baking tray.
3. Cut the edges of the puff pastry off and place them onto the edge of the large sheet of pastry, forming a border along the edges.
4. Inside the border of your pastry, spread the pesto evenly till touching the edges of your border.
5. Place your halved tomatoes in rows on top of your pesto.
6. Sprinkle your grated cheese on top of your tomatoes
7. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Bake for 30 mins or until your pastry edges are crisp and golden.
9. While your tart is baking in the oven, place your shaved almonds into a non stick frying pan and dry fry them until they are golden brown and toasted.
10. When your tart comes out, place on a cooling rack.
11. Sprinkle your toasted almonds and rocket onto the tart and enjoy!
12. To add that extra zing you can also dress your rocket leaves with some reduced balsamic vinegar.

DELISH!

Pasta with Butternut, Sage and Pine Nuts

I’m forever searching the Internet on food blogs or websites or whatever comes my way for new and exciting recipes to try. My dad found this recipe and it looked delish so I just had to try it. This is a great vegetarian meal, you wont miss the meat at all.  Butternut and sage is a classic combination and this is a great twist on an old favorite. Give it a try...

Pan- Fried Pasta with Butternut, Fried Sage, and Pine Nuts

Ingredients: (serves 4)

• 1 medium butternut
• 1 small sweet onion, peeled and diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• Olive Oil
• Salt and pepper
• ½ cup of sage leaves
• 500g Farfalle pasta
• ¾ cups pine nuts, toasted
• About one cup of Parmesan shaved or finely grated



Ingredients



 

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Cut the butternut in half and scoop out the strings and seeds out of the middle.
3. Cut the squash into about 2.5cm cubes.
4. Toss the onion, garlic, a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper.
5. Mince about half of the fresh sage leaves and toss with the butternut.
6. Spread the butternut mixture in a thin layer on a large baking sheet and roast for about 40 minutes or until the squash is soft.
7. Heat the salted pasta water till boiling and cook the Farfalle until al dente. Drain and set aside.
8. As the squash finishes roasting, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large high-sided sauté pan.  The oil is ready when it pops and sputters (don’t let it start smoking). Drop the rest of the sage leaves and fry for about a minute or until they begin to shrivel up.
9. Remove with a slotted spoon and salt lightly. Crush with the back of a spoon.
10. Add half the pasta to the pan, along with half the roasted butternut mixture. Crumble in half the sage. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until the pasta is heated through and getting crispy on some of the edges.
11. Add the pine nuts and cook for another minute. Stir in half of the cheese.
12. (Don’t forget to add salt and pepper to taste)

 For a more luxurious version bacon and creamy Danish feta could be added.



Frying the pasta with the butternut





Delicious and ready to enjoy


Pictures courtesy of The Kitchn Food Blog
www.thekitchn.com/recipe-pasta-with-buternut-sq-64966

What to do with your lemons...here's an idea!

Lemon meringue pie is one of my favourite tea time treats, I thoroughly enjoy it when the middle has the perfect balance of sweet and sour, as too sweet can be a bit off putting. I made a lemon meringue for the teachers at the school I'm interning at and they really enjoyed it... so I will share it with you too.

Here is the recipe:

Lemon Meringue pie

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of marie biscuits/coconut biscuits, crushed
• 30ml butter, melted
• 5ml/ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tin condensed milk
• Juice of 2 large lemons
• 3 eggs, separated
• 30ml sugar

Ingredients

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade
2. In a food processor or by hand, crush the biscuits, then add the melted butter and cinnamon and press into a pie dish.
3. Bake for 10 -15 minutes until golden
4. In a bowl mix together the condensed milk, lemon juice and egg yolks. 
5. Once well combined and thick, pour into the prepared crust.
6. Bake for another 15- 20 minutes until the middle has set slightly and is clean to the touch.
7. In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until soft peak, add the sugar and whisk until the mixture is smooth, glossy and can form stiff peaks.
8. Pour  egg white mixture onto the prepared pie and cover the entire surface, forming peaks as you go around.
9. Bake until meringue topping is golden and delicious!

Ready to cut! :)

Feeling like some pasta? Here you go... Enjoy!

last night I had to make dinner, and I was having a pasta craving. I have this craving quite often as I am a bit of a pasta glut, but what can I say? I just LOVE pasta! So my choice of pasta and sauce for the evening was a good old 'Pasta carbornara." It exceeded all expectations, that I even had it for breakfast and lunch today! try it!

Here is the recipe

Pasta Carbonara

Ingredients: Serves 4

• 1 packet dried spaghetti
• 1/4 cup double thick cream (I used a bit more than a 1/4)
• 4 eggs
• 1 packet of streaky bacon, diced.
• 1 teaspoon extra virign olive oil
• 1 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste
• parsley for garnishing

Ingredients

Method:

1. Bring a large pot of water seasoned with salt to the boil.
2. Saute the bacon in a pan until crisp, remove bacon from the pan and drain using paper towels.
3. Place the spaghetti into the boiling water and cook for +/- 9 minutes until al dente.
4. In a bowl mix together the cream, parmesan, olive oil, eggs, salt and pepper until well combined.
5. Drain the pasta, toss with the cream mixture, add the bacon and season further if necessary.
6. Garnish with parmsan shavings and some fresh parsley.

Delectable!

Today's Chocolate craving fix

I have been craving chocolate the whole day, and not too long ago, I was craving these cupcakes but for the life of me could not find where I had put the recipe, but finally found it a few days ago. I got the recipe from my chef when I was at Silwood and they are absolutely divine, dead easy to make and a real treat! you have to try them!

Here is the recipe

Tracy's Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients: Makes 12 medium-large cupcakes

• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

Ingredients

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade
2. Sift cocoa, flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt together in a bowl
3. In a jug mix together all the wet ingredients
4. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients
5. Pour the mixture into your prepared paper casings in a muffin pan until they are each 2/3rds full. 
6. Bake for 20 minutes.

After baking, before icing



Iced and ready to eat!





Amazing!



Chocolate coffee icing:

Ingredients:

• 150g butter
• 300g icing sugar
• 1/2 cup strong coffee with milk
• 1/2 cup cocoa

Icing ingredients

Method:

1. Cream the butter with an electric hand beater
2. Slowly add the icing sugar until it has all been used and absorbed by the butter
3. Add the cocoa and keep beating
4. Add as much coffee as needed to make the icing smooth, creamy and spreadable

Enjoy! :)

Cupcake recipe source: Tracy, Silwood