Tagliatelle with asparagus, crispy pancetta and parmesan

This weeks theme at i heart cooking clubs is mum's the word! My mom really love's Asparagus, so made this delicious pasta especially for her and a little bit for me;)

ingredients

• 1 bunch asparagus
• 12 thin slices pancetta, the best quality you can afford, sliced into small strips
• 500g fresh egg tagliatelle
• 100g Parmesan, grated
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• extra virgin olive oil

method

A great dish packed with earthy flavours that the whole family will love – and it's quick and easy, too!

Snap the woody bottoms off the asparagus stalks and throw them away.

Cut off the top 4cm of each stalk, put to one side and finely chop the remaining stalks. Heat a wide frying pan and gently fry the chopped asparagus stalks in a little olive oil with the pancetta. When the asparagus softens slightly turn the heat off and mash them roughly with the back of a fork.

Cook the tagliatelle in plenty of boiling salted water, according to pack instructions. Add the asparagus tips for the last 2 minutes of cooking time.

Drain the pasta, reserving a cup of the cooking water, and toss with the mashed asparagus and pancetta.

Stir in most of the Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper. If needed loosen the pasta with a little of the cooking water. Serve with the last of the Parmesan sprinkled on top.

Tip: Cooking your asparagus with the pasta is a clever way to save on time and washing up.

Frozen fruit smoothies

It's that time of the month already, potluck time over at I Heart cooking blogs. Didn't had a lot of time to participate this week so kept it simple. Come and have a look what everybody else brought to the table.



ingredients
(makes 2 glasses)

• 1 ripe banana
• 1 glass of frozen fruit of your choice: mango, blackcurrants, or strawberries
• 2 heaped tablespoons natural yogurt
• 1 small handful of quick cook oats (not instant)
• 1 small handful of mixed nuts
• 1 glass of soy milk, fat free milk, or op pie juice

Optional: honey, to taste

method

Smoothies are not only deliciously tasty but they're also perfect to have for breakfast, as they're full of goodness. Adding quick cook oats and nuts to them is great, because it helps slow down the absorption of the sugar from the fruit into your bloodstream, which gives you more energy for longer. The great thing about frozen fruit is that it's been picked at its best, at the right time, and hasn't been forced to grow out of season, like so much of the "fresh" fruit on offer to us these days. It's also cheaper and far more convenient— it will keep happily in your freezer for months on end, so any time you fancy a smoothie, you can have one!

These smoothies are best made in a blender, as opposed to a food processor, as this will give your smoothies a lovely silky texture. And feel free to use any fruit you like, either one type or a mixture. Raspberries are really tasty and you can use them here, but I tend to stay away from them because of the seeds.

Peel and slice your banana and put it into a blender with your frozen fruit and the yogurt. Whiz it up and add the oats and nuts. Add the soy milk, fat free milk, or apple juice and whiz again, until nice and smooth. If it's a bit too thick for you, just add a splash more milk or juice and whiz around again. Give it a good stir, then have a taste. Rarely with a frozen fruit smoothie should you need to sweeten it, but if you think it needs a bit of extra sweetness you can add a little honey to taste — you won't need much.

From: Jamie's food revolution

Notes: Made a delicious banana&strawberry smoothie, very easy and simple to make. But the taste is fantastic and there healthy.

Charred eggy bread with strawberries and honey

Chicken and the egg - wich comes first? That is our cooking theme for this week at IHCC. It really is an age old question! And in my eyes whe probably will never now the real answer to that question. Whe can only presume, like the other age old questions of al exsistance on earth. Every religion at least thinks to now the answers, but there are more books then i can count on this particulair subject. In all the simple things i do know the eggs first and then is the chicken...But where they really came from, i don't want to know because it will drive me grazy;)

recipe can be found here
serves: 4

ingredients

• 2 eggs, preferably free-range or organic, beaten
• 50ml full-fat milk
• a good dash of limoncello
• 4 thick slices of stale sourdough or Italian bread
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar, plus a little extra
• 250g strawberries, halved
• 200g ricotta, sliced or crumbled
• runny honey
• grated lemon zest, to serve

method
Mix the beaten egg with the milk and a dash of limoncello in a shallow dish. Dip the bread slices into the mixture and shake off the excess. Sprinkle the slices with the caster sugar then cook on the barbecue for a couple of minutes on each side until golden.

Dust the strawberries with caster sugar and grill them really quickly, just until the sugar on the outside of them browns. Top the warm bread with ricotta and the grilled strawberries.

Drizzle with honey and decorate with lemon zest.

Notes: I did'nt used the barbecue but a grillpan one the stove and that worked just fine to make the bread. Left out the lemon zest(did'nt had any at home), but used a bigger splash of limoncello to compensade for that. All the flavours where amazing together, real threat! Great as a dessert after a barbecue or just for lunch.

Blackened barbecued pork fillets for IHCC

April showers bring may flowers! is our cooking theme for this week over at I heart cooking clubs. I haven't been participating for two weeks at a row and meanwhile whe started cooking with Jamie Oliver. Feel free to come and join us whe will be cooking with Jamie Oliver for the next six months!


Our April is quit good, less rain then to expect usually in our country. so when whe bought our new outdoor kitchen/BBQ i knew i had to make something to try it out!
So the sun is shining and heat up the stove!!!

ingredients

for the marinade
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 2 cloves
• 1 heaped tablespoon sweet smoked paprika
• zest and juice of 1 orange
• a small bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked and very finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and very finely chopped
• 150ml/5½ fl oz Heinz organic tomato ketchup
• 6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

• 4 x 400g/14oz pork fillets, preferably free-range or organic
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
optional
• a handful of fresh coriander, leaves picked and chopped
optional
• juice of 1 lemon


method

Although it's hard to define what 'proper' American cooking is, I've been inspired by the food from the Deep South, where there is an incredible amount of smoking, salting, barbecuing and spit-roasting going on - really intelligent cooking. This is a recipe inspired by the kinds of flavours I tasted when I was in Texas.

