August | 2011 |

You are browsing the archive for 2011 August.

THE EASIEST BANANA ICE CREAM EVER!!!!

August 31, 2011 in Uncategorized

PLEASE VISIT MY BLOG AT www.bettybake.co.za

I love this treat/snack SO much as it is one of the EASIEST things to make, so very cheap on ingredients and easy to adapt to your taste!

I have seen this blogged about as the 1 ingredient ice cream. … and I suppose it can be called that. I just adore it because it can be given to babies all the way through to adults. AND IT DELICIOUS AND HEALTHY. Think easy for kids on a hot summers day. No need to buy ice cream and fill them with preservatives and glucose syrup when this tastes just as delicious and is twice as healthy. Great for kids parties – especially toddlers. You also can add chocolate chips or peanut butter or nuts and cherries to make it an even more special treat.

INGREDIENTS

1 and a half bananas per person

2 Tablespoons cream per person (optional) – don’t add if giving to babies

extras: chocolate, peanut butter, cherries, nuts etc…

METHOD

Peel your bananas and slice into 1cm chunks.

Place in a glass (freezer proof) bowl or jar and freeze until hard (I freeze mine over night) but I’m guessing 3 hours should be fine.

Then place in a blender jug and blend until smooth – adding cream if you so wish to make it even more decadent and ice cream like but not necessary.

Once smooth you can stir in any goodies if you wish .. chocolate, nuts etc..

Enjoy straight away or place in the freezer to keep cool until needed

so creamy and delicious – you can also use mangoes instead of bananas

enjoy

PLEASE VISIT MY BLOG at www.bettybake.co.za

by Betty Bake

Fragrant Beef Curry

August 21, 2011 in Uncategorized

4 Comments »

I really dislike certain spices! And because of that I have never been able to eat curry. I’m thinking it may be the actual curry leaves or tumeric that I really don’t like. Because every time I taste a curry the flavour is NOT to my liking. The burn is not what I want either but the actual taste is what makes me not like it. So for the very first time a few weeks ago I made my very first curry that I could actually eat! yay! I took several recipes and decided what spices I would use and what I would leave out as well as what I actually had in my cupboard. So this curry was my first curry LOVE and I’m proud to say my husband and daughter liked it too and I will actually make it again!

If you like very hot curry – add MORE chillis and fresh ginger.

INGREDIENTS
1 garlic clove
large pinch of coarse salt
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 smallish piece of star anise
some woolworths steak rub (contains, mustard green peppercorns, black pepper, sugar.. etc)
a thumb size piece of ginger grated on medium small
1/2 – 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tiny 1cm piece of star anise
half a red chilli ( finely diced)
sugar
salt
pepper
600 g beef steak
3 medium onions (peeled and diced)
olive oil
2 tins or 1 large bottle organic tomato puree
1 small tin organic coconut milk
1 tablespoon tomato paste
*note to self – (next time add some fresh tomatoes too)

METHOD
Cube the beef into bite sized chunks/blocks.
Fry the beef in a frying pan with some olive oil and some steak rub until sealed/brown on the outside.
Take the steak out the pan and let rest in a bowl to one side.
Add the mustard seeds and the cinnamon and star anise and add a dash more olive oil and fry until toasty.
Take out and crush in a pestle and mortar and add back to the frying pan.
Mash your garlic and salt into a paste in a pestle and mortar and add to the frying pan.
Add the peeled and grated ginger to the pan. Stir.
Add the onion. stir and fry until light brown.
Add the tomato paste, tomato puree, chilli and the meat to the pot and stir.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add a little sugar if needed.
Then add the coconut milk. continue to simmer until thick and the meat is tender. (maybe 40 min to an hour.. the longer you cook it the more tender the meat )
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with rice

by Betty Bake

LE CREUSET AND SILWOOD KITCHEN- BETTY BAKE STYLE

August 3, 2011 in Uncategorized

4 Comments »


Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

THE ORIGINAL BLOG POST CAN BE FOUND HERE AT WWW.BETTYBAKE.CO.ZA

What started out as a very organised me on a thursday evening ready to join some food bloggers and a Silwood chef to cook, drink and be merry …. didn’t happen as i hoped!

After consulting the husband, google maps and maps on my phone, I headed off in the direction of Rondebosch set to attend a Silwood Kitchens cooking class – yay, happiness

BUT…. what started off as a happy food blogger (me) driving and listening to music and in a good mood ended up very lost , sad and desperate to not be LATE. As the sun started to set and the traffic thickened I was starting to get desperate …. I so badly wanted to be there on time and I had left home early enough even to factor in the traffic. But after getting into the area and not finding the road I drove round and round and round… I kept convincing myself the next road would be THE road!

Now sad that I was definitely not going to be there on time -regardless of being in the area of Silwood Cooking School the husband phoned to check if I had gotten there ok (kind man). I informed him I was LOST!

He logged into google map, while I moaned talked to him on my handsfree cellphone headset while he directed me where to go!!!! (Thank You husband)

At last i got there…. 40 minutes late – YES I was THAT Lost!!! I was so happy to just have arrived I wouldn’t have cared what they told me to do!

Jess a 2nd year student at Silwood Kitchens Cooking School

The lovely people helping with the class got me to my cooking station and set me up with all I needed and Gary (the instructor/chef for the evening) got me up to speed with the rest of the class who were merrily chopping and cooking.

I eventually let out a sigh and relaxed. The evening was finally back to happiness and ended up in such bliss – teasing Cayley (from Love Bites Blog) everytime I misheard the instructor I would turn to Cayley and Ming (from Butterfingers) and ask did he say? umm the small portion of butter or the large portion of butter??? and when Cayley couldn’t tell me I would tease her – you are supposed to know Cayley- you’ve been here before

Sidenote: Cayley had done a 2 night cooking class at Silwood before and they made this decadent looking chocolate cake (drool). so i kept asking her stuff with her previous Silwood experience


Cayley and Ming

On this particular Thursday night we made: Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup, Stuffed Chicken with a Tarragon sauce and Cappucino Bread and Butter Puddings.

Le Creuset gave us some beautiful dishes – 2 Large Ramekins, a mini cocote and a 19 cm rectangular dish.


Stuffed Chicken breasts with a Tarragon sauce

Cappucino Bread and Butter Puddings (Large Ramekins given to us by Le Creuset)

I along with 12 other bloggers- we cooked and chatted and worked our way through the evening – it was great fun and something I would LOVE to do again! I would like to thank Le Creuset and Silwood Kitchens for a fab evening! A special thanks to Jess a second year Silwood Student and John a first year Silwood student who were so friendly and helpful along with the helpful and relaxed chef Gary.

I am definitely contemplating going back with a friend for a fun and relaxed evening of cooking