Let it burn.

Lately, I've dived into cooking. It really is quite therapeutic - food for the soul (no pun intended)...

Sunday Morning Crêpes

~ for 1 ~

 Collect:

·         2 eggs

·         1 cup milk

·         1/3 cup flour

·         Pinch of sugar

·         Pinch of salt

Cook:

1) Whisk it all together in a large bowl till smooth.

2) Cook in a buttered pan on medium heat.

3) Flip when top side is no longer liquid.

4) Serve with your favourite drink and condiment.

(I recommend African rooibos vanilla tea and berry jam.)

And... Smoked trout. More S'mores. Rabbit roast (third batch). Eggy French toast. Fish sticks burger. Sausage and brie pizza.

 

...just eat!

Pork Perfection

A few days ago, I bought some pork.

No biggy, right? Wrong. Meat is excruciatingly expensive here in Switzerland. However, with a stroke of luck (more specifically, a ‘50% off’ sticker), I walked out of the supermarket with a kilo of pork under my arm and a plethora of recipes running through my head.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I also bought some (ridiculously overpriced) soy sauce and sesame oil. Yep, time to get cooking!

Simple Sesame-Soy Stirfry
~ Serves 2 ~

Ingredients:

·         Pork (200g, diced)

·         Celery

·         Carrot

·         Onion

·         Soy sauce

·         Sesame oil

·         Rice

Method:

1.    Cook rice (according to instructions on packet). Personally, I like a drizzle of sesame oil in mine.

2.    Throw pork and veggies in a wok on high heat. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.

3.    Stirfry until pork is cooked through. Drizzle with sesame oil and soy sauce, mix well.

4.    Serve with rice and enjoy! Told you it was simple.

This next one is from my mother – with a few of my own improvisations, of course. I hope I’ve done her recipe justice! Although I could not smell the end result due to my blocked nose, my roommate assured me (between burning mouthfuls and exclamations of “très bon!” and “c’est vraiment delicieux!”) that it smelled just fine.

Pork Roast, Sunday-Style
(and ‘every night for the rest of the week’-style)
~ Serves 4 ~

You’ll need:

·         Pork (500g)

·         Onion (2)

·         Carrot (2)

·         Pumpkin (500g)

·         Potato (4 medium)

·         Tomato (2, or a handful of the cherry variety)

·         Zucchini (1)

To prepare/cook:

1.       Preheat oven to 200ᵒC

2.       Dice all ingredients into 2cm x 2cm ‘cubes’

3.       Put everything in a large freezer/clean plastic bag 

4.       Add a drizzle of oil, salt and pepper (and herbs as you wish)

5.       Shake (gently), mix (thoroughly)

6.       Pour into a baking tray/dish, cover with foil

7.       Cook at 200ᵒC for around 60 minutes. When the meat is cooked through, your roast is ready!

Bon appétit!

5 Ingredients

Lately, I’ve been stuck in a rather tricky situation: having too little time and money but too many picky tastebuds and OCD healthy-eating habits.

So, I decided to draw inspiration from the hugely successful 4 Ingredients recipe series. To avoid copyright issues, I added one more ingredient to my recipes. No, I’m kidding, it was actually the angel on my right shoulder telling me to eat a more balanced diet.

Dice, Rice...Nice!

The 5:

·      Rice

Diced:

·      Celery

·      Cucumber

·      Carrot

·      Onion

Cook it:

1)    Boil rice (please follow the instructions on the rice packet/rice cooker, or else you may end up with a “rice cake”. Yes, I am typing from personal experience)

2)    Heat some oil in a pan, add onion, sauté until golden

3)    Add celery and carrot, a little water, salt, pepper (and optional soy sauce)

4)    Cook until desired softness/crunchiness is reached

5)    Add cucumber, turn off heat after 1 minute

6)    Serve with rice!