Skewers are useful for this recipe. They hold the four fillets together, making it easier to turn over when on the barbecue or under the grill. It also makes serving slightly easier because when you come to slice the fillets up, you can do it between the skewers, giving you pork 'lollipops' of blackened meat, which is quite fun. But if you don't have them, you can just use your tongs.

When you've made this once, I guarantee you'll make it at least once a year as it's so damn good. Great with salad, spiced beans, corn on the cob or rice.

To make your marinade, crush up the cumin, fennel seeds and cloves in a pestle and mortar and mix with the paprika, orange zest and juice, thyme, garlic, ketchup and balsamic vinegar. Season the pork fillets with salt and pepper, then toss them in most of the marinade until completely coated. Feel free to marinate for half a day, but at least an hour. If you have metal or wooden skewers, lay the fillets side by side and skewer them together about 2.5cm/1 inch apart.

When you're ready to cook, simply put the meat on to a barbecue or under a hot grill for 15 to 20 minutes or until nicely charred. Every time you turn the meat, brush it generously with the leftover marinade so you build up a sticky, blackened glaze. When they're done, put the fillets on a big platter and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Slice the meat between the skewers, or just slice each fillet in half, and sprinkle over some chopped coriander or squeeze over some lemon juice if you fancy.

• from Cook With Jamie

Cocoa brownies with peanut butter chips

Peanut butter chips are not for sale in the dutch grocery stores, so last year when i bougt some stuff in an american online shop bought this chips two. But they where waiting and waiting to be used in my pantry. But now with our upcoming travel to the states our heads are all about eat, drink, sleep and live the american way! Whe really can't wait to go there again and whe where really craving for brownies, so i found this great recipe to finally use my peanut butter chips. Now i will have to take a lott of them home after our travel, because whe loved this chocolate brownie with the creamy texture of reese's peanut butter chips!

Recipe: as seen here

1 1/4 sticks of unsalted butter(1 stick is 113 grams)
1 1/3 cup of white sugar
3/4 cup Cacao
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour 1 cup of peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees(165 c) and make sure rack is in the lower third of the oven. Coat an 8 inch baking pan with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper. In a large heat proof bowl, combine the butter, sugar, cocoa and salt. Set the bowl in a large skillet of water and simmer over medium low heat. Stir occasionally until the butter is melted and mixture is hot to the touch. The mixture will look slightly grainy. Remove from heat and cool until warm. Add vanilla and stir with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time mixing thoroughly after each one. When the batter looks well blended, smooth and shiny, slowly add the flour and stir until it's combined thoroughly, then stir vigorously for 30 strokes. Stir in the peanut butter chips. Pour into the baking pan and place a few more peanut butter chips on top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely then lift up ends of the parchment paper (if used) and transfer brownies to a cutting board where you cut into bite sized pieces. Enjoy.

Notes: I baked the complete 25 minutes and the toothpick still did'nt came out clean, baked 10minutes (2x 5 minutes)longer then the original recipe called for. The brownies where really wonderfull after that!

Arrivederci Giada dinner for IHCC!

Well it's time again, to say goodbye to another chef at I Heart Cooking Clubs. The past six months we have been cooking with Giada De Laurentiis!Very well known all over the world, but i didn't know her!(six months ago).
To get to know her i started with a little research on the internet about her. Reading true her own website GiadaDeLaurentiis.com and ofcourse Wikipedia(what would we do without)and the foodnetworksite, i really found out a lot about her.
One of the most important things i found out, is that she is an Italian and that she cooks Italian. So i was eager to start cooking(because i like italian).
Halfway true the six months i lost this sence of cooking Giada's recipes, Stil don't know why exactly. One of the things i do love Giada about is all her great Mascarpone recipes like this one. This is my favorite recipe an i will be making this again.

But for this week i have prepared a little dinner to say Arrivederci!

Sweat pea CrostiniWith
Apple and Thyme Martini


Crunchy parmesan chicken tenders
served with
Penne with sun-dried tomato pesto

Panna Cotta with fresh berries



Posting this to:
- I Heart Cooking Clubs( Arrivederci Giada! last week of cooking with Giada, next week we will start cooking with Jamie Oliver for the next six months)

Panna Cotta with fresh berries

Recipe can be found here
Courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis

Cook time: 7 minutes(waiting 6 hours)
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch salt
2 cups assorted fresh berries

Directions
Place the milk in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over. Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes to soften the gelatin. Pour milk mixture into a heavy saucepan and stir over medium heat just until the gelatin dissolves but the milk does not boil, about 5 minutes. Add the cream, honey, sugar, and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat. Pour into 6 wine glasses so that they are 1/2 full. Cool slightly. Refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours.

Spoon the berries atop the panna cotta and serve

Notes:
My first attempt ever at making Panna cotta. Ofcourse there had te be a first time for failure also, since i started this cooking blog. Everything has been going well untill now.

You can see the two different layers in the glass, so i wanted to find out why it happend. After reading some more panna cotta recipes, i thought it was because of the cooling down. In giada's recipe the cooling is after youve poured it into the wine glasses, but in all the other recipes this happens before. So i put the saucepan in my sink(with a bottom of cold water), kept stirring and after that poured it into the glasses. It worked! the panna cotta came out fine after that and tasted creamy delicious. No fresh berries in season now so used frozen.

Posting this to:
- I Heart Cooking Clubs( Arrivederci Giada! last week of cooking with Giada, next week we will start cooking with Jamie Oliver for the next six months)

The link to my Arrivederci dinner is here!