Guest Post: Homemade Pasta - Lasagne

A little while ago, my lovely friend Ash swooped in and saved me from another night of mother-in-law fare and arguing over which tiler to go with, and offered to cook me dinner. At her place. WIN. Now, if you knew my friend, you'd know that she has a lot of talents she keeps very well hidden. Such as this amazing cooking talent she claims she's too 'lazy' to use most of the time.. Now, Ash, you f**ked up. Cos now I know how much you rock in the kitchen. I suspected it, but this sealed it!

The tender, perfectly cooked pasta sheets, the tasty, savoury mince and the delicious cheese perfectly crispy on top.. This was one of the most delicious lasagnes I've had in a long time, and one that I'm definitely going to be whipping up at home (as soon as my kitchen is finished!)

And now, over to you, Ash! 

Wednesday night I had your favourite blogger, Polkadotcupcake, over for dinner at my house. In keeping with my new years resolution to be healthy and fill my life with GOOD things, I decided to make my favourite comfort food from scratch: lasagne. 

Not only is it cheaper to make pasta from scratch, its tastier and healthier. And so easy to make. Total cooking time was about an hour, and this was to feed ten people.. Not that she and I eat for five people each... I have a lot of housemates. Total cost of the meal was about R90. Number of pots and bowls used: four. Could it be any easier? 

Start off by making the pasta (recipe below), and then while it dries, you can start on the mince and white sauce. 

Mix the dry ingredients together, then make a well in the middle. Beat the eggs and olive oil together in a separate bowl, and add the wet ingredients to the dry flour mix. Stir until it combines and becomes a soft dough. Sprinkle a flat surface with flour and knead the dough for about 7 minutes. Divide the dough into 5 pieces. 

Now, pull out that pasta machine that’s been sitting in your cupboard gathering dust. If you don’t have one, never fear, you can do this by hand quite easily.

Flatten a dough ball in the palm of your hand and feed it through the pasta machine at the widest setting. Carry on doing this, closing down a setting each time. My pasta machine has ten settings. By the time you get to the smallest, narrowest setting, run the pasta through twice. Now either place it on a damp dishtowel (otherwise its going to stick to your table), or hang it over a clean chair. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls.

If you don’t have a pasta machine, you’re going to have a fun time with your rolling pin. Sprinkle flour on a flat surface and start rolling until your dough ball is about 1.5mm thick. Repeat with all the dough balls. Place the lasagne on a damp dishtowel or hang it over a chair. 

Now you can start on the mince and white sauce. For the amount of lasagne I made, I used about 700 grams mince, two tins of tomato and onion mix and one onion {Editors note: you can use your favourite bolognaise recipe, or this one}. My secret ingredient is bisto (two tsp). I used about 1.3 litres of milk for the white sauce, and my secret ingredient for that is a cube of chicken stock.

The trick to home made lasagne is making it quite saucy. The liquid soaks into the pasta, softening it and allowing it to cook faster.

Start by pouring a little white sauce in the bottom of a large oven proof dish. Then put a layer of your fresh pasta in the dish. Spoon a layer of mince onto the pasta, and then a generous amount of white sauce. Repeat. I used three pasta-mince-white sauce layers. Put one last layer of pasta on top, and cover generously with the remaining white sauce. Sprinkle cheese on top, and pop in the oven at 160 Celsius for half an hour or until the cheese is golden and bubbling. 

Take it out of the oven and leave it to cool for 5 minutes. Serve with a green mixed salad.

Homemade Pasta 
Ingredients:
500ml (2 cups) flour
3 eggs
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp salt.

Mix the dry ingredients together, then make a well in the middle. Beat the eggs and olive oil together in a separate bowl, and add the wet ingredients to the dry flour mix. Stir until it combines and becomes a soft dough. Sprinkle a flat surface with flour and knead the dough for about 7 minutes. Divide the dough into 5 pieces.

