Dear Diet

ile de pain

I apologize, it's been so long since my last entry, but I have been obsessed with baking bread!  Yes, you heard right! BREAD ...  and not just any bread.  I have been practicing how to perfect the art of French Artisan bread.

We went on an amazing 4 x 4 trip awhile ago & stopping over in Knysna for a few day's we stumbled upon this beauty: ile de pain 

What an amazing bakery-cafe.  Liezie Mulder & Markus Farbinger have created, together, the unique culinary landscape that is ile de pain ("Island of Bread").  Their shared vision culminated in the opening of the bakery-cafe in Knysna, with it's wood-fired oven, in the Farbinger family tradition dating back to the 1700's.

We totally fell in love with this delectable little cafe & after tasting their lip-smacking fresh bread I just had to purchase a cd teaching you the art of making the real mccoy.   French Artisan bread.

An estimated 5 hour process & I can't start explaining how much I love it.  I think it's very therapeutic & the end process is so satisfying that I just want to start from scratch again.  Instant gratification.

I will have to take some pictures on the next round, the bread disappears way to quickly, no time for a snap shot ... I blame Hubby ;-)

I have a new found love for bread ... and BUTTER!  Who can resist a slice of hot fresh bread with a smeer of butter melting into it... YUM!

Rainy Weather = Comfort food = Pasta Bake

It's rainy and cold outside and whenever the season's change my appetite increase. I believe that I might have been a bear in my previous life and hibernation mode kicks in every winter.

Last night we went over to Football Engineer's house for some guru assistance in compiling a killer music compilation for my office.  After work I went home to whip up dinner so long, so it's easy to take to his house and we don't have to spend too much time in the kitchen and focus more on music, drinking wine & indulging in some play station games.

Ingredients:
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
fresh basil chopped
3 can's of whole Italian tomato
5ml of tomato paste
3 Zuchini's sliced
4 pieces of skinless chicken breasts
30g butter
2 chilli's chopped (optional)
1 pack of preferred pasta
Grated Parmesan Cheese

Boil pasta in boiling water until Al Dente, drain & put aside.

Fry garlic, onion and zucchini in butter until brown,  slice chicken breast into strips and fry in remainder of butter on a high heat to seal and brown.  Turn down heat and add your garlic, onion & zucchini mix, 3 tins of Italian tomato & 5ml of tomato paste.  Stir, turn down heat & simmer for 20 to 30 minutes till reduced. Add fresh chopped basil at the end, stir well.

Mix your pasta and sauce together and scoop into oven dish.  Top with grated Parmesan cheese (now this last step I only did at Football Engineers home) & grill in oven till cheese is crispy and brown.  Serve with a BIG glass of red wine.

Football Engineer opened a gorgeous bottle of  Rustenberg Syrah 2008. Beautiful marriage between this rich pasta dish and the smooth oak, old wooden barrel Shiraz.

A must try.

Cheers Y'all!

Plump!

Wine for thought:

Plump
A plump wine has low acidity but tastes full and rich due to lots of fruit flavors and glycerol. A plump wine is often delicious, though it may not age well due to its low acidity. When there's too little acidity, the wine is criticized for being flabby: as equally unattractive in wine as it is on thighs and underarms.

via Natalie Maclean

Well, interesting lesson for the day, but if you ask me I will rather just be oblivious to the last sentence ;-)  mmm, what to make for dinner?! 

I'm really loving this video of food  extraordinaire What Katie Ate. She's so adorable and I always LOVE seeing even just a glimpse of photographers behind the scenes! :)

La Video

Tasty Tuna Pie

What a delicous dish! Quick, Easy & perfect for a chilly rainy day.

