Four Cheese Tortellini with Bacon and Peas

So I think I hit a winner with this one! When I went to look for images (I don't have a camera, so I can't take my own pictures), I saw cheese tortellini with bacon and peas all over the place! In fact, I may even have taken inspiration for this from someone on my blogroll, but it went into my head and came out without a reference.

I made this without a recipe, so let's just say it's mine, with inspiration from the blogs I read, alright? Thanks.

Ah, cheese. What would I do without you? Cheese and I go way back, we've always loved each other, and cheese will still be there for me when all other things wither and fade away. Cheese, how I love you. Four cheese tortellini?! Yes please!! 

I've been dying to try the Pick n Pay fresh pastas, but was worried about making a sauce that would complement, not drown, them. So, with inspiration from the blogs, I came up with this.

{Image Source}

Four Cheese Tortellini with Bacon and Peas

Ingredients

1 package Four Cheese Tortellini (at ±R35 from Pnp, it's on the pricey side, but SO worth it)

5 rashers bacon (whatever cut you like, I use back bacon)

100-200g peas (depending what you like, I scatter them over until it looks enough)

6 medium size mushrooms, any kind (any kind, I used button, but portobellini would be great)

125ml cream

1 tsp garlic

1 tsp chopped fresh parsley

Method:

1. Fry the garlic in a little butter until aromatic, and lightly coloured, but not burnt.
2. Fry the bacon until cooked, and set aside to cool.
3. Fry the mushrooms with the garlic, until the water starts to draw.
4. Put the pasta on to cook. The fresh pasta will take under 5 minutes. Drain and set aside when cooked.
5. When the bacon is cool, chop into pieces, and add back to the pan with the mushrooms and garlic.
6. Scoop out about a cup (±250ml) of the pasta water, and put into the pan with the fried mushrooms, garlic and bacon.
7. Simmer for a few minutes to reduce the liquid.
8. Add the cream, a bit at a time, and allow it to come to a simmer.
9. Pour frozen peas over the sauce.
10. Simmer until slightly thickened.
11. Toss the sauce with the pasta, and toss with some chopped parsley

This is tasty, fast and easy, a great quick week night meal!
Enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Baby Potatoes

These are also known as little bites of heaven.

Now, this is the first recipe I have ever posted that I haven't made myself, but I think you need to know about this before I FINALLY get around to making it, whenever that may be. These delicious little bites of heaven will make you happy, they will make your children, your husband, any friends you choose to bless with them happy. In fact, if you like bacon, you will be happy. So brace yourself.

{Image Source}

Bacon Wrapped Baby Potatoes
(yes, every word needs capitalising, they are that important.)

Ingredients
Bag of baby potatoes
Packet of streaky bacon
Olive oil
Garlic
Green herbs (thyme, oreganum, parsley)
Black pepper
Salt

Method

1. Boil potatoes in water with salt, until just cooked. Remove from the water, drain and put into a dish big enough to hold them, and some liquid. Cover the potatoes in a mixture of olive oil, garlic and herbs, and grind black pepper and a little sea salt over them, bearing in mind that bacon is salty in itself.
2. Leave for 30 minutes.
3. Remove marinaded potatoes from liquid. Wrap a strip of bacon around each potato, securing the end with a toothpick. Place in a large cookie tray, and when they're all done, pop them under the preheated grill until the bacon starts to get crispy, but not burnt.
4. Serve warm to your adoring audience, and revel in the delightfulness! These were served at a party I went to on the weekend, and were the first thing to go! Delicious! I'll be making these for my next party!

PS. I imagine that these would also be beautiful marinaded in a olive oil and rosemary, and then just before you put them into the oven, pour a teaspoon of brown sugar onto each one. That would probably turn them into sticky delights!

Have fun with these!

Linda's Chocolate Fridge Bars

Hi!

So, if you haven't already entered, I'm hosting a little giveaway with Taste of Cape Town! To win one of two double standard tickets to the show at the end of March, just leave a comment on this post, and the two of the most interesting/funny/quirky posters get a set of double tickets! It really is that easy!

{Image source: Tasumi, flickr}

But in other news. I have a new recipe! Yes. And it's my first sweet on the blog! I tend not to make that many desserts. I just tend to prefer to cook, rather than bake, and although I love puddings, cakes and so on, I just don't have time to make them often. I used to make a killer malva pudding, but that went the way of the dinosaurs, and my last attempt was a flat, soggy mass. Gross.. But this easy, delicious recipe was given to me by Linda, my Martha-Stewart-in-the-making friend (seriously, she bottles cherries, and makes lemon cordial, divine!) So I figured even I couldn't mess this up, and I didn't. YAY me!