White Sauce

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter or margerine

2 tbsp flour

(Note: no matter how much white sauce you want, you need to use double the amount of flour to butter)

± 1 litre milk

Method:

Melt butter in a pan, until liquid, but not brown or burnt. Then, add the flour, and stir to mix, incorporating all into a paste. While still over a low heat (or off the plate, if it takes too long to cool), add a little of the milk, just enough to create a more liquid paste, and use this opportunity to squash out all the lumps with the back of a spoon. This will help your final sauce to have as few lumps as possible. Once the paste is smooth, add the milk a little at a time, making sure to incorporate it. When about half is added, change to a whisk, and keep whisking until almost all the milk is added. Then, let it cook for about 5 minutes, whisking from time to time, to cook the flour, letting it thicken. If it gets too thick, add some milk, if not, remove from heat when thick, and add a grind of black pepper, or even some grated cheese.

Guest Post: JulyAte with a Review of Nook Eatery

Hi! 

As I have mentioned, while I'm away on holiday, some of my lovely blog and twitter friends have offered to guest post for me! Blown away by this amazing offer, I've given them pretty much free reign to write what they like, and just LOOK at what they've come up with! 

Here's Jessica from Tiny Oven Adventures with something amazing, just for you. Take it away!

A review of Nook Eatery

Nook Website

About Nook 

Their website says, "Nook is a cosy eatery in Stellenbosch offering light meals, pastries, cakes and daily specials.” Nook is situated on one of the oak-lined street of Stellenbosch with some tables on the sidewalk where you can enjoy the view and other tables inside the tiny colourful shop. 

Why Nook? I have been following them on twitter for a while (drooling over their lunch specials) and fantasising about what I would have from the menu if I went there (it all looks so tasty!). The prices looked reasonable enough so it just had to be Nook. 

For lunch, Nook has a daily lunch buffet that is priced according to weight; you pay R13 per 100g of food that you dish up. When I went to Nook for lunch, it was a sunny winters day and we got a tiny table outside overlooking the street. The buffet consisted of beef ragout with gremolata, roast garlic & herb potatoes, cauliflower cheese bake, organic bean & pea salad and organic lentil salad. I had the beef with the bean & pea salad as well as the lentil salad. The beef was very tender and flavourful and it was swimming in a thick dark sauce. The vegetables in the salads were still crunchy and fresh and not overcooked and, my word, was it tasty! I prefer my veggies on the crunchy side and it was refreshing to find them in a nice crispy state on my plate. The buffet worked out marvellously for me as I always find that restaurant portions are too large to finish in one sitting (I always end up with a doggy bag!). I wanted a cinnabon for dessert but to my great disappointment they were already sold out at 13h00, which leads me to…

The Beginning

The Cinnabon. I still had a craving for a cinnabon so I went and bought one the next day. Mere words cannot describe this tasty morsel sent from the heavens, so a photo will have to do.

This creation was like the result of an extreme gourmet makeover of the plain old cinnabon. The dough was light and buttery and pulled apart in light strands of doughy goodness (I believe it is called brioche). The centre of the cinnabon was saturated with a light caramel sauce that I mopped up with the other broken off pieces. Pure heaven I tell you. 

The Service 

At this moment this review sounds positively glowing, but I’m afraid that my experience was not quite that good. The location is beautiful, the food was amazing but the service did not quite measure up. In this case I was especially surprised by my experience at Nook, as I had read so many glowing reviews telling of the warm, homey experiences people have had there. I found the waiters cold and a bit unfriendly, and the staff behind the counter didn’t look like they knew what exactly to do with me. My lunch companion wasn’t too full of praise for the service either, she was pretty miffed about having to request a toothpick several times before someone brought it to us.

The End

The Redeemer 

At this point in my review I felt that perhaps I didn’t have enough material on Nook to do a proper review, so I returned there again today for lunch. On the buffet menu was free range chicken pie, gnocchi with wild mushrooms, broccolini with sweet sesame dressing, organic chickpea & roast butternut salad and organic green apple waldorf salad with toasted pecan nuts & lemon crème fraiche dressing. I had a bit of everything.

The salads were great again, fresh and crunchy and yummy, but they were not the highlight of the meal… The gnocchi with wild mushrooms was a taste revelation; the delicate flavours of the mushrooms went perfectly with some lemon thyme. The gnocchi was firm and not too gummy and everything came together nicely with a thin creamy sauce. The chicken pie was very good, so good that I might even claim that it is the best chicken pie that I have had. I have no idea what went into that pie but the insides were moist, flavourful and had a hint of white wine that went very well with the chicken. Do yourself a favour and go have the chicken pie at Nook, you won’t regret it. 

