Like us, all our friends are from interstate so went back to their respective home states for new years. Pete and I decided to take advantage of the quiet time and spend the night outside in the garden, it was a lovely warm night, with delicious food and delicious chilled wines and champagne.
I got home from work and the preparations began. Setting the table and chairs into the garden, plating up the selection antipasto yummies and getting the first celebratory drinks poured.
Setting the scene...
Our delicious antipasto selection: dips, bbq grilled pittas, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, cheese stuffed bell peppers, ham, salami and grain waves of course!
This kept us very full for the remainder of the night, so the decadent, creamy pasta was definately put on hold for our first dinner of 2012!
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First day of 2012, and I woke up craving a delicious fruit salad and Jamie Oliver's eggy crumpets that I had watched him create on tv just days before. So up I got to shower and run off to the shops. Then here is what evolved...
Fruit salad of apricots, mango (my love has re-ignited!), grapes, blueberries and strawberries, topped with passionfruit pulp. I swear the passionfruit pulp makes fruit salad so much better.
Warm, comforting amazingness!
Breakfast eggy crumpets
Ingredients
2 eggs
2 crumpets
Sprinkle of chilli flakes or fresh chopped chilli
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon butter
Method
1. Crack your eggs into a bowl and give them a little whisk with a small pinch of salt and pepper and most of the chilli.
2. Push the crumpets into the egg and chilli mixture. Turn them a few times – they’ll soak it up like a sponge.
3. Heat a large pan over a medium heat and add butter. Add the crumpets to the pan and fry them for a few minutes until golden, then turn them over and fry them on the other side.
Serving hints: Serve the eggy crumpets topped with the crispy bacon, with a dollop of brown sauce or a drizzle of maple syrup. To finish, you can sprinkle over any extra chopped chilli, if you’re a chilli freak like me. Perfect – heaven on a plate.
Serving hints: Serve the eggy crumpets topped with the crispy bacon, with a dollop of brown sauce or a drizzle of maple syrup. To finish, you can sprinkle over any extra chopped chilli, if you’re a chilli freak like me. Perfect – heaven on a plate.
Serves 1
Source: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/egg-recipes/breakfast-eggy-crumpetsDinner was pretty delicious; actually, REALLY delicious. Creamy pasta with bacon, mushrooms and spring onions. Such a guilty pleasure, but it is the indulgence period of the year, so it allowed! Pete had been asking to try a creamy pasta of sorts for a while, so I thought I would allow us the treat, and a new cooking experiment for me!
A little piece of creamy heaven!
Creamy boscaiola
Ingredients
500g pasta
200g button mushrooms, sliced
600mL cream
2 spring onions, sliced
1 tablespoon chopped flat parsley
Method
1. Cook the pasta in a large pan of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente. Drain return to the pan and keep warm.
2. While the pasta is cooking, heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan, add the bacon and mushroom and cook, stirring for 5 minutes or until golden brown
3. Stir in a little of the cream and scrape the wooden spoon on the bottom of the pan to dislodge any bacon that has stuck
4. Add the remaining cream, bring to the boil and cook over high heat for 15 minutes or until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon .
5. Stir the spring onion through the mixture. Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss to combine. Serve sprinkled with the chopped flesh parsley.
I love that crumpet recipe! Looks like a lovely NYE. Creamy pasta is so amazing when you have that craving! I make one (a recipe from Tom Cruise) which uses no cream (but lots of cheese and bacon). it's amazing. on my blog. def check it out. Tom Cruise too! haha.
ReplyDeleteHeidi xo