{Image source: =-.0=, flickr}

This is chocolate-y heaven! And it's SIMPLE. Even I, in my wonderful, don't-make-dessert way couldn't mess this up. Ok, my sister probably can, but if you can microwave butter, you can make this. And lick the bowl. Yes, do it. It will be good.

Now, without further ado, I give you .... (drumroll, please)


Linda's (Amazing, incredible, intense) Chocolate Fridge Bars!

Ingredients

250g butter (I used stork margerine for baking)

500g icing sugar (powdered/confectioners sugar for my US readers)

40g cocoa (1/3 cup)

2 eggs (I used extra large, I think, but I don't know if the size would make all THAT much difference)

2 packets marie/tennis biscuits (I used half a pack of each, and it looked like enough to me; tennis biscuits are graham crackers) 

Method

1. Melt butter in a microwave proof, deep bowl in the microwave.

2. Sift in icing sugar and cocoa (I didn't sift, I just mixed it in with a balloon whisk to break it up.)

3. Beat the two eggs, then stir them in.

4. Microwave the entire thing for 2 minutes on high.

5. Remove from the microwave, and break up biscuits. Add the broken biscuit pieces, and stir into the mixture. Stop when it looks like if you add more biscuit it won't be covered by the mixture.

6. Pour the mixture into a flat, rectangular dish.

7. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, and while it's still soft, remove from the fridge, and cut into pieces, still in the dish. Put it back into the fridge to finish setting. (Don't forget to do this, I hear trying to cut it fully set has broken knives.)

Et, voila! You're done! Break apart the pieces, and feed to all your friends! This is great to take to picnics for an easy dessert after a big meal, or even to just keep in the house for when friends come over! Don't keep it for too long, or else the eggs will go off, but I predict that this chocolate-y goodness won't last long!

GIVEAWAY - Taste of Cape Town!

Oh wow.. I'm actually too scared to go and see exactly how long it's been since my last post. I know it's bad though, it's been too long, and I promise to try harder, let's just leave it at that, shall we? 

In order to make it up (if I still have any readers left after my incredibly long absence) I have something special for you!! YES!! My very first giveaway! This makes me feel like a really real blogger, so stick with me, it'll be worth it!

I've teamed up with the lovely souls at the Taste of Cape Town, and I'm giving away 2 double sets of standard entry tickets, each set worth R160! Isn't that incredible!? I'm getting carried away, but we're talking the Cape Colony, Bistro 1682 (incredible, I went there! What? Did I forget to tell you?), Maze, Nobu, Reuben's, Ginja, etc., etc.! You don't need me to tell you that those are some of the finest restaurants in the greater Cape Area! This is all the restaurants you've ever wanted to try, but been to worried about the price tag/pretentiousness/sommelier/whatever to actually go. At the Taste of Cape Town, you can try them all, for about R30 a dish!

Now, when you pay full price for the tickets (as I have done, and even if you don't win, I URGE you to go!), it is a pricey day, though well worth it. But you can get it for free! Yes! FREE! And who doesn't like free stuff?

Anyway, so to win tickets, here's what I want you to do. It's simple! Leave me a comment telling me which of these restaurants you've been dying to try (hint: go to the website and see the list of restaurants), and I'll pick a winner! 

Tell me something interesting, some reason why you would kill to try one of these restaurants, a funny story of what you might do, or even a recommendation for one of the restaurants that you HAVE tried and loved, and you can win a set of double tickets from me and the kind folks at the Taste of Cape Town! That's all.. Closing date for this giveaway is Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 (cause I hate Tuesday, and it needs some perking up!)

Now, go forth and comment!!

Blog Action Day: Writing to Save the World!

Hi guys!

I've neglected you lately, and have no excuses other than a terrible lack of time! This isn't likely to improve, but in the interim, here's a short post on something that's very close to my heart: Climate change and global warming.

Blog Action Day is an annual event designed to draw attention to the plight of many world problems, and this year we're targeting climate change. 

Food is a central element of climate change, as so many countries rely on imported foods to supplement those that grow locally, which negatively affects the climate of the world. Recently, the Slow Food movement has been encouraging consumers and supermarkets to buy locally grown, organic and low carbon footprint foods in order to try to relieve some of the strain importing food has on the environment.

More locally, small farmers and producers are seeing an upsurge in popularity, through initiatives such as Wild Organics who provide boxes of locally grown, organic farm produce that can be ordered in advance by consumers. Farmers markets, once the domain of farmers wives, have also come  ito vogue, with the Neighbourgoods Market housed at the Old Biscuit Mill enjoying incredible popularity, selling vintage and retro clothing, fresh vegetables, small producer cheeses and pestos and the like.

These initiatives all count towards reducing the impact that our consumerism has on the environment, and as conscientious consumers it is our duty to support these incredible movements!