The service today was definitely better than last time, we all have off days and I guess that my first lunch just coincided with “one of those days”. 

Overall, Nook is a great place to go eat in Stellenbosch and I would recommend it to anyone. What they might possibly lack in the service department they more than make up for with the fantastic fresh food that they have on offer. 

I’ll end off the review with question to the readers; if a restaurant advertises on their website that they have a twitter feed, do you expect them to update the feed regularly and respond to tweets promptly?

To book at Nook Eatery
Phone: (021) 8877703
42 Van Ryneveld Street
Stellenbosch
www.nookeatery.co.za 

Like what Jessica has to say? Visit her blog or catch her on twitter!

Guest Post: Ashleigh with Sticky Chicken Wings

Hi! As I have mentioned, while I'm away on holiday, some of my lovely blog and twitter friends have offered to guest post for me! Blown away by this amazing offer, I've given them pretty much free reign to write what they like, and just LOOK at what they've come up with! 

Here's Ashleigh (my real life and twitter friend) with something amazing, just for you. Take it away!

When I offered to write an article for this blog I hadn’t quite thought it through. You see, I’m an on-the-go kinda girl. As much as I love cooking, I just don’t have the time. Being a young professional is hard work, especially when your social life is so packed that you have 5 minutes to change, touch up makeup and prepare drinks and snacks!
 
Luckily for me, I live in a giant house with lots of inspiration for quick, delicious meals, especially quick meals for lots of people. And I entertain a LOT of people. One of my housemates, Anya Klaasen, is from the United States and she introduced my friends and I to the most delicious chicken wings ever made in the comfort of one’s home. And the best part? They were CHEAP to make, and I didn’t have to spend time in the kitchen checking on dinner while my friends drank wine in the courtyard!
 
These babies only take 10 minutes to prepare, and you only dirty 3 dishes the whole time: bowl, spoon, baking tray. Sounds like a dream, yes?

Sticky Chicken Wings
 
Ingredients:
 
3 packs chicken wings (around 26 wings)
6 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons BBQ spice
6 tablespoons Paprika
2 tablespoons origanum
Red wine vinegar to make a paste
 
Method:

1. Put the oven on grill.
2. Mix the spices and sugar in a bowl. Add enough red wine vinegar to make a paste.
3. Rub the paste into each chicken wing and place it upside down on a baking tray.
4. Once you’ve done all of them, put in the oven for 15 min.
5. Take the wings out, turn them over, and baste them with any leftover paste. Put them back for 20 min.

Serve as snacks or as a meal with salad.

Thanks Anya for such an easy recipe! We ended up serving them as a main dish with salad on the side. I love cooking elaborate meals on weekends, but during the week I rock the 10-minute-meal.

Guest Post: The Creative Pot with Pork with Spiced Berry Pinotage Sauce

Hi! As I have mentioned, while I'm away on holiday, some of my lovely blog and twitter friends have offered to guest post for me! Blown away by this amazing offer, I've given them pretty much free reign to write what they like, and just LOOK at what they've come up with! 

Here's Marisa from The Creative Pot with something amazing, just for you. Take it away! 

Confession: I have some berry-related issues. It's weird, I know (and completely un-foodie like of me), but I can't stand the thought of pulverised berries. Berry coulis in dessert? Pass. And don't even get me started on berry jam. I'm fine with the whole berries, but then they need to be fresh and unabashedly firm. No, none of this mushy berry business for me. 

So I was a bit taken aback when the idea of pairing pork with a berry sauce started creeping into my thoughts. And refused to back down out of respect for my berry issues. My loud lamentations to TheHusband didn’t work either (he does not share my berry prejudice). And so I was forced to make this rather hideous looking berry pinotage sauce, infuse it with spices (star anise is a firm favourite of mine) and pour it over some succulent pork neck steaks. *Sigh* The things I do in the name of food. 

