Pasta Bianca e Nero – Black and White Pasta

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Tandy

I always get kitchen gadgets for my birthday – and I still have a wish list. When we got back from overseas the dog sitter told me she had made very good use of most of the gadgets. However, she did not want to try using my pasta machine alone. So, I invited her over for a lesson and at the same time made nero pasta with the squid ink we got in Italy. I found the squid ink at a little shop in the old city of Sienna and Dave told me to rather get it the next day – but I decided it was not a problem to carry it around while we were walking through the old city, and to make sure it was safe while we went out to eat. The squid ink cost €0.95 for 2 portions so not cheap when you compare it to the cost of making your own pasta. Hopefully I can find some more of the squid ink here as I thought the pasta looked amazing.

ingredients:

per person

100g pasta flour

1 egg

1 pinch of maldon sea salt

for each 200g of pasta flour

1 small sachet squid ink

method:

In a food processor mix the pasta flour, salt, egg and squid ink until you have a ball

knead for 5 minutes – you may need to add some more flour at this stage

leave to rest in the fridge, wrapped in cling film, for 30 minutes

using a pasta machine roll the pasta out until thin

cut using the blades into angel hair pasta

leave to dry until ready to cook

to cook

bring a large pot of water to the boil

add a generous amount of salt to make the water seawater salty

add the pasta and when the water comes back to the boil set your timer for 3 minutes

remove and drain and serve immediately

Tandy

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Oxtail

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Tandy

At the recent food bloggers conference there were two Le Creuset pots that were give aways. One went to Colleen for organizing the event, and the other did not go to me! However, I did get a voucher from yuppie chef, and so decided I would get my pot. The first meal cooked in it had to be something special and so I decided to make my award-winning Oxtail. This recipe can be found here, and in Lavender & Lime.

ingredients:

250g Oxtail per person

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons tomato purée

50mls butter

1 onion sliced

1 leak sliced

3 sticks celery sliced

2 carrots grated

1 cup red wine

2 cloves garlic crushed

½ teaspoon dried thyme or 1 stalk Thyme

1 stalk parsley

1 tin whole tomatoes with the juice

1 tin coke

method:

Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius.

In a large oven proof pan, brown the oxtail.

Season with salt and pepper.

Add the tomato puree and cook for another 2 minutes.

Remove from the dish and set aside in a bowl.

In the pan melt the butter and fry the onion, leak and celery until soft.

Add the carrots and then remove from the pan and add to the oxtail.

Add the red wine to the pan.

Add the oxtail and the vegetables and all the juices.

Add the garlic, thyme, parsley, tin of tomatoes and the coke.

Place the casserole in the oven for at least 3 hours.

Adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Remove from the heat and when cool place in the refrigerator overnight.

Remove the fat from the top and reheat – make sure there is enough liquid to cover the meat at all times

Serve with a mix of brown and wild and white rice

Tandy

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Guest Blogger: Linden Quinlan’s Malva Pudding

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Tandy

My challenge for the week is to bake a Malva Pudding and it was inspired by my friend Linden. She lives in the UK and wanted to do a South African meal for her guests. She made babotie and her pudding was described as “having too much of everything in it!”

Here is the recipe she used:

Malva Pudding Recipe

Serves 6-8

ingredients:

1 heaped tablespoon butter

3 heaped tablespoons apricot jam

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

½ cup sugar

½ cup milk

method:

preheat the oven to 180˚ Celsius

Cream together the butter and sugar.

Add the beaten egg and jam and beat together.

Add the dry ingredients and milk alternately and stir into the mixture.

Pour the batter into a greased round dish approx 21cm.

Cover either with a lid or tinfoil and bake for 30 minutes until the top is browned and a skewer comes out clean.

Serve warm with custard and cream.

If you would like to try the rich and more traditional version of Malva Pudding, and I think it should be done once in a while, here is a recipe for the sauce to drench it in as soon as it leaves the oven.

Sauce

ingredients:

1 cup cream

100g butter

½ cup sugar

60 ml hot water

method:

Warm together the ingredients until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved and pour over the pudding as it comes out of the oven.

You can prick holes in the top to help the sauce soak in.

With the sauce incorporated into the Malva Pudding you hardly need anything else to accompany it, the cream being already inside!

Just for appearances’ sake though you might like to serve it with a conservative dollop of vanilla ice cream, or a few poached apricots and a drizzle of cream.

