Recipe and Cooking Tips News Blogs

Are you in the queue to shorten your lifespan? Diabetes is rampant in the deveoped world and the antidote is in your own hands. (Read Article)

May 18, 2006 09:01 - Quick Vegetable Stir Fry

Quick Vegetable Stir Fry is one of those meals that meat eaters should consider once a week, not just for health reasons but because it is very tasty and is prepared and cooked in less than 10 minutes. Ideal for the busy 21st century person. The quick recipes presented in our blogs are proving to be very popular worldwide.

You can adjust quantities to suit numbers but this recipe is for 2 people.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 pounds (675 grams) fresh asparagus. (See below for tip to get the best out of asparagus)

• 2 Tablespoons Olive oil.

• 2 Tablespoons of Sesame oil.

• 1 finely chopped (or roughly grated) ginger root.

• 1/2 cup of chopped roasted cashew nuts.

• 1 Tablespoon of Soy sauce.

• 1 Tablespoon of sweet chili sauce - optional.

Tip: Take a stick of asparagus and hold at each end with forefinger and thumb. Bend until it breaks and discard the thick end. This way all aparagus is tender and tasty.

Method:

• Heat the oils together in a wok or skillet over high heat.

• Add the ginger and stir fry for one minute

.

• Cut the tender ends of asparagus diagonally into two or three pieces and add to the wok or skillet.

• Stir fry until tender but still crisp. - 3 to 4 minutes.

• Stir in the cashews, soy sauce and sweet chili sauce.

Serve immediately with a glass of chilled Chardonnay.

This quick vegetable stir fry can be used as a starter at a dinner party or as a delicious meal for ther person on the run.

Bon appetit. More Recipes

May 22, 2006 08:59 - Succhietti - A quick and tasty Italian dish.

Succhietti is a phenomenal Italian pasta dish that is rarely presented in Italian restaurants despite it being full of taste. The other big plus is that it meets the criteria for out "quick meals". It takes much less than half an hour to prepare and cook. I recently served this as a starter at a dinner party and all of my guests would have been perfectly happy had it been served as the main course.

Succhietti, like all the best Italian dishes, is simple and oozes taste.

Ingredients:

• 1 crushed garlic clove.

• 1 chili finely chopped. (Only leave the seeds in if you like extra hot dishes)

• 4 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. (This is a good omega 3 oil)

• 1 large can of peeled tomatoes

• 1 large can of cannelini beans, drained and washed. (Butter beans is a reasonable substitute.)

• 1 Bay leaf.

• 1 Tablespoon of chopped parsley (Use Italian flat leaf parsley if possible - If you use dried parsley use only half the quantity.)

• Salt & Pepper to taste.

• 1 packet of pasta of your choice. (I used Linguini)

Method:

• Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. (Olive oil does not cook well on high heat.)

• When oil is warm add garlic and chili. Saute until garlic is golden brown.

• Add peeled tomatoes, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

• Add salt and pepper to taste.

1. Add drained Cannelini beans and Bay leaf to the pan

• Cook pasta as per packet instructions. (Until Al Dente, which is cooked but still retaining some firmness. - The heat of the drained pasta will complete the cooking process.)

• Remove one-third of the tomato sauce and add the cooked pasta to the remaining two-thirds.

• Sprinkle with parsley.

• Add the one-third saved sauce to the table to be used as extra sauce if required.

• Serve on pre-warmed plates with a glass of chilled dry white wine

Enjoy your Succhietti. Buon appetito.
More Recipes

May 26, 2006 08:50 - Basil, The Sweet Herb

Basil is the taste of Italy and a great compliment to many tomato based dishes and salads. The use of herbs can make your cooking stand out against crowd. (Read Article)

May 26, 2006 15:29 - Warm Apple Frittata

Warm Apple Frittata - A quick dessert or tasty brunch.

Apple Frittata brings back memories of my childhood because it was used as a dessert quite frequently in our household and served with custard. Since these far off days I have evolved the recipe somewhat and it can now be served as a very tasty, and unusual, brunch by adding either honey or maple syrup or as a dessert. This fits our criteria of quick meal because it can be prepared, cooked and served in less than 30 minutes.

This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients:

• ¼ pint (150 mls) milk.

• 2 ounces (50 grams) superfine (castor) sugar.

• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind. (Use only the yellow.)

• Pinch of cinnamon.

• 2 ounces (50 grams) of plain flour.

• Pinch of salt.

• 4 eggs beaten.

• 1 Tablespoon of dark rum. (I see no reason why this cannot be substituted with brandy or even a favorite liqueur.)

• 1 large green apple.

• 1 Tablespoon of butter.

• 2 Tablespoons of toasted flaked almonds. (Almond is the healthiest of all nuts)

• Frosting (icing) sugar to dust before serving.

Method:

• Combine the milk, sugar, cinnamon and lemon rind; sift in the flour and pinch of salt. Beat in the eggs and add rum.

• Peel. Quarter and core the apple and then slice thinly.

• Melt butter in a medium non-stick fry pan. Cook the apples for 5-minutes or until softened.

• Pour the batter over the apples and cook gently for 4-minutes drawing the batter in and tipping the pan to help the excess batter to cook.

• When set and golden underneath cover with a large plate and turn over.

• Add some extra butter to the pan and slide the frittata back in and cook for 2-minutes until set.

• Turn out onto a pre-warmed platter, cut into 4 portions, scatter with almonds and dust with frosting (icing) sugar.

I often add whipped cream to the plate if serving as a quick dessert, or honey or maple syrup if serving as a quick brunch.

Enjoy your warm apple frittata. Bon Appetit.
More Recipes