Pasta with Yogurt, Naturally

 

The 5:

·      Pasta

·      Natural Yogurt

·      Cucumber (diced)

·      Carrot (grated)

·      Onion (as you wish. Ok, CHOPPED as you wish, NOT a whole onion)

Cook it:

1)    Boil pasta

2)    Heat some oil in a pan, add onion and some salt, sauté until golden

3)    Add cucumber and carrot, turn off heat after 1 minute

4)    Drain pasta and add yogurt (as much as desired, like pasta sauce)

5)    Mix in a few spoonfuls of cooked vegetables – munch away!

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling in the Kitchen

Time for a light-hearted blog, I say... How about another recipe? 

I baked these biscuits for my last birthday. They are fun and easy to make and taste as good as they look. So, whether they are a guilty pleasure or a delicious gift (think cellophane and ribbon), you know you won't be able to resist...    

Honey’s Bumblebee Biscuits

...aka Lemon-Chocolate Pinwheels

(Makes 40)

COLLECTING:

Butter (175g, softened)

Plain Flour (350g)

Caster Sugar (250g)

Egg (1, beaten)

Plain Chocolate (25g, broken into pieces)

Lemon (1, use grated rind)

MAKING:   

1)        In large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy

2)        Gradually add beaten egg to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition

3)        Sift flour into mixture, mix thoroughly until soft dough forms

4)        Transfer half of dough into another bowl. Melt chocolate in heatproof bowl over gently simmering water, beat into one half of dough

5)        Mix grated lemon rind into other half of dough

6)        On lightly floured baking paper, roll out dough to form two equal rectangles

7)        Lay lemon dough on chocolate dough, roll up tightly (lengthwise) using baking paper to guide you. Chill for 1 hour

8)        Preheat oven to 190 ̊ C. Cut roll into 40 slices, bake on foil-covered tray for 10-12 min (or lightly golden). Cool completely before serving (if you can wait that long!)

Heatin’ it up...in the kitchen.

Lately, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time in the kitchen; simmering, sizzling and sautéing away. Yeah, yeah, bring on the jokes...my mother laughed at me too when I told her. But much to my surprise, not only have I managed to not singe my eyebrows, I’ve actually come up with quite a few tasty dishes.

So, from now on, my blog will periodically take the form of a recipe, not only for my benefit, but also to tickle your taste buds and maybe even give you a few ideas for simple, affordable meals. Oh, and for the wheat and gluten-intolerant population out there (like the boy), these meals are all celiac-friendly or have wheat/gluten-free options.

So, my fellow poor and lazy uni students, read carefully!

Honey's Pasta with a Punch 

...in 10 fail-proof (fingers crossed) steps!

(Serves 2)

STUFF YOU'LL NEED (or want, based on personal taste):

Butter

½ onion (diced)

3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)

Pepper

300g beef mince

1 can/jar pasta sauce

1 packet of pasta (gluten free, if needed)

...and most importantly, CHEESE!

Optional veggies:

3 celery stalks (finely diced)

½ red capsicum (finely diced)

1 tomato (roughly diced)

4 button mushrooms (sliced)

1 small red chili (finely sliced)

Parsley

 

THE FUN PART:
Meat sauce:

1)    Heat up sauce pan to medium heat, melt a little butter

2)    Add onion and garlic with some pepper, sauté till slightly golden

3)    Add beef mince, break up with wooden spoon and cook until almost all brown

4)    Pour in pasta sauce, stir through mince, simmer for 3 minutes

Optional extras:

5)    In second pan, melt a little butter

6)    Add celery, tomato and capsicum, cook till tomato is very soft and skin curls

7)    Add to meat sauce with mushrooms and chili (for that extra punch!), simmer for 1 minute

Cheese it up:

8)    Turn off heat, add a handful of grated mozzarella cheese to sauce, stir

Pasta:

9)    ...read the instructions on the packet!

Om nom nom nom:

10)  Drain pasta, spoon on as much sauce as you like, top with parmesan cheese and parsley, and tuck in!

Buon appetito, dear reader. I wish you happy cooking and even happier eating!