ITALIAN PASTA WITH PESTO

Hey guys! Dont you just love the feeling of a new week! I know I do! Mondays and Tuesdays especially, well wednesdays and thursdays rock too, oh well every day is an awesome day because every day is made by God. Lets embrace each new week with a new attitude! Be thankful, laugh alot, cry if you have to, worship with your all, and trust that God has gone ahead of you!

AND EAT GOOD FOOD!

Better yet make good food. 

 

Today I'm blogging on a meal that I haven't eaten in over 3 yrs!  I actually dreamt about it 1 week prior and then on a random Monday *yesterday*I just decided to get the ingredients and make it! I believe there is a time to plan and there is a time to ACT!
So yes I had planned to make this with stuffed chicken breasts but I opted to make it with mince meat instead!
Since I don't have a food processor for dried foods *which I hope to get soon* I bought a ready made pesto instead of making it myself. Pesto consists of garlic, basil, parmesan cheese, olive oil and pine nuts. It is available in Nakumatt supermarkets and slightly pricey but worth every dime!

Pesto originates from Italy and it is derived from the genoese word "pesta" which means to pound or to crush. While one of its most popular uses is as a pasta sauce, it can also be used as a spread or dip or salad dressing. I made mine with pasta and I urge to try the recipe below because it is officially one of my favorites!

Ingredients:            

Mince meat
Garlic
Red pepper-hoho
Edam cheese/ cheddar cheese
Cooking cream
Pesto
Tomato paste sachet
1 beef chilli cube
Tropical heat mixed spices which consists of oregano, parsley, and other spices all mixed together
Macaroni 
French beans 
Olive oil
Black pepper
1 spoon Royco

Start by boiling water for the pasta. Once it is boiling, add pasta, a spoonful of olive oil and some salt. After approx 8-10 minutes, remove pasta and put aside. *Note: to make sure your pasta doesn't stick together, rinse with cold water and stir in some olive oil- You can use this method for pasta salads aswell.*

Cook garlic in another sufuria and add red pepper shortly after. 
Add beef cube, mixed spices and tomato paste and leave to brown for about 1 min. You can add abit of water to make sure it doesn't burn. Once that is done add meat and leave to cook for about 5 min. After 5 min are done, add 1 spoon royco to a cup of water, 1 teaspoon of black pepper and add to meat. Cover it and leave to cook for about another 5-8 min. *Mince meat cooks very quickly. *

In another sufuria, add abit of olive oil and 3 spoons pesto  and allow to cook for about a min. Add the pasta that had been previously put aside and about 3/4 cup of cooking cream and lastly some grated cheese. Stir it all together over a low heat and add a dash of black pepper and salt to taste. Once it is nice and creamy remove from heat.

Lastly I defrosted some french beans under running water, cut their ends and cooked with a little bit of olive oil and some salt for about 5 min. They were perfectly crunchy yet cooked and maintained their dark green color.

And once all the above is done, which should take you about 35-45 min, serve to eat!

ENJOY!

VIVA ITALY! Viva italian food!

enoese word pestâ, which means to pound or to crush. - See more at: http://www.oliviersandco.com/pesto-originated#sthash.uTMIMG3R.dpuf

While one of the most popular uses for Pesto is as a pasta sauce, it can also be used as a spread or dip, salad dressing, or as an accompaniment to steak, poultry or fish. - See more at: http://www.oliviersandco.com/pesto-originated#sthash.uTMIMG3R.dpuf

While one of the most popular uses for Pesto is as a pasta sauce, it can also be used as a spread or dip, salad dressing, or as an accompaniment to steak, poultry or fish. - See more at: http://www.oliviersandco.com/pesto-originated#sthash.uTMIMG3R.dpuf

Pilau, veggies & kachumbari

Hey guys! Its tuesday! God is faithful and lets get cooking!
This week Im blogging on a typical kenyan meal made easy-PILAU!

Ingredients *serves 5*
1 and half cup rice 
300gr Beef chopped in small cubes
4 cloves Garlic
2 Onions
3 tomatoes
Tomato paste sachet
Tropical heat pilau masala spice
1 chilli beef cube
Assorted vegetables
Avocado
Royco
Olive oil

Boil water in sufuria, add a dash of olive oil ,some salt and add meat to cook for approx 20 minutes. This way the meat softens and broth is made which shall be added to the rice later on. After meat is boiled, put aside and do not dispose the broth.

