Cooking at Mums!

A little while back I paid a visit to my Mother and little, sorry Younger Brother and treated them to a cooking fiesta. Money was a tad tight for them so they had been living off the same bolognaise and sausages for a while now. So... Out comes my polished Italian cooking skills, newly honed under the tutelage of a drunken Italian Chef by the name of Flavio. I made them some fettucine Arabiatta, Boscaiola, the Chili and garlic bread, Pizzas, and Mexican Tortillas Fajitas style.

Here is a couple of pics:

Pancakes!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups self raising flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tsp vanilla essance
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
  

METHOD

1. Place flour in a mixing jug or bowl, make a well and add the milk, egg and vanilla essence.
2. Using a whisk, mix ingredients until no longer lumpy. Alternatively use a mixing tool, like a Mix Master, or Chef Master or electric egg whisk are an easier way.
3. Coat a frying pan with oil and place on a medium heat. Add a small amount of butter and pour pancake mix into frying pan, about 15 cm diameters worth.
4. Once the bubbles have either slowed or stopped forming on the top of the pancake, flip it or just scoop it up with an egg flip and turn it over.
5. After a couple of minutes the pancake should be ready, just check the under side to see if its golden. Place the pancake on a plate and place in the oven at lowest setting to keep warm. Continue making pancakes until there is no more mixture, adding each pancake to the plate in the oven.
6. Serve with any number of toppings (see below)

This ones up here because its an easy way to make pancakes, and i think tastes better than the plastic jugs you get in the supermarkets. The mix will be fairly thick and the pancakes will come out fat and fluffy. Some ideas for toppings are as follows:

• lemon and sugar
• whipped cream and jam
• ricotta cheese and jam
• maple syrup or golden syrup
• maple/golden syrup with vanilla ice cream
• honey
• scrambled eggs and parsley

The list goes on.

Enjoy!

James The Not So Skinny Cook

Creamy Tomato Pasta

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of pasta (Penne, Travelle, Shells, your choice Fettucine is also good)
• 200ml light cooking cream
• 3 tblspn low fat Ricotta cheese
  
• 400g tin of diced italian tomatoes
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 rashes of bacon cut into small strips
• garlic, 2 or 3 cloves, crushed
• 1/4 cup of fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup fresh parmesan, grated
• 1 tsp chili, finely chopped - optional

METHOD

1. Cook pasta as per intructions, drain and set aside.
2. Cook the onion with some oil or butter in a deep frying pan or large pot until it becomes soft and translucent (about 3-5 mins). Add the bacon and garlic and cook for a further 5 mins.
3. Add the can of diced tomatoes and half the parsley, plus the chili if you used it. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 mins.
   
4. Reduce the heat to low and add the cream, Ricotta and half the parmesan. Mix thoroughly and then toss in the pasta, ensuring all the pasta is coated in the creamy sauce.
5. Serve and garnish with the remaining parsley and parmesan, add Salt and cracked Pepper to taste.

This recipe is so easy to make, and tastes great. For the vegetarians out there, you can easily substitute the bacon for sliced or diced capsicum, or even mushrooms. This dish can be modified to include diced chicken breast or thighs, Italian sausages, or 400g of cooked chicken mince. More chilli is great for the adventurous sort. My wife and I also discovered that this dish is wicked served cold the next day also!

Enjoy!

James The Not So Skinny Cook