Category Archives: Food+Drink

Fresh Pesto

You can’t beat the taste of your own freshly made pesto.  And there’s something very special in creating you own unique blend of pesto, you know ever single ingredient that has gone into it, and it tastes so much better than the stuff you get in the shops.

It’s simple to make, and you can knock together two weeks supply in ten minutes flat with minimal washing up!  If your really keen you can make in a pestle and mortar, but  I use a small blender.  Recycle an old mayonnaise jar and lid for storage.  You can sterilise the jar and lid by boiling in a saucepan for 15 mins, this means it will keep for up to two weeks in the fridge.

Ingredients

  • 80 g basil leaves
  • 50 g pine nuts
  • 4 tablespoons grated parmesan
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 150 ml extra virgin olive oil
  • seasoning to taste
Method
  1. Put the pine nuts, peeled garlic, basil and parmesan in a food processor and mix to a paste.  Pulsing the food processor may help get it started.  If your having trouble you may need to push the ingredients down with a spoon, being careful of the blades
  2. Add the olive oil in stages, mixing inbetween
  3. Taste, season if necessary, then enjoy in your favourite recipe! My top two would be with fresh pasta with cherry tomatoes, or on bruschetta, simple and delicious

 

Fresh Pasta

You can’t beat fresh pasta, it’s so much better than the dried stuff, it’s on a whole new level.  Surprisingly its also very simple to make, it just takes a few hours to knock out from three basic ingredients: Flour, eggs and a pinch of salt.  The recipe below describes the method using a pasta machine, but it is possible to do with a rolling pin.

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Liz’s Texan Mud Cake

My little sister Liz brought this fantastic recipe all the way over from Austin Texas to bake at our engagement party.  It looked impressive enough, but when we tasted it we were blown away.  Without any exaggeration it’s the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had.  It’s also great for a party as it can feed a lot of people.

It didn’t last long and unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to take a photo before it all disappeared so instead you get my artists impression.   It has mud filling, chocolate frosting and is topped with marshmallows drizzled with fudge sauce.

As it’s an American cake all the measures are in imperial, and some of the ingredients might not be available.  But I’m sure you’ll work out your own substitutes.

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Dad’s French Onion Soup

 

On rare occasions my Dad busted out his much contested cooking skills (his claim to fame is making eclairs but I’ve never seen evidence of this culinary feat) to create this tasty French Onion Soup.

 

Served on Saturday afternoon piping hot with molten cheese croutons on top, this is the perfect soup to warm the cockles on a cold winters day.

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Homemade Tomato Soup

When its cold and miserable outside, or if you are feeling a bit off colour, this tasty tomato soup is real comfort food that will brighten any mood.  My mum used to make this with any tomatoes leftover from a bumper tomato harvest, served up for Saturday lunch with plenty of warm fresh bread.

Now there are plenty of tomato soup recipes out there, but what I especially like about this one is keeping it simple and letting the flavour of the ripe tomatoes do the talking!

Homemade Tomato Soup

Fresh Homemade Tomato Soup

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Dark Rum Mojito

The most refreshing way to drink rum is without a doubt muddled together with lime and mint.  This is my favorite cocktail, and is the perfect to cool down in the summer.

Worlds Best Guacamole

I’m not even boasting, this recipe is simply the best Guacamole I’ve ever tasted.  And so simple to make.  It can go with so many things, but is also excellent just as a dip with some corn chips.