Despite my deep seated berry issues though, this tasted phenomenal and I found myself grinning with delight at the end of the meal, berry sauce splattered all over my front, plate and table. I am many things, but orderly is not one of them. Might be time to re-evaluate my berry-ist views though...

Pork with Spiced Berry Pinotage Sauce

Ingredients:

1 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil

800g pork neck steaks

salt to taste

1 small onion, chopped

2 cups assorted berries

1 apple, chopped

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup pinotage (or red wine of your choice)

3 tbsp sugar

5 cloves

2 star anise

1/4 tsp crushed peppercorns

Method:

1. Heat  a tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Add the pork neck steaks and fry briefly on each side to brown. Season with salt and set aside. 
2. Heat the remaining olive oil in the pan, lower heat slightly and saute the onions for 5 - 7 minutes or until soft. 
3. Add berries, apple, water, pinotage, sugar cloves, star anise and peppercorns, bring to the boil, then lower heat and cook for 30 minutes. The liquid will have reduced considerably and the sauce will be very fragrant. Taste and adjust seasoning.
4. Spread pork steaks into an ovenproof casserole dish and spoon the berry sauce on top. Place in the oven at 180C for around 20 minutes or until the pork is cooked through. 
5. Serve with roasted butternut, polenta or mashed potatoes. 

If you enjoyed this, you might want to visit me over at The Creative Pot, subscribe to my feed or come join in the banter on twitter.

Guest Post: Nina Timm with Slap Degie

As I have mentioned, while I'm away on holiday, some of my lovely blog and twitter friends have offered to guest post for me! Blown away by this amazing offer, I've given them pretty much free reign to write what they like, and just LOOK at what they've come up with!

Here's Nina from My Easy Cooking with something amazing, just for you. Take it away!

Last year some time, I posted this recipe on Food24 and got such a huge response from it that I have chosen this as my guest post recipe here on polkadotcupcake cooks.

Yesterday, when I did a cooking demo for a group of ladies, I chose this easy batter recipe to show just how versatile it is. We have teased my mom so many times over the years about this, but when she serves this "slap degie" on stewed fruit served with game, or uses it to make a hearty beef stew (that’s even more delicious!), we are all quiet and all you hear around the table are sighs of satisfaction and bliss. This "slap degie” (runny batter) changes the ordinary to the sublime and supper into a plate of comfort food.

I implore you to try this, once you've made it, try to add herbs or spices or even cheeses to it. Let me know what you think!!

Slap Degie (runny dough)

Ingredients:
250 ml self-raising flour 
1 egg 
half a cup milk 
half a cup oil 
salt

Method:

1. Break the egg in a cup and fill to halfway with milk and then to the top with oil.
2. Pour into a mixing bowl.
3. Add the flour and salt and mix. If the batter is too stiff, add a little more milk. That is it!

Pour it over meat, stewed fruit, chicken, whatever you like. Just bear in mind, your meat or fruit has to be cooked already, this is just a topping and bakes in about 25-30 minutes. Placing onion rings onto the batter just before baking it makes the circles on top of my pie.

These are just some of the comments I received in response to this recipe

KEN DIE DEGIE... OUMA HET DIT ALTYD OOR DIE WILDSPASTEI GEGOOI...
TE LEKKER...
EN KWEPER JELLIE...
Brilliant recipe Nina, I've got a similar one from my Granny too. Works for just about anything and everything
This looks so delicious Nina! I've also read about the slap degie in my "Kook en geniet" but I've never tried it and it is so easy!
Thinking about it... I suppose one could even use polenta instead of flour in this, eh? Would be lovely on top of a chili con carne type of stew!
(Erm... would using polenta change the amounts or the cooking time, do you think, chef?)-- and one would then probably have to add maybe half a teaspoon of baking powder or so, hey?
Thanks so much for sharing this!! What a brilliant way to use up leftovers - just make a "stew" and cover with this topping! I will probably even try this tonight!!
ag dis n vrek lekker resepie! ek maak dit vir skaapskenkel pastei! pragtige fotos!
Yummy!!!Now I am soooo hungry!!

Note: Images are all Nina's own.