Baked Spanish Style Chicken and Pasta

Well, what can I say? I love this! I had one of those days when everything you think of making seems predictable, and everything you’d like to make has ingredients you can’t find. When that happens, I wander around the store, waiting for something to jump out at me. This time, I felt like chicken, but not in any of the ways I usually make it, and I felt like pasta. I don’t usually buy chicken breasts, as you already know, I lean towards thighs. Once I had those, I was stumped.

I wandered down to the pasta aisle, past the tinned food, and an idea came to me. I wanted something warm, tasty, filling and different (for me). So I picked up some Spanish style chopped tomatoes, with paprika and peppers, and some pasta, and away I went.

At home I had some courgettes, cherry tomatoes, red and yellow peppers and red onions, so I chopped it all up, tossed it in a baking dish. I browned the chicken, laid the pieces on the veggies, seasoned them and added a little cayenne pepper, and covered it with 2/3 of the tin of Spanish style tomatoes. After baking for 30 minutes, the chicken was beautifully cooked, and the veggies had roasted up nicely. I deboned the chicken, and tossed the whole lot with some cooked pasta, and was I ever impressed!

Without further ado, here’s the recipe!

Ingredients
4 chicken thighs (or whatever pieces you like, and as many as you like, though more will obviously take longer to cook, and require more covering.)
Half a pack of cherry tomatoes
3 courgettes / baby marrows / zucchini
Half a red onion, sliced
2/3 tin of Spanish style tomatoes
Salt, pepper and cayenne pepper
Half a pack of pasta screws, cooked

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Chop the onion, and lay it out on the bottom of a flat ovenproof dish, that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
3. Chop the courgettes into wheels, or whatever shape tickles your fancy.
4. Brown the chicken pieces in a hot pan, and place on top of the onion and courgette.
5. Season the browned chicken pieces and sprinkle with cayenne pepper, rubbing to make sure the chicken is seasoned.
6. Place cherry tomatoes close to the chicken pieces, to add their flavour.
7. Cover it all fairly liberally in the Spanish style tomatoes.
8. Pop it in the oven for 30 minutes.
9. Put pasta on when you put the chicken in the oven.
10. When 30 minutes are up, test the chicken by skewering with a sharp knife in the fattest part of the meat. If the juices run clear, the chicken is cooked. If there is any sign of pink, put it back in for a few minutes.

When the chicken is cooked, you can either eat the pieces whole, on the bone with mash or rice or something. I deboned the chicken, and tossed it back into the sauce with the pasta. I then tossed the whole lot back in the oven under the grill with some grated boerenkaas I was sent my the fine people at Eat In magazine as part of the Eat In Awards, which I will tell you more about shortly.

I SO hope you enjoy this, the bf and I really did. It wasn’t heavy, was delicious and different! Let me know how it goes!

Restaurant Review: The Eastern Food Bazaar

Tantalising smells, milling people, the sizzle of frying ghee – these characterise the atmosphere of The Eastern Food Bazaar. Recently opened in what used to be the Wellington Fruit Growers, a long, narrow building from 1934 spanning the block between Darling Street and Longmarket Street in the centre of Cape Town, The Eastern Food Bazaar cooks up a storm.

{Image Courtesy: Eastern Food Bazaar website}

In the buzzing heart of the Cape Town business district, The Eastern Food Bazaar cuts a democratic swathe across the people of Cape Town. All types of people can be found here, from suited businessmen, to German tourists and hungry locals. All enjoy the flavours, smells and sounds of this bustling restaurant.

Taking a different approach to the restaurant business, the owners of the Jewel of India work on the idea that different people like different things, and service costs money. A variety of food is served at 6 or 7 kitchens, while there is a central pay point for all kitchens. Service is kept to a minimum, with a few servers to clear tables, and maintain hygiene. Food, drinks and dessert can all be collected from self-service kitchens, and water is available on a central counter.

The dishes range from chicken bunny chow (R25) to potato paratha (R15) and lamb rogan josh (R30). There’s also homemade ice cream and lassi to cool your chops when you’ve enjoyed a chicken tikka masala.

The décor leaves nothing to be desired, and puts many a Michelin starred restaurant to shame. Lining the walls are carved wooden screens and doors, authentic Mughal paintings and silks. The floor was paved with stones to suggest a cobbled lane, and the whole effect is supposed to simulate an Indian lane. Granite tables and wooden chairs complete the feeling of quality, and enhance the already fantastic food.

This haven of spicy delight fills a hole in the Cape Town restaurant scene, by offering good food, in a beautiful setting at very reasonable prices. This isn’t fine dining, but it doesn’t pretend to be. I predict that this unpretentious, incredible place will fill many tummies for many years to come.

