Christmas with Peet

So Christmas day has been and gone, and i am almost out of leftovers... But I thought you might still be interested in checking out the amazing lunch I shared with the handsome Mr B and my two lovely friends Kate & Ephrem. We had such an awesome day of eating, drinking and merriment!

I'm on holidays so I'm going to be lazy and just post the photos, but if you are interested in any of the recipes just flick me an email and I'll send it to you!

We started the day off with cold ham, fresh french stick and dijon mustard, accompanied by homemade guacamole and beetroot dip with vegetable batons and corn chips.

Lunch was a 6 hour slow roasted leg of lamb served with potato galette, sweet corn & green bean salad and roasted pumpkin & goats cheese salad.The lamb was so tender, I literally pulled the bone straight out!

 

For dessert Kate made mini pavlovas with macerated rose berrries and persian fairy floss, which were incredible... 

 

 

... and I made happy little gingerbread men! Merry Christmas!

Rigatoni with Chorizo, Olives & Capsicum

I love pasta, and I think it's safe to say that rigatoni is my most favoured shape of all. So when I saw this recipe in Donna Hay: Pasta, Rice & Noodles I was very keen to give it a try. Another element of interest for me was the chorizo, as I have eaten it many times, but never used it in a recipe.

I went out and bought the ingredients without really paying attention to the measurements, and realised when I came home that Donna had called for four chorizo sausages in her pasta, and I had only purchased one. However, after making the dish I am glad that I made the mistake, because it was very rich indeed, and the idea of adding another three sausages seemed somewhat ridiculous!

So here we have my slightly adapted version...

500g rigatoni pasta

1x chorizo sausage, skin removed & thinly sliced

1/2 cup kalamata olives

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 red capsicum, cut into 2cm squares

2 cups tomato puree

2 tbsp chopped parsley

Cracked black pepper

Grated parmesan, to serve

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, and cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and return to the pot to keep warm.

Meanwhile heat a frypan over medium heat and add the sliced chorizo. Once the fat starts rendering in the pan throw in the garlic and saute until the chorizo is crisped slightly. Add the capsicum, olives and tomato puree and season with pepper. Allow the sauce to simmer for 5 minutes, then add the chopped parsley to freshen.

Serve the warm pasta topped with a generous spoonful of sauce and some grated parmesan cheese.

Serves 4.

Kate's Corner: Veal Schnitzel with Aglio Olio Pasta

It's always nice to have someone cook for you, and even better when they make something that you normally wouldn't do for yourself. So I feel extraordinarily lucky to have a friend like Kate, who is always ready to whip up a quick and tasty dinner for me at those times when I just can't seem to come up with anything.

One of my latest Kate favourites is this veal schnitzel and aglio olio pasta. So simple, yet so delicious!

To prepare the veal, give it a bit of a bash with a meat tenderiser, dust lightly with plain flour, dip into some beaten egg then coat generously with breadcrumbs. Next heat about a centimetre depth of vegetable oil in a large fry pan over medium-high heat and fry until crisp and golden. Drain well on paper towel.

 

Aglio Olio is a traditional Italian dish, generally made with spaghetti. To make simply saute a few tablespoons of chopped garlic and fresh chilli in olive oil until the garlic is just turning golden, then add in the cooked spaghetti and finish with a heaped teaspoon of sweet paprika and a few tablespoons of chopped flat leaf parsley.  Toss it all together until the pasta is coated with oil, then serve alongside your schnitzel, topped with plenty of grated parmesan and some lemon wedges.

It really doesn't get much easier than that!

Sausages with Potatoes, Green Beans & Corn

Sometimes even the most enthusiastic of cooks have days when they just can't be bothered in the kitchen, and for me Tuesday was one of those days. I started a new job this week you see, and have been focusing all my attention on work -  no time for food!

The problem I faced was that I didn't feel like any kind of take-away, and with the only other option being to not eat at all, I decided to cook something ultra simple. Sausages and vegies. I had some beautiful lamb sausages from the markets, so i cooked them up in the frypan, then sliced them on an angle to serve. (I cannot stand the sight of a huge sausage just plonked on a plate, it is not a good look).

I boiled the potatoes until just tender, then added sweet corn and green beans to the same pot. Once all the vegies were done, i drained them, returned them to the pot over a low heat and added a sprig of fresh lemon thyme, a good squeeze of lemon juice, a tablespoon of butter and some salt and pepper. Once the butter was melted we were good to go!

All up this dinner took about 20 minutes and was totally delicious. Faster than a pizza too :)