The other compromise is to reserve some of the sauce to serve alongside the pudding rather than letting the whole amount soak in.

Thanks Linden!

Tandy

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The Savoury Tart Challenge

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Tandy

Many thanks to all who have participated. Click on the links to see what was baked.

Cindy was the first one to post about what she did for the challenge.

Iky has done last week’s challenge – take a look at her lovely citrus tart! And, she has done this challenge – a wonderful onion, bacon, sage and Gorgonzola tart.

Shaz is also a week behind, but as she is very involved with the SWC she deserves to be forgiven. Take a look at her apple tart recipe.

If anyone else made a tart for the challenge, please let me know.

Tandy

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Malva Pudding Challenge

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Tandy

The challenge starting today and ending at midnight on the 4th of July is to bake a Malva pudding. Post your recipe / photo / story on your blog and leave a note here for me to say you have completed the challenge. A round up of all participants will be posted on Monday the 5th of July. This challenge has been inspired by my friend Linden.

Don’t forget, the bake a savoury tart challenge ends at midnight on Sunday – please let me know if you have posted anything.

Tandy

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Fennel, Gorgonzola and Walnut Tart

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Tandy

Being up for my own challenge I made a savoury tart. This is a perfect starter or can be served on a tea-table as part of the savoury addition. I however served it with some rooibok (Impala) wors (sausage).

ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large fennel bulb sliced

1 red onion sliced

small handful of walnuts

50g Gorgonzola

salt and pepper

2 cups cream

4 egg yolks beaten

1 fennel frond finely chopped

method:

preheat the oven to 180˚ Celsius

sauté the fennel and the onion until soft

season well

add the fennel, the onion and the walnuts to your prepared cheese pastry flan tin

mix the egg and the cream together and add to the flan tin, make sure you do not overfill the tin

scatter the chopped fennel on top

bake for 35 minutes, make sure it is set before you take it out of the oven

cooks note

I do not like the texture of the cooked walnuts and they can be left out of the recipe if you prefer

Tandy

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Cheese Pastry

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Tandy

For the bake a savoury tart challenge I needed to make some cheese pastry for the base.

Ingredients:

200g flour

150g chilled butter, cubed

150g grated cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to season

Method:

place the flour and the butter into a food processor with a dough hook and process until it resembles bread crumbs

add the cheese and seasoning and blend until the mixture forms a ball – be patient, this takes some time!

chill the dough for 30 minutes

preheat the oven to 180˚ Celsius

flour your working surface and carefully roll out your pastry to the size of your flan tin

bake blind for 15 minutes

Tandy

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Tomato Pasta Sauce

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Tandy

This recipe is featured in Lavender & Lime and is perfect for making in bulk and freezing when needed. You can use an ice tray to freeze small portions to use for pasta for a child’s portion, or for adding some extra zing to a ragu sauce.

© gnocchi with tomato sauce and parmesan

ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic sliced

800g canned whole peeled tomatoes

2 teaspoons dried basil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

½ cup red wine

A splash of red wine vinegar

method:

Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the garlic.

As soon as you can smell the garlic add the tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper.

Add the wine and vinegar.

Simmer for at least an hour.

Using the back of a wooden spoon break apart the tomatoes.

Adjust the seasoning and serve.

Tandy

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LAVENDER & LIME

Posted on June 23, 2010 by Tandy

The reason behind the name for my blog is my recipe book. Lavender & Lime is the title of my first cook book, a collection of 80 recipes to inspire you! I started writing my recipes when two of my friends, and I decided we would do some at home catering. Our company Fromais Kitchen did not really take off as Cams went back to work full-time at the time we were ready to launch, and I moved to Gordons Bay. When I moved to Gordons Bay I realized that the family recipes in my head were not going to be made for every traditional family gathering. I knew that these had to be passed down somehow, and so I decided to get stuck in and create a real recipe book. And, each December I started editing – which resulted in more recipes being added. When I started my blog I felt inspired to do something more and finally the book has been printed. It has been a huge learning curve and it has been made possible with input from many people. I will continue to print the books to order so if you would like one please send me an email. The recipe book costs R95 excluding postage and packaging of R25 (for up to 5 books, in South Africa). The book has been printed in A5 format on 140gm gloss paper and the cover is glossy 300gm. There are color photographs spread out throughout the book. Here is a screen shot of what you can expect from the book:

Lavender & Lime