Bits of Carey

Feel like a steaming bowl of Thai green chicken curry? How about a flavourful “Thai style” chicken and veg soup or a thick and creamy Thai sweet potato soup to warm you up from the inside-out. And just in case the sun peaks out again – a lighter Thai beef and glass noodle stir fry. It’s all here with just a click of a button. I have not had a minute to cook at home(with holidays and lots of work to do before we leave for euro trip in under 2 months!), so no new blog material! I posted the above mentioned recipes last year but thought they’d come in handy again.  P.S these recipes are SOOOOO easy and have gotten numerous stamps of approval from Mr Bits. Enjoy!

 Quick Thai green curry

Thai style Chicken and veg soup

Thai sweet potato soup

Beef and glass noodle stir fry

Hope you all had a fantastic Easter weekend!

I think I’ll only have time to post again next week, so I hope these dishes will suffice until then

C xx

With the chilly weather approaching, we start craving good old robust meals. With that in mind…

Feel like a flavoursome pasta? How about penne with roasted butternut, sage butter, toasted pinenuts and pumpkins seeds finished off with grated pecorino?  This has to be my pasta of choice at home or dining out, truly a winner.

How does a juicy bacon wrapped pork chop with crunchy apple and cranberry slaw sound?  Or roasted lamb chops and veggies with couscous tossed through at the end absorbing all the yummy lamb juices…mmm…sound good?

I’ve given you some inspiration, now if you would like the recipes and more, check out my feature in CRUSH 7 (Cooking Monday to Sunday). Download a pdf of each recipe to save or print! There are over 20 new recipes in this issue from other fabulous writers too!

Roasted butternut and sage butter penne pasta

Succulent pork chop wrapped in bacon with apple and cranberry slaw

“All in one” lamb and veg tray bake

Happy eating!

C x

Need some inspiration for fuss free desserts? Look no further! These ideas are perfect for a midweek treat(why not?), entertaining or even just a lazy Sunday afternoon. 

2 weeks ago, I made an apple and banana crumble and served it with homemade toffee sauce. A few days later, I made some banana spring rolls and drenched the left over toffee sauce all over them! Oh my gumdrops, it was a hit! Serve with creamy ice-cream for a flavour, texture and hot/cold sensation. On a similar note, Alida from Simply Delicious  posted her droolicious Wafu inspired banana and chocolate spring rolls recently, check them out too!  

Banana spring rolls with toffee sauce

makes 6

For toffee sauce:

125 ml (1/2 cup) golden syrup

125 ml (1/2 cup) brown sugar

50 g butter

125 ml cream (1/2 cup)

5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla essence

In a heavy based saucepan, melt all the ingredients together and bring to the boil over a moderate heat for about 5 minutes. Set aside. Once made, it can be kept in the fridge for 3 weeks. Microwave to soften it again.

2 bananas, each cut into six pieces

6 spring roll wrappers

oil for deep frying

Remember to keep the spring roll wrappers damp or they will dry out.

Lay a wrapper in a diamond shape, place 2 pieces of banana near the bottom corner.

Roll the bottom corner up and then fold the two side corners toward the centre(like a nappy!).

Gently roll into spring rolls, use a bit of water to “glue” any loose pieces.

Fry for +- 1 minute in hot oil. Drain on paper towel.

Serve with toffee sauce and ice-cream.

P.s. don’t eat them too soon out of the fryer, you will burn your tongue off! Oink oink over here, couldn’t wait, so I had no tastebuds for a few days!

P.s.s These spring rolls can be served with Bill’s coconut and chocolate sauce too! see below…

Some more ideas…

Bill’s Grilled bananas with coconut chocolate sauce and ice-cream

You will need:

4 bananas, but in half lengthways

50 g butter, cut into cubes

1/4 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven grill.

Place bananas in a baking tray, dot with cubes of butter and sprinkle with sugar.

Grill until caramelised.

Coconut chocolate sauce:

1 tin coconut milk

60 g brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

200 g dark chocolate

Heat the coconut milk, sugar and vanilla together until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil.

Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and whisk continously until melted and velvety smooth.

In shallow bowls, plate the banana, icecream and sauce and sprinkle with Cape herb and spice chocolate chilli(my tip).

This truly is heaven in a bowl.

One of my all time favourites, Nutella cigars

Why not try my easy white chocolate cheesecakes over the weekend?

Whatever you choose, I assure you that it’s going to be dead easy and super impressive!

That’s it from me for this week!

C xx

Egg fried rice has quickly become one of our favourite quick weeknight dinners. Best part is, you can add your favourite ingredients to make it your own.  A few months ago, I did a Bacon and egg fried rice and since then, we’ve been hooked! Recently I made a chicken and sweetcorn egg fried rice with fresh coriander, it was so full of flavour! I like the fact that you can use left over chicken and rice,  everything you need will be in your kitchen already and if you have any left overs, enjoy it as a delightful lunch – hot or cold.

I’m loving rice, it’s a great alternative to pasta, especially if you are gluten intolerant.

Check out Simply Delicious’s blog. Alida does a droolworthy Fried rice with beef recipe that I’m definitely going to make soon. And Ishay from Food and the fab does a yummo vegetarian rice dish, brown rice with mushrooms and toasted almonds .

Egg fried rice with chicken and sweetcorn

You will need:

Serves 2-4

1 cup long grain white or brown rice cooked according to instructions

2 tbs cooking oil

4 spring onions, sliced

1 chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup sweet corn  

2 cups cooked and shredded chicken

a handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

soy sauce to taste

Sweet chilli sauce to serve

In a hot wok, fry the onions, chilli and garlic in the oil until soft and fragrant.

