Tuesday 15 May 2018

Tomato Pasta


Ingredients:

Italian San Marzano or Piccadilly Tomatoes x 1kg
Italian can plum tomatoes x 1 can (optional - if you prefer the tomato paste to be more wet, adding can tomatoes will help)
onion x 1 - minced
garlic slice - 2 tbsp
basil for cooking and garnish
parmesan cheese - grated
olive oil

Pasta of your choice
1 bowl of sliced garlic

How to Make:

1. De-skin and de-seed the tomatoes first. You can do it by boiling a pot of water, cut a cross at the skin of the tomatoes, drop them to the boiling water for 1 min. Take them out and place to ice water. The skin will be easily peeled off at this stage. Remove all skin, mince the flesh of the tomatoes discarding all seeds and juice. After mincing the tomatoes, you can put them on a strainer so extra juice can be discarded.

2. Mince the can tomatoes and drain on strainer to remove extra juice.

3. Heat up a pan with olive oil, then fry the garlic slices until golden. Remove the garlic and save the oil in the pan sufficient to brown the minced onion.

4. Put minced onion onto to the pan with garlic oil and fry until soft, then add the minced fresh tomatoes and can tomatoes, stir fry until all combined. Season with salt and pepper and sugar to your liking. Then add the basil, turn heat to medium low and cook for 20 minutes.

5. Cook your pasta as per instructions on packet.

6. In a separate pan, heat up sufficient olive oil which will be used to coat the cooked pasta, then pan fried the sliced garlic until golden.  

7. Drain pasta, mix it in the pan with garlic olive oil, then and place it nicely in a serving dish.

7. Add tomato paste on top on pasta, then a basil leave, grated parmesan cheese and drizzle olive oil on the side. For those who like fried garlic, you can add the fried garlic to the pasta too.

Serve and enjoy it with your favourite white wine!


Monday 7 May 2018

Baked Salmon in Puff Pastry


From: Tastemade Japan at 
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh-34VnBRzv/


Ingredients:

Salmon Fillet x 1
Salt & Black pepper
Spinach - wash and drain
Frozen Puff Pastry x 2 packs - defrost in fridge the night before you plan to cook
Flour
Egg Yolk x 1, mix with 1 tsp of water or milk

Cream Cheese Sauce:
Cream Cheese 100g
Mayonnaise 10g
Lemon Juice - a dash
Dill - minced

How to Make:

1. Preheat oven to 200'C.

2. Clean and trim salmon fillet to a size right for your party and your oven tray and wipe dry!

3. Season salmon with sea salt and black pepper.

4. Make Cream Cheese Sauce by mixing well the ingredients listed under Cream Cheese Sauce above.

5. Sprinkle a bit of flour on counter top. Roll 1 pack of puff pastry on top of the flour-counter top to the right thickness and size for your salmon and the oven tray. Repeat the same for the other pack of puff pastry.

6. Place 1 piece of the rolled pastry onto the oven tray. Put spinach first, then lay the salmon on top of the spinach, then the cream cheese sauce on top of the salmon. 

7. Brush egg yolk solution on the pastry along the edge of the salmon.

8. Place the other pastry on top of the salmon layers softly, using a fork to press along the edge of the salmon where you have brushed the egg yolk solution. Trim along the forked edges to come to a fish shape! Use the cut away pastry to make eyes, mouth, tail and fins for the fish! Then use a knife to gently score on top of the pastry to make scales for the fish. 

9. Lastly, brush egg yolk solution on top pastry evenly. Then put into oven for 25 to 30 min until golden.

Serve immediately and enjoy!