In another sufuria put onions and garlic to cook with some olive oil. As the cook, grate over two tomatoes and mix well. After a few minutes add pilau spice, beef chilli cube and tomato paste sachet. Allow to brown as you stir. Once it is good and brown add the meat that you had put aside and mix well followed by the rice, and then the broth(3 cups which is double the cups of rice) Mix well and add salt to taste and cover to cook.

 Pilau should be ready in approx 10-15 minutes. I usually shake the sufuria *side to side* to make sure the rice doesn't stick or burn in the bottom. That way the water the broth reaches all surfaces. 

Once it is ready, leave to cook with its own heat for about 5-7 more minutes. 

For the kachumbari, chop onions,add salt and water to cover and put in refrigerator for approx 20-30 minutes. You can prepare this as the meat is boiling in the beginning. This helps in having a perfectly salted kachumbari. Chop tomato and avocados in the meantime and once the 20 minutes are up you can pour out the water then mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and preserve in refrigerator till serving time. If you intend on preparing kachumbari a day before, avoid adding avocados until right before the meal since they brown very quickly.

For the mixed vegetables: 
First and foremost I advise you to freeze all your fresh vegetables if you plan on using them at a later time. I usually do that and the minute I defrost them, they still have their original color and taste. Defrosting is easy because all you have to do is to put them below running water and within seconds they are separated and ready for cooking.
I defrosted a pack of mixed vegetables*french beans, peas and carrots* and cooked with some olive oil. I didn't add much spice,* only half spoon of royco with 3/4 cup water* because I wanted them to release their natural and sweet taste. They were ready in about 7 minutes, slightly crunchy yet cooked.

And just like that you have a  healthy and tasty meal! 

STEAK, MASHED POTATOES & ASPARAGUS

Hey yall! First of all I must say that you are all making this quite some fun! I am truly enjoying cooking, blogging and all the feedback I am getting from you guys! Excited to plan a cookout before the year is over! How many would be willing to come over and learn a few quick and easy recipes? Do let me know!

Oh well, this weeks recipe is inspired by my cravings...lol...yes we all have them, and I was craving meat this week more than anything else. Thought about dining out for a nice juicy steak, but I figured I'd stay in and make some myself! Instead of the usual rice/fries I opted for some creamy mashed potatoes and tried out some different veggies I found while shopping.

Ingredients:
-Steak from your local butchery *depends on the number of people being served- 200-250 gram steak per person approx*
-Garlic
-Onions
-Potatoes
-Asparagus
-3 spoons unsalted butter
-1/4 cup milk
-Olive oil
-Royco
-Dried Rosemary
-Black pepper
-Salt to taste



First and foremost, I marinated the steaks with black pepper, rosemary, salt, olive oil and a teaspoon of royco and put aside.

I then put water to boil, peeled and cut up my potatoes in halves and added  to the boiled water to cook.

As they were cooking, I washed up my asparagus and added to the boiling water. *kill two birds with one stone so they say* Asparagus take about only 5-7 minutes to cook so I removed them way before the potatoes were cooked. After that I chopped off the ends and put them aside.

 After the potatoes were ready* test to see if they are ready by poking with a knife, if the potato slides down it is cooked, if it sticks firmly to the knife it is still not ready*
I drained the water, put them in a bowl and added the butter, black pepper and salt to taste. I also added the milk as I mashed them. You can add as much butter and milk as you like if you want it to be more creamier.

I also made some gravy to accompany this meal seeing how you cant have a completely dry meal with mashed potatoes involved. Now the funny thing is that I had run out of onions and tomatoes so I wasn't able to make it how I wanted. To make a quick and easy gravy kenyan style, cut onions and cook, grate two tomatoes and add to cook. Add tomato paste, a dash of soya sauce for color and thicken with a spoon of royco. You can add oregano or parsley to give it a better-less tomatier taste! 

Once I was done with the gravy,  I put about 3 tablespoons olive oil in a pan and added some chopped garlic to cook. Before adding my steaks to cook, I fried the asparagus that I had previously put aside with the same pan for about 2 min and removed them. *there goes that killing of the birds again with one stone-hehe*

I then added the steaks and allowed to cook while turning back and forth until both sides and insides were browned.*I like my meat well done*

And just like that you have a fabulous meal! 

ENJOY!

Lets get cooking!

Cooking made easy!