Add the egg bit by bit and fry until browned and crispy.

Add the sweetcorn and heat through for a few seconds, then add the chicken. Add this point, add some soy sauce.

Add the rice as well as the coriander and toss until evenly combined.

Add more soy sauce to taste.

Serve with sweet chilli sauce.

Happy Tuesday all!

 C xx

Since the weekend is upon us, why not make a quick and delicious brekkie or brunch in bed for your special someone? Maybe even dust off your juice extractor that you never seem to use and make an amazing juice combination to enjoy with your breakfast. It’s as simple as getting freshly baked croissants from your favourite bakery or supermarket in the morning and choosing some fillings that you may enjoy! Instead of the expected salmon and cream cheese OR ham and emmentaler cheese options, why not shake things up a bit with these ideas…

• Try different cream cheese flavours. eg. a sweet red pepper cream cheese(from PNP) with fried chorizo and rocket OR biltong flavoured cream cheese(from PNP) with preserved green figs, peppadews and some biltong slices.

 

• Rare roast beef with a mixture of cream cheese and horseradish, fried onions and watercress
• Balsamic roasted baby tomatoes with mozzarella and basil
• Crispy bacon and fried banana with maple syrup
• Creamy mushrooms(and ham) and rocket
• Chive cream cheese with shredded snoek and baby salad leaves
• gypsey ham and poached egg
• sliced pork sausage, with julienned granny smith apple with dijon mustard and honey

Biltong cream cheese, green figs and peppadews

Red pepper cream cheese, fried chorizo and rocket

Do you have any inspired filling ideas? please share, would love to know!

Enjoy your weekend everyone. Create moments everyday and cherish them

Cxx

Fill your home with the smells of a freshly baked banana bread. This bake has to be one of my all time favourites, best eaten when it’s just out of the oven with a lots of salted butter. Naturally, I love the versatility of a banana loaf.  Not only is a banana bread great for using your over ripe bananas, it generally has a long shelf life(if kept in an airtight container) because of the the butter and the fruit. And when it’s gone a bit stale and dry, it makes a mean ”banana bread pudding”. Banana loaf is mind blowing as a pud with homemade toffee sauce(will post the sauce another time). I’ve even eaten toasted slices with crispy bacon and honey – yum! What weird and wonderful combinations have you come up with this family favourite?

This banana loaf is based on Pamela Shippel’s recipe with a few tweaks here and there. It really is a winner, soft, moist and spongy with a typical dark and sweet crust.

You will need:

Makes 1 medium loaf

125 g soft butter ( replace with margerine or 125 ml vegetable oil)

200 ml brown sugar

2 large eggs

5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla essence

3 small very ripe bananas, mashed into a pulp

juice of half a small lemon

45 ml (3 tbs) milk

500 ml (2 cups) cake flour (if you wish to use self raising flour, leave out the baking powder )

5 ml (1 tsp) baking powder

5 ml (1 tsp) bicarbonate of soda

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Whisk the butter and sugar together until light and creamy, add the eggs one by one as well as the vanilla essence.

Mix the banana pulp, lemon juice and milk together.

Sift the dry ingredients together and gently fold into the creamed mixture(butter mixture) alternatively with the banana mixture.

Pour into a well greased medium sized loaf tin and bake for +- 50 minutes.

Not only is this uber tasty tart/quiche a perfectly substantial(if not decadent) meatless meal, it is also a great “throw together” pantry dish.  All the ingredients you need will be right at home in your kitchen. No need for exhausting grocery shopping after work! This tart is sooo flavoursome from the onions that have been sauteed in butter until yummy ’n soft and it has ALOT of cheese(mature cheddar, but you can use a combination of gruyere, pecorino, blue cheese, goats, etc.). I have to mention that the cheese pastry is so easy(of course), although, you can always go out and buy frozen shortcrust or puff pastry if making your own does not appeal to you. Delicious with a salad of peppery rocket and ripe rosa tomatoes doused with grassy olive oil. Perfection in its simplicity.

You will need:

Makes 1 medium quiche

For the pastry:

250 ml (1 cup) cake flour

3 ml (1/2 tsp) baking powder

pinch of salt

50 g cold butter

125 ml (1/2 cup) grated cheddar(optional)

1 egg yolk

+- 45 ml (3 tbs) cold water

Sieve the dry ingredients together into a bowl.

Grate the butter into the bowl and rub into the flour to form  fine crumbs. Add the cheese.

Combine the egg and water and slowly add to the mixture using a knife to combine/cut in. It should from a ball of dough. Flatten slightly, wrap with clingfilm and refrigerate for 20 minutes(this gives you time the prep the filling).

Filling:

50 g salted butter

2 cloves garlic, crushed(optional)

3 onions, sliced

2 ml (1/2 tsp) freshly ground nutmeg

a handful of chopped flat leaf parsley(optional)

100 ml milk

100 ml cream(or milk)

2 large eggs

375 ml (cup and a half) grated cheese of your choice

salt and pepper

Saute the garlic and onions gently in the butter until golden and soft. Stir in the nutmeg and parsley and set aside to cool slightly.

Beat the milk, cream and eggs together in a medium mixing bowl. Add the cooked onions as well as the cheese. Season well.

To assemble:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.

Roll the pastry out and line into a greased tart or pie dish. Prick a few holes at the bottom(don’t if using a loose bottomed tin).

Pour the filling into the pastry lined dish and bake for 30 minutes – 40 minutes( until set and golden).

For a crustless cheese and onion “quiche”:

Grease the pie dish and lightly dust with cake flour before adding the filling.

The smell of this baking in the oven is sublime!

For a Bacon spinach and feta quiche, check out this post

Happy Monday lovelies!

C xx