The Eastern Food Bazaar
http://www.easterfoodbazaar.co.za/
info@easternfoodbazaar.co.za
Tel 021 461 2458
Fax 086 682 6519
96 Longmarket Street
Cape Town CBD
8001

The last couple of weeks..months?

Hi guys!

I have to apologise. I've been terrible with updating recently, and all I can say in my defense, is that life has gotten in the way! Since mid-July, or so, I was planning my engagment party (I baked over 100 cupcakes!! More about that soon..) and for the last couple of weeks, I've been getting over it, searching for a house for my boyfriend (fiance weirds me out!) and works been picking up!

That's not to say I haven't been cooking anything good, but to be honest, you haven't missed much. I've been relying on my staples, like the spaghetti bolognaise I can cook with my eyes closed, freezer pizza, and other easy, but not mind blowing dinners! We all have those periods, and this was mine.

What I would like to share, is that we were given a beautiful slow cooker for our engagment party (Thanks Penny and Charles!!) and I'm collecting a million and one recipes for delecably slow cooked dinners that I'm eager to try! The first time, though, I want to hang around, and make sure everything goes according to plan, because I've never used one before, and I tend not to trust technology too far. Then, if everything goes accordingly to plan, I will be creating succulent lamb shanks, melt in your mouth butter chicken, and sticky oxtail, and sharing it with you all, right here!

For now, please accept my deepest apologies for abandoning you for the last couple of months, I can assure you that, I will be back! (We just have to find a house first!!)

Love, and see you soon,

Mushroom, bacon and veggies with Linguine

Hi!

I'm so sorry I haven't posted in so long! I think it's nearly a month now, which is unforgivable! In my defence, I've been planning an engagement party, and works been picking up, so there's been minimal time. To add to that, I've had an uninspired cooking month, where nothing quite yelled 'wow' at me, and everything was just ok, not brilliant.

{Image Source}

All that changed last night! I was going to make a chicken casserole, with a 'new' casserole my gran recently gave me, but I realised I had gone and forgotten to get enough onion, so I decided just to make myself some dinner, and I'll make the casserole tonight.

I made a rather terrible dish a while ago, in which I tried to substitute smooth cottage cheese for cream or creme fraiche. The result was appalling!!!! The cottage cheese curdled, and made the whole sauce grainy! I'm not very experienced cooking with cream, I tend to avoid it, as I perceive it to be higher in fat than, say, a tomato based sauce. But I'm SO over tomato based sauces, so I got some reduced fat cream, and decided to bite the bullet and cook with cream.

This mushroom, bacon and veggie linguine was delicious!! I LOVE the pasta that I used here, in the baked rosemary and pork sausage pasta, it has a lovely texture and works so well with everything I put with it! Makes me feel like a wonder chef, but I think that quality ingredients will do that to you!

I used white mushrooms for this, since they were in stock, and quite cheap, but I think it would be even better with brown, or portobellini, or a mix of portobellini and wild mushrooms. The water released by the mushrooms really flavour this dish in an AMAZING way..

So without further ado, I give you

Mushroom, bacon and veggies with Linguine

Ingredients:

1/2 pack streaky bacon (or whatever kind you like)
1/2 pack mushrooms (white, brown, whatever, see previous note)
1/2 yellow or red pepper
1/2 a red onion (milder, sweeter taste than the yellow onion)
handful frozen peas
handful frozen corn
pinch of paprika
250ml reduced fat cream
sprinkling of powdered parmesan

Method:

1. Chop the onion, and fry in a little heated oil
2. Chop mushrooms, peppers and bacon, and toss them in to fry with the onion
3. Cook pasta according to packet instructions, with enough time so that it is ready when the sauce is ready
4. Fry all on a medium hear until the mushrooms have given up their water, the onion is soft, and the bacon cooked
5. Add the cream, lower the heat and simmer
6. The cream will thicken slightly, and I added some powdered parmesan which I had on hand to the sauce, since I can't resist putting cheese in!
7. Just before the pasta is cooked, toss in the peas and corn, either straight from frozen, or slightly zapped in some water in the microwave. It adds some more colour, and ups the deliciousness. I always have frozen peas and corn in the freezer, for occasions such as this!
8. When the pasta is cooked, serve some pasta into a bowl and serve the sauce over.
9. Eat and enjoy!!

I really enjoyed this last night, it was quick and easy to be worth preparing just for myself. There was enough left over for 2 lunches. I felt a bit bad about the cream, but I thought my reduced fat cream mitigated the decision slightly AND I don't eat cream so often, so once in a while can't kill, right? Besides, it was delicious!

Vote for Table Mountain as the new 7th Wonder!

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We got Table Mountain into the nominations, now vote for Table Mountain as the New 7th Wonder of the world!