Saturday 30 December 2006

Pasta Pronto

Went over to Ben and Kirstens with Ben who has a great love for food and cooking as well. We got then a pasta rolling machine for Xmas so they invited Eddie and I over for dinner so we could see and taste the results!.



The pasta was made so well and was delicious!

Ben made fettucini with a thick tomato sauce that had so much intense flavour it complimented the pasta really well.


Kirsten did dessert which was a hazelnut gelato which was really nice however abit runny and as I had a bottle of white followed by red i wasnt in the best state for dessert.

Best bit...I won poker!!



Good times! :)


Friday 29 December 2006

Late Night Sustenance

After the massive lunch I had and while i was not very hungry i thought it was important we ate dinner so not to bascially starve during the night. With spare mince and not wanting to eat anything to heavy i decided on beef and lamb rissoles with salad.

Reading through Food.Fashion.Ferrets one of my favs I noticed one recipe that caught my attention a while back and got me craving exactly that, rissoles, made normally but with Fetta! So with that in mind i went and bought some Bulgarian fetta (my favourite) and went on to make the rissoles.


I used alittle bit of Lamb and beef mince (a ratio of 2:1). and threw in everything i had onion, garlic, oregono, rosemary, parsely, egg, grated carrot and the not so secret ingredient...FETTA!
It really did make the dish it, you could taste the fetta but it wasnt over powering and added the salt that was needed, i was very satisfied and because i amd so much I can have some today for lunch yey.



ready to be made into rissoles mmm





I topped it with some garlic mushrooms but was too excited and took a bite before even contemplating an image and 2 secons later it was gone....

Thursday 28 December 2006

El Bahsa - Newtown

Going to Newtown and cravings Campos but having no time we ended up at El Bahsa craving large amounts of satisfying food and that they delivered.


I started off with the Semi Dried Tomato Bruschetta (which i didnt take a pic of because i got over excited and was starving)

Next was the Chicken Ceaser salad ($14.90) which was simple but so fulling. Honestly after the two piece of Bruschetta i was left struggling with the salad but the chicken was cooked well, the lettuce was still crisp and the dressing was not overwhleming.

Eddie had the lamb backstrap burger ($11.90)


Rod had chips and a felafel roll which looks kinda lonely on the plate but for $6.90 you cant really argue with that.



Throw in a soy latte and I am a happy camper!


El Bahsa Cafe

233 King Street

Newtown, Sydney

Tel: (02) 9557 3886

Xmas 2006

My family isnt big on Christmas coming from a Buddhist background its more about just getting us altogether and eating as much as we can rather than presents.

So this year is the same but it was still great.

I made a roast lamb, something i dont ever make unless its a super special occasion and havent had in a year exactly. I also made roast vegie, lemon potatos, mash potatos with a truckload of cream and butter, potato salad (my mum bought 5 kgs of potatos) as well as a green salad sausages and bread rolls.
5 hours later it was all done and I could call everyone to lunch (finally).



Yes I had to use a cleaver, mum doesnt have a carving knife and i forgot to bring it from home, luckily the cleaver was so sharp!

Vi and Marc came over this christmas as her family doesnt Christmas lunch/dinner and it was good to have them there.

Merry Xmas!

Xmas Eve



My Childhood friend Vi has been having a Xmas eve dinner for about 10 years and its always so much fun.


When it started we all made food and brought it and marvelled at our creations however as time went on and the busy silly season its been more about the friends and just bringing something simple that will feed a crowd....so for the first time in about 8 months i had KFC!


Champagne, one simply with a strawberry, the other with a hibiscus flower which i was too scared to try...Vi bought me some so Im going to have to try it one day.


YUM we also had pizza, and antipasto plates.

Vi also made a chocolate tart from the latest Jamie Oliver Book which im really upset that I did not take a pic of.

Fun times!

Just eating!

The boy and I went to Johnnie and Elinors for the famous 'log'.
As Johnnie is Italian, his mother has obviously passed through some great cooking skills his way and the first time I had the log, it was a very memorable meal.

So the log needed to be made again.

Its bascially a minced meat log with egg and bacon inside. Johnnie placed it sliced on top of pasta this time and popped some basil around for a Xmas theme.

Very enjoyable!

Hello Johnny!


The Log in its complete yum-ness

half way through


So satisfying!





Simple meals

Made a simple meals again with ingrediants from the kitchen this time: -


Chorizo with roast chicken pasta


Ingredients

1 small Onion finaley chopped

2 cloves garlic crushed

mushrooms sliced

roast chicken chopped roughly

1 large chorizo sliced on angle

1 can crushed tomatos

250g passata

Basil

Parmagiano Reggiano

Fettucini

To do

In a large pot cook onion and garlic in good olive oil.

Add Chorizo and cook through.

Add can tomato, passata and roast chicken then add mushroom.

add whatever herbs you like, I had fresh basil which I tore into the sauce.

Stir through.

Place pasta on plate and top with sauce and cheese.

So simple.

And alas no more Chorizo!

Meals made

I find creating a meal out of nothing so satisfying. Looking around in the kitchen to see what ingrediants there are and developing a simple yet delicious meal that can make the boy smile nod and practically lick the plate clean!


Some sort of burrito with beans and chorizo, mexican rice and grilled lime.

Ingredients

1 lime halved

2 tortillas

a handful of Salad greens

mozzerella cheese

Burrito Filling Ingredients

1/4 red capsicum

1 400g crushed tomatos

1 small onion chopped

2 cloves garlic crushed

1 large Chorizo sliced on angle

1 large onion chopped

1 can of kidney beans

100g button mushrooms sliced

1/2 cup water

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp smoked praprika

store bought salsa and ranch dressing (or sour cream in avail)

Mexican Rice Ingredients

1 Small onion finley chopped

1 clove garlic sliced

1 can crushed tomato semi drained

1/2 cup of corn kernels

1 pinch of smoked praprika

1/2 cup of vegetable stock

1/2 cup water

1 cup white rice

In a frying pan place the rice and cook til golden brown (never take your eye off it). When golden place in onion garlic and mix then place can of tomatos, water, corn and stock.

Mix well then leave for approx 25 mins

In the mean time in a large pot place chopped onions and garlic then place chorizo and cook, add capsicum and carrots. Add water, tomatos, beans, cumin, praprika and mushroom stir well.

Leave uncovered for 20 mins stiring occasionally.

Halve a lime and place on ridge grill to warm through.

Assemble the burrito by adding ingredients onto tortilla with cheese and secure with toothpick or skewer and pop on ridge grill to warm through.

Give the rice one last stir.

Pop all on plate, cover burrito with salsa and ranch dressing and your DONE!!!

YUM

Wednesday 27 December 2006

A New Begining

Welcome to my Blog!
Just a short entry as this is completely new for me and I am still trying to find my way through it all, however I have a camera full of pictures I have taken which features meals made and consumed!

How Exciting!!