Guest Post: The Creative Pot with Buttermilk Corn Soup

Hi!

As I have mentioned, while I'm away on holiday, some of my lovely blog and twitter friends have offered to guest post for me! Blown away by this amazing offer, I've given them pretty much free reign to write what they like, and just LOOK at what they've come up with!

Here's Marisa from The Creative Pot with something amazing, just for you. Take it away!

When my fellow schemer, darling Twitter buddy Sigrid shared her distress with me regarding her long absence from her blog and her fear that you, her loyal readers, would run for the hills I knew I had to step up to the plate. Hell, the girl knows where I live. Plus, I had to keep our relationship in good stead, as she still has a large bottle of wine with my name on it squirreled away at her house. Clearly, a lot was at stake here. And after all, I had done one guest post before, so I figured it would be a piece of cake to do another. But I hadn't factored my indecisiveness in. What to make? I wanted to put my best foot forward, whilst also keeping an eye on that bottle of wine and adhering to the spirit of things around here, i.e. quick, easy, accessible-for-every-cook meals.

Hmmmm... Of course there was also a tiny part of me that wanted to keep all the good stuff to myself. There, I've said it. Political correctness is vastly overrated don't you think? I briefly considered cupcakes, in keeping with the name of the blog and her long-running cake-rocks joke. But when I made this soup, I knew I had to surrender the recipe. After all, it was the perfect candidate - easy, yet impressive looking. So I pinned my greedy blogger alter ego to the floor and wrestled this recipe away from my own post queue and plonked it into this one. 'Cause I'm a good friend like that. You hear that? Bottle of wine!

Um... right, so where was I? Oh yes, the soup. Looks easy right? You boil some potatoes, steam a couple of ears of corn, then bang everything together in a food processor with a good glug of buttermilk and off you go! Of course then you can get all fancy-schmancy and tart it up a bit for the all important presentation. Your dinner guests will love you. Especially if you serve it with a still-warm-from the oven bread.

Top tip: If you buy bread ready-made and gently re-heat it in the oven, no-one will be the wiser. I slathered my bread in mashed avocado which I then proceeded to dip with wild abandon in the soup. Yeah, I don't get out much. But I promise the curse doesn't get transferred through computer screens, so you should be safe.

Enjoy!

Buttermilk Corn Soup
Inspired by a recipe from 101 Cookbooks
Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion
1tsp garlic
1 tbsp cajun spice
2 sweet potatoes, peeled & roughly chopped
4 cups water
4 ears of corn
500 ml buttermilk
salt to taste
chopped green bellpepper, to serve (optional)
chopped red chillies (or peppadews), to serve (optional)

Method:
1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium to high heat. Add onion, garlic and cajun spice and fry for 5 - 7 minutes or until softened. Don't worry if the onion burns a little bit, I find it adds to the smoky flavour in this particular dish.
2. Add sweet potato chunks to the pot, stir to coat in the spices, then add 1 1/2 cups water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover with a lid and allow to cook until soft.
3. Meanwhile, steam corn in their husks until cooked through. I normally just pop them in the microwave for a few minutes - it works a treat. Remove and allow to cool enough to handle them. Remove husks, then, using a knife, slice the kernels off.
4. Add corn kernels to the cooked sweet potatoes, then transfer everything to a food processor and blend to a smooth puree. If necessary add some more water to ease the process.
5. Pour back into the pot, add the rest of the water, as well as buttermilk and salt to taste, then gently re-heat until piping hot before serving.

PS: Happy happy honeymoon dearest Sigrid (and hubby)! Looking forward to have you back in this neck of the woods.

PPS: If you enjoyed this post, why not come and say hi over at my blog, The Creative Pot? Or drop me a witty one liner on Twitter. I promise to be on my best behaviour.

**All images are Marisa's own (and what lovely ones they are!!)

Guest Post: The Squashed Tomato Chef reviews Jakes

Hi! As I have mentioned, while I'm away on holiday, some of my lovely blog and twitter friends have offered to guest post for me! Blown away by this amazing offer, I've given them pretty much free reign to write what they like, and just LOOK at what they've come up with! 

Here's The Chef from A Squashed Tomato, with something amazing, just for you. Take it away!

