July Cooking Challenge Week 4

Week 4:
Challenge: Baked Goods - Chocolate Truffle Tart
Level: Medium
Food Photography: Difficult due to the dark glossy appearance causing reflections
Result: 10/10 Delicious - could be worth all the effort!

This is probably one of the most difficult cooking challenges to date. I faced all sorts of obstacles due to not having the correct kitchen utensils and what-not.

After this challenge was completed, I went straight out to buy myself a little electric mixer or risk the development of huge arms from all the manual labour!

Crust: Crush Oreo cookies using food processor

Novice cooking tip # 1: Crush using a drinking glass inside a bowl -  Do you have any idea how hard Oreo cookies are?? 

45 minutes later (?!?) and my crushed Oreos resembled wet sand:

Wet Sand / Oreos

Filling: Chopped dark chocolate to dissolve in cream for 5 minutes

Novice cooking tip # 2: Woolies don't sell chopped dark chocolate and you don't own a sharp kitchen knife -  nuke in microwave - softened? Good enough!

Pour the filling into crust shell through a sieve. - this step is required, because after leaving the chocolate to melt in the heated cream, a skin begins to develop on top and if not poured through the sieve is just yucky for the person getting a small piece of "plastic"

Novice cooking tip # 3: Don't own a sieve? Use your coffee plunger! Does the same thing and you can even drink taste the filling

Chocolatey Yumminess

This tart challenged me and I almost gave up. But... when it was done.... WOW (look how fancy!)

Handy Tip: Serve with a nice red wine... the flavour pairing is incredible!

Remember to visit Simply Delicious for many more tasty recipes and to join the challenge, click the button on my homepage or visit Claudz on Purple Lips and Perfect Smiles

July Cooking Challenge Week 3

Week 3:
Challenge: Pasta - Fried Gnocchi

Level: Ridiculously Easy
Food Photography: Easy (because I didn't try)
Result: 10/10 Delicious - What a nice surprise!

Main:

I don't fry food as I prefer to bake it - not because it is the healthier alternative (that's the bonus) but because I hate splashy oil and I prefer to bake food in the oven and get on with other thins in the meantime.

I have only ever eaten gnocchi once in my life, so I thought this was a fun challenge to try.

I served the gnocchi with chicken schnitzel and mushroom sauce along with minted peas. 

I was so excited about eating these delicious little balls of golden heaven that I forgot to take more than one quick snap. (The trick is to fry them until they are really crispy)

I think this was the easiest cooking challenge so far (but looking at the next challenge... I shouldn't become too complacent!)

Don't forget to visit Simply Delicious for many more tasty recipes and to join the challenge, click the button on my homepage or visit Claudz on Purple Lips and Perfect Smiles

Twenty Wishes Recap

At the end of December I posted 20 Wishes I wanted to realise during 2013.

Here is a recap halfway through the year. I honestly thought I would have achieved more than I have. I guess I better get my A into G!

1. Fall in Love - Joined a dating site, perhaps that'll move things along
2. Buy a nice fitting blazer - Have fitted quite a few, none of them are just right
3. Buy a cool pair of Converse 
4. Go overseas Japan in April (I owe a post on this)
5. Read a great book - The Perks of Being a Wallflower perhaps - I watched the movie, I will get there
6. Watch a classic movie - I have never watched Mary Poppins, Sound of Music etc - WIll get there
7. Cook/bake more -I will be able to cross this off soon thanks to the July Cooking Challenge
8. Do another wine tasting trip in the Cape -See point 20, might not be possible
9. Drink more water -I drink more coffee, that has water in it, does that count?
10. Go to a live concert - Justin Bieber
11. Get my weight below 70kg - then lose a further 5kgs- Feck. I went down to 69 and since then it is sliding up again. DRAT!
12. Work towards a better toned stomach - No comment, see point 11
13. Get rid of the people in my life who drain me 
14. Buy a dining room table  Chairs bought as well.
15. Go on a photography course
16. Have a wall full of frames with my photographs from all my trips etc 
17. Work less - Almost there
18. Be a happier person - See point 17
19. Do something totally spontaneous
20. Manage my budget more diligently - being a homeowner means I need to be alot more careful Excluding my recent influx of cooking/baking essentials, I am doing very well with this. A few sacrifices; less dinners out, less clothes, but it is worth it to be in my own home.

July Cooking Challenge Week 2

Week 2:
Challenge: Fish - I substituted a recipe Baked Fish with Lemon Garlic Butter
Level: Easy
Food Photography: Easy - because I forgot and after eating realised I hadn't snapped a pic
Result: 10/10 Delectable!!

Main:

Fresh Fish with Woolworths Fish Rub

Cooked!

Before I ate it all...

Sides:

Served with Baby Potatoes and another of my new favourites: 

Watercress, Rocket & Pear Salad, a-la-Jamie-Oliver

To make this salad, read my blog post from Monday (for some reason it won't link!)

After the chicken dish, I was wondering if I was doing the right thing by joining this challenge.
I now have a new dish I enjoyed making and it was so easy.

I won't fool myself into thinking that the rest of the challenges will be this easy, and I won't let this challenge get the better of me (I want those pink Le Creuset mugs dammit)

Don't forget to visit Simply Delicious for many more tasty recipes and to join the challenge, click the button on my homepage or visit Claudz on Purple Lips and Perfect Smiles

(If I can do it, so can you!)

Rocket, Watercress, Sweet Pear, Walnut and Lemon Juice Salad

In June I had the girls over for a small birthday dinner where I cooked a signature meal of mine: Roast Chicken.
I wanted a small starter for my guests to nibble on while I prepared the food in the kitchen and I came across this awesome recipe in my Jamie Oliver cookbook.

I can hear your sniggers. 

I don't cook, but I own a Jamie Oliver cookbook, a Nigella cookbook and I won a South African cookbook as a book prize in Matric (Grade 12) for Business Economics. (I know right?)

The recipe was for a Rocket, Watercress, Sweet Pear, Walnut and Lemon Juice Salad

Simple & Delicious

This is what Jamie has to say about making his delicious salad: 

For one person I normally use around half a pear 2 big handfuls of watercress and 2 big handfuls of rocket. If the skins are nice just give them a wash, if not remove with a peeler. Then cut them in half and de-seed. It doesn`t really matter how you cut them up. Sometimes in big rough chunks, maybe sliced up or even grated. 

Then place into the bowl with the watercress and rocket. The pepperiness of the leaves works so well with the sweetness of the pear. 

Drizzle with a good extra virgin olive oil just to coat, a small squeeze of lemon juice (because the pear juice is slightly acidic but very tasty), and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Shave over some Parmesan or Pecorino, crumble your nuts over (I substituted the walnuts for pecan nuts.) and tuck in. Toss all this together and serve.  I love this salad with roasted meat or as a starter on its own.

Part of my Twenty Wishes was to cook more this year and while planning for the dinner I realised that I only have a handful of great meals I can cook. 

Everyone has eaten those meals, so what do I do after this? I can't invite friends over and expect them to eat the same food.

Thank goodness Claudz came up with this challenge when she did! (Even though I almost didn't take part, it's fortuitous that I did!)