I started this week worried that my recipe would be the only one!

© spinach pasta all cooked

but slowly the emails started arriving. The first one is from Gay, A Scientist In The Kitchen and she has delighted me with Broccoli and Woonsen Stirfry.

the next recipe to pop into my inbox is from An Escape To Food – the recipe for Udon in Tomato-Beans Broth is a pantry / freezer explosion of taste.

Shelby, who is better known as HoneyB who blogs at The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honeybunch has made this awesome Thai Peanut & Chicken Noodles (her words!) and after reading the post, I have to agree!

The last submission this week is from Joanne, who Eats Well With Others. Her  Spaghetti in Tomato-Apple Sauce shows that fruit in all forms is great with pasta.

Thanks to everyone who took part in this week’s Presto Pasta Nights.

Tandy
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We were given 4 beautiful lamb chops which came from the Karoo. The Karoo is a desert region of South Africa where lamb are bred. They are supposed to be excellent as the lamb have to walk far and wide to forage for their food. Our friend Alex had been up there for a shooting of a movie and had come back with a freezer full of chops. Dave decided to light a braai (barbecue) and use one of the gifts I gave him for our wedding anniversary. I decided that if Dave was going to braai lamb, I was going to make mint sauce. In my mind, this is one of the easiest sauces to make – and nothing beats home made in my opinion. It will keep, so when your garden mint is abundant do make some and then you will have it in your fridge for the long cold winter, when cooked lamb and mint sauce will go down a treat.

© mint sauce

MINT SAUCE

ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar – I used fructose

3 tablespoons water

couple of turns of freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons malt vinegar

½ cup finely chopped mint

method:

place the sugar and the water into a small sauce pan and place on a low heat

stir while the sugar dissolves and then bring to the boil

reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes without stirring

grind in the pepper, add the vinegar and stir in the mint

cover and leave for 10 minutes before serving

MINT SAUCE PRINTABLE VERSION

Tandy

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For me, there are many challenges when baking sugar free products. But the biggest challenge to date has been to find a recipe for biscuits that turn out a crispy, crunchy morsel of goodness. I wanted to use my heart shaped cookie cutters in preparation for Valentines day, and in order to do that I needed to come up with a cookie dough recipe where the dough could be rolled out. I could not find one in my recipe books and so the one you will find below is one I created. Chocolate is perfect for Valentines day, but you could substitute the cacao for ginger, or any other dry ingredient that takes your fancy. So, the box has been ticked for challenge 1 – find a recipe that rolls out.

Challenge 2 was to have crunchy biscuits. I baked a small batch and had to force myself to wait for the biscuits to cool completely. Once that was done I took a bite and *crunch* the challenge box was ticked. But, what good is a crisp biscuit if it does not stay that way? So, I baked a second batch and left them in the cookie tin overnight – and, the third box is checked. The biscuits last and retain their crispness. My fourth requirement for a good cookie dough is that I can freeze it. I portioned the left over dough into two, shaped them into discs and covered them in clingfilm. These where then placed into a Ziploc bag and put into the freezer. I finally got around to testing them, and the dough is perfect! This recipe has more than met all my requirements for a perfect biscuit! Now, all I need is a perfect Valentine’s day.

© valentines day biscuits

BISCUITS

ingredients:

125g butter

½ cup sugar – I used fructose

1/3 cup honey

1 egg, lightly beaten

3½ cups flour

1 tablespoon cacao

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

method:

place the butter, sugar and honey into a mixer and beat until light and creamy

add the egg and beat well

sieve together the flour, cacao, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda

stir into the butter and mix well

turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2 minutes

cover in clingfilm and put into the fridge for 15 minutes

preheat the oven to 180° Celsius

roll the dough out to 1cm high on a floured surface

cut the dough with a cookie cutter

place the biscuits onto a prepared baking sheet

bake for 8 minutes

leave to cool on the tray for 1 minute and then cool completely on a wire rack

BISCUITS PRINTABLE VERSION

Tandy

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Common globe onion is the best known of this aromatic tribe. Spring onions are any variety of onion that is pulled when just beginning to bulb. Tree onion forms a basal bulb, while the flowers are replaced by a cluster of small bulbils that weigh the stalk to the ground, allowing the bulbils to take root. Potato onion forms a large cluster of plump smallish onions at the base. Shallots (eschallots or scallions) form an above ground bulb that splits to form a cluster of bulbs with a delicate flavour. Chinese onion is an Asian species cultivated for its crisp textured bulbs, which are popularly used raw, pickled or cooked. Nodding onion is a North American perennial with an intense onion flavour. Canada onion forms crisp white bulbs and has deliciously onion-scented foliage. Milder flavoured leeks originate from the Mediterranean. Garlic leek is perennial and develops a large basal bulb, which splits into several cloves. Poor man’s leek grows in the same manner as leeks, but has hollow leaves. The plant divides at the base, forming a perennial clump. Ramps form scallion like onion and garlic tasting bulbs.