Hi everyone!

Wow, it's a great privilege to be guest-writing for polkadotcupcake whilst she is off enjoying a glorious new adventure at her wedding. Fearing stage-fright upon arrival, I talked myself out of creating some intricate recipe that might fail hopelessly and decided to rather review one of my favourite (if not all-time favourite) Cape Town restaurants. 

Jakes is a true Cape Town gem, with restaurants situated in Kenilworth (Jakes On Summerley) and Tokai (Jakes In The Village). The website describes the atmosphere as "vibrant and social" - I think this is a gross understatement! The interior, especially in the evening, is simply luxurious - with dark wooden tables, large glass windows, gorgeous artwork and perfect lighting, the dining experience of your life (yes, a bold statement but I dare you to prove me wrong!) is just waiting to be had! 

A visit to Jakes is not complete without arriving early in order to enjoy a glass of spicy red wine or a cool, tangy cocktail in the trendy bar area, seated on one of the leather armchairs. Once your table is ready, you are whisked away into the vibey dining area, where there is a delightful theatre of talking, laughing, champagne corks popping, waiters moving skillfully between tables, knives and forks clinking on plates and the gorgeous aroma of food...glorious food. Just a warning - upon opening the menu, whatever you were feeling like eating before doing so is instantly assaulted by a variety of delicious alternatives. 

Whilst I highly recommend going more than once (in order to try everything, of course!), I have come to salivate on simply hearing the following main course options: Jakes Double-Roasted Duck and Jakes Beef Wellington. The duck is wickedly crispy on the outside, whilst moist and tender underneath and is served with fine French beans and a few other side items (trust me, the duck and those beans just steal the show). The wellington is nothing short of art: Medium-rare steak, topped with a sherry-based sauce and pate, is wrapped in pastry and baked to perfection. It is also served with those crunchy, fine French beans. Just to provide some context, I first had the wellington over 2 years ago and it has remained, to this day, the best meal I have ever eaten in any restaurant. FACT. Unfortunately, both the duck and wellington are "specials" and are not available throughout the year. My sources tell me the wellington is currently available - I will race you there! 

Reading this, you might think that I am really singing Jakes' praises - well, I am! I live to eat - it's a great part of life - and I am always on the lookout for a restaurant that offers incredible food within an entirely addictive setting. Jakes has it right - and after writing this, I need my next fix! Word is that they're running a winter special at the moment - R145.00 for 3 courses! No guesses where I will be dining this weekend! Thanks to polkadotcupcake for this great opportunity! I wish you the very best with your wedding and new start in life - and I cannot wait to hear about all the food from the reception!

All the best, 

The Chef 

x

{Images sourced from: Dining-Out.co.za}

Guest Post: LadyRaven with Steak and Mushroom Pasta

As I have mentioned, while I'm away on holiday, some of my lovely blog and twitter friends have offered to guest post for me! Blown away by this amazing offer, I've given them pretty much free reign to write what they like, and just LOOK at what they've come up with!

Here's LadyRaven from Add to Taste with something amazing, just for you. Take it away!

I have been hosting guest posts for 4 weeks and I get endless joy from them. I cannot explain the joy of asking someone for a post and them agreeing to do one. So when polkadotcupcake asked for people to volunteer for guest posts while she is away, I jumped at the chance to "pay it forward"

I looked at what I had planned and what I had done and not posted, then considered the weather and some other things, then I remembered how much polkadotcupcake loves improvising in the kitchen and I had my winning dish. 

I love going to the shop with the intention of buying "something" to make for lunch then coming home and throwing together a meal. I love it even more when the meal turns out to be delicious too and that is what happened with this dish. 

My partner and I were busy baking the whole day and the idea of eating something sweet didn’t fly well with us. At the shop we picked up a beautiful piece of shin, some mushrooms and dill and created a creamy pasta dish to warm our bellies, cleanse our palates and give us the strength we needed to ice the "dead hello kitty" cake.