Ingredients:

1 x Tin Tuna in brine (drained)
30 ml Butter
1 x Onion
4 slices of bread (crust removed)
2 large eggs
5 ml baking powder
250ml Milk
Fresh Basil finely chopped
Fresh Chili finely chopped
300 ml Grated Cheddar Cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste

Grate the onion, add butter & fry it in a saucepan. Break bread into small pieces and add to the onion, keep frying until the onion becomes golden brown.  Add mixture, but keep a 1/4 of the cheese  and baking powder aside. Mix all ingredients together and allow to simmer for 5 minutes over a low heat.  Add the baking powder, stir, take of heat & scoop mixture into a greased dish.  Top the pie with the remainder of cheese.  Bake in oven for 15 minutes & then grill until golden brown, serve with crispy green salad.  Enjoy!

 

mmm -  My dream Job: Culinary Getaways

Take a journey through Tuscany, Paris, Provence and Napa Valley ... easing through each town exploring their delicious dishes and wine... what more can I ask for?!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day all you Leprechauns!

Another great excuse to go for a drink with my Irish friends and celebrate green little men.  Are you planning anything for St. Patrick's Day?

Drinking and eating goes hand in hand on this lovely day and What Katie Ate had the best mouthwatering ideas for my tummy:

A Fish called Panga

Missing our Spanish lunches I decided to celebrate food, yet again & prepare a platter for lunch with bits and pieces of mouthwatering delicacies that reminds me of Spain.

Walking down the isles of Pick & Pay I started to fill my basket with Parma Ham, olives, fresh bread, cheese, asparagus and then ... I saw this interesting little creature ... a pink fish with a white underbelly staring at me with his big vague eyes and sharp little teeth - a fish called Panga.  

Now that would be the perfect finish to our lunch.   I have never heard of this fish before & was pondering how to prepare and cook it.  Of course the intelligent way would be to google it and find a tested recipe, but that's just boring ;-)

I decided to prepare it easy and fresh, sticking with the usual fish ingredients I trust.  Chopped fresh garlic, basil,  yellow pepper, chopped ginger, olive oil, salt & pepper.

I stuffed the fish with the sliced yellow pepper, garlic, basil & ginger.  Coated it in Olive Oil and sprinkled salt & pepper over it before grilling it in the oven.

While Panga was happily frying in the oven, I prepared the rest of the lunch ...

The fish came out perfectly tender and soft and yummy taste ... oh Yeah ... must be all the butter in the middle oozing out in a dance of garlic & basil.

What a delicious lunch.  We had some Fat Bastard Chardonnay with this and it was a perfect soft & buttery combination with a smooth soft aftertaste.

Out of interest I decided to google this fish anyway and see if I can find some different recommended recipes.  I came upon a nice and simple one... You place the fish in a glass steam-able dish, cover the fish in soya sauce, sesame seed oil, slivers of ginger and chopped spring onion.  Steam for more or less 8 minutes & serve.

Now that also sounds delicious & a little more healthier than my butter infused one ...

NIGELLA LAWSON - Forever Summer/WHITE 1

Don't you just love her?!
She knows how to pull of Sexy voluptuous finesse in the kitchen . Her joy of cooking & the cinematography is so perfectly combined I just want to stay in the kitchen the whole day and "cook" with her.
Now here is a nice breakfast idea to spoil that someone special tomorrow morning.

How about this easy 10 minute recipe from Do it delicious. We all know her husband & I am loving her work - here is Jessica Seinfeld via Youtube ...
enjoy

Some of my favorites

As you know I am already a big fan of What Katie Ate ... her food pictures is enough to send you drooling to the kitchen ...

today I stumbled upon this little gem for those of you who can happily skip the main course and move straight towards the delectable yummies ...
Tartelette

she must have a real sweet tooth with all these mouth watering recipes! Can't wait to try some. 

Now a little food tip, I did not know:  How to get roast potato's in the oven lekker crispy?

Glad you asked :)

After boiling your desired potato's for a few minutes, drain all the excess water and keep in pot, close lid and shake it all around.  You basically just want to bruise the potato's.  Then empty the pot into the baking tray, drizzle with Olive Oil (Spanish Olive Oil preferably), ground black pepper & salt, sprinkle some rosemary & daarsy -roast until crispy. Extra crispy like your Mom used to make it.