© red onions

Onions requires a well tilled and weed free soil, good drainage and a sunny position. Plant onions by seed. In areas with a short growing season, grow them to the size of bulbils or sets, in their first season, then plant them out to mature in the second season. Regular weeding is essential and do not over water. Harvest globe onions at any stage. When onions have stopped growing, the tops fall over and wither. Choose a sunny day to pick onions and store in a dry, well ventilated area to prevent fungal rot.

information sourced from The Complete Book of Herbs

Tandy

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This month, the Crazy Cooking Challenge is to bake a chocolate cake. I decided to make Betty Bake’s Chocolate Beetroot Cake as I was wondering whether Dave, who does not like beetroot, would notice it in the cake. No-one who had a taste of this cake knew it had beetroot in other than Dave – and he thinks it is great. It has a lovely deep colour and not too overwhelming a chocolate taste. It got a resounding thumbs up from the taste panel.  Betty Bake has a gluten free recipe, but as this is not a concern for me, I used ordinary flour and substituted the sugar!

The one great thing about this challenge is that I get to show case my fellow South African bloggers. Betty Bake was more than happy to let me use her recipe, and I am more than happy to be able to share it with you.

© Chocolate Beetroot Cake

CHOCOLATE BEETROOT CAKE

ingredients:

50g dark chocolate
a tiny pinch of salt
3 tablespoons cream

200g brown sugar – I used fructose

3 eggs
180mls canola oil

1 cup cooked and puréed beetroot *

3 tablespoons cacao

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups flour

method:

preheat the oven to 155° Celsius

combine the chocolate, salt and cream in a bain-marie over a low heat

melt the chocolate and then stir until smooth and put to one side
use a whisk mixer to beat together the sugar, eggs and oil until thickened slightly and the mixture has lightened a little
add the beetroot to the egg mix and mix in

add the chocolate mix and mix in until totally incorporated
sieve together the cacao, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and flour

gradually add to the wet ingredients, beating well

place the mix into a buttered and floured cake tin – I used a springform tin

bake for 40 minutes

leave to cool before turning out of the pan

* to get one cup of cooked beetroot I took 250g of peeled and julienned beetroot and popped it in the microwave for 4 minutes. I then used my immersion blender to purée it. This was really a no mess, no fuss option.

CHOCOLATE BEETROOT CAKE PRINTABLE VERSION

Tandy

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I really want to start drinking green juices and so tried to use my juice attachment on my kitchen aid to achieve this with some spinach. Sadly, it does not juice spinach, but I did get a lovely dried out tablespoon or three of spinach. I decided there and then to make a green pasta and I think it really looks pretty. I love making past and so I will experiment with any flavour or type. Do give it a go, as it is really easy. Oh, for those of you who have a juicer, let me know which one you have and whether it does soft vegetables and fruit.

© spinach pasta

SPINACH PASTA

ingredients:

200g pasta flour

2 eggs

2 tablespoons spinach pulp

A pinch of salt

pasta flour for dusting

method:

make your pasta dough by kneading together the pasta flour, eggs, spinach pulp and salt

you want a not too dry and not too sticky dough so you may need to add a bit of water while kneading, or more flour as necessary

make sure your surface is well dusted with flour while you are kneading

once you have kneaded the dough for at least 5 minutes, cover it in Clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes

use a pasta machine to roll out the dough – I like it to get to number 7 for spaghetti

dust well with flour to separate the strands and leave to dry

if you don’t have a drying rack, use the back of a chair

bring a pot of water to the boil

add a generous amount of salt

add the spaghetti and time 3 minutes from when the water comes back to the boil

drain, reserving some of the pasta water to loosen your pasta sauce

drizzle with olive oil and then toss into the sauce you have made

SPINACH PASTA PRINTABLE VERSION

© spinach pasta all cooked

I am submitting this recipe to Presto Pasta Nights, which is being hosted this week by ME!

below this post you will see a ‘vote for me’ button – I am a finalist in the Eat In Blog Awards and would appreciate your vote.

Tandy

ps – I am not really ‘here’ – I have taken some time off the internet to spend with Cindy and so will get back to reading blogs tomorrow. 

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Here is another OLD post

1. What is the difference between mushrooms and truffles?

a mushroom is a fungus that grows above ground where as a truffle grows below ground

2. What is a smorgasbord?

a table of mixed foods to be shared, like a mezze platter, but from Scandanavian countries

3. What is traditionally added to risotto Milanese?

saffron

4. Where is beer not considered an alcoholic drink, but legally a staple food?

Germany

5. What is a beignet?

oh my favourite accompianment to hot chocolate at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans I describe them as the doughnut holes and they are scattered with castor sugar

6. Capsaicin, which makes hot peppers “hot”, is best neutralized by which protein?

lactose

7. What is the difference between amaretti and amaretto?

amaretti are biscuits made with almonds, and amaretto is almond liqueur

8. Which Japanese dish is cooked at the table?

Teriyaki

9. Why do bananas sweeten as they ripen?

the starch develops

10. What are blondies?

white brownies

11. What flour is made from finely ground chickpeas?

besan

12. What is arachibutyrophobia?

the fear of touching spiders

13. Which fruit is said to have grown in the hanging gardens of Babylon?

figs

14. Name the Moroccan mixture that has 20 or more ground spices and is used for seasoning soups and stews?

ras el hanout

15. Which resin is related to the pistachio and used for flavouring Turkish delight?

glucose?

Tandy
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