What you need: 
1 shin steak (or any other cut you like) 
1 punnet of mushrooms (chopped) 
1 onion 
fresh dill (to taste) 
1 tsp smoked paprika 
50ml of cream or 1 tin evaporated milk 
olive oil 
Salt and pepper (to taste) 
Pasta of choice

What to do:

1. Season the meat and grill on a high heat to your preferred level of "doneness". Set it aside. Set the pasta to cook to al dente. Do not drain it.
2. In a pan, sauté the onions until they start to brown then add the paprika and the mushrooms.
3. While the mushrooms are cooking slice up the meat and when the mushrooms are cooked, add it to the pan.
4. Pour in the cream/evaporated milk and let it simmer for a minute or 2 and then add the dill. Let it simmer for another minute.
5. Add the cooked past to the pan insuring that a bit of the cooking water goes in with it. Stir a few times and take it off the heat.
6. Serve garnished with a sprig of dill, and enjoy!

The Shopping List

Guest Post: Nina Timm with Chicken Liver Pate

As I have mentioned, while I'm away on holiday, some of my lovely blog and twitter friends have offered to guest post for me! Blown away by this amazing offer, I've given them pretty much free reign to write what they like, and just LOOK at what they've come up with!

Here's Nina Timm from My Easy Cooking with something amazing, just for you. Take it away!

Another one of my most popular recipes on the internet is this dead easy Chicken Liver Pate. You can make this in bulk and freeze or make a fresh batch every time you need one. This recipe always works well as a pasta sauce (I kid you not). For the pasta sauce you just do not blend the livers, keep them whole and stir into hot pasta. Add a few dry chilli flakes and you have them, this is just the dish to keep winter at bay!!

Chicken Livers....you either love them or you don't. Some people, like me, would sneak into the kitchen at night and eat the Chicken Liver Pate in spoonfuls from the fridge and others are appalled by the idea of eating offal. I suggest you give this recipe a try and then make up your mind. The pate is smooth, velvety and so delicious! I paired my pate with fried sage and cherries and got quite a reaction from my guests, but you can try it with crackers, rustic bread, whatever you feel like!

Ingredients

500gr chicken livers - fresh or frozen (if using frozen, then thaw it first)
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves garlic - chopped
fresh thyme or oregano
125ml cream
1 Tbs brandy
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and black pepper
olive oil
2 Tbsp clarified butter

Method:

1. Fry the onion and garlic in some olive oil in a pan until the onion is soft and translucent. 
2. Add the chicken livers and herbs and cook until the liver is still pinkish, but not raw anymore.
3. Add the contents of the pan to a blender and blend until it has a smooth and silky consistency.
4. While the machine is running add the cream, brandy and lemon juice. 
5. Taste and add salt and black pepper to taste. 
6. Spoon the liver pate into two small dishes and top with the melted butter. Wait until the pate has cooled down, cover and refrigerate until needed!

The Next Few Weeks

Hi!

So, I've been a bit sparse on the posting front just lately, and I feel terrible for abandoning you all! As I've said, things have been hectic on the home front, with the wedding in under two weeks, my Dad coming to visit from England, and various other wedding and honeymoon related activities all coming to a head right now. In fact, I've hardly cooked in the last month or so, and the next month will be much the same, because we're going to EUROPE, baby! Yes, we're leaving for our honeymoon a day or so after our wedding, and we're visiting Rome and the Dalmatia area of Croatia.

{Image source: Tambako the Jaguar, flickr}

Because of this amazing trip, this here blog was in danger of being sadly neglected (and I haven't had time to schedule a bunch of posts for you, I'm sorry. I'm just not that great a multitasker, and I've had a busy couple of months!) However, some of my delightful blogging friends on twitter have offered to take up my mantle, and guest post for me while I'm away! What amazing people! Thank you SO much ladies, you've no idea how much I appreciate this!

And so, over the next few weeks you'll meet @TheCreativePot, @ninatimm, @cptcarla, @Ashleign_Martyn and @LadyRaven, and these lovely ladies will each bring something special to this blog, and I DO hope you enjoy them!

{Image source: Michael Caven, flickr}

If any of you, my readers, would like to volunteer to guest post from the 30th July - 19th August, please email polkadotcupcakecooks {at} gmail {dot} com. I'll send you